"Do I really get to go with you today?" Abby asked Enjolras excitedly as she followed him down the street, trying to keep up with the fast pace he set. He sighed "Yes, you're strong enough to come now" he told her. It was finally the weekend, and Abbigale had been getting stronger and stronger all week. As she'd been recovering the boys at the cafe had been getting everything she might need, including the pretty little dress she wore now instead of her rags.
Abby had outright told Enjolras that she thought the dress made her look like an upside down muffin. Poor Enjolras had come to find the girl very outspoken since she'd gotten better, but he also had to admit she was quite intelligent and street wise. She had often been left alone in his flat while he went to class and when he returned he would find her on the floor playing with one thing or another. Courfeyrac had bought her a doll to entertain herself after Enjolras had come into the cafe 3 days ago angry because Abby had drawn all over one of his textbooks.
As they entered the cafe Grantaire lifted his glass to her "Ah lassie! You're looking well!" he said to her. She smiled and went up to him "What's that you're drinking?" she asked him curiously. He laughed "Why lassie it's only the finest substance on earth! This here be wine! You drink it and forever you be happy!" he told her in a drunken slur. Enjolras took her hand and lead her away from him "That's just Grantaire, ignore him, he has nothing intelligent to say" he told her.
Joly walked up to her and Abby ran up to him "Hi Joly!" she said cheerfully. Joly was the only student other than Enjolras that she knew, because he'd come to check on her so often and bring her the gifts the students had gathered that day. He picked her up "Why hello there Abby. And how are you feeling today?" he asked her. She rolled her eyes and smiled "Just fine Joly! And how are you? Do you know how to not kill babies now?" she asked him. Joly blushed as Combeferre overheard and came over, he put Abby down "Um, yes" he replied.
"What's this I hear about you killing babies?" Combeferre asked, Lesgles piped up "He failed his exam on how to deliver a baby" he replied. Joly punched Lesgles in the arm "Some friend you are!" he said. Abby went up to Combeferre "Who are you?" she asked him plainly, he smiled and patted her head "Combeferre. And the boy Joly just hit is Lesgles" he informed her. She nodded and went up to Lesgles and punched him in the arm. "Ouch! What was that for?" he asked her, rubbing his arm. She cocked her head "Well he punched you, so I figured I might as well too" she replied honestly.
Enjolras went up to her "Abbigale you don't hit someone unless you have good reason" he told her sternly. Prouvaire walked in from the back room and went up to the group "So the young miss is better now?" he asked. Abby nodded "Yep, I'm just fine" she told him confidently. "I'm Prouvaire" he introduced himself formally, extending his hand to her. She shook it and laughed "And I'm Abby" she replied.
Just then the door of the cafe opened and Courfeyrac came in "Hey! You finally brought her!" he said running up and giving her a big hug "Hello Monsieur" she greeted him "Can you please put me down, I can't breathe" she told him. He put her down and pat her on the head "Oh of course! I'm Courfeyrac by the way! Please to meet you Mademoiselle!" he said cheerfully. Abby laughed "Pleasure to meet you too!" she said.
After everyone was introduced, the boys all began talking about politics. Bored with their conversations, Abby went and sat at the bar next to Grantaire "Why they talkin about the dumb old king?" she asked. Grantaire shrugged "I don't know lassie" he told her, he pushed a glass in front of her "But whenever they talk boring things I just drink this here liquid heaven" he told her. She stared at the glass in wonder "Enjolras told me not to listen to you" she said. Grantaire laughed "Did he now? Well if he ever told you to listen to me would you?" he asked.
She thought a minute before answering "Maybe, Enjolras said you didn't have nothing smart to say. But if you're sitting here drinkin liquid heaven then you must know something" she said. He laughed and took a swig of his wine "Well then, tell ya what Lassie. Hows about you ask Enjolras if I can babysit ya tomorrow while he's at school. And then since I'll be in charge, you'll be able to listen to me and drink this here happy liquid. Sound good?" he asked.
Abby pouted "But the only problem is I'm not a baby! I'm 5 years old!" "Yes, 5 years old, you're a child" a voice came from behind her. She turned and smiled up at Enjolras "Are you finally done talking boring talk?" she asked. He rolled his eyes "Yes, we're going back home now" he told her. She hopped off the stood "Enjolras. Do I have to stay at the flat all by myself tomorrow? I get so lonely. Can't I stay here with Grantaire?" she asked him, her eyes pleading.
He looked at the drunk "You'd really watch her winecask?" he asked him. The drunk swallowed some more wine and nodded "She'll be right here waitin for ya when you get done with your pretty little classes" he replied. Enjolras sighed in defeat "I'm giving you one chance Grantaire, you'll be officially banned from watching her if anything happens!" he told him sternly. Grantaire shrugged "See ya tomorrow lassie!" he called.
Once Abby had a chance to say goodbye to everyone, she and Enjolras headed back to his flat. When they entered she scampered over to her bed and began looking for something. Enjolras had finally been able to clear the guest room in his flat and Abby had claimed the room as her own. He sighed and began making her something to eat for dinner "Soup again?" she asked, looking up from her search. He nodded "It's good for you" he replied. She rolled her eyes as she found what she wanted and sat at the table "That's what you say everytime you give it to me!" she whined.
Honestly, soup was really the only thing he knew how to make, and while she was sick Joly said it was the best thing for her, but now that she was well she was tired of it. "We'll get you some real food tomorrow ok? Be grateful I'm feeding you or I'll throw you out on the street where you came from" he told her. At these words she grew deadly silent, her green eyes wide with some sort of fear. Finishing his task Enjolras put the bowl of soup in front of her "Hey, don't get upset. I didn't mean it" he told her softly.
She grew teary eyed and looked away from him in shame "You'd really throw me out onto the street?" she asked him. He pulled a chair over and sat next to her, taking her small hands in his larger ones "You, young lady, are much too outspoken. I won't throw you out, but remember that this is my home, and you should be respectful to your elders and grateful when they give you something. Alright?" he asked her. She turned and buried her face in his chest "I'm sorry Enjolras! I won't do it again" she said shakily.
He stroked her raven black hair gently "I know you won't, don't worry about it now" he told her gently. She sniffled and stayed pressed against him until she finally was able to pull away and eat her soup. Once she was done she yawned and put her head on the table "Don't turn into Grantaire now, you sleep in your bed" he told her. She groaned and he eventually picked her up and put her to bed "Good Night Abby" he said as he left the room "Night 'jolras" she replied sleepily.
The next morning Enjolras woke up as usual. He stretched and dressed himself before going out of his room. Abby was sitting on the couch in a green dress, her hair messily tied with a matching green ribbon. He rolled his eyes and walked up to her "Well you look ready for the day" he told her. She nodded "Yep, I am ready!" she said. He laughed a little and pulled the green ribbon out of Abby's black tangled hair "How about you just wear your hair down?" he asked her. She sighed "Ok, but now you made it all messed up!" she whined.
Enjolras chuckled "I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but your hair was messed up before I took the ribbon out. I made it better" he told her. She crossed her arms with a frustrated sigh "Well I couldn't really tell seeing is hair is on top of my head and you don't have any mirrors in this place!" she told him. He went into her room and came back with a hairbrush, beginning to run it through her matted hair "I'll see to getting you one" he told her "Ask Courfeyrac next time you see him, I'm sure he had more mirrors in his flat than he knows what to do with" he told her. She winced as he began untangling a knot in her hair "Why would he have so many?" she asked him curiously.
"Because he likes to look at himself almost as much as he thinks the ladies like to look at him" he told her simply. He finally finished brushing her hair so that it practically shined and he went to get his jacket "Shall we be off then?" he asked her. She pulled on her own jacket and opened the door, nearly running out into the street "Yes! Let's go!". They soon arrived at the Cafe Musain and Grantaire greeted them with his usual slur "Alright lassie. Let's go!" he said.
Enjolras knelt down by Abby and looked at her sternly "Now you behave yourself little miss understand? I don't want to come back and find you or Grantaire dead in a gutter because you were doing things you weren't supposed to. Alright?" he asked. She nodded "I'll be on my bestest behavior Enjolras!" she said. He stood up and patted her head "See you later" he said as he disappeared from view. Abby went and joined Grantaire at the bar "Now what?" she asked him.
He smiled and poured her a glass of wine "Now we drink! Enjolras must be feeding you nothing but his silly soup right?" he asked. She nodded "It's good soup. But I don't think he knows how to cook anything else" she admitted, sticking her tongue out at the thought of another bowl of it. Grantaire laughed "Ah yes, you're right lassie. He doesn't know how to cook anything but soup. But this'll be much better than soup" he said.
She took a sip and made a face "It tastes funny" she told him. He laughed at her "Well lassie, it does at first. But I'll tell you, the more you drink, the better it tastes!". She took another sip and smiled "I guess it does taste better after the first try" she admitted. She soon downed the whole glass and Grantaire poured himself and the girl another glass "That's it lassie, drink it up! I payed good money for wine worthy of you lassie!" he told her.
Courfeyrac was the first one back to the cafe several hours later, and what he was greeted by was both amusing and horrifying. Grantaire was in his usual spot, drinking his wine, but Abby was lying on top of the counter, pointing at the ceiling and saying "Grantaire, I do think a see a pig! Doesn't that look like a pig?" she asked in a slurred voice. He hiccuped before looking up "Ya. And that ceiling spot over there looks like a lady" he replied.
Combeferre nearly ran into Courfeyrac's back "Hey, why are you standing in the middle of the doorway?" he demanded, he stopped and stared at the drunken couple, before shaking his head and marching up to Abby, smacking Grantaire and picking the drunk child off the counter and putting her on her feet. She giggled and tipped over "Woah, room is all spinny. Howdy Combeferre, how be you on this WONDERFUL wonder day?" she asked him.
Combeferre held the little girl's arm as she teetered so she wouldn't fall over and glared at Grantaire. "How much wine'd you give her?" Courfeyrac asked him, picking Abby up and holding her and she hiccuped and said something along the lines of 'Rainbows, and Unicorns, and Enjolras dressed as a Leprechaun'. Grantaire smiled "Lassie's such a good lass! Nearly beat ma record of 5 drinks in 5 minutes!" he told them. Combeferre held up a finger "How many fingers am I holding up girl?" he asked her. She giggled "Blueberry!" she replied.
Just then Enjolras came in, and looked at the scene in front of him "Somehow, I'm not really surprised" was all he said as he approached the counter and began counting the glasses "Dear god winecask, I knew you'd give her a glass but there's nearly 20 glasses here just between you two!" he said, shocked by the sheer number.
Grantaire laughed as he downed another glass "I just filled it up for her and she drank. She really liked the stuff!" he told them defensively. Joly and Lesgles came in and Joly groaned in irritation at the sight of Grantaire and the drunken girl "Please tell me that child isn't drunk!" he groaned. Grantaire laughed and stood up, teetering over to the girl "Eh lassie, don't you think they're overreacting?" he asked. She nodded and hiccuped "Yep, Gran be the best baby sitta eva!" she said loudly.
Courfeyrac hushed her and held her closer to him "Grantaire, why don't you just go home, haven't you caused enough trouble to get a little girl drunk?" he asked. Joly went over to Abby and held his hand up "Abbigale can you follow my hand with your eyes please?" he asked. She went cross eyed for a moment then focused back on Joly "Why's there two of ya? Stop movin so fast!" she said slurred.
He shook his head "I think she should just sleep it off. She won't enjoy the hangover, but I think she'll live to see another dawn" he told them. He glared at Grantaire "You know you coulda killed her with all this drinking? She's still in trouble! Alcohol poisoning kills stupid drunks like you every day! And they drink by themselves less than half of what you have here on the table" he said seriously.
Enjolras quietly took Abby from Courfeyrac and sighed "Grantaire, you're officially the worse babysitter in Paris" he told him. Grantaire took a swig of his wine and smiled "Always a pleasure. Good Night lassie!" he called. Abby was beginning to get sleepy but laughed and waved enthusiastically back at Grantaire "Bye Bye Gran!" she called back.
As Enjolras carried her home he spoke to her "I told you not to listen to that winecask didn't I? I told you! Now look at you, drunker than the drunk himself!". Little did he know that Abby had fallen into a drunk stupor the minute he'd stepped outside the cafe, and she didn't hear a word he said all the way home.