Beauty & the Beast [Narry]

Chapter 3

Perrie knocked on Niall's door and waited for a few moments. When she didn't get an answer, she peeked inside. Niall was asleep on the bed, laying on his side, facing the wall opposite of Perrie. She smiled and stepped in the room, turning on the light.

"Niall?" She asked. She placed a hand on his bicep and shook him gently in an attempt to wake the blond boy. "Niall, wake up."

Niall stirred. His eyes fluttered open, confusion in them. When he looked at Perrie the confusion disappeared.

Perrie had found him in the forest, looking for Frisy, who he hadn't found. He was quite worried about his dog. Then, Perrie had taken him here, picked out clothes for him to wear to dinner, and made him rest.

"C-can I leave?" Niall asked. He was hoping that Perrie would say yes, maybe even an "after dinner", so his heart dropped when Perrie shook her head. "Why not?"

"You know about the castle now." Perrie said. She picked up the clothes she'd set out, placing them on the bed again, smoothing out the wrinkles. "We can't let you leave. We can't have anyone else know."

"A-are you going to k-kill me?" Niall stuttered. All he wanted to do was find his dog. He wouldn't tell anyone about the castle. Who was there to tell?

"Only if we find you trying to sneak out." Perrie said. Her hands froze for a moment, hesitant on saying what she said next. "Or if the beast orders us to do so."

"I-I'm gonna die." Niall stuttered, mostly talking to himself. Perrie sighed, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Just do everything I say, alright?" Perrie gave him her best comforting smile. "And, um, don't make the beast angry."

Perrie pat his shoulder and grabbed the clothes. "Come, try these on. I think they're lovely."

"I . . . I'm not hungry." Niall said. It was a lie- he hadn't even eaten breakfast this morning, but he didn't want to eat with the beast. For all Niall knew, he was dinner.

Perrie sighed. "Niall, look, I know you're scared, but you have to eat. The beast is expecting you."

"I'm . . . what are we having?" Niall gave up trying to argue. He probably could have talked her into letting him stay up here, but if he go to dinner, he'd probably end up dead.

"I'm not sure yet," Perrie said. She sat on the bed as Niall got changed, careful not to look in Niall's direction.

"Probably turkey. The beast loves turkey."

Niall's stomach rumbled at the thought, and he froze. Perrie chuckled. "What happened to not being hungry?"

"I'm sorry." Niall said, pulling his pants up over his bum and buttoning them. He pulled the shirt on and turned. "I just-"

"It's alright," Perrie said, standing up. She looked Niall up and down, making sure Niall looked alright. "You look great."

Perrie was dressed in a loose, orange dress that went down to her knees. It had a black belt that went over her stomach and black tights over her legs. She looked like Halloween threw up on her, but it still looked lovely.

"Does, uh, the beast have an orange fetish or something?" Niall looked down at the orange shirt he was wearing. "Do you always dress fancy for dinner?"

"The beast likes to be proper." Perrie said. She fixed up his hair and perfected the collar of his shirt. "His favorite color is orange. He thinks it's the only thing he can hold on to from when he was-"

Perrie stopped short. She'd almost told Niall a part of the curse. The beast would kill them all if he found out.

"What?" Niall asked, frowning. Perrie's hands had frozen on the collar of his shirt. She shook her head, continuing to fold the collar until it was neat.