It's not that he's worried about leaving the two of them behind while he's away on business; they've lived through it before. He's just a little concerned about the amount of time he's going to be away. They've survived when he's been gone for one or two days, and the time he was gone for three, he came home to the two of them curled up on the kitchen floor, only partially clothed, and the only thing broken was an ugly vase from Jehan, so he considers that one a success. He's a little nervous considering that an entire week is definitely more than three days. He's made Éponine promise that she won't try and kill Enjolras, and he makes Enjolras promise to not completely ignore Éponine, so when he waves to the two of them from the security checkpoint, he's fairly confident in their ability to maintain some semblance of order while he's away.

Four hours later, he's sitting in his hotel room, staring at his phone, trying to decide if it's a good idea to call them, or if he should wait for them to call him. He's not sure if it would be better to just text Éponine, go to sleep and then call them when he wakes up, or if he should call right now, just to hear them, even if it means being the long distance referee in whatever argument they've most likely gotten into. He's weighing the two options against each other when his phone starts to buzz. He glances down to see the screen filled by a picture of Éponine and Gavroche making fish faces at the camera, and he smiles just seeing her picture. He answers the phone, grinning as he puts it up to his ear. He's about to greet them when he hears the familiar tones of Éponine trying to convince Enjolras to do something either incredibly stupid of incredibly dangerous.

"It's fine Enjolras. A lot of people do it. Calm down." Combeferre hear Enjolras mumble something in the background, and he chuckles a little, causing Éponine to screech his name into the phone.

He winces a little, and can hear Enjolras admonishing Éponine, so he asks "What are you trying to get Enjolras to do?"

He shuts his eyes briefly when she replies "Phone sex." He should have known that Éponine would want to try phone sex, but it's not going to be the same with them at home, and him alone in a hotel room.

As if he can sense his hesitation, Éponine hurries to explain. "Look, I know it isn't ideal, but Enjolras and I miss you, and you miss us, and isn't this a lot better than jacking off alone?"

She's right, like she always is, and after much coaxing, and a promise from Éponine that she'll do "that thing you like," they get Enjolras to participate, and Combeferre doesn't get much sleep that night.

That proves to be the norm for the rest of the trip, because after that first phone call, they seem to digress into the children he had expected them to behave like.

She calls him at three in the morning on Tuesday. "I'm going to kill him. I swear to three different deities, if it weren't for the fact that he's the best defense lawyer around, and if I killed him, I'd have to deal with Marius, I would totally kill him."

Combeferre sits up and rubs his eyes, reaching across the hotel bed for his glasses. He turns on the light, if only because he can tell he's probably not going back to sleep. "What did he do this time?"

He's half listening while Éponine rants about Enjolras, a frog (maybe a dog?) and possibly something to do with Gavroche. He sighs and runs his hands over his face. "Ep, I'm going to be home on Sunday. Just hold off until then. Can you do that, for me, please?" She automatically launches into a spiel about how she isn't a child and that she doesn't need him to take that tone with her thankyouverymuch, but he just gives another long-suffering sigh, and says "Goodnight Ep," before hanging up the phone.

It gets worse. It's not like they call every day; it's just that when they do call, it's normally to complain about the other person. And it's not that he doesn't like to hear their voices, it's just he wishes it could be a little more like the first night he was gone.

He doesn't hear from either of them Friday night, or on Saturday, and when he calls Éponine on Sunday, she seems a little distant. They decide it would be better for him to take a cab home, since his plane is coming in late, and Enjolras doesn't like to drive at night, and it was decided when they first got together that Éponine didn't get to drive the car without intense supervision and during the day. He's exhausted when he reaches the door to their apartment. He can hear Éponine giggling, and he knows that if Éponine is giggling, then she can't be breaking things or trying to kill Enjolras, so he opens the door to see the two of them sitting almost peacefully on the coach, with Éponine giggling at something Enjolras has said. Combeferre does a sweep of the apartment, trying to decide if anything is missing or broken, and when he's satisfied, he drops his bags and briefcase on the floor, and closes the door as softly as he can, but the sound still alerts Éponine to his arrival. She almost pushes Enjolras clear off her in her hast to launch herself at Combeferre. He laughs as Éponine wraps her arms around him, and Enjolras waits, rolling his eyes at Éponine's antics. She whispers to him "I've missed you" before grabbing him by the tie and Enjolras by the collar and almost dragging them to the bedroom.

Afterwards, while they're lying in bed, Combeferre get Enjolras to explain anything that may have happened while he was away. Enjolras just shrugs and runs his fingers through Combeferre's hair. "We found a more constructive way of channeling Éponine's anger. None of Jehan's vases were broken, so I like to think it worked pretty well."

He's cut off when Éponine reaches over Combeferre and hits him with her pillow. "Shhhh. Sleep." Combeferre laughs and kisses her forehead, before turning back to Enjolras. "I missed you guys way more than I thought I would. It's really good to be home."