Pairing: E/É
Words: 3K+
Warning: Contains swearing and sexual themes.
Beta: none
Type: Modern AU
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It started with a one night stand. Actually, no, it didn't. It started way before that, but the one night stand is how this particular story started. But I guess you might need some background information to understand some of the aspects to this story. So for the sake of storytelling, it technically started with her first year of college…
Éponine Thénardier considered herself a rather well put-together, self-sufficient and independent young woman. At least she knew she was, based on her previous peers; consisting of the poorest of the poor, the addicts, the low lives, and the ambitious without an ambition. And being one to drag herself up from that hole of a childhood with a full ride to college, majoring in maths and chemistry, she was proud to no longer be one of them.
It wasn't long after she started that she realised she was not quite as put-together as she had thought. She had troubles managing her time, feeling like all she did was work and study, but never really getting anything done. She might work her 5 hour shift at the campus café, go home for 5 hours of studying, only interrupted by her roommate Cosette forcing her to take a break and eat something, before she would continue doing her homework. But she still had to stay up until three in the morning before she staggered over to her bed, catching 3 hours of sleep so she could edit and finish it the next morning before her classes started at eight, and then power through her classes and struggling with the easiest of things until she started her shift at the café.
Needless to say, she was exhausted and humouring the thought of dropping out a little more seriously every day.
This was the time when Éponine realised she would never have a serious committed relationship.
Then one day, after 3 weeks of less than four hours of sleep every night, she managed to sleep through her alarm, waking up at the end of her first class with dread in her stomach and an almost panic attack. But when she got an email from her teacher with the homework, and a get well message (Cosette had apparently told her teachers she was sick) and Éponine found she had no problems with the vectors and derivatives that she had struggled with under pressure and could finally focus on the tasks she were given instead of the tiny details.
That day she finished all her homework before her shift, and once again felt a bit more in control, and was once again hopeful for her future and confident that she would graduate.
But after she re-joined her classes the next day, she realised she was going to need help to get through this semester. So she signed up for a tutor and joined a study group.
And that is technically where I could have stared the story.
They were great people to hang with. They might be a bit easily distracted, but they got their work done on time and the atmosphere was always nice and inviting. She found out about them through Cosette, who was dating one of the members, but since he was changing schools, he figured she could take his spot. All the guys were happy to accept her into their group.
They came in pairs. There was Joly and Combeferre, who both studied medicine, and Grantaire and Feuilly who were always covered in ink and paint from their art lessons, and Jehan and Courfeyrac who always carried nonfiction books around with them and were known to spout poetry at the slightest trigger. Then there was Bahorel who looked like he was fresh out of the gym whenever she saw him, but who was actually majoring in the same thing as her and an invaluable partner in her studying, and Bossuet who was not allowed to sit next to the art majors in case he spilled paint on their masterpieces when he was excitedly reading an article about the psychology to Musichetta who was in his class (it had happened before.)
The only person in the group who had not readily accepted her was their leader Enjolras. Now he was one person who was the definition of well put-together in Éponine's opinion. He might be head deep in law books and old court files, but he still had time to run a protest blog about equality and gave free legal advice to the kids on campus who needed it. He also managed to make sure all the participants in the study group got the help they needed and were done on time.
Oddly enough, after many weeks of legal counselling where he helped her change her name and get her siblings out of her parent's reach, he became her best friend.
So much her best friend that when they graduated he offered her to move in with him.
She politely declined, scared of what it might lead to.
Because she had during the last few years of knowing him, realised that she might be just a tiny bit attracted to her best friend, and living with him might make her admit she was having a crush on him.
Actually, she was a little bit in love with him, but she doesn't know it at the time.
So they all went their separate ways. Most stayed in town but some moved far away, (Cosette and Marius moved a few towns over to where his new school was and he had started working but they kept in touch. Joly and Bossuet had moved in with their Musichetta in the next state over, and Grantaire and Jehan were traveling cross country together with their art thingy, no one was quite sure what they did, but they did art pieces and poetry reading or something and managed to make a living in that cute camper of theirs.)
And Éponine was finally feeling well put-together as she started teaching physics in high School for kids from shabby neighbourhoods giving them what she never had; a teacher they could actually learn from and be inspired by.
She would meet some of her friends here and there, Combeferre in the hospital when her brother broke his leg climbing the tree in her garden on one of his weekend visits, or when Courfeyrac did something stupid while drunk (again), Bahorel and Courfeyrac in the teachers lounges as they ate lunch and argued about which of the students would end up dating. (Couf always won, as he got them to read romantic poems in class, while Bahorel's math class probably was the least romantic place ever.)
The three teachers would meet up with Enjolras for dinner every weekend. And Enjolras and Éponine met basically every day as he did his case rapports and she did her grading, still finding it easier to work with someone.
So with time the study group had changed into a monthly club thing where they would all meet and catch up, even those who lived out of state, and preferably in a bar.
So now I guess we can say that the tale I was trying to tell is actually beginning. Let me try again:
It started with a one night stand…
It was the first Friday of fall break and the gang had gotten together for their monthly gathering. Courf, Éponine and Bahorel had decided that since they had a week off, there was no harm in getting smashed, and somehow Grantaire and Éponine had managed to get Enjolras drunk as well.
She didn't really know how it happened but somehow she and Enjolras decided it was smartest to share a cab home. She lived closest, so when she had paid for the ride and gotten out, she was surprised to see Enjolras coming out after her.
"Courf stole my wallet," he mumbled bashfully as he followed her upstairs.
And before they knew what happened, she was clinging onto him for dear life, desperately removing his belt as he pressed her up against the wall. Their limbs tangled in sheets and desperate moans and content sighs as they extinguished that longing, that curiosity that had been building between them since their freshman year of college, while at the same time making them more curious and the longing for each other stronger. It was all hot kisses and strangled cries as their rhythm built up and they finally came together.
She woke up the next morning lying on her back with his arm around her hips, face in her breasts and legs tangled with hers.
He was out cold and she knew she had no hope for waking him up after all those times he fell asleep after what she promised was going to be the last episode (for the 9th time) of their supernatural marathons. So she unceremoniously threw his arm off of her and bolted herself into her bathroom to have a minor panic attack in the shower about finally having managed to ruin her relationship with her best friend forever.
She dressed and walked into the kitchen where she made an omelette and a pot of coffee, checking her phone as she had her breakfast.
She had 16 missed calls from her friends and a text from Cosette, asking her why she hadn't picked up the phone last night and to tell Enjolras that Combeferre had his and wallet.
She texted her back
"I had a one night stand - Ép"
Knowing from their time at college that Cosette would understand. And she immediately got a text back
";) congrats tigrr! I'll come over right now. – Cosette"
"no! – Ép"
"Why not? – Cosette"
"My one night stand is still here! – Ép"
"gotcha.;) ;) – Cosette"
She heard Enjolras shift in her bedroom and continued eating her breakfast.
"Good morning." He smiled at her. She nodded, still uncertain about the situation. He helped himself to coffee and the other half of the omelette before he sat down next to her. He was only wearing his boxers and it was distracting.
"So last night-" he started
"Yeah." She interrupted, dragging her stare away from his lovely torso to look at his lovely face. "We should just re-watch firefly together like we used to do after sleepovers."
He looked at her for a few seconds, his smile fading slightly and sighed, before nodding and finishing off his breakfast.
They watched the first 5 episodes of firefly before they stopped due to Éponine's stomach protesting to almost five hours of only juniormints and pretzels. So they took a break, him taking a shower and her making her amazing spaghetti sauce from the mince she dug out of her freezer and the canned tomatoes at the back of the pantry. An hour later they were sitting on her sofa, with half eaten bowls of spaghetti and half drunken glasses of wine, joking and talking about everything and nothing as if 'the sex' never happened.
Éponine had taken to referring to intercourse as 'the sex' since Cosette had a slip up in college, and the ironical use kind of stuck.
And Éponine was relieved.
It wasn't until much later, in the middle of the firefly intro that her phone buzzed, dragging her out of her snuggly-Enjy-world.
"Marius and I are leaving in an hour, can we swing by on the way home? – Cosette."
"No, I am busy, but next time you are in town I promise you we will have a whole shopping day together! – Ép"
"wow, one night stand still there isn't he/she? – Cosette"
"yup – Ép"
"See yah in two weeks then babes! – Cosette"
And once again the man she was currently snuggled up with was no longer just her best friend but also the man she had hot 'the sex' with last night. The innocent hand rubbing circles on her stomach under her shirt was no longer the affectionate gesture she was used to from years of marathons, but an incredible turn on.
They didn't see the last episodes of firefly that night, too busy fucking each other on the couch, the floor and her bed to change the disk.
The next morning she seriously did not know how to handle the situation. So after some extremely hot morning 'the sex' (Enjolras woke up first) followed by even hotter shower 'the sex' and incredible breakfast made by an uncharacteristically happily-goofy Enjolras, she sent a text message to Cosette, desperate for advice.
"My one night stand is more like a one weekend stand at the moment! – ÉP"
"Have fun and use protection! – Cosette"
Cosette did not get the seriousness of the situation.
Enjolras switched the disk and together they saw the last episodes of firefly, and the way they so easily switched from friends to lovers and back were staring to give her a whiplash, but she went along with it, making every situation as platonic and familiar as she could as Enjolras countered with lingering touches and flirty comebacks.
The scariest part was that Enjolras had always given her lingering touches and flirty comebacks, but she had never thought of them as quite as sensual or arousing before. She had forced herself not to read too much into anything he did, and now she was thinking maybe he had been crushing on her too.
But this was all too confusing, so she held as tightly to the notion that he was still her best friend as they converted the leftovers from last night to a lasagna of sorts and had it with the rest of the wine from last night.
Needless to say, she was woken up the next morning by Enjolras hastily getting dressed and running out the door kissing her cheek and telling her he borrowed 20 bucks for the cab ride home. It was 6 on a Monday morning and she was still on a break, so she sent a quick update to Cosette
"My one night stand finally left. – Ép"
Before she promptly fell back asleep.
The day was spent lazily ignoring the mess they had made the night before and munching on the leftovers from the pasta dish. She was just planning a shopping list as she was microwaving the last portion of leftover pasta deliciousness when the doorbell rang.
To her surprise it was Enjolras, wearing fresh clothes and carrying a duffle bag in one hand and a bag of groceries in the other.
She stood there in shock, still wearing the ratty pyjamas she had thrown on when she woke up (around noon) and just watched as he put away the groceries and tidied up the mess from last night before she grudgingly shared her pasta with him, straight from the plastic container while they watched law and order and argued about what Enjolras should have done if he was the lawyer and if people were lying or not.
Cosette sent a text that evening, working with the theatre director she was doing her ensemble work which now meant she was banned from any non-theatre-related activities, including phones, so she was unable to answer until then.
"Well I hope you had a good time while it lasted. – Cosette"
"My one night stand came back for dinner. – Ép."
Cosette replied instantly, but the reply contained the word "dating" so Éponine ignored it.
That night they didn't have any wine, so Éponine could not blame it on alcohol when they shagged before falling asleep in each other's embrace.
The next morning she was once again woken up with at the crack of dawn with a kiss on her cheek and she can't help herself when she doesn't feel surprised when he rings her doorbell at five thirty only to have him cook this great salmon dish before parking himself with his workload at her dining table. She joined him with the mountain load of tests she had neglected until now, and found herself getting more and more frustrated as she graded the work of her smart students who hadn't bothered to study for the test.
After the fourth test where she had written "you fucking know this lazy-arse!" instead of the usual "I know you have the ability to do better." Enjolras took her red pen away from her and dragged her over to the sofa where he opened a tub of ben & jerry's and tuned in to the season premiere of supernatural.
After the next few days proceeded in a similar manner, she felt brave enough to read Cosette's text.
"I would almost believe you were dating this 'one night stand'. – Cosette"
"No I am not, but I believe my one night stand is dating me. – Ép."
Cosette understood. Éponine didn't date, and was terrified of commitment, so this was as much of an admittance that she was ever going to get from her.
Éponine did not have the best track record about being honest about her feelings to others nor to herself.
Enjolras did not stop coming around after work every day, and when they went out to dinner that weekend with Courf, Bahorel and Combeferre. He acted so casually natural, while still being incredibly affectionate with her. She was surprised when no one commented; he had never been this affectionate with her out in public before had he?! Apparently he had, because she could remember loads of dinners where she had read the menu with Enjolras' arm on the back of her chair and his breath on her neck as he red her menu instead of his own, but it had always seemed so platonic to her.
Had she really forced herself to be that blind?
When they arrived home that evening, Éponine decided to broach the subject.
"Have- are, do you like me? Like like me?" she was uncertain, incredibly low self-esteem and years of convincing herself she was 100% self-sufficient and independent had made relationships and emotions hard to deal with. She had never had more than a one night stand or two with the same person before.
He chuckled breaking away from kissing her neck; her timing had never really been great.
"Are you seriously asking me if I like you like you? Are your students rubbing off on you?"
She hit his arm to make him stop laughing. He looked at her face, calculating, before his eyes softened and he smiled that cute boyish smile at her that she like liked so much.
"In all seriousness, Éponine, I do more than like like you." She felt her breath catch in her throat as she braced her hands on his shoulders.
"For how long?" she whispered as he continued kissing the column of her throat.
"You remember that night when you introduced me to supernatural?" he asked as he slowly unbuttoned her shirt.
"Mhm.." she moaned as he followed his fingers down to kiss between her breasts, she did not quite register that he was talking about an event almost 10 years ago.
"That was when I realised that I liked you liked you," he murmured against the skin of her stomach, before he pushed her down on the bed.
She didn't have time to collect herself before he was on top of her, lips claiming hers and a hand cupping her cheek as the other travelled downwards to where she wanted him.
"I realised I more than like liked you the first time you had Gavroche for the weekend and you took so good care of him that I couldn't help imagining he was our, and that was when I realised it."
She was too busy kissing him to process what he was actually saying, other than that she had never been this turned on by anything he had ever said before, but she didn't have to right at this moment either, not until Enjolras suddenly stopped chanting her name and murmured "I love you" into her ear.
That's when she proper realised what he had been trying to say.
And it pushed her over the edge, screaming his name.
As they lay cuddling after that, waiting for their heartbeats to slow, she had to admit to them both that she had been denying that she love loved him too for years now.
"I am in love with my one night stand. – Ép"
*A week later*
"I can't believe you suggested a shopping day! You hate shopping." Cosette said as she plunked down in her favourite booth at Applebee's sitting on the edge as the whole bench is full of her shopping bags. Éponine shrugs and puts her own 3 bags next to her on her bench.
"I might not like shopping, but I did get a thing or two."
Cosette smirked at her, "yeah, or three at Victoria's Secret alone." She waggled her eyebrows. "So who's the lucky fellah and how long did it take you to realise you loved him all along?"
"Well I- wait what? All along?!" realisation dawned on Éponine as she saw the infuriatingly knowing smirk on Cosette's face.
"You knew!"
"Well, he told me he had a plan, asked me if I thought you might kick his arse for it. He came up with the plan when he woke up hung over at three in the morning two weeks ago and puked his guts out in your toilet. I must say Enjolras has good plans in every situation."
"I wouldn't really call it a good plan…" Éponine grumbled.
"It worked didn't it?" Cosette asked.
"What was the goal of this plan exactly?"
"He basically wanted to be your live-in-lover. He is a sap when he wakes up I swear…"
"Yeah." Éponine smiled "wait live in lover?"
When she got home a few hours later, she was met by the smell of her favourite casserole and the sight of five pairs of his shoes next to hers in the hallway.
"Hi honey, welcome home." She heard Enjolras shout from the kitchen, and she walked in and wrapping her arm around him, taking notes of all his things mixed with hers that definitely wasn't there two weeks ago.
"Smells wonderful." She muttered, kissing his neck and unwrapping herself from him. He spun around and caught her before she could move away and brought her back for a kiss.
"it'll be done in half an hour."
"That will give us just enough time then" she said casually.
"Time for what?" he asked breathlessly, knowing where this was going.
She raised the hand still holding her Victoria's Secret bag and smirked at him.
"Just give me five minutes and I'll meet you in the bedroom" she whispered in his ear before sashaying out of the kitchen.
Just before she changed into the sexy red and black number however, she sent a text to Cosette;
"My one night stand just moved in. –Ép"
"I am imagining your wedding invites stating 'Éponine Thénardier and her One Night Stand' right now. – Cosette"
"But it wont because I will plan your wedding I swear to god if I am not your maid of honour after this I will cut u :) – Cosette"