A/N: Exploration on Adam x Belle early relationship. Imagine they were courting right after his transformation.

[BellexAdam, T, Angst/Romance]

LIVING YOUR DREAM

"Belle… you came…"

As soon as the sentence left the Beast's lips, another bullet took a bite on his skin, impaled his flesh and ripped through his organs. The gun's shout split the air, roaring like thunderclap against the silence of the night.

The fierceness of the momentum pushed the Beast's injured body and hurled him towards the balcony of his chamber in the West Wing.

Belle quickly rushed to his side, cradling her listless figure in her arm. He was battered beyond words, his form covered with bruise and cuts, and a trail of fresh blood trickled down his back. His face contorted in agony as she propped his head with her hand.

Beast… No…! Her mind screamed, desperately calling for him. But the words stalled on her throat, and tears burnt her eyes.

She saw his eyes cracked open heavily, revealing their dying azure hue. Her mood darkened, her chest tightened as her heart sank to the floor witnessing death knocking on his door. That moment, all the well rehearsed phrase she wanted to say died prematurely on her lips.

Belle remembered her Papa told her what love was. It was a passionate, overpowering emotion; something that made your heart flutter and your spirits soar every time you saw or spoke to the person you'd fallen in love with. Love was supposed to feel like a breathtaking adventure: exhilarating, endlessly magical. But what she felt right now was nothing like the love she had expected.

The Beast relished what he perceived as his last moment on earth. He observed Belle's fathomless eyes staring passionately at his feature, feeling the delicate digit of her fingers running through his fur and her slender arms that gently entwined his figure.

"Belle… you - you came back." A small, faint satisfied smile beamed on his almost frozen lips.

"Of course I came back," she replied, suppressing the feeling of despair from staining her voice. "I couldn't let them…-" she trailed off, lurching forward and burying her face into his chest in deep remorse. "Oh, this is all my fault. If only I'd gotten here sooner….-! This wouldn't...-"

"Belle…."

His voice stalled her panic-induced rant. Belle lifted up her tearful countenance.

The beast's soft, hopeful eyes glimmered as he was silently studying her: her defiant brown eyes embellished with curling eyelashes, stared at him arrestingly. The exquisite contour of her chin, her soft, thin lips, and her glossy hair glinted like silk threads, framing her beautiful face.

This was the Belle, the girl that changed his life, filled his days with simple happiness, with her kind smile and unrestrained boldness. She was the woman who had tamed his fiery temper and turned him into a gentle pacifist. She had breathed life into his egotistical heart and taught him to be loved and to love in return. Part of him regretting that he wouldn't be able to spend endless hours reading books with her anymore, watching her curious eyes gleamed with interest, listening to her expressive voice as she read him her favorite Shakespeare line or simply hearing her infectious laughter. Another part of him was glad this chapter of his life was over. Belle could return to her life, perhaps marrying the man who truly deserved her. A man who was equally intelligent, sharing the same passion for books and treasuring the limitless knowledge they carried. A man who understood her wildest dream and could quench her thirst for adventure. He didn't know whether such man existed, but he knew it wasn't him.

They remained silent for a while, but their eyes speak volumes of affection towards each other, replacing the words they couldn't utter.

"I'm afraid it's my turn...to say goodbye." His voice ebbed into a soft, faint whisper in between his clipping breath, while his trembling finger clasped weakly against hers, letting the warmth from her fingertips penetrate and console his straining soul.

Blinking passed the tears that threatened to fall, Belle caressed his cheek and stared at him sorrowfully. "Don't talk like that! You'll be all right. We're together now; everything's going to be fine, you'll see." Her voice was beautiful, courageous, heart broken angel.

Belle had to bite her lips, contradicting herself. Just to think that she had to learn how to act, to move on, to fill the day without him by her side, crushed her heart to pieces. She was so used to his dry joke, his deep husky voice, and the warm touch of his paws. Belle took a few calming breath, mitigating the ongoing furor in her chest from surfacing into a display sorrow on her face.

"At least...," he said in earnest. With the last vestiges of his strength, he reached his powerless arms to touch her cheek and brush her tears."I got to see you...one last time."

And pulling his last laboring breath from his tortured body, his spirit lulled peacefully into its eternal slumber. His bright blue eyes were now dull, staring soullessly towards the heaven. There was no more passion in them, they were frozen. Forever. Unable to give her the answer to the words that she had been waited for so long to say.

"No! No! Please! Please!" she begged, her countenance spiraled with frustration tampered with pure sorrow.

"Please don't leave me...-!" was the fragment of sentence she could say before succumbing and weeping relentlessly.

"I love you….."

There was no language. No words could describe her unbearable sadness.

The world was not a kind place for humans. It was even less kind for a beast who had given his heart to one.

Belle's eyes jolted open. She found herself on her bed. Her breaths came in a short fearful gasp, and her tears were streaming freely down her eyes. A tangle of sweaty sheets around her legs, a frenzied pile of pillows on the floor from where she thrashed in her sleep. Her hands were clutching the corner of the blanket tightly while Adam's arm lazily draped over her waist. The book she read last night still sprawling uncaringly on the floor.

Shaking her head to herself through the terrifying events of the fading dreamscape, Belle sighed in relief… it was only a fragment of distant past. A dream.

The room was still dark, illuminated only by the fading light of the solitary candlestick as the night wore on, deep and quiet.

Following the curve of that strong arms that still wrapped protectively around her waist, Belle's eyes accidentally fell to its owner - the man she shared her bed with. No, he wasn't supposed to be here, but right now, Belle was thankful for his presence. Her eyes silently feasted on his indescribable charm. With his gold, wavy hair spread on his pillow, his eyes closed and his lips slightly parted in sleep, he was irresistibly charming. Belle felt an unwanted fervor creep into her heart, as she fought the urge to push a stray hair back from his handsome face. There was a brief lapse in time as she watched Adam's peaceful features as he slept, staring at him indulgently.

Even though there were times when she struggled to accept the man laid next to her was, in essence, the beast who unexpectedly had stolen her heart, it appeared her body craved more of his masculinity and enjoyed the spell of his human's touch.

She must have wide awake for a long time. Behind her closed lids, Belle could hear the bird serenading in a vague distance, welcoming the arrival of morning. Subsequently, the prince beside her began to stir, opening his eyes to reveal his brilliant, bright blue hue, the same eyes she had fell in love with. She smiled at the sight, feeling her heart wrapped in warmth.

"Morning, my Prince."

"Morning my….-" then there was a brief pause when Adam registered her puffy red eyes, bedraggled hair, and trails of dry tears cascaded down her face. She didn't look refreshed at all from the conclusion of her rest, as though sleep had offered nothing but desolation and anxiety.

His brows drew together in worry, "Belle…? Did you… did you just…-"

Cry? He wanted to say, but his thought was interrupted when he realized the unfamiliar surrounding. Wait…

He straightened himself up, sweeping his confused gaze towards the content of the room, surveying the neatly arrayed furniture, glittering jewelry trinkets and various paraphernalia that clearly wasn't belong to a man.

Behind the density of the furniture, he could see the gold bed canopy weaved with intricate embroidery of pink and blue flower, the silky, gossamer drape tinted with a delicate note of femininity. The curtain and wallpaper, all spiraling with more quaint floral chinoiserie, were scaling from the floor towards the ceiling, perfectly marrying the timeless elegance with modern beauty. There was even a wooden mannequin standing mutely wearing her ball gown on the corner of the room. Everything in the room had been decorated tastefully to fit an image of a….princess.

Then it dawned on him; he had been sleeping in Belle's room, in the East Wing, the entire night. What was he doing there? The goosebumps formed in his wake on the thought.

Gasping as he pulled himself away from Belle, creating an illusion of personal space. His face flaring in embarrassment, as though Belle could see whatever sinful thing that he did to her last night was written all over him.

"Did I? Uh - I mean we..-?" His hands absently performed a quick autopsy on his body. Thankfully he was still appropriately dressed in a royal outfit: his pants were still intact, braces secured and shirt buttoned. Despite the large water stain on his lapels (did he drool?) and his silk slack was creased to the point of making him looked like candy in a bright blue wrapper, he was certain his outfit had not left his body the entire night.

"No, I think you just accidentally fell asleep here while we were reading books to each other," Belle replied.

"Oh… those must be a fascinating read, then," he said with a pinch of harmless sarcasm.

Belle laughed, sweet and lustrous. "Is that a joke?"

Adam feigned a dry scoff. "Maybe," he deadpanned before a peal of laughter burst out of them.

After their giggling fit had subsided, Adam went back to ask. "But, why did you cry? Someone make you sad?" His hand instinctively wiped the crusted tears around her eyes. "Is it...me? Did I do something wrong?"

But the action that supposed to console her, instead, inflicting more pain as she his words echoed in her head.

Belle…. you came back.

At least...I got to see you, one last time.

That rough, thick voice, heavily accented with affection, and that azure eyes gleamed and filled with melancholy as he spelled his dying words.

A familiar sadness surged like a wave when she recounted her nightmare, strangling tightly around her chest.

"No, it's just…- " Belle swallowed thickly as choking sobs shook her lips. "Adam, do you ever had a nightmare, so terrifying that it felt real?"

"Yes…yes, I do."

In the past, while he was a beast, his nightmare had been his own reflection, standing in a room with the silent portrait of a boy with her parents, or, the thought of him spending the rest of his life alone after the last petals fell and his faithful servants had turned into antiques. He would be confined in loneliness and despair in the tower, without hope and nowhere he could escape from the world's harsh reality…. forever.

But that was in the past.

Right now, Adam reflected that he was very lucky ever to become a beast.

Without his superficial transformation, he would end up with a girl with no real affection, who was just enticed by his affluence, ensnared by his boundless prosperity, status, beguiled by his devilishly handsome look and tempted by the prospect of having plenty of meaningless, expensive gifts.

And talking about his self-centered, selfish and flashy old self - Adam would have never laid his sight on a peasant like Belle, a daughter of an artist.

It was then, in his beastly form, he could learn the value of humility and benevolence. And while he was a beast, he had learned that Belle was a woman of exceptional character to be able to see his heart beyond the ugly horns and fangs. She was a woman who could appreciate and understand him as a person despite his outward appearance.

Now that they'd met - the thought of living his lonely, solitary life - with his repulsive, scary countenance as a beast, didn't scare him anymore.

As for Belle, she hardly felt genuinely scared over anything - not even when she saw the Beast for the first time. In the beginning, she was startled by his appearance, but she had never been fearful of him. But as her initial hatred transformed into affection, Belle was gravely aware that the prospect of anything or anyone hurting the Beast was what frightened her the most. The vivid depiction of the Beast being massacred and the villagers paraded his head around the town had haunted her in the form of recurrent nightmare.

"I am...I am just afraid of losing you."

Her cracking voice alarmed Adam, breaking his contemplative musing. Belle looked so genuinely anguished that it tugged painfully at Adam's melancholic heart. He hated the idea that he had been the cause of all those insufferable feelings. "Belle, I am here. I am not going anywhere," he retorted gently, gathering the perturbed maiden into his arms.

"I love you, Belle."

Instinctively, those words spilled from the depth of his heart, expressing the deepest sentiment he was dying to share.

It wasn't the first time Adam said those words, but he was sure it was the first time she heard him said them.

They'd fallen from his lips before, while he was a beast, but in hushed whispers that spilled lightly on her hazel locks as she dozed against his strong shoulder in the library, leaning against his furry, toned arms, a half read Shakespeare sonnets sprawled and forgotten before them.

They'd fallen between the warm of their breaths and thundering heartbeats as she smiles across the dining table in between the romantic rhetoric on her favorite book - about a prince in disguise.

They'd fallen offhandedly when she stretched her hands to lead him across the dance floor in her magnificent golden dress. When she glanced away just long enough, and the music was loud enough that that earnest confession was safely carried away with the sentimental dynamic of its notes.

But now, there was no sleepy whisper, no compelling music, and no hesitation.

With the fullness of his voice, he let out his feeling bled on his words.

"I love you, Belle," he repeated.

Her eyes widened as scarlet hue blossomed on her cheek. Her lips quivered, and beads of tears were balancing on the corner of her eyes. But the bitterness had disappeared from her face, only left its sweetness behind. Adam felt his heart swell in his chest, and his adoration to the subject of his affection expanded together with it.

"You don't have to dream about losing me, you can dream about sharing the rest of your life with me," he appealed as he pressed a long, lingering kiss on her lips.

Outside, the sound of bright laughter reverberated through the castle's corridors. High-pitched, sweet, untroubled and innocent.

Children's laughter.

Belle reflected briefly on her life now, imagining Adam sitting down by the fireplace, eyes flashing brightly as he read the books out loud to a bunch of children in his arms.

Their children.

Across the room, her papa would be fondly grafting the scene, translating the reality into the vivid color on his canvas, immortalizing the happier days of his life - a moment that would last forever.

There was something warm, moving, tight and suffocating as Belle imagined she was snuggling together with them.

"Well, I suppose not just the warm thought…" Belle heard him muttered, breaking her fantastical daze. "Unfortunately you would have to endure those boring, empty conversation with noblemen and dignitaries." A strained smile played on his lips. "Also sitting stiffly in a constricting, tight fitting shirt and dabbing your mouth with the tip of your serviette to satisfy Cogsworth's obsession in table etiquette and stopping Lumiere to lecture me on a proper royal conduct."

Adam cringed slightly reminiscing his extravagant lifestyle before the Enchantress took everything away from him. For a second, he couldn't believe he would ever admit it. Before becoming a beast, his life was embroiled with relentless dances, never-ending banquet, and ostentatious soiree. He remembered his manner-tutor, Monsieur Leroy, the scrawny man with a perfectly trimmed mustache, droning relentlessly about the importance of visual impression. People were judged by the way they dressed, talked and carry themselves - so he said. Enduring a straight, uncomfortable posture and pretending to enjoy a dull dialogue (which eventually became more of a monolog) was a small price to pay for the recognition, praise, and acknowledgment Adam had received. All these exhibitions of his riches and nobility were nothing but a theatrical display, and his life had been the stage.

Belle gave an apologetic smile at Adam's long-suffering sigh. It must have been quite a struggle for Adam to relearn some of those sophisticated, dressy mannerism as expected by a person with his status and upbringing, especially when it was merely for a show.

"We'll manage. I will learn those code of conducts together with you," she replied. Somehow, an untypical scandalous smile made its way on her face. "Just want to make sure to leave that wild, unmannered and untamed side of you… for me."

Adam smirked before releasing a low, predatory growl, earning him another gush of laughter.

"You are attractive as ever, my Prince." Belle shook her head and smiled amusedly at his antics.

"Could this beard be the factor?" Adam countered, matching her coquettish smile.

Neither of them said anything for a while. The silence grew between them, deep and heavy with meaning.

"I think I would never say this enough… " Adam was the first to say, his voice turned soft but serious. "But, no matter what will happen, to me, to you, to us...my promise stands - I love you, Belle."

She responded in kind, just a touch louder. "I love you too."

Adam girded her tired form closer, not wanting any distance between them. Not here, not now, not ever.

He mused over this day, and many other behind it. What had happened, what was now, and what was to be.

He gazed at the glimpse of his heroine next to him, he smiled as the string of nostalgia settled back in his face.

When he saw her, he fell in love. She smiled because she knew.

Both of them may have nightmares…. but mostly… they had been living their dreams.