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"Courfeyrac! C'mon, we're gonna be late!" Combeferre shouts up to their apartment from his parking spot. His silver Ford was running so that the passengers wouldn't freeze in the cold winter air. Jehan is wearing three of his oversized sweaters and the scarf Cosette had knitted for him. He is curled in the back seat against the heater and even with Bossuet and Joly pressed together with him, he is still shivering from the wind blowing in from the open passenger door.
"I'm coming!" Courfeyrac yells, running towards the car. "Fuck!" he cries as he slips on the ice, but thankfully, he just flails a little then stands back up. Combeferre sighs, rethinking his idea of driving all four of them plus himself to the airport.
"Who's brilliant idea was it to have a flight in the middle of the night in fucking December?" Courfeyrac grumbles as he slides into the passenger seat and slams the door shut. "I'm wearing a sweatshirt, a North Face jacket and a scarf and boots and I'm still cold. And we're going to fucking Hawaii."
"Well, I hope you packed accordingly then," Combeferre says evenly, trying to resist the urge to slam Courfeyrac's face into the dashboard. Plus, Courfeyrac is his navigator, so his face is somewhat important. "Now is everyone somewhat comfy and ready to go?"
"Yeah," Bossuet replies. "Now let's go. Enjolras will be pissed if we're late and we miss Musichetta." Joly nods in agreement. "Who's in the other cars anyway?" Bossuet continues.
"Enjolras is driving Grantaire, Bahorel, Feuilly," Combeferre answers ("Sounds like a fun car," Courfeyrac mutters.). "Musichetta is taking Cosette, Marius, Eponine and Gavroche in her car."
"How did we even decide on this arrangement?" Courfeyrac asks. "I would much rather be with R and Feuilly."
Combeferre is at his breaking point and all but smashes his own face into the steering wheel. Instead, he rests his forehead on it. "Guys, shut up before I kill all of you, and I'm somewhat of a pacifist. Now someone put on some music and let's get going."
Courfeyrac huffs angrily and crosses his arms for just a moment before plugging in his iPhone and scrolling through his songs.
Combeferre starts driving out of the parking lot but glances disapprovingly at Courfeyrac's mobile device. "Do you know how Apple-"
"'Ferre, I fucking know you and Enj's problem with Apple's factories and shit but I don't give a fuck right now, considering it's the middle of the night when I should be in bed sleeping," Courfeyrac says with an angry snarl. "Just let me play my fucking music."
Some happy, hipster song blasts through the speakers and Courfeyrac gladly sings along loudly, finally seeming content with bothering the hell out of everyone in the car. Combeferre relaxes, just focusing on the road ahead of him. He glances in the rear view mirror to check on his other passengers. Jehan is still curled up tightly and is now sleeping (and Combeferre envies him for falling asleep so easily, especially with the loud music in the car). Joly is cowering against Bossuet with his eyes wide open and hands pressed over his ears. Bossuet has his eyes closed, but is clenching his jaw too tightly for him to be asleep. He's probably trying to tune out Courfeyrac's half-assed singing (which is really a shame because Combeferre actually likes Courfeyrac's real singing voice).
Eventually, (just before Combeferre is ready to duct tape Courfeyrac's mouth shut and just after it starts raining heavily) Courfeyrac yawns and turns off his phone. He leans against the cold window, his breath fogging it up and quickly falls asleep. Combeferre smiles and turns on his classical music radio, glad for the soothing sounds of grand orchestras and piano. He can hear Joly and Bossuet lightly snoring in the back.
"Sorry 'bout my boyfriend," Jehan murmurs from the back seat.
"Oh, you're awake. And it's fine. It's just late and I'm kind of too tired to try and deal with him," Combeferre says.
"Do you need me to drive?" Jehan asks gently.
"Nah, I'm good. We're almost there and no offense, but you're an awful driver, especially with these conditions."
Jehan chuckles softly. "True," he says drowsily. "Well, wake me up if you need me and when we're almost there."
"Got it. Go back to sleep Jehan," Combeferre says soothingly. "Before Courfeyrac wakes up and tries to kill our ears again."
Jehan murmurs something then drifts back to sleep.
And Combeferre is back to his peaceful, quiet solitude.
(Until Courfeyrac abruptly wakes up and starts belting along to Legally Blond.)
::::
"Where the hell are they?" Enjolras mutters through clenched teeth. He's texting rapidly on his phone while muttering what sounds like a string of swears. "We are going to be late."
"Relax Enjolras," Grantaire says, tapping away at the game on his phone and reaching over to peck Enjolras on the lips. "We're here a few hours early. We're good."
Enjolras groans and leans away from Grantaire. "Well, we have to go through security with a bunch of five year olds so that will take a good chunk of time. And I thought Musichetta would be here already. She headed out earlier than us too."
"She has Pontmercy and Gav with her."
"Oh yeah," Enjolras says. "Okay, so that makes sense. Where are Bahorel and Feuilly?"
"Bahorel is getting food and Feuilly is smoking somewhere," Grantaire absently replies, focusing intently on his game.
"Okay, so they're accounted for," Enjolras says, typing something on his phone.
Grantaire glances up at his boyfriend. "You're keeping track of where everyone is? That's a bit obsessive isn't it?"
"Well, Combeferre isn't here to do it so I guess I have to," Enjolras snaps angrily. Then, he sighs and ruffles his hair. "God, I'm sorry Grantaire. I'm just stressed out about planning and organizing this whole vacation."
"Well, don't. This is supposed to be a relaxing vacation. If you need to deal with something, just tell me, 'kay? I'll handle it. This trip is for you to de-stress." Enjolras gives Grantaire a tired smile. "Thanks. It's just a habit. But I'll try to stop."'
"Good. Now give me your phone."
"What? No."
Grantaire holds out his hand and beckons. "Give me your phone. That's where you are piling up your stress, so give it to me and take a nap or something while we wait for everyone."
Enjolras hesitates but then hands his phone to his boyfriend and curls against him and closes his eyes. "If something goes wrong, I'm blaming it on you," he mutters.
Grantaire chuckles and loops his arm around Enjolras' waist. "I'll try not to screw anything up with planning or on your phone."
"I hope not. Wake me up when everyone gets here," Enjolras tells Grantaire and settles more comfortably between the wall and Grantaire. He crosses his arms over his chest and brings up his knees.
"'Kay. Sweet dreams," Grantaire whispers. A hint of a smile appears on Enjolras' red lips and he breathes contently at last.
::::
"Enjolras. Enj, wake up."
Enjolras' eyes flutter open to see his friends gathered around him. Courfeyrac is drinking a huge cup of coffee while leaning against Jehan and Bahorel is holding a tray of two more cups.
"I got you an extra, considering how much caffeine you need," Bahorel says, handing Enjolras a steaming cup of coffee.
"Thanks," Enjolras says accepting the cup. "How long was I out?"
"We got here ten minutes ago," Musichetta tells him from beside Bossuet and Joly. "And Combeferre's car just got here. He and Joly are in the bathroom. We already checked all our luggage too."
"Mm, great. What time is it?" Enjolras asks, rubbing his eyes.
"1:20, in the fucking morning," Courfeyrac mutters angrily. "I need my fucking sleep." Jehan pets his boyfriend's hair gently.
Joly and Combeferre come back from the bathroom. Combeferre's face is slightly wet and he looks refreshed, even after a drive with Courfeyrac. Joly is twitchier than usual.
"Oh god, I hate airports. I love traveling but planes and anything to do with them are definitely not for me. So many people have passed through this very spot from all over the world. Who knows what could be around here? I should have brought more hand sanitizer."
"It's okay Joly. We're all gonna be fine," Bossuet says soothingly and kisses his boyfriend tenderly. Joly calms down and looks much happier, but he still squirts out hand sanitizer onto everyone's hands. "We should go through security. Let's go," Combeferre tells everyone while rubbing the alcohol smell into his hands. "Everyone got everything?"
Cosette and Eponine check through all the bags and everyone gathers their things together. "Enj, if you're gonna drink all that coffee, you better do it quick. Before I drink it or before we go through security," Eponine warns Enjolras.
"Right," Enjolras mutters and downs the two cups of coffee in quick succession.
"God, you are addicted to coffee," Feuilly says. "You drink more than I do, and that's saying a lot."
"You haven't seen him during midterms and finals," Grantaire says. "It's like a bottomless pit consuming only coffee based products."
"Shut up," Enjolras says. "Let's get going." He swings his messenger bag onto his shoulder and leads the pack to security.
"Everyone got their passports and boarding passes?" Combeferre calls out to them.
Bossuet hurriedly checks all his pockets, "Um, I-"
"I got yours Bossuet," Joly says, holding up two passports and both boarding passes.
"Thanks honey," Bossuet says, taking the papers.
"Good call Joly," Feuilly says, handing his own passport and pass to the security lady who looks far too indifferent to be actually doing her job.
"Fucking TSA," Grantaire moans as he struggles to take off his shoes. "This is the worst."
Enjolras sighs in agreement. Their friends were already causing a commotion. Gavorche is refusing to remove his jacket or shoes (which most definitely is hiding stolen candy) and Joly is wiping down the bins with antibacterial wipes before placing any of his belongings in it. Bossuet went through the metal detector first but was pulled to the side because he had forgotten the coins in his pocket and the water bottle in his backpack. Feuilly is being guided through the process by Combeferre, since he's never been on a plane. Jehan and Courfeyrac strip off their many layers and just their combined outerwear takes up four bins. Marius is also stopped because he left his belt on, but he becomes flustered and freaked out. Cosette is the only one who calms him down and quickly moves through the line, being the first one waiting on the other side.
After a few more problems with the metal detector and forcefully dumping out all of Gavroche's pockets, the group got through.
"Are we done here? Does everyone have their things?" Enjolras asks, feeling a headache starting behind his temples.
"I don't because you guys wouldn't let me keep my snacks," Gavroche says with his arms crossed and glaring at the older students.
"Those were never yours," Musichetta points out. "We can get more later. By buying them," she adds when Gavroche's eyes light up and he starts fidgeting.
"Okay, we still have about fifteen minutes before we are supposed to board," Combeferre tells everyone. "We all have our own boarding passes so we'll meet at the gate in ten minutes if you want to get something to eat."
The group disbands quickly, some heading to the restrooms and some to the cafe nearby. Grantaire goes with Eponine to get sandwiches, leaving Enjolras ad Combeferre at the gate watching the bags. "Well, this is going better than I expected," Enjolras mutters, rubbing his forehead. "I can't imagine how bad my headache would be if this went any worse."
"Do you need an aspirin?" Combeferre asks, digging through his backpack and coming out with a small bottle of painkillers.
"Yeah, thanks," Enjolras says gratefully and takes the bottle, dumping a pill into his palm. He swallows it dry and slumps back in the chair. "This is not the best start to a 'relaxing' vacation." "It's gonna get better Enjolras," Combeferre says. "Get some sleep on the plane and you'll feel much better when we get there."
"I suppose," Enjolras says, pulling out his phone which Grantaire had returned to him. "Now that we have Internet, I'll finish up some emails."
"C'mon, Enjolras. It's vacation, you don't have anything that urgent."
"I have work to do," Enjolras says sharply. "Vacation will start when we get somewhere that's not snowing." Combeferre sighs. "Fair enough. No working on the trip though."
"Fine, fine," Enjolras mutters, just as the announcement comes on to tell them to start boarding the plane.
"Are we supposed to get on?" Eponine asks, coming over with sandwiches for everyone. Grantaire holds another tray of coffee.
"Yeah, that's us," Combeferre says, standing up and waving everyone over.
"Where's Marius?" Courfeyrac asks when everybody had gathered together. "And Cosette?"
"I don't know," Musichetta says, looking around. "Somebody call Cosette. Marius still doesn't have a phone."
Jehan pulls out his phone and dials Cosette's number. "Hey Cosette. Where are you? We're getting ready to board." After a moment, Jehan nods and says, "Okay, we'll wait. Bye."
"What's wrong?" Feuilly asks.
"Cosette is getting sleeping pills for Marius."
"What? Why?" Courfeyrac asks, worried about his best guy friend.
"Marius is scared of flying and gets sick on flights so Cosette's gonna let him sleep through it."
"Fantastic," Grantaire mutters. "As long as he doesn't throw up on me it's okay."
They see Marius and Cosette heading towards them. Cosette is rubbing Marius' back comfortingly and Marius' face is pale.
"Dude, you okay?" Bahorel asks, patting Marius' arm.
"Y-Yeah. I'll be fine," he replies shakily.
"It's okay, babe. You can just sleep through the entire thing." Cosette kisses his cheek tenderly. "Yeah, okay."
"Hey, we should get going. They're calling the last rows," Combeferre reminds everyone.
"Alright, come on," Musichetta calls, leading them to the gate.
"And vacation starts," Enjolras sighs.
Combeferre chuckles. "Have fun."