AN: Good very early morning, dear readers! I have once again surpassed sleep for the sake of finishing an installment! Typos apologised for in advance! I've been mentioning Cosette and Marius' wedding for a while now, and this fit in here perfectly and so: voila!
Prompt: What if Enjolras and Éponine had to suffer through Marius and Cosette's wedding? Enjoy!
It was the day before Cosette and Marius' wedding, and Enjolras had woken up expecting a lot of things.
He had expected Marius to talk constantly about how amazing his wedding was going to be. He had expected Marius to talk constantly about how much he loved Cosette and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He had expected Grantaire to get well and truly, completely and utterly drunk out of his mind.
Éponine had woken up that morning expecting to be bored to death by Cosette's constant chatter regarding the final preparations for the wedding. She had expected to have to try on her Maid of Honour dress at least another thirty times 'just to make sure it's perfect'. She had expected to see practically nothing of her beloved Enjolras and be expected to keep completely quiet about it.
What neither of them had expected was to find Éponine throwing up in the bathtub.
"'Ponine?" Enjolras woke up to find Éponine's side of the bed empty. Hearing the not-so-pretty sound of Éponine's dinner making a reappearance, he climbed out of bed to find his beloved hanging over the side of the bath. Rushing to her, her pulled her hair out of her face with one hand and rubbed her back comfortingly with the other.
When she'd finished, Éponine fell back against Enjolras, panting slightly. He left her for a moment and got her some water.
"Thank you," she said quietly, leaning her head on his shoulder as he knelt down next to her.
"You know," he said, smirking slightly, "There are more convenient places to be sick than the bathtub, 'Ponine." He chuckled slightly, then noticed tears in her eyes.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly, and tear falling from the corner of her eye. Enjolras felt immediately guilty.
"Hey!" he said, wiping the tear away with his thumb, "I was joking! I was completely joking!" he pulled her into a hug.
"I know," Éponine sniffled, now crying into his chest, "I don't know what's wrong with me all of a sudden! I just feel... I feel awful!"
Enjolras frowned, leaning back, "You do look pale... maybe I should get Joly..."
"No, no," Éponine said, wiping her eyes, "I'll be fine. I'm sure it's nothing serious."
Enjolras looked at her, not believing a word she said, "You should at least miss the wedding..."
"Not a chance," she said firmly, standing up, "You and I both know that Cosette would never let me hear the end of it. And 'never' is a long time."
Enjolras smiled slightly, "If you're sure?"
"Completely sure." Éponine assured him, taking his hand and pulling him up, "Now, come on. I'm starving."
"I take it I'm cooking?" Enjolras asked, leading the way out of the bathroom.
"You know that I can't cook to save my life." Éponine said.
"Then it's just as well that I can," he said, kissing her lightly on the lips. Éponine smiled.
"Yes, it is," she agreed, before leaving him to cook whilst she got dressed.
Éponine couldn't shake the sickly feeling at all throughout the day, and it certainly wasn't helped by one of Cosette's maids tightening her corset as much as physically possible.
"Oh, Éponine," Cosette looked at Éponine in her Maid of Honour dress with tears in her eyes, "You look beautiful!"
Éponine forced a smile onto her face, "Thanks," she said, "Can I get out of this now?" Cosette nodded.
"I want to try my dress on, just one more time. Just to make sure..." she virtually skipped out of the room, leaving Éponine alone with the dreaded maid, who took hours (almost literally) to undo the back of the dress.
Éponine was practically gasping with relief by the time she had her own dress and considerably looser corset back on. She was more than happy to spend the rest of the day telling Cosette how amazing she looked in her bridal gown, and 'hmm-ing' and nodding whenever it was appropriate as Cosette ran through the plans for the day, all of which Éponine had heard at least a hundred times before.
Enjolras was not in much of a better state. Marius insisted on rewriting his vows and then his speech at least five times, and read it out at least fifty five times. Enjolras' day consisted of very little else, as Marius wasn't one to bother too much about what he was wearing (although he did try reading his speech out whilst wearing his suit at one point 'just to make sure it works'). Enjolras had absolutely no doubt in his mind that Marius and Cosette were perfect for each other.
He finally met back up with Éponine in the Musain later that night, where everyone was gathering for Marius and Cosette's last night as an un-married couple.
"You wait, next year, they'll be a mini Marius or Cosette running through the streets," Courfeyrac grinned. Gavroche seemed rather against that idea.
"As long as it stays off my patch," he grumbled whilst sitting next to Éponine. She laughed quietly.
"I'm sure he or she will look up to you relentlessly, Gavroche."
"Right, we need more drinks," Grantaire stated, patting his hand on the table, "On me, seeing as I've got barely any money left and you'll all have to pay for me for the rest of the night anyway."
The night progressed steadily, and Grantaire got rather unsteadily drunk in the process, and so, by the looks of it, did everyone else. Even Enjolras had a drink or two, but not enough to either spill all his secrets or get into a fight this time.
It seemed to be only Éponine who went without, her first drink still sitting in front of her untouched after a few hours.
"Athena, Athena," Grantaire said, catching her attention, "Are you-" he paused to hiccup, "drinking that?" Éponine looked at it, felt a fresh wave of sickness fall over her, and shook her head, willing herself not to throw up all over the table. He shrugged, "Waste not, want not!" he downed the drink in one, then refilled it and downed that too.
Enjolras was getting increasingly worried about Éponine; she had barely spoken all night, was in a kind of daze, and hadn't had a single drink, which in itself was most unlike her. On top of that, she was still pale, and, frankly, she looked exhausted.
"Want to leave?" he murmured to her.
"More than anything I've ever wanted in my life." She replied immediately. Enjolras finished his drink and stood up, taking her hand.
"Okay, we're going home," he stated, picking up Éponine's coat and handing it to her.
"What?" Grantaire demanded, "It's barely even late!"
"But it is late, nonetheless, my friend," Enjolras chuckled, "And I have no ambition of facing a repeat of the last time you were so drunk you could barely stand."
"Do not lie to me, Apollo!" Grantaire said, waving a finger at him, "You enjoyed that... and so did everyone else!"
"Don't leave yet!" Marius said.
"We have to go now," Éponine said.
"Why?" Cosette asked, looking at them, begging them silently to stay.
"We wouldn't want to be late for the wedding tomorrow, would we?!" Enjolras said quickly. This seemed to satisfy both of them.
"Of course," Marius nodded understandingly.
"Bye, everyone," Enjolras called waving. Éponine joined him in waving goodbye but didn't say a word.
They walked home in near silence, hand in hand, until Éponine ran down an alley and threw up in someone's bin. Enjolras sighed worriedly, going to comfort her.
"Do you still insist that you're fine?" he questioned as she wiped her mouth with her sleeve.
"I'm fine enough," she stated, "I'm not dying."
"You're also not a doctor," he pointed out, "For all you know, you could be."
"I'm not dying." She repeated. He held his hands up in surrender.
"Fine," he said as she wrapped her arm in his and they continued on their walk home, "But if you're sick again, I'm getting Joly." Éponine rolled her eyes, but didn't say a word.
The next morning dawned bright and sunny, an unusual October morning. Whilst Éponine still looked slightly pale, she was a lot happier, and she had yet to empty her stomach of its contents.
Marius and Cosette had insisted that everyone be brought to the huge city hall in carriages in small groups. Éponine and Enjolras both found this ridiculous, as the hall was practically within walking distance, but agreed to do as their friends had asked for the sake of avoiding a tedious conversation.
Éponine and Enjolras ended up in a carriage with Courfeyrac, Combeferre and Gavroche, who was more than slightly annoyed with the fact that he had to wear a proper suit.
"Just put up with it, Gavroche," Courfeyrac said wearily, having already had the same conversation a thousand times since Marius had announced it, "It's only for a day."
"Only for a day until Enjolras and Éponine get married," Gavroche argued. The four adults looked at each other in surprise.
"Gavroche, we have no plans to get married any time soon!" Enjolras insisted, his cheeks slightly pink.
"Where on Earth did you get that idea?!" Éponine asked.
"It's obvious," he shrugged, "You love him, he loves you. Marriage is only..." he frowned, trying to think of the word, "Logical! It's only logical!"
The rest of the journey was spent in an awkward silence, Combeferre and Courfeyrac sending suggestive glances at each other every so often.
Éponine and Enjolras were separated when they arrived at the hall, Éponine going to help Cosette get ready and Enjolras going to make sure that Marius wasn't driving himself insane.
It was around lunchtime when the wedding actually took place. Cosette stood next to her father behind the bold white doors that would eventually open to reveal a room full of people who would bear witness to her marriage to Marius. Éponine stood behind, holding a small bouquet, handpicked by Éponine herself, who refused to let Cosette go overboard with silly things like flowers. She would have Enjolras by her side, when he finally emerged from Marius' suite.
When he did come out, he stopped short upon noticing Éponine in her dress. Desperately trying to stop himself from gaping, he walked forward to greet Cosette, kissing her hand and offering his congratulations, which she accepted graciously. He then came to stand beside Éponine, smiling uncontrollably.
"Do you remember when we went dancing, and I said that I should call you Aphrodite?" he asked quietly.
"Yes..." Éponine frowned, confused.
"Then, I wasn't being completely serious. Now... Aphrodite is definitely appropriate."
"It would be if I preferred it to Athena," Éponine smiled slightly, "But I don't. So Athena is what we're sticking with." Enjolras nodded as if to say 'of course', before the music starting up in the room beyond the doors interrupted their conversation.
The doors swung open, and Cosette and her father started making their way down the aisle, Éponine and Enjolras about five steps behind them. Passing their friends, they smiled, earning a lot of winks and grins from the Amis. Éponine spotted Gavroche saying something that looked suspiciously like 'I told you say' to Courfeyrac after he caught sight of her and Enjolras. She glanced warningly at him and he grinned madly back, fully confident in his hypothesis.
Once they'd reached the end of the aisle and the wedding started, it seemed to drag by. Éponine and Enjolras were stood on separate sides of the happy couple, both of them looking like they'd rather be anywhere else.
When the vicar finally pronounced Marius and Cosette man and wife, Éponine was unbelievably glad; she couldn't wait to sit down and eat something, her stomach unhappily empty seeing as they hadn't had time for breakfast. Cosette and Marius led the way out, followed by Éponine and Enjolras, and then everyone else soon after. They only had to cross the foyer of the building to reach the wedding reception, and everyone quickly took their seats (in a seating plan that Cosette had meticulously planned).
Éponine was also grateful for the facts that, firstly she was sat on a round table with Enjolras on one side and Gavroche on the other, and secondly the food was served before any of the speeches were made.
More than once she had to reprimand Gavroche for eating so quickly that it literally looked like he was just shoving more and more food into his mouth.
"I'm starving!" he protested, his mouth full of bread and cheese.
"So am I, but you don't see me eating like an animal, do you?" she said, "And don't speak with your mouth full." He swallowed.
"Sorry, 'Ponine," he muttered. She happened to glance at Enjolras on her left to find him smirking at her.
"Yes?" she questioned.
"You act like his mother," he said simply, "And I don't mean that in a bad way."
"Well, someone's got to take responsibility for him," she said, "He's hardly going to get that living with Courf, is he?" Enjolras laughed.
"That's true," he agreed. He glanced at her plate, "Are you just eating cheese?"
"Hmm," she ate another piece from her plate, "I fancied it, so I'm eating it. That tends to be how hunger works." He rolled his eyes.
"You have a strange concept of 'hunger'," he said.
The afternoon progressed into evening, when the tables were pushed back and band began to play. Cosette and Marius had their first dance, with everyone watching and 'aww-ing' every so often. Cosette then danced with her father, before the dance floor opened up to the Best Man and the Maid of Honour. Éponine had no ambition to dance, but Marius had specifically requested that the band play a waltz, simply so that Enjolras and Éponine couldn't refuse.
By the time the wedding finally ended, it was safe to say that many of the Amis were absolutely shattered. Grantaire was complaining that he hadn't drunk nearly enough, and that he'd have to break into his emergency stash of ale when he got home. Many of them, Enjolras and Éponine included, took this as an excuse to leave.
Marius and Cosette had left almost half an hour ago to go on their honeymoon, and so there really wasn't anything keeping any of them there. Walking back out to their waiting carriages, Courfeyrac was carrying a sleeping Gavroche, stating that weddings 'weren't Gavroche's thing'. Éponine had found that really quite hilarious.
Whilst Grantaire, Joly, Combeferre and Feuilly decided to go into the Musain for a few more drinks, Enjolras and Éponine made their way home, completely exhausted from having to deal with Marius and Cosette for two consecutive days.
They barely had the energy to get changed out of their wedding outfits before collapsing into bed, falling asleep in each other's arms, thinking that their wedding day was definitely a long way away from now. They really were a lot of work, and neither of them could be bothered with that.
Not just yet anyway.
I'd love to know your eve-valuable opinions on this installment, so feel free to drop me a review, or a prompt if you've got one! Thanks for reading :)
