WELL you guys, this is it, the last real chapter of "The Law of Love" ! There will most definitely be an epilogue (the most perfect first line popped into my head today!). This was one of my favorites to write, because it ties the entire story together! I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Chapter 21: The Graduate

"Dr. Ramsay, I really don't understand why you would want me to do this…" Enjolras said slowly, twisting his fingers nervously. He had no problem speaking in front of people whatsoever…it was just, he usually liked to have something to talk about.

"Enjolras, you've been my favorite student since day one. You - we've - been through a lot over the past few weeks, and I think that if anyone could give an interesting graduation speech, it would be you."

"But sir…my project…"

"Your project did not go exactly as expected." Dr. Ramsay mused, before shrugging his shoulders. "That's okay, though. I still think you got more out of this experience than anyone."

"I'm not sure what you want me to say during this speech." Enjolras admitted, his mind reeling. He considered himself a pretty intelligent individual, but Dr. Ramsay's implications were going completely over his head.

"Just think of our first conversation regarding this project, and you'll figure it out." Dr. Ramsay said, standing from his seat. The pair was sharing a cup of coffee at the Musain; Cosette had promised the professor endless free drinks for getting Marius and Enjolras out of prison.

"And don't forget," Dr. Ramsay said, pushing his chair back into the table. "Graduation is two days away." With that, the professor left the café, waving to Cosette as he exited.

Enjolras sat in silence for several seconds, his mind racing. What on earth…

"Cosette!" Enjolras barked, waving his hand agitatedly toward the blonde. She looked up, rolling her eyes at his expression. Despite her exasperation, she put down her dishtowel and joined Enjolras at the table.

"Is this going to become a habit? Almost two months ago Dr. Ramsay left you alone at this table after he gave you your assignment, and you complained to me about it for awhile."

"First of all, I didn't complain." Enjolras said, holding up a finger. Cosette rolled her eyes toward the ceiling, before nodding at him to continue. "Second of all, I'm not sure if you heard that, but I have to give the graduation speech for my class. In TWO days!"

"Enjolras, you've put together speeches in twenty minutes before. You'll have no problem with this."

"I realize that public speaking is one of my strong points." Enjolras said slowly. "I just…remember my project? The soup kitchen?"

"How could I forget? It's how you met Gav, and Éponine, and how everything went down over the past month."

"Right, so, oh." Enjolras said, blinking rapidly. Cosette's expression of amusement quickly changed to confusion.

"What?" She asked, her eyebrows furrowed. Enjolras said nothing, just thought back to one of his first conversations with Dr. Ramsay regarding the project.

"The exploration is one of human nature, something we don't explore too much of in law classes. You've noticed, I'm sure, that as you get further into your academic career, the more calculating and reserved the content becomes."

And later, when he pressed Enjolras on his passions, before zeroing in on poverty.

"You're wondering how this has anything to do with your degree? Well in short, it doesn't. But I think you'll find that you will get more out of this experience than you did in four years of school. We must not allow ourselves to be hardened by the law…we cannot forget that there are real people out there with real problems. The world is not a case, or a textbook, Enjolras. It is real, and it is hard, and there isn't a lot of good. I trust you'll get something valuable out of this."

It had never been about poverty, or the soup kitchen; that fact was finally clear to Enjolras. It had always been about him. He looked up to Cosette, his eyes shining with determination.

"I know what the speech has to be about."

"Was he nervous this morning? " Combeferre questioned, pulling Éponine out of her reverie. She looked up from the graduation program, where she had been trying to locate Enjolras's name in the order of events.

"He was…agitated." Éponine said, shrugging her shoulders. "You know him. He gets nervous and then it fades as soon as he gets going. He'll be okay."

"Is his speech good?" Courfeyrac asked, craning his head past Combeferre to regard Éponine. Her shoulders dropped, her arms crossing.

"He wouldn't let me hear it." She grumbled, pouting at their laughs. "It's not funny! I thought I was being helpful, you know, asking if he wanted to practice. He told me that I wasn't allowed to hear it before this morning."

"And why did Dr. Ramsay pick him to make the speech?" Grantaire asked, using his program to shield his eyes from the sun.

"Isn't he the valedictorian?" Marius asked, flipping to the front page of his program.

"He never told us…" Grantaire mumbled, sitting back in his seat. "I guess I should have assumed…"

"He didn't want to brag, he only told me a few days ago." Éponine said quietly, glancing down at her own program, where "Benjamin Enjolras" was highlighted at the top of the second page, with the shining words "Law School; Valedictorian" underneath.

"That's not the only reason!" Cosette said in a sing-song voice. All eyes turned to her.

"What do you mean?" Éponine asked slowly. Cosette blinked, her face turning red.

"Ah, his speech. Dr. Ramsay also wanted him to give the speech for another reason."

"And what reason was – " Éponine began, but was cut off by the swell of music from the school orchestra. The audience – including Enjolras's nearly 20 friends – stood, waiting for the graduates to enter.

Enjolras was the first to enter, between Dr. Ramsay and the dean of the Law School. He was decked in a dark blue gown and gold sash, signifying his academic achievements. Marius was in charge of photos, and he stood on his chair, snapping away to get as many as he could.

Once Enjolras was halfway to the stage, he caught sight of his friends, his face immediately reddening with embarrassment. Éponine laughed at the murderous look on his face, but Marius continued taking photos anyway, giggling as he finally stepped down from his chair and hit the preview button on the camera.

"Oh, he looks pissed." He said, still laughing. "These are getting blown up to poster size, and I'm hanging it up in our house." Cosette rolled her eyes, giving her approval anyway.

"That's our baby! Look at him, all grown up and smart!" Courfeyrac shouted, and Enjolras turned his head, his eyes blazing with anger. One look at Éponine's laughing face, however, and the glare on his face softened. He turned back around, rolling his shoulders, before following Dr. Ramsay up the stairs to the stage.

Once the graduates were all seated, the dean of the Law School stood, introducing himself and launching into a long winded speech of how far everyone had come, and how much they all had to look forward to. He droned for nearly a half hour, and Éponine glanced over to find Grantaire nearly asleep. She leaned across Cosette and Marius to smack him, startling him enough to wake up.

"One of our favorite professors, Dr. Ramsay, would like to say a few words." The dean finally handed the microphone over, and Dr. Ramsay took his place, grinning in the direction of Éponine, and the rest of Enjolras's friends.

"You're fucking awesome!" Marius shouted over the sound of the applause, causing Dr. Ramsay to burst into laughter, his chuckles lingering long after the applause stopped.

"Thank you, Mr. Pontmercy, always a pleasure." He remarked, and Marius responded with a thumbs up. Even Enjolras was grinning from his spot on the stage, his shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter.

"Thank you, everyone, for being here. I have to say, this is one of my favorite classes, and I'm very sad to see them all go." Dr. Ramsay began, turning to acknowledge the students before continuing. "This year's valedictorian is a young man by the name of Benjamin Enjolras, who, for reasons unknown, prefers only to be known by his surname."

All of the members of the ABC Society burst into laughter.

"This oddity aside, Mr. Enjolras had proved himself to be one of this University's brightest students. He did, however, seem to have some initial difficulty with one of our most important projects. You see, every year, I assign an assignment, an exploration, if you will. My expectation is for my students to choose a cause – it can be anything they wish, but it has to be charitable, and something that has no legal ties. I ask them, for six weeks, to study this, to immerse themselves in the experience. Something I find common with law students is the tendency to become hardened by the law, and the loss of humanity. This is something I seek to avoid for my students." Dr. Ramsay paused, turning again to regard Enjolras.

"Enjolras told me that his main concern was for the well-being of France. Yes, France, as in our entire country, ladies and gentlemen." There were a few laughs from the audience. "I asked him to narrow it down to poverty, but from that moment, I knew that this student was destined for something great. Little did I know, however, he was already involved in something bigger than himself." Dr. Ramsay paused again, raising an eyebrow at the ABC Society in the crowd. "But I think I should let him tell you about that himself." He stepped back, holding the microphone out to Enjolras, who stood from his seat and walked to center stage.

Éponine could hear every single one of her friends suck in a deep breath. This was it.

"That you, Dr. Ramsay, for the mostly positive introduction." Enjolras joked, eliciting a laugh from both the professor and the audience. "And yes, that was a joke." He directed the comment to Grantaire, who shrank in his seat.

"Dr. Ramsay was right when he said I was involved in something great. In fact, I still am. Some of you may possibly recognize my name, and may just not know where you read it. A few weeks ago, I was wanted for conspiracy against the state, as the head of the ABC Society."

Éponine could hear several intakes of breath in the audience; clearly, a few of them read the news enough to know exactly who was speaking.

"Now, it was all a big misunderstanding." Enjolras continued, glancing at Dr. Ramsay, who coughed to hide his laugh. "But the truth is, the ABC Society is something very real that me and my friends – " He paused and pointed to the row of his friends in the audience. " – have been involved in for years. We think of ourselves as a bit of a social group, concerned with a lot of the goings on of the country, and of the city of Paris."

"This thinking," Enjolras paused, seeming to collect his thoughts. "This thinking changed me. With the combined effect of my law classes, I started to become very cynical, and closed off to those around me. I had friends, sure, and they were very good to put up with me for so long. They called me "the marble man" and in a way, it was true. I was convinced that my only end in life was this country, and that no single person would be able to sway me."

Enjolras paused again. "In truth, it was Dr. Ramsay that made it possible for me to get out of that thinking. When he assigned the project two months ago, I was stunned. I had no idea how it had anything to do with our education. Not only that, but I was absolutely convinced that I didn't need to learn anything about the people – after all, I led a society regarding the people, why on earth would I need to go to a soup kitchen? Dr. Ramsay was convinced, though, that this was something I needed, and it was with trepidation and confusion that I entered that soup kitchen and began work as a volunteer."

"To be clear, my volunteer work was horrible. My boss had no concerns for the people, and one of my first goals as a lawyer is to address the issues that come with trying to 'apply' to the soup kitchen. After the first day, I was completely convinced that I had been right; no good was going to come out of this project."

"Dr. Ramsay could not have known that a young boy named Gavroche would stumble into the soup kitchen my first night, hoping for no workers to be present. He was trying to steal a piece of bread when I found him, and the two of us ended up sharing a meal. He told me of his life on the streets, and asked me if I would mind if he brought his sister with him the next night."

Éponine was shaking in her seat, her hands twisting the program in her lap. Combeferre noticed her anxiety and took her hand in his, squeezing it.

"She hadn't graduated high school because she had to support her family financially. She was in the process of finding a new job the night I met her. She shared a meal with Gavroche and I, cautious to give away too much information. She left an enigma behind, but to my luck, our paths crossed again that night. She had caught my attention, and for reasons unknown to myself, I invited her to live with me. We grew closer every day, and I realized something very quickly: I did not know the people as much as I thought I did."

"There was something about this girl, something so inspiring and amazing to me. How cold, and how dark her life had been, and yet, she was not afraid. She was not afraid to try, to aspire to reach potential, to let people into her life, and to laugh at meaningless jokes. I had never felt so…taken with someone."

Éponine was silently crying, her hand still clutching Combeferre's. She forced herself to look up from her lap, and found that Enjolras was staring at her.

"I want no mistake. I did not save this girl. She is an independent, and wonderful woman. We went through a lot together in just a few weeks, and I realized that I loved her. I, who had once been called the man of marble, who had floated through life thinking that politics and social activism were all I needed. And she, who ran through her own life, unconscious of the fact that finding someone did not mean losing independence, but rather, sharing the burden with someone. We collided, and we saved each other."

"Dr. Ramsay could not have known that this would happen, but in the end, it fulfilled his project. I left the soup kitchen earlier than expected," Enjolras paused to laugh at the memory of punching John, before turning his focus back to Éponine. "But, the meaning, and purpose of Dr. Ramsay's experiment are drilled into my heart. I finally understand the people, and I also understand myself."

"The world is not a case, or a textbook, just as he told me. There are real people out there; real people with real problems. He also told me, however, that there isn't a lot of good in the world, and to that, I have to disagree. I went into a soup kitchen, one of the least happy places in this city, and I came out of it with someone who had made me the happiest man here. This assignment, Dr. Ramsay, has given me all the good I will ever need."

There you have it, the last real chapter of this story! Expect the epilogue soon; I want to have it up by Saturday, because I fly back to college for my final semester on Sunday afternoon (cue excitement!) I loved everyone's responses to the smut scene last chapter (especially ShipperBody's sentiment that I have a dirty mind! …I do…) and several comments (especially Jess's!) regarding having to take a cold shower! HA. Let me know what you all thought of this chapter, and I will see you guys ONE MORE TIME in a few days!

With SO MUCH LOVE, Brittany