And here we go…
In this chapter: Eponine makes a decision and Gavroche spends a day without Papa
Gavroche smiled, humming to himself as he padded down the narrow corridor towards the lounge, where he was expecting to see Courfeyrac sleeping on the couch. He had made waking up his guardian every morning as his little job to do as Courfeyrac could sleep all day if you let him. When he didn't see his papa sound asleep on the couch as he expected, the little boy pouted, checking the kitchen and the bathroom before walking to the bedroom. Maybe he had gone to wake up Eponine? Slowly opening the door to the bedroom, Gavroche's eyebrows knotted in confusion, seeing his papa lying on the bed with Eponine curled into his arms, both sound asleep. "Papa" He said in a little voice stepping closer to the bed and placing a hand of Courfeyrac's arm. "Papa"
It was Eponine who stirred first, rather than Courfeyrac. She sighed sleepily, shifting as she woke, realising in a moment of shock that she was pressed against Courfeyrac's chest. Blushing violently, she pulled away quickly coming face to face with little Gavroche as she sat up. "Um…" She said, brushing her hands against her cheek as if trying to wipe the blush away. "Good morning Gavroche"
Courfeyrac awoke hearing Eponine's voice and he too looked to the little boy as he sat up. Gavroche stood beside the bed, a little pout on his lips and his arms folded across his chest. "Papa, what are you doing?" he asked "You were sleeping on the couch"
Eponine blushed furiously, embarrassed by the fact that she must have spent the night after her nightmare, sleeping in Courfeyrac's arms. Whilst very embarrassed, she had to admit that she had not slept that well in a long time. "He came to me 'Roche, I had a bad dream"
Nodding, Courfeyrac sat up fully and run his hand through his hair leaning down to pick Gavroche up and sit him on his lap. "Yes" He said looking to the little boy "Ponine had a bad dream and I heard her crying so I came to make her feel better."
"Like when I have a bad dream and you come and cuddle me papa?" Gavroche said leaning against Courfeyrac's chest
"Yes exactly like that" Courfeyrac smiled kissing his cheek. "And the cuddles make you feel better don't they? So they made Eponine feel better too"
Gavroche nodded looking over to Eponine. "Then you both fell asleep?"
"Yeah baby, we both fell asleep" Eponine said in agreement standing up and trying to pull the knots from her hair.
Courfeyrac smiled to her before standing up and setting Gavroche back on the ground. "Alright little man" He smiled. "If you brush your teeth and get dressed, I'll get you some breakfast ready okay?"
"Okay papa, I bet I can be fast!" Gavroche said looking up at Courfeyrac with a cheeky smile.
"I bet I can be faster" Courfeyrac replied, equally cheekily as he ruffled the boy's hair "Now, go on". Gavroche smiled and ran out of the room, dashing back towards his own room. Once he was gone, he turned to Eponine. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah" She smiled. "That was just very embarrassing. I just want to say thank you for last night, Courfeyrac. I'm sorry I woke you up"
"Don't say sorry, I was glad to help" He said sitting on the edge of the bed with her. "Listen to me Eponine, why do you put up with all that your parents put you through? You are nineteen years old; you are legally old enough to leave home"
"I'm scared" Eponine sighed. "I could leave but there is no guarantee that they wouldn't find me again. There is a group of young men that hang around the house; my father would them out to find me. I want to leave. But I need to be able to leave and know that I am safe. I would have to run away, they would never let me just walk out and leave. I would have to do it without them knowing that I was going to leave"
"What would you need to make you feel safe?" Courfeyrac asked, taking her hand in a show of comfort.
"I don't know" She said looking at their hands locked together. "I felt safe last night, and feel safe here. With you and Gavroche"
Courfeyrac nodded. "Then come here, leave home and come here". It blurted out really. Sometimes his mind worked so fast that his mouth couldn't keep up. It could be said that this is what had happened when he had offered to take little Gavroche into his care. He had meant that of course. The idea had scared him but as soon as he saw that little boy hiding away in the garden he knew that he was doing the right thing and he knew that he would come to love him. And he had. He adored Gavroche and felt that he had never done anything better than to adopt Gavroche. Now he meant this. He wanted Eponine safe and if that meant him helping her to run away and her coming to live with him and Gavroche, so be it.
"What? Courfeyrac are you mad?" Eponine said shocked that he was even offering his home to her. "I can't"
"Why ever not?" He asked "You said so yourself that you feel safe here"
"I know 'Fey" Eponine said looking him in the eye. "You are too kind, you have given my little a home, a place where he is loved and cared for. You have given him more than that, he calls you papa. I cannot possibly ask for you to give me a home as well, it is too much. No matter how much I would like it"
"But you are not asking me to give you it, I am offering. That makes it completely different Eponine" Courfeyrac said softly kissing her forehead and bringing her closer. "Do this for me; this can be your way of thanking me"
"I don't know how to go about running away, like I said my father will send the boys out to look for me" Eponine sighed leaning into his hold. "I don't know if I can do this"
"I will help you" Courfeyrac replied. "I'll drive you there and stay close in case anything happens. Are your parents' home today?"
She nodded "Should be"
"Alright then, you can go in, give him some money to keep him sweet for a while, pack up your stuff and get out. I'll be right there" Courfeyrac said. "You can do this, 'Ponine, please"
"I don't want to take any more of your money" Eponine sighed.
"Once again, offering is very different from taking" Courfeyrac said. "If it costs me money to have you safe, so be it"
"Are we really going to do this 'Fey?" Eponine said looking at him with a serious expression
"Yes we are" Courfeyrac smiled
…
"Alright Gavroche, listen to me now little man" Courfeyrac said holding the little boy in his arms as he carried him up the stairs into the first floor meeting room of the café. "I have to go and complete a very important job today, and Eponine is helping me, but you can't come I'm afraid"
"Why?" Gavroche asked wrapping his arms around Courfeyrac's neck.
"Because it's a job for grownups" He replied "So you have to stay with my friends, you like them remember". He had already sent a text to Combeferre saying that he needed them to look after little Gavroche for the day.
"Yes… But I want to go with Papa" Gavroche pouted
"I know kiddo but it will be more fun here" Courfeyrac said "You have toys and books in your race car bag, so it will be fun". As he walked up into the room, he saw Combeferre sitting with Grantaire and Jehan around the table. Combeferre, as per usual was reading, whilst Jehan was gazing out of the window and Grantaire sat tucked up into a chair, doodling in his sketchbook. "Here we go"
"Hey Courfeyrac, hey Gavroche" Combeferre smiled sitting up and setting down his book.
"Hello" Courfeyrac smiled putting down the little boy and giving him his bag. "Thanks for looking after him"
"That's fine, it will be good" Jehan smiled walking to Gavroche "Hey little one"
Gavroche pouted looking up to Courfeyrac "Papa, don't go"
"Aww I'm sorry little man, I'll try and be as fast as I can to come back and get you I promise" Courfeyrac said kissing his head. "These lot will entertain you and you won't realise I'm not here"
"I will papa, I will" Gavroche protested shaking his head, sending his blonde curls bouncing and throwing his arms around Courfeyrac's leg. "Don't go"
"Gavroche, come on kiddo" Courfeyrac sighed. "I won't be gone long"
Combeferre, a quick thinker, picked up a stack of cards and started to shuffle them, neatly holding cards between his fingers and twisting them, the movement of the cards catching the little boy's attention. "Gavroche" He smiled "If you don't let daddy go, you won't be able to teach me to play snap. I bet you can win"
Gavroche nodded, still holding onto Courfeyrac. "I will win" He said with a little smile, watching the young man stack the cards back up and set them on the table.
"Okay" Combeferre smiled standing up and walking to him, before kneeling down to his height "But my pack of cards is missing one, have you seen it?"
"No Mr Combeferre" Gavroche said, looking at him as he pressed himself against Courfeyrac. His guardian smiled, seeing Gavroche's attention being drawn away from him to Combeferre instead.
"Oh really, then what is this…" Combeferre smiled, sliding a finger behind Gavroche's ear and pulling to reveal the 'missing' card folded in his hand. "Behind your ear"
Gavroche gasped, his little mouth falling open as he let go of Courfeyrac "How did you do that?"
"Magic" Combeferre smiled, nodding to Courfeyrac "Did you like it? I'll show you another magic trick if you let papa go"
"You promise you'll come back, you won't leave me here forever?" Gavroche asked looking up to Courfeyrac
"Of course I won't leave you here, you're my boy, I love you too much to leave you here" Courfeyrac smiled "I'll come back later"
"Alright papa, I'll stay here if you promise to come back" Gavroche said in a serious tone
"I promise I'll come back buddy" Courfeyrac smiled. "You be a good boy okay?"
Gavroche nodded, wrapping his hand around Combeferre's thumb as he watched Courfeyrac go. "Mr Combeferre, where is papa going?" He asked
"He is helping Eponine with something, hopefully it won't take long" Combeferre smiled lifting him up and sitting him at the table. "So, how do you play snap?"
….
Courfeyrac rushed back down to the car, which was parked outside the café, Eponine nervously sitting in the front passenger seat. "Ready to go?" He asked as he sat in the driver's seat beside her.
She nodded. "What took you so long? Is Roche alright? This is the first time that he has been away from you since you adopted him"
"He wouldn't let go of my leg at first, but Combeferre distracted him with a card trick, he seemed pretty entertained by the 'magic'" Courfeyrac smiled starting to drive. "Do you have much in the way of belongings to bring with you?"
"No, just some clothes and a necklace that was Azelma's. And Gavroche's baby book. I made it for him" She replied, looking straight ahead as they drove out of the nice area of the city into the darker, more dirty area. She hated it here; she didn't want Courfeyrac to see this. She didn't want him to see how she lived. "Courfeyrac, this place, it isn't nice"
"'Ponine, I saw the orphanage where Gavroche was kept, I can handle this" He replied, parking a block away from her house so that no one would see him. "Ready"
Eponine nodded. "I'll give him the money first" She said looking to the fistful of notes Courfeyrac had folded into her palm earlier. What she didn't know was that he had folded a cheque for £1000 euro into the notes. He needed to keep her father happy, that would make him happy. He did not care about the cost. He wanted Eponine safe. He knew that if he had shown her the cheque she would have never accepted it. "Then I'll run to my room and put everything in a bag, and then I'll climb down from my window"
Courfeyrac nodded. "You can do this Eponine" He said kissing her cheek. "Just think, you will be free soon. And if they come looking, we have enough people looking out for us to keep us safe, you me and Gavroche will be fine together"
This seemed a good point to leave it at for now…
I hope you liked it, please review and more will be coming soon