Chapter 8:
As Combeferre and Lucie walked through the bookstore, Lucie couldn't quite take her mind off of Enjolras.
"Hey, Ferre…you know what you said about me and Enjolras?" she asked.
"What about it?" Combeferre said.
Just then Courfeyrac saw them through the window on his way to the gym, and decided to stop in, "Hey, guys! Fancy meeting you here!"
"Never mind," Lucie said, "What's up Courf?"
"Same old shit," he laughed, "What are you guys doing here?"
"Isn't it obvious, Courf?" Combeferre said, pausing and following up with, "We're plotting the downfall of our oppressive government."
"Well, yeah, but besides that!" Courfeyrac smiled.
"Just looking for some new reading material," Lucie shrugged.
"Common Sense?" Courf asked, "That's hardly light reading, Lucie."
"Well ya know," Lucie said, "I've been reading Common Sense by Thomas Paine. Some men say that I'm intense or I'm insane. You want a revolution? I want a revelation!—," she sang before Courfeyrac interrupted her.
"So listen to my declaration!" he practically shouted, "I love that song!"
"Me too!" Combeferre agreed, "Wait a minute, are we all Hamilton nerds?"
"It would appear so," Lucie said.
"Sweet!" Courf exclaimed, high fiving Ferre and Lucie.
The three of them were still laughing when Montparnasse walked into the bookstore.
"I thought I might find you here, babe," he said to Lucie grinning.
"Leave me alone 'Parnasse," she told him.
"Now is that any way to speak to your boyfriend?" he asked.
"Good thing you aren't my boyfriend," she replied.
"Of course I am, Lucie," he said.
"Leave Lucie alone," Combeferre said threateningly, stepping between Lucie and Montparnasse.
Montparnasse laughed looking around Combeferre at Lucie, "Seriously, Lucie? What's your fag friend going to do here?"
Courfeyrac's head snapped from Combeferre to Montparnasse as he saw the sting in Ferre's eyes, "You don't have to worry about him, but you'll have to worry about this 'fag' if you EVER—," he started yelling before Lucie interrupted him, by placing a hand on his shoulder.
"No," she said, stepping from behind Combeferre.
"What?" Montparnasse asked.
Courfeyrac decided that he should film this. He didn't quite know why, but something told him this was going to be good.
"I said no," Lucie almost growled, staring Montparnasse dead in the eye. She took a deep breath, "You can call me whatever you want, Montparnasse...slut, whore, tramp, bitch…I've heard it all, mostly from you. But don't you ever use any kind of slur to describe one of my friends like that again, or I swear you'll regret it…got it?"
Montparnasse stared at her in shock, "Whatever…I'll see you later, babe," he said before leaving the store.
Lucie stood there almost frozen, kind of light-headed.
"Are you alright, Lu?" Courfeyrac asked, "Do you want me to call Marius?"
"Yeah, I'm fine…don't—don't call Marius," she said.
"Are you sure?" Combeferre asked.
Lucie nodded, "Can we go back to the room? I think I need to lie down."
"Of course," Ferre said, "You can come, too Courf, if you want that is," he stammered nervously.
"I have a workout to do, but I'll see you guys later," Courfeyrac said, "Oh and by the way, Lucie, that was the coolest thing I've ever seen anyone do…like ever"
Lucie laughed weakly, trying to keep herself from crying. She was successful, "I keep telling you people I'm awesome."
"What about your book, Lucie?" Combeferre asked.
"I doubt they'll sell out of Common Sense by tomorrow, Ferre," Lucie said.
"Yeah, you're right," Ferre agreed.
On the way back to their room, Combeferre and Lucie didn't really talk.
It was Combeferre who broke the silence, "Lucie, I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but I just wanted to say thanks for sticking up for me back there…no one has ever done that before."
"No problem, Ferre," Lucie smiled, "No one makes fun of my friends but me," she said shoving him playfully.
He grinned and shoved back, "Don't I know it. You know Courf got the whole thing on camera?"
"Really?" Lucie asked, "Why would he do that?"
"Beats me…I just texted him and asked…I should be hearing back any second," with that his phone buzzed, "as if on cue."
"What does it say?" Lucie asked.
"He says he's going to show it to you the next time you feel afraid of Montparnasse…so you know that you can stand up to him."
Lucie smiled, "Tell him I said thanks."
Combeferre nodded as his fingers clicked on his phone screen.
When they got back to the room, Lucie climbed onto her bed, "If I'm not up in an hour, wake me up."
"Ok," Combeferre said, picking up a book and sitting at his desk.
At the dining hall, Courfeyrac was telling everyone about Lucie "slaying" Montparnasse verbally at the bookstore, "She was incredible! I was a little frightened of her to be honest. She was Lucie, badass destroyer of bigots."
The others at the table laughed at the Shakespearean level performance that Courfeyrac was putting them through. They all stopped as Lucie walked over to the table with Combeferre.
"So…I'm guessing that Courf told you all?" she asked.
"Yeah, how did you know?" Feuilly said, confused.
"Because as I walked in he was nearly standing on a table, and when you saw me it got really quiet," she explained.
"Wow," Grantaire said, "You can't trick Lucie."
"Nope," Lucie agreed, "I'm untrickable. Marius on the other hand…," she began.
"Don't you dare, Lucie," Marius almost shouted.
"Too late now," Bahorel said, "Tell us, Lu!"
"I convinced him he was adopted when we were 10," Lucie said trying to hold back her laughter.
"That's so cruel!" Enjolras laughed.
"What?" Lucie said, "I didn't think it would work! We're twins for God's sake! Besides, he deserved it."
"But you don't look that much alike," Jehan said as if he was just noticing it for the first time.
"There are pictures of us in the hospital with our mother…together…on the day we were born," Lucie said, "There was no other reason for him to believe he was adopted."
"Why'd you do it?" Joly asked.
"Marius took my stuffed dog and wouldn't give it back. So I just told him 'Ya know you were adopted, Marius? If I tell on you for taking my puppy, Daddy can take you back!' and he started bawling his eyes out," Lucie explained.
Marius was unamused to say the least, "That's alright, Lucie. Just make fun of me…I'm only your brother, who loves you."
"Don't be such a drama queen, Marius," Lucie said, rolling her eyes.
After dinner, Lucie and Combeferre went back to their room. Lucie did her psychology reading and her writing journals, watched the Daily Show, and went to bed.
Montparnasse was in her room. Enjolras was lying on her floor. Lucie looked back and forth between them in tears. Enjolras wasn't breathing. No he couldn't have. He can't be…NO!
Lucie woke up with a scream, in tears, covered in sweat.
"Lucie," Combeferre said, getting out of bed as fast as he could, "It was only a dream, Lucie."
Lucie snapped out of it rather quickly. It was 2:30 in the morning, "I'm sorry," she breathed quietly.
"It's alright, Lucie," Combeferre paused, "What was it? The dream, I mean."
"Montparnasse killed him…not like with a knife or a gun…just pushed him and he hit his head on something on the way down," Lucie said tearing up.
"Killed who?" he asked, confused
"Enjolras," Lucie said, "that's what I was trying to tell you in the bookstore, Ferre."
"Wait, you—," Combeferre said as he realized exactly what Lucie was saying.
"Yeah," Lucie smiled, "I do…I really like him…and here I am having nightmares about 'Parnasse taking him away from me."
Combeferre took Lucie's hand, "That isn't going to happen, Lucie. I promise that won't happen."
"How can you be so sure?" Lucie asked.
"We aren't going to let him, and remember what you did in the bookstore earlier, Lucie?"
Lucie nodded.
"He has no power over you anymore, and he never will," Combeferre said, "Now go back to sleep…you have class in the morning."
"OK, sorry I woke you up, Ferre."
"You didn't wake me up," Combeferre admitted, "I was already lying awake and thinking."
"Thinking about what?" Lucie asked.
"More about who…" Combeferre said trailing off at the end of his sentence.
"Alright then, thinking about whom?" Lucie asked, smirking as if she didn't already know.
"Courfeyrac," Combeferre whispered.
"He can't hear you, Ferre, you can say his name a little louder," Lucie mocked.
"Oh, shut up…you know…you knew before I did."
"He feels the same way."
"No he doesn't."
"Of course he does."
"What makes you say that?"
"Did you see the way he looked at you today? Or how he reacted when Montparnasse…you know."
"I guess I didn't notice," Combeferre shrugged.
"Go to sleep, Ferre, stop worrying."
"OK, you too."
"Deal," Lucie smiled at she turned off the light.
Neither of them woke up until the next morning.