Beauty and the Beast

13

The Crescent moon was her favorite. He thought as he looked at the package in his hand and up at the crescent moon staring down at him from the window in his bedroom. 

***

Stevie was laying against the straw when the stone door cracked open. 

"I um, I have a key to all of the cells." John holds up a key ring. 

"Merry Christmas love." Christine says as the Fleetwoods, The McVie's, Sharon, and Margi all crowd into the cell. 

"Merry Christmas Stevie." Chip wraps his arms around her.

"Oh Chip, I'm sorry. Nothing changed." She sighs.

"I told you, nothing would change. I told you this wouldn't fly." Sharon scolds. "But, I was wrong." 

"What?" Stevie asked.

"We got to celebrate it for such a short while. We got to decorate, and Christine's been cooking all day. And that sliver of hope was there. And it was nice getting to celebrate it even as much of a failure as it was." Sharon sighs hugging Stevie.

"Maybe we can try again next year." John agrees, ruffling Chip's hair.

***

Lindsey walks over to the rose and he just looks at it, ready to smash it and damn himself, but a petal falls right on the gift that was placed next to it.

"Steph?" He asks picking it up. 

He opens it and examines it. It wasn't much, because Stevie didn't have much in the castle but the words on the paper were enough. 

You're not a stranger to me
And you are something to see
You don't even know how to please

You say a lot but you're unaware how to leave

My darling lives in a world that is not mine

An old child misunderstood out of time
Timeless is the creature who is wise
And timeless is the prisoner in disguise

Oh who is the beauty who the beast
Would you die of grieving when I leave
Two children too blind to see
I would fall in your shadow I believe

My love is a man who's not been tamed
Oh my love lives in a world of false pleasure and pain
We come from difference worlds we are the same my love
I never doubted your beauty I've changed
I never doubted your beauty I've changed

Changed who is the beauty
Where is my beast (my love)
There is no beauty
Without my beast (my love)

Who is the beauty
Who my love
Ah
Oh la bete la bete
Where is my beast

My beauty my beauty
My beautiful beautiful beautiful
Beautiful beast

A tear, streamed down his face as he read the first poem of many in the little makeshift book. 

***

In the cells, Stevie had perked up slightly but she was still sullen and Chip noticed. 

"I don't need a tree to celebrate Christmas." 

"And I don't need pudding or tinsel." John nods.

"I don't need Mistletoe." Mick kisses Sarah.

"I don't need ornaments or pretty decorations." Christine nods.

"We can make Christmas special ourselves." Sharon nods. 

"Uh-Oh," Chip says after a moment.

"What son?" John questions,

"It's the master." He points as the attention of the whole group turns to the door.

"Agh, Stevie...you were right. I...I kind of overreacted it's just that I don't want to lose you." He scratches the back of his neck.

"Of course, Merry Christmas." She kisses him in front of everything. 

"I'm going to give you the best Christmas that I possibly can." He smiles kissing her again. 

***

Though they didn't have a tree, they shared homemade gifts around the fire. John gave Christine a little penguin figurine that he carved out of wood. Christine wrote John a song, because not only was she a good cook she was a good pianist as well. Sarah's gift to Mick was a little knitted baby sweater and he went green right in front of everyone and Sarah informed them that come June there'd be a new little baby in the castle. Chip was given an old bike from Lindsey and he explained that it had been his as a boy and he wanted Chip to learn how to ride it and then when Sarah and Mick's baby was old enough he wanted Chip to teach them. Then, even though it was going on eight in the morning, they had Christine's Christmas dinner and after everyone had gone to bed, Lindsey led Stevie up to her room.

"I um, read your poems...well the first one anyway, I wanted to get you a gift too." He grabs the box out of his pocket.

"Lindsey, you didn't have to do that." She shakes her head.

"I wanted to." He puts it in her hand. 

She smiles at him and then opens the velvet box and gasps "Oh Lindsey." 

Her fingers trail across the sparkling piece of jewelry. It was a white gold chain and setting. But the charm itself was a diamond crescent moon pendant. 

"Will you put it on me?" She asks.

"I'll always help you." He smiles taking the jewels from her and clasping it around her neck.

"Wherever did you get this?" She questions admiring it on her neck.

"It was my mothers. I've been saving her jewelry for someone special. I can show you more if you like, I just wanted to give you this one for Christmas because I know how you said the crescent moon was your favorite." He looks down sheepishly. 

"It's perfect thank you." She turns around in his arms and plants a kiss on his lip. 

Lindsey makes good on his offer from the 24th, about staying the night with her and when he pushes her into the bedroom and onto the bed. They do spend their Christmas morning making love and Lindsey knows that he needs to do something and he needs to do something soon because she still hasn't said she loved him. Sure she's shown him love but his curse is going to be deadlocked until she physically says that she loves him. He knows that she's holding off, but he doesn't know why. He makes a note to remember to ask Mick and John about it at a later time because at the moment she's curled up into his chest after an intense orgasm that had both of them seeing stars and he doesn't want to disturb her by moving so he just tucks her in closer and closes his eyes. Maybe Christmas isn't so horrible after all.