Disclaimer: I do not own Les Misérables and it's characters, as much as I want to.
A/N: Alright Mizzies, I messed up. In the first two chapters, I wrote about Gavroche who broke his left arm, as though I made Joly set his right arm last chapter. My apologies for this! Just go with the right arm.
'MAMAN! Maman, Gavroche is gone!' Eponine stormed into the kitchen, catching for breath. It was dawning and Eponine was told to get some groceries to Monsieur Montague. She had passed the spot where her little brother was dropped by their father, she could tell by the red snow. Monsieur Thénardier went red. 'WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S GONE?' He yelled. Eponine got scared. 'Just like I said, he's gone. All there's left is a lot of red snow.' She hid herself behind her mother, who was just as angry as the master of the house. 'Somebody saved him. Somebody found him and took him in. Eponine, find the gang. I have some unfinished business to attempt.' Monsieur Thénardier picked up a large knife from the kitchen counter and walked out of the house, to find the gang himself when Eponine had refused by shaking her head.
Thénardier had found his gang and his beloved sidekick Brujon himself. It didn't take long for Brujon to figure out where Gavroche was. He had heard about a kid that was found in the snow, and that one Joly was treating him. When Brujon had found Joly, he had followed him to cafe Musain. Thénardier would finish off his son for good now.
Meanwhile, Joly and Marius had tried to get Grantaire to go home and sleep, but he wouldn't leave the cafe if it was for a million francs. The boys had put him in a chair near the guestroom and gave him some wine. When they returned half an hour later, Grantaire hadn't even took a sip. 'I can't.' was his answer. His eyes were still puffy and his face was still pretty red from the crying. 'Here, eat.' Courfeyrac held a bowl of food in front of Grantaire. 'It's almost dawn and you haven't slept.' Courfeyrac said. Grantaire didn't response and continued to eat his food in silence.
'Okay, I know that what happened to Gavroche is really affecting you, but you need to take care of yourself as well, my fried.' Courfeyrac laid his hand on Grantaire's shoulder, which began to shake, he was crying again. 'It's just..' Grantaire couldn't finish his sentence and before he even noticed, his face was buried in Courfeyrac's shoulder. They sat like that for a couple of minutes, but got interrupted by Joly who went to check on Gavroche.
Joly opened the door to Gavroche's guestroom and looked right in the eyes of a terrified kid and a gang of creepily grinning men. 'Oh my Lord...' Joly let his bag fell out of his hands, which made Grantaire and Courfeyrac look up. They jumped at the sight of Thénardier with a huge knife in his hand. Courfeyrac and Grantaire ran into the room, and Enjolras, Marius, Combeferre and Feuilly followed like a shadow.
'You're still alive, Gavroche. That wasn't like I planned it.' Thénardier said with an evil smile. The knife reflected some weak morning light. 'Thénardier, get out!' Joly said. Thénardier looked over his shoulder, seeing the Les Amis. 'And you are going to stop me?' he grinned.
'P-p-please Papa.' Gavroche stuttered with fear. Thénardier raised his knife and threw it down, but it wasn't Gavroche he had hit, it was Courfeyrac. Courfeyrac slowly faded away, on his way to unconsciousness. It was Grantaire who was the first to respond. 'YOU SON OF A BITCH!' he yelled. Grantaire's best friend was Joly, and everybody had always known that, but Courfeyrac and Grantaire shared something else; they were family. Both the boy's grandpas were brothers, making Grantaire and Courfeyrac second cousins. They had spent a long time of their childhood together.
Enjolras and Marius tried to start a fight with the gang while Grantaire picked Gavroche out of bed and carried him downstairs. Joly followed with the unconscious Courfeyrac. Joly saw Grantaire, who gave Gavroche a kiss on his forehead. He saw how Grantaire made a vow to Gavroche, then picking up his gun from the table and walking upstairs. 'GRANTAIRE NO!' Joly screamed. He wanted to run after his best friend, but there was no way he could leave Courfeyrac and Gavroche alone.
Upstairs was a battlefield of gang members and Les Amis. There were only fists included and mostly a lot of blood, but no guns or knives or swords. When Grantaire walked over to Thénardier and pointed the gun at him, everybody stopped. 'Well, well, well. If it isn't Monsieur Grantaire's little kid. I thought you died when your father threw you out, but just like Gavroche, you survived. You did quite a bad job, mon ami.' Thénardier said with an evil grin, but he wasn't talking to Grantaire. He was talking to one of his men.
Grantaire held his finger on the trigger, ready to fire the gun.'Grantaire, what is he talking about?' Combeferre asked. 'That man over there is my father.' Grantaire choked out. He now pointed his gun at his old man. 'You and the woman I always called Maman beat the living crap out of me, and threw me out in the snow. And now you are going to pay for that mistake.' Grantaire had tears streaming down his face. Now sober, he had felt more than he had ever felt drunk. He felt hurt and betrayed by his father, threatened by the gang, but also he felt some fatherly feelings towards Gavroche. Grantaire was the only one of the students who could actually relate to the little lad.
Enjolras walked over to Grantaire very carefully, in the hope that his friend wouldn't pull that trigger. 'Please, Grantaire. You know better than killing him.' He said quietly. Grantaire swallowed, but listened to Enjolras. He put away the gun and hit the man right in the eye. It caused his father to fall back, right through the open window. The gang members jumped after him, and Thénardier made a vow to find and kill both Gavroche and Grantaire. With that, he had also left the building by jumping out of the window.
'Courfeyrac…' Marius reminded his friends about their injured mate. They all ran downstairs to find Joly working on Courfeyrac. There was more blood than they had ever seen and Courfeyrac was breathing heavily, but he was breathing and that meant that he was alive. Gavroche said in an armchair near the fireplace, shaking out of fear. Grantaire walked over to him. 'Hey, Gavroche..' Gavroche turned around and threw himself in Grantaire's arms. He started to cry. Everything hurt him, but yet everything felt safer with Grantaire around.
'How's he doing?' Marius asked Joly. 'I have to get him to the hospital.' Joly said, eyes still fixed on Courfeyrac. 'I'll carry him.' Enjolras said. Joly nodded and gave Enjolras very strict instructions on how to pick Courfeyrac from the table and how to carry him. Not much later, Enjolras stood outside of the cafe with the bleeding Courfeyrac in his arms. Joly followed him like shadow. 'Grantaire, you'll stay with me, right?' Gavroche said between sobs. 'Of course, Gav, of course.' Grantaire gave a weak smile.
'Did my father do that to Courfeyrac?' Gavroche asked after a while. He was still on Grantaire's lap, sitting near the fireplace. He was still a little bit shaky and his eyes were red and puffy from the crying. Joly had taken Courfeyrac to the hospital, and the other boys had followed them. 'Yes, Gav, but no worries. Joly is an amazing doctor and Courfeyrac will survive. And that man isn't your father. Do you remember what I vowed earlier?' Gavroche nodded. 'Good.' Grantaire smiled weakly and pulled Gavroche a little closer, who didn't mind that at all.
A couple of hours later - it was probably around noon by now - the boys had returned. Courfeyrac had to stay at the hospital for at least the night, and Joly would stay with him. The other students found Gavroche in Grantaire's arms near the fireplace - both sleeping. Not wanting them to wake up, they decided to discuss the matter upstairs.
'We can't leave Gav and 'taire alone anymore.' said Combeferre. 'Thénardier threatened to kill the both of them.' he added. 'That's true.' Marius nodded. 'First of all, we can't leave Gavroche go until he is completely healed. He'll probably go to live on the streets, and I can't say that that is wrong for him. He'll be better of there.' Enjolras sighed. 'How long will it take for him to heal?' Feuilly asked no-one in particular. 'Joly said it can take up to a month, maybe more.' Combeferre answered.
After a lot of discussion they came to the conclusion that Gavroche would stay with them until he was healed and ready to go. Also, someone of the students would stay with Grantaire, and Enjolras was going to make sure Grantaire always carried a gun around. He liked Grantaire after all more than he thought he did.
'I'm going to check on Grantaire and Gavroche.' Enjolras said and he walked downstairs. Grantaire and Gavroche weren't asleep anymore, and Gavroche didn't have that fearful look in his eyes any longer. It made Enjolras feel a bit better.
'How's Courf doing?' Grantaire asked as soon as he spotted Enjolras. Gavroche was still on his lap and Grantaire was reading to the little boy, who had never learned to read and write. 'He has to stay overnight, but he's fine. Joly's still with him, but I think he'll be here soon to check up on Gavroche.' Enjolras said and he sat down on a chair at the nearest table. It was next to the armchair where Gavroche and Grantaire sat in, and so Enjolras could see what they were reading.
'Fairy tales?' Enjolras asked with wonder. 'Gav choose the book himself. He had never heard about any of them. Poor boy.' Grantaire said, still the gloom of surprise on his face. 'Hey Gav, maybe Enjolras will tell you some real history some time. And Marius can learn you how to write and read.' Grantaire smiled. He looked at Enjolras, who nodded. 'It would be a pleasure, Gavroche.' Gavroche smiled from ear to ear.
A/N: Crappy chapter I know, but I had to do something to get to the next level. And don't worry, Courfeyrac isn't going to die.
Can you guess what Grantaire vowed to Gavroche?
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