Eponine Thenardier is seven years old when she falls.
It happens while she's playing tag with Cosette Fauchelevent. She trips and falls and for an instant before she hits the ground she's afraid that she will land on her face and smash her nose. She manages to land on all four hands and knees instead. She's filled with relief that her pretty little nose (it is pretty, her maman has said so many times and she never lies) is not broken but her joy is short-lived. Eponine begins to feel a stinging sensation in her right knee. She's scraped it and it's beginning to bleed.
In the future, Eponine will cringe at the memory of what she does next. But her younger self does not care if she exposes vulnerability or weakness. She doesn't care if she's making a fool of herself. She's only thinking that her knee is as red as the candy apples her papa brings her sometimes. And so she bursts into tears in the middle of the playground because her maman is not here to fix the pain with a kiss and a Hello Kitty Band-Aid. However, her sobbing does attract the attention of someone who can help.
"What's the matter?" Eponine hears a voice ask. She opens her eyes and blinks away tears to see that there are three boys she does not recognize standing next to an overwhelmed Cosette.
"She fell and she's hurting. Can you help her?" Cosette replies.
The boy with the blonde curls and the chubbier one hesitate and look to one another but the boy in the blue t-shirt bends down next to Eponine.
"Can you stand? Here, I'll help you up." He offers a hand. Eponine wipes her nose and takes it. It's warm but not sweaty, which she likes. "I'll take her to the nurse."
As he helps her limp to the nurse's office the boy introduces himself as Combeferre. She repeats the name in her mind nearly a dozen times. Combeferre. It becomes her new favorite word.
When they finally make it to the nurse she is helping a boy with a stomach ache and tells them to take a seat outside and wait. Eponine expects that this is where Combeferre will say goodbye. That he will leave her alone now that she's going to be taken care of. But he doesn't. He holds on to her hand and sits down on one of the smelly old chairs with her. Eponine is pleased, but she doesn't let him see.
He doesn't even leave when it's her turn to see the nurse. Instead, he stands next to the exam table with a fascinated look on his face as the nurse cleans up her knee. And when the nurse uses a liquid from a brown bottle that makes Eponine's knee feel like it is burning Combeferre squeezes her hand kindly. And he assures her that while it is certainly no Hello Kitty Band-Aid, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles one the nurse offers is very cool as well. (In the near future, she will beg her maman for a t-shirt with Raphael's face on it. Not because she likes the show about crime fighting turtles, but because she hopes to impress the boy with the kind blue eyes. It will not appear to work.)
Eponine makes an effort to walk even slower on their way back to their own classrooms. She doesn't want to go back to not knowing Combeferre. She's considering whether or not she should pretend her other knee hurts when they reach her destination. The door to Monsieur Javert's classroom has never looked more dreadful.
"Well… goodbye, then." Combeferre loosens his grip on her hand and she has to stop herself from grasping it back to her.
"Goodbye. Thank you." She mumbles. There's something else, something more. But she doesn't know what it is exactly, or how to express it. So she watches as Combeferre walks away. He doesn't look back.
Her palm turns blue and yellow that night. Maman calls it a bruise and tells her not to play with Cosette anymore but Eponine isn't listening. She wonders if Combeferre would kiss her bruise to make it feel ok if he were here. And she wonders what it would feel like to hold his hand again.
Actually, she spends a good part of the next twenty years wondering this.
Eponine Thenardier is thirteen years old when Combeferre walks into their Spanish class with a black eye. He's tried to cover it up with his mother's make-up and by parting his hair but Eponine is not fooled. She knows all about bruises now. Such as how to avoid receiving them in noticeable areas, how long they will last on her pale skin, and what types of clothing will cover up those areas best.
Does Combeferre really think he's fooling anyone? He might as well be wearing a fucking pirate's eye patch.
She also has a good clue as to who gave him the bruise. And while Eponine usually isn't one to defend nerds, she owes this one a favor. And she is not one to let debts go unpaid.
The next day Montparnasse walks in to class with a matching black eye and a busted lip. He never messes with Combeferre again after that.
Eponine Thenardier is seventeen years old when Marius Pontmercy moves in to town. They share a few classes and so she helps him find his way around the school during his first few days. At the end his first day, she's in love with the new kid.
Marius Pontmercy is tall and handsome, with freckles dusted over his face like stars in the night sky. He's a history fan, which she finds endearing on him. (If he asked, she'd even watch documentaries for this boy). And he's a completely and utterly kind to her in a way not many people have been. Not for a long, long time.
In some ways, he reminds her of a boy with kind eyes and warm hands. The one she tries not to think of any more.
Now Marius is here. And he's going to make everything better. He'll fall in love with Eponine and bring sunlight back into her life. She's not going to be lonely anymore. Or so she thinks.
And then Marius sees Cosette. And everything Eponine has planned for her and Marius Pontmercy is over. She can't win a fight against Cosette, she knows this. And so she introduces Cosette to the boy she's fallen in love with. And watches her fall in love with him too.
Sometimes she catches Combeferre watching her watch the pair of lovebirds from a distance.
She's fallen and she's hurting. Can you help her?
Eponine banishes Cosette's voice and Combeferre's knowing gaze from her thoughts.
Nobody can help her now. Not even him.
Eponine Thenardier is eighteen years old when she turns around at their graduation and spots Combeferre hugging his blonde best friend. She takes a deep breath and walks towards him. It's now or never.
She doesn't say a word. Simply taps him on the shoulder and pulls him in for a kiss.
When it's over he grins at her. She smiles back. This time, she's the one that walks away without turning around. Finally. She knows what he tastes like.
Eponine Thenardier is twenty-one years old when she thinks she spots a guy who looks just like him ducking into a taxicab. She wants to get a better look but decides against it. She's already running late.
Eponine Thenardier is twenty-five years old when she gets drunk on one sad Valentine's night and decides to pull out her box of childhood memories. Inside are handmade Valentine cards she never sent, all addressed to the same boy. And a high school yearbook that reminds her just how cute this guy was. The part of her brain trying to retain some dignity tells her not to Facebook stalk him. It loses. Combeferre is as cute as ever. Actually, more than she remembered. He's turned into Mr. Fucking Darcy. She debates whether or not to send him a friend request. Better not. He probably doesn't even remember her name.
Eponine Thenardier is twenty-eight years old when she goes back to her childhood town for a wedding. Marius' and Cosette's wedding, actually. She's a little surprised it took them over a decade to finally tie the knot. Then again, they were practically married from the start.
As Cosette's childhood friend and the one to introduce the couple, Eponine is asked to be a bridesmaid. And as luck (and every Romantic-Comedy film ever) would have it, Combeferre is one of the groomsmen.
But not the one she's standing with. Instead, she is paired with Courfeyrac. He's pretty hot and she remembers his reputation well enough to know he's probably who she's going to be going home with tonight. For now she lets him talk her ear off as he practices his best man's speech over and over and over again. This wedding sex better be great because he is no speech maker. They should have left that job to Enjolras.
And then the wedding is finally happening. Cosette walks in looking lovelier than any bride Eponine can possibly imagine has ever looked. Cosette was made for lace and sunlight. And Eponine feels sorry for anyone that doesn't turn around to look at Marius' face when his bride is walking down the aisle because there is more joy than freckles for once.
She's happy for her friends. Eponine can see now that they're a perfect fit. He was meant for Cosette and not someone like her. But that doesn't bother her now. Not when Marius is practically bouncing with excitement as he says his vows.
She doesn't notice the man with blue eyes smiling at her throughout the ceremony.
Eponine Thenardier is waiting for Courfeyrac to bring her back a drink when someone taps on her shoulder.
"May I have this dance?" Combeferre extends his palm.
She wonders if it will still feel warm to the touch. It does.
He leads her to the dance floor just as a slower song starts playing.
To be honest, she's a little bit happy that he's a terrible dancer. It makes him feel more accessible.
They dance until she's feeling too tired. And so she asks him to help her find a place to sit down. They find one table that still has empty chairs and again, she expects him to let go of her hand and walk again.
For the second time, he holds on instead.
He holds on to her hand as they talk about college. And their jobs. He's a doctor. She's a social worker.
He holds on as they talk about old times. High school teachers. The Great Cootie Outbreak when they were in kindergarten. First crushes. It's hard to tell who blushes more when she admits he was hers. His was Jehan's mom. But he admits he fell a little in love with Eponine after the incident with Montparnasse. She feigns ignorance but is secretly pleased he knew and was grateful.
He holds on even tighter when she mentions her father. And tells her, "I'm glad you got out. He and this town were holding you down. You've always deserved so much more, Eponine."
It's the truest thing anyone's ever told her.
So she lets him hold her hand all the way to her hotel room.
The next morning she's covered in bruises again. They're on her throat and her collarbone and her hips. But they are all from Combeferre's lips so she doesn't mind them this time. Not when he's received a couple from her too.
She lets him hold her hand again on the way to the airport, as they exchange goodbyes and phone numbers. And promises to call soon.
She holds his hand at their own wedding less than a year later. This time neither one of them has to let go.
Eponine Thenardier is twenty-eight years old when she falls again. Thankfully, this time Combeferre is there to catch her.