Because you can't put too many ships in the FF list: Rumbelle, eventual Swanfire and Glass Believer. Platonic family: Papafire, Believerfire, Swan Believer, BeautyFire and some other various Once friendships.
Neal shifted back and forth from one foot to another as he stared at the overwhelming pink mansion that had once been his home.
He was doing it for Henry, it was all for Henry.
Funny, that had been the reason he had left in the first place.
Neal Cassidy had once been Neal Gold, the son of Wren Gold. Wren was a wealthy professor, who taught at his alma mater: Yale University. His childhood had been a stuffy one. Wren had once been fun loving and free…up until his wife left him. He suddenly had all sorts of expectations of his son. Maybe to their world, they weren't too bad, but to Neal he wanted nothing more than to escape the world of the privileged. They were too stuck up, they didn't care about anyone else. Gold didn't seem to care, he had his son attend cotillions and debutante balls. He'd be a Gold man, just like the rest. The only problem was, when you held on so tight…the child was bound to pull away.
His rebellion had been small at first. He'd skip classes, refuse to attend the different galas his father wanted to. His father wanted him to end up with Tamara Chandler, daughter of one of his best friends. Instead, he had chosen Emma Swan. She was the wayward foster daughter to the Nolans. It was young love, but they felt it was real.
Then Emma got pregnant. They were only 16 and lots of suggestions got tossed around. In the end, Henry was born and Emma took off, feeling she was just much too young to be a parent. She stayed in contact with Henry throughout the years, but not in the way a mother would.
As for Neal, he stayed with his father, for a year. It didn't take long for him to realize that it wasn't the life that he wanted, for him or his son. So, he took off in the middle of the night. He found himself a job as a busboy at Granny's Inn and worked his way up the ranks. At only 26, he was in a good place, he was happy. He spoke to his father a bit and saw him on holidays, but the strain was there. His father was still hurting that he took off without a word.
Now, it wasn't Christmas or Easter. It was just Neal…feeling completely desperate. He would've refused, if his friend, Robin, hadn't talked some sense into him.
"It's for the kid. Won't the price be worth it?"
Finally, he let out a deep breath and rang the doorbell. The door opened and a petite brunette stood on the other side. For a moment, he wondered if it was the housekeeper, until he took in her outfit. She was wearing a light blue dress and black pumps, didn't look much older than him.
"Can I help you?" She asked.
"I'm here to see Wren."
"May I ask what this is regarding?"
Neal sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm his son."
The woman smiled brightly. "Neal! It is so great to meet you. I'm Belle, your father's wife."
He blinked a few times. "Wife? But you're…my age."
She chuckled. "I'm actually 30."
"4 years isn't a lot."
"It's a long story, come in, come in. I've heard so much about you."
And Neal had heard nothing of her. He wasn't sure why he was so surprised. It wasn't like he and his father talked outside the rare holiday. Even so, his father hadn't dated when he was young. Sure, he'd have people on his arm for different events, that was expected. Marriage, though? He hadn't thought that was possible after his mother left.
Neal followed her inside and into the living room. "Wren, look who's here," Belle said.
Wren looked up from his newspaper, raising an eyebrow. "Neal. Christmas, already?"
Neal forced a chuckle. "Hey, Pop."
His father clutched his cane and forced himself up, nodding a bit. "Scotch? Coffee?"
"I'm fine, thank you. I promise I won't take long. I just wanted to talk to you about something."
Wren looked him up and down. "You need money."
Neal winced. How did his father always know? "Henry has been accepted to Arendelle Preparatory."
Belle grinned. "That's a wonderful school, it's only 10 minutes from here."
"That's right," Neal sent a grateful smile to Belle for keeping things less tense. "The problem is, they want me to put down an enrollment fee. If I don't, he'll lose his spot and he's just worked so hard to get in…"
"So, you need money," Wren repeated, dryly.
Neal sighed. "It'd be a loan, I'd pay you back. I never ask for favors."
"Oh, yes, I'm well aware."
"Wren," Belle fixed him with a look.
Neal was surprised to see his father's features soften when he looked at Belle. Suddenly, it was as if he were a different man. Perhaps, even the man he once was before Milah left. He slowly collected himself and turned back to his son.
"Henry deserves only the best and I never liked that he attended public school. So, I will write you a check and I'll cover his tuition."
Well, that had been painless. "Thank you," Neal said, sincerely. "Pop, you have no clue how much this means to us…"
"However, there's a condition."
Of course. His father was a law professor at Yale, everything always came with conditions. "What is it?"
"If I'm financially involved in your life, I want to be more in your life overall." He drummed his fingers over the cane, slowly smiling. "I want a weekly dinner. You, Henry, every Friday night."
Neal felt his stomach drop. His father was good, too good. He knew he'd be willing to do anything to get Henry into this school. Including this. His father couldn't just set up a payment plan like a normal person and say "See you at Christmas." No, everything had to be tricky.
He had ran away from home for a reason. He loved the life that he and Henry had built in Stars Hollow. It was quiet, yet quirky. They had at least one meal a day at Granny's Diner, where they'd banter with Ruby. He got to watch Robin do his own flirty banter with their liquor supplier, Regina. Their lives were happy and full.
Having dinner with his father once a week would require stepping back into a world he vowed to never show Henry to.
Yet…wasn't that what he was doing by allowing him to attend Arendelle Prep? All of those kids would probably be in the same situation he had grown up in. He could only hope that they were better behaved and more grounded.
It was once a week, a few hours every Friday night. Henry always asked about his grandfather, why they never saw him much. He had Mary Margaret and David, Emma's former foster parents, but they hadn't known her very long. This was a real connection to his family. Plus, this Belle seemed to be keeping his father a bit more grounded himself.
"I don't want Henry to know I borrowed the money," he said, finally. "Can that please stay between us?"
"I'll see you tomorrow at 7. You'll get the check before you go."
Neal blew out some air through his nose, feeling the weight lifted off his chest.
You're doing this for Henry. It's all for Henry.