First of all, I want to thank y'all for the reviews of the first chapter and thanks to that I'm more exited to write more and more and… well you got the idea (for those of you who couldn't read because of the typos, the first chapter is brad new [not the plot, but the grammar]). Second of all, I want to thank The_Lark (from AO3) for being my new beta reader ;3

Btw, between the 6th and the 13th of October I will be in Cyprus so during that time there will be no new chapters:3

Hope you enjoy

"Ruby, where is the present?" Belle yelled at her roommate, searching high and low for the package. They were going to be late, and Mary Margaret was going to be mad at them, and then they were going to be in big trouble. Oh, why was she getting so stressed about this? It was just a party, not the end of the world. Well, if Belle didn't show up, it might be the end of Emma's world. To her, Belle was the sister that she'd never had, and to Belle, Emma was the daughter she wished she had.

That was why she was so worried about the gift. This was Emma's fourteen birthday, and Belle had gotten her something she would love. Or so she hoped.

She enjoyed days like this, when she could go to the Nolans' place and laugh and smile with them. It wasn't only young Emma she enjoyed. She also loved spending some time with Mary and James.

Her friendship Nolans had begun with Mary Margaret, back when Belle was still at college. After several years, Mary had gone back to school to earn her degree, and she and Belle had had bunch of classes together. By they had graduated, little Emma was already ten years old and starting to see Belle as her big sister. However, Mary, unlike Belle, didn't have to count every penny at the end of each month.

James ran a business called CharmingCorp on Wall Street, which provided a good living for him, her and little Emma. At least one of them was doing okay, Belle thought sadly. To top it all off, James was pretty charming himself. And dear little Emma had inherited her father's guts.

But right now she couldn't waste time thinking about her friendship with the Nolans. She needed to find Emma's gift quickly. She didn't want to be late, and not just because it would upset Emma. She wanted to have some quality time with the Nolans before all of James' "friends" arrived. "Come on, Ruby. I don't have all day. You know that, right?" Belle shouted.

Ruby walked in, holding a package and laughing her head off. "Is this what you're looking for?"

"Oh God, yes!" Belle grabbed it and began searching for her purse.

Finally, she was ready to go and have some fun for a change. No job, no chores, no worries-just fun. Or at least, that was what she hoped for. But for tonight, that didn't matter. Tonight was going to be different, and that was all that mattered.

…

"Belle!" a voice cried out the moment her foot hit the threshold. She didn't even have time to get all the way inside, before a young blond girl was jumping into her arms and hugging her. Belle couldn't help but smile. Just looking at the girl's smiling face made it impossible to stay unhappy. It was just one of those little miracles in life that she was thankful for.

"Hey there, little swan. I heard that someone in this house was having a birthday, so I thought, why not stop by? Who is it? Is it your brother?" She teased.

The little girl laughed. "I don't have a brother. It's my birthday, you silly!" Belle loved the sound of the girl's laugh. It was the laugh of a child who wanted for nothing and had a great life ahead of her. She didn't remember whether she'd been such a happy child when she was Emma's age. Knowing herself, she probably she had been, in her own way.

"I believe this belongs to you, milady," Belle said solemnly, showing the slender, paper-wrapped package to the girl.

Emma grabbed. "I'm not a lady. I'm a knight. I'll have you know, I slay dragons all the time." She tore into the package, revealing two wooden swords She grinned from ear to ear. Emma's sweet face was always such a pleasure to watch. Behind her, Mary Margaret chuckled, hugging Belle like there was no tomorrow.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! Now I can slay some dragons for real!" Emma ran off to the living room to show the gift off to her father.

Mary and Belle headed for the kitchen, to finish baking for the birthday dinner. At least Belle could help her friend with something. Baking was something that Belle had loved ever since she was a kid. She still had fond memories of baking cupcakes with her mother, back in Australia, a lifetime ago. It had always been the highlight of the day for both of them.

As Belle and Mary Margaret worked, neither of them spoke. That wasn't like Mary at all. Something really seemed to be worrying her. Belle wondered if maybe something was wrong between her and James. "What's wrong?" Belle finally came out and asked, turning to her friend.

Mary's green eyes meet her blue ones and she laughed softly. "Nothing's wrong." She just says. "I'm just a little worried about Emma. You know, she's growing up so fast, but she doesn't seem to realize it. Fourteen years old and still thinks she's a knight in some fairytale."

Belle laughs. "Look who's talking! Miss Snow White herself-the woman who drags her family to Disney World at least once every year.

Mary Margaret was insulted. "Hey, Disney World's fun! I like it there, and so does James, and so does Emma!

"Emma hates Disney World because you make her go meet the princesses, when she'd probably prefer to go steal things with Flynn Rider." Belle informed her as she scrubbed her hands.

Mary sighed. "What about you? How's life treating you?"

Belle didn't know how to answer that. Should she confess how her bills were growing with each passing day, how thoughts of money were robbing her of her sanity and her ability to sleep at night? Or should she lie to keep her friend from worrying; pretend that her life was a fairytale? "It's… okay," was the best she could come up with.

Mary didn't look convinced. "Okay, you say? Then why is there makeup all over your neck?"

Belle froze, glancing down at her neck, at one of the hickeys that she covered up this morning. This was just one of the billion reasons that she hated her night job. People always seemed to know that she had been with someone, whether it was for sex or not.

"Was it Gaston again?" Mary persisted. Belle shook her head. Thankfully, it hadn't been Gaston. She was so damn tired of him, always thinking that he could order her around like a slave. "Well, thank goodness for that, at least."

She was right. At least it wasn't Gaston, but the other man had been just as disconcerting, in his own way. His memory was still painted freshly in her mind, like it belonged there, like it meant something. But that was ridiculous. Just like all the others, he probably had a family, a lovely wife and a house full of beautiful children. She was just seeing what she wanted to see. Belle was so tired of being alone. She didn't want to be sleeping with strangers forever. She wanted a family. A loving husband and precious kids of her own. But unfortunately, it didn't look like that would be happening any time soon.

The silence was broken once again, by the ringing of a bell. While Mary Margaret went to open the door, Belle remained in the kitchen, thinking about things that weren't real.

She could already hear Emma screaming some garbled noise that might have been a boy's name. She seemed so excited. But then, Emma was always excited about something.

"Auntie Belle! Come quick, I want you to meet my friend!" Emma bounded into the kitchen, grabbing Belle by both wrists and dragging her out of the kitchen. Belle laughed, supposing she should be grateful. She didn't have many friends; it was sweet of the little girl, trying to help her meet people.

But as she emerged into the hallway, her laughter died away. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

-/-

Gold regretted that they hadn't been able to make it to Emma's last few birthday parties, but better late than never. Bae was enjoying himself like there was no tomorrow, and that was enough to make his father happy. The smile on his son's face as they approached the Nolans' front door was absolutely priceless. He didn't know whether they were just friends or something more, but he could tell that Bae really liked Emma. A lot. Maybe it was because she wasn't like most teenaged girls—the ones who wanted to be famous, obsessed over makeup and clothes, and thought that being fourteen meant that they could do whatever they wanted. Emma was a classic tomboy. She wanted to slay dragons and shoot bad guys. She didn't want to be rescued; she wanted do the rescuing. Emma was different. Different…That made him think of the girl from last night.

She may have been a prostitute, but there was something different about her. She just didn't seem to belong in such a profession, and he got the feeling that she didn't want to. There had to be some reason she'd gotten involved in all of this, and he felt strangely ashamed that he didn't know it. A girl so sweet, so beautiful, so unique… How could she not be married? How could she not have a life of her own? Well, he supposed it didn't matter at the moment. Right now, he needed to focus on having fun with Bae, and Milah, later on.

He didn't even know why his bitch of a wife was coming in the first place. She hated kids' parties. The only parties she was interested in were the kind where she could gossip about the latest fashion news. Sometimes she dragged him along, and it was all he could do to keep from going insane. But he didn't want to think about that. For now, at least, it was just him and Bae.

They rang the bell, waiting. Mary Margaret appeared in the doorway with a smile on her face. That woman's mood seemed to be permanently set to 'happy', and it tended to be contagious. Young Emma wasn't far behind, her eyes fixed on Bae.

"Hi, everyone! Come on in, we were just finishing the cupcakes," Mary Margaret greeted, waving them inside.

"Bae, Bae, you've got to meet my aunt! She's so cool! Guess what she gave me for my birthday? Two swords!" Emma was practically bouncing with delight.

"Two swords? I wish my mom would do that. Last birthday I had, she got me a watch. I hated it." Bae crinkled his nose. Gold couldn't help but laugh bitterly. The woman didn't even know what her own son liked. Some mother.

"Wait a second, I'll go get her," Emma continued. "Auntie Belle!" she hollered.

Gold froze. Belle. He knew that name. But it couldn't be her. Why would someone from a well-to-do family like this be selling her body? It was completely impossible. Surely there was more than one Belle in the world.

But he heard a very familiar laugh, and he knew he'd been right the first time. Sure enough, the girl Emma was dragging into the hall was the angel he'd met yesterday. The girl he almost couldn't believe had existed. But she did, and the proof was standing right in front of him.

He remembered every single touch, every single kiss they had shared. They were permanently burned into his mind. He couldn't forget, and didn't want to. For that one night, he'd felt as if Belle was his wife. He'd wished Belle was his wife. Even though he didn't know the girl very well, there was something so unusual about her, something that drew him to her like a force of nature.

"Auntie Belle, this is my best friend, Baelfire, and that's his father, Robert. Guys this is my Belle! She's all mine, you can't have her." Emma squeezed Belle possessively. Belle herself laughed, blushing like hell. God, even her laugh drove him crazy.

She looked up, and their eyes met again. That was when he knew it was going to be a long night.

-/-

"It's him!" Belle whispered, pushing Mary toward the kitchen a few hours later.

"Him? Him who?" Mary seemed honestly confused. Belle pointed to her neck. Mary was stunned. "Gold?! Oh my goodness… When?"

"Last night! Oh God, this is so wrong. Mary, this is really, really wrong. This wasn't supposed to happen. I'm not Ruby! I can't hang around guys I slept with for money like nothing happened between us!"

She was so stressed she felt like she might explode at any minute. She needed to calm down, but she couldn't. She had been so naïve. Filthy money, oh how she hated it! That was what had gotten her into this bloody mess! But it was too late to do anything about that now. Ugh, what was next? Was Gaston Rose going to suddenly show up, just to make her humiliation complete?

"Belle," Mary soothed, "you just need to calm…"

She was interrupted by James bursting into the room, phone in hand. "Sorry to interrupt you, ladies. Mary, I just wanted to tell you that the Mills and Roses will be here any minute."

What was she now, a seer? Belle wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. Great, just perfect. Her boss and the bloody bastard whom she longed to kill most of the time.

"Belle, are you alright?" he asked tentatively.

"Am I alright?! Am I alright?! You just said that my boss and the guy who thinks he owns me will be here any minute! So, no, I'm not alright, you bloody bastard!" She was becoming hysterical. Had she really just called James, Mr. Prince Charming himself, a bastard? What was wrong with her? God, he was her friend!

"Belle… you just need to calm down," Mary said gently.

Tears welled up in Belle's eyes. Mary was right, she was overreacting. She was making a mess out of everything, but she wouldn't help it. There were a few things in life that she just couldn't handle, and this was one of them. "Don't you fucking tell me what to do! You think it's easy for me to look at you people, with all your money and pride, and keep my mouth shut day after day? No, I can't! It's my job to have sex with people like you! Do you think I enjoy it? I hate it! Do you have any idea how much I hate it?!" she screamed angrily. "I'm a goddamn whore! I'm not like you; I don't get to live in a fairytale! I'm living in hell! I hardly feel human anymore! I'm about to lose everything that matters to me and then I will be fucking alone!"

She didn't know where she was finding the nerve to say all this. James and Mary didn't deserve her anger. They were like a second family. They did everything they could to help her. They were the only people in the world Belle could truly call her friends. She was just stressed to the breaking point, unable to hold back the tears. Yelling hadn't done any good, though, and now she had something new to be upset about—the looks on her friends' faces. Mary was crying—actually crying! God, she hadn't seen little miss Snow White cry since her father had died several years ago. "I'm… I'm sorry guys," she apologized weakly. "I'm okay, really. I think I just need some air." She bolted from the room before either of them could protest. She wanted to hug them with all her strength and beg their forgiveness for her outburst, but at the same time, she had needed to get all that pent-up rage out of her system. She couldn't help it. It was all true. She was nothing but a goddamn whore.

The balcony was quiet. She was the only person out there, which was a relief. Just her and the cool night air and… her. Coming here tonight had been a bad idea. Everything had been perfect at first; baking cupcakes and laughing with Emma. But then Gold had entered the scene and her nerves had taken over. What the bloody hell was wrong with her?! She never screamed like that, especially at Mary and James.

Oh God, what if Emma had overheard her little rant? What if she found out about her Auntie Belle's night job? If Emma found out, what would the little girl think of her? Emma looked up to her like some kind of idol. The little swan was always telling her how brave she was and what a great warrior she would make. Belle was Emma's role model, little as she deserved to be.

"Trouble in paradise?" a Scottish-accented voice piped up behind her. She didn't even bother to turn around. It was obvious who it was, though why he was here was still a mystery to be solved.

"What the hell do you want?" she snapped.

He sighed. "I overheard your talk with the Nolans, and decided to check up on you."

"You don't even know me. What do you care?"

He shuffled slowly toward her, coming to stand at her side, his eyes fixed intently on her body. "Well, maybe because you were wrong." She looked up at him with wet, red eyes, and he smiled sadly. "No life is a fairytale, Belle. Our lives can suck as badly as anyone's. Maybe we don't have money problems, but we have our share of personal problems…and then some. Death, divorce, separation. But hopefully, there are enough good things in life to cancel out the bad ones."

"Unless you're me," she whispered.

He laughed darkly. "You think you've got it bad, just because you're making sacrifices for money? Well, that is an interesting theory. Regardless, I can tell you one thing, Belle. From what I've seen today, you have a lot of people who love you. Especially Emma. The girl looks up to you like a mother. You don't see that every day. You seem great with kids. I think my Bae is falling in love with you." He paused, taking a deep breath. "You're right, I don't really know you. But I would love to, if you'd let me." She stared blankly into his eyes. "You're not a whore—not in my eyes. All I see is a sweet, beautiful young woman with a heart of gold. I don't think I'm the only one who sees it, either. The real question is, why don't you see it?"

She didn't know what to say to that. Yesterday she'd been screwing him for money, and today he was giving her a pep talk? Everything about this situation was so wrong. Everything about this man was so wrong. This man she couldn't stop thinking of…

They stood there for a long moment without saying a single word. Part of her wanted to talk, to open up to this stranger. At the same time, though, all the stress seemed to have frozen her heart. She wasn't going to do it. Not now… probably not ever. Logically, she knew that this wasn't going to follow the formula in her books: boy meets girl, boy likes girl, girl likes boy, they fall in love. This, sadly, was real life, and real life didn't work that way. Gold may have said some beautiful things to her, but that didn't make him any different from the other men she'd been with. He, too, wanted power over her—he was just using a different tactic. She had no reason to trust him.

She gave him one last look and went back inside. It was almost dinner time and she still needed to frost the cupcakes. Besides, she owed Mary a hug and an apology.

Everything seemed a bit easier, now that she'd gotten her feelings off her chest. Gold was making himself scarce for now. She tried to relax and focus on the Nolans' party, or dinner, or reunion, or whatever else James was calling it today. She crept back into the empty dining room, only to realize, with a horrible sinking feeling, that it wasn't empty anymore.

A strong male voice rang out behind her. "Hello Belle."