I do not own CW's Beauty and the Beast or any of the characters.
Chapter 12 – Try
Playlist: Sum 41 – With Me
Catherine froze for a moment as his beautiful mouth descended to claim hers. Vincent's gaze was intense and he was focused solely on his goal. She brought her hand up between them and placed her fingertips lightly against his lips, stopping their forward movement.
"Vincent," she whispered, looking into his eyes. "I can't."
"Catherine," he gasped, painfully coming out of the spell her lips and eyes had cast over him.
"I'm sorry," she looked down at the ground. She couldn't bear to look him in the eyes. She stepped back, out of his embrace. His arms fell limply to his sides and hung there, useless. He sighed.
"It's too soon. I don't want our first kiss to…be like this. I don't want to feel this way…this confused…when it happens. I want it to be…" she didn't finish her thought.
"I know. Catherine, I'm sorry. I…I didn't mean to push you," he apologized, looking awkward. He stepped back from her with a stunned look on his face.
"No, you're not pushing me, please understand that. I'm just not ready for this. Vincent, you say you love me, and that you didn't have romantic feelings for Alex but you just spent the last week with her. I know that you didn't…do anything with her, and I believe that you don't love her but you did kiss her. Even though you don't think you did, you still chose her for that time. She was your first choice in that moment. One kiss with me is not enough to make things better."
"Catherine, you're the one I want," Vincent pleaded. His eyes shimmered yellow momentarily. They quickly returned to brown and he had to blink back the tears forming at the edges of his eyes.
"Vincent, I know," Catherine placed her hand on his arm. Her voice caught as she spoke her next sentence. "All of this, your time away, it…it hurt me so much. Can't you see how much it hurts me? How much it's tearing me apart, even now?"
"I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry," Vincent apologized. "I want to do what I can to prove this to you. I want to wipe this week away from your mind. I will do whatever it takes."
Vincent's eyes shone in the fairy lights placed around the balcony. He scrubbed his hand over his face and inhaled a ragged breath. Tears were running silently and freely down Catherine's face, her heart shattered in her chest. She put a hand on the balcony railing to steady herself.
"Vincent, you need to go. I…I need some time."
"Please, Catherine. I'm here for you. You don't need to do this alone anymore. I'm here for you. Call me if you need me."
"I can't, Vincent. You haven't given me your new phone number."
Vincent looked at her, shocked. His eyes were wide and his mouth opened and closed fruitlessly, like a fish gasping for air on land. The reality of the situation came crashing in on him. How truly stupid he'd been. Catherine was the best thing that had ever happened to him. Ever. He'd gone on a stupid quest to try to regain his past and his youth and he had ended up hurting the most precious person in his world.
"Vincent, please," she whispered, barely able to get the words out. She needed him to leave before she broke down completely. "Please."
"OK, Catherine. I'm sorry." He turned slowly and walked away, hoping Catherine would call him back. A tear escaped and rolled down his face. He rubbed it absentmindedly away and disappeared into the crowded living room. As soon as Vincent vanished into the apartment, Tess and Heather were by Catherine's side.
"Cat, what happened?" Tess asked, rubbing her hand rhythmically on Catherine's back, soothing her. Catherine shook her head, unable to talk. Jagged sobs escaped her throat; she covered her face with her hands and broke down in front of her two best friends. What had she just done?
Heather wrapped her arms around her sister and held her tightly while she cried.
xxxxx
Late the next morning, Catherine was woken by a chirp coming from her phone. She fumbled around before finally locating it on a pile of clothes on the floor. Her eyes were still red and puffy. She had cried herself to sleep.
"Will you remember me tomorrow?" texted an unknown number. Vincent.
"What?" Catherine texted back, completely perplexed. She yawned and rubbed her eyes, "Vincent, what are you talking about?"
"Answer the question," was his quick reply. "Will you remember me tomorrow?"
"Yes, of course."
"Will you remember me in a week?" Vincent continued.
"Yes." Catherine answered. She sighed. What was going on?
"Will you remember me in a month?" He asked.
"Vincent, what's going on?"
"Just answer the question, Catherine." Vincent pressed.
"Yes."
"Will you remember me in a year?"
"Yes," Catherine answered.
"Knock, knock," he typed.
"Who's there?" Catherine was smiling at this point. He was being…weird. She wasn't sure she had seen him like this before.
"Forgotten me already?" Vincent texted. ":("
Catherine almost dropped her phone in surprise. Vincent had just texted her an emoticon. Had the world come to an end? She couldn't help but chuckle as she texted him back. "VINCENT! What's gotten into you today?"
There was a pause before his final text. "Now that you have my new number, have a good day. ;)"
Vincent winked at her over the phone? This was definitely new. She tossed her phone onto the nightstand and climbed back into bed. As she pulled the sheet over her head, she couldn't help but roll her eyes and smile.
xxxxx
The following day, Catherine woke to bright daylight streaming in through her window. After the last few grey days, it was a relief to see the sun. She sat up in bed and stretched. A breeze came in through the window and tickled the curtains, causing them to dance lightly. It was chilly! She rubbed her arms to try to get some heat into them. She did not remember leaving the window open last night.
She looked over and saw that the window was cracked open. There was something sitting on the windowsill.
Catherine crawled out of bed, retrieved a woolen cardigan from the floor beside her bed and slipped it around her shoulders. She hesitantly approached the wooden sill. Sitting on it was the morning newspaper, a small, white paper bag and a paper cup of take away coffee. Completing the vignette, a single white daisy was lying across the top corner of the newspaper. Catherine couldn't help but smile.
The coffee smelled heavenly and she lifted it up to take a sip. As she did, she noted that on the side of the cup where the barista usually wrote the patron's name, instead of saying "Vincent" or "Catherine," which she would have expected, it said "Beauty." Catherine's heart melted.
Catherine opened the paper bag and a rich buttery smell wafted out. It was a plump, glistening croissant, fresh from the oven. Catherine closed the window and filled her hands with the coffee, the croissant, the flower and the paper and went to have breakfast in bed.
As Catherine sat back against her pillows with the paper, she noticed a handwritten note scrawled in familiar printing at the top of the front page.
It said:
Catherine –
Please enjoy your breakfast in bed.
I only wish I could have made it for you myself.
Relax and enjoy.
V
PS – There's an interesting story on page 8 I thought you might like.
Catherine smiled to herself. She flipped to page 8, found the story he had been referring to and sat back to read, contented and happy.
xxxxx
"You know what we need?" asked Tess, the next evening. Joe had not returned her texts in two days. Tess had stopped by Catherine's place. They were in the living room, watching bad cable TV and eating popcorn.
"What?" asked Catherine, not bothering to take her eyes off of the screen. She shoved a handful of salty popcorn into her mouth.
"Karaoke!" Tess proclaimed, extremely proud of her idea. "Let's go to Bobby's. We so need a girl's night out."
Catherine looked at her with wide eyes. She looked down at herself and her glance took in her flannel shirt, her sweat pants and her favourite fuzzy purple socks. Her hair was like a rat's nest piled on top of her head. She shuddered. She was a mess. "Um, Tess, in case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly dressed to go anywhere. Besides, I'd rather just stay here and wallow."
"Heather!" Tess called at the top of her lungs.
"What?" Heather's voice carried from the bedroom. She poked her head out the door. "Tess?"
"Karaoke at Bobby's in 15?" Tess asked, disregarding the stunned look on Catherine's face.
"Yes!" Heather came out into the living room. "You in, Cat?"
"No," she mumbled, her eyes glued to the screen.
Heather reached down, picked up the remote and flicked off the TV. She glanced at her sister and started rattling off orders. "I have a shirt for you to wear. Go put on your black skinny jeans, I'll do your smoky eyes and leave your hair like it is. Guys like messy hair. Makes them think about being in bed."
"Heather!" Catherine exclaimed, feeling trapped.
"It's true. Now chop, chop! I want you in my room in ten so I can do your make up."
"I haven't had a shower or anything," said Catherine, stalling for time.
"Nice try, you had one earlier." Heather responded. Catherine rolled her eyes. Her sister should have been a detective.
"Tess? What about you?" Heather asked, appraising Catherine's best friend.
"I just need a shirt. Got one I can borrow?"
"Come with me, I'm sure I've got something." Tess followed Heather into her bedroom. Catherine looked around the empty living room and wondered what the heck had just happened. Had she even agreed to this? She couldn't remember. The conversation was a blur. She put the popcorn bowl aside and shuffled off to her room.
Catherine sighed. She didn't want any of this. She just wanted Vincent. She was starting to regret her decision to send him away rather than kissing him. She loved him and that was all that mattered, wasn't it? It would have been so easy to just give in to him. It's what she wanted to do.
She shut the bedroom door behind her and started searching through her closet for her skinny jeans. She found them and brought them over to the bed. As she turned, she saw a pair of eyes looking at her from the fire escape. She gasped and clutched her chest with her hand.
Vincent gently tapped on the window. It was closed. She had gotten out of the habit of leaving it open for him. She could see the sadness in his eyes through the glass pane. She was sure it mirrored the pain in her own eyes.
"Hi," she whispered as she pulled the window all of the way up. She stepped backwards, allowing him to sit on the window frame. "Been there long?"
"No, not long. I just wanted to make sure you were OK." His glance took in her outfit, the dark circles under her eyes and the piles of clothes scattered around her room. That was not like her. "You're not OK, are you?"
"Not really. I was just thinking that I…never mind." She was so afraid of opening herself up to him again. What if she got hurt?
"Never mind what?" he asked.
"No, it's nothing. Don't worry about it. How are you?" her questioning look took in his unshaven cheeks, the lines on his forehead and the dark circles ringing his eyes.
"I've been better," he answered in his deep, gravelly voice. She had missed his voice so much.
"Thanks for the texts, by the way," she said and chuckled.
"What? What's so funny?" he asked, some playfulness entering his tone. He smiled and it lit up his eyes. Her breath caught in her chest. She had no defense against his playful side.
"Nothing. I just didn't even know you knew what an emoticon was let alone how to use one."
"JT showed me," he answered. "I'm not very text savvy. Anyway, you've got my number now. Use it anytime. I mean it. I'll send you the new one as soon as it expires in a few days."
She looked into his eyes. She would willingly drown in them. "OK, thanks. And thank you for my breakfast in bed. It was lovely."
"I'm glad you liked it," Vincent said simply. He glanced over at the bed and spotted her skinny jeans. "You going out?"
Catherine sighed with exasperation, causing Vincent to smile. "Yes. Tess and Heather are dragging me to Bobby's for karaoke."
"You should go. I'm sure you'll have fun."
"Doubtful, but it's better than sitting around here all night long," she sighed. She had missed this, their alone time together.
"Cat! Smoky eyes in two minutes!" Heather yelled from the other room.
"Coming," Catherine called, not taking her eyes off of Vincent.
"I should go," said Vincent, looking down.
"Wait! Vincent, I…" she wasn't sure how to finish that sentence. She lifted her hand to touch his cheek. She hesitated and dropped it lamely back down to her side.
"What?" he asked. He knew she had been about to touch him and wished she had finished the action. "What were you going to say?"
"I miss you. I miss this." She answered honestly, surprising herself.
"Me too, Catherine. Me too." He leaned over and tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. She moved her head fractionally towards his hand. "Have a good night."
"Bye, Vincent." Vincent was gone in an instant. She pulled the window back down but left it open a crack.
A/N – I'm sorry to pull a BatB writers thing with the fake out kiss, but I did feel that it was too soon. Don't worry, you will get your kiss (and maybe more…we'll see) in the back half of this story…hmmm…now where have I heard THAT before?
I needed to have Vincent grovel some more. I felt that he hadn't done his time yet. And I really, really wanted him to do it on my terms. I'm pretty sure that all of the stuff I'm going to have him do for Catherine isn't going to show up in "Trust No One."
This was originally going to be all one chapter (along with the forthcoming Ch. 13) but it was way too long. Vincent's obviously got a lot of work to do. I will try to post the continuation of Vincent's attempts to "woo" Catherine as soon as I can.
The 'knock, knock' joke was not mine. I got it off the internet. The same place JT gets his romance tips from.
