Chapter Two: Lesser of Two Evils
A/N: I SUCK. I haven't updated this in- let me think- over a month! Oh, the horror that is end- of- year concerts, exams, and ETC! I'm so sorry! Luckily school is (finally) out, so I'm hoping to have this story wrapped up within a week *crosses fingers*. Thanks!
It wasn't the birds and bees, Emma thought with some trepidation, but knowing Gold, it would be worse.
Emma exhaled heavily as she collapsed into her bed. Henry was safe… Regina wasn't planning mass destruction among the populace (which, for her, was something of a major accomplishment) … her parents had granted her a break from their perpetual let- us- talk- to- you attitude and therefore allowing her to sleep. Finally. But now, when she had the opportunity, slumber evaded her. It was, put basically, extremely annoying.
She sat up, frustrated, running a hand through her messy blond hair. Her parents were in the other bedroom, with the door closed, so maybe Emma could 'sneak out' and go for a long stroll (and possibly acquire some strong alcohol) and then return, exhausted enough to fall asleep upon impact.
Images flickered in her mind, flashes of Henry, Snow, Charming, and Regina, and she wondered when her life had gotten so screwed up. Oh, right. When my ten- year- old kid dragged me from Boston to Maine to 'be the Saviour' and 'break the curse' which 'the Evil Queen cast'.
But if she was being honest to herself… while the events that had transpired that day were certainly confusing and disturbing, that wasn't what kept her awake. She'd slept through (much) worse; a fine example would be the first night she'd spent alone, in jail in Phoenix, at age eighteen and having just learned of Neal's betrayal and abandonment of her.
So much for 'finding Tallahassee together'.
But that was the point. The operative word in that statement had been Neal.
Gold and Belle. Alright, she had admitted it, albeit mentally. The way they're been making out when she'd burst into the back room- to be totally 100% completely truthful, it reminded her of how Neal used to kiss her, and how he would embrace her like that, like she was the only thing that would ever keep him from drowning.
Or maybe that was simply the way all teens supposedly tended to make out- with that unconquerable, unstoppably powerful (and somewhat lustful) blaze of unadulterated passion- and Gold and Belle were… simply having a heated reunion? Emma didn't recall seeing Belle before breaking the curse, so…
There was something else about the (very) odd pair that gave her the bright spark of déjà vu, but Emma couldn't touch on it. But it spurred her on anyways.
The 'sweet little bookworm' and the all- powerful- dark- mage- turned- pawnbroker in freaking love- who'd have thought it?
And the last little piece of déjà vu (and to think, she couldn't even remember why it was déjà vu!) was gnawing at her already stretched- to- bits mind… Neal Cassidy. It was like his spirit (or a piece of it, anyways) had somehow lodged in the kiss.
Because yeah, that was totally possible.
Emma's mental sarcasm was halfhearted at best, because as much as she might not like it, the truth of the matter was that it probably was possible. And that was undeniably wrong.
She couldn't sleep. Like, at all. In the back of her brain, she wondered exactly how pissed Belle might get if Emma knocked on the 'salmon' (it was pink!) door of Mr. Gold's house at- what was it, eleven at night? – AND was all like, "Sup? Ready for the little chitchat you requested?"
Yeah, no.
Plus the thought of any 'reunion nightcap' Rumple and Belle might or might not be having pulled Emma up short; there was no way in hell she'd ever be risking that unless, like, Henry was dying or something. She'd rather see her own parents 'do the deed' than GOLD.
Besides, should Emma ever happen to see that, she wouldn't get any sleep for… um, until she literally passed out? Which was bound to take at least three days of horrifying mental images before granting her peace in slumber.
She scrambled under the covers again, now desperate for sleep so she would have the energy to talk to Belle tomorrow. Maybe then the odd sense of deja vu would stop pestering her.
The morning after the little interruption, Rumplestiltskin woke with a start, furiously scanning the room and hoping to hell that he hadn't dreamt up the shattered curse and Belle's return from "death"- and there. There she was. Asleep, and glorious in slumber, wearing a dark gold satin nightdress, her auburn curls waving around the silk- covered pillow, her skin soft as the sand. Imaginably softer. He let out a battered exhale born of unadulterated relief. She was there, safe, and most importantly alive.
Belle awoke not moments later to find her beloved in dark silk pyjamas, eyes half- closed, staring at the ceiling. Almost without thinking, she rolled towards him (she had barely convinced him to let her sleep in his bed, let alone up against him) and buried her face in his lean chest. He let out a huff of surprise- and- when she looked up at him, she thought she saw lust in his dark amber- brown eyes. "Rumple," she said, her voice slightly croaky.
"Belle- you're awake," he breathed, and she caught his eyes scan her sleep- ridden form before returning to her own. "Are you alright, then?"
He was referring to the nightmare that had plagued her before she'd awakened half- shrieking in torment around midnight. He had held her as she'd fallen asleep again. Her sleep had been blessedly dreamless after that, and she had loved the feeling of being in his arms. "Yes, I'm fine." She yawned then, and stretched, wincing as her muscles groaned- a sign of underuse, which was understandable considering the amount of time she'd been in the asylum. "Can we get breakfast?"
"Of course," he answered immediately. "There's a place in town called Granny's. They serve breakfast."
"Can we go?"
"Indeed."
Less than half an hour later, Belle was dressed in a light blue blouse and a matching white skirt that came to just above her knees. Gold flats adorned her feet; her hair was half pulled back, half loose. She was extremely curious as to what this "Granny's" was.
Soon they were both ready- and so they departed with minimal haste, and Belle could see the torn relief and urge to relax a bit more in her beloved's amber gaze.
It was a fairly short walk to the diner.
At the diner, Emma was talking to her parents about her past. She had just gone over the third adoption home when Snow gasped out an "Emma, no" and she stopped.
But to her dismay, when she stopped, she looked up and saw who had just entered Granny's: everyone's least favourite pawnbroker. And the woman he loved (apparently). Belle.
"Emma!" Belle said across the diner. Emma felt the stares of several Storybrooke inhabitants bore into her back, and she scanned the small diner, a "shut up or get your ass kicked" look on her face. Nevertheless, she stood and crossed the room to meet the couple.
"How are you?" the cheerful brunette asked her straightaway, blue eyes bright and excited.
Emma decided on a simple response. "Tired," she said truthfully, and indeed there were dark circles etched beneath her eyes. "You?" It was around ten, she guessed.
"Pretty good," Belle said, a little wearily this time, and Emma didn't miss the look she shot at Mr. Gold. But still- the young blue- eyed bookworm didn't look like she was going through PTSD or the afterglows of "reunion sex"- so maybe she was simply worn out. For real.
The silence that filled Granny's was decidedly a most awkward one, Emma thought.
"So do you actually like reading all that much?" she asked Belle, mostly to just speak.
Belle's face lit up, clear and light like summer breezes and oceans. "Yes, of course! How did you know?"
"For one thing," Emma replied, pointing, "the book in your bag. For another thing, the fact that reading is a key trait of Beauty's personality in Beauty and the Beast."
An inquisitive look sparked in Belle's eyes. "Rumple, you really must show me what this thing is. And what a movie is," she added, smiling at Emma, who raised her eyebrows at Rumplestiltskin as if to say have fun with that.
"Very well, sweetheart," he said into her ear. But Emma, who grimaced immediately, had overheard. Well! It was kind of awkward hearing Mr. Gold use endearments for a woman who was surely (at least) twenty years his junior, so excuse her!
"So are you up for that talk today?" Belle asked Emma enthusiastically, her energy not dimmed by the (somewhat) early hour whatsoever.
Emma shrugged. "Yeah, alright. Where…?" She trailed off, feeling rather ineffectual and helpless- how the hell would Belle know where they could meet and talk? Granny's was too crowded, and aside from the aforementioned diner and Gold's house, where else had she been- excluding the asylum itself, which clearly was a no brainer?
"My house," Gold interrupted from his seat he'd taken beside Belle.
"You're included in this chat?" Emma couldn't help but say, snarky like a poked badger. She shot a sceptical look at Belle, who didn't seem to notice.
"Alright- no. Deal- Rumple, it can be in your house and you can listen, but I don't want you interrupting or anything of the sort," Belle compromised with glowing blue- iolite orbs that Emma could practically see boring into Rumplestiltskin's.
And she did indeed watch Gold consider the matter. It was quite interesting to observe his eyebrows raise, his eyes squint, and his mouth tighten before he finally said to Belle, "Fine. I will not interrupt your planned speech."
"Deal," Belle repeated, glancing at Emma, who nodded her acquiescence.
Moments later, Mr. Gold and Belle were finished with their syrup- glazed waffles and fruit, and as Ruby took their plates away, they stood. Belle shook Emma's hand, grinning softly with rose- pink lips."Thank you, Emma," she said gratefully. "I'll see you around… three this afternoon?"
Emma nodded at her, smiling in response. "Sure. See you then, Belle."
And as the couple left the diner, Emma could've swore she saw Gold turn his head and nod twice at her, blatant appreciation in his dark eyes. She inclined her head as he left. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.
A/N: Oh the horror that is this TINY freaking chapter! I'm so sorry, I am pretty sure I promised to have the actual DISCUSSION between Emma and Belle (and now Rumple, tee hee) in this chap, but I promised myself to try and work on the chapters for my other story for the cover bunnies contest, and I have a lot of inspiration for that one at the moment so- well, we ended up with a chapter two that totalled less than 2,000 words. All time low for me. :( I SWEAR I will have chapter three out by either tomorrow or Tuesday (hopefully tomorrow)! Thanks for sticking with me, and please REVIEW and let me know what you thought of this itsy- bitsy little thing FFN deems a chapter two!