The Barricade Girl (A Les Miserables FanFiction)

Chapter Seventeen

       

We sit upstairs in the Café Musain waiting for the return of my brother. We had lost sight of Marius in the street, and he had not returned to the Café Musain like we had agreed. Out of stubbornness and frustration, Enjolras hadn't started the meeting, hoping that any second now, Marius would walk through the door. With the sun setting through the window, the few candles scattered around the room would soon be our only light as time was getting on. I sit on a window ledge squeezed in between Courfeyrac and Gavroche, laying my head on Courfeyrac's shoulder. Enjolras sits at the table, silently waiting.

            "Grantaire!" I exclaim as he lifts his drink to his lips. "How many bottles is that now?!" I raise an eyebrow.

            "Not enough", he winks back at me, taking a swig of his drink. Enjolras just looks on in disdain. "Don't look at me like that Enjy-bear. You know you love me just the way I am!" he jokes.

            "Enjy-bear?" I snort laughing. "Wow...suits you...not as good as Barricade Boy though...that's still my favourite!" I grin at Enjolras. I look at the look on his face, and can read how much it is bugging him that Marius isn't here. "Look...Enjolras...we could be waiting all night for Marius, maybe you should just start without him –"

            "We'll wait!" Enjolras says firmly.

            "If that's what you want..." I say, holding my hands up. "So...what do we do while we wait?" I look around at the boys.

            "Let's talk!" Grantaire answers quickly. "So you and Courf used to date?" Grantaire beams. I roll my eyes at how quickly Grantaire has managed to divert to conversation towards this. Enjolras fidgets in his seat, pretending that this sentence hasn't sparked some kind of reaction in him. Courfeyrac and I both give a little nervous giggle.

            "We didn't –" Courfeyrac starts.

            "We weren't –" I try at the same time.

            "We were very good friends –" He continues.

            "It wasn't really dating –" I add.

            "I guess you could say I courted her –" Courfeyrac blushes.

            "We were young –" I try to stop myself from blushing too.

            "HA!" Grantaire laughs, holding his belly. "Courted by Courf! So poetic!"

            "It was more companionship than anything –" I reply.

            "I used to accompany her to the dances they would hold at her house –" Courfeyrac explains, and we both smile a little at the memories of the times that we had.

            "Dances, you say?" Grantaire smirks.

            "He kept me occupied. Having Courf there made them fun", I smile, nudging his arm with my own. I look over at Enjolras who looks less than impressed.

            "Lighten up, Enjolras...I'm not gonna steal her from you", Courfeyrac jokes. "We both realised that we were better just being friends", he states.

            "Now, I'm intrigued –" Grantaire starts, standing up as he talks, pacing the floor as he swings his bottle in one hand. "This dancing –" I can read his mind before he finishes the sentence.

            "No, Grantaire –" I try to cut him off.

            "What kind of dancing are we talking about?" He looks at us and then mock gasps. "Show us!" This is greeted by enthusiasm by the rest of the boys.

            "Uhm..." I laugh nervously. "We...can't. I mean..." I try to think of an excuse to get me and Courfeyrac out of this. "There's no music –"

            "Jehan!" Grantaire clicks a finger in Jehan's direction.

            "I have my violin?" Jehan suggests.

            "Of course you do..." I mutter under my breath.

            "They don't have to dance", Enjolras says firmly, a hint of jealously and protectiveness coming across in his voice. And this intrigues me.

            "Okay then..." I look at Enjolras suspiciously, wondering what his problem is. I look back at Courfeyrac. "Let's dance, old friend!" I say, in an attempt to see once and for all what might be going on with Enjolras, to see if I can get a reaction. Courfeyrac jumps off the window ledge and takes my hand. "Uhm...If I remember right, I think our favourites were –"

            "The fast jig-dances!" Courfeyrac finishes my sentence as if remembering something that he hadn't thought about in a while.

            "I'll try my best!" Jehan says enthusiastically, taking his fiddle and bow in his hands. "Uhm..." He thinks for a second and then makes the face that one would make when an idea hits them. And then he starts to play. (Author's Note - I imagine it to be similar music to the one in the video link - similar to the music played at Scottish Ceilidh dances...which are incredible fun, and you should definitely YouTube some of them because they're great! Scottish Fiddle Orchestra comes up with some good results on YouTube) Immediately, Courfeyrac and I start to dance. I haven't danced like this in years, but surprisingly the steps return to me straight away as if they'd never left, as if they were second nature. The rest of the boys look on, smiling and laughing, and if I'm not mistaken, we even manage to crack a smile from Enjorlas. Some of the other boys cut in, taking Courfeyrac's place, and I dance with each of them in turn. Grantaire then steps up to cut in.

"I feel like we might need to set some ground rules, Grantaire!" I raise an eyebrow.

"I'll be a perfect gentleman!" He replies, his voice going a little high-pitched at the end like it does when you're trying to convince someone of something. He places a hand around my waist and takes my hand in his other hand. I reach around to move the hand he's placed on my waist.

"Your hand is just a little low there, Grantaire", I cringe. And then we start to dance. As I'm dancing with Grantaire, the orchestrator of all of this, I feel a little hand tugging on my skirts.

            "May I cut in? May I have this dance, Ma'am?" Gavroche says, taking a little bow as he does.

            "Why of course you may, kind Sir!" I curtsey to him. I show Gavroche where to put his arms, and we go step-by-step. As I look around, the room is filled with so much joy, so many smiling faces, and I feel at home. I feel like, even after only knowing them for a few short days, these boys are now my family. And in this moment, I feel like I'm the luckiest girl alive. I count out loud to help Gavroche with his steps, and we both look down at our feet. As we finish, I curtsey to Gavroche again, holding my dress the way that a lady would hold the skirts of her ballgown, and Gavroche gives another adorable little bow – he is such a little man. The boys laugh and smile, beaming at Gavroche in what I can only describe as pure pride. I take a breath, and wipe the hair out of my face as I go to take a seat.

            "One more left, Juliette!" Grantaire says loudly.

            "Excuse me?" I look at him.  

            "You've danced with all but one!" He walks around and slaps Enjolras on the back. "Come on, Fearless Leader – you're up!" Enjolras moans for a second, and stands up in reluctance.

            "Try not to look so happy about it, Burgundy Boy", I say sarcastically.

            "Well...I'll have you know, I'm a wonderful dancer!" He says in equal sarcasm. "I'm going to put you all to shame!" He looks around the room at the boys as he speaks, and takes my hand in his. He wraps his other arm around my waist, looks at me, and then pulls me in closer so that there's no room between us. I didn't dance this closely with anyone tonight, and this sudden movement from Enjolras makes me gasp a little.

            "Why, Burgundy Boy –" I gaze up at him in surprise. Jehan starts to play the music again. Enjolras looks deeply into my eyes.

            "Are you ready for this, Barricade Girl?"