Don't turn away
I need your love
'Cause you're the only one
That I've been dreaming of
Come hold me tight
I need your light
Just come and take me
To the place I long to be
Stay with me
Love is all I'm praying for
Stay with me
Give me strength to carry on
Stay with me
And hearts will surely
Find the way to go
Stay with me
Be my shelter
When the angels disappear.
"Stay with me" (Goran Karan)
The sun was already setting when Gaston approached the hunting lodge and stood hesitantly at the threshold. He knew what he had to do, but it was too painful.
But not to do it he could no longer do.
Give up on Belle. Let Belle go.
He had blackmailed her into marrying him, and it was up to him to make things right.
He can't be a monster anymore.
Can't get her love on credit.
If Belle's happy, maybe he'll be happier, too. Just a little? If she's with her true love. It was Gaston's own fault he was having such a hard time right now. If he hadn't been trying to outsmart and capture Belle, maybe he wouldn't be standing right now, painfully pressing his hands to his chest where his heart was beating feverishly. Maybe if they hadn't gotten married and been together this month, it would be easier for him to get over the fact that Belle wouldn't be with him.
He quietly pushed open the front door and stepped into the house.
"Belle?" He called out softly.
She didn't answer and the man made his way into the living room. Belle had fallen asleep in front of the fireplace on a chair, resting her head on her thin arms. And on the floor beside the chair lay that antique mirror.
Gaston reached out and touched Belle's cheek. She cried again, cried until she fell asleep. And that mirror...
It was all clear.
Hunter touched the girl's shoulder to wake her up:
"Belle! Belle!"
She lifted her head and slowly opened her eyes, waking up and gazing into his face.
"Gaston?"
Gaston knelt down in front of her so their faces were level and, without controlling himself, put his arms around her waist. He opened his mouth to say the right words he had been thinking about all day, that he was letting her go to her prince from her dreams, that he was not going to hold her back any longer by this forced marriage, he wanted to say that he knew that Prince Adam loved her as much as he did before, only he kept silent about it, but instead he was horrified to feel the same pathetic pleading coming from his lips as Paulette had when she had cried standing before him in the marketplace.
Gaston hugged Belle's waist tighter, and, looking up at her from below, whispered:
"Belle, don't leave me! No one will love you as I do! I can't be without you, Belle!"
Her beautiful eyes looked at him with concern, her soft lips opened slightly, and before she could say anything, he blurted out, shuddering with the feelings that overwhelmed him, the fear of losing her and the longing that lay behind it, and the self-disgust at his own weakness:
"Belle... If you leave me, I'll go out into the woods and shoot myself in the head. I won't live without you!"
He buried his face in her lap, trying to memorize the warmth of her body and the feeling of her presence beside him.
Gaston felt her thin arms hugging him tightly, stroking his head like a child, he felt the strength of her gentle hands pressing him against her body, he could hear her whispering:
"Hush... It's all right..."
Gradually he came to his senses, unclasped his hands and tried to rise; Belle stood up with him, still hugging him.
"No, I shouldn't have said that..." he said softly. 'You don't have to hear it. Belle, that's not what I meant to say."
Belle pulled away a little, lowering her arms:
"But you said exactly what you felt," she said quietly, looking around restlessly.
Then the girl rushed quickly to the rifle which stood leaning against the wall near the door and, seizing it, went out into the yard and discharged it, firing several shots into the air.
Gaston stepped after her, colliding with the girl on the threshold, Belle shook out the gunpowder on the ground.
"Belle, I just said it like that. I didn't say it seriously, I..."
She raised her head and looked him seriously in the eye:
"Nobody says things like that for no reason."
Belle snatched the hunting knife from his belt and nimbly retreated to the kitchen cabinets, tossed it into the drawer to the kitchen knives and locked the drawer with the key. Putting the key in her apron pocket she gave a sigh of relief.
"Belle, this is ridiculous. I'm not that stupid. I was just... You know, it was a momentary weakness of a strong man," he said softly. "I want to talk to you," he sat down on a chair at the table and made an inviting gesture to her.
The girl lowered herself into the chair next to him:
"That's good. I want to talk to you too, but you won't let me talk."
He shook his head:
"I'll make it up to you, I promise. Just and you, hear me out to the end without interrupting me."
"Okay," Belle looked at Gaston with her radiant brown eyes and took his hand. It was getting harder to start that proper conversation.
"Belle, what is this mirror?" The hunter suddenly asked, nodding at the mirror on the floor. "Did he give it to you?"
"It was a magic mirror," Belle half-answered the question. -"It showed you anything you asked for. I wanted to know where you were so I could find you. But it stopped working. It became ordinary. Doesn't show anything."
Gaston frowned, because he hadn't expected that answer. To look for him? Not to remember the prince, not to miss him? So attuned thoughts faltered, and he looked at Belle in silence.
"I saw him," he said quietly at last. "Prince Adam."
"Prince Adam?" Belle asked in surprise.
"Yes. As if you didn't know his name," Gaston said with some irritation.
"I didn't know his name," Belle looked away a little, frowning and pressing her lips together. It was obvious that she was nervous.
"Belle..." Gaston said quietly and took her small hand in his. "I-I'm very guilty to you. If I had not forced you to marry, I swear to God, I would have fought for you. If there had been something between us, if you had chosen me, if we had gone on dates...I don't know..." he was silent. "You can go to him," he finally said. " You're free of your promise to me, which I achieved by blackmail."
Belle blinked slowly, as if not understanding the meaning of his words, and then said:
"I... I promised not to interrupt you, but I don't understand what you want to tell me," she released her hand and stood up, pacing the room as if unable to sit up when she was in such excitement.
"Where am I supposed to go? And why? You run away for half a day when I'm trying to tell you everything, and then you want to send me away? Why? Unlike you, I didn't go to the castle and talk to anyone behind your back. And, God, how many times do you have to get upset because our wedding wasn't as perfect as you wanted it to be? I'm not upset about it, I forgave you a long time ago, I thought we were fine, and you keep coming back to this event.
"No, no, no, no," Gaston stood up too and walked over to Belle and took her by the shoulders. "I'm not sending you away, of course not. But don't you want to go away yourself? To go to him?"
"No," her radiant eyes looked straight and firm.
The conversation didn't follow the pattern he had in his head, so Gaston faltered and fell silent.
"You don't want to?" He finally spoke up. - I release you from all promises. Belle... You must be with the one you truly love. Prince Adam.
It was really hard for him to say those words, but Belle didn't appreciate his impulse at all. She clenched her temples with her hands as if she had a headache.
"You've been walking and walking, thinking and thinking, and you've decided to offer me another man? Are you out of your mind, Gaston?"
"He fits better for you. He's... You know, Belle, I've always fallen short of you," Gaston began to recount his thoughts to her, but they, so correct and smooth in his head, became less obvious when voiced to Belle, or perhaps to her skeptical face. But he tried. "I never fully understood you. I didn't reach. I was angry about it, but it's true. You... You were in the castle. I was there, too. It's just the right setting for you. Everything's so exquisite. No dirt, no washing, no cooking. You'll live the life you've always dreamed of. You'll be able to dance in a beautiful hall, socialize with smart people. Not primitive people like me and my friends. You've always been like...like above the rest of us in town, different. That life will suit you better. And most importantly... I don't know what happened between you, between you and the prince... But if you read him your favorite book, that means something."
Belle flapped her eyelashes in response to his tirade and finally said:
"He fits... It doesn't work that way, Gaston. How about I find you a woman more suitable for you, too? A charming giggler with strong hips who'll give you six kids and is crazy about housework?"
He shook his head, and the girl continued:
"But you chose me, didn't you? A strange, unsociable girl who has nothing but beauty. You chose a beautiful doll, immersed in a fantasy world."
"Why do you talk about yourself like that, Belle?" he wondered. "You are the best."
She stepped closer and hugged him:
"I am the best only in your eyes, Gaston. And you are the best in my eyes. Not just because of your handsomeness or your strength."