In Between Dreams

88

88

I had all and then most of you
Some and now none of you
Take me back to the night we met

88

88

The peaceful tone of the forest did not feel the same as any other morning Beast had opened his eyes within it.

It was lighter somehow, in the same way his bones were; like an ardent and constant weight had been pulled off his shoulders, so that he might be able to breathe properly at last. He'd been invigorated by something he didn't even know that he needed so badly.

He wanted to laugh, completely overwhelmed by the feeling.

Scrunching fingers into soft earth, he saw pink blossoms floating lazily through the air, complimenting the fading yellow and brilliant blue skies of sunrise. There were the vivid hues of greenery, and sunlight sparkled against the wet grass, reviving all his senses some more.

Nearby, he could see a little pool of water that almost seemed to sparkle, as inviting as everything else all around him.

He looked down, and found Gaston lying close beside him. His head was tilted away, like he might be asleep.

"Gaston," Beast coughed the word out, and some water pooled from his mouth.

Strange, he couldn't remember being in any water at all.

The last thing he could really remember was Gaston's voice, and then something about names. Gaston had probably been taunting him about the Perceval thing again.

Beast smiled at the thought, and squinted up through the bright tree tops. Just beyond them he could see the marked and very close outline of the castle.

It wasn't very far now. They'd be back home before the sun had gotten very high in the sky.

"Gaston," Beast budged the tiny distance over to the hunter, and hovered a hand over his chest.

He hesitated. Gaston looked so pale and tired, it really was a shame to wake him.

"Hey..."

At the same time he looked properly down at his own hand.

His hand.

Beast stared at it in awe; the light of the morning sun highlighting the glowing skin of his fingers.

It was probably a dream, it must have been that. He was imagining something far too wonderful, and impossible.

Through the disbelief, he crawled shakily to the edge of the little pool of water, to catch his numbed reflection.

It was like looking at a ghost, or else a stranger in his own skin, as ridiculous as it was.

A shiver between joy and shock rocked his body as he traced a hand slowly across his own face, recalling memories that felt so long ago, and yet at the same time they seemed to flood within him as if they'd only been gone for a few meaningless seconds of his life.

"Gaston...I-I'm..."

He scrambled back to the hunter and grabbed his arm, shaking him roughly.

"Gaston! Wake up! Look what happened! It must have...I don't know-"

Caught up in such heady delirium, it took a while to notice Gaston wasn't waking, and then how unusually cold his arm felt in his grip.

There was something wrong.

Beast realised it as he tilted the hunter's head gently to face him. He looked too pale, and his dark hair looked even darker against such pallid skin.

"Hey, come now. Wake up."

Beast pressed his hand into the other's chest, and then something dropped within his own, as his palm spread out onto such a cold stillness that made him feel strange. It was like reaching the top of a staircase; and heart fluttering after taking an extra step that wasn't really there at all.

Beast couldn't get rid of the sensation.

"No..." he gathered the hunter up in shaking arms, curling smooth fingers into more calloused (and familiar) ones, like that might inject some sort of life back into them.

They fitted together so well, and Beast realised, somewhere at the back of his mind, that he'd never held the hunter's hand without it being covered by gloves before.

The absent thought, along with the cold skin against his own, was too much. The brightness of the forest and the twitter of birds had become harsh and unbearable, as if it all might be taunting him.

Gaston wasn't supposed to be dead.

The hunter was too strong and far too stubborn for that, and Beast wouldn't believe it.

He bowed his head as hot wetness burst down his cheeks. It was strange to feel tears on his own skin again.

"Please..."

Wiping his eyes on a tattered sleeve, he swallowed the heat in his throat and looked at Gaston's face. There he noticed the fractionally parted shape of his lips.

Beast knew that there wouldn't be another time, or even another chance. And in a way, it was some clichéd wishful thinking that made him do it.

More than that though, more than anything at all, he just wanted to do it.

"I'd rather stay a beast forever," he realised, "than have you die on me."

He bent the rest of the way down, cupping the hunter's face delicately in his hands, and closed the tiny gap between them.

Gaston's mouth was soft but cool, and Beast closed his eyes, chest aching as he imagined the way the hunter might have kissed him back.

Then, as the thought ravaged his heart, something else covered his vision; a brutal rush of memories assaulting him all at once.

Between wolves, bears and harpies, hills and valleys, lush streams, rivers, and beautiful lakes; there was the hunter, so vivid and alive within his mind again.

A deft and strident walk between them, cold snarls and reluctant glances, uncertain smiles and accidental laughter. A meaningless head tilt that actually meant far more than that, and then the warmth of flesh and heat that became as close as tiny flecks within blue eyes...

It was like being forced through a rapid replay of every dizzying and oddly intimate moment he'd ever shared with the hunter in those last few days, and it was far too devastating.

Beast thought, through the intense haze, that he might be blacking out and falling into something else.

8

8

He opened his eyes and was standing up again, surrounded by a forest that he didn't recognise at all.

The trees were skeletal with dark and spindly branches, bending easily in a bitter cold wind, where the edges of grey clouds made the sky look cracked. Beast shivered and shielded his eyes against the snow that swept past his gaze.

He didn't question any of it for more than second. His breath caught, when he saw the figure standing a little way away from him.

The hunter's back was turned, and he stood so still that he could have been a statue.

Beast's heart surged, as he ran to him.

"Gaston."

Gaston turned round in some alarm, and he pushed Beast back, before staggering away. He looked white, but not in the same terrible way he'd looked when Beast had thought (or known) that he was dead.

"...Beast? What're you still doing here?"

"What do you mean?" Beast reached out again, but the hunter flinched back.

He looked past Beast distractedly, as if he expected something else to appear before them at any moment. He shook his head.

"...you...you shouldn't be here anymore."

Beast scoffed. "What are you talking about? Where else would I be?"

"Not here," Gaston's eyes widened, and then he looked at Beast more angrily. "She told me..." he turned away with a growl. "Never mind. I must still be dreaming."

"Dreaming? Gaston, you're not-"

"I am," Gaston snapped. "... and I'm so sick of these dreams."

The cold wind seemed to intensify all around them, and it was as if it might be in tune with the hunter's emotions.

Beast shaded a paw against it all, and followed him further into the forest, ignoring how the wind got colder and fiercer.

"You're not dreaming, Gaston. I'm- I mean...I think this is real."

Gaston sneered at him; "I fell for that before, but I know my own mind better now, Beast. Don't waste your breath."

"But-"

"Leave me alone."

A roaring wind gushed through dead leaves, and then coiled around and obscured the hunter's face. He became a blurred shape through a muddled storm for a little while as he began to walk away. A dreaded feeling reached Beast's stomach, and he ran after him.

"Hey! I won't leave you here. Whether it's a dream or not."

Gaston looked at him with scornful amusement. "What will you do, then? Follow me like some lost puppy forever?"

"Yes."

Gaston stopped in his adamant march. As he turned properly back round, the wind seemed to ebb a little, and the snow became lighter, turning into pattering rain.

The hunter's face dropped into something like reluctant resignation, and he massaged his temples with a weary sigh.

"Why bother, Beast? Why would you come back here at all?"

Beast snorted. He didn't need to think about that. "Why would you ask me such a stupid question?"

Around them, the rain stopped, and the ghosts of grey cloud were beginning to dissolve from the sky, into something warmer.

"I was trying to help you, Beast," Gaston explained, and he sounded hoarse. "But I don't think I did it right," he looked at the ground, as if it had disappointed him.

"What?" Beast said softly. "what do you mean?"

"You're still...I mean, you're still a Beast."

Beast hadn't even thought about that, never mind noticed it.

He glanced down at his own huge paws and fur-ridden body, and it didn't seem to matter anymore. Not compared to everything else.

"Gaston-"

"I thought I could do something about it," Gaston said quickly. "I'm so good at everything else, aren't I? Or that's what I'm told," he trailed off, and glared down at his own bare hands. "But...apparently I can't do everything, Beast. Can...can you believe that?"

Beast smiled, his chest hurting. "No, I honestly can't."

The hunter laughed, but it sounded bitter.

"I...I dreamt once that I woke up and none of this had happened," he said. "And for a second I forgot all about you. But...I don't think I can imagine not knowing you anymore, Beast. Even in stupid dreams. It's very...annoying."

"I can imagine it must be."

Beast's breath caught in his mouth as he took the last step, bridging the short distance between them. He could see the vivid way the hunter's eyes flashed, and the tiny lines of his lips, as they curled into something more like a weary smile.

"But I was so sure I could help you, Beast."

"It doesn't matter."

"Of course it does...isn't that what you wanted?"

Beast shrugged.

"Why would I care about that, if I can't see you again?"

Gaston stared at him, and he didn't move, even as Beast took his hand in his own.

The grey edges of cloud in the sky were dissipating, and Beast felt rather than saw the forest come back to life all around them; the warm colourful shades of flowers and then yellow light pushing through green, creating a single moment that Beast could have stayed within for the rest of his life.

As the hunter's heat got warmer, and breath became heavy with a tangible heartbeat, Beast closed his eyes.

And then the moment was gone.

8

There was a gasping sound, like someone emerging from water, and then a string of shuddered coughs followed it.

Beast took a breath that felt like it'd been frozen in his lungs forever, and then opened his eyes.

Gaston was still coughing, and Beast pulled him quickly upright, and into a tight embrace; afraid that none of it was real, and more afraid to let the hunter go again, for fear he might still be a dream. If that was what it had been.

Gaston sighed and bowed his head heavily on his shoulder, and Beast felt the warm quiver of his body and the pulsing and uneven swallow of his throat, against his own skin.

But he was alive.

Beast tipped his head into the hunter's familiar scent, and wondered how he would ever be able to do without it again.

"Are-are you alright?" he asked, mouth catching against tangled thick strands of hair.

"...perfect," Gaston said, like he might be smiling. "But...I feel like I died or something, Beast..."

Beast laughed, and then tipped his head, so that their foreheads bumped together.

He closed his eyes, and for a moment he forgot awkward proximity or the consequences of anything like that.

"It's Adam, by the way."

"...huh?"

"My name. It's Adam."

"..what?" the hunter's voice faded, and then Beast felt a hand pushing him back, just a bit, before Gaston looked properly at him for the first time.

"...Adam?"

The hunter blinked, his eyes widening into some stunned wariness, as if he didn't really trust what he was looking at.

"I...yes, it's me," Beast suddenly felt full of nerves.

In some way, as ridiculous as it was, he felt far more self conscious under the scrutiny of the hunter as an actual human, than he ever had as a Beast. Especially with the way Gaston was staring at him now.

"...I mean, it's still me. I'm just...I'm just human now."

"I..."

Gaston's stare moved into a vague frown.

"I can see that," he said eventually.

He sat up some more, rubbing his head and briefly shutting his eyes again.

"What...what happened?"

Beast blinked at him.

"...don't you remember any of it?"

"I think, well...nothing important, obviously."

Beast brushed a hand gently across his shoulder. "Seems like you're looking a lot better, though."

"I always look better."

Beast failed to hide his smile. "True. But you're still bleeding a bit."

Gaston followed his gaze carelessly down to his shoulder, and shrugged.

"...it's just a scratch."

Beast laughed, and wanted to do so much more.

But he realised, just watching Gaston complain and teeter as he started to stand up, that he couldn't do anything like that now, and perhaps Gaston really couldn't remember anything important after all.

Beast touched his own lips, with the phantom memory of a sensation that had probably not even happened.

Maybe Gaston was right; and maybe it had all been a strange dream between them.

"Easy," he caught the hunter's arm as he stumbled again, and helped keep him upright.

"I'm okay," Gaston said, in some irritation, but leaned against Beast anyway.

"I know."

The hunter's weight was heavier now, since Beast didn't have the strength of anything but a single human anymore, but it was no trouble. He thought he could carry him until the end of time if he had to.

He looked up, where the sun was streaming through a gap between the trees, and the castle looked so close that he could see the faces of the cherubic statues that decorated it.

Out the corner of his eye, he thought he saw something move between trees. He turned his head, trying to make it out through the mossy green that lead into darkness behind them.

"What is it?" Gaston asked.

"Nothing," Beast turned quickly back to the hunter. "Just thought...nothing. I was imagining things."

"Oh."

Neither of them said another word about it, but Beast felt the hunter's gaze linger on him longer than it needed to.

"What's wrong?"

Gaston shook his head quickly. "You never told me."

"...told you what?"

"How good looking you were."

Beast blinked, stuck between embarrassment and confusion.

"I..."

"You're welcome," Gaston grinned faintly. "...Prince Adam."

Beast returned it, and somehow, with the way the hunter said his name, his actual name, it made it all feel very real for the first time.

And he really was a prince again.

He gripped Gaston a bit closer, and as the grassy trail through the forest swayed, creating a pathway just for them, the heat of the hunter was warmer and more intimate than it'd ever felt before. With it, Beast... Adam, remembered what it really was to be human again.

88

88

88

Adam was greeted just outside the castle in a garden full of rose bushes, with pouring words of disbelief, and tight, almost painful hugs.

There were faces and voices he'd thought he'd never know again, and for some chaotic minutes everything was like whiplash; as if he'd been pushed back into an old world he wasn't braced for.

Through the jumble of emotion, he was only very aware of two things.

The first was that Gaston had taken some steps back, and he didn't say a word, or indicate that he might have been a part of the moment at all. He just stood there, watching the happy reunion with an awkward and detached expression. He did not suit a wallflower very well.

Adam gently pulled away from Mrs Potts' embrace, and then remembered the second thing.

"Where is Belle?"

Mrs Potts, Lumière and Cogsworth exchanged worried looks.

"She went looking for you, master," said Mrs Potts regretfully.

"And we all tried to stop her," Cogsworth quickly added. "but, ah, as soon as she realised you were still alive...well, you know she's a spirited young lady, master..."

"Where did she go?"

"Into the forest," said Lumière.

"The forest?" Adam turned instinctively back round to Gaston.

The hunter rolled his eyes and glanced away.

"It doesn't surprise me," he said unsympathetically, and folded his arms. "She's always been one to take things into her own irresponsible hands."

Cogsworth looked at him with a derisive snort, as if he'd only just noticed the hunter standing there. "And you're very well acquainted with the young lady, are you?"

"Not especially," Gaston sneered at him. "But I do know she's foolish enough to do something like that."

"Gaston-" Adam moved a warning hand to his arm, but Gaston shrugged it off.

"Now just a minute," Cogsworth snapped. "Don't speak about Belle like that, you...you uncouth scoundrel."

"Cogsworth!" Adam said.

"And who are you to speak so unkindly of her, anyway?" Cogsworth ignored him. "Having almost killed our master, an explanation as to why you're here at all would be nice, if you even have the capability of that-"

"You-" Gaston took a step toward him, his hands tightening into sharp fists.

"Stop it," Adam yelled, and everyone looked at him with surprised faces. "Both of you!"

Adam took a breath, trying to find level in his voice, because nerves had reached him.

He blinked round at all of his subjects, rather unconsciously putting himself between them and Gaston. He couldn't help it; the thought of keeping the hunter protected had become more than second nature, it was just what he had to do now.

He pressed a hand firmly to Gaston's chest, and let the words tumble from his mouth;

"He broke the spell," his voice shook through the words.

The small group seemed to pale in front of him, and there were murmured words which mingled together like a ripple of surprise. There was a heavy quiet, in which the truth of it seemed to hit Adam too, flipping and twisting inside of his stomach.

His hand relaxed a bit on Gaston's chest; though he could still feel the thrum of the hunter's heart, and it was like a comforting and reliable melody, amidst all the chaos in his mind.

"He...he broke the spell?" Cogsworth said, in an incredulous voice. "I don't believe-"

Lumière nudged him sharply in the side.

"Well, this is wonderful news, master. Isn't it, my friends?"

Everyone nodded slowly, but the atmosphere had become uncomfortable, and Adam noticed Gaston had turned away from them all.

Mrs Potts took a careful step forward, her smile small and warm.

"It's true?" her eyes stayed on Gaston. "The hunter, he broke the spell?"

"Yes," Adam swallowed. "He did."

He smiled weakly and then turned around, where Gaston was watching him with a raised eyebrow, like he didn't really understand.

Of course he wouldn't, Adam hadn't told him.

"Well then," Mrs. Potts laughed lightly, punctuating a strange silence. "It takes all sorts, doesn't it?" she reached out a hand, and then gathered Gaston's. "Thank you, my dear. We're all very grateful to you."

Gaston stared at her in some surprise, and then blinked back at Adam.

"Beast...I mean...prince...what is-"

"Don't worry," Adam told him hurriedly. "It's not important."

Of course it was, and he noticed the way Gaston stared at him, but Adam couldn't think about that right now.

"I-I need a horse. I need to find Belle."

"There's some ready in the stables, master," Lumière said. "If you go now, I'm sure you'll catch up to her quickly."

"Good," Adam started off, but felt a hand on his arm, pulling him back.

"I'll go with you," Gaston said.

Adam looked the hunter up and down, trying to keep emotion in check.

"Don't be ridiculous, you're in no condition for that," he turned back round to his subjects. "Please, look after my friend whilst I'm gone. His injuries need tending to."

Gaston grabbed him again. "I won't stay here, prince."

He looked irritated and confused, and in that moment Adam wanted to do nothing but wipe the scowl off his mouth, in an extremely unsubtle way.

"It's Adam," he said instead. "I won't be very long, I promise."

"You don't know that," Gaston glared at him.

They stood, in a tense and odd sort of stand-off for a few seconds, neither of them losing the other's gaze, or else too stubborn to break it.

"Now, dear. Let me see to this shoulder," Mrs Potts said, weaving between them and shattering the silence."Looks quite nasty, doesn't it?"

Gaston barely reacted to her words, eyes never leaving Adam's.

"Good luck. With Belle, I mean," he said coldly.

Adam's heart tightened with the words, but all he could do was watch the hunter stalk away. Mrs Potts ran after him, waving her arms and muttering something about 'reckless young men'.

"Good luck," Adam muttered to himself. "I think I'll need it more than you think, hunter."

88

Returning to the forest on horseback was different. Everything felt easier and smaller, less significant, and not just for the obvious reasons.

He could move far more quickly of course, but with it he missed the tiny and fragile wild flowers that crumpled under his feet, or the intricate detail of a tree trunk, and even the soft rustle of wind through leaves, accompanying Gaston and his ridiculous hunting stories...

The forest couldn't absorb him with it's simple beauty anymore. In way, it was like he wasn't even in the same forest anymore.

He didn't have to go too far into it before he found Belle.

She was on her own horse, wearing a hooded cloak up over head. When she turned round her face was as beautiful as he remembered it, and a sadness reached his heart.

"Belle."

She backed up, startled by his strange voice, and then entirely confused.

"...who are you?"

"It's me. I'm...it's me," there was nothing else to say. He could tell she'd already figured it out.

Between the occasional snort of both their horses, there hung silence, as though a shock wave had pummelled the atmosphere, and all that was left was a strange aftermath and a chance to pick up the pieces and try to make sense of them all.

"Beast?" Belle said.

She slid off her horse and then walked slowly toward him, her expression mixed between intrigue and fear.

Adam got off his own horse, offering her a weak smile, as the gap got smaller between then.

So now they were supposed to embrace and kiss.

But there was none of that; only her uncertain expression, and the way she turned her head away from him to look at something else, as if it were far more interesting.

"So you are a prince," she said at last. "I was beginning to have my doubts, after all the stories they told me."

"Stories?" Adam could feel himself colouring up.

"You were a bit of a brat, weren't you?" Belle said, but she was smiling. She reached out, to flick a strand of hair out of his eyes. "I can imagine that."

Adam cleared his throat. "I was...yes, I was a brat, to put it lightly," he laughed, at a loss of what else to do or say. He'd long since given up trying to defend his own behaviour.

"Still, it does seem like a harsh punishment."

Adam laughed. "Gaston thought the same," he said, not thinking about it.

Belle's eyes widened. "Gaston?"

"Oh..." Adam looked to the side.

Suddenly the hidden depths of the forest felt more tempting than the reality he'd found himself in. Running from bears and harpies and wolves was nothing at all, compared to trying to find words in that moment.

"It was...the hunter. He helped me," he said at last.

Belle raised an eyebrow. "Gaston?"

Adam nodded. "Yes."

Belle's breath hitched as her laughter died away, and she stared at him, her face flickering in disbelief when she seemed to realise what he was telling her. And then that he was serious.

"He broke the spell?" her voice became quieter.

"It's hard to believe it, I'm sure-"

"I knew that someone must have broken it," Belle interrupted, and shook her head, more to herself. "I-I spent some time wondering who. I just...how did he...?"

Adam kept his eyes focused ahead, but with some difficulty, because even as he tried to recall a sensible answer, all he could really remember was prickling wet skin, and then cool flesh and confused dreams. A soft mouth...

Adam smiled faintly at Belle.

"It's just a spell."

He touched her hand, and her fingers twitched delicately in his for just a second, before she retracted them.

"How much I'd like to believe that," she said, and laughed shortly.

"I-we can...we can talk about this all together. It-it's quite a story, actually."

"Talk 'all together'? You mean with Gaston?" Belle looked both amused and sceptical. "you're sure about that?"

"Yes. Things have...I think he'd want to talk."

Belle studied him as if he were a detailed puzzle, and she was trying to spot the missing ingredient, that might make it all add up, or make some sense.

Adam took a step back, finding it easier to keep his eyes on the waving trees.

"I know that you and Gaston left things on bad terms. But-"

Belle took his hand. "Please, let's just go back to the castle first. Then we can talk."

Adam opened his mouth to protest, but words were clogged within his throat. He couldn't explain all of it to her right now, but he had a feeling that she knew better than himself anyway, if that were even possible.

It was in every gesture between them; the stilted way they brushed hands, and then the easy way she rejected his help back onto her horse, as if she'd never needed it in the first place. He felt like he'd been rejected, and he also found he didn't want to fight it.

Instead his thoughts wandered with the soft trail of the forest, and so easily, back to Gaston.

It was like a default in his mind, some subconscious setting that he couldn't rid himself of, even when Belle looked over her shoulder at him, and he explained to her the small details of his name, the curse, the habits he'd gotten into, and how exhausted he felt. Things that should have been huge revelations, they all felt empty pouring from his mouth, because he knew what was missing.

"Are you alright?" Belle asked, after a while. She looked genuinely concerned.

He only felt worse for it.

"Not really," he admitted.

Belle halted her horse suddenly, and looked at him with a frown that soon softened.

"...Adam," she said his name carefully, as though she was unsure if it was correct. "I don't know what happened between you and Gaston over these past few days...and I can't pretend to understand, either-"

"Belle, I don't expect you to-"

"But I'm happy you're safe," Belle carried on, as if he hadn't said a word."and that you didn't resort to killing each other, at least. I can imagine it would have been tempting, a few times."

Adam returned her wry smile.

"You'd be surprised how close it came to that."

"I don't think I'd be very surprised at all."

They travelled the rest of the way back to the castle in silence, and the calm hum of the forest accompanied them, only reminding Adam of everything he'd left behind him.

8

Mrs Potts was standing at the open gates, ready to greet them both.

Adam looked past her, eyes narrowing around the bright courtyard, until he noticed the bow lying abandoned in the grass.

He bent and picked it up, stroking the smooth edges of it through a blur of emotion.

"Is Gaston inside the castle?"

Mrs. Potts face fell.

"Master, I'm afraid he already left."

"What?"

Adam could barely believe it. Gaston had left, just like that? And without even a proper goodbye.

"Seems all your guests have a habit of not listening very well to your staff," Cogsworth commented, but he did look apologetic. "We did try our best to make him stay, though."

"Even offered him a few cups of tea, as it happens," Mrs Potts tutted. "Wouldn't even take a sip!"

"He was very...determined, master," Lumière said.

Adam rubbed a hand over his temples and rolled his eyes.

"Determined. Yes, that sounds about right."

He shouldn't have been so surprised, anymore. The hunter wouldn't listen to anyone, of course he wouldn't. It was some sort of miracle if he ever listened to Adam himself.

"If it's any consolation, he stayed until he saw you both coming out of the forest," Mrs. Potts said. "And he's only travelling on foot. I'm sure he hasn't gotten very far."

It wasn't much consolation at all, and Adam sighed, stuck in a conflict he'd been trying to avoid and escape ever since he'd first returned to the castle.

He felt Belle's hand, soft on his arm, and it only cemented the feeling.

"This is...I'm sorry about all of this," he looked between them all. "But I need to..."

"Go after him," Belle said.

"...what?"

"You heard me. I'm worried that he's lost his mind," she smiled a bit. "I don't think he's the Gaston I remember, somehow."

"Do you...you don't mind?"

Belle laughed thinly.

"Of course I mind. And I also have a good mind to chuck you both back into the forest together. Although I'm beginning to think you might enjoy that," she hesitated, and her smile wavered. "...you would, wouldn't you?"

Adam couldn't say anything to that.

He was only reminded of her own brilliant perception, and then the realisation that she knew far more about the curse than he'd ever cared to tell her.

There was only one other person left to tell, now.

"Please forgive me," he said.

Belle squeezed his shoulder.

"Well. Good luck."

88

Adam pushed through the trees with a twisting nausea that wouldn't leave him until he'd finally caught sight of the hunter. It was as it had been when they'd been travelling through the forest these past few days; he couldn't relax anymore unless he knew where Gaston was, and that he might be safe. It was almost a curse in itself.

Mrs Potts was right though, he hadn't gotten very far.

The hunter was leaning a hand against a tree and scowling at his injured shoulder. Adam thought about what an idiot he could be, but far more about how much he just wanted to make sure he was okay. How much he needed to see him.

"Thought you would have had enough of this sort of scenery by now, hunter."

"Huh?" Gaston turned round slowly. "Oh. Hello."

"Is that all you've got?" Adam walked the rest of the way through bramble, and into the little clearing. "You forgot this."

He took a moment to catch his breath, and then pressed the bow into Gaston's hands.

"What is a foolish hunter without his trusty and arrow-less bow, anyway?"

Gaston smiled weakly. "thanks," then he shaded his eyes and tilted his head up, at the tree tops.

Adam followed his gaze, and they stood and watched the filter of sunlight through the trees, casting a glow that was so warm and familiar.

Every turn of a leaf or sway of a branch reminded Adam of something stark and vivid that had happened to them within the forest. He was certain that Gaston felt it too.

He knew it, because of the sad way the hunter watched the pinkish sky.

"It's funny," he said after a moment. "I thought I'd be glad to see the back of damn forests for a while, but I kind of miss it already. I must be crazy."

Adam nodded. "You are crazy. But I know what you mean. I miss it too."

Gaston turned and looked at Adam properly, smiling a bit.

"But it'll make a nice change, going to sleep at night without fearing for our lives, won't it?"

"Heh, yes. Definitely a plus, hunter. No more near-death experiences."

"I won't miss that," Gaston was still watching him, more carefully than he ever had.

"What's wrong?" Adam asked.

Gaston shrugged. "Nothing. Still trying to get used to your face," he hesitated, then reached out a hand, briefly touching his hair. "I don't know. I sort of expected you'd have a beard too."

"Are you disappointed?"

"No. You'll never be as handsome as me, anyway."

Adam snorted. "I guess that's true."

They stood smiling between each other for a long moment, then Gaston looked reluctantly at the walkers trail that widened out into the road ahead, back toward the town.

Adam already knew what he was going to say, so he had to speak first.

"Stay for a while. I'd...we'd be happy to have you stay."

Gaston shook his head at the ground.

"Thanks for the offer, but I should probably get this thing seen to," he rolled his shoulder in indication. "And I've got some hero's welcome to be getting back to, remember? Also, Lefou will be lost and probably dying without me."

"Ah, I do remember," Adam smiled a bit. "Will you be telling them all about how you so bravely killed the Beast?"

"Heh. Something like that."

"Well then, suppose I'll have to come by the village and set them straight about how it really happened."

"Come by whenever you like, prince."

"It's Adam," Adam caught his shoulder. "Just call me Adam, Gaston."

"Fine," Gaston said, then turned away.

"...good," Adam cast around, searching desperately for something else to say, his fingers tightening on warm flesh. It was all so much easier in his head; what he wanted to say, what he wanted to do. "Anyway, I have to see you again. I still owe you for those hunting lessons."

"That doesn't matter. You paid me back with that silly dance, remember."

"That wasn't a payment, I wanted to do that. And it wasn't silly."

Gaston looked at him for some long seconds, mouth moving an undecided line.

"...I have to go."

"But I don't want you to."

"Well, you can't always get what you want, can you?" Gaston said, resentfully.

Adam's heart reached into his mouth with the words.

"So what do you want?"

He'd never been more terrified of an answer.

Gaston blinked at him, and his smile was tired.

"You always have to make things more complicated, don't you?"

Adam shrugged and shook his head. "It seems simple to me."

"Hah. It would be for you. You're a prince again, and Belle-"

"You broke the spell," Adam told him, biting back his nerves.

Gaston's face flickered some vague surprise, before sparing him an irritated look. "That doesn't mean anything, prince."

"It means everything. It could only be broken by-"

"You can keep this," Gaston said, in soft interruption. "If you want."

The hunter gestured down at his bow. He seemed to debate it for a few seconds, before pushing it back into Adam's hands.

"Something to remember me by," then he laughed, and it sounded difficult. "Like you'd ever forget me."

Adam stared at the bow, and it was like the silent answer he didn't want to hear. He didn't want to have to remember him, because it only meant he might have to forget him, and he couldn't do that. Not after all of this.

He knew very well what Gaston had done for him; the proof was in himself, and it couldn't be denied any longer.

But when he looked back up Gaston was already walking away from him, as if it were nothing at all.

"Wait-" he grabbed the hunter's wrist, keeping him in place for a precious moment. "If you must go, let me give you something too."

"I don't-" Gaston turned his head just a fraction, and that was close enough.

Adam pulled him in; catching his mouth with his own.

It was a painfully wanted and urgent kiss, everything it had not been the first time Adam had tried to kiss him, and he realised he needed all of it now, if only to make up for that.

"Mmf-"

A startled sound quickly dissolved into something else, and Adam felt hands move surprisingly tentatively around his back, and then a soft hum of pleasure, an easy and compliant surrender against his mouth.

For a few heady moments his body became electric; mouth moving desperately down a vulnerable neckline, teeth scraping and marking heated skin.

A hand rested against his chest, pushing him back just a bit.

"Hey..."

And then they broke apart, and Gaston was smirking at him, his face flushed and surprised through panting breath.

"Heh...I'm beginning to think you're not just a Beast in name, prince..."

Adam covered his embarrassment with a grin.

"Shut up."

"I mean..I know I'm irresistible, but still..."

Adam laughed. "Stop that, I mean it," but he didn't, and as he curved a hand around the hunter's face, he thought he might be able to listen to him boast and brag forever.

The pause between them was slight, and Adam felt heat permeating against skin; an almost tangible desire that reached into the hunter's eyes, and only made Adam want him even more.

"...it wasn't a dream, was it?" Gaston said, his voice quiet.

Adam shook his head.

"Do you remember?"

"I think so. Well, I hope so. These past few days haven't been...usual for me, you know."

"Me neither," and Adam tilted his head, trying to kiss him again.

Gaston tipped his head away though.

"You can't have your cake and eat it too, prince. Doesn't matter how 'royal' you are."

"I think Belle's figured it out, Gaston."

"What?" the hunter looked vaguely mortified, then grumbled to himself. "Trust Belle to know. With all that...thinking."

"Way too smart for either of us."

A pang of guilt hit Adam then, entirely supported by Gaston's uncertain expression.

"I'm a terrible person," he realised.

"You are," Gaston nodded tactlessly. "But if it makes you feel any better, she probably still hates me a thousand times more than she'll ever hate you."

"Honestly, that just makes me feel worse."

Gaston looked sorry. "Well. Who am I to say how a woman's mind words? Those things are a mystery to me," he blinked, with a reluctant concordance. "Anyway, you're the one who said she's very forgiving."

"I suppose you're right about that."

"Hah. I told you, I'm always right," the hunter sounded far more reassuring than cocky, and he even took a second to pat Adam's shoulder. Adam noticed the nervous way he swallowed, and then how unusually coy his smile was.

He was trying his best, and it was endearing and reminded Adam of every reason why he'd come shambling out into the forest after him.

Adam smiled back at him. "I'll escort you back to the town. It's not very far, is it?"

"Are you going to hold my hand, too?"

"I just might."

"I'm honoured. Your highness."

"It's Adam," Adam nudged him in the side.

He watched as the hunter's step become a gait that reminded him of days in the forest that felt far shorter, and he suddenly wished had been so much longer, despite every ordeal that they'd been through together.

"Adam," Gaston repeated the name, in a moment of indignation. "Why didn't I guess that before? It's so obvious."

"You may have already said it, and I just forgot. Or I just didn't want to tell you."

Gaston pushed him lightly. "I hate you."

"Heh, well do you have any other preferences?"

"Hm. what about 'Pain in my a-"

"Something else, Gaston."

"Alright," Gaston picked up the bow, that had been forgotten and dropped a few minutes earlier. "You want this or not, Perceval?" he flashed an easy grin that made Adam's heart leap and beat a bit faster.

He caught the hunter's wrist, and then his hand, properly in his own. He didn't think he'd be able to let it go.

"No, please not Perceval."

Gaston laughed. "You're not giving me many options here. And is that a yes or no?"

"You keep it. Like you said, I'm not going to forget you."

"That's true," Gaston smiled a bit more. "Maybe I'll just keep calling you Beast then, for old times sake."

"I don't mind that," Adam admitted.

As he started to step forward, something stopped him at the last second, glinting out the corner of his eye.

It was a shape, glittering and silvery between the trees in front of them, and he was sure that he'd seen it before, or else it had appeared in between his dreams.

"Can you see it too?" Gaston said.

Adam turned his head; the hunter's profile had resolved into something like a wary fascination on the forest.

"It's been following us both, for a long while now."

"How do you know?"

Gaston smirked. "Oh you know. Enchanted forests, that sort of thing."

"Hah. That's rich, coming from you."

"You must've made me crazy."

They watched the trees move with the gentle breeze, and they both tried to spot the silver form through it all for a short while. The sky was turning a radiant orange with the early edges of sunset, and everything felt much warmer. It was as if the forest was properly alive all around them, and then Adam realised what it was.

It was the heat of fingers curling between his own, and a short but easy laugh that echoed through the forest and made birds sing, and his own heart seemed to move in time with them.

He watched, as the sudden ghost of a deer rushed between the trees, and gleamed and disappeared into the dark of the forest, just as quickly as it had appeared.

Adam gripped Gaston's hand tighter, and the sounds of the forest became like song, when Gaston smiled back at him.

"So come on, Beast. Are you going to tell me the rest of what happened with Artemis now?"

Adam grinned, and looped an arm the rest of the way around Gaston's shoulder, drawing him much closer.

"Very happily, hunter."

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~the end (?)

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a/n: so that's a wrap, and I thank you all for reading to the end!

I worried about bringing Belle back at the last minute (especially because I didn't give her much character at all...felt like cheating), and I don't think it's going to be a simple/easy reconciliation between all of them for a long while. This chapter wasn't supposed to be like a happily ever after, though I think it got close enough. This is more like a beginning to something else, as I have a bunch of sequel type ideas involving actual Adam/Gaston, and maybe another dangerous adventure with all three of them. A prince, a hunter and a girl still after adventure! Sounds fun/complicated and full of potential drama to me! ;)

Thank you so much to everyone for sticking with it, I know it was a bit of a shambling mess/trek, especially toward the end (I am so bad at wrapping things up, it never feels very natural). But I have loved reading the feedback of everyone's varying opinions, good or bad, and I hope that in the end it was worth at least a little of your time and satisfied in even the smallest way. In any case, I had some fun writing it :D

lyric credits: The Night We Met, by Lord Huron

dedicating this to Lechet, who's had a tough time and has stuck with this story from the very beginning. You're a brave/fantastic soul, and I don't think I could have done it!