Deleted Scene 2

A/N: Takes place at Adam's house, in the week before Christmas. I have a soft spot in my heart for these kinds of situations, and if I hadn't wanted to follow the plot of the movie closely you definitely would have gotten this as a means to make Belle and Adam get together. Enjoy!

TheTeaIsAddictive

"Belle?" Cogsworth asked, seeming a little more harried than usual, "could you come here for a second?" Belle set her book aside and uncurled from her reading position on the sofa in the living room, nearly upside down and burrowed deep into the corner where the arm met the body of the sofa.

"No problem, Cogsworth. Do you need a hand with something?" Her toes flexed energetically on the carpet, the only indication that she was longing to get back to her book and find out if Captain Nemo and his crew would be able to reach the South Pole. Behind her back, Lumière and Babette exchanged a knowing look, and quietly walked past Belle and Cogsworth out to the hall.

"Yes, actually," Cogsworth said, his face a little redder than normal. "Could you come out to the hall? There's something in the cupboard under the stairs I need to get, but I'm not flexible enough to reach it."

"Okay," Belle said, desperately trying to cover a laugh at the mental image of Cogsworth being 'flexible' enough to reach whatever it was he needed. It wasn't often somebody as short as Belle was asked for help to obtain an object, and she couldn't help feeling flattered he'd asked for her help. He quickly showed her where the cupboard was, and as Belle crouched down to have a better look at the very, very small space she was about to enter, Cogsworth frantically gestured to Lumière and Babette to go up the stairs.

"Hey, what exactly are you looking for again?" Belle asked.

"Oh! Um, it's a, a, a . . . a whisk," Cogsworth said. "Electrical. Very essential for the run up to Christmas Day."

"Okay," Belle said. "Is there a light?" Cogsworth flicked a small switch on the outside of the cupboard, and a small, weak bulb started pulsing weakly.

"I know it's not the best," Cogsworth said, "but I just haven't gotten around to fixing it yet." He glanced nervously up the stairs, and at some unseen signal, suddenly starting bundling Belle into the cupboard. "Anyway, I guess you'll just have to make do, in you go now. And thanks again for doing this!"

"Cogsworth!" Belle shrieked, as she was unceremoniously shoved into the small space and had the door slammed behind her. The force of the shove sent her tripping over a stray hosepipe on the ground and almost crashing into the set of shelves directly in front of the door. She managed to catch herself in time, as a series of loud jolts and crashes told her somebody - or rather, a group of somebodies - was coming down the stairs. She couldn't hear any of their conversation except muffled sounds, but Belle was sure she heard Babette and Lumière. She drew closer to the door, pressing her ear against it to try and hear something from outside. The muffled sounds grew closer, and suddenly Belle realised she could hear Adam, too. They seemed to be in a calm conversation, and Belle relaxed. It was certainly weird for Cogsworth to throw her into the cupboard like that, but not anything unusual.

Suddenly, the door was flung open and Adam came flying into the small cupboard, crashing straight into Belle and also nearly falling into the shelves. He instinctively had his arms around her to try and break the fall, and as they staggered towards the back of the cupboard Belle ended up with her face pressed against his chest and a mouthful of his hair. She could feel his heart racing from the sudden shock, and the warmth of his arms wrapped around her.

"Sorry," Adam said quickly. He drew back as much as he was able (which wasn't much), and a small part of Belle was upset that she wasn't as close to him. Which was ludicrous, as they were practically hugging in the small space clearly not made for two people. And also because he was her friend. "I didn't mean to crash into you like that," Adam was saying. "Lumière is surprisingly strong."

"What are you doing down here?" Belle asked. "Cogsworth asked me to get an electric whisk."

"Lumière and Babette asked me to find a hoover," Adam said slowly.

"Cogsworth!" Belle yelled. "What are you playing at?!" Her phone suddenly beeped and she fished it out her jeans pocket; the small area meant she had to do an awkward duck and twist to get it out, bringing her closer to Adam again for a split second. In that brief moment his face underwent a change of expression strangely unidentifiable, if Belle had seen it. Instead, she opened her phone to find a message from Cogsworth.

"You two have been acting really weird lately. You're not coming out until you've got it sorted. Also, sorry for lying about the hoover. But if you find the whisk that would be great."

"Unbelievable," Adam said when she'd finished reading it out. "This is completely ridiculous - THIS IS COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS!" he shouted in the general direction of the door, twisting his head around. "We barely have room to move, let alone 'sort out' whatever this is."

"What do you mean, 'whatever this is'?" Belle asked. "We're fine, right?" Even as she said it Belle realised what Cogsworth had been talking about. Their outings together had been becoming increasingly more date-like than at the beginning, but Belle and Adam both seemed to be acting as friends at home. She could barely admit to herself that she wanted to go out with Adam - that she wanted to be able to confide in him, to have his arms around her without either of them making lame excuses, to kiss him -

Whoa there, Lecteur, slow down, she thought. Even if you feel that way, there's no reason Adam needs to know. But as soon as the thought crossed her mind, Belle realised she did need to tell Adam about her feelings. It was putting a ridiculous strain on their friendship, and clearly it was obvious enough that Cogsworth, Lumière and Babette had noticed.

"Yeah," Adam said a little breathlessly, "we're fine." But in such close proximity, Belle could feel his heart racing, and she knew he was lying.

"Do you think . . ." Belle took a breath to steady herself. "Do you think that we've maybe been acting differently since we started going out?" She suddenly blushed fiercely at her choice of words, and hurried to fix her mistake. "I mean - not that we're going out or anything, but all the trips to the park, and the cinema, that's not really going out is it? I mean, we're friends. Good friends. We - we're not going out." She turned her face to the ground, bright red, suddenly very interested in the dust patterns on the floor. She noticed Adam's feet were almost twice as big as her own, much like how he was in general able to engulf her. The fingers on one of his hands could stretch across two of her palms easily, and his body in general was so large she would be able to fold herself up in it if she so desired.

"No, we're not 'going out'," Adam said, a shade of nervousness in his voice. "But - I wouldn't mind if we did."

Stunned, Belle looked up at him. A cautious fear was in his eyes, as if he was afraid he'd said too much but didn't dare react until she did. Her hands twitched by her sides, as if they'd reach up and cup his face if Belle let them.

"Really?" Belle asked.

"Yeah," Adam said. "Is that okay? Can I ask you out without it getting weird?"

"What, weirder than it already is?" Belle laughed. "Yeah, you can." She grinned up at him, and he smiled back down at her. "Oh, you've got a spider on your head," Belle said, reaching up to brush it off. Adam bent down so she could reach the top of his head more easily, and quite suddenly they were practically bumping noses.

Belle's hands were still wrapped up in Adam's hair. The two of them were breathing heavily, as if they'd run a marathon, and Belle could see only a thin silver of Adam's blue eyes as the pupils expanded. Tentatively, she pushed up on tiptoe, bringing her mouth almost in contact with his. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she could feel his warm breath on her lips. Her heartbeat quickened, and she was acutely aware of Adam's hands resting carefully on her waist. Gently, his lips met hers. His lips were rough and chapped, but his breath was sweet, tasting faintly of toothpaste and something distinctly Adam that she knew she'd never be able to properly identify. They broke apart almost as silently as they started the kiss, but barely moved their positions.

Belle smiled, and as her happiness filled her, Adam kissed her again. He pressed his hands into her waist as she moved hers down to the muscles of his shoulders. Belle was distantly aware of her foot popping. The crash of something falling of the shelf broke them off this time.

"What was that?" Adam asked. Belle knelt down to see, and started to laugh.

"It's the whisk Cogsworth was looking for!" she exclaimed.

"Let's go give it to him, then," Adam grinned.

A/N: Foot-popping thing from The Princess Diaries. I love that movie far too much.

TheTeaIsAddictive