So... I recently found out that some people ship Beast(Adam)/Gaston. Still haven't read any of it but I found one fix that in the summary said something about Gaston being jealous of Belle for being trapped in a far away castle with a big guy, which is funny as fuck, but then I thought "why not go a little step further?"
I also changed some things in the timeline, mainly that the "wedding scheme" happened at the same time it does in the or story, but Maurice disappears in his trip the following year and by that time, Adam's curse can't be reversed.
So imagine: Gaston is a closeted gay, like so far up in the closet he is known as a regular in Narnia. An (as said in the fic's summary), his father is an asshole with very questionable ideas an principles about how a man and a woman ought to act and be. And Gaston, actually terrified of his father and big brothers, does his best to live up to those ideas. BUT he really, really doesn't want to marry, so he takes the "strategic decision" of setting his sights on Belle who is not only the prettiest girl in the village (because she is, Gaston may like men but he isn't blind), but also despises Gaston to the point of actively avoiding him since they were teens.
And so Gaston plays this charade of chasing Belle while being the most obnoxious and entitled asshole he could muster up. He threw what he actually knew were veiled insults at Belle and chased her up the streets while she somehow walked gracefully while keeping her eyes on her book ( he had no idea how she managed).
The problem was that the town started to speak about how strange it was for Gaston to be so fixated on a woman, yet never really trying to get her. Because apparently for the men in this place it wasn't enough to haunt a woman like a spiteful ghost, if you truly wanted her to be "yours" then carrying her on your shoulder and whisking her away was acceptable.
Even he shuddered at the idea, and really it was just drunken talk. But drunken talk tended to reach his father sooner or later and when that happened, Gaston would be in troubles. So he decided to orchestrate an impromptu wedding. He figured it was both extreme and harmless enough. Probably not his best plan, but he was working against the clock.
So when he went up to Belle's house, ready to be rejected again, well... Things deviated from script, but he was glad for it.
You see, he was cornering Belle against the door, sprouting the litany of crap his father had fed him since he was a child, awaiting for Belle's passive-aggressive response when she reached behind her back.
Belle, on her part was done with this shit. She had the momentary idea of reaching for the handle of the door, opening it and swiftly letting Gaston out, but something made her reconsider. It had been so long since Gaston had started this chase, since he began following her around, cornering her and scheming against her. She was done.
Instead of reaching for the door, she moved her hand slightly to the side and took the heavy wooden cane that had belonged to her grandfather, the one with the metal handle, and swung. Hard.
She got Gaston on the side of the head, the cane even had blood on it, and the man fell to the floor, stumbling on his way down. Still, he was big and was still conscious. Fine by her, he'd feel what was coming.
Gaston, watching the petite woman advancing toward him, towering over him with the cane on her hands, realised that he'd finally pushed too far. It was a matter of time, really. He just never expected her reaction to be so... violent.
He saw the cane advancing once more towards him and scrambled to his feet and away from the woman. She let out a frustrated growl, startlingly similar to the wolves he'd encountered in hunts, and kept coming. At some point he tried to stop her, to get a grip on the cane with both hands, but just when he was about to take it away from her, she kicked him on the shins and pulled with all her strength, recovering the cane and swinging it again, getting him on his side this time.
Gaston, battered and bruised crawled under the table, trying to at least put some distance between himself and the enraged woman.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!," he yelled. "I'll leave now, I swear!"
Gaston's terrified brain couldn't understand what she meant, though.
His question must have been dumb enough to anger her even more, because she swung once more at him, hitting one of his hands with the metallic head of the cane, eliciting a pained screech from the man.
"You leave now, forever," she remarks again. "And never, ever return."
Panic sized Gaston at that.
"B-b-but I can't!" Wrong answer.
Another hit, to his ankle this time. The table was small, and he'd never resented his own big stature so much before. Belle was circling the table, preparing to swing her weapon again, this time to his face.
"NO, WAIT-! I REALLY- I-I rea-really can't!" He was on the verge of collapsing, he knew and he felt pathetic for it. Then again, he doubted many could hold it togheter against the fury currently directed towards himself at the moment. That made him feel slightly better.
Belle, seeing him like this, paused. Still on guard, still ready to hit at the smallest hint of any aggression. She knew her position, her strenght and size. She knew Gaston needed only one hit and she wouldn't give him the chance. But seeing him like this she felt that she was missing something, like a book with pages taken away. Something didn't make sense.
"Explain," she commanded.
Gaston saw the determination in her eyes. She, somehow, unexpectedly, was giving him a chance to explain himself instead of finishing him off (something she actually seemed capable of doing). But should he tell her...?
His mouth decided before his brain, and before realising it, he was spilling his whole story to Belle.
At that moment, Belle was quite split herself between beating up Gaston harder or offering him a hand. What he had revealed certainly changed things, but only if it was true. Besides, it wouldn't erase all the unpleasantness of the past. Unfortunately, Maurice had raised a kind girl and sometimes Kind didn't agree with Smart.
With a heavy sigh, Belle lowered the cane, though she didn't let go of it.
"Get up," she said (barked, if you asked Gaston). "And tell the people outside to leave. I'm going to make tea and we are going to have a conversation about not involving unsuspecting people in our problems."
Gaston stood up only when Belle's figure disappeared into the kitchen. Then, and only then the full weight of his confession landed on him. It occurred to Gaston that now the same woman who had been beating him mercilessly had the key to end him. He needed to convince her to keep the secret or...
He quickly dismissed everyone outside, deciding that whatever happened, he didn't want anyone else eavesdropping. By the time he went back to Belle's house, she had already laid the table, a teapot, two cups and even a plate with cookies. She also had the baton laying across her lap.
Gaston sat across from Belle, her brown eyes boring into his skull like a hunting knife. Right here, right now, neither threats nor bribery seemed an option. He settled for begging. Really, he had no pride left.
He started yapping a mixture of excuses and explanations, simultaneously pleading for her to keep that secret and to forget all that had happened.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and startled, looked up into warm, concerned eyes. Belle's other hand was behind her, holding the baton. Gaston looked at her again and saw that mixed with compassion, there was fear.
Fear was something he could use but, as soon as the thought appeared he felt ashamed. Belle was scared, of course she was! They were alone in the house and for all her strength (which was more than one would assume, his ribs were able to testify), he was still bigger and one hit from him could hurt her greatly. And yet, scared and doubtful, she was trying to check on him
"Gaston?" She was calling him, he realised then that he'd zoned out for a while. Still, when he met her eyes again, he found he had nothing to say, no words that could serve him. So Belle took the initiative. "I won't tell anyone and..." Belle herself seemed to be trying to find the right words. "For what is worth, I don't think there's anything wrong with you."
She was smiling now, warmly, the same way he'd seen her smile at the kids in the plaza. And he really felt like crying again out of sheer relief. He knew he was babbling again, but this time they were all apologies.
Really, this woman was too nice. Too nice for this village and its wretched people who saw her as a quirky pretty-face, and too nice for him, who reduced her to another part of his schemes.
Since that day, Gaston decided to give Belle a wide berth, away from himself and his machinations. And it felt sort of good to do something with someone else's benefit in mind.
Except that after a few weeks, murmurs started to circulate around the townfolk. Had Gaston given up?, they would say. Maybe this is our chance?, thought some young ladies aloud. It was a bit odd, for him to chance that one skirt around, never looking at any other girl..., was next. And then the dreaded, You know? I've never really seen him with any girl?
Panic was starting to flood his mind when one day while walking around the plaza, he felt a small hand reaching for his arm. When he turned, he found Belle, gentle smile and warm eyes firmly in place when she invited him for tea.
He accepted the invitation, a bit dazed and confused. He was silent while she walked in front of him, leading the way. She did all the talking, telling him about the latest book she'd been reading, moving around the streets with ease. Actually, people seemed to be parting in their way. That's when Gaston finally noticed the mischievous glint in Belle's eyes.
He had to contain his smile. This woman, this clever woman was not just leading him to her house, no. She was parading him across their village, as if to say, See? We are here, togheter. See how wrong you were?
And damn! It was working.
By the time they finally made it to Maurice's house, Gaston felt like laughing. An hysterical giggle did make it past his lips. Belle just smirked at him, announcing her intention of making tea
And so began Belle and Gaston's friendship, built over a scheme, a secret and finally mutual respect.
And sure, this wouldn't exactly do it long term, but Belle was nothing if not practical and she was already plotting over a series of outcomes. She didn't really want to marry anyone, what she truly wished was to continue with her father's work. She was already helping him with some of his more complex designs and was even planning on joining the man on the Inventor's Fair next year. And Gaston obviously did not want to marry, so she had decided then (and Gaston had no complains), that if things got desperate enough, then they should actually get togheter. In the meantime, Gaston would hang out around Belle while she studied or worked and sometimes Belle would accompany Gaston into the forest. He'd teach her about hunting, how to track pray, identify the landscape and use a gun. She would show him different books. Stories weren't something Gaston had ever been interested in, but it turned out to be mostly due to lack of opportunity than true dislike. Many of the novels Belle shared with him were actually very moving and gave him some hope, that maybe one day more people would accept who he was. Belle had done so already, after all, and she was the smartest person he knew. That had to count for something.
When Maurice got back to Belle and Gaston reading over tea, suspicion was first on his list. After all, he knew very well his daughter's opinion on the man. Belle and Gaston, on the other hand, had already agreed to tell Maurice the truth. Well... more like Belle had demanded to be honest with her father, and since all this scheme was mainly to his benefit, he gave in.
Maurice was surprisingly understanding. Or not so much, really, he was Belle's father after all, Gaston should have expected such kindness.
And so, months passed and by then Gaston spent more time at Belle's than at his own house, which was a great improvement, by the way.
Another fair was to be held on one of the big towns and as usual (at least until Belle was old enough), Maurice would be heading out on his own. His invention worked perfectly and for once, he didn't have to worry about Belle being alone, after so long he trusted Gaston to protect her.
But when Maurice's horse came back without his rider, both Gaston and Belle realised she wasn't the one in need of protection.
Belle wanted to head out into the forest and start searching, but Gaston convinced her to at least wait until the next morning, to prepare tools and provisions. It was unadvisable to travel in the dark and night was rapidly approaching.
Gaston left word to his father that he'd be helping Belle find Maurice and the man thought nothing of it, which was for the best.
Maurice's horse was remarkably intelligent and remembered the way it had come. It lead them to the most terrifying and foreboding building any of them had ever seen.
Inside, they found Maurice trapped and were confronted by the beast whose curse had already settled in permanently, so to his eyes there was no use in allowing Belle to stay. Of course, with both Maurice and Gaston there, it would've been impossible for her to pull out the same stunt as in the movie.
There was another difference: two guns, one in Gaston's hands, another in Belle's.
They were at a stalemate, the hundreds pounds of beast against two (at this point) quite experienced armed individuals.
Mrs. Potts was the mediator this time. Maurice had been allowed in the castle by the staff, he was not and intruder. Gaston and Belle had come to his rescue, not a crime on itself and understandable if you asked her.
If someone was to be punished, it shouldn't be them.
Lumiere chimed in, announcing the worsening weather that made it impossible for any of the three newcomers to leave.
The chandelier and teapot immediately took over and led the group towards the quarters. Belle immediately asked to room all together. Mrs. Potts, worrying about property for some reason, inquired about both Gaston and Belle's relationship and while the hunter had turned pale and started to babble Belle answered firmly.
No one argued. But Maurice smiled at Gaston, patting his shoulder as if saying, 'you're the last to find out'.
The young man smiled to himself, it wasn't such a bad thing.
Lumiere and Mrs. Potts, along with a frazzled Clockwork, guided the trio to two adjourned rooms, hoping to give Belle enough privacy while allowing her to keep her family close.
Once they were left alone with the promise of food in the close future, they Belle and Gaston immediately jumped at Maurice, first to inquire about his health, then about his side of the story. Ultimately, they both scolded him on trusting an ominous looking castle with talking ornaments.
Maurice couldn't defend himself, not under the combined glare of Belle and Gaston, the later unconsciously mirroring Belle's raised eyebrow, full of concerned judgement and caring sass.
When the mood calmed down, the three of them opted to delve into the next most important matter at hand: Belle and Maurice's livelihood.
All valuables were on the cart the inventor had lost escaping the storm and the wolves. If they got back, the family of two would be as good as broke. And Gaston, with all his siblings, would not have enough to keep them all afloat if Belle married him.
"Should we even go back?" Belle was voicing the question they were all sharing in their minds.
Maurice and Gaston shared a look. They knew she had a point, but if they left, they would also be heading right into the unknown. Belle, sensing their hesitation, pressed on.
"Really, what is there to lose? What is there for us to go back to?"
Belle knew Gaston had family back in the village. She also knew they were worthless and had no qualms saying so to any of them. She had, in fact done so.
And Gaston, emboldened by her bravery, decided that if he was to face the uncertain future with someone, might as well do it with this two.
So they agreed to leave for the next big town, one were Belle could actually look for a job, were Gaston could sell his strenght and Maurice his expertise and knowledge.
There was a problem, though. The storm wasn't getting better. Actually it seemed to worsen by the second. Days passed and snow just kept falling. After two weeks it was obvious that, even if the weather got better at that exact moment, weeks would pass before the road was anything close to safe.
The three of them found themselves falling into a routine in the castle and amongst the staff. Two opposite thumbs became very useful amongst people who had no fingers at all. And since there was nothing to do, the three newcomers began to work around. Their presence became a norm, rather than an exception. They were welcome by all the staff-furniture, and eventually, they were also accepted by the owner of the castle.
