Empty Gold

Chapter 26: Levels

"'The beast will make off with your children, he'll come after them in the night,' Gaston declared boldly. He smiled widely at Belle's gasp of horror as the villagers listened intently for they had no reason to doubt their brave hunter," Emily lowers her voice to a sinister snarl as she reads Gaston's lines and Ali is conflicted between her joy at Emily's playfulness and the dark turn her favorite story has taken.
It also saddens her that she can see there are just a limited amount of pages left in this book that had marked the beginning of something slightly more tender and gentle between them, despite the mixed communication at the time. Ali only reserves reading it for moments when she feels that she needs Emily to be impossibly closer to her, moments where she feels twinges of sadness or a longing for something she knows may be a sense of total normalcy.

"'We're not safe till his head is mounted on my wall. I say we kill the beast!' Gaston shouted at his captive audience. Belle tried to push desperately through the crowd as murmurs of agreement grew louder," Emily pauses as Ali's hand grips her arm desperately.

"He's not really gonna kill Beast is he?" Ali asks worriedly. "Belle will stop him right?"

Emily chuckles and wraps her arm around the blonde, pulling her into her side. "No spoilers," Emily reminds the worried blonde. Alison snuggles into Emily but isn't particularly placated.

"True love always wins," Emily reminds the blonde with a kiss to her forehead and lingers for a moment lovingly, and Alison blushes, before she nuzzles into Emily's shoulder. The warmth from making out is different from the warmth she gets from spending time with the swimmer and she's missed this. It's rare they get time alone to themselves where they know they will be uninterrupted and their lips aren't ravaging each other.

"Keep going," she points back to the book. She looks innocently at the brunette with a sheepish grin. "Please."

Emily internally rolls her eyes at herself as she continues, she is the very definition of whipped.

"'No,' Belle shouted but it was of no use as the villagers flocked to Gaston. 'Please he'd never hurt anyone, I won't let you do this.' Gaston grabbed her arm in a tight grip and pulled her before the crowd. 'The beast has bewitched her,' he declared shaking Belle as she begged them to listen. 'When we kill it, she'll be released!' The villagers cheered and gathered their weapons as Gaston and his most trusted men pulled Belle and her father into a open stall and locked them in. 'I'll be back for you, my sweet,' Gaston promised as Belle rattled against the bars. 'Let us out!' she shouted but no one listened as they followed Gaston on his journey to the Beast's castle."

"We should probably sleep," Emily reluctantly suggests glancing at the clock after she pauses for a beat. They have an early flight tomorrow morning, and Emily knows she—no, both of them, should be well rested to deal with the stress of traveling and the whole entourage being together for 72 hours. Ali's face falls for a moment before she nods and slips down under the covers and smiles wide when Emily kisses her forehead.

"I wouldn't let Gaston take you," Emily promises as she slides under and cuddles up to the blonde.

"I wouldn't let him hurt you either," Ali whispers back and they smile at each before their lips gently touch. Emily wants to live in this moment forever, curled up in her luxurious warm bed with the most beautiful girl in the world. Could life get any better?

x-x-x

"Alright, Em here's your key," Cece says as she takes the little key card holder from the concierge. The entourage stands at the front desk of the hotel, security guards flanking them so they are protected from the fans and reporters being kept outside the hotel. Alison hasn't seen this many fans publicly since the convention when she first met Emily. Hanna had explained to her that it's because most of their swimming meets are private events that cost money, but here is Emily in public, with a bunch of other well known athletes in a contained space.