He hadn't talked to Cosette since the coffee spilling incident. That was less than a week ago, and it was killing him.

Marius hadn't even asked for her number. He didn't even know where she lived. Although, it would've probably been creepy to ask that before her number. All he knew was her name and where she worked.

If he didn't work fast, some other young man might whisk her away. Courfeyrac came to mind, dripping with his usual charm, and Marius suddenly felt very inadequate. He already knew Cosette far longer than, and it was perfectly possible that there was something going on there. Marius had seen the way Courfeyrac sometimes looked into the shop window.

Courfeyrac could flirt and (literally) charm the pants off of anyone. All Marius seemed to be able to do was have awkward conversations and lose all co-ordination.

"Smooth mooth, Mr Pontmercy... Real smooth..." He muttered defeatedly as he dropped his head into his books.

He had to keep up with his studies, but most times his thoughts trailed back to her. There was really no helping it.

No. Marius had to study so he could pass his exams, get a well paying job, and prove to his grandfather that he didn't need any of his handouts. Also, should things work out between him and Cosette, he would be able to offer a stable future for them both. That, however, was extremely wishful thinking. You had to actually talk to a person before you whisked them away in holy matrimony.

With that thought, Marius began to delve back into the text before him.

Or at least he would have if his door didn't suddenly burst open. Courfeyrac didn't seem to believe in knocking when it came to Marius. Then again, it was his home.

"Hey there, Marius, whatcha doing?" Courfeyrac simply waltzed over to the desk, leaing right over Marius in his chair.

"Trying to study. So if you wouldn't mind..." He tried to hint. Due to his roomate's disregard for personal space, Marius had to duck forward so far his nose was nearly touching the text he was studying.

"Oh, what is it tonight?" Courfeyrac removed himself from Marius' bubble to pluck a book off the desk. "German? But that was last week. You mean you haven't learnt that yet? All you do is study!" He now supported himself on the edge of the desk, staring at Marius in wonder. Honestly, where was the fun in that boy's life?

"Well, actually, last week we ended up going to the movies half-way through because... Hang on a minute," Marius looked Courfeyrac up and down, "are those my pyjama bottoms?"

"Oh, yeah, mine are in the wash. The t-shirt's from Jehan though, isn't it cute?" He replied offhandedly, displaying the bird covered t-shirt by streching it out in his roomate's face. "Anyway, as I was saying," Courfeyrac looked Marius meaningfully in the eyes, "you, my Pontmercy friend, need to loosen up."

Marius snorted, grinning despite himself and attempted to go back to his work. Courfeyrac wasn't willing to give up.

"You know some of those numbers left at work are for you, right?" He looked at Marius as if he was crazy. "All you have to do is call one of them. Did I tell you about the girl who came in last week, the red head?"

Marius didn't respond, desperately trying to ignore his friend but Courfeyrac continued, regardless. As he talked, he leaned further and further accross Marius' desk.

"She was absolutely stunning, and a real sweetheart too," he meant everything he said, looking as though he remembered every detail, "but anyway, I get there and it turns out that she's into..."

From that point onward Marius was intent on tuning Courfeyrac out. There were certain things he didn't need to hear.

"... Apparently she owns the bakery about fifteen minutes away from here. We're gonna get a deal going soon to promote eachother's businesses, isn't that great?

By this point, Courfeyrac's torso was covering most of the desk. It was now near impossible for Marius to study. If he could even get his mind away from Courfeyrac's rather vivid descriptions, that is.

"Yes, yes that's wonderful, Courf..." Marius looked awkward for a moment before continuing, "what's it going to take for you to get off and let me study?"

Couferyac had now managed to get his entire upper body laying on his back over the table, strangely not knocking anything off. He was like a Goddamn cat.

"I'm having a small party with friends here soon and you have to show up." He grinned cheekily at Marius, phrasing it as a statement rather than a request.

"And if I say yes you'll leave?"

"Yup!"

Marius simply nodded, realising he had absolutely no choice in the matter.

Effective immediately, Courfeyrac sprang off the desk, knocking a few sheets and a book off. He cooed his thank yous over Marius for a minute, patting his head affectionately, pinching at and kissing his cheeks, before trotting out the door.

"Oh, and Marius?" He called from the hallway. "Breakfast for dinner in ten minutes and we're watching the Dark Knight trilogy tonight!"

Marius just allowed his body to slacken and his head crashed onto the desk.

"Hey, can I get a venti, decafe, soy latte with two shots of blueberry syrup and just the tiniest scraping of foam on top ."

Courfeyrac didn't even have to look at his friend to answer. "R, you don't even like blueberries." With that he continued to fill a jar with cookies, pretending that the issue was dealt with. The work day was nearing it's end and he didn't have the mental strength to deal with this.

This, however, didn't faze Grantaire at all; he was just in one of those moods.

"Well damn! I forgot about that. Make it raspberry syrup then." Throughout this he kept the same irritating grin on his face.

If he were a more aggressive man, Courfeyrac would have had half a mind to suffocate his friend there and now with the beanie he'd attempted to cram his wild hair into. There was always the option of terrifically screwing up his order. And, to be fair, it would serve him right for being an ass. Courfeyrac couldn't morally bring himself to sell someone bad coffee though.

No, there was at least some fun to be had here.

There was only one table occupied in the corner of the cafe. Just a group of four teenage girls, and they had already received and paid for their orders, so they wouldn't be needing further assistance. Actually, they were too busy gossiping about 'how hot the guys serving them were' in what they thought to be hushed whispers. In other words, Courfeyrac not only had his ego stroked for the day, but had plenty of time to spare and to talk freely.

Deciding the jar was full, Courfeyrac place it on the counter and mirrored his friend's grin. Grantaire's wavered for a moment, before noticing Courfeyrac's eyes flicking over to their favourite lovesick puppy staring out the window and into another. The two made eye contact again and a silent decision was made between them.

"Marius, stop having eye sex with Cosette and get R's coffee order for me!"

The boy's head snapped around instantly at the sound of Courfeyrac's voice as if he'd been slapped. He paled at being caught slacking and turned scarlet not a second later as the words finally hit home. The girls at the back table trying to muffle snickers only made him blush further. Flustered, he ducked his head and stumbled his way behind the counter.

Marius only nodded dumbly after apologising as Courfeyrac babbled on about how he was going out for a bit, and that he was just across the street should he be required. Before Marius could even question it, his friend was already halfway out the door.

Grantaire said something about a "double soy frappacinno, low fat cream, chocolate shavings" and to "hold the coffee", but Marius was hardly listening. He just looked forlornly out the window as Courfeyrac laughed with Jehan and Cosette.

So it wasn't actually that long between updates, was it? I'm quite pleased with how quickly I managed this but I'm still a bit iffy about this chapter...

Yes, I do follow playthatsadtrombone on tumblr to those of you that got the small reference up there! My url is hannibubble-the-cannibubble if any of you are interested in my shameless self-promotion.

In reply to reviews: This is a modern au so I decided that it would be easier for the plotline to write R as a gay character, rather than confused as he can be read as in the brick. Please don't get too angry at me for that. It's easier to keep things quite light that way without getting too angsty at any point, although, that doesn't mean angst will be avoided all together. Kinda impossible for me to do that, sorry people. I think having breaks between humour helps things to run more smoothly and keep a good, hopefully interesting rhythm.

As it was mentioned by a reviewer that this seemed more brick than musical, I decided to change categories for the story. Honestly, I agree with that wholeheartedly. The only real musical references you could probably pick up would be that Eddie Redmayne and Amanda Seyfried are my headcannons for Marius and Cosette.

Which rather helpfully leads me onto this update's question: Do you have any headcannon actors for these characters? Please tell me down in the reviews!

Also, fun little fact, I actually have a playlist on my phone (yeah, ain't got no ipod) for this fic.

Thanks for reading, following, favouriting, and/or reviewing!

- Callie