Synopsis: Belle French lives alone and she likes it that way. She’s lived alone ever since the terrible car accident which killed her mother and claimed her eyesight. Belle spends her days painting, in complete solitude, until one day she wakes up and hears movement outside. Somebody has moved into the cottage next door. She had grown comfortable in her solitary existence until Mr Gold crashes into her life. Now her future is uncertain, like a blank canvas, waiting for her to apply the paint and decide what kind of story she is creating.
Note: The thunderstorm is now over! Anyway, I think the update schedule for this is going to be every two weeks, which I know is a compromise. I would like it to be every week but with all my other projects I can’t manage that at the moment – maybe one day 🙂
In this chapter @rowofstars prompted “Maybe Nick
has a call with Neal and they fight about something stupid (Nick going back to
work for 4 days perhaps??) which puts Nick in a bad mood. This time Belle is
the one who is understanding and puts her issues aside to help a friend feel
better.”Warning: I probably should have put this on the other chapters as well. Deals with depression and anxiety.
On Tumblr: Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three
When Gold woke
up the next morning, the best description of his feelings would probably be
disquieted. He had been concerned about Belle from the moment they had met. Her
panic attack the day before had just deepened his concern. He could recognize
loneliness, it was an emotion he had felt in spades over the years but it
wasn’t just that, there was a lot more to it.As a general
rule Gold didn’t care about people, mostly because they had always disappointed
him. Belle had wormed her way under his defenses disturbingly quickly but he
couldn’t bring himself to mind. She was so fragile, and obviously in a lot of
pain, the blackened remains of his heart ached for her.He had so many
questions, and he wanted to help her but he wasn’t sure how. All he could think
to do was just be there, and let her
take the lead as much as possible. After all, Belle would presumably know what
was best for herself. He had felt awful that he had invited her for a walk and
it caused her such distress, that hadn’t been the idea at all.Their first few
meetings had been marked by always ending in a fight. After the last fight he
had thought Belle was a mystery, one he would enjoy solving over the three
months of his sabbatical. However, then she had come over and apologized, they
had tea and then dinner and he was forced to admit the truth.He was utterly
enchanted by her, he wanted to learn more about her because he cared, not just
to solve a puzzle. Belle seemed to want to be friends and that was more than
enough. He doubted she would ever return his affections and he resolved to
never let her discover them, it would only make her uncomfortable.Oh my god my unsure, awkward babies!!! Bless them. I was glad to see Gold not retreat or change the subject so readily because it made Belle deal with the conversation that was happening and what both of them had said. And it was good to see Belle’s defense mechanisms happen but not get in the way. It’s small but very important progress. I’m sure Neal will get over it eventually and I don’t feel like it was really breaking their deal. He cannot expect his father to let parts of his business fail when he could stop it. Granted, Regina should be able to handle things, but it’s very common for a top executive to take some leave and vultures try to swoop in. What Neal wants with his father is some kind of ideal or absolute, and that’s not possible or realistic. Being away from a business for that long is really really difficult when you’re the one in charge.
Wow, thank you so much! Your reviews are always so thoughtful and so helpful. Yeah next chapter Gold will talk to Neal and then that’s going to spark what happens in the chapter after that probably. I have some plans 🙂 I’m glad you are enjoying the fic!