A/N Hi, this is my first ever fanfic! I do not own Eponine, Enjolras, Marius or any characters in this story. Reviews are greatly appreciated! And I'll read and review one of your stories in return. I'm so grateful for any comments anyone has! Thankyou for reading. Hope you enjoy :)

Chapter 1.

The cold winter breeze caressed Éponine Thénardier's dirt-stained, delicate cheeks as she dawdled through the streets. Her chocolate brown hair would float majestically behind her, had it not been so unkempt that the tangles stopped it from moving. Her dark brown eyes were squinted and surrounded by black circles due to a life time of sleepless nights. Her shapely, light pink lips, chapped due to malnourishment and constant exposure to the cold weather.

She was a young girl, a pretty girl but her upbringing hid this. She had experienced so many emotional, mental and physical life-long scars that it aged her character drastically. She knew things, saw things and felt things a normal 18 year old girl shouldn't even think about. After all, the experiences she had undertaken in her 18 year long life were the equivalent to what most experience in 50 years. She had grown up in the 'care' of an abusive father and terrified mother, along with her sister, Azelma, who joined her in selling her body to the men of the streets, as a way to get money for their father in order to avoid a beating, and her younger brother, Gavroche, who she very rarely saw and almost never knew where he was and whether or not he was safe.

Trying her hardest to stay away from her family's inn - which also meant avoiding working for ungrateful, rude drunks, being beaten by her father and being involuntarily sold to members of her father's gangs for a few coins - meant that she had to find someone, something and somewhere to dedicate her time to.

The someone was Marius Pontmercy, the sandy haired, tall and perfectly muscular young student who had captured Éponine's heart the second their eyes met. Though his face was youthful and innocent, he was rough around the edges making Éponine find him mysterious and intriguing.

The something was the undeniable love she felt for him

The somewhere was the Cafe Musain where he and his fellow students met every evening.

It didn't matter how many of Marius' unfunny jokes Éponine forced herself to laugh at, how many times she'd given him her shoulder to cry on or how many hours she spent talking to, joking with and even just staring at him, he was completely oblivious to her true feelings and the dreamy look in her eye as she studied his every movement, and she was sure, he'd never love her back.

On this particular evening, when Éponine entered the Cafe Musain, Marius was nowhere to be seen. Disheartened, Éponine decided to sit at the only empty table she could see. However, with how drunk some of the students who gathered for the meetings in the cafe got, if you chose to sit alone, you wouldn't be alone for long. Within 30 seconds, Grantaire, a loveable young man with jet black curly hair and striking green eyes, was hobbling over to Éponine's table in the far corner of the room. Éponine rolled her eyes as he stumbled over his own feet.

How much ale has he thrown down his neck tonight? She thought, trying to hold in her laughter as he walked into almost every table and chair in his path.

Grantaire finally reached Éponine's table and slumped himself into the chair directly opposite the young lady.

"Bonjour, mademoiselle!" he slurred as he tapped Éponine's hand and shot her a broad, full smile. Grantaire had a cheeky, boyish charm about him which was probably one of the reasons why he constantly had new stories about the 'lovely ladies' he had invited into his bed.

"Good evening. Wow, look who's got himself drunk, for once!" Éponine winked sarcastically.

"Hush! Where is Monsieur Marius this evening?"

"What makes you think I would know?" Éponine truly believed that she didn't let her feelings for Marius show. She had no idea that her cheeks flushed bright pink as soon as he entered the room, or that she batted her eyes when he smiled in her direction, or that the ache she constantly had in her cheeks and jaw line were because of the permanent smile she had plastered on her face as she gazed longingly at him.

A snort of stifled laughter caused Éponine and Grantaire to stare in the direction of the table where Enjolras sat, his head buried in a book as usual, but obviously, at this moment in time, his main priority was listening to their conversation.

Enjolras was a strange man. Handsome, but strange. His ash blonde hair curled at the ends. His dark eyes were deep and lost. His lips were full but dry and cut from his habit of gnawing on them when he was in deep thought. He rarely socialized with the other students, he didn't drink and joke around with them all night long. He preferred to sit in the company of a few good books about law and revolution. He'd never been with a woman - he hadn't even kissed anyone yet and the boys mocked him for this.

Enjolras looked at Éponine over the rim of his book. He had found it amusing that she was so oblivious to how crystal clear it was that she loved Marius. He liked Éponine. He'd never spoken to her properly but he could tell she was a sweet and caring girl from the way she was always there for Marius. He felt sorry for her and her unfortunate upbringing and life at home. If she had been treated well and bought up properly, he had no doubt that she would be a respectable, beautiful, intelligent young lady, maybe even one who could capture the heart of Monsieur Marius.

Éponine stood up and shuffled over to the table where Enjolras sat. He avoided looking her in the eyes.

"May I sit?" She asked. Enjolras just nodded quickly, placing a hand on his forehead, shielding his eyes to show Éponine his attention was on his book, not what she had to say. "What was so funny?" she smirked.

"Nothing." He replied bluntly. He tensed up and felt awkward when around girls, something that embarrassed him greatly.

"Tell me." She kicked his shin under the table, finding it entertaining when his muscles noticeably tensed at sudden contact.

"Fine." He lowered his book. "Marius was here earlier. Grantaire accidently told him that you have feelings for him. That's why he's not here now. He left because he didn't want to feel awkward when you arrived. I don't even think Grantaire remembers saying it, the daft drunkard." Enjolras tried to joke about the situation but he could see the horror in Éponine's eyes.

Shit. She thought. Shit. Shit. Shit.

"What did he say?" She asked. She knew she was pushing her look by just being friends with the handsome and rich student as she was just a filthy street urchin. She thought about how embarrassed he must be that she felt so strongly about him. So much so that he probably wouldn't speak to her again.

"Nothing. He just laughed awkwardly and slipped out the door when the subject changed."

"Shit. He'll probably never speak to me again now, I'll have embarrassed him so much." Éponine hid her face in her hands.

Enjolras reached across the table and placed his hand over Éponine's in an awkward attempt to comfort her. "If he does," he said, sympathetically, "he's stupid. If he's willing to throw away such a strong friendship with a wonderful girl like you, he's not worth it."

Éponine just stared at Enjolras. She was speechless. They'd hardly ever said two words to each other and she knew how shy he was around females and how much he tried to distance himself from any sort of relationship with any woman. So why was he being so nice to her? She felt the corners of her mouth fold upwards as they looked into each other's eyes. She'd never noticed how big and friendly they were before. She'd only seen them full of anger as he yelled out one of his speeches to the students.

"Thank-you." She managed to whisper, causing Enjolras to snap out of his almost hypnotised state he found himself in after staring into her eyes. He chuckled awkwardly as he pulled his hand back quickly, realising that his palm was beginning to sweat. He quickly buried his head back into his book.

Éponine saw this as a hint to leave. She pushed her chair back slowly and silently scuffed away, still slightly breathless by the butterflies that fluttered away in her stomach as she locked eyes with Enjolras.

Enjolras watched the scruffy, yet beautiful girl wander away, wishing he could suck it up and speak to her like a normal person and not get embarrassed and freeze up like an idiot. His mouth unconsciously curved slightly as Courfeyrac grabbed her arm and pulled her in to the group of students he was talking to and she giggled, showing her adorable dimples. She ducked her head slightly and looked over to him from under her long eyelashes, attempting to hide her glance but their eyes met and she quickly turned away and his eyes darted back to his book.

Both of them attempted to ignore their racing heartbeat, fluttering stomachs and blushing cheeks as they tried their hardest not to look at the other again.

What is this strange feeling? Enjolras thought to himself as he realised he'd read half a page of his book without paying attention. His mind was completely elsewhere. And that had never happened to him before.