Title: The Chemicals Keeping Us Together
Author: AoiTsukikage
Rating: T for now, but will probably increase
Characters/Pairing: Enjolras/Marius primarily, other secondary pairings
Chapters: 1/?
Word Count: 2587
Summary: Modern!Amis!AU. Both of them are willing to write it off as just a drunken mistake at a party, but with friends like theirs nothing is ever quite that simple to let go of. And maybe, for once, that will turn out to be a good thing.
The Chemicals Keeping Us Together
Chapter One
It starts at a party.
Most of these things do, probably, but he's not quite sure if there's a handbook on, 'I got some bad news so I went and drank a little too much and ended up making out with this guy I barely know and when we realized what was going on it turned really awkward really fast'.
Maybe there is, but he hasn't seen one, and he's messed up enough as it is right now that dealing with this is just going to be Hellish.
It'd be different if it was a stranger, somebody he could laugh it off about and not think twice, but it's…not. Because his roommate happens to be, well, good friends at least with the guy he'd been…kissing, and it's going to be impossible to avoid them all unless he finds a new roommate or something.
Which he doesn't particularly want to do, seeing as how it's taken him long enough to get comfortable here. Still, he rubs his eyes and groans, it's not like he can just sweep this under the rug, not when they all run in the same circles. And it's not as if he'd gone to the party planning to make out with another guy, but somehow one thing had led to another and he was feeling just lost enough that he didn't really care who he was kissing.
He swings his legs out of the bed and tries to ignore his pounding head, slumping his way into the kitchen area and stopping short at the sight of another man sitting at their breakfast bar, wearing a paint-stained t-shirt and faded sweatpants and cradling a cup of coffee between his palms.
"Um…good morning?" Marius tries, because he's not all that used to having visitors yet although Courfeyrac has, well, quite the group of friends. He hasn't met many of them yet, but he'd half-expected his roommate to have dragged some girl home from the party (yeah, that's happened a few too many times for comfort already). But it's…he checks the clock…nearly noon on a Saturday, so not as early as he'd thought.
"Good morning!" the man says brightly. "You must be Marius. Courfeyrac's told me about you. There's coffee in the pot if you want some, and forgive me for saying this, but you look like you need it," he smiles kindly and Marius stumbles over to the pot, pouring himself a cup and inhaling deeply. It clears his head at least a little and he opens his eyes fully, staring at the stranger.
"And, um, you are…"
"Oh, sorry! Courfeyrac said it was fine for me to come over but sometimes he forgets that he's not the only one living here anymore, I think. I'm Feuilly," he shrugs and goes back to drinking his coffee and Marius thinks that this still isn't very helpful when Courfeyrac sweeps in.
And yes, Courfeyrac entering a room is always a production, although if Marius looked like him and had the confidence and bravado that he had he'd probably enter rooms dramatically as well.
"You've met!" Courfeyrac's altogether too hyper for the state he should be in and he bounds over to grab some coffee for himself (even though caffeine is quite possibly the last thing he needs, Marius thinks) before sitting beside Feuilly at the bar. "Marius, this is Feuilly. He'll be here a lot so get used to seeing him."
"Are you a student?" Marius asks cautiously and Feuilly laughs bitterly.
"No. I wish. But I have no money, so the term 'starving artist' is pretty accurate where I'm concerned," there's a harshness to his voice that hadn't been there before and Courfeyrac shakes his head rapidly and mouths something that looks like, 'I'll tell you later' at Marius.
"So, did you have fun last night? I've never seen you that wasted," Courfeyrac abruptly changes the subject and leans back casually on his stool, one eyebrow raised.
"Um," Marius knows he's beet-red now and he stares at the floor, not sure if he should tell them what had really happened. He knows Courfeyrac will tease him incessantly, but it's probably better that they hear it from him rather than Enjolras…if Enjolras even remembers, but Marius doesn't want to take the chance that he might not. "I…might have made out with somebody."
"You might have," Courfeyrac snorts, grabbing Feuilly's cup from his hands and taking a sip, which prompts the other man to elbow him since, of course, his own cup of coffee is sitting right there. "My house, my cups," he replies smugly before setting it down. "What do you mean by 'might have'?"
"Okay," Marius sighs and slumps against the counter. "I…I did make out with somebody."
"Again, I'm not seeing the issue here. You were drunk, it was a party, that's what people do," Courfeyrac stresses, like Marius can't figure this out by himself.
"I'm aware, but it…it's not…okay, you know there's been this…girl…"
"Yes, Cosette, the one you can't fucking shut up about," Courfeyrac leans his head on Feuilly's shoulder and the other man sighs. "Go on."
"Well. Yes. Yesterday she…sent me an e-mail saying that…her and her father are moving to England. Immediately. She didn't say why, just that they had to leave before the end of the weekend, and that it…that it was goodbye. I mean, it's not as if we'd done any more than talk now and again, but I know there was something there and now she's…she's gone," he feels a little choked up because Cosette had been…something special, somebody he could have made a real connection with, and now he'll never get the chance to.
"So, you were feeling sorry for yourself, got wasted, and made out with somebody. What's the problem? Do you know her?" Courfeyrac presses, looking more and more interested by the moment.
Marius takes a swig of his coffee and prepares himself for the shitstorm when he replies, "Yes. And it's a him."
"Well, then, what…" Courfeyrac pauses because it's finally sunk in, but then his eyes flash with something much too close to mischief for Marius' liking and he grins.
"Don't," Feuilly says it without even looking at the change in Courfeyrac's expression, which speaks volumes as to how well they know each other. "Just don't. Marius can tell us who it was if he wants to."
"Enjolras," he mutters, lowering his gaze, and he can hear a mild commotion that apparently is caused by Courfeyrac nearly falling off the barstool.
"You're fucking with me," the other man declares firmly, leaning forward and staring intently at Marius. "You're…you can't be serious, Enjolras is…Hell, I always thought he was asexual because even I couldn't get any reaction from him and you both know that if I so much as wink at somebody they'll be falling over themselves to get into bed with me," he puffs out his chest and Feuilly rolls his eyes, sharing a knowing glance with Marius since it's obvious both of them have heard this before. "Was he drunk?"
"Yes. Well, he wasn't sober, and by the time we realized that we were, um, shoving our tongues down each other's throats it got really awkward and he scares me, Courfeyrac, and I know I'll meet the rest of your friends and I don't want him thinking that…"
"Marius. Breathe," Feuilly instructs calmly and Marius does so, feeling himself start to calm down. "It's okay. Yes, it's…shocking to me as well, but honestly he's gorgeous so you should count yourself lucky."
"I just…I want to be okay with all of you. Not…forever some kind of outcast because I couldn't control myself…"
"Hey, if he was kissing back, he's as much at fault as you are," Courfeyrac's drinking Feuilly's coffee again and he finally nods and stands up. "Well, first things first, we need to see if he remembers what went on, and if he doesn't, no harm done and we all move on, right?"
Marius nods, because that's what he really wants, even though from what he can remember it was…well, really good, but Enjolras isn't exactly dating material and it feels a little cheap to bounce to him just because things with Cosette didn't work out.
Never mind the fact he's a guy, which Marius is still trying to process but at least it hadn't gone farther than kissing.
"Okay. So I text Combeferre and get him to ask Enjolras when he wakes up, and we go from there," his phone's already out and he's texting furiously, so Marius doesn't even have a chance to stop him, but he slips it back into his pocket and goes back to sit.
"So we just wait?" Marius asked nervously, hands clutched around his cup, and Courfeyrac shrugs.
"Not much else we can do right now. Don't look so worried, Marius, I know that Enjolras can be, well, a little prickly, but he's not going to hurt you," he promises and Marius kind of has to believe him because, well, he doesn't know Enjolras that well.
"As…fascinating as this all is, I need to be off. I promised Jehan I'd help him do illustrations for some project he's working on," Feuilly finishes his coffee and sets the cup aside. "I'll call you later," he promises Courfeyrac, who groans and clutches his arm before he can move away.
"Stay. You're too nice to that boy."
"Because I actually get enjoyment from helping other people. You should try it sometime," Feuilly teases lightly, prying Courfeyrac's hands away from his arm before he moves into the kitchen. "It was lovely meeting you, Marius. I'm sure you'll see a lot of me around here over the next year."
"Same," Marius swallows and Feuilly reaches to pat his shoulder.
"If you won't believe him at least believe me: I've never had any problems with Enjolras. He's not that intimidating once you get to know him."
"Yes, but he adores you for some reason," Courfeyrac chimes in.
"He just admires people that work hard for what they've earned," Feuilly counters, nodding before he leaves the apartment, and Courfeyrac leans forward onto the bar and mumbles something against the countertop.
"What was that?" Marius asks, because being alone with Courfeyrac right now is kind of intimidating.
"I said," Courfeyrac picked himself up and stretched his arms above his head, "that I'm hungry, so go get dressed and I'll buy you breakfast. And you can tell me all about how good a kisser our dear Enjolras really is," he smirking devilishly again and Marius knows he's really got no choice.
And really, he's not going to turn down a free breakfast.
000
"Aspirin and water are on the countertop, don't expect me to keep quiet all day to compensate for your no-doubt aching head, and yes I am going to question you about this so get over here," is what he wakes up to, and it's not really in his nature, but he's more than tempted to throw a pillow across the room.
He should have known that if he was looking for sympathy after his bad decisions last night, Combeferre is not the man that will provide him with that.
Still.
"I hardly need to be mothered," his voice comes out raspy and hoarse, hardly assertive at all, and he clears his throat before stumbling out of bed (and oh, yeah, there's that headache) and over to the counter, downing the glass of water and the painkillers before he collapses in a chair at the kitchen table.
"I realize that, but I don't want you getting sick on my watch. Now talk," Combeferre looks up from where he's got about six textbooks scattered around, pushing his glasses up and folding his arms. The other man might not be all that physically intimidating on a regular basis, but Enjolras knows him well enough to know that he's a formidable person in his own right.
And he's not getting out of this one.
"I…you know how my parents are…well, mildly obsessive about my grades. Well, I got my last test back yesterday and let's just say that they won't be happy with the mark I got, so I…wanted to forget about everything for a while and I knew there was a party last night. It was a bad idea, so don't yell at me about it, but anything to stop my parents from riding me so hard seemed nice," he keeps staring at the table, his lips pursed as he tries to work through everything in his aching head.
"Was your mark that bad?" Combeferre looks honestly surprised. "I could have helped you study…"
"It wasn't. But it won't be good enough for them, and I just…I have no inclination to try anymore because this isn't what I want to do. I don't want to be a lawyer. I want to…make a difference, I want to…"
"You want to be an activist," Combeferre sighs because they've been through this several times before. "I know you want to change the world, Enjolras, but to do that you need money and you need influence, and much as I hate to admit it when I can see how much you dislike what you're doing right now, law is a good place to start. Nobody says you have to be a lawyer when it's all said and done, and your parents are paying your way through school…"
"I know," Enjolras holds up his hand to stop the tirade, because he's heard it several times already. "I do. And my marks are well above average, but they aren't perfect, and you know my parents expect perfection," he leans back and closes his eyes, fingers coming up to rub at his temples. "It won't happen again. Getting drunk isn't worth the pain that comes afterward."
"I'm glad you realize that…" Combeferre stops as his phone vibrates and he goes to check it, his eyes widening a little before his face takes on a more neutral expression and he clears his throat. "Did, ah, anything happen at the party?"
"Nothing especially noteworthy," Enjolras curses his pale skin because he knows he's probably a little red, but yes, he can remember making out with that boy…Courfeyrac's roommate…and he'd rather forget anything ever happened because it's only going to cause awkwardness in the future.
He doesn't know how it happened, but both of them had been in especially low spirits and somehow that and the alcohol had led them to the conclusion that kissing was the proper answer, although looking back at it in the daylight it hadn't been bad and Marius was really very handsome.
Still, he doesn't do relationships or matters of the heart, so it's best to leave it be.
"Nothing about you and Courfeyrac's…"
"Yes, okay, it happened," Enjolras snaps, immediately feeling bad because Combeferre looks taken aback. "I'm sorry. It happened. I'd rather not think about it anymore because I've admitted that last night was a mistake that I won't be repeating," he tries to sound as firm as possible because he knows damn well that text is from Courfeyrac and the other man's not likely to let this go.
"Okay," Combeferre is about as interested in romance as he himself is, after all, so he drops the topic easily and sets his phone aside without replying. "Are you feeling up for a little breakfast, or…"
And Enjolras drops his head on the table again because from the way his stomach lurches at the mere thought of food the answer is definitely an emphatic 'no.'
He is never drinking again.
Notes (bear with me here):
1. Okay, so I've never really written modern!Amis before, so I'm kind of jumping in head-first with this one and trying to adapt the personalities I'm used to giving them to a more modern setting and I hope it's working out okay. Also, my Amis are characters I've developed in my head for a long time (close to seven years now) so physically they don't really resemble their movie counterparts since I had mental images of them long before the film was ever green-lit.
2. The…general idea of this came very loosely from an Italian webseries called G&T (you can find it on YouTube) where the basic premise is that two best friends make out at a party and it causes a bunch of awkwardness because the one doesn't really want to accept that he might like guys. So the only thing I'm really taking from it is the whole 'making out at a party' bit but that's what kick-started this so I thought I'd mention it :)
3. I don't know how long this will turn out to be, but I do have ideas for it which is rare for me lately (a combination of medication that's stunting my creative mind and just general writer's block, I think) so we'll see. And I hope people actually read this, and if you do, let me know if anything's working at all because it's all very experimental at this point.
4. I ship everything when it comes to these guys. Honestly. So there will be side-pairings that won't really have a whole lot of focus, but I can't seem to help myself. Also, the title of the fic comes from the line 'I can't stop it when there's chemicals keeping us together' from Fall Out Boy's 'The Mighty Fall.' Regardless, that's enough of me rambling on, so I hope this was an okay start!