Valerie (An Enjolras Love Story)

Chapter Sixteen

"Andre..." I said my eyes growing wide. He stood tall in doorway that lead to the back stairwell, dressed in a military uniform. Behind him were about five or six more soldiers.

"Hello Valerie." He smirked at me as he walked through the door and into the upper area of the Café. He looked around and down at the bodies of Courfeyrac, Combeferre, Jehan and Feuilly. "It's nice to see you again." He said looking back up at me. I took a slight step back. There was absolutely nothing nice about this situation. He looked me up and down, stopping at my left hand that hung at me side. I could see a look of anger and rage spread across his face.

"I see you moved on." He said through gritted teeth, as he looked at the ring on my hand. I started fiddling with my engagement ring as I began to grow more nervous. "I could have given you everything. But instead you ran out on me, embarrassing me in front of your parents." He said taking a step closer to me.

"Andre, you know I couldn't marry you." I said quietly, looking around at the other soldiers

"I LOVED YOU!" He shouted his voice breaking a bit. "I am going to give you another chance, to change your mind. Marry me, and we will let you go free. If you don't I will have to do something I may regret." He said.

I stood there for a minute, trying to take in everything he was saying, but my mind became preoccupied with Enjolras, and my love for him. Where the hell is he! He said he would come to me. Panic started to flow through my body.

(Enjolras' P.O.V)

I watched as Valerie and the boys took off up the back stairwell to the second floor of the café, I took the axe that was in the corner and began to chop down the main stairs in the café, making it as difficult for the soldiers to reach us up there as possible. Threw the axe down, an went to go climb up the stairs myself but the soldiers had broken through the front door causing the furniture to come crashing down. I was quick to hid under the bar, I could hear them shuffling around on the hardwood floor, but it suddenly grew quiet, that was until the thunder of their rifles rand through the air, and I heard the thud coming from the upstairs. Instantly my heart fell. Valerie! What if she has fallen? I thought to myself.

The soldiers began to move again, looking round the café, for any sign of life. I slid deeper into my hiding place. I watched as one of the soldiers walked to the back of the café.

"There's a staircase here, let's make a move upstairs and make sure their all dead." One of the soldier's said and the rest followed behind him up the stairs. I prayed that Valerie was safe, and that she was hiding like I was.

I hadn't heard anything for a little while, so I figured it was safe to come out. I slowly made my way up the stairs to see Valerie standing in the middle of the room surrounded by the soldiers. Fear started flowing through my body, as one of the soldiers pointed his gun at her and started yelling at her.

"I LOVED YOU!" he shouted.

"Andre please! Don't do this!" Valerie said as tears streamed down her face. Her eyes flickered to me behind the soldiers. "Enjolras!" She said with a mix of fear and relief at my presence. I started to run to her and so that I could protect her, but was stopped as Andre ordered some of the guards to stop me. They gripped onto my arms, as I tried to pull away, only for them to pull me back.

"This is the man you left me for. This scum of a man, a traitor to the monarchy that has done so much for us. The leader of the revolution" Andre said walking over to me and pulling my hair so that I was looking right at him.

"Let her go. She's done nothing wrong." I said through gritted teeth.

"My orders were to make sure that we put an end to every single revolutionary. And the fact that she is the leader's girl, means that she is one of the most important people to get rid of." Andre said walking back so that he was standing in front of Valerie. "This is your last chance. Come with me, and you may go free. Choose him, and I will have to do something you both will regret." Andre said holding up his gun so that it was pointed right at Valerie, I tried to wiggle my way out of the grip of soldiers again but they only tightened their grasp on my arms. I looked at Valerie, her eyes full of fear and sadness. "I love you" she mouthed to me before she spoke.

"I would never choose you Andre, I do not love you, I never have." She said sternly looking right at Andre. I saw his grip tighten around the musket.

"As you wish." Andre said, and a shot rang out.

"NO!" I shouted as I watched Valerie fall. I finally broke free from the grasp of the soldiers and ran to grab Valerie before she hit the floor. "No, no no!" I said as tears started to fill my eyes. I held her in my arms, blood rushing from the wound in her abdomen. "Valerie, mon amour, I'm so sorry I did this to you. This is all my fault. Can you ever forgive me?" I said as the tears started running down my cheeks as I held her in my arms.

"Enjolras, I made this choice. You and I were in this together, and I couldn't be prouder of you. I wouldn't have changed anything for the world" She said reaching up and laying her hand on my cheek.

"I'm so sorry, I only wish we had more time. We had so many plans for the future. And I could make up for the bad times." I said through sobs.

"How does a moment last forever, how can a story never die. " She paused as she winced in pain. "It is love we must hold on to. Never easy, but we try." I stroked her hair as we looked into each other's eyes for possibly the last time. "Sometimes, our happiness is captured, somehow, our time and place stand still. Love lives inside our hearts and always will." She smiled up at me slightly.

"Valerie" I whispered, but she kept on with her speech making me listen to her, as she did to me in the past.

"Minutes turn to hours, days to years and then gone. But when all else has been forgotten, still our story will live on." She said.

"Maybe some moments weren't so perfect, maybe some memories not so sweet." I said back to her.

"But we have to know some bad times, or our lives are incomplete." She said grabbing my hand, causing a smile to fall across my face.

"How does a moment last forever? How does love Endure? Through the darkest of our troubles, Love is beauty, love is pure. Love pays no mind to desolation, it flows through the soul. It protects, proceeds and perseveres and makes us whole." We said together.

"Minutes, turn to hours, days to years and then-" Valerie said taking in a breath. "gone" she said as she releasing her final breath as her eyes slowly shut. I pulled her body close to mine as sobs shook my body. I have no idea how long I sat on the floor of the upstairs of the café, as I held the body of the love of my life, it felt like time had stopped completely once she was gone.

"Get up!" One of the soldiers ordered to me as he pulled me up so that I was standing. He pushed me over by the window as they crowded around me.

"I hope you are happy!" I spat as Andre. "You killed the most kind and loving person to walk this earth. How can you live with yourself!" I yelled in pain as I looked at Valerie's lifeless body laying on the floor.

"AIM!" Andre shouted, and all the soldiers raised their guns at me, but were stopped just before they pulled their triggers.

"Wait!" I voice slurred from behind them. They all turned to see where the voice was coming from, and I saw Grantaire stumble out from behind the bar and over to stand next to me. As he walked past Valerie, I saw him try to hide a sob.

"Any last words." Andre said addressing him.

"VIVE LA REPUBLIQUE!" Grantaire shouted, as we held up the red flag of the revolution. Thunder rung from the rifles of the soldiers, and everything went black.

A/N What did you think?

-Nat