Gaston was a little surprised when Rose kissed his cheek but made no effort to pull away. He took a few deep breaths, fighting to regain his composure as Rose held him; the gesture had a calming effect on him. For a split second, he was worried that Rose would be disgusted by this emotional display, just like his father warned him she might be, but that fear went away as he forced himself to look back at her. Sweet Rose...her kindness never failed to touch his heart! "Thank you for understanding," he whispered, taking her hand in his own and giving it a little kiss.

Then the subject turned to his past engagement. Rose was assuring him that Edeline would've stayed with him, and he managed a small sad smile. "I know she would've," he said. That was why he had to let her go. She wouldn't have been happy with him, not really. She was meant for bigger and better things... but it had worked out in the end. He had his Rose now.

Gaston's bright blue eyes darted to the black and white cat and he laughed a little. "Well, she's just going to have to learn to share!" he said, giving the cat a mock reprimanding look. Satisfied that Phantom was sufficiently distracted, he turned his attention back to Rose. Seeing the way her eyes lit up when he mentioned a tour of Beaubatons made him smile. He gave her a little hug from behind and whispered, "I'd summon the moon and stars if it meant your happiness." The smile faded and he held her a little tighter as he saw the tears in her eyes. Knowing she wasn't sad made it better, but he still didn't like to see her cry. "Not half as happy as you've made me," he said. And he kissed her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scene two April 2092: It's rose's birthday, and Gaston has a romantic surprise planned for her in the treehouse at Hogwarts.

Gaston took a look around the treehouse. This was the place he realized he was in love with Rose, so it was only fitting that they celebrate her birthday here. He'd arranged things for after the curfew so the students couldn't barge in on them, and everything had to be perfect! The room was decorated in purple... purple streamers hanging from the ceiling, a purple covering on the table, purple roses made of frosting on the cake... he'd even made a few purple paper lanterns that bathed the room in purple light. The only thing that wasn't purple was the bouquet of roses in the center of the table; those were blazing red, the color that symbolized his love for her.

A large birthday cake and a tea service - decorated with a rose pattern, of course - sat on the table, and a large stack of brightly wrapped boxes was piled against the wall. But those weren't the only presents he had! Gaston's hand trembled slightly as he pulled a small silver ring from his jacket pocket. The light glinted off the large purple stone surrounded by diamonds as he turned it over in his hand. What if she said no? What if she said yes? He had to block the what ifs from his mind as he replaced the ring. Rose would be here any moment, and she'd know something was up if she saw him acting this nervous!