The Blood Red Rose

Chapter 7

"So, he's the one Peggy's been talking about?" The wardrobe, sorry Hercules, said. Aaron eyed the wardrobe warily. He had mixed feelings about Hercules. For one, he was huge which meant that he couldn't be moved and that meant no privacy for Aaron. 

On the other hand, Hercules was actually good company - when he wasn't mourning over the loss of his lover whom he hadn't seen for years that is. Strangely enough, Lafayette mentioned similar complaints. His were slightly different, like saying; "Il ne me remarque jamais! Je flirte et il ne le réalise pas!"

Of course, it was always in french so Aaron could never help with his ah, problem.

"Yup!" Philip said, jumping and twirling around excitedly.

"Philip! Be careful or you'll fall." Eliza scolded, fussing over her son. Aaron had been at the castle for about a day and while he didn't necessarily hate it, he didn't enjoy it either. For one, he was scared to leave his room for fear of encountering Alexander. He was worried that he wouldn't be able to hold his tongue and that he'd say the wrong thing. From what he'd seen, the beast had a terrible temper.

"Would you like some tea dear?" Eliza asked, turning to Aaron. His eyes widened and he jumped in surprise.

"O-Oh! S-Sure." He stuttered. He watched as Eliza jumped and proceeded to pour some tea into Philip. Her son hopped forward, careful not to spill any of the hot drink.

"Here you go Mr Aaron!" Philip chirped. Aaron picked up the tiny thing hesitantly. He felt a bit awkward to be well, drinking out of Philip. He was scared of breaking the boy, or accidentally hurting Philip in some way. The little cup was so adorable and how would he ever be able to talk to Eliza again if accidentally killed her son.

"It's okay Mr Aaron! It won't hurt me in any way!" Philip suddenly said cheerfully, taking Aaron by surprise and almost causing him to drop the teacup. Slowly and carefully, Aaron brought Philip to his lips and drank out of the teacup. Philip giggled and Aaron gently set him back down on the trolley.

"Thank you." He said, smiling.

"Wow! You guys weren't kidding when you said he was handsome!" Hercules said. Aaron felt blood rush to his face and he hid his face in his hands.

"Adorable too." Hercules commented and Aaron could bet that there was a large cheeky grin on the wardrobe's face. Eliza giggled and Philip twirled again, spilling some of the tea. Aaron bashfully peeked out from behind his fingers as Eliza scolded Philip and told him to be more careful. Hercules chuckled good heartily and all was calm. The mood however, was broken by a knock at the door.

Nervously, Aaron went to answer the door and he visibly paled when he saw the beast.

"G-Good morning." Aaron stammered nervously. Alexander was the last, thing, he wanted to see at the moment.

"Good morning Monsieur Burr." Lafayette greeted cheerfully, hopping out from behind Alexander. Aaron smiled, happy to see the candelabra once more. He had grown fond of the French... object. 

Alexander melted a bit at the sight of Aaron's smile. It was so warm and gentle. He felt a bit jealous that that smile wasn't directed at him. A sad feeling filled his heart when he realized that Aaron would never look at him with that amount of warmth. After all, he was a monster.

"Hello Lafayette." Aaron said. "As wonderful it is to see you, may I ask what you are all doing here?"

From behind Alexander, Washington nudged him in the leg, causing him to stumbled forward and nearly knocking Alexander into Aaron. Alexander took a step back and cleared his throat.

"I uh. Came to remind you of dinner tonight." He mumbled, looking at the ground in an almost shy way? Aaron might've found it cute were it a different situation. And if Alexander were human. Mind you, he kind of looked like a puppy. A kicked puppy at the moment.