Enjolras just stared at the closed door for a few minutes until it opened again, but it wasn't Éponine, Marius and Courfeyrac had returned.
"You won't believe who we found!" Courfeyrac practically ran into the apartment.
Enjolras snapped out of his trance like state, "Did you find Santa Clause?"
"Better than that," Courfeyrac grinned like a maniac, "we found Combeferre!"
Combeferre entered looking a little worse for wear but there was a large smile plastered on the young philosopher's face.
"Enter Thomas B. Combeferre, our ex-roommate and local philosopher, and once under the influence of alcohol ran naked through Central Park," Marius narrated as he had his camera poised on Combeferre who glared at him.
"I though we agreed that night was never to be spoke of again," Combeferre spoke in a serious tone, "I come bearing gifts and this is the welcome I receive? Ridicule and a healthy dosage of silence?" He then turned to Enjolras, "Well?"
"Oh hi," Enjolras waved slightly.
"Oh, hi," Combeferre imitated, "Enjolras it's been seven months and that's the best you've got? Marius when is the last time this boy had something to drink?"
"It's Enjolras," Marius shrugged his shoulders, "so probably never."
"And that's why this is on me," Combeferre pulled out a bottle of seemingly decent champagne, "there isn't a better way to celebrate the holidays." He then continued to empty out the pickle tub he was carrying until Marius stopped him.
"Ferre where did you get all this?" Marius looked at him.
"I apparently have a guardian angel," Combeferre smiled.
"Guardian angel?" Enjolras looked at the various items Combeferre had brought, "what do you mean by guardian-" he stopped as a woman entered the apartment. Actually it was a very attractive drag queen dressed up as what seemed to be Mrs. Clause?
"Hello boys!" The drag queen waved, "I would like to introduce myself, I'm Jeanne Prouvaire," she blew a kiss at Enjolras.
"C-combeferre... Where did you... How did you..." Enjolras sputtered slightly.
"That is a story for another time," Combeferre smiled.
"Oh darling, if you won't tell them I will," Jeanne winked, she then sat on the couch beside Courfeyrac, "you are going to love this." She withdrew a large amount of dollar bills and divvied it up between Combeferre, Courfeyrac, Marius, and Enjolras.
Marius made a quick count of the money he currently had in his hand, it was more than enough to cover a months rent, "Where did you get this."
"Well that is an even more exciting story," Jeanne smiled, "thankfully it all goes together nicely-"
Jeanne then went on to tell them about her escapade, apparently when she went about as Jehan she was a street performer and had been approached by a woman clearly of one of the upper echelons of New York society. The woman made a strange request, to help kill her neighbors dog, but in an indirect manner so that no one could be charged. She was going to pay handsomely but Jeanne refused, not being one to kill innocent animals but then the woman upped her price, Jeanne still refused on principle. The woman made and exorbitant offer that got Jeanne thinking, she said that she would go to the apartment to scope out the situation but she wouldn't immediately accept.
"This is insane," Marius rubbed his forehead as Jeanne spoke in an animated fashion, "seriously."
Jeanne continued with her story about how she arrived at the complex and the woman pointed up to one of the highest stories where sure enough the dog was barking loudly. Jeanne still wasn't sure she wanted to go through with the deal, "Come on dearie," the woman turned to Jeanne, "all you are doing is drumming, that's all." Jeanne then sat down and did her thing for a good hour or so and some strangers were kind enough to give up their spare change to her. Then the barking stopped, Jeanne looked up at the open window and the dog was no longer in sight, without investigating further she took the money and walked away.
"That's horrible and funny at the same time," Courfeyrac laughed slightly.
"I still feel bad, I mean I don't know what happened to that dog-" Jeanne sighed.
"That dog deserves to burn in doggie hell," Courfeyrac smiled, "now tell us how did you meet our friend 'Ferre?"
"Well," Jeanne smiled again, "I was out on the street just outside of here and heard someone coughing, someone had beaten the shit out of your friend here, so I took him home and cleaned him up and he insisted we come here."
Outside the apartment they could hear someone singing on the street "Joy to the world-" the voice stopped and grew angry, "Hey bum! Yeah you move over! Get your ass off that Range Rover?"
"Parnasse," Combeferre, Courfeyrac and Marius muttered in unison.
Marius ducked out onto the balcony, "You know that attitude towards the homeless is exactly what Cosette is protesting tonight."
"Marius stop putting her on a frickin' pedestal," Montparnasse shouted back up at him, "you and I both know she is protesting losing her performance space, not my attitude." He looked around disgustedly at the dark and desolate street, "come down I want to talk to you guys."
Marius sighed and went back inside, "His highness has requested for us to have an audience with him," he rolled his eyes, "let's get this over with." He zipped up his coat and grabbed his camera as everyone else shuffled out of the loft and down the three flights of stairs. As Marius walked down he noticed a girl peering out at them from her door, when they made eye contact she ducked inside and closed the door.
"For those of you who don't know," Marius turned to Jeanne as they walked over towards Montparnasse, "This is Benoit Montparnasse the third, ex-roommate who married my cousin Adelaide Gillenormand of the Westport Gillenormands who I claim no affiliation with any longer. Parnasse bought this building and the lot next door from my Uncle Theodule Gillenormand and my Grandfather in hopes of starting a cyber studio."
Montparnasse rolled his eyes, "You make it sound like I'm the devil, I'm only trying to help you guys."
"By charging us money we don't have, on a loft we can't afford? You said we were good," Enjolras spoke fiercely, "then again you had a heart once too."
"Hey if we are going to talk about people having hearts you should look at yourself," Montparnasse scoffed, "ever since that riot you've done nothing but sulk."
Enjolras balled his fists angrily, Combeferre reached out and gently touched his shoulder, "He's not worth it."
"Besides the East Village is soon going to be revitalized," Montparnasse smiled.
"Sure, if building apartments that are so expensive us artists have one less place to live is called revitalizing," Courfeyrac scoffed.
"Anyway before we can discuss that I have a little matter of a protest," Montparnasse ignored Courfeyrac and turned his attention to Marius, "and I think you can help me there."
"What do you mean?" Marius raised an eyebrow.
"Well it is Cosette," Montparnasse shrugged, "perhaps you can persuade her to-"
"If you want her to stop so badly you should just call the cops," Marius sighed, "there isn't anything I can do to stop her, we aren't dating anymore."
"I did call the cops and they are on standby," Montparnasse continued in his cool and calm tone, "but my investors-"
"You mean my grandfather," Marius interrupted.
"Would rather not drum up bad press and rather I handled this quietly," Montparnasse straightened the lapels on his coat.
Enjolras had just about had enough of Montparnasse's crap, "You can't expect to quietly wipe out an entire tent city and then go and watch "It's A Wonderful Life" on T.V, it's not that simple."
"You know a year ago you probably would have been all for this plan," Montparnasse folded his arms across his chest, "to see this part of town grow from the hell hole it currently is."
"I like this hell hole, thank you very much," Courfeyrac interjected, "really gets the creative juices flowing."
"You got that right honey," Jeanne smiled at him.
"I still have my offer," Montparnasse tried to reason with them one last time, "you stop Cosette or you are out of here and I don't give two shits where you go."
"That boy could use some Prozac," Jeanne smirked.
"Well I gotta go help Cosette with her equipment, I said I would be there over an hour ago, she's probably going crazy," Marius sighed.
"Marius you know you could have said no," Courfeyrac added.
"I know it's just-" Marius grew flustered and his face was red.
"That's cute," Combeferre smiled, "you still love her."
"Well they did date through practically all of college," Courfeyrac grinned.
"I'm going now," Marius grabbed his coat and bag.
"Well Jeanne and I are going to Les Amis de l'ABC, it's a support group for people with AIDS," Combeferre turned to Enjolras, "you should come too, it would be good for you."
Enjolras snorted slightly, "Knock yourselves out."
"Well Marius, Courfeyrac it's not just for those who are HIVpositive," Combeferre turned to the others, "you can come to."
"First I've got a protest to save," Marius replied, "but perhaps I'll see you guys there?"
Marius walked down the stairs and outside to brave the cold New York air, he walked quickly to the performance space but with each step a knot grew in his stomach. It seemed to tighten and tighten to the point he almost felt somewhat ill.
"Oh god, why the fuck am I doing this..." Marius groaned as he stood outside the closed doors of the performance space. He lingered for a moment longer before pushing open the door, the only person there was a blonde woman in a pantsuit with her hair in a bun, she was kneeling next to a soundboard trying to wire the mics.
"Well that is not Cosette," Marius muttered, he then developed a sinking feeling in his stomach as he began to process who the woman was.
"Line in... Line out... Jesus, I went to Harvard for this?" The woman muttered.
Marius pointed his camera at himself (a rare sight), "Close in on Marius' nosedive, will he get out of here alive?"
"Who are you?" The woman stood up and glared at him.
Marius gulped slightly, "I-I'm Marius."
The woman shook her head, "I told her not to call you!"
"So you're Musichetta?" Marius asked.
"The one and only," Musichetta sighed.
"Cosette said she be here," Marius slowly approached the makeshift stage.
"Don't hold your breath," Musichetta groaned.
"This is so typical," Marius sighed, "anyway she said you needed help with the equipment?"
"I've hired an engineer," Musichetta replied coldly.
"This was a waste," Marius thought to himself as he began to walk away, "Well nice to have met-"
"Wait!" Musichetta called and laughed nervously, "he's three hours late."
Marius sighed and walked back towards Musichetta, upon closer inspection he could see she was not as put together as he thought. Gold wisps escaped her neat bun, her makeup slightly smudged and her eyes wide. "Alright, what seems to be the problem?"
"The samples," Musichetta sighed, "I've tried everything, a rewired it and switched the channels but they won't delay-"
"There is another way," Marius cut her off, "go to the mic and say something, anything."
Musichetta huffed and approached the mic, "Testing, test 1, 2, 3..."
Marius practically shuddered, "I said say anything."
Musichetta clenched her hands into fists and took a couple of deep breaths, then tension mounting between her and Marius was thick in the air. "This is weird, being here with you it's just..." She shivered as if chill went up her spine.
"Weird?" Marius stood up from the soundboard, "How do you think I feel?"
"What do you mean?" Musichetta raised an eyebrow.
"Oh just that I'm helping my ex-girlfriend's current girlfriend set up sound equipment for my ex-girlfriend'a protest," Marius replied casually.
Musichetta bit her lower lip, "I guess that does sound pretty bad."
"Ya think?" Marius said with a slight laugh.
"But it is weird for me to be here with her ex-boyfriend..." Musichetta rubbed her temples, "the fact that she told you she would be here," she sighed.
"But it is Cosette," Marius shrugged, "I really should have seen through this..." He sighed.
"What do you mean?" Musichetta asked.
"I know that girl backwards and forwards, I should have seen this coming," Marius replied.
"You make it sound as if Cosette is predictable," Musichetta turned to him.
"That's because she is," Marius smirked, "I bet she's already started calling you 'Pookie', right?"
"What?! No!" Musichetta exclaimed.
"Ever doubted a kiss or two?" Marius continued.
"No," Musichetta flushed, "maybe... Yeah..."
"Was she always this fawning over other men?" Musichetta asked.
"Fawning? It was more than that," Marius chuckled.
"Oh god..." Musichetta groaned.
Marius felt Musichetta's pain, "Funny enough, Cosette didn't always used to be this way."
"What do you mean?" Musichetta asked.
"Cosette she..." Marius paused, "when I first met her she was rather innocent when we met at NYU, she was nervous, her first time away from home-"
"What the hell happened?" Musichetta asked.
"She took freedom and ran with it," Marius replied, "went wild."
"You can say that again," Musichetta sighed, "god knows why We love her."
"Amen sister," Marius replied as he continued to work with the wires.
Musichetta laughed slightly, "Whatever."
"Anyway that should do it," Marius fumbled with a switch, he then dusted himself off and approached the microphone, "Fixed." He smiled as the sound echoed with the proper delay.
Musichetta nodded approvingly, "Thanks Marius-" the pay phone rang, Musichetta ran to answer it. "Hi baby," she smiled as answered the phone, "all is good, we fixed the mic- Pookie? Y-you've never called me Pookie..." Her face fell and her skin paled.
Marius suppressed his laughter but he couldn't help it, after all he had warned her.
"Never mind," Musichetta sighed, "We're patched." She forcefully hung up the phone and took a few deep breaths.
"I hate to say I told you so," Marius put his hands in his coat pockets, "but I told you so."
"Out..." Musichetta growled, "now!"
Marius took his cue and quickly exited, after all had promised to meet up with Combeferre and Jeanne as a part of Les Amis de l'ABC.
"Before we begin our meeting I would like everyone to introduce themselves," A young man stood up and spoke, "I'm John." he then turned to the person sitting to his right.
"Jordan," The young man nodded.
"Andre," a blonde man with with green eyes replied.
"Adrienne," a woman with short brown hair continued, and around the circle they went, it was at this time Marius walked in to the community center. As he attempted to set his bag down quietly it fell with a loud clatter and soon all eyes were on him.
"Sorry... Oops," his face flushed.
"Hello, who might you be?" John smiled kindly.
"Oh I'm not, I'm just here to- I don't have, I'm here with-" Marius paused to compose himself, "My name is Marius Pontmercy," he waved awkwardly. "Uh... Would anyone mind if I filmed some of this for documentary purposes?"
"I do not think so," John looked at the group to get their approval and no one said anything, "we'll continue with the meeting."
Marius set up his camera all the while thinking how something like this really might be good for Enjolras, it couldn't hurt him. These were people suffering just like him, they were worried and frightened of the disease they knew would end their lives with something as mundane as a cold, but at least they weren't alone.
"Who wants to begin?" John started.
Slowly the one called Andre raised his hand and started to speak, "Well I'm," he paused and looked at Marius with his camera. He inhaled deeply and started to speak again, "Yesterday I found out my T-cells were low."
"How did that make you feel?" John asked.
Andre shrugged his shoulders, "Angry... Scared."
"How do you feel today?" John continued.
"What?" Andre knit his brows together, "what do you mean?"
"How do you feel today?" John repeated.
"Okay..." Andre paused, "Actually it's the best I've felt in a long time."
"So why are you choosing fear?" John asked calmly.
"I'm a New Yorker," Andre sighed, "fear is my life." The rest of the group let out a nervous laugh at his comment. "I'm thankful for all the support I get here, I really am," he paused and collected his thoughts, "it's just it's so hard knowing who to listen to anymore." Andre glanced around the circle, "I've been feelin' pretty good lately, been taken my meds and yet despite all that the Docs tell me I should already be a corpse in the ground."
Marius nearly dropped his camera as he listened to Andre speak a very cold and honest truth.
"Yeah," Andre shrugged one shoulder, "HIV is practically a death sentence to a young artist, but it doesn't mean the other half of society can ignore what's going on in front of them, the epidemic is here and no one is doing anything to stop it."
There was something about Andre that reminded Marius of what Enjolras used to be like, before Rory died and before he was HIV positive. It was the same spark of passion that flickered in his eyes and was present in his words, he still had the spark that had long since died in Enjolras. He struggled with holding his camera steady, even though Andre's words would be lost to the film his fire was still there, forever captured on a thin strip of celluloid.
Xxxxxxxxxx
Éponine had just returned from work but had no intention of going back to her apartment to be alone for the rest of the night in her dingy apartment. The guy upstairs had been rather cute, he also didn't seem like he would be interested in the sex that Éponine would not give, just because she suffered from her mistakes didn't mean that man needed to be infected. Perhaps they could simply get a few drinks, spend a night on the town? She knocked on his door and silently waited for him to open it.
The blonde man opened the door and frowned, "What are you doing here?"
Éponine put on a flirty air, "Sucks to be alone for Christmas Eve," she shrugged, "how about you and I-" she entered the apartment, "go out on the town?"
Enjolras' expression did not change, "I don't think so."
Éponine had not anticipated being shot down like that, "Are you sure?" she tried to think of some way that might entice him, "I'm not asking much."
"Are you just looking for some one to get high with?" Enjolras asked.
Éponine's eyes went wide, "Excuse me?"
Enjolras started to explain, "It only seems that is what you are-"
"Fuck off," Éponine cut him off before he could finish, "I was only trying to be nice and pleasant, thought that maybe you wouldn't enjoy being alone."
"I'm not alone," Enjolras replied, "my friends are here."
"Really?" Éponine looked around, "where?"
"Well they aren't here right now," Enjolras folded his arms across his chest, "anyway, what is a junkie like you doing here? We hardly even know each other-"
"Oh my god!" Éponine rolled her eyes, "you are just going to keep coming back to that aren't you?" she scoffed, "what's a junkie like me?" She balled her hands into fists, "why do you care about what I've done to go and fuck up my life?" her voice was slowly getting raised.
"You are killing your potential," Enjolras was getting more terse, "besides it wouldn't work between us, it never will."
"So I was wrong, do you play for the other team?" Éponine put her hands on her hips.
"What? No!" Enjolras exclaimed, "It's just- anyway I don't want to take any... Just go, go now, take your drugs with you."
"Alright Mr. Fucking Self-Righteous," Éponine snarled, "I will, and maybe you will be the lucky winner of finding my corpse on the streets once I die of a fucking overdose!" She angrily walked down the stairs back to her apartment and after entering slammed the door behind her.
Once she left Enjolras leaned against the door frame in thought , he had been rather hasty and judgmental on the girl, it was as if he had lost control of himself. For the first time in a very long time his passion had taken over. Enjolras figured that he knew what the girl had wanted and besides the fact that he hated when people had mere flings with one another. Besides how could she know he had AIDS? Even if he had wanted to go with her he didn't want to infect her, no one deserved this fate. Perhaps she would leave him alone... But he felt a knot of guilt building in his gut for shouting the things that he did. He closed the door and sat back on the old couch with his head in his hands. He played the scenario over and over again in his mind, each time his guilt increasing, he had to get up, he had to get out. Enjolras went and grabbed his coat, left the apartment for the first time in nearly half a year.