#batb 91

“Now what are you forcing me to read?” Gaston asked. 

As Adam settled down on the sofa, he plopped the book onto Gaston’s lap. Gaston read the title with a scowl. 

“The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe?”

“You’ll like it.”

Gaston wrinkled his nose. Ugh. Reading. Again. It never ended with these people. With a bemused look, Adam took the book back and opened it to the first page. He scooted closer, close enough that their thighs and shoulders were touching, and as Adam’s familiar scent filled Gaston’s nostrils, he realized that he would read anything, no matter how dull, if it meant that they could sit together like this. 

Adam began to read.

"I was born in the year 1632, in the city of York, of a good family… ”

For the next half hour, Gaston entered a serene, almost dreamlike state as he listened to Adam’s soothing voice. With his reservations about physical affection lost amidst this blissful tranquility, Gaston slowly slid down lower in his seat and then rested his head against Adam’s shoulder. For a brief moment, Adam’s voice faltered, but then, he continued to read, seemingly taking care to keep his tone even and calm as his head came to settle on top of Gaston’s too. 

Adam read another two sentences and then he placed the book in Gaston’s lap.

“Do you mind reading for a bit?”

A rush of adrenaline snapped Gaston out of his dreamlike state. Just thinking about reading aloud in front of Adam had his heart thumping harder in his chest, knowing that all of the time he had spent impressing him with his many skills was likely to be undone in under thirty seconds. 

In a panic, Gaston shoved Adam off of him and stood. 

“I’m tired.”

Adam stood too. As soon as Gaston turned to leave, Adam caught his wrist. 

“Do you really think I care about your reading abilities?”

Gaston yanked his arm away, disturbed and annoyed that Adam could see right through him. He looked at the couch and then back at Adam. All he wanted at that moment was to sit with him again. Why couldn’t he make himself do it?

“Are you afraid or something?” Adam asked with a wry smile. 

Adam knew exactly what he was doing. And Gaston was so fucking thankful for it.

“Of reading?” Gaston asked, standing up straighter and puffing out his chest. “How ridiculous.”

“You must be."

Somehow, Adam’s silly strategy was working. Gaston could feel the need to prove that he wasn’t afraid overcoming his fear of looking incompetent. 

“I’d be surprised if a peasant like you even knew his letters.”

Gaston’s jaw tightened reflexively from the insult, but Adam’s widening smile reminded him that they were only playing a game and even though Gaston knew that all of this was a ruse, he made himself believe it. Because he needed to.

“Sit down, your highness,” Gaston said as he returned to the couch. “I’ll prove you wrong.”

Adam sat down next to him. “Doubtful.”

At precisely the same moment, the two men rested their heads together. The fact that they did this at the exact same time was so Goddamn incredible, so Goddamn beautiful, that Gaston thought his heart would break. Now there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that Adam was falling in love with him too.

But what about Belle?

When Adam let out a sad sigh, Gaston somehow knew that they were both asking themselves that same terrible, unanswerable question.

What about Belle?

“Just read,” Adam said, all of the confidence and playfulness he had shown only seconds earlier now gone from his voice. “Please.”

Gaston licked his lips. His eyes flitted over to Adam once more and then back down at the book. 

“In…this…state of life…how-ever…I re-mained some…time…un-cer-tain…what… mea-sures to…take…and what…course of…life…to…lead.”

Even though he had read this statement in a slow and clunky manner, the weight of its meaning fell upon Gaston's shoulders. And it was heavier than anything he had ever tried to lift before. He moved his finger to the beginning of the sentence and read it one more time.

“In this state of life, however, I remained some time, uncertain what measures to take and what course of life to lead.”

The room was silent save for the crackling of the wood in the fireplace. Gaston heard Adam swallow. When he glanced over at his friend - his very dear friend - he saw that his eyes were glassy. He realized, then, that his own eyes were becoming misty too. 

“Should I keep going?” Gaston asked.

It was his way of asking Adam to stay. He let one of his hands fall to the couch between them and he wondered if Adam would take it.

Adam’s hand slowly slid down next to Gaston’s and then their fingers touched. 

“Keep going.”

And so, Gaston read to the end of the chapter and then all the way through the next. The two men sat together, their heads resting comfortably against one another’s, fingers only barely touching, as Gaston struggled through the words on each and every page. It took a very, very long time.