The Barricade Girl (A Les Miserables FanFiction)

Chapter Forty-Two

       

            "And another ex-boyfriend comes out of the woodwork..." Enjolras mutters sarcastically.

            "Ah! You must be the fiancé!" Arnaud enthusiastically exclaims, offering Enjolras a warm handshake.

            "He's not an ex-boyfriend. It's not what you think, Enj –" I start.

            "Yes, that would be me", Enjolras coldly returns the handshake, still not fully convinced as he tries to weigh up the situation in his mind.

            "You're a lucky man, Monsieur...Monsieur?" Arnaud states, asking his name.

            "Enjolras Apollo", he replies.

            "Monsieur Apollo", Arnaud nods and turns around, signalling for Victoria to join him. "I'm Arnaud Guerre and this is my fiancée, Victoria".

            "Pleased to meet you, Monsieur", Victoria politely curtseys.

            "This is Juliette's fiancé", Arnaud explains to her.

            "Ah! Congratulations! To you both!" Victoria responds with a slight squeal of excitement.

            "Thank you", Enjolras and I both respond, as he protectively places his hand on my back, marking his territory. I catch Courfeyrac and Maggie out of the corner of my eye.

            "Courf!" I shout to him waving him over. "Come and see who I found!" Courfeyrac grabs Maggie's hand and runs towards us, his eyes and mouth both widening in surprise.

            "What are you doing here?" Courfeyrac asks while he laughs, swallowing Arnaud into a hug. "It's been so long! How're you doing?"

            "I'm well", Arnaud pats his back, a huge smile on his face. "I'm engaged!"

            "You are?!" Courfeyrac replies in genuine glee. "Congratulations!" He slaps Arnaud's back.

            "This is her. Victoria, meet Courfeyrac", Arnaud smiles warmly at Victoria, wrapping his arm around her waist.

            "Courfeyrac! I've heard a lot about you!" Victoria laughs.

            "You have?" Courfeyrac looks slightly worried. "All good, I hope..."

            "Of course. It's nice to finally meet the famous Courfeyrac and Juliette", she grins.

            "Ah!" Courfeyrac laughs. "Good times..." He shakes his head as he smiles in memory. "Well, Victoria, I wish you the best of luck marrying this rascal", he jokes.

            "I'm ready for the challenge", she replies in good humour.

            "Oh, Maggie. I've been so rude, I'm so sorry..." Courfeyrac quickly says, placing a hand on Maggie's bag. "Arnaud, this is Maggie". There's something about the way Courfeyrac looks at Maggie and says her name, and I love it. It gives me a warm feeling inside, feeling that something has finally clicked into place – two pieces of the jigsaw of our lives have found each other, and in this moment, everything seems right in the world. And then I look at Enjolras' face, stone-cold, still trying to figure out how Arnaud fits into my life.

            "Jules, Courf, look at us!" Arnaud sighs. "Remember when we swore that we were never going to grow up and fall in love?" He laughs, and Courfeyrac joins in as he flashes back to the memory of us making such a pact with one another.

            "It was in this very room, if I remember right?" Courfeyrac squints trying to recall the night. "We were over there, at a ball just like this one –"

            "Yes!" Arnaud exclaims light-heartedly, laughing in remembrance. "Watching all the couples dancing, and holding hands, and we swore right there and then that we would stay children forever and not succumb to love's grip". His laughter fades into a nostalgic smile. "And look at the three of us now..." Arnaud places one hand on my shoulder and the other on Courfeyrac's. I feel tears forming in my own eyes, and I look at both Courf and Arnie and see that tears of nostalgia and sentimentalism forming in their eyes too, yearning for the past. "...We grew up..."

Arnaud, Courfeyrac and I vow to keep in touch, promising to try and see each other more often. I feel a tinge of guilt, knowing that I can't tell my old friend Arnaud the complete truth of how things are in my life just now. I can't tell him that the relationship between my brother and Grandfather is a fractured one. I can't tell him that I'm lying to my Grandfather on a daily basis. I can't tell him that Enjolras and I fell in love with planning a revolution against the government. And I can't tell him that the real reason I wanted to cry when he mentioned our childhood was because Courfeyrac and I don't know how much longer we're going to be alive for – before long, the revolution will be upon us, and both he and I could very well sacrifice our lives for the cause. I try to put these thoughts out of my mind as Enjolras leads me to the dancefloor, placing one arm around me, and holding my hand with the other. He still hasn't cracked a smile since finding me with Arnaud. This is the first moment alone that Enjolras and I have had since he came back from being with my Grandfather, and neither of us seem to know what to say. I look around. A drunken Grantaire is dancing with Madame Houcheloup. Marius is twirling a giggling Eponine around the dancefloor. Courfeyrac waltzes with Maggie, a completely smitten look in his eyes. Arnaud spins Victoria around, the two of them looking genuinely happy and in love. Gavroche tries to dance with my Aunt, trying his best to copy and remember the dance that I'd taught him in the Café Musain the night that I taught the boys to dance.

            "So...how were things with Grand –?" I start to ask, but Enjolras starts to talk at the same time.

            "You promise there isn't anything going on between you and Arnaud Guerre?" He asks seriously before looking at the ground. We stop dancing, standing still in the middle of the dancefloor as other couples dance around us.

            "I promise...and there never has been..." I tenderly place a hand on Enjolras' cheek, lifting his head so he can look at me. "I wouldn't have kept that from you...I love you, Enjolras..." He kisses the wrist of my hand as I cup the side of his cheek, and he smiles the smallest of smile. "...So...are you okay now?" I smile softly as I stroke his cheek with my thumb.

            "I'm okay..." He replies softly, smiling lightly. "I guess I just got a little jealous..."

            "You did?" I blush. "Well, you have nothing to be jealous of. I am all yours, Burgundy Boy", I wrap my arms around his neck and hug him to me, starting to dance again. But he pulls back, and looks me straight in the eyes.

            "You are the best thing that ever happened to me...you know that?" He says sincerely, meaning it. I don't know what to say in reply, and so I just nod, taking his words in and letting them sink into my brain as he softly and tenderly kisses me. And his smile returns.

            "By the way – Courfeyrac and Maggie?" He suddenly asks, raising his eyebrows in jest. "What did you do? I thought you said you weren't going to meddle!"

            "Well, I had to do something to entertain myself while you were gone. Did you really expect anything less from me?"