Wow, I'm so sorry this took so long to get up you guys. I've been so busy with a lot of things recently, but here it is! Thanks again to Megan and Morgan for looking over this as I worked on it, and saw all the dumb notes I had written in before flushing out ideas. I love you guys so freaking much ; ; Again, I don't own Once Upon A Time, if I did it would turn into Rumbelle 24/7

A few silent moments passed after the words from the counselor, and a silence had settled into the room. Miss French, or Belle, Calder wasn't sure how he was going to address her yet, was staring right back at him. He had never been more unnerved by being in the simple presence of anyone like Miss French, and after he referred to her as Miss French in his mind it hadn't sounded all that fitting. Calder mulled over the idea of calling her Miss French, despite his instinct telling him to refer to her as Belle instead, it was formal but it didn't capture her as a person like her first name did. Her name, Belle, had a certain feeling to it that Calder wanted to repeat over and over so he could constantly hear it. The name Belle, on top of feeling right, also equally matched her in looks and demeanor, Calder decided. She was all around beautiful in Calder's eyes, and he couldn't help indulging himself, even though he knew it was wrong on every level, by ignoring everything apart from her that was in the office.

"Uhm, Mr. Gold?"

Her voice pulled Calder out of his thoughts, and back to the conversation. What had she been asking him, he thought.

"What was that, dearie?" he said. Calder internally smacked the side of his head for his reply. Already a few seconds into the conversation and he had started to screw it up with his own default personality.

"I asked where you wanted to start." She smiled at him, seemingly unwavered by the fact that Calder had obviously zoned out earlier.

"Well you're the counselor, dearie. Isn't that your job to start us off?" Another quick remark that Calder regretted instantly the moment it fell out of his mouth. Normally he would never care about what words slipped through his mouth, nobody had deemed themselves worthy of a second glance from Calder Gold, but when he had spoken those words to Belle he felt a sour taste in his mouth.

"Hmmm, well why don't we start with a 'get-to-know-you' activity? Does that sound okay, dearie?" she quipped, a smirk accenting the emphasis on dearie.

Calder had to hand it to the woman; she could easily handle his default nature unlike the other residents of Storybrooke. Most would've backed down and catered to his every demand so they could avoid the full potential of his wrath. This woman though wasn't afraid to stand up to the beast of a man Calder knew he could be and was at his core.

"Fine by me, dearie." He threw his own smirk in retaliation at the woman across from him as he leaned back in his chair slightly. If she wanted to provoke the beast, whatever her intentions were, he wasn't going to make it easy. Though he wasn't too sure if it was out of protection of himself or if he was truly a bastard at heart.

A grunt from the side of Calder, causing him to look over toward the sound, reminded him that his son was still in the room with them, which made him add, "That okay with you, Bae?"

Calder scolded himself for easily forgetting the initial reason they came here. Belle had easily gotten under his skin from the moment she turned around earlier, and combined with her accent accentuated by her giggle, on top of everything else, had Calder hooked immediately. As his thoughts drifted back to Belle, Calder again scolded himself for thinking of her in that manner. They were here for counseling only, not flirting, if Calder even wanted to acknowledge it at all, and to get Regina off of his back. Baelfire was his first concern, and this Belle French wasn't going to distract him from that goal. Besides, Calder knew in his heart that if he tried to pursue her that she'd never be able to love someone like him. Especially if she saw him in his true nature, an angry beast who only cared about having the upper hand at all times no matter who he was up against.

"Whatever." Baelfire replied. He sank further into his chair, if that was even possible, and looked past Belle.

Calder's eyebrows furrowed at his son's reaction, which caused him to look back over at Belle.

"Miss French, what I think Bae means to say is, what would these 'activities' you mentioned consist of?" The words slipped out of his mouth before he really knew what he was saying. Calder wanted to use her first name when talking with her, he couldn't deny himself the pleasure of wanting to hear it fall from his lips, but formalities had caught up with him and ruined his first chance of calling her Belle. Now he'd have to wait until she gave him permission to use her first name, and he hoped she would correct him sooner rather than later. On top of that, he probably sounded like some perverted bastard asking his question in that way too, he thought.

"Dropping the, dearie, huh? It's nothing too hard, just let me get out my balls."

His eyes widened, skin slightly crawling, at that comment while she rummaged through the drawer. Her face was unreadable as she said this before she shifted her body in the loveseat toward the nearby end table. Was it professional of someone in her position to say something like that to clients on a first meeting, he wondered. Baelfire looked unfazed by the comment, Calder figured his son had already tuned everything out and was thinking of something else by the look on his face, or at least he hoped Baelfire had, but Calder was positive this wasn't something a counselor should be mentioning.

"E-excuse me?" What was this woman thinking, he thought. This was supposed to be a counseling session for his son and him, not some weird sexual perversion episode. Regina was going to hear a word or two from Calder the next time he saw her, and he would make sure he'd be switching counselors for the next session. Though Calder wasn't sure at the moment if it was more out of spite for Regina sending him here in the first place or more so for himself. Damn his infatuation with this woman to hell, he wasn't going to let this slide by easily.

Belle's face lit up when she had apparently found what she was looking for within the end table, and sat upright again. Her face was still unreadable, causing Calder to become even more uncomfortable as he waited for an explanation, before it broke out into a small smile. The action confused Calder further, and made him unsure of where her earlier comment was leading up to.

Her own expression turned to slight confusion, most likely after seeing his own he thought, before revealing two foam balls in her hands.

"Stress balls Mr. Gold, what did you think I meant by that?" she giggled, holding the foam balls in her hands, before she continued, "But what I had in mind, for a game of sorts, was along the lines of just telling me about yourselves, and I'll do the same in turn. Nothing too difficult, I'm sure you'll be able to handle it, dearie."

There it was again, that mocking tone she had been using toward him whenever she spoke. Everytime she spoke, it felt like it was the two of them alone in the room without Baelfire sitting off to the side. With a smirk on her face, a smirk that Calder was beginning to grow weary of, she offered his son and him one of the foam balls. Calder took the foam ball from Belle's hand, noticing that Baelfire was, surprisingly, taking the offering as well, and looked at the woman suspiciously.

"What exactly is this supposed to help with, Miss French?" he said, referring to the stress balls his son and he were now holding.

The woman didn't miss a beat when replying, her smile returning back to one of politeness, "I find the use of stress balls help clients immensely when we're talking. Doing something with your hands usually distracts you in a way, and makes one feel more comfortable when opening up."

Immediately, Calder felt the room grow warm. There was certainly some kind of sexual undertone to her last statement, unless he was imagining the whole thing, he thought. If he hadn't been sure before if this counseling session was turning into some weird sexual perversion, he was far more positive by now. Regina would definitely have a convenient spike in price the next time she visited his shop. Calder looked over at his son, who was lightly tossing the stress ball between his hands, in an attempt to regain some kind of composure over himself.

"Does that answer your question, Mr. Gold?" she prompted, a sweet smile on her face.

Calder tore his attention away from his son to face Belle, and felt his heart tightening at the image of her smile. What little composure he had regained, if any, was lost instantly in that moment.

"Yes." Calder replied meekly.

"Okay then, who wants to start?"

Silence settled over the room. Calder's eyes kept flitting between Baelfire and Belle, not really sure exactly where he should keep them placed. He ultimately decided to focus on Belle, despite his internal warnings of how he probably shouldn't have chosen that as his option, and attempted to make it seem as if he were staring off to her side instead of directly at her.

The light coming from the right of the windows made her beauty stand out even more, Calder noted. Her dark hair was an almost auburn color now, slivers of red shining in the sunlight, and shifted every time she moved slightly. Calder squeezed the foam ball even tighter to keep him grounded so he wouldn't jump, well in reality limp around, the coffee table to hold those curls between his fingers. Belle's curls looked softer than any of the plethora of cashmere items of clothing Calder owned, not that he ever wore those items anyways, but that didn't matter at the moment. All that was filling Calder's mind was Belle French and her impeccable beauty, both physically and personality.

Calder regretted every bad thought he had about her the moment she walked into the office. He rarely ever misjudged people, let alone even considered giving them a second chance, but whatever dark magic Belle possessed had done its charm on him. It was something in the way she didn't stand down from him, even if he was being a bastard in the slightest, which impressed him.

The pawn shop owner felt his face growing red when Belle suddenly put her attention onto him. Calder instantly looked toward her impressive book collection trying to be casual, but he knew it was a lame attempt. Out of the corner of his eye, a small, knowing smile was on her mouth, and Calder swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat.

'Okay, you seriously need to stop staring at her. You're here for Bae and yourself to fix whatever gap has come between us, and not to be caught staring at counselors who are twice your junior.'

More silence settled into the room, creating a tension one could feel crawling up their own skin. Calder's eyes shifted slowly back over toward Belle as he tried to be subtle this time in staring at her. Nerves settled in his stomach when he noticed she was biting her lip slightly, seemingly trying to figure out what she should do to break the silence that kept growing. Calder hadn't noticed how plump her lips were earlier, and now all he could do was stare at them. Her lips were a sheer shade of pink, almost akin to that of fresh pink rose buds, and plump like full clouds on a lazy day. He wanted to feel Belle's lips against his own to test if they actually felt like soft clouds, and touch her hair to see if he could find the coppery strands within them that stood out in the sunlight.

A sudden tightness in his pants pulled him back down to the current situation, and how inappropriate it was for him to be in this predicament at the current moment. Panic began to set in as Calder thought about ways to calm himself down. There was no way he'd want to be called out on this by either Belle, let alone his son, and have to explain what was even going on in his mind. He'd have to think of something, other than Belle, fast to calm himself down.

Calder began to rack his brain for something, anything, to help return his body back to his previous state. At this point, with the rate his body was reacting to simply thinking of close contact with Belle, almost anything would do to help. He racked his mind for something that he'd have to do later this week that was the furthest thing away from sexy. Collecting the town rent was extremely un-sexy, a step in the right direction, he thought.

He kept going down this train of thought, the pain he'd be feeling in his knee from all the walking he'd have to do on rent day, the counting of said rent money to make sure it was all there, but it wasn't enough to calm himself down completely. Calder then thought of the possibility of running into Regina on rent collection day, as he always somehow managed to do, and that did the trick. The mere possibility of running into Regina, and hearing her gab about whatever to annoy him, was one of the absolutely un-sexiest things Calder could think of. The mere thought of it was enough for the forming tent in his pants to go down, and for him to release his death grip on the stress ball.

"You okay over there, Mr. Gold?" Belle's voice caused Calder to jump a bit, not expecting to be called on right after he had calmed down.

"Just fine, dearie." he replied.

She eyed him curiously; Calder assumed she already had an idea of what had just taken place, before she spoke.

"Alright, since nobody's making a jump here then, I'll pick who gets to talk first. Baelfire, do you want to start?"

Calder's heart sunk a bit when she didn't pick him to go first. 'No Calder, you're here for Bae first. He's the most important thing here right now.' he reminded himself, tightening his grip once again on the stress ball.

"Hmph."

It'd be a lie if Calder would say he wasn't curious as to how Belle was going to get Baelfire to open up. Short, clipped replies were usually what Calder expected to get out of him whenever they talked, well apart from when they got into screaming matches. Last night was evidence enough to that statement, and the thought of it instantly made Calder's heart grow even heavier the moment if flashed in his mind. It was definitely a moment Calder didn't want to think too much on than he had to.

"Let's start with an easy question. What's your favorite TV show?"

"I don't know." Baelfire replied as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh, I don't believe that for a second. You have to have at least one favorite show."

"...Game of Thrones."

Game of Thrones, but that's the one with all the gore and naked women, Calder thought. He wasn't sure how his son was watching this show, or even found out about it in the first place, because Calder sure wasn't paying for HBO, let alone any premium channels, on their cable bill. All those channels had adult themed programs that his son shouldn't be watching at such a young age. Granted, Baelfire was sixteen, but he was still the same little kid in Calder's eyes and he'd protect his son's innocence for as long as he could.

It had to have been either Killian or Emma, the only two friends Calder knew of from rare conversations with Baelfire that were longer than a few words, who had let him watch the program. He'd be having a little chat sooner than he had expected with both children's respective parents about what their children were watching the next time either showed up in his path. Calder was sure Mary Margaret would be shocked if she found out her precious daughter was watching this kind of a show without her knowledge. He smiled at the thought of breaking the news to her the next time he picked up Baelfire from school or if she showed up in his shop sooner than that.

"Game of Thrones, huh? Is that the show where one of the characters has a set of dragons?"

"Yeah."

Calder found himself intrigued by how intent Belle was at getting Baelfire to open up about something with more than a few words. The attempts made him feel a little better about himself because he knew that whenever he did put the effort into trying to have an actual conversation with his son he got the same results.

"Is that one your favorite characters, or is there another character you like better?" she asked, crossing her leg over the other again.

"Tyrion's my favorite."

A few more words from Baelfire than Calder expected, but not extremely surprising. Whenever he pressed Baelfire a bit, if Calder was feeling up to it, he'd get a few more words than the average one word. Usually when that happened though, it was followed by a huge fight that left either not really talking to the other ranging anywhere from a few hours to a few days.

"Oh, what's their part in the show?"

"Well, Tyrion's part of the Lannister family, and is kind of like the outcast of the family. He seems like the kind of person you wouldn't want to be around at all, but as the show goes on he becomes this really awesome guy you grow to love. Especially when he keeps trying to prove himself despite constantly being thrown off to the side by everyone he meets." A shy smile had settled onto Baelfire's face, Calder noticed, after he was done talking about his favorite character.

That was the most Calder had heard out of his son in, well, he couldn't remember how long. His jaw grew slack, surprised at how genuine Baelfire sounded when he talked about this character. There were days upon days that Calder could have never dreamed of hearing this much from his son, especially about a show he didn't want his son to watch, but here this incredible woman sitting across from him was able to easily get this information out of Baelfire. The fact that Belle, of all people within Storybrooke, was able to get this much out of his son impressed him, and Calder Gold wasn't an easily impressed man.

The rest of the conversation grew into muffled sounds as Calder stared at Belle again. Belle was obviously very engaged with the conversation she was having with his son, and it made Calder smile a bit. She was so animated when she talked, using her hands to emphasize her points. Now that he was looking at her while she was distracted, in a sense, Calder could fully take in her appearance without getting caught.

Calder thanked whoever had designed this room to have a wall of windows off to the right because the sunlight played beautifully on Belle's skin and hair. The natural light made the milky white skin of her legs look like the legs of an angel. It took all of his willpower, again, to not move around that table over to her so he could see if her legs were as soft as he imagined them to be. He imagined they felt as soft as a baby's skin, velvet to the touch, and Calder was willing to bet that her thighs, which were covered by her skirt, felt the same, if not better.

His dark eyes, that he could only assume were now filling with lust, moved up from her legs to her upper body. Belle's body was very petite, he had only seen her standing from a distance, but he assumed she was small in stature, and secretly wished she was wearing far less clothing than the button up and cardigan she had on right now. Calder cursed himself for even thinking of that, it was the most inappropriate thought he had had this entire session, and it was clearly not what he was here for. One look at his son off to the side, excitedly discussing something with Belle, was all it took for Calder to reel himself in and remember this was why they were here in the first place. It was naive, and selfish, of him to think that Belle, someone who was supposed to be helping Balefire and him, would even consider someone like himself as more than another client.

"Mr. Gold, are you still with us?" Belle asked, pulling Calder out of his thoughts.

How much time had passed since he had been staring at Belle, he wondered. It was obvious as both his son and Belle stared at him that Calder had zoned out for longer than he had intended.

"Sorry dearie, what did you say?"

"I asked if you and Baelfire watched Game of Thrones together."

"We don't." he clipped.

"Hmm, well do you have a favorite show then? Maybe something you watch with Baelfire?"

"He doesn't watch TV." Baelfire answered for him.

His son was right, Calder hardly watched television, if at all, and if he did it was usually for the news reports. Though news reports hardly seemed like an appropriate answer to what one's favorite television program they enjoyed to watch.

"Really now? Well then Mr. Gold, do you have a favorite hobby you like to do then?"

"Can't say that I do, dearie."

The truth in his words was almost painful. Calder didn't do anything of much interest. He was a simple person who happened to enjoy having power over others. Again, not quite the answer most people would use as a response.

"I don't believe that, you have to like doing something." The smile on her face seemed to almost challenge Calder, almost as if she knew every front he put up was an illusion she could easily pierce through.

"He spends most of his time in his shop refurbishing old junk."

The bitterness, even the words, in Baelfire's voice threw Calder off guard. It was something he hadn't expected him to say, let alone Calder was still surprised that Baelfire was talking this much.

"That's right. Don't you own the pawn shop in town Mr. Gold? It would make sense if you liked to refurbish old trinkets."

"Aye, I do. I guess refurbishing is something I enjoy doing."

"Do you want to tell me why you like it?"

Calder couldn't help indulging himself with how interested Belle seemed to be in awaiting his reply. He wanted to bask in the attention she was throwing towards him, even if it was something as small as a question about his hobby.

"It relaxes me." he finally answered.

"Is there anything else you like about it?"

He wanted to tell her every aspect he enjoyed about refurbishing, but only responded with, "Can't say there's much else, dearie." Yet again, Calder cursed himself internally for being so stubborn with this woman. She had been nothing but nice toward him, and Baelfire, and yet here he was throwing her off to the side like he did with everybody else that made contact with him.

She eyed him curiously, as if she knew Calder was holding back information. He secretly hoped she would drop the conversation there and move on. His refurbishings was something of a private manner that he did whenever he was stressed out, mostly from arguments with Baelfire, and he didn't want to open up about that, ever.

"Well, is there anything you want to ask me?" she asked.

Calder was grateful she had decided to switch topics, his body visibly relaxing in the chair. Though with the switch of topics, Calder wanted to instantly ask her a million questions. Most of his questions involved asking if she was single, he hadn't seen a ring on her hand as she was talking with Baelfire, and a whole other set of questions that he had deemed unacceptable in their current situation. Calder reminded himself, again for the umpteenth time this session that they were here for help and not to flirt. The reminder that she was half his junior was enough to sink his heart and not have him blurt out his questions.

"Do you have a favorite hobby?" Baelfire asked.

"Well, I love to read and collect books. Which is obvious by the giant book collection behind us." Belle replied with a giggle.

Baelfire's initiative took Calder by surprise, which seemed to be happening a lot today, he noted. His son had never been one for taking interest in someone who wasn't his own age, let alone actively talking with them. It made his growing admiration for the woman swell a bit more knowing she was able to talk this way with his son. Although, Calder doubted there were very few people Belle couldn't charm with her all around beauty.

"Oh, it looks like our time is up for today." Belle said.

Calder swore they had only been in this session for a few moments, that he had barely got to hear more about Belle, but he assumed he had zoned out more than he initially thought.

"It was nice getting to know both of you, and I hope we'll get to." she said, standing up from the loveseat.

The pawn shop owner followed in suit, dropping the stress ball into the seat behind him, and placed both of his hands atop of his cane handle. Belle then walked over to Baelfire first, again making Calder feel as if he was second best, when he knew he shouldn't even be jealous, to say goodbye.

His son then stood up, unwillingly, and was facing Belle. Baelfire still had his hands in his leather jacket, the normal blank expression he doted, one Calder had grown accustomed to, returning to his features. Belle then put her arm around Baelfire's shoulders, in an attempt at a hug, before he could try and squirm his way out of it. Calder chuckled lightly as his son shrugged off the counselor's hug.

"I'm going outside." Baelfire said, stepping away from Calder and

"He seems like a good kid." Belle whispered as Baelfire walked out into the waiting area.

"Aye, he is." Calder replied, his words feeling heavy as they hung in the air. He knew he was lying to some extent, knowing full well that Baelfire had been heading down the wrong path recently, but he ultimately knew his son was a good kid at heart.

Suddenly Belle was at his side, Calder didn't even know she had moved over next to him, and looking up at him. He noted that she was petite, as he had previously thought, but more than he had thought, due to the extra height she had from her heels. His breath quickened slightly as she moved in to give him a hug as well. The difference between this hug and the one Belle had given to Baelfire was that she had leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek.

Her lips felt as soft as Calder had imagined they would on his cheek. The kiss was a quick one, nothing more than a peck, and she was soon releasing him from the hug she held him in.

"I like you and your son, Mr. Gold. I hope I'll see you again on Friday when you pick up Baelfire, and for your next family session next week." she said once she was again standing at an appropriate distance. With a cheeky smile, Belle then turned on her heels and walked over to her desk.

Calder stood awkwardly in place, and attempted to recompose himself so he could leave. His cheek still felt warm from where her lips had previously been. Instead of being able to move, all he could do was stay rooted where he stood. He had to think of something else and get his mind off of Belle so he'd be able to leave.

"Mr. Gold, are you leaving or do I need to give you a reason to stay longer, dearie?" Belle's voice pulled him back into the present. She was now seated at her desk, had he been standing here longer than he had previously thought, a cheeky smile on her lips again as she shifted through some paperwork.

"I was just on my way out, dearie." He fumbled with the handle of his cane in an attempt to keep himself grounded.

"Okay, Mr. Gold. I'll see you on Friday." she replied, giving him a small wave before she replaced her focus on her paperwork.

The little minx, he thought. Calder gathered himself together long enough to slowly hobble out of the office, and back out into the main room where his son was hopefully still waiting in. As he exited the office, a huge breath, one he didn't know he had been holding, released from his body.

"Papa, can we go?" Baelfire asked once Calder had stepped outside of the office.

"Sure, Bae. Do you want to stop for ice cream on the way home as a treat?"

"I'm not a child, papa. What's wrong with you today?"

"Nothing's wrong, Bae. I just figured it'd be nice to reward ourselves for coming here though."

"Yeah, whatever." Baelfire replied, shrugging his shoulders slightly.

"So Bae, do you think you'll want to come back on Friday for your own session with Miss French?" Calder added, walking over to where his son was standing in the waiting area.

"I don't care." Baelfire replied as he walked out of the waiting room door.

Despite Baelfire's initial protest, and his lack of a final decision on both matters, Calder figured his son wouldn't at least object to the idea of stopping for ice cream once they were at the ice cream parlour. A smile crept onto Calder's face as he followed behind his son, and feelings of excitement crept over his body as he thought about Friday. He selfishly hoped that Baelfire would be more than willing to attend the one-on-one session he was supposed to have with Belle, if only so Calder could catch a glimpse of the woman. Maybe he wouldn't be switching counselors for these sessions like he had planned.