Chapter One - Finding You
Flickering street lamps lit the damp, uneven cobbles of Paris as a mizzling rain brought a granite sky and heavy snowfall, making the air prickling and cold. Courfeyrac, a tall man in his early twenties, was late to a meeting at the Musain Café to discuss plans of revolution and a new world that would surely rise up out of the ashes. Grumbling at the sullen prospect of trudging, still further,the short distance to the café where Les Amis de l'ABC met regularly, Courfeyrac heard a distant, muffled sobbing. Trying to discern the origin of the distressed cries, the young man was led to a narrow, dingy alleyway.
Sat there, in little more than thin strips of cloth, was a tiny thin boy, so thin that his bones and ribs jutted out of his blue skin. Little toes dug into the snow beneath him as chill blains formed. Dropped eyelids fell over large blue eyes, sunken into hollowed cheeks which were mantled with dried blood and new tears, falling freely.
Upon becoming very ill, the young boy had crawled through the streets to find an alleyway to curl up in the snow. He had accepted that this would be his grave. The small gamin, child of the street, had been thrown out onto the streets by his brute of a father at a young age. His clothing, not that you could call it clothing, hung off of his weak bony limbs and dirty blonde locks hung limply from his head. Courfeyrac looked down at the tiny, pitiful frame and bent down to the height of him. The boy looked up weakly and leaned his head on his knees. "Who're you?" said the boy in a plaintive, hoarse voice audibly scared in tone. "My name's Courfeyrac and I want to help you. You are not but five years old? What is your name, mon petit?" Courfeyrac said in a gentle voice. "Gavroche. I'm almost five. P-please don't put yourself in any trouble. I don't want charity." Gavroche stuttered. Courfeyrac hated to see anybody suffering, especially a child. A harsh bought of violent coughing overcame the child and he convulsed all over. Courfeyrac, seeing this took off his warm outer coat and put it around Gavroche's tiny frame, saying "Here, I have some friends who are student doctors and they can help you free of charge, I promise." Gavroche trusted the man and saw kindness in his deep brown eyes. It wasn't easy for him to trust, especially after what he had gone through. Gavroche was helped up by the young man, he barely reached Courfeyrac's knees. Another bought of coughing attacked the boys tiny body. He became weak and fell into Courfeyrac's warm, loving arms. He held Gavroche and gently lifted him up. Gavroche moaned a little as he became conscious once more. He burrowed his face into the crook of Courfeyrac's neck and clung to Courfeyrac's waistcoat. "That's it, Gavroche." He whispered "Please stay awake, for me." He hummed a small melody and sang a little lullaby in an attempt to keep the boy in his arms awake, it began to work. "Thank you Courf," Gavroche said under his breathe before he hugged the man he already trusted and gently curled his tiny fingers around each one of Courfeyrac's dark curls. Courfeyrac couldn't help but smile at the sweet boy. He was so small and light, he felt scared for the boy's life. He already loved and cared for him maybe even as a little brother.
Gavroche immediately immediately felt his arms begin to warm as Courfeyrac rushed into the café and up to the top room where they the members met. "Please help me. Joly? Combeferre?" Courfeyrac called out as he entered the room. Two students came forwards towards them and Combeferre asked "What is it, Courfeyrac? What happened?" "I found him in a small alleyway. He's ill and starving. I brought him here so that I could raise him and look after him. He needs somebody's love. I'm going to give it. Please help him." Courfeyrac spoke suddenly. "Of course" Joly replied seeing fear in his friend's eyes. "We'll look after him also." Combeferre said. Without another word, Joly and Combeferre led them to a side room at the far end of the bar. There were many young men there and it frightened Gavroche, not that they were intimidating but as mentioned before, Gavroche found it hard to trust new people. This only made Gavroche embrace Courfeyrac closer and tighter.
Once in the room, Courfeyrac placed Gavroche on a large bed with a tower of blanket and duvets neatly strewn about it. Here, Courfeyrac quickly covered him in the blankets in an attempt to keep the small boy warm and the chill that was in the air, out. He sat beside the small boy on the bed and hugged him close, only releasing his embrace slightly when Joly and Combeferre had to check his temperature. "He has a fever and we need to get it down before it spirals out of control." Combeferre said after a while. This made Gavroche nervous as he didn't understand what that meant so he grabbed onto Courfeyrac's hand for support which he willingly gave.
Joly went out of the room for a moment and when he returned he was carrying a wooden basin and a cloth. "We need to draw the fever out of his head." Combeferre said as he noticed the concerned glance he was given by Courfeyrac. Joly started to soak the cloth in the water and went to put it on Gavroche's forehead before he squirmed away and his light blue eyes welled with tears. Courfeyrac held him close in his arms and kissed his head gently. Joly continued to dab the water onto Gavroche's brow for several minutes before stating "That should be enough for now, you should try and get some rest, mon petit." Combeferre said kindly, taking a liking to the boy. When Courfeyrac started to leave, a little hand stuck out from under the bundle of blankets. "Stay, please Courf." Gavroche said quietly, taking the older boy's thumb. "Of course mon petit." Courfeyrac said and went back to him, his heart swelling at the boy's plea. "Thank you very much Monsieur Courf, I love you." Said a plaintive voice from under the covers. "Oh Gav, I love you too, so much, and I'll always look after you and be there for you. Always." Courfeyrac said as Gavroche's breathing slowed and the boy drifted off to sleep enclosed in the loving, strong arms of his new big brother who kissed his head lovingly. The boy he found so adorable rolled over to face him in his sleep, unbeknown to Courfeyrac that this was the first love that had been shown to him throughout his short life. Courfeyrac said into Gavroche's hair "I love you, mom petit frère."