Why did it have to be her? She was the strangest creature ever to move into L.A. Innocence radiated from her perfectly straight, naturally golden coloured hair, untouched face and body, and perfect, immaculate skin. She didn't belong in a place like this. She never would.

Lefou leaned forward slightly, holding tightly to the metal bars of the fire escape he was on. Belle was her name. Everyone knew it. She stuck out like a sore thumb. It was a wonder she even survived the five weeks she'd lived there. Her father was a complete nutcase. Her neighbors (including Lefou) were rude, inconsiderate, and inappropriate. It was obvious she hated it there. She was miserable. He wondered if she ever considered running away.

The window of her bedroom was right across the alley from the fire escape that was perched conveniently outside the window of his tiny, one room apartment. Every night he would sit outside and watch her read her books through the window. Although they'd only met a few times, he felt he knew her better than anyone else, except for Gaston and Sally, of course.

Below him he could hear the girls babbling on. The three of them, Roxie, Coco, and Amber, were constantly hanging out in that one alley way. It was their spot, where they did business, and, considering it was Gaston's alley way, he had the final say of whether they belonged there or not.

Lefou stuck his head out over the railing, reluctantly taking his eyes off Belle for a moment, to yell down to the girls. "Awright, ladies?" The three of them giggled immediately. "Yea, we hangin', 'Fou," Coco yelled up to him. He grinned. "We'll have to have you up for dinner one night again, we had fun that night," he answered. "We'd love to," Roxie said and they giggled obnoxiously again before directing their attention to a young man walking by.

Just as he sat back on the ladder again, he heard a familiar squeal inside of the apartment. He quickly climbed through the window just in time to see Sally being thrown onto the bed by a rather annoyed-looking Gaston. "Can you not throw her?" Lefou asked, climbing onto the bed and pulling his sister to him. He looked her over, making sure she was alright before sitting her contently in his lap. Automatically, she cuddled up to him.

"She was climbing on me and I didn't want her to," was Gaston's response as he lit up a cigarette. "So I threw her," he finished with a puff of smoke. Sally coughed. Lefou placed his hand over her mouth and nose.

"She's really small. I don't want her to break." He looked down at his nine year-old sister who was staring at him with wide eyes. After a moment, he looked over at Gaston who was giving him a disapproving look, and he immediately decided to keep his mouth shut.

"I need you to pick something up for me tomorrow," he told Lefou conversationally. "So take your little bicycle and go out to the communes for me, okay?" Lefou shivered. He hated going out to the communes. The kids out there were even worse than the ones living in the city. There were no cops out in the rural parts. It was like a jungle out there.

"Okay?" he repeated with much more force.

"Okay," Lefou answered with a frown.

"You are such a douche, Lefou."