Chapter Eight

A HEART FULL OF LOVE

Angélique woke up and her head was resting on Enjolras's naked chest. She looked above, to his face, and he was still sleeping; asleep into a profound slumber. She never saw him in such peace… She smiled, remembering the night before, and took a deep breath, inhaling his scent, that still was in her skin. Softly, Angélique kissed his lips, trying not to waking him up. She got off the bed and went towards her dressing table, where she grabbed a wooden plank, some white papers and a charcoal bar: she wanted to draw him.

Angélique returned to the bed and sat beside the sleeping Enjolras. Her hand, firmly, grabbed the charcoal and began scratching one of the papers. She outlined a sketch of his face, then his neck and his chest.

"It wasn't a dream after all… You said such beautiful things to me, last night…" Angélique said, caressing his naked chest with her free hand "I never thought I would hear you speaking such poetic matters…"

"Hmm?" Enjolras whispered, still sleepy and with his eyelids still closed.

"Nothing, my love…" she murmured and continued to draw him "Go back to sleep."

"What time is it?"

"I don't know but it's early morning…" she answered.

Enjolras opened his eyes and looked at her: she was naked, with her dark hair was falling down her shoulders and her chest, covering her breasts, and a wooden plank with a pile of white papers was above her crossed legs and a charcoal bar in her hand.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm drawing you."

Angélique turned one of the papers in his direction and Enjolras saw a perfect drawn of himself done in charcoal: she had drawn him while he was asleep, the muscles of his chest well defined and the curls of his hair seemed blonde even in black and white.

"I don't understand much about Art, but you have real talent!" he confessed, mesmerized.

She smiled at him and caressed his face, silently, but then her joyful face turned into sadness.

"And what happens now?" she asked.

Enjolras stared at her with seriousness into his eyes; he raised his trunk from the bed and sat beside her, cuddling her face.

"I cannot commit myself with you." he said in a sober tone "For I'm already committed with the revolution."

Angélique stared at him without expression into her eyes, for she was already waiting for that kind of answer.

"What's wrong?" Enjolras asked with concern.

"Nothing… I was expecting that answer..."

Angélique placed her drawings upon the bedside table and got off the bed, without saying a word, and walked towards her closet, completely naked. Enjolras felt she was upset.

"Please, Angélique…" he said "Don't be disappointed with me…"

"Don't tell me what or how to feel. I'm not one of your school boys who you can command at your wish!" she said with bitterness. "I'm such an idiot…"

Enjolras rose from the bed and walked towards her. He tried to embrace her, but she struggled and pushed away his arms.

"Please… Understand… I know you do understand my point of view." he said "Whatever will happen in the next months won't be trouble-free and I must be completely focused on what matters in order to…"

Angélique grinned with sarcasm.

"In what matters!?" she repeated "What happened between us, last night, didn't meant anything, did it? Any of the words you said to me had truth in it?"

"I was under the effect of Grantaire's brandy!" he said "I said things completely out of order! Things I shouldn't have said… But I meant every word. I do care for you, Angélique… But you said it yourself! We should be lovers, but nothing will keep us together… Not even ourselves."

"You care for me but you don't love me…"

"I do not know what this feeling is..." Enjolras confessed "I only know I've never felt this way about someone, before."

"I gave myself to you, completely… I let you know my soul and my body…" Angélique whispered, restraining herself from crying "I never trusted in a man before I met you. How cliché it is… But I do understand your point of view. Why you don't allow your heart to feel love? You want to keep this untouchable posture of a marble statue but you are not made of stone, Enjolras!"

The blonde young man looked down and took a deep breath.

"Just because I don't demonstrate my love in the way you would like it to, it doesn't mean I feel none."

Angélique stared at him and touched his arms, caressing his naked skin.

"I apologize." she asked "I was being juvenile… Forgive me for my overreaction. All this is new to me… I don't know how to act."

"Don't you fret my beloved one…" Enjolras held her naked body into his arm. "Also for me is an unknown world… I didn't mean to hurt you when I said I have to be focus on the revolution, please understand that… Sometimes I speak words sharp like knifes, but I never have in mind hurting others. Specially, not you… my angel."

The brunette kissed his bare chest with her hands caressing his back, feeling his muscles, and breathing heavily against his skin.

"The enemy we'll have to battle is a dangerous foe…" Enjolras said, cuddling her hair "Our little lives don't count at all as we fight towards a larger goal than ourselves."

"I know…" she whispered kissing his chin "But, please, forget about the revolution for a moment. As you did last night… It was a night full of you."

Enjolras stared at her, with tenderness in his serious expression, and tossed her long hair from her chest, revealing her breasts to him.

"The bare chest of Liberty…"

Angélique grabbed his hand and placed it upon her breasts, make him caressing them.

"The bare chest of your freedom." she whispered into his ear.

She came closer to his body and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him with passion and Enjolras embraced her by the waist and carried her back to the bed, bending over her and grabbing her legs with his hands and while kissing her, intensely, he made love to her once again.

Enjolras didn't made it in time to his morning classes, so he went back to Angélique's house. But once he arrived, and knocked on her door and call for her, one middle-age woman showed-up at the window of the building on the left, next to her house, and shout at the young blonde man:

"The mademoiselle is not at home, jeune homme*!"

"Good morning, Madame." Enjolras screamed back "Do you know where she went?"

"Je ne sais pas**!" she said and closed the window.

The young blonde man took a deep breath, annoyed by the woman's answered, and walked away, leading his way to his home. He couldn't believe how last night unfolded: every moment of it was still alive in his skin, as if Angélique's hand were still caressing his skin and her lips upon his. Enjolras couldn't believe his own memories for last night wasn't a dream after all.

Translation (French – English):

* Jeune Homme – meaning "young man".

**Je ne sais pas – meaning "I don't know".

It was a short chapter but I hope you've enjoyed it and it will be continued.

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Thank you for the reading.