In the village, something was different. The first thing Gaston noticed barreled towards him and grabbed his hand.
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDO0dd3hbnQ
‘You’re back!’ Lefou shouted, jumping up and down. He almost looked the same as usual, except his arms were swollen with muscles that made his jacket appear uncomfortably tight. ‘Where have you been? Was crazy old Maurice telling the truth?’
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoaooht0m1g
The two were standing in the middle of the street, in front of the water fountain. Onlookers surrounded them, cheering on Gaston’s homecoming.
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtIbhFma2N1
‘I’ve… spent some time with a beast. Lefou, you look… different!’
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV5YJCl6CGs
‘I eat five dozen eggs every morning, just like you always said to!’ Lefou’s face carried the hopes and dreams of thousands of children on Christmas Eve, with Gaston being the present.
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhijDgkwvhs
Gaston ignored him, looking around for Belle. As expected, she was strolling home with a book in her hand. He strode towards her, restitching the overconfident masculinity that the Beast had unknowingly unravelled.
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1uWumVwdNa
‘You’re welcome,’ he said, leaning down towards her. At first, she scowled, but then her memories pushed context to the front of her mind.
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuWfHV5dQPf
‘Thank you. Maurice is safe and well.’
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQfSctGH3M3
‘So, where do you want the wed-’
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8VExMgEwZw
‘I simply couldn’t say yes.’
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8EnDs6Wuhi
‘You-’ Gaston raised a hand but stopped himself. Belle had already dodged him at this point, now standing a few steps away from him. He lowered his hand and sighed.
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAci4rsbA85
He tried to look into her eyes but he could barely see through the image of the Beast’s eyes. The Beast’s pools of nocturnal skies, vast and strange and yet the most painfully human things Gaston had ever witnessed. As he attempted to gaze at Belle, a question, the most dangerous of all thoughts, inserted itself into his brain.
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpycUiaNVQk
Did he ever love her?
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcc8FQfwYCY
This thought sent Gaston stumbling backwards, his vision blurry like he had just drunk five jugs of ale one after the other. He barely noticed himself tripping over his heels until a big arm cushioned his fall. He whipped his head towards his saviour and was greeted by Lefou’s confident expression. It was a look so unexpected from Lefou, yet Gaston somehow found it familiar.
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMsotbc9kbj
‘You’re losing your touch, Gaston! I think you need a rest. Or did that beast put a curse on you?’
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡolVsf9fqR3
‘The Beast would never…’ he didn’t finish that sentence but it was enough information for Lefou to knit his brows. Gaston gulped. ‘He’s too kind.’
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQkvuQj0Qkk
Lefou helped him up. ‘Kind? But isn’t he a hideous-’
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV5OcFZG4RR
‘Oh, he is completely hideous. He is covered with fur and has horns on his head that are all bent. He’s got sharp claws…’ Gaston remembered the Beast awkwardly trying to not break a bow. ‘... and sharp teeth that stick out of his mouth…’ He recalled messily eating together with him. ‘... but his eyes…’
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqdYE3oogCn
His heart felt like a magnet in a compass. It was pulled away from this poor provincial town towards that dark but beautiful castle. The sensation overwhelmed him, forcing him to grip his shirt as if reaching for his heart. He momentarily forgot to breathe. Lefou looked at him with suspicion, followed by anger. Gaston shut his eyes. ‘H-his eyes are black and lifeless.’
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6WuaooD3jI
‘See?’ Lefou asked the crowd that had gathered around them. ‘This ugly monster attacked Maurice, then Gaston! What do you think he will do with your children?’
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrqijkZN0Wt
A choir of gasps bounced between the buildings in the town. Gaston almost protested but kept his mouth shut and his head low, holding onto the last morsel of his pride between his clenched teeth.
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUDEcZ69FQX
‘I say we kill the Beast!’ Lefou declared. The crowd chanted a chorus of ‘Yeah!’s before rushing to their homes to pick up torches and pitchforks.
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyuaKCDJ2yR
Gaston grabbed Lefou’s arm. ‘You… you can’t-’
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9dB7TiMRpl
Lefou took his hand and gave it a gentle rub, gazing into his eyes with that same look he gave the day Maurice’s horse was found. Now Gaston was finally starting to recognise it.
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡerWuYFkdF4
‘It’s okay, Gaston. I’ll protect you.’
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlZziGqxK6u
A chill ran down Gaston’s spine. How long had Lefou been looking at him like that?
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw6VJmWJlW1
Gaston jerked his hand away, eyes wide with terror. After seeing this reaction, Lefou’s fiery glare matched the lit torches behind him.
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbK3WLIH5E1
A line of flames bounced up and down and around the town. Lefou ran to the front of the line to lead the way.
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWT9KMX5eia
Only a few people stayed in the village, including Maurice, Gaston and Belle.
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvW0eCNxHky
Gaston turned to Belle. ‘You’re not going?’
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwhrVZgh5iY
Belle cast her eyes downward. ‘I’m not one to do a witch hunt.’
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt9wBbRjv5N
‘Could you help me-’
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoJ5khhcKKM
Belle shook her head. ‘He still hurt my Father. I can’t forgive him. I’m sorry, but you’re on your own.’ Despite saying this, she looked up in curiosity. ‘What are you planning to do?’
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3EShoQT0R3
Gaston didn’t answer, which was itself an answer. He simply looked up towards the castle, just barely able to see the tip of the tallest tower over the trees.
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzaHZsJIIXn
He headed home, picking up all the daggers he could find in his bedroom. He searched the entire house but couldn’t find a single gun. Lefou’s confident smirk entered his mind.
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTodYX9avfM
‘That good-for-nothing-!’ He took a deep breath. Think, Gaston, think!
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtBS5Uv9322
He figured breaking into Lefou’s house would be easy. He may have gone soft hanging around the Beast, but he surely hadn’t become that much of a softie.
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiYu84tMZMH
He was correct. One kick to Lefou’s door was enough to get in. He found his guns hidden all around his room: in the tiny wardrobe, inside his chest of drawers, beneath his pillow (much to Gaston’s discomfort). Also under the pillow were a few arrows. A bow was under the bed.
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTpyPIrZOIf
On his way out, he pushed away a thought that had slithered into his mind.
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9JMCNJHhtN
Who was he going to have to shoot?
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ83Grdp8UM6
Before he could even reckon with the implications of this, the Beast’s oceanic eyes burst through his mind’s walls, flattening any doubt under the weight of their beauty. He grit his teeth as the description of the Beast he had given to Lefou repeated in his mind.
363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFbf7zYuIHg
He shoved the guns into the same satchel that housed his daggers and ran to his horse, leaping onto it and tapping it with the riding crop to get it galloping.363Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeiGeqROTad
