Gaston tried to slow the walk down the staircase as much as he could. The last thing he wanted to do was face the entire population of the castle and find they all knew what happened. He clung desperately to the hope that everything went okay and no one knew. He entered the room and was relieved to see that not everyone had made it to the dinner table. This gave him more time to worry and make up an alibi in his head. All the people trickled slowly in. Chip was patting the spot next to him.
"Come on Jacques, sit next to me! I saved a seat." Chip seemed so excited to have a new game buddy in the castle. It was not as if all the seats were taken, or many of them at all for that matter, and the table seemed to stretch across hundreds of feet. Gaston was wondering how conversation could make it across the ends of the table. He went to sit by Chip. After all what was else could he do? Chip smiled and began chattering about how many toys he had and how Maurice said he was going to make him a toy that could move by running on coal. Gaston wasn't very interested. Instead he remained focused on every face and person that entered the room. He began to wonder how many individuals the castle housed. It did not surprise him anymore that there was not enough room for him to have his own. If everyone coming in had their own room, the castle must have been a lot larger than Gaston had witnessed.
Gaston noticed a little girl plop down beside Chip. She began humming and looked like she was off in her own world. Her golden hair seemed to dangle in her eyes. She looked about seven. Lumiere and Cogsworth entered along with a scantily clad brunette who draped herself all over Lumiere. Gaston had to look away when she came in. He did not want a girl like that to see him in his new form.
"Oh Lumiere, who is zis new guest? We are so popular!" The cute woman let out an almost seductive giggle.
"Ah, Babette, zis is Jacques. He came zis morning. How could I have forgotten to tell you?" Lumiere smiled affectionately. Babette bounced over towards Gaston.
"Well how rude of me not to introduce myself! I am Babette!" Gaston felt a strong sense of discomfort as her cleavage plunged in his face. This was the worst time and place for this situation. Gaston smiled up at her and introduced himself, shocked when she didn't run with horror after seeing his face. Why isn't anyone here terrified of me like they were in the town? Things seemed to become endlessly more confusing.
Belle, Shira, Jacob and Adam finally entered the room, and everyone then rushed to their seats. Shira took off her coat, placing it over the chair before she sat down. Gaston noticed a small bruise on her forearm. It was so clear against her pale skin. Gaston found himself almost entranced with her. Her features were so unique and exquisite. She looked up towards her husband Jacob as he sat beside her. Gaston felt almost sick as he looked at the couples around him, being the lone single man next to Chip.
He realized he had more important things to worry about. At any moment, Belle might tell everyone the secret, and Gaston would have to go back outside, thus ruining any possibility of breaking the curse.
"Everyone, we have something important to tell our guests," Belle voiced over the murmurs at the table. Gaston sunk in his chair fearing the worst. "I think a good story over dinner would be the one of the enchantment that befell this castle. I told Shira I would explain it, and I think Jacob and Jacques would be happy to hear it as well." Gaston let out a breath of relief and found curiosity taking the place of fear. He remembered hearing about the enchantment earlier in the day but it confused him.
Adam began to tell the story of the castle, how he was transformed into a beast, the rose, how he had to break the spell. Everyone at the table began to chime in with their own experiences in the story. Gaston saw everything coming together. He had not killed the beast. The beast was in fact in quite the same predicament as he was, but how did the beast survive the stabbing? Gaston did not want to give away his true identity so he tried to address the matter in a roundabout way.
"So what exactly happened when the spell was broken?" Gaston could not believe how much everything was making sense.
"Well that's the best part of the story." Adam smiled.
"A group of people from the town invaded the castle. The leader was a man named Gaston. I guess it was my fault really, for causing him to come here. I tried to explain that the beast was kind and gentle, but no one listened." Belle continued on. Gaston felt almost sick with discomfort being the bad guy in the story. This never happened to him. He had always been a hero. He could not agree that he was a bad guy. If they had seen it from my side, they would know, Gaston thought to himself. Finally he felt compelled to ask the question.
"So if this guy Gaston came back, would you forgive him?" Gaston hoped they couldn't see through his question.
Belle and Adam exchanged looks. Adam leaned forward. "The man tried to kill me. How can I forgive someone for that?" A deepening anger entered his voice. He calmed himself as he thought further about the question. "But I guess, had it not been for him, the spell might never have been broken." Adam continued to contemplate looking as though this was the first time he rethought that night.
Belle chimed in. "Well I don't necessarily think he deserved the fate he received, but I mean I don't know that I could forgive him for all the cruel things he's done, and what he tried to do to my father." Belle looked almost teary. Gaston couldn't even look at them anymore. He felt almost ashamed. He had never looked at it from their side, and here they were letting him, a hideous looking stranger, the culprit they spoke of, into their home. Everything was making sense and it was only making Gaston feel worse.
"That's a good question though Jacques, I'd never really put much thought into it." Adam smiled and continued to contemplate.
"That's true, why were you interested?" Belle looked at him inquisitively.
"Oh, it was just a thought." Gaston wished he could be invisible now more than ever. He felt so eerily uncomfortable. He just focused on his food to avoid the emotions that were flooding his mind. After the big story, small conversations began to arise around the dinner table. Chip began arguing with the girl beside him and Mrs. Potts sat on the other side of him talking to Maurice. Gaston was totally isolated in his state of discomfort.
He glanced around the table and heard a piece of Belle's conversation that caught his interest.
"Adam, what about that bolt of light that came after the curse was broken? Why did it happen?" Gaston had to strain his ears to hear them over the discussion.
Adam's voice entered solemnly. "Belle I wish I knew. Here's the weirdest thing. A bolt of light just like that one came down when the enchantment fell on the castle." Adam continued, but Gaston couldn't make out any more of what he said.
"Chip I think it's past your bedtime." Mrs. Potts blurted over the crowd.
"But mama…" Chip whined.
"And you too Cecilia." The little girl looked down. Chip, Cecilia, and four other little children ran out towards their rooms. Gaston was dreading going to bed. He knew he would spend the time there working himself into a deeper depression.
"Shira I think we should get to bed too." Jacob looked down at her, beckoning her to come. She blindly followed. Gaston knew he had better head to bed as well, dreading the silent darkness that awaited him there. He followed them to the room and climbed into his bed, checking on the rose he hid beneath it. It was still in good condition. He lay there with horrible images and thoughts poking at him through the space. His worries danced in circles around him. He overheard talking on the other side of the curtain, then a crash, and lastly a thud of skin against skin. Oh god, are they really doing that now? Gaston shoved the pillow over his head, hoping that sleep would pull him out of his depression and away to a more comforting world.
