~Beauty~

A cool breeze nips at my toes and face making me awake from my deep sleep. It's no longer the beach weather day it was when I drifted off. It's sweater weather and I'm still in my bathing suit laying on the cool sand. My eyes flutter open, trying to adjust to the sunlight shining directly at them.

Sunlight? Had Gale and I slept here the whole night?

"Gale, wake up! It's morning-" I turn to see no one next to me. Just a patch of sand. "Gale?" I call into the empty space.

I stand, my feet wobbly from sleep at first. Looking around, I realize that all the stuff we brought to the beach is gone. The blanket, the radio, the umbrella, everything. My heart sinks when I see that Gale's car is gone as well. My breath catches in my throat.

Did he leave me?

I feel my mind start to panic. I try to think of something that can explain why Gale and every trace of him is gone. None of them make sense.

"Gale?!" I call again. But this time it's louder and more desperate. I start to walk away hoping that maybe I'll find him parked in a different spot loading things into his trunk. He has to be around here somewhere. He wouldn't leave me stranded on this beach. Unless, maybe something happened to him?

My foot steps on a papery surface. I bend down and analyze it. It's a piece of paper, carefully folded and placed where I was laying.

Dear Belle,

these last few months have been the best days of my life and it's because of you. You have taught me so many wonderful things that I will treasure forever. One of them being that if you have something beautiful, do not cage it, share it with the whole world. That's what I'm doing. I want you to go write that book. Go travel the world. Go spend time with that Grayson guy. Do everything you want to do and more. I guess what I'm saying is I'm letting you go. Goodbye, Belle.

-Gale

I have to read the note several times. No matter how many times I do, I can't seem to understand it. Tears well up in my eyes. He actually did it. He let me go.

I sit back on the sand and ponder my new reality, still in shock. I'm free. I can go home. This is what I've wanted for so long. How come it doesn't feel as good as I thought it would? I have a pit in my stomach and I'm balling my eyes out. This isn't how imagined I would react.

I know the reason why. It's because freedom isn't the only thing I want anymore. I also want him.

~The Beast~

I take a deep breath hoping it will stop the tears from running down my face. My grasp on the steering wheel tightens as Belle's sleeping face lingers in my mind.

I knew I couldn't let her go in person. I wouldn't have been able to say the words to her. I wouldn't have been able to do it. So when she fell asleep, I left. I was gone in the morning like the stars in the sky. I will be forgotten like a past dream.

Every single moment I've had with her seems to play and replay in my head as I drive away, abandoning the best part of my life. I can hardly see the road anymore. Good thing the castle is in view and before long I'm pulling into my parking space.

I rush out of the car and inside, slamming the door after me. I take a breath telling myself to calm down. I can't seem to because I'm still crying. Giving up, I collapse on the floor and close my eyes.

It's my own fault that this is affecting me so much. I let her help me. I let her into my hardened heart and in the process she managed to steal it. She helped me become a better person and that better person had to let her go.

I'm forced to open my eyes when images of her creep into my mind again. I know she'll never leave me. She may be miles away but she will always be with me. She'll be a part of me forever. In everything I do, she'll be there. Because in a way, she shaped this knew me. She is a part of me. She was everything I never knew I needed.

It will torment me knowing that she will never come back. I'll never shake away that pain. At this point, it doesn't matter that the police will probably find me since I let her go. Let them take me away. It doesn't matter anymore.

"Gale?" Carina stands in front of me, frowning at my crumbled state. "You let her go?" I nod and Carina crouches beside me. "You did the right thing, dearie."

"Then why does it hurt so much?" I sob. My chest feels hollow and all I want to do is sleep forever. She rubs my back in comfort and shrugs.

"Because it was real," she says. "The love was real."

Let the lonely days begin. Let the wasting away in this dreadful castle begin. I'm going to be haunted by Belle's absence forevermore.

~The Hunter~

I sit at the edge of the hospital bed with my head in my hands. Tears stream down my face and sobs wrack my body. My chest aches with grief not only for Belle but for the life I had before this.

Everything is so screwed up.

Belle is... Belle's gone. She's never coming back. I'll never hold her again. I'll never go to school with her again. I'll never watch her read again. She's gone forever along with everything she was. I don't want her to be. I want her back so bad. It hurts so bad.

The police won't even tell me how it happened. The hospital ordered them not to saying it could have a negative impact on my mental health. But not knowing is killing me the same way it would knowing.

My mother and father were dragged into my depressed state. I guess dealing with me put them there. They're seeing a therapist now too. It's all my fault.

I was stuck in the psychiatric ward while the doctors did a whole bunch of evaluations and test. That lasted for three days. It was as good as it could have been. I was placed in a cozy room to sleep. I went to the cafeteria for meals. Then I went to the office for the tests.

Today, they'll tell me and my parents the results.

"Hey there, sweetie," the nurse greets while opening the door to my room. Unlike most of the staff, this nurse doesn't speak to me in an emotionless tone. I like her for it. "How are you holding up?"

"Not very well," I admit while sniffling and wiping my eyes. She reaches into the pocket of her apron and hands me a tissue with a sad smile. "Thanks."

"No worries. I was told to bring you to the medical office. Your results are in." A gray hair falls into her face and she pushes aside while she still stands in the doorway. "Do you need a minute?"

"No," I say shaking my head. "Let's go."

We walk down a long, narrow hallway that brings us to the office where my parents sit. Luckily, the office isn't actually laid out as an office so it bares no resemblance to the place where I found out my best friend is dead. My parents gesture to a cushioned chair that's nailed into the ground so I can sit. I do, causing the ageing doctor in front of us to start speaking just as the nurse turns back down the hall.

Dr.Drew holds a few papers in his hands and waves them as he speaks. "The results are in and show that Grayson has no disorders or illnesses." My mother squeezes my hand and my dad sighs in relief. "He's free to go."

My heart lightens a bit at the fact I won't have to deal with the stress of my health along with losing Belle. But still it isn't enough to make the pit in my stomach go away or the hole in my heart heal. I don't think they ever will.

"But," the doctor says holding up a wrinkled finger,"his episode was caused by the loss of a loved one. He will need to go to counseling for that regularly." My parents nod their heads to this. They are just delighted that this isn't even more serious.

Later, I pack the clothes and stuff my mom sent while I was staying at the facility. I put them in a duffel bag and sling it over shoulder. My parents are waiting in the parking lot for me but the nurse said she'd walk me out having grown quite fond of me. I'm not sure why though. All I've done here is cry and make grim jokes about things that aren't funny at all.

"All set?" she asks clasping her hands together.

I nod and follow her through the maze of a hospital. While the psychiatric part of the place is mostly calm aside from the occasional outburst, the rest of the hospital isn't. It has hysterical people worried about loved ones, doctors rushing down hallways speaking in codes, and the nasty coughs of the sick. So in the midst of it all, I almost don't catch the nurse's words.

"Things will get better very soon, Grayson. I promise you," she says glancing at me. Maybe it was the look in her eyes, the fierce power the green color invoked, but I find myself believing her.

With a wave back at the nurse, I climb into my parents car. We drive in silence until my mother's cell phone starts to ring. I watch her carefully from the backseat. She looks to see who it is but once she does she sets her phone down immediately, looking disturbed.

"Who is it?" I ask while the phone continues to ring.

"Don't worry about it, darling." She stares out the window and my dad continues to drive choosing not question it.

"Mom, who is it?" I ask again, feeling curiosity take the place my patience.

"The police," she admits with a sigh. "But don't worry about it-"

"Answer it!" It might be news about Belle and even though nothing can make her come back, I still want to know what it is they have to say. "Please."

She reluctantly picks up the phone and gives my dad a wary look. Soon her expression shifts, her eyebrows raise and her mouth forms an "O" shape.

I lean forward in my seat as my mother continues the call. "Are you sure? Yeah, of course. Are you sure it's okay...?" After the one sided dialogue concludes, she taps the hang up icon on her smartphone. She glances at both my dad and I, looking as confused as ever.

"What is it, honey?" my dad questions. He takes his eyes off the road for a moment and waits for an answer.

My mother gulps and shakes her head with a shocked expression. "Belle isn't dead. She's alive."

Author's Note- Wasn't this just the happiest chapter you've ever read? (Hint sarcasm)

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you did vote and let me know your thoughts by commenting.

Also I have to know, are you guys team Gale or team Grayson?