The rest of the week went by quickly. In Dr. Valjean's class on Friday, the students were all buzzing about meeting their kids. Éponine learned that Azelma and Courf's boy's name was Julien. He was six and had a twin sister named Hillaire, who was staying with Jehan and R for the semester. They were staying in Clarence 258 and 260, respectively. Cosette and Marius had an eight year old girl named Rachelle. They were going to be in 254. The students all really liked meeting the children and were excited to move them in on Sunday. All hesitation was gone. The only exception was Éponine. While she pretended to be excited with the rest of her friends, she was still nervous.
The next day, Enjolras brought his car to the loading dock outside of Éponine's dorm. Since Éponine didn't have a car, Enjolras had offered to help her move her things. He helped her move her things down the elevator and into the car, joining his things, before driving off to Clarence. It was only a few streets away, but still too far to carry everything. When they arrived, they each grabbed as much as they could carry in the first load, not minding whose things they grabbed. Enjolras had his key out before Éponine, so he unlocked the door to their home for the semester. Éponine hadn't actually been in this particular dorm before, as it was fairly new. She was astounded by how modern and well-kept it looked. It looked like a regular apartment. Right inside the door was a large living room, including a couch, a loveseat, and a recliner, all facing a flat screen TV. Off to the right was a kitchenette. There was a long counter with a microwave, drawers underneath, cabinets above, and a refrigerator/freezer. Behind the kitchenette was a small hallway with a bedroom and a bathroom. Off to the left side, there was another short hallway, this one having two bedrooms and a bathroom, as promised. Each bedroom had a single bed, a desk, a closet, and a dresser. Each bathroom had a small closet, a toilet, a shower/tub, and a counter with a sink and a mirror above it. After the pair had explored the dorm, they decided to go back down to the car to get the rest of their things.
When they came back up, the car being empty, Enjolras said to her, "I think you can probably take the right side bedroom, that way you can have your own bathroom. Gavroche and I can share." She nodded and thanked him before walking off to her new room with a few of her boxes. As she began to put things away, she noticed a that her bathroom closet also housed cleaning supplies, such as a vacuum. She continued putting her things in their new places until she heard a knock on her bedroom door.
"Would you like to come with me to get some food? It's nearly seven and we should probably eat dinner." She agreed and finished the box she was working on before following him out the door to his car. They decided to eat at Noodles & Co. When they got back home, they finished unpacking and then met each other in the living room. Enjolras turned on the news.
"How much do you think Gav will have? Will we have to buy him much clothes and such?" Éponine asked after a few minutes. Enjolras turned to listen to her.
"Umm, I'm not sure. After we pick him up and get what he has moved in, we could take him shopping. We should also buy some food for the kitchen so that we can cook instead of trekking to the dining center or eating out." She nodded, and he went back to the news. That is, until they heard a knock at the door. Éponine got up to get it.
"Éponine!" The blonde girl screamed, throwing her arms around her former roommate.
"Hi, Cosette. Are the two of you all moved in?" Éponine asked.
"Yes, we wanted to invite the two of you and Gavroche to a party tomorrow night in our room. We will make dinner for everyone and the kids can play and we can hang out, like we normally do at the Musain, just without the alcohol." She said, as her and her boyfriend came to take a seat by Enjolras. Éponine closed the door and followed.
"That sounds like a good idea. What do you say, Éponine?" Enjolras responded.
"Umm, yeah. Sure. Whatever." She said. Enjolras looked at her, an eyebrow quirked, as if to ask what was wrong. She just shrugged it off.
"Great!" Cosette said. "Do you love your new room? This dorm is be-a-u-tiful!" Éponine nodded. She mostly just sat back and listened as the other three students conversed. At around ten, Cosette and Marius left to go back to their own room.
"Éponine, are you okay?" Enjolras asked her, as he closed the door behind the couple.
"Yeah, I'm just tired. Moving in was tiring. I think I'll head to bed now. We will have another busy day tomorrow."
"Okay then, good night." He said. She walked to her room without another word.
Éponine did not sleep well that night. She was very anxious for the next day and having Gavroche move in. Every time she almost got to sleep, she would see the boy, or her parents, and jerk upright in her bed.
When morning finally did come, she got up first. She showered and got ready. She then took a textbook out to the living room to get some homework done before she would go to breakfast with Enjolras. Even after three years, she didn't feel comfortable eating at the dining center alone. When he finally came out, they went to eat. Not too long after they got back, they heard a knock on the door of their dorm. Enjolras answered it, this time.
"We thought we might all go down and get the kids together. You know, safety in numbers." Courfeyrac said. Éponine could see Azelma, Cosette, Marius, Jehan, and Grantaire behind him.
"Yeah. Sure." Enjolras responded, after a look of approval from Éponine.
They decided to walk, as it wasn't too far, and he probably didn't have much to bring with him. The girls walked ahead of the guys. They could hear some rustling and laughter behind them, but decided to ignore it. When they arrived at the education building, there were dozens of children standing out front with Dr. Valjean and his wife, who ran the orphanage. Cosette ran up to her parents. She hugged her mother and kissed her father on his cheek. Marius, seeing the two elders, came up and stood with his girlfriend and her parents, exchanging pleasantries. The rest of the students stood somewhat awkwardly until Enjolras felt a pull on his leg.
"Hello, Enjolras. How are you today?" Gavroche said, looking up at the man.
Enjolras smiled before responding, "I'm doing well. And yourself? Are you already to go? Anyone you would like to talk to before we go?"
The boy shook his head before saying, "I think we have to checkout with Miss Fantine. She's so concerned about us getting lost out here. Says the campus is a scary place without an adult." Éponine laughed as she walked over to the boys.
"Isn't that the truth! Enjolras hardly trusts me to walk by myself!" Enjolras blushed at this, but admitted it as truth.
Three other kids came up behind Gavroche at that point. There were two girls and one boy. The older looking girl jumped on his back. Gav caught her easily, but turned his head around to look at her. "Rachelle! Don't do that! You scared me." The boy said, before realizing none of the older students knew his friends. Letting her down he introduced her, "Enjolras, Éponine, this is Rachelle Monette. She is eight, like me. Rachelle, this is Éponine Jondrette and Gabriel Enjolras. They are who I will be staying with." Rachelle gave a little curtsy. Enjolras took her hand, and kissed it, making her giggle as he winked at her.
"Rachelle, who are you staying with?" Éponine asked the girl.
"Miss Fantine's daughter, Miss Cosette, and her boyfriend, Monsieur Marius." She responded.
"Oh, they are right over there, talking to Miss Fantine." The woman pointed for the young girl. The girl nodded, but stayed where she was.
"This is Hillaire and Julien Gardinier. They are six-year old twins." Gavroche introduced the other two children. Hillaire curtsied, like she had seen Rachelle do, and Julien shook each older student's hand. Enjolras kissed Hillaire's hand, as well, but she went and hid behind Gavroche afterwards. "Hillaire's really shy. Me an' Rachelle take care of these two, we do. Their mama died giving birth to them and their papa didn' want them, so they wound up at the orphanage. They were there before even I was!" Gavroche said while trying to coax the younger girl out from behind him.
"And who are the two of you staying with, do you know?" Éponine asked.
"I'm staying with Monsieur Courfeyrac and Miss Azelma." Julien said. "Hillaire is staying with Monsieurs Jehan and Grantaire."
"Well, it looks like you won't get split up too much. Azelma is my sister and the rest of them are all friends with us. You will get to play together lots." Éponine said, before turning to her friends. "Zel, bring the guys over here. All of your kids are over here." Her sister did as she asked, and the other students quickly found their children. Éponine could already tell that Hillaire was going to get doted on hand and foot while staying with R and Jehan. They already adored her. And Julien would be in fine hands with Azelma and Courf. Courf would make sure he was always laughing and having fun, while Zel would make sure it was all in moderation with his necessities and homework, for the both of them. Rachelle, seeing that her friends were all happy and settled, skipped over to the Cosette, Marius, Dr. Valjean, and Miss Fantine. Upon seeing the little girl, Marius scooped her up into a hug. She giggled and yelped for him to put her down. When he did, Cosette leaned down to hug her as well. They all had giant smiles on their faces, even Valjean and Fantine.
"Are we ready to go? Gavroche, do you have your things?" Enjolras asked. The boy nodded, but then put a finger up, signifying he needed a second before leaving. He said goodbye to the twins and then ran over to Rachelle. Éponine and Enjolras watched as he said goodbye and the two friends hugged. When they pulled away, Rachelle leaned over and kissed his cheek, saying she would see him soon. Gavroche's face turned bright red, but he turned and walked back to the older students waiting for him nonetheless. Éponine was trying to to laugh and could tell Enjolras was doing the same.
"I'm ready now. Let's go home." Gavroche said, still blushing, but gathering his suitcase and backpack.
AN: Hey all! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks so much for the reviews! I hope this doesn't do weird fomatting things since I'm on my laptop and not my iPad.
To the guest, Smithy, who helped me with my boy issues. They still haven't been resolved, but put on the back burner and are not really an issue currently. I had a very busy, but fairly good day today. I got to teach a trumpet lesson (I'm a woodwind player) so that was interesting, and I have a concert tomorrow that I'm really excited for.
If anyone is actually reading this part still, review and tell me what instrument, or part you sing, or which is your fave instrument or one you would like to play. I just want to do little experiments to see if people, even a year from now, who read this story still read the ANs or just skip over them. Either is fine, I just find it interesting. Read on and review! A new update will come next week!