I'm baaaaaaaack!
Yay, Doc manager working again! Vive la France! (That was really random. Sorry. I'm not even French. I'm German-Scandinavian-American by the way.)
On that note, this story doesn't even take place in France. It takes place mostly in Wauwatosa and other suburbs of Milwaukee because I'm terrible at visualizing things. So why, you may have just asked (I'm not the NSA. I don't know what you say to your computer.), does the description say "Enjolras loves France"? I didn't know when I first wrote this. Now I've decided that Enjolras is not so much a politician as just a French history nerd. Don't kill me for stuff like that. If anything bothers you though, just review or message me and I'll see how I can change it to make it better.
Grantaire sat for ages in the darkened auditorium. The headache that had pounded for days was beginning to subside. Suddenly, a door opened, and Grantaire hoped for all the world that whoever was coming in would not notice him. "Wait. Why am I even here? I shouldn't have to be afraid." Still thankful that no one had entered, Grantaire slowly stood up and began to walk toward the door. For the first time in ages, he was not quite so sensitive to the light of the outdoors.
"Enjolras, I've looked everywhere I could imagine him being. I even checked the theatre, considering that's the last place I saw him, and there was no one there. What should I do?"
Enjolras became more and more surprised by Éponine's blindness every second. Seeing that he would get nowhere with lecturing her, he simply brushed her off as nicely as he could. "I don't know, Éponine. One thing is without fail, though. He'll come back by the end of the day. For now, you should probably go back to your own dorm. I'll tell you when he comes back, okay? I'm busy now, and you look like you could use some rest."
"Thank you, Enjolras." He turned back to his desk without a word, only giving her a thumbs-up. "Enjolras?" He stayed in place. "Could I get a hug?"
"No."
"I won't leave until I do."
"Ugh, fine." Enjolras for the most part regretted this entire afternoon. He had been reading a rather detailed account of the June Rebellion and liked it. There was something so tragic, so lovable about the leaders who had planned the rebellion, and he wanted to get back to reading about them. However, he could not do this until he hugged Éponine. "Always do what must be done. Always duty." Éponine trembled as he closed his arms around her shoulders. "Seriously. How does Grantaire put up with doing this all the time?" Still, he couldn't help but feel better for helping Éponine feel better. "Goodbye, Éponine. No doubt I'll see you soon." Éponine smiled as she set off for her own dorm.
Enjolras sat for a few minutes in the world of 1832 Paris when Grantaire came in. "Geez, Grantaire, Éponine's been here more often than you have over the past few days. Care to tell me what's going on?"
Grantaire looked at him with slight anger. "I'm in love, Enj. That's all I'm gonna say, cause I know you don't know and you don't care. You asked me to be honest, so there's the truth."
"Now, let's not jump to conclusions here. I care quite a bit when I don't have anything better to do."
Grantaire was completely shocked. "Do you now?"
Enjolras smiled at the book as he set it down. "No, no, not really."
"'Ponine. Grantaire's been located. -Enj"
"Did someone text you, Éponine?" As if Cosette weren't perfect enough, she could also hear a mouse's heartbeat under a foot of snow. Either that or a phone vibrating under Éponine's bed.
"Really? Thanks, Cosette." Éponine felt a little bad for generally avoiding Cosette her whole life. "By the way, how'd your date with Marius go?"
Cosette blushed. "What, that? It wasn't a date. He just wanted to get to know me better. Anyways, he's a really nice guy. I can see why you're best friends with him."
"You're sure it wasn't a date?"
"Yes, absolutely. I wish it was though."
Éponine knew she would hate what she was about to say. However, her inability to be nice to one best friend and his roommate made her feel obligated to be nice to her other best friend and her own roommate. "Why don't you tell him? I bet he likes you."
"Really, Éponine?" Cosette's face lit up like Éponine had never seen before.
"Call me 'Ponine." Cosette rushed over to her and hugged her tightly. It was strange, but Éponine did feel slightly relieved. Éponine returned to her phone and, reading Enjolras' message, typed back "Don't try to stop me. I'm coming over. Don't tell him. -'Ponine"
By the time Éponine reached Grantaire and Enjolras' dorm, Enjolras was standing outside. "What?" Enjolras held a finger to his lips. "What are you doing?" she whispered.
"I told Grantaire I was going to the library. Nothing else. I wanted to be sure you'd get here before I left. See you around."
"Thanks, Enj." She stepped forward and spread out her arms.
"Don't even think about it." He walked away as quickly as possible.
"Grantaire? Can I come in?"
"Never stopped you before, has it?"
Grantaire's reply instantly made Éponine want to cry. She stepped in anyway. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, sure. Probably just overreacting." Grantaire's heart thudded. He couldn't just unload everything he was feeling on her.
"No, you're not. Grantaire, I'm really sorry for what I did today. I was caught up in the moment and didn't realize flirting would embarrass you."
He stood up and walked over to her. "You didn't embarrass me. I embarrassed myself." Well, it was at least a little bit true. "I started it. It wasn't your fault. Thanks for coming, though."
Éponine looked at him questioningly. "Are you sure you're alright?" He nodded with a smile that was not customary, but at least genuine. "Alright then. I have some work to do, but I needed to see you first."
Grantaire thought his ribs would break for as hard as his heart was beating. As she hugged him, he lost control. After waiting a second, he pressed his lips into her forehead. "See you later, Éponine."
Éponine left as calmly as possible. As soon as she was out the door, she shot a panicked text to Enjolras. "Does Grantaire like anyone?"
Had he not been in a library, Enjolras would have laughed harder than he ever had in his life. Instead, he let out a muffled snort. "Imagine my face right now," he typed back. "Do I look like I would know?" He couldn't hold it back any longer. Slipping out of the library for a brief moment, he laughed until tears rolled down, staining his jacket burgundy.
