Enjolras sat at a table in the corner of the café, discussing revolution plans with Combeferre. They looked at a map of Paris, examining it to find the best place to build the barricade when they time came. It seemed that every place they thought was good ended up being a problem. Not an important enough street, not enough people near it, no escape route… they checked every street corner, but none were good enough.
"It's not going to work, Combeferre, the chance of any of these places being a good strategic move are very slim." Enjolras sighed.
"We can't give up hope yet, we haven't even gone to look at these streets, we're just using the map right now."
"Yes, but we can't just go and look around, the police know we're trying to plan something. If Javert saw us looking around the city… we'd be in trouble." The leader pointed out.
"Good point," Combeferre sighed. "Wait, I have an idea. What if we asked Éponine to look? She's on the streets all the time, and they don't arrest her."
"That's a smart idea. Thank you, Combeferre. I'll ask her about it when she gets here…" Enjolras nodded. As he said this, the girl in question wandered into the café, looking saw her and began to stand to walk over to her, but she went straight to Marius. She often sat with Marius during the meetings, but this seemed different. She looked less dreamy-eyed, and a little distraught. Enjolras watched as she pulled Marius aside and whispered something to him. Marius's eyes brightened and a smile crept onto his cheerful face. The smile seemed to make Éponine's sad eyes even darker. Marius spoke to her, perhaps asking a question. She responded quickly and darted out of the café, leaving a confused Marius behind. Enjolras walked over to the boy.
"Where did Éponine go?" He asked. "I thought she was staying for the meeting."
"I thought she was, too. Maybe she realized she had a conflict or something." Marius shrugged.
"She lives on the streets, she has nowhere else to be. Pontmercy, she looked upset. What were you two talking about?"
"She was telling me who the girl was that I met this morning. I asked her to help me find her. Just now, I asked her the girl's name and she just ran away. I don't know why." Marius replied.
"Marius, she- oh nevermind. I'll go get her." Enjolras said and headed for the door. He went outside and looked around, but it was growing dark outside and he couldn't see where Éponine had gone. He stayed quiet, listening for any sounds. He could here someone kicking rocks angrily on the sidewalk. He followed the sound to find Éponine standing there, looking more angry than sad.
"Ép?" Enjolras said, approaching her carefully. She turned to see him.
"Enjolras. What are you doing here? You have a meeting to run, don't worry about me." She said.
"The meeting is almost over. And besides, it is my duty as the leader to know what is bothering each of my friends."
"Your duty as a leader? For a moment, I thought you almost cared. Not that it matters, of course. I let my heart get broken by Marius, I won't let it happen again." She said, muttering the last part to herself. Enjolras heard this, but said nothing of it, too confused and caught up in other things to let it worry him.
"You know that's not what I meant. You are my friend, Éponine, and seeing you upset like this makes me worry." He sighed.
"I'm fine, Enj. Really, I am. Thank you for caring. Now, I'd love to stay and chat, but I must be going home. I'll see you at the rally tomorrow?"
"How can you be going home if you live on the streets?"
"You make a good point. I'll ask one of the boys if I can stay over tonight, then."
"I'll spare you the trouble of asking. You can stay at my place tonight. It's only a few blocks from here." Enjolras suggested. He wanted to make sure she'd be alright and knew the other boys did not understand the situation as well.
"Alright. Thank you, Enjolras." She replied after a moment of hesitation. The two walked back into the café and Enjolras disbanded the meeting, telling the others to get some rest before the rally. They would need all the sleep they could get.
