Chapter 14:
She could believe how nervous she was. To see him again. What would happen? Would he try to kiss her? Would she try to kiss him? Thoughts swirled around her head as she got ready for school. Cosette looked knowingly at her when Eponine barely touched her food. The two girls walked to the bus stop together and waited in the cold as Eponine tried to focus on anything other than what was waiting for her at school.
"Are you working tonight?" Eponine asked Cosette.
"Yeah." She said and Eponine nodded. During those black weeks she hadn't turned up to work and so she assumed that she didn't have a job to go back to. She should find another one though, she thought, so she could pay some rent to Cosette and her Father. It was one thing living for free at Enjolras' who didn't need and would refuse the money. But Cosette lived an ordinary life and so would probably appreciate the extra help. She would start her job search that evening. Unless Enjolras wanted to do something. Damn, her mind had brought her back to him again.
Cosette chatted idly to her as they sat on the bus but once Cosette's stop came up, Eponine had nothing to distract her. The road she was about to walk down was so untouched that she had no idea what to expect. What did life, post-kiss, look like? She didn't know. But she was about to find out.
Enjolras was just as anxious. He stood outside of the building with Grantaire and wondered what he would do when he saw her. At this rate it wouldn't have been too much of a stretch of imagination to believe he may pass out. His head felt weirdly light and although he knew he was excited to see her, he didn't know how this would go. He'd never done this before. He'd never cared before. Now he fiddled with his jumper hoping that the green went with the cream shirt he wore underneath.
Grantaire stared bemused at his friend as he shuffled, seemingly unable to remain still. Something had happened, Grantaire was sure. What he wasn't sure of was what. Had they argued? Had something happened? Well there was no doubt that Enjolras' behaviour was down to anything other than Eponine. She was the only one to have any effect on the great stone man.
And then there she was, walking up the street to the school. She looked lovely, as always. Her hair was flowing behind her, a little windswept but quite lovely even still. Grantaire bit the side of his mouth to stop himself from laughing when Enjolras suddenly stood to attention as she approached them.
"Hi." She said and Grantaire was surprised to notice that she seemed just as jittery. It was something big then, Grantaire thought.
"Hey." Enjolras said, beaming giddily at her.
"Hello to you too." Grantaire said and Eponine suddenly noticed that he was here. "Well, let's not stand here all morning." He said before he walked into the school. The two idiots followed behind him and he tried not to stare as they sat next to each other in form, the same stupid smile plastered onto their faces. Shit, thought Grantaire the penny finally dropping, it finally happened then. In a few weeks they'd be dating and he'd be the third wheel-the Eponine to their Marius and Cosette if you will. He sighed, deciding that he would happily take the role and be the best third-wheel there was. His feelings aside, they both deserved to be happy and he would do nothing to get in the way of that.
After the initial weirdness things had fallen back into place quite quickly. Enjolras and Eponine had first lesson together and so were able to get all of the blushing out of their system by the time break rolled around. Therefore none of the other boys noticed any real difference between them. But the way that they sat now, their legs uncommonly close together and the way that he would murmur something that only she could hear. It was sickeningly sweet.
Eponine was brimming with happiness. "I think we should talk later." Enjolras had said to her, leaning in so that only she could hear. The way he had said talk made her shiver a little and she nodded.
"I think I would like to talk again." She whispered back and he laughed. Neither of them quite knew what was acceptable yet and so their hands met only briefly every so often as they walked down the corridor. He'd made some lame excuse about his class being moved so he could walk her to history and she found it adorable that he did. Suddenly, just as she was making her way to the lunch hall she had felt a hand on her arm and before she knew it she had been dragged outside and was suddenly kissing Enjolras. She felt his hands in her hair and the cold concrete on her back. He delighted in the little gasp she had given when he'd held her and now enjoyed how she felt pressed against him. He hadn't planned on this, not wanting to seem too desperate, but then he had seen her again and couldn't quite help himself. Especially after their conversation last night.
As he kissed down the line of her neck she gasped again and said "Gabe, we should go to lunch." Enjolras just made a dismissive sound and he pulled her into a kiss again. She let herself enjoy the sensation a moment longer before pulling away and saying, "I'm hungry." He just shook his head again and captured her lips in his. Suddenly as she felt his hands tighten on her waist she couldn't quite think of anything else. Her head spun and she laughed as he refused to let her speak again. "You know I'm right." She mumbled as she looked at him. His lips were the tiniest bit swollen and his hair was a mess. He looked ridiculous and all she wanted to do was stay like this forever. But the boys would get worried soon and look for her so she had to go.
He knew she was right. And so he sighed, resting his forehead on hers before kissing her slowly, one last time. She sighed softly and he felt the flames in his stomach rise up again. "Fine." He conceded and he watched her smile and walk back into the school building. In her absence he was suddenly cold and so only waited a few moments before following her.
If they thought they were fooling everyone, they were idiots, Grantaire thought as he watched them sit down at the lunch table. The group often ate lunch together and would come in dribs and drabs so it wasn't too strange for the two of them to walk in together. What was strange was how Enjolras' hair was sticking out in crazy directions and his shirt was untucked from under his jumper. What was strange was how breathless and overly happy Eponine was. Combeferre looked over to Grantaire and raised an eyebrow in question. Grantaire just smiled and shrugged. No one said anything. Everyone wanted to. Grantaire, if he was being honest with himself, just wanted to shake the pair of them and scream, "We all know!" but for now he was content watching the madness unfold.
After lunch, as they walked to their last lesson, Joly was able to catch up to Grantaire. "So can you shed any light on what's happening with our fearless leader and our stowaway?"
Grantaire just shrugged, something he had done a lot that day. "Who knows? It's clear that they're dating or… something but for some reason they're not telling us."
"But I hate this!" Joly complained. "There's a weirdness now when we're together. We've never had an elephant in the room before."
"I know." Grantaire said as they walked into the classroom. "I'm just as frustrated as you but you know Enj, he's very private and they probably doesn't want to broadcast it across the whole school." Joly opened his mouth as if to complain again but Grantaire stopped him. "Look, no one wants more attention drawn to Ep at the moment, she's still hiding from her family for god's sake! We can't expect them to share absolutely everything with the group."
Combeferre had walked in and sat down at the seat across from Grantaire just as he was finishing his reasoning. "We talking about Eponine and Enjolras?" Joly nodded and Grantaire groaned inwardly. He had decided this morning that he didn't like talking about this. It made his stomach curl, he didn't know if it was the notion that the boys were now interested in gossip or whether it was something else but he didn't like it. "Do you think they got together when she was staying at his?"
"Ooh," Joly said. "I hadn't thought of that! Maybe?"
"But then this lunch they'd obviously been off… canoodling," Grantaire couldn't help but laugh at Combeferre's polite choice of words. "So why hasn't something like that happened before?"
This then led to a long discussion where the two boys tried to pin down the exact timeline of their friend's relationship and Grantaire tried his best to drown them out and concentrate on his work. He didn't need this right now.
He didn't like there being secrets between him and Enjolras.
And that was it. That had to be why he was feeling so crappy. Before, Enjolras had been able to come to him with everything. When Enjolras' maternal grandfather had died, Grantaire had been there for him. He used to be the confidante that Enjolras turned to and now… now it seemed Enjolras wasn't even telling him the good stuff.
Grantaire spent the rest of the lesson fixating on this idea. He wondered whether he wouldn't be needed anymore, whether Eponine would fill the role that he used to play in Enjolras' life. It may have been a little selfish of him, but Grantaire liked to think that he was irreplaceable, at least where Enjolras was concerned. Because that's what Enjolras was to him. An incomparable force in his life that if removed, well, Grantaire didn't want to think what that would do to him.
Eponine wasn't sure if she had ever been this happy. Enjolras had texted her to meet him out the front and when she did he was sat in his car smiling up at her. Now they were driving around town, music blaring and roof down. She was currently laughing at Enjolras' painful attempts to sing along with the songs on the radio and as she watched his face screw up with the effort of belting out a Whitney classic, she couldn't believe that she was seeing this. She'd never thought that Enjolras could have a goofy side. He had always seemed so serious and intense. Of course, that intensity was still there, especially when he looked at her in that way that made her toes curl but she also enjoyed seeing this different side to him. He seemed lighter.
Eventually they stopped driving and had dinner at a small chain-restaurant before he dropped her back at Cosette's. After she'd stepped out of the car she leant back into the window. "You know, that was technically our first date." She told him.
His eyebrows shot up and he nodded. "Yeah I guess it was." He beamed at her. "Was it alright?"
She laughed and tucked some hair behind her ear as she leant over to give him a peck on the cheek. "It'll do." He laughed and she loved how easily she could make him do that. "See you later." She said before straightening up so he could drive away. She hadn't known what to expect, going into this. He knew everything about her, all the gritty details and unpleasant truths he already knew and yet he accepted her. In a way it was scary, how could this work? She'd never been in a relationship where she didn't have to hide anything. Would he get bored of her? After all, there was nothing left for him to discover. She walked to the front door knowing that she shouldn't worry. That evening had been wonderful, he could make her laugh one second and then get her riled up about something or other in the other second. It had been perfect, she shouldn't dwell on her doubts. After all, she had experienced enough drama to last her a lifetime. Having a simple, easy, honest relationship was something she deserved.
Enjolras was also feeling content. Relationships weren't something he had ever really thought about but this seemed to be everything he could have wanted. She challenged him on his views, had opinions of her own and was able to make him laugh and feel care-free for a little while. And he couldn't believe that she felt the same way. It had felt like he was in a dream. Surely in reality, someone like Eponine would never have been content to settle for someone like him? But amazingly, she had.
When he got back to his house, his father was waiting for him. "So you're now parading that girl around are you?" He asked and Enjolras sighed. He had noticed a familiar face in the restaurant but had been naïve enough to think that the son of one of his father's assistants wouldn't have cared about what Enjolras did on a Monday night. But apparently his social life was fascinating information that couldn't be sat upon.
"I was hardly parading her Dad, we just went to dinner." Enjolras explained, already tired of this conversation. His father had always been an imposing man. 6 foot 3 with broad shoulders and nicely coiffed hair. He was undoubtedly impressive. When Enjolras had been a kid, he had been so terrified of his father. The idea of him being disappointed made Enjolras fear low grades or bad reports. Whenever he'd done anything wrong he would immediately throw himself at his father's feet, snivelling. But now Enjolras saw him for what he really was. Just a man. An ordinary man who was now slightly balding.
His father didn't let this stop him though. He stood at his full height and tried his best to make his son feel two foot tall. "I thought we'd discussed this already Gabriel," he began. "Your family does not want you engaging with this family. It is not only reckless for your future, but it could be damaging for our business." Enjolras scoffed, wanting to interject but he was not given that liberty. "What will clients think if we are seen to be related in any way to that family?"
"Well considering a great number of your clients are just as criminally-inclined I wouldn't have thought they'd care." Enjolras retorted.
Enjolras Snr took a step closer to his son. "If you continue to date that girl, your inheritance is gone." And with that he turned on his heel and left. Enjolras could feel his heart racing. He couldn't stand the idea that his father was trying to dictate another part of his life. It was bad enough having his career forced upon him, now he wasn't even allowed to choose who to date? It was ridiculous. And Enjolras wouldn't let him. His father would not mess with the best thing in his life. A decision was made. He ran upstairs to the office and immediately flicked on the computer. He would provide for himself, make it clear to his father that he didn't need the family's money. If he could do this, he would lose those chains forever.