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xiolaperry · 3 years

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Four Ways Gaston Could Have Died (and the One Way He Actually Did)

After much delay, here is the the story I promised months ago at the end of “The Piano”. It won’t make much sense if you didn’t read that one. A special thank you to everyone in my NaNoWriMo Rumbelle Writers group!!!

Summary: We all agreed at the end of 'The Piano' that Gaston deserved to die. But how? I opened it up to prompts, and here they are...

Notes: Prompt from Brokensoul, “a haircut from Barney.”

Read “The Piano” on AO3.

Read “Four Ways” on AO3.

Gaston looked at himself in the mirror with a critical eye. He smiled a big toothy grin, then assumed a look of nonchalant superiority. His “intimidating” look was next and he finished with the charming, flirtatious smile he used with the ladies.

The reflection in the mirror confirmed he was as handsome as ever, but life hadn't gone back to normal since Belle left with Gold. Whispers followed him wherever he went. Instead of looking at him with admiration, people looked at him like they expected to see shame on his face. Shame? He may have overreacted a bit with Belle, but leaving a challenge to his superiority as a man unanswered was not an option.

He stroked his face in contemplation as he paced, the sound of his heavy boots filling the sparsely furnished bedroom. Perhaps he needed a haircut and a shave. Freshen up his look and maybe turn things around. His aunt Cora told him yesterday that a barber set up shop in the village. Before the incident, he'd have heard about it himself, but his friends no longer dropped by to share the local gossip.

“Not a very confident man,” Cora had said about the barber. “A bit nervous. But I can work with that.” Gaston had no doubt his aunt would find something about the fellow to exploit.

He passed Reverend Hopper and Ruby out on a stroll as he entered the town. Hopper said a polite hello and stopped to exchange pleasantries. The Reverend was one of the few that still spoke to him. His companion glared and said nothing. The charming smile on his face had no effect on her. If anything, it only made her frown harder.

How did such a mild-mannered man catch the eye of a firecracker like Ruby Lucas? Not that he wanted her for himself. Hopper could have her. No, he was done with women. They were more trouble than they were worth.

Ruby had a pretty face and a nice, lean body, he thought as he turned to watch them for a moment as the couple continued on their way. He was sure most men would find her attractive, but she'd set her mind on the mousy Reverend and pursued him with determination, ever since the day she arrived on the same ship that took them away.

His aunt was very unhappy with the match between Hopper and Granny's granddaughter. The sermons now were full of love and acceptance, instead of the grimmer messages Cora favored. Hopper was no longer her dutiful companion, and she was furious. Ruby had better watch out.

Gaston made his way down the main street with his head held high. He kept his smile on his face as he seethed at the snubs he received from most people he encountered.

The barbershop, with its new red and white striped pole, was easy to spot. He stomped up the steps and pushed the door open with a bang, making an entrance to attract attention. A slight man wearing a maroon jacket was sweeping the floor and he jumped at the noise. His hair, combed and slicked back from his face, shone in the light pouring in the large windows.

“Hello?” the man said. His voice, uncertain, made his greeting a question.

“You the barber?” asked Gaston.

“Yes, I am. Barney Thomson.” He stepped forward and extended his hand.

Gaston shook it, gripping with more force than necessary. It was important to establish dominance in all situations. After a final squeeze, the smaller man extracted his hand, wincing.

“Gaston Legume,” He introduced himself, satisfied with his superiority. “I need a shave and a haircut. Can that be done now?”

“Yes, sir. It will be a few minutes. I just need to heat some water.”

Barney scurried to one of the chairs, brushing non-existent dust from it with a handkerchief. “Please, have a seat.”

The man's meek demeanor made Gaston want to punch him in the face. And he looked familiar too. Something about the eyes, the sharpness of his nose... he shook his head. Aunt Cora told him he needed to lay low for a bit to let everything blow over. Now would not be a good time to lose his temper. He took a deep breath and sat in the chair Barney had gestured at.

---

Barney returned a few minutes later carrying a steaming basin. “If you could please lie back, Mr. Legume?” he asked, and with deft, practiced movements draped a damp, hot towel across Gaston's face.

Barney was nervous, which was not good. Bad things happened when Barney was nervous. And those bad things were how he ended up here in New Zealand, far from his home in Scotland. However, something about this man, with his massive arms and handsome sneering face, made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

Calm down, he told himself. Just be happy to have a customer. But his anxiety ratcheted higher as he tried to place the name. Legume. He knew he'd heard it since he moved to town, but could not remember where. Barney removed the towel and applied a soapy lather to Gaston's face. He attempted to make friendly conversation, reminding himself not to ramble.

“Have any advice for someone new in town? I haven't been here very long, just arrived from Scotland.”

“Make friends with my aunt, Cora Mills. She's the most important person around here, so stay on her good side.”

Barney almost dropped his razor. Wasn't this just his luck. Women flustered him as a general rule. But aggressive women? They reminded him too much of his mother and rendered him a cowering mess. After meeting Cora, he had planned to stay as far away from her as possible. And now here he was with her nephew in his chair.

“Cora Mills is your aunt?” Barney's hands began to sweat as he fumbled with the razor. He sent up a prayer not to cut the man sitting here, who would not be the type to forgive an accidental slice.

“Yes. That's what I said.” Irritation was creeping into Gaston's voice.

Barney spoke to fill the uncomfortable quiet as his blade glided across Gaston's cheek, its sharp edge making quick work of the stubble. “You have beautiful skin, Mr. Legume. I'm sure your wife will appreciate seeing you with this smooth, close shave. Very handsome.” He attempted, in vain, to keep a high pitched nervous tone out of his voice.

It was the wrong thing to say, judging by Gaston's response. His jaw tensed and his hands tightened into fists, the veins in his forearms standing out. “I'm not married,” he said through clenched teeth.

Barney laughed nervously. “I'm sure someday you'll meet a special lady.” Shut up, shut up!

Gaston's face darkened further.

“I have no luck with women, myself.” He knew he was babbling, but could not keep the words from pouring out of his mouth. “Maybe your aunt could set you up with someone. Not that you couldn't find someone yourself if you wanted to. Because you could. I mean, look at you. I bet you have to beat the women off with a stick. Who wouldn't want a strapping young man such as yourself?” He stopped to take a breath, his mind spinning, begging him to stop talking.

“I. Don't. Want. A. Wife. Women are nothing but trouble.” He paused, then muttered under his breath, “Especially if they're interested in books or music.”

Barney's hand froze where it hovered over Gaston's neck. Now he remembered where he'd heard the name Gaston Legume before.

“You're the one who–—!” The words flew out of his mouth before he could stop them.

“'The one who' what?” Gaston's handsome face contorted with rage.

“The one... the one..” Barney drew a blank. There was no way to fix this. He was unable to move, prey immobilized by the predator. The razor hung just above Gaston's neck.

Gaston knew exactly what “one” he was. The one who cut off his wife's finger. The one whose wife left him for a crippled old man. The one who looked like a fool. He'd been on his best behavior for weeks and still, no one would let him forget what happened.

He sat up and whipped around, ready to give the barber a beating he wouldn't soon forget. Warmth startled him as it spread down from his neck to his chest. When he tried to speak the only sound he made was a strange, wet gurgle. His hands fumbled, slippery at the slit in his throat. He looked at them and they were crimson.

“I'm sorry!” shrieked Barney, dropping the razor. He grabbed a towel and tried to stem the flood of blood gushing from Gaston's jugular. It was a futile effort, the white towel turned red and sopping in an instant. The anger and confusion in Gaston's eyes soon faded to a dull, lifeless gaze as his life drained away, and he slumped over.

“Oh, not again,” whispered Barney with panicked tears in his eyes. He hung his head and wrung his hands. No one would believe that Gaston had inadvertently slit his own throat. Another accident, and another body to dispose of. At least he had experience.

End Notes: I hope to post a chapter a week until this is finished-- and if you have a prompt, feel free to send it! I can always change the title to “Five” or “Six”...

#fic #the piano #four ways #rumbelle fic #barney thomson

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shreyamistry · 6 years

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Idk I want something StacyXF!MC angst like they’re in that awkward stage before you become someone’s official girlfriend and MC is growing distant because of everything that happened with Noah and maybe gets close to someone random (Jocelyn?) and it’s got a happy ending but I just like angst and I love your writing x

Summary: MC goes to visit Jocelyn at the hospital weeks after Redfield, their friendship blossoming into a noticeable crushing on MC’s side. But their feelings for Stacy are brought back when she shows up after visiting Andy with Britney and Lily.

Notes: Honestly, I wrote this 3 times already and this is the best one, so I really hope you liked it because it took a lot out of me to finally even get here. So pls love it, I thought the dialogue was most important during scenes that’s why there's more dialogue than descriptors.

Andy: hey, you haven’t talked to anyone in a few days, are you okay? need to talk?

Lucas: MC, shutting us out isn’t going to help you get through this. Please talk to one of us.

Ava: yo, wanna break stuff? I won’t tell anyone if you cry

Stacy: MC…please… message one of us, tell us you’re alive. I miss you..

Dan: Stace is going off the deep end worried about you, please just message her if not any of us.

Lily: MC, I’m really worried about you. I gave your parents a muffin basket of my favorite kinds to cheer you up, did you get it? Anyways, please message me, your parents wouldn’t let us in to talk to you

MC looks at the muffin basket sitting on her dressers, untouched wrapped up in its pretty little bow. MC would have thrown it away, but she felt bad since Lily went through all the trouble to deliver it to her. She crumples up the list of homework she’s gotten from her parents through the school, she hasn’t done any since everything happened.

How could they expect her to return to normal? After everything that happened, she can’t help but push everyone away. They just remind her of everything she’s been through everything she’s lost, she’s not sure how she could live with herself if anyone had died in the cavern. She felt so betrayed and stupid, trusting Noah… he was so kind to her and everyone else, how could they have known?

Normal was too much for MC right now, she did the pretending to be normal for a few weeks after homecoming, going to school, talking to her friends, visiting Andy in the hospital, but it just got to be too much. She only leaves her house to visit Jocelyn in the hospital, after everything went down she went to visit her to thank her for saving everyone. Jocelyn can’t move, move yet, but she can talk. She thinks back to her first visit with Jocelyn after homecoming, she had finally woken up.

Jocelyn lays still in her bed, her eyes staring at the ceiling, it looks as though she’d been crying and even with everything they been through, it makes MC sad to see her like that. “Hey Joss?”

Joss looks spooked for a second, her eyes landing on MC’s. She stays silent as MC comes to stand next to her bed, she blinks away tears. “What are you doing here?”“I came to see how you were doing.” MC smiles, taking a seat in the chair next to Joss’ bed. “I know we’re not friends or even close, but I wanted to make sure you were okay. And I wanted to say, if you want to be friends, move on from what happened before, I’d be down with that.”

“I’m sorry, MC, for everything… I know I can be heartless, but Cody was my friend since kindergarten, where he went I followed. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me, like truly forgive me and not just a fake we can be friends.”

She’s visited Joss every day, sometimes they don’t talk and other times she reads Jocelyn books and other times she tells Joss about her feelings. Joss listens, but usually doesn’t know what to say, she’s too happy to go lucky to know how to deal with the sadness, and she begins to learn a little more every day about what happened, Redfield….Ava’s magic…. It scares the shit out of Jocelyn, but she still listens.

Britney visits too, and MC usually leaves them to be together, they are best friends after all. Brit promises not to tell Lily, ‘it’s not my place MC’. She’s grateful for at least that act of kindness from Britney. Her love life was looking promising as well, I mean, Stacy Green wanted to be with her… or so she thought, rolling back to now it felt like Stacy didn’t even find her attractive and it’s just been incredibly awkward. They were supposed to have a date tonight, but MC knows she won’t go even if that does mean standing up Stacy. She doesn’t want to hurt her like that, but she’s hurt more.

Her family helped pay for Noah’s funeral along with a Mayor Green and Lucas’ parents, and MC helped Noah’s mom through it, she was grateful. MC couldn’t tell if she was relieved by Noah’s death or relieved he didn’t have to suffer anymore… or if she even missed Noah.

She walks into the front door of the hospital greeted by a kind nurse, he knows her. Signed her in every day. He smiles brightly at her, “Hey, MC. Your friend Andy supposed to be in today, getting his cast removed. Are you here for him or Joss?”

“Joss, Andy and I have plans later.” MC lied with a smile, signing her name, looking up at him.

“Snagged you and Joss a copy of Vogue this morning, don’t tell my boss.” He laughs, handing the magazine to her.

MC smiles taking the magazine from him tucking it under her arm, “Thank you, Chris.”

“No problem, tell Jocelyn I said hi. Also, tell her they have her favorite pudding for desserts so ask for 2.”

“What would she do without you,” MC says with a laugh, waving bye and walking towards the elevator. The doors open as she steps in. and she waits for them to close she spots Stacy and her friends coming in through the front door as he phone beeps.

Andy: Getting my cast off today, I hope to see you.

MC sucks in her breath as the door closes, hoping no one saw her. She tucks her phone back into her pocket, looking at the cover of the Vogue magazine, she smiles to herself, Joss is gonna love this issue.

“Do you want to hear about the winter fashions or end of winter predictions?”

Joss looks thoughtful for a minute. “MC, can you actually braid my hair.”

“Sure,” MC says, standing from the chair, she sets the magazine down on the chair where she sat. She runs her hands through Joss’ hair, taking notice of how soft it is. Joss lets her eyes fall closed as MC separates a section of her hair.

“It’s so nice to have human contact again.” Jocelyn giggles, letting her eyes fall on MC.

MC smiles back, “you’re so cute, Joss.” She uses her free hand to brush a few strands of hair out of girl’s face. “How are you feeling today? I forgot to ask earlier.”

“Better than usual. I could finally bend my arm at my elbow this morning. The doctors say I’ll be ship shape soon enough.”

MC grins down at her, “Good. I’m glad. You deserve it for how badass you were at homecoming.”

“That’s sweet of you to s-” She’s cut off by the sound of Britney’s voice coming through the door, she has her back to Joss as she pushes in holding a few things in her arms, “Jossy, I’m here. I brought you some stuff.” Britney turns around seeing MC, a little shocked. “Lily, it’s MC.”

“MC?” Lily questions stepping into the room coming face to face with her.

“Lily…hi?” MC stands awkwardly by Jocelyn continuing to braid her hair, letting her eyes focus only on Jocelyn’s hair. Refusing to make eye contact with her friend.

“That’s funny, I thought you said MC’s na-” Stacy says walking into the room with a plush animal for Jocelyn in her arms, “MC?”

“Stace.” MC smiles, refusing to meet her gaze as well.

“Brit-Brit.” Jocelyn smiles as she walks, Britney kisses her forehead smiling at her.

“How are you feeling Joss?”

“I’m okay. Here braid my hair, I think MC could use a moment.”

MC stands in the hallway next to Stacy, neither of them knowing what to say. Stacy takes a deep breath, looking at MC, who still avoids looking back. “I should get going..”

“Did you get Andy’s text? He’s right upstairs. You should go say hi, he misses you. Everyone else is in the cafeteria right now.” Stacy states, walking towards the elevator hitting the button. She looks back to see MC still standing by Jocelyn’s door. “Listen, you don’t have to talk to me or whatever, but at least be a decent friend to Andy.”

“A DECENT FRIEND?” MC yells, walking over to Stacy. “A DECENT FRIEND?!”

Stacy stands tall, she looks at MC in the eye. “A decent friend.”

“Go fuck yourself, Stacy.” MC storms off towards the stairs exit, as Stacy runs after her.

“You can’t keep pushing us away, MC. We’re your friends. We just want to help you”

“I can do whatever I want.”

“Sooner or later you’re gonna have to deal with what happened in that cavern and I STRONGLY urge you to pick sooner before it’s too late.”

“What are you saying?”

“We’re not gonna be here forever MC, we can only do so much, there comes a time when you have to let go.”

“Then let go. I don’t need you guys. And I definitely don’t need you Stacy”

“You don’t mean that.” Stacy swallows hard, questioning herself.

“Maybe I do.”

Stacy goes silent, as they face each other on the stairs. She looks like she’s on the verge of tears, as she takes a steadying breath.

“Fine. I’ll go tell Andy you said you don’t need us anymore. Have a good fucking life.” Stacy goes back up the stairs, as MC stands silently thinking over the last few moments of her life. She wanted to call out for Stacy, as she turned her head back to look at MC. When MC doesn’t say anything Stacy nods, pushing through the door.

“Hey, Chris, can you do me a huge favor. See if anyone in Andy’s room?” MC asks.

He looks up at her with a smile, “Stacy just left. The others haven’t come back yet.”

“Can I?”

“Yeah, he has a few minutes before the cast comes off, just knock before entering.”

“Thanks, Chris.” She walks towards Andy’s room using everything in her to build up her courage, as she sets her knuckles against the door. She licks her lower lip, before forcing herself to knock. Andy’s voice is soft, a little sad, but he says come in.

MC pushes the door open closing it behind herself before looking to meet his gaze. He smiles at her, as she pulls up a chair next to him sitting in it, resting her hands on the arms rest before smiling back at him.

“Stacy just left.” He adds, as MC nods. “I know you didn’t mean. She does too. She’s just a little hurt that you said it.”

“What?” MC asks, “Why would she care? She barely acts like she can stand me anymore.”

“That’s not true.” Andy states, “Didn’t you get Dan’s text? She’s been really upset about this the most, she texts us every morning to see if we got a message from you. That girl basically loves you MC. You’re her best friend and probably more than just that.”

MC nods, listening to Andy talk, “How do I fix it?”

“Tell her how you feel. I know this is hard on all of us, Lucas keeps texting me articles and facts about people dealing with grief and trying to get all of us to have an intervention for you, but you were the last one in that cave.”

“I was the last one in the cave.”

“it’s gonna be hardest on you, now go after Stacy. She’s outside getting some fresh air.”

“How are things with Lucas?”

“Really good.” Andy smiles. “Come back and let’s talk okay?”

“Of course Andy.”

She takes a deep breath as she approaches Stacy, she sits on the bench right outside her face in her hands, MC feels terrible for making her cry, but she doesn’t know what to do. She sits down on the bench next to her. “You know, a beautiful girl once told me, ‘you can’t keep pushing us away.’”

Stacy looks over at MC with a soft laugh, as she wipes her eyes. “You came back.”

“Technically I never left, but yeah. You were right. And so was Andy.”

“Should have known you’d listen to Andy over me.”

“He said the same exact things as you did.”

“Really?”

“He also said to do this.” MC leans over placing her lips against Stacy’s, Stacy stiffens a moment before falling into her touch, kissing her back. They both finally pull away smiling at each other happily. “Wow..”

“Yeah.” Stacy laughs, taking MC’s hands in her own. “I’m glad you came around.”

“I’m glad you wanted me.” MC laughs.

“I always will.”

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