Miserable Rouge! - A Les Mis AU

Tango de Roxanne

Grantaire was getting ready for his business meeting when Enjolras knocked on his dressing room door.

"You can't be serious about this," he said desperately, but Grantaire rolled his eyes.

"He could destroy everything that's going on around here," he said, but Enjolras shook his head. "You promised me once that you wouldn't get possessive. It's going to be fine."

His companion shook his head again, sitting down on a small chair. "No, it won't. He's going to try and take you away. He might hurt you."

Grantaire hugged Enjolras tightly, whispering, "Come What May, Come What May, I will love you..."

This didn't help much, but he let Grantaire leave the room with a quick kiss on the forehead.

So Grantaire was taking care of the situation, and all anyone else could do was wait. As they waited, Combeferre began trying to explain what made a good, healthy relationship to Enjolras, since he wanted to know if he was being a good partner to Grantaire. It was mostly trivial things; don't put them down, don't make them do anything they don't want to do, listen to each other, you laugh--

Clasquous, the lighting manager, placed a hand on Courfeyrac's arm. Courfeyrac pushed it off, but Clasquous was persistent. "Shouldn't you be off practicing right now?"

"Leave me alone!" Courfeyrac snapped, "I'll do things when I want to!"

Combeferre jumped up and pressed Courfeyrac against the wall and nearly punched Clasquous. "Don't touch him again," he growled. Clasquous left the room.

Courfeyrac looked up into Combeferre's eyes. "You're not usually that tough."

"Only for you," Combeferre said to him, giving him a kiss on the forehead. He looked up to Enjolras sadly. "Never fall in love with someone who sells themselves, as a related subject. It always ends badly. You start by being in love, and it's so wonderful, then you start getting jealous of her customers. It just gets worse from there." He hugged Courfeyrac to himself. "I wanted such a good life for us, and look what's happened."

"It is, but not exactly what we wanted," Courfeyrac whispered back, giving him a quite intimate-looking kiss in front of everyone.

Enjolras had buried his face in his lap, trying to block out everything, but he kept seeing what could happen if Grantaire were to get hired by Thenardier. Based on Grantaire's skills, besides the amount of alcohol one could consume in one night, who knew what Thenardier would make him do. Try as he might to not think about iot, Enjorlas couldn't help picturing a stranger's eyes on Grantaire's face, their hands together, this random unnamed stranger being alone with him for as long as he wished...

Tears stung in his eyes as he mumbled, "Why couldn't I have begged him not to wear that outfit? To not go with Thenardier? To stay here and not have to take this offer?" He wiped his eyes on his sleeve. "Why couldn't be just say he was busy again?"

Enjolras finally excused himself to go up to his room. On the way, he looked up at the balcony, and could see Grantaire, who waved. Enjolras was sure that Grantaire would visit him after the meeting, and he would know for sure that everything was fine.

----

But everything wasn't fine. Grantaire had gone up to dinner, as planned, then Thenardier decided to try enticing him to work for him by offering anything Grantaire could hope for. He wasn't impressed, however. He just stared out off the balcony, watching the people going by. Then he caught sight of Enjolras, and without thinking, waved to him.

Thenardier stopped talking and looked out the window with Grantaire. "Ah, our own little sailor man." He grabbed Grantaire's arm and pulled him inside, pressing him against the wall. "You made me believe that I would have you by the end of this show." He pushed him onto the ground and kicked him. "I will have this show run my way, the gangster will get the courtesan as his employee."

Bahorel, who had been waiting outside the door to ensure privacy, heard the commotion in the dining room and went inside. "What's going--" He saw Grantaire trying to hide under the table, and Bahorel turned just in time to punch Thenardier in the face before he grabbed Grantaire again. Thenardier bounced off his fist, then landed on the floor with a dull thump.

Grantaire looked up, then cautiously crawled out from under the table. He looked down at the unconscious Duke, then began crying. Bahorel carried him to Enjolras's place. He knew that Grantaire was safe there.

----

Enjolras was curled up reading when Bahorel came in with a shaking Grantaire on his shoulder. He placed him on the bed, and Grantaire must've sensed Enjolras's presence, because he instantly snuggled up to him.

"I told him no, and he almost killed me," Grantaire sobbed, "I couldn't do it. I can't do that to you. I love you."

Enjolras wrapped his arms protectively around him, trying his best to comfort his love. "It's all right, you're out of there now." He reached over to the side table and poured a glass of wine for his trembling companion.

"I thought you didn't drink," Grantaire siad, sipping from the cup and feeling the tingly sensation already.

"I don't," Enjolras explained, "I just got it so you'd have something if you wanted to visit."

"I just couldn't deal with it," Grantaire continued, "I didn't want to live with that. And he knows. He knows about everything. He saw you, and he's going to want you dead."

"Oh, whatever," Enjolras said with a shrug and a smile, making Grantaire smile a little in spite of himself, "We can leave in the morning. Everyone will understand. Don't worry about the show. Once this all blows over, if you want, we can come back."

"Well, I don't know of any more sought-after actor in the world," Enjolras said, "Montparnasse is bound to take you back if you left." He began to slide out of bed. "Now, why don't you go pack your things, while I get my stuff together and get some actual pants on--oh, don't tell me you've never slept in a nightgown before." he rolled his eyes at the look on Grantaire's face.

As they were leaving, Grantaire turned back to Enjolras. "This is all your fault. I'm playing into the cliches. How wonderful life actually is while you're in the world."

Grantaire perked up hopefully. "You think we could?"