"'Ponine?" I looked up hesitantly from the cup of coffee I was pouring, "Yes, Monsieur?"
He laughed and pulled me roughly from behind the counters, "Why the formality, love?"
I twisted myself in his arms until I was face to face with him, so close, "This is rather improper, Monsieur, I hardly think-"
"Oh, Eponine" he buried his face in my neck with a chuckle, "The boys are gone, your parents are out, there's never been a time more proper than this."
I smiled and pressed a light kiss on his lips, "I must tend to the customers, sweet."
He grinned, and pulled me by the hand out of the inn, and onto the street, he twirled me around in the snow, and then, putting one hand underneath my knees, scooped me up into his arms. He was...so close...I could count every single one of his eyelashes.
"Mmm." he kissed me with abandon, and pressed my cheek against his, "You know what, 'Ponine?"
"Hmm?" I asked absentmindedly, stroking his hair.
"I love you."
I looked up in surprise, and caressed his cheek with my fingertips, "I love you too, Monsieur Marius."
He laughed, and playfully tugged on my earlobe, "Why won't you call me Marius?"
I sighed, "Maybe because you're not mine to call Marius. Because you'll always be Monsieur to me, and Marius to Cosette."
"Forget about Cosette!" His outburst shocked me, and I felt his arms tighten around me as he held me, "I love only you, Eponine."
"Truly?" I asked, not daring to believe it.
"How could you doubt it?" he asked, a loving smile playing about his lips, "I never lie."
I threw my arms around him and as I hugged him with love, I closed my eyes in wonderment. I opened them and...
Where was I? It was dark. My arms were around a pillow, and I was in my own bed, at home in the inn. I let out a shuddering gasp, and fell to the floor, my hand over my mouth, tears streaming from my eyes. It was just a dream. Marius never loved me. The river was just a river. I cried with huge sobs, shaking my chest. I never asked for anything. I put up with my horrid parents, I didn't complain about getting only a morsel to eat each day, about having to wear rags, about being forced to steal. But the one thing I had ever had the audacity to want, to love, to wish for, nobody would grant me. Marius would never love me. He only had eyes for Cosette.
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a/n: extremely short, I know, but I'm new at oneshots...I hope you liked it, please check out my other stories, Forlorn, Because of Course, and Lost and Found. Please R&R!