It was when she came into the shop to bring him lunch that she was distracted by the jewelry case. He heard the bell and her heels and expected her to come right back, but was surprised when the clicking stopped after a few steps. He quit detailing an ornate mirror and walked out to the front counter where she stood looking down at the counter.
"Belle? Something caught your eye?" he asked teasingly.
She looked up with tears in her eyes, "I'm about to marry someone who doesn't even know anything about me."
She turned away before he could say another word and ran out of the store, leaving their lunch and a confused Gold behind. He glanced at the jewelry to see what had set her off and spotted a new piece he had put in two days prior. A simple silver ring with a blue sapphire, it all clicked.
He took it out, noting bitter sweetly as always, that Belle still hadn't been wearing her ring.
The next day when she came in he was already at the front counter.
"Morning Belle," he greeted her kindly.
"I'm sorry about yesterday," she smiled. "Pre-wedding jitters I suppose."
She opened up the bag she'd been carrying and spread out the lunch. Her ring was shining brightly on her finger.
He looked up at her and smiled, "Happens to the best of us. You look happier today."
"Really?" she asked.
"Yes," he replied with a nod.
"Good. I'm just," she sighed and her smile fell for a moment, "really trying…"
They ate their lunch in silence and he ignored it when she glanced in the case for the ring no longer there, and didn't see the slight decline in her demeanor.
"Am I going to die if I attempt to eat these hard candies?" she asked from the other end of his couch.
"No, I just bought them!" he replied with an offended tone while he changed the record and sat back down beside her.
She squinted her eyes at him, "You seem like the guy who would have hard candy sitting in a jar for 60 years and still give it out to children at Halloween."
He chuckled, "I would do that and you are somewhat like a child with a sugar rush," he dodged her badly aimed kick, "but I haven't lived for 60 years."
"Oh okay for 40 or whatever. I still don't trust these or you." She picked one out of the bowl and inspected it thoroughly through the wrapper.
"36 thank you," he scoffed.
"Psh, 36 and walking with a cane you old man," she teased while unwrapping the caramel. "Look! It won't even unwrap!"
"That's because it's caramel and sticky and you're inept at doing simple tasks!" he held out his hand.
She glared at him and attempted to get the paper off once more before handing it to him in defeat. His delicate fingers, graced with patience from working with countless antiques, unfurled the paper from the candy easily.
She groaned, "Of course."
He smirked.
"Smug bastard," she muttered and stuck her tongue out.
He placed the caramel on her tongue and laughed at her surprised expression.
"I bet you can't catch one in your mouth if I toss it up in the air," she challenged proudly.
He raised his eyebrows, "You doubt me?"
"I do!" she exclaimed and leaned backwards to grab another one from the side table. "Alright if you get this…"
"You'll have to admit that you hate listening to Granny's stories about her 'wild youth' just as much as I do, but you're too polite to say so."
"But I love listening to Granny's completely believable stories about rum-running as a flapper," she replied innocently.
He laughed, "Mhm… but fine that's not a good enough admission. Hmm… you'll have to owe me a favor."
She contemplated her decision for a moment, "Deal."
"Alright, let's see if you can open this one," he teased.
She stuck her tongue out again, the half-dissolved caramel at the tip. She unfurled the second one with less finesse, but more excitement than he did, forcing him to chuckle.
"Alright 1, 2, 3…" she tossed it short and purposefully terrible, forcing him to dive for it. He landed in her lap, but there was a thump on the floor next to the couch. "Ha! You missed it!" she grinned happily and looked down at the floor and pushed aside his hand, but there was no caramel. "Wait, where is it? I heard it hit the floor!"
He wiggled his hand next to hers and she noticed the chunky ring he always wore. She sat back up and he gave her a wicked grin and stuck out his tongue, the candy on the tip.
Her smile faded, "How did you even…?"
"You seem to owe me a favor now Ms. French," he said looking up at her triumphantly.
"Whatever," she swatted at his chest with a roll of her eyes and grumbled something about being lucky before she grabbed another caramel.
She unfurled the candy and tossed it up, attempting to catch it, but instead letting it land on her nose. It rolled down onto his face and he laughed again. He made an internal note, as he continued to gaze up at her trying to catch caramels, to always have a vast supply of fresh ones in the house.
The caramel scene is my favorite to this day since I wrote it, which is self-satisfied and prideful, but imaging this completely AU Gold and Belle scene makes me happy. I wanted to add a comment where she says, "You floundered like a codfish!" but even that was far too cheesy for me. The next chapter we get a tad bit more in depth to the actually storyline and it's a little less drabble-esque.
Seriously thanks to terra-angle, LynRward, and theatre fan for being the first to even acknowledge this story so quickly after it was published and in a way that I could see so I hope these next few chapters don't turn you away! You guys are the coolest.