Chapter 5:

Lucie was still trying to catch her breath, she felt like her heart would explode, "Bahorel, I-I-I can't right now," she stammered, "Just-just I have to wait for Marius."

"Alright, Lucie," Bahorel agreed understandingly.

Meanwhile Feuilly had just found Marius and Courfeyrac's room. He knocked on the door.

Marius answered, "Feuilly, what's up?" he asked.

"Marius," Feuilly said, "Lucie is in my room with Bahorel, and she needs to talk to you. They didn't explain why, but it sounds serious. She doesn't look too good."

"Lead the way, Feuilly," Marius said, beginning to worry.

Lucie sat down at Bahorel's desk and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths, and unknowingly started rocking back and forth.

"Damn it," Feuilly muttered, "Bahorel let us in, I forgot my ID," he shouted knocking on the door.

Bahorel opened the door and Marius pushed passed Feuilly to get to Lucie, "Lu, what's wrong?" he asked.

"He's here," Lucie said beginning to cry.

"Who's here?" Marius asked.

"Montparnasse," she said quietly, "he transferred here; he's in my math class."

"What?" Marius said shocked, "How did he know you were here?"

"I don't know. I have him and all of his friends blocked on social media, I didn't tell him I wanted to go here."

"Then how could he have—," he stopped, "Oh no."

"What?" Lucie asked.

"Grandpa put it in the papers," Marius said.

Lucie's eyes widened, "Of course, God damn it!" she yelled.

"Lucie," Marius said taking her shaking hands, "it's going to be OK, I promise."

"I thought I was rid of him for good," she cried.

"What's going on?" Bahorel asked.

"I'll explain later," Marius said, "Come on, Lucie, I'll bring you back to your room and we'll figure this out tomorrow."

"OK," Lucie whispered.

After Marius brought Lucie back to her room, he returned to Bahorel and Feuilly's dorm.

"Marius," Bahorel asked, "What on Earth is going on?"

"We used to be a couple," Lucie began to explain to Combeferre; "We were in love, for a while, or at least I was in love with him. After about six months, he started to insult me all the time and I just brushed it off; I thought that he was only joking. One day we got into an argument and we were both yelling, but he was definitely yelling more, and he slapped me. I would have broken up with him right there, but he apologized immediately and begged for my forgiveness, claiming that he just got angry and he promised me it would never happen again. He was crying and everything. So I believed him. It didn't even leave a mark, the first time that is. It happened again a month or so later, only worse, and I tried to break up with him, but he threatened to ruin my life if I did, but I broke up with him anyway. Then he started to harass my friends until they all stopped hanging out with me because they couldn't take it anymore. I got back together with him after that because he threatened to hurt Marius if I didn't. He kept hurting me and calling me stupid and wouldn't let me talk to other guys even if he knew we were just friends. One fight left me with a black eye and various other injuries, mostly just bruises. I broke it off after that, but he threatened me and said I'd regret doing it. I told Marius almost everything and he made sure Montparnasse didn't bother me at school, but he still kept calling me his girlfriend and one of his friends even pushed me down the stairs one day when Marius was home sick. I was afraid being in the same school as him. But once I got here, it got better and I made friends and I wasn't terrified to turn a corner anymore," she was in tears at this point, "I thought it was over."

Combeferre got up and hugged her, "Don't you worry, Lucie, none of us are going to let that son of a bitch anywhere near you."

"Ferre," she said, "I lost my virginity to him. I haven't even told Marius that."

"Did he…?" he started to ask.

"No," Lucie said, "It was 100% my decision. It happened before everything started going downhill."

Marius was explaining the situation to Feuilly and Bahorel in their room and he stopped punching Bahorel's desk, "Damn it!" he shouted, "He can't just keep ruining her life here!"

Feuilly put his hand on Marius's shoulder, "Don't worry Marius," he said, "We won't let him."

"How?" Bahorel and Marius asked in unison.

"We're going to all watch over her, that's how. I'm calling Combeferre," Feuilly said.

"He's in the room with Lucie," Marius pointed out.

"I know," Feuilly said, "I'm going to see what Combeferre thinks based on what he's currently observing."

Combeferre looked at his cellphone, "It's Feuilly," he told Lucie.

"Oh, yeah," Lucie said, "Marius is explaining it to him and Bahorel."

"Hello," Combeferre said, answering his phone, "What's up Feuilly?"

"How are we going to protect Lucie?" Feuilly asked.

"Well there's about ten of us, right?" Combeferre replied, "I say we just walk to classes and stuff together."

"That's perfect!" Feuilly said, "What's her schedule like?"

Combeferre looked over at Lucie and then focused back on the conversation, "I'll talk to her about it later."

"Alright, bye, Ferre," Feuilly agreed.

"Later," Combeferre said before hanging up.

"So," Lucie said, "What did he want?"

"We're all going to make sure that Montparnasse can't get anywhere near you. And by all of us I mean every single member of the club," Combeferre told her.

"No," she said, "That's not your job. I can handle this myself."

"It's already decided," Combeferre explained, "We don't allow our friends to be threatened."

"Combeferre, I am not your or anyone else's responsibility."

"Lucie, we're going to help you," Combeferre said, "that's that."

"I—I just don't want you guys to treat me differently, or change how you act in front of me. I'm still the same person I was before you found out."

"We're all meeting up for dinner in a half hour; we'll discuss our plans there instead of the next meeting. You're coming, right?"

"To dinner or the next meeting?" Lucie asked.

"Dinner," Combeferre said.

"Yeah, I guess," Lucie sighed. Then her eyes filled with panic, "What if he's there?"

"It won't matter because all of us will be there with you," Combeferre said reassuringly, "It'll be fine."

Lucie took a deep breath, "OK," she finally said, "Wait, is Enjolras going to be there? I was just wondering."

"No, he has class until 7:30 tonight," Combeferre responded, "Why?"

"No reason, I just don't want to be there when he finds out, that's all."

"I'll fill him in later on, maybe I'll slide a note under his door," he joked.

When they arrived at the dining hall, Marius explained the situation to the others while Lucie and Combeferre were getting their food.

Everyone was silent when they returned to the table. Lucie knew that they knew.

Musichetta was the first to break the silence, "Lucie," she said, "If I ever hear about him laying a hand on you ever again, the doctors will never be able to reattach his penis to the rest of his body."

"Here, here!" Grantaire shouted.

Lucie laughed, "Thanks, guys."

"What's your schedule, Lu?" Jehan asked, "We'll work out who's going where with you now."

Lucie told them her schedule and they formed a few alternative plans, just in case one of them was sick one day or something.

The next day, Combeferre didn't have class until the afternoon, so he walked Lucie to her 10am American history class. She took her usual seat next to Enjolras. She was barely on time, so class started as she sat down.

A few minutes into the lesson she heard Enjolras whisper, "Pssst, Lu."

She looked over at him when the professor wasn't looking, and he handed her a note.

It said: "Combeferre told me everything. I'm here for you."

Lucie smiled, turned it over and wrote, "Thank you, Enj. But don't treat me any differently; I can still debate your ass into oblivion." She passed the note back to him.

Enjolras had to use all of his strength not to erupt in laughter.

After class, Enjolras asked Lucie, "Really, were you trying to get me kicked out for laughing?"

Lucie grinned, "No, I wasn't. I just can't keep thinking about Montparnasse, so I made a joke instead. I meant it though."

"Let me walk you back to your room," Enjolras said, smiling.

"Actually, I was going to go to the dining hall," she said, "I overslept this morning and didn't have time for breakfast."

"Me too, actually," Enjolras said, "I just didn't want you walking back alone."

Once they got to the dining hall, Lucie made a beeline for the coffee while Enjolras set his things down at a table.

"Lucie," she heard before turning around to see Montparnasse, "Who was that boy in our math class?" he asked angrily.

"My friend, Bahorel," she said, "what does it matter?"

"You're cheating on me aren't you?" he yelled, getting the attention of Enjolras.

"We—we aren't a couple, Montparnasse," she stammered.

"You better not be, you slut!" he shouted at her.

"I meant you and me. I'm not your girlfriend," Lucie said.

"You stupid girl," Montparnasse said through his teeth as he reached to grab Lucie's arm.

Enjolras stepped between Montparnasse and Lucie before his hand got to her arm, "Leave her alone, or I swear on all things holy that I will make you suffer!" he said locking eyes with Montparnasse.

The two stayed staring at each other for a moment before Montparnasse said, "This isn't over," and walked away.

"Lucie are you OK?" Enjolras asked. He could see the tears pooling in her eyes.

She blinked them away, "Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you for stepping in like that. I know he can be intimidating."

"No problem at all, Lu. God, I need coffee," Enjolras sighed.

"You run solely on coffee too?" Lucie asked.

"Yeah, coffee and oxygen," Enjolras laughed.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Lucie asked. She didn't give Enjolras time to answer, "This is my third cup today."

"How? You said you slept late," Enjolras asked amazed.

"I had one while I was getting ready and brought my portable cup to class with me."

"Wow, you're quite the professional in coffee consumption, I've only had one cup besides this one."

"Amateur," Lucie teased.

"Any more classes today?" Enjolras asked her.

"Nope, just history on Wednesdays," she said, "You?"

"Same, actually. How did we not figure this out before?"

"I have no idea!"

After about a half hour, Enjolras walked Lucie back to her room. Combeferre was in class so it was empty.

Lucie really didn't feel like spending the afternoon alone, and Enjolras secretly didn't want to leave her alone after the incident in the dining hall.