Disclaimer: I do not own Les Misérables and its characters, as much as I want to.
A/N: I really want a strong bond between Grantaire and Gavroche, so I'm working on that more and more. I like the fact that Courf and R are family, even if they're second cousins. And everybody needs a best friend so that's where Joly comes in. There will be some pairings, but I don't know which ones yet.
This chapter starts with some sadness but everything will be alright in the end! I promise my dear Mizzies.
Also, I would like to thank the amazing people who favorited this story, and of course the wonderful people who are following it as well. I love the very few reviews I got. It's really helping with my confidence to write more. Thank you so much! Also sorry for all the typos. I do not have a beta, so..
"Alright buddy, we're going to get you back to bed. Joly will be here soon to check up on you." Grantaire smiled. He scooped Gavroche from his lap and carried him upstairs. You could see that Gavroche was in terrible pain whenever he was moved. Grantaire saw so and made his way up as fast as possible. He found the rest of the Amis in the armchairs near the guestroom. After Grantaire put Gavroche back in bed, he returned to his friends and sat with them.
"Gavroche fell asleep before I could put him down." Grantaire said. Enjolras also joined his friends in the conversation. "Grantaire, we want you to carry this around from now on." Marius gave his friend a gun. Grantaire nodded. "I understand.' "Good." Marius responded. Just then Joly showed up. "How's Courf doing?" Enjolras asked his friend. "He'll be fine. He's asleep now. The knife didn't do much damage and didn't hit any organs, so it is just the wound to heal. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to check up on Gavroche." Joly said with some sort of smile. "He's asleep, Joly.." Combeferre said after swallowing a large gulp of wine. "That's no problem." and Joly left to see Gavroche.
About fifteen minutes later Joly returned with the good news that Gavroche's fever was almost gone and that the healing process was going the right way. Especially Grantaire sighed with relief when he heard the news. "Hey, Grantaire.. What's the deal with Thénardier and you, or your father or whatever?" Combeferre dared to ask. Grantaire swallowed and took a big gulp from someone's cup that stood on the table.
"You know what I told you about what my father did to me when I was younger." Grantaire waited a moment to look around the room to see if everybody still followed. They nodded. "Well, ever since I can remember my father has two sides: The smart, well-educated man that the world saw and the thief and martyr only I knew. He was part of a gang, and the gang was led by nobody less than monsieur Thénardier. He was some kind of saint in our house." Grantaire stopped for a moment and wiped away the tears that were forming in his eyes. "You already knew Gavroche, didn't you." Enjolras asked. "Sort of. At first my father tried to get me into the dark world, you know. Coming along with heists and stuff. I always refused. In the beginning, I was locked up in the inn and that is where I met the rest of the Thénardier family. Gavroche wasn't born then, but I remember that day. Gavroche was born on the same day my little brother died." Grantaire had now some tears streaming down his face. "Wait a moment, do you have a brother?" Marius asked. "Had." Grantaire's looked said enough. His little brother hadn't survived a beating one night. And with their mother gone, there was no-one to protect the boys.
"My little brother died the same night I got thrown out." Even Enjolras had difficulty keeping in his tears. Joly put a hand on Grantaire's shoulder. "How about your mother?" Feuilly asked really carefully. "She died giving birth to him.'"Marius held out a cup of wine for Grantaire, who thankfully grabbed it and emptied it in his throat.
"God, there isn't a day I don't miss Anduin. Or my mother." He laughed, but there was no humor in it. "I always thought that I was pathetic, but when I met you guys, things went better." Grantaire smiled, just like the other amis. "ALL RIGHT GROUP HUG!" Marius yelled. And they all hugged each other, and it made Grantaire smile and it made it better.
"That were enough sad stories. Joly, is it okay if I visit Courfeyrac? I need to talk to him." Grantaire asked. "But of course! We'll take care of Gavroche. Tell Courf we said hi." Joly smiled. Grantaire put on his hat and coat and left the cafe.
Hours past and it was around midnight before Grantaire had returned; With Courfeyrac. The hospital said there was no reason to keep him in, because it was only a wound to heal and they had an amazing medical student in their midst to help out if needed. Gavroche had been asleep ever since Grantaire had put him back to bed that afternoon and Joly was glad Gavroche took his rest.
"Hey, Marius.. Can I talk to you for a moment?" Enjolras asked. "Yeah sure, what's wrong?" Marius answered. "Nothing's wrong, not really. But.. er.. I have this feeling for someone." Enjolras looked away from Marius. "Wait? You? For real, no Patria or something?" Marius asked with disbelief. "Yes, a real romantic feeling towards a real person." Enjolras went red. "And who may this lucky woman be?" Marius grinned. Enjolras swallowed. "Never mind, thanks for your time." And Enjolras was gone. Marius was confused, really confused.
"Hey Courf, how's it going?" Joly asked. They had put Courfeyrac in the most comfortable armchair they could find and had placed it near the fireplace. Courfeyrac was enjoying a good book, but died from the pain. "It hurts so much, Joly." Courfeyrac responded. He put away his book and let Joly take a look at the wound. "It looks like it is healing quite well, but I can imagine the pain. I'll get you some liquor, it works better than the painkillers I've got. And it tastes better." Courfeyrac and Joly laughed. It did the other boys joy to see that Courfeyrac was dealing with the stabbing so good. Probably because he didn't remember much of it. Grantaire had talked him in at the hospital.
Joly returned with the same liquor they had used on Gavroche, filled half a cup and used water to mix it up a bit. "It is too strong to drink pure, especially in your condition." Joly said. Courfeyrac drank the liquor with pleasure, and soon felt that the pain went away. It never completely left, but it was bearable.
"Is Grantaire still up with Gavroche?" Combeferre asked. Joly nodded. "I just went to see Gavroche, and they were both asleep. I think Grantaire's back is going to hurt tomorrow." Joly grinned. "There is something good about this, by the way. Grantaire doesn't drink more than we do. Maybe he's sobering up?" Marius said. All of the Amis nodded and talked about it, but Joly stayed silent.
"What do you think about it, Joly? You haven't said anything." Enjolras said after half an hour of discussion. "He isn't sobering up. Alcohol is the one thing that keeps him sane and feel safe. Never try to take it away from him. Goodbye." Joly said and he left. It was very late and they all should have gone home already. Only Enjolras was going to stay to keep an eye on Courfeyrac and Gavroche, and maybe even Grantaire.
The morning after, or afternoon, to be exact, was very stressful and a matter of good planning. All of the boys had lectures at university that day. Some in the morning, some at noon or in the early afternoon and even some in the early evening. They had all planned it so, that there were always two students with Gavroche and Courfeyrac. They had laughed a joke to get Grantaire out of the guestroom, but even he attempted his lecture on time.
Later that day they found out that Feuilly was an amazing cook. He had made the most tasteful ratatouille the students had ever eaten, and especially Gavroche enjoyed it. It was far too much to keep down in his little stomach because he wasn't used to that amount of food, but he was merry and thankful. Courfeyrac hadn't eaten so much, he felt nauseous and kept throwing up. Joly concluded it was from the medication they had giving Courfeyrac to help him heal.
"Alright," Combeferre said after the dishes were done. "what are tonight's plans?" All of the Amis thought hard, but it was Courfeyrac that spoke; "What about just hanging around and enjoying good wine and nice stories?" Grantaire jumped. "If we're doing that, I'm getting Gavroche. He's one of the Amis, if you like it or not, Enjolras." The Amis had voted about Gavroche becoming one of them when Enjolras had his lecture. They hadn't told him yet, but now seemed to be the right moment. "I'm fine with it." Enjolras said while looking at Grantaire. Marius saw so, and started to connect some dots. Soon Marius would figure it all out, and Enjolras had to be less obvious.
Grantaire ran upstairs to get Gavroche. Gavroche was just waking up from his slumber after dinner and smiled at the sight of his favorite Amis. "Do you want to come and listen to good old stories with the rest of the Amis?" Gavroche nodded heavily. Grantaire scooped the boy out of bed and carried him downstairs. Joly and Grantaire, just as well as the other Amis shared an opinion about Gavroche; They had to gain weight. Joly figured out, after Grantaire's story, that Gavroche was about eight years old. He looked like a five-year-old and that wasn't good.
"Hey Gavroche, how are you doing?" Courfeyrac asked. "I'm fine, thanks. It still hurts but it's bearable. I've been through more in my life." Gavroche smiled away his sentence. "And Courfeyrac, I'm sorry about what my father did to you." "Nah, don't mention it, buddy. Things happen, and I'm fine." Courfeyrac smiled. "But, this is the night of happiness, not sadness. Who starts?" Marius tried to stop Courfeyrac and Gavroche from sharing bad memories.
"I know one!" Enjolras yelled. He rose to his feet and took a mug of wine in one hand. "There was a time that I fell in love. And no, not with France or revolution, neither the republic. I fell in love with a real person. And.." "Enjolras are you drunk? Or sick? Or both?" Courfeyrac interrupted him. "What?" "You've never been in love before, and right now, amongst your friends and future revolutionaries, you admit that you love a woman?" All the Amis laughed, even Gavroche though he had no idea what they were talking about. He didn't like girls that way yet. He only thought of them as friends and was unable to understand love.
"You know what, Enj, go sit and drink some more wine. We'll get back to you in the morning." Combeferre joked. "Okay, my turn." Grantaire rose to his feet. "How do I say this.." Grantaire hesitated to tell. "I- er- love to draw. Like seriously. My drawings aren't that bad and stuff, but I am kind of ashamed of it. It's not very manly." Grantaire said with a head as red as a tomato.
"Draw something then. We won't laugh! I promise!" Gavroche yelled. He was very enthusiastic about Grantaire being some sort of artist. "Eh, okay.." Grantaire picked up an empty sheet of paper and a pencil, and started doodling. All of the Amis looked over his shoulders and hung in his light. He got mad every now and then, and his friends would step aside. Only to come back seconds later.
A couple of minutes later Grantaire was done with a full sketch of his friends enjoying wine at the cafe. It was very detailed for a sketch, but it was beautiful and it looked like it was stolen from a museum.
"Mon Dieu, Grantaire... This is amazing! It is so beautiful." Enjolras awed. "Nah, it's nothing. Just a little sketch." Grantaire threw his hand through his big messy curls. "Can you draw something for me, 'Taire?" Gavroche asked. Grantaire was flattered. "No really, Grantaire, this is more than amazing!" Joly yelled. "How come, in all these years of our friendship, I never knew?" Grantaire raised his shoulders. "I don't like to shine the light to it, you know. I only draw when I'm alone."Grantaire still had a blush on his cheeks. "Better get used to drawing in public then, because we will take advantage of it." Marius laughed.
A/N: Two author's notes? YES TWO, PROBLEM? haha. Okay, I'm so sorry for not updating any sooner. I've been sick and I had to read much to get my inspiration. I've been reading a little too much college AUs of Les Mis, hence Grantaire's art.
Thanks for the lovely reviews, follows and favorites! I love you all so much for reading this!
xx