Enjolras had never been this tired in his life.

First, his idiotic professor spent an entire reading from and lecturing them on a book that Enjolras had memorized months ago. He had whispered every word accurately under his breath while Combeferre dutifully took notes next to him. Then, he had a rally on the campus, handing out pamphlets and rousing up the crowd with one of his "legendary" speeches. Many people had congratulated him on his speech today, when actually, it was one of his worst ones. Afterward, he learned from Combeferre (who actually listened to the class) that their idiotic professor had assigned reading homework and to write a summary. A summary. Who would read or write a summary when the actual book sat right in front of you? Enjolras also had to plan another rally, be annoyed by Courfeyrac about girls he had flirted with and listen to Marius's multiple rants about this girl he had suddenly fallen in love with but was too scared to talk to.

He should be used to all that by now, but after a while, he just couldn't take it, especially since he lived off of about four hours of sleep everyday.

After hours of sitting at his cluttered desk, staring at his work, Enjolras realized that he really had no energy left to do anything, let alone tedious busy-work. He had almost fallen asleep a few times already, so he gave in and decided to go for a late night coffee run.

He grabbed his jacket off of the back off the chair and headed out the door. He walked down the street to the local coffee shop and walked in even though the store was empty except for two people, one working and one sitting at the table. He accidentally let the door slam behind him, but he was too tired to care. The person cleaning up around the store looked up and said, "Hey dude, we're closed, get out."

Enjolras was annoyed but too exhausted to lecture the employee. He wouldn't take his money for a few minutes of easy work. That money could probably support an unfortunate family for a month. "Your sign says you're open. Come on, I'll pay. Just get me some coffee," he said wearily.

The worker sighed and asked him what he wanted. Enjolras ordered a latte with extra shots of espresso. He was going to need the extra caffeine to get him through the night. He stood there, impatiently tapping his foot as the worker assembled his drink. Finally, his coffee arrived and he hurriedly grabbed it off the counter, paid and walked towards the door. He wasn't watching where he was going and accidentally bumped into a table corner. He let out a small gasp as his uncapped drink spilled onto the arm of the sleeping man.

"Ah! I'm sorry!" Enjolras immediately exclaimed. The man looked up and stared at Enjolras. He stared right back at the stranger just as intently. He was not the most handsome individual but he had something that intrigued Enjolras. The gray eyes that looked at him were filled with a fire but also deep hopelessness. He had a head of curly, black hair and a small amount of stubble on his chin.

"Uh, it's fine, no problem," he said after a moment's pause, still staring fixedly at Enjolras.

The two of them stood there awkwardly for a while until the worker told them once again to get out. The man stood up and stretched his arms above his head. His t-shirt lifted slightly, revealing the waistband of his jeans hanging on his narrow hips. His old belt was buckled loosely and wasn't holding up his jeans at all. A bit of his green boxers was peeking out. Why he was looking at that, he had no idea. Enjolras blinked a few times and moved his gaze back up to the man's face.

"Well, it's time to go," he said. "I'll see you around." He walked towards the entrance, backpack slung on his shoulder and jacket draped across his arm. He glanced back at Enjolras quickly then walked out. Enjolras watched until he realized that he wanted — no, needed — to know that man's name, his personality, his story.

"Wait!" he yelled, running after him and stopping at the doorway. "Wait, wait. What is your name?"

The man turned and answered. "Grantaire, or R, either one."

"I'm Enjolras," Enjolras replied, smiling as he repeated Grantaire over and over in his head.

"Enjolras," Grantaire said softly. "Enjolras, hopefully I'll see you here again." He raised his hand to say goodbye and left without another word.

Enjolras stood there, watching as he left. He hoped that they would meet again. Now that he knew his name, he wanted to know who that man was. He wanted to know the story of Grantaire.


I'll try to update on here, but updates are quicker on RedAmbitions on Tumblr.

Thanks for reading! :)