Daphné

Chapter 5 - The truth that once was spoken

When I wake up, I'm in an unfamiliar room and as I open my eyes fully to check my surroundings I notice a large pair of eyes directly in front of mine, so close that I can see my reflection in them. Now, waking up to a sight like that is quite alarming and because of who I am, I sit up straight so fast I hit the owner of the eyes, all the while screaming in alarm.

My head is still in dissaray due to my fall and because of the fright I just received, I fell out of the bed I was in and let out a pained moan and exasperated sigh, just as the only door in the room bursts open. I look up to see who it is and I see Joly, the medical student, standing in the doorway with Enjolras behind him who looks very worried and whose hair is sticking out all over the place as if he'd been running his hand through it for a very long time.

I smile at the sight of them as Enjolras strides past Joly into the room lifting me onto the bed and sitting down beside me. I take a chance to look around and see that the source of the eyes was little Gavroche, now sitting in a corner gazing at me with worried eyes. I rush over to him enveloping him in a bear hug before he whispers, "I'm sorry for hurting you, twice". My disbelief must be visible on my face when I reply "it's not your fault Gav, don't worry about it." I smile as I get a toothy grin back from him.

"Ahem", my attention is diverted from Gavroche to Joly, "I need to check how you're doing, after all you were chucked to the ground." I nod as I walk over and he lifts up my shirt to unwrap the bandages underneath it. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Enjolras practically seething with jealousy. Joly notices too and we both exchange a knowing look. After Joly changes my bandages he leaves the room with Gavroche in tow, leaving me with my marble man.

I turn to look at Enjolras to find him staring so intently at me that a blush creeps up onto my cheeks. I walk over to him and he wraps me into his arms, resting his head in the crook of my neck while I play with his golden hair. This is, however, becoming uncomfortable so we lean back and fall onto the bed with me still in his arms and Enjolras' head resting in the crook. "I was so worried about you", he whispers, "you blacked out for so long we weren't sure if you were going to wake up", he finishes, his voice shaky and I look down to see him crying softly. Up until this point I have never seen the mighty man of marble crying and I feel a pang of sadness as I lower myself to his level so we're face to face and I wipe his tears away placing a gentle kiss on his lips.

"Shhh Enjolras", I whisper and the crystal blue eyes meet mine as I continue, "I will always make it for you and for the boys. Anyway next time I'll have Gavroche next to me so nothing bad will happen." I smile at him reassuringly but I feel his body stiffen at the use of 'next time'. 

"There won't be a next time", he simply says. 

"What?!" 

"Daphné you barely made it this time I'm not letting you get hurt again!" 

"Enjolras I'm a 22 year old woman I can take care if myself!" 

"No. Daphné I love you and care for you far too much to let you get hurt. I..."

But I don't hear the rest of his sentence as I zoned out when he said those three magic words. He notices this and snaps me back to reality and before I know what I'm saying I blurt out "I love you Enjolras". It doesn't matter that I blurted it out, because I know I mean it. I look right at Enjolras who looks like a child caught doing something he shouldn't. It's a rather comic sight and when a laugh leaves my lips it's quickly muffled by Enjolras who has cupped my face and pressed his lips onto mine in a searing kiss filled with passion and love. I kiss him back and when we pull apart a tiny tear rolls down each of our faces, because no matter how beautiful this moment is we know it won't last, ending at the gates of freedom.