Hello, my lovelies! I am very sorry that I did not update sooner, but I was very busy and this chapter took some thought. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
The morning after the party, Enjolras woke up extremely hung over and feeling terrible. He groaned and put a hand to his head. In the living room, there was a cheerful note that said:
Went Christmas shopping. (I'll pick up some aspirin too, we're all out.) See you later!
-Eps
Enjolras groaned in misery, "No aspirin? I'll just have to go back to bed." And so that was exactly what he did. And in his hung over state, he didn't even question where Eponine had gotten the money to buy Christmas presents.
The girl in question was actually in Goodwill at the moment, along with Courfeyrac, Combeferre, and Grantaire. She had named them her: "Bring Enjolras back to life" comrades.
They were browsing the used books section, trying to find some books that Enjolras had donated after the Wall Street failure. He had even given away his prized copy of "The Republic" by Plato.
"If we're going to bring Enjy's fire back, we need those books. They inspired him," said Combeferre, looking through a pile of books.
Eponine looked at the list of books they had made.
The Republic was underlined in deep red at the top of the list. But there were others as well, including:
Why Democracy Works
The End of Monarchy
Let the Bells of Freedom Ring
A List of All French and English Monarchs From 1720-1860
"Geez, he's a bit of a dry reader."
That remark made Grantaire laugh. "Dry is understating it a bit."
Eponine grinned and took the list to the counter, meaning to ask the employee where she could find copies of them. He was a young man with sandy hair and chocolate eyes. "Excuse me?" she asked. He turned toward her. 'Yes?"
"Do you know where I can find copies of these books?" She held out the list to him. He scanned over it. "Oh yeah, those things. Some crazy guy in a red jacket brought all those in last year. They're still sitting on a shelf in our back room because we didn't know if anyone would want them. I'll go get them."
Eponine's face brightened. "Oh, thank you!" She ran back to the others to tell them the news and they all went up to the counter. The employee came back a second later with a cardboard box labeled: Revolution Books in Sharpie on the side. He set the box on the counter and Eponine looked in it. All the books were there, and she reverently pulled out a very well-loved book, bound in fading red leather. "This the book of wonders?" she asked.
Combeferre nodded, almost reverently. "That was the book he got all his ideals from." The employee looked at her. "If these books are so important to you all, you can have them for free. Nobody else is going to want them."
Eponine thanked the man profusely and walked with Grantaire out to the car, leaving the other two students to get the box. Once they were in the car and driving, it was off to Target to get some wrapping paper. They were browsing through the Christmas section when Courfeyrac came running around the corner, holding what appeared to be a small potted pine tree. "It was in the plants section. It's a little mini Christmas tree!"
She smiled and told them that the tree was a must. Then, they picked out some red and black wrapping paper and aspirin and headed to the checkout. The cashier told them to have a "Very Merry Christmas."
On the way home, Combeferre, the driver, told her that there was one more place they needed to stop. The car pulled up outside a dingy-looking café. Faded letters over the door read: Café Musain. "What's this place?" she asked. "This was where it all happened. They gave us the whole upstairs for our meetings. This was the place where we helped the poor, where we planned everything out." said Courfeyrac.
"They told us that whenever we wanted the top floor again, it would be ours."
They got out of the car and walked inside. A kindly lady behind the counter looked up and her eyes widened. "You're back!" she said, running up and giving the three boys hugs. "Where's everybody else, where's Enjolras?" she asked.
"We're not back yet," replied Combeferre. "Enjolras has blocked this out of his life. We're determined to bring it back in. Right now, we need to buy a bag of Musain Coffee."
The lady bustled behind the counter and produced a large bag of yummy-smelling coffee. "It's yours free," she said. "You've been our loyal patrons forever and you've paid us enough. If you would come back here, well, that's worth more then a bag of coffee."
They smiled, and nodded their thanks. "This is actually a Christmas gift for the very leader himself."
The lady smiled. "Well, you know that the upstairs is always yours." They nodded their thanks and left. "Shall we drop you off, 'Ponine?" Grantaire asked. "Can I actually come over to your house and wrap presents, because my room in Enjolras's place is the couch."
They nodded agreement and drove to Grantaire's house to wrap presents. They all helped out and within half an hour, there were six neatly wrapped presents in front of them, all dressed in red, except for The Republic, which was wrapped in black paper, so Eponine knew which one to save for last.
They drove her home, and Eponine came inside to find all the lights off, the curtains closed, and Enjolras snoring face-down on the couch. She tried to stifle a snort, and instead put the bottle of aspirin on the table next to his head along with a glass of water. She laughed as she remembered the night before. She had never seen Enjolras so drunk, she wondered the occasion. He had been parading around singing something about hearing the people sing at one point, and eventually had collapsed on the floor and fallen asleep. Eponine put the little tiny tree on the middle of the kitchen table and arranged the presents under it. Her fingers tapped a nervous beat as she stared at the black paper covering The Republic. Hopefully he wouldn't hate her…
A few days later, it was Christmas morning, and fear twisted in Eponine's gut. Oh dear god, please let this be alright, she silently prayed as she walked into the kitchen. She noticed with a little twinge of pleasure that there was one small present not wrapped in red and black, and Enjolras was already sitting at the table.
She sat down next to him. "Merry Christmas, Eps," he said, grinning. She smiled. "Merry Christmas. Listen, uh, your presents are really special and they need to be opened last, so can I do mine first?"
He smiled. "Go right ahead."
She opened the first one. It was two tickets to see Les Miserables on Broadway in New York City, along with two plane tickets. She gasped. "Oh my god, thank you!" she cried and gave him a hug. "It's what I've always wanted!"
"Can I open mine now?" he asked. "Yep," Eponine replied, trying to keep the fear out of her voice. "Just save the black one for last."
Dear god, help me, please. I want to still have a friend tomorrow, please.
He pulled the lumpy one, the coffee, towards him, and opened it. "Ooh, coffee!"
He turned it over. "Musain Coffee. Did Grantaire tell you to get this?"
She nodded, fear creeping up in her mind. "I love it." said Enjolras, and she breathed a sigh of relief, but then she realized that The Republic was not opened yet. He slid another one towards her and opened it, only to have his eyes widen in shock. "This… this is mine. Where did you get it?" He said it with a mixture of surprise and anger. "It was Combeferre's idea." she replied, trying to keep her voice from rising a decibel. He opened the other books, and more anger was written more clearly on his face. Now all that was left was The Republic. Eponine didn't realize it, but she was shaking in fear. He slowly pulled the black-wrapped book over to him and slowly slit the paper, as if not wanting to know what was inside.
His eyes widened in clear shock and when he spoke, his voice was pure anger. "Where did you find this?" he asked. His voice was an icy knife. "Goodwill." She squeaked. He stood up and hurled The Republic at the wall. Then, he turned toward her, pure fury in his eyes. "Never, NEVER try to bring that back. It's done! It's gone! NEVER DO I WANT TO SEE THIS BOOK AGAIN, AND NEVER DO I WANT TO SEE YOU!" he shouted, before storming out the door. Eponine waited a moment, before grabbing The Republic and ripping Enjolras's red jacket from her shoulders and throwing it on the ground. Then, she grabbed his beloved book and ran out of the apartment. Only when she was four streets over did she allow tears to fall.
Sorry for the drama, everybody, but as you can see, Enjolras is quite stubborn… Anyway, enjoy and review!
Byee!