So, I decided that I liked this idea, and chose to continue it. Most of the chapters will be centered around a certain song, although some will be actual content from the musical (obviously). So the song for this one is Sober by Kelly Clarkson.

*Edit* Thanks to Judybear236 for the edits and suggestions.

Sober

Eponine was sixteen when she finally began to contemplate leaving home. Gavroche had left, Azelma had vanished, and she was beaten nearly every day, and Montparnasse never left her alone. But she found that she kept going back every week or so. It was all she knew, and she had difficulty giving it up. The thought that she actually did rely on her father and his gang disgusted her.

But finally, a year after she started trying to get out, she left, decidedly for good. She was seventeen.

~I don't know. This could break my heart or save me.~

For the first week, she avoided everyone she knew, her father's gang, Marius, everyone. She didn't want to cave in and be weak.

~Nothing's real until you let go completely.~

It was a full month before she decided to try to find Marius. He was her best friend, and probably was worried that she was dead.

She finally returned to the neighbourhood she had spent most of her life in. Nothing had changed. The streets were still crowded with poor people. Saint Michel was the same as always. And, to her delight, had the same Marius.

"Marius!" she called. He turned towards her, looking confused, but his face lit up when he recognized her.

"Eponine!" he yelled before running over to her and catching her in a tight hug. "What happened to you?" Concern was obvious in his eyes as he released her. "I thought you were dead!"

"I left them," she replied with a smile. "For good this time."

Marius grinned, thrilled. "That's great, 'Ponine."

~So here I go with all my thoughts I've been saving.~

She slept in a familiar alley that night, remembering Marius' smile when he had seen her. Perhaps she did stand a chance with him after all. Maybe those bourgeois girls she sometimes saw him mooning over were as meaningless as she always told him, and none of them would ever truly capture his attention like she feared they would.

~So here I go with all my fears weighing on me.~

It had been two months, and by some miracle, she still hadn't had a run-in with her father and his gang. And, even better, she still had no thoughts of giving up and going back. She smiled to herself as she leaned against a wall, waiting for Marius. She was finally free.

Three months and I'm still sober. Picked all my weeds but kept the flowers. And I know it's never really over...

It had been three months now since she had left. She had never felt happier. She was seeing Marius every day, and he had introduced her to his friends, whom she now saw nearly every day at their meetings in the Cafe Musain, where they were planning a revolution. Other than their leader, Enjolras, they were all very friendly and easy-going, taking to her instantly. Enjolras, however, was stoney and serious, and they all joked that he was made of marble. Eponine had been confused by this at first, but now she agreed whole-heartedly that he was, as he only appeared to care about France.

But all good things must come to an end, as she learned when she ran into Montparnasse.

~I don't know, I could crash and burn but maybe, at the end of this road I might catch a glimpse of me.~

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my little 'Ponine," he said with a smirk as he approached her. "Long time, no see."

"And a good thing too, I'm done with that life, 'Parnasse, stay away from me." She was furious. There was no way that she was going back again after trying so hard to get away.

"It's not going to be that easy, Eponine," he said threateningly, stepping towards her and grabbing her wrist, pulling her towards him. She could smell the alcohol on his breath.

"Actually, it is. She told you to leave her alone, so I suggest you do so," came a voice from behind her. She turned her head to see Marius, Enjolras, Courfeyrac, and Combeferre standing behind her. Enjolras was the one who had spoken.

Montparnasse clearly didn't like the odds, so he released her wrist and began to back off. "Don't you dare think that this is over yet, Eponine," he growled as he began to walk away.

"Knowing you and my father, it would be foolish to think otherwise," she shot back.

"Come on, Eponine, forget him, he's an idiot," Marius said, walking oer and grabbing her hand. "We're heading over to the cafe, care to join us?"

She smiled, happy that he was holding her hand. "I was just heading there myself," she replied cheerfully, all thoughts of Montparnasse suddenly gone from her head. She didn't even care that Courfeyrac and Combeferre were smirking at her.

~So I won't worry about my timing, I wanna get it right. No comparing, second guessing, no not this time.~

Thoughts of Montparnasse and her father did come back that night, though. For the first time in the three months since she had left, she broke down and cried.

She missed her family, and the way things had been before, before they had hit rock bottom, before her father beat her and let Montparnasse do whatever he wanted to her for a few francs or sous, whatever he could afford at the time. Before Gavroche had run away and Azelma had vanished. But that life was gone forever now.

There was no going back now.

~Three months and I'm still breathing. Been a long road since those hands I left my tears in, but I know its never really over, no...~

For the first time in her life, Eponine had given up on her dreams. This was reality. Her life, the life she currently was living, that was real. Her daydreams about her family being they way they had been once, when they still had Cosette and she had been spoiled – that was never going to happen.

Wake up...

And Marius... Could Marius ever love her the way she loved him? She didn't know. She hoped so, but so far he appeared to be blind to all her subtle hints.

~Three months and I'm still standing here. Three months and I'm getting better yeah. Three months and I still am.~

She bit her lip, trying to keep from crying. It had been three months since she had last cried, and she was determined not to let bad memories make her cry again.

~Three months and it's still harder now. Three months I've been living here without you now. Three months yeah, three months~

Despite herself, the first tear fell, then another and another. She hated herself for crying, especially since it was just because she had lost the life she had dreamed of. She had always known deep inside that that life was gone. But the interaction with Montparnasse earlier...

What he had said to her, the way he had grabbed her... If Marius and his friends hadn't shown up when they had...

How could she have spent so many years thinking that she had needed men like her father and Montparnasse to take care of her when they were the reason that she was now essentially a nervous wreck? They had ruined her life.

And now she was managing just fine without them.

~Three months and I'm still breathing. Three months and I still remember it.~

The tears continued to fall, however. She couldn't help but remember everything that they had done to her. They had beaten her until she was broken, and her father had sold her to horrible men just so that he could buy alcohol and get drunk.

She was amazed that she was still alive after everything he had done to her.

~Three months and I wake up~

She heard footsteps approaching her, and looked up, frightened. She forced herself to stop crying, and began to try to wipe the tears from her face.

The figure got closer, and she relaxed slightly. It was one of Marius' friends.

"Eponine?"

"Oui, m'sieur Enjolras?" she asked, standing.

"Are you alright?"

She grinned, amazed that he, of all people, was asking if she was alright. "Is the marble statue actually asking me if I'm fine?"

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yes, I am. But only because I heard crying and you're the only other person here, and that man I saw you with earlier looked rather dangerous."

She sighed and looked down. "Montparnasse and my father aren't very happy since I left home three months ago, and I was a somewhat valuable source of income."

Enjolras inhaled sharply. "Do you have a place to stay?"

Eponine glanced back to where she had been sitting and opened her mouth to reply, but Enjolras cut her off.

"Other than the street?"

"No," she replied after a moment.

"Come on, you can stay with me. You're not safe out here."

She looked up at him in surprise. No one, not even Marius, had ever been that kind to her. Marius knew she slept on the streets, but had never done anything about it. And now one of his friends, that she hardly knew, was offering her the chance to actually sleep inside out of the cold. She nodded slowly and followed him.

~Three months and I'm still sober. Picked all my weeds but kept the flowers...~