I do not own Once Upon a Time. Wish I did, I would be very wealthy right now, and the episodes would have gone much differently, but there it is...

Chapter 2 Making Amends

It was another shopping day for Mr Gold, and somehow he couldn't help looking for Miss French as he procured each item on his mental list. After the third aisle, he moaned to himself for his silly notions of seeking the blue eyed, brown haired beauty. He didn't do such things, he shouldn't do such things, and yet with each item he checked off his list, he felt disappointed that he hadn't seen her. However, as he made his way down the drink aisle there she was, perched up on a ladder, stocking the overflow Coke items.

'Good day, Miss French.' He called up. His reply was a squeal, and he saw to his dismay that she misstepped, bottle in hand and started to fall. Instinctively he reached out and grabbed her as she fell. Of course, his leg buckled underneath him and they both fell in a heap together onto the store floor.

'I'm so sorry, Mr. Gold! Are you okay?' She scrambled up, picking up the bottle that was now leaking liquid onto the floor and helping him up with her other hand.

'I'm quite okay, Miss French. I sometimes forget that I'm an old cripple.' He chuckled.

'You aren't old.' She giggled, then her tone changed to one more serious. 'And I apologize again. Thank you for catching me, I hope I haven't hurt you. I am just so clumsy. My mom always said I could trip on air.'

'No matter, miss French. I am sorry I came up to you all of a sudden.' He had just apologized, again! But how could he not, when she was smiling at him and feeling so bad for him.

'Is everything alright here?' A woman dressed in a black polo and black pants, cold blue eyes, and blond hair slicked back in a pony tail crossed her arms and snarled towards them. 'Did you cause this, French?'

Before Miss French could respond his mouth flew open before his brain had any time to process.

'I'm sorry, Ms…'

'Mal, Mal Paige.' She breathed it out like fire.

'I'm afraid I ran into Miss French here and caused the mess.'

Miss French's eyes grew wide as she watched Mal look them both over in skepticism before she shrugged.

'Not a problem, Mr. Gold. Sorry if Belle was in your way.'

'Not at all.'

Manager Mills seemed to accept this and stomped away. Not before she waved her hands over the chaos and barked at Miss French to 'Clean up this Mess!'

'Thank you, Mr. Gold, you didn't have to do that.'

'It's no matter, Miss French, can I help you clean any of this up?'

'Oh no! This was actually my fault, and I think it was you who said I should adult-up and accept responsibilities?' She smirked at him here and he wished the dirty tiled floors would swallow him whole.

'Miss French, please, I-'

'Don't worry, Mr. Gold, I'm not one to hold a grudge, but I might tease you about it from time to time.' She smiled at him once more before he left, completely embarrassed and wishing he had never seen her in the store at all, and yet wishing he could think of an excuse to see her again before rent day. Little did he know, he would see her very soon.

The next day the little bell in his shop rang and Miss French came bounding in, almost upsetting his umbrella rack by the door. 'Good Morning, Mr. Gold!' Her smile reached all the way to her beautiful blue eyes and for a good minute Mr. Gold simply stood, not knowing what to do. Finally gaining his composure he limped forward.

'Miss French! What do I owe the pleasure?'

'It's Belle.'

'Pardon?'

'My name is Belle. Miss French makes me sound like a 40 year old spinster, instead of being in my early 20s'

'Mmm and 40 is old, now is it?' He snorted.

'No! Oh, I didn't mean to imply, I'm sorry Mr. Gold.'

'It's Robert.'

'Robert?'

My name. Since using your surname ages you, I suppose I could stand to knock off a few of my years and let you use my first name.' He surprised himself at the words coming out of his mouth while Belle Giggled.

'Okay, Robert, I came by to give you these.' She shook a plastic container labeled 'Choc chip cookies' as she continued. 'Call them a 'sorry I fell on top of you and probably hurt your leg even worse cookies'

'My, what a mouthful.' He chuckled. 'Thank you, Belle. It was really no matter. If anything I should be apologizing to you.' His stomach clenched as he said the next words, and he reached back to scratch the back of his neck. Hoping that she would forgive him. 'I was an absolute jerk to you when you first walked in here, and it was rude of me to accuse you of so many things when I didn't even know you.'

To his surprise, Belle reached out her hand and placed it softly on his arm. 'It's okay, Mr. Gold. To be honest, I'm not really where I want to be in life. You were right, I did drop out of college, though it wasn't exactly what I wanted to do at the time. I am having a hard time adjusting to adult life, but maybe not in the way you thought though.' She smiled, her eyes so blue, so soft, ' I do appreciate the apology, and you are forgiven for being a jerk, this one time.' She held up one finger and smirked.

'How long is your break, Belle?'

Belle looked confused at first then looked down at her watch. I've got about 20 minutes until I have to go back to the flower shop, why?'

'I was thinking we could take these cookies to the back and share them over a cup of tea?' She smiled another one of her bright smiles. 'So I was right then? You are a tea person!'

'I imagine it's entirely possible for people to like both?' he smirked. She slyly smiled and nodded while he led her to the back of his shop, where a kettle, small table and chairs were seated. The kettle squealed and Robert Gold limped around trying to gather tea things, and tried not to think too much about the fact that he was entertaining someone voluntarily for the first time in years-many, many years.

'Can I help you, Mr. Gold, I mean Robert? And I'm not saying it because I think you are an invilid, I'm asking because I just want to help.'

Mr. Gold attempted a smile. 'I've about got it, but thanks. You want to pour?'

Belle immediately started pouring tea in the delicate tea cups.

'My contribution looks a little shabby compared to the fancy tea set.' She chuckled, her face red as she opened up the container to set the cookies on the plates.

'I disagree completely, I think the cookies elevate the entire thing.' Belle snorted, but smiled so sweetly and continued to set things up and they took their seats in relative quiet.

It's now or never, Gold, he thought to himself.

'Miss French'

'Belle'

'Belle, I um, after realizing I was a bit mistaken about your particular situation, I was wondering if I could offer up a proposition to you.'

'You mean a deal?'

'Aye' He chuckled, 'I suppose so.'

'Mmm, I've heard about your deals. I'll not be giving you my firstborn, just so you know.' Robert snorted.

'I was thinking more along the lines of siphoning your soul for my pleasure.'

'Mr. Gold!' She breathed and the tea cup she had been holding slipped out of her hand and landed with a thump onto the wood floors below. It thankfully didn't shatter, but the contents went everywhere and she was dismayed to find the cup had chipped.

'Oh, Mr. Gold, I've done it again.' Her eyes went wide and terror was written all over her face, as though she was ready for a slap of cruel words to be bestowed on her. 'You shouldn't have let me anywhere near your beautiful china, I'm just too clumsy! I'm basically the bull in the proverbial china shop.'

'Belle, please, don't worry about it, it's just a cup.' He placed a hand on her shoulder, her arms shaking beneath him and he wondered why she could ever be that frightened over a cup. Then again, if anyone else in the entire town had broken one of his antique china sets, he would have been livid. But this wasn't anyone, any more. This was a girl who worked tirelessly for an ungrateful father, gave everyone, including him, her smiles and kind words so freely. He had this horrible feeling, again, that there was more to her terror than his reputation alone, and he hoped he was wrong.

Finally, Belle seemed to recover, and Robert poured her a fresh cup of tea.

'So about that deal.' She breathed, finally settled.

'Right. Um, You see, Miss French-Belle, I, um, was wondering if you would like to come work for me.' Belle's eyes darted up. It was apparent that this was the last thing she expected from him. 'Just on Saturdays, just to help me around the shop. Dusting, mopping, cleaning the bathroom, things like that. In turn, I'll wave the rent fee at the shop.'

Belle simply looked at him stunned for a good two minutes before venturing.

'But-But that's hardly fair. Even if you paid me $15 an hour for 8 hours on a Saturday, that would nowhere near cover the rent for the shop!'

'Perhaps you would do me the honor of taking tea with me in between shifts, like you did today?'

Belle thought for another two minutes, and Robert could tell that her brain was trying to decipher why in the world he was making such a proposition. Even he wondered about the second part. His mouth had said it, however, and he wasn't about to back peddle the arrangement.

Suddenly, she was smiling, not the bright smile that she often wore, but one deep and knowing.

'I would like that, Robert. Thank you so much! And I hate to rush off on you, but I'm afraid my dad will be expecting me.' She reached over and touched his arm again, and he didn't stiffen quite as much as he did the last time. 'Thank you again, will i see you tomorrow?'

'Aye'

And with that she sped away. Belatedly he realized that this was her lunch break that he had snatched away and she had merely eaten a couple of cookies. He hoped her father made sure she ate lunch later and he was determined that tomorrow he would be prepared. He also wondered when it was that he started caring so much about her nutritional intake.

The next day Robert knew the entire thing was a bad idea. For starters, he was making her work an extra job on top of everything else-although he hoped that not having to pay rent would make it to where she wouldn't have to work so many hours, or perhaps even drop one of her jobs altogether. Secondly, he put in a tea caveat. Why had he done that?! It was part of the deal now, and since he didn't go back on his deals, he started getting materials together for deli meat sandwiches. He had no idea what she liked, but a sandwich felt safe, and it wasn't like he cooked very much, anyway. He tossed a couple of apples in his lunch box and bag of chips and drove to his shop, where the hours seemed to drag at a snail's pace. The time finally came-and went. Five minutes late was understandable, ten minutes was late, but still gave them twenty minutes to eat. When it was five minutes until her shift at the flower shop, he knew she wasn't coming.

He tried to decide how he felt about it. Disappointed, yes, he supposed he was, and slightly angry too. This was part of the deal, wasn't it? Suddenly the door swung violently and the bell rang and in all her normal grace, Belle French came bolting in. Her clothes haphazardly coming out of their neat tuck, her hair was spilling out of its updo, and her face was riddled with fatigue.

'Robert! I am so sorry if I kept you waiting.'

He tried to decide if he was angry or concerned before her mouth spewed her explanation.

'I-I got caught in a big rush at the diner today. It was a madhouse! Anyway, Ruby begged me to stay until my shift at the Shop and I hated to leave them in such a bind, and I-'

'No matter, Miss French. I'm sure you appreciated the extra time too.'

'Oh well, I wouldn't make them pay for that. It was just an extra half hour, and I know restaurants run on such a tight margin of profit.'

'You know, Miss French?'

'What is that, Mr. Gold' She made sure to exaggerate the last bit, so he would be sure and realize that he had called her by her last name-again.

'You are way too nice for your own good.'

'So nice I skipped my appointment with you?' She put her hands on her hips in feign annoyance, but he simply chuckled.

'Aye, I suppose so. Here, I know you've got to run along to your father's shop, but I hate to see a good sandwich go to waste.' And he handed her the sandwich he had made and Belle looked at him with her large, caring, beautiful blue eyes.

'Oh Mr. Gold, I'm so sorry, again. You went through all this trouble.'

'A turkey sandwich is hardly trouble.'

'Thank you anyway.' And she reached and gave him a hug! An actual hug. Of course, he was so startled he just stood there, feet planted, stiff and eyes bulged. She ran out of the shop almost as quickly as she had arrived and he stood there for a good ten minutes as he watched her go.

Author's Note: I want to say thank you for the reviews. I appreciate them so much!