Gaston was quick to jump out of the way as the Beast flailed in the pain caused by his dagger. He saw Belle quickly grab the Beast by his collar and help him over to the balcony floor. Peering over, not yet daring to make his move, he heard soft talking from both parties. A soft pinkish glow inside of the room caught his eye. It was the remains of a dying rose. Now what was that doing there? And in a jar no less. No wonder it was dying. Sobs reached his ears as the last petal finally lost it’s grip and fell to the table.
“No, no please, please don’t leave me.” The words pulled Gaston back to the events at hand. The Beast had died and Belle was crying fit to die herself. “I love you.”
Gaston had heard enough and he pulled himself over the banister. “So you’re balmy enough to even love a beast, huh? Well you’ll…” But his words stuck in his throat when Belle stood and stepped just inches from his face.
“SHUT UP! ALRIGHT! JUST SHUT UP!” Belle shook, tears streaking down her cheeks. “Don’t you get it! Don’t you get anything?! He wasn’t the monster! He was kind and good, and better than you can ever hope to be! You’re nothing but a selfish, arrogant, conceited, SON OF A BITCH!!!” Sobs racked her chest as she screamed at the murderer of her precious Beast. “You were just jealous, because I loved him, and I wouldn’t marry you! Well, here’s some news PAL!!! I WOULDN’T MARRY YOU IF YOU WERE THE LAST MAN ON EARTH!!!” Belle’s steam ran out and she dropped to her knees in anguish.
She missed the surprised look on Gaston’s face. He had thought before, surely she would have married him. Surely she had merely been under a bewitchment. Or maybe perhaps the monster held something over her. And that surely she had loved him and would again once the Beast was dead and they would live happily ever after. It was supposed to happen for handsome men like he. It was then he realized, something he wanted to immediately forget, that there had been no enchantment or the like over her at all. She had honestly loved this Beast. And she had never, ever loved him. And that, in his haste to remove the obstacle between them, he had only succeeded in driving the stake deeper into any chance he might have ever had to win her love. He understood now that the Beast was the victim here. He had done a horrible thing, and where as he had been trying to gain for himself, he had only lost. There was no winner…..there had been no point to this killing. And that made him a murderer. He shook his head, trying to make sense of what he’d done, searching for some way to redeem himself.
“Belle, I….”
“Just go away!” She whispered as she cried. She had no more strength with which to deal with him. The pain of loss was just too much for her right now.
Gaston could do nothing else. For all of a sudden, gone was the confidence he had come here with. His pride was smashed to small bits. And his heart as dead as the rose that now lay petalless on the table. He left, passing by an entering Maurice, stopping only long enough to watch him wrap his arms around his grieving daughter. He fled the castle, running mechanically towards the village.
AN: I’m ending it here. I know, an interesting take on Gaston’s character. Perhaps there is hope for him after all.
Next Chapter: Belle learns of the spell which trapped her Beast and her friends and is driven into a deep depression. And Gaston descends into his own pit of self quandry