Author's Note: I want to thank Tears and Rain ( u/2918039/Tears-and-Rain) for a lot of help on this story so far! They provided the last paragraph or so of this chapter. Also thanks to all who have read and followed. It makes me happy! :-D

Also, I have made a few changes to the last chapter, so you might want to go back and reread it, for continuities' sake. Thanks!

Chap. 2

Èponine found herself alone that afternoon. She was torn, because having time to think gave her opportunities to dream of the life she might have known. But on the other hand, being alone with her thoughts meant she had to fight off the dark monster of depression. Memories came flooding back, none of which she wanted to remember. Why would her father do this to her? He had gotten a good job out of the deal, and her family was no longer on the street, but Èponine got the worst side of it. A month ago, she had lived a pretty rough life as a gamine on the streets, but at least she was in control of her life. Then her father found a "job" for them, he wouldn't tell her where. It turned out he had bargained with Monsieur Montfierre, the owner of the brothel, that in exchange for providing him with a job as a bouncer/pimp, he would trade Èponine. Thenardier like this job very much because aside from his regular wages, he brought in extra income by stealing from "customers". Monsieur Montfierre did not know about this, and if it was up to Thenardier, he would never find out. Èponine had tried to escape before her first night there, but Thenardier would have none of it. Her mind replayed the events of that night.

Thenardier dragged her back to the alley beside the brothel. He threw her against the wall.
"Èponine, you little street rat! If you ever do such a thing again..., " he paused to lift her by the collar up to his face and sneer "If you ever do this again, I'll make Azelma take your place!"
"No! No, I'll do it." Èponine sobbed as Thenardier threw her in the door.

She cried herself to sleep her first night there, but she hadn't cried since. She had become more dead inside with every day that passed. The one exception was her method of mental escape. She would think of pleasant memories. Some came from her childhood, but mostly she thought of Marius. He was the best friend she had, besides Azelma and Gavroche. She would remember things, like the time he bought her a loaf of bread that she later shared with her siblings, and the time that he held her hand once to pull her out of the way of a passing carraige. She would think of these things any time she needed to escape from the moment she was in, and she had become quite good at it. But sometimes in her weaker moments she hated Marius for not finding her and taking her away from this place. She knew he was in love with another girl, and even if he had tried to find her, this brothel would be an unlikely place to look. But she still wished for a rescuer.

However, instead of thinking about Marius, she found her mind wandering back to the man outside her window. The way he had looked at her she couldn't explain or understand. From the window he could easily see her mostly exposed breasts, her thin waist and a face of beauty - all which would make a man wanting... but there was no lust in his eyes; no hint at all that he was even remotely interested in her because of what he could get from her profession, even though it was obvious what it was.

It was not her body he saw, but -her-. No one had looked at her the way he did then. When she was younger and her parents still owned the inn, she was given sweet, adoring smiles because of her innocent and young age. But as soon as she was old enough to be seen as more than a child, she was known as less than a human.

As if to remind her of her fate, Eponine heard the clock downstairs chime 5 o'clock. They were open for business.