"I can't believe Eponine hasn't dumped you yet."
Enjolras glanced up from the notebook he was hunched over, fixing one of his infamous stares on Grantaire as he tried to figure out if he had indeed heard him correctly, or if the ambient buzzings of speech surrounding the table had warped his friend's words. Judging from the looks on Grantaire and Combeferre's faces, however, he rather suspected there had been nothing wrong with his hearing.
Grantaire was watching Enjolras with a rather narrow-eyed, bleary gaze that was most likely the result of an attempt at intense concentration while under the influence of a number of previous bottles matching the one currently encased in his fingers. Combeferre had leaned back in his chair, and was using his now widened field of vision to watch both of his friends with a look of amused anticipation.
"Why is that?" Enjolras asked, hoping to escape Grantaire's alcohol-infused logic quickly so he could return to his work.
Grantaire rolled his eyes as he shook his head, unable to believe that someone so intelligent could be so blind to his own oddities. "You're doing homework. In a bar. It's a Saturday night, your girlfriend is all the way across the room initiating an impromptu dance party, and you're doing homework. In a bar."
Enjolras sighed and returned his attention to his notebook. "Yes, I'm quite aware we're in a bar. Please don't distract me; I need to finish this as soon as possible. It's a grant proposal for the charity Eponine and I worked for this summer. They're extremely under-funded and in need of attention."
"Your girlfriend is in need of attention!" Grantaire exclaimed, annoyed that his friend seemed to care so little about his attempts to save him from impending doom. "There could be some unscrupulous drunk like myself over there bothering her! Or even worse, she could be having fun dancing with some guy who isn't you."
"I doubt she's having any problems. I don't hear any bones breaking or men squealing in agony. She's not a child, she can take care of herself," Enjolras said. He appeared to be so deeply engrossed in his work that he had only caught the first half of Grantaire's argument.
Suddenly Grantaire shot his head to the side, peering over Enjolras' shoulder at something happening out across the room. "Crap. Eponine is dancing with Courfeyrac. You're dead."
Once again Enjolras refused to look up from his notebook, this time appearing not to have heard anything being said to him as he continued to write at a furious pace. Now thoroughly aggravated by Enjolras' obvious apathy to his precarious situation, Grantaire leaned across the table and snatched the pen out of his hand.
Enjolras froze in his seat, and then slowly lifted his head to glare at the man who seemed to have some sort of inexplicable death wish. Grantaire merely smiled as he twirled the pen between his fingers and remarked, "I said, your girlfriend is dancing with Courfeyrac."
"I know," Enjolras replied, grabbing his pen back. "He asked me if I minded and I said no."
Grantaire stared at Enjolras in shock, all of the color draining out of his face as his friend's words sunk in. "You let Courfeyrac dance with your girlfriend!? No one lets Courfeyrac dance with their girlfriend! In fact, I'm pretty sure there's a rule about that!"
"He's right, you know," Combeferre commented from his ring-side seat. "There is a rule about that."
Before Combeferre could elaborate any more on the things people were not supposed to let Courfeyrac do, a laughing Eponine appeared at their table and proceeded to claim the seat directly next to Enjolras. She threaded her arm through his and smiled at him before turning her attention to their friends. "What have you all been up to over here?" she asked, grinning at Grantaire as if she could somehow sense that he was the source of the displeasure currently radiating from her boyfriend.
"Enjolras seems to think that writing grant proposals for the charity you worked on this summer is so urgent that he needs to do it on a Saturday night. In a bar. I've been attempting to change his mind," Grantaire replied, completely unfazed by the deathly glare Enjolras was once again directing towards him.
Eponine whipped her head around, eyes wide with shock as she stared at Enjolras. "Is that what you've been working on?" she managed to ask after the initial surprise of Grantaire's statement had worn off.
Enjolras let out a long breath and turned to look at Eponine with an air of resignation. Combeferre and Grantaire leaned forward in their seats. The slight, involuntary motion went unnoticed by both as they focused on the couple, waiting to see how Eponine would react.
Despite their expectations, however, it was Enjolras who broke the silence at the table. "It was supposed to be a surprise," he stated, still watching Eponine as she processed what he had said.
"Excuse me, gentlemen," she said after several seconds, her eyes still firmly locked on Enjolras, "but I have to take this man home with me now."
As Eponine dashed out of her chair with the intention of finding her coat, Enjolras treated his stunned friends with one final look of annoyance. "Great," he growled, "so much for finishing this tonight."
Rising from his chair, Enjolras scooped-up his notebook and let out a frustrated sigh as he followed Eponine across the room. For a short time, Grantaire and Combeferre could only stare at the spot vacated by their friend. Finally, Grantaire spoke the thought that had been foremost in his mind.
"Am I really that drunk, or was he angry with us just now?"
"No," Combeferre replied as he doubled over in his chair, his face red with suppressed laughter, "I'm pretty sure he was just angry with you."
Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who has added this story to their favorites, reviewed it, and/or started following me. You are all such sweethearts! And to answer TcEm, yes, I do plan to write at least one more story in this AU. It's a bit longer though, so it's still percolating in my brain. What I will reveal is this: It's from Marius' point of view (that poor, spacey, lovely little dork) and it's also Enjonine related (I will not relent until that is the official E/E ship name! To the barricades!)