Before story note: Ugh, I'm sorry about the length of my absences. I'm doing the best I can I promise! :/ Also I'm happy everyone is enjoying the story, and I hope everyone continues to :)
"What the hell do you mean there is nothing you can do?" Mr. Gold furiously yelled at Principal Graham. "She was... taken advantage of in these very halls!"
"Sit down Mr. Gold." Graham said angrily. "It's her word against his. There are no witnesses and his friends say that he was with them before school."
"Are you seriously going to believe him? Don't we have cameras for the school you can check?"
"You know good and well the cameras haven't worked in over a year." Mr. Graham shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "It's not in the..."
"Budget. Yeah I know." the history teacher cut him off bitterly. "Listen here. I will not let this go unpunished. There is no reason at all for her to lie about something like this."
"But why would he do something like that? He's got girls falling over themselves left and right. What would be the point of him trying something like that on her? He doesn't need to. Maybe she just got the wrong idea, or maybe she led him on."
"Do you hear yourself Graham?" Mr. Gold's voice was rising. "I don't give a rat's ass why he did it, and I know she didn't make anything up. And if you saw her at the time I did, you'd know beyond a doubt that she wasn't making anything up either."
The principal leaned back in his chair. "Honestly Mr. Gold it doesn't matter what I believe. If I had to choose a story to believe, then yes, I would say that I believe that Victor attacked Belle. But the thing of it is, without any evidence, I can't expel him. I can't suspend him. Fuck I can't even give him a detention. Right now it's a giant sticky game of he said, she said, and until I get some solid evidence, or a witness, or anything, there is nothing I can do.
"Then it looks like I'll have to take care of it." Mr. Gold stood up quickly from his chair, and headed towards the door.
"Don't do anything rash!" Mr. Graham yelled as the door slammed shut.
"Belle..." Ruby trailed off, her voice echoing in the handicapped bathroom stall. "Belle, why don't you want to go to lunch?" She rubbed her friends back as she sat on the lid covered toilet, once again trying to not cry. "You can tell me..."
Belle turned her head to her friend, and once again tears started streaming down her cheeks. "Oh Ruby."
"Shh it's ok." Ruby pulled Belle's head to her shoulder. "It's ok, just let it all out."
"It... was... Victor." She said between sobs.
"What?" Ruby said in surprise. "What do you mean it was Victor?!"
Belle pulled back from Ruby and wiped her eyes, although it didn't matter because new tears replaced them. "He tried to..." she couldn't say the words. "He said that I needed a real man. He..."
"Oh my God Belle!" Ruby exclaimed, everything clicking into place. "Have you told anyone else?"
"Yeah, I have." She didn't look her friend in the eyes. "I already told Mr. Gold."
"And what did he say?"
"He said that he would take care of it. I don't know what that means. I'm so scared Ruby. Victor said he'd be back for me, and I haven't heard back from Mr. Gold yet. What if he can't do anything?" Belle cried even harder and began to shake. "I don't know what to do Ruby."
"It'll be ok. I won't let him hurt you, and I doubt Mr. Gold will either. Fuck, that Victor is such a sleaze. I should kill him myself. That is, if Mr. Gold leaves anything left for me to kill. I wouldn't be surprised that if at Victor's funeral, a cane will be sticking out of his ass."
Belle laughed despite herself. "That would make me feel better."
"There might not even be a body after Mr. Gold is finished with him." Ruby soothed Belle.
Drying her eyes, Belle looked at her friend. "I think you are playing this 'knight in shining armor' thing up a bit much."
"And I don't think you are playing it up enough. It's obvious he cares about you. I'd call him a big fat liar if he said otherwise. Just open your eyes girl."
Sighing, Belle leaned back on her seat. "I don't know what to think. Everything has been turned upside down. When did everything get so complicated Ruby?"
"The moment you admitted to yourself you were attracted to your history teacher." Ruby gave a sad smile for her friend.
"Does it make me a bad person to hope that Victor has a mishap involving a cane?"
"Not in the slightest Belle, not in the slightest."
Limping through the halls during lunch hour, he went over his quickly strung up plan. He knew it wasn't the greatest plan he's ever had, a lot relied on good old fashioned luck, but he wasn't about to let that sick bastard walk the halls and stalk his Belle while he sat around and did nothing. 'My Belle?' He shook his head at himself. 'Maybe I'm also a sick bastard.' Walking into the cafeteria, he pinpointed Victor at the center table, two girls on both sides of him, both clearly engaged with whatever he was saying to them. He didn't have Victor in any of his own classes, but he did know the kid through word of mouth, so finding him didn't take too much of a challenge. 'Now all I have to do is find a way to lure him from his friends.' The history teacher thought menacingly to himself. Hastily drawing up something, he managed his way over to the table, and up to the side of one of the girls from his 3rd period class, Ashley. "Miss Boyd." He said, startling her. "May I have a quick word with you?"
It was evident that she was a little on edge at the request. "Um... sure Mr. Gold." She looked over at Victor and at her friend, a girl she called Aurora. Getting up from her seat, she followed her teacher to the edge of the room. "What is is Mr. Gold?" She asked, a slight irritation in her voice.
"I just wanted to warn you Miss Boyd that the man you and your friend are both so interested in takes advantage of girls."
She looked taken aback. "Victor? Mr. Gold, you have got to be kidding me. Why would he need to?"
"I'm afraid I'm quite serious dearie. You don't have to heed my warning, but I'd suggest both you and your friend get as far away from him as possible. I'd hate to see anyone get hurt." He said, almost meaning it.
Ashley quirked an eyebrow at him. "How do you know for sure?"
"You'd just have to trust me."
She looked at him for a moment, and he couldn't quite read her. Finally she said, "Well thank you for your concern Mr. Gold." Turning from him, he saw her make her way back to the table. She didn't sit down, but instead grabbed her things and whispered in Aurora's ear. Even from the distance, he could see her eyes grow large, and she also gathered her things and they both stormed away from an aghast Victor.
"What the hell girls?" He said to their backs. Mr. Gold saw Victor look around the room until their eyes met.
'Alright. Part one complete. Now, to see if he takes the bait.' He thought to himself as he broke eye contact and limped out of the cafeteria. He got a good distance away before he thought that maybe he had underestimated Victor, until he heard someone yell hey behind him. Turning around with a smirk of victory, he saw the womanizer making his way toward him.
"What the hell was that all about?" Victor said, anger seeping out of his words. "What did you say to her to make her leave like that?"
"You should watch your language, especially to your teachers." He warned. "Wouldn't want you to end up getting suspended."
"Fuck you." Victor spat. "I want to know what that was all about!"
"What what was all about?" the history teacher replied innocently. "It's not my fault you can't keep two girls interested in you."
"You said something to Ashely. I know you did. And I want to know what it was. Now." Victor closed in about two inches from Mr. Gold's face.
"I'm afraid I can't help you." He didn't back down.
A moment passed between them before Victor stepped back, still clearly seething. "Fine. There are plenty of fuckable girls in this school. I don't need them." He started to walk past the older man. "Later assho..." He didn't finish his insult before he started falling onto the ground, having tripped over an extended cane and landing face first onto the ground. Rolling onto his back and clutching his nose, he managed to get out, "You did that on purpose!"
"I'd help you up, but my bad knee and all. I think I'll just stand here and direct traffic around you." Mr. Gold said nonchalantly. Slowly stumbling up, Victor steadied himself before he threw a hard punch at Mr. Gold's jaw, and a hard crack resounded in the air.
"Oh my God!" A voice shrieked from the side. A very familiar voice Mr. Gold thought before thanking his lucky stars that his plan actually worked.
Clutching his cane in one hand and an ice pack against his jaw, Mr. Gold walked through the door of his classroom and unceremoniously plopped down at his desk. Despite the fact that his face was on fire, he was feeling quite please with himself. Victor was now suspended from the grounds for assault, on a teacher no less. Mr. Gold even had two witnesses on the incident. Well the important part anyway. Belle and Ruby both saw Victor punch Mr. Gold, so there was no question as to what to do. Even though Principal Graham looked at the history teacher skeptically in the nurses office, he shrugged it off, both knowing it would be pointless to bring up the incident involving Belle, and the likelihood that it was all connected. As Mr. Gold sat in his classroom chair, Victor was being hauled off to juvy, with no permission to step foot on the school grounds. All in all, it was a good day.
Depositing the ice pack into the trashcan and shuffling his papers into a briefcase, he stood up to leave, only then noticing Belle in the doorway. "I probably should have sent word that you didn't have to come today." Mr. Gold said to her, walking around his desk. "I'm not feeling up to it." He smiled sheepishly at her, although he didn't get much of a response. Instead she slowly walked up to him, each step more deliberate and determined than the last. Stopping right in front of him she paused for a moment before wrapping her arms around him.
"Thank you." Was all she said as she tightened her arms around his waist. "Thank you so much."
He was taken aback by her behavior. "For what dearie?" He was fighting every muscle in his body and some how resisted holding her even closer.
She leaned back, her arms still wrapped around his waist. "For defending me. For being there for me. For..." she moved one hand to his bruised jaw, and ran her thumb over it. "For everything."
"Belle. Belle I..." his voice stopped as she resumed her position pressed up against him in a tight hug. Throwing all caution to the wind, he dropped his cane and held her close, damned the consequences. Hell could open up beneath their feet, and yet he still wouldn't let go of this piece of Heaven in his arms. He hardly registered that she had shifted slightly and was now kissing his sore jaw tenderly. Pulling himself back into the situation at hand, Mr. Gold knew he needed to stop this before they got in any deeper. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he pushed her back slightly, not even remotely trying to hide the sadness in his eyes. "Belle... we can't." He whispered, caressing her cheek. He tucked a flyaway strand of hair behind her ear, and let his hand fall to his side, defeated.
"I know..." She responded. "I was just hoping..." her voice trailed off.
Mr. Gold studied the beauty in front of him, not understanding what she could possibly see in him that would make her attracted to him. "Why would you even want a lame old man like me dearie? I'm sure there are other boys your age that are gentlemen and would love to be given a chance for your affections."
Belle looked at him and smiled. "Who even talks like that Mr. Gold?" A pause and she saw his face darken, probably thinking she was poking fun at his age. She quickly amended with, "What I mean is, you are just so sophisticated. From the way you dress, present yourself, and even the way you talk. It's like a breath of fresh air compared to some of the imbeciles that roam these halls. You make me think, and I can have a conversation with you without trying to dumb everything down. It's so... freeing."
Mr. Gold chuckled slightly. "So you only want someone to talk to?"
"No. I like all of you. You make me happy." Blushing, Belle softly said, "That's not all of it." Seeing his puzzled look she elaborated. "I'm also a sucker for the accent..."
It was now his turn to blush as he felt his cheeks grow red. All that ran through his head were the dirty things he could whisper to her in his Scottish brogue. Snapping himself from his thoughts, he turned to her, "Well Miss. French, it would seem that we have quite the predicament."
"And what would that be?" She took a step back and crossed her arms.
"Because if what you say is true..."
"It is." She interrupted.
"Then we feel the same way."
"What's wrong with that?" She asked, a little hopeful.
"Because you are my student Belle." He said with a slight 'duh' tone.
"I also have this rockin' seventeen year old body." Belle winked at Mr. Gold, who's already pained jaw dropped.
"Yes, that is also a problem."
Belle took his hand, and intertwined their fingers. He pulled her hand up and kissed her knuckles. "Well, I guess we will just have to wait." She said, mesmerized by his lips on her hand.
"I guess." He tenderly kissed every knuckle, not caring that they were standing in his classroom and that if anyone walked by, all hell would break loose.
"Mr. Gold?" she asked hesitantly
"Yes dearie?"
"Can you follow me for a second?"
"Of course."
Keeping their hands laced together, she led him to the back corner of the classroom, hidden from the view of the door. Turning to face him, she fingered her way through his graying brown locks, and leaned him down slightly so she could kiss him. Tentatively bringing their lips together, so she was careful to not hurt his jaw anymore, she could feel his lips moving against hers eagerly. It wasn't long before his tongue was begging for entrance into her mouth which she gladly opened for him. Both going slow and both exploring, they melted into each other, holding on for dear life. Finally breaking for air, Belle smiled brightly up at her history teacher before laying her head on his chest, her hand still in his hair.
"Yes, we are in deep trouble, aren't we." Belle said, feeling Mr. Gold nod his head in agreeance.
Ah their first "real" kiss. All sorts of warm an fuzzy. I'm going to apologize again for the tardiness of the updates. I swear I'm trying to update more often! I feel terrible not doing so. Sigh, hopefully I can get another chapter up before I school starts up again. I really need to.