She wriggled a lot as he held her arms to her side with one of his around her waist, but fortunately she was 5 foot 5 and thin, to his 5 foot 11 and muscular.
"Ow, Anja!" He yelled when she kicked him in the shin when he reached the landing.
"Mmmmmmm, mmmm!" Her words muffled by his hand pressed firmly over her mouth.
Enjolras kicked the door open of his room with his foot, as he practically carried Anja in. He kicked the door shut when they were inside and let her go.
"What the hell, Aaron?" She yelled.
He wiped his hand on his jeans, remembering that she'd licked him.
"Can we just act like adults for ten minutes?" He yelled back.
"I will when you stop treating me like a child!" She retorted.
He fell silent. Enjolras hadn't seen Anja in a long time. He saw her the odd day or two when he visited his parents, but then she had to go to her literature class, or her latin tutor had arrived. Or, his parents got her to help them with the new legislation they'd just decided on. She was always doing something. It made him think if she'd ever had time to be a normal girl at all.
"Anja..." He said, pleading with her to be cooperative.
"Don't make me go back." She said in a small voice.
"I can't let you stay here without them knowing." He said apologetically.
"I won't got back." She said defiantly.
"You have too!" He sighed. She pushed past him and stormed out of the room onto the landing. "The police are looking for you!"
"I'm not going. Its fucking living hell, Aaron!" She yelled as she skipped down the stairs.
"I know."
"Bulshit Aaron!" She spun on her heels in the living room and faced him.
"You all got out when you had the chance. Did you think they'd give me that opportunity? No, I had to be their perfect child. Do everything they wanted me to do. Never complain, never disobey. Just be their personal puppet for the rest of my fucking shit of a life!"
"Anja-"
"Don't." She said calmer. "Just don't. I know you don't mean it, whatever apology you're going to spout. Its all lies. You left me all those years ago. Whatever shitty idea made me think you'd want me back now?"
She shook her head and walked away. Going before it was too late.
x
Enjolras stood there, staring at the space where she used to be. He didn't know what to do. What to say.
"Go after her, Enjolras." Grantaire pressed his car keys into his distraught friends hand, and closed his fingers around it. "And don't go all Student Body, on her, she needs a brother and a friend for a change."
x
Anja didn't know where to go, or what to do. She had around seventy euros in her pocket as well as her bank card, and mobile. She also had no shoes so she felt every paving stone her bare feet pounded on as she ran blindly through Paris. She came to a side of Paris that was rich looking, it mimicked the road that Enjolras lived on, but this was around, what? A mile in the opposite direction? She could run a mile in around four minutes. She walked the streets like a ghost, when a silver citroen pulled to a slow speed beside her as she walked along the pavement, nearest the road as it had trees lining the street.
The window of the car slid down.
"Anja, stop and listen." He started. No Aaron! He mentally hit himself. She needs a friend, and most of all, someone who cares about HER. Take it easy.
"What do you want?" She bit, not bothering to look at him.
"Can we talk?" He asked.
"Isn't this what we're doing?" Anger clear in her tone.
"Properly. About everything. About why you're here, why you won't go back. And then..." He trailed off.
"And then?" She seemed interested.
Think, Enjolras think, he thought. She's almost there.
"We can take it from there together, or you can do whatever the hell you like? Deal?" He asked her.
"Deal." She agreed as he stopped the car and she ran in front of the car and dropped into the passenger seat.
"I knew it was a bad idea for you to take up long distance running." He told her, hoping to relieve the tense atmosphere in the vehicle.
"I thought it may come on handy someday." She gave a half smile.
"Handy? Handy? You ran three miles in 12 minutes 30, I think that's a little more amazing than handy. Try out for a world record someday, I know its around 12:10 to beat."
To his relief, she smiled properly as he drove them back to his house.
x
When they entered, the Amis looked up. No one seemed to be hurt. Combeferre shot them all a look that told them to leave, but not before Grantaire ran over to the open kitchen and took the knife rack with him.
"God only knows what she'll do if he fucks up again." He said in his defence as they exited to the conservatory.
"You all left me." She looked so hurt.
"I'm sorry An. We thought you'd be fine." Enjolras said honestly.
"You never got in touch, neither did Alex, Adam or Aidan." She told him.
"I did. I swear. I sent written letters to you."
"I never got them." She shrugged. She didn't know what to say next.
The door to the conservatory creaked open and the Amis snuck back into the room. The argument wasn't heated, it was more Enjolras realising what leaving had done to Anja.
"They made me study politics. I have a stupid latin tutor! I had to play badminton every tuesday and polo on saturday afternoons. I had to be able to paint and draw properly, to win an art competition in Rome. Learn Cantonese and Lithuanian. They had me take a foundation politics degree last year."
He looked at her with sadness in his eyes. They made her do everything she didn't want to do. She had no say whatsoever.
He was just about to tell her she could stay when there was a knock at the door. Enjolras turned with reluctance and went to answer it. It was Javert.
"Sorry to bother you Monsieur Enjolras, but I have reason to believe a missing person had just entered your house." The officer said to him, peering through at Anja.
"I have been instructed to keep a look out for the young Mademoiselle Enjolras, and requested to bring her to the airport for an immediate flight to Rome."
"She's not here." Enjolras said, leaning on the door frame to obscure his view.
"Enjolras, I can see her." Javert spoke to the boy he was familiar with. They were quite good friends.
"She's not going back." He protested.
"Is she staying with you?" He asked.
Enjolras looked back at his sister, and at his friends, all eager to know his response. He turned back to Javert.
"Yes, she's going to live with me from now on, until she finds her own place when she's old enough."
"Really?" Anja said quickly.
Enjolras turned to face her and smiled, deciding it was time she got the freedom she needed.
"Really." He confirmed.
Before he could take another breath, she ran at him and leaped into a hug. Luckily, being quite sporty, Enjolras had quick reactions and caught her as she jumped into his arms; wrapping her legs around his waist, and span her around a couple of times as they hugged. He put her down and kissed the top of her head.
"You'll never have to see them again An. I promise." He said solomly.
"I will see what I can do for Enjolras, but I can't promise anything." Javert said, making his presence known again. "I'll try to obtain the law and put it under the freedom of will act for adults, as technically, we shouldn't have been looking for you, Mademoiselle, as you are over 16. Au revoir." He turned and left.
"Merci Javert." Enjolras called as the man gave a small wave and sped away in his BMW.
"This calls for a party!" Grantaire said.
They both looked at each other.
"Oh, please don't tell me you don't know how to have fun like your brother?" He asked Anja.
"You just find any excuse to have a party, don't you?" She asked back.
"Never, my dear Anja, answer a question with a question." He told her, taking a swig of his beer.
"Why? Is it more than that intoxicated brain of yours can handle?"
"You are going to be so much trouble, I can tell." He retorted.
"Aw, thanks." She said.
"It wasn't a compliment."
"But you meant it as one."
"No I didn't." He said quickly.
"Yeah, you did." She raised her eyebrows.
"No I didn't."
"You see, all that alcohol is already going to your head. You have no idea that you complimented me!"
"What?!" Grantaire tried to comprehend what she'd just said.
"My point exactly."
They all laughed at Grantaire's confusion.
"We should probably be off now. Got lectures soon and I'm meant to be meeting with me Grandfather." Marius said, rising and heading to the door, followed by Lesgles, Prouvaire, Bahoral and Courfeyrac.
"Good luck." Enjolras said, knowing Marius may be getting totally cut off today.
"Nice to meet you guys." Anja said to them.
"You too Anja. Are you ok?" Marius said as she massaged her head and looked in pain.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"What's up?" Enjolras asked, now playing the part of a concerned brother.
"Nothing. I'm just really tired and I've got a killer headache."
"I'll get you so paracetamol." He went to the cupboard in the open kitchen.
"You shouldn't take anything." Joly said, snatching the box of pills from Enjolras' hand.
"Seriously? You're going to go all hypochondriac on us right now?" Lesgles couldn't believe this.
"Word of warning. We're friends with the biggest one that's ever walked the face of the earth." Lesgles told Anja.
"This isn't a laughing matter guys. You can have some if you really want, but your brain may not like it, it may make you worse." Joly protested, getting agitated.
"Concussion can be a serious head injury. Sometimes the severity of the damage isn't known immediately. Signs of a more severe injury may appear later on and require emergency medical care. If you're having any symptoms, we should go to the hospital to get it checked out." Joly said.
"We really didn't need you to recite your textbook there Joly." Marius told him.
"Surely we could determine the severity of concussion, if Anja has it." Feuilly said, he was less of a worrier when it came to being a trainee doctor, than Joly.
"We may have to keep you awake the night. Its supposed to be for a period of time after the injury, just to see if anything happens. That way we can be certain the injury isn't worsening." He told her.
"Sleeplessness, or difficulty awakening can be another red flag that things aren't so good." Feuilly said calmly.
"That's it. I'm staying the night." Joly said, all flustered.
"No need, I live here. Go home Joly and stop panicking." Feuilly told him.
"Come on." Marius said, grabbing Joly and steering him out of the door, with a call of bye.
The Amis who were left crowded at the door to wave goodbye as Joly was complaining as he got into Prouvaire's car and they sped away back to their halls of residence.
They moved away and shut the door of their house and all slumped back into the sofas, arranged around a coffee table in the lounge, as a square with the tele creating the fourth side.
"So..." Combeferre began. "Dinner?"
"I vote pizza." Anja said, sitting up and sticking her arm in the air.
"I second that!" Grantaire said, joining her.
"You've lived in Italy for too long." Enjolras said, getting up and walking around the back of the sofas, ruffling Anja's hair as he went to get the landline phone.
"What pizzas do you all want?" He called from behind the counter.
"The usual." Anja and Grantaire chorused.
They looked at each other.
"And your usual is?" He asked her.
"Hawaiian. Thin base." She replied.
"Dude, you have a legendary sister." Grantaire told Enjolras who rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, so we'll have five thin based hawaiian pizzas. Four 12 inch, one..." He looked at Anja. She held up eight fingers. "... 8 inch, merci."
"Eight inch? Seriously?" Grantaire said, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm never that hungry." She said honestly, shrugging her shoulders.
"I mean, seriously Grantaire, you can tell she looks after her physical condition. There's nothing to her apart from muscle, on that nice body." Feuilly was met with a flick around his ear by Enjolras.
"You know I didn't mean it that way." He said in his defence.
"Only 17 guys. Lay off." He reminded them, ignoring Anja's confused look. "Its best you don't know."
x
Pizza came and they all sat around and ate watching crappy tele, like the Amis did every night. They cleared away the rubbish and then sat around, watching comedy shows until Enjolras flipped his phone screen up and looked at the time.
"Right." He said. "I'm off to bed, its half eleven and I've got a lecture early tomorrow."
He looked down on his sister who was snuggled in his chest as they watched tv, her eyes closed. He shook her.
"Anja... Anja wake up." She stirred and looked up at him as he stoked her cheek with his thumb. "I know you're tired but you can't go back to sleep."
"Yeah, I know." She didn't look to bothered.
"Does she really have to stay up?" Enjolras asked, with Anja nearly falling asleep on him... Again.
"Its called cliffhanger syndrome." Feuilly told them as he knew they were all wondering. "Its mostly present when younger children hit their heads, buts its now found to be more common in teenagers after a blow. You seemed fine at first, but afterwards you feel tired and ill. I guess you're just extremely tired right now."
She nodded. It was going to be a long night.
"I'll stay up with you. I have nothing to do tomorrow and I'll know if anything's up." Feuilly told her.
"Are you sure?" Enjolras felt guilty about having to keep her awake and him not being there with her.
"I can stay too. Make sure Feuilly doesn't 'do a Joly' on her." Grantaire said.
"Thanks guys." Enjolras said.
"I better go to bed too, what times that lecture?" Combeferre asked, not really wanting the answer.
"Eight."
"Eugh. Night." Combeferre said with a wave and disappeared upstairs.
"Night guys. Night Anja. And don't even think about running off in the night." He warned her as he too then disappeared upstairs.
"Running off in the night?" Grantaire raised an eyebrow.
"Don't ask." She said, and they dismissed it.
It was going to be one hell of a night.
Please r and r and let me know what you think. G xxxx
