Part 2 of 2

I can tell you all, hands down, that this is officially my favorite chapter! :) Have fun!

Summary: Part 2 of the fall OR Lefou facing his anxiety, Belle worried over her husband, and Gaston milking in the attention.
Number of years married: 13
Sons: 4
Daughters: 2


~:~ Lefou and the lie ~:~

"Uncle Lefou, why are you hiding from Mama?" Agatha asked not very quietly. She squeezed herself into his hiding spot.

He guffawed weakly. "I'm not hiding! I'm- I'm... I'm keeping Daisy company! Yes!"

Agatha poked her head over the haystack and looked at Daisy. "She does look lonely. I'll keep her company too, Uncle Lefou!"

As long as it would get her to stop talking and give away his location, that would be fine. He settled further into the space between the stable's wall and the block of hay.

All would be well. Yes, all would be well. Belle would never find him, and if she never found him, he wouldn't have to tell his terrible lie. He chewed anxiously on his fingernails. Ever since he could remember, he was awful at lying. That's one of the reasons he stuck to Gaston's side like glue - the other man was a perfectly good liar.

"Uncle Lefou."

"Ah!" he exclaimed then he realized, "Oh, Julia, it's just you."

She took perch on the haystack in front of him. "Mama and Papa are coming. Thought you should know."

"Wh-what? Wh-why?! I th-thought the physician was still here-"

Julia shook her head. "He left a while ago. Papa wants to see Magnifique."

Lefou gulped. "You're not... you're not gonna tell them I'm here... are you?"

She giggled. "Maaay-be!"

"Oh Julia, please! Please, don't."

Agatha snickered at Lefou's show.

"I'm kidding," the older girl said. "I wouldn't do that to you."

"Papa!" the younger exclaimed. She shot up from her hiding place and bounded to Gaston who was leaning on a crutch. "What the doctor say? Is your leg broken?"

He chuckled and fondly rested his hand on her head. "No, my darling. My leg is not broken."

"But Papa has to use this until Mama says he doesn't have to anymore," Belle added coming up beside her husband.

Gaston grumbled. "It turns out Mama's skills are just as good as the physician's."

"Only because your leg isn't broken."

"Still."

Belle looked around then. "Where's Lefou?"

Gaston followed her eyes and frowned. "I don't-" He caught sight of familiar hair above the haystack Julia sat on. "-know. Maybe he went back to town."

Now she frowned. "I would think he'd want to see how you fared after the fall."

He scoffed. "Ah, Lefou. He's tougher than he looks. Besides, he knows how it is. A soldier is injured, his unit must move on."

Lefou made a noise of approval. "I never would've done that. Was always the coward in battle. Surprised I was picked to fight..."

"That could be because you and Papa are inseparable," Julia said.

He looked up at her and narrowed his eyes. "Gaston's right. You've been listening to Belle too much."

She gave him a pointed look. "I can tell Mama you're here..."

"No!" Lefou said hurriedly. "No, no... Well, I mean... Julia, you are the brightest young girl I've ever met. Your brains have nothing to do with Belle. Nope! Purely, uh, your brains!"

She grinned triumphantly.

Pure Belle, Lefou thought.

Gaston knelt beside his old friend and ran his hand over Magnifique's coarse coat. The corner of his mouth was pulled down with great regret. His horse was old. Nearing twenty-six. He should have known better than to take him out that morning. He should've realized that he was not as agile and fast as he once was. It was equally his fault as it was Lefou's at what happened. He sighed heavily - now his good friend had to be put down.

He gave the horse one last caress before he stood and pulled out his pistol. He checked it one final time-

Belle's hand on his forearm stopped him. He looked to her.

She shook her head softly. "Let him on his own," she offered but he could hear the soft command of her voice. "I've- I've seen this before. Papa had a horse before Philippe and he fell ill. I didn't like it when he- when he did what he did. Let him."

He sighed and kept his voice low so no one else would hear. "Belle, he's in pain-" He looked at Magnifique and his infected broken leg. "If- if I were in his place, I would want another to-"

"Don't," she snapped suddenly, her voice at normal volume.

His eyes met hers for a brief moment. Her pain and her fear for him and his current condition clear in her brown eyes. After a few moments of mulling it over, he nodded and put his pistol away. "Yes, alright then. Just... go inside. I want to be alone with him."

"Julia," Belle called. "Agatha, come on. Let's go inside. Give Papa some privacy."

He caught her wrist before she left and pressed a kiss to her temple. "Thank you," he said honestly.

She returned a soft smile and affectionately brushed her fingers over his hair. She started away from him - the little girls scampered after their mother and into the house.

Gaston sat beside his old friend. He sighed.

"This is all my fault," came a quiet voice from the haystack.

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is. He's-" A flurry of hay needles poofed as Lefou gestured to the horse. "I've cost you your horse-"

The hunter shook his head. "No, no, no. Lefou, this wasn't your fault."

But the sidekick stood and sat on the haystack before emphasizing his story. "But I saw the oncoming riders!"

Gaston sighed. "Lefou-"

"No! I should have warned you! But I didn't! Why didn't I?! Had I- I would- Magnifique wouldn't be dying! Y-you'd be in one piece!"

Oh, this was to be the fall all over again. "Lefou-"

"I'll understand if you never want to speak to me again! I'm such a terrible friend-"

Gaston wanted to groan at Lefou's insistence. "You're being ridiculous."

"And I give you full permission to sell me down the river. Have Belle punish me." His voice turned pitiful. "I deserve it. I'm responsible for injuring her husband."

"Lefou, stop."

But he kept going. "I'll save you the trip. I'll turn myself in. Right now!" He stood up and was prepared to take two steps.

"Lefou!" Gaston snapped.

"What?!" he squeaked.

"Sit."

He obeyed.

Gaston leaned forward and gave his friend a leveled look. Ready to give him a serious straightening up. "Lefou, my friend. You are not-"

"Oh Lefou! You didn't leave after all," Belle smiled from the porch. "Would you like to stay for supper? It's no trouble."

"What?" His eyes were wide. "Uh, no-"

"Yes, he would," Gaston so thoughtfully answered for him.

Lefou's head snapped to his and he glared hard at his old army buddy.

"Alright, wonderful," she nodded before going back inside the house.

The shorter man folded his arms across his chest like a petulant child and proceeded to whine about it all. "Gaaasssttttoooooooon..."

But the hunter shrugged as if it weren't a big deal. As if Lefou could go home in one piece afterwards. As if the man didn't have to cook up a very convincing lie in order for Belle not to beat him into next week for what actually happened to her husband and his horse.

Gaston concealed his chuckle in a cough. "It's just a meal. What could happen?"

Lefou laughed sarcastically. "I'll tell you!"

Two hours later...

He sat in front of the fire.

With a thick layer of salve on his hand.

To heal his newly acquired dent.

From Gilbert's overexcited fork.

Lefou glared at Gaston who was still chuckling to himself. "I told you a lot could happen."

Someone tugged on his sleeve and Gilbert looked very apologetic. "I'm sorry Uncle Lefou for stabbing your hand. It was an accident."

The other refrained from sighing as this was the umpteenth time the boy had said his apologies. He shook his head and almost brushed the child off (but he remembered whose child it was and that the man was sitting right next to him). "I've already told you, it's fine."

"But I'm still so sorry."

Belle came up behind Gilbert. "Why don't you go play with your brothers and sisters. I want to speak to Uncle Lefou."

He nodded. "Okay..."

Lefou gulped.

Here it was. He had lived a nice life... And now, this was the beginning of the end for him.

She took a seat beside her husband.

Lefou narrowed his eyes as the man in red gave a bit of a wince at the slight movement of the seat. He knew Gaston knew Lefou was about to get scolded by Belle and so Gaston, being Gaston, wanted to get sympathy for his injuries while Belle was still in a... reasonably good mood. There was absolutely no way Gaston was in any pain. For pity's sake, the man spent three days with a bullet in his shoulder before it was removed at base camp! Oh, Lefou sizzled.

He watched her fall for his antics.

And he could have sworn he heard Gaston purr at one point.

She looked heartbroken to see her husband in this 'pain'. She carefully sat a bit away from him to make sure he was alright. Her fingers were soft and gentle as she caressed the side of his face. "Are you alright, my love? I can brew more of that tea for the pain," she offered so very softly.

Lefou wanted to gag.

"I'm alright, darling," he replied tiredly.

The corner of her mouth slowly lifted upward and she tenderly brushed back his hair. She kissed his temple then turned toward the other man.

And her face was no longer soft.

Lefou refrained from shivering.

Then she spoke to him, "Lefou, I wanted to talk to you about the accident."

"Uh huh," he answered weakly.

She sat forward a bit... closer to him. "I just want to know exactly what happened. Gaston has been mum on it all and I don't know if that's because he can't remember or..."

His eyes shot to Gaston. "You don't remember anything?"

The hunter shook his head. "Nope. I try my hardest but I can't remember. Just as I see it.. I-I lose the thought," he lied ever so gracefully.

He glared coldly at him. "Well..." He rubbed his sweaty palms over his trousers. "Right, well. Erm, you see.. Belle-"

She took up Gaston's hand and pressed it to her lips before settling it on her lap and giving her attention to the shaky Lefou.

"It was a snake. A very big snake. Uhm, Magnifique was spooked."

"Ah," Gaston nodded as if it pieced everything together.

Lefou nodded with him, his confident rising a bit. "Yes, he's- he's an old horse. His fear was too much for his legs. H-he caught... and fell..."

Belle hummed, "Breaking his leg and falling on..." She couldn't finish her sentence and thankfully no one else did.

"Yes, ma'am," he obediently said. "That's the truth of it."

She bit her lip and looked over at Gaston. He searched her face and her eyes, looking for signs that she believed Lefou's lie. "You truly do not remember?" she asked, fearing he had some sort of head injury. If he had, she wasn't sure what she would do.

He noticed and covered her hand with his. "Now that Lefou has so thankfully come forward with this truth, I can say I do remember pieces. Perhaps with a more thorough description, it can all come back to me." He looked to Lefou and when Belle turned to do the same, Gaston smirked at his friend.

Lefou remained a stone wall for a brief moment then he so animatedly said, "You will get no such thing. I gave you the truth. You must try hard to remember because that's all you're getting from me."

Gaston made a noise of argument. "But if you leave this truth as it is, what's to say it isn't just a story? What's to say it happened? What if it's a lie? I deserve to know the truth, Lefou," he said very, very convincingly.

So convincingly, Lefou wanted to punch him.

And his words made Belle question it. "I agree. Lefou, tell me the truth. Leave nothing out."

Lefou's glare turned icy and he glowered at Gaston. "Very well."

And so Lefou proceeded to tell the lie again, detailing every bit from the pattern on the snake's hide to the way the dust settled around Gaston and Magnifique. He detailed everything and anything until he thought he would be sick of this lie. By the end of his tale, he was silently seething.

Gaston leaned against Belle. "My friend, I knew you could do it. Yes, I remember now. It's clear as day."

Belle sighed in relief and Gaston felt her relax. "Oh, thank you Lefou. Thank you so very much. I mean, you don't understand how relieved this makes me. Thank you."

Lefou wrung his hands - as best he could with the salve on - but nodded confidently. "Well, I'm glad to have.. been of service to you. Uhm, I think I've overstayed my welcome here." He stood before they could object. "Besides, I think my hand's healed up."

"I'll see you out," Gaston offered.

Later that night long after Lefou left and shortly after the children were tucked away in their beds, Gaston patted the empty space beside him in bed.

Belle hesitated a bit before gingerly sitting on the edge.

"You won't hurt me," he said.

She sighed and lied down beside him. After a few quiet moments, she spoke. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine," he smiled softly. He caught her wrist as she trailed her fingers down the side of his face. He didn't speak about her worrying but it seemed she heard him all the same.

"I just..." Her voice was shaky. "I keep seeing you underneath Magnifique. It's just- I've never seen you so and now I- I fear it could have been worse-"

"But it wasn't," he assured quickly. "I am here and well." He kissed her fingers and met her eyes, "Thanks to you."

"Don't humor me, Gaston. I'm serious," she scolded half-heartedly. "And that was only because your leg wasn't broken."

"I know," he sighed He tugged her closer despite her protests to give him adequate space. "I know, my love."

She rested her head on his chest.

He smiled sadly as he felt a single tear. He kissed her head. "What can I do to make your fear go away?"

"S-stay here, please. Don't leave on any hunts. Stay home. Just until I..." she trailed off.

He nodded in complete agreement - anything she wanted. "Yes, my love. Yes, I'll stay."

"And Gaston?" She turned her head to look up at him. "Was it really a snake?"

No, it wasn't.

Lefou and he had a bitter quarrel. The shorter man had had enough with Gaston's arrogance and carelessness that he snapped and bit out insults toward the hunter's family. After hearing such words, Gaston couldn't hold his tongue either and snarled inappropriate words about Lefou and his blatant weakness. Shortly after, Lefou left to be on lookout at the top of the hill while Gaston surveyed the land at the bottom.

Both were still fuming from the exchange.

But while separated, Gaston admitted to himself that he always picked on Lefou and that the man had good reason to finally snap, but he couldn't forgive him for his words about his family. Even with their closeness and brotherly bond, there were still lines that shouldn't be crossed.

Unfortunately, he was no better when he took a stab at Lefou and his morals. His words were harsher than usual and he could only hope that once everything cooled down, Lefou'd be willing to hear an apology... of the sort... a Gaston apology.

Meanwhile, Lefou saw two riders racing across the field. He watched them and in his sour mood toward his friend, he didn't warn Gaston they were coming.

The hunter had been lost in his own mind and heard the charging hooves too late. He pocketed his map and urged his black stallion aside but the horse was too slow. One of the riders sideswiped him and Magnifique found his footing too late. He started to run but his leg bent wrong in all the commotion and he collapsed, landing on his master.

And Lefou swore he had never been so scared.

"Yes, it was," he replied. "I'm sorry I frightened you."

She shook her head and closed her eyes, listening to his heartbeat as she fell asleep.