Chapter Text
Her soft laugh made him look up from his spinning.
Belle sat by the fire, curled in the comfortable chair that he’d conjured from elsewhere in the castle, and nearly engulfed in a thick blanket made from thread he’d spun on this very wheel. Her eyes were riveted on her book, and she was smiling. She turned the page and laughed again, then looked up to see him watching her.
“Was I too loud?” she asked. “I hope I didn’t bother you.”
He smiled back, a genuine smile that felt foreign and yet somehow right. “No. You’re not bothering me.”