AN: It's a tale as old as time. That's the thing about stories from history, though: the winners always write them.
Bonjour!
Bonjour!
Bonjour!
Bonjour!
Belle was taken aback by the sudden appearance of Gaston in front of her. His loud greeting combined with the jarring silence from the street as many passersby began to eavesdrop on the young couple had thrown her, rudely, from the pages of the book. "Gaston, good morning. Back from a hunting trip this morning already?"
Gaston took the book from Belle's hands and flipped through the pages. "How can you read this? There's no pictures!" The playful smirk he gave her did nothing to assuage her anger at having the book taken from her.
Knowing full well that it was an exercise in futility as Gaston had a foot of height on her, Belle jumped for the book that he was holding just outside of her grasp, but he evaded her attempt. "Some of us like to use our imaginations! And look who's talking, Mr. I Finished the Iliad in one sitting. Once I showed you that books about fighting and hunting exist, it turned out that you loved reading them." Belle lunged for the book once more and Gaston caught her around the waist, tucking the book safely back into her grasp and spinning her around in one smooth movement. He ended his theatrics by dipping her low and drawing her into a kiss.
Although surprised by the sudden disorientation of gravity, Belle wrapped her arms around his neck, something that she couldn't manage unless he picked her up or he had her dipped, as with this situation. Standing them both upright, Gaston pretended to be scandalized. "I have to save my reputation here, Belle. Imagine if all of these townsfolk knew that you had shown me Greek stories!" In truth, Gaston was seeing himself as a bit of a modern-day Theseus or Hercules (he was certain he could have caught the Hind and Boar much faster) and was enjoying that he and Belle could sit in her back pasture for hours and read together. Granted, her books were much longer and she would still finish long before he would, but she was happy that he was reading, and he found that he actually enjoyed it himself. When it was about the right stories. Just as Belle had told him he would.
Belle giggled, "you know, that would probably actually make some of them decide to pick up a book as well. You know how so many of them idolize you." She straightened the apron on her skirt and looked up at Gaston nervously, "Are you walking me home? We still have some things to discuss." She gestured unobtrusively to her pocket, which he knew held the ring he had proposed to her with, but as he hadn't asked her father for permission, she wasn't wearing it yet.
Their courtship had been so short-lived but it had been truly amazing for the both of them. Belle found that there was so much more to the seemingly vain hunter who used antlers in his decorating schemes. Just as Gaston had learned that Belle was more than just a pretty face.
When they had first talked, they both knew of each other, but that hadn't translated to a smooth introduction. Gaston had only seen her as someone pretty that he could have a multitude of strapping young boys with while raising hunting hounds. Each step of the way, Belle had dodged his plans, but he became smitten with her. Her quick wit and quips against his advances meant to make him give up only endeared her to him. She impressed him at every meeting, including the first time he thought she was going to let him kiss her, but then she opened the door behind the two of them causing him to fall down the stairs into the mud. She clearly hadn't intended for him to actually fall and when he landed so roughly she did come out to check on him.
Spitting mud from his mouth and slicking the hair back out of his face, he assured her that he was fine. Apologies continued to tumble from her mouth until he suggested that, to lessen her guilt, she allow him to take her to dinner. To his astonishment, she agreed on two conditions: That this dinner not be at the local pub and that he not talk about hunting for the duration of the meal and walk home.
Although the prospect scared him a little, (she was going to make him not talk about his job and what he was best at?) he readily agreed. The dinner was thoroughly enjoyable, as they had a picnic behind her home and they talked of almost everything, except hunting, well into the night. The dinner spot grew into their usual meeting spot and the two had grown closer, with Gaston even relenting to her requests that he pick up a book and read. Belle, for her part, had gone into the woods with him a few times and had even fired his gun, promptly falling over as he had not warned her about the recoil.
Two days prior, Gaston had pulled out a ring from his bag and had asked Belle for her hand in marriage. While she agreed, she asked if he had gotten her father's blessing. In truth, Gaston had had every intention of asking for Maurice's approval and had not planned to ask while the inventor was away, but the moment had seemed so perfect, under the stars, after a good meal, that it just popped out.
Maurice came back the next morning, but Gaston, beloved of the village, accomplished hunter, the man who was roughly the size of a barge, was afraid to ask the diminutive Maurice for his blessing in Gaston's marriage to Belle.
The two continued their walk up the path leading toward Belle's home. "You know he'll say yes! Papa's told you time and again that he likes that you're in my life with him being gone so often. He thinks that I'm safe with you. He feels better knowing that you're going to check on me each day that he's gone. And he leaves tomorrow! I don't want to keep this to myself for another several days!" Gaston had pulled Belle close to him, almost as if drawing comfort from her. This was a side he showed only to her. He was all bluster and confidence for everyone else in the village. She was allowed to see that certain things did scare him. She was just trying to conceal her amusement that confrontation with her father was one of those things.
Throwing open the front door, Belle called, "Papa, I'm home! Gaston is with me!"
Maurice came up from his workshop and wiped his hands on a rag before embracing his daughter and shaking hands with Gaston.
"Well, Gaston, what brings you to my humble cottage today? Usually the two of you remain outside for most of your time together."
Gaston had seemed to have gone mute. He was visibly paler and sweating. "Maurice, I was hoping to talk to you about something." He had faced down bullets in the war. He had seen enemies hiding in trees and taking aim at him and had felt less nervous than this. "I know that you know Belle and I have spent considerable time together these last several months. Well, I was hoping to make that more permanent. That is to say, I was hoping to continue to see your daughter more often, and more officially. I- "
Belle cut him off with her laughter and Maurice was trying to hold back a chuckle as well. "My boy, I remember how terrified I was to ask for my own father-in-law's permission. Are you asking for my daughter's hand in marriage?"
Gaston barely managed to splutter out a "yes" before Maurice had turned to Belle to quietly question her. "Belle, when he first started talking with you, you were annoyed at his advances, are you sure you're happy with this? Are you sure you're okay with the future you'll have with him? You've always dreamed of adventure in a wider world."
Belle, knowing full well that Gaston could hear them, tried to comfort her father's fears. She had already thought through all of the objections her Papa could raise as well as a mountain of her own. The Gaston she had met first was not the man standing before them. "Papa, he's not who I thought he was. He's really a much better person than most people here think he is. And he's been to the new world, fighting for France! He's had more adventure than I can even dream of! We don't have to stay here if we don't want to. I love him, Papa, and he loves me. This is what I want."
This was certainly true, Gaston had plans to move them closer to Paris as soon as they could convince Maurice to move back there. They both understood that the ghost of Belle's mother still haunted him and the city, but this small life wasn't for either of them and Gaston could be a game hunter and trapper almost anywhere.
Maurice grasped Belle's hands, seemingly satisfied with this answer. Looking from his daughter's face to Gaston's, Maurice sighed, but a huge smile was on his face. "All I've wanted for Belle since she was born was health, happiness, and love. You give her that and a chance at the future she wants. I give you both my blessing."
Belle turned to Gaston, elated, but trying to conceal their physical intimacy in front of her Papa. Gaston sensed her apprehension, and so, in lieu of a kiss, he embraced her and spun around with her safely in his arms. He couldn't remember ever feeling so happy.