Apollo
Grantaire reached the top of the stairs with a pounding heart. Down below him, on the first floor of the ABC Café, the bodies of his dear friends lay where they had fallen. Brought down by the bullets of the French National Guard… The first things Grantaire saw was the soldiers surrounding the open window. When they heard him approach, they all turned and looked at him. Nearly twenty pairs of scorching eyes burned into his, but Grantaire was looking past them. He wasn't seeing a single one of the soldiers. All his attention, every nerve and sense that he possessed, was focused on the golden god standing in the window. Enjolras. Grantaire thought. My Enjolras… Enjolras, the leader of the revolution, the leader of students of the Café, was standing directly in front of the open window. The early golden light of dawn was starting to stream through, bathing the young man in a golden light. He looked more like a god than he ever had. The sun did him justice. It shone down on his golden hair, completely illuminating him. It was like he had his own personal halo. His blue eyes were glowing with pride and defiance. There was no fear. And Grantaire didn't expect there to be. He knew better. Grantaire locked eyes with Enjolras as he crossed the room to him. His mind barely registered how surprising it was that the soldiers let him pass without a word. Without moving a muscle. Enjolras smiled slightly as Grantaire approached him. Grantaire stood right beside him, taking his hand in how own. He's like Apollo. Beautiful and golden and strong... Turning to the soldiers he said, "Finish us with one blow." It surprised him how calm and steady his voice sounded. He was terrified as he stood there, but he refused to show it. He wouldn't give in to weakness now. He had done that all of his life, but he refused to now. He had believed in Enjolras for so long – loved him for so long – and he refused to fail him now. He wanted to give him at least one reason for being proud of him before it was all over. Grantaire turned and looked directly into the sapphire eyes of the man that he had known and loved since the moment he first laid eyes on him. As their eyes connected – sapphire with hazel – all trace of fear was gone. He was being seduced to his death by his beautiful Enjolras. His golden, proud Apollo. Part of his mind was screaming for him to run for it. To hide. To get away. To just run. But he silenced the voices. He had run all his life. He had run for too long. Had run from the things that terrified him. Had lost himself in drink, forcing himself not to feel the pain, the sadness, the fear. He wouldn't run. Not here. Not now. For years he had dreamed of a way of redeeming himself. He could finally see now that this was it. His only hope of redemption was to die beside the man he loved. "Do you permit it?" He looked straight into Enjolras's eyes, hoping to hear the answer he needed to hear. Enjolras slowly nodded, and then smiled. It was a warm, friendly smile. A smile that took Grantaire's breath away. A smile that acknowledged everything. Grantaire's loyalty. His dedication. His friendship. His love… Enjolras was holding a red flag in his left hand, the symbol of the students' fight for freedom, and he was holding Grantaire's hand in his right. The two boys heard the sounds of the soldier preparing their guns to fire, but they didn't care. Nothing on Earth, or in Heaven, could have torn them away from each other in that moment. They refused to budge. Refused to look away from each other. As the soldiers took aim, Enjolras wrapped his arm firmly around Grantaire's waist and held him close to him. Grantaire responded by putting his arm around Enjolras's waist. The two boys rested their foreheads against each other's and looked one last time into each other's eyes. They wanted their last glimpse of the world, of life, to be each other. To be the love shining in each other's eyes. "I love you Enjolras." Grantaire whispered. "I love you." "I love you too Grantaire." Enjolras whispered. Those words gave Grantaire strength. He had finally said and heard the exact words that he'd been dying to say and hear for years. Nothing else mattered now. Enjolras loved him. His Enjolras loved him. What more could he ask for? He had wanted nothing from this life but just to know that the man he loved and needed desperately loved and needed him too. Grantaire felt no fear. What did it matter if he never saw another day, so long as he was loved? What else really mattered in this life except love? True and unconditional love? "This is your last chance." The captain looked at the boys in front of him. He wanted to give them one last chance to save themselves before more blood was spilt. But Enjolras and Grantaire refused to back down. The boys held each other tighter as Enjolras thrust the flag of freedom high in the air. His eyes never left Grantaire's. The captain hesitated for roughly two seconds, filled with indecision. But finally he gave the command. "Fire!" Grantaire felt more than heard the guns go off. He felt blinding pain as a bullet pierced his abdomen, and then nothing more. No pain. No fear. Nothing. A blackness suddenly seemed to surround him and Enjolras. His last glimpse before he was swallowed by the blackness was of those sapphire eyes. The sapphire eyes of his golden Apollo…