The next morning when Aurélia opened her eyes, she wasn't sure where she was. It was as if everything that happened the night before was some faraway nightmare that she couldn't quite remember. It wasn't until she heard Marius's voice on the other side of the door that she realized it was reality.
"Lia, are you awake?" He spoke quietly enough to not wake her, but loud enough for her to hear. Instead of responding, she rolled over in the bed and pulled the blankets tightly around herself. She needed the empty feeling in her chest to go away. She couldn't look Marius in the eye when he was the only reason she wasn't waking in a random man's bed this morning. He was the only reason she had some of her dignity left and it was humiliating.
She remained wrapped in the blankets, ignoring Marius over the hours as he desperately tried to get a response out of her to no avail. Growing tired of her not answering him, he walked into the room and sat on the foot of the bed. Aurélia remained still, wrapped tightly in the blankets with her face hidden within them.
"I'm worried about you, Lia. I don't know what to do. What I do know is you can't continue like this. You have to eat or drink something. Please, Lia, can you take a sip of water?" He asked, holding the glass out hoping for her to sit up and accept it. Instead, she shook her head slightly amongst the blankets. He opened his mouth to try and argue with her but was interrupted by a knock at the front door. Marius let out a sigh and placed the glass on the bedside table. "I'll be right back." He paced across the room and closed the door behind him. Aurélia moved her knees to her chest and held them tightly. She hoped that maybe if she clenched her eyes shut tight enough she'd open them and wake up from this nightmare. Instead, it just kept getting worse.
"Marius, why are you skipping a rally? What are you thinking?" Enjolras asked, bursting into the apartment. Despite the door that separated them, Aurélia felt as if her breakdown was on display for the man she refused to let herself think about.
"I am...uh sick! I'm very ill. It might be contagious, you should leave."
"You're clearly not ill, what's going on? You know how important this rally was. We're hoping to get General Lamarque's support and we needed you there."
"I know, Enjolras, I apologize."
"Great, then I'll see you at the meeting in an hour."
"I-"
"I'll see you there, Marius." Aurélia heard the apartment door close and Enjolras was gone. She crept across the floor to the door to her room and opened it.
"I want to go with you." Marius looked over at her as if he had seen a ghost.
"Aurélia, what are you doing up?"
"I want to go with you to the meeting." She spoke, a spark of fire dancing in her sapphire eyes.
"I don't know if you should. I'm not sure if Enjolras will even let you stay and not even a day ago you-"
"I'm going to the meeting, Marius. Please, I need this." He let out a sigh, not having the heart to tell his friend no after everything that had happened.
"Fine. No promises Enjolras will say you can stay, but you can come with me to the café." He rushed over to his kitchen counter to grab a large bag before handing it to her. "Oh! This morning while you were either asleep or ignoring me I went out and bought you some clothes."
"You really shouldn't-"
"It's just a few dresses and a coat-"
"How much was it so I can pay-"
"You're not going to pay me back. Please, accept my help this once." She let out a sigh, knowing he wasn't going to drop it.
"Alright. Thank you." She looked in the bag and pulled out a red dress. "Red? When have you ever seen me wear red?"
YOU ARE READING
Smoke Screens
Fanfiction"How am I supposed to die at the barricades when I see my future in your eyes?" Love had never been in the cards for Enjolras. He could never take his eyes away from his beloved Patria for long enough to notice women around him. At least, that was...
