Set the night before General Lamarque's funeral.
"Make me a promise, Apollo. Promise me we'll come here again. After the revolution. After the barricades. Please Enjolras. Promise we'll be here to see this again. All of us. Together. Promise me."
"Grantaire. You shouldn't come tomorrow. You've never believed in what we're fighting for anyway. There's a very real possibility that none of us may come back. It's something we've all accepted. I don't want your blood on my hands. Just… stay away tomorrow."
Grantaire's face was in shadow as he said, "So. I am not even permitted to die by your side?"
Enjolras laughed. "As though I could stop you from doing anything you wanted to." This was followed by an appreciable silence. It was broken by Enjolras, "May I ask you something Grantaire?"
Grantaire, face still shadowed, so Enjolras couldn't tell what he was thinking, nodded.
"Why did you join the ABC? You've never actually answered this. You always deflected the question with an insult or sarcastic remark to goad me, counting on me to retaliate. Granted, I may have been a bit slow to notice, but I have noticed. Why can I not know?"
Grantaire laughed without mirth. "You know Apollo, for the leader of a revolution, you can be rather thick." Receiving a puzzled look in response, Grantaire considered, was it really worth it? Then he realized, if they were all going to be dead by tomorrow, he would rather die with Enjolras knowing how he felt.
He turned around, so that, at the very least, Enjolras couldn't see the depth of his emotion, and he said, "It was you Enjolras. It was always you. I don't need to believe in your revolution. I believe in you. I always have. And I always will. Until my last breath. I would lay my life for you. That is why, if need be, I would die for your cause. So, my friend, that is why I joined the ABC. Because, you challenge me. You show me that there can be a world completely unlike the one we know. You make me want to try, Enjolras. For your world, the one you can see all too clearly. The one I can scarcely imagine. This word that is just and fair, this world where we are all equal. I want to see this world. I want to be there, when you lead us into it. I want to be with you. Now and until the end."
Grantaire slowly turned around, facing Enjolras, the setting sun creating almost a halo around his Apollo (a cruel joke, considering the things to come), making him look every bit the god Grantaire compared him to.
Enjolras said nothing. Indeed, the ability to form words seemed to have, for once, completely left the silver tongued leader. He knew that he couldn't reciprocate Grantaire's feelings, but a confession such as this, especially by one as guarded as Grantaire, deserved at the very least, something more than utter silence. So, he held out his hand. "From now, until the end. I promise you."
Grantaire looked at him, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips. He knew his Apollo could never reciprocate; his only love was his darling Patria. Still, it was a kind gesture, not throwing him away after he learned the truth. In all honesty, it was more than Grantaire could have hoped for.
As Grantaire took his extended hand and both men walked back into the café Musain, back to the life they would lead for only one more night, one way or another, each had a slight smile on their faces, despite the daunting prospect of tomorrow; and each feeling a closer bond develop between them.
This was basically a coffee induced mind dump that I had written like two years ago and just found. Also I just watched Les Mis yesterday and it makes me feel things okay.
As always, constructive reviews are very welcome.
Seriously, tell me what you think. :P