Modern AU. Marius and Eponine go on a double date with Enjolras and Grantaire. Things don't go as planned.

"We don't have to go if you don't want to."

Grantaire's voice, though quiet, managed to seep into Enjolras' thoughts. He turned his gaze away from the window. "No, it's fine."

The date had been scheduled well ahead in advance. While Marius and Eponine had been together nearly since the time they had met, Enjolras and Grantaire's relationship was a bit more complex. They went out together. They did activities together. Grantaire would sometimes attend a lecture that Enjolras was interested in seeing with him, but they hadn't officially deemed themselves a couple until recently. Enjolras didn't think labels were all that useful and Grantaire was just fine in whatever Enjolras wanted.

Eponine had first approached Grantaire with the idea. Realizing that Grantaire would waffle on it until Enjolras gave his own answer, she approached him with the idea. She had hoped that Grantaire would say yes, and maybe convince Enjolras of the rightness of such a concept. While Enjolras had never said or done anything negative to her, it was Eponine's impression that he rarely indulged in anything relationship-centered.

His answer surprised her.

"What did Grantaire say when you asked him?"

She wasn't above lying. "He said yes, but to ask you as well."

Enjolras looked slightly taken aback, but he finally nodded. "When will it be?"

She gave him the details and got out of there before he could ask her any questions. She could still lie to him, but it was hard to do so without feeling guilty.

Grantaire wasn't certain of the point of double-dating. He understood the concept, but he couldn't help but want his dates with Enjolras to be private affairs. Enjolras surrounded himself with people nearly every day at all times. He couldn't blame the others. Enjolras operated like a giant magnet, drawing people in either with his words, his charisma, or his ideas. It wasn't conversation he was after, it was thoughts and progress. He enjoyed making the people around him think, if not positively about a subject than constructively about another. It fueled his own passion and commitment to his causes.

So Grantaire had been ready and willing to pet Eponine consolingly on the shoulder after Enjolras shot her down. "He just doesn't have the mind for romance," he would say. "But that's why we love him." And Eponine would agree and go on her way with Marius. While Grantaire would reassure Enjolras later that "So you don't want to date with other people in tow. Lots of people don't like doing that. It's fine. Let's spend the evening at home." Life would be perfect and it was all so simple.

No one was more surprised than he was that Enjolras said yes.

Hence the conversation they were having on the day of the event. Enjolras, already dressed in a fairly casual outfit, sat by the window watching the snow fall. Grantaire, still trying to decide on a shirt that lacked any stains, kept a watchful eye on him. The look on Enjolras' face was pensive, but it seemed directionless. He wasn't thinking about the date.

He was thinking about other matters. Other ideas well beyond Grantaire's scope. The passage of time and existences did nothing to change Enjolras' habits. When he wanted answers, he looked to the light, preferring the nature-based ones. In the cold December afternoon, he watched the snow coming down but did not see the flakes. Grantaire wouldn't have minded just watching him for a time, but needs must. And if he was doomed to spend an evening with another couple, he may as well get his time in with Enjolras now.

Choosing a shirt, he walked over to the window seat, cupped his lover's face between his hands, and kissed him. He didn't stop until he felt Enjolras responding to him, becoming more aware of him. It wasn't fair, Grantaire thought, that Enjolras should travel to other lands mentally and leave him behind. "Are you certain you're all right with this?" He asked again.

Enjolras touched his shoulder. "Are you? This is the second time you've asked me. We'll be fine."

Enjolras says we'll. Grantaire's heart soared as it always did whenever Enjolras spoke of them as a couple.

In truth, Enjolras' own anxiety wasn't about the date but concerning Eponine's other half. He had once gone out to eat with Marius as a gesture of good will.

"He's lonely," Courfeyrac had told him. "I think he wants to get back in with us, but he needs to see that you and Combeferre are willing to include him. One night. That's all I'm asking."

So he took Courfeyrac up on his offer and asked Marius out.

Mistake number one. Asking people out had different connotations.

"I'm flattered that you would ask me out," Marius had stammered, eyes as wide as saucers, "but I'm not gay."

Nevermind that they had been in class at the time and a slew of students turned to face them.

Mistake number two. After clarifying to Marius what he meant, he allowed Marius to choose the place.

Enjolras' father was disgustingly rich. This didn't mean they ate at fancy restaurants or joined country clubs. Enjolras' father had gotten rich based upon a slew of wise investments and working his way through the government. He had neither the time nor the inclination to indulge himself in any stereotypical pissing contest with other millionaires. Instead, he brought his son up on either home cooked meals or took him out to restaurants well below their means.

Enjolras never complained about it. He had a warm fondness for hole-in-the-wall diners and places with flair up on the walls. Going to restaurants that required all men to wear jackets and that charged for usage of the facilities was beyond his understanding.

He sat in stony silence as Marius dug into his filet. The waiter was cordial enough, though he raised an eyebrow at Enjolras ordering a salad and nothing else. The prices looked too steep for Enjolras to justify spending on a small piece of meat. This was not his crowd, and the crowd soon became more charged when Enjolras' conversation became more animated and loud as it grew increasingly political.

Enjolras was asked to leave. Marius asked if he was still allowed to stay to finish off his dinner.

It was one of the few times Enjolras had to report a failure back to Courfeyrac. Courfeyrac only laughed.

Recounting what had happened to Grantaire had Grantaire giving him more sympathy. "That won't happen," Grantaire assured him. "I don't think Eponine would put up with that."

Eponine, who wasn't about to lose out on this rare occasion, had prepared thoroughly for it. Marius had spoken to her about a few of his own concerns, and her mainstay thought was that it wouldn't matter where they all went. What mattered was that they would be doing it together.

She did not choose a fancy restaurant. Like Enjolras, she would feel far too out of her element. Aside from that Marius had started forming an estrangement with his grandfather. Money was starting to become tight, and to lead him to a place that costs a hundred a plate would be adding insult on top of injury. Marius still wanted to be the noble gentleman and pay for them both, but Eponine had her pride and knowledge of finances to steer him clear of the stereotypical show-off-for-your-date areas.

She did not know Enjolras and Grantaire so well, but from what she could see of them both, it was easy to deduce that they'd feel more comfortable in a familiar environment. Especially with Grantaire stuck in a quiet panic, fearing he would do or say the wrong thing and Enjolras would lose all semblance to what made him Enjolras and lash out. And Enjolras?

Eponine liked to think that she understood his sort of disposition. A rich student uncomfortable with the upper class due to their ideals. Unable to fit in with the poor due to privilege. She did not feel sorry for him as he'd never accept pity, but it was easy to see him as a sort of charity case, though the charity was offered in terms of acceptance and guidance rather than anything monetary. It was strange to think of Enjolras in terms of a person when he tended to be so much more than. He had aided her in ways no one else had and when he spoke, it was with convictions she never heard before. He tended to stay aloof to all save for those closest to him.

Which was why Grantaire so appealed to her when it came to Enjolras. Grantaire was not like Eponine. He was almost shy, shuffling his way through life with drink and song, and thought little of Enjolras' ideals and thought the world of Enjolras. In a way, Grantaire humanized Enjolras to her. Not that Grantaire brought Enjolras down, but Eponine did love seeing the man get under Enjolras' skin, pushing Enjolras into something akin to resignation, creating negotiations where he normally wouldn't, and cease talking of politics to settle for talks of mundane matters.

Mundane matters tended to be the essence of life to Eponine. She could understand high and mighty virtues, but talk meant little next to action, and she vastly preferred actions. Enjolras had a lovely voice, and she most liked listening to him when he was talking about day to day matters.

She liked seeing them together. They met somewhere between the ground and the sky, and it reminded her of her relationship with Marius. Though he wasn't soaring due to ideals, but simply because he forgot to take off his wings. And she didn't crawl out of jaded misgivings and cynicism, but because of realistic expectations of life.

So she took the other three to a distinctly middle-class restaurant that served some of the best spinach dip this side of the equator. Conversation was easy to maintain so long as only she and Grantaire came up with the topics. While it wouldn't be so bad for Grantaire to hear Enjolras speak on politics, it was the arguments sure to come with Marius that kept him from approaching the topic.

Dinner, she thought, was a success.

The theater afterwards? Not so much.

She had grave misgivings about seeing a movie. Grantaire was up for anything, save for a chick-flick. Enjolras had preferences, but mainly kept out of such matters since all cinema to him was either hit or miss. She would prefer something either romantic or featuring chainsaws. Marius was a bit on the fence about several that none of the others wanted to see.

Eponine made the only mistake of the night in opting for the latest Michael Bay feature.

Marius felt more comfortable in entering the darkened theater. It was an old-fashioned set up with a few seats a bit higher than others, akin to a regular musical theater. A mezzanine, his grandfather had called it. "Before your time, that's how some theaters were made. You're lucky you'll be attending college in such an old town. These days, people don't appreciate that architecture. Especially the section in the back right below the overlooking seats. It's as dark as a tomb back there. Easy to have your fun."

He felt even more comfortable when Grantaire, taking Enjolras' hand, said that he and Enjolras would be sitting up on the mezzanine. Eponine let them go and steered Marius into the lower section. She sat them far back enough, but not too far back into the darkened section. Marius wasn't sure why he dreaded that area so much.

"Want anything to eat or drink?" He asked, figuring he should take care of her.

"Any gummi bears if they have them. If not, I'll settle for snocaps. And a drink." She smiled. "Thank you."

He would do anything for that smile.

Grantaire met him in the lobby and waved at him from the line he stood in. "C'mon over!" There was no one behind Grantaire anyway, so Marius didn't quite get the point, but he joined the older man anyway. "I take it you were sent out to get your fair maiden something?"

"I volunteered," Marius corrected. "You were sent out?"

"No. He doesn't ask for anything, but I wanted popcorn." The line moved quickly enough, and Grantaire ended up ordering more than just popcorn. A medium-sized bucket, a drink, several boxes of candy, and a raised eyebrow from Marius.

"You're going to eat all of that?"

"Of course not. I'll be sharing with him. He has a penchant for candy." Grantaire, not sure what Enjolras would want to eat due to having no direction, opted for what he thought looked good. Marius settled himself with his order, though the concession stand attendant told him in no uncertain terms that the gummi bears were stale and that they didn't have coke, only pepsi.

Grantaire watched him, shifting from foot to foot while holding his items.

Marius had little choice but to walk with him back into the theater. "Ever see Bay's films?" Grantaire asked.

"No."

"You'll like them. They're too damn long, though. Good for disregarding the plot and just for being close to the one you love." How he managed to nudge Marius' elbow without spilling anything, Marius wasn't sure.

"Mm," he said, noncommittally before quickening his step and finding Eponine once again.

"No gummi bears?" Eponine asked when Marius handed her the snocaps.

"They were stale," Marius muttered.

She kissed his cheek. "Thank you."

He wondered if he could hold her hand throughout the movie. A few more people trickled into the theater before the previews started.

A good half hour into the film, Marius felt something hit his head. It was a light tap and he turned around to see if the people sitting behind him wanted his attention. But the seats behind himself were empty. Touching his hair, he felt nothing out of the norm. Turning back to the movie, he wondered if Eponine's fingers had touched him. Maybe she wanted to be closer? He slid an arm around her shoulders, feeling a bit more confident.

Two minutes later and he felt another tap against his head. And then another. A kernel of popcorn fell from his hair and onto his shoulder.

"What.." He brushed it off and, again, turned to look behind him.

Several more kernels of popcorn fell from the sky, this time landing on Eponine and Marius. Eponine let out a sound that resembled a stifled laugh as she turned and inclined her head upwards.

Marius followed her example and looked up.

Grantaire made a face at them.

And then he tossed several of the heated heart candies he had purchased. They hit their intended target - Marius' face - and in a gesture of sublime chivalry, Eponine hurled several snocaps at Grantaire that bounced against his cheeks and nose.

"Oh, it's on!" Grantaire said, a bit too loudly as several people turned in their direction.

More candy started to be flung, and with the battle increasing in speed, any attention to the movie was forgotten and Marius tried ducking and covering to avoid the popcorn. Of course, there was no ducking from the entire bucket being pushed down upon him by Enjolras. It landed atop Marius' head, and as he felt butter run over his ears, he wondered why he had ever thought himself to be safe in the theater.

"To arms! To arms! We shall give you no quarter!"

He could not tell who had said that with the bucket covering his eyes, but it sounded suspiciously like Eponine.

"You can't stop me! I am pain! I am death! I am your worst nightmare!"

Grantaire was starting to scare him.

"What should I do?" He asked Eponine, hoping his options were to inform a manager.

"Go out and get more candy!"

His disappointment was emphasized by several stale gummi bears hitting him in the chest. One of them stuck to his jacket.

In the end, there were no winners or losers. Only annoyed ushers and a manager escorting all four of them out of the theater.

Enjolras gave Grantaire a victory kiss regardless. Marius politely averted his eyes. Eponine watched in delight.

"Perhaps we should call it a night?" She suggested after seeing Marius' discomfort.

"May as well. I've a paper to write before morning," Enjolras conceded, and to Eponine's further delight, he sounded genuinely sad to end the date. Grantaire beamed all too proudly.

"We should do this again sometime."

She was inclined to agree. Perhaps next time she would bring some extra money to spend on nachos and wouldn't allow Enjolras and Grantaire to have the higher ground.