AN: Hey! So this is my first story! I really hope you guys like it! I'm not sure if I'm going to keep this to a one-shot, or write more drabbles on other pairings as well. Let me know what you guys think in the reviews! PS Did anyone see George Blagden's new video? It's utter perfection, that little life ruiner.
Disclaimer: I don't own Les Miserables, Mariana's trench, or George Blagden.
Grantaire sat in the corner of the Musain, sipping on his choice alcohol of the week. He knew what the others were thinking, even if they didn't speak the words. 'Why is he still here? He doesn't support the cause. He's only a distraction. Maybe he would be more beneficial if he would just put the damn bottle down for once!' But none of those thoughts mattered. Only one opinion was truly taken to heart for Grantaire, or as his friends called him, R. The thoughts, the opinions, the words of his golden Apollo. His childhood friend, who had become more than that in R's eyes. How it had happened, Grantaire was not sure of. The only thing of importance was that somehow, over time, it did.
7 year old Grantaire had been enjoying the chill of the winter weather when he heard a thud, followed by an almost inaudible "Oof" as the wind rushed out of whoever had just apparently fallen from the nearby tree. Grantaire, who had been spending far to much time with his good friend, the hypochondriac Joly, rushed towards where the noise had come from. He stopped when he saw a bright red coat and blonde curly hair.
"Are you alright?" Grantaire asked, concerned. "Did you break anything? How many fingers am I holding up? Can you stand? Should I call an ambulance?"
"Can you stop interrogating me?" the boy asked, seeming a a bit amused.
'How strange,' Grantaire thought, 'that a boy that seems to be my age is using words like 'interrogate.''
"I'm sorry," Grantaire said. "My friend has gotten me truly paranoid it seems!"
"No worries!" the blonde boy exclaimed. "But, if I my ask, who are you?"
"The name's Grantaire," he said holding out his hand.
"Grantaire," the boy said, accepting the handshake. "It sounds a bit like grand R. Grantaire, grand R. My name's Enjolras."
"Enjolras?" Grantaire questioned. "Is that your first or last name?"
"Does it matter?" Enjolras said, sounding a bit miffed.
"I suppose not." Grantaire said, sensing the annoyance in his tone.
"So R, what were you doing out here?" Enjolras asked, his mood already lightened once more. Grantaire smiled at the new nickname.
"Enjoying the weather," R answered simply. "You?"
"I'm supposed to be meeting a few of my friends here," Enjolras said, before smirking. "I wanted to attack them from up in the tree, but I suppose that didn't work out to well now did it? You should come along! I think you'd get along with Courfeyrac nicely, and everyone likes Combeferre!"
That evening was one of the best of Grantaire's life. He and Enjolras stayed in touch, as they had some classes together at their primary school. The next time they had a real conversation though, was almost 8 years later. It was the summer they were entering high school.
Grantaire couldn't take it anymore. His parents were fighting all the time, screaming and yelling until the early hours of the morning. He decided to go for a walk to clear his brain, and without realizing, walked straight to the park where he had first met Enjolras. Upon arrival in the park, R could hear very faint sniffs that sounded like someone crying. Trying to locate the sound, he spun in a circle and was a bit surprised to discover the sound was coming from Enjolras himself. Grantaire could distinguish a few words between the sniffs.
"Get over it Enjolras," the boy said to himself. "Your parents are splitting, so what. You say all the time you don't really care for either of them, so why should it bother you now? Your friends all call you the marble man, where's that mask now, why can't you just pull yourself together!" He almost shouted those last few words.
"It's not good to keep your feeling bottled up you know," R said, taking a seat beside Enjolras, who flushed a deep red at the sudden arrival of his friend. "You should let yourself feel sometimes, there's nothing wrong with that. Everyone feels, everyone cries, everyone vents." He felt more and more like a hypocrite with every word. He put his arm around Enjolras as a motion of comfort, and immediately felt the boy tense up. When Grantaire didn't move his arm, Enjolras began to relax. "So tell me, what's wrong," R questioned. "And I want the whole story, not just the surface.'
Grantaire sat and listened as Enjolras told the story of how his parents had been fighting and were getting a divorce. By the time he finished, Grantaire's shirt was wet with Enjolras' tears, and Enjolras himself felt much better.
"R?" Enjolras asked meekly. "Can you not tell anyone about this?"
"Of course," Grantaire promised. "But you need to do this for me in return. Promise me that anytime you think you can't handle what's going on you come talk to me. Don't keep it inside."
'Hypocrite, hypocrite, hypocrite!' R thought to himself.
"Sure thing," Enjolras agreed. "I should probably be getting home now. Dinner soon, and everything." He began to walk away.
"And R?" he stopped and turned around.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks," Enjolras said. "That meant a lot."
Grantaire's life became harder and harder as time went on. Like Enjolras, his parents split up. Grantaire now lived with his mother who was getting sicker day by day. When his mother eventually passed, 16 year old R did something for the first time that would latter become habit-he drank until he forgot about everything. He forgot about how he hadn't spoken to his father since the divorce 2 years ago, he forgot how he was now all alone in his huge house, he forgot how he hadn't talked to Enjolras since that day at the park. He forgot about all his hurt and it felt amazing.
2 years later brought on graduation. Grantaire wasn't sure how he had actually passed, considering he missed many classes on account of horrid hangovers. 3 days before graduation, R was woken by a loud knocking on his front door. He was shocked yet happy to see Enjolras standing at his door. What he wasn't so happy about though, was the tear streaks running down his cheeks. He ushered him inside and led him to the couch.
"I can't take it Grantaire," Enjolras breathed "I know I should be over this by now, but it honestly is killing me that neither of my parents will be at my graduation! I'm going to be alone." Enjolras' parents had stopped talking to him after he took up his cause to help the underclass citizen's. His parents thought that it was ridiculous, and the Enjolras was wasting his time. Frankly so did Grantaire, but if Enjolras supported it, then he would be with him every step of the way.
"Enjolras, your parents may not be there but I promise you, you will not be alone!" Grantaire said. "Courfeyrac, Combeferre, Joly, Bousset, and I will be right onstage with you, and Feuilly, Bahoral, and Marius will be cheering for you in the crowd. You have the Amis. We'll be there for you. I'll be there for you."
At once, Grantaire realized why no matter how many times Enjolras ignored him, or went for years without talking to him, Grantaire was always there with comforting words and a helping hand.
Grantaire was completely and undeniably in love with Enjolras.
Grantaire propped the bar, knowing that Enjolras would never love him back. But still, he felt a need to let Enjolras know that no matter what he was there for him. Now Grantaire may have been drinking, but he was no where near drunk that night. So what possessed him to do what he did next, he had no clue of.
R walked up to the stage at the Musain. His fellow Amis Eponine was there preforming for the night. In a sudden burst of courage Grantaire asked if he could preform a song. Eponine was shocked, but agreed almost immediately.
"Um, hi," Grantaire said nervously into the mic. "Um, well, I've decided to sing a song tonight. This song means quite a lot to me. This is for- well you'll know who you are." R took a deep breath and began to sing.
When your tears are spent on your last pretense
And your tired eyes refuse to close and sleep in your defense.
When it's in your spine like you've walked for miles
And the only thing you want is just to be still for a while
If your heart wears thin I will hold you up
And I will hide you when it gets too much
I'll be right beside you
I'll be right beside you
When you're overwhelmed and you've lost your breath
When the space between the things you know is blurry nonetheless.
When you try to speak but you make no sound
And the words you want are out of reach but they've never been so loud
If your heart wears thin I will hold you up
And I will hide you when it gets too much
I'll be right beside you
I'll be right beside you
I will stay.
Nobody will break you,
Yeah.
Trust in me, trust in me.
Don't pull away
Trust in me, trust in me.
I'm just trying to keep this together,
Because I could do worse and you could do better
Tears are spent on your last pretense
And your tired eyes refuse to close and sleep in your defense.
If your heart wears thin I will hold you up
And I will hide you when it gets too much
I'll be right beside you
Nobody will break you
If your heart wears thin I will hold you up
And I will hide you when it gets too much
I'll be right beside you
Nobody will break you.
"Thank you," R said, leaving the stage. As he returned to the bar, he saw Enjolras approach him.
"R," Enjolras said. "Thank you."
Grantaire heard every word that was said through that one phrase. 'R, thank you for being there. R, thank you for not telling the others that I cried. R, thank you for supporting me, even if you don't support my cause. R, thank you for being there.'
And for R, that was enough.
