Grantaire was finally falling asleep on the old, ratty couch that Jehan and him had when his phone buzzed. Groaning, he dug into his pocket and pulled it out.

Marius' bday is today; we're meeting at Cosette's house to bake a cake for him and plan in a half an hour –Éponine

Pretty soon, his phone was buzzing with new messages from the group message.

I might be a little late –Feuilly

Okay, be right there –Combeferre

Grantaire got up and walked around the small flat to find his roommate. "Jehan, where are you?" he called out half-heartedly. A cool breeze came through, so he walked over to the balcony with the window doors opened. Jehan was leaning forward on the rail, people watching.

"Did you want to drive or should I?" Grantaire asked him.

Jehan grinned, "R, are you even sober?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I am," Grantaire said. "To prove it, I have the worst headache ever."

"Enjolras would be happy to see you sober," Jehan remarked, walking inside.

Grantaire said nothing as he sat back on the couch, "He'll just be surprised. He thinks of me as the drunk, remember?"

"Come on, Enjolras is as much as your friend as I am," Jehan said, sitting next to Grantaire. Grantaire raised his eyebrows and Jehan sighed, "Alright, we're a bit closer. Let's get there early."

XXX

Éponine had managed to stall Marius by making him babysit Azelma and the boys back at Éponine's flat. While Éponine lived alone with her siblings, her other friends lived together in pairs. Combeferre and Enjolras' flat was in a nice part of the town. Courfeyrac and Marius' flat was in her apartment building, same floor and everything. Grantaire and Jehan had gotten a poor run down flat near their building. The landlady let them paint the walls as long as it was nice and appropriate. Bahorel and Feuilly shared a small flat too. Joly and Bossuet of course resided mainly at Joly's place with Musichetta, who had her own place.

Valjean's house was very big. He had a large kitchen that was primarily used by Toussaint. Now, it was filled with the Amis, trying to bake Marius a cake. Enjolras was working on mixing in the batter, helped out by Courfeyrac. Courfeyrac was having a flour flight with Jehan, who was working on the chocolate icing with Grantaire. Cosette and Joly were trying to keep everything sanitary, while Bossuet just stayed out of the way. Bahorel and Feuilly got all the materials that were needed. Combeferre supervised the whole thing.

"How is the cake going?" Valjean asked him.

Combeferre sighed and rubbed his head, "Good. Sorry, I was up all night studying and then Enjolras was arguing on the phone with someone and we were out of painkillers."

"You need rest," Bossuet observed. Valjean nodded and went to his study to do some work.

Éponine's cell phone rang and she glanced at everyone, "it's Marius, shut up!"

Everyone fell quiet as Éponine answered the phone. "What's the problem?...scary guy at door?...describe him…okay, does Azelma seem comfortable?...Gavroche is always confident, what about Azelma?...okay, I'm 90% sure that's Montparnasse…yes, he's the young one…no, he won't kill you, just don't annoy him…trust Azelma and Gavroche…Marius, just have some confidence and he won't bother you…yes I am aware that he normally has blood stains on his clothes…okay, are you sure?...alright, bye." Éponine hung up the phone and rolled her eyes.

"Wait, Montparnasse the murderer?" Bahorel said. "What's he doing at your apartment?"

Éponine shrugged, "He stays there sometimes."

"You two dating?" Grantaire asked, wiping some chocolate off of his fingers.

Bossuet, who was nearest to Combeferre, noticed a slight change. Combeferre straightened up and his face went a little pink.

"No," Éponine said. "He just keeps me company. It's a lonely life."

"Why is it so lonely?" Bossuet asked, winking at Combeferre.

Éponine laughed, "I've been in jail too many times and raising four siblings is hard."

"Get a dog, like Courfeyrac's," Cosette suggested. The Fauchelevent's cat, Catherine, was currently in Valjean's study, curled in his lap.

Éponine shook her head, "I want a decrease in stress, not an increase."

"Drink," Grantaire suggested.

"Drinking doesn't solve anything," Enjolras snapped.

Grantaire snorted, "It makes dealing with problems easier."

"All you're doing is pushing away your problems, not solving them. Maybe if you didn't hide behind the bottle so often—" Enjolras said, going on a rant.

Grantaire cleared his throat, "I'm sorry, I didn't realize my alcoholism was affecting you personally."

"Don't fight now," Combeferre said sharply, "We're trying to make a cake for Marius, which will never happen if we don't cooperate."

"Whatever you say boss," Grantaire said with a touch of sarcasm. Courfeyrac broke the tension by singing No Good Deed from Wicked and spreading ingredients all over the place.

"So, Cosette, what should the theme be?" Feuilly asked her.

"FIIIIIIIIIIIIYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRR RRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Courfeyrac screeched.

"I don't know, I've been trying to get him into Doctor Who," Cosette said.

Bahorel dropped a bowl, "What?! C'mon, everyone's seen Doctor Who!"

"Not Marius," Cosette said. "I mean, I've only seen the Classics, but Marius just doesn't have any time."

"Well, we should watch it," Joly said. "What does Marius like?"

Cosette smiled, "He loves walks outside, although nature tends to disagree with him. He likes reading and he told me when he was little boy he dressed up as Harry Potter and ran around with a stick casting spells."

"Who didn't?" Feuilly asked, as everyone laughed.

"Marius also said how his life goal was to be Bilbo Baggins," Cosette said, still laughing. "We can do a Hobbit/Lord of the Rings themed party."

"And watch Doctor Who and get excited over the new Harry Potter movie," Jehan said.

Combeferre took a pad of paper and pencil and started thoroughly planning it. "Where will the party be held?"

"How about Grantaire and Jehan's place?" Courfeyrac asked.

Grantaire nodded, "we can paint it Lord of the Rings themed and Jehan can write quotes everywhere."

"Perfect," Combeferre said. "Okay, Cosette, you're going to have to lead him here. Bahorel and Feuilly, you two can help Grantaire and Jehan set up. Bossuet, Joly, and Musichetta can bring the drinks. Enjolras and I will bring the good. Courfeyrac, you can supply the music."

"Sounds awesome!" Courfeyrac said, grinning.

Éponine glanced up from her phone, "Gavroche wants to come, can he?"

"Of course," Combeferre said. "Your other siblings can come too."

"Azelma doesn't really like going to social gatherings and I'm not risking alcohol around my young brothers, they're ten and eight," Éponine said. She put her phone in her pocket and left.

"So, does someone have a crush?" Courfeyrac asked, nudging Combeferre.

Combeferre glared at him, "Courfeyrac, the party starts in two hours and we still don't have the cake ready."