This one is a bit on the angsty/dysfunctional family side. Because - well, that's kind of what the Golds do, they're not the Brady Bunch by any means! :) I know I've had a couple of chapters of fluff but it's time for Belle to deal with the reality of Nick's life, and for Nick to deal with the reality of his relationship with Belle and its impact on the people around him - namely Bae. :/
I do not own 'Once Upon a Time.'
Chapter 16
After his meeting with Albert Spencer, Nick returned home at about 10 a.m. The apartment was quiet, and Nick entered his bedroom assuming that Belle may have left to get coffee and breakfast, but she was still asleep in his bed. Nick quietly changed his clothes, removing his suit and putting on more casual attire. Belle woke up just as he was buttoning his shirt.
"I thought you were leaving early." she whispered. Nick sat down on the bed next to her and kissed her.
"Already went and came home, love. I didn't expect you to still be sleeping." Nick said.
"I was up late, I wasn't tired, I think I slept too much on the plane. Anyway, I read all of Philip's script last night finally." Belle said.
"And?" Nick asked.
"It's incredible. I have to do it." Belle said.
"Well, that really comes as no surprise, you do work well with him. You do what you like, love – I'll support whatever you decide." Nick said, and he gave her a quick kiss. "I'm going to go do some grocery shopping, I'll be back in bit."
"Grocery shopping?" Belle asked.
"Yes. You see dear, I don't have a magical assistant that runs all of my errands for me, I actually have to do that myself." Nick quipped.
"Well I want to go with you." Belle said. "Just let me get up and get a quick shower and get dressed."
"Sweetheart – it's ten in the morning. By the time you shower, decide what to wear, and fix your hair and face I could be to the store and back twice, AND have our lunch ready. As much as I enjoy your company and as much as we said that we want to spend time together – if grocery shopping with you is anything like other types of shopping with you, I think I'd rather this not be a 'couples' activity if you don't mind. I'd really like to avoid our first real fight for as long as possible and this very well may trigger it."
"Alright, fine." Belle said. "I do know how to grocery shop you know, it hasn't been that long since I've done that. But if you don't want me to go -"
"Oh for god's sake, fine Belle, you've got thirty minutes to get ready, this isn't Los Angeles, it's New York, the paparazzi aren't on every corner, and nobody gives a shit what you look like."
"Thirty minutes?" Belle asked. "How am I supposed to -"
"Twenty nine and a half minutes." Nick interrupted. Belle stuck her tongue out at him, got out of bed, and darted out of the room.
Almost a twenty five minutes later, Belle came back into the room. Her hair was brushed but not as precisely styled as she usually had it, and she had almost no makeup on. Nick was stretched out on the bed reading Philip's script as Belle sifted through the closet for something to wear. "I started putting some things away last night. You don't have enough closet space for me in this apartment." Belle said.
"Then don't have so many clothes." Nick said, not looking up at her. Belle rolled her eyes, chose an outfit, and got dressed.
"There – thirty minutes. Ready." Belle said. Nick continued to read. "Are we going, I thought you were in such a bloody hurry." Nick put the script aside and looked up at her.
"There's a sex scene in this film. And lots of kissing. I don't know if I like that." Nick said. Belle sat down next to him and smiled.
"Sweetheart – you've watched more than half of my films, almost all of them had kissing and sex scenes and those didn't seem to bother you." Belle said.
"Well those were done before you met me. I don't want some other man pawing at you and kissing you and removing your clothes." Nick told her.
"You do realize that I don't do nude scenes, first of all. I wear a body stocking in those scenes. And love scenes are very technical, there's nothing romantic about them. It's extremely difficult to get in a romantic mood when you have about six cameras pointed at you, lights so bright you can barely see, and hair and makeup people fussing with you every three minutes. And then there's the director telling you move your arm there, your leg here, turn your head this way, look over that way – you're welcome to be on the set when I'm shooting those days and see for yourself."
"I don't want to be there in the room during that! And I want to meet this bloke first, whoever he is that will be doing these scenes with you. I want to make sure he understands that – well that you're MINE." Nick said, and he pulled her close and kissed her.
"Are you going to offer him a similar display that you gave to poor Graham last night? Pointing that cane at him like a mad man, the poor guy was scared to death." Belle said.
"Good. He should be." Nick said.
"You know for a little guy, you have a large temper that can be – well, quite intimidating." Belle said.
"I've been told." Nick said.
"Well I don't like that. We're going to talk about your temper tantrums when we have these meetings with your therapist. You have control issues. You can't stand it if something doesn't go exactly the way you like. No wonder you were known to be such a monster on Wall Street."
"Sweetheart, you don't even know the half of it." Nick said. "I don't ever want you to be afraid of me, Belle. I would never hurt you. You know that, right?"
"I know." Belle replied. "Well come on, you were rushing me out the door to go shopping, I barely even had time to put makeup on, all I had time for was to do the base."
"You look lovely. You don't need all that makeup anyway. Let's go – we'll see if this is better or worse than clothing shopping." Nick said.
Worse. It was far worse. Belle looked at the nutritional details of every damn thing he put in the cart, complained about the quality of produce in New York versus California, and simply annoyed him in general. Nick reminded himself that this probably wasn't specifically celebrity behavior or even Belle behavior – this was girlfriend behavior, and although he was nearing fifty-three years of age, he had never had one of those before. He was starting to realize why. After their shopping trip, Nick and Belle made their way to his shop to see how things were going. "What the bloody hell? Where are all my tapestries?!" Nick shouted when then entered the store. His walls were empty aside from two lone tapestries that were still hanging. In addition, nearly half of his antique inventory was gone.
"Hey boss – you're back." Jefferson said.
"What happened to my store?" Nick asked. "Where is all my inventory?"
"Sold it." Jefferson said. "Apparently you being a famous actress' boyfriend is good for business."
"What about all the ones I have in the back?" Nick asked. "Why didn't you put them out?"
"I did – they're gone. That's all that's left. Oh, the one on the right is already sold, it's paid for, they just didn't want to take it with them at the time, they're picking it up today." Jefferson said. "Oh, and you have about a dozen special orders waiting. Ruby put a freeze on them after that, but – there's a waiting list." Nick went behind the counter and looked at the pile of paperwork that was waiting for him.
"Fuck. This will take me forever – I'm gonna have to contract some of my students to help out, I can't do all of this AND replenish my inventory." Nick said.
"I could help. I mean, I'm not as good as you but – I'm learning." Belle suggested. Two young girls entered the store.
"Oh my god you're here – you're really here!" one of them squealed. "Belle French – we're really big fans, we were hoping you'd be here!"
"We drove in from Jersey to shop and we thought we'd stop in – can we have a picture with you, please?" the other girl asked.
"Um – sure, of course." Belle said. Nick jotted down some notes as he watched the girls hand a camera to Jefferson and pose for a photo with Belle.
"Thanks!" the first girl said. "Can we get your autograph too?" The girl pulled a DVD out of her purse.
"River's Road, second season. That one was my favorite." Belle said.
"Mine too!" the girl said excitedly.
"What's your name?" Belle asked.
"Jennifer." she replied. Belle signed the DVD box and handed it back to her.
"Thank you Jennifer. Very nice to meet you." Belle said.
"Can you sign mine too?" the other girl asked. "My name is Ashley." Belle looked up at her, trying not to cringe at the name.
"Ah – Ashley. Right." Belle said, and then she looked at the DVD box – it was a copy of November Rain.
"It's my favorite movie." Ashley said.
"Of course it is." Belle said. She held back the eye roll she so desperately wanted to offer as she signed the case for the girl. "Thank you Ashley. Very nice to meet both of you. My new movie will be coming out at the end of the year, I just finished filming it, I hope you'll go see it."
"Oh we will! Thank so much!" Jennifer said. Both girls squealed as they left the store.
"I thought you were going to punch the poor girl named Ashley." Nick said as he came out from behind the counter.
"It's not her fault that she has a horrible name. Not to mention bad taste in movies." Belle said.
"So can I expect this kind of bullshit on a daily basis?" Nick asked.
"Pretty much. We were bombarded right after the article came out, and it's been a steady stream of five or six a day for the past week." Jefferson said.
"Should I set up an autograph booth for you in the back room?" Nick asked in a sarcastic tone.
"Nick, they're my fans. I wouldn't have my career if it weren't for them." Belle said. "It'll die down eventually. I'll sign a stack of photos and have you keep them here for anyone that comes in, how is that?"
"That's great. Could you make me a stack of about ten tapestries that quickly?" Nick asked.
"Nick, you – you sold your work, isn't that the point of having a business?" Belle asked.
"The point of business is to be able to keep up with supply and demand. I don't see how I can do that now. I can't keep up with rapid sales like this without hiring help. And when I hire help I lose revenue because I have to pay them. I haven't needed much of a staff before. Now apparently I do." Nick said. Belle sighed.
"And that's my fault? Nick, I'm sorry." Belle said, her voice trembling. Nick went to her side and put his arm around her.
"No, sweetheart, it's not your fault, it's just – circumstance, that's all. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. But I will probably be quite busy this week. I don't want to get any further behind." Nick said. He handed Jefferson the piece of paper he had been writing on. "This is what I need today. Please get it for me."
"Yes sir." Jefferson said, and he grabbed his coat and left.
"I'll be right back out, sweetheart." Belle said, and she went into the back room. Moments after she did, Bae entered the shop and looked up at Nick. "You're back." he remarked.
"Good to see you too, Bae." Nick said.
"I thought you weren't coming in until tomorrow." Bae said.
"We decided to leave a day early. There are quite a few things you didn't tell me, I've heard." Nick remarked.
"What was the point? You took off on a whim to chase after your little movie star girlfriend. You left me and Ruby and Jefferson to deal with the insanity of the press and paparazzi while you obviously sat outside by the pool getting a tan and having sex with Belle French all day for two weeks. You didn't give a shit!" Bae shouted.
"I didn't know what was going on here TO give a shit! I didn't know that my entire inventory was sold, or that you fucked up the best relationship you're ever going to have!" Nick shouted back.
"Oh, don't talk to me about fucking up relationships, dad – you've got that market cornered all on your own!" Bae shouted. Belle stepped out of the back room. "Oh look, speak of the devil – she actually came back with you, I wonder how long she'll stay this time. Ruby tells me you bought my dad an entire wardrobe out in California, must be fucking nice! Meanwhile, my kid has already outgrown half of his baby clothes and I'm working my ass off twelve hours a day to afford to buy him new ones."
"I – I can get him what he needs if you'd like, I don't mind -" Belle began, but Bae interrupted.
"I can take care of my kid, I don't want a damn thing from you." Bae said angrily. He tossed an envelope at Nick. "I have some antique dealers that want to sell with you, give them a call and set it up. I'm done being your errand boy."
"Bae, what the hell is your problem?! You don't get to come in here and speak to me like that, OR to Belle for that matter. I am still your father and I expect to be treated with respect, and Belle is part of my life now and you are to treat her in kind as well." Nick stated.
"You want me to start calling her 'Mommy' too? Cause that'll be awkward given that she was what, five years old when I was born?" Bae remarked.
"So was Jones, and I don't recall you hassling your mother with this kind of bullshit. If you want to pick a fight with me Bae, I'm fine with that, lord knows it won't be the first time. But you leave Belle alone." Nick said angrily. "Instead of hassling her and judging our relationship, perhaps you should work on your own damn personal life!"
"Go to hell." Bae said angrily, and he stomped out of the shop, slamming the door behind him. Nick sat down behind his desk and sighed, and Belle walked behind him and put her hands on his shoulders. Nick reached up and touched her hand.
"I smelled alcohol on him, I think he's been drinking." Belle said.
"Oh, I know he has been. Shit, this is worse than I thought." Nick said, and he leaned against Belle and sighed once again. "In case you ever wondered what I was like before my accident – that was a pretty good demonstration."
"You need to go talk to him." Belle said. "I can do whatever you need, make those calls for you, just tell me what to do."
"Thank you, sweetheart." Nick said. "I'm sorry about this – this isn't what I expected our first day back to be like."
"Well, at least it can't get worse, right?" Belle said.
"God, I hope not." Nick replied. He stood up and took Belle into his arms and hugged her tightly. "Well, at least this puts the shopping trip and your fan brigade into perspective. If that's the worst thing I have to contend with in regard to your presence here, I think we'll be alright."
"What do mean our shopping trip? It was grocery shopping, not clothing shopping." Belle said.
"And it was equally aggravating, if not more so. I really think we need to talk about that being a 'we do this alone' activity when we meet with Dr. Hopper. Belle pouted a bit. "And don't give me that look, I'm not one of your little fans, it doesn't work with me."
"How about this?" Belle asked. She snuck her hand up his shirt and rubbed his chest as she pulled him close to kiss him.
"Now that might work." Nick admitted, and he kissed her again.
Bae answered the door at Ruby's apartment. Nick was standing in front of him. "What?" Bae said coldly.
"Can I come in?" Nick asked. Bae gestured for him to enter.
"Where's Yoko?" Bae snipped as Nick made his way into the apartment.
"Belle is making some calls for me to the antique vendors, placing some orders, then she's getting dinner ready, and I don't appreciate your attitude toward her." Nick said.
"Well isn't she special? Cooks and works as your personal secretary. Let's see – what IS your track record with women like that again?" Bae asked in a snarky tone. Nick entered the living room and found a near empty wine bottle sitting on the end table, with no glass. Nick picked it up and waved it in front of Bae.
"Are you making a deliberate effort to turn into a carbon copy of me twenty years ago, or is this all for show?" Nick asked.
"I am NOTHING like you!" Bae shouted angrily, and he grabbed the bottle away from Nick, then took a drink.
"Let's see – incessant shouting, blaming your problems on everyone but yourself, fucking up every relationship you have, and drunk before five o'clock. I'd say you're pretty damned close. Should we sing a chorus of Cat's in the Cradle before we begin this conversation?" Nick quipped, and he sat down in the living room. Bae sat down across from him.
"What do you want me to say, dad? That I'm happy for you?" Bae asked.
"That would be a start, yes." Nick said.
"Sure. I'm fucking ecstatic for you and Belle, okay? Just don't come crying to me when she bolts yet again for whatever stupid shit sets her off next time." Bae said.
"She's not going to bolt. We've had a lot of time together the past two weeks, and contrary to what you may think, we did not spend all of it screwing one another's brains out. We have spent hours talking. Trying to make sense of how this is going to work. We've determined that no, it won't be easy, but we are going to make it work. We've both agreed to joint counseling, we have an appointment with Dr. Hopper day after tomorrow, actually. We want to be able to talk through this with a third party so that we can avoid any issues before they even occur. If I'd have had the brains to do that with your mother all those years ago, maybe things would have been different, but they are what they are. Belle and I will both have to make changes and sacrifices in order to be together, but we're willing to do that because we're in love. And if you had any fucking sense, you'd sober up, go see Emma on your knees, admit that you've been an ass, beg her to take you back, and find a professional to talk to so that you can work this out."
Bae began to sob, and he rested his head in his hands. "I fucked it up, dad. I fucked everything up." he admitted. Nick got up and went to sit on the sofa next to Bae. Bae turned to Nick and put his head on Nick's shoulder, still sobbing. Nick put his arm around Bae.
"It's alright, son. You can fix this. You can still fix this." Nick said. Bae just shook his head.
"Emma won't even talk to me. She makes Ruby go and get Henry and bring him over to visit, I haven't even seen her since you left." Bae said.
"What exactly happened, Bae?" Nick asked.
"After Emma got back from taking you to go after Belle, I went off on her. I was a total asshole. She took Henry and left the shop, and when I got home my clothes were in a pile outside the door, and she had it blocked so I couldn't get in, then she had the locks changed the next day. She said I could come back when I decided to grow the fuck up, and maybe she'd talk to me."
"Well, that's not an outright no then. How about I go talk to her?" Nick suggested.
"I'm not a kid, I really don't need my daddy to fight my battles for me." Bae told him.
"Well, given that I wasn't really there WHEN you were a kid, I think I owe you that much. And let's be honest – I think at times Emma likes me far more than she likes you." Nick said. Bae laughed a bit at his comment. "I'll do this on one condition. You make an effort to be nice to Belle."
"Nice to her? After the way she treated you?" Bae asked.
"Did I just not explain that we're working past that?" Nick said. "How do you expect Emma to work past your bullshit if you can't offer Belle the same courtesy?"
"I guess I'll try." Bae said.
"Thank you. Now go make some coffee, sober up, and get your fucking shit together before your sister throws you out, too." Nick said. Bae nodded in agreement. "Come over for dinner tomorrow at six. I'll invite Emma."
"You gonna tell her I'll be there?" Bae asked.
"Probably not. My advice – show up with flowers and a prepared apology. And you'd better have one for Belle, too. I'll see you later." Nick said, and he left the apartment.
"Nick, are you sure this is a good idea?" Belle asked as she helped him set the kitchen table.
"There aren't any knives on the counter, are there?" Nick asked.
"No." Belle replied.
"Well, we're good then. Unless Emma brings her gun, shit, forgot about that." Nick joked.
"Emma's not going to be happy with you." Belle said.
"What would you have me do, Belle? Sit back and watch my son's life implode the same way mine did? A lot of this is my fault, anyway." Nick said.
"How do you figure that?" Belle asked.
"Bae didn't exactly have an ideal role model of what a relationship should be. I think he knows what he wants but he has no damned clue how to keep it once he's got it. And apparently, like me, he doesn't handle it well when his shitty behavior implodes his entire world." Nick said. "It can't hurt to try – what's the worst that can happen?" The doorbell rang just as Nick said that.
"We're about to find out, I guess." Belle said. Nick went to the door and opened it. Emma stood outside with Henry in a baby carrier.
"Emma – come on in." Nick said, and he helped her with her jacket and hung it on the coat rack.
"You look good, Nick. California apparently agrees with you." Emma said.
"Yes, and so does Belle. I haven't had a chance to thank you for what you did – I'll be grateful to you forever." Nick said. "And how is my little grandson?" Nick beamed at the little boy in the carrier.
"He is actually starting to sleep through MOST of the night now, believe it or not." Emma said. She carried Henry into the living room and set his carrier down on the sofa. Nick immediately sat down next to him and cooed over him.
"My god, he's gotten so big in two weeks." Nick said. Belle came out of the kitchen.
"Everything is set." Belle said. "Hi Emma!"
"Emma, you remember Belle, of course." Nick said.
"No, I've completely forgotten that you somehow got a movie star to fall in love with you." Emma quipped. "So come on – you can tell me – he put some kind of voodoo curse on you or something, right? Or at the very least he's blackmailing you. You know that's against the law, right? I can arrest him for that." Belle laughed.
"That won't be necessary. Nick told me what you did – thank you for that." Belle said.
"Well, it's not every day that a guy willingly admits he was an idiot, you kind of want to help them fix things when they do." Emma said.
"Well, I'm glad you feel that way, Emma." Nick said, just as the doorbell rang.
"Why?" Emma asked. She eyed Nick suspiciously as he made his way to the door. He stepped out into the hallway, and when he returned, Bae was with him.
"Hey Emma." Bae said, and he smiled at her. He carried a bouquet of flowers in his hand. "These are for you." he said, and he offered the flowers to Emma. Emma looked up at Nick and glared at him.
"You conniving bastard." Emma said, and she stood up and picked up Henry's carrier.
"Emma, come on, can't you just talk to him?" Nick asked.
"You know Nick – sometimes you're just as much of an asshole as your son is." Emma said.
"Emma please - give him a chance." Belle said. "People make mistakes. I did." Emma reluctantly turned around and set Henry's carrier back down.
"I'll stay for dinner. But that's it." Emma said. Emma reluctantly took the flowers from Bae and set them down on the coffee table. Bae approached Henry and sat down next to him.
"Hey buddy – how's my boy doing?" Bae said. He picked Henry up out of his carrier and held him.
"I really wish you wouldn't fuss with him, he'll be cranky all evening now when you put him down." Emma said.
"He's my son – I have a right to hold him." Bae said.
"Bae, dinner is ready, Emma is right, let Henry be and you can play with him afterward." Nick suggested. Bae reluctantly set Henry back down in the carrier and they all made their way into the kitchen. Dinner with the four of them was awkwardly silent, peppered with limited polite conversation. Belle finally broke the silence.
"So – Emma – have you decided if you're going to return to work soon?" Belle asked.
"Well, I still have two more months on maternity leave, I haven't decided beyond that. It just depends if I can find someone to sit for Henry." Emma said.
"Well, maybe I could help – at least until filming starts." Belle said.
"What filming?" Bae asked.
"Belle is going to be doing a film that Philip Prince wrote and directed." Nick stated.
"Her ex? You're okay with that?" Emma asked, surprised.
"He's not my ex. He's my friend. Our relationship was a ruse to keep the press at bay, nothing more." Belle said. "He um – he's not interested in me that way. At all."
"No fucking way, really? Philip Prince? Holy shit." Emma said, completely understanding Belle's implication in her statement.
"He's a nice bloke, even if he is from London." Nick said.
"So where's this one filming? How long you gonna ditch my dad for this time?" Bae asked.
"Bae – enough." Nick said.
"It's filming here in New York, there will be just a few days shooting on site elsewhere, and Nick will probably go with me, Philip is arranging everything to make that happen." Belle said. "I got an email from August this morning too; I'll probably have to go back to LA in a few months to do some overdubbing for the film."
"What's that?" Nick asked.
"Just – redoing lines. Sometimes when we film, the microphones don't pick things up as clearly as they should, so we have to redo our lines in sync with the film. It's very tedious and a pain in the arse, but it's part of the process, I'm used to it." Belle said.
"Well, I'll go with you then." Nick said.
"Nick, I'll be in a studio about eight hours a day for several days. You'll be stuck at my house alone all day unless you want to come to the studio and watch, and trust me, after the first hour you'll be bored out of your mind." Belle said.
"I thought we agreed we won't spend another night apart. I'll find something to do. Maybe the two of you can tag along, bring Henry." Nick suggested to Bae and Emma.
"We can't afford a trip to California." Bae said.
"There's nothing to afford. I can take care of your plane tickets, it's no trouble. You can stay at my place, I have plenty of room. I have a driver that will take you wherever you like, or you can use one of my cars and drive yourself if you prefer." Belle said. "I have a pool, a hot tub, you could stay at the house and relax or go see sights."
"If Belle will be working all day I'd be glad to watch Henry for you while you go out and sightsee. I think it might be fun." Nick said.
"Hey, I'm sold. Count me in." Emma said.
"Do I get a vote?" Bae asked.
"I don't give a shit about your vote. I haven't had a vacation in years. I'd love to go." Emma said.
"So this is how it's gonna be from now on? You're gonna flit off to wherever any time she has to be somewhere?" Bae asked Nick.
"If I go anywhere with Belle from here on, I will make sure that the store is looked after. I will have plenty of notice." Nick said.
"It won't be forever. I have to finish my commitments on the film I did with August. Overdubbing, press junkets and such. Then I'll do Philip's film, I'll have the same commitments for him, and then I'm – taking a break." Belle said.
"From acting?" Emma asked.
"Yes. I'll be going to school in the fall." Belle said.
"Why?" Bae asked.
"Because I've always wanted to. I never got my degree and I've always regretted that. I'll be taking some classes at NYU – mainly literature classes, I'm thinking about being an English major, I haven't decided yet. I figured if I get some core classes out of the way I should have a better idea of what I want to do after that." Belle said.
"That's great. Good for you." Emma said. Bae rolled his eyes a bit, and Nick glared at him. More awkward silence continued as they finished dinner.
"Bae, how about we do the cleaning up, let the girls go out in the living room and chat a bit?" Nick suggested.
"Fine. Whatever." Bae said. Belle and Emma went in the other room as Nick and Bae began to clear the table and do the dishes.
"I thought that you were going to be nice to Belle." Nick said.
"I'm being nice." Bae said.
"You're being an ass. And you're not impressing Emma at all with your behavior." Nick said.
"Dad, it's pretty clear that she doesn't want to talk to me, she barely said two words to me during dinner." Bae said.
"Do you blame her with all of your passive-aggressive bullshit toward Belle? Belle cooked this dinner, did you know that? She worked very hard today to make things nice, she wants you and Ruby to like her. She's a nice girl and I love her. But you can't seem to see past the Hollywood shit and her past mistakes to notice that. I don't expect the two of you to be instant best friends, but I do expect effort on your part, is that too damned much to ask?" Nick asked.
"Dad – on top of all of the other shit I had to deal with while you were off basking in the California sun and hanging out with movie stars, I lost one of my best clients because of the Belle French bullcrap, did you know that? I had paparazzi hounding me for god knows what reason, and it spilled over into my work. Some asshole found out I was doing the books for a high profile law firm, and they started pestering me over there. The owner didn't want to put up with that crap, so they fired me. Do you know how much that account was worth? How the hell am I supposed to support my kid if I can't even hold a fucking client because of the baggage that comes along with YOUR girlfriend? You know what, Killian Jones may be an ass and I'm not all that fond of him, you know that, but at least his presence in mom's life didn't disrupt my career." Bae said angrily.
"Bae, I'm sorry. But this is going to pass. The attention span of the public is limited, they'll get bored of us eventually. And I agree it isn't fair that you have to deal with this crap, you didn't sign up for it, I did. I can talk to Belle and see if there's anything she can do." Nick said.
"Just let it go, dad. I don't want anything from her. Listen – I'll be polite to your girlfriend and all, but don't expect some magic bonding experience between us. Because it's not happening. And I doubt it ever will." Bae said.