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"Let me get this straight," Eponine said, while opening another bottle of wine.
"Straight is really not how I want this."
"Hilarious, Grantaire, you should write your own standup," she deadpanned and refilled his almost empty glass.
"So basically," she started again while refilling her own. "he broke your nose, then you argued, disagreed on everything, and now you want to have his adopted babies."
"I don't think I'm necessarily one for kids, but that does sum it up pretty well," Grantaire mused and downed almost half of his glass. With Gavroche talked into going to bed early for once and Azelma staying over at a friend's house, they were curled up on Eponine's couch in their apartment for their weekly round of cheep wine and Disney movies. Only today they were hardly paying attention to the screen in favor of discussing Grantaire's massive crush on a guy who had punched him in the face about two days ago.
"So you're definitely going to that meeting, right?" she asked and got about half a minute of desperate laughter as an answer.
"I can't do that, 'Ponine! No. Not happening!"
"What?" she asked, surprised, before her tone got teasing. "You think then he'll know that you like him?"
Grantaire burrowed his face in the pillow he was hugging to his chest only to immediately pull back, when his body reminded him that his nose was still broken. Eponine flinched in sympathy.
"I'm already close to obsessing about this," he mumbled.
"That's why you should deal with it like a grown up. You won't know if he likes you back without actually talking to him, you know?"
"Maybe I don't wanna know," he said even quieter.
She sighed. It was a bit worrying how much of a baby her best friend was being about this. Usually Grantaire was rather laid back about his crushes and generally not one to fall head over heals in the first place. That was her shtick, her brain reminded her unkindly.
"He said you should come to one of their meetings, didn't he?" she tried, only to get a dismissive gesture in return. No one could quite make dismissing gestures like Grantaire.
"Yeah, I'm assuming that's because he wants to tell me more about how wrong I am, even though he's the one being delusional here, really. I mean the guy wore a Liberty Leading The People T-shirt. Unironically!" He threw his hands up for emphasis, dropping the pillow on the floor in the process.
"Yeah," Eponine said, unimpressed. "I'm so dragging you to that meeting."
"Urgh, you're not helping 'Ponine."
"I know."
"'Ponine?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you, you're the best."
"I know."
And she smiled as her best friend settled against her on their couch so they could finally finish Chicken Little.
Enjolras felt deeply annoyed as his eyes wandered to the entrance of the Musain for what felt like the billionth time. The Les Amis meeting wasn't going to start for another twenty minutes and still his pulse seemed to pick up the pace whenever someone entered. He was beyond trying to lie to himself that he didn't care whether Grantaire was going to come or not, when really, he madly wanted him to. Arguing with the cynic stranger had been intense and had left him feeling dizzy and awake at the same time. There was so much more he wanted to tell him, convince him of, learn about him. Also maybe he wanted to make out with him against a wall a little, but that was beside the point. For Courfeyrac though, this seemed to be the only thing that mattered, as his teasing grin grew wider every time Enjolras' attention was caught by the door. Enjolras rarely experienced an attraction like this and his best friend seemed dead set to be excited about it on his behalf. He kept playing with the zipper of his pink hoodie, bouncing up and down from time to time, while telling him about this girl he and Marius had met. Apparently it had been a big deal of some kind and the story involved, unsurprisingly, a tongue-tied Marius and, rather surprisingly, Javert, the local chief of police, chasing them both through a garden.
Enjolras stood up when the others started to flock in and made for the back room of the cafe that they basically owned at this point. It was not big, but large enough for their purposes, providing space for a couple of smaller tables and an old blackboard, formerly used for announcing the cafe's daily specials, now covered in notes and flyers from past and future projects. At least from there he wouldn't be able to see the door and maybe get the most distracting thoughts out of his head. There weren't many reasons for Grantaire to show up, least of all Enjolras breaking his nose as something of a greeting and Enjolras was annoyed at himself for how much he cared. Distracting himself by going through his notes again helped and when Combeferre sat down next to him with two cups of coffee he couldn't help but smile.
"And you know at this point we think we've seen it all, when suddenly Javert is at the door and he has something in his hands. Could have been a broom, could have been a shotgun, neither of us is brave enough to check."
It seemed Courfeyrac felt the need to share the story again, with Jehan, Bahorel, and Marius present, who started to follow them into the back room.
"Because you see him recognizing us and his eyes go big and wild so Marius here gets out 'See you on the flipside', which- why, friend? Why?"
"I panicked," Marius said a little higher then usual, his face a truly amazing shade of red.
"And we're running, just leaving the poor girl standing there, Javert yelling something and then Marius is suddenly climbing over the fence even though the door we came through is still open and right there and he faceplants into the pavement, so I grab him and half-drag him around the corner, where we hide in an alley until we're sure that Javert isn't following us and that, ladies, gentlemen and fine persons of other genders, is how Marius got the mayor's daughter's phone number but not her name."
Enjolras felt himself smile as his friends laughed.
Feuilly and Bahorel were the last to come in, the latter grinning widely. "Do we know already if Enjolras's special friend is coming?" he asked, Feuilly rolling his eyes at him.
"His name is Grantaire, he is not 'my special' anything, I deeply regret how we met and no, he isn't here yet," Enjolras answered, willing himself to sound as neutral as possible. The last part might have come out in a bit of a smaller voice but if so only Combeferre noticed.
Eponine was keeping her promise of dragging Grantaire to the Musain and she was winning the Best Friend Of The Year award for how calm and patient she was dealing with his whining. He only shut his mouth when they reached the cafe and he could tell she was thanking the heavens for that. The Musain was small and cozy and the girl behind the counter smiled at them when they entered.
"Two small coffee, black," Eponine ordered, while he let his eyes wander around the room. No golden gods so far, he noticed with a rush of worry. This had to be the right cafe and they were almost on time and he was about eighty percent sure that it was Wednesday –
"Coming right up," the girl said, noticing Grantaire's searching gaze. "You guys looking for someone?"
"Yeah, some social justice club or something," Eponine answered, while the barista started on their order. "What were they called again? Something french and pretentious, I think."
"Les Amis de l'ABC," the girl and Grantaire said at the same time. She smiled again and Grantaire decided that he liked her.
"They're in the back room," she told them, placing the two coffees on the counter. Eponine pointedly glared at Grantaire until he pulled out his wallet to pay for them both. "Behind that door," she instructed, pointing to a wooden unmarked door to her right.
"Thank you," Grantaire said with a grin, taking both coffees as Eponine was already approaching said door.
"No problem. Have fun in there."
Eponine turned and let out a devilish laugh at that. "Oh, I intend to."
Grantaire gave her a flat stare to show her how unimpressed he was pretending to be with that, earning him a sharp grin in return. She pushed the door open. There was no turning back.
It was probably not a good sign how the whole room got suddenly quiet once they entered. Grantaire had to admit that he remembered none of their faces with one exception, but he was pretty sure that all of the people present were people from the haunted house tour. His eyes found Enjolras' easily and to his surprise the man was smiling at him, almost pleased to see him. He smiled back without thinking about it.
Then a few things happened at the same time: A small guy with the widest grin who had been half draped over a tall, dark skinned guy with glasses made an excited noise sounding a bit like "He came!" just as Eponine froze up next to him. Enjolras's eyes widened as the little guy shrugged off his hoodie, revealing a light blue shirt that read 'My best friend punches people when he's scared' and Grantaire couldn't suppress a snort.
"Hi, I'm Courfeyrac, maybe you remember?" he said, extending his arm at the same time a lanky guy in the corner spoke up, causing Courfeyrac to lower his arm again and turn.
"Hey, Eponine."
"Hey, Marius," she answered weakly.
Oh, fuck.
Grantaire knew that name.
Marius Pontmercy was a guy that frequented that little restaurant where Eponine waited tables.
Marius Pontmercy was a guy Eponine had been madly in love with since she first met him.
Marius Pontmercy was a guy she had confessed to about three weeks ago, getting a stammered 'No' and 'Let's still be friends' in return and she had been doing so well at getting over him, but she wasn't yet and Grantaire knew she needed him far away from her for that.
Screw all the pretty, blond revolutionaries in the world, he was getting her out of here.
"Well, this has been fun," he said, giving Marius his best glare, making the guy actually flinch a bit. Good. "But, oh, look at the time, we have to go."
And he dragged Eponine away from that room, almost spilling their coffee that he was still holding on to uselessly. He kicked the door shut behind him, almost missing how Enjolras got up to stop him, and then downed both cups, ignoring the burn they left in his throat. The girl at the counter send them a worried glance as he placed them on a yet to be cleared table, but he didn't gave her the time to say something, dragging his best friend onto the street. Finally in the open he immediately reached for his cigarettes, handing one to Eponine too. She was quiet, which in this case was definitely not a good sign, and her hands were shaking slightly, which was even worse. She managed to light the cigarette herself at her forth try, handing the lighter to him just as Courfeyrac emerged from the cafe.
"Hey, you two," he said softly, keeping a careful distance. "I'm Marius' roommate, so I know the story. I get if you want me gone but I wanted to offer help."
"Help?" Eponine echoed, snark back in her voice, Grantaire noticed with relief. "You can magically make me fall out of love?"
"I'm very good at hugs," Courfeyrac said, a small smile on his lips, slowly opening his arms.
If anyone else had offered, Grantaire would have accused them of ulterior motives immediately, but Courfeyrac looked so genuinely caring, so genuinely upset that someone else was suffering, so genuinely unable to stop himself from offering help, Grantaire couldn't keep himself from believing him, that making Eponine feel better was his only motive for doing this. So it almost didn't seem strange to him when she cautiously stepped closer to him and he wrapped his arms around her, putting his chin on her shoulder and gently patting her between her shoulder blades. For a few seconds they stayed like that until Eponine pulled back, a small smile on her lips.
"You're weird," she told him, sounding amused.
"So I've been told, yeah," he answered and grinned, before turning to Grantaire. "It's really awesome that you came, you know. We all hope your nose is getting better."
"I'm fine," Grantaire said, smiling too. Courfeyrac seemed to have that effect on people. "I like your shirt."
Courfeyrac's face lit up at that. "You do?" he asked excitedly. "I made it myself. Enjolras is probably going to murder me, you know, but it's so, so worth it.” And he gave them a wide grin.
“So you're Marius' roommate?,” Eponine asked suddenly, redirecting Courfeyrac's attention back to her.
“Yeah,” he answered. “He told me a lot about you.”
He looked at her with intent, like there was something he wanted Eponine to understand.
“He told me a lot about you, too,” Eponine said, looking Courfeyrac over with her eyes, obviously getting whatever Grantaire was missing here.
Then Courfeyrac grinned again, causing Eponine to do the same.
“Hey, you know…" he said. "If you wanna let off a bit of steam, there is this protest we're going to this Friday. Against Abstinence-Only Sex Education, the folks who organize it have been trying peaceful for a while now, collecting signatures and such, but now they wanna make sure their voices are being heard at least physically. It could get kinda rough since teaching about safe sex shouldn't just include information about save sex between a cis man and a cis woman and there are likely going to be anti-protesters." It was amazing how delighted he sounded. "Marius won't be there since he's otherwise tied up."
Eponine thought about that for a moment, eyes on Courfeyrac finding some understanding in his gaze that Grantaire didn't get. "Sounds nice," she finally decided, then looked at him. "You coming too?"
"Why not," he said before someone could point out that a possible brawl was not somewhere you should go with a broken nose.
Courfeyrac waved them goodbye, not before he and Eponine had exchanged phone numbers so he could text her the details for Friday. She was a nice girl and he couldn't help but feel sorry for her and her broken heart. She definitely deserved to be happy and as awesome as Marius was, Courfeyrac had a feeling that he was not the right guy for someone so edgy and cool.
His phone buzzed in his pocket, a text from Enjolras, presumably trying to casually ask about Grantaire and missing by a hundred miles. He pulled it out while heading back into the Musain; his pulse quickened for a second when he realized it was from Combeferre.
From My Favorite Nerd:
Enjolras wants to ask you if Grantaire is ever coming back again but he's failing at putting it in words and it's getting quite ridiculous. Please come back.
Courfeyrac did his best to not linger on the words Please come back, but if he speed up a bit on his way back, it was only for him to know.
Eponine was still positively pissed off at herself when she got into work the next day. Marius was not allowed to have this power over her, she was being ridiculous, she thought angrily while scrubbing down tables. It was too early for lunch and the kitchen wouldn't open for another 45 minutes, so the room was fairly empty, barley any costumers present yet.
Suddenly a familiar face popped into her view. Long, thick black hair framed a pale face with dark, almost black eyes and very red lips.
"You look grumpy," Montparnasse remarked, her face definitely in Eponine's space.
Eponine gave her an unimpressed look. For a few seconds they stayed like this, faces only inches from each other. Then Montparnasse moved away, laughing lightly.
"I'm assuming your bad mood comes from freckle-boy," she said not missing how Eponine flinched ever so slightly.
"Go away," she finally said, turning back to the table she was cleaning.
"That is no way to treat customers," Montparnasse said in a mock offended tone.
"Only people who buy stuff here are customers, 'Parnasse," she told her over her shoulder.
"Very well then," Montparnasse said and gracefully took a seat in her favorite booth. "I'll have the usual."
Eponine just rolled her eyes and went to fix her a large Caramel Cappuccino. Montparnasse had been a weird constant in her life ever since Eponine's father had done a job with her a few years back and now that Eponine had started working here she dropped by every now and then. To tease her, Eponine assumed. Objectively Eponine knew that Montparnasse was not someone who would usually come to establishments like this, her world was more on the shady side, dark corners in run down bars, moonlit alleys, but weirdly she fit in nonetheless. Just another beautiful woman drinking coffee in a little restaurant, only the sharpness of her grin and the cunning in her eyes telling of just how dangerous she was.
"You know, if you've got time you can always join me," Montparnasse said, when she caught her staring. "There is something I wanted to ask you anyway."
Against better judgment Eponine took the seat opposite of her and gave her an unimpressed look. "Shoot."
"Now that you know that freckle-boy will not go out with you," Eponine narrowed her eyes at that. Montparnasse might've been a dangerous lady, but if she wasn't going to watch her tongue, she might be loosing it soon. "you should go out with me," she finished, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"With you?" Eponine asked still unimpressed. "You and me? Going out?"
"You're making it sound like it's the most unthinkable thing."
"Well, it is."
"You wound me."
Eponine sighed. A wave of annoyance swept through her at even having to explain this. "'Parnasse, I know why you go on dates. I know because you told me. With you it's all about the sex, unbelievable amounts of sex and I'm ace, do you see my problem? I know you know this."
Her sexuality wasn't something Eponine talked about often, but it wasn't a secret either and she was sure she had discussed this with Montparnasse at least once because she remembered her shocked expression at the thought of someone not wanting sex. She also remembered waiting for her to make a comment along the lines of 'you just haven't tried it/met the right person yet', but after a couple of beats Montparnasse had just shrugged and said: "Wow, what's that like?" something Eponine was eternally grateful for.
"I'm willing to make an exception," Montparnasse said now, a lazy grin on her lips.
"Aw, how nice. I'm swooning," Eponine deadpanned.
Montparnasse laughed at that. Then she leaned over the table, towards Eponine, face serious. "I mean it, 'Ponine. I really think you should start going out again, it's been what, a month?"
"Three weeks," Eponine corrected immediately.
The smile was back on Montparnasse' face. "Almost a month since he turned you down, the time is now, the place is here."
"I'm not your charity case."
"That's good cause I don't do charity. I want this. If you happen to want to try a date, let me know." And she drank the remains of her cappuccino, placed the money on the table and got up. "See you around, 'Ponine.", she said with a smirk and left the restaurant.
Eponine spent the rest of her shift in deep thought.
From The Devil:
this Sunday at 8 pick me up this better be a nice date
From The Devil:
im serious about the no sex
From Satan's Servant:
sex is overrated