A New School Part 6 (G/T)

Belle sprinted through the dark, heart beating wildly in her chest. Her feet hit the smooth surface of the wooden floor, her brown hair whipping in her face from her speed. Her feet slipped and she fell to the floor, spinning slightly from her momentum, but she picked herself up with shaky limps and continued her plight. She felt her stomach drop into from her rush of adrenaline and fear. The moonlight shone into the dark room through windows, patterning the floor where Belle ran with faint white strips of light.

Sprinting around the wooden leg of a chair, she put her back to it, gasping for breath. Surely it was dark enough that he wouldn’t see her? She didn’t want to take her chances, so she sucked in another breath and continued running in the opposite direction of the rumbling that vibrated the glossy wooden floor. Her short grey dress clung to her thighs and her knee-high brown riding boots were really starting to hurt her feet. She wrinkled her freckled nose; at least they were better than the heels she was planning on wearing earlier.

Her feet hit carpet and she stumbled, immediately sticking her hands out in front of her to catch her as she fell. She let out the smallest squeak, and the rumbling steps behind her immediately stopped. Crap.

Squinting her eyes in the dark, she scrambled up and urged her aching legs to sprint to the nearest block of furniture in the large room, which happened to be a comfy looking couch. She ducked under it, sticking out her tongue in disgust as mammoth dust bunnies confronted her. Ew. She gingerly stepped around these, and ran to the wall. She stuck herself between the back leg of the couch and the wall, trying to calm her racing heart.

She pushed herself closer to the wall as the miniature earthquakes that shook the floor came closer to where she was.

Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap.

Her lungs expanded and contracted rapidly, trying to suck in air after her unexpected bout of exercise. The little moonlight that shone near the front of her couch disappeared into shadow. By now, her heart was thrumming so hard in her chest that she was ninety-percent sure that he could hear it. There was a thump as a large mountain fell in front of the couch, crouching down and peering past the dust. Huge blue eyes flashed as they searched for her hiding spot.

Belle didn’t move a muscle. She stood as still as she could, holding her breath. She could barely see past the leg of the chair she wedged behind, so she was unaware of the huge hand slowly creeping towards her.

Everything was still. You could probably hear a human pin drop, that’s how quiet it was.

Suddenly, a wall of warm flesh enclosed around Belle’s body, and she let out a small shriek. Fingers tightened around her, smelling like pine. She twisted and kicked in desperation, but the hand remained firmly closed as it moved out from under the couch and into the dim moonlight. Her innards clenched from the movement, but she kept squirming defiantly, heart pounding.

“Gotcha.” A rumbling voice proclaimed triumphantly as the hand warily opened, letting the light stream onto Belle’s disheveled appearance. She tried to scramble out of the opening, but the fingers clamped firmly around her middle. She glared at her captor as he let out a resonating laugh.

“Man, you play a mean game of hide and go seek.”

Belle gave out a huff as she turned away from the sparkling blue eyes that looked down at her in amusement.

“I’m not going to that stupid dance.”

“Aw c’mon Belle, it’ll be fun! Don’t be a debby downer!” a large finger poked her stomach playfully, but withdrew when she sent him a look that would kill kittens and puppies.

“No Sam. I hate dances. You know that.” she pouted like a little kid.

“What? No, I didn’t know that!”

“Well, you do now.”

Sam gave her a pointed look.

“If you make me go, I swear to whatever god there is out there that I will bite your hand.” She wiggled out from his fingers and crossed her arms in front of her chest as she stared at his huge face, silently daring him.

They continued this stare-down for almost a minute before Sam slumped back on his butt on the wooden floor, sighing, “Alright. You win this time. But you have to promise to come to my baseball games in the spring.”

Belle squealed in delight, “Thank you!” She flung herself onto his face, hugging his nose. Sam froze in surprise before a stupid smile smeared itself across his face. Belle felt his huge fingers tentatively encompass her body in a strange sort of returned hug. Belle smiled at herself, her life was almost perfect right now.

It had been about three months since she moved into the city. School was going great besides the occasional mental breakdown Belle would have over homework and college applications. Her art was going pretty well too, she had gotten a couple commissions in the past few months and was making some money. She had slowly gotten over her social anxiety and made more friends at Lancaster Academy, including Giants.

Yep, that’s right.

Giants.

With the steadfast help from Sam over those months, she had (mostly) conquered her debilitating fear of Giants. She now realized that it was pretty irrational to think that they would cook her into their stew or knowingly stomp on her. And with this, she and Sam had gotten pretty close, much to the shared displeasure of Jason and her brother Charlie. They were so close now that they were best friends, doing everything with each other. You would rarely see one without the other: they were inseperable.

But were they dating?

No.

And this was why Belle’s life was almost perfect, but not quite perfect. Why weren’t they dating? Belle was just as clueless.

They clearly had a shared attraction; sneaking glances at each other when one wasn’t looking, experiencing major blushing action when together, almost kissing. This last one irked Belle the most. She had finally gotten over her fear of him, and now it was like she was friend-zoned.

Annoying, right?

Tonight was the Winter Dance, and Sam sheepishly offered to take Belle a couple days ago. She had accepted (heart giddy and blushing, of course) but didn’t tell him that she despised dances. He just looked so happy when she said yes, that she didn’t want to pop his little bubble of delight by springing this information on him. There was an embarrassing backstory as to why she hated dances that involved poorly placed gum and a horrendous haircut afterwards, but Belle liked to keep that memory buried very far in the recesses of her mind.

So earlier today, Sam and Belle walked to his place from school (well, more like Belle sat on Sam’s shoulder while he walked). They joked around for most of the afternoon, eating junk food while Belle teased him about how he avidly watched animal documentaries and whatnot.

But when they were sitting on his bed a bit later (around eight, one hour until the dance) Sam casually brought up the dance, making Belle panic. What was she supposed to tell him? He was so excited! So thus began the impromptu game of hide and go seek when Belle took a courageous leap off his bed, ignored his shocked face, and scurried into the dark living room to avoid telling him that she didn’t want to go to the it.

“You know,” Sam peeled Belle off his face, “You could’ve just told me that you didn’t want to go. I would’ve planned something nice for us tonight.”

Belle sat in his warm palm, and looked up at his gigantic face. She sighed, “Yeah, but you wanted to go so badly.”

He just shrugged and gave her a smile, “Don’t worry, there’s always prom.” He winked and rose from his seat on the floor.

Belle grabbed onto his ring finger, surprised by the sudden movement. She squeezed her eyes shut as the air rushed passed her, feeling nauseated. Her heart leapt in her chest; she still felt the slightest tinges of fear around Giants.

Belle opened her eyes to slits and watched the floor move beneath them with each of Sam’s massive steps. His size still took her breath away. She smiled to herself; a year ago, she would’ve been horrified to know she was in love with a Giant. But now everything was different. He was so very kind and gentle, and he accepted every little piece of her. From her temper to her ever-changing moods, he was patient (even though he tended to let his own temper spark a bit around her). Her smile dropped a bit, but did he love her like she loved him? Belle was terribly insecure about this. What if he only saw her as a friend? As a cute little human, and nothing more? Would he never date her because of their size difference? She knew she would never be enough for him, and that made her heart ache and stomach drop.

She blinked when he suddenly stopped and raised her to his face. His large eyebrows were pushed upward in worry, “What’s wrong?”

“What? Nothing.” she put on the best fake smile she could, “I’m fine!” But I’m in love with a guy that probably views me as a cute little sister.

He frowned and scrutinized her face, azure eyes narrowed. A large finger moved toward her face and Belle held her breath in anticipation. The pad of his finger gently wiped some brown hair away from her face and lingered on her cheek, heat from it brought a blush to her face. She lowered her green eyes, thick eyelashes obscuring him from view.

“Belle,” he breathed, voice tender, “What’s wrong? You’ve been acting kinda mopey lately.”

She just stared at her knees, silent. Wasn’t it obvious? Boys are so frustratingly oblivious.

She felt herself moving upwards and gasped as she was gently pressed into a warm wall of skin.

“Sam?” she squeaked, surprised, “What are you doing?”

“Giving you a hug, you idiot.” He chuckled. She could feel his smile and the little stubble he forgot to shave on his warm cheek. She melted into him, guiltily taking more pleasure from this hug than he probably intended her to. He was surrounding her, hand pressed gently on her back to keep her on his cheek and his pine scent pleasantly in her nose.

He slowly moved his hand away from his face and lifted her back to his blue eyes, “Better?”

Her face was flushed and her heart was beating quickly. She gave him a shy smile, “Yeah, thanks.”

“Good,” he flashed her a wicked smile, “We can’t have you sad for our fantastic night out, can we?” He set her down on a table in the entrance hallway. Looking back as he hurried to his room, he said, “Lemme grab my coat, I have a surprise for you.”

She stood on the table, flustered. Night out? Surprise? Her mood rose, but she refused to get her hopes up. Don’t expect anything, she told herself. She paced back and forth on the mahogany tabletop, nervous. What surprise? She didn’t get him a surprise! Crap. Christmas was almost here and she didn’t even get him a present. Take a deep breath, Belle, stop freaking out.

After steadying her breathing, she walked towards a couple paintings, curious to look at them up close. She let out a little sigh of amazement, gaping wide-eyed at the Renaissance techniques and beautiful layering of paint. She let her eyes roam over all the paintings and sketches in front of her, very grateful to have a best friend whose parents were wealthy art collectors.

She spun around when a loud laugh interrupted her thoughts. Sam stood in the doorway, a nice black winter coat fitting his toned frame. The light from the living room haloed his golden hair and his blue eyes sparkled as they swept up her body.

Belle frowned, suddenly self-conscious. She put a hand on her hip, “What?”

He grinned, “You’re so cute.”

She smothered the smile that teased her lips. “Stop calling me cute!”

He just smiled wider, “Whatever you say, shortie.” He walked over to the table and swept her up in his hands, ignoring the flat look she was giving him. He brought her up, level with his face. Sam’s sculpted lips turned downwards in a frown as he eyed her, “You can’t go out wearing that,” he glanced up at her face and smiled at the surprised look on her face, “As much as I love the dress, it’s way too cold outside for you to just wear that. Do you have a coat?”

She shook her head in response, and added sheepishly, “I forgot mine at home.” Wait, he likes my dress?

“Alright, well I don’t want a miniature Belle popsicle. Can you ride in my pocket?”

Belle wrinkled her nose. She hated riding in pockets. It felt degrading, like she was a doll or something.

Sam rolled his eyes, “C’mon. It’ll be a short walk, I promise!”

Belle bit her lip and reluctantly responded, “Fine, but if there’s anything nasty in your pockets, then I’ll freak out.”

“Don’t worry,” he ruffled her hair with a pointer finger, earning him a withering look from Belle.

She patted her hair back down, glaring at Sam, “You’re one of the most annoying Giants I know.”

“And you’re the cutest human I know.” He quipped, his usual response to whenever she was irked by him. He curled his fingers around her, cutting off her response and slowly placed her in one of his side pockets, right over his rock-hard stomach. She squirmed a bit in the dark, moving into a comfortable position. She expected him to remove his hand, but he didn’t, his fingers were still wrapped around her. His jacket smelled like him, and she smiled as she leaned further into his delicate embrace.

Sam squeezed her body gently as she settled into the crook of his hand, where his fingers met his palm. Belle felt his pulse quicken and one of his fingers twitch. He started moving and she felt a cold rush of air as the door creaked open. But with his hand wrapped around her, she felt completely comfortable and warm.

With the soothing sway of his gait and the blissful heat surrounding her, Belle found herself dozing off, a little smile brightening her freckled face.

She woke up to a finger prodding her side and warm skin encompassing her body.

“Belle?”

Belle drowsily blinked her eyes, and smiled sleepily up at Sam’s face, “Mmph.”

“Ah, and sleeping beauty finally awakens.” He smirked down at her, amusement lighting up his blue eyes. She blearily looked up at his face, then shut her eyes again and cuddled further into his hand, searching for warmth in the winter air.

“Belle,” he sounded exasperated, “Wake up.” he pinched her sides between a finger and thumb and held her in front of his face. Belle groaned, rubbing her hands on her bare shoulders in the frosty air. She opened her eyes, squinting into his.

“Ugh! It’s so cold. Put me back in your pocket.” She whined, goose-bumps covering her arms and legs.

“No, you’ll just fall asleep again. I need you to be awake.” He replied as he dropped her on his shoulder, on the little patch of skin between his coat collar and his neck. She almost lost her footing in her stupid boots, but grabbed onto the black jacket, heart racing from her near fall.

He continued walking down the street, snow delicately flurrying around them. Christmas lights were strung up all over, illuminating the streets with a multitude of colors. The sidewalk was littered with little patches of snow and the stores were merrily jam-packed with holiday decorations.

“So,” Sam looked down at the ground as he sidestepped some ice. “I called one of my favorite restaurants while you were asleep and made a reservation for us,” He glanced at his watch, “But they won’t be ready for… twenty more minutes I think. Wanna go check out some of the shops while we wait?” His words solidified as fog in the air from the cold weather.

Belle gave him a nonchalant shrug, “Sure.”

Eager to get out of the cold, they slipped into the nearest shop. The door chimed as they opened in, and a blast of warm air hit them. Blinking into the sudden light of the shop, Belle was delighted to see that it was a bookshop. Rows of bookshelves filled their view, making her smile.

“Ooh, I love books.”

He shot her a bemused glance as he blew warm air onto his hands, “I know that.”

Many a time had he and Belle just sat in comfortable silence together: reading. Of course Belle would almost finish her book while he was on his second chapter, but it was really nice. Belle loved knowing that they had finally gotten to that point in their friendship where they could be together in silence without it being awkward.

Her eyes trailed the Giant books in front of her lovingly, the words on each of their crisp pages calling to her. Sam plucked her off his shoulder and set her gently on one of the shelves, letting her walk along the wood of the book shelf at eye level with him. She became so lost in exploring that she didn’t notice Sam had moved on to another aisle, perusing the books thoughtfully. She glanced around, but didn’t worry when she didn’t see him; she knew that he was probably close. Belle continued to lightly touch the spines of the books, a bit in awe of their size.

“Hey.” Belle jumped and spun around when she heard a hoarse, rasping voice. Her face paled and she stepped backwards when she connected the voice to a body: a balding head covered in tendrils of greasy, tangled hair, a beer belly straining through a cheap suit, a pudgy face with sunken black eyes. He grinned, revealing a set of nasty yellow teeth. “You’re pretty cute for a human. What’re you doing out here alone in that sexy little dress?” His eyes lazily swept up her body, stopping at particularly inappropriate places.

Belle gulped and pushed her back against the leathery spine of a book, trying to distance herself from him. She shivered, eyes wide with fear. What does a four-inch tall girl do in a situation like this? She eyed her surroundings, but didn’t see an escape route. She forced herself to speak, but her voice came out strained and quiet, “G-get away from me. Leave m-me alone.”

He let out a low chuckle, “How adorable, I think I might keep you.” A fat hand with dirty fingernails reached towards her and her stomach dropped in horror, heart thumping wildly in her chest.

But something whacked the hand away, making Belle stumble and fall on her butt. Sam stepped in front of the bookshelf, blocking Belle from view. She shakily stood up and scrambled further down the shelf, stomach still twisted in fear.

Sam’s deep voice growled angrily at the creep, “Get the hell away from my girlfriend you sick bastard.”

Wait… Girlfriend?

Sam towered over the man menacingly, a good head taller, giving him a terrifying look while his eyes burned with anger. The man muttered something and quickly hurried away, the door chiming as he exited the shop.

Sam immediately whirled around, eyes searching for Belle. His face dropped when he saw that she was huddled as far away as she could get from him, almost wedged between two books. Her face was pale and her breathing shaky as she tried to get her pulse under control. She couldn’t help but wince when he hand flew over to her. His expression grew pained, then horribly sad.

“Belle, you’re okay.” He reassured, hands falling helplessly to his sides, “He’s gone, everything’s alright now.”

But she couldn’t help but let all the fear of Giants she had gotten over with him come rushing back. She averted her eyes, protectively pulling her grey dress over her legs.

“Belle, I’m not gonna hurt you. Please. Look at me.” He pleaded with her, voice soft. She dared a glance at him. His blue eyes were filled with worry and concern, but also hurt. Shoving down her instinctual fear of this larger being, She stood up and warily walked towards him.

“Belle.” He breathed, watching her as she slowly moved towards the edge of the shelf. She was shaking, whether it was from the cold or from fear, she didn’t know. She wrapped her arms protectively around her body.

Belle looked at his face, trying to remember that he would never, ever hurt her. That this was the guy she thought she was in love with. His wavy blonde hair was slightly wet from the melting snowflakes, his sculpted nose red from the cold. She stopped, legs locking. Why was her body so scared of him, when her heart had this insurmountable urge to be with him?

She started when his hands came back up again, but just shut her eyes and steadied her breathing. She gave a faint gasp when his hand gently wrapped around her, but repressed the urge to fight it. Leathery but soft skin held her tenderly and lifted her off the shelf. Her eyes flew open when she felt something warm and a bit damp touch her left cheek.

He was kissing her.

Kissing.

Belle sucked in a breath, trying not to hyperventilate. Those beautiful, soft lips left her cheek and she was greeted by the face of a very flushed Sam. He smiled sheepishly at her, “You okay?”

She just knew that her cheeks were flaming too, but she gave him an unbridled smile, “Fine… “ and she couldn’t help but adding, “Girlfriend…?”

If it was even possible, his face colored even more. “I-uh, um. If you want-I mean it’s okay i-if you d-don’t, it’s f-fin-“

Belle grinned at him, all fear forgotten. She cut him off with a wave of her hand, and then beckoned him closer.

“What?” his blue eyes were wide; their faces were probably only inches apart. “Closer?”

Belle nodded, smiling shyly. She stood on the steady surface of his palm, and he slowly brought it closer to his face. She was so close that he was almost cross-eyed trying to look at her.

“Close your eyes.” She whispered, leaning forward with a smile on her face. He arched a questioning eyebrow, but complied, brown lashes brushing his cheeks.

Belle stared at the lips before her. She shoved down all her thoughts of insecurity, of unworthiness, and bent forward, placing her lips on his bottom lip in a butterfly kiss. His lips twitched into a smile and he wholeheartedly returned it, his lips puckering slightly to kiss her back. She grew more confident, putting her hands on his incredibly soft lips and kissed his upper lip, leaning her whole body into it.

When she finally pulled back, both were incredibly flushed. Sam’s pupils were dilated, “I… Wow.” He said breathlessly, face brightening into a wide smile. “That was incredible.”

She smiled demurely, “Really?”

“Does this mean that you want to be my girlfriend?” he asked hesitantly, blue eyes searching her face.

“What do you think?” she responded, tucking a lock of brown hair behind her ear. She looked back up to his face, smiling when she saw the elated look on his face.

Man, her life was perfect now.