Somehow I’ve written a 3,5k oneshot that deals with post-rehab Grantaire and one conversation I think would be most crucial for his sober life.

It's meant as a study of what would have to happen to set Grantaire's life on a healthier path. I tried to include his dealing with his alcoholism and overall mental health struggles as well as his obsession with Enjolras. (Don't get me wrong, I ship e/R a lot - there are a few things that need to be resolved first, though.)

It's called Les Carrés Rouges sous l'Arc-en-ciel. I made it and I'm showing it to you like a baby proud of their own shit (18 pages of it!)

Modern AU about Les Amis

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters. Changes made in the story and characters are all works of my imagination and they are fictional.

Margaux

Courfeyrac is really not the type of person to give up. He had asked me for a date since our very first meeting yesterday for like…eight times, and I refused him every time. But again today, he showed up at my workplace unexpectedly, brought Gavroche with him, and asked me again to hang out after my shift.

Though honestly, I don’t really find him annoying. It’s just that — well, Grantaire warned me to NOT go out on a date with him. But as a matter of fact, I like Courfeyrac. I mean, what’s not to like, right? He is cool, funny, charming… But of course, it ends to that. I like him, but I don’t see him as a potential romantic interest either.

So I agreed to hang out with him and Gavroche after my shift, while we wait for Jehan’s classes to end, so the three of us can jam together. I must admit I love hanging out with them — I mean, we share the same passion for music, and I think they can make a better replacement for the band that I left behind in Montreal. Courf promised he would find us gigs, and I truly look forward to it. This is why we need to practice. I hope Joly and Feuilly would join us, so the band is complete.

We went to the coffee shop beside my workplace, because I also want to visit Eponine. Her shift ends an hour after mine, and I want us to walk her to her parents’ inn where she works for the night, before we go to Courf’s apartment to jam.

“I am actually going to apply us to the bar where Grantaire works part-time as bartender — they are in need of musicians, you know,” Courf was saying while we fall in line to take our order, “but they usually want us to sing late 90’s Pop Songs instead of Rock. Will that be OK with you?”

I couldn’t help but smile at his enthusiasm. “Of course! Courf — I can sing almost any type of music!” I told him happily. “90’s Pop is not bad to me!” I grinned. Perhaps he thought I am biased to rock; after all, what impression can my gothic makeup and fashion make anyway?

Courf smiled widely. “That’s wonderful! So we will practice Britney Spears tonight then!” he said enthusiastically. Before I could answer, I heard a throat-clearing sound in front of us, and looked up. It was Eponine behind the counter. She grinned teasingly.

“Good afternoon, Monsieur and Mademoiselle! May I take your orders please?” she said with mock professionalism.

“Ep!” I exclaimed with a grin, then came closer to give her a quick cheek-to-cheek. “You look wonderful!” I said sincerely, looking at her cafe baseball cap and orange cafe shirt. She blushed lightly.

“Thank you,” she whispered, a little shyly, then glanced around. “Uhm, i really need to take your orders,” she added, and gave a quick motion of her head towards the other customers in line.

I grinned and nodded. “Of course! How silly of me!” Then I squinted at the menu board. “I’ll have hot peppermint tea, regular,” then i turned to Courf and added, “how ‘bout yours?”

Eponine gave us a questioning look and Courf had that knowing smile on his face as if he is smiling at a private joke. “I’ll have Mocha Froccino please, with whipped cream, tall, and tall vanilla milkshake,” he said to Ep with a wink.

“One regular hot peppermint tea, one tall vanilla milkshake, and one tall Mocha Froccino with whipped cream. Is there anything else, sir? Ma’am?” she said, scrutinizing us gently. When we shook our heads, she showed us the bill and I quickly rummaged inside my bag for my wallet when Courf held my hand to stop me.

“Hey!” He said, when I turned to look up, there is a look of pain in his eyes. “I got this, OK? What do you take me for?” He then took some bills from his pocket and handed them to Eponine.

I rolled my eyes. “Courf, it’s not as if we’re dating!”

Eponine giggled at this. Then she gave him the change. “We will just call your name Sir when your order is ready,” she said with a wink. Then added in a whisper, “For whom is the Vanilla Milkshake?”

I turned around and saw Gavroche seated on the couch at the far corner of the cafe. Ep followed my gaze and sighed silently, as if in relief. She gave me a small smile then nodded for the next customer. Courf and I went to join Gavroche at the table.

“Long line, eh?” the boy asked me teasingly. “Keeps my sister busy.” He chuckled. “I already sent a text message to Jehan, by the way,” he said to Courf, “told him to meet you guys here after his classes.”

Courf gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Good job, Gavroche!” he said proudly. After we were seated for about a minute, Courf’s name was called. He excused himself immediately to take our drinks. I couldn’t help but smile at his show of excitement. It’s no wonder he and Gavroche get along perfectly well — coz they are almost alike.

“So,” Gavroche said as soon as Courf’s gone, “why don’t you like to go out on a date with him?” He gestured towards the counter where Courfeyrac had gone.

I gave him a stare of disbelief. “Whoa there, little one!” I said incredulously. “What do you know about dating?”

“Dating? Who’s dating?”

I was startled and turned around to see who have butted in our conversation, and was surprised to see Combeferre behind me. “Ferre!” I exclaimed with a smile and immediately stood up to wrap my arms around him lightly and gave him a cheek-to-cheek.

“You’re having a coffee date with Gavroche?” someone said from beside us.

I froze. I know that voice. I feel my heart pumped suddenly fast. I gently removed my arms from Ferre and turned to take notice at the one who was standing beside him. I forced a smile. “Hi Enjolras.” Why I couldn’t throw my arms around him and give him a light kiss just as I did to Ferre, I do not know. He was looking at me and Gavroche in such a way as if he was trying to hide his smile. I heard Gavroche chuckled from behind us.

“That would be very wonderful, Monsieur, if I’m dating Margaux,” he sneered.

Just then, Courfeyrac arrived with our drinks. I saw Enjolras’ expression turned from almost-smiling to a grimace when he saw him. “Oh hey there, Captain! And First Officer!” Courfeyrac greeted as soon as he saw them. “What brings you here?” Courf scrutinized Ferre with mock seriousness then said, “Paying a visit to Ep?” He grinned.

I saw Combeferre blushed very slightly. He rolled his eyes. “Enjolras and I just came from a meeting with Doctor Pierre, who is willing to help us with our group’s medical mission. You are supposed to have joined us, had we known that you don’t have classes.” He gave him a stern stare.

Courf shrugged and grinned apologetically. “I’m sorry… It slipped my mind. I was just too excited for our practice,” he explained, gesturing towards me. I quickly shook my head nervously, afraid that Enjolras might think I am the bad influence on his friends.

“Courf.” It was Enjolras. And there he was again with his super scary name-calling tone.

Courfeyrac seemed to have felt it too; he quickly straightened up to listen with a nervous smile. “Yes Chief?”

Enjolras looked hard and cold. “I would want a word with you,” he said, then he threw me a quick glance. I could hear my heart pumping. Oh no… Enjolras had just forgiven me this morning and now Courfeyrac made him hate me once again!

“MARGAUX!”

I was startled by another interruption. It was Jehan, smiling from the door, all neat and happy. I instinctively grinned, seeing his sweet face, and quickly ran towards him to give him a warm embrace.

Jehan returned the hug without second thoughts. He took something from his back pocket and handed it to me. It’s a stem of white rose. “For you,” he said happily. “I got one for ‘Ponine too,” he added, procuring another identical stem of white rose from his behind. “Beautiful ladies like you deserve something beautiful every day!” He winked. “I’m gonna get my drinks and I’ll join you at the table,” he said, giving me a quick peck on my cheek before he went to the counter.

I went back to the table to join Gavroche, giving a sideways glance at Ferre while walking towards it. Ferre must have sensed my uneasiness and he gave me a reassuring smile. When I was seated, Courf turned to us, smiled apologetically, and said, “Excuse me for a while… Enjolras and I need to discuss something. I’ll join you when we’re done.” The he went to the other table with Enjolras. Combeferre, on the other hand, chose to stay and joined Gavroche and me at our table.

I silently took a sip out if my hot tea, the minty taste is cool and soothing. Then I glanced up at Combeferre, a worried expression on my face, and asked, “Am I in trouble?”

Combeferre must have found this funny because he let out a surprise laugh. “Do you really think you are?” he teased.

“COMBEFERRE!”

He raised his hands, as if in surrender, chuckled lightly, and said, “Chill!” He gave me another reassuring smile. “I don’t think you are — or you will be for that matter,” he assured with a wink.

Modern AU about Les Amis

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters. Changes made with the story line and/or characters are all works of my imagination. Everything is fictional.

Enjolras

It was a quarter past 5 in the morning when Enjolras woke up. He went straight downstairs to check if Grantaire is already awake to make breakfast, just as he promised yesterday. But of course, he wasn’t expecting him to stay true to his promise — after all, this is Grantaire, and waking up early is just so un-Grantaire-ish.

True enough, he could see Grantaire fast asleep and snoring at the living room from the stairs. The smell of frying bacon startled him. He didn’t suspect that it would be Combeferre or Joly cooking. He knew that she is the one preparing breakfast for them, again. He suddenly felt his heartbeat turned faster. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves, and try to move and act as casually as he possibly could.

He walked straight to the kitchen. Then he saw her: her back is turned on him as she was frying. She had her black sweatpants on, with black hoodie jacket. Her hair is pulled up in a loose bun above her head, just like yesterday when she had attacked him. He didn’t move; he just watched her in silence for a moment, deeply mesmerized at how tantalizing her figure is. After a few moment of silence, he sighed the breath that he didn’t notice he was holding.

“You don’t have to do this,” he said in a plain, casual tone.

Margaux was startled. She quickly turned around, eyes wide. She already had her thick black eyeliner and deep blood-red lipstick on. Her chalk-white cheek blushed slightly at the sight of him. “Good morning, Monsieur,” she said in a warm voice, though there was a trace of shiver in it. Then she turned her back on him, collected the cooked bacon from the pan and transferred it to a plate with paper towel on top. She turned to face him again, gave him a shy smile, and gently walked to the dining table to place the plate. “You’re up so early, sir,” she commented as she walked past him.

Enjolras couldn’t help but follow her with his gaze. “Not as early as you did,” he replied.

Margaux walked back to the kitchen. She faced him, smiled sweetly, gaining confidence this time, and said, “but you’re just in time for breakfast, Monsieur.” She opened the refrigerator and took some eggs. “How would you like your egg, sir?”

Enjolras felt uncomfortable at her formalities, but he tried to ignore it. “You don’t have to do this, you know,” he repeated. “You should not prepare breakfast for us. Or any meal for that matter.” He watched as she scrutinized him gently with those curious brown eyes. “I know you are not used to doing this,” he added.

Margaux grinned. “But I’d love to do this, sir,” she said, laughing shortly. Then she turned to turn on the stove and grease a fresh pan. “So how do you like your egg?”

Enjolras couldn’t help but smile at her persistent; but since she had her back on him, she couldn’t see it, which he was thankful for. “How do you like yours?” he asked in reply.

“Scrambled and rare,” she replied immediately. She turned to face him. “Yours?”

“Sunny side up and rare,” he said. Margaux smiled.

“Sunny side up and rare coming up!” she exclaimed, sounding so excited. Then she cracked the egg expertly on the pan, and began cooking. “Please, there are toast and bacon and fresh fruits on the table. Coffee and tea are also available. Help yourself, Monsieur.”

Enjolras didn’t move. He watched as she collected the egg, drained the remaining oil, and transferred it on a clean plate. “Margaux.” His voice sounded serious and hard, and he regretted it as soon as he said it, he wanted to pinch himself. He sounded angry when he said her name! Oh how could I be so stupid?

She faced him, her eyes were full of sadness this time. “I wanted to talk to you last night when I arrived,” she started, “but Joly said you went to sleep as soon as you arrived.” She walked to the table to place the plate with egg, Enjolras followed her. She turned to face him. “I want to apologize, Monsieur — for what had happened yesterday,” she continued. “I didn’t mean to attack you… nor to humiliate you, never.” Her eyes were filled with horror, remembering what happened. “I thought you were attacking Grantaire, you see. I saw you pinned him on the wall with your hands on his collar, and he was choking, and…” she trailed off.

“Let it be in the past,” Enjolras said silently.

“Monsieur?” Margaux whispered, unsure if she had heard him right.

Enjolras sighed. “I said, let what happened yesterday remain in the past. I mean… Let’s just forget about it,” he explained.

Margaux blushed. “Does that mean you’re forgiving me?”

Enjolras shrugged. “You had to do what you thought you had to do. He’s your friend,” he said, gesturing over the living room where Grantaire was sleeping, “and you just wanted to defend your friend. So I guess there is nothing to forgive, really. You didn’t do anything wrong, after all.”

He saw how her face transformed from sadness to a sudden joy. Her mouth stretched in a wide grin, white teeth showing. “Thank you, Monsieur,” she whispered happily.

Enjolras raised his hand, as if to stop her. “But in one condition,” he said. Margaux raised her eyebrows, listening intently.

“Anything that I can do, Monsieur, what is it?” she said.

“Make that two,” Enjolras answered. “One, call me Enjolras. I don’t like to hear a ‘sir’ or a ‘monsieur’.” Margaux smiled at this. “And two, could you pledge your loyalty to the fraternity?”

At this, Margaux instinctively threw her arms around him. Enjolras almost backed off, but he was too late as he was already wrapped in Mragaux’s tight embrace. “Becoming part of your group is the best thing that would ever happen to me here in Paris, Enjolras! And yes, I am pledging my loyalty!” Then she let go. Enjolras felt his face turned red.

Margaux dropped her eyes chastely. She gestured towards the table, embarrassed. “Breakfast?” Her voice is hesitant, yet hopeful.

“Only if you’d join me.”

She grinned again. “Gladly,” she replied, “but I’ll be quick… have to go for a jog after.” She winked and led the way to the table, and Enjolras followed, trying to hide his smile.