Chapter Text
Saturday morning. 'Taire was awake far earlier than she wanted to be, having been rudely awakened by a screaming match from the flat across the way. It sounded pretty bad, but then she heard the door slam and then a few minutes later the front door buzzed as one of them stormed out. She rolled over and groaned at the light streaming through her windows. It was rainbow weather, bucketing it down with rain but irritatingly sunny at the same time so that she got the worst of both worlds. She sat up, scrubbing a hand over her eyes. “Ugh,” she muttered. Her head ached, her eyes felt like they were melting. She lived in such a crappy part of town but it was all she could afford.
Ambling into the kitchen in her oversized t-shirt and underwear, she poured herself a huge glass of water and popped two painkillers out of the packet on the sideboard. There was a note next to them, from Joly. “We took you home last night, you weren't too bad but you may or may not have thrown up on E. Hope you're feeling better this morning! xx” She bit her lip. Oh dear, Enjolras was going to be pissed. She'd have to call and offer to have the clothes dry cleaned or something.
Still, that wasn't the worst thing she'd done around the current object of her affections so it was ok, she guessed.
Headache eased slightly, she plodded into the living room and sat down in front of the easel set up on the floor, in the mood to at least attempt to finish up some of her art course work for uni. The phone rang and she spoke to Jehan for a while, squishing the phone between her shoulder and her ear and twirling oil paint onto the canvas at the same time. It was raining really hard now, and she shivered listening to the regular thud of droplets against the window pain, trying to pay attention to Jehan reciting poetry at her.
“... thou art more lovely and yet more temperate...”
It was nice working with Jehan- they normally worked together, the long, thin poet using her as a sounding board for his ideas while she enjoyed the background noise. But today he was hungover too, and had decided not to move from his warm bed where judging from the noises of complaint earlier, Courf had also been trying to sleep off a headache of impressive magnitude.
“... you are made of the sea and the stars, and...”
The doorbell rang suddenly, making Taire jump, and she dropped the phone. When she picked it up again, Jehan had stopped reciting. “What was that?”
“Sorry, I dropped the phone. Someone's at the door, it scared me. Probably bible-bashers or something, they're the only ones made enough to go out in this weather... Just give me a second and I'll call you back.”
Jehan sounded oddly amused. “It's ok, take your time.”
She hung up and chucked the phone on the sofa, shuffling along in her stripy socks. The bell rang again, more urgently this time and she called back, “Ok, ok, I'm coming... Enjolras! What on earth-”
On her doorstep, the blonde girl was standing in her typical red hoodie and jeans, soaked to the skin. Her long blonde hair clung to her cheekbones and along the long line of her neck. The sleeves were so sodden that under the vague shelter of Grantaire's porch they were beginning to drip. She hadn’t even bothered putting the hood up against the torrent and her hair dribbled over her face in golden rats tails, starting to curl at the ends. “Uh... Hi.” She said, sheepishly, smiling slightly as if she’d just noticed the rain.
Grantaire stared. “Come in, jesus. You'll catch your death. Give me a sec, I'll get you a towel.”
“Oh no, it's ok- I'm fine.”
“You're dripping on my floors, Athena my dear. I'll get you some replacement clothes, too. I’m sure I’ll have something…” Enjolras rolled her eyes at the nickname and smiled, and Grantaire's brain whited out for a second in shock. She'd seen her smile before, sure, but not directed at her and not as dazzling as that. She turned to dart into her room, yanking a t-shirt off one of the shelves and a pair of baggy jeans. “So... Uh, what are you doing here? If it's about last night, I'm really sorry- I'll pay you for dry cleaning next time I get paid though, I really can't afford it right now...”
“Oh, that's not what I came for... I'll change, if that's ok with you and then we can talk.”
“Ok, sure.” Grantaire walked back into the living room and handed her the clothes, experiencing a moment where she didn't know where to look or tell Enj that she could change.
Of course, Enjolras just steamrollered through the awkwardness by not noticing that it was there at all and yanking off her top without waiting for Taire to look away. Taire bit her lip, trying to make herself turn around or act normal in some capacity or something... But she just couldn't, her eyes brushing over pale, pale skin and jutting out hipbones, unable to look away. And then she'd changed and Grantaire blinked slowly, seemingly coming back to herself. Enjolras was looking at her oddly, a slight smile on her lips.
She felt her cheeks heating up, and blurted out “Do you want a cup of tea?” before running into the kitchen.
“Uh, sure. Thank you.”
“That's ok, no problem.” Grantaire gabbled. “So, what did you want to ask me?”
“Oh! Oh yeah, I forgot about that…” She followed R’s steps into the kitchen, hovering awkwardly in the doorway. “So, I need a favour.”
“Um, ok…?”
“Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad. It’s just that I asked everyone else and they all said no, and now it’s all going to go wrong unless you help me. I need you, R!”
“Ok, first off, probably not the best way to persuade someone to help you- telling them that they’re not even second or third choice, but last choice!” Grantaire smirked at her as she handed her her cup of Christmas-themed apple and cinnamon tea. “And secondly, when all of our friends- all of whom I know adore you and would do almost anything for you- have already said no, I fail to see how this is not going to be something bad.”
Enjolras narrowed her eyes in confusion. “What?”
“Never mind, just tell me what you want.”
“Ok. Well. First I want you to promise not to laugh.”
“Now I really am worried.”
“R!”
The nickname made her feel warm inside, although maybe that was just the tea. “Ok, ok. I won’t laugh at you.”
“Good. Um. So, you know that last Christmas when me and Cosette went home for Christmas, Marius didn’t because he was still talking to his grandfather?”
“Yeahh..?”
“Well, this year, after he got kicked out, he’s got nowhere to go for the holidays and so obviously Cosette has asked him to come back with us for Christmas.”
“Oh, good for her!” Grantaire smiled, happy for them. She had been worrying about Marius- she had almost invited him to spend Christmas with her but she wasn’t exactly keen on sharing with the rest of the group her slightly awkward Christmases with her foster dad deprived of alcohol and parties- and her love of Christmas cartoons. It was damaging to her cynical drunkard reputation.
“Anyway, my dad isn’t exactly going to be happy about that- he loves her a bunch but he’s so overprotective it’s scary. So when she told them,” And here Enjolras’ perfect face creases slightly with a frown, “- she decided to take me down with her and told him that I’m bringing someone too.”
“You’re bringing someone back with you for Christmas?” Grantaire tried very hard to look happy for her but it was quite difficult to look happy for someone when they’re ramming a knife into your chest. “Well done you!”
“No, obviously not,” Enjolras huffed. “That’s the problem. Cosette didn’t think far enough ahead to realise that a) I am not dating anyone and b) I will be utterly unable to find someone to date in time for Christmas.”
Oh, I don’t know about that, Grantaire thought. I’m sure there are people who would jump at the chance to date a fucking hot six foot blonde with killer legs and pouty lips and perfect hair and the brain of all the geniuses… genii in the world combined. Me, for example.
“So, I thought, find someone to fake a relationship with me for Christmas then tell them that we broke it off shortly after. It’s the perfect solution- Marius gets the heat taken off him a little, my mum gets the satisfaction of seeing me with a partner and my dad gets someone to glare at sternly.”
Grantaire raised her eyebrows sceptically.
“But then I realised- Combeferre’s out of the equation because my parents already know her, and Courfeyrac’s out too because her parents live down the same road as mine and they all gossip together so if we were dating they would know, and plus she’s bringing Jehan to hers for Christmas anyway. Bossuet, Joly and Musichetta are going to Hawaii for Christmas so they’re all out. Bahorel and Feuilly both laughed me out of the room when I asked and told me that while they’re flattered it’s fairly obvious that I’m too gay for either of them, and Eponine scares the crap out of me so I haven’t even tried asking her yet. Please say yes.”
It took her a moment to realise exactly what she was being asked and when she did her jaw dropped. “Are you serious?”
Enjolras’ shoulders, which had been lifted hopefully, drooped sadly. “So you won’t do it?”
Grantaire frowned for a second. “Are you sure you can tolerate my company for that long?”
“Of course!”
“Really?”
Enjolras blushed. “You appear to be under the impression that I like you a lot less than I actually do.”
“Enjolras, you get annoyed with me at meetings to the point where you threaten violence. You’ve been a pacifist ever since you could pronounce the word.”
She blushed harder. “You frustrate me. But you challenge me too. I’m sorry if I’ve given out the wrong signals. Anything said during debates stays in debates- it doesn’t carry out into the real world.” She laughed a little to herself. “Otherwise no one in the group would talk to each other any more.”
Grantaire smiled along and nodded, seeming to come to a conclusion. “Ok, I’ll do it.” She pauses. “On one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“You be my fake date when I visit my foster dad, too. I know he worries about me and it might... help.”
Enjolras’ entire face lit up, her whole body bouncing as she rocked on the balls of her feet. “Of course! Anything! You have no idea how greatful I am for this, seriously.”
R tilted her head towards her empty cup. “You want to get a refill and we can discuss the plan for all of this?”
“Fuck!” Enjolras gasped, glancing at the clock, and then registered R’s question. “Oh, uh no, sorry. I can’t- I have a meeting in ten minutes with Lemarque about the proposal for a fundraiser in town. But, um.” She grabbed a piece of paper from the side and scribbled down her number. “Text me and we’ll grab coffee later in the week and discuss everything. Ok?”
“Ok, sure!” Grantaire managed, before Enjolras pulled her into a bone-crushing hug and released her, half running towards the door.
“Thank you so much for agreeing to this. You’re an angel!”
“You don’t believe in angels!” Grantaire called after her as she hurtled along the balcony and down the concrete stairs. “And you’re still wearing my clothes!”
She heard Enjolras swear from a distance, and yell something about giving them back soon but most of it was lost as a crash of thunder echoed over the building. Next door, her neighbour peered at her disapprovingly from behind the curtains and she resisted the urge to flip her off, nosey old bat.
The moment she closed the door behind her, the weirdness of the situation hit her in the gut and she suddenly felt pretty queasy.
She picked up the phone and dialled Jehan.
***
The next day they met in a rainy café and discussed their battle plan.
“Right,” said Enjolras, leaning across the table so that she could whisper like a secret agent. “The plan is we spend Christmas eve-eve and the morning of Christmas eve with your dad and then drive down to my parents in the afternoon and stay with them till the 27th. Then back here to recover before Courf’s terrifying-sounding new years party.”
“Sounds good.” Grantaire agreed, leaning forward too. “What’s our story?”
“Our story?”
“Yeah, you know. Where did we meet, how long have we been together, do we live together yet, do we do the whole cutesy couples names thing or not? How many kids are we planning?”
Enjolras rolled her eyes. “We met at a meeting when you were drunk and wouldn’t stop contradicting me, we’ve been together since two weeks after we met, we don’t live together and we definitely don’t do cutesy names. And no kids.”
“Aaah, you’re no fun! Where’s the romance in that? C’mon, we can do better.”
“Fine, if you’re so good at it…” The taller girl huffed.
R smirked. “So. We met in the library when we both tried to take out the same book at the same time and you let me have it. Then the next week when you went to pick up the book for yourself, you found a note with my number in it, couldn’t stop thinking about me and called me as soon as you could. We went on our first date to a Italian place midway between my flat and yours- the food was good, but not too expensive. I paid. We had our first kiss that night when you walked me back to my flat and I offered to make you coffee but you said no. Ever since then we’ve been inseparable despite the fact that we argue quite a bit. I help you out with your charity work a lot and in return you come to all of my gallery showings and act the part of a proud, loving girlfriend even if you hate most of the patrons there. I’m more in love with you than you are with me, which might lead to issues in our relationship later on, providing the groundwork for when you tell your family later on that it didn’t work out. We don’t live together right now, but we’re planning on moving in together soon- another thing that might end in disaster. Oh, and we sure as hell do cutesy names, Cupcake. And yes kids.” She paused for breath. “Boom.”
“Wow. You’ve thought that through a lot,” Enjolras said, impressed.
R sat back in her chair, smirking. “Yeah.” If only you knew.
“Ok, fine. We’ll do it your way- it definitely seems more convincing.” She paused. “Are we going to need to… you know, learn things about each other to make it seem realistic?”
“Probably. I mean, you don’t want someone to ask you a really obvious question about me and then not be able to answer it, do you?”
“Should we play 20 questions?” Enjolras asks, taking a sip of her now luke-warm latte and giving herself a milk moustache.
“Ok, sure. You first.”
“Right. Um. I don’t actually know your first name.”
Grantaire narrows her eyes. “Do not repeat this to any of the others, ok?” The blonde girl nodded obediently. “My full name is Renee Marie Grantaire.”
“Oh!” Enjolras paused for a second. “That’s pretty. I like it.”
“Sure but it hardly suits me, does it?” Before she can answer though, R is moving on to her first question. “What are you scared of?”
“Lifts. The future. Capitalism.”
R rolled her eyes.
“What’s your favourite colour?”
“Green. I don’t even need to ask yours- it’s red, isn’t it?”
Enjolras laughs. “You know me so well!” Then she frowned, because actually that wasn’t wrong. She does know her well, much better than she’d thought she would.
Before she can think any more, R has moved on to the next question. “What’s your most embarrassing story?”
“Oh, god.” Flushing to the roots of her hair, the blonde girl slid down in her seat and buried her face in her hands. “Promise not to laugh?”
“Sure!” R said, but when Enj moved her hands away for a second, her shoulders are already shaking with supressed giggles.
“When I was in year 10, just starting to do all of that questioning and stuff and working out my sexuality…” She broke off. “Oh god, this is too painful.”
“Keep going. I need to know this now.”
“Ok. I worked out that I liked girls, and being the tiny nerd that I was, I decided to research. Only thing was, I obviously was too scared to do something like that at home, so I settled for looking it up on the school computers.”
“Oh no, I can tell where this is going…”
Enjolras squirmed in her seat. “Lets just say that the first few results I got were fine but after that things got a little… scary and a crowd of people had gathered to look at what I was searching over my shoulder and oh god it was awful.”
R laughed. “So you accidentally watched porn on a school computer when you were discovering your sexuality, that’s no big deal!”
“Keep your voice down!”
“My most embarrassing moment is probably even worse. Again, it was in secondary but I think I was a little older than you. I got this huge huge crush on a female teacher- Miss Karnestein. And I wrote her a letter, confessing my love, as a joke of course but when it fell out of my bag and she found it she didn’t see it like that.”
Enjolras bit her lip. “Sorry, that’s funny but… kinda sad. Neither of us had great experiences dealing with… all that.”
R shrugged. “Anyway, it’s your turn to ask.”
“Ok, sure- what’s your favourite food? I’ll ask mum to make it for Christmas.”
They carried on talking for what seemed like hours, until the coffee shop was almost closing up and the girl working there kept pointedly hoovering around them. Eventually, Enjolras slurped down the last of her (now cold) drink and stood up. “Ok,” she said, smiling warmer than R had ever seen her and it bought her down to earth with a little bump because no matter how happy she felt about all of this it wasn’t real and she needed to remind herself that. “Well, I’ll see you soon then- I’ll pick you up at 9 on Thursday and we can drive down to your dad’s.”
“Cool.” R slouched deeper inside her fake-leather jacket, feeling the chill of the wind as they let the door of the coffee shop close behind them. It was drizzling miserably, not proper christmas snow but pathetic dribbling rain that barely left a mark but felt thorourghly unpleasant. “So, I’m going this way.”
“Oh, I’m going this way,” Enjolras said, gesturing the opposite direction and she actually sounded sincerely disappointed. R melted a little. “But, um. I just wanted to… I just wanted to do something.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, um. My parents are going to expect us to be affectionate and stuff and so is your dad probably and it probably isn’t a good idea if we just go for it when we’re there with no prior planning or anything.”
“Ohhhhhhkay…” R took a step back, and then a step forward. “You want to do a practice kiss?”
This part of it hadn’t occurred to her, how much it was going to hurt having just a tiny taste of what she wanted but not being able to have the whole thing. When Enjolras nodded yes, she took another tiny step forward and tilted her head up. She could do this, she could do this, she could-
Enj’s lips met hers and it felt like a little zap of electricity, straightening her up and making her rock forward onto her toes so that she could reach up as high as she could to press her lips against Enjolras’ again. Her whole body swayed towards her, seeking her warmth like a cat seeks radiators and sofa cushions. She parted her lips a little, experimentally, but was not prepared for Enjolras suddenly sighing against her and sliding one hand around the back of her head to guide the kiss and using the other to press into the small of her back, under her jacket, with her icy fingers. When R shivered at the cold touch, she chuckled against her lips and deepened the kiss again, slowing it so that it was more controlled, more leisurely. She smelled so good, R thought, her mind lazily drifting in a fog of bliss. Like cinnamon and peppermint and cold and new clothes. And she tasted good too, like the caramel coffee she’d just been drinking.
When she finally pulled away, R stared at her for a moment starry-eyed before she could compose herself. “Fuck,” she muttered, and then said louder “Ok, well, I don’t think we’ll have any trouble being convincing.”
“No,” Enjolras agreed, looking slightly panicked. “Um. Thank you?”
For once, R didn’t joke around or point out that it wasn’t exactly normal to thank someone after a kiss but she wasn’t exactly feeling normal about this either. She nodded slowly, like any sudden moves would frighten her. “Ok. I’m going to just… Go. I’ll see you on Thursday.”
“Yeah. Thursday. Right. Bye!”