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After an uneventful meeting at the Musain, before anyone had time to pack their things and leave, Grantaire stood up and cleared his throat, asking for their attention.
“So… Well, first of all, this is not related to the meeting, so relax” A few of the Amis let out a relieved laugh at that. “Second of all, and the actual point of this: I have a dance presentation in two weeks. It’s nothing important, just the regular annual presentation, but I busted my ass practicing for it, and I’d like you all to go.” He was interrupted by Bahorel, Jehan, Bossuet, Joly and Courfeyrac, who started cheering and whistling loudly.
“Our boy is going to let us watch him kick ass, I am so happy! Jehan, hold me!” Bahorel mocked, throwing himself onto the taller man’s arms. Jehan held him up, shaking with laughter, and leaned down to kiss him, but they were hit by Grantaire’s beanie before they could reach each other’s mouths.
“Ok, everyone except Bahorel.”
Bahorel pouted and bat his eyelashes at him. Grantaire ignored him, trying to hide a smile, and continued “Seriously, it’s not a big deal, but some of you had asked me about watching me dance, and I am pretty proud of it, so why not? If nothing else, this can be an excuse for us to go out to eat and drink afterwards. Not that we need one but one is always welcome.”
The whole group started gathering around Grantaire, confirming their presence and congratulating him. Even Enjolras said he would go. Things between the two of them had never been really good. Grantaire knew Enjolras wouldn’t hesitate to decline his invitation if he was not interested, but outside of screaming their dissonant political views at each other, they barely talked. Until then, he had assumed it was because Enjolras had no interest in being around him anymore than necessary. He looked at Enjolras, who was now talking to Combeferre and Courfeyrac. The blond looked back at him, smiled and nodded, then started walking away along with the other two men. Grantaire was extremely confused, seeing Enjolras smile like that to him, but couldn’t keep from smiling. If anyone asked, it was because of Joly’s failed attempt at telling a joke, because he couldn’t stop laughing, and Bossuet attempt at helping his boyfriend, only to laugh even harder.
What Grantaire did not know was that the reason Enjolras had never interacted more with him was because he was, like Grantaire himself, admiring the
other man from a distance, without knowing how to approach him. Most of their attempts ended up somewhere between frustration and rage, since they were both too stubborn to admit their feelings openly, and too blind to notice their feelings were reciprocate. This time however, Enjolras saw a chance to show how much he cared about him and took it. He asked Courfeyrac and Bahorel for help, since they were both close friends with himself and Grantaire.
“NOOOO!!!!” Courfeyrac exclaimed with feigned surprise when Enjolras explained the reason he had called them. Enjolras glared at him.
“Oh, please! That is not a big revelation, almost all of us are aware of your huge crush for R. Only you two are too dumb to notice. I’ll help, but now you owe me a real big revelation” Bahorel declared, laughing. Enjolras took a deep breath before explaining.
“If I wasn’t so lost I would never have called you. This is serious, I need to make it right this time. Every time I tried talking to him, by the end of it, he thought I hated him. I don’t even need to be able to ask him out. Just help me have a decent human interaction to show him - and myself, really - that we are actually able to do that. Help me show Grantaire I do not hate him.”
“Ok, don’t worry, we’ll help you understand human emotions” Courfeyrac replied with a smile, one last cutting remark before they actually discussed the issue.
-x-
Finally Grantaire’s presentation had arrived. Enjolras had spent the whole day distracted, pacing around his apartment until it was time to go out. When he got there, Grantaire was in the backstage, warming up, so he and the others decided to go find their seats. Soon enough, the lights went off, and it began. As most of them had expected, Grantaire was an incredible dancer. He moved gracefully, making all the jumps and spins seem effortless. Enjolras spent a good part of the presentation gasping, wide-eyed, completely amazed by Grantaire. He already knew the dancer was very talented, not only at dancing but at many other things, but to be able to witness it like that was something else entirely.
They all went to dinner afterwards, sharing cabs to the restaurant. Enjolras and Grantaire were the last ones, left behind to get one cab, all by themselves. Grantaire looked worried when he noticed that, and hearing Enjolras cursing under his breath did not help.
“Sorry, I’m…” Both started at the same time. Grantaire made a signal for Enjolras to speak first.
Enjolras took a deep breath.
“I was not swearing because of you, I promise.” Well, apparently Grantaire liked him too, so if there ever was a moment to say it, that was it “I’m sorry if this seems so awkward, we were supposed to be friends, but I can’t seem to make things work. I always end up making a fool of myself or getting you angry, because I have no idea how to approach you. I admire you a lot, Grantaire. I really like you. And if our ridiculous friends are right, I believe the feeling is mutual. So how about we start from zero?”
“No. Enjolras.” Grantaire began, his eyes focusing everywhere, except in Enjolras’ direction. “I don’t want to start again. I want us to stop being stubborn and actually talk to each other. I do like you. A lot. And it’s ridiculous, because I also can’t talk to you, I get too scared I’ll ruin everything and we end up falling back into our confort zone of screaming at each other. There, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Grantaire concludes, finally looking Enjolas in the eye and smiling at him.
Enjolras smiles back, and asks nervously. “Ok then. About the liking part, are we talking about the same thing? Because I was talking about the kind of liking that involves kissing you throughout our whole ride to the restaurant, and then some more.”
“Yes, Enjolras. That’s exactly what I want.” He comes closer, cups Enjolras’ cheek with one hand and whispers “May I?” He hasn’t even finished the sentence properly and Enjolras is kissing him back. He pulls back right after, with a huge smile “Let’s go, we shouldn’t let them wait too long”
“Yeah, probably not.” They hail a cab and head to the restaurant, where they’re met with cheers as they walk in hand in hand. They turn to look at each other, both smiling wide, happy to be the cause the other is smiling.