A/N: I know most of you don't read this notes but I would really appreciate it if you manage to read it. This is the result of a pot bunny I got while getting ideas for my other fic Change of Fate. This was going to be the final chapter of that story but I couldn't stop myself into turning it into a fluffy one-shot. So please enjoy and I'll try to update my other stories soon.
When Enjolras is suddenly awoken in the middle of the night by the strangest of noises, he is reminded why he is having a tough time lately trying to adapt in his new flat. When all that he had ever know in the past few years was a life full of loneliness and freedom of distractions in his own house; Everything is forced to change when Jolly and Éponine found a big apartment at middle distance from school and the Musain. After many begging, scheming and blackmailing he finally settles in with them in the 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment. The living arrangements were almost ideal if you can't look over the part that Jolly practically owns the only bathroom with a bathtub (big enough for two people, so it's easy to picture the reason) leaving Enjolras to fight Éponine for dominance of the only bathroom left.
After the annoying squealing fails to cease for a good couple of minutes, Enjolras is more than determinate to get out from bed and investigate the source of the scandal that is depriving him from some precious hours of rest.
Hearing thoroughly, he founds that the noise is coming from Éponine's room. So he decides to enter the room in order to prove her well-being when he finds the door locked, this fact sends a shiver down his spine knowing about Éponine's irrational fear of being left trapped without escape in her own house. Scared and very, very curious he knocks on the door repeatedly falling to notice the commotion that was going on inside her room, his mind was consumed with so many possible scenarios that his ears failed to perceive the fainted breathing and the series of whispered curses that were coming from the mouth of the only occupant of the room. When she finally opens the door the sight in front of him leaves him bewildered.
She greets him with out-of-place hair, ruffled face, uneven breathing and her sweat covered body. Her usual smile -fake or real- is replaced by a strange scowl that can be only achieved by utterly frustration. Éponine doesn't have the heart to rise her voice and wake Jolly and Muschieta (Whose presence is understandable and expected even on weekdays) from a blissful dream. "What is wrong with you?" she whispers an octave lower than her voice is used too, she hopes that he was able to decipher even a part of it, her voice was too strained and her patience was null at this ungodly hour.
Trying not to flinch with the shiver her noises gave him. Enjolras focus on her state, believing that her look can only be achieved by some sort of flu, he takes her by the waist and abruptly forces the brunette to lay down on bed while promising to take good care of her in this hour of need, soothing cheerful thoughts at her ears, he let her rest as he begins stroking her hair. Eponine is obviously angered at his actions -she is a grown woman, she can handle herself plus she isn't even sick- whispering her arguments she tries to get him out of her room.
Realization kicks in that he might not be leaving soon. Instead of fighting she moves to her side of the bed but her movements make the bed shift and that sound that come out of the worn out mattress is the one that betrays her past deeds. Enjolras notice the sound and asks irritated. "Wait, is that sound the…."
After a couple of minutes of silence that in her head lasted hours she tries to hide her now re-flushed head and bites her pillow trying to curl up and disappear from this moment. "What you were doing that caused that noise, where you rocking your bed to sleep?" he asks innocently but the moment the words leave his mouth, the answer comes to his head and he can't get it out.
Enjolras tries to no avail to suppress a moan when the picture of Éponine in that pajama of hers -that barely covers anything- face down of her mattress with her toes curled and her hands in places he had only dream of assault him. He shifts uncomfortable on the bed trying to hide his own arousal until he sight catches her face, it no longer reflect a sense of embarrass but there is something indescribable on it. It's not lust, it's not love its just realization.
Trying to cover his own flushness, he tries to go back to his Mr. Marble façade. "Jesus Christ, Éponine. Why don't you do what normal people do and touch yourself in the shower? The water will drown all noises" He bites his lips as he blows his deepest secret, he had a tendency of waking super early not only to win all the hot water to his roommate –and to avoid gazing at her with less clothes than usual- but lately he has develop an habit of doing manly things on the shower –of course never thinking about his only female roommate-.
"That's why our gas bill is so high, Seriously Enjolras. I don't know if I should be offended as a environmental activist or just because I shower in there too." She lets a quiet laugh at his reaction after smacking his head; his angelical face had turned from cold as marble to a 3 year old being reprimanded by his mother. The cuteness of his face, her hormones and unresolved feelings towards her friend finally catch up to her and without thinking it further she leaves a sweet kiss to her lips.
The instant their brain register what was going on they develop different reactions, she tightens up waiting for a shove and he grabbed his arms on her tiny waist and force her into his chest. She finally broke the kiss apart and before he could open his lips to protest her legs were trying to carry her far away from him.
She tries to run away but he takes her waist, forcing Éponine back to his chest. Noticing that she is overthinking things too much, the king of overthinking placed his soft lips on her neck and began a new relaxation technique, one that he had only dare to picture in the shower but never had the courage to bring to practice.
She is trying too hard to get out of this, not because she doesn't want it but for the implications that comes with it. There won't be more late nights just watching movies, no more innocent teasing. She was picturing a life without being able to offer him a BJ or something that would leave him hot, bothered and flushed in front of Les Amis when she was dragged back to this world with a sound of her mouth. Maybe she won't be able to embarrass him in front of everyone but the way he is making her body feel is far more satisfying that any other thing in this world.
"When you touch yourself? Who do you picture, little 'Ponine?" he feels like a creep asking this but he is in need of an answer, he is fully aware that those simple worlds can either crush his world or making him feel alive for the first time. It's too early for both of them to talk about their feelings, for now this will have to do.
Being on a high because he has a feeling that her body is already giving the answer away, the blonde Apollo is taken back when the whisper that comes of her swollen lips matched the words "C-cossette" at this statement Enjolras drops her like she is on fire, failing to see the playful smirk on her lips and the mocking spark on her eyes. He is in shock not because she chooses another women but because she didn't choose him and that knowledge is already crushing him from inside.
She growls while her mind is yelling several curses for nor feeling his warm hands near her, biting her lip she lets her eyes open to find an utterly broken marble leader. Her dream had always been leaving a mark on the marble statue but not one like this, never likes this. She gulps and makes her way to the little corner of room he is using to stand firm.
As the distance between them grows smaller, she can feel his walls coming up. After all this time, everything she had every wished was coming to reality and her silly joke had cost her dearly. She wasn't sure how his reaction to that false statement might be, she was hoping that it would turn the lovely and careful man into a beast trying to mark what was rightful and always had been his. But the expression he had after hearing Éponine's response was too much for her heart, so guilt began to fill her.
"I-I was lying" she tried to connect her lips with his cheek but he stand up taller, backing away to leave the room. She didn't know what to do and the path from were he was standing to the door was a short one, trying not to waste valuable seconds she finally open up and told him the truth "It's always been you" The result of hearing her words gave him a knot in his throat and a fussy feeling in the bottom of his stomach. His body might be jumping in joy to her words but his mind new better, he had expose himself too much and hurting was no longer an option, he wasn't one to be played and if Éponine didn't value him enough and lie to his face then she was not the woman he had dream her of being. "Clearly you are horny, so you'll say what I want to hear to get me in your bed"
She tried to suppress her watery eyes, it was too much for her and his cold statement was crushing every little piece of soul she had left. "Yes, I'm horny. Yes, I want you in my bed." She said apologetically "But I've been wanting you ever since I meet you. At first it all revolved around your body against mine in any type of smooth surface but lately I've been craving more that a simple shag"
"Go on" he eager her to continue with a hand on the knob, he really wanted all of this to be truth but he didn't know if she was being honest with her. All his emotions were in the ray and he only pray to hold his self-control and avoid a mess up. This was his chance at falling, it was his chance at love and he appreciates it dearly to just let it go.
"Shit, 'Ras don't make me say it. You know that I don't usually…" she rolled her eyes, exhaustion leaving her body, she wasn't going to say it. She was stubborn and live had showed her over and over again that love always ends with her being hurt. The only way of protection was by never admitting she was in love.
"Open to anybody; I know you 'Ponine. That's why I gave you an easy getaway. I didn't need to hear that you wished to grow old with me, or some cheesy love thing you are so afraid to pronounce. But as always you take everything as a joke, you didn't have to purr all you heart or feelings. You just had to say a 3-letter word and I was prepared to leave you open up with time. Yet, you hurt me like you wish never to hurt so excuse me for needing a little bit more than it's always been you to believe that you are feeling more than lust at this moment."
Éponine had never seen her roommate like this, usually he is calm and his words are carefully selected and analyzed but seeing him on her doorstep with his bed hair and hoping eyes are the sight that causes the crack around her armor. All this years she's been hoping for an act to bring him out of his shell when it the end it was her stone heard that needed to take the leap of faith. Biting her lips she once again shorten the distance between them and curled her arms around his hips. He meets her embrace with a little resistance but it's the least she expected from his normally cold manner. "You might not want to believe me but in the end what I feel for you is real, more real that any other thing I've been able to feel. Through the years you and I had liked the idea of becoming numb towards the world with the assurance that no one would get to hurts us anymore but can you imagine how deep my feelings for you are that against all my care and supervision you manage to get under my skin. You might not be aware of it but you help me leave the shadows of my past behind and for the first time in a very long time I am excited for what the future might bring to me… to us." Her words are giving him a taste of her mind but her deep brown eyes are the ones that reassure him that everything she is saying is felt by her soul and that is all that he needs to know before connecting his lips with hers.
This time is no longer sweet and caring, both are trying to demonstrate their feelings by rough kisses and fervent touches. He takes her long legs and wrap them on his hips while making their way to the shower, now it's the time to finally put an end to his fantasies and begin to start working on reality. She laughs at his petition to show her how fun it can be to waste a little bit of gas and water but agrees at the end. She doesn't care where it happens and that matters is that finally she is going to spend some time enjoying the real deal.
The morning after when Jolly is surprised to wake up and not find his usual coffee in his mug he is concerned so he goes looking for Enjolras who is usually on charge of providing the precious liquid to the household he goes to his friend's room and surprisingly finds it empty. Jolly goes to the shared bathroom only to found it in a state of mess that itches him to start his Sunday cleaning early, he suppress his angry cries while trying not to slip on the spilled water. He is ready to kill his roommates when he is greeted with a scene he and les amis had hoped for a very long time, he smiles cheekily at the sight of his friends tangled together in Éponine's bed soaking wet but blissful sleeping next to each other. For once he doesn't care about the flu they are surely going to catch or the germs that are forming in the mess they call bathroom he is happy that those two finally got together. He quietly leaves the room, thinking that finally he can get that spare room he always dream of and that maybe just maybe the gas bill might come a little bit lower this month.
Plese Review! I love hearing about your opinions and if you ask kindly enough I might write the little part that happen on the shower ;)
Love, Elle.
