Belle's POV
I looked at Adam in surprise. Was he really willing to share this with me already? In the back of my mind, I was extremely curious to know what had happened to him, but I had expected Adam to be more hesitant to share this with me, and I was okay with that. Whenever he is ready, he'll tell you, I kept telling myself, though obviously I had been wondering about the spell since I first met the Beast. 'Adam, are you sure? I can wait,' I told him, wanting to make sure he wouldn't regret the decision he had made. He smiled at me, and I could see the love in his eyes. As he put his lips on mine ever so softly, he whispered, 'I want to. I don't want to keep any secrets for you, not anymore.' Our kiss was short, but passionate. 'Come, let's sit,' he said, as he took my hand and started to lead me towards a small sofa, which I was pretty sure Papa would call a Loveseat. I decided not to mention this to Adam. Adam sat in silence for a couple of seconds, wringing his hands together. He seemed unsure how to begin. I immediately felt sorry for him. 'Adam,' I said, putting my hand on his arm, 'you can trust me. I won't judge you, I promise. And you don't have to tell me now, I can wait.' he looked into my eyes for a few seconds. Something he saw in there must have given him some courage, for he cleared his throat and started to talk.
'I had always been a spoiled child. Well, not always, but for as long as I can remember. I am told my mother tried to raise me as any other child, rather than a Prince. She died when I was three,' he said, almost matter of factly. 'Oh, Adam! I am so sorry, I had no idea!' I told him, but he shook his hid. 'It's okay, Belle, I can barely remember her, I was much too young. I'll show you a portrait of her one time, she was quite beautiful. After she passed, I was raised by the servants. Mrs. Potts mostly, though she was busy enough raising her own children. My father was much too busy doing.. well, whatever it was he did. I never was as close to him as you are to your father.' his comment made me realize how lucky I was. He was right, of course, I was very close with my father. It's just that I had always taken this for granted. Now I realized it wasn't. 'Mrs. Potts was almost like a surrogate mother to me, I think you could say. When I had a nightmare, she was there to comfort me, when I was ill, she would b the one tending me, and she was the one who would scold me if I had done something I wasn't allowed to do. As I grew older, I started to push her away, in a sense. I was a Prince, surely I could do what I wanted!' He gave me a sad smile, almost apologetic. I squeezed his hand. 'The older I became, the more spoiled I became, and the more spoiled I became, the worse I behaved towards my servants.' He took a deep breath, and I realized we had come to the point of the actual enchantment. I squeezed his hand once more, wanting to make sure he knew I was there for him.
He took a deep breath. 'It was Christmas Eve, when I was eleven years old. The servants had put together a grand Christmas Ball, as was tradition. They had put so much effort into that celebration, just to please me. They even got me a gift, but I still demanded more. Nothing was ever enough for me. I was furious at them, they had ruined my Christmas. At that moment, somebody knocked on the door, which infuriated me even more. Who would dare to interrupt my Christmas? It was an old beggar woman. She was looking for a place to spend the night, and she offered me a rose in return. Of course, I refused, because I thought she looked dirty.' Adam stared at his hands in shame. 'Adam, it's okay, you didn't know' I tried to make him feel better, but it didn't work. 'But I did! Mrs. Potts had always told me to be kind to other people, even if they were commoners. I had no excuse to behave the way I did.' He looked at me, as if to challenge me to say otherwise. I decided not to do so.
Adam continued his story. 'The old woman warned me not to be deceived by her appearance, for beauty is found within. But I just sneered at her, and sent her away. I turned around, ready to go back to the celebration and yell at my servants some more, but I was distracted by a bright light behind me. I turned around and saw a beautiful woman, floating several feet above the ground. At once, I realized I had made a great mistake. I tried to apologize and begged for forgiveness, but the Enchantress transformed me into the Beast. She told me that I had no love in my heart, which was true. She gave me ten years to find somebody I could love, and earn her love in return, despite the way I looked.' He gave me a look that was filled with both love and pride. 'If somebody would love me before the time was up, the spell would be broken. If not, I would be doomed to remain a Beast for always.'
Adam looked at me, trying to see my reaction. I was shocked. Ten years? 'You spent ten years as a Beast?' I whispered, tears in my eyes. 'Oh Adam, that's... that's just...' He gave me that sad smile again. 'I deserved it, Belle. I was a very, very spoiled and unkind child. And, to be honest, I hadn't changed one bit, until I met you. You were the first time who stood up to me, ever. Nobody had done that, but you did, and it turned out to be exactly what I needed.' He chuckled, but then turned serious again. 'Belle, I cannot thank you enough for what you have done. You truly have saved all of us, not just me. So thank you. I will be forever in your debt.' With that, he leaned forward slowly. I lifted my head up, closed my eyes, and waited for our lips to touch.
Adam's POV
Kissing Belle was something I had done quite a lot over the last 24 hours, but this kiss was different. Maybe it was because of my relief to have shared the truth with Belle, or maybe it was because Belle was glad I told her everything. I wasn't sure, but I wasn't complaining. After I finally pulled away, I looked into Belle's eyes, seeing nothing but warmth. She put her hand on my cheek. 'Thank you,' she said sincerely, 'for sharing. I know this must be hard for you, but I'm glad to know.' I smiled at her. 'I'm glad too, it means a lot to me be able to share this with you. In a way I'm glad the Enchantress put the spell on me that night. If she hadn't, I probably would never have met you.' I shuddered at the thought, but reminded myself quickly that she was here now. I leaned down to kiss her again
We stayed on the sofa cuddled together for hours. After a while Belle drifted off to sleep after a while, curled up on my chest. Careful not to wake her, I placed a light kiss on the top of her head. I couldn't believe my luck. It had been ten years, ten years I had to wait for this beautiful girl. Ten years of hoping, of praying the spell would break. There were times I had given up all hope. After all, who could ever learn to love a Beast? Even after Belle had come to the castle, I didn't dare to hope she would be the one I had been waiting for. She was so beautiful, how would she be able to love an ugly monster? Yet here we were, Belle snuggled up on my chest. This was where I belonged. I sighed happily, and after a while, I finally fell asleep as well.
A/N: Sooo! Slightly (Read: WAY!) earlier than planned, but I figured all you awesome people deserved a little treat for waiting so long last time! Also, I didn't have to go to University today, and I was dying to find out what happened next as well. So there you have it! Hope you enjoy, as always!