Disclaimer: I do not own...wait for it...

4. Friends Will Be Friends

Quite a few days passed before Grantaire finally sobers up enough to recall an unfortunate event that he had seen. And then, while he was lying in a pile of trash after something he likes to call 'Drink 'till you sink' night, a sudden realisation struck him.

'Holy bottle of wine, that was Shady!'

He ran...

He walked...

Alright, so, he crawled back to café Musain, shouting and cursing like a sailor, but everyone just naturally assumed that he had a bad night. Not enough wine, maybe? Only Enjolras was cautious enough to politely ask him to 'shut the hell up because he wants to read'.

'I can't shut up, I screwed things up really badly!', he was on the verge of tears. And suddenly, every pair of eyes in the room was locked on him. When Grantaire admits that he has done something bad, you know it must be even worse of what he says.

'Care to explain what happened?', Enjolras asked him bitterly, not really caring about the answer, but hoping it will at least stop the latter from shouting. Enjolras really hates shouting.

'Shady, it's about Shady, I've seen him a few days ago...'

'Oh you did? Good, I was getting worried about the boy, haven't seen him in a while. Is he all right?' Courfeyrac interrupted.

Grantaire's face was paler than a wall behind him.

'He's in prison. I've seen him dragged by a police officer.'

'What?! And you didn't help him?!'

'I was drunk...'

'Now that's a new one!', Joly hissed.

'...and I wasn't sure who it was, I only realised it today!', Grantaire cried.

'We have to do something, he's our friend! We can't just leave him there, he's just a boy!', Combeferre pleaded, looking straight into Enjolras' eyes. He sighed.

'Of course we won't, he is a part of Les Amis. And we do not leave members of our group behind.', he answered calmly, while writing something.

'Can you get him out?', Feuilly asked worriedly.

'I cannot. But I do know someone who might.' The silence was almost palpable, Enjolras' scrabbling was the only sound in a crowded room.

'Here, all done. Marius, go and deliver this letter to Monsieur Javert as fast as you can. We cannot afford to lose any more time.'

'Wait, why me? I'm supposed to meet with Cosette after the meeting!', he complained.

Enjolras' eyes were like piercing knives. 'Because, Shadow is your friend too. And you are the one who constantly asks him to deliver these cheesy letters to that Colette...'

'It's Cosette'

'Do I look like I care?! You made him deliver it even when he had a fever, you blind, obnoxious man! And now it's too much for you to go and deliver the letter that will save the boy from prison?! You disgust me.'

The whole room fell into silence. This has never happened before, it's not like Enjolras to just lose his composure like that. Grantaire was the first one to break the silence.

'Cool down Marble, you're scaring us', he grinned.

Another death glare, now directed to Grantaire, who suddenly looked a lot smaller than he really is.

'And you, don't even get me started on you!', he said in a venomous voice. 'Marius, for God's sake, why are you still here?!'

And with that, Marius ran out of café Musain like he's being chased by ghosts.

Marius was waking down the road, still too shocked to acknowledge everything that was said to him, when he saw a blonde boy around the age of eight, trying to pickpocket some poor bourgeoise.

'Gavroche! Hey, Gavroche, turn around!'

The boy cursed silently as the victim left his sight. No food for me today. But when he turned around to see who was calling him, his face lit up.

'Hy there, M'sieur Marius! What can I do for ya?'

'Oh thank God I ran into you!', Marius cried happily, 'I need you to deliver this letter as fast as you can, will you do that for me?'

'Sure thing M'sieur, y'know I'm the fastest kid in town!', a little boy said proudly, puffing up his chest.

'Gavroche, you are indeed a life saviour! Here's your payment.', with that, he tossed him a silver coin.

'Whoa, that's a whole franc!'', a little boy shouted in delight, biting the coin. You can never be too careful in this world. 'Don't worry, M'sieur, your letter will be delivered!', he was gone the same second. Seems like there will be food today nevertheless.

'Ponine would be so proud of me for earning money fairly ! She really hates stealing from others, but Papa still makes her do so. I haven't seen her for such a long time, hope she's alright!

And Marius left to meet with Cosette, without a single worry on his mind.

'Hey! You! Wake up!'

To wake her up involuntarily obviously became a habit of everyone around.

Eponine rubbed her eyes, trying to figure where she was. Oh, right. A filthy prison cell. How could she forget?

'Hey, you down there!'

'I have a NAME, GODDAMNIT!'

She really was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

'You little scumbag, I'll never let you out of here, do y'hear me?!', a guard screamed back at her, when a steady voice calmed him down.

'Please, do not feel offended by his words, he is indeed just a boy and doesn't know how to act respectively towards elders. Now, would you be so kind to let him out, I assure you that he will apologise to you properly. Here is a permission, written by inspector Javert himself.' Enjolras could be rather charming when needed.

Eponine stood there, frozen on the spot.

Impossible.

The sound of a door being unlocked.

Impossible.

'Shadow?'

He looked at her with those eyes, like the ocean after a storm. She must be dreaming. It wouldn't be for the first time.

'And there I was, thinking that you actually want to get out of here', a statue of a Greek god smirked at her.

'I am free to go?'

'Obviously.'

She slowly began to walk towards him, still unsure if this is a reality. He smiled reassuringly, trying to cover his shock after seeing just how skinny (s)he became.

'Now, do apologise to a man, he really doesn't deserve such a treatment', Enjolras spoke in a sweet, sweet voice, which sounded even more threatening.

'There's no way in hell that I would apologise to this, this poor excuse for a man!', she hissed.

'Do as I say if you want to get out of here! I'm pretty sure he would take it upon himself to make your life miserable!', he whispered in her ear, all the sweetness disappeared.

My life is miserable even without him.

' I am so very sorry, Monsieur, I really didn't want to offend you, please, forgive this poor little boy!', she said, successfully imitating Enjolras' sweetness, while fighting the urge to roll her eyes. But it seemed like he bought it. Enjolras had to admit that he was surprised by this little act. And he was hard to surprise.

They walked out of the prison in silence.

A sun blinded her as she finally came out of that dark pit that fed on her sorrow for the last few days. The first thing she noticed was a look full of unanswered questions in Enjolras' eyes, but he knew better than to just ask bluntly. And she was grateful for that. She was in no condition to explain a complicated life she led.

Silence.

' I- '

She has to say it!

Silence.

'Thank you', she finally whispered. Once again, he smiled at her. 'No need to thank me, it was just natural for me to help you. And the others will be pleased to hear that you are alright, they were really worried.'

She couldn't believe that someone would actually worry about her.

'May I ask you, Monsieur...'

'Enjolras.'

'Enjolras. How did you know where to find me?' She blushed slightly at the thought of him being forced to enter that filthy prison because of her.

'Grantaire saw your arrest. Though he was too drunk to realise it was you, until now.', his voice was covered in ice.

But Eponine smiled. 'Even so, I still owe him my freedom. But not nearly as much as I owe to you, Mon...'

'Enjolras.'

'Right. Please, tell me, how should I repay you?'

'You don't have to. What I did was from my own free will.'

'I have to do something! Anything will do! I cannot stand a thought of being indebted to someone!'

Especially to you.

'Why is it so important to you?' , he asked curiously.

'Even I have a pride, y'know.' , sarcasm in her voice.

Damn, Eponine, stop acting like an ungrateful child!

'Of course. I didn't mean to offend you. Let me think of something, then.'

'Thank you.'

Silence.

'Oh, I know!', his face shined with happiness, something she has never seen before, and it was so radiating, so contagious that she felt her lips curling into a smile.

'You can help me with my revolutionary plans and speeches! I really need a helping hand, there are so many books and it's taking me forever to find references and quotes that I need!'

His happy expression faded away immediately after seeing her face that was drowning in sorrow. She muttered something incomprehensible.

'Sorry, can you repeat that?', he asked, utterly confused.

'I do not know how to read. Nor write.', she whispered, not looking at him.

'That's all? My, I thought that it's something worse after seeing your expression!', he laughed. 'Do not worry about that, though.'

She looked at him with a puzzled look.

'I will teach you. Tomorrow, 8 am, my place. Don't be late!'

And with that, he left.

...Les Mis, nor any of its characters. Well, this was unexpected, wasn't it?

Though I do own mistakes in this story! Sorry about that :/ And there's probably quite a lot of them, considering the fact that I wrote this at 4 am :/

Nevertheless, thank you so much for your lovely comments, they make writing even more fun! ^^