Misguided Ghosts // Les Misèrables

chapter 24

The dinner went well. The food was good, even Courfeyrac's onion soup. Although it could've used some salt. Adeline smiled the whole time. Christmas dinner with her friends was more enjoyable then any Christmas dinner with her family. She got to know Éponine a bit. Apparently, she had been very good friends with Rayan. After the dinner was over everyone began to head home, everyone except those who lived at the apartment.

Adeline sat by the fireplace, there was a blanket around her shoulders, keeping her warm. She was staring into the fire, barely ever blinking. The night's events had not been easy on her. They had tested her in nearly every way possible. But in the end she felt relieved. No more crying, no more feeling alone.

She could finally live her truth. She could leave her tortured past behind and so what was right for her. She didn't have to be who her parents wanted her to be. She didn't have to wear those bloody corsets or cry herself to sleep now. There would be no more suffering in silence. It was as if she was a bird in a cage now set free. The world was now at her fingertips. The whole of Paris was up for grabs and she was gonna see it all.

Marius sat down next to her. He handed her a mug.

"I got you some tea. We thought you could use it." He said.

She smiled at him.

"Thank you." She said. She then turned to Courf and Ferre, who were cleaning the kitchen. "Thank you too. For all you've done. You've really helped."

"It's no problem. You're family now." Combeferre said.

"Today's the beginning of a new life. It isn't going to be easy. But it is going teach me and that's what's important." She said. "I'm ready to leave behind 'Adeline Belmonte, bourgeois and inheritor of the Belmonte Estate'. And I'm ready to be 'Adeline, full time revolutionary'."

"That's the spirit!" Combeferre said.

"You can stay as long as you need until you can get on your feet." Courfeyrac said. "We welcome you with open arms."

Adeline smiled genuinely. These people didn't have much, yet they were willing to share it all because they cared about her.

"For your generosity." Adeline stood up and walked over to Ferre and Courf.

She took off her engagement ring and placed it on the table.

"This should pay your rent for a while." She said. "Don't let anyone fool you, it's real gold and real diamonds."

"We can't take this." Ferre said. "We appreciate your gesture. It's just too precious. Keep it for yourself."

"I'm changing my life. And part of that is I am no longer going to please people who do not treat me well. Victor was pushy, he said my opinion was invalid because of my gender. And I could never marry that. Use the pawn money. It'll make him angry." She said.

"As you wish." Ferre smiled and put it in his pocket and smiled.

There was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it." Courfeyrac said.

He opened the door to Sivon. She looked extremely worried.

"Sivon, what's wrong?" He asked as he ushered her in.

"Adeline, she's missing." She said. "You've gotta help me find her."

Adeline moved so she was in Adeline's view.

"Well then you came to the right place." Adeline said.

Once Sivon saw her she rushed over.

"Oh thank god you're okay." She said, pulling her into a hug.

Adeline paused for a moment.

"Could you do me a favor?" She asked.

"Sure, I'll do anything." Sivon said.

Adeline ran her hands through her hair. Even since she was little, her mother insisted that it should be long. Adeline had liked having her hair short, but her mother would have none of it. She said that every woman should have long luscious locks. But she didn't have to live by her mother's rules anymore.

"Could you cut my hair?" Adeline asked her.

"Sure." She responded before turning to Combeferre. "I wouldn't suppose you own a pair of scissors?"

-

Adeline's hair had a bit of wave to it, and so it needed to be wet in order to cut. Now the two girls were sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace. A cloth underneath them to catch the clippings.

"How short do you want me to go?" Sivon asked.

"Just above my shoulders." Adeline responded.

The dark haired girl began to cut and Adeline could feel the weight lift off of her. It was as if years of controlling behavior and gaslighting were falling from her shoulders. Her hair was so thick that it took Sivon twenty minutes to cut it all to an even length.

"Is that good?" She asked. "Did I go too short?"

Adeline felt the length of her hair. It was so much shorter then she was used to, because of this, when her fingertips reached the bottom it was as if they fell off of a cliff.

"It's great." She smiled. "But could you do something else?"

"Whatever you'd like." Sivon said.

Adeline turned to face her.

"Cut me some bangs." She said. "I've been dying to have them for years. But mother wouldn't allow it."

"As you wish."

Sivon parted some hair in front of her face and began to cut. She did it slowly and methodically to avoid messing up.

"How'd you know to come here? I've never mentioned ever coming here." Adeline asked her friend.

"Well, let's just say I've been here before." Sivon's cheeks got pink.

Adeline gasped.

"I knew you liked Courfeyrac!" She responded.

"We've been spending some quality time together. And I've discovered I really like him." She smiled.

"Like, like him?" Adeline began speaking like she was twelve year old.

"Yes. He's just so sweet and charming, how could I not." Sivon said.

"And how long has this been going on?"

"A couple weeks. But it feels like a lifetime. I feel like a little girl again. I my stomach turns when I see him and my head becomes cloudy when I'm away from him for too long." She said.

Adeline immediately understood what she was saying. She'd felt those feeling with Juliette, but she never knew what they meant. She didn't understand that feeling that way meant more. Her stolen kisses with Juliette meant more then she thought.

"I know exactly how you feel." Adeline responded.

-

Hi!! Congratulations to ---Madness--- for landing the role of Fantine!!! That is so cool! Have fun playing everyone's favorite very dedicated mom!!!