Eponine rushed home as fast as she could, anxious to shower before heading over to the Musain. Enjolras was all over her (not that she minded exactly), but she knew if she showed up there like this, it would take the boys about .5 seconds to figure out exactly what had happened between them. As it was, she wasn't sure they could hide it anyway. She was a pretty good actress, though, and he was as stone-faced as they came, so maybe they did have a chance.
Even more worrisome, though...how in the hell was he going to treat her now? My God, she had practically forced herself on him. She was known for being bold in everything she did, but with Enjolras? Sexually? Only completely oblivious bimbos who were under the impression they were irresistible were ever forward in any way with the man, and usually, all it took to shut them down was one really sharp glare from those gorgeous blue eyes of his. Eponine could think of at least seven girls she had actually seen scurry away from him looking like they'd been burned in the last year. She was surprised he hadn't had a heart attack right there in the closet when she'd wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her hips against his, the blushing little virgin. (Well, probably not virgin, but certainly not very experienced.)
Although he seemed like a quick learner, if she was honest. And God, the things she would love to teach him...but she had to stop thinking like that, or else this shower would be for an entirely different reason.
Eponine showered quickly and forced all thoughts of Enjolras out of her mind, letting the hot water run over her tense muscles a little too long. She changed into fresh clothes, throwing the ones from earlier into the dirty laundry. On her way back out the door, she was surprised to feel nervous butterflies settle in her stomach at the thought of seeing Enjolras in just a few minutes, and the walk to the Musain felt like it took an hour instead of ten minutes. She was already late because of the time she'd taken in the shower, too. Shit.
When the Musain was within sight, her nerves increased tenfold, but Eponine quickly found her poker-face. She took a deep breath and steeled herself before pushing the door open. It would do no good to appear nervous in any way.
Enjolras was already there, seated amongst the others, and telling them about what they had found in Clairborne's office, obviously leaving a significant chunk out. She slipped over to the group soundlessly and sat down next to Enjolras, which was the only open seat in the room. Of course.
"Hey guys," she said, surprised to hear her voice sounded completely normal.
"Hey, Ep; looks like being a criminal finally paid off for you," Courfeyrac grinned and passed the copy of Claiborne's receipt to Joly.
"Yeah, but will it be enough? It's hardly very incriminating. His name isn't even on it," Eponine pointed out. "And we can't admit we broke into his office, went through his desk, and stole it."
"It's more than we had before," Enjolras said quietly, and looked at her evenly, almost with a challenge in his eyes.
"Well maybe we should go back to try and find more," Eponine retorted, her nerves gone with the reappearance of their familiar bickering. "Who knows, we might even have to hide in the closet again."
Eponine silently congratulated herself as Enjolras slowly turned red, their eyes locked together. Her lips turned up in a slow grin as he opened and closed his mouth, apparently at a loss for words for once.
Yep, she still had it.
Over the next week, they made absolutely no progress in linking Claiborne to the money and Eponine was growing desperate, even though she tried not to show it in front of her friends. She had a feeling they could see right through her, however – through the dark circles under her eyes and more unkempt than usual appearance. Rent was due again in a week and she still hadn't been able to pay Courfeyrac back. She'd even gotten a thirty hour a week waitressing job (which she wasn't supposed to do with her scholarship) just to try and pay for some of her expenses. And it still wasn't going to be enough to keep her in school.
So, early on Monday morning, before her first class, Eponine was determined to perform a sit-in in the financial aid office and demand her freaking money one way or another. It was that or drop-out and become a manager at McDonald's, and after all of her hard work, she couldn't even bear the thought. Eponine didn't expect to find Enjolras already there, however, talking animatedly to a university employee, and the sight stopped her in her tracks. He looked calm, but icy and powerful at the same time. His presence absolutely filled the office. Everyone was listening to him, and one student worker even had a telephone suspended halfway between her ear and the phone cradle, her eyes wide and impressed as she stared at Enjolras.
"Look, my friend works her ass off every single day," Enjolras said firmly to the middle-aged lady behind the counter. "She's doing everything she can to stay here in school, to get good grades, to keep her scholarship. I tutored her practically every day last semester even though she didn't even really need it. She's just that driven. And now you guys just lose the money that keeps her here? That's absolute negligence."
"Sir, I understand you're upset and I commend you for trying to help your friend. But I can assure you that we are doing everything we can to try and locate the money and hand it over to Ms. Thenardier. Until then, however, our hands are tied. All of our other scholarships have already been paid out and we have nothing left to give."
"With all due respect, that's not good enough," Enjolras fumed. "If this happened to you, I can guarantee you wouldn't sit idly by and be okay with it. And I'm done watching a friend suffer. If she doesn't get a definitive answer, or her scholarship money, within the week, I want you to know that I will call every news station and newspaper in this city and demand that they run this story. And if that doesn't work, I'll post about it on every social media site in existence, because this girl deserves the scholarship she's worked so hard for, even if the money has to come out of your precious landscaping budget. And you can absolutely relay those words verbatim to the Dean or anyone else in charge at this university. Are we clear?"
Eponine's mouth fell open listening to him. She was all at once enraptured by his commanding tone, turned on at the fact that he was fighting for her, and enraged that he was fighting for her, creating quite a dilemma. She didn't know what to focus on first, but since anger was the emotion she was most familiar with, especially when it came to Enjolras, that's what she immediately latched onto.
"Yes, Mr. Enjolras, we are clear," the woman said through thin lips. It was obvious she was a little intimidated by him.
"Good. You can expect me back here every afternoon at three o'clock, to check on your progress. This debacle has gone on long enough."
Without waiting for an answer, Enjolras turned with a bit of a flourish, in Eponine's opinion, and began striding towards the door where where she stood, dumbfounded at the scene she'd just witnessed.
He stopped in his tracks when he saw her and had the sense to immediately look a little sheepish. Eponine reached out robotically and grabbed his arm, pulling him along behind her through the doorway and down the almost deserted hallway of the Student Services building. Enjolras didn't say anything as they careened around a corner, but finally pulled back against Eponine's momentum to get her to stop walking.
"Where are we going?" he asked calmly.
"Somewhere where I can fucking murder you with no witnesses."
"Why the hell are you mad at me?" he asked, sounding truly bewildered. "I was trying to help you back there!"
"Did I ask you to do that?!" Eponine whirled around to face him, smacking his chest soundly with her fist. "NO. I didn't."
Enjolras's eyes widened and he threw up his hands in exasperation. "How can you be so mad at someone trying to help you?! Do you actually want to have to quit school?!"
"How dare you even ask that?" Eponine's eyes narrowed and she advanced a step towards him, a little impressed when he stood his ground and continued to stare her down. "You know how much being here means to me!"
"Well it's starting to seem like you're looking for an out or something since you're letting these assholes walk all over you, Eponine. At least my strategy will work. This will get them to do something."
"I can take care of myself, Enjolras. I always have and I always will. And I certainly don't appreciate you trying to fucking rescue me like I'm some damsel in distress. I don't need your help!"
"You are so fucking stubborn. I can't win with you! Even when I'm trying to do something nice for you, we fight about it." Enjolras' tone grew even colder as he spoke, if it was possible.
"Look, just because I practically let you fuck me last week doesn't mean you get to stick your nose in my business..." Eponine growled, but was interrupted by Enjolras' hands suddenly gripping her upper arms.
He looked furious, more furious than she had ever seen him before, his eyes boring holes into her. If he was capable of breathing fire, he would have been doing it. Eponine was suddenly a little afraid and must have looked it, for Enjolras immediately released her and took a step back, running a hand through his hair and taking a deep breath. "That was low, Eponine."
They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity before Eponine finally heaved a sigh and closed her eyes, counting slowly to ten in her mind.
"You're right. I'm sorry. Maybe I overreacted..." she said. The words tasted like dust coming from her mouth. She hated apologizing.
"Look, if you really don't want my help, just say so and I'll stay out of it. I just..." Enjolras shrugged and took a step closer, looking a little unsure of himself. "Even though we argue all the time, I have a lot of respect for you, Eponine. You work really hard. I just want you to get what's owed to you, as I would for anyone in your position."
Eponine nodded slowly, feeling her cheeks burn. He was absolutely right, of course; she was an idiot for getting so mad over such a kind, genuine gesture. "No, it's...I'm sorry, okay? I appreciate what you did. It just threw me. I didn't expect to walk in there and see you like that, saying those wonderful things about me and it...I don't know. It was weird. And it's just easier to be pissed at you than grateful, I guess."
Enjolras smiled crookedly and sighed, turning to look out the window they had stopped near. "What, did I actually embarrass you by saying nice things?"
"Maybe. It's weird, coming from you."
Enjolras turned to look at her, raising his eyebrows incredulously. "You say that like I've never said or done anything nice."
"You haven't! Sometimes I feel like you barely tolerate me," Eponine admitted, her cheeks turning scarlet. "And now, after last week, I don't fucking know what to think."
Now it was Enjolras who turned red. "Yeah, well. Uh. I don't like you, if that's what you're getting at."
Eponine rolled her eyes. "Ouch. That hurts. Yeah, I got the picture, Enjolras. No feelings for me exist in that marble heart of yours."
His words actually stung a little unexpectedly, but she wasn't in the mood to analyze that fleeting feeling.
"That came out wrong..."
"No, I think it came out exactly like you meant it to," Eponine retorted, beginning to feel a little irate at him again. It was just easier that way, and God, he was the most confusing human being on the planet. And the most clueless. And the most chivalrous, apparently. And definitely the hottest. Damn it all.
Enjolras sighed and raised his hands, rubbing his face vigorously for a moment in frustration. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I just meant...well, obviously we don't like like each other. But like you said when it was happening, I kind of...enjoy...fighting with you. You're one of the only women I've ever met that I don't scare the shit out of, that isn't afraid to go at it with me and challenge me. And it..."
"Turns you on?" Eponine finished for him, feeling a smug grin settle on her face at the thought.
He glared at her for a second, but then admitted tersely, "Yes, if you must know."
"I picked up on that clue last week, Pretty Boy. And if you must know...I kind of feel the same way."
"Yeah?" He looked a little perkier at her comment and less like a kicked puppy.
"Yes. What we do is kind of hot." It was all or nothing now, apparently. "To keep myself from killing you when we argue, I started imagining what it would be like to fuck you instead a long time ago."
Enjolras' eyes widened, his mouth opening and closing a few times. "...Oh."
Eponine laughed at his expression and shrugged. She knew she was being crude, but there was a strange pleasure in startling him into speechlessness. "There's no point in not being honest now, Enjolras. It already happened. Well, not completely anyway, but close enough."
"Yeah..." Enjolras suddenly looked nervous and rubbed the back of his neck, struggling to look her in the eyes, but apparently forcing himself to. "And do you plan on it happening again? Maybe?"
Eponine cocked her head, studying him intently and holding his gaze. She thought about the question genuinely for a minute, weighing the pros and cons in her head. Honestly, she had never imagined herself keeping in touch with Enjolras once she was done with college. Maybe with Grantaire and Courfeyrac, and definitely with Cosette (and Marius, by default); so, if she and Enjolras were to hook up, how could it really hurt? It wasn't going to be anything serious – he would graduate in six months and the affair would be fleeting. Feelings weren't going to be involved, unless they happened to sleep with each other out of anger (which was likely.) And as hot as that scene in the closet had been, Eponine thought that actually sleeping with Enjolras would probably end up being even hotter. When he'd finally grabbed her and taken control, Eponine had felt her knees go weak for the first time in her life. Yeah...sex with Enjolras was definitely not a bad idea. But she was still going to enjoy torturing him a little bit.
She must have been silent for a bit too long, because Enjolras sighed and said again, "Seriously, Eponine. Is it going to happen again?"
"When you least expect it to," she finally replied as a Cheshire grin spread over her face.
And that was it, the perfect moment for her exit. Eponine slipped past Enjolras, reaching out and squeezing his ass more than a bit gleefully on her way by. She didn't have to turn around to imagine the slightly shocked, slightly angry, and hopefully aroused look on his face.
This thing between them was either going to be loads of fun or extremely dangerous. Maybe both. Either way, Eponine looked forward to the challenge.
Eeep, you guys are so awesome! People are reading my stuff! YOU LIKE ME, YOU ACTUALLY LIKE ME! I was afraid the fans of this ship were going to throw burning poo at me or something, but I am so excited that it seems to be the opposite. THANK YOU for the reviews and follows and favorites and tumblr follows and likes and all of that. I'm happy to get to know all of you!
And I apologize for the lack of smut in this chapter. ha It will come back, I swear. I'm going to alternate between Enjolras and Eponine's POV as it fits the story, too, so hopefully that isn't a horrible idea. I foresee this one being rather long and full of angst, smut, romance, etc. Hopefully everyone continues to enjoy. Please drop me a review!
~Aimee