Riding back into town on the back of Philippe, she was met with the barely hidden whispers of the villagers "Fell in love with the monster" "Monsters whore" and other comments of the like meeting her ears.
She didn't care though. Let them think what they wanted. What did it matter now anyway? When the cries of three blondes met her ears, she couldn't help paying a little more attention to them "He hasn't returned yet" cried one "Hope he isn't too badly hurt" added another. The last just mumbled something unintelligible.
'Gaston hasn't returned? I suppose he wouldn't after falling from a castle roof…' she couldn't help the feeling of slight happiness the idea of Gaston meeting his demise had brought her.
She allowed Philippe to take her home, no longer paying attention to the hushed tones used by the villagers.
A week after the event at the castle, Belle sat alone in the house, her father in his workshop, working on some new invention. She'd refused to leave the house for anything other than to feed the hens or to tend to Philippe.
She was deeply into a book, a gift from her father in an attempt to cheer her when there was a knock at the door. The sound of said knock was enough to give away who was standing on the other side, so she ignored it, going back to her story, in no mood to face HIM. He knocked once again, harder this time and she was sure the door would fall from its hinges at the force, though it did nothing more than rattle in its frame.
He had returned to the village a couple of weeks after Belle had, a very broken and battered man though still alive and still very much the arrogant man he was the night he left to 'slay the beast'. She had no idea how he had survived the fall but also never wasted to much of her time to think about it anyway.
There had been plenty of people in the village who were more than happy to help their fallen hero, so she had no need or reason to go anywhere past her stable.
On the third bout of unanswered banging, the door swung open, a very angry looking Gaston standing on the threshold. 'Clearly, he didn't like being ignored. Good.' Belle couldn't help the internal smirk as she slowly closed the book then placed it down.
"Reading again, Belle? I always knew those books would be no good. Filling your head with fairy tales and making you think you could love a beast… See how that turned out? It is time to pull your head free of those stories and rejoin the real world"
"What would you know, Gaston? Yes. They did help me love a beast, would you like to know why?" She stood so she was closer to eye level with him, not giving him a chance to reply she said "Reading books, I came to learn, the cover wasn't the only thing to the tale. I learned to look past the outside, the inside was what is important…"
He glared back at her, taking a step further into the room, his hands on his hips "The only thing important is that you are free and he is mounted on my wall"
At his open admittance, Belle gave a gasp, her hand coming up to cover her mouth as a new set of tears rolled silently down her cheeks, these ones born of anger.
"What are you doing here, Gaston? Here to just boast? If so, leave…" She glared back harder.
He smirked, his eyes growing dark as he leered at her for a moment or two before clearing his throat. "This is, once again, your lucky day. It has been decided that you and I will wed, as I had originally planned. The village fear you may be some cursed thing, ruined by the beast and your father has agreed."
Her eyes grew for a moment before once again narrowing at the man "I will not marry you Gaston, I wish to have nothing to do with you."
"You no longer have a choice in the matter. The arrangements have been made. This time next week you will be my wife." He said and did nothing more before leaving the small dwelling, leaving Belle standing alone once more.