A/N: So Montparnasse is referred to as 'the devil's dandy', and Eponine has called herself the devil. And. That's where this came from. Montparnasse is probably Eponine's biggest fan, tbh.
Her father knows how to get into her head.
Eponine hates herself for being scared of him, because she is, at least a little. Unbelievably, there was a time when Eponine was young when things were good. Her father ran a bar, and they had some money to spare, and it wasn't perfect, but it was better. Azelma barely remembers it, and Gavroche wasn't born until about three years after their parents started to get involved with Babet and Claquesous. Eponine is as close to a mother as he knows.
Eponine is wearing dark lipstick and her nicest pair of heels, because a confidence boost is just what she needs right now. Except maybe she didn't think this through, because the lift in this building doesn't seem to work, and the stairs are steep.
It smells like piss in the stairwell, and Eponine would regret coming in the first place if not for the rent that is very soon due. She makes it up the few flights of stairs relatively unscathed, and surveys the long, fluorescent lit corridor with distaste. 24B is apparently where she needs to go.
As she approaches the door, it swings open seemingly of its own accord and a couple of men file out. One is dark-skinned and thin enough to snap. Eponine recognises him as Claquesous.
The second is around her own age, tall, with slightly wavy dark hair falling from under a… top hat? Really?
He pushes past her and snaps, "Get out of the way, bitch!"
Her stomach twists, but she glares at his back as he walks away and replies, "Wow, rude much, asshole!"
His posture seems to stiffen, and he stops, spins on his heel and looks at her, his scowl replaced by a grin that she privately admits to herself is sort of endearing. In a psycho kind of way. Without a word, he tugs down the collar of his immaculate black jacket and white shirt, low enough for her to see his collarbone.
Where her words are staring back at her, stained into his skin.
Eponine blinks at him. The feeling is creeping up on her now; it's slow, and warm, and makes her feel like something inside her that she didn't even know was broken has been fixed.
His eyes are brown, and they crinkle up when he smiles.
"My name's Montparnasse," he says as he straightens his jacket. "I'll see you around."
Then he whirls around again and follows Claquesous down the stairs.
Eponine stares at his retreating form until he's gone, and then slowly turns back to the door, still ajar. She takes a moment to compose herself (and try to forget that she just met her soul mate) before stepping inside.
It's surprisingly nice inside, and does not, in fact, look like the base of a street gang's leader. Eponine knows what those look like. Except for the scuffs and prints of heavy boots on the floor (useful for kicking the crap out of people who owe you money), it's almost normal.
Eponine wonders where their stash is hidden.
She glances into a room as she passes, and sees a flat screen TV on its stand, a boot shaped hole in the cracked screen. Thenardier in one of his rages? Guelemer, drunk?
She hopes Guelemer isn't around right now. Or any of her father's little servants for that matter.
"Ponine?" comes the call from down the hallway.
She feels sick.
Her father is sitting at a round table, alone. Mercifully. There are wads of cash in front of him, arranged in neat rows. He's idly counting a stack of bills. He's all about the theatrics, Eponine thinks. This is all for show.
"How are you, darling?" he asks. He glances up after a moment, and his expression twists sour. "You look like a whore."
"Nice to see you too, Dad," Eponine replies coolly, pulling out a chair. "Where's Mom?"
"College treating you good?" he asks, ignoring her question.
"Why do you care?"
"Sweetheart," Thenardier sighs. Here he goes, with his wounded act. Makes it her fault, makes her guilty. "You know I care about all of you."
Eponine says nothing.
"That's why I'm giving you this opportunity to redeem yourself."
"Why do I need to?" asks Eponine, keeping her voice neutral, but there's anger boiling in her stomach.
Thenardier laughs softly at that. "You're not as dumb as all that, darling. College girl like you."
"That's it?" Eponine says, low and cold. "I need to redeem myself because I decided to go to college?"
"Call it what it was, 'Ponine. Abandoning your family in their time of need."
He looks satisfied; he thinks he's backed her into a corner, guilt tripped her into listening to him.
"Oh, bullshit," she hisses through her teeth. "I am the only one who ever looked after Gavroche and Azelma. You abandoned us."
"I always look out for you lot." His voice is cold, but she's just getting angry, and she can't help but think that this is exactly how he wants it.
"You send your little slaves to spy! That's not looking out for us!"
"And Montparnasse is proving himself quite useful in that respect."
It feels like she's had the air knocked out of her. He can't possibly know. The only other person who might know is Claquesous, if he waited.
(Eponine decides that she doesn't have time to think about what a nightmare that is. Or the fact that apparently her soul mate has been spying on her.)
"It's invasive," Eponine replies, making an effort to keep herself calm, or neutral at least. "It's wrong." Her lip curls. "But you don't care about morals, right? I mean, obviously not."
"I wouldn't preach about morality if I was you, 'Ponine." Her father's voice is dark and low.
"What's this offer?" she asks in return, to get the conversation moving so she can leave quickly.
His lips twist up in a smile without mirth, and he leans back and says, "Just an opportunity for you to make a little money."
"What is it?"
He glares. "I need another dealer. You used to be good at that."
"I was sixteen."
"And? You can at least handle the clientele now, I'm sure."
"Sixteen year olds shouldn't be selling cocaine for their fathers. And I'm still not going to do it."
"Eponine…"
She scrapes back her chair and stands, smoothing down her black skirt. "You promised me rent money if I came."
"Oh no, you're not cheating me out of my hard earned cash, you freeloading little bitch!"
He's angry now, rising from his chair, and Eponine gives him a hard stare. "You're one to talk," she says. "You're a cheat. A liar, a thief, a murderer. The only reason I came to talk to you was because of the money you told me you'd give. Just one more time I believed you."
"You listen here -"
"I'm not gonna work for you."
She's skittering towards the door now, and he's after her. Damn these heels!
Thenardier catches her by the arm, curls his hand around her wrist so tight that her fingertips go white, pulls her closer, forces her to look up into his face.
"You'll do as I say!" he growls.
"I won't!"
Eponine tries to yank herself away, and he brings his hand up. The impact is quick and sudden, a stinging mark across her face, and when he loosens his grip for just a moment, Eponine pulls her arm away and sets off at a run down the hallway. She scrabbles at the door, resorting to kicking it with the sharp toes of her heels until it flies open. She dashes out into the corridor without looking back.
It's only when she's halfway down the stairs that she dares to slow down. Her cheek still stings from the slap, but it's not the worst her father has inflicted on her. Honestly, that meeting went a little better than could reasonably be expected, knowing Thenardier and the Patron Minette.
What she's really concerned about now, is the fact that they still don't have rent money.
Gavroche is asleep when Eponine gets back home, lying on the couch under a red blanket with his arms thrown back and his hair fanned out around him.
Azelma appears out of the kitchen, probably having heard the door close. "Hey, Ep," she whispers. "How was it?"
"I just don't want to talk, Zel," Eponine sighs.
"That bad?"
"Kind of."
Azelma stirs the mug she's holding in her hands and says, "I got a job the other day."
"Yeah?"
"Helping customers in one of those big department stores in town. It's minimum wage, but it helps, right?"
Eponine doesn't want Azelma to have the same life she does; if she doesn't keep her grades up, the university board might think she's not worth their money and drop her scholarship, but then she has her siblings to look after and a job waiting tables in a bar near the college. It's hard to keep up sometimes. But she can see that her sister is happy with herself, so she just says, "That's great, Zel," and comes forward to hug her.
After she's woken Gavroche and sent him up to bed, she takes her own advice and makes her way into her dark bedroom. Once she's slid between the rumpled sheets, pressing her face into a pillow, she waves a hand around for her phone at her bedside. She has to tell someone.
Ep: R
Ep: Hey, R
R: I'm busy Ponine
Ep: I met him
R: The rude guy?
Ep: Yeah
Ep: He works for my dad
R: Oh
R: Shit
Ep: Yeah
R: That's bad
Ep: Yeah
R: What u gonna do?
Ep: Idk. Not worry bout it I guess
R: Shit I'm sorry Ponine. Maybe it'll work out
Ep: Since when are you such an optimist?
R: Shut up
R: Don't date guys in street gangs Ponine
Ep: Wasn't planning on it
R: Good girl
R: Do what u think u need to
R: G2g using Enj as photo subject for project
Ep: Good luck
I have a headcanon that Grantaire and Eponine are BFFs and nothing will ever convince me otherwise. Reviews/follows/favourites are all very much welcomed.