Chapter Text
There were very few things to look forward to when working a twelve hour shift at the downtown Chicago train station. Belle French knew that all too well, but she couldn’t help but smile when she thought about what would happen just after 8am. She was just starting her shift, and her favorite customer would walk passed her station and on to the train platform, dropping his token in the slot and taking her heart away with him. A true believer in love at first sight, she knew he was the one she was destined to be with. He wore slick suits, had unruly hair, and a dazzling smile. They’d never talked, but she had a feeling he was special.
Her father had told her when she was little that he knew he loved her mother when she gave him the world. It was actually just a snow globe shaped like the world, but her father had been a hopeless romantic. She inherited that trait from him. To pass the time, she would often make up stories about the people who passed by her during the business week. There were cat ladies, retired supermodels, secret agents… but her favorite day dream was him. In her mind, his name was Roger Cassidy. Roger Cassidy worked in advertising; he had a stable but rewarding job. He loved cats (like her), enjoyed traveling (like her), and had a supermodel girlfriend. Someone with his looks deserved a supermodel girlfriend. Belle was, however, confident that that once she made her move, Roger would dump his gorgeous girlfriend and sweep her off her feet.
During her lunch break on Christmas Eve, her longtime boss, Sally Lucas approached her.
“Belle! My girl! Did you know I’ve chosen you as employee of the month?” she said kindly, taking a seat next to Belle. This couldn’t be good. Sally only talked to Belle if she needed something.
Belle rolled her eyes. “I didn’t even know we had an employee of the month.”
“Well, you’re it,” she said, putting on her glasses to read from the sheet of paper in her hand. “Belle French is a model employee. She often covers for her coworkers when they’re unable to work, she works holidays without question, even when she worked the previous holiday…” she said, trailing off to see Belle’s expression.
She looked sour. “No, Sally, I won’t work tomorrow. It’s Christmas.”
“Yes, but, Ruby’s got a family thing, Ariel’s leaving for Ohio, and Gus has to do community service.”
“He has to do community service. On Christmas,” Belle said doubtfully.
“I’m sorry, Belle, really, it’s just, you’re the only one…”
“Without a family,” said Belle, finishing her sentence.
Her mother, Collette, had died shortly after she was born due to complications during childbirth. Her father died the day after her eighteenth birthday after undergoing extensive cancer treatments. She’d been on her own since then, working at the train station and dreaming her days away. The only good thing about her father’s death was that his insurance left her enough money to live in a decent apartment in the decent side of town.
Christmas Day was not a busy one for the train station. Belle had decorated her window with some twinkling lights and tinsel, but it all felt dull as she sat doing a crossword. She was the only employee there today; everyone else had better things to be doing. Honestly, she could’ve agreed to work Christmas months ago, but she wanted her coworkers to think she had some semblance of a social life. Her only plan on Christmas was to watch movies with her cat, Puff. It would be better than this. Sighing as she completed another crossword, she heard a token clink into the slot. Looking up, he was there. Her dream guy. Roger.
He had paused. He normally just offered a brief smile and left. Belle watched him, wide-eyed, trying to figure out what to say.
“Merry Christmas,” he said with a charming smile.
“Yuh,” she replied. He gave her a puzzled look and a nod, and then headed towards the waiting area.
“Yuh?!?” she thought exasperatedly, “that’s not even a word!” Belle was filled with self-hatred as she realized she would never have the courage to talk to him properly. They would never have their two children (Camden and Caitlyn), never live in the suburbs, never go to Hawaii…. She had really planned out their future, and she had just ruined it with one syllable that wasn’t even a word.
Her plot of moving away to escape him forever thinking she was a weirdo was ruined when she heard a lot of yelling. Stepping away from her post, she watched in horror as Roger was mugged and subsequently pushed on to the train tracks. Adrenaline pumping, she ran towards the muggers, waving her arms and calling for help. Belle succeeded in getting the muggers to run away, and they dropped the items they had stolen from his pockets. Her man was laying flat in the middle of the tracks, unconscious. This was not good. She quickly lowered herself on to the tracks, kneeling as she gently pushed his face.
“Wake up! Wake up,” she said desperately, leaning to listen if his heart was beating. It was. That was good.
Suddenly, she heard it. The unmistakable sound of the train coming.
“Come on, man, the train is coming,” she yelled, pushing at his arms and trying to get him to move. As the train got closer, all logic left her and survival instinct kicked in. She grabbed his body with her arms, and rolled the two of them over to the side of the tracks.
At this point, a few people had gathered and watched this take place. Someone had called 911, and minutes later the police had arrived. Belle sat next to her man’s unconscious body, and watched as he was wheeled away. She had been in a momentary shock, but got herself together enough to drive to the hospital behind the ambulance.
-
The hospital was tricky. Belle had switched out of her work clothes in a bathroom (they had gotten blood on them when she pushed the man out of the way of the tracks) and was in an oversized college sweatshirt and leggings instead.
Approaching the nurses’ station, she quickly began to ramble “there was a man just brought in from a train accident, I need to see him.” The nurse asked for his name, and before she could reply that she didn’t know, she saw him on a stretcher in a hallway across from the one she was in. She could see him through the glass doorway, but a doctor stopped her from entering.
“Family only for critical patients. Are you family?” he asked, blocking the doorway.
“Well, no,” she said, trying to see over his shoulder, “not technically, but…”
He shook his head. “Then you can’t go in.”
The doctor walked in the doorway and watched her out of the corner of his eye as the man was wheeled to another room. Belle stared at him as he went, and whispered “I was supposed to marry him,” in a longing tone.
It seemed a nurse had heard that. A tiny blonde woman named ‘Wanda’ was now at her side, and said, “Follow me. I’ll get you to his room.”
Belle wasn’t sure why the woman was helping her, but she let the woman lead her to her man’s room. He was laying in a hospital bed, hooked up to multiple tubes and machines. Before she had a moment to process this, a swarm of people was in the room, asking her multitudes of questions.
“Are you a nurse?”
“How did this happen?”
“Where’s a doctor?”
“He looks awful – he’s so pale!”
“Did anyone see a bathroom on the way in?”
Belle raised her hand nervously, and everyone looked at her. “He got mugged and fell on to the train tracks. I, uh, pushed him out of the way of the train.”
The crowd of people began whisper-yelling again.
“She saved his life!”
“You must be his guardian angel!”
“Would everyone just be quiet?”
“I told you, miss, only family.”
That last one she recognized. The doctor from before was trying to get her to leave, but Wanda said loudly, “she’s his fiancée!”
The swarm of people stopped talking. For a moment.
“Fiancée?”
“Jefferson has a fiancée?!”
“Jefferson never told ME he was engaged.”
Jefferson. Her mystery man had a name. It suited him. She liked it. She realized she had to answer the people’s questions. They weren’t engaged, though. Why did the nurse think they were engaged? Before she could squash these people’s fears, a man a little older than her came closer to her.
“Hi. I’m Neal. Jefferson’s my brother,” he began. “Over there is Emma, my wife, and our son, Henry.” Belle nodded at the tall, blonde woman and the little kid.
“That’s Evanna,” he said, motioning towards the older couple, “and that’s Malcolm. They’re my grandparents.”
“Emma’s parents also happened to be visiting, so they came too. David and Mary Margaret.”
Everyone in the room had been introduced except Belle herself. They were all watching her curiously.
“Uh, hi. I’m Belle,” she said quietly.
The woman named Evanna looked at her uncertainly. “Speak up, dear.”
“I’m Belle,” she said again, with more emphasis.
Evanna nodded. “Good. Strong name.”
A bunch of monitors began beeping all at once, and everyone turned to look at Jefferson. He was still unconscious, and the doctor had told them he could be in a coma for an indeterminable amount of days. Another doctor came in, ushering the large family out. A police officer stopped Belle to question her about everything that had happened. After that, Belle found Wanda at the nurses station, and whispered angrily, “why would you say he’s my fiancé?!”
“You looked at him and said, ‘we were supposed to be married’” she said, looking like this was obvious.
“Yeah, in my dreams,” said Belle, rubbing her hands over her face in exasperation.
Wanda looked stunned. “Well, next time, finish your out-loud thinking with ‘but I’m single’”.
Someone tapped Belle’s shoulder. It was the kid. Henry was his name.
“You can come sit with us, if you want.”
Great. She couldn’t tell these people she was lying, not yet, not after they had just declared her to be their guardian angel.
Belle sat on the edge of one of couches in the hospital waiting room. Everyone was watching her again, when Malcolm whispered loudly, “I thought he was dating that Elsa girl.”
Evanna shushed him and smiled at Belle. “Tell us how you met, dear.”
Emma agreed, “yeah, Belle, tell us the whole story.”
Neal patted her on the shoulder. “Don’t let them overwhelm you, Belle.”
Belle began tapping her foot nervously. Emma’s mother, Mary Margaret, must’ve noticed her anxiety and said gently, “why don’t you just tell us what you first noticed about him.”
That was easy. “His smile,” she said with a blush.
They all nodded. It was universal knowledge that Jefferson had a great smile. Good.
She continued, “He smiled at me and I just knew he was the one.”
They all nodded again, content with this information. Emma looked at her watch. “It’s time for us to get going for someone’s bedtime,” she said, motioning towards Henry.
“Alright,” said Neal, “I’m going to go say goodbye to Jefferson.”
All the people began to move, suddenly claiming various events they had to go to. Belle was left alone. She waited until Neal had exited her new fiancé’s room, then entered and sat next to his bed. It was time to really introduce herself.
“Hi,” she said softly. “I guess I just want to tell you who I am. My name’s Belle Victorie French. Your family thinks we’re engaged. I’ve never been engaged before, so I don’t really know what to do. I didn’t mean for this to happen, I don’t know what to do next. If you were awake, this wouldn’t have happened. It’s not your fault, I mean. I just thought I would be normal. I mean, I am normal, I have a job and an apartment and a cat.”
She paused, unsure of what else he should know.
“I believe in love at first sight. I bet you don’t. You’re levelheaded. Have you ever been in love with someone you haven’t even talked to, or told a whole family a huge lie? Probably not.”
His monitors suddenly went off again. Belle jumped, unsure of what to do. A few nurses came in the room, and she exited slowly, hoping to get out of the hospital without talking to another human being. She wanted to go back to her apartment and process her crazy day.
Heading towards the elevator, another nurse stopped her. He was holding a large box.
“You’re Jefferson Gold’s wife, right?”
“I’m not his wife!” she snapped.
“Oh. Well. His fiancée. Here are his possessions, everything from his wallet and pockets, and his clothes he wore in.”
Belle gave in and accepted the box, and kept on her way to the elevator.
A man stopped her. “Did someone say you’re Jefferson Gold’s fiancée? I work with the guy. I came to visit when I heard the news. Killian Jones.” He extended his hand, but quickly dropped it when he realized her arms were full with the box.
Killian gave a nervous laugh. Belle curtly said, “I’ve really got to be going,” and tried to move passed him, but he continued. Could he not tell she wasn’t in the mood?
“He’s a great guy, really. He’s had a tough year though, with that accident.”
“He was in an accident?” she asked. There were so many things she didn’t know about.
“We were playing basketball, and I always carry a pencil… you know what, never mind. Long story. If he hasn’t told you, you’ll find out eventually,” said Killian, getting the hint and leaving Belle alone.
She finally reached the elevator. It appeared it was being slow, because a couple people were milling about, waiting. She absolutely would not take the stairs. She wasn’t in the mood for stairs. She stood impatiently, looking around. From the corner of her eye, she realized someone was watching her.
It was Neal. He approached her, and said, “I think we should talk, Belle.”
She panicked. “Look, I’m really sorry, I don’t know –“
He stopped her. “It’s okay. I left my cell phone in Jefferson’s room, and I went back to get it. I saw you were in there, and I heard everything you said. I know you don’t know him. I’m not going to tell everyone,” he said quickly.
She was confused. “You’re not?”
“They’re all dealing with individual problems. This happening brought us all together. For now, you can be his fiancée and guardian angel, and I’ll keep your secret.”
“What about if he wakes up?” she whispered angrily, “He won’t know who I am.”
The elevator opened, and Belle made a move to get to it. Neal shook his head, and she pouted and stopped.
“Right. But if he wakes up, everyone will be so happy they won’t notice if you slip out of the picture,” he said. He had really thought this through, it seemed.
“You’re either a really good brother, or a really bad one,” said Belle, pursing her lips. She couldn’t figure him out.
“We’re going to go along with it as long as we can. You’re a happy distraction from his coma.”
Belle nodded. “I can do this. Probably.”
Neal corrected her. “We can do this.”
The elevator opened, and they entered it together.
“Oh,” he said casually, “Emma wants me to invite you to a Christmas party on the 27th. We’re having it with everyone you met today, plus a couple friends. My dad will be there. You should meet him.”
“I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to find out he didn’t know his son was engaged.”
Neal shrugged. “Wouldn’t be the first time Jefferson surprised us.”
Belle sighed. “Can you text me some random facts about Jefferson I should know? If we keep this whole charade going?”
He winked. “I got you, sister.”
This holiday season was really going to be brutal.