Falling - A modern Enjoltaire AU

Chapter 2

E pov:

Enjolras didn't know what came over him. He shoved the pillow over his head to stifle a groan. The fabric did not stop the images from coming. The boy he had met would not stop haunting him. With bronze skin and eyes which captured the parade of forest tones. The overpowering viridescent in his irises straight from an artist's pallet. Dark brown hair that curled past his ears in a persistent mess. The multitude of freckles which decorated his snub nose. Grantaire.

Enjolras sighed. It was obvious the boy didn't like him, he had walked away as soon as he caught sight of him, snapped his answers out at him and seemed intensely annoyed that Enjolras had seen his drawings. 'What did I do to offend him?' Enjolras thought, running their meeting over in his head for the eleventh time. After Courf and Ferre took the car he had to get a ride with a girl named Eponine. She had dropped him at his flat before they all headed off to a club. Throughout the drive Grantaire had remained quiet, mostly looking out the window. Yet every time he glanced Enjolras's way with an unreadable expression Enjolras wished to earn more of his attention.

With a huff of air Enjolras turned back over on the sofa to get comfortable, trying his hardest to think of something else to help him sleep. However the hard springs beneath him along with his constant thoughts had kept him up every night. This was no exception, perhaps even worse with the day's events.

He had moved in with Ferre and Courf last week after his parents had kicked him out for being incurably gay. Not that they didn't try to cure him with infuriatingly long sermons and religious therapy that aimed to stifle who he was. He had watched his mother grow cold, leaving his meals outside of his door, and his father crash his fist through a wall.

Now he slept in the small living room with no money in his name to help him stay in his old school or get his own place. He was thankful that his friends kept him around, but the cramped semi detached house consisted of a joint room for the couple, a kitchen and sitting room all in one, a small study that had evolved into the TV and game room and two closets of a bathroom all stretched out over two floors. Sooner or later Enjolras knew he would have to move out. He already felt he was getting underfoot.

At last he gave up on sleep, voting instead to open his laptop. He had no prep at the moment as his new school hadn't started yet but he busied himself on writing posters for a club he wanted to start, supporting diversity in all areas. He had barely typed in three lines when Courf came out of his and Ferre's room.

Courfeyrac looked more dishevelled than ever. He was rubbing his eyes and yawning, wearing only boxers and a white tank top and sporting one of the worst cases of bed hair Enjolras had ever seen. He looked mildly surprised to see Enjolras. "Are you usually up this late, Enj?" He murmured, dragging himself to the kitchen counter to pour himself a glass of milk.

"I have trouble sleeping." Enjolras admitted.

"Mmhmm." Courf said taking a long draught out of his milk before plopping down next to Enjolras on the sofa. He slung his arm around Enjolras and pulled him into a hug. Enjolras snuggled against his friend's warm body. "What's wrong?"

"I don't usually sleep anyway."

"Don't kid me. Something's wrong." Courf said stifling another yawn. "And something makes me think it was about your encounter earlier today." Enjolras blushed a deep red similar to the colour of his pyjama shorts. "Let me guess...R, huh?" Enjolras looked up startled at his friend. Was he that obvious? "I saw the way you looked at him." Courf said with a growing grin.

Enjolras planted his head in his hands, groaning. "He hates me."

"I doubt that that's true." Courf said, his comforting words obscured by another yawn. "You're sure to get to know him at school."

"You seemed to know him when you greeted him. How?"

Courf laughed. "I spent a few nights in that group watching them get completely wasted and attempting Karaoke. I doubt many of them remember it though. Not with that amount of alcohol!"

Enjolras nodded. That didn't help him. He had no wish to drink, not since the night he very nearly got a questionable tattoo with Courf, luckily Ferre interceded before he was permanently branded with a vibrant bumble bee. There seemed to be no way to get to know this boy that haunted him so! They were just too different for their two worlds to collide.

R pov:

"Just be yourself R." Eponine reassured him. Tumbling her dark hair in a loose knot at the back of her neck.

Eponine was one of Grantaire's best friends and his flatmate. He had been living with her ever since they were old enough to escape their parents. Even longer if you counted the times at foster care. He had feared her at first, with her guarded attitude and imposing air that shielded her siblings when they first met. Her warm brown eyes sent him warnings and glares until mistreatment had bonded them. Now they both had somehow become the makeship parents of her two younger siblings as soon as papers could be legally signed.

"I don't like myself. Why the hell would he like me?" Grantaire replied with a slurred moan.

He took a large sip from his wine. Although they were at a bar he rather liked the bitter taste of the liquid instead of the slightly warm beer or vodka shots that Bahorel and Feuilly were plowing through in the corner. Jehan sat beside them, he didn't drink much but was being dealt shots of cherry coke instead. They were soon singing along to the lively music that never ceased to fill the bar. Creating more racquet than a choir of caterwauling cats caught in a rap battle with dogs.

Grantaire longed to join them but he felt far too depressed to sing. He had made a complete fool of himself in front of Enjolras. In the low light and jazzy disco tunes his contempt for himself lingered as his hearing and inhibitions were slowly worn away. He took another gulp of cheap wine. He had been met by the reincarnation of the god Apollo, who could now only hate him. A miserable sigh escaped his lips.

"Oh come on R. Snap out of it. He won't like you if you never speak to him." Eponine stood up to grab herself another drink. He watched her wade out through the scattering of the crowd. Her short shorts and homemade pink crop top gathered a few men's unwanted attention. She strode past them without a second glance and snapped at one of the young boys who dared to wolf whistled her. When she had finished he looked a lot more flustered than her and presently left the room. Grantaire couldn't help snorting at the satisfied pugnacious smirk she gave him. The bartender passed her two glasses with a smile only saved for regular customers and she was off. When she returned Grantaire gladly accepted another glass of the bar's finest.

"I don't know how you can drink that stuff! It's like balsamic vinegar." She muttered, wrinkling her nose up at the fragrant wine.

"Granted. But after a couple it's ok." He answered morosely. Swirling the deep red liquid with a tip of his wrist. It worked at least, to dull the senses.

"So here's the plan. You will invite Enjolras and his friends into our group. Maybe sit next to him in one of the classes."

"I don't think he would like that."

"It's worth a try! Ok. Just be a nice friend." Grantaire took her guidance with a sceptical frown. He would never be able to walk up to that blonde sculpture of a person and offer a place next to him. Why would an angel tolerate a gargoyle like himself? Instead he would have to admire Enjolras's beauty and grandeur from afar. Maybe it was better. This way he was less likely to get burned.