Run Away With Me

Disclaimer: It is still not mine. That's just so surprising.

AN: I want to thank everyone for the lovely response, once again. Everyone who has started following me on Tumblr: thank you. You are all wonderful!

This chapter is still in New York, but for me New York is not the main adventure – because these two still have a way to go. Be warned, the story will change settings several more times. It is a road trip story after all.

Special shoutout to my Tumblr friend who has embraced this ship: hihiyas!

Chapter six: In which there is friendship

The air in Central Park feels so much cleaner than the air in the rest of the city.

Maybe that is the reason why she feels like it is okay to breathe again, because being around Gabriel all day has finally gotten to her. Three days in New York together and he is still everywhere around her. His place in this city and his place in her memories are so closely intertwined that she will never be able to think of New York without thinking of him. Right now that feels like too much of a connection – he is too close.

They saw Wicked together on their first day, and now "For Good" is playing on a loop in her head, and somehow Gabriel is always singing it to her and with her – because he has indeed changed her life for good. Right now, she thinks that he also changed her life for the better, but that could all change depending on the outcome of this trip.

She just keeps hearing it, and every time she falls asleep she dreams of being the green witch Elphaba – Gabe is dressed as the prince Fiyero, and she keeps noticing the tight white pants and just how well he is pulling them off. He is singing "As Long As You're Mine" and she is sorely tempted to actually become his princess. It could be just because of the pants, but she honestly doubts that there is all there is to it. He is just all around her and he makes quite the Fiyero. It is getting to her.

It is not just the trip to the theatre, though. They are sharing a room each night and he appears to have serious problems with keeping himself covered – in blankets or in any other way. His presence is overwhelming during the day and during the night.

All of the time, he is around all of the time and he is just constantly in love with her, even though he has never said it – she would not let him say it. She will not hear it.

"Are you going to ignore me again," Gabe is of course aware of all of her little tricks, even though he has not been in a relationship like this one before. "I'm sorry that I showed actual feelings, and I promise to only be your friend. Can we move on now?"

This is actually a variation on a speech that she has heard many times before, because boys and men are mostly the same and they play like nice guys when all they want is sex – and lots of it. She had never thought that Gabriel would be one of them, and she still is not really sure that he means this same thing – but she has to dissuade him.

"Or maybe I should give you a pity bang like the slut I am," she rolls her eyes.

"What are you talking about," he steps back from her like she hurt him.

"I have heard it all before, Virgin Lips," she uses his nickname with biting accuracy. "You are not the first to try and get something out of the deal. Do you want to bang?"

She is sure that he wants to, because if he does claim to be in love with her, he should want to love her physically as well. It will be his first time, so he might be a bit hesitant about the whole deal, but her hang-ups on the subject have not led her astray so far – her gut is the only thing that she can trust. However, her gut seems torn on the subject of Gabriel Victor Enjolras, and she does not like it at all.

"Are you out of your mind," he is staring at her with wide-open eyes.

"I thought I was making a generous offer," she is not having any of it.

"Are you that messed up in your head," he is now yelling at her in the middle of the park, and people are starting to stare at them. "Do you really believe that a relationship can only be about sex? Do you really believe that you're not worth a thing? You are worth so much more than those assholes have led you to believe. Jesus, Eponine, have you really looked at yourself, at your life? You have already accomplished so much, and still you think that you don't matter whatsoever. You are brilliant, you work hard, and you're funny as heck. Maybe you are a little crazy, and really out there, but you are an amazing person. Ponine, will you just let me be your fucking friend? Please!"

She should not find his cussing sexy – only she does, just a little lot.

The crowd of people now staring at them is urging at her to respond to him, even though some of the people have their cameras out and are clearly only waiting for something particularly dramatic that they can catch on film. She is extremely freaked out by the spectacle, as she does not want to end up on the Internet or on some freaky television show that uses hidden camera footage. This thing between her and Gabe, it is confusing and messy and theirs. It does not belong to anyone else but to them.

"That was a nice speech," she manages to say.

"We can talk about this away from the crowd," he has calmed down a bit.

He holds out his arm and she takes it, and they take a quick bow before they run away, completely in sync. She is not laughing, even though there is a gleeful feeling that comes with this run they are on. Her breathing is heavy, and she knows that his is as well.

"You are really good at speeches," she teases, as they slow from a run to a walk.

"I am glad my education has amounted to something," his tone is light as well.

"I think it is not just your education," these things make her pensive. "You yourself have worked so hard to turn out a good person. I think it's all you."

If he had not been so interested in ideals, and in the people who were not born with money and silver spoons, he could have easily turned out like his father – and that guy does not sound like a person that she would ever want to associate with. His convictions are just one part that she appreciates about him, and he deserves to know as much, only for all of her witticisms, she cannot tell him that. It is much too intimate.

"A compliment from you," he is practically beaming.

"Do I really treat you so badly," her voice is soft and wondering.

She really has not thought of her teasing and messing with him as treating him badly; more like her way of finally bringing him out of his self-imposed shell. He is a different person around her; a person who knows how to joke about things and how to have fun even when things are supposed to be boring. Still, the core of him has not changed, and she would not even want that to change. She knows very well of people wanting her to change, and people wanting him to change – another thing in which they are alike. He does not want to change that much, and neither does she.

"You don't always use your words when you appreciate me," he shrugs.

"I would like to be your friend," she decides to use her words this time. "I just think that when we go back to real life, you're going to get sick of me hanging around all of the time – because really, who else would I hang out with?"

It is a scary idea, having to go back to her old life at the university with no friends and no people to have fun with or even to talk to. He will go back to his old life as well, with the Amies and the crowds of people surrounding him. Some of those people hate his ideas, and some of them practically worship him with or without these ideals. Grant Aires definitely falls into the second group, but Gabe barely notices that.

"With all of the people who are going to realize how awesome you are," he grabs her hand and twirls her around in the middle of the busy street. "And as long as I am with the Amies, you will always have a place there as well."

She will have a place with people who do not know her as a person and only see her as a Shadow to Marcus. Maybe now she will be seen as Gabe's shadow instead, but she does not think that this is much of an improvement – her status as a revolution bunny will be a definite matter from then on. Well, she could always be Grant's hag if the other boys get tired of her – nope, that is still a ridiculous idea. The rest of the group might think of her as a stupid hanger-on who is just distracting Gabe from the goal.

"Why are you so nice to me," she asks in jest.

"Stop fishing for compliments," he is teasing her right back.

Now that is bound to get the people talking back in the real world, him being loose and teasing rather than serious and intense. They are going to assume that he has been replaced by a pod person or that he has had some kind of personality transplant. She is going to get so much crap about it, or people are going to assume that she is some kind of miracle worker with difficult people, when it is just that she is pretty good at trying to understand Gabriel specifically. He has done all of the work himself.

He has grown so much as a person; he has shown so many new sides to himself.

"I like it when you actually look like you're having fun," she pokes him in the side.

"I am having probably the most fun I've ever had," he tells her, and that both hurts to hear and is so recognizable in just about every way.

Sure, she had several kinds of fun before – mostly in the dirtiest ways that he would just not yet understand. But this is probably the first time in which she actually gets to have fun and not act like a person someone else wants her to be. She gets to be herself, and she gets to act like a kid if she wants to, and he will go right along with it.

"Likewise, Gabe," she tells him, because he will understand.

"Let's go do something silly," he holds out his hand, and she takes it.

Because honestly, why the hell not? They are in a strange city where nobody knows them, and as long as they don't do something too crazy or illegal, nobody is going to remember them anyway. There is so much freedom in that, and she loves it.

"How silly are you willing to be," she swings their arms exaggeratedly.

"Let's go for the full thing," he starts skipping, and she goes along, laughing loudly.

This must be how it feels to have a best friend.

AN: If you have any questions or comments, just let me know. I do have most of the story written out already, but I can still make some minor changes/edits if things are confusing or wrong.