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Jehan knocked on Grantaire's door as they called, "Hey, R?"
"Yeah," was the answer as the door swung opened. Grantaire stood about a head and a half taller than Jehan. His hair was a mess as usual and he looked like he hadn't shaved in days, though this was also usual. His scruff was permanent. His face and arms were also covered in paint, and his shirts had stains of red and blue and gray on it.
"Open a window, the paint fumes are going to suffocate you."
"Death is nothing at all. It does not count. "
"Don't quote funeral poems at me. I came in here for a reason."
"Then by all means step into my lovely living space."
Jehan rolled their eyes. They had liked Grantaire from the moment they met. They became fast friends- well Jehan had quickly decided that they and R were going to be best friends. R took some time to convince.
They had taken the same art history class freshman year and R was late on the first day (and every class after that) and he was forced to sit in the back next to Jehan. Jehan took an immediate liking to the cynical, sarcastic guy who sat next to them. He wasn't very friendly at first but it took Jehan only a few conversations with him to figure out why that was. He didn't seem to have a very high opinion of himself. Jehan had a knack for knowing what Grantaire was thinking. When Grantaire finally broke out of his 'I hate life too much to have friends' exterior, Jehan was the one who listened to his long and honestly rather depressing stories about life. After that R just got closer to Jehan. When they were both out of a place to live they pooled their little incomes- Jehan's from their parents and occasional commissioned poems and R's from odd jobs and rare sold paintings- together and moved into a very small apartment with two closet sized bedrooms, a shoebox sized bathroom, and maybe half a kitchen. Jehan made R start going to the Les Amis meetings, they made sure R ate something every now and then, they made sure he never drank so much he had to get his stomach pumped. In return, R read all of Jehan's poems, he never interrupted a long and rambled story about a historical figure, he reminded Jehan of their assignments that were due or that they needed groceries because God knew Jehan's mind was always somewhere else. They balanced each other out at least enough to keep themselves alive. Jehan didn't complain about the fact R's room was in a constant state of disarray- mostly because their own room wasn't much better- and R did not complain when Jehan came home with a bouquet of daisies and no milk after being sent to the store. They had been through a substantial amount of bullshit between the two of them and they were good for each other. Jehan had been waiting for almost two years for Enjolras to finally get it through it his head that Grantaire was actually in love with him. They had been waiting longer for Grantaire to stop covering up his feelings with lame insults. The latter never stopped even as the two slowly but surely started dating. Now it was Jehan's turn to have someone to pine over.
"So you had a point to interrupting my shitty art?"
"It's not shitty art," Jehan reminded. "But yes I did. So you know the guy upstairs?"
"Which guy upstairs? Jondrette? What'd he do now? Is putting up lost dog posters again? Because he doesn't have a dog. Éponine was telling me he's been using that scam since she was a kid."
"No not Jondrette, the guy next door to Jondrette."
"That's like an elderly couple with a parakeet. Oh God, you took their parakeet, didn't you? I mean it's one thing when you take Combeferre's cat, you know him, but come on, Jehan-"
"No! The other side of Jondrette."
"That's Montparnasse's apartment- no. No, Jehan. No. You're not breaking into his place. I'm serious. I will call Ép if I have to. She will find a way to restrain you. I mean I have that funeral poem memorized but I refuse to go if you die from sheer stupidity."
Jehan's face twisted into a smile. "Well, I already did."
Grantaire stopped at his easel where he had sat back down and started working again as Jehan hung upside down on his bed.
"Oh fuck. Did he like cut you? Are you okay? Is there a bounty on your head? Look my dude, I love you, but I'm not getting skinned by this guy for you. Not even Ép can save you from this one-"
"Relax, R. I'm fine. He didn't hurt me. In fact, we got to talking. He's a great listener, charming too. I like him."
"You like him? Oh well then that's fine. Yeah, you just like him and suddenly he won't try to kill you. Sounds perfectly legit-"
"He's not evil, you know. You act like I haven't committed crimes before. Or like you haven't. Just last month, wasn't it me who bailed you and Bahorel out for that fight down town?"
R didn't have a comeback for this. Jehan was right at least partially.
"Bahorel started that," he tried weakly. "Misdemeanors and felonies are different. Montparnasse runs a crime ring."
"He's part of a crime ring. That doesn't make him less of a person."
"Wait a minute. What are we arguing about again? Are you saying you have like feelings for him?"
"Well we've only talked once. But he's-"
"Hellooo, are you guys home," they heard Éponine's voice call out as their front door slammed closed.
"We're in my room," Grantaire called back. This was not an uncommon practice for Éponine to hang out in their apartment as she pleased.
"Jehan, my dear, you're looking purple as ever," she pointed to Jehan's sweater with the cats on it, all varying shades of blue and purple. "And, R, you look like your usual trash."
"Always such a pleasure to have over, Ép."
She sat down next to Jehan on R's bed.
"So, what are we discussing?"
"Jehan likes a friend of yours."
"A friend of mine? Unless it's Grantaire, they probably aren't worth your time. And he's just barely passing, not to mention taken."
Grantaire flushed a little as she said the last part.
"Well, it's funny you say that because-" he started.
"It's Montparnasse," Jehan deadpanned. "And I don't really need your approval."
The other two got quiet. They stayed quiet for a little longer than was comfortable.
"Look, Jehan, I didn't mean it like that," Éponine said. "Just, let me tell you, he's not a nice guy. He isn't one to go on casual dates with or anything like that. I just don't want you to get hurt."
R just nodded in agreement, looking earnestly at Jehan. As if that would stop them from trying.
"You weren't there yesterday. He wasn't like he is usually. He wasn't looking for an escape route. He was just, relaxed. He just talked to me."
"He just talked to you? He wasn't on his phone? He wasn't planning something? He just talked?"
"Yeah, we just talked. He's a great listener."
Éponine turned to Grantaire. "I have never in my life had a conversation with Montparnasse that lasted longer than twenty minutes uninterrupted."
"He's never even looked at me for more than a second."
"This is weird. 'Parnasse isn't usually so… friendly? Jehan, good luck with whatever this is. I don't know what else to tell you. Be careful with him."
"Éponine, do you consider him a friend?" Jehan was very serious when they asked.
"I guess distantly. I've known him since we were kids."
"Has he ever hurt you?"
"Well… no. I guess he hasn't. He's never had a reason to I guess."
"See what I mean. He's still human."
"You see more good in people than I do, my friend," Grantaire acquiesced.
"I guess so."
There was a long period of silence where Éponine and Grantaire tried to process this. Montparnasse had always been regarded as a bad guy by everyone. Even Éponine, who was raised by thieves and had known Montparnasse forever, was wary of him most days. She didn't know exactly what business he was in. Whether it was murder, drugs, trafficking, it was illegal.
"Well, I came here for a reason. Cosette told me to tell you that her brother is avoiding you, because he thinks he fucked up your date last week. So please, for the love of God, call him and fix this before Wednesday's meeting. No one wants to deal with his very obvious guilty face or you usual sad sack face. We haven't seen them for a while, and we don't know if we're prepared for it again," Éponine informed Grantaire.
Jehan couldn't help but laugh at their friend's ineptitude at dating. Not that they had much experience either.
Grantaire groaned and said he'd go call now before it became a problem. As he left the room, Éponine turned to Jehan.
"You're gonna try to see him again, aren't you?"
"Yeah," they admitted. She nodded.
"I can't stop you. I won't try to either. Just be careful, okay?"
"Okay."
"You know…he doesn't like to wait for long," she said this carefully. They looked at her for a moment before smiling and making their way out the window and up the fire escape.