Beyond The Barricade | les misérables

three

If Mother was angry enough, she'll come out and get me herself. I needed to be hidden enough that she'd never find me.

The consequences I will face when I return home will be intense. I can feel the anger in my mother even away from her.

I kept my head down and kept on forward.

Before I could think, I crashed into someone. I held my breath and looked up, making eye contact with Enjolras. Marius stood next to him and looked over his shoulder, eyes scanning me.

"Did something happen?" he asked, a worried look in his eyes. I stayed silent and looked back behind me. "Hyacinth, what's going on?"

I looked back at him, meeting eyes with Enjolras before looking at Marius.

"She wasn't going to let me leave so I ran," I said.

"That explains the outfit," Enjolras said, looking over me.

"Why? Wouldn't she let you leave? Why'd you have to run? Why would you do that, you know what she'll do," Marius spoke, grabbing onto my shoulders.

"She wanted to make me meet someone."

Marius stopped talking, staring at me.

"She's been pushing for years, she's fed up and taken matters into her own hands."

"Okay. Let's go, you can't be seen. Not with me." He looked at Enjolras and let go of me.

"Take her. Be alert, her mother will send anyone to find her. If she finds her like this with us, I don't know what she'll do."

Enjolras nodded and looked at me. In an instant, he grabbed my arm. I stared up at him as he started walking. Marius watched in the direction of my house and disappeared in the crowd of people.

"Move faster," Enjolras said over his shoulder, yanking me beside him.

"You try walking in this outfit," I groaned.

We reached the café and he pushed me inside, closing the door behind himself. The building was quiet and peaceful.

"What's so horrible about meeting people?" he asked as we walked up the stairs. No one was here yet, it was just us.

"You really don't get it?" I asked, chuckling. He just looked at me in silence. I smiled and shook my head.

"She's finding me a suitor," I said plainly.

"Oh."

I walked to a chair and went to sit, but he caught my arm. I looked at him, confused.

"Sit at the table," he said, pointing where he and Marius sat.

His hand didn't leave my arm and he stared at me.

"Itching to sit next to me, are we?" I asked with a smirk. At that, he let go of my arm quickly and looked away.

"No. Don't flatter yourself. You're just too involved to sit back there." He didn't look at me again, instead he shuffled through papers as silence fell. I watched him as he focused on the writing.

I pulled my papers out and slid them toward him. He looked at me again and went to take the papers, his hand touching mine. I pulled it away quickly and looked toward the window. I felt him still looking at me but I refused to meet his gaze.

After a few minutes, people started to file in. A small boy walked in and smiled at me, walking toward me.

"Hello," he smiled.

"Hi."

"I'm Gavroche," he put his hands into his pockets and smiled a huge smile at me.

"I'm Hyacinth. I like your jacket, Gavroche," I smiled, nodding at him. He looked down and placed his hands on his hips.