BELLE ÂME
vol.2
18. bonds of friendship
[ Paris, France, January 20th, 1832 ]
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The sound of plates and dishes along with idle chatter rang over the walls of the house as the four occupants that lived in it had their breakfast together in the early morning. The table was slightly illuminated with the rays of the warm morning sun shone through the window, creating a soft glow that illuminated Celia's voice as she talked about something she had overheard the last day when she was out in town.
Annette was playing with the food on her plate, her Tales of Shakespeare copy lying down on her lap, ready to be opened and read for the fiftieth time, the brunette's thoughts traveled to just about everything as she thought of what she wanted to do today.
"Annette," said Celia, causing the girl's eyes to snap up "were you listening?"
"Yes of course" lied Annette making her cousin roll her eyes in mock annoyance.
"I asked if you wanted to go have lunch out today"
Annette was just about to answer her cousin when her brother swooped in "actually Celia, Annette and I have some things to do today"
"We do?" Asked a confused Annette, and after getting a kick to the leg from her brother, she quickly corrected herself "I mean, yeah we do"
"Oh alright" spoke Celia suspiciously, meanwhile Monsieur Hubert was happily eating some toast, blissfully unaware of all the confusion that was taking place "what are you and Alexandre doing might I ask" inquired Celia whilst raising her brow with a smirk, she knew that Annette had no idea what her brother was going on about, but she was really enjoying watching the girl struggling to come up with an answer, after all, if she was about to get ditched, she might as well have some fun with it,
"Well you know, we're going to, I mean, Alexandre and I are just" stuttered Annette whilst looking down at her plate.
"I just have some errands to run and I figured Annette could come with me for some company" spoke Alexandre in an attempt to help his sister.
After breakfast was over Annette walked towards her brother with her eyebrows raised and slightly punched him in the arm for putting her in such an awkward situation.
"Ouch Annette" exclaimed her brother, rubbing his arm.
"Where may I ask are we going?" Asked Annette, ignoring her brother's outburst of pain.
"The Musain" spokes Alexandre as if it was the most obvious thing on the planet.
"What?" Inquired Annette, confused as to why her brother was suddenly letting her join a meeting.
"Well, you haven't been doing much the past few days, and all the guys like you, so I figured" shrugged Alexandre "this does not mean that you are joining though, but we figured there was no harm in you just going to one meeting, after all, it's not like you've never been there before"
"Who do you mean by "we" Alexandre," asked Annette, curious yet afraid of the answer at the same time.
"Well every one"
"Even Enjolras?" asked the girl
"Well he didn't say anything against it, and when he doesn't like something, he says it" responded Alexandre "why do you ask?"
"Nothing" lied Annette.
Alexandre looked at her suspiciously, his eyebrows furrowing together for a slight moment before he quickly let it go.
"Well, let's go then"
And with that, they both walked towards the doors of the house and into the city of Paris, conversing between themselves about different topics, Annette's book of Shakespeare still clutched in her hands, she figured that if things got too awkward, she would just sit herself down in the corner and simply open her book.
Walking along the now-familiar streets to the Musain, although if you asked her to walk there herself the girl would still be afraid of getting lost, they came across many different people, some of which, Alexandre pointed to discreetly and told Annette about. She was absolutely fascinated with the stories that she was hearing about all these different people, with different backgrounds and stories.
When they finally got to the Musain, Annette took a deep breath, scared to face the man that she had spent the turning of the new year with, the man that had already told her that love was not important to him, not that she was in love with him of course, she just, found him handsome, but then again, who wouldn't, however, Annette promised herself that's all she would allow herself to feel.
Her brother noticed her strange behavior and looked back at her in confusion, feeling completely lost.
Little does he know though Annette as she nodded to her brother, indicating he could open the door.
As the door creaked open, a few heads turned to the pair of siblings that were standing together at the door. Alexandre quickly walked towards where Courfeyrac and Marius were talking, quickly beginning a conversation with the two men.
Annette stood awkwardly at the door for a few moments, but she soon snapped out of her weird trance and walked towards the table she always sat at, where Grantaire and Joly were both sitting together.
Joly was reading something to himself, a book, however, Annette did not see the title, as for Grantaire, the black-haired man was holding a cup of wine in his hands and staring out into space, as Annette sat down beside him, she tapped his shoulder lightly, causing him to almost fall over as he was interrupted from his daydreams, which made both Annette and Joly look at each other before letting out loud laughs at Grantaire's facial expression.
"Annie!" exclaimed Grantaire "you almost gave me a heart attack"
"Oops" spoke Annette with a smile, happy to be back with the boys she had not seen in two over two weeks, the boys she had come to consider her close friends.
"I see your stubborn brother finally allowed you to come to one of our top-secret "meetings" Annette," said Joly lowly, whilst glancing at Alexandre who was now laughing along with Marius about something.
"Yes, I guess he did" replied Annette "however he did make it very clear that I am not a member, so I guess I'm just here due to invitation."
"Well dear Annie" Grantaire spoke up, whilst jokingly putting his arm around the girl "it's better than nothing, and if anything, you can just take my place"
"Why thank you Grantaire, but who exactly would be here to entertain everyone with his drunk ramblings" joked the girl, causing Grantaire to smile "we both know I would not be able to properly reproduce half of the garbage that you say after a bottle of wine"
"I guess that you'll just have to convince your brother and Enjolras to let you join eventually" pointed out Joly whilst he stood up.
I guess I will though Annette to herself
Silence soon enveloped over Grantaire and Annette as they both went back to their own thoughts, Annette began looking around the room for a particular face that she couldn't seem to find in the crowd, her brows furrowed and her neck extended upwards as she desperately tried to pinpoint his location, making Grantaire remove his eyes from the bottle of wine he was currently admiring and looked at the young girl, who was looking around the room as if her life depended on it, he slowly moved his head closer to hers and tried to follow her eye line.
"Who are you looking for" he whispered, making Annette jump in her seat before she turned her head towards him, looking at the man with a glare for interrupting her thoughts.
"No one" spoke Annette way too quickly, which caused Grantaire to squint at her whilst he tried to locate her lie.
Just then, Enjolras walked into the room, scanning the faces of his friends as he tried to pinpoint who was actually focused, however when his eyes snapped towards the direction where Annette was seated, she quickly ducked her head before she could make eye contact with him, making Grantaire, who was carefully observing whatever was going on between them both, furrow his brows, now more determined than ever to find out what was happening.
Enjolras kept staring at where the girl was seated, trying to understand why she had ducked her face when he looked in her direction, it's not like she's being very discreet though the blond man, endless possibilities of why she was acting this way ran through his head, maybe she was embarrassed because of what had happened, maybe she wanted to avoid him because she thought what he did was weird, or maybe he just didn't see him and it was all a coincidence.
However, the mans questions were soon answered as the girl swiftly stood up and headed down to the stairs and outside, keeping her head down as she passed by Enjolras, his eyes following her as she darted down the stairs and out the door of the Musain.
He wanted to follow her, he really did, but Enjolras kept reminding himself that there were things to do and that she would just distract him from them, he also reminded himself that they barely knew each other, not to mention, the girl seemed to be avoiding him, so, keeping that in mind, he let her go.
Grantaire however, who had quietly watched the whole ordeal, slowly stood up and began following the girl outside, when he went out the door of the cafe, he saw that Annette was standing with her back to the wall, her eyes closed and her chest rapidly moving as she tried to calm herself.
"Annie?" spoke Grantaire softly, as to not alarm the girl.
Annette opened her eyes and looked at the man standing before her, his once relaxed and though free appearance now seeming concerned for the girl and he slowly walked towards her and placed a hand on her arm, squeezing it lightly as a way of showing that he was there for her.
"You saw that?" she asked quietly, staring into his eyes with a saddened expression.
"I did" he replied "I'm here if you want to talk"
"Can I trust you?"
"You can"
"It's just, on New Year, something happened between me and him, it was, weird" began Annette, her gaze now moved towards the floor "it wasn't anything that should be that big of a deal really, he just came over to apologize for something and well, we stopped talking and it was, sort of quiet for a while, and then we almost kissed, and we haven't even seen each other since it happened, but I don't want anything with him, just as he does not want anything with me, but I'm afraid it will have gotten awkward between us and I don't know how to fix it."
As Annette finished explaining, she looked up to see Grantaire staring at her with a pensive face, he slowly looked towards the ground while wearing the most serious face she had ever seen on him before he looked up again, his gaze softening as he saw the confused girl staring at him.
"Can I trust you?" he asked
"What?"
"You asked if you could trust me, and I said you could, now I'm asking you the same thing, can I trust you?"
"Of course you can, but" she hesitated, at a loss for words, before she slowly nodded, indicating that he could speak, Grantaire then leaned against the same wall as Annette, looking forward, he took a deep breath, convincing himself it would be alright, and that the girl would not judge him before he began telling her something he had never told anyone before.
"A while back I had this, a realization of sorts" spoke Grantaire, careful not to say anything wrong "and only now have I come to terms with it, it was hard to accept at first, and even now I still struggle with it sometimes"
"What is it Grantaire?" encouraged Annette "you can tell me, don't be afraid of speaking the truth"
"Alright" laughed Grantaire softly in an attempt to break the tension "you see, I like men, an-and women, I like both, is what I'm trying to say, and I used to actually have a thing of sorts for your almost midnight kiss, Enjolras, I mean, it actually lasted for quite a while, but no one can win in the battle for his heart, except for France of course, and, well, I- don't misunderstand Annette, I also do like women, but I've mentioned that haven't I?" spoke Grantaire quickly, almost as if he was ashamed of what he was saying, but he really had nothing to be ashamed about, and Annette would have to repeatedly tell him that "I took quite a liking to your friend actually, nothing serious of course, don't worry, I know she deserves better than me, anyone deserves better. I never told anyone that before, honestly I have no clue as to why I'm saying it to you, but you did say I could trust you"
As he spoke, stuttered would be the more correct word, Annette listened intently, and to say she was shocked would be a downplaying the situation, after all, she had just found out that not only was Grantaire attracted to both men and women, she also found out that he used to like Enjolras of all people, a pretty poor choice of a love interest though Annette, and he had also confessed that he had a thing for Nicolette, not that this particular information was a shock, but still.
Not knowing what to do, but remembering that she had promised him that he could tell her anything, she uttered no words as she pulled him into a tight hug, making Grantaire smile as he realized she was okay with it, it wasn't something that most people saw as normal in the time they were living in, but Annette had heard everything he had to say, and she still accepted him, because he was her friend, and she would always support him, no matter what the situation was.
"I'm here for you alright" she spoke softly, whilst still hugging him "and I won't tell anyone anything you just told me, not unless you want me to, I promise, and I don't break promises 'taire"
"Thank you, Annie, for understanding" he replied with a smile "your a great friend"
"Oh, and by the way, I'm pretty sure Nicolette took quite a liking to you as well" Annette pulled away from the hug and fixed his vest "but who wouldn't right? Charming fellow such as yourself"
This caused Grantaire to laugh before he hugged he quickly for one last time before he grabbed her arm softly and began leading her back to the Musain. He then turned around one last time and looked at Annette with a grin.
"By the way, Annette" spoke the curly-haired man "if anyone can break Enjolras's stone heart, it's going to be you, I know you said that you don't want anything with him, but if you ever change your mind, you remember what I just told you, you could even quote me if you'd like"
"What exactly should I quote you on?" asked Annette sarcastically
"Quote this if Enjolras is to fall in love with anyone, it will be you Annette, write that down," he said with a large smile, receiving a punch to the arm and being pulled back into the room of the Musain.
Once they reached the room, a few eyes glanced towards them, luckily her brother had not noticed anything that was going on, however seeing as she had literally darted past him and towards the outside of the Musain, Enjolras was very much paying attention to her now that she had walked back into the room.
Grantaire went back to his seat, and this time, Annette dared herself to look into Enjolras's eyes, staring at them just as she had the night they last saw each other, they were both locked on each other gazes before Marius tapped Enjolras on the shoulder and he reluctantly looked away, making the girl go back to her chair.
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Approximately an hour later, Annette was sitting by herself, reading her book just as she had planned as the men in the room were all talking loudly amongst themselves, Annette, however, did not mind, as she was able to read in just about any situation if the story was interesting enough that is.
Gavroche was sitting down next to Annette, his head laying on her shoulder in exhaustion, he did spend the whole day running around all of Paris after all, and that was bound to tire anyone out. His eyes, however, were firmly planted on the people around the room as they talked, intently listening in to all they said.
Annette was just about to turn the page in her book when a warm hand was placed on her shoulder, in response, the girl slowly closed her book and looked up to find Enjolras looking at her.
"Can I speak with you?" he asked quietly, trying not to cause any unnecessary attention to be given to the both of them "privately, I mean"
After hearing the last part, Annette softly gulped as her brain traveled a hundred miles per hour, her head coming up with many different reasons as to why he wanted to speak with her, however, she stood up and slowly nodded to him.
Enjolras led her outside and as they stood under the light of the moon, Annette traced his features with her eyes, taking in the boy that she had not seen in two weeks now.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" asked Annette quietly, slightly afraid of what his answer would be.
"I just wanted to make sure that we were both on the same page"
"And what page would that be?"
"You know what my focus is right?"
"How could I forget Enjolras" replied Annette, already tired of the conversation, "you tell everyone all the time"
"Well then you must know that you and I - us, it won't happen right?"
"And when exactly Monsieur Revolutionary, did I say that I wanted there to be an us?"
"You don't?" asked Enjolras, his face unreadable, and as Annette nodded, he let out a sigh of relief, content that he would not have to be placed in any type of position where he would have to push her away, he didn't want to hurt her feelings after all, even though he did not particularly care for the girl "good, that's good"
"Is that all Enjolras?" spoke Annette, trying to ignore the fact that her heart was sinking slightly in her chest, she put it down to anger, however "or do you have anything else to say to me"
"No that was all" replied Enjolras, as Annette turned to walk away however, he gently took hold of her hand and pulled her back to where he was, as she looked up at him expectantly, her hand still in his, he found himself to be at a loss for words "I just wanted to say that if you want to come to the meetings now and then, it shouldn't be a problem, as long as you promise to take them seriously of course"
This brought a large grin to Annette's face and she squeezed his hand before she looked down and the ground and let out a small laugh.
"Thank you Enjolras" spoke the girl "thank you so much"
"It's nothing" shrugged Enjolras, but he could tell from the smile on the girl's face that it meant absolutely everything to her, and this almost made a smile show on his features, almost.
As they both headed back upstairs, Annette ran towards her brother to tell him what Enjolras had told her about the meetings, she quickly assured him that she would not go to the barricades though, maybe I will though thought Annette, and after hearing the news and being assured of her safety he hugged his little sister close to him, and as he looked at Enjolras, who was gazing at them with a satisfied look on his face, Alexandre quickly muttered a thank you to him, to which Enjolras responded with a small nod before he went back to work.
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After the meeting had ended, Annette and her brother headed back home together, and Annette thought of everything that had happened that day, from Grantaire opening up to her to Enjolras and her brother allowed her to go to the meetings whenever she pleased, Annette was quite content with her day.
And as she lay in bed that night, she felt a certain sense of accomplishment and pride hit her all at once, she was glad that now she could actually say that she was doing something. And for the first time since she found out about this revolution, she felt excited instead of fearful, because she trusted her brother, and even though she was not quite ready to admit it, she trusted Enjolras.
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[ AUTHORS NOTE ]
I really wanted to use this chapter to focus on Grantaire and his sexuality in my story, I wanted to create a romantic relationship between him and Annettes friend since the start of the story, however I think that his identity is also quite important to maintain and I wanted to involve it in the story because I believe that it is something that should be addressed and I also do quite like Enjolataire, so I did not want to completely throw it away.
I hope that no one has a problem with what I did (and if you do please do tell me how I can make it better because I really am not looking to upset anyone) and I once again want to make it clear that this is the identity I choose for him in my book and not in anything else, I wanted to include the sexuality that everyone perceives him to have because I think its a topic that deserves to be represented and not just thrown away, but for my book, I wanted to include my own personal love interest for him, which in this case will be both Enjolras (in the past) and now Nicolette (sort of, for now).
Thank you to everyone reading this! I hope everyone enjoyed it and I hope that you all are comfortable with my decision, thanks again! :)
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