Better When I'm Dancing

Week 7--POP! (Part 1)

"You never told her?" Robin asked Emma.

She shrugged. "Gold gets her pretty riled up no matter what. I figured she didn't care about gossip about his love life anyway."

"So wait, Belle and Gold really dated?" Regina asked, surprised. "He actually fell in love?"

Emma jumped up. "I'll go get my laptop and you can see for yourself."

She returned quickly, powering up her laptop and going to YouTube. A quick search found a cut someone had made of all of Belle's judging critiques and Emma played it. "Watch Gold carefully," she told Regina.

Intrigued, Regina paid close attention to her former coach. At first, there was nothing noticeable about his critiques--he judged Belle on her talent and gave her tips to improve, while expressing dislike for her partner's more nontraditional style. But around Disney Night, she noticed a change. His eyes were softer and he lavished her performance with praise, startling Regina. She had never seen such a side to Gold.

"So what happened to Belle's partner?" Regina asked, looking at the dark-haired man who always seemed moments away from killing Gold. She could relate.

"The usual. He left after a few seasons to focus on his own dancing school. Many of the pros do that. Or they leave to seize on the momentum of their careers," Emma said.

Robin leaned forward. "That's not what I got from Granny. She said Ruby told her that Gold had Gaston fired."

"Why?" Regina asked, confused.

"I'm going to guess because of this," Emma said, playing the final results of Belle's season.

Belle stood next to her partner Gaston on the right side of the screen. On the left was Killian and his star, an older dark-haired woman named Milah Cassidy. Both couples were holding onto each other as August and a tall red-haired woman with piercing blue eyes flanked the mirrorball trophy. August held a card in his hand. "Belle and Gaston, Milah and Killian, you have spent the past nine weeks dancing your hearts out. It has all come down to this. Who have the viewers voted as the winners of Dancing With the Stars? The blogger changing the perception of bookworms or the actress proving age ain't nothing but a number?"

The audience started to scream and cheer as a split screen showed both couples up close. After a few moments, August said: "The winners of Dancing With the Stars are...Milah and Killian!"

Killian swept Milah into his arms, spinning her around as confetti fell from the rafters. The other dancers and their stars rushed the dancefloor, congratulating the duo as August interviewed Belle and Gaston. They were gracious and congratulated Milah and Killian, who came over to hug them. At that point, the camera panned over to the judges. David and Cru were standing and applauding but Gold sat in the middle, scowling the entire time.

"Killian and Milah dated for a bit after the show," Emma said, a strange tone to her voice. It sounded like she was trying to sound normal but forgot what it sounded like.

Regina didn't really pay attention to that as she was struck by the hilarity of the situation, bursting out laughing. "No wonder Gold hates Killian. Not only does he succeed with nontraditional dances, he then managed to romance Gold's ex-wife!"

"WHAT?" Robin and Emma stared at her, shocked.

She tilted her head, still smiling. "You guys didn't know? Gold was married to Milah Cassidy for a few years, when he tried to have a Hollywood career. He was injured though and had to give up dancing, switching to coaching instead."