We are the reckless,
We are the wild youth,
Chasing visions of our future,
One day we'll reveal the truth.
vi.
She follows the crowd to the rally. People of all different sorts surround Enjolras' glorified soapbox. There's screaming, and chanting, and singing- but Eponine feels no pleasure or power from any of it. She keeps pushing her way through, a stone cold look on her face. She doesn't enjoy the amount of people surrounding her, nor the amount of people touching her. She wraps her coat around tighter around herself, using it as a shield. They yell at her as she pushes forcibly by. She doesn't care; she never does. She just continues on, letting them glare. She's almost to him when he lets out earthshattering words.
"Though we must all admit that men are superior to women in average life."
His burning passion does not waver; he wants them all to believe this.
The crowd is stunned silent. She pushes past completely and hops up on stage. She pulls his arm, sending him to the back of the stage. The crowd begins to boo.
"What the fuck was that?" She hisses.
"I was expressing what the facts tell me." He replies softly, his voice losing its power.
"You act like you've lured them here to throw some shit masculism on them." She scoffs, hitting his arm again.
"Ow—God, will you stop doing that?"
Her nostrils flare and she runs towards the front of the stage. She must be fearless- no, she will be. Granted if she can figure out what to say.
"I disagree with his statement!" Her rough voice booms amongst the crowd. They're silent for a second. Eponine fears that she has ruined it. "A woman can be just as good as a man, if not better!"
There is a pause and she thinks she might start sweating.
They begin to cheer and she relaxes, tugging her jacket down.
"You know what? I'm tired of being saved," It was like something had possessed her. She spoke with an intensity ten times her own. "I'm tried of guys assuming I need saving! I am my own knight in shining armor." They cheer again and her eyes are lit like fire. "I am my own hero!"
She cannot see him, but Enjolras is grinning. She is a piece of art on that stage, and he made it so. Or, at least that's what he would like to believe.
"I have spent over half of my life in the gutter," She holds her head high and her hands clenched, as is she is a queen proclaiming on to her people. She is a queen in her own right; despite what she believes. "With men grabbing me and objectifying me, when all I wanted was food for my sister and I to eat."
The crowd is silent except for a few encouraging screams.
"I have been kicked out of almost every library in this goddamn city because I would hide in the bathrooms after closing." She admits. "—Just so I could spend time teaching myself to read. Men would drag me out by my collars and call me a dirty rat. One told me I wouldn't need to read once I found a husband."
"We love you!" She hears a familiar voice yell. Courfeyrac, She thinks, Of course the Amis are here.
Now this is the hard part. Thinking of the past makes her throat burn and her legs weak, but she can't let it show.
"And when I was sixteen my father forced me in to prostitution to pay for his drugs and his meals. He didn't care what happened to me, or that I had become some object. I paid for the good stuff."
Her eyes began to water. She had never talked so openly before.
"I am tired of becoming something I am not for men, and being seen as something worse than I am. I may be the devil, but I was shaped that way for a reason. For once in my life-" She pauses, blinking back tears and swallowing to fix the hitch in throat. "I want to be treated fairly."
She stops, staring at them all with a clenched jaw and teary eyes.
They are silent. She fears she has scared them all- but she sees that a few a crying. They erupt in to applause and Eponine sends the best smile she can. She turns back, running off the side of the stage. Enjolras follows carefully behind, calling her name over and over again- but she doesn't hear it. She drowns out the world behind her and for once she is a mix of joyful and saddened. She's smiling, she has finally spoken up about her demons; yet she's crying, the world might as well know how horrible she is.
For the first time in a long time, she cares.
He catches up to her and grabs her arm. He can feel her body shake. She's crying. He pulls her gently, wrapping her up in his arms. He doesn't expect her to be okay with this, nor does he understand why he did it in the first place. For once, it seems right.
She continues to shiver and sniffle in to his chest, occasionally hitting him. She does not push him off until she hears the shutters of cameras go off. She unravels herself quickly and he lets her. She wipes her nose on her wrist, pushing past the crowd. She hears the calls of some of the Amis, but she ignores them. She swears she can hear Combeferre telling them all to stop. She can't help but smile a little bit.
vii.
She's at the bus stop before Enjolras catches up. He stands in directly in front of her, his strong stature taking over the space between them. "I'll give you a ride." He offers simply.
"One, I don't accept pity parties," She glares in to his eyes, making sure he knows how angry she is. "And two, I don't take rides from sexists."
He puts a hand on her shoulder. "I didn't mean any of what I said." She tenses, her brows lowering.
"What?"
"I just said it so you would actually care."
"You did what?"
"I just wanted someone as powerful as you to care."
"I don't know what you're doing right now—"
"Do you see what you did to that crowd? They found a hero, no, a martyr in a gamin!" He chuckles breathlessly, amazed beyond belief. "You could change Paris for the better."
Eponine mulls over it for a second, unsure of how to answer. "You want me to join you?"
"Yes!"
There goes that unexplainable passion again. He is begging and pleading in everyway possible.
"Fine!" She replies, a similar fire in her eyes. "But don't ever call me a martyr again." She snaps at the last second, letting him jump in fear.
And she laughs. She really laughs. It is abrupt laughter, but it is real. That is something unfamiliar to the girl.
"What is it?"
She shakes her head. "What have I just gotten myself in to?"
"Still want that ride?" He asks, holding out his hand.
She stares at his hand. Perhaps this is some sigh of friendship, but Eponine does not hold hands. Eponine is told she is useless and garbage and watches as everyone else shows affection. Affection is too good for her and a waste of time. But something pulls at her, wanting her to take his hand, needing a friend like that.
Before she can make up her mind her drops his hands by his sides. "Come on." He gestures to the direction of his car. He doesn't blame her for not holding his hand. She had just gone through something he probably should not have put her through. So he walks forward and she trails next to him, and they converse about stupid little things like the weather.
And he sure as hell can't help but feel something.
viii.
"You've reached Eponine's voicemail! Fuck off."
"Hey, it's me again. I heard what you said at the rally and now you have to admit that STD thing wasn't that unreasonable—"
"Your message has been deleted."
