A Franc or Two - Les Misérables [IN EDITING]

Apologize - Chapter 41

When the meeting had ended, Grantaire had fallen asleep on your shoulder. It was sweet, really- even though he was drunk out of his mind.

Gavroche had remained beside you the entire meeting, whispering over to his "little brother" everything that was going on (except in a quite dumbed down version so your baby could understand), though he had to go home with Courfeyrac... Reluctantly, that is.

It seemed as if you wouldn't get the delicacy of conversation with anyone else- but, to be frank, you were fine with that.

You were too caught up with what you would say to Timeo.

He had been too dumb to realize that you were probably pregnant (and, though you didn't believe it for a while, it was simply to cope with things).

The only remotely good thing about the pregnancy was how excited Gavroche was to meet the baby.

He was already having conversations with it- cooing and teaching "him" chants. It was even more entertaining to watch Gavroche wait for a response...

But any happiness you might have had completely vanished the once the meeting had ended.

Just as it had been the last meeting, you were hurrying out of there as fast as humanly possible- though you were stopped the moment you began to walk out of the room. You turned back to see Enjolras.

"[Y/N]," he said, his eyebrows furrowing as he held onto your arm. Though gentle, his grip was definitely firm. "I know you don't deserve for me to bother you, but... if you can forgive me for just two minutes- this is important."

"Why? Do you want to yell at me again?" you asked, your eyebrows furrowing a little. "Tell me I don't belong because I was a whore?"

Enjolras's jaw clenched, but slowly, he nodded.

"I deserved that," he said. "And I would just as much deserve a slap to the face..."

"I mean... You did use the fact that I- erhm, was a whore against me." You didn't want to lie and say you weren't a whore anymore, but you still wanted to get your point across. "But you've got my attention. For two minutes."

"First off, I want to apologize profusely for what I said," Enjolras muttered. "I didn't know how to react to seeing you at the meeting, and some of my men- the way they were looking at you was definitely... immodest, to say the least."

"But why did you bring up the fact that I worked as a whore?" you asked. "Why did that matter?"

"It means that you're beautiful," he said, the muscle in his jaw pulsing for a moment. "It was just... A very rude way of saying so."

"You were trying to compliment me?" you asked, cocking an eyebrow and giving a disbelieving chuckle- which was quick to dissipate with your serious exterior. "I say that's bullshit."

Enjolras looked in a different direction, though still avoided eye contact with you.

"Fair enough," he muttered.

"Is that all you wanted to talk about?" you asked, cocking an eyebrow as you grimaced a little. That grimace, however, wasn't because you were upset (though that may have been a part of it), but because you were victim of a terrible stomach pain. "Because... If it is... I should be going."

The moment you turned to leave again, Enjolras was quick to follow- and though your pain was still great, you managed to continue forward.

"Mademoiselle, I wanted to talk about your baby," he said.

You froze.

"What about it?"

You placed a hand on your stomach, making sure to concentrate on your breathing (something you found helped in moments like these), and Enjolras's eyebrows furrowed.