AN: Here it is, chapter 11! I'm sorry I had to go on hiatus for a while, but I'm going to try to juggle this story and my other, newer story at the same time. Writers block is horrible, so I will update whenever Jehan's Muse visits me and decides to give me the power to write. Enjoy!
Gavroche, Courfeyrac, Joly, and Enjolras stayed at the cafe that night. Gavroche and Courfeyrac because they wanted to, Joly because he had to take care of Lauralette, and Enjolras because he needed to. He had to prove to himself that he was actually worthy of her trust, as odd and unlike Enjolras as it sounded. He was usually so calm and calculated, like marble. But when Lauralette was thrown into the equation, for better or for worse, the marble cracked.
Lauralette's POV
Enjolras hadn't left my side since they found me. That's what Joly told me. It made me happy and guilty all at once to know that he actually cared. Why had I told him I hated him? From what Joly told me, he took it badly. Of course, Joly had to be wrong. This was Enjolras, whose fire could rival the sun and whose composure could but marble to shame. There was no possible way that he could have worried about me hating him. Besides, it wasn't true. And yet, why had he apologized to me? He had apologized for making me feel alone, for forcing me out of the Amis. Why? Enjolras, who never went back on anything he ever said, apologized to me. It wasn't even his fault. It was my own. I was the one who lied, not him. I was the one who ran away, not him. I should have come clean about who I was.
I sneaked a glance at the blonde out of the corner of my eye. He had been sitting in the chair at my bedside ever since I had come to, as far as I knew. Of all the words anyone had ever used to describe him, "regal" had to be used a million times. He had a way of making a wooden chair look like a throne, just by sitting in it. Oh, look at me. I was turning into Jehan and Pontmercy.
"Enjolras?" I hated how my voice sounded weak.
"Yes?" he looked down at me, his eyes piercing.
"You should rest. Joly will panic if you get sleep deprived." I said, smiling.
"I'm fine, Lauralette. It's you I- Joly's worried about." he said, brushing off my concern.
"Yes but I'm worried about you being sleep deprived. If you're tired all the time, how are you supposed to lead the Amis? You need to be the healthiest." I tried to hide my motive of just telling him that I wanted him to get some sleep.
"That's absurd. I am not entitled to wellness anymore than anyone else. The very idea goes against everything we're fighting for." he said, confusion on his face. I sighed in frustration.
"Enjolras." I said.
"Yes?"
"I want you to get some sleep. Please? You shouldn't stay up all night on my account. It'll make me feel better knowing you're healthy." I explained.
"Oh. Well I...alright. I'll go to sleep, but I'm not moving. Wake me if you need anything."
"Of course, Enjolras." I sighed, and rested my head on my pillow once more. Slowly, but surely, I fell into a shallow sleep.
I awoke with the sound of voices in the next room. I had slept through the night and had woken up as the first people were filtering for the morning meeting. Enjolras was still sitting next to me, watching me as I slept. It comforted me and unsettled me all at once. Comforted me because he was there, protecting me. Unsettled me because it wasn't like Enjolras at all. The Enjolras that I had known a month ago would have been one of the first ones in the next room, already making plans and strategies. For some reason, he was different now. It thoroughly confused me.
"Enjolras?" I asked, alerting him to the fact that I was awake.
"Yes?" he answered immediately.
"Can I go to the morning meeting? I think I'm well enough to walk with assistance. And I can sit next to Joly in case something happens." I spoke cautiously, trying to measure my words so that I sounded convincing. I knew that he would think of every possible situation, and I would have to be prepared to answer them. At least, that's what he would have been like a month ago.
"Well...I suppose. If you give me your word that you'll stay next to Joly." he said, and I was surprised. I had bee prepared for an onslaught of questions and "what if's", but no such things occurred.
"You have my word. I'll sit next to Joly and I wont move without assistance from him." I knew that this wasn't exactly what he had told me to do, but there was very little he could do, we had already made the agreement.
"I suppose that will have to do. Do you need help getting to the main room?" Enjolras' eyes appeared concerned, but I had to be wrong. He was concerned about the revolution, nothing more. Or so I thought.
"Yes please, if you don't mind." I replied, pushing the blanket down to pool around my feet. Enjolras moved to help me, but I waved him off. "Enjolras, I can sit up by myself." This was odd, and his behavior was starting to concern me. Why was he suddenly so protective of me, as if I would break if he handled me like he used to? It aggravated me.
"Enjolras," I began, trying to chose my words carefully. "do you remember that morning in the cafe? When I called you Apollo?" The blonde man looked shocked that I remembered.
"Yes. I remember it well. It was the morning before..." he stopped, looking ashamed.
"Why then, do you shy from me? It is as if you think I am a fragile creature that will shatter at your touch. You can talk to me openly, Enjolras. We have well established that fact. So why do you not?" I asked, gently swinging my legs over the side of the cot, trying not to jostle my broken wrist too much.
"I...I do not know." he was telling the truth, and it confused me. How was I supposed to figure out what he was thinking if he himself had no idea? But he had more to say. "I just... I feel as if I am trying to atone for some great crime. I have hurt you, and I regret it immensely."
I was shocked. It was the first time I had heard of Enjolras regretting anything. He was human, so of course I knew it was possible, but I still could not fathom the possibility.
"That is all? Enjolras, if there is one thing that I thought you had learned by now is that you were forgiven the moment I ran out that door." I gestured faintly to the stairs in the main room, giving him a small smile. "And I will never regret meeting you."
Enjolras
He was shocked. After all of this time feeling guilty for crimes that he considered unforgivable, Lauralette was brushing them off with a smile. Yesterday she was dying, and today she was by no means fully recovered; but she still found the energy to reassure him. She was incredible. He found himself leaning forward, his action being guided purely by emotion, towards Lauralette. He was not sure what he was doing, or even why he was doing it, but it seemed like the right thing to do. He was inches away from Lauralette now, and the blonde was staring at him will confusion in her chocolate brown eyes. How was it that he had not noticed what a beautiful shade her eyes were before?
Suddenly, his brain registered what he was doing, and he quickly halted. His eyes going wide, he straightened up and pulled Lauralette up with him, taking great care not to cause further injury to her wrist. Thankfully, the girl hadn't seemed to notice his odd behavior, because the confusion was now gone from her eyes. What he didn't notice was that it had been replaced with a look of disappointment.
Fin. Chapter 11
AN: Haha, bet you thought I was going to do it, didn't you? Nope. I just didn't think that it would be appropriate this early on in the story. And by early, I mean early for Enjolras. It is really fun to write him as someone who is seriously clueless and has no idea how their own brain works. But yeah, I want to keep this as realistic as possible, and I don't think that Enjolras would just randomly decide to do that out of the blue, without fully realizing his feelings and worrying about them for a couple chapters.
Review Responses:
LesMizManiac- So glad you like it, hope you like this chapter, it took me about as long as I was on hiatus to write, longer because I was working on it even before then. Blame all of it on writers block, seroiusly. It's horrible.
