~o~0~o~

One week later…

"And then I said, 'Me? Wrong? I'm never wrong, you ignorant son-of-a-bitch!" Gorneau conveyed his garbled tale, causing the others surrounding him to roar with laughter. Well, all but one. Enjolras sat in solemn silence—eyes bleary and head reeling—suddenly untickled by Gorneau's witty account.

"And I said, 'Well sir; you think you're righ', and I think I'm righ'; so perhaps we just need t'see who is truly correct!" Gorneau continued; enthralling the others with his comedic, clever story. "So, we went up there, face-to-face, and we did just that! And I, of course, came out triumphant in that feat." he finished smugly, earning him a chortle from Chassé and a sarcastic round of applause from Beaupré. He glowered at them. "What? I am always righ'!"

"Oh really? What about the time—" Chassé began; but whatever shameful event he was about to reveal was cut off by the cacophonic scraping of a chair against the tavern floor as Enjolras pushed away from the bar and began hobbling towards the door. The trio of inebriated men looked at each other confusedly for a moment, then—in some tacit agreement—jumped up and began hurrying after the their blonde friend. "Enjolras? Enjolras! Wait, lad!"

But Enjolras could hardly hear their calls; his addled and dispirited mind and aching heart urging him forward… urging him to go find her. Gorneau's haughty narrative had reminded him immensely of his own angry thoughts from during and shortly after the fight. And the resolution had made him realize what he had to do now. 'Face-to-face… I'll tell her in person how sorry I am. Then she'll forgive me… then she'll come home.'

"Enjolras! Where the hell do y'think you're goin'?" he heard Chassé call from behind him. He didn't even stop his off-balance stride down the street as he answered back, "To find Lynette. I need to apologize."

Gorneau, Chassé, and Beaupré exchanged a wide-eyed look; then sprinted as quickly as their drunken bodies would allow towards the younger man. Gorneau was the first to reach him, and instantly grabbed his arm. "Whoa there, mate. Let's stop an' think 'bout this for a moment." he said calmly; barely able to hold back a wince as his robust comrade attempted to jerk away from him.

"Let go of me, Gorneau. I know what I need t'do." Enjolras grumbled irritable.

"No, y'really don't. Chasin' after this li'l minx is not what you n—"

"Don't you dare call her that!" Enjolras snarled, whipping around to fully face the over-confident man—who was now paling slightly as he weighed his slim chances against an angry, muscular Enjolras. But before anything else could be said that all would regret, Beaupré decided to step in. "Look, 'Jolras; he didn' mean it. What he was tryin' t'say was that we're not so sure itsa good idea t'go runnin'afta her when you're… well, so muddled." the well-spoken man sputtered, daring to put his hand on Enjolras's tense shoulder in an attempt to divert his livid gaze. It worked like a charm; Enjolras was quick to turn his glare on Beaupré, but his angry quickly fell away as he looked at the other man's pitying expression. He sighed. "I know; and I'm sorry, Gorneau. I just… I just… I need t'see her. I need her t'see how sorry I am!" he muttered ashamedly.

"Well; not t'night, m'friend. Maybe jus'… sleep on it? And then—" Beaupré began, but Chassé suddenly cut him off.

"And then what? He goes back t'her and falls t'his knees, implorin' her forgiveness? Damn it, man; it's been a week! If y'really think she's gonna take y'back; why'd ya wait this long in the first place?" the kingpin exclaimed, a hint of exasperation in his tone.

The harsh reality of his words cut into Enjolras like a knife, but they weren't enough to stop his desperate longing to go find Lynette. He just couldn't get her out of his head… and moving on wasn't as simple as some men made it out to be.

"Shame and pride. But I've figured out that I can't go on like this. I can't live on knowin' that she left thinking I thought her to be a hypocrite; and no amount of alcohol seems t'be changin' that!" he bellowed, grabbing a fistful of hair in his stress, anguish, and frustration. At first, his new friends were silent; unsure of exactly what to say. But after a moment, Beaupré piped up. "We know it's hard, 'Jolras; we really do. But we're here t'help y'remember that you're not alone in this. That we'll help y'find a way t'forget her." he said with a reassuring smile. But Enjolras could only frown in return; conflicted and upset. "But that's just the thing! I'm not so sure I want t'forget—"

"'ello, gentlemen. Any of ya lookin' fer a nice nigh'?"

They turned to see a rather shabby looking woman behing them; the cocky smile and baleful look in her eyes telling them exactly what she meant and who she was.

"No. We're in the middle of a serious discussion." Chassé was the first to reply, shooting an irritated glare the prostitute's way. But as soon as she heard his rejection, she more or less ignored the last part of the statement and flicked her eyes over to Gorneau. He smiled toothily at her. "Sorry, darlin'; I'm not feelin' too generous tonight." Enjolras thought he saw her jaw tighten at this comment, but she wasted not a moment more before turning to Beaupré. He immediately shook his head at her. "I'm married."

"So were my last three clients. But I made them forget all about—"

"Y'have my answer, now leave me!" the usually so benevolent man snapped. She put her hands up in a mocking show of surrender, then turned her hawkish gaze on Enjolras. Her eyebrows immediately arched in interest; and he could tell by the strain in her neck muscles that she was trying to smile as "prettily" as possibly. "And what 'bout you, 'andsome? Surely somethin' as attractive and… well-built isn't alone tonigh'." she purred, stepping closer and sliding her hand up to rest one his forearm. His teeth clenched at her comment, but as he looked down at her almost…eager and hungry eyes; a sudden thought flashed through his mind.

'Well, if the drinks aren't doing the trick…'

"And tell y'what, love; since you've got such a pretty face, I'll lower my normal price." she practically begged him as many had before; unable to see past his outer beauty to the fierce spirit inside capable of being terrible. He looked down at her uncertainly, and he was thinking so hard that his migraine had returned. Could it work? Could something so far-fetched, so out-of-character, so revoltingly low possibly…

Revoltingly low… revoltingly low. Good God, what was he doing? Had he actually begun considering the use of a whore to help him forget about the incomparable woman he was still madly in love with?

And as soon as he beautiful face flashed through his head, he felt himself shoving woman away from him. "No thank you. Good day, Mademoiselle." he told her coolly; trying to hide his devastating shame and disbelief in himself with severity and terseness.

"Playin' 'ard t'get, are we? Alrigh', fine; I'll go even lowa. You're lucky you're so—"

"Be gone, woman!" he shouted sharply, pointing down the street. Her eyes widened at his suddenly angry tone, but after a moment she began trudging down the street. "She's a lucky one, y'know." she called back as she walked past him. Enjolras froze; but was quick to regain his harsh pretext. "And what d'you mean by that?" he asked her caustically. She stopped walking to turn back for a moment. "I've met a lotta men in my time, Monsieur—"

"I'd say y'did a whole lot more than just meet 'em!" Beaupré cut in with a scowl; obviously still sore after she suggested he partake in infidelity. She shot him an irritated glare, then turned back to Enjolras and continued, "As I was sayin'; I've met a whole lotta men—so I'm sure y'wouldn't find it 'ard to believe me when I say I know what one looks like when 'e's in love wi' another. And usually, even some a' those men'll indulge in a li'l sinnin'. Whoever yours is, she's lucky t'ave you." And then she turned on her heel and disappeared up the dark street. Enjolras hung his head. 'But that's the problem…' he thought weakly, 'I don't have her anymore.' But then he glanced up at the street in the general direction of Lynette's flat. 'But isn't that what I came out here to fix?'

He began walking in a trance-like state up the street once more; and he could just perceive one of the three behind him groan. But apparently plain vexation wasn't enough to stop them, because once again a hand caught his arm. "Now where y'goin, 'Jolras?" he heard Beaupré ask him.

"I need to go get her back." he moaned in response, staring madly up the quiet street.

"Oh no y'don't. C'mon, ol' chap; we already talked over this. I think what you need is a few more rounds." Chassé said, more calmly this time. Enjolras now had two pairs of hands on him; restraining him and keeping him from walking a step further. And while he was sure that he'd have been perfectly capable of throwing off his tipsy companions, he knew they were right. He couldn't face her; not like this, not after all that had just taken place in addition to all that had begun this in the first place.

So, he nodded and quietly let them all but drag him back into the tavern.

~o~0~o~

They say a few drinks will help me to forget her
But after one too many I know that I'll never
Only they can see where this is gonna end
They all think I'm crazy but to me it's perfect sense…

And my mates are all there trying to calm me down
Cause I'm shouting your name all over town
I'm swearing if I go there now
I can change your mind turn it all around…

If I'm with her face to face, she'll come to her senses…

A/N: We're at about the halfway mark with this DS/E, folks! :D

But that also means I REALLY need to pick up the pace with writing the next one… heh heh…

Anywhooooo it's been a week and no sign of surrender from either of our strong-willed heroes! Oh noooo! And Enjolras is still being dragged to the tavern every night! Not good!

But hurray for more Gorneau, Chassé, and Beaupré! And not so hurray for the lovely lady that threw herself at them! D:

That part was hard for me to write—not gonna lie. Is it too OOC for our dear Enjolras? I really tried to make it brick-and-musically realistic.

R&R to let me know, or just to chat! I've been having the most lovely PM marathons with Singerdreamer42 and my darling EponineJondretteGirl! So let me hear your lovely voices PM's, my lovers of fine fictitious literature! ~DonJuana