#remind me to post it on ao3 when i'll have decent internet connection

[justgayrevolutionnaries]

You got living to do

Or : Enjolras does too much and his friend tries to knock some sense into him.

My gift for @cherrypigeon as part of the @drinkwithme-exchange ! You requested Enjolras and Eponine friendship and I really wanted to see what I could do with them, so here you go <3

Also a big thank you to @aceofspades-smt for being an amazing beta, it was my first fic and you really helped me through it !

Enjolras doesn't really know at what point he lost track of time. Sure, after the meeting was over, he told Courfeyrac and Combeferre that he wouldn't stay here for too long, but there is just too much stuff he needs to get done. He tried to keep writing his speech for the next protest, and when he ran out of inspiration went back to reading that article about the changes in the Congress, made a note to himself that he needs to get Grantaire a birthday present for next week, then went to see if the online petition Les Amis started got more votes since the last time he checked (ten minutes ago). Then replied hotly that guy on their website who apparently had nothing better to do than to insult the group and their actions. Then-

"Earth to Enjolras, is anyone there ?"

The unexpected voice snaps him out of his thoughts.

"Sorry, you were saying something ?" The blond asks, removing his headphones and looking at the person standing next to him.

Eponine sights heavily (and, he thinks, quite dramatically).

"I was asking if you were planning to stay here all night or if, very hypothetically, part of you would be sensible enough to think about getting some sleep ?"

He shoots her a confused glance "What are you talking about ? I've been here for-"

"Three hours straight. It's almost midnight, dumbass, and I hate kicking you out but we have to close at some point."

With a look of horror, Enjolras realizes he got lost working on this for way longer than he thought.

"Shit, shit, shit", he mutters, very eloquently, while glancing at his watch. Maybe there is still a way he can make it to the metro station before it closes- he really doesn't want to walk an hour to his and Ferre's apartment in the middle of the night.

"Man, you look really bad. Like, worse than usual. Need a ride ?"

Ignoring the exhausted part of his brain that wants to accept, he shakes his head and sends her a smile that tries to look thankful, but is really just too tired to be convincing.

"I will be fine, don't bother. You need to go home, too."

"I mean, I told Gav I'd come back early, but y'know, I think the kid won't die if I leave him alone twenty more minutes. At least I'm gonna pretend I trust him not to set anything on fire while I'm not there."

Enjolras can't help but snort at this - Eponine isn't really one to talk, being on Courf's list of "people most likely to set something on fire in a kitchen" (along, for the record, with Enjolras himself).

"C'mon, Enjolras, you look ready to fall asleep on the spot. You really feel like being an idiot and refusing my help ? Because that's, like, a very stupid move."

Again, he vaguely tries to protest, or at least to sound offended, but she doesn't really sound like giving him a choice. God, I'm definitely too tired for this.

After packing all his stuff carefully (Ferre is gonna kill him if he forgets his coat again), he follows his friend outside. Part of him briefly wonders when and how Eponine got a car, but his brain is so clouded he decides it's not worth asking. Still, it feels weird to rely on Eponine for something. He is more used to arguing with her than to seeing her being helpful.

As a matter of fact, the first time Eponine showed up at a Les Amis meeting, the two of them didn't exactly get along well - Enjolras seeing her only as a lovestruck girl who came along because of Pontmercy, while Eponine already had her own not-so-positive opinion on him based on Grantaire's endless rants.

It took them exactly two weeks and a protest gone wrong to realize that maybe they needed to change their opinion on each other. Since then, they didn't exactly become friends, as they never really had a conversation that wasn't either about their actions with Les Amis or Enjolras's relationship with Grantaire, but at least they managed to get along. Kind of. Given how headstrong and outspoken they both were, their relationship was still a rather tumultuous one. The kind that involved a fair amount of annoying the hell out of each other from time to time, through almost-constant bickering and bullying (affectionate bickering, you might say, although both of them would rather die than call it that way).

But apparently, they were comfortable enough around each other to just sit in silence together without it becoming too awkward. It was one of the things Enjolras unconsciously noticed about her : since she started dating Cosette, Eponine became a lot more relaxed and easy to hang out with. They may not be close, but Enjolras is glad to see his previously morose friend looking so happy.

"Y'know, I wasn't joking earlier" Eponine suddenly says, snapping him out of his thoughts for the second time in the evening, which makes him realize he had been on the verge of falling asleep on his seat. Again. Which is a little concerning, since he has never ever been able to even come close to sleeping in a driving car.

Okay, so much for avoiding awkward conversations.

"What ?"

"Are you actually planning to get some sleep anytime soon ?"

"I am getting sleep !" snaps Enjolras, slightly annoyed by the question. How is that any of her business ? "It's just… there is some stuff I need to finish, but it's nothing more than usual."

Again, his friend lets out a sigh while shooting him a concerned and slightly exasperated look. Enjolras staying up all night to plan a rally or some other action, or even just study something, was nothing unusual. All of les Amis knew that when their friend was getting passionate about something he could stay up for days to think about it, and they usually tried not to worry too much when that happened. But this time something felt different. The blond had been acting like this for weeks, drowning into work and not really taking time for himself or to hang out with his friends.

"Listen, Enjolras, I am your friend, okay ? I just want to help you here. I know what this means to you, but you need to understand you can not keep going like this. You can't just get caught up in the idea of saving people to the point where you forget to live your own life."

"Wha- I don't-" he feels so frustrated by what she is saying that he doesn't even know what he wants to say. "Are you serious, 'Ponine ? Who cares about my life ? When I look at the world around me, you think I want to keep living my life like nothing is happening ? People need help ! We need to do protests, tell more people to- to just do something !"

He seems to be on the verge of tears now - which is how Eponine understands that this may be worse than she thought. It's not that she thought Enjolras wasn't capable of being emotional, obviously, but he never actually showed it to people who weren't his closest friends. And even then, it took the combined forces of Courf, Combeferre and Grantaire to get him to admit what was wrong.

"Okay, listen. Just for once, don't be an idiot and listen, okay ?"

She waits until he gives her a reluctant nod to keep talking.

"You are enough, Enjolras. You are doing more than any other person I know, and - god, I can't believe I am saying this - I really, really respect you for it. I respect the way you just always try to make other people's lives better, no matter what. Trust me, what you are doing is good enough. But you need to understand that at some point you can't just always keep doing more. And most importantly, you can't take everything upon yourself, not when we are all here to help you. You aren't gonna save the world by working yourself to death, Enjolras."

He vaguely tries to say something, but Eponine shoots him a look that makes him very effectively shut his mouth. Maybe the girl seems harmless to people who didn't know her, but she could be terrifying sometimes - like when Enjolras started dating Grantaire and she showed up at his door to give him the basic "you hurt him, I kill you" talk, which the blond has absolutely no reason not to believe given the way she looked at him. Which is why, for once, Enjolras thinks it might be wise not to argue back - this, and the fact that a part of him, even if he really doesn't want to accept it, knows that she is right. But still, that doesn't make it easier to accept.

"I know how much you don't want to listen to my advice, but at least take time to think about it, okay ? And whether you like it or not, your friends care about you. So you need to understand we won't stop giving you those talks until you actually start listening, got it ?"

Enjolras still doesn't answer - but this time, it's because he has a knot in his throat that makes him feel like he is going to start crying if he says anything. Eponine is, has always been, a brutally honest person, and the way she told him that his friends care about him went right through his heart. Even if, sometimes, he still struggles with the idea of people loving him for who he is, he knows his friends care. And he knows that if he doesn't listen to them, they would very well be able to lock him up until he starts taking care of himself. And as much as that frustrates him, he really, really loves his friends for it. So yeah, maybe this one time, he can consider listening to Eponine. Maybe.

Still, when he gets out of the car, it feels like a weight has been taken off his chest.

"Thank you. Really." He doesn't add anything else, because he knows he will always be too stubborn to admit he really needed the help from Eponine Thénardier. It doesn't matter, though, because he knows his friend understands what he meant - she can't help but smirks, and he sees very well how hard she is trying not to say anything sarcastic as an answer.

"Anytime, blondie."

"Don't call- yeah, okay," he sighs. Could be worse.