I’m sorry I have the attention span of a goldfish. When questions require thought I think that fatal thing of “I’ll have to do that later” and then oops.

The cardinal rule is “don’t fall for the mark” so Belle had no intention of falling in love with Julian Gold. She focused on all the disagreeable facts in his profile but it was difficult. She had to make him fall in love with her. So she couldn’t stoke the fires of negativity too much because on the surface she had to appear to like him, and unfortunately it was far too easy to like him.

He made her laugh, he listened to her, they could discuss anything; he didn’t dwarf her physically, she felt like she fit into his arms and what was scary is that she felt safe with him. When Belle realized that she wanted to run a mile because Gold was the enemy, she shouldn’t feel at home in his arms, but she had her assignment and she didn’t want to fail.

Was there a specific moment that made her fall in love? I don’t think so, I think it was a gradual thing until they were doing something perfectly innocuous one day, like a lazy Sunday watching movies or something, and it hit her like a thunderbolt. Belle panicked, ran to the bathroom, breathing like she’d run a marathon because she couldn’t love him, that broke the rule and it would complicate everything.

Then the little voice in the back of her head suggested it wasn’t such a bad thing, it would be easier to keep cover if it wasn’t a lie. However, Belle could never really relax and enjoy her life because she always had a ticking clock in her head. She knew that their happiness – being together, couldn’t last and that one day she would lose him. Sometimes she kissed him a bit too desperately, or hugged him too tightly. Belle told him that she loved him every day because she wanted him to know, and to maybe believe deep down, even though she knew she was going to break his heart.

Always remember that I love you…