In which a simple case of mistaken identity comes full circle.

Trigger warning: There are some allusions to an underage relationship.

There were few things in this world that Keith Nottingham knew for certain, but chief among those were that his 1969 Chevy Camaro SS was the greatest car in the world, there would never be anyone cooler than Steve McQueen, and Lacey French was his girl, no questions asked. Anyone who dared to argue with him on any of those three fronts would be at the receiving end of his fist. Well, Keith didn't like to fight so maybe not a fist. But they'd at least be on the receiving end of a lengthy, alcohol fueled lecture.

It was that last point that was needling him tonight. Ever since the night he met Lacey, outside the Rabbit Hole two weeks shy of her eighteenth birthday, he'd known she was the girl for him. She was like a contained explosion, you never knew what you were going to get with Lacey but he was happy to spend the rest of his life being surprised. She was five feet of perfection; gorgeous body, gorgeous face, and a bloody life changing fuck to top it all off. And sure, he fooled around on her every once in a while, but Lacey always inevitably found out. She'd explode, he'd apologize, they'd fuck like animals against a wall somewhere and the status quo would be reset. They'd split up occasionally in the past, but it never took. He was addicted to Lacey, and he knew deep down she felt the same about him.

But tonight she was acting strange. He almost thought she might have heard about the thing with the waitress from last weekend, but she hadn't yelled or punched him so it couldn't be that. Then she'd sent him inside to get her a drink like some servant while she stayed outside talking to Gold. God only knew what business she had with that old bastard, but he didn't trust him as far as he could throw him. If he wasn't so certain Lacey would rather quit drinking cold turkey than fuck Gold, he might be jealous.

Regardless, his interest was piqued, and after downing a quick shot at the bar, he made his way back outside.

It was with a jolt that he saw Lacey stomping off toward Gold's Cadillac in a snit. A moment later Gold had joined her and they'd driven off together.

What the fuck was happening? First Lacey was acting like a nutcase outside the bar and now she was leaving with his landlord? Rage boiled up inside Keith. He couldn't imagine his girl ever going for a man like that, but he couldn't deny what he'd seen with his own eyes. Gold owned half the town; he could very easily make Keith's life a living hell. But his usual sense of self-preservation just wasn't kicking in. Lacey was his, and it was time the old fucker realized it.

He hopped in his Camaro, following behind the Cadillac at a distance. Wherever those two were going together, it wasn't going to be pretty when Keith caught up to them.

Lacey checked her watch for the seventh time that minute, letting out a frustrated groan before pressing Belle's pre set number in her phone. At the sound of Belle's voicemail, once again, she slammed her hand against the grafittied bathroom wall.

"Belle! Where the hell are you?" she screeched into her phone. "I was supposed to meet you fifteen minutes ago. Call me!"

She hung up right as Ruby sauntered into the bathroom, checking her lipstick in the mirror over the sink.

"Ruby!" Lacey latched on to her friend. "You've got to help me. Have you seen Belle?"

"No," Ruby said with a shrug. "I think she might have been her earlier, but she left."

"What do you mean she left?" Lacey asked exasperatedly.

"She left," Ruby said slowly, as though talking to a small child. "She was here, now she's not."

Lacey rolled her eyes at her friend. "Was Keith with her?"

"Why would Keith be with Belle?" Ruby asked puzzled.

"Because Belle was supposed to be stalling him for me so I could get here to meet him. Now neither of them are here and Belle's not answering her phone."

"Call Keith then," Ruby said, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

"I can't call Keith, Ruby!" Lacey nearly shouted. "If he's with Belle, who is pretending to be me, it would ruin the entire plan!"

"Oh," Ruby said, cottoning on. "Well neither of them are here. I saw Keith at the bar earlier but he left too."

"You've been very helpful," Lacey said sarcastically.

"I try," Ruby replied with a wink before heading back out into the bar.

Lacey slammed her hand against the wall again. Well, there was no use waiting it out in the bathroom if her sister was never going to show and Keith wasn't around. She followed Ruby out of the bathroom and headed to the bar hoping one of the bartenders had seen her sister.

Belle had promised to help. It was completely unlike her to skip out when Lacey needed her. She worried, for a split second, that maybe Keith had realized their deception and done something to Belle. But her boyfriend was mostly harmless. If he'd somehow worked out that Belle wasn't Lacey, he'd have tracked her down to yell at her and then cry. That was his usual m.o. anyway.

Peter, the bartender, came her way with her usual whiskey sour and reiterated what Ruby had already told her. Keith had been there earlier but split soon after.

She sucked down the drink as fast as she could and then headed out into the night. If Keith wasn't concerned with meeting up, then she wouldn't be either. Her date had gone reasonably well, and there was no reason not to cut Keith off anyway.

She'd thought he was cute when she was 17 and he seemed older and sophisticated. She'd always had a thing for British accents, and on top of that he'd had a cool car and wasn't in high school. Now she was nearing 20 and realized Keith was a fucking idiot. What kind of pathetic loser hung around the bar at 28 scoping out high school girls? It was far past time to end this toxic little thing they had. Besides, she rather thought she was getting a little old for his tastes.

The walk home took no time at all and pretty soon Lacey found herself staring at the front door of her dad's apartment. She could hear the strains of some old sitcom coming from inside and gritted her teeth. She really had to get her own place.

Having Belle back for the summer only threw into relief what a mess her life really was. Her sister had a plan, a goal she was working toward. Lacey was just floundering.

With a sigh, she pushed open the front door, waving to her dad on her way to the bathroom to shower and get ready for bed.

Once she was clean, the night's makeup cleared away and her wet hair curling about her shoulders, she pulled on an oversized t-shirt and comfortable pair of sweat pants. She was slightly put out that she'd rushed out of her date to meet up with Keith all for naught, but it was probably for the best that she hadn't gone home with this one on the first date. He was a classy guy, had taken her to a nice restaurant. It wasn't what Lacey was used to, but she thought she could grow to like it. She had even dressed the part, borrowing one of Belle's dresses and going light on the hairspray.

As she headed back out to the kitchen for a glass of water, she heard raised voices that for once weren't coming from the television.

"She's not here, so you can get the hell out of my house," she heard her father yell.

"Look, Mr. French, I know you've never liked me, but you're going to want to hear what I have to say."

"Keith?" Lacey said, surprised, walking into the front hall. "What are you doing here?"

"Trying to save your stupid sister from a world of trouble," he told her, turning back to face her father. "Mr. French, Lacey is cheating on me with Mr. Gold."

"Oh, Christ," Lacey sighed, leaning against the doorframe. So that's what had happened. Gold must have come along and ruined everything.

"Are you drunk?" her father asked, leaning forward to sniff the air around Keith.

"I wouldn't have believed it either if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes," Keith said, though his bloodshot eyes did lend credence to the drunk theory. "She left the Rabbit Hole with him and I followed them. Saw her fucking him in the front seat of his car. I would have done something to stop them, but I thought you should know."

"You mean you were too cowardly to confront Gold," he father growled. "Fat lot of good you are."

With a glance down at her clothes, Lacey came to an important decision. Her life was already fucked, but she could still save Belle.

"I didn't want to say anything, but Lacey has been seeing him for a few weeks," she said, changing her voice ever so slightly to seamlessly transition into Belle. "Dad, please don't be angry with her."

Her father's face changed from the confusion he'd worn when speaking to Keith to utter outrage in the blink of an eye. He would never question the veracity of something Belle told him to be true.

"What the goddamned hell!" he cried, rushing toward Lacey. "You knew about this? Why didn't you stop her?"

"She's an adult, Dad," Lacey said, forcing tears to her eyes. "She can make her own choices."

"Your sister is an idiot and you know it," her father said, and Lacey blanched at his assessment. "She's never made a good decision in her life. I count on you to keep her in line, Petal!"

"Well I guess I messed up," she replied, glancing down at her bare feet.

"What does she think she's doing?" her father continued, whipping himself into a frenzy. "It's one thing to whore around with fuck ups like you – " he gestured at Keith.

"Hey!" Keith said, affronted, but her father continued as if he hadn't interrupted.

"—But Gold is dangerous! The man's a monster, and he's made our family's life a living hell. Well I don't care how much of this town he owns, he's not getting my daughter."

With that her father barged out the front door of the apartment, Keith close on his heels. Lacey grabbed a pair of Belle's running shoes from beside the door and tugged them on as she trailed after them. She was already a disappointment to her father; she wouldn't let Belle fall in his estimation as well. Her sister constantly saved her, but tonight it was her turn to do the same.

Belle awoke to John shifting beneath her. He wrapped his arms more tightly around her as he let out a sleepy little sound that made her smile. She was in no hurry to get up. Her head was pillowed on Gold's chest, his heartbeat thrumming beneath her ear. He'd pulled a blanket over them from the back of sofa, but they were both naked underneath, his warm skin pressed against hers. She felt completely content, though she knew it was only a matter of time before she'd have to get dressed and head home. Hopefully soon that wouldn't be the case. She looked forward to the day when she could spend the night in his bed and wake up in his arms.

They'd fallen asleep on the sofa after a long conversation about the best way to make their relationship public. They would have to tell her father first, and while John didn't seem too keen on the idea, Belle couldn't wait until she no longer had to hide. She was in love, and she wanted everyone to know it.

Despite her excitement, she was still slightly nervous about her father's reaction. She was sure he wouldn't understand. His bias against Mr. Gold was long founded, and she was sure his mind wouldn't be changed overnight. But she hoped if they just got to know each other, if John showed the rest of the world the man he was beneath his rough exterior, that her family would come to accept him. She had Lacey in her corner, and experience showed her sister could convince their father of almost anything. She hoped this situation would be the same.

She glanced down at her watch, estimating that she had about an hour left until she would be expected home. She'd just started to drift back to sleep when she was roused by a loud banging.

John sat up with a snort, knocking her to the ground unintentionally.

"Belle?" he said sleepily, glancing around until he found her sprawled naked on the floor.

"Oh, sweetheart, I'm sorry," he apologized, helping her back up on the sofa and kissing her nose. "What was that noise?"

In answer to his question, the banging started again, rattling the stained glass window of his front door.

"There's someone at the door," Belle said uselessly.

"Well hang them," Gold said with a shrug. "It's the middle of the night. Whatever they want can wait."

He'd just pulled Belle into his arms, arranging them more comfortably on the sofa when the doorbell started buzzing followed by yelling.

"Gold!" a booming familiar voice called from outside. "I know you're in there! Open up you bastard!"

Belle felt her heart plummet to her knees.

"Well that could be anyone," Gold joked, smirking at her horror stricken face.

"It's my father," she whispered, suddenly keenly aware of just how naked she was, rumpled and reeking of sex. If her father walked in right now there would be no doubt of what they'd been up to.

"What do we do?" she asked panicked, barely daring to breathe lest she give away her presence to her irate father outside. And now that she thought about it, what exactly was he doing here in the first place?

Gold didn't answer, merely stood up and started pulling on his trousers.

"You're not going to answer the door, are you?" Belle hissed, jumping up to grab her own clothes off the floor.

"We have nothing to hide," he replied grimly.

"Please," she begged him as the banging on the front door started up again. "I don't want him to find out like this!"

"Well he obviously already suspects something," Gold said, motioning toward the foyer.

"Lacey," she said softly, the truth dawning on her.

"What?"

"I was so mad at you, I just left the bar. I didn't think. I didn't meet her and swap outfits. She probably got in trouble with Keith and wanted to get back at me!"

"You think your sister would do that?" he asked skeptically.

"No, but she's the only one who knows about us!"

The banging against the front door intensified, and Belle looked up at Gold with a terrified expression. He stared at her for a long moment before caving.

"Go out the back," he whispered. "I'll handle this."

She nodded, wrapping the blanket tightly around herself and heading for the back door when the front door slammed open with a resounding crash and the sound of splintered wood.

Belle froze halfway across the room as her father stormed in, red faced and wild eyed, with Keith right behind him and Lacey bringing up the rear. Her father looked from Gold, standing in the living room in nothing but his trousers, to Belle, wrapped up in a blanket and clutching her clothes in one hand, and let out a rasping noise that sounded like a wounded animal. Keith was licking his lips and glaring at Gold. Lacey just looked miserable.

"Mr. French," Gold said coolly. "Might I have an explanation for your breaking and entering? I'll expect you to pay for that door."

If it was possible, her father's face turned even redder. In fact he'd gone slightly purplish. Despite being mortified by his behavior, she was suddenly concerned for his heart.

"You!" her father sputtered, lifting a finger to point threateningly at Gold. "I'll kill you!"

With a speed that belied his age and size, her father rushed around the side of the couch with his arm raised threateningly. He plowed into Gold, knocking the smaller man against the wall and pinning him there.

"Dad, stop!" Belle cried, forgetting for a moment that she was wearing nothing but a throw blanket, and rushing forward.

"How dare you!" her father yelled, as Gold struggled to force him off. "That's my daughter! My little girl!"

"She's not a child," Gold gasped. "She's a grown woman and fully capable of making decisions for herself."

Moe let out an anguished sound, pulling his arm back as if to land a blow. But when he tried to bring one meaty fist down on Gold's head, the pawnbroker simply knocked his arm away with his cane, the gold tipped end colliding with Moe's forearm with a sickening crack.

Her father let out a yowl, stumbling backward and cradling his injured arm. Gold pushed away from the wall, rubbing at the back of his head with a grimace.

"Keith," her father roared, "get him!"

Keith's eyes widened at the order and he suddenly looked very nervous, backing away toward the ruined front door where Lacey was still standing.

"What did you do?" Belle asked her sister miserably.

"Lacey," her sister replied with a pointed look. "I tried to stop them, but they made me tell them everything."

"What are you talking about?" Belle asked. Why was her sister calling her Lacey? Was she trying to cover for her, taking the brunt of their father's displeasure and letting Belle off the hook? Well, Belle wasn't going to let her do that.

"Keith saw you two together," her father snarled. "What does he have on you? Do you owe him money?"

"What?" Belle sputtered, her attention diverted back to her father. "Of course not!"

"Then, why?" her father continued, stumbling back to sit on the sofa and still holding his arm. "Why would you do this? He's a monster!"

"He's not a monster, Dad," she said sadly, looking across the room toward John. "He's a wonderful man, and I love him."

Despite the awkwardness of their current situation, Gold's face split into a soft smile at her words, and it was enough to bolster Belle's confidence. This wasn't how she would have chosen to tell her father about them, but she couldn't regret it. She wanted to be with John, come hell or high water. It was time her father found out.

"You love him?" Keith roared, rounding on Belle. "When the fuck did this happen?"

"What does it matter to you?" Belle asked, confused.

"When my fucking girlfriend says she loves some other bloke, especially some old bloke with a limp!" he yelled. "Look, Lace, I've put up with a lot from you. I might even overlook this if you were getting paid or something. But if you're fucking him because you want to, then I'm sorry, we are through!"

Belle rolled her eyes, startled by Keith, and her own father's, apparent stupidity.

"I'm not Lacey, you bloody idiot!" she cried. "I'm Belle!"

"Nice try," Keith scoffed. "But I think I'd know my own girlfriend, thank you very much."

Behind him, Lacey was shaking her head frantically. But Belle had had enough. This whole situation began because she had pretended to be her sister, and she was tired of it. John hadn't bought the deception for a minute, but Keith and her father were only too happy to believe the worst of Lacey. Of the three men in the room, the one who knew them best was John Gold. It would be funny if it weren't so sad.

Making up her mind, Belle seized the sides of the blanket wrapped around her and held them open, revealing herself to Keith.

"Would you?" she smirked as Keith's eyes raked over her body. "Lacey has a tattoo on her left hip. Do you see a tattoo, Keith?"

Nottingham's cheeks went slightly red as he started to sputter. His eyes darted down to her hip before flicking up to stare at her breasts. Beside him, Lacey reached out and smacked his shoulder.

"Oi! Fuckbrains! Stop ogling my sister!"

He startled, turning to look at Lacey.

"Lace?"

In answer to his question, Lacey pulled down the waistband of her sweats revealing the small butterfly tattoo she'd gotten on her eighteenth birthday.

"Babe," Keith said with a smile. "Knew it was you…"

"You can't tell me apart from my fucking sister?" Lacey cried, smacking him in the arm again. "You try to rat on my sister to our dad? We're fucking through, Keith!"

"You can't mean that," he said with a hangdog expression. "We're made for each other Lacey."

"I know you fucked an underage Granny's waitress last weekend," Lacey said, crossing her arms against her chest. "Want me to call the cops?"

Keith gulped, eyes widening.

"She said she was eighteen!" he swore.

"She lied," Lacey smirked, pointing toward the door. "Now leave."

Keith nodded, glancing over to where Gold and Moe were watching the scene unfold with mouths slightly open.

"I meant no offense with the old bloke business," Keith directed to Gold, holding his hands up placatingly. "Personally I think the cane is quite dashing."

"Get out of my house," Gold growled threateningly. A second later, Keith had sprinted down the front steps and out into the night.

"Belle?" her father said shakily, his eyes wide with something akin to horror.

"Dad," she began. "I don't expect you to understand. But I need you to trust me. I love John and I know what I'm doing."

"Love?" her father replied miserably. "Love? Are you bloody insane!"

"No," she said firmly. "I love him. And if you just gave him a chance…"

"Get dressed," her father spat, standing from his place on the sofa. "We're leaving, you're getting on the first bus back to Boston, and you're never going to see this bastard again."

"No," Belle said resolutely. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Isabelle Marie French, you are my child and you will do as I say!" her father yelled.

Her reply was interrupted by a sharp knock on the open door followed by the arrival of Sheriff Swan, picking her way over splintered wood with wide eyes.

"Uh, we had a call down at the station of a possible domestic disturbance," Emma said, taking in the scene in front of her. Her eyes flicked from the smashed in front door to Gold, standing shirtless in the living room to Belle, with her blanket partially open, to Moe, cradling his possibly broken arm and finally to Lacey, who comparatively looked to be the most normal of the lot. "If I didn't see it, I wouldn't believe it. Any idea why Keith Nottingham was high tailing it down the street?"

"I dumped him," Lacey said proudly.

Emma gave her an approving look.

"Sheriff, I want you to arrest this man!" Moe pleaded, pointing at Gold. "He's molesting my daughter!"

"He's absolutely not," Belle cried over him. "Anything that has happened between us has been completely consensual."

"Arrest him anyway!" Moe cried frantically. "She's just a child and he's taking advantage of her!"

"Mr. French," Emma said rationally. "If there's a consensual relationship between Mr. Gold and your daughter there is nothing I can do about it. She's a legal adult."

Despite her words, Emma was eyeing Gold suspiciously.

"If anyone should be arrested tonight, it's the man who busted down my door," Gold intoned, but no one was listening to him.

"You know what he's like," her father continued. "My Belle is a good girl, he must have hoodwinked her somehow."

"Dad, that's enough!" Belle cried. "Mr. Gold isn't blackmailing me, I don't owe him money, he hasn't tricked me into anything. I love him. As the sheriff said, I'm an adult and I can make decisions for myself, especially about who I choose to spend my time with. You might not always agree with them, but that doesn't change the fact that no one decides my fate but me. I'm sorry you feel the way you do, but you don't really have a say in this relationship."

She finished, her chest heaving. Sheriff Swan looked mildly impressed, Lacey was beaming at her, but her father looked disgusted.

"You're no daughter of mine," he muttered. "Sheriff Swan, if you don't mind, I think I need a ride to the hospital. This animal broke my arm."

"After you broke into his house and threw him against a wall," Lacey said. "I'm sorry Dad, but you have no one to blame for that but yourself."

Moe sputtered, looking back and forth between his daughters with sad eyes. Then without another word, he walked out the front door toward the sheriff's cruiser.

"Did he really break in?" Emma asked the room at large.

"Yes," all three answered in sync.

"I wouldn't have thought he had it in him," she replied with a shrug. "Do you want to press charges?"

Gold just shook his head. "He was overwrought. If I were in his position I'd probably have done the same."

Emma nodded, stuffing her hands into her jeans pockets. "Well I guess I'll get him to the hospital then. Just try to keep it down. No more disturbances. I definitely don't want to get involved with whatever the hell is going on here. I do expect you all to come by the station and give a statement tomorrow, though."

With one final piercing look at Gold, she followed Moe out to the cruiser.

"I'll go with them," Lacey said, glancing over her shoulder. "He'll calm down, Belle. Trust me, he's been spitting mad at me before and it never lasts for long."

Belle just nodded stiffly as her sister departed with one final wave, pulling the splintered door shut behind her.

Belle let out a shuddering breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

"Well, now everyone knows," she said, walking over to Gold and leaning her head against his chest. "For better or worse."

"I'm sorry, Belle," he whispered, gripping her by her shoulders and pushing her away from his body.

"For what?" she asked. "None of this was your fault."

"Maybe it was a mistake taking our relationship public. Maybe it should have stayed in the shadows."

"We didn't make it public," she pointed out. "Keith did. If I'd had a chance to sit down and talk to my father without all this racket…"

"You think it would be any different?" Gold asked, spreading his hands wide. "Your father hates me, Belle, and rightly so. I've not made life easy for him nor anyone else in this town."

"You're a businessman," she said with a shrug.

"I'm a bastard," he laughed mirthlessly. "All I've cared about is money and winning and power. Until you. Maybe it's time I do the unselfish thing for once in my life."

"What are you saying?" she asked, suddenly fearful.

"I have to let you go."

"Absolutely not!" Belle cried, grabbing him by the arm. "You love me, you said so yourself!"

"I do love you, sweetheart," he said, cupping her cheek. "If I loved you less, I would hold on to you. But I can't do that."

"But I love you," she said frantically, amazed at how many emotions a human being could feel in one night; from anger, to buoyant happiness, to fear, to dread. "What else matters but that?"

"You saw the way your father reacted," he said, his hands trailing down her arms and lingering at her hands. "The way the sheriff looked at us, and she's one of the more open minded in town. How do you think the rest of the world will view our relationship?"

"I don't care," Belle gasped out, tears stinging her eyes. She couldn't believe this relationship could go from I love you's to ending in the span of a few hours. She wouldn't let it happen. "I don't care what anyone thinks. I just want you."

"You don't care now, but you will. Trust me, sweetheart."

"No!" she exclaimed, stepping away from him. "You don't get to decide for me. There are two of us in this relationship, and I'm saying no."

"Belle –"

She silenced his words with a kiss, pressing her lips against his almost painfully. Her hands found their way into his hair, holding him close as she poured all her desperation, all her fears into a single kiss.

He resisted for a moment, but soon his hands found her waist, pulling her against him and opening his mouth to hers.

The kiss was searing, fueled by desperation and anger and sadness. And there was something niggling at the back of her mind, telling her this would be the last kiss if she didn't fight it.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, unwilling to let him go even to catch her breath. Finally, when she started to grow lightheaded, she pulled away, as he pressed his forehead to hers.

"I can't let you go," she murmured sadly. "If you really love me, you'll realize that."

"But your father –"

"He's an idiot," she cut across him. "And he'll get used to it once he has a chance to calm down."

"What if he doesn't?" Gold asked, pulling back to look her in the eye. "What if he makes you choose?"

"I already made my choice," she replied, with a sad smile. "I made my choice the moment I stole Lacey's shorts and my father's whiskey. The night I decided to see just how far I could push a school girl crush."

"I quite liked those shorts," Gold murmured.

"I'll see if I can borrow them again," she said, kissing him again, less desperate this time but no less passionate.

"Belle, are you absolutely certain?" he asked, breaking away from her lips.

She shrugged. "Who can be certain of anything? But I know I want this, I want you."

"So we're really doing this?" he mused. "Fuck long distance, fuck the town, fuck your family?"

"I love you, and you love me," she grinned. "Everything else will sort itself out."

He kissed her one more time, maneuvering her back toward the sofa, letting the blanket drop from around her body as he did so.

"I hope your optimism rubs off on me," he said as he pushed her down on to the sofa, blanketing her with his body.

She reached a hand down, cupping him through the fabric of his pants.

"I can rub off on you," she smirked. "Can't promise optimism though."

He growled, trailing kisses down her neck as he made his way to her chest. He planted a kiss against her right nipple, sucking the little bud into his mouth, before he let her go with a pop.

"Hold on a moment, you flashed Keith."

Belle blushed, feeling the heat spread from her cheeks down across her chest.

"It was a spur of the moment decision," she said with a shrug.

"Don't do that again," he said with a shake of his head.

"I think I can safely promise that," Belle said with a giggle.

"I'm evicting him," Gold said resolutely.

"John!" she squeaked, slapping him lightly against his shoulder.

"What?" he said, affronted. "This town should know that no one gets to look at my girlfriend's perfect breasts without consequences."

Belle's heart gave a little flutter. "You called me your girlfriend."

A slow smile spread across Gold's face. "That's what you are."

Belle couldn't help her smile as she pulled him down for another kiss, attacking the button on his trousers and pushing them down off his hips.

"Well right now, I want my boyfriend to make love to me."

He didn't need to be told twice, entering her with one swift movement. Belle cried out, arching her back off the sofa as he moved above her, maintaining eye contact the whole time. She reached a hand up to cup his cheek and he turned his face into the caress.

"I love you," she whispered, as he rolled his hips against hers hitting a place deep inside her that made her see stars.

And wasn't that the most important thing? They were in love. The rest of it was just details.