~The Beast ~

"Can't you see? It was always meant to be you!" she screamed in the pouring rain. Her tears blended with the rain drops, the water soaking through her sundress and the man's white t-shirt. "I picked the easier path but it wasn't the right one. Our love was worth fighting for!"

Teigan glanced at Bethany who was sitting cross legged beside him. She had a fistfull of popcorn in her hand, the other holding a single piece up in front of her mouth. The climax of the movie had dug its roots so far into her that she was frozen. He smiled. He knew she was going to eat this movie up when he first threw it on.

The love interest pulled away from the main character. He turned his grief stricken face to the moving van ready to drive him towards his new life with his new wife.

"You may be right but we're adults now. We have responsibilities. We've made commitments . . ." He took a step away as thunder boomed from a distance. "We can't go back in time and change the past."

The camera panned over to the main character as she delivered her next line. "But we can."

The movie ended with the female protagonist using the enchanted birthday candles to time travel to her thirteenth birthday where instead of falling into the wrong crowd of kids at school, she stood loyal to her childhood friend. The two got married ten years later in a heart warming happy ending.

"That was a cute movie," Beth said, placing the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table. She plopped down on the floor next to it, picking up the popcorn kernels that had fallen. Teigan joined her on the ground.

"Have you ever been in a relationship that sweet?"

Immediately, he regretted asking. He was tempted to pull up his hood to cover his face but he had stopped wearing it around her and it would feel lame to revert back to old habits.

She lifted a shoulder, scrunching up her nose. "Not really? I've met a few guys who seemed nice and acted like they were interested but it never went anywhere."

A face appeared in Teigan's mind. "What about that guy you video chatted with and helped you at the masquerade? Grayson, was his name?"

Again, he had spoken before he could think better of it. He was failing at his original plan of staying quiet as to decrease the threat of saying something that would anger Bethany. The wall that he had set up between them had been slowly chipped away at and he was only now noticing the humungus hole.

What had made the hole? Bethany. It was her willingness to converse with him, her insistence on wanting to know him as a person.

"What about him?"

Teigan trained his gaze on the pillow in his lap, trying to sound incurious. "Maybe he scared all those guys off. He seems like he cares about you a lot so maybe he wanted to keep you for himself."

"Grayson? No." She paused, her cheeks momentarily tinting red. "At least, not like that. Maybe he did chase them off to protect me but we've always just been friends."

"If you say so."

She squinted at him. "I do say so."

Since he had already pried this much into her relationships, he didn't see the harm in pushing a little more. "Is it so hard to believe he might have feelings for you?"

It looked like he did to Teigan. In fact, what happened with Grayson at the masquerade was something out of the very genre of film they had been watching together. Grayson had single handedly saved her from Tyler Daniels. Teigan hadn't made it to her in time. The thought was morbid but without him, Bethany might not have been alive. Ordinary people would not have attacked a gunman alone for a friend. Grayson was either incredibly heroic or was in love with her.

"It would be bad if he did," Bethany said, her voice quiet.

"How come?"

"I like the two of us being friends. I can't imagine reflecting on all of our memories together with the lens that he always wanted more." She sighed, brushing her hair out of her face with her hand. "This is probably dramatic but it would almost make our whole friendship one big lie."

He couldn't stop himself from asking. "So you've never had feelings for him?"

She stared at him for a moment. The hazel in her eyes appeared golden in the glow of the fireplace. "I can't say I've never thought of how easy it would be - how familiar. But it wouldn't feel right."

A million other questions swarmed his brain. He wondered what she looked for in a partner, if she was known for having high expectations, what exactly didn't click for her and Grayson. Teigan was inquisitive by nature, since childhood he wanted to understand exactly how everything worked or why things were a certain way. This was something more than that. It was personal.

"How about you? Had any relationships like the one in the movie?"

He had forgotten that inquiring about others came with the price of having to tell them about yourself in return. However, he found himself glad she had asked him the question in return, not because he was proud of his answer, but because he wanted to share it with her.

"I've never been in any serious relationships before. I was kind of a player and the women I went out with were the same."

"How about now?" she asked, leaning forward in her seat with her head resting on her chin. "If you could date, what kind of person would you be looking for?"

Someone like you.

He admired her honesty and her bravery in the midst of chaos. Somehow after all the events of her life she was not only still standing but still smiling. She lit up the room when she walked into it in a subtle and gentle manner, like a firefly in the night. Her capacity to love was extraordinary. Her patience for her mother and affection for Carina was proof of that. She could care for those who hadn't cared for her first - as she did with him. It was inspiring. She inspired him.

That answer was one he dared not say. He was certain it was only possible to meet someone like her once in a lifetime. There was no possible chance he'd ever come across someone like her again and being with Beth herself was an impossibility.

He gestured towards the TV. "Someone who looks like the actress from the movie."

Bethany tossed the couch pillow at him with a scowl. He shielded himself with his arms, glad to have lightened up the conversation a smidge.

As their laughs quieted down and silence stretched between them, he reflected on how much more alive he had felt these last few months with her around. Not all of it had been pleasant, especially in the beginning, but he had been able to feel something again.

Bethany tentatively broke the stillness between them. "It's been a few days since the masquerade. How are you after all that?"

He shrugged. "I'm fine, I should be asking you that question."

It was Bethany who had experienced the brunt of the terrors. Even something more pleasant that happened that night like seeing her friend again could be used as ammunition for trauma.

"The more time that passes the better I feel about it. It was definitely one of the more terrifying nights of my life." She sat back against the couch with a sigh. "I guess I'm asking because the petals of your rose are falling quickly. You should be working to break the curse while there's still time."

He had been visiting the closet where he kept the blue rose hidden more frequently than he used to. Everyday he was drawn to stare at it, wondering if he would see the day the last petal fell. More than half of the petals were crumbled at the bottom of the former trophy case. He knew time was scarce.

"I know, I was just -"

"Making sure I was okay first," she finished. "I know. You can go out there and do your thing. I want you to break the curse."

It didn't matter how many times she said it. He was amazed that she was rooting for him.

"Okay." His mind was already racing. He was planning, envisioning strategies, picturing what success would look like. "I'll head into the city tomorrow in search of someone to save. The most I'll be gone for is a week and Carina will be here if you need anything."

"It's kind of funny to imagine you watching over the city like Batman. New York City is not prepared for this 180 of yours."

"Hey, doesn't every hero need a tragic backstory?"

He felt guilty all of a sudden. Here he was making plans to go back into the city while she was bound to the house.

"By the way, I think I'm pretty close to landing a sale for the house. The buying and selling market will only become more active as spring nears."

She smiled, picking up the bowl of popcorn to put away in the kitchen. "Don't worry about it. Focus on breaking the curse."

He watched her go with his mouth agape. He never would have thought he'd see her treat the prospect of going home as a secondary issue. It was almost like - to some degree - she enjoyed being there with him.

He dared not think that.

It was a foolish thought.

It was one that made his heart beat faster.