Disclaimer – I own nothing of the song Before He Cheats or Les Miserables. They belong to their respected owners. I own the plot and my original characters. 'Nuff said.
Italics are song lyrics and thoughts.
A/N: I was listening to this song earlier and thought it would make an interesting story. Eponine is Samantha Barks; Cosette is Amanda Seyfried, Enjolras is Aaron Tviet & Marius is Eddie Redmayne.
Summary: AU: Modern Day Les Miserables: Eponine and Marius are going out, before Eponine discovers that Marius is cheating on her with her best friend, Cosette. Set to the song 'Before He Cheats' by Carrie Underwood. Rated T because I'm paranoid. ONE-SHOT.
Genre: Romance/Drama
Rating: T
Eponine Thenardier sighed as she twirled a lock of black hair around her index finger. She was dialing her boyfriend, Marius Pontmercy, hoping that he would answer. The phone rang four times, five times, six times.
"Hi! You've reached Marius Pontmercy. I'm not available right now, but if you leave a message, I'll get back to you soon!" Marius' voicemail greeted Eponine.
"Marius! You jerk! Call me back ASAP!" Eponine demanded, hanging up the phone. She called him back and again, got his voicemail.
She decided to do things to keep her mind off Marius. She watched TV, filled the birdfeeder, took Cosette's white Standard Poodle for a walk, played some games on her phone and did some of her French homework.
After she did all of that, she called him on his phone. Got his voicemail, again!
"Dammit Marius! Call me back!" Eponine exclaimed, hanging up the phone.
As Eponine took her shower, a thought dawned on her – what if Marius was cheating on her? No, he wouldn't do that – the two of them had been dating for three years. In that three years, they had never cheated.
It was towards midnight when Cosette entered the apartment. She greeted her Standard Poodle and went to her room.
Eponine got out of bed and went to Cosette's bedroom. The door was open and Cosette was brushing her shoulder-length blond hair, humming something.
"Have a fun night?" Eponine questioned, making Cosette jump five feet in the air.
"'Ponine! You startled me!" Cosette told her best friend.
"Why are you home so late?" Eponine wanted to know, crossing her arms over Victor Hugo Community College t-shirt.
"I was out with some friends." Cosette answered, brushing her hair into a braid.
"Right. You were with Marius, weren't you?" Eponine inquired.
"'Ponine, you know I would never do that to you. We grew up together. We shared secrets – we did everything together." Cosette said.
"You're right – you would never do that." Eponine said. Cosette looked confused. "I'm sorry. Marius hasn't been answering his phone all day."
"Oh. His grandfather isn't doing well, so he's visiting his grandfather this weekend." Cosette told Eponine.
"Thanks. Again, sorry for accusing you." Eponine apologized.
"It's all right. Want to watch a movie or something?" Cosette asked.
"No, I'm gonna go to bed. I have a French quiz tomorrow." Eponine said, heading to her room.
"Good night 'Ponine."
"Good night, Cosette."
The two of them instantly fell asleep.
The following morning, Eponine made breakfast while Cosette took a shower. Eponine made chocolate chip pancakes, French toast, bacon, scrambled eggs and orange juice.
"Mmm. Something smells good." Cosette said as she entered the kitchen.
"I made all your favorites." Eponine told Cosette.
"Thank you, 'Ponine." Cosette thanked Eponine. Eponine smiled and dished up some food for herself and for Cosette.
The two of them ate breakfast in silence, occasionally talking about school, movies, books and TV shows.
"Do you remember when I came to stay with you and I burned breakfast?" Cosette asked. Eponine nodded, smiling at the memory.
"Mama was so mad at you. Papa forgave you, since it was your first day." Eponine remembered.
That afternoon, the girls did their separate things – Eponine went to the gym while Cosette went to a friend's birthday party.
When Eponine came home from the gym, she made herself some lunch before going to see Alzema – her sister who she hadn't seen in a very long time.
Alzema smiled at Eponine entered the house. Eponine smiled at her nieces – Arianna and Bianca and ruffled her nephew, Gavroche's, hair.
Eponine and Alzema drank iced tea while the children played not too far away.
"Did you hear about Marius?" Alzema asked, taking a sip of her iced tea.
"That he was visiting his grandfather. Cosette told me." Eponine told her sister. Alzema shook her head, her red curls bouncing on her shoulders.
"He's cheating on you – with Cosette." Alzema said.
"They wouldn't do that to me – Cosette's my best friend and Marius is my boyfriend." Eponine told her sister. "'Zema, where did you hear that?"
"From Grantaire, who is friends with Enjolras, who is best friends with Marius." Alzema said.
"Grantaire's a drunk, so I wouldn't listen to anything he says."
The sisters spent some more time together before Eponine went to her evening classes. All she had in the evening were French, Astronomy and Algebra.
As Eponine went to her Algebra class, she thought about what Alzema had said – what if Marius was cheating on her?
Right now he's probably slow dancing
With a bleached-blond tramp
And she's probably getting frisky
Right now, he's probably buying
Her some fruity little drink
'Cause she can't shoot whisky
Right now, he's probably up behind her
With a pool stick
Showing her how to shoot a combo
And he don't know
Once Eponine's classes were finished (she didn't go to Astronomy because it was too cloudy), she went back to the apartment she shared with Cosette.
"Cosette?" Eponine called.
Silence.
She saw Cosette's Standard Poodle sleeping in his dog bed, sound asleep.
Eponine exited the apartment and found the pool hall where Marius sometimes went with Enjolras, Grantaire and the rest of his friends when he needed to blow off steam.
Eponine couldn't believe what she saw – Marius was playing pool with Cosette, two drinks sitting on a small table nearby.
She got out of her car and dug her key into the side of Marius' car, carved her name into the leather seats. She then took a baseball bat to both head lights and slashed a hole in all four tires.
I dug my key into the side
Of his pretty little souped-up four wheel drive
Carved my name into his leather seats
I took a Louisville slugger to both head lights
Slashed a hole in all four tires
Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats
"Maybe next time, he'll think before he cheats." Eponine muttered before she left. In her rearview mirror, she saw Marius come out to his car, Cosette and Enjolras right behind him.
Back inside the pool hall, Cosette was singing a version of a Shania Twain song. Her ponytail had come out and her hair hung loosely on her shoulders. She wore a white tank-top that was too tight and jeans that showed off her curves.
After she finished her song, she came over to Marius and put her arms around his neck.
"I'm drunk." She slurred.
"I better get her home. I'll see you tomorrow, Enjay." Marius told his best friend. Enjolras nodded and said goodnight to both Cosette and Marius.
Marius took Cosette back to his place, all the way there, he kept thinking he would get lucky. To get home, Enjolras had loaned him his car – an exact replica of Marius' car.
"How are you going to get home?" Marius questioned as he got into Enjolras' car.
"Joly is coming soon." Enjolras answered, putting his phone back in his pocket.
Once he got to his house, he helped Cosette out of the car and inside.
He kissed the top of Cosette's head and went to the bathroom. He dabbed on some bathroom Polo.
Right now, she's probably up singing some
White-trash version of Shania karaoke
Right now, she's probably saying, "I'm drunk"
And he's a thinking that he's gonna get lucky
Right now, he's probably dabbing on three dollars
Worth of that bathroom Polo
Oh and he don't know
He was about to make out with Cosette when something caught his eye. He put his shirt back on and went to the window. He couldn't believe his eyes – Eponine was destroying Enjolras' car!
Then I dug my key into the side
Of his pretty little souped-up four wheel drive
Carved my name into his leather seats
I took a Louisville slugger to both head lights
Slashed a hole in all four tires
Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats
Eponine was finishing slashing the tires when she saw movement in the upstairs window. She ran out of there as fast as she could.
She found her bicycle and rode the rest of the way to the apartment building.
The following morning, Cosette woke up in a bed that wasn't hers. She had a horrible throbbing in her head and she had a hard time adjusting to the light.
Slowly, she sat up in bed, her head spinning. She looked over and saw that Marius was sleeping soundly, a little drool covering his pillow.
Quietly and slowly, Cosette put her clothes on and exited Marius' grandfather's house. Somehow, she made it to the apartment building she shared with Eponine.
It was Saturday, so Eponine was still asleep. Cosette quietly came in the door and slowly shut it. Her Standard poodle, Mr. Cuddles, was asleep in his dog bed. Cosette smiled and went to her room, silently closing the door.
At this point, Eponine was up and was eating breakfast. She hadn't heard Cosette come in, which didn't surprise Eponine – Cosette often teased her, saying that Eponine could sleep through the Zombie Apocalypse.
I might've saved a little trouble for the next girl
'Cause the next time that he cheats
Oh, you know it won't be on me!
No, not on me
Later that day, Eponine broke up with Marius, citing that she had heard a rumor that he had been cheating on her.
Marius was upset about Eponine breaking up with him, but Cosette made him forget all about Eponine.
A year after breaking up with him, Marius and Cosette moved in together. Marius had proposed and Cosette had said 'yes'. Eponine was living with Enjolras for six months and enjoyed his company.
'Cause I dug my key into the side
Of his pretty little souped-up four wheel drive
Carved my name into his leather seats
I took a Louisville slugger to both head lights
Slashed a hole in all four tires
Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats
After a while of living together, Enjolras proposed to Eponine while they ate pasta on the rooftop of Enjolras' apartment building.
"You won't cheat on me, will you?" Eponine asked, before accepting his marriage proposal.
"No, of course not." Enjolras answered.
"Then, yes – I'll marry you." Eponine told Enjolras. He smiled and kissed her, knowing that this was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
Oh, before he cheats