Éponine danced from person to person, twirling wildly with a manic grin on her face. The atmosphere in the large room was filled with body heat and cigarette smoke, and instruments playing jovial tunes. Her friend had already left her on her own, by now, but she didn't care as much as she did 20 minutes ago. She was having too much fun.
She couldn't remember why she'd agreed to come here at the time of asking, but she knew now that if she was asked after having this experience, the answer would always be yes.
"Éponine!" Someone was tugging on her arm, and she turned to snap at them. But it was her friend, Aimée, and she gave her a quizzical look.
"What's the matter, Aimée?" Her dark brows knitted together in worry, but Aimée only grinned at her.
"You have to come and see this!" She took Éponine's arm and dragged her from the crowd to where most of the seats were located.
Éponine searched the crowd of people laughing, dancing, drinking, singing, shouting, and just collectively being extremely loud and active, but she couldn't seem to see what all of Aimée's fuss had been about.
Aimée turned excitedly to Éponine and pointed. "Look!" She beamed, and Éponine's eyes followed to where she was pointing. "Les Amis, Éponine! They are here!"
Éponine had a feeling that Aimée knew Les Amis de l'ABC would be at the fête, and that's probably why she had slipped away and left her, but she honestly didn't mind much anymore. She stared at Monsieur Marius Pontmercy, as he sat with his friends, head thrown back in laughter. Éponine hadn't taken much notice of Les Amis before, merely dismissing them as stupid young boys with impossible ideas of the future in their heads.
But she had to admit now that, since Monsieur Marius' joining of Les Amis, her attention had been grabbed. She supported them at their rallies, and attended the ABC Café quietly, when they had meetings, just staring at Marius, never being noticed. They were friends, but Éponine wanted more. She was in love with this man.
Still, Éponine tried to get his attention, but her efforts were futile, always being ignored. He never saw their friendship that way. Anyhow, she was just a street urchin, who helped her father and his men in their schemes to con rich people of their money, nothing of importance. But Monsieur Marius was rich, and everyone knew it, because his grandfather would always forbid him to attend the meetings and rallies of The Friends, yet he would disobey every time and come along to them anyway.
"Monsieur Marius!" She called, and he turned his head to look at her. He smiled, a smile that made her heart jump what felt like three feet, and got to his feet, coming towards her.
"'Ponine! What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same, sir." She smiled, and he laughed.
"It's probably one of the last outings Les Amis can have. We plan for the revolution to start soon."
Éponine gasped. Of course! If only she listened more in the meetings.
"Anyway, I've got to get back. We're discussing something important."
"Didn't look that important to me, Monsieur." Éponine teased, referring to their laughing and giggling before she had called his name. Marius blushed, scratching the back of his neck.
"Yes, well-" He struggled to find an answer, and held his breath. "I've got to get back." He repeated, and turned around, taking his place once again with Les Amis.
"Come on, Aimée." Éponine said, a hint of sadness in her voice. "They're busy. We'll see if they have any time for us later." She walked towards the bar of the setting, looking for a cup of wine to get with the last 5 centimes she had stolen from her father while he slept deeply, induced by copious amounts of wine.
Little Gavroche pestered Éponine for a sip of her wine as he sat on the bar alongside her. She sang to the ditties that the band played and people gathered, eager to hear her beautiful voice as she and Gavroche took it upon themselves to be the party's entertainment for the next twenty minutes.
When they were finished and their voices were too hoarse to sing anymore, Gavroche jumped down and scuttled through the crowd, getting lost in the large amounts of people dancing through the night. Éponine was more comfortable in her environment now, and as she sat nursing a cup of wine someone had bought her for her singing, she didn't notice Marius approach her.
"Éponine?" He called, and she turned her head towards him, blushing. She put her cup down and smiled, as he leaned against the bar.
"Yes, Monsieur?" Éponine replied, trying to keep a calm demeanor.
"Amazing singing, as per usual." Marius flashed her a smile, and Éponine thought she might die right there on the bar.
"Thank you, sir." She giggled, and he carried on smiling at her.
"'Ponine, would you do me a favour?" She nodded her head, and listened closely in anticipation.
"Would you find out who she is for me?" Éponine's smile dropped, as she turned her head to see who Marius' gaze was fixed on. All of a sudden, she lost her breath, like she'd just been punched in the gut. Her face drained of colour as she recognised the blonde who sat among friends, laughing and smiling in all of her finery.
She hadn't seen Cosette since she was once in the position that the petite girl was in now. That, Éponine thought, was definitely a long time ago.
"'Ponine?" Marius' voice grounded her again, and she whipped her head around to look at him.
"Sorry, sir, but due to differences that are more than likely irreconcilable, I cannot speak to this girl."
It wasn't until Marius had called her name again, using her full name this time, that Éponine realised she had said none of this, and instead stared at him, her mouth opening and closing a few times.
"Marius!" A voice called, and she let out a breath as they both looked in the direction of the voice. "What are you doing here?"
"Enjolras," Marius greeted the leader, and Éponine recognised him. His voice, his name, his blonde, curly locks, and his red jacket. He was the leader of Les Amis, The Marble Man, she had heard him being called quite often.
"I was just asking Éponine if she could introduce me to the girl over there." Monsieur Marius pointed behind Éponine, and the three turned to see Cosette, laughing elsewhere with a different group of people.
"Come on, Monsieur Marius. Really?" Enjolras jibed, shaking his head with disappointment at Marius, who drew his eyebrows together in confusion. "She's just some Bourgeois two-a-penny thing." He winked at Éponine, who lowered her head to hide a smirk. What a charming man.
Éponine stared at Enjolras, looking at the way he smirked and teased Marius. She stared at his curly hair, unkempt but still radiant, and the way his skin glowed in the candlelight by the bar. Why had she never noticed how handsome he was before? He was tall, and his posture seemed enhanced in the red jacket he usually wore.
Marius sighed, and pushed himself off of the bar. "I'd better go and talk to her myself then."
"I should think so, Monsieur Pontmercy. Sending a girl on your romance errands wouldn't exactly go well, would it?" Enjolras called as Marius walked away.
Marius spun and gave Enjolras the two fingers and then turned again, making his way to Cosette. Éponine watched him, and looked back at Enjolras, who was staring at her face.
"Éponine, isn't it?"
"Yes, Monsieur."
"I must say, that was lovely singing. My friends and I were enthralled by it, honestly."
Éponine's cheeks burned brighter, and she smiled, looking down at the ground.
"Thank you, sir."
"It's no problem, really." There was a pause. "Mademoiselle, I've seen you at our meetings, haven't I?" He asked, and Éponine smiled, nodding. She didn't think anyone would have noticed her.
"Well then," Enjolras held his hand out for Éponine to take so he could help her down from the bar. "I insist that you join us for a drink, as a supporter." He smiled at her, and she followed him through the crowd towards Les Amis.
