Chapter Text
Combeferre was used to seeing Marius come to meetings with a pile of books - they were almost always law books, though he’d once seen an Anthology of Marx perched atop the man’s pile. He’d not asked if that was at the encouragement of the group or if it was for class. Combeferre was positive that the time he’d seen Marius thumbing through a copy of Sister Outsider it had been Feuilly’s copy. He had loaned out Alain Badiou’s An Essay on the Understanding of Evil . He didn’t only read law books, but Combeferre had come to believe that, unless prodded by members of the group, he kept to school work.
Tonight, though, Combeferre saw Marius behind his usual pile of books, but there on the top was a thick mass market paperback, clearly well loved. The creases on the spine made it hard to read the title, but the author’s name stood out in white against the blue: ROBERT JORDAN. Combeferre couldn’t help but smile - he knew that book, knew the blue stuck out amongst the reds and yellows of the covers of the other thirteen others in the series. What he didn’t know was that Marius read fantasy.
Combeferre wanted to go over and talk to Marius about the book. He’d not been able to convince any of the others to read The Wheel of Time and now here was Marius, who was reading it, or maybe even had already read it based on the shape of the book. Instead he walked over to Enjolras. Combeferre had been looking into arguments against a universal basic income and wanted to talk them over with Enjolras. He’d have time to hound Marius about the books after the meeting.
Despite almost rudely cutting Courfeyrac off in a retelling of his day, he missed Marius, who left with Feuilly and Bahorel. Combeferre turned to apologise to Courfeyrac, but was met with raised eyebrows.
“Why would you want to talk to Marius?” Combeferre was about to protest, but Courfeyrac just shook his head huffing out a laugh. “It was that book he was reading huh?”
“Yeah, I had no idea-” Courfeyrac interrupted him.
“That he’s a giant nerd just like you? That’s because you’ve never spoken to the guy, not even when he lived with me.”
“We speak all the time.” Combeferre insisted, but he knew Courfeyrac was right. They did speak, and they spoke often, but they had only ever spoken about the work the group was doing, or about philosophy or law.
“Talk to him next week, he also really likes Lord of the Rings .”
To say Combeferre waited impatiently for the next meeting would be more correct than he wanted to admit. If he had the Lord of the Rings soundtrack playing while he worked, sue him, it was good music to write a paper to. When Combeferre was early to the meeting, Courfeyrac rolled his eyes. But when Enjolras pulled Combeferre aside, Courfeyrac sent Combeferre an almost apologetic look.
The meeting passed too slowly, and Combeferre couldn’t keep his eyes off the book on the top of Marius’s pile. The light blue of Winter’s Heart was replaced by the greens of Crossroads of Twilight . He’d not noticed how far into the book Marius had been last week, but if he really was reading each book in a week, he’d be burning through the series the same way Combeferre had his first read through.
When at last the meeting finally ended, Combeferre looked up to see that Marius had gone. Combeferre laid his head on his arms on the table and sighed. He’d have to wait a whole week to talk to Marius. At this point he just wanted to know whether or not it was his first time reading the books, and how much he liked them. He could ask Courfeyrac, if past experience was any indication the man would be on his way over to torment Combeferre presently, but he’d rather ask the guy himself, hear about the books from him.
“Tough luck.” Courfeyrac said sitting down beside Combeferre. Combeferre could only groan, causing Courfeyrac to laugh. “If I didn’t know better I’d say you have a crush on him.” Combeferre did raise his head to squint at Courfeyrac.
“Who does Commbeferre have a crush on?” Combeferre shook his head, looking Courfeyrac in the eyes, but his best best friend betrayed him, turning to look at Enjolras.
“Marius!” the fucker sounded so chipper about it.
Enjolras, to his credit, took the whole thing in stride, looking unsettled for only a moment before he schooled his features. “Is that why you didn’t point out his inaccuracies when he talked about allocation of money away from education?” Combeferre blushed, he hadn’t even realized Marius had said such a thing. Enjolras only hummed, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
“Well, if you actually like the guy you’ll set him straight next time.” Courfeyrac lifted an eyebrow and Enjolras laughed, hitting the man on the chest. “Combeferre knows exactly what I mean, I’ll see you both tomorrow?” he only waited for them to nod before he left.
“You know,” Courfeyrac started bringing the attention back to himself, “You could text him, like a normal person who has a crush.”
“First off, I don’t have a crush on him.” Combeferre insisted. It had to be true, who got a crush on someone just because they were reading one of the best book series in the world? “Second, I- I don’t have his number.” Combeferre had thought about this when he was taking a break from his paper, smoking behind his apartment building, the LotR soundtrack playing in his headphones. But when he pulled his phone out to do just that he’d realized he didn’t have the man’s number.
Courfeyrac rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone, holding his hand out for Combeferre’s. It took longer than maybe it should have, and when Courfeyrac handed Combeferre back his phone he realized why.
[To: Marius] Hey, this is Combeferre. I got your number from Fey. I saw you were reading some really nerdy books and was wondering if you wanted to talk about them with me
“There problem solved.” Combeferre reached out to smack Courfeyrac in the chest the same way Enjolras had earlier.
[To: Marius] Sorry that was Courfeyrac, I did get your number from him, and I noticed you were reading Wheel of Time , it’s one of my favorite series.
“You’re a nuisance Coufeyrac, you know that?” The other man had not stopped smiling though.
“But you love me.” Combeferre didn’t have the heart to disagree, it wouldn’t have been truthful anyways.
Combeferre spent the rest of the night doing house chores. He had always tried to stay ahead of his readings and essays on the nights he met with the group, and it gave him time to set aside a whole night for house work after the meeting. It also meant he didn’t have anything to distract his mind while he did laundry and cleaned the bathtub. Usually this wasn’t a problem, but usually he wasn’t waiting on a text from a guy he swore he probably didn’t have a crush on.
It was when he was putting the bleach back under the bathroom sink, that he heard his phone beep. He slammed his head on the paneling on his way to pick up his phone, cursing as he read the text.
[From: Marius] hi combeferre
[From: Marius] fey was right, they are quite nerdy, but i had no idea you’ve read them
[From: Marius] do you hate rand as much as i do
[From: Marius] he’s such a dick to his friends
Combeferre wanted to cry. He slid down the wall across from the bathroom sink, reading the messages over and over. Of course, of course Marius would think Rand was a jerk, why would they agree on even this. He read the messages over and over, not able to tell whether Marius had read the whole series or not. He’d hate to give anything away, but the whole point was that Rand wasn’t an asshole and the reader couldn’t see that unless they had the whole book series under their belt.
[To: Marius] I love The Wheel of Time , I think Robert Jordan is brilliant. Have you read the whole series? (I’d hate to accidentally spoil anything.)
Combeferre put his phone back in his pocket and rubbed his head again, he’d be sore for a while but he didn’t think the bump was anything worse than that. He headed to the kitchen to do his dishes, a task he always left for last, his least favorite. The horrible monotony broken only by one of his cats wrapping themselves around his ankles. At least wet soapy hands would give him an excuse to not obsess over the tiny text conversation. His phone buzzed no fewer than four times while Combeferre was doing dishes, each buzz putting him more on edge, and excited to be done with the dishes.
[From: Marius] ive read them all
[From: Marius] this is my third time reading them
[From: Marius] each time i hate rand a little more
[From: Marius] but mat just keeps getting better.
Combeferre sighed and settled down on his couch. If he was lucky this would be a long night, and by the time he saw Marius again the other man would have come around to loving Rand Al’Thor for what he did for the world. He didn’t have any actual qualms with Marius’s choice of favorite character, but there was some hypocrisy in hating Rand because he was a dick and loving Mat despite his best efforts to not help Rand. He cooed at the cat who jumped in his lap first, happily dolling out affection to each cat curled up in his vicinity. Combeferre was glad to have someone to talk to about some of his favorite books, even if that someone was wrong about the main character.
Combeferre felt giddy, walking into the coffee shop, a copy of A Memory of Light under his arm. He was meeting Marius, and he wanted to have the book with him. They’d gotten tired of texting, both agreeing that it was hard to discuss certain nuanced points though text. They also both got out of class at the same time on Thursdays - it was perfect. They would meet for coffee, talk about Rand and his friends, and then go to the meeting together. And this time Combeferre would pay better attention, he’d have gotten all his book talk out beforehand.
But then Combeferre found himself at a table in the corner of the cafe alone, half an hour after they'd agreed to meet up. There was still an hour and a half until the meeting, it would take twenty minutes to walk, and Combeferre would have to walk, having left his bike at home specifically so he and Marius could walk to the meeting together. It didn’t matter either way he figured, he didn’t have time to go home.
He leaned back in his chair, opening the book to the beginning. He might as well read until he had to leave for the meeting. Maybe Marius had forgotten, he thought as he tried to read. It would be quite like the younger man, he was forgetful. But then, as Combeferre realized he had read the same paragraph three times over, someone was pulling the chair across from him out from under the table.
“Combeferre, I’m so sorry, I got held up. Courfeyrac had some questions about one of our classes, and then Bahorel wanted to know if I was coming over to his place after the meeting and by the time I left the school I realized I was late. I came as quickly as I could.”
Combeferre, who had startled at the chair across from him moving, dropping his feet on the ground, smiled. Marius spoke the same way he texted: rapid fire, with no room for actual punctuation. He looked as if he had rushed from campus as well, his hair stuck to his forehead, panting just a bit. Combeferre felt a rush of fondness.
“No need to worry my friend, go order a coffee, and then you can tell me why it is that Rand isn’t a good friend.”
Marius set a stack of books on the table, still huffing, Combeferre was surprised to see that, in addition to Lord of Chaos he was reading Badiou’s The Communist Hypothesis . He pushed the books to the side taking Lord of Chaos off the top and opening it.
“See this is when Rand really starts to-” Combeferre held up a hand smiling.
“Coffee first,” he insisted, Marius only shook his head, a blush rising on his cheeks. “No?”
“I can’t I-” Marius only blushed more, but Combeferre nodded, only in part understanding. Marius was often tight on money, perhaps next time they ought to meet in a park, the weather was nice enough that they could do such a thing.
“Well I need another cup, I’d be more than happy to buy you a cup of coffee if you’d like.” He did not realize, until they were headed back to their table, drinks in hand, that Combeferre had assumed there would be a next time.
They were so caught up talking about the book that they were surprised when Combeferre looked down at his watch and the meeting had started ten minutes ago. They were going to be half an hour late. They packed up as quickly as they could, Combeferre checked his phone to see that Courfeyrac and Enjolras had tried to contact him. He didn’t bother letting them know he was on the way, they’d get there when they got there and offer apologies when they could.
Despite walking as quickly as they could they couldn't quite keep themselves from talking on the way. It slowed them down, Combeferre was sure, and he told himself he’d not give Marius such an extensive explanation. But as Marius got more animated he found himself unable to hold back.
“I thought,” Marius said as Combeferre held the doors to the Musian open for him “that you were a pacifist, how can you excuse the fact that Rand used balefire to take out a-” Marius stopped suddenly, both his words and his walk, causing Combeferre to run into his back.
They’d hurried as best they could, but they had forgotten that there was a meeting going on. They weren't walking into the beginning of a meeting. Joly looked frustrated at having been interrupted, Enjolras looked cross at their tardiness. Courfeyrac did something with his eyebrows that Combeferre didn’t even want to unpack. Everyone else was just staring. Combeferre took Marius by the elbow and led him to the back of the room, feeling bad as the man was blushing up to the tips of his ears.
“We’re sorry we’re late, we got carried away.” he waved his copy of Memory of Light at the group and sat down, pulling Marius into the seat next to him. Joly gave them one last look before he continued on with what he had been talking about before he’d been interrupted.
When the meeting ended, without Marius or Combeferre adding anything to the discussion. Combeferre went straight to Enjolras, feeling about as embarrassed as Marius had looked.
“Enjolras I’m so sorry.” He’d apologized to the whole group already, but Enjolras was his best friend. Being here meant too much to Enjolras, and as a leader of the group it was on Combeferre to make the meetings, and to be on time.
“Were you actually talking about books?” This did get Combeferre to blush, though he would argue that it didn’t matter what he was doing, he knew that his friend would look better on some forms of distraction over others.
“We were. We didn’t mean to lose track of time but I guess no one means to lose track of time do they?” Enjolras shook his head running a hand through his hair.
“Fey took minutes of the meeting, so you should look over those. I want to talk to you about what happened in the first half of the meeting.” Combeferre nodded and, as if he was waiting for his que, Courfeyrac handed Combeferre his computer. Combeferre looked over the notes and saw, immediately, what it was Enjolras would want to talk about.
“A teacher’s strike?” Combeferre looked up at Enjolras who was rubbing his temples.
“Yes, a teacher’s strike, and we had to try to make a decision about it without our resident philosopher.” Enjorlas sounded tired, and Combeferre wondered if anything else was going on, or if Combeferre missing this discussion was truly putting this much strain on him.
“Who has published papers on education philosophy.” Courfeyrac said. Combeferre felt better when Enjolras turned to glare at the man with him.
“Well, what is there to make a decision on? They’re underpaid, and understaffed, so we ought to support them.” Enjolras just shook his head, pulling his computer out of his bag.
It was ten in the evening when they were finally kicked out. Combeferre sighed, wishing he had his bike now. It would be a long walk home. He considered calling a cab or an Uber, but the cool night air would do him good. Besides, he and Courfeyrac walked the same direction for almost half the walk.
“So, you and Marius huh?” He did that thing with his eyebrows that Combeferre didn’t want to think too hard about.
“Me and Marius what? Spent too long talking about books?”
Courfeyrac was smiling like he knew something, like he had some big secret. “He had a coffee cup in his hand, Marius never buys coffee.” Combeferre couldn’t help but sigh, he did have a secret.
“I felt bad dragging him to a coffee shop where he wouldn’t drink the coffee, and after he ran from school.” Combeferre shrugged, ignoring his phone blowing up in his pocket. He hoped it was Marius.
“You were late for a meeting because you went on a date.” Combeferre could only shake his head. He knew if he said anything out loud Courfeyrac would only use it against him. Besides, there was hardly anything to say. When the facts were laid out, it seemed an awful lot like a date. Except Combeferre was pretty sure that Marius didn’t think it was a date. He wouldn’t say this outloud though, lest he give Courfeyrac any ammunition.
“This is where we part,” Courfeyrac said too dramatically for any rational person, “I expect a play by play of the date tomorrow when you come over.” Combeferre rolled his eyes, there was no use telling the man that he wouldn’t understand a play by play without having read the books.
[From: Marius] i still wanna know how you explain the balefire thing
[From: Marius] do you suspend your moral beliefs for fiction
[From: Marius] if so how far does that suspension go
[From: Marius] because this seems a far cry from any use of deadly force you’ve advocated for before
[From: Marius] have you read stormlight archives
[From: Marius] its written by sanderson
[From: Marius] the guy who finished wheel of time
[From: Marius] i think you would like it
[From: Marius] you probably have time to read the first book before next thursday
[From: Marius] and we could meet up again and talk about it
[From: Marius] without spoilers of course
Combeferre couldn’t help but smile at the barrage of texts. The first four had been sent almost right after the meeting, as if that was all Marius had been thinking about. It had been all Combeferre had thought about. But the next few were sent a few hours later, as Combeferre was leaving the Musian. He read, and reread the texts on the rest of his walk. Smiling to himself, slowly he was coming to learn more and more about this man, despite the fact that they clashed on almost every front, he couldn’t help but feel like Marius understood him. At least this part of him.
He put off answering until he had made it home. Toeing off his shoes, greeting the barrage of furry bodies that met him at the door, and feeding his cats before he typed out an answer.
[To: Marius] I have read The Stormlight Archives , it’s been a while though. I’ll reread The Way of Kings so that we can talk about it next week. As for my application of Morals to fiction, I do hold fictional characters to my moral standards, at least to a point. There is context to their world that wouldn’t apply to ours. And I think Rand’s use of Balefire in this specific instance is a perfect example of this.
Combeferre was typing out his next text, and trying to keep a nosey cat out of his way, he sent far fewer texts than Marius but he didn’t want to send the man an essay in a single text, when Marius texted him back.
[From: Marius] wanna facetime
[From: Marius] i know you’re typing out a long paragraph
[From: Marius] wouldnt it be easier to just say it
Combefrre laughed, erasing the text he had been composing, and then, without answering Marius, called him on facetime. He was met with a fluffy haired Marius, the collar of his shirt betrayed the fact that he’d changed out of his nice school clothes, the shirt looked too soft to be real.
“I’m making dinner.” Marius said in greeting. “I don’t know when you ate last but I’m sure Enjolras held you back. Feuilly said they talked about teachers before we showed up. That’s like your thing right? You write papers about teachers and stuff?” Combeferre tugged on the hem of his sweater feeling overdressed, wondering if that was a normal feeling when facetiming. He only ever facetimed Courfeyrac.
“Education, I’ve written a lot about the philosophies of Education.” Combeferre said, watching as Marius set the phone down and then walked to the microwave, showing off the fact that he didn’t have pants on - the man was hanging out in a shirt and boxers. Combeferre looked down at his sweater and dress pants. Though quickly being covered in cat hair, his clothes were a far cry from what Marius was wearing. But Marius was right, he needed to eat.
“That’s really interesting,” Marius had a plate full of pasta and was putting food in his mouth as he spoke. “Did you ever teach?” Combeferre took a deep breath, he got this question a lot, he didn’t quite like it, but Marius had asked, so he’d get the prepared answer and they’d go from there.
“I think, I get what Jordan was going for but it’s hard to keep track of who is actually more powerful than Egwene when it seems like every other-” Combeferre looked up from his phone to see that Marius, on his end of the call, was asleep. He was on a couch, but laying on his side. Combeferre sighed, he couldn't really do anything about it from where he was. Looking at the time he knew he ought to go to bed as well, it was three in the morning, and he had an 8am class to teach.
He ended the call but shot Marius a text.
[To: Marius] You fell asleep and I needed to go to bed. I hope the couch doesn’t destroy your back or neck too badly. I’ll see you on Thursday if not before.
“A little birdy told me, you fell asleep on facetime with our favorite Liberal.” Courfeyrac said as soon as Combeferre opened the door. He loved Courfeyrac, he really really did. But he didn’t know if he could stand this being what he showed up to every time he came to his friend’s place - something that happened once a week ever since Courfeyrac moved out.
“I didn’t fall asleep.” Combeferre said, wondering who Marius had told, and how it had gotten to Courfeyrac, unless he’d gone straight to Courfeyrac which would be the best case scenario.
“So you bored the poor guy to sleep.” Courfeyrac teased, but Combeferre rolled his eyes trying to ignore the rolling feeling in his stomach. That did sound like something a couple would do. Lucky for them, they hadn’t even gone on a date, at least, not really.
“Have you ordered pizza yet?” Combeferre asked, ignoring Courfeyrac’s teasing completely. Sometimes it was the best thing to do, other times-
“Oh come on, give me deets, I heard it from Bahorel, who heard it from Feuilly, who heard it from-”
Combeferre put his hand over Courfeyrac’s mouth shaking his head. “No, I don’t want to know how many of our friends know about this.” Courfeyrac grinned and Combeferre could have groned, realizing he’d admitted to the fact that there was something going on. “Now, have you ordered Pizza? Shake your head yes or no.” Combeferre nodded before licking across Combeferre’s palm.
“You’re the worst.” Courfeyrac just grinned, near skipping to the door when it buzzed.
Marius showed up to the cafe on time, the next week, and the week after that, and the following four weeks after that. Combeferre always managed to make it to the cafe before him, ordering him the same coffee he’d gotten on their first visit. It was sitting there waiting for Marius when he came in, his eyes already alight with an argument brewing. They spent almost two hours every Thursday talking about whatever book they had read that week, rereading The Stormlight Archive together, and now Lord of the Rings . They had not been late to another meeting, always showing up earlier than even Enjolras most days. It gave them time to talk as they walked, it also gave them a chance to ease out of the conversation as their friends showed up, pulling their attention away from each other.
They hadn’t facetimed each other to talk about books again though. Combeferre wasn’t sure if he was glad about that or not. On the one hand, he knew they would stay up forever talking about books or anything else, he reminded himself, thinking about the long conversation they’d had about education. But on the other hand, he missed the soft, dressed down Marius he’d seen. The Marius who wore nothing but a tshirt and his boxers, his hair no longer gelled down and in place.
“You can’t say Lan is anything like Boromir.” Marius waved a copy of The Fellowship at Combeferre. “Lan was a good guy.”
Combeferre couldn’t help but roll his eyes at Marius “Surely you don’t believe in good guys and bad guys?” Marius shrugged a blush creeping up his cheeks. Combeferre had learned this reaction meant Marius had said something he didn’t quite believe.
“Boromir was the best member of the fellowship, he was the only one who was human.”
It was Marius’s turn to roll his eyes “Yeah he was the only human, so what.” There was a smile on his lips though, an almost mischievous smile.
“You know exactly what I mean, and it has nothing to do with the fact that he was the only one with pure man blood.”
Marius was ready to say something, when the man behind Combeferre turned to look at them. “Are you fucking idiots forgetting Aragorn was literally man.”
“Descendant of Elros,” Marius said at the same time Combeferre said:
“Technically he has Elf blood, even if it’s only a bit,” They both laughed but the man shook his head.
“I think I’d remember if that were in the movies.”
Combeferre looked over at Marius and shrugged, he turned back around, “Anyways, Boromir is the only one who makes mistakes like a normal human would. He is the only one we can relate to in that way, everyone else is too perfect.”
“What about Pippin?” Marius had that smile again, and Combeferre was glad the ass behind them hadn’t killed the mood.
“Pippin is a child.” Combeferre didn’t offer anything more but Marius rolled his eyes, he was ready to say something when again the man at the table behind Combeferre made his presence known. He pushed his chair back loudly, almost hitting Combeferre’s chair.
“Didn’t realize homos knew so much about such good movies.” He said just loud enough for both of them to hear.
Combeferre rolled his eyes, all his attention back on Marius, but Marius looked far more affected. There was no blush, which Combeferre was used to seeing when Marius was embarrassed. Instead it was like all the blood had drained out of his face, he was looking at the table top, his hands in his lap.
“Hey, Marius?” Combeferre asked, not liking this at all. He wanted to reach across the table, pick Marius’s chin up to look at him. But after that comment, well it probably wouldn’t be a good idea. “I know that saying he’s just an ass and that you shouldn’t listen to him isn’t helpful, but it’s true. He is just an ass and we shouldn’t listen to him.”
But Marius didn’t say anything, he didn’t even look up. Just shook his head. It was then that Combeferre reached a hand out, to cover Marius’s. He knew the younger man liked physical contact, he was always cuddling up to Courfeyrac and the others. Combeferre didn’t have time to worry about why he didn’t ever cuddle up to him. Marius started at the contact but he didn’t take his hand back, and after a moment he turned his hand over to hold Combeferre’s hand.
“Tell me what’s wrong?” Marius just shook his head, but Combeferre saw a tear fall onto the table. He sighed but what could he do? He couldn’t make Marius tell him what was wrong. So he squeezed his hand. “Want to talk about Lord of the Rings ?” Marius shook his head, and Combeferre looked at his watch. They didn’t have to leave for another ten minutes, but they could go now, get there earlier than usual, and maybe getting Marius out of this cafe would help a little.
They didn’t talk the whole way to the Musian, and once they got there Marius didn’t so much as look at Combeferre.
“What did you do?” Courfeyrac asked when the meeting was over, Combeferre shook his head, huffing before giving Courfeyrac the story. The man frowned but didn’t say anything Combeferre hadn’t thought of himself.
“Maybe this hasn’t ever happened before. As far as I know he’s only ever dated women.” Combeferre looked up, but didn’t even argue. Courfeyrac sighed. “We’re not dating Courf.” He said in his best imitation of Combeferre “You have a standing coffee date where you nerd out. I bet the sexual tension could be cut with a knife.” he said in his own voice, frowning when Combeferre didn’t so much as smile.
“Hey, don’t worry about it, he has to handle this in the way he handles this. Text him when you get home, maybe you’ll end up falling asleep together on facetime.”
Combeferre took a long route home, trying to give Marius space. It took all his self control to not run home and text the other man. When he did get home he changed out of his clothes into something more comfortable. Marius often hung out with Feuilly and Bahorel after meetings, so if they did facetime it probably wouldn't be until later, but still, it felt nice to be comfortable.
[To: Marius] Hey, I just wanted to check in, see how you were doing.
After he sent the text he watched for the text bubbles, but none came, so he pocketed his phone before trying to get some chores done. Despite having his ring volume up, Combeferre couldn’t help but check his phone every few minutes. As the night went on Combeferre wasn’t sure if he was more or less likely to hear from Marius. On one hand, he’d probably seen the message by now, but on the other, he might be doing work around his apartment or doing homework or something. He knew Marius stayed up too late doing school work, it was one of the things he’d learned about the man in their two months of- of dates .
Eventually Combeferre had to admit he wasn’t going to hear from Marius, or that he at least had to try and get some sleep and see his response in the morning. Marius was likely caught up in something, he was forgetful, and on more than one occasion he had forgotten to text Combeferre back. It was easiest if he told himself this was why he hadn’t heard from Marius yet. Still, as he settled into bed moving not one, but two cats from his pillow, he couldn’t help but feel like he’d lost something, not knowing what it was he’d lost.