It was mid-March and Jehan's birthday was two days away. Enjolras had just come back from a weekend at home (something that was allowed at the boarding school, but not often used) and he was cuddling with Grantaire on the artist's bed.
"I'm so glad Jehan and Montparnasse are dating." Grantaire said as he snuggled up against his boyfriend, not hearing Enjolras's hiss of pain when he touched a sore spot. "He always stays in Montparnasse's room and does whatever Jehan and Montparnasse do."
Enjolras hadn't told Grantaire yet, but his father had given him a few bruises when he came home from school. "Yeah, me too." he smiled, taking a deep breath. He knew he couldn't hide them for long, but he still didn't want Grantaire to notice. Grantaire smirked, pushing himself up so that he was hovering above Enjolras.
"So, do you think they do anything kinky?" he asked, lightly kissing Enjolras's neck.
"How should I know?" The blond sounded amused, gasping a little. Enjolras moved up, kissing Grantaire back, letting their lips linger together between more sweet kisses. He started to get into it before Grantaire began to push his shirt up from the bottom. Instinctually, Enjolras quickly pulled it down, smiling sheepishly as Grantaire stared down at him, confused.
"You getting shy, Apollo? You weren't so shy in Marius's room last week…" He trailed off smirking and pulling up Enjolras's shirt anyways. The smirk fell off his face when he saw a large bruise across the blond's ribcage. "Enj… what's this?"
Enjolras looked away, swallowing, he knew Grantaire already knew, so he gave an unsure shrug.
"Enjolras, you can't keep letting him do this to you!" Grantaire said, holding his boyfriend's shoulders, unwittingly shaking them the same way the man's father had that weekend. "I'm worried about you!"
Enjolras jolted, his blue eyes widening and his heart almost stopping momentarily. He know Grantaire hadn't meant it, and couldn't have known, but he still pushed him away defensively, the small action freaking him out more than he could've guessed. Enjolras practically curled into himself, clearly upset but he managed to keep his head enough to talk, "I'm sorry…" His voice was very soft as he tried to keep calm, not that he really was in the first place… but this, this was better than having a panic attack in front of Grantaire.
"Oh, shit." Grantaire whispered, mostly to himself. He'd seen Enjolras freak out like this a couple times in their months dating, but he seemed to be taking it worse than usual this time, bordering on a panic attack. "I'm sorry Enj, I shouldn't have gotten upset!" He tentatively put a hand on Enjolras's shoulder, and retracted it like he was burned when Enjolras flinched at his touch.
"No, no, it's okay." Enjolras shook his head, sitting up, shaking a little bit. He tried to resume a normal position and chill out. "I know it's not okay that he does it… But… I don't know what to do about that right now. I don't want to think about him, I want to think about you." he said, leaning his head into Grantaire's chest. He knew he was hurting Grantaire, but he didn't know how not to. He could hardly control himself.
Grantaire wrapped his arms around the blond, petting his back, "It's okay, baby. You don't have to think about it right now, I won't make you think about it."
A few moments of silence passed, the two boys just holding onto each other.
"So," Grantaire said, smiling slightly down at the blond, "You want to watch some Netflix or something? We can watch that one documentary you wanted to see."
"Are you coming onto me?" Enjolras asked with a slight chuckle, making Grantaire laugh. Maybe things would be okay.
…
Over the past few months, the Thenardier siblings had been having a lot of troubles with their respective unrequited loves.
Gavroche had been trying in vain to break up Jehan and Montparnasse, much to Jehan's dismay. He loved the kid and he was really upset that he didn't approve of his boyfriend.
Gavroche had been digging up evidence of all the past bullshit the Patron Minette in general had put the Amis through, but it turned out that the Amis had been just as horrible to the Patron Minette since day one, so most of his arguments were invalid.
Eventually he decided that he was going to take drastic measures. He was going to turn all of the Amis against Montparnasse, since most of them were indifferent to him now. Then Jehan would have to break up with him and find someone better.
Meanwhile, Eponine was feeling particularly lonely. Both Marius and Cosette were too wrapped up in each other to pay much attention to her, not that she wanted to be around them so much when they were being so sickeningly cute. She didn't even have Grantaire to bitch to, since he was off sucking Enjolras's dick or whatever. She was all alone.
(Bahorel and Feuilly would have been offended if she said that out loud, since she had become a very solid part of their friendship, but what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them.)
Eponine was also slightly avoiding Cosette in particular. On Valentine's Day the blonde girl had kissed her, soft and sweet, before heading off to go on a date with Marius. This only further confused Eponine on her feelings for both of her friends.
She decided, at length, to break them up. It hurt too much to see both of them, together without her, happy without her. So she'd break them up and maybe get one of them.
After she came to this decision, she needed a plan on how to break them up. At length, she remembered that Marius and Courfeyrac used to date, and that she actually had some blackmail material on Courfeyrac. And honestly, under normal circumstances she would never blackmail Courfeyrac, but this was a dire situation.
She texted him to meet her in the Musain one afternoon, when no one else would be there, and she asked him to not tell Combeferre.
"Hey, Ponine!" Courfeyrac said when he arrived, waving. "What did you want to talk to me about?"
"Courfeyrac, I hate to do this to you, but I need to ask you to do something for me." Eponine said, crossing her arms.
"Uhh… what is it?" Courfeyrac asked. Generally he would have just been like "Sure!" but he'd learned over the years to not agree to things all the time. Especially after the time he accidentally agreed to a fistfight with Bahorel.
"I need you to help me break up Marius and Cosette."
"No, nuh uh. Nope. I am not doing that, 110 percent no." Courfeyrac said, waving his arms in a "no" signal.
"You're going to help me, or I'm going to tell Combeferre about that one spring break after you and Marius broke up." Eponine threatened.
"You wouldn't." Courfeyrac gasped.
"I would." Eponine said with a stern nod.
After Courfeyrac broke up with Marius he had had a string of one-night stands, one of which included Eponine. Courfeyrac was afraid that Combeferre would be mad, that he'd think that Courfeyrac was being a slut. For all he pretended to not care about that kind of thing, deep down he really was afraid of what Combeferre was going to think about him, especially since he had a reputation for "cheating" because of his and Jehan's open relationship.
Courfeyrac was silent and serious for a long minute. Eponine was so uncomfortable that she almost called it off and apologized, but eventually Courfeyrac just sighed, defeated.
"Fine." He said, sounding miserable. "But you can't let Combeferre know, okay? He'd be so upset. And if Marius is mad at me for more than like a day I'll tell everyone that you tried to break them up."
"Deal." Eponine said, shaking his hand.
…
The next night, Musichetta called her boys to her dorm room (kicking out her roommate for the night) and sat them down on her bed.
"Okay, uh, I've got something to tell you." She said, sounding more nervous than they'd ever heard her sound since she proposed the whole idea of the three of them all dating at once in freshman year.
"Yeah? What is it, Chetta?" Joly asked, taking Bossuet's hand for support.
"Uhm… I missed my period." Musichetta admitted, and she pulled out a little white stick from under her bed, "So I was worried and I got one of these pregnancy tests and it was like 'if it's blue then you're pregnant, but if it's pink you're not', but it turned out kind of purple? And I did like three other ones and they're all purple?"
"Oh no. Did you try any different kinds?" Bossuet asked, glancing over at Joly who had this dumbfounded expression on his face. Musichetta shook her head.
"This is the only kind the store had. I'm going to go to the doctor to check, but… I just thought you guys would want to know…" She sniffled a little and Joly snapped out of his trance.
"Oh, Chetta…" He said, standing up and hugging her. She sniffled again, burying her head in his shoulder. Bossuet joined the hug and she clutched both of them tightly.
"I… I don't know what to do, guys! I'm not ready to be a mom!" She said, trying and failing to hold back tears. Joly and Bossuet hugged her tighter, not really knowing what to say.
"Whatever happens, we're here for you." Bossuet swore, petting her hair. Joly nodded frantically in agreement.
"I love you both so much." She said, her voice muffled by their bodies.
…
The next day was Jehan's birthday. Everyone had been working really hard to make the Musain's backroom look really nice and to get him nice gifts, since he honestly had been having a pretty shitty year since his hair got cut off.
Jehan had asked Montparnasse to invite his friends to the party, hoping that maybe they'd form a truce with the rest of the Amis. So with all of the Patron Minette, the Amis, and the girls (minus Musichetta, who was at some kind of doctor's appointment) the party started.
Grantaire had gone all out with his alcohol supply, so an hour and a half in everyone was at least a little bit tipsy.
.
Grantaire was mildly concerned for Bossuet and Joly. His oldest friends seemed to be stressed out, but Grantaire was far too drunk and Enjolras was far too willing to put up with PDA tonight for him to really care. He knew that they were being the obnoxious couple making out at the party, but he couldn't bring himself to really give a fuck.
"R." Enjolras whispered breathlessly after they broke apart from a particularly heated kiss, "We've got to get somewhere alone. Now."
Grantaire didn't need to be told twice, so they headed for the closet they had been locked in together by Gavroche just a few months previous, closing the door.
.
Joly and Bossuet were sitting on the couch, drunk, talking in hushed tones about the theoretical baby.
"It's probably mine." Bossuet lamented, his head on Joly's shoulder. "With my luck, even though we've been so careful."
"Have you even ever, like, had actual sex with Chetta? I thought we weren't going to do that until after we had an apartment." Joly asked, "I thought it was mine."
"No, there was that one time last month." Bossuet recounted, "My birthday."
"Oh yeah." Joly said, nodding. "Yeah, that would be just your luck."
"What are we going to do if she is pregnant?" Bossuet asked after a moment of silence.
"Well. One of us would probably have to marry her." Joly said, "We can't both marry her. But we have to make sure that she gets, like, our benefits."
"Well, then you should marry her. You're going to be more successful. You're going to be a doctor." Bossuet said thoughtfully.
"But if you're the father, then you should marry her! I can't take that away from you!" Joly protested.
"No, no. You see, if I'm the father then I'd still be tied to the family, so it wouldn't be as weird if I was around all the time. Then she'd be married to you. And the neighbors wouldn't ask as many questions." Bossuet reasoned.
"True…" Joly agreed
.
Across the room, Eponine had been getting Marius absolutely wasted for the past hour. After she was sure he was drunk enough, she started to convince him that he was still dating Courfeyrac and, in fact, in love with him. Drunk Marius was very open to these suggestions.
"Oh, my god. Courf is so great." Marius slurred, taking another drink. Eponine had already called in a favor with Bahorel to keep Cosette occupied (although Bahorel didn't know why he was keeping her occupied). "He's got these dimples… so cute!"
"Perfect." Eponine whispered to herself, since Marius wasn't exactly listening to her. She caught Courfeyrac's eyes across the room and nodded to him to get over here. Courfeyrac left his conversation with his boyfriend, much to Combeferre's confusion, and came over.
"Alright." Eponine said, leading them into a cramped room off to the side. "Now, Marius, look! Courfeyrac is here! Why don't you show him how much you love him?"
Marius seemed perfectly happy to do just that, wrapping his arms around Courfeyrac's neck and trying to drag him down for a kiss.
Courfeyrac looked sadly at Eponine. "Ponine, do I really have to do this?" He asked, his eyes wide and begging for her to tell him no.
"Yes." She said, feeling an immense guilt.
The guilt was partially swallowed by a feeling of sick satisfaction when Courfeyrac started to kiss Marius, but she felt a pang in her heart when he broke apart for air and whispered "sorry" to the wasted boy.
She turned and left, trying to escape from her feelings by getting Cosette and bringing her. After they broke up she'd be happy.
Before Courfeyrac had left, he and Combeferre had been talking about how pressured Combeferre was feeling about his classes. Combeferre honestly felt a little hurt by how Courfeyrac didn't seem to be paying attention to the conversation, staring at him a little blankly as he was lost in thought. And then he'd gotten up as soon as Eponine gestured to him? What was going on?
.
Eponine emerged from the back room's back room, going up to Cosette and taking her hand to lead her back there. Combeferre got to his feet and walked over, intercepting them.
"Eponine." He said. She turned and looked at him, this defiant look on her face. It was the look she wore to try to cover up that she was doing something wrong. "Where's Courf?"
"Uh, I can get him for you in a minute." Eponine said, skirting around the subject.
"No, I'm sorry, I'd rather know now." Combeferre said, the alcohol making him a little less like his usual polite self.
"Ferre, just butt out!" Eponine said, getting aggravated. She tried to block the door to the back room from him, but he noticed what she was doing and went around her, walking into the room with Eponine and a confused Cosette in his wake.
"Fey?" He asked, hurt coloring his voice as he watched his boyfriend making out with Marius, They were roommates… how long had this been going on?
"Ferre!" Courfeyrac said, looking mortified as he broke off from Marius. Marius didn't even seem to notice. "I swear to god that this isn't what it looks like!"
"Whatever." Combeferre said, crossing his arms. He knew that Courfeyrac had cheated on some of his boyfriends but this was too far. "This… this is too far. We're over, Courfeyrac. Just… don't talk to me."
"Ferre…" Courfeyrac sounded heartbroken as his boyfriend left the room, Marius still clinging to him as he tried to follow. "Combeferre wait!"
"Fuck you, Courfeyrac! If you follow me, even our friendship is over. Leave me alone." Combeferre said, and Courfeyrac believed him, stopping in his tracks.
"What the hell is going on?" Cosette asked, turning on Eponine with wide eyes.
"Oh, Cosette! You look lovely!" Marius mumbled drunkenly, extracting himself from Combeferre, who was trying to hold back tears. "Eponine just reminded me how much I loved Courfeyrac!"
"Eponine… you did this?" Cosette asked. Eponine turned away, not saying anything.
"Yeah. Eponine wanted to break you guys up." Courfeyrac said, his voice ragged. "I… I've got to go." He ran off, leaving the three alone in the private room.
"You… you wanted to break us up?" Cosette asked, looking furious and hurt all at once. Eponine swallowed hard and nodded.
"I…" She tried, but Cosette held her hand up to stop her.
"Save it. I don't want to hear it right now. You should go." Cosette said, not meeting her best friend's eyes.
"Cosette…"
"I said you should go!" Cosette yelled. Eponine shrunk back. She'd never seen Cosette angry before and it was honestly terrifying. She nodded and left.
.
Outside, Gavroche was talking to the half-drunk Bahorel. He was telling him all the shitty things Montparnasse had ever done, and Bahorel was getting increasingly upset. But it wasn't until Gavroche started to lie that Bahorel was actually angry.
"...and Montparnasse is the one who told Claquesous to cut off Jehan's hair!" Gavroche lied, crossing his arms for effect. Bahorel stood up, enraged.
"That's it! The little shit is going to pay for what he did!" He roared.
Combeferre walked out of the back room, followed by Courfeyrac a few moments later, but no one really noticed, with the scene going on.
"Hey, what's the big idea?" Claquesous, who was nearby, asked. He had just finished a glaring contest with Feuilly over the punch bowl (their source of alcohol) when their hands had touched, and he wasn't in a charitable mood.
"You!" Bahorel yelled, pointing an unsteady accusing finger at Claquesous. "You're an asshole!"
"...And?" Claquesous sassed back, ducking when Bahorel tried to punch him. "What the fuck, man?"
"I've got him, bae!" Feuilly yelled, coming in to get in on the fight.
"Gueule!" Claquesous yelled, getting the big man's attention, "A little help?"
Eponine ran out of the back room and no one stopped her as they watched the four boys fight.
"Stop!" Jehan was yelling, held back by his boyfriend, "For fuck's sake!"
Eponine suddenly ran back in and picked up the punch bowl, throwing it (their entire alcohol supply) out the window.
"Javert's coming!" She yelled, and everyone except the fighting boys tried to pretend that they were model citizens.
Javert walked into the room, his very presence stopping the fight.
"You four." He said, and they all winced a little as he pointed at them, "In my office. Now."
He walked around the room, seemingly looking for alcohol. When he found none, he peeked into the back room. Only Marius and Cosette were back there. Generally he would have reported them, but it was Valjean's kid and he didn't really want to have to deal with that. And she wasn't technically doing anything wrong, so he let it slide.
He was unsatisfied with the lack of alcohol he found, but he was all set to leave, until he heard a noise from the closet.
Apparently Enjolras and Grantaire hadn't heard everything going on, because Javert opened the door, saw what they were doing, and immediately shut it.
"You two." He said through the door. "Put your pants back on and report to my office."
There was silence for a moment, then Grantaire and Enjolras emerged, their clothes on and their hair a little messed up. They walked out the door, Javert watching them leave. Enjolras looked kind of like he was walking to his execution.
"The rest of you, I'm here on a noise complaint. Keep it down." He said, before leaving.
Jehan sat in stunned silence, the remaining Amis and students looking at him. He sniffled a little wiping at his eyes to make sure they stayed dry.
"What the fuck even is going on?" He asked, his voice soft and broken.
"Jehan." Gavroche said, looking ashamed, "I'm sorry."
"You." Jehan turned to look at the sixth grader. "I know that you told Bahorel to fight. You've been trying to break up me and Parnasse and it's not cute! You're being a jerk!"
"I'm sorry." Gavroche said again, looking close to tears. Jehan, tearing up himself, didn't notice.
"That's not good enough! You can't just say you're sorry and expect everything to get better!"
Gavroche took off, running to whatever hiding place he had in the school while Jehan broke down in tears, crying on Montparnasse's shoulder.
"Happy Birthday!" Musichetta said cheerfully, walking into the silent room with a cake. She looked around to everyone's faces and Jehan crying, "What the fuck happened here?"
"Babe." Joly said, shaking his head, "No one knows."
…
Enjolras and Grantaire sat outside Javert's office, listening to him yell at Feuilly, Bahorel, Gueulemer, and Claquesous.
Enjolras was actually shaking. When Grantaire put his arm around him to try to calm him down he didn't shrug out of it, like he normally would have if they were in trouble. His stomach sank as he heard Javert tell the other boys they were being suspended.
"Your parents will be called and they will pick you up in the morning." Javert said, and Grantaire pet Enjolras's hair. They were totally fucked.
The four boys filed out and Bahorel and Feuilly made eye contact with Grantaire and Enjolras, trying to apologize. There was a moment of silence before Javert came out to call them in.
Enjolras wanted to throw up. Maybe if he threw up Javert would go easy on him.
"What you boys did was wrong." Javert said, leaning across his desk and glaring at them, "I'm not going to suspend you, but I will be calling your parents to let them know."
"No! No you can't!" Enjolras said, his eyes growing wide. He was breathing frantically, on the edge of a full blown panic attack.
"Why? Why can't I?" Javert asked, raising an eyebrow. Grantaire grabbed Enjolras's hand, trying to calm his boyfriend down, before turning to the principal.
"His dad is really homophobic." Grantaire explained. "He'd disown him."
"Oh." Javert said, thinking a bit. Well, there were no set rules for this sort of thing, especially since they were both eighteen. "Enjolras, you're going to get an in-school suspension. And I'm going to call your parents, Grantaire."
"That's fine." Grantaire said, "Thank you."
Enjolras tried to nod his thanks, but he was too busy remember how to breathe.
"And take him to the nurse's office." Javert said, letting them leave.
…
There were two days until Spring Break, so Bahorel, Feuilly, Claquesous, and Gueulemer were only being suspended for those two days. The next morning they were all picked up.
That day in Valjean's class, the man noted that everything was rather subdued. Actually, he only noted it after Courfeyrac didn't give him his usual greeting of "O Captain, My Captain" when he walked in the door.
Valjean's worries were not quelled by the fact that Combeferre sat in Bahorel's usual seat, away from his boyfriend. The others in the group all seemed rather upset as well, but Jehan seemed the angriest, fuming and holding his boyfriend's hand through the class.
Valjean kept Courfeyrac after class to ask if he was alright. He only got more worried when the teen responded "I'm fine." in a monotone and left without even really asking why he'd been kept. Courfeyrac was never that rude. Valjean would have to ask Cosette about it later.
…
Combeferre was pissed off at the world. Half of the Amis were mad at him for breaking up with Courfeyrac and weren't talking to him. He felt really bad about how he'd yelled, but he didn't know if he was actually being a jerk or if he was justified and no one would talk to him to tell him what to do.
Well, he could talk to Eponine, but he really didn't want to see Eponine. And he could talk to Courfeyrac, but every time he even thought about the other boy his chest hurt.
He was trying to talk to Enjolras about it, but the boy was no help. All he seemed to want to do was curl up on his bed and look at the wall. He would only respond in noises when Combeferre tried to explain what was going on, and honestly, Combeferre was getting angry.
"For fuck's sake, Enjolras!" Combeferre yelled, causing Enjolras to actually look at him for the first time that day. "You got an in-school suspension! That's nothing! You're not the only one with problems here!"
Enjolras nodded at him. Combeferre was right. He was being an asshole by being silent. "Sorry..." He said softly.
"Yeah, you should be sorry!" Combeferre yelled, taking out his rage on the easy target.
"Sorry!" Enjolras said again, feeling close to tears. He had to get out of there, but he had to stay. Combeferre was right. "I… I'm sorry."
"Just… whatever Enjolras, you don't actually care." Combeferre sighed, covering his face with his hands.
"No, I care! I promise I care!" Enjolras said frantically. He couldn't deal with Combeferre being mad at him right now. He really couldn't.
"No, you don't. Just… I'm going to go take a walk." Combeferre said, getting up. As he was about to leave, he looked at his friend who was trying to hold back tears. He felt like he should apologize, but seeing him cry just filled Combeferre with inexplicable rage. He needed to clear his head.
…
When Combeferre got back, Enjolras was asleep on his bed and Grantaire was there, holding onto him. He swallowed, feeling terrible about what he said.
"Hey." Combeferre greeted softly. Grantaire glared at him. Combeferre winced.
"Let's go to the hall. To talk." Grantaire said quietly, trying not to wake up Enjolras. Combeferre nodded and Grantaire carefully extracted himself from Enjolras's clinging arms and went to the hall with Combeferre, closing the door softly behind himself.
"Combeferre, I thought you were the sensible one." Grantaire said, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.
"I'm so sorry." Combeferre said sincerely. "I just lost my temper. It wasn't Enjolras I'm mad at, it's Courfeyrac. And I took it out on him."
"Well, at least you get that you're being a dick." Grantaire granted him that, "But you've got to apologize to Enjolras, not me. He's been going through some hell this week."
"I don't get it though." Combeferre said, "It was just an in-school suspension."
Grantaire sighed. "Don't tell Enjolras I told you this," He began, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "But he's been having problems at home. His dad's being a fucking asshole and he's been getting violent. Enjolras still has a giant bruise on his chest from last weekend."
"What?" Combeferre asked, shocked. He kind of suspected something, but nothing bad enough to leave huge bruises on his friend's chest.
"Yeah, and his dad's homophobic and Javert called my parents about what happened with us getting caught in the closet. He didn't call Enjolras's parents, but Enj is worried that my dad might have told them."
"Shit." Combeferre said, looking at the closed door to his room. "I understand now."
"Yeah, so take it easy on him." Grantaire ordered. "How are things with you and Courf?"
It was Combeferre's turn to sigh, "Not good. I… I haven't been talking to him."
"I feel you, bro. But maybe you should..?" Grantaire asked, not wanting to tell Combeferre how he should be dealing with this. He knew that Combeferre knew he was hurting his friend, but he was sure that his reasoning behind it was serious.
"Yeah, I will eventually." Combeferre said, "I'm just still so mad."
"Yeah." Grantaire agreed, I get that. I've actually got to go do something, so take care of Enj for me."
And with that, the artist walked away, leaving Combeferre to make amends on his own.
…
Enjolras woke up when Combeferre reentered the room, rubbing his eyes a little and sitting up. When he saw Combeferre he frowned, looking somewhat ashamed. Combeferre felt terribly guilty just looking at him. He never should have yelled.
"Look, Enjolras… I'm really sorry… I was upset with Courf and I took it out on you. I really shouldn't have. I know you have your own stuff to deal with too." He sat down on his own bed, across from Enjolras's, "And don't say it's okay. It really wasn't."
Enjolras smiled a little in relief, "Thank you. I'm sorry I wasn't listening very well either…" He was relieved Combeferre wasn't upset with him anymore. Honestly, he wasn't very sure that he could handle any more stress than he already was dealing with.
"We cool now?" Combeferre asked, smiling at the blond.
"Of course." Enjolras smiled back. He felt better now.
"So… I know you're not usually into this kind of thing but… Since I am an aspiring med student and all I think I have just the cure for the tense mood." Combeferre tried to lighten things up a little.
"And what's that?" Enjolras asked, smirking at his friend, who was clearly up to no good.
"Want a joint?" Combeferre responded with another question, making his friend grin. This was much better. As his best friend he felt it was his duty to try and keep Enjolras in as high of spirits as he could manage so he'd try to do just that.
…
Soon the day approached and they all had to go home again. They had already heard back from both Feuilly and Bahorel about their parent's reactions to the fight and were quite amused to find out that while Feuilly was stuck working extra hours at the family factory over break, Bahorel's father was proud of his son, posting all over social media about how perfect Bahorel was. It was just what some of the Amis needed to hear before they had to part before the holiday. It certainly cheered Enjolras up a little.
Enjolras was sitting in the car on the long drive home, leaning his head against the window of the back seat. His father had sent someone else to get him again, and it came as somewhat of a relief. In years past he had always drove his own son to and from school during breaks. Probably because he thought it made him look like a good father or something. Even though Javert hadn't called home he still had a foreboding feeling about going back, and before he knew it, there he was standing at the bottom of the grand staircase in the front hall.
Enjolras had set down his bags momentarily to rest his arms a little. Honestly he was somewhat stiff from the car ride and wanted to stretch before he hid away in his room, but his plans were interrupted as he heard the loud sound of the office door shutting, and the heavy footsteps of his father approaching the top of the staircase. When he finally came into Enjolras's line of sight, it was apparent he was not happy.
"Julien."
"Yes sir?" Enjolras looked up at him, swallowing a little.
"Grantaire's father just called me a little while ago. He said you two got into trouble together at school… Come see me in my office after you bring your things back to your room. We have to talk." The man glared down at Enjolras, seeming to know exactly what trouble it is that he'd gotten into as well.
Enjolras paled, feeling sick to his stomach, nodding in response. His father took it as a reply and went back into his office, leaving Enjolras alone at the bottom of the stairs once more. And for once he thought he might have been in the clear… now this…
…
Enjolras ended up with a few minor bruises and a black eye, on top of a ban from contacting anyone of his friends except Courfeyrac and Combeferre, who were both on good terms with his father and their parents also fairly close with each other.
Courfeyrac came over the next day with his family, wanting to talk to Enjolras about how sad he was about Combeferre. His parents and Enjolras's parents were just sitting around drinking coffee and talking about politics or something, so Courfeyrac headed up to Enjolras's room to see his friend.
He opened the door, not knocking, and saw his friend sitting on the bed, just staring up at the ceiling, with a huge black eye.
"Whoa, what happened to your face?" Courfeyrac asked, frowning.
Enjolras sat up, looking over at Courfeyrac. He hadn't expected him over today, "Oh," he laughed nervously, "It's nothing big, just an accident." Enjolras shrugged, getting off of the bed to greet his friend properly. "What are you doing over here?" he asked, trying to deflect the next question Courfeyrac would ask.
"Uh…" Courfeyrac said, staring at the eye, "I wanted to talk about Combeferre, but seriously, how did you manage to get a black eye again? I'd expect Bahorel to have two black eyes in one semester, but not you."
Enjolras only let his facade fade momentarily, but it was long enough, "Like I said, it's nothing. So. Combeferre." He said, sitting back down on his bed with a sigh.
Courfeyrac decided to let it go for now, since the blond obviously didn't want to talk about it, but he was deeply concerned. Enjolras listened to what Courfeyrac was saying as he talked about his ruined love life. He responded in all the right places, but something was off. Courfeyrac was saying a lot of stuff about himself that, while he agreed with it, he knew Enjolras didn't and wouldn't generally stand for Courfeyrac saying, but Enjolras just made noises of agreement throughout the whole thing.
"Enj, are you sure you're okay?" Courfeyrac asked eventually, when his parents were calling him to leave.
"Yeah," He gave him a smile, "Feel better, I'm sure if you talk it over with Ferre you two can work it out. Oh- and come back soon."
Courfeyrac was deeply concerned the whole drive home, but he didn't want to worry his parents, so he stayed quiet. When he got home he went to his room and hesitated a long moment, about to call Combeferre. He chickened out and called Grantaire instead.
"Hey, R?" Courfeyrac asked when Grantaire picked up.
"Yeah? What?"
"Is something going on with Enjolras? I saw him today and he had a black eye and he was being super unresponsive." Courfeyrac paced around his room while he talked, not able to sit still.
"Uh, yeah. Actually, we should talk to you about that." Grantaire said, sounding a little unsure of what he was saying.
"Who's 'we'?" Courfeyrac asked, frowning. What the hell was going on?
"Well, Combeferre kind of knows about what's going on, but we should talk in person. Want to go to Starbucks? I'll bring Combeferre." Grantaire said, not remembering that the two were fighting.
"Yeah, actually, I don't think he wants to see me right now." Courfeyrac said, "What can't you just tell me over the phone?"
"Just meet me there." Grantaire said, sounding slightly annoyed, before hanging up. Courfeyrac huffed in frustration. How did Enjolras deal with him? Oh right, Enjolras did exactly the same fucking thing all the time.
…
Courfeyrac arrived at Starbucks before the others, ordering a drink and securing a table. Grantaire and Combeferre arrived a few minutes later, Combeferre looking deeply upset that he was there.
"Look." Courfeyrac said before Combeferre could say anything, "I know you're mad at me, but can we put it aside for Enjolras right now?"
Combeferre still looked annoyed, but he nodded, "Of course. It's for Enjolras."
"Okay, so what's going on with Enjolras?" Courfeyrac asked, taking a sip of his white chocolate mocha and looking at Grantaire for the answer. Combeferre answered instead and Courfeyrac swore internally, having to look at his ex (?) instead.
"Enjolras's father has been somewhat… abusive lately." He tried to put on a calm expression, sighing, "I guess it's been going on since before the school year started, but from what it sounds like it just keeps getting worse. First there were the bruises on his arms and then he got that black eye that I guess Grantaire did not give him, and last time he went home there was another big bruise, but on his chest. He doesn't want anyone to know about it though, so it's hard to really figure out what to do. We've always respected his privacy."
"Well, we can't just leave him there! We have to do something!" Courfeyrac protested, but Grantaire shook his head.
"He's legally an adult, there is absolutely nothing we can do besides try to convince him to tell the authorities." He sighed.
Courfeyrac looked at Combeferre again, trying to have one of those conversations without words that they always used to have about stuff like this, but it felt like he was being blocked, he couldn't read Combeferre's expression.
"Fine." He said, not caring that he sounded like a pouting child, "I guess we'll just leave Enj there to die." He threw the rest of his coffee in the trash and left Grantaire and Combeferre there.
"Fuck, he's right. We should do something." Grantaire sighed when Courfeyrac was out of earshot, not wanting to give the drama queen the satisfaction of being right.
"How did you even get here? Aren't you grounded or something?" Combeferre asked, trying to change the subject.
"Yeah, my parents really don't care. I just walked out the front door."
…
After walking about a block, Courfeyrac took out his phone and called Jehan. After a brief talk, he headed over to the poet's house.
He'd forgotten how little Jehan's room looked like Jehan's personality. The walls were bare, and there was no decoration besides a vase of dead flowers with a little tag that just said "M". Jehan didn't look like himself either, dressed in just a white shirt and jeans, without even any colorful hair clips or scarves or eyeshadow. It was surreal.
"So what's wrong?" Jehan asked. Courfeyrac had debated telling him about the whole Enjolras thing, but he decided to keep that a secret for now. He honestly just wanted to talk about Combeferre.
"I saw Combeferre today and… Jehan, everything's so bad. I fucked up really badly and I don't know how to make it better. He hates me!" Courfeyrac said, sitting on the bed and falling backwards.
"He doesn't hate you," Jehan sighed, "You know that. You guys have been friends since forever." He gave Courf a reassuring smile, "Honestly, you need to stop being so hard on yourself. Maybe you should just tell him what happened. Ponine was at fault for a good portion of it, wasn't she?"
"Yeah, but the reason I agreed to help Eponine was so that she wouldn't tell Combeferre what I didn't want to tell him!" Courfeyrac explained, "It's hopeless."
"What does she even have on you, Courf? You're proud of pretty much everything you do." Jehan crossed his arms, waiting for an explanation.
"I… I had a bunch of one night stands before I started dating you. And yeah, that's not that big of a deal, especially since we had the whole open relationship thing, but I never told anyone and I felt like an idiot, and it was all unprotected, and I just didn't want him to know. I don't want anyone to know. Then everyone would be right about how much of a slut I am." Courfeyrac admitted, running his hands through his hair.
"You think Ferre would judge you for that?" Jehan almost snorted a little, as if he knew something that would make that sound like a walk in the park, "Tell me, did anyone ever tell you about that Christmas party you missed last year?"
"They said everyone got everyone got wasted and 'what happened at the party stayed at the party'." Courfeyrac said, glancing up at Jehan curiously.
"Well yeah. That's not true." Jehan said, "The week before the party Combeferre was trying to make his own homemade booze in the science lab at school to show off at the party, you know, one of those ideas you get when you're as high as a kite? And he actually ended up with a pretty decent drink, despite the fact that it was ridiculously potent. Even Enjolras tried some, only a shot, but you know he's a light weight. But Combeferre got the drunkest out of everyone there, and he's usually pretty good at watching his alcohol intake."
Courfeyrac nodded a little, even more curious, "So?"
"So he ended up having a foursome with Joly, Bossuet, and I in the backroom." Jehan had led up to it so much, and then said it so bluntly. "Musichetta came to watch but she was just giggling the whole time."
"Oh... my god." Courfeyrac said, half horrified, half ecstatic. "That's why no one told me? That's fucking amazing."
"Combeferre isn't as straight laced as you seem to think he is. He's honestly pretty chill about all sorts of stuff. You should know that better than anyone." Jehan smiled, "But. If you really insist upon keeping your mouth shut, I can talk to Eponine. She ought to at least try and help you out after all of this."
"Yeah, can you do that?" Courfeyrac asked, looking up at him hopefully. Maybe Eponine would have some idea to help, despite her seeming lack of understanding of her own love life.
"Mhm. I will." he nodded. "But promise you'll calm down a little, okay? Combeferre doesn't hate you, and it seems like something else is bothering you too."
"Yeah, I'm just stressed and Enjolras is too wrapped up in being grounded to pay attention to me." Courfeyrac lied. "Thanks again, I should head home."
As soon as Courfeyrac left, Jehan called Eponine and told her that if she wanted to redeem herself in his eyes, she'd have to help him get Courfeyrac and Combeferre together again or die trying. She agreed.
…
Musichetta was having a nice, peaceful break. Joly and Bossuet had been acting kind of weird to her over Skype and Facebook, their means of communication during these breaks. She wasn't sure why, since she wasn't pregnant. Maybe they just remembered she's a girl since there was the possibility of her getting pregnant? She didn't know. She never brought it up to them after the initial thing, since she assumed that if she didn't say anything, everything was fine? Whatever. She wasn't going to dwell on it.
Other than her boys acting weird, Musichetta was having a fine break. Her mom was happy she was home, there were tons of chocolate rabbits for her to eat. Life was good. Until one afternoon, when Gavroche appeared on her doorstep.
When Musichetta opened the door she looked down to see a very upset looking Gavroche, standing there, "Musichetta, you gotta help me out. Jehan's really mad at me, what do I do?" The young boy looked devastated.
"Oh, baby! Come inside, we'll think of something." Musichetta said, letting the boy inside and offering him a chocolate bunny. "So, no one has really told me, what did you do that made Jehan so mad?"
"I told Bahorel that Montparnasse told Claquesous to cut off his braid and Bahorel and Feuilly tried to start a fight at Jehan's party." He didn't stop to take a breath.
"They did start a fight." Musichetta said, sighing. "But why are you telling me? I'm flattered, but I thought you'd tell Courf first." She asked, trying to buy time to think of a solution to his problem. Jehan had been really upset after the fiasco that was his birthday, and Gavroche honestly fucked up pretty badly.
"Courf is all upset over Combeferre and you're the only one I could think of." Gavroche sniffled a little, "I don't want Jehan to be mad at me."
"Oh, Gav, he won't be mad! I promise, if you just get him some chai tea from Starbucks and bring it to his house and apologize, he'll forgive you." Musichetta said.
"Do you really think so?" Gavroche asked, looking up at her, eyes filled with hope.
"Of course!" Musichetta promised. Gavroche ran off, yelling his thanks behind him as he went, and Musichetta sighed, before calling Jehan.
"Hey Chetta, what's up?" Jehan asked, sounding vaguely concerned. It was warranted, Musichetta was pretty sure she'd never physically called Jehan, only texted.
"Okay, listen up. Gavroche is headed your way with a chai tea from Starbucks that he's probably only going to afford by stealing someone's wallet or something on the way over, so when that boy gets over there to apologize, you better accept it. I know you had a shitty birthday, baby, but if you crush this child's heart I'm going to gut you." Musichetta threatened. Her mother looked at her, concerned, but she mouthed, "Its fine."
Jehan paused for a long moment. He knew he'd gone too far yelling at Gavroche, and he had felt guilty about it all break, but he'd also dreaded bringing it up himself. Now was as good of a time as any to forgive the brat, right?
"Okay." Jehan said.
"Well good. Have a good day, goodbye." Musichetta said, hanging up.
"Anything wrong?" Musichetta's mom asked, sitting next to her daughter.
"My friends are absolutely insane, mom." She sighed.
…
Eponine was putting on her makeup to go to see Marius, listening distantly to her little brother tell her about going to see Jehan.
"So he looked mad, but he gave me a hug and said I had to promise not to do that again and that we'd have to hang out with Montparnasse so I could see he wasn't such an asshole," Gavroche said, "I don't really want to, but at least he's not mad at me."
"That's great, Gav. If mom and dad ask, I'm off doing drugs or something." She said, shrugging on her coat and leaving.
When Eponine arrived at the Pontmercy house, Marius's grandfather let her in with a disapproving look. According to Marius, the man adored Cosette and did not approve of any of Marius's other friends.
They retreated to Marius's room, and Eponine sighed, sitting in the chair next to Marius's bed.
"Is Cosette still mad?" She asked, knowing the answer. Marius nodded.
"Yeah, fury of a thousand suns." Marius confirmed. "You know, you could have just told me you liked me. I did have feelings for you… I do have feelings for you. I mean, I wouldn't cheat on Cosette, but you didn't have to try to break us up."
"I know." Eponine said, feeling ashamed of herself. "And I'm really sorry for making you and Courf make out."
"You should apologize to Courfeyrac for that, not me. He was the one you forced." Marius said. Eponine nodded.
"Yeah, I will. I was being a shitty person. But do you think Cosette will ever forgive me?" She asked, looking at him as if he held all the answers in the world.
"Well, you know. She talks about you all the time. How funny you are, how pretty you are. She thinks you're really hot. And she always talks about your boobs? Like uh, don't get me wrong, they're nice boobs, but she talks about them a lot." Marius said, devolving into his rambling Pontmercy self.
"Really?" Eponine asked, surprised.
"Yeah. If we weren't dating I'd be afraid she had a crush on you or something." Marius said, laughing.
…
Enjolras stood in his father's office, fists balled up tightly, shaking a little, "Don't you dare talk about Grantaire like that! I'm so sick of your shit!" Enjolras had been called up to his father's office to talk about what he was going to do to keep him away from Grantaire during the school year, and in the process had insulted him. Enjolras had finally snapped.
"What did you just say?" His father was fuming, grabbing his son by the arm and yanking him towards him over the desk. The man was much stronger than he looked and Enjolras cried out in pain as his forearm hit the desk hard, making a loud snapping sound. Any confidence he'd had, all gone now. The pain was terrible as it shot through his arm, quickly spreading to become unbearable. Enjolras crumpled to the ground, screaming as he held his arm.
Enjolras's father had let go, staring at his son in horror as he saw him fall to the ground. "Enjolras!" He quickly moved around the desk, eyes widening as he saw his son's arm bent completely the wrong way as the boy tried to hold it together properly. Even he could realize that this was serious, "Stay still!" He commanded, picking up his son and rushing him down to the car.
Enjolras couldn't think straight as they drove to the hospital, only able to concentrate on the unimaginable pain he was in. He could barely hear his father as he shouted at him that he wasn't to say anything to the doctors and that he would do the talking. Enjolras only responded with a little nod, tears streaming down his cheeks. Oh god. He felt sick. He wanted to throw up it hurt so bad… Finally everything went black.
…
Combeferre was sitting on his bed reading, when his phone started ringing. It was his mom calling, but she should have been at work at the hospital, why was she calling?
"Hey mom." He said after he picked up.
"Sweetie, your friend Enjolras is here at the hospital with a broken arm. It's pretty gruesome, but his father said you could come visit if you wanted to." His mother said. Combeferre sat straight up.
"Wait, what happened? Is he okay?" Combeferre demanded.
"I'm sorry hun, I'd say more but I'm not supposed to be on the phone as it is. Just come here, he'll want to see you." His mother said, before hanging up on him.
"No, mom..!" He tried to keep her on the phone, but it was too late. He looked at his phone, thinking about calling Courfeyrac, but called Grantaire instead.
"Y'ello?" Grantaire asked, sounding like he'd just woken up. Combeferre glanced at his clock. It was like five in the evening.
"Grantaire, Enjolras is in the hospital. I'm on my way over right now and I'll text you when I get there, but apparently he has a broken arm." Combeferre said, grabbing his keys and jogging out to his car.
"What? What happened?" Grantaire asked. At his house he was sitting up, thinking to go over to the hospital before it occurred to him that there was no way in hell he'd be allowed to see Enjolras.
"I don't know, I'm sorry R." Combeferre said. Grantaire could hear a car starting up in the background.
"You have to text me when you get there. I'm serious, Ferre. I'll die if you make me wait to know what the fuck is happening." Grantaire threatened.
"I will, and Grantaire?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you… can you tell Courfeyrac for me?" Combeferre asked. Grantaire almost told him to tell Courfeyrac himself but he just sighed.
"Sure." He said, and then Combeferre hung up.
…
After he got off the phone with Courfeyrac, he already had a text waiting from Combeferre saying that Enjolras was going to be okay, but he was being held in the hospital. This did little to calm Grantaire's nerves and he spent most of the night up, worrying.
Around midnight he received a text from Combeferre's phone.
"So my dad is still in the room and he's pretty pissy and everything so I wanted to text you to let you know I'm totally fine and I'll see you at school on Tuesday and I really miss you like a lot 3 Apollo"
Grantaire let out a stressed out laugh. Enjolras must have been high on pain meds. Newly assured that Enjolras would be fine, he put his phone down and finally got to sleep.
…
Musichetta had her boys over the next day. It was like normal, a lunch with her mother, but when her mom went out to go run some errands, Joly and Bossuet locked eyes and nodded, worrying Musichetta.
"Chetta, we just wanted you to know that we are willing to support you through everything. If you want to keep the baby, if you don't want to keep it, whatever." Bossuet said.
Musichetta was surprised, since she hadn't actually been pregnant, and she was about to tell them that, but Joly held up his hand to stop her.
"Not that we're telling you to get rid of it! Them. Not it. Not that we want to get rid of them! The choice is absolutely one hundred and ten percent up to you. And if you do want to have it… and if Bossuet's the father um… would you maybe want to marry me?" Joly asked, looking embarrassed, but sincere.
Musichetta giggled, "Oh, boys. You're so cute. I'm not even pregnant, it was a false alarm!"
"And you didn't think it was necessary to tell us?" Bossuet asked, indignant.
"I was getting sick with worry!" Joly said, turning red after his slightly rejected proposal.
"Oh, you're always sick with something, sweetie." Musichetta said, still laughing. She wiped at her eyes and sighed, "I'd love to marry one, or both of you someday. But we're only eighteen! We've got to wait a little while, otherwise my mother will die of shock."
"Alright." Joly said, feeling a little better. Musichetta laughed again and put her arms around them, hugging them close.
"What am I ever going to do with you?" She asked.
…
The next day, the Sunday before break was over, Eponine and Jehan went over to Combeferre's house.
When Combeferre answered the door to see them there, he was surprised, as they hadn't told him they were going to be coming over, but he let them into his room.
"How's Enjolras?" Jehan asked, sitting on Combeferre's bed. He stole Eponine's bright red scarf the minute she took it off and put it on, seeming to feel better with something less drab on. The whole group knew Enjolras had broken his arm somehow and they were all pretty concerned.
"He's doing good, he's out of the hospital now and back at home." He seemed relieved but also a little upset about it still. "So. Why exactly are you here? Not that I don't enjoy company or anything… I just wasn't really expecting anyone."
"We wanted to talk about Courfeyrac." Jehan said, glancing at Eponine, "She has something to tell you."
"Ferre, it's my fault that Courfeyrac made out with Marius. I put him up to it." Eponine said, looking ashamed.
"What do you mean, you put him up to it?" Combeferre raised an eyebrow.
"I promised him I wouldn't tell you." Eponine said, biting her lip and debating internally. Jehan rolled his eyes.
"He had a bunch of one night stands after he broke up with Marius." Jehan said, crossing his arms. "He didn't want to tell you because it was unprotected and he feels bad about it. And he doesn't want you to think he's a slut."
"What." Combeferre seemed somewhat taken aback. "You mean to tell me you blackmailed my boyfriend with that. Honestly." He let out a deep sigh, "You all need to stop being so dramatic. I can't believe I got all worked up over nothing." He crossed his arms, looking somewhat like a disappointed father figure. "So, how do you two know about this 'big secret'?"
"Well, I was one of the one night stands and Courfeyrac was being all emo at Jehan about it." Eponine said, seeming relieved that Combeferre wasn't that mad at her. "So, you'll make up with him?"
"Yeah, he thinks you hate him." Jehan agreed.
"What?" Combeferre rubbed his temples. Oh god. He needed to sort all this out. "I'll talk to him on the drive home back to the dorms tomorrow. Jesus Christ guys, why can't anyone in our social group deal with their secrets properly?"
"Secrets?" Jehan asked with a grin, "Like the time you, me, Joly, and Bossuet-"
Combeferre practically leapt over a bean bag chair on the ground to cover Jehan's mouth, "No. Nothing like that. At all." He blushed furiously.
…
The drive home was nothing short of awkward for Courfeyrac since Combeferre was completely silent half of the way there. Combeferre was just trying to think of what to say. Finally he took an exit off of the highway and pulled over, turning to face Courfeyrac. Before he could open his mouth, Courfeyrac opened his.
"You aren't pulling over to kill me, are you?" Courfeyrac asked, with genuine worry on his face.
"What? No." Combeferre shook his head, "You really need to stop being so dramatic. I just kind of wanted to talk to you." He nervously ran a hand through his hair, "Eponine and Jehan stopped by to talk to me, and they told me about what really happened at the party and why you did it… I just… wanted to put all that to rest. If you just would have told me I wouldn't have been mad at all. Plenty of people do stupid things in their past, it has nothing to do with who they are now."
Combeferre took a deep breath before continuing, "And just because I don't want any secrets to potentially ruin our relationship I thought I should say at last year's Christmas party I got a little drunk and slept with Jehan, Joly and Bossuet." He looked embarrassed, "So there. I'm sorry for being a dick. I was just really upset when I thought you might not like me anymore."
"Ferre, how could you ever think I don't like you?" Courfeyrac asked, shocked, "And for Marius? Sure he's attractive, but he can't fool me like he's fooled Cosette and Eponine, I know he's a huge dork that color codes his socks."
"Good point. I don't do anything nearly that dorky." He nodded in agreement. "Now that that's out of the way with, are we cool again, because I really kind of missed actually hanging out with you over break."
"Of course we're cool, I missed you so much Ferre!" Courfeyrac said, throwing his arms around Combeferre. "Let's agree to not be stupid anymore."
"I'm really glad I pulled over." Combeferre laughed as he hugged his boyfriend back, patting his head a little, "You would have gotten us into a car accident."
…
When Grantaire arrived at school, Combeferre let him into his and Enjolras's room while he went off to hang out with Courfeyrac somewhere. He sat nervously on Enjolras's bed, waiting for the blond to arrive.
Enjolras was surprised to see Grantaire sitting on his bed when he walked into his room, but smiled. He was pulling a rolling suitcase behind him since he couldn't carry his bags and he wore a white plaster cast on his other arm, all the way up to his elbow.
"Hey." He said, giving a slight wave with his injured hand.
"Hey," Grantaire said, getting up to help him with the bag. "How are you?"
"I'm okay," Enjolras said, shaking his head to let Grantaire sit back down, sitting beside him, "I'm just really glad to be back. I missed you."
"I missed you too." Grantaire said, taking Enjolras's uninjured hand, "I was really worried about you."
Enjolras blushed, leaning on his boyfriend's shoulder, "Grantaire?"
"Yeah?" Grantaire asked, glancing down at the blond.
"Could you paint my cast for me? It's terribly bland." He smiled up at the artist.
…
At Saint Mary's School for Bright Young Girls, Eponine knocked lightly on the door of her and Cosette's room, before letting herself in.
"Hey." She said softly, "I… I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. Again." Eponine said. She usually didn't feel this bad after she did something wrong, but something about Cosette made her feel like the blonde girl expected more from her.
"It's fine. Courfeyrac and Combeferre are back together again, so you didn't cause any real damage." Cosette said, sighing down at the clothes she had been unpacking. She turned to face her friend. "Honestly, why did you even do that in the first place?"
"I…" Eponine paused, but she reminded herself about what Combeferre said about not keeping secrets. "I kind of love you. And Marius. And seeing you together kept making me feel like I was heartbroken twice as much as it would have been if I only liked one of you."
Cosette turned to look at her, rolling her eyes. "Eponine, you should have just told us." She smiled fondly, "It's not like we'd be the first people in our group to have a trio."
"Wait, you mean…? You want to have me? Even after all that shit I pulled?" Eponine asked, eyes widening. Cosette crossed the room and put her hands on Eponine's shoulders.
"I mean, we'll have to talk to Marius, but I'm sure he'll say yes. He had this huge crush on you, but apparently he didn't know how to deal with it so he overcompensated with a bigger crush on me." She said, laughing about their dork. "We can make this work."
…
That night the newly formed trio announced their relationship to the rest of the group at a gathering in the Musain, much to everyone's surprise.
"Marius, why are you hogging all of the girls?" Bahorel asked while Feuilly laughed, "You should be like Joly and Bossuet, they know how to share!"
"Shut up, Bahorel!" Eponine said, leaning on Marius's shoulders flirtatiously, "My little Pontmercy gets flustered."
…
Grantaire and Enjolras had a talk later in the week about Enjolras's dad. They agreed that he couldn't stay there, it wasn't safe.
Grantaire devised a plan. He would be getting a trust fund when he graduated, so they could just go off and get an apartment, using that money to get themselves through college. Enjolras agreed and they started to plan out exactly how they were going to do that.
Valjean turned out to be a great resource, it turned out that he had some weird past and never got any financial support or planning help from his parents. He gave them a few websites to check out and some information on how to go apartment hunting, along with an offering to be a cosigner on any loan they might need.
…
Cosette talked to Valjean soon after Eponine joined her trio, slightly nervous about the outcome of their talk, though her Papa had never been anything but supportive.
"Papa." She said, coming into his quarters one day, holding Eponine's hand.
"Yes, love?" He asked, looking up over his reading glasses.
"You know how Joly, Bossuet, and Musichetta have that thing where they're all dating each other?" Cosette asked, squeezing Eponine's hand for support. Valjean folded his paper and took off his glasses, turning his full attention to his daughter.
"Yes, I do."
"Well, you see. Marius and I have decided to include Eponine in our relationship and… she's very dear to me, Papa. I... I hope you understand." Cosette said, her nerves showing through her voice. She looked down, feeling unable to meet her father's eyes when he sighed.
Valjean got up from his chair and gathered Cosette in his arms. After a moment of just holding her, he dragged Eponine into the hug.
"Of course. I should have guessed, you always were one to share in your happiness, weren't you?" He asked with a laugh. Cosette laughed as well, though it sounded more stressed out than usual.
Valjean let them go and sat back in his chair. "Eponine." He said after a moment, making her look up from where she had been watching her girlfriend to meet his eyes.
"Yeah?"
"You better take care of my daughter." He said, "And I'll remind Marius that he best take care of you."
…
Everything seemed to be going well, for once. Enjolras and Grantaire had hope for after graduation. Joly, Bossuet, and Musichetta were way less stressed out about everything, seeing as they didn't have to worry about a potential baby. Courfeyrac and Combeferre were all over each other once again. Eponine, Cosette, and Marius were having a ball with their newfound relationship. Gavroche liked hanging out with Montparnasse far more than anyone expected, and Courfeyrac had a suspicion that his affections for Jehan had been transferred over to the other teen. Bahorel and Feuilly were still being best bros. All was right with their worlds.
Now the only thing they had to worry about was graduation.