A/N: Here's another chapter! Thanks for following and reviews guys :) I forgot to say it last time, but this is mostly based on the movie/musical, and little things i've picked up from other fanfics etc. So, uh, review, if you want?
"You're going out?" Azelma asked, totally gobsmacked. She was chasing Eponine around the house, as the elder of the two tried to piece together a semi-presentable outfit. They were virtually alone; Madame Thenardier was snoozing in her room.
"Yes, out. To socialize. I'm allowed do that, aren't I?" Eponine replied hastily, in a hushed voice so not to wake up their mother. She stepped past Azelma, almost on her foot, and swiped the family copy of To Kill a Mockingbird from the table. Her sister permitted her to slip it into her grubby handbag, if a little begrudgingly.
"Call it a security blanket, if I get bored or just…" she explained, trailing off. Azelma knew well what she implied. Forgotten. Eponine pulled on a dusty brown scarf, and kissed her sister on the forehead.
"Be home before Papa, okay?" Azelma called out after her sister. Eponine smiled to assure her she would; it wasn't like she intended to be out until the early hours of the morning or anything.
The rain pattered softly on the red umbrella Eponine carried. It was the blonde boy's umbrella, but it kept her sheltered from the rain.
She had agreed to meet Marius in the park, and surely, there he was, sitting on a bench. She approached slowly, taking in the sight of him, the sight of his hair slightly dampened by the rain, of the way he slouched when he sat. He soon saw her. He grinned and rose to greet her.
"Thought you weren't going to come for a minute," he laughed, and fell into step beside her, and they began to walk through the park.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," she replied, looking down.
"The Musain is this way," he pointed in the general direction ahead of them. "Come on, we're going to be late!"
"He's late again, Courfeyrac," Enjolras told his friend, irritated. They were all seated at their regular table in the corner, and they all had a coffee, as it was earlier in the evening. Jehan and Courfeyrac were sharing a cake this time; Jehan made Courfeyrac pay half since he ate half anyway. Courfeyrac waved away his blonde friend's concerns.
"You're just bitter Marius chose you to babble his girl gossip to, that's all," Courfeyrac teased. Enjolras couldn't deny it, so he returned to his ever-present textbook. Enjolras truly was not the one to discuss girls with. The average girl was reduced to ice in his freezing glare, shaking at the knees and stuttering at the mouth. It wasn't that he hated girls, so to speak, but they seemed pointless to him, and he often scolded his friends for involving themselves with them.
"We'll have to talk to Marius about that, so he doesn't persist to bother you, Chief," Bossuet boomed, throwing his head back in laughter at his own joke. Enjolras rolled his eyes at the bald-headed comedian, but soon enough Bossuet had nearly everyone joining in his laughter.
When Marius finally arrived in the café, the noise of good spirit echoed off the walls. All the boys' eyes rose to meet him, but their gaze shifted to the girl who trailed behind him like a shadow.
"Marius!" Courfeyrac grinned. "Who's your friend?"
Marius turned to Eponine, who kept her eyes on the ground. This had been a bad idea…
"Everyone, this is my friend Eponine, who I've managed to persuade to join us this evening. Eponine, this is Courfeyrac, Combeferre, Joly, Feuilly, Bahorel, Jehan, Bossuet and lastly, Enjolras," Marius introduced her. Eponine recognized Courfeyrac, of course, but he showed no sign of recognizing her. Everyone else was a blur of new faces, except for the blonde, Enjolras, but he showed no interest in her presence, so she ignored him.
"And back at that table's Grantaire. He's currently intoxicated, so we refuse, or at least, Enjolras refuses to let him sit with us," Courfeyrac swept a hand in the direction of a dark figure who was slumped over a table a meter or so away. Marius pulled a chair into the table, which was only made possible by lots of shuffling around table they were already sitting at.
"Unfortunately, it doesn't look like there's much room for you at the table," came a regretful voice from one of the boys Eponine didn't know. Bahorel, or was it Joly? It may have been Combeferre… Either way, the boy had a plait, which came around his shoulder in an effeminate fashion. Curious.
"That's quite alright, erm, I'll just sit back here, with the drunk," Eponine sat in across from the slumped Grantaire.
"Alright then," another guy spoke, this one with a bald head. What interesting hairdos these guys had.
"Is it or is it not true that you chose to bore our fearless leader with tales of an angel?" the bald said, who was called, as we have learned, Bossuet. Marius blushed.
"Didn't know I bored you, Enjolras," Marius said apologetically. Enjolras seemingly didn't hear him, but didn't seem too bothered.
"Is it true, Marius? Is there a girl?" Courfeyrac prompted. Marius looked flustered, but eager to speak.
"Come on, Pontmercy, tell us! You owe me that much," Bossuet prodded. This led to some confused looks in Bossuet's direction.
"You see, Monsieur Pontmercy here is in my Algebra class, and he was late," Bossuet led. Marius picked up from there.
"I arrived along to class, and the new teacher, is glaring at me. He asks me my name, by which point Bossuet calls out 'His name is Bossuet! Bossuet Lesgle!'" This prompted further confusion in the group. Both boys were becoming invested in the story.
"You see, gentlemen, Monsieur Marius had already been late to class twice this month. Blondeau wouldn't know this, on account of him being new, but I couldn't have Marius getting into further trouble, so when they called his name, I simply called 'Present!'. Now you see, I could then not say present when my name was called, so I was marked late. But no matter! The importance here is that Marius owes me. So, Marius, did you see a girl yesterday or not?"
A noise came from Enjolras that was inelegant enough to resemble a snort, but the group ignored him as Marius began to recount the evening before and the so-called 'angel' he encountered. Enjolras tried to lose himself in his textbook, but couldn't seem to do so. Upon reading the same paragraph four times without absorbing anything, he gave up and tore his eyes away from the page. This was the first time he took notice of the girl who followed Marius into the café, whom we know as Eponine. He recognised her as the same girl from that morning, who had taken the burden of Marius away from him, unbeknownst to the female, of course.
The small brunette had a tattered novel in her hand, at such an angle Enjolras couldn't read the title, but her eyes weren't on the book, but on Marius, as he gestured and told the story of his beauty of the night before. She occupied her seat like a gentle shadow, hardly touching the area in which she was.
Enjolras tore his eyes away from the petite girl, and brought his attention back to Marius, who seemed to be drawing to the close of his story.
"But just as I went closer to her, she disappeared, like a ghost!" the freckly boy finished. The others' faces sympathized with him, but the attention was soon returned to Enjolras.
"So chief, now all Les Amis are here, do we get into the serious stuff?" Combeferre faced his blonde friend. Enjolras took the change in conversation in his stride and began discussing ways they could help the problems that had arisen.
Eponine's interest in the group of boys in the corner soon deflated once Marius finished talking. She tried to listen to this Enjolras, with his piercing blue eyes and big words, but soon deceased in attempt. She returned her eyes to the adventures of Scout and Jem, occasionally hearing words such as 'protest' 'the people' and 'rise' from her fellow students. She didn't notice the drunk across from her stirring until he spoke.
"Do I know you?" Grantaire muttered. His voice startled Eponine, who had been so lost in her book she hadn't heard him. He was bleary-eyed; Eponine hadn't believed he was actually asleep on the table, but he clearly was.
"Um, no. I'm Eponine," she introduced herself. He nodded, and she wasn't sure if he was actually listening.
"Call me R," he mumbled, rubbing his head. He winced, and didn't speak again for a bit, so Eponine started to read again.
"Hangover," he explained after a few minutes. She had to stop herself from laughing.
"It's just nine p.m.!" she remarked. The dark haired boy across from her shrugged.
"I've been doing a lot of drinking this evening," he sighed, before lying his head on the table again. She wasn't sure what he was doing until she heard soft snoring coming from him. She giggled to herself and continued to read.
She stayed in her seat, across from the dozing R for at least another hour, when Marius calling her name brought her out of her cheerful daze.
"Eponine! I'm leaving, do you want an escort at least half the way home?" he called to her. She nodded, and quickly got out of her chair. She went to grab the red umbrella, but was stopped by that Enjolras.
"That's my umbrella," he said, almost inaudibly. That's why she recognized him, he had loaned her his umbrella. Apologetically, she left the umbrella on her empty chair, slightly mortified. Book in one hand, she patted the sleeping Grantaire on the head and swiftly followed Marius out of the café, vaguely hearing 'Goodbye Eponine's coming from the boys who remained seated.
"So, did you have fun?" Marius asked, and she could tell what answer he was dying to hear, which, gladly, was the truth.
"I did, actually. Grantaire was good company," she smiled up at him. He looked puzzled.
"He was asleep for most of the evening!" he remarked, causing her to smile somewhat wickedly.
"Like I said, good company," she repeated herself. Marius was about to say something when he inhaled sharply, and stopped walking. Alarmed, Eponine followed his gaze, when her eyes rested on a blonde figure walking a few blocks away.
"It's her, Ep! It's my angel!" Marius whispered, as if his breath had been taken away by the clearly flawless creature ahead of them. Eponine tried to get him to move again, but he remained frozen to the spot.
"Of course it is," Eponine said under her breath.
"Should I go say something? I should go up to her, but what if she thinks I'm a total creep?" he spun around, away from the girl who continued to walk. He was utterly flustered. Within minutes, the object of Marius' affections had disappeared from sight once again.
"It's too late now, Monsieur," Eponine informed him. He turned in the direction in which they had seen her, and a look of dismay washed over his face.
"Oh my god, I can't believe it! It can't be a coincidence, seeing her two nights in a row," he mused, walking briskly. Eponine had nothing to say, so she just listened to him, her own heart roaring in her ears. It would be just her luck to spot the girl again. She nearly didn't hear Marius saying her name.
"Ep, oh you have to find her for me! I know you know Paris better than anyone! If anyone were to find her, it would be you! Please, Ep, for me!" he pleaded. She had to stop herself from chuckling, it was the second time that day he had begged her for something. She was much less willing to agree this time, though.
"Surely not tonight, Monsieur," she stalled, slowing her pace. Marius slowed his pace to match hers, and took her wrist.
"If not tonight, tomorrow! Please, Eponine, I'm begging you!" he dropped onto his knees and looked up at her with puppy eyes. She squirmed under his gaze; he had no idea what those eyes did to her.
"You don't have to beg," she sighed, pulling him to his feet. He smiled excitedly, and began to speed up again, with a skip to his step.
When Eponine arrived home, her sister was waiting eagerly in her room. The younger brunette was curled up on Eponine's bed, reading a non-descript novel. Her eyes lit up upon seeing Eponine enter.
"If you had been any later, Papa would have caught you, or worse… 'Parnasse," Azelma shuddered. Eponine widened her eyes in agreement at Montparnasse's name, and pulled off her jacket.
"Did you have any fun?" the smaller Thenardier asked. Eponine rolled her eyes at her sister's enthusiasm.
"Are you sure I'm the older sister here?" she teased. "Yes, I had fun. Is Mama still asleep?"
Azelma nodded, and then the appearance of a deer caught in the headlights overtook her face as she heard an all-too-familiar voice stumble through the front door.
"Wife! E-eponine! Az-zelma! I'm home! Fetch me something to eat!" called from the hall. Eponine gestured for her sister to lock the bedroom door, and she herself turned off the light. If the old man thought they were asleep, no harm could come to them. That much they had learned in the years since they evicted into the tiny flat. But even the appearance of slumber didn't block out sounds of their parents arguing. The two Thenardier daughters didn't get that much sleep that night, but at least they were unharmed.
It was well into the early hours of the morning when Enjolras stumbled home with a weary Grantaire's arm around his shoulders. Combeferre assisted Enjolras in carrying the drunk.
"'Ferre, do you want to sleep here? I know your house isn't particularly close," Enjolras whispered as he lay Grantaire down on an old green couch. Enjolras' parents had become accustomed to finding the boy sleeping on their couch, even if they didn't approve. But they were both gone to work by the time Enjolras needed to be awake, so he didn't concern himself with their opinions. Combeferre kindly refused his friend's offer, saying he had some school books at home he had to bring in the following day, and shut the front door behind him. Enjolras, having made sure Grantaire was nowhere near waking up, hurried upstairs and collapsed into bed. He tried to wake himself up again; he still had some studying to do, but to no avail. He still had his red jacket and shoes on when he fell asleep.
After what seemed like only minutes, Enjolras' alarm woke him. He groaned and reached to turn it off, but only managed to roll out of bed and onto the floor. He groaned again and he sat up, rubbing his head. What a wonderful start to the new day.
He had almost forgotten Grantaire was sleeping on his couch when he was reminded of the drunk's presence by a very loud grunt. Apparently, Enjolras had woken the drunk with the coffee grinder – a valid complaint, but Enjolras didn't like Grantaire so he could –
"Suck it up, Grantaire," Enjolras called out to him, which was met with a fairly profane reply.
"Suck my dick Enjolras!" he called from the couch. Enjolras had to contain a laugh. He had changed out of the clothes he had fallen asleep in and was now wearing a red hoodie.
"I mightn't even go to school," Grantaire mused loudly. Enjolras actually did laugh at that. He then proceeded to go to the sink, fill a glass with water and pour the contents on his companion's head.
"Wakey wakey," he muttered slightly evilly, before grabbing his schoolbag (and umbrella, that had been absent from him, in case it might rain again) and heading out the door. He heard swearing coming at him once he closed the door, but really didn't care.
On his way to school, he made a mental list of everything he had to do that day, and the list seemed to be never ending. He had a while before school started, so he took a detour through the park on his way in, simply because he could.
Eponine could not face waiting for Marius. Not today. There was a huge chance he wouldn't even wait for her, so why should she try? She had left early that morning, so she wouldn't be subject to her father's hangover. She prayed Azelma would have the sense to do the same. She had to walk through the park to get to school; as was her route everyday. It started to rain (she cursed to herself), but the trees gave nice shelter. It was once she got out of the park was the problem. She neared the park gates, and immediately saw a fix to her problem. Ahead of her was Enjolras – the blonde with the big words, carrying a red umbrella. That's where she had recognized him from, he had given her his umbrella. Although she didn't know him too well, she was willing to risk a little embarrassment and awkwardness in order to remain dry.
"Enjolras!" she called, jogging to catch up with the blonde. He was in a red hoodie – did the guy ever not have anything red on? He turned around to see where the voice calling him came from, and looked more than puzzled to see her running towards him.
"You're Courfeyrac's friend. I'm Eponine, I was at the Musain last night," she told him, trying to jog his memory. She watched as gears clicked in his head, and saw him remember him.
"Right, you're Marius' shad- friend. Can I help you?" he asked, in a tone that may or may not have been ruder than he had originally intended, but she brushed it off.
"Can I share your umbrella?" she asked, pointedly. He looked (and most likely was) a little taken aback by that, but held out the umbrella to her, not saying anything. She nodded, taking it in one hand, pulling it slightly at an angle over her head. They continued to walk in silence, occasionally wrestling for the umbrella.
"I'm not as short as you are," he mumbled, trying to pull it up slightly. She kept her grip in a stony lock, refusing to let it move, so he was stuck crouching for the rest of the walk. In the end, he gave up, and walked beside the umbrella, causing him to get soaked in the rain, but he still walked beside her.
He almost said something a few times, but decided against it. He didn't have a particular desire to talk to her, apart from what he felt was social convention. She clearly didn't have a particular desire to talk to him, or she would have said something. So they arrived at school, after only having said a few words to each other.
"Thanks," she almost forgot to say as he closed the umbrella.
"Anytime," he replied, automatically, but then wished he hadn't said that, he didn't mean it after all. It would have been rude to go back on it, so he shut up until she darted off to wherever she needed to be. The umbrella was sweaty where she had gripped it.
"Miss Thenardier!" a croaky voice called to Eponine as she opened her locker. She looked up to see the source of the voice, and was more than a little shocked to see the school principal, Monsieur Javert standing in front of her. She tried her hardest not to get in trouble in school, and was admittedly surprised the principal even knew her name.
"Y-yes, monsieur?" she answered, adjusting her posture.
"I need you to help a new student," Javert told her, commandingly.
"M-me, monsieur?" she stuttered. What had she done to deserve this punishme- opportunity? In her head she rattled off anything that could have possibly caused the principal to decide she was a good candidate to assist a new student, but came up blank.
"Yes you, girl. It's about time you contributed to this school!" he instructed her. This took her slightly aback. Yes, she didn't exactly help out at school or anything, but she attended all her classes. The statement was a little unprecedented, in her opinion.
"This is Cosette Fauchelevant," he gestured to a blonde girl who seemed to materialize beside him. Eponine blinked, was that who she thought it was?
"I have assigned you to supervise Miss Fauchelevant and show her the ropes here. I'm sure you'd be more than happy to oblige," Javert smiled, almost evilly. Then he was gone, almost as soon as Cosette had arrived.
"Hi," Cosette said softly. Eponine nodded an acknowledgement. She would have been kinder, but gears were busy clicking in her head, piecing together the puzzle that was the gentle girl standing in front of her.
One thing was certain, Cosette was Marius' girl from the night before. The realization of this caused Eponine's heart to tear in two. Eponine recognized the flowing blonde hair, and the way Cosette stood resembled the perfect posture of the girl the previous evening.
But Eponine remembered Cosette from somewhere else too. Cosette had lived with her family when they were young, back when they had money. Cosette, left by her mother in Eponine's parents' care, was treated poorly by all of the Thenardiers, until she was whisked away from them by a man in a hat. What a coincidence that she should reappear in Eponine's life once more. And that she should be the object of Marius' affections; that was too rich. Eponine wondered if karma had something to do with that situation.
"Let me see your timetable," Eponine said to the pretty blonde, snapping herself out of her confusion. Cosette fumbled around in her bag, and produced a sheet of paper. She handed the paper to Eponine, who scanned the page.
"You've got history with me. That's next class. The teacher, , is really cool," she told her. Cosette giggled slightly.
"He's my stepdad," Cosette informed her.
"Stepdad?" Eponine raised an eyebrow, asking the first of a few questions that sprung to mind.
"I'm adopted," Cosette explained, taking the timetable back from Eponine.
"But your surname's Fauchelevant, not Madeleine…" Eponine's second question came. Cosette bit her lip.
"I don't know, my stepdad's a little weird," the blonde shrugged, and Eponine looked jealously at how her blonde curls cascaded down her back as she did so.
"And you're new, how is your dad a teacher here?" Eponine asked her final question, leading the way to history.
"I went to a boarding school down south, but last week Dad decided it would be a good idea for me to come up here. He missed me, he said," Cosette laughed softly, walking quickly to keep up with Eponine's pace. Eponine nodded, and didn't speak until they arrived in class.
The class was fairly empty; the two girls were early. Eponine recognized Enjolras sitting at the front. She hadn't known he was in her class. His head was bent over a history textbook, preventing her from greeting him, but one of the boys from the Musain the previous night sat next to him. He nodded at her in acknowledgement, which she mirrored. He raised an eyebrow at Cosette, but she missed it. She and Cosette took seats towards the back, together, to Eponine's discomfort. Did Cosette recognize her? If she did, she showed no sign of it.
breezed into the room about ten minutes later, after the classroom had become further populated. His eyes landed on Cosette for a second, but didn't stay on her for long. To Eponine's surprise, he didn't introduce Cosette to the class in the way he had introduced her. Maybe he didn't want to embarrass his daughter in the same way he had her the day before.
proceeded to immerse them in history as he had the day before, and, just like the day before, it was over in what felt like minutes.
Eponine rose from her chair, and tried her hardest to disappear out the door before Cosette could catch up with her, but she had no luck. Within seconds, the little angel was beside her again.
"Um, I have Algebra with M. Blondeau next, do you know where that is?" Cosette asked, consulting her timetable. Eponine shrugged apologetically. She did, however, know someone who was in his class, but she kept her mouth shut on that subject.
"Can't say I do. I'm sure it's not that hard to find," she said, before Cosette sighed and went off to find it herself. Eponine was glad for the peace. She continued on her way to class, when she heard a voice she wasn't quite sure she recognized.
"Eponine!" she turned around and saw Grantaire walking towards her. The dark-haired boy was a sight. He had dark rings under his eyes, his hair a bed-swept mess and just a grumpy disposition.
"R," she greeted him, a little surprised he remembered her name. She waited for him to catch up to her, and then they started to walk. Grantaire slung his arm around her shoulders, a gesture she wasn't familiar with.
"Are you coming to the Musain again tonight?" he asked her. She hadn't really thought about it, because she hadn't really interacted the night before.
"Because I think I might be able to tolerate you, so I would appreciate your attendance," he explained. She laughed a little at that. It was weird to consider that someone other than Marius or Azelma might enjoy her company, even if that someone might not be awake for that company.
"For you," she told him, causing him to pump his fist in victory.
"I guess you'll be coming with Marius, then? See you then!" he took his arm from around her shoulders and jogged back where he had come from. She was left a little stunned, but made her way to class.
At the end of the day, she waited by Marius' locker, and was soon greeted by the smiling boy.
"Eponine! You won't believe what happened to me today!" he said excitedly. She raised her eyebrow, prompting him to continue.
"I saw her! I saw my angel from last night! She was in my Algebra class, Ep! Ep, her name is Cosette, isn't that just the prettiest name you ever heard? Isn't it fate?" he told her dreamily as he put his books away.
"So you talked to her?" Eponine asked teasingly, trying to hide any pain in her voice. So he had met Cosette. It was bound to happen, she told herself. He was hardly yours in the first place. She looked up at Marius' eyes to try and distract herself, but it didn't work.
"Well, not exactly," he admitted, running a hand through his hair. "I will tomorrow though, I swear!"
He closed his locker, and led the way out of the school. It wasn't raining anymore, gladly, because neither of them had an umbrella, and Eponine couldn't exactly ask Enjolras for his.
"I'm going to the Musain again tonight," he stated. "Do you want to come?"
She didn't tell him that she had told Grantaire she would, because what kind of questions would that cause? But she did tell him she would go.
They walked back to Marius', discussing the day's events, and when Marius took a left into his house, Eponine waved him goodbye. She waited until he had closed the door behind him before doubling back, to walk the actual way home. Marius lived with his rich grandfather, a lifestyle Eponine envied.
Enjolras was seated next to Combeferre in a dusty classroom. The two boys had been made stay after school for detention because Enjolras had given out to a teacher. The teacher was one Enjolras disliked, in a class he felt pointless. The teacher had, unprovoked, made fun of a student who hadn't done well in a test. Enjolras had stood up for the kid, and when the teacher sent Enjolras to Javert's office, Combeferre had defended Enjolras. Usually Combeferre didn't get involved in that sort of thing, but Enjolras was his best friend.
They watched as the clock ticked, finally landing on five o'clock, signifying their freedom. They both clambered out of their seats and all but ran out of the school.
"Let's not do that again," Combeferre suggested, as they made their way to the Musain, without even agreeing on it. Enjolras was always at the Musain before everyone else, and he didn't have time to go home now. Enjolras nodded in agreement with his friend.
When they opened the door to the Musain, they were both equally shocked when they saw Grantaire sitting at their usual table in the corner, and he looked totally sober.
"Grantaire, what are you doing here?" Enjolras asked, dropping his bag on the chair across from him. The café was basically empty, except for them and the barista.
"I'm meeting a friend here. You remember Eponine, Marius' friend?" Grantaire said, taking a sip from a coffee, further shocking the two boys.
"Not a date, is it?" Combeferre sat beside Enjolras' bag. Grantaire scoffed at that.
"Oh please, no. She just seems tolerable," Grantaire told him, as Enjolras went to get a coffee. Combeferre couldn't think of a response, so just joined Enjolras in the line for a coffee.
"All hell has frozen over," Enjolras muttered to his friend.
"Perhaps,"
