Love is Layered

A/N: Guys. I’m a liar. There is actually going to be two more chapters and an epilogue, not one. It took a lot of thought, but it just had to be this way. Sorry for lying to you dearies.

Thanks so much for all the positive feedback on this story! It means the world to me, loves!

Also, if you’ve got songs for me, I love that. Even though my Rumbelle playlist is already forever long, I always love more.

Now, I hope you can forgive me for murdering your teddy bear to create this chapter because it’s full of FLUFF (sorry, I only had like 20 seconds to work on that.)

Anyway, this authors note is becoming an authors book so I’m going to stop talking and let you all read.

CHAPTER 9:

“I really miss your hair in my face, And the way your innocence tastes. And I think you should know this: You deserve much better than me,”-Better Than Me, Hinder

For Belle French, it definitely hasn’t been the world’s best day.

It starts off innocently enough. She wakes up earlier than usual, only to find that Mr. Gold has already left. Just perfect. She trudges into the kitchen and finds a note taped to the refrigerator, which makes her laugh. Has he never heard of using the 50 magnets scattered across the surface of the fridge? She looks over the note quickly.

Belle-

Had to run into work today. Surely I’ll see you tonight.

-Gold

She sighs and rips the note off the fridge, squeezing it in her fist . So that means an entire day to herself in his giant house. She could call Ruby, but she’s really not in the mood for the overly perfect Archie stories. So instead, she slaves over the house, cleaning anything she can get her hands on.

Lucky for her, Gold has a giant bookshelf that covers the entire length of one of the walls. So after a half hour of trying to pick something, she decides to read Romeo and Juliet for the 80th time in her life. It’s easier than going through the entire bookshelf. He hadn’t even bothered to organize it in any way. Belle decides that if she’s ever here alone again, she’ll make that her project.

When she looks up from her book, it’s already 4:08, and she’s got to be at work by 4:30. She marks the page and leaves it on the couch before standing up, grabbing her jacket, and scampering out the door.

For the first time in her life, she’s actually early for work. Well, by 5 minutes. But even so, August notices, grinning when he sees her and making his way through tables and over to her.

“Wow, French,” he says, “I’m impressed. It isn’t like you to be here on time. What’s the occasion?”

She rolls her eyes. “No occasion,” she says dryly. Her usual bubbliness isn’t there today, even though she’s still clinging to the fact that she’ll see Gold at 8, even though 3 and a half hours is going to feel like forever.

“Do I need to let you off five minutes early for this?” August asks her.

“No, August, it’s fine. I just didn’t have much to do today.”

He nods. “I figured. Gold run out on you?”

“No,” Belle says, more fiercely than she’d meant to, “He had to work, that’s all.”

“Gotcha.”

Belle sighs heavily. “Is that all, August? Because I really do need to get to work.”

He smiles at her. “Yeah, that’s all. Look, I’ve gotta run. See ya later, French.”

August turns around quickly, and totally knocks heads with a blond Belle’s seen around the bar. “Oh God, I’m so sorry,” he says to her, “Didn’t see you there.”

The blond’s hand is intertwined with the blond guy Belle sees around constantly, which instantly catches Belle’s attention. The stupid girl gives August the brightest smile Belle’s ever seen. Like he’d just saved a litter of puppies rather than almost given her a concussion. “Don’t worry about it,” she says, “It’s totally fine.”

Belle notices the blond guy’s four friends standing behind him, and all of them look happy. All except one. One of them looks like someone’s just ripped her still-beating heart from her chest.

And that’s when Belle notices the glittering rock on that blond bimbo’s finger. The color drains from Belle’s face and she feels tears stinging her eyes, which is completely stupid. She doesn’t even know these people. For all she knows, this is what should happen. It’s not her choice who gets to be together but…

But how could they not know? How could their friends not know? How could everyone in the godforsaken bar just stand idly by while true love loses?

They’re all walking to their usual booth now, but the brunette girl looks like she’s about to cry her eyes out. Belle tries to swallow her rage, but some invisible force causes her to slam her hand onto the bar and say “Shit Goddamn!” louder than she’d meant to. One of the guys sitting at the bar looks up at her oddly, but she ignores him and whips around, pretending to take inventory of the liquor in order to distract herself. So it scares the living shit out of her when her phone starts vibrating in her bra, and she instantly starts damming her stupid, pocketless skirt to hell.

She fumbles around for a good ten seconds, trying to answer her phone. “Hello?” she says, when she finally gets it pressed up against her ear, and her voice comes out all shaky.

“Belle?”

It’s Mr. Gold, and that fact alone has the power to make her smile. “Hi,” she says, “How are you?”

“Alright, I suppose. But I’m not going to be able to make it out to the bar tonight,” he says, and he already sounds apologetic.

“Why?” Belle whines.

“I’m so sorry. I have a…a meeting.”

Somewhere in a dark corner of her mind, Belle knows that he’s bullshitting her, but she really doesn’t have the energy or desire to ask him what he’s really doing at eight o’ clock tonight. “Fine. Uh, whatever. It’s fine. I’ll see you when I get home then.”

She doesn’t wait for his reply before hanging up and turning around again. And, of course, as soon as she does, her eyes land on the group of six to the left of her.

It’s going to be a long night.

Even though she doesn’t have Mr. Gold there to keep her company that night, someone else does show up. Ruby.

She walks in at 8:15 with the funniest smile on her face and trots right up to the bar, sitting in Gold’s stool.

“Hey, Belle,” she says.

“Hi, Ruby. What can I do for you?” Belle asks.

“Well, first off, can I get a vodka cranberry?” Ruby asks her, and Belle rolls her eyes at the desperate-middle-aged-lady-drink, “And secondly,” Ruby continues, “Guess what I just saw!”

Belle pulls the vodka and cranberry juice off the shelf. “What’d you see, Ruby?”

“Guess!” Ruby presses.

“Why do I have to guess?” Belle demands.

“You just do!”

Belle sighs. “Um, okay. Did you see Archie?”

Ruby shakes her head. “No. I mean, yeah. But that’s not the important part.”

“I’m not going to guess again, Ruby. Just tell me.”

“You’re no fun,” Ruby informs her. “Okay. Well, it was totally weird because Archie canceled on me tonight, saying he had to do a last minute session for this kid who has his adopted mom and birth mom fighting over him and this poor bastard is stuck between their fighting. Anyway, not the point. So, I was walking home from work and I saw Archie walking with your guy—Mr. Gold. They were just hanging out down the street in that shopping center! How crazy is that?”

“Wow,” Belle says, her mind speeding through reasons why Gold would be out on the town with Archie and not tell her about it, “That is crazy.”

“But it’s also awesome!” Ruby bubbles, “Because if they’re friends, that means we can double date all the time, and we can leave them to hang out and we can have a girls night sometime! Wouldn’t that be fun? I can even invite Ashley and maybe Emma?”

Belle nods slowly. “Yeah, I guess so. But why do you think Archie didn’t tell you where he was going?”

Ruby rolls her eyes. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that we’re getting something out of it.”

Belle does her best to convince herself that Ruby’s right, and that whatever they’re doing in a goddamn shopping center of all places can’t be that interesting anyway. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right.”

Ruby keeps her there for another hour and half rambling on and on about Archie, and how she thinks her Granny likes him more than she does. And after a story about how he brought flowers for her to the diner, Belle finally says, “Hey, Ruby? I really do have to go. Gold’s probably waiting up for me, but we’ll talk later okay?”

Ruby downs the last drop of her third vodka cranberry and nods. “Yeah, of course! I’ll see you soon. What time do you work?”

“4:30 weekdays as long as August doesn’t fuck up my hours,” Belle says to her.

Ruby grins and nods. “Awesome,” she stands up and grabs her purse, walking out the door while grinning back at Belle.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Belle finds Mr. Gold asleep on the couch when she gets home. He’s still dressed, and she instantly feels guilty for making him wait for her.

“Hey,” she whispers, trying to close the door as quietly as she can, but it still wakes him up.

“Belle,” he murmurs, “Where were you?”

“Work,” she says, “Ruby found me, so I was there for a while.”

He laughs a little and swings his legs off the couch. “Ruby…she knows Dr. Hopper, yes?”

Belle laughs. “Yes. Yes, that’d be an understatement.”

“I figured.”

“How was…work?” Belle asks, trying not to show her suspicion.

“Slow. Meeting wasn’t worth not seeing you.”

She blushes and looks down. “I’m-I’m sorry,” she stammers.

He stands up and walks over to her, looking down into her eyes. “Can I make it up to you?” he asks.

Having him so close to her thrusts her mind into a daze. “Make what up to me?” she asks softly.

“I wasn’t there to see you. I think that deserves some sort of concellation.”

She smiles. “O-Okay. What do I get?”

“You get whatever you’d like.”

She bites down on her lip and nods. “Can I ask you a question?”

He closes his eyes and shakes his head. “That depends on the question.”

She squints her eyes and shakes her head at him, having none of this treachery. “That’s mean,” she informs him, “I should at least be able to ask about you.”

He looks to the heavens and sighs. “Fine. One question.”

She grins and grasps the inside of his suit jacket. “I asked you before and you said you’d tell me. Why are you so distant? What happened to you?”

“Nope, not that one,” he says, pointing at her, “We have a deal about that one. Ask something else.”

She shakes her head again. “You’re ridiculous. You have to tell me sometime.”

“Not tonight, dearie.”

Belle rolls her eyes. “Okay. How old are you?”

“I’m not going to answer that one. The answer would scare you,” he says to her.

She stamps her foot. “You can’t say I can ask you one question if you’re not going to answer it!” she whines.

He brushes a strand of her hair behind her ear and smiles. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’ll answer the next one.”

She eyes him intently. “Promise?”

“Yes, love, I promise.”

When he calls her that her face instantly lights up. She’s never heard him say that, and it feels amazing. It’s like he’s admitting how much he loves her with one simple word. A name. “Okay, Gold. I’ve got one. What’s your first name?”

He opens his mouth to protest but she presses and finger to his lips and shakes her head, “No. You promised you’d answer.”

She takes her finger away slowly and waits. “It’s not important, Belle,” he says.

“Yes it is,” she argues calmly. “Now tell me. I’m sure it’s not that bad.”

He says nothing.

“It can’t be anything as bad as what I’m assuming,” she coaxes.

He rolls his eyes. “What are you assuming?”

She grins and racks her brain for the most horrible names she can think of. “Hmmm. Is it Oswald? Leslie? Eben? That sounds like Evan after a dentists appointment so I can see why you’d be ashamed.”

He laughs. “Funny. No, that’s not it.”

She taps her foot impatiently. “Well? You have to tell me.”

He sighs. “Fine. It’s…It’s…”

“For heavens sake Gold, would you just tell me!?” she demands. Jesus, she’s not even sure this is worth the trouble anymore.

“It’s Rumen,” he tells her, “But honestly, love, no one calls me that.”

She’s grinning from ear to ear. “I like it,” she says, “Rumen. Rum. Can I call you that?”

He rolls his eyes. “Sure, Belle, call me whatever you’d like.”

She’s still smiling like he’s never seen her smile, but he’s having trouble enjoying it. She kisses him softly for only a moment before pulling away. “I’m sorry I pried it out of you…Rum,” she teases.

He places his hands on her hips. “I’m glad I told you,” he says, and it’s only a half lie, “You know me better now.”

She loops her arms around his neck. “I’m glad you told me, too,” she says softly.

He smiles down at her. “We both could use some sleep Belle,” he says.

She nods. “Yeah. Yeah, of course. But…”

He waits for her to finish her sentence. Her eyes don’t leave his for an instant. “Will you dance with me first?” she asks.

He laughs once. “There isn’t any music, dearie.”

“That’s okay,” she breathes.

He pulls her hips closer to his and steps to one side. She exhales and rests her head on his shoulder, swaying with him and breathing against his neck. He doesn’t worry about moving her quickly or gracefully, he just steps back and forth with her doing the same. This moment is the greatest perfection either of them has ever known. It’s amazing and wonderful. It gives them hope, fuels their dreams.

“Rum?” Belle says softly.

“Hm?” he asks, not even irked by the fact that she’d called him that. Honestly, it suits her to say it. It flows off her tongue almost as if she’s supposed to refer to him that way.

“I-I love you,” she says.

He smiles into the dim light and holds her a little tighter. “Yes. Yes. And I love you too.”

XXXXXXXXXXX

On Monday morning, Belle wakes up to the smell of coffee. Her eyes flutter open and when she sees that he’s not lying next to her she stumbles into the kitchen.

“Good morning,” she says, leaning against the door frame.

He looks up at her. “Morning.”

“You’re making coffee?” she asks, making her way over to him, “Are you going out?”

“Work,” he mutters.

“Oh. Should I call Ruby?” Belle asks.

“Uhmm,” Gold says. It’s kind of like a half-laugh-half-cough, “Actually I think Ms. Lucas has plans today, but I’m fairly certain you’ll be seeing her tonight.”

Belle gives him the I’m-having-none-of-this look. “Do you know something I don’t?”

“Hm?”

She rolls her eyes. “Will I be seeing you tonight?”

“Actually,” he says, “I think that Ruby is going to want you all to herself. Just a hunch, but I think it’s in my best interest to follow it.”

Belle reaches over him and pours herself a cup of coffee. “I’m going to get you for this, you know,” she says.

“That’s alright. I usually approve of your punishments anyway,” Gold teases. He winks at her and she just shakes her head and takes a sip of her coffee.

All through her shift, Belle is watching the door to see if Ruby is going to come flying at her, or maybe walk in slowly and sadly. Or maybe walk in with 20 million dollars. From what Rum had told her, Ruby definitely has something important to discuss.

At 8:15, Belle takes only a moment to wash her hands after spilling whiskey all over herself, and when she comes back, she sees Ruby, quite literally bouncing in her seat. Belle walks around the bar and sees her friend glowing with excitement. Truly glowing.

“Something told me you’d be here,” Belle says.

Ruby giggles, “I’m assuming by something you mean Mr. Gold?” she says.

“Dammit,” Belle mutters, “Why does everyone know this secret besides me?”

Ruby clenches her eyes shut, still grinning like it’s nobody’s business and tilts her head up. “Belle I have to tell you something really important.”

“Yeah, I figured,” Belle says, wiping off the bar.

“You remember on Friday, when I saw Gold and Archie walking around town?” Ruby asks.

“How could I forget? You kept me at work an extra hour because of it.”

Ruby giggles. Why does she keep giggling? “Well, it turns out that Gold was helping Archie with something. He was helping him…pick out something. For me.”

Belle narrows her eyes. “What is it?” she asks.

And with that Ruby flashes her left hand right in front of her face and smiles even bigger (something Belle kind of though was impossible at this point.). Ruby’s fourth finger is adorned with a beautiful diamond. Truly beautiful. Damn, Belle thinks to herself, How much do shrinks make, anyway?

She’s kind of in shock. She doesn’t know what she expected but it definitely wasn’t this. Ruby’s engaged? Ruby Lucas? Never in the eight years she’s known her would Belle ever have expected Ruby to think about settling down with anyone.

But what Ruby has with Archie is, without a doubt, true love. And even though on Friday Belle had convinced herself that she’d seen true love get shot in the face, Ruby’s done what she always does. She’s restored hope, and brought a positive energy to everything, and Belle definitely had to thank her for that.

“Wow-Ruby-I-I can’t believe…” I can’t believe I’m at a loss for words when I’m not even the one who’s engaged, “I’m so happy for you!”

She leans over the bar and hugs her friends tightly. “Are you freaking out? Are you in crazy wedding-planner mode yet?”

Ruby laughs. “No, not yet. I haven’t even had the chance to ask my maid of honor if she’s willing yet because she’s been to busy freaking out even more so than me!”

Belle grins. “Ruby, I-“

“Are you willing? I don’t exactly have any blood sisters or cousins I care about so-“

“Yes! Yes, of course Ruby! Thank you!” Belle smiles and hugs her again.

A/N: Oh good God that was so much fun! Six pages of fun at 3 in the morning to be exact. I don’t want to end this story but…sigh. All good things must pass, right? Next chapter should probably be up next week, or maybe on Friday. Tomorrow I’m going to have a lovely Robert Carlyle movie marathon because we can’t get enough of those, right? Anyway, I love you guys! Xoxo!