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Courfeyrac stops what he’s doing and says, “We need to do something drastic.”
Combeferre looks at him warily.
“With Enjolras,” Courfeyrac clarifies.
Combeferre doesn’t look any less wary. In fact, Courfeyrac would go so far as to say he looks more wary. Which, rude, when has he ever steered Enjolras wrong?
Combeferre raises an eyebrow, as though he can hear Courfeyrac’s thoughts. He probably can, Combeferre works in mysterious ways.
“What exactly are you talking about, Courf?” He puts down the book he’s reading, attention now fully on Courfeyrac.
“We both know Enj has been off since Christmas, right?”
Combeferre nods.
“And we both know that he gets ridiculously grumpy around Valentine’s Day.”
Again, Combeferre nods saying, “Yes. He says it’s a ‘totally pointless capitalistic holiday that is just used as an excuse to show romantic love when 1) you can do that any day of the year and 2) there are other types of love.’ If I remember correctly.”
Combeferre’s mouth twitches a little in a smile and Courfeyrac snorts. They have both heard that rant more times than they can count. Enjolras was amazing and wonderful and Courfeyrac’s friend- his brother really, but he was insufferable when it came to most holidays.
“So, we need to fix both those things.”
Combeferre’s wary look comes back.
“But! We need to fix it in a way that Enjolras thinks he fixed it.”
Combeferre’s expression still does not improve.
“And you know who else needs something drastic done? Grantaire!”
“Courf, no, this is a terrible idea.”
“You don’t even know what it is!”
“You,” he points an accusatory finger at Courfeyrac, “are going to try to matchmake them.”
“Ok, yes. But it needs to be done! I have waited years for them to get it together, and they just won’t. They are driving everyone crazy.”
“They really aren’t.”
“Well, they’re driving me crazy. Please, ‘Ferre? I need your help.”
Courfeyrac gives Combeferre his best puppy dog eyes. Combeferre narrows his eyes at him and then finally sighs.
“Fine. What do you want me to do?”
-
They confront Enjolras a few days later. Courfeyrac is trying to make it not look like an intervention. It’s not really working since it kinda-sorta-definitely is an intervention. Enjolras is sitting at the round table in the apartment the three of them share. He has textbooks, papers, about four different coffee cups, and his laptop taking up the whole table. Courfeyrac sits down on one side of him and Combeferre on the other.
“We need to talk.”
Enjolras slowly looks up from his paper. It’s like his eyes and his mind have a physically difficult time pulling away from what he’s writing. Courfeyrac shakes his head a little. He really does hate Enjolras working nonstop.
Enjolras blinks at Courfeyrac and then Combeferre and then says, “What?”
“Something is going on with you.” Combeferre says bluntly. It’s not how Courfeyrac would have introduced the topic, he was going for a more gradual approach. But, maybe it’s for the best. Enjolras and Combeferre are always more to the point then he is.
Enjolras opens his mouth, probably to argue, but Courfeyrac beats him to it, “Look as your best friend, no as your brother, I am concerned for you.”
“What.” Enjolras says. “Why?”
Courfeyrac stares at him, “Enjolras you have been doing nothing but work and blasting Jolene on repeat. I love Dolly Parton but if I have to hear her lament in a very gay way about Jolene stealing her man, I’m going to throw your phone out the window. Also, it’s a cry for help.”
Enjolras glares at him and then looks to Combeferre. Combeferre just puts up his hands. “I would like to hear some different music.”
Enjolras doesn’t stop glaring but he does say, “Ok, fine. What do you want me to do?” So, Courfeyrac counts that as a win.
“You need to spend some time out of this apartment! As soon as possible. Go outside! Do a fun activity! Stop living like a hermit.”
“Okaaay. What about tomorrow? The three of us could… go to the movies?” The idea sounds like it personally offends Enjolras, but he wouldn’t suggest it if he didn’t want to go.
“That’s a great idea! Oh wait,” Courfeyrac deflates as though he just realized something, “tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. ‘Ferre and I both work during the day, and then we were going to go on a date later.”
“Bummer.” Combeferre says. It doesn’t sound convincing at all. Courfeyrac shoots him a glare when Enjolras looks down at the table.
“Ugh. Since tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, no one will be free. We can just plan something for the weekend.” Enjolras picks up his pen again as though the issue is settled.
“NO!” Courfeyrac yells. Enjolras drops his pen in surprise and Combeferre gives him the side-eye.
“Uh, I mean, no!” Courfeyrac attempts again, quieter, “I- well we, think you shouldn’t wait that long. I mean I can’t remember the last time I saw you leave the apartment when it wasn’t for class or one of the ABC meetings.”
“Also,” Combeferre speaks up, “We would like the apartment tomorrow.” And oh, Combeferre is so smart. Courfeyrac loves him and sends him a big grin.
Enjolras on the other hand, is not smiling but rather blushing furiously.
Before he can say anything though, Courfeyrac says, “Can you just promise me that you won’t spend the day inside? Go out! Go on a walk, or go to a bookstore, or hey! Why don’t you study at the Café Musain?”
Courfeyrac knows Enjolras better then to honestly believe that he will just stop working for a day, so suggesting an alternative place for him to study should finally push him out the door. Literally.
“Fine.” He mumbles “I promise. You could have just asked, instead of making this about me.”
Courfeyrac opens his mouth to respond, but Combeferre beats him to it with a gentle hand on Enjolras’ shoulder. “We care about you, Enjolras. We really do think you’re stuck in a slump. A change in environment might help. Us wanting the apartment to ourselves was just a coincidence. We’re not trying to get rid of you."
Enjolras blushes again, but it’s softer this time. He looks at both of them. “Thanks, guys.” Courfeyrac pulls him in to a hug.
-
It’s in the early afternoon when Enjolras finally leaves the apartment. He’s not thrilled about it, but a promise, especially to Courfeyrac, doesn’t get broken. His already bad mood darkens when he enters the Musain. Rather than the typical crowd of students, artists, and coffee enthusiasts, the Musain is filled with couples and small groups all clearly on dates. Enjolras groans. How is he supposed to get anything done with people holding hands and kissing and staring into each other’s eyes?
He's contemplating his options, either stay and ignore the people around him or go to the library, when he spots someone sitting alone in the corner. It’s Grantaire. He looks miserable and Enjolras’ heart tugs. It also flutters. He turns to leave since he knows Grantaire can’t stand him, but before he can actually head out the door, Grantaire calls out to him.
Enjolras freezes, should he pretend he didn’t hear? But his frozen stance implies that he did hear so that won’t work. Maybe he could just nod in acknowledgement and then leave? That seems rude. What if-
“Enjolras, hey.”
Suddenly Grantaire is right in front of him, when did that happen? He’s looking at Enjolras curiously. His hair is wild and his eyes are shining and Enjolras doesn’t know what to do. He wants to stare at him forever but the silence between them is becoming awkward.
“Oh, uh, hi, R. What are you up to?”
Grantaire scrunches up his nose, “Art history paper and readings. Uh, you’re welcome to join me at my table since everywhere else is taken.” He gestures around at the various dates and his scrunched-up face turns into mild amusement. “Clearly the place is packed.”
Enjolras just nods. For once, he doesn’t trust his words. He doesn’t want to force Grantaire to spend time with him. But he likes studying at the Musain, even if there are startling number of dates going on. They walk to Grantaire’s table and they both get settled. Enjolras pulls out his book and resolves to stay focused on his work. Except he keeps sneaking looks at Grantaire in between the paragraphs he’s reading. He wants to openly gaze at him, watch as his long eyelashes flutter and blink, watch his lips as he silently mouths the words to the book he’s reading, watch his fingers fidget with a pen absent-mindedly. Grantaire says that he’s ugly, but Enjolras finds so much beauty in him. Enjolras closes his eyes. He needs to stop. Grantaire is not into him.
Enjolras takes a deep breath, “I’m going to get a coffee, do you want anything?”
Grantaire doesn’t look up from his own book but shakes his head no. Enjolras gets up and heads to the counter and orders a drink. While he waits for his drink to be made, Enjolras tires to think of his coursework, and the next ABC meeting, and anything other than Grantaire. But it doesn’t work. His mind goes back to the months before Christmas. He doesn’t know how it started, but suddenly he and Grantaire were hanging out a lot more. They would study at the library together or walk to class with each other or grab a coffee. They still argued and disagreed, but it felt good-natured. Enjolras liked being around Grantaire. He would seek him out. He could have sworn they were moving towards something. And he wanted that something. But then Grantaire made his feelings clear at Joly’s Christmas party.
He's pulled out of his thoughts by his name being called by the barista. He’s delayed in getting his drink by a couple standing at the drinks counter. They’re making eyes at each other and aren’t paying attention to their surroundings. Enjolras has to clear his throat three times before they move. He stomps back to the table and swears that while he’s in the café he will not be like any of the couples. Rather then being distracted by feelings, he will be respectful of Grantaire and not stare at him while he works on homework.
This works for about thirty minutes. Enjolras is becoming more and more distracted by his feelings. Not about Grantaire, but about the people around them. The only thing he can focus on are couples giggling and complementing each other and kissing in public. Enjolras throws down the pen he’s holding.
“Ugh, I can’t stand it anymore!”
Grantaire startles and half asks, “Wha-?”
Enjolras interrupts him, “This stupid holiday! It’s so annoying and I have to just sit and watch people make out while I’m trying to study. It’s just another Wednesday but apparently no one else sees it that way! Because of the messed up capitalistic hellscape we live in! My own friends didn’t want to hang out with me because they’re all dating each other!”
While he’s talking, Enjolras’ voice gets louder and louder. The couples around him start glaring some even make a move to get up- either to tell him off or to leave, Enjolras doesn’t know and doesn’t care. All he focuses on is Grantaire’s slowly spreading smile.
“Yeah!” He says once Enjolras is done. “Fuck Valentine’s Day!”
It’s a bit of a surprise since Grantaire seems like the person who might like ridiculous holidays. But then again, he is a cynic and also just as alone as Enjolras is today.
“Fuck Valentine’s Day!” Enjolras agrees. They both break out in laughs.
Someone politely clears their throat behind them. Enjolras turns and it’s Louison. She and the rest of the Musain’s staff are patient and generous with Enjolras and his friends. They allow them to use the back rooms for meetings and don’t get annoyed when they get loud and carried away. Now, though, Louison looks amused and a bit reluctant.
“You know I have to ask you to leave for the day, right? You’re disrupting the other customers.”
Grantaire rubs the back of his neck, “Sorry, Louison.”
She rolls her eyes affectionately. “I’ll see you at the meeting next week.”
They both quickly pack up and leave the café. It’s snowing outside and they start walking down the sidewalk.
Grantaire shakes his head and laughs, “I think we would have been chased out with pitchforks by angry couples if Louison hadn’t asked us to leave.”
“I stand by what I said, Valentine’s Day is a stupid holiday.”
“Yeah,” Grantaire agrees, “I was about to leave the Musain when you came in. I was gonna go drink a bottle of wine and watch a Muppet movie.”
“I’ve never seen a Muppet movie.”
Grantaire stops in his tracks, “What?”
Enjolras says, “I’ve never seen a Muppet movie.” He shrugs “My parents just never put it on when I was a kid and I kinda just forgot to watch them?”
Grantaire stares at him for another moment then grabs his wrist and starts heading in the opposite direction.
“Wha- where are we going? What is happening?”
“We’re going to my place. I have a frozen pizza in my freezer- yes, it’s vegetarian- and we are doing a Muppet marathon.”
-
They enter Grantaire’s apartment and Enjolras is met with warmth and coziness. Enjolras has been here before, but it’s been a while. It’s a small square apartment with the front door opening into a shared living room and kitchen. There’s a well-loved couch with a handknitted blanket thrown over the back, books and papers are scattered around, and there are paintings and drawings pinned to the walls. There are several new additions since the last time Enjolras was there, well before Christmas. He feels a sudden pang of sadness, he’s missed being in Grantaire’s space.
Enjolras pushes the thought away, “So, you promised pizza?”
“Ah, a man with priorities!” Grantaire jokes while heading over to the freezer, “I can pop this in and then we can start educating you on the best cinema to exist.”
Enjolras raises an eyebrow but heads to the sofa without complaint. “Do you want me to put in the DVD?”
“Nah, there are like a million Muppet movies, so I don’t want you to get overwhelmed and scare you off.”
“You couldn’t scare me off,” Enjolras says. The noise from the kitchen suddenly quiets. Enjolras freezes. Did he make Grantaire uncomfortable?
The noise from the kitchen starts again and Enjolras swears he hears a soft, “That’s good,” from Grantaire. He grabs the blanket from the back of the sofa and buries his face in it. He doesn’t know what’s happening. Whatever it is though, he’s not going to question it because he doesn’t want it to stop.
Grantaire finishes putting the pizza in the oven and, after rummaging through the DVD cabinet, pulls out The Muppet Movie. “Get ready for the time of your life!”
He puts the DVD in and then sits down on the couch. Right next to Enjolras. It’s not a big couch, but it’s definitely big enough for them to not touch knees. Maybe Grantaire misjudged the space between Enjolras and the side of the sofa. Enjolras readjusts how he’s sitting so Grantaire has more room. They are no longer touching knees and Enjolras can breathe a little easier. Grantaire though, seems to slump. Maybe he needs a pillow or something? Enjolras hands him part of the blanket. “Should we start?”
After the first movie ends, they both get off the sofa. Enjolras closes his eyes and stretches, his muscles got stiff while sitting for the movie. He tries to clear his head. He honestly can’t recall what they just watched, too focused on Grantaire softly singing all the songs and laughing at all the jokes. He’s so distracting.
When he opens his eyes, Grantaire is looking at him. He quickly looks away with red cheeks. Enjolras frowns. Maybe Grantaire needs to turn down his apartment’s heat. Or loose the hoodie he’s wearing. Enjolras’ frown deepens. He doesn’t know if he could handle Grantaire’s muscled arms. The thought makes him blush.
Grantaire cleans his throat and says, “Uh, maybe we should watch A Muppet Christmas Carol next? I know some Muppet purists out there will scoff at the idea of watching them out of order when showing a newbie, but it’s the best one! We probably should’ve started with it honestly, but Christmas is over so I thought you wouldn’t want to watch it. But that’s ridiculous, Christma-”
“Do you hate me?” Enjolras blurts out. He can’t take it anymore. Grantaire is talking about the Muppets and Christmas as if the whole Christmas party didn’t happen. Enjolras can’t do that, he can’t pretend.
“What?! Why would you think that?”
“You’ve been avoiding me since December!”
“What? No, I haven’t.”
“Grantaire, we have barely hung out this entire year!”
“What are you talking about? We literally got food last week?”
Enjolras shakes his head, “We got food as a group. We haven’t done anything one-on-one for months!”
“Well, you’ve been avoiding me! So, I’ve been avoiding you, so I didn’t have to be around you avoiding me!”
Enjolras squints. That barely made any sense. “It’s because you’ve been weird since Joly’s Christmas thing-“
“-You mean Joly’s non-denominational Christmas-and-all-winter-holidays-or-just-hooray-December party?”
Enjolras waves the correction away, “Yes, yes, not what’s important right now. I thought you were horrified to kiss me!”
“I-what?”
“The mistletoe? We were both under it. I looked over at you and you had a horrified look on your face.”
“Enjolras, I was panicking because I’ve been in love with you for years and I didn’t want to force you to kiss me because you don’t like me like that!
“Hey! No one can force me to do anything!” Then the words Grantaire said catch up to him, “Wait, you love me?”
Grantaire covers his face with his hands and groans, “Look, I’m really sorry. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. I would like to keep being your friend if we can. But if you’re not comfortable with that either then I can stop coming to meetings and-”
“Grantaire, look at me.” Grantaire doesn’t so Enjolras gently pulls Grantaire’s hands down. “I love you, too.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. I do.”
Grantaire goes a bright pink. It’s very pretty. “Can I kiss you now?”
-
Grantaire is resting his head on Enjolras’ shoulder as the opening song for A Muppet Christmas Carol plays. “You know,” he says, “I’m really happy I promised Combeferre I wouldn’t stay in today.”
Enjolras pulls away slightly, “You what?”
-
Courfeyrac and Combeferre walk hand in hand in the falling snow. They are on their way home from dinner when Courfeyrac gets a series of texts.
From: Enj <3
I cannot believe you Courf
From: Enj <3
I am never promising you anything ever again
From: Courfeyrac
hehehehe >:)
From: Courfeyrac
Combeferre helped too you know
From: Enj <3
I know you put him up to it
Several minutes after that Courfeyrac gets another text
From: Enj <3
thanks