A/N: sigh...gotta love reviewers.....

so, another installment....enjoy....

Oh, and since I don't know many of the actual first names of most characters, the ones I use are the ones I've been told by other people. Correct me please if you know the actual ones.

Once again, I do not own Les Amis (no matter hard I try X3)....

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Chapter 2: Introductions and a question

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The next morning, Kiera was awoken rudely by a knocking at the door. Courfeyrac, who was already awake and getting ready to leave, swung open the door to reveal a young man. He had brown hair that was tied back in a neat ponytail and spectacles perched upon his nose. He first greeted Courfeyrac, then his gaze fell on her, still sitting on her mattress.

"I presume, Mademoiselle, that you are the girl he mentioned last night." He smiled, holding out his hand. "I am Etienne Combeferre, one of this rascals many friends."

With small smile, she replied "Kiera" which caused Combeferre to laugh.

"Right to the point, I see; I like you already. Now" he turned to Courfeyrac "Are you going to bring her with you later? There is another meeting at noon, and I am sure the other's are wanting to meet her."

Both men turned to her, as if expecting her somehow to know the answer. She shrugged

"I guess...if Courfeyrac is willing to let me tag along, that is..."

Chuckling, the young student responded" Of course you may; after we get you some clothing, that is. We can go to the cafe when we're done."

He noticed Combeferre laughing at Kiera's obvious mumbling of disapproval. Sighing dramatically, he replied

"You are most definitely not putting back on those awful rags you had on before. Besides, it's dreadfully cold outside; you'll freeze!"

Kiera rolled her eyes ceiling-ward, but drooped her shoulders in defeat, responding

"I suppose I don't have any choice in the matter..."

"Definitely not" was the cocky reply.

..........

It was a subdued Kiera that walked between the two men an hour later. She now had on a green chiffon dress and a matching hat, both dreadfully uncomfortable, courtesy of Courfeyrac. Neither was very expensive, but it still annoyed her to depend on him such. The only thing that was originally hers was her old woolen shawl, which wasn't too badly worn or ripped, so they had given her hat one small comfort. She had spent the entire time in the store cursing both of her new friend's names (which Courfeyrac always responded to with some witty remark), while pondering ways to get revenge.

"We're here"

She was torn from her thoughts when Combeferre spoke. She looked up to see an older cafe, in which Courfeyrac stood in the doorway. She followed him into a dimly lit hallway, all the way through many other rooms to one she assumed was the one furthest back.

A small group of young men sat at the tables, each smaller group talking about something different. However, all conversation stopped when they walked in. Kiera felt her cheeks burn as they all turned to stare at her. She jumped when she felt a touch on her arm, then relaxed slightly when she saw it was just Courfeyrac. The young man smiled reassuringly, then cleared his throat and said

"Everyone, this is Kiera Lynnia. Kiera, these are my friends, Les Amis d'ABC."

She cocked her head. but asked no questions as he led her over to one corner and sat her in an empty chair. For a few minutes she sat uncomfortably, until finally one of the men turned to her with a smile.

"Bonjour, Mademoiselle; I am Lesgles de Meaux."

"L'aigle? Eagle?" She repeated, confused, and the bald man laughed.

"Same thing; but you can call me Bossuet, for simplicity's sake."

"And you can call me just Kiera." She responded, shaking his proffered hand.

After him, she was introduced to Feuilly, Joly, Bahorel, and Grantaire. The latter had not been able to introduce himself, having been hopelessly drunk at the time. And there was one last one who had yet to introduce himself; a regal looking blond with shockingly blue eyes, and a very leader-like air about him. She assumed, then, that that was what he was. After an hour or so, she decided to take the initiative.

"Bonjour, Monsieur..."

"Enjolras" he replied shortly, then adding "you aren't from around here, are you?"

She shook her head slowly.

"I'm from a place many hundreds of miles away. I left to escape some problems at home."

Her noticed her obvious skimming of details, but he decided not to say anything. Even though he knew, from a leaders perspective, that having someone who wouldn't tell them much might be bad, she seemed....trustworthy. He only hoped he wasn't wrong...Granted, her living with Courfeyrac definitely wasn't about to shed any light on her. That man wouldn't do any sort of thing such as prying into someone's business. No, Nicolas Courfeyrac was the epitome of a nice man, even if he sometimes seemed a bit of a joker. Having grown up with the boy, he had seen both sides of his friend, and he knew that Courfeyrac could be serious if he wanted to be. Thankfully, he was distracted from thinking further when Jean Prouvaire, the only missing member, walked through the door. His gaze immediately lighted upon the young girl in the corner. He walked over and, bowing slightly, said

"Bonjour, Mademoiselle; I am Jean Prouvaire, though I prefer to be called Jehan."

"Kiera; I'm a foreigner, and Courfeyrac kindly took me in."

"Ah, yes, I do believe he mentioned something of the like last night. Well, It sure is nicer to meet you in person, Mademoiselle Kiera."

The other men were surprised to see Kiera, after being so quiet and shy with them, talk so openly to their poet friend. Then again, perhaps it was just because of who Jehan was; his personality was the type that made you open up. How many of them had indeed fallen prey to the same thing? Courfeyrac watched with a smile, happy to see her talking after seeming so quiet and sad since he had met her. AS she started talking to Prouvaire, Enjolras made a mental note to get information about the girl from him later, then turned back to his work.

.............

"Well, they certainly are nice men, aren't they? Especially M'ssieurs Feuilly and Jehan."

Courfeyrac nodded, still quite surprised at the change in his new friend after merely chatting with the Amis for a few hours. She seemed to get along with all of them, and they had left with most everyone asking if she could come back the next day, to which Kiera agreed to with a smile. As they walked, he noticed her starting to glance around at the people passing by them.

"It's so very...different...." she muttered, and he nodded again, knowing exactly what she meant. He'd also noticed that every time she was asked where she came from, she delicately avoided answering the question and changed the subject. Himself not wanting to pry, he had a feeling that they may never learn the answer to that mystery. But he had been grateful to his friends, who had quickly realized how distressing the subject seemed, and let it drop. Well, except Grantaire, but the man was hopelessly inebriated shortly after their arrival.

"Courfeyrac?"

He started, turning to see that Kiera had stopped, her gaze unfocused as she stared into a shop window at her reflection. He paused as well, answering with a quick

"Yes?"

She didn't respond right away, then suddenly blinked back into focus, her gazing turning to the ground. Finally, in a barely audible whisper, she asked

"Have you ever...lost someone? Someone that was really close, that you really cared for, and all that?"

Courfeyrac froze, staring at her, mouth opening and closing as he seemed at a loss for words. After a few seconds silence, he replied

"I s'pose...."

"Ah..." she whispered softly, then resumed walking, eyes trained skyward.

the young student stayed back, quite utterly confused, then followed her back to his apartment.

..........

About two hours later, they both were lying back on their respective mattresses. Neither had spoken since; Kiera had picked up one of his many law books and had been absorbed in it since. Courfeyrac was completely ignoring his schoolwork and was, instead, reading some novel which she suspected may have been perverse in nature. Finally, getting restless in the silence, he asked.

"I'm sorry if it seems prying, but....why did you ask me that earlier?"

She sighed, putting down his book and staring at the ceiling.

"I...I was just wondering...'cause...'cause I guess that's why I left home....and I was just curious if you'd..." she trailed off, playing with her hair subconsciously.

"Oh...I'm so sorry...." Courfeyrac said sincerely, realizing the explanation for the hesitant and scared demeanor of the girl. He wondered who it was, to have such an impact on her. From what he'd seen tonight, she must have once been a more easygoing and laughing person, but it now took some coaxing to get out. Kiera spoke then, to try and avoid any other questions.

"So, Feuilly said he might know a man who can get me a job."

"Really?" Courfeyrac said with a warm smile "That's great!"

She smiled back and nodded.

"He an' Joly are going to take me there tomorrow. But....I don't know if he'll hire me, 'cause of my age an' all that...."

"How old are you?"

"Um...." she hesitated, lowering her eyes."Sixteen"

Courfeyrac sat up, exclaiming "Seriously? I...I would have guessed at least 20..."

She nodded mournfully

"Most people say that I look mature for my age. But even so, most jobs that pay anything don't hire people my age."

"Then don't tell them how old you are." he regretted it as soon as the words left his mouth, and Kiera turned to stare at him in awe. He quickly rephrased " That is, don't say anything if they don't ask. You did say you needed the money."

"I do..." she sighed "I feel terrible for imposing as it is...."

"You're not imposing." he argued vainly, then added "Besides, I...rather enjoy having you here. It's a lot less boring, now that I have someone to talk to."

"Just one of the perks...." she muttered sarcastically, which caused a wide grin to spread across his face.

"Are you under the impression that I do not enjoy your company?"

She shrugged, but before she turned away again he saw the smile on her face and knew that she wasn't.

......

The next morning they were both woken once again by a loud knock on the door. Courfeyrac tumbled out of bed, grumbling, and haphazardly tossed on his clothes. Kiera thought with a grin that he must not have been used to waking up in this manner. Still mumbling curses under his breath, he opened the door.

"Good Morning Courfeyrac, Kiera" Joly walked in, tipping his hat to the young girl on the mattress. She raised an eyebrow as two others followed him into the room.

"I thought only you an' Feuilly were coming...."

"Originally, but we happened to meet Jehan along the way, and he wanted to come along. Perhaps we could all go out for lunch afterwards..." Feuilly finished thoughtfully. Kiera shrugged

"As long as none of you tries to pay for me again." she warned "the clothes were enough"

"But surely you do not plan to starve yourself, Mademoiselle Kiera!" Jean Prouvaire said in his soft yet persuasive voice. The young woman sighed.

"No...I don't know...I just-gak! I just hate having people treat me like some charity case, going around and buying stuff for me! You guys have been too nice as it is!"

"No, we're not" said Courfeyrac with a dramatic sigh You're just too proud to admit you need help. You know..." he cocked his head, looking thoughtful "She reminds me of Enjolras..."

"What!?" she tried to protest "No, wait a min-"

But the others were already laughing and commenting in agreement.

"You're right!"

"No wonder they seem to get along...."

"Indeed...."

Kiera scoffed in exasperation, flinging up her arms.

"You guys are impossible!"

"We most certainly are!" Courfeyrac laughed "You do have to admit, mon amie, your pride can get in the way at times."

"But-!"

"No buts, Mademoiselle" Prouvaire interjected "Now, shouldn't we be leaving, Feuilly?"

"Yes we should; hurry up and get dressed, Kiera, for Monsieur LeJorge expects us at eleven."

Grumbling curses, Kiera grabbed her dress from the table and went behind the newly erected screen, put up by her request for modesty's sake. Meanwhile, the men talked amongst themselves.

"So how is it, living with a woman?"

"Hmmm, actually, I'm rather enjoying it. It's nice to have a woman here to talk to who is not a mistress." he grinned, and they heard a snort of disgust from behind the screen. Prouvaire laughed.

"It might do you some good, Courfeyrac. After all, it would be prudent to not have any mistresses here while Mademoiselle Kiera is staying here."

"He better not!" Kiera said sharply. Everyone was shocked when she didn't correct Prouviare's use of formality. Courfeyrac sighed dramatically, but the smile never left his face.

"My dear fellows, do you really think so low of me? I thought surely you must think better...."

"Oh be quiet, Monsieur drama king; we merely state the truth" Joly said with a wide grin.

"It is not!" Courfeyrac pouted indignantly. Feuilly opened his mouth to retort, but was cut off by the emergence of Kiera.

"Let's go" she said with a sigh, grabbing her hat and shawl from the bureau, Courfeyrac heaved a sigh of relief, and the others rolled their eyes as they placed their hats on their heads and followed her out the door.