Title: The Chemicals Keeping Us Together
Author: AoiTsukikage
Rating: T for now, but will probably increase
Characters/Pairing: Enjolras/Marius primarily, other secondary pairings
Chapters: 10/?
Word Count: 1958
Summary:Modern!Amis!AU. Both of them are willing to write it off as just a drunken mistake at a party, but with friends like theirs nothing is ever quite that simple to let go of. And maybe, for once, that will turn out to be a good thing.
Chapter Ten
He wakes up disoriented, wondering why he's in a bed that isn't his with his arms wrapped around somebody, before the night before comes back and he sighs and lets his arms tighten a little.
Right. Marius. Who's turned over at some point and Enjolras studies him in the morning light, seeing just how young he truly is as he moves one arm to brush the other man's hair off of his forehead.
There's something inherently vulnerable about waking up next to somebody, but for whatever reason he's completely calm and, well, even a little happy.
"Morning," Marius blinks open his eyes and looks at him, shifting closer and tangling their legs as he lets his eyes slip half-closed again. "Sleep okay?"
"Yeah," Enjolras agrees, because he'd been out like a light all night. "I guess Courfeyrac was being quiet."
"Oh, God, I didn't even think about that," Marius laughs. "But yeah, probably a good thing we didn't hear anything," he looks completely relaxed and Enjolras thinks that, well, maybe this could be something he'll easily get used to. "Um, do you want to stick around for breakfast? Or we can go out and get something?"
"Sounds good," he unwinds himself from Marius and sits up, stretching his arms over his head and yawning as he leans against the headboard. "I'll just freshen up a little bit first."
"Sure. I'll go wake up Courfeyrac and see if he wants to come? Or…"
"No, that's fine, you know he'll whine if we leave him out of it," Enjolras laughs, watching as Marius slinks out of the room and wondering if he should warn him that Courfeyrac's not going to be alone.
Or maybe Marius has figured out what's going on already, but either way, he's about to find out.
000
"Courfeyrac, hey, we were wondering if you…um…" Marius stops, because he thinks his brain has short-circuited a little. Yes, he'd kind of started to connect the dots with Courfeyrac's admission that he's slept with men and the whole…thing with Feuilly and Jehan but…
"Marius! Knocking! I didn't think I'd ever have to remind you about that!" Courfeyrac sounds scandalized, which is new, and Feuilly's apparently trying to make himself as small as possible, knees pulled up to his chest and the sheet pulled up to his chin as he blinks at Marius.
"Oh, God," Marius has found the power of speech again and he should probably…close the door or run away or something but he can't seem to move. "Um. I'm sorry, I was just…"
"Well, no use hiding it now, what did you need?" and just like that, Courfeyrac's back to his usual casual nonchalance, seemingly not caring anymore that Marius is intruding.
"Um. Enjolras and I were wondering if you wanted to join us for breakfast? And you too, obviously," he says to Feuilly, who uncurls a little and wraps his arms around his knees now.
"He stayed the night, did he?" Courfeyrac sounds sly now, smirking at Marius. "So you two…"
"He stayed because it was late and I didn't see the point in him going home," Marius isn't letting the other man get to him this time. "That's it."
"Hmm, well, I could tell you what we did last night but that might be too much for your innocent ears to handle…"
"Do it and I shove you off the bed," Feuilly grumbled and Courfeyrac chuckled.
"I'd never. You know that."
"Anyway, yes, breakfast would be great. We'll…meet you in the living room in a few minutes?" Feuilly tries and Marius has enough instinct left to nod and back out of the room, heading back to his own in a half-daze and barely hearing Enjolras laugh softly as he barricades himself in the bathroom to process everything.
000
"I think you scarred him for life," Enjolras pushes a cup of coffee across the counter and Feuilly takes it, raising it in thanks before sitting at the counter.
"We didn't think he'd just barge in there, but it's not like we were doing anything incriminating," he shrugs. "I mean…"
"No, I would have thought he'd have figured it out by now, but I guess at least there's no question anymore," Enjolras leans on the countertop and the other man gives him a tiny smile. "You're happy."
"Cautiously optimistic, more like," Feuilly replies. "I mean, the fact that he…hasn't slept with anybody in a week probably isn't that admirable to anybody else, but knowing him? That's pretty much a proposal," his tone is light enough but Enjolras can tell that he doesn't actually consider it as such, although he has to admit that with Courfeyrac's track record it's a little more than impressive.
"It is, I have to admit," Enjolras sips at his own coffee as Marius slides out of his bedroom, still looking more than a little sheepish. "Marius, it's okay. Really."
"I know," he slides into the other seat at the counter. "I probably should have guessed, huh?"
"Probably, but I don't blame you for not expecting it. Although I have to ask, last week when I was here in the morning, did you think I was sleeping on the couch, or…?" Feuilly raises an eyebrow and Marius laughs nervously. "And why, if I was, he told me I couldn't come over the next night just because he had a girl over?"
"I just thought you didn't want to listen to him having sex," Marius seems to realize what he's said a second later and drops his head into his hands, groaning. "I mean…"
"It's fine," Feuilly reaches to lay a hand on Marius' back, keeping it there. "And you're right, I have no desire to listen to him having sex with other people, really."
"I'm never going to get over this, am I?" Marius mumbles and Feuilly pats his shoulder and then goes back to drinking his coffee.
"You will. Just don't think about it so hard. Honestly, it's not like we've ever really hid this or tried to keep it a secret, it's just…not something we've really talked about. But I don't mind, don't think that you have to pretend there's nothing going on," Feuilly gives Marius a rather gentle smile and goes back to his coffee as Marius sits up straighter and leans his elbows on the counter.
"Okay. I'll…yeah, I'll remember that," Marius laughs and runs a hand through his hair as Courfeyrac hops out of his bedroom and is reaching for Feuilly's cup before he's even fully into the kitchen.
The other man gives him a firm, "nope, get your own," and holds it out of reach as Courfeyrac pouts at him.
"I hate you. Denying me my caffeine."
"Funny, you weren't saying that last night," Feuilly looks remarkably unconcerned as he holds his cup close to his chest and Courfeyrac grumbles something unintelligible as he goes to get his own coffee.
"So we're doing breakfast, then?" he asks as he does, looking over his shoulder.
"That was the plan," Enjolras agrees with a nod, "and then after I…" he pauses as his phone goes off and reaches to grab it, sighing as he looks at the message. "Well, I hope none of you have plans for this afternoon, because it seems that Bahorel has decided we need to call an emergency meeting," he looks at Marius then. "You can come, if you want…"
"Yeah. I'd like that," Marius agrees and Enjolras nods to himself and pockets his phone again. It wouldn't necessarily be a deal-breaker in his mind if Marius didn't agree with the rest of them about the University's policies needing a huge makeover, but it did make it easier that he shared their viewpoint.
"Good. So breakfast first," he finishes off his coffee and heads for the door, knowing that the others will follow even if Courfeyrac's going to complain that he hasn't had enough time to enjoy his own coffee.
And he will. Enjolras will almost bet on that.
000
"So why the meeting?"
They're in an unused classroom, everywhere else too busy on a Sunday afternoon, and Bahorel's perched on a table with his customary cigarette dangling between his fingertips.
"I thought you'd all like to know that Lamarque's health is apparently…not good. I've talked to a few of my people and they don't know if he's ever going to be back on the board here in any official capacity, and without him…"
"We've got nobody on our side," Enjolras sighs and stands up, crossing his arms and staring out the window. "So what do we do? Stage another lunchtime protest?"
"It's a start, isn't it? I'll call the people I know and we can, well, get the word out at least," Bahorel's already scrolling through his phone as Enjolras nods.
"There isn't much else we can do at this point, not without some proper support, and if Lamarque does die I'm afraid everything we're working for is just going to fall apart," he looks both resigned and determined at the same time and while Marius knows that a lot of the others look to him as a leader of sorts, he's never really seen it in action until now and it's a completely different side of the other man than he's used to.
"I mean, we're allowed to protest? Nobody's going to stop us or…" he asks timidly because while he's been invited, he really feels out of place and mostly like he doesn't know what's going on at all.
"Well, they're not forbidden," Combeferre's still reading, a textbook in his hand that he glances over the top of to reply. "But even if somebody had a problem, they wouldn't bring it up. Not with…" he nods toward Enjolras, who snorts.
"Yes, my esteemed father whom everybody is deathly afraid of. So no, Marius, nobody will say a word against us even if they're not happy about it because they all seem to think my dad's going to take my side. He won't, but they can gladly keep thinking that," he adds with a tiny smile and Marius feels a little better about everything.
The last thing he wants is to crawl shamefully back to his grandfather because the University's kicked him out, after all.
"Don't worry so much," Courfeyrac throws an arm over his shoulders. "Trust me, you'll be fine. We've done this before."
"Okay," Marius gives his friend a weak smile because, well, protesting and going against the social grain really aren't things he's thought of doing, but he knows why this is important and why, really, it's relevant to his own interests as well.
"So I'll talk to my people and let you all know what's happening there and we can plan a date after that?" Bahorel's still looking through his phone but since nobody says anything to contradict him, he shrugs an d stands up. "Good. I'll see you guys later," he's already pulling a lighter from his pocket as he leaves the room, and the others all disperse after that.
Marius sits down at one of the now-empty tables and sighs, wondering if he's doing the right thing by getting involved. Yes, he knows that anything that's going to give more money to the students who don't have much and afford more opportunities based on talent and ambition rather than family name is only going to help, but at the same time, he's never done anything like this before.
He hears a shuffling in the corner and glances up, seeing Grantaire is still there as well, and since he's been meaning to talk to him anyway (and since it'll stop his mind from racing right now) he decides that it might be a good time to do just that.
Notes:
1. I'm sorry this took so long to get up, and that it's shorter than my normal chapters for this fic. My grandmother passed away a little over a week ago and since she lived a long way away we had to travel for the funeral and be there for my family, and the same day this happened one of my favorite actors was found dead (I'm not sure if anybody reading this is a Glee fan as well, but I think the news about Cory has spread all over now) so I was…not really in a place to write for a while, and I apologize if this chapter seems disjointed because of it.
2. Hopefully I can get the next one out sooner, but thank you to those that are reading and reviewing, and if you're a silent reader don't be afraid to drop me a review :)