Belle POV
After Gaston's proposal I don't see him for weeks. I can't help but wonder what he is up to, although there are more than enough rumours spreading throughout the village. Let's put it this way… I'm glad Gaston doesn't have any close neighbours.
I just got my daily groceries and treated myself to a new book. The sun is shining so bright I decide to read the first chapter of the book down by the fountain, which became my favourite spot in the village centre. I open Jack and the beanstalk and in mere minutes I'm completely unaware of my surroundings.
"Belle," I hear a hoarse voice. I look away from the page and realise it is Gaston who is standing in front of me. I nod towards him and continue my reading. The shadows on the page of my book tell me Gaston is still standing in front of me. I pretend to keep reading and turn a page while waiting for something to happen. I don't have anything to say to Gaston any more after what he did to me two weeks ago. Everything that could possibly grow between us was ruined the moment he proposed to me and by the fact that he bedded five different girls in the weeks after my rejection. Gaston is shifting awkwardly; probably torn between the fear of another public humiliation and wanting talking to me. Eventually he comes to sit next to me. He takes my hand softly, but I pull it back in a quick motion.
"Don't be mad at me, Belle," he purrs.
"I believe I have every reason to be mad at you, Gaston."
I take a brief look at his face and can't help to notice how bad he looks. He has large shadows under his eyes and his eyes don't seem as blue as they were before. I feel a short wave of pity, but I get over it quickly.
"Please, let me explain everything. Meet me in the tavern in half an hour."
For a moment I'm not sure how to react. What if this is one of Gaston's tricks? I decide to give him one last chance. Just to explain himself, nothing more. I nod and take off immediately to get my groceries home so my father has fresh bread for his lunch. When I walk back to the tavern, I start to feel nervous. I think about our kiss; something that has been on my mind a lot the last few weeks. I know Gaston is an arrogant, rude, uneducated, selfish man but I can't help but feel some strange attraction between us. That has to mean something, right?

Ten minutes later I enter the tavern. Gaston is seated in the back, drinking a beer. He is staring moodily into the distance and for the second time that day I see how extremely unhappy he looks. Than he notices me and his eyes start to sparkle a little. He smiles at me and gestures for come and sit next to him. When I sit down, I make sure there is more than a little distance between us.

"Well, tell me," I say bluntly. I sound harsher than I intended. Gaston sighs deeply, almost like he has to prepare himself mentally. I feel nervous again when I see the expression on his face. After a few moments of silence he finally starts talking.
"The past few weeks I really struggled with myself, Belle. You are the only person that makes me feel like I can be completely honest with you. You can look through my loud words and my rough beauty. So I want to be honest. I believe – I… I have a lot of issues."
He glances at his hands, too embarrassed to catch my eyes at me and I take his hand.

"In order for you to completely understand, I have to tell you about my parents. They did not have a happy marriage. Their parents brought them together for financial reasons; they never were in love with each other. My mother was a free spirit, my father a hard working huntsman. Now I come to think of it… They sound a lot like us. My childhood was, contrary to what the townspeople think, not a happy one. I was a bright boy and I wanted to go to school to learn how to read, but there was not enough money. While all my friends went to school, my father took me into the forest and taught me how to hunt. Through rains and storms I had to come with him. A snowstorm just meant I had to work extra hard to stay warm. My father and I worked every day from dusk till dawn while my mother remained at home to work on her paintings. She took her paintings with her to the market sometimes, but she never sold much of her work. When my father was home, they were always fighting. They never made up; they just opened a bottle of wine, got drunk and didn't speak about it anymore. Most of their fights were about me. I could hear them when they thought I was asleep… My parents forgot my birthday two years in a row; they barely paid attention to me. Nonetheless I did everything to make them happy; I did everything they told me to do."
He is silent for a short moment. I am speechless; this was definitely not what I had expected to hear from the tough hunter. He swallows before he continues his story.
"One day I woke up and found out that my mother was gone. After that day, my father never spoke about her. He turned bitter; always told me the same thing. 'You have to protect yourself against all the women on this world, Gaston. They can't have any power. Women are good for cleaning and cooking and entertaining. Don't give them any power. We, men, have to rule the world.' I still can hear him say it. I told every boy in town what my father told me and I started to get popular. I was completely baffled by it; I didn't go to school at all so why would they listen to me? I started to introduce new traditions and manners in town. We scoffed the girls who went to school and told them they just needed to look pretty and please men. More and more people started to do what I told them to. When I look back at it, I feel awful. My own mother would have hated me."
Finally I understand why Gaston is the rude, arrogant and conceited man that he is today. His history doesn't make everything suddenly okay, but now I know what his motives are. I look him into his eyes and I see there is more he wants to tell me.
"Belle, the past few weeks I took home other girls to try and forget you."
I scowl when he tells me that. I knew, of course, but I find it awkward to discuss this with him. There are things I just don't need to hear about… Gaston notices the look on my face and quickly continues his story.
"I'm sorry, I just want to be completely honest with you know. I had conversations with the girls… Or, well… I tried to. There is no other girl as smart and funny as you, Belle. This is not another proposal, Belle, but I'm absolutely sure you're the only woman who can make me completely happy."
"Oh, Gaston," I whisper while tears are pooling in my eyes. I don't know what to say or how to feel. "I really appreciate you sharing your past with me. But this doesn't mean suddenly everything is right between us. I don't want to hurt you, but you were a complete bastard. You constantly bothered me, you kissed me without my consent…"
I feel a fire rise in my cheeks when I mention the kiss, "and after proposing to me, you slept with several other women! I am not sure what to say to you now. I hope you understand."
I can see the hurt in his eyes, but he nods softly.

"When you're someone like me, you get used to having everything in the world and nothing at all. How do we go on, Belle?" he whispers to me. I shake my head. To be fair – I have no idea. I'm glad we spoke to each other like normal human beings for the first time since we met, but I don't know how to go on. I'm not even sure how I feel about Gaston. It hurts me to see him struggle with himself like this and I think about our kiss all the time, but I don't see us getting married and riding off into the sunset together.

"Maybe we have to start anew," I tell him with a small smile. I stand up quickly and exit the tavern. Before I close the door, I can see an expression of utter confusion on Gaston's face en I laugh out loud. After a minute I open the tavern door and enter again. Gaston is still in the back corner and he seems to comprehend what I'm doing now. He stands up and strides towards me.
"Bonjour mademoiselle, can I offer you something to drink?" he booms in his deep voice. A smile crosses my face.
"Hello sir," I answer, "I don't take drinks from unknown men."
Playfully I give him my hand. He takes my hand and kisses it softly. The fluttering feeling in my stomach shakes me.
"Gaston LeGume."
"Belle Perrot."
"A beautiful name for a beautiful lady," he sighs teasingly. I giggle loudly. When I catch Gaston's eyes, I'm puzzled by the look in his eyes. It's so soft and lively – almost like a tropical sea. It's so different that the icy blue stare I got to know so well. I fall silent. Gaston is getting us something to drink. When he comes back, he sits close to me, but I don't mind. It's almost like everything has changed in the past hour; we both feel it. We smile to each other, but we don't speak. The silence is pleasant, not uncomfortable or tense.

We spend the whole afternoon together in the tavern. I ask Gaston to tell him about his hunting trophies and he is gleaming with pride. After he told me some of his hunting stories he asks me about the book I was reading this morning. When I tell him about Jack and the beanstalk I notice how he struggles to keep his attention to me, but it doesn't matter. I appreciate him asking about my books in the first place. When it's almost six o'clock, I have to leave. After everything we shared that afternoon, I don't know how to say goodbye.
"Do you want to talk a walk with me tomorrow?" I suggest.
"I have an even better idea! I'm taking you somewhere – I'm sure you'll love it!"
With a smile I accept his offer and make my way home.

Papa seems surprised to see me smiling like this. I decide to keep everything that happened with Gaston to myself. Maurice was infuriated when I told him about Gaston's proposal and he probably still is. I have to make sure the two of them won't bump into each other when Gaston comes to pick me up tomorrow. On autopilot I make dinner, while thinking about Gaston. I try to remember what my mother told me about men and try to picture what my mother would say about Gaston. Papa seems to notice I'm daydreaming and asks me if I'm all right.

"Why wouldn't I be all right, papa?" I ask surprised.
Maurice shrugs. "You were so down the first weeks. Did you make some friends?"
I think about it and turn around to face him. Besides Gaston and Laurette the villagers still treat me the same as they did before. But it doesn't matter anymore.
"I think that I'm the one who has changed, papa."