Chapter Text
“Courfeyrac!” Enjolras scolded through the phone. “You promised you would be here tonight to meet him!”
“Okay, Enj, calm down. I can meet him some other time. Your little club you wanna start can wait if I think I just found the love of my life,” Courfeyrac replied as he eyed the door to the bathroom.
Grantaire had dragged him to the bar after a fight with Enjolras, and Courfeyrac hadn’t had it in him to tell the man no. No matter how much Courfeyrac pestered him though, Grantaire wouldn’t talk about what happened between them. Only now, Courfeyrac was glad he had tagged along, because Grantaire had just gone home with someone, and Courfeyrac was pretty sure was also about to—as soon as the man in question returned from the bathroom.
“Love of your life? Courfeyrac!” Enjolras said again. “I can’t believe you’re blowing this off. I expected this behavior from—” He paused. “Why is it so loud? Where are you?”
“Oh, nowhere, just the library.” Courfeyrac wanted to punch himself in the face.
“Are you at a bar? I swear to god, if you’re skipping this meeting for a hookup, Courf, I am going to—”
“Look, Enjolras, I’ll make it up to you. I’ll meet the guy tomorrow and buy the three of us a fancy dinner at your choice restaurant. I’ll get a mariachi band to serenade us and hire a dog to jump through hoops as entertainment.”
Enjolras completely ignored everything that came out of Courfeyrac’s mouth and scolded, “Why are you even at a bar when you’re supposed to be at the Musain?”
Courfeyrac flickered his attention to where Grantaire had been sitting at the bar before he had left with a very handsome, auburn-haired man. He had just been so upset after his screaming match with Enjolras and had begged Courfeyrac to come out with him to help cheer him up.
“Oh, no reason,” he said quietly. “A… uh… friend asked me to join them.”
It was silent for a moment on Enjolras’s end. Courfeyrac almost thought he just hang up on him out of sheer frustration.
Enjolras breathed deeply. “Are you with Grantaire?” he gritted out, not necessarily sounding angry, but not necessarily sounding happy about it.
“I was,” Courfeyrac replied. “But, he left like five minutes ago with someone. Though… you know… it takes about twenty minutes to take a cab to Grantaire’s,” Courfeyrac started to hint. “He was pretty upset after what happened today.”
“I see,” Enjolras said slowly.
“What were you guys even arguing about? I don’t know man, but he seemed pretty broken up over what happened.”
“It… it was nothing,” Enjolras breathed, sounding unsure of himself.
“Well, it didn’t feel like nothing,” Courfeyrac replied, sitting back in the booth. “Look, Enj. All I’m saying is that you guys should talk.”
“Fine,” Enjolras sighed.
Courfeyrac glanced back up to notice the tall man he had been waiting for reappear in the back of the bar, quickly making his way over to where Courfeyrac was sitting. Courfeyrac glanced down at his watch.
“Fourteen minutes, Enjolras,” Courfeyrac said.
A beat of silence. “Courfeyrac, I have to go right now. See you tomorrow,” Enjolras said quickly into the phone before the line went dead.
Courfeyrac chuckled to himself before slipping the phone back into his pocket. He returned his attention to the man sliding into the seat in front of him, a smile on his face. This man was the most gorgeous human being Courfeyrac had laid eyes on. He wore a button down with the sleeves rolled up, exposing the ends of beautiful tattoos that Courfeyrac definitely wanted a better look at.
“Ready to go?” he said.
Courfeyrac nodded his head, pushing all thoughts of Grantaire and Enjolras out of his head to let the man—what was his name? Corben? Colby?—guide him out of the bar.
The first thing that Courfeyrac noticed was that, for a small apartment, this guy really knew how to make it feel homey. Combeferre—as he had finally discovered the man’s name on the cab ride over to his apartment—had told Courfeyrac that he roomed with two of his buddies, both of which were working night shifts at a hospital. Combeferre himself an aspiring doctor, and told Courfeyrac how he had met his roommates through medical school.
“Would you like anything to drink?” Combeferre said, making his way into the kitchenette.
Courfeyrac almost didn’t respond, too busy looking Combeferre up and down. To be fair, Combeferre did have a really nice butt that looked very cute in his pants.
“Uh, no. I’m good,” Courfeyrac replied.
“Good, because I don’t have anything. I was just trying to be nice,” Combeferre laughed, and Courfeyrac wanted to melt. It was such a beautiful laugh.
Courfeyrac leaned back against the counter, watching as Combeferre slowly approached him. The man was a good half a foot taller than Courfeyrac and towered over him easily. He put his hands on either side of him, smirking as he leaned in close.
“So you just want to get down to business then?” Courfeyrac said, eyes flickering down to Combeferre’s lips.
“Business?” Combeferre laughed. “You’re making it sound like you hired me.”
“Wait, you’re not the hooker?” Courfeyrac said sarcastically, fake gasping. “Oh man, this is embarrassing.”
“Sorry to disappoint,” Combeferre shrugged.
“Oh, I’m far from disappointed. I’ve just gone home with a man who wears business casual to a bar.”
This made Combeferre laugh again and—god—Courfeyrac wanted to bottle that laughter up and keep it in his room.
Was that a weird thing to think? Courfeyrac was going to say no, because now Combeferre’s lips were against his and they were kissing. Rather roughly, even for Courfeyrac’s standards, but he didn’t care. Combeferre’s hands found purchase on Courfeyrac’s hips and Courfeyrac wrapped his arms over Combeferre’s shoulders. They pulled each other tight as Combeferre dropped his lips to Courfeyrac’s jaw, tracing along his neck.
“You’re really good a—at this,” Courfeyrac moaned.
“You wanna know what else I’m good at?” Combeferre said, pulling away from Courfeyrac’s neck.
“Uh-huh,” he replied, nodding vigorously.
Combeferre pecked another kiss onto Courfeyrac’s lips before grabbing his hands. He tugged lightly for him to follow, and Courfeyrac gladly did.
Courfeyrac watched the bedside clock, time ticking by as Combeferre slept. His breathing was even and he didn’t stir as Courfeyrac moved the covers off of himself. He squinted his eyes, grabbing for his phone and using the screen light to find his clothes on the ground. Courfeyrac quickly scooped them up, pulling on his pants and tucking his shirt under his arm.
He glanced at Combeferre’s sleeping form, trying to understand how the highly attractive man suddenly looked so cute and adorable while asleep. Courfeyrac almost regretted leaving as he imagined what mornings would be like with the guy, starting with morning sex and then maybe Courfeyrac would cook him pancakes.
He shoved the thought out of his mind. Combeferre hadn’t even invited him to stay the night, much less stay the morning.
Well, technically, Combeferre hadn’t asked him to leave either, but Courfeyrac knew he was just being polite.
Courfeyrac made his way towards the door, haphazardly pulling his shirt over his head. He pulled out his phone, checking for any messages. It was close to one in the morning, so Courfeyrac wasn’t expecting much. He mentally scolded himself for sleeping for so long.
He found his way to the door and quickly pulled it open, almost running face-first into a small man.
“Oh, I am so sorry!” the man squeaked, then froze. “Uh, who are you? And why are you in my apartment?”
The man gave him a once over, eyes lingering on the messy hair and a mark just barely hidden by the collar of his shirt. His mouth formed an “o” and he stepped back.
“I was here with Combeferre,” Courfeyrac said, scratching the back of his neck. “Um, sorry, I’m going to go.”
“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” the man said, stepping aside to let Courfeyrac leave.
Without looking up, Courfeyrac bustled out the door and down the hallway. He pulled his coat on and dashed down the street to the main road, calling for a cab. Courfeyrac really didn’t want to think about the fact that Combeferre’s roommate had just caught him sneaking out of the apartment. He just wanted to go home and rest. Courfeyrac also wanted to know what Enjolras did after he hung up the phone, but that could wait until morning.
Courfeyrac awoke to the smell of pancakes and fresh coffee and, for a split second, thought he was still in Combeferre’s apartment. He sat straight up, eyes wide, only to recognize his own bedroom. Courfeyrac breathed and fell back onto his pillow, closing his eyes and letting his mind wander back to what happened last night. It had been nice. Combeferre had been a fun guy to talk with, and had actually enjoyed Courfeyrac’s presence, which was new. A lot of people quickly grew tired and annoyed with Courfeyrac. He was quietly cursing himself for not leaving his phone number, in case the guy wanted to meet up again.
When the smell of chocolate pancakes became too overwhelming, Courfeyrac hopped out of bed and tugged on a pair of sweatpants and a shirt, making his way down the hall and to the kitchen. He rubbed his eyes, slowly wondering why Enjolras had made breakfast. If Courfeyrac recalled accurately, the last time Enjolras tried to cook something, he destroyed all their non-stick pots and pans.
Courfeyrac’s pace quickened as he rounded the corner and entered the kitchen, eyes immediately going to the stove. Nothing was on fire, which was good. The griddle had a couple pancakes on it, slowly cooking. As Courfeyrac raised his head, he noticed Enjolras. Well, the outline of Enjolras who was currently being crowded against the wall by Grantaire.
Courfeyrac looked back down at the pancakes, noticing they were starting to brown around the edges. He picked up the spatula and began flipping them, whistling a tune akin to the working song from Snow White.
Enjolras squeaked, quickly shoving Grantaire off of him. Grantaire jumped back from Enjolras and both of them landed their eyes on Courfeyrac. Courfeyrac looked over, a smirk on his face.
“You guys really oughta pay more attention. You could’ve burned these perfect pancakes,” Courfeyrac said.
Enjolras hastily wiped his mouth, sputtering, “Courfeyrac, when did you get home?”
Courfeyrac cocked his head to the side. “Around one in the morning, why? When did you guys come home? Because I didn’t hear anything.”
Grantaire and Enjolras looked at each other, slightly turning pink. Courfeyrac shrugged and continued flipping the pancakes, going back to his whistling.
“I have to… uh… go to the bathroom,” Enjolras said, excusing himself and all but running out of the kitchen.
Courfeyrac snorted and turned to Grantaire. “You wanna tell me what happened last night after you left the bar? What happened to cute auburn haired guy?”
Grantaire couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear and glance at his feet. “Uh, well, we got to my apartment and went inside, and things were going good, until Enjolras showed up. And… uh… auburn haired guy left because he thought we were trying to set him up for a three way or to mug him or something. Then, I got mad at Enjolras and he got mad at me and then…”
“And then…. what?” Courfeyrac smiled, walking over and lightly punching Grantaire on the shoulder. “Anything… happen?”
Grantaire’s eyes went wide and his head jerked up to stare at Courfeyrac. “What? No, of course not… We just—we talked and…” He sputtered a little bit before taking a breath. “No, we didn’t do anything.”
“Nothing?” Courfeyrac asked. “Because you guys just looked like you were going for round two.”
“No! No. We just sat, and talked. We just sat in my apartment and talked, but then Jehan came home and Enjolras invited me over to his place to… continue talking, and so we ended up here. We fell asleep on the couch after watching Princess Bride; didn’t even hear you come in,” Grantaire quickly said.
Courfeyrac grinned. “So you guys just cuddled and talked and shit? Now that’s adorable.”
“What’s adorable?” Enjolras yawned from the entryway, his phone in his hand.
“You two,” Courfeyrac said.
“I was just telling him what happened last night,” Grantaire said as he pulled out plates from the cupboard and handed them out to everyone. He piled pancakes and syrup onto everyone’s plates and they all dug in, still standing around the kitchen.
“And we have Courfeyrac to thank for last night, even after I yelled at him through the phone,” Enjolras replied through a mouth full of pancakes.. “Speaking of the phone call, Henri just called and apologized for missing the meeting. He said he completely forgot about it until this morning because he was swamped with paperwork, and I reassured him that it was fine, since the both of us missed it too.”
“Henri?” Courfeyrac asked.
“You know, the guy I met at the gym who came up with the idea for the social justice club.”
“Oh, yeah, that guy. I would say sorry, but I slept with the hottest human being in the world last night. Does Henri want to reschedule?”
“Yeah. I told him we could meet him at the Musain at two today,” Enjolras replied. He glanced at Grantaire. “Feel free to come along.”
“Nah, I’ve got to help ‘Ponine with something at the art gallery soon. Good luck with this Henri guy, though. Bye, babe,” Grantaire said, pecking a kiss to Enjolras’s lips. “See you later, Courf,” he said, before dropping his plate in the sink and walking out the door.
Courfeyrac was grinning and glanced at Enjolras. He waited until the front door closed to say in a deep voice that was supposed to be mocking Grantaire’s, “Bye, babe .”
“Shut up,” Enjolras retorted, but said it with a smile on his face.
Courfeyrac glanced down at his watching, noting that he had slept until noon. He cleaned off his dish before racing Enjolras to the bathroom—and winning—and taking a nice shower. After both of them had finished getting ready, because god knows how long both of them take to go through their morning routines, he and Enjolras left their apartment and walked down the street towards the Musain. The entire time, Enjolras babbled on and on about Henri, and how he was one of the most kind and genious people Enjolras knew.
“How long have you known this guy?” Courfeyrac joked. “It’s almost like he’s your best friend and not me.”
“Courf, don’t even joke about that. No one could replace you. I just have a feeling that you two are going to hit it off pretty well,” Enjolras said.
“Oh yeah, why?”
“I don’t know, just a feeling.”
“Does he know anything about me? Have you talked about me?” Courfeyrac asked, slightly bumping Enjolras with his shoulder.
“Of course he does. Who else would I mention?” Enjolras replied.
“Well, I don’t know… Maybe Grantaire?”
Enjolras smiled. “Okay, I may have talked about him a little bit.”
“Uh huh,” Courfeyrac laughed. He opened the door to the Musain, holding it for Enjolras and trailing behind him. “Is he here?”
Enjolras stood on his toes and looked around. “Uh, nope. But we are a couple minutes early.”
They made their way to the counter and ordered their drinks before taking a seat at one of the tables in the back. Courfeyrac cupped the coffee to warm his hands, resting his elbows on the table.
“Tell me about Henri and why you’re absolutely positive we’re going to be friends, because right now I really feel like you’re overselling him,” Courfeyrac said as he took a sip.
“Alright. He goes to the gym pretty much every other day, he plays soccer in his free time, he is interested in stopping the injustice in the world, and is like incredibly smart,” Enjolras said. “Those were the first things I could think of.”
“He sounds fun,” Courfeyrac commented.
They fell into a comfortable silence as they waited for Henri, sipping their drinks. Courfeyrac pulled out his phone and checked through some of his emails, filtering through them and soon becoming bored.
“When’s this guy gonna get here?” Courfeyrac complained. It was already ten past two and he didn’t enjoy sitting around doing nothing.
“I’m not sure,” Enjolras said. “I’ll check my phone.”
Courfeyrac nodded and glanced around the cafe, waiting for Enjolras to spout whatever excuse for his friend, when his eyes landed on someone walking by the cafe. Courfeyrac’s eyes widened as he recognized the man, now dressed in more casual clothes.
It was Combeferre, dressed in a sweater vest and jeans, which weren’t supposed to be attractive, but were.
Courfeyrac choked on his coffee mid-sip when he realized that Combeferre was coming towards the cafe. Enjolras looked up, startled.
“Are you okay?”
“I—I’m gonna go to the bathroom real quick,” Courfeyrac coughed, setting his coffee down and all but bolted to the restrooms.
He walked into the tiled room and walked straight into a stall, locking it behind himself. Courfeyrac didn’t know why he was being so childish by avoiding the man he had slept with the night before.
Oh yeah, that was why. Because he had had a one night stand with the man and had snuck out in the middle of the night, and then his roommate had caught him sneaking out. That was why.
Plan: Courfeyrac was just going to wait it out in this bathroom stall, hoping the man would just buy a coffee and be on his way or something. Courfeyrac judged that Combeferre would leave in about five minutes, judging by how there was barely anyone else in the cafe. He did not want to think about the conversation that would ensue if Combeferre spotted him, because that man was way too polite to just pretend he didn’t see Courfeyrac.
Alright, this was fine.
After what Courfeyrac guessed was about five minutes, he exited the stall and made his way back into the cafe. He glanced at the counter and saw no trace of Combeferre. With a sigh of relief, he turned to go back to the table.
“Oh there he is. Courfeyrac!” Enjolras called from the table. “This is the Henri I’ve been telling you about.”
Courfeyrac froze as soon as he saw the man sitting beside Enjolras. Sweater vest. Tortoise shell glasses.
Combeferre was looking back at him with the same amount of surprise, with a little bit of confusion. Courfeyrac glanced back at the bathroom, wondering how logical it would be to run back and hide for another five minutes, before begrudgingly stalking towards the table.
“Henri, Courfeyrac. Courfeyrac, Henri,” Enjolras introduced.
Automatically, Courfeyrac stuck his hand out. “Hello, Henri ,” he said and Combeferre parroted back a greeting, Courfeyrac’s voice just a tad too high to be considered his normal voice. He cleared his throat in embarrassment and sat down. Combeferre was still eyeing him, and Enjolras hadn’t seemed to have noticed the tension between the two of them.
“Are you okay, Courfeyrac?” he asked.
Oh, well, he didn’t notice the tension, but he did notice Courfeyrac’s face turning ten shades of scarlet in a matter of thirty seconds.
“Peachy.”
“Well, now that we’ve introduced ourselves, should we get down to business? Henri here was late because he… uh....” Enjolras said, trailing off.
“I overslept and then missed a couple busses. I pretty much ran here from my apartment. And you both can actually call me Combeferre. It’s my last name and I prefer it to my first name,” Combeferre said, looking directly at Courfeyrac.
Courfeyrac had no idea how this guy wasn’t as uncomfortable as him. Maybe he was and was just hiding it behind a great poker face. Courfeyrac caught his eyes, trying to understand what he was thinking.
“That sounds good, Combeferre. I’m actually going to go and grab another coffee before we start. Anyone else want anything?” Enjolras said, standing up.
Courfeyrac raised his head, “Grab me a latte, would you?” Enjolras nodded before heading towards the counter.
“Hey, Courfeyrac ,” Combeferre said, emphasizing his words. “You know, you never actually did tell me your name.”
Courfeyrac closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. “This cannot be happening to me.”
“Ouch, thanks. Was I that bad?” Combeferre said.
“No! I mean, it was fine. You were fine. You still are fine .” Again, Courfeyrac wanted to punch himself in the face. “I just meant… you’re Henri.”
“I am.”
“You know Enjolras wants the three of us to become friends, right? And start some club about social justice,” Courfeyrac said.
“Of course I know. It was my idea,” Combeferre rolled his eyes.
“Yes, well, don’t you think that’s going to be a little awkward after… last night?”
Combeferre cocked his head to the side. “I mean, maybe. Depends on what happens next.”
“What… happens… next?”
Combeferre smiled and leaned towards Courfeyrac. “Now, I’m never this forward, but you were very fun to talk to last night and I enjoyed your company more than I’ve enjoyed others’s. I was wondering if you’d like to go out another time, like on a date.”
“A date?”
“Uh, yeah,” Combeferre said, starting to lose steam. He leaned back in his chair, taking a deep breath. “Unless that would make you uncomfortable in any way because I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. It’s just that you’re really cute and nice and I loved listening to your story in the cab about your best friend, who I’m now guessing is Enjolras, and how he managed to get kicked out of every history museum in the area because he was complaining about historical inaccuracy.”
Courfeyrac didn’t say anything, trying to process everything going through his mind. Not only was the hot man from the bar willing to go home with him, but he was also asking him out on a date. So, of course, Courfeyrac panicked.
“I think Enjolras might need some help with the coffees—ouch!” Courfeyrac said, standing up quickly and hitting his knee on the table. Without looking back, he nearly ran towards where Enjolras was waiting for the coffees.
“Courfeyrac, I’m going to ask you again. Are you okay?” Enjolras asked, obviously exasperated with his best friend.
“No, I am not, because Combeferre just asked me out on a date,” Courfeyrac said, purposely standing with his back to the table and blocking Enjolras’s view.
“What?” Enjolras said. “He what? Why?”
“Um,” Courfeyrac stuttered. “Remember how I blew off the meeting last night because I said I met the love of my life at a bar.”
“Yes…” Enjolras said slowly.
“Well, I went home with the guy… and now he’s sitting at our table.”
Enjolras’s jaw dropped. “No fucking way.”
“Yes fucking way.”
Enjolras looked like he was about to start laughing, until he caught sight of Combeferre at the table again. “He wasn’t actually doing paperwork, then? He missed the meeting because he was sleeping with you? Oh, what the f—Wait. So, the man that you said was the love of your life—”
“That was a joke by the way. You know, me being dramatic, as I do. I did not actually mean it in any way shape or form,” Courfeyrac interjected.
“Nevermind that. He asked you out on a date? What did you say?” Enjolras questioned.
“Uh, I didn’t. I ran over here.”
Enjolras hit his friend on the arm, quite roughly. “You idiot. Go back over there before he gets any sadder. Go, go!” Enjolras shoved Courfeyrac away from him, giving him a thumbs up for good luck.
Slowly, Courfeyrac made his way back to the table, avoiding Combeferre’s gaze as he sat down.
“Ha, funny story, so apparently Enjolras didn’t need any help carrying to the two cups of coffee,” Courfeyrac said nervously.
“I assumed that much,” Combeferre replied, caution with every word. “Um, I’m sorry if asking you out made this weird or something, or more weird than it already was. Honestly, I can go if you’d like,” Combeferre said, making a move to stand.
“No, wait!” Courfeyrac said, throwing a hand out to stop Combeferre from getting up. He slowly rested back in his chair, carefully watching Courfeyrac. “I mean, you didn’t make it weird, I’m just… ah… still kind of reeling from everything that happened.”
Combeferre nodded, not saying anything.
“Look, what I’m trying to say is that, yes, I will go on a date with you. As long as it’s like, a proper one, because I also really enjoyed talking with you.”
Combeferre’s face lit up, and he tried to hide his smile behind his coffee cup. They just smiled at each other for a moment, until Enjolras finally made his way back to the table with the coffees.
“Hey guys, what did I miss?” Enjolras said nonchalantly as he slid into his seat.
Both Combeferre and Courfeyrac shrugged. “Not much.”
“Ah,” Enjolras said. Courfeyrac grabbed his latte, taking a sip and Enjolras continued to talk. “So, Combeferre. You said you were doing paperwork last night. What kind of paperwork were you doing ?”
Courfeyrac choked on his drink, again, while Combeferre managed to hold it together pretty well. “You told him?”
“Of course I told him,” Courfeyrac squeaked. “What did you think I was saying to him over there?”
“Well, Enjolras, if you are really interested in what I was doing, Courfeyrac could give you a pretty good explanation—”
“Nope, nope, nevermind. I don’t want to know. Let’s get down to business,” Enjolras said quickly, which caused both Combeferre and Courfeyrac to spiral into laughter as they remembered the night before.
They didn’t get very far talking about the plan for the club, instead spending the time getting to know each other, staying late until the cafe closed. As Courfeyrac looked between the three of them, he understood what Enjolras had been talking about. The three of the them complemented each other pretty well. Courfeyrac couldn’t explain it, but he knew that the three of them just felt comfortable with each other, and this was definitely the start of something great.