The day Henri Cogsworth finally came out to his wife has become a legend in Villeneuve and a source of motivation for the younger children who witnessed it ("If Cogsworth can come out to the Wicked Witch, then I can give my speech in front of my class"). In fact, it seemed the only person who never talked about it afterwards was the ex-wife herself.

It was a bright day in early July when it happened, Cogsworth blushing a tomato red when his irritating (dear) friend pressed a loud smack on Cogsworth's cheek right in the middle of a coffee shop. Lumière had seen nothing wrong with the gesture, always an overly affectionate type when it came to the people he cared about. Cogsworth happened to be the exact opposite, his mustache twitching as he fought back a tirade full of reasons why the blond should keep his hands (and lips) to himself.

Unfortunately, the top of that tirade was the fact that Cogsworth craved those kisses more each and every time he received one.

He couldn't help it, tried to fight those urges since he was married, but it was growing impossible. Not only did he have Lumière leaning against him and planting those damnable kisses against his cheeks, he also had the beautiful Plumette doing the very same thing. It wasn't fair! How was any person supposed to remain loyal to a woman they haven't loved in over twenty years, let alone one that viewed affection of any type as tiresome? Cogsworth felt as though his mind would explode from the conundrum soon.

He sucks in a sharp breath and lets it out slowly, turning his gaze towards the window instead of lingering on the way the sunlight turned Lumière's hair golden or the way Plumette was giving him one of those smiles that made everything pale in comparison. And once again, the planets seemed to have aligned to curse his day because, waiting for him just outside the window he was seated next to, Stanley and LeFou were laughing about something and their baby girl was spinning to make the skirt of her dress fan out around her.

Damn happy couples.

Just one break, that's all he wanted, one measly break where these feelings didn't have him all turned around. Was it too much to ask for in the long run? For crying out loud, he spent ten years as a clock, fought in a battle against people that were three times his size, and had waddled his way up several flights of stairs only to be told that his young master wouldn't participate in the actual fighting. The least God could do was either make these feelings go away or let his wife be chased out of town by an angry mob. Then again, the last angry mob was defeated by a bunch of sentient furniture, so maybe not.

He turns again and is startled when Plumette reaches out to capture his hands in hers, that breathtaking smile aimed his way. When he looks back a few years down the road, he realizes that this was the moment when his life began to change and regained that sense of self that he had lost the day after his marriage. Because, in that moment, Lumière wrapped a strong arm about his shoulders and Cogsworth felt his grasp on control slip.

"That's it," he nearly shouts, scooting forcibly until his friend falls from the booth. "I've had it!"

"Had what," Lumière asks incredulously. "Where are you going, mon ami?"

"To end this blasted marriage once and for all!" Cogsworth storms out of the coffee shop with his hands fisted at his sides and arms pumping furiously as he went. His friends come chasing after him and he can hear a murmured conversation between the pair and the Beaumont family.

"I gotta see this," he heard LeFou shout soon afterwards. "This is the most exciting thing that's happened around here since Mo said his first word!" Cogsworth's lips twitch in a grin that he was attempting to stifle, remembering the Prince's face when his son had pointed right at him and proudly proclaimed him to be an avocado. It had been LeFou's fault and Belle had taken to calling Adam an avocado at law for an entire month after the incident. The young master still blushed whenever he heard the word.

As he makes his way through the village, a crowd began to gather behind him as the others explained what was going on. By the time he actually made it to his wife's place of business—a clothing boutique run by Stanley's own younger sister—only a few members of the crowd could actually fit inside and, even then, Elise Beaumont's glare was enough to have several of those people backing out again.

"What's goin' on," the blonde demands, hands on her hips. She didn't take well to any kind of negative attention when it came to her store (that was drilled into everyone's head after she smacked a sexist customer with a very thick dictionary).

"I need to have an important conversation with my…" He trails off a moment as his blue eyes land on the thin, gangly woman currently holding an armful of homemade trousers. "….Wife. Is that quite alright, Miss Beaumont?" Elise looks to Clothilde first, then shrugs at the older woman's curt nod.

"Make it quick or I'll sic my niece on you." She picks said little girl up a moment later, the three year old fitting snuggly on her hip. It's then that Cogsworth notices Lumière, Plumette, Stanley, and LeFou were standing a few feet away just inside the store and half the village were waiting outside with the royal family pressing their noses against the glass of the door. So much for those etiquette lessons I gave the Adam. Taking a deep breath and ignoring the gazes burning holes in his back, he faces the woman he's been married to for God only knows how long at this point.

"Clothilde, what are your feelings towards me?"

"You're my husband," she says, brows furrowed.

"Yes, but how do you feel? Do you even love me?"

"Would I have married you if I didn't love you? What's all this about and why is the Prince's breath fogging up the door I've just washed?" She sends a pointed glare at the young man, but it doesn't hold a candle to Beatrice Pott's.

"I used to love you, used to think you were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen." She puffs up like a proud peacock, and he was able to catch a glance of the smiling girl he used to know. That was long before the Curse was cast, back when their worries were less and pre-sliced bread was never thought of. "But then you showed your true colors a few weeks afterwards, I learned you'd married me because of my position in the castle. I didn't want to believe it at first, Clothilde, but you remained callous even after I became human again."

"That's not—"

"Please let me finish while I have the nerve to do so. You are abusive to children, you look down on our sweet Princess, and just yesterday I heard you calling Plumette a strumpet under your breath." There's an audible gasp and then he could hear the sounds of Stanley and LeFou attempted to hold back Cogsworth's friends. "Insulting my friends is where I draw the line! I want a divorce and I want it right this minute!"

"And who do you think will put up with you like I have all these years, Henri," she demands, hands on her hips. "You're pompous, arrogant, and you have the largest stick I've ever seen surgically embedded in your backside." She looked pleased with herself now, like she had won some kind of battle. Cogsworth raises his chin as he'd been taught to, turns on his heel, grabs the front of Lumière's jacket, and yanks him in for a sound kiss on the lips. It was confident and all the things Cogsworth wasn't yet feeling, but then Lumière was returning it just as passionately and he felt a warmth flood through him like he'd never experienced before.

He was panting when he pulled Plumette for the same treatment, the younger woman pressing her warm palms against his cheeks, a reassuring, grounding touch as he worked through the initial fear of rejection and embarrassment. Cogsworth wasn't the type to cause a spectacle, but this one had been a long time in coming. When he pulls back again, panting as his two friends stand protectively on either side of him, he's able to make out the mortified expression on Clothilde's face.

"Well now," Plumette states with a devilish smile," I think that answers your question, Madame."

"Yes," Lumière states with a firm nod. "Now, if you'll excuse us, I believe I'll treat my boyfriend and girlfriend to some lunch." Lumière turns with a hair flip and leads the way outside, the crowd parting like the Red Sea did for Moses as they passed. "I knew you'd come around if I gave you enough hints."

And, for the first time in years, Cogsworth grinned for all to see when he felt two arms looped around his waist.