Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time does not belong to me! All characters and references to the show belong to ABC and Channel 5.
I'm back! Sorry for the wait but a lot's been going on in my life. I just wanna thank everyone who reviewed my last chapter, they really made my day. Cookies for all! *Throws cookies*
Now, on with the fic.
Once Upon a Time: School's Out! The Third One-Chapter 12
Jefferson was in the stands of the football pitch and talking into his cell phone. As he spoke through to the other line, he scanned the Royal's cheerleading squad-who were screaming at the opposing team as they managed to score yet another goal-for signs of Belle French. It was nearly half-time and there was still no sign of her, making the Hatter feel very much like Ruby Lucas looked: Like he was about to explode with frustration.
The relationship between him and Belle was starting to break apart, his carefully constructed plan falling through the cracks. That much had made that much clear the night after that idiot librarian had interrupted their kiss. She had come to him during morning break and told him, in no uncertain terms, that nothing was ever going to happen between them.
"But, I hope we can still be friends" she'd said kindly, and Jefferson honestly hadn't been able to believe what was happening. She was Friendzoning him?!
"Of course, Belle" he'd shrugged, giving her a reassuring smile. She'd smiled back, nodded politely and walked away, by which point the Hatter had already started scheming and plotting, and deduced that he'd find her at the game, see if there was any opening still left for him, and exploit it as far as he could. Subtlety, of course.
But she needed to turn up first! Seriously, where the hell was she?!
"Jeff?" said a small, feminine voice on the other end of his phone, jolting Jefferson back to the present. When he spoke, his voice was sweet, kind, something he reserved for only one person.
"I'm here, Grace" he said "But listen, I'm sorry but I've got to go now, O.k?" he heard his little sister sigh sadly, and felt a small twinge of guilt.
"O.k" she said sadly from their home in Boston "Do you want to talk to Mom and Dad while you're here?"
Jefferson shook his head "No, it's O.k. I'll see you guys when you come down for Visitation in a few weeks. But hey, tell Mom I said hi"
"O.k, see you Jeff. Love you" said Grace, and in the background he could hear the voice of his still-living mother, Dutch Hatter, calling her to bed.
"Love you too, Grace" Jefferson smiled, and then hung up the phone. He looked around the football boarder again just as James Nolan screamed abuse at the Troll that had just slammed him into the ground, preventing his goal, and his smile turned into a scowl.
Where the hell was she?!
OUAT
When Rumplestiltskin woke up in Belle's cozy little bed the next morning, he smiled down at the young beauty wrapped around him like a warm, comforting blanket. He carefully sat up so that he was leaning against the headboard, looked down at the sleeping form in his arms and tried to think of a time he had ever been this happy. He couldn't.
He was hardly able to believe it, after weeks of longing, pining, and-thanks to the Hatter-a hell of a lot of jealousy, they were together again. Using the arm that was wrapped around his beauty's naked back, he gently moved her so that she was pressing better against him, her head resting against his chest and smiling when Belle sighed in her sleep and burrowed her head into it, a delicate auburn curl falling into her face. Gently, he picked it up between his fingers and brushed it behind her ear, pressing an equally gentle kiss to her temple as he did.
"Is it morning yet?" Rumplestiltskin nearly jumped out of his skin when Belle's voice, her cute accent thick with sleep, whispered into his ear. He pulled away from her to see her beautiful eyes looking up at him and a soft, sleepy smile on her lips. Rumplestiltskin smiled too:
"Yeah, I think so" he said, and shifted back down so that his head was lying next to hers on the pillows. He gazed at her adoringly, knowing that, at some point, they were going to have to talk about a few things: Milah, Jefferson, them. He had a feeling she knew this too, but she didn't say anything. Like him, she seemed to just want to revel in this one perfect moment they had together.
Slowly, almost cautiously, Belle's fingers lifted up Rumplestilskin's chest, along his collarbone, up his neck, across his jaw and cheek, until they were carding through his hair. Rumplestiltskin had long since closed his eyes at her touch, not even thinking to question it when Belle started to pull his face towards hers...
"Belle Eleanor French! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!"
Rumplestiltskin and Belle only had time to pull their lips apart before the furious raging tornado that was Ruby Lucas kicked her door open and barged her way in, chest heaving and eyes blazing, her long streaked hair wild about her face:
"You complete bitch! How dare you stand us all up at the ga-" she started to screech at the top of her lungs, but apparently mid-scream her haze of rage cleared enough so that she could see the...Intimate scene laid out before her.
Ruby froze of the spot. Her whole expression freezing, her eyes wide and her mouth a huge red O, a crimson blush coming to her cheeks as her fists rose, and started to shake in the air, her mouth curving into a huge, wide, happy grin.
"Oh...My...God!" she cried, pointing a vigerously shaking finger at the couple as Belle sat up rapidly, pulling her bed sheet around her to protect her modesty and her face burning. Rumplestiltskin sat up too, the sheet tumbling around his waist and a huge, smug grin curving his lips.
"R-Rubes, I-" Belle stammered, but Ruby was too far gone.
"Oh my God!" she squealed loudly, practically jumping up and down in the air with excitement "Oh My GOD you're back together! You're finally back together! It's about freaking time, you two. And you!" she pointed at a bemused Rumplestiltskin,a smug look of her own only brightening her joy "So much for Belle being nothing to do with you, you dog, you!"
"Oh dear God..." Rumplestiltskin murmured helplessly. Belle beseeched her very hyper-active friend, who had now started laughing hysterically. Great.
"Ruby, can you please-?!"
"Oh!" her excited look fell away almost immediately and she raised her hands "Say no more! I am gone! And don't worry about last night, it is not a problem!" she clasped her hands in front of her mouth in front of her, looking oh, so happy "I just can't believe you two are finally together again! This is fantastic! Rumbelle for the win!" she then proceeded to jump out of the room and run down the hall, chanting 'Rumbelle for the win!' as she went.
Rumplestiltskin and Belle, both of them completely and utterly dumbfounded, stared after her, blank expressions on both of their faces. The Rumplestiltskin sucked in a breath.
"'Rumbelle for the win?'" he quoted, sounding so completely bewildered that Belle started laughing, lying on her back and affectionately brushing her fingers against his chin. He still looked completely confused.
"What the hell is 'Rumbelle?'" he wondered rhetorically, and Belle giggled, shrugging.
"I have no idea. I think it's like a merging of our names" he raised an eyebrow at her, and Belle smirked "You know, like they do for celebrity couples"
"Oh" Rumplestiltskin frowned, snuggling deeper into Belle's bed and wrapping his arms around her "I'm not sure I like that, Belle"
She rolled her eyes and grinned at him "Oh, shut-up and kiss me!"
And he did.
OUAT
The news that Rumplestiltskin Gold and Belle French were back together spread pretty fast. By midday half the college had heard the news, and by Monday morning practically everyone was talking about it. That was evident when Belle walked into her first period Geography class and an automatic hush came over the room, everyone turning in their seats to stare at her as she slowly walked up to her own placement.
Then, as expected, the whispers started:
"...She's back with Gold!"
"...I heard they were caught in bed together..."
"...She cheated on the Mad Hatter with him!"
Belle groaned, opening her Geography textbook and trying to block out the gossipers. Looked like it was going to be a long day...
OUAT
Whack!
"Ow!" Rumplestiltskin softly groaned, distracted from the English lecture he was barely listening to (George killed Lennie in Of Mice and Men? Who the hell cares?!) when a balled up wad of paper hit him on the back of the head. Turning around, he saw Regina grinning down at him. Rumplestiltskin inwardly sighed.
"Can I help you?" he whispered, and Regina chuckled softly, so that Ms Gohrm wouldn't hear.
"I just wanted to congratulate you on your charming little reunion" she whispered back, smirking "It's quite the talk of the school"
"I've heard. Good thing I don't give a damn" he quietly sneered, refusing to let whatever jibe Regina was preparing to deliver ruin the elation he felt at having Belle back.
Regina just continued to smirk "You might not care, Gold, but I know someone who does!"
"Oh?"
"Jefferson" she said, looking like she was not to laugh "He feels that you, uh, stole his girl" she whispered mockingly, raising her fingers in air quotes.
Rumplestiltskin felt laughter bubble up in his chest, and fought to control it. Jefferson really thought that Belle would ever be his? Good God, he really was insane!
"Yeah, he was really mad" whispered Regina contemplatively "I almost felt bad when I told him"
Rumplestiltskin's eyebrows raised slightly "You told him?"
"It was going around the entire school, he'd hear about it eventually. I just really wanted to see the look on his face when he did!" she hissed, an amused grin of malice that mirrored Rumplestiiltskin's on her face. Then she leaned forward in her seat.
"By the way, he's sworn to get you back"
"Oh yeah?" Rumplestiltskin whispered, not particularly bothered by this, and Regina nodded.
"Yes. I have no idea what he's going to do, but then again you know how inventive he is" she sighed softly, briefly looking up at the ceiling "Who knows? He might not even go after you to get his revenge"
And there it was. The snide little bomb the malevolent Student Body President had been waiting to drop. Rumplestiltskin's smile faded, and he glared at the young woman, who looked extremely pleased with herself.
"You really think that's going to bother me, dearie?" he challenged, forgetting to keep his voice down "You seem to forget who I am"
"Rumplestiltskin Gold!"
It was not Regina who responded with this, but rather the raised voice of Ms Gohrm. Regina's grin grew wider still as everyone focused on the dealer, and it was with a great feeling of reluctance that he turned to face the irritated, annoying lecturer.
"Yes?" he said lazily, and Ms Gohrm placed her hands on her hips, trying to stare him out (a difficult feat, seeing as he was sat three rows away from her)
"You seem particularly chatty over there. Is there something you would like to share with the rest of the class?"
Rumplestiltskin slowly looked around the room. Most of the students, if not all of them, immediately turned away when they met his searing gaze. Turning back to the lecturer, he shrugged.
"Well, as much as I would love to divulge my private life-"
"Hardly private" Regina chimed in, much to the amusement of her classmates. The dealer ignored her:
"-To a classroom of students, surely you, as a woman of education, would prefer to continue with your boring little lecture?"
The classroom was filled with titters, and Ms Gorhms nostrils flared with frustration, anger layering her voice when she spoke without thinking:
"Well, if you think my lecture on 'Of Mice and Men' is so boring" she hissed the word "Then why don't you just leave?!"
"Alright" Rumplestiltskin made an unperturbed face and gathered up his things, and Ms Ghorm quickly realised her mistake when he started heading towards the door.
"No, Gold! Sit back down now!" she ordered, but he was already at the door, gesturing in a way that suggested helpless confusion.
"But you told me to leave if I was bored!" he said innocently, putting his hand on the handle "And guess what, dearie? I'm bored!"
"GOLD! You are not doing this again! Get back in your seat!" the lecturer yelled, but he had already opened the door, jauntily waving goodbye as he walked out of the classroom.
For a few seconds, the classroom was silent, the angered teacher stressfully raising a hand to her forehead. Then Regina Mills' voice filtered through the silence:
"You do realise that he's done this twice now?"
"Yes! Thank-you Miss Mills I am fully aware of that!" Ms Gohrm snapped, and, ignoring the immature 'Oooh!' sounds her students were making, continued with her lecture.
OUAT
During their lunch hour, James Nolan found himself sitting with Snow White and Ella. Normally, he would sit with his team, but after Saturday's crippling defeat from the Trolls (7-2. That went beyond humiliation!) they were refusing to speak to him, and met him with the most furious of glares when he had tried to sit at their table.
James groaned, wincing when he put a hand on his forehead and forgetting about the cut there. He was also sporting a bruised arm and had hobbled away from the pitch with a twisted ankle. But apparently that didn't make him any less of a target for blame.
After all, how could he not know that being five minuets late to the football pitch would damn the whole game? How could it not be his fault?
"James" a soft voice pulled him out of his self pity, it was Snow White, and she looked pitying. He sighed, realising he had not been as discreet as he thought about his woe.
"You need to stop beating yourself up, Charming" she said kindly "It wasn't your fault! You're still going into the Final!" she glared over at the Royals "Those idiots are just looking for someone to blame" she added, not bothering to keep her voice down and getting a returning glare from the nearby team.
"Yeah, and it just so happens to be me!" James groaned, his head falling to the tables surface as Ruby and Ella walked up to the table, trays in hands. When they saw the disgraced captain they made sympathetic sounds.
"Are they still not talking to him?" asked Ella, nodding back at James' team. Snow White nodded, rubbing her boyfriends back, then sighed impatiently when the calls of Thomas and Peter carried over to their girlfriends:
"Hey Ella! Come over here!"
"Ruby! Come sit with us!"
"I'll come and sit with you when you stop being a big baby!" Ruby called back.
"Yeah!" Ella added. Slowly shaking her head at them, she directed her gaze to James. She looked like she was about to say something comforting but was distracted when Ruby let out a loud, scandalous gasp.
"Well, well, well!" she said as a certain brunette came to the table "Look who finally decided to grace us with her presence!"
"Clearly someone finally managed to detach themselves from their new-slash-old boyfriend!" Snow White grinned impishly.
"Yeah Belle! It feels like forever since we last saw you! " Ella chimed in, and then giggled "Could a certain boy have anything to do with that?"
"Alright! You can stop now!" Belle pleaded with them, sitting on Snow White's other side and trying not to smile. And failing.
Ruby leaned forward "No we can-not! We haven't seen you since Saturday morning!" she scolded, but not seriously "How've things been going with you and Gold?"
"Yeah, did you make it out of the bedroom at all this weekend?" said Snow White. Ruby and Ella gasped at her uncharacteristic comment and Belle blushed scarlet.
"Snow!" she moaned.
"You're not denying it!" Snow White laughed triumphantly, and Ella and Ruby joined in. Belle whimpered painfully, burying her face in her hands.
"So, I guess we're off my problem then?" James grumbled, bringing his head up.
"Yeah, sorry loser" said Ruby, and James' head fell back onto the table. The young red-head eagerly turned back to the embarrassed reporter.
"So, come on! Spill!" she begged "How did it happen?!"
"Did he beg you to take him back?" Snow White butted in, and Belle shook her head.
"No-"
"Then did you go to him?!" Ella gasped, thinking how unusual it would be for Belle to do anything like that.
"No! I-"
"Then did he stand outside your window with a boom box playing your favourite song?"
"In what universe would Rumplestiltskin Gold ever do that, Ruby?!"
The girls burst into fit's of laughter, ignoring the looks they were getting and the despairing sounds poor James was making. Then they heard a noise next to the young beauty:
"Belle"
Wiping tears away from her eyes, Belle looked up to see none other than Jefferson looking down at her, his trademark hat hanging oddly on his head. At the sight of him, Belle felt her mirth fade and the guilt creep in. No, she hadn't told Jefferson that she had gotten back with Rumplestiltskin, but no doubt he'd heard about it. Crap.
Nervously, she smiled up at him, tuning out the silence that had fallen on the table "Hey Jefferson"
"I heard you got back together with Rumplestiltskin Gold" he said matter of factly, and she nodded. The tension here was so thick she could've cut it with a knife.
"Um, yeah. Yeah I did" she said, and this time Jefferson nodded, an unpleasant look on his face.
"Well, good for you. Let's just hope he doesn't cheat on you with another bimbo, huh?"
There was a pause, and then the air was rife with hisses as Ruby, Ella and Snow White sucked in copious amounts of air, fierce looks of anger directed at the soon-to-be-dead Mad Hatter. Belle's fists clenched. How dare he...
"Excuse me?" she said, her voice dangerously low, but Jefferson appeared not to perceive the scene in front of him.
"What can I say, Belle? You missed your chance. You could've been my number one girl but instead" his shoulders sagged as he let out a long, sad sigh "You chose to be with the flight risk. Have a nice life" waggling his fingers at her stunned expression, he shoved his hands into his pockets and walked away.
Belle stared at the spot he'd stood in, her mouth agape and wondering what the hell had just happened. Opposite her, she heard Ruby growl.
"What a tool!" she said, glaring after him "Want me to go punch him?"
"No, don't bother" Belle sighed. Then her mouth lifted in a small smile "Well, it looks like you were right about him, Ruby. He is just an ass" she paused, poking at her steak and kidney pie, her friends watched her, knowing that she was clocking things over in her mind "Although...He does have a point. Rumple did cheat on me before..."
"Only because that freak Milah pulled every trick in the book to seduce him!" said Ruby. Then her eyes widened in horror "Oh my God, I'm defending Rumplestiltskin Gold..."
"Why don't you talk to him?" said Snow White, spearing a section of pickle with her fork "I mean...you guys have talked about all this. Right?"
"Um..." Belle hesitated, starting to blush again "Well-"
"Snow, we haven't seen the girl since she stood us up on Saturday night!" Ruby butted in "Do you really think her and Rumple have been sat around talking?"
"Ruby!" Belle cried.
"No denial!" Ruby shot back before she could say anything. Groaning again, Belle mimicked James and dropped her head to the tables surface while her friends laughed at her expense. It was at that moment that another presence came up next to her.
"Um, hi. I'm looking for James Nolan?"
At the sound of his name, James finally lifted his head and saw Daniel Hay standing at the table. He raised his hand helpfully, wondering what he could want.
"Yeah, I'm right here"
"Oh good" said Daniel, looking grateful that he didn't have to trail around the entire cafeteria "This is about your trial run on Saturday"
Suddenly, it all came rushing back to James. In the miserable midst of his entire team harbouring a grudge against him for loosing the game, he'd completely forgotten about the job he'd applied for at Stable Eating. He figured he'd done O.k. He'd cleaned up after customers, swept the floor, washed the dishes at a fast rate, and didn't get yelled at nearly as much as Daniel had (he really needed to stop letting Regina into the deli while he was working!) and the end of it the owner had told him he'd give James his answer the following Monday.
And now, it appeared that moment had come.
"Oh. Yeah" said James. Trying to both hide his nerves and ignore the stares he was getting from the girls. Even Belle had raised her head to hear Daniel's news.
James swallowed, trying to appear calm "So, uh...Did I get the job?"
Irritatingly, Daniel didn't answer straight away, his smooth expression betraying nothing. Then, just when James was convinced he'd completely blown it and was gonna be broke forever and Snow White was gonna dump him because he would be a broke loser who couldn't provide for his child, Daniel grinned, his blue eyes sparkling.
"The boss has decided to give you a shot as a bus-boy" Snow White gasped happily and threw her arms around James in a joyous embrace. The boy himself wrapped an arm around her and stared at his future workmate, dumbfounded "You start Saturday morning, eight am sharp. Don't be late, the boss will kill you!" Daniel warned him.
"Right. Thanks!" said James, sticking his thumb out towards him as the bus boy in gratitude as he walked back to Regina's table. Commandeering his attention, Snow White leaned up to kiss him happily while Belle, Ruby and Ella clapped.
"Congratulations!" said Belle, a happy smile on her face.
"Yeah, you've got the crappiest job on the planet!" said Ruby, just as happily. Not breaking away from Snow White, James made a very rude hand gesture towards her. Ruby just laughed.
"O.k, we have to celebrate!" she said when Snow White finally released her boyfriend "Who's up for going out somewhere tonight?"
"Uh, Ruby? I can't go out anywhere" said Snow White, rubbing a hand over her belly. Ruby snorted.
"So? We don't have to drink-"
"Yeah right" Belle muttered, and Ella giggled. Ruby glared at her, a slow smile curving her lips.
"Shut-up, tramp!" she said, smirking evilly.
And that was how Ruby Lucas ended up with a face full of half-eaten steak and kidney pie.
OUAT
Later that afternoon found Regina in the second half of her fourth/fifth period Maths Major. Settling down in her seat near the far back (next to nerd Jiminy Hopper and not-to-be-messed-with Mulan Fa) she opened her bag to reach in and grab her Maths textbook.
But instead, she pulled out something quite different.
She didn't realise what it was until she pulled it into the classroom. When she touched it, all she felt was it's strange, smooth circular shape, with a dry, bumpy dip in the middle. Frowning, Regina pulled the object out into the light.
It was an apple. A regular sized, smooth, blood red apple, and when Regina turned the fruit in her trembling hand, she saw a bite, as if from a small mouth, had been taken out of it. The flesh was brown as though it had been left for a long time.
"What the hell?" Regina whispered, so silently no-one could've heard her. She stared at the apple in her shaking hand. It was the same. Almost exactly the same as the one she'd given-
"Regina?"
Gasping, she immediately turned the apple into her chest, hiding the fruit against her chest at the sound of Jiminy Hopper's voice. She looked up, expecting to see him staring at her. But he wasn't.
He was staring at her fisted right hand.
"W-what's that?" he asked timidly, pointing at her hand. The nerves in his voice pissed Regina off to no end. What? Just because she had an apple in her hand meant it was poisonous? That she was a risk? It was just a damned apple, for Gods sake! An apple that had magically appeared in her bag and was the spitting image of the one she'd given Snow White...
Glaring at Jiminy, she uncurled her hand, revealing the blood red fruit "What's the matter, Hopper? You never seen an apple before?" she snapped at him, throwing it back in her bag and pulling out her textbook.
Jiminy blinked "A-an apple, Regina?"
"Yes, you idiot, an apple. But you needn't worry. You and everyone else in this idiotic facility are perfectly safe. What reason would I have for pulling that trick twice?" her lips curved in a smile that was anything but sweet and she turned her back on him and his blank expression. She opened her textbook and tried to concentrate on the complicated figures, at the same time trying to force down the hammering of her rapidly beating heart.
Uh-oh! Things are not looking good for Regina! And for those of you thinking that's the last we've seen of Jefferson...You are very wrong. Also I don't own Of Mice and Men. Man alive did that ending piss me off...
So, what do we think? Any comments? Criticisms? Please let me know!
By the way, Dutch is short for Duchess who is a character from Lewis Carroll's original Alice in Wonderland.