Blind and the Beast

Home (not so) Sweet Home

-Belle-

He set her down finally.

"Where are we?" she asked, bewildered, trying to fix her hair and her dress which she imagined looked wild. He hushed her and gently grabbed her hand, now in human form.

"Don't shush me Adam! I don't find flying very pleasant." She said, her voice raising a few decibels. "Are you going to tell me where we are?"

He moved in closer to her bringing her suddenly lower to the ground moving close enough to her that she could still smell blood and the forest on him, and she could feel him breathing.

She felt blood rush to her face as he leaned towards her ear, bringing her body into his.

"You really need to be quiet or we're going to be caught." He whispered. 

"Caught by who?"

 His silence to that question was not comforting. Belle began to panic, her mind ran back over their every interaction since last night. He was acting stranger than she'd ever seen him  act before.

He probably saw the panic in her face and her breathing growing shallow because he wrapped his hands around hers, trying to calm her down.

"Belle, don't panic, it's nothing, in fact, it's a good thing. I brought you home."

The minute he said that her blood iced over and she listened, really listened, to confirm what he said. When she heard a series of familiar sounds she found herself speechless. She pulled her hands away from Adam's and sat back in shock.

"Why are we here?" She finally choked out.

"I made a mistake bringing you to the castle," he said in an oddly cold voice.

Belle could only shake hear head. 

"No no no, you can't do that! We had a deal. We had a plan, a good plan. What happened to our plan?" She asked, moving even further away from him until she wasn't touching him. 

"Our plan did not include this. No, it practically EXCLUDED this!" She said emphasizing every vowel. 

"Plans change." he said, sounding more and more foreign to her ears.

She wanted to beg him to take her back, but she couldn't. She felt a pit in her stomach open up and she was falling. Her mind was circling in a downward spiral as she ran over what she had done in the last few days to bring on his sudden shift. 

The only reason was that he really did not care for her, not really.

She couldn't stop then the tears that came to her eyes. 

-Adam-

He could let her out of his castle and bring her here to the edge of the forest, but he'd never be able to let her go. She stood with her back to her village, one step away from leaving his forest, and she was waiting. Waiting for an explanation that he didn't have.

When tears began to well up in her eyes, he decided he was done with controlling himself.

He closed the distance that she had created, standing dangerously close to the edge of the forest, and he grabbed her by her elbows. 

He was going to say something, at least that was his intention, but when her breath hitched and eyes caught the moonlight that came through the tree branches above them, she was too much of a temptation. With his heart moving faster than his head, he brough his head down to hers and tasted her lips. 

He was soft at first, starting with the innocent intention of saying goodbye, but her hands reached up to his face and her touch made his whole body hum. It wasn't enough then, one of his hands snaked around her waist, bringing her tight against him and his other hand gently reached up and brushed away a tear that had been growing in the corner of her eye.

She took him by surprise and she deepened the kiss. Her hands caressed the side of his face, driving him absolutely wild and he matched her intensity.  

Alone he could forget he was cursed. When there was nothing to miss it was almost like there was nothing holding him back, but he never felt more cursed than in this moment. He knew that this time when he let her go he would never get her back.

He pulled back enough to rest his forehead against hers and close his eyes, breathing in the moment.

"Belle-" He stopped, his voice thick with emotion. "Belle, I need to let you go."

"Don't." She said quickly. Al of her dignity broke down and left her. "please don't do this."

He tucked her head into his chest and he allowed himself to fantasize about taking her back. This time not as a prisoner, but as a real guest. Someone who chose to be there. 

They would hunt him. The humans would never leave him alone. He'd fight off armies to keep her but he'd be fighting off her people, the people who cared enough about her to want her back. If he took her back now she would grow to resent him. Maybe not for a while, but she would eventually. There was nothing but haunted halls and bleak mornings at his castle. He couldn't do that to Belle. No, this was the only solution. 

"This is the best way for everyone." he said.

"I care about you." She muffled miserably into his chest and that's when he knew he had to end this quickly while his last thread of willpower was still holding on.

"You'll move on quickly. Go back home and enjoy life. Forget all about the beasts in the forest, they're not worth caring for." He sounded bitter despite his every effort not to.

She puled back at arms length, tears were still fresh in her eyes. "Adam, I know you don't want me to leave. Not really. You're too busy being a martyr in order to convince everyone that you're a beast."

"You deserve more than me. You deserve to be showered in gold and silks, but most of all you deserve to be far from this miserable forest. You don't deserve to be cursed along side me. I can't do that to you, and I'm too beastly to give you to anyone else."

He collected took one step away from her, his hand wrapping around hers.

"Stay out of the forest Belle." He squeezed her hand lightly and then let her go. He took flight immediately, stopping close enough and waited until she left the tree line and was officially out of his reach.

-Belle-

When he took off she stood unsure of what to do. Emotions swirled through her in waves of anger, regret and sadness. She turned on her heels with her back against the forest and she walked blindly, taking small steps while her eyes filled with tears. She slowly followed the path and hoped that the guards wouldn't shoot her through with an arrow when they saw her coming out of the forest. 

It was painful to walk, the path was uneven and hard to follow, especialy when her senses were being broken up by frustrating tears and swirling emotions.

"Ho there! State your business!" A voice shouted and Belle held her hands aloft in a well meaning position.

"It's me!" She shouted weakly.

She heard movement two or three sets of footsteps as they came closer.

"Hell on fire it's Belle!" One of the men  exclaimed and his voice was beginning to sound familiar.  "Go find old man Maurice!" Someone went running and another man approached her, putting his arm around her. 

"You just lost me a gold piece. I figured you were long dead." said the man, who she vaguely recognized. 

"Not dead." was all she managed to say, trying for a smile.

"Let's get you home." He said leading her towards the sound of stirring commotion.

The last time she was here she was tied up and left for dead. It was great to be home.