Little Gaston

Chapter 3

"Look now what you did," Belle said angrily, glaring at Adam, who looked a little confused and guilty at the situation. He had barged in angry, yes, but to elect that kind of reaction from the hunter?

"I thought you were in danger..." Adam mutters, looking to the side with a pout, but Belle rolls her eyes. Adam frowned, but she ignored him and instead went to the side of the bed Gaston had crawled under.

"Hey there, you can come out. It's all safe," Belle said with a smile, crouching down and seeing terrified wet eyes staring at her. The night shirt had hiked a little higher with the sudden movement, revealing part of his chiselled bum.

A whimper and a soft groan sounded, and Belle just whished his throat was healed enough to speak, so she could at least be sure he understood her, but the ring of bruises stood out, showing just how hard Adam had squeezed it when he had held him on the rooftops.

"I promise you it's really safe," Belle said again, smiling at the man who stared at her, his body shaking a little.

Gaston really tried to listen to what Belle was saying, but the words didn't really filter through anymore, his mind too regressed to make much sense of it. Her tone was even, but he could hear the Beast shuffling in the background, the sound of his nails ticking against the stone floor.

It was here in the room, and it was very angry. Angry at him.

And Gaston knew, from all the stories his father used to tell him when he had been bad, that it would soon drag him out from under the bed, probably grabbing his ankle and it would slowly start to devour him.

The gory detail his father had spoken off, especially when the man was drunk, suddenly played vividly in his mind and he couldn't stop thinking of the way the Beast would start nibbling on a toe before biting the digit off and then tearing into his flesh as if he were a piece of fowl.

He let out another whimper at the thought, but a soft touch from Belle's hand against his forearm made him look at her. She was still smiling and talking to him, her voice soothing and calm.

Gaston looked at her, hesitating when he saw her gesture for him to come out under the bed. Biting his lip, he thought it though. He knew she had no interest in making him happy, but on the other hand, she never showed any malice in her actions either.

She was just Belle, happy to be reading books all day long and be left alone, not wanting anyone to be hurt. She was one of those people who was just nice. And that made the decision for him.

Shivering and shaking, Gaston crawled out from the bed, and when he was out, he heard an huff coming from behind him and he saw the Beast standing in the corner of the room, stretched to a monstrous height. Immediately he went to hide behind Belle.

His arms wrapped tight around her middle while he pressed his head hard against her shoulder blades, trying to hide even though he was much larger than her delicate frame, but the Beast scared him so.

"Gaston, you're squeezing a little hard," Belle gasped out, but the man kept on squeezing too terrified to let go, to small to realise her words and how his strength made the embrace too hard.

"She said to let her go," the Beast growled, when the man didn't react to her words. He made his way towards them, his feet stomping on the ground and this elected a reaction from Gaston.

Even though he was terrified from the beast, he was a hunter and perhaps not a gentleman, but he didn't shy from a fight.

Knowing that Belle was much weaker and frailer than him, and wouldn't stand a chance against the great monster, he swallowed his fear and moved from behind Belle to her front, hugging her tightly in his chest and trying to cover her as much as possible from the approaching monster.