"It's you." Eponine says to him and the first thing he notices is how familiar she looked. He has practically memorized her" Just Woke Up" look. Disheveled hair, eyes squinting at the light, and dried drool on the side of her mouth. He smiles but when her lips form into a frown, he scratches the back of his head and hide his face in the blond mop of hair. They were at the bar, him, Combeferre, and Cosette paying the bill. Combeferre tries to flirt his way to a discount but the blonde waitress smiles sweetly and doesn't play along.

"You know Enjolras?" Cosette asks her and Enjolras ignores Combeferre's elbow jabbing his side. He glares at him but Combeferre only giggles at the blush creeping at his cheeks. He sees the same blush on her, and Cosette is standing beside her now, talking to her. The blonde waitress pats Eponine's shoulder and Eponine takes over the register.

"Yeah, we take history together." Eponine explains. He bats her eyes at him and looks away. It's lost to him at why she looks so flustered.

"I'm Enjolras." He offer his hand and Eponine stares at it for a moment before accepting it. She shakes his hand and hers are strong and steady. He looks up at her honey colored eyes and even though they are bright, Enjolras could feel her drowsiness

"Eponine." She introduces herself until Cosette interrupts them.

"Wait you've been classmates for a semester and you just started to learn each other's names?" Cosette exclaims.

"It's college Cosette. I'm here to pass, not make friends." She earns a laugh from Combeferre and he offers his hand.

"Combeferre." He says and it was only then that he realize that they were still holding hands. Enjolras withdraws immediately and Eponine furrows her brows, perplexed. Enjolras fakes a cough and Eponine shakes Combeferre's hand.

"So, is this it?" She grabs the little basket containing their money and Cosette nods. "Alright then." She starts to wrap up their bill.

"Hey 'Ponine." Cosette calls out to her. "We're going to the bar next door and celebrate." Enjolras hears a ding and the blonde waitress, Enjolras reads her name tag, Matilda, walks to the kitchen window.

"What's the occasion?" Eponine asks. Combeferre pipes up,

"Our friend, Prouvaire…" He twists, pointing to their friend, showing pictures of his artwork to Grantaire, who was sipping from his flask. "won himself a spot in an art festival exhibition lasting the whole month."

"No shit." Eponine says. "Congratulations." She hands them the basket with their change.

"You should come with us and celebrate!" Combeferre invites her.

"No I'm…"

"After you're shift, c'mon were just across the street." Cosette pleads to her. "Enjolras is coming too… Everyone!" She says as if it would convince Eponine more. He looks at her as the idea crosses her mind but then an alarm rang in his head.

"Actually, I can't go. I have a history quiz tomorrow." He pipes and Eponine looks at him with wide eyes.

"What? Really?" she asks. Enjolras hears the curse words she mutters under her breath. "I cut his class one time." She shakes her head. Before Enjolras could say anything to comfort her or even give her the notes he prepared her, there is a ring of the bell and she goes back to work.

Combeferre eyes him suspiciously but Enjolras walks back to the table, thinking of ways he could talk to her. Cosette returns to her seat beside Marius and he eyes the couple. He looks at Cosette and simultaneously he remembers all the stories she told him about Eponine. The wild nights she spends studying in this diner with Eponine working. Enjolras sees a flash of her mustard colored uniform and he looks up at her. He watches her take orders, give out food, and clean tables. She works efficiently, her hands moving mechanically as she cleans out messes and empty dishes. She treats customers differently. With regular customers, Enjolras guesses, she is more animated. She smiles more. She rolls her eyes. She scowls often but is then chased by soft laughter. She's gentler with new customers, her eyes bright and inviting.

Eponine catches him staring. She's with a customer. Her pen scratching at her notebook, taking down orders. She raised her brown eyes at him, widening in shock. Enjolras blushes and he sees her do the same. She glances back at her notebook and nods at the customer. She walks, hurriedly, back to the pantry. She gives out the order and before she could walk back to the kitchen, she whips her head around, and looks back at him. She goes in and he disappears from his sight.

Slowly, his friends have left and he hangs back the diner's entrance. He meant it when he didn't want to drink. He knew that his friends had this veracious tendency for drinking. One of them, Grantaire, is one blackout away from an intervention. Enjolras does enjoy alcohol once in a while but only when there is nothing for him to do the next day. Which meant that throughout the semester, Enjolras has only drank twice.

He sees Cosette's blonde hair disappear in a corner and he is alone. He takes a breath, fishing out his notebook from his bag. He leafs through the pages until he finds a bundle of yellow papers with his handwriting on it. He took extra care to make his handwriting legible, an arduous task if he says so himself. It only occurred to him now, that he and only he can understand his writing. He's grateful that his papers are all typed.

He walks back to the diner, the bell ringing once he opens the door. Matilda is bent over, wiping spilled iced tea on the table.

"Left something honey?" She asks, wringing the towel over a bucket. Enjolras walks towards her and it surprises him that she is only inches shorter than him. He looks down and sees the black heeled shoes she is wearing. He doesn't know why there is a need for these type of shoes but Enjolras shrugs it off.

"No. I… Can I talk to Eponine?" He asks, his fingers rubbing against the paper. Matilda looks at him, her eyes squinting. Her mouth forms into a thin line as she looks at him from top to bottom then top again. Enjolras tries not to squirm under her gaze. Her eyes glaze over him again and her mouth turn up into a smile.

"Sure honey." She gave him permission. She motions to the bar near the register and he goes. He takes a seat and waited until Eponine walks out of the door juggling two trays of food and a plate on her elbow. Enjolras stands to help her but she just walks past and goes to another table, ignoring him. Enjolras sits back down thinking that it wasn't his place. She is on shift after all.

Enjolras starts to think that maybe this is why she kept sleeping during class. He sits back down and looks at his reflection on the clean bar. He looks at Eponine in a new light. He never thought of her \working late hours of the night. It wasn't that odd, they were in college after all. Working students are in abundance. Yet, he never considered that to be her case. He just assumed that she was like those silent geniuses, often arrogant. The ones who do not pay any attention in class but end up having high grades. Though after tonight, Enjolras starts to see the hard work Eponine puts into her daily life.

"Hey. You need something?" She is in front of him now, cleaning a glass with a white rag. She raises a brow at him and looks at him, scrutinizing.

"Oh, I just came here to give you the notes for the quiz tomorrow. You see, he discussed a new lesson when you were gone and that's the coverage for the quiz tomorrow." he explains. He slides the paper over to her before she could reply.

"I took the liberty to take notes for you to help." He says, his gaze fixed at the bar. Eponine takes it, slowly. Her fingers dragging over the back of his hands and takes the paper from him. She looks at it, reading. Her gaze alternates from the paper and to him. His blush is a furious red all over his face and he doesn't know what to do with his hands. He folds them and draws it near his chest. Eponine is awfully silent, not that he was expecting anything. The silence is making it hard for him to breathe.

"Why are you doing this?" Eponine asks him. Enjolras raises his gaze and meets her confused expression.

"I just thought, since you were absent that day…" he trails off. Even he doesn't know why he is doing this. With the reputation of having a silver tongue, wining debates and making speeches, Enjolras is tongue tied. He can't explain himself out of this one because he doesn't have one.

"I know." Eponine tells him. "But why? What do you want?" She asks him, her voice turning hard and conspiratorial. Enjolras raises his palms.

"Nothing." he says. "I just wanted to help a friend."

"But we aren't friends." Eponine retorts.

"Well, I'd like us to be." Enjolras replies without thinking. Her eyes go wide and her lips part. He notices and his eyes go directly to them, colored ruby and supple. Enjolras swallows and tears his eyes away.

"Please… Just take it. It's not a big deal." He says and Eponine turns the paper over her fingers. She looks at it. Enjolras doesn't understand why Eponine needs to debate over this. Surely, acts of kindness doesn't need to be this dragging, and awkward.

"It is a big deal." Enjolras picks up on her whisper but he acts as if he doesn't hear it. Storing that notion in the back of his head, to examine later.

"I… I owe you." Eponine says finally, tucking the notes in her uniform's pocket. Enjolras' shoulders slump and he releases a breath.

"A thank you is enough." He smiles at her and she repeats the gesture. Her face softens and her eyelids flutter. She wrings her fingers and looks back at him again. In her brown eyes he finds gratitude and an inviting spark that jolts him. He feels a slight shiver in his spine.

"Where would you be studying tonight?" he asks her. "We could…" His invitation hangs in the air and Eponine only laughs. He doesn't know if she found him amusing or is blatantly mocking him. His heart seems to leap, waiting impatiently for a response.

"It's my shift Enjolras." She says, his name sweet on her tongue. She laughs again, softly like a whisper.

"When does you shift end?" he asks.

"A little too late. Two in the morning if you're really curious." She answers. Enjolras feels rejuvenated by her openness. The blood rushing through him keeping him more awake than any cup of coffee he has ever drank.

"So when are you studying? Quiz starts first thing in class." Eponine shrugs.

"Guess I'm not sleeping tonight." She says.

"Sad." Enjolras comments dryly. He shocks himself. He looks at Eponine and expect her to withdraw and get angry. Enjolras pictures her throwing the notes back at him and a papercut forming on his cheeks. She laughs and rolls her eyes.

"Well, that's work for you. Speaking of work, can I get back to it please?" She tells him off, but there is a smile on her face making it seem less trite than it sounds. Enjolras smiles and laughs himself, easing off the stool.

"Of course. See you tomorrow." He says in parting.

"See you." Eponine says her goodbye. Enjolras turns to leave but Eponine calls out to him.

"Oh and Enjolras." He faces her. "Thank you." He smiles and nods his head. He walks away and as he makes his way to the door he hears a man say,

"Oh Eponine, how sweet of your little - " Enjolras hears the slap of skin and he laughs. He closes the door behind him and walks home alone.

Enjolras wakes and his eyes squint at the harsh light of his desk lamp. His phone is buzzing against a stack of papers, making an awful sound. It pierces his temples and he grinds his teeth. He picks up his phone and there is loud music and shouting.

"Enjolras!" the caller shouts his name and he recognizes Joly's voice.

"Yes?" Enjolras replies. He looks at his clock at it is two thirty in the morning. His heart drops to his stomach expecting the worst.

"We need your help." Joly says. "Marius is drunk as fuck and we need a designated driver." He hears the clinking of glasses and incoherent conversations.

"Isn't that supposed to be you?" Enjolras says. Joly was studying medicine, his motives for not drinking same to Enjolras. Enjolras groans as Joly explain.

"Yes but… I had an exam earlier and I totally bombed it. Comforting myself right now. -

HI ENJOLRAS!" He hears a woman shout onto the receiver and Enjolras takes the phone off her ear.

"Hello, Musichetta. You're in town?" He greets his friend's girlfriend.

"Yup!' the girl says. "C'mon! Join the fun." she coaxes him through the phone. Enjolras rubs his eyes and looks out his room's window. The moon is high onto the sky and everything is quiet in their neighborhood.

"It's two in the morning. My parents are already asleep." he says.

"Sneak out!" she says and her voice is still too loud.

"I'm not in high school anymore Chetta." he chastises but he gets up anyway. He ends his call and he starts to shed his pyjamas and grabs a plain white shirt and his trusty red jacket. He shimmies his way into his jeans and walks over to the mirror. He doesn't address the mess of blond curls on his head. He walks out and tiptoes his way out of the house.

He has his phone in hand and his wallet on his pocket. The keys to his house jingle in the night. He calls someone and presses the phone onto his ear.

"Hello." the woman on the other line giggles.

"Cosette, how drunk are you?" he asks. There is another giggle. His footsteps on concrete echo onto the night and he is frightened. He never trusts the night, especially when he is alone. He doesn't know what to do but his father always haunted him with stories. Of course that was when he was still a child, still it stuck to him and even the slightest shadows make him jump.

"Enjolras." Cosette calls to him, calming his nerves.

"Yes."

"Are you coming over? A lot of us are drunk and we miss our mother hen." Cosette starts to cluck her tongue and Enjolras rolls his eyes. His house wasn't that far off from campus and the little street where diners and bars line up. It would take him fifteen minutes, tops. Yet it would've only taken him five minutes if he lived in Combeferre's apartment and Enjolras always uses it as his main argument. As usual, his mother disregards it.

"I'm coming. Make sure no one breaks anything." He tells her. Cosette lets out a hoot in laughter and there is a shuffle.

"Aye aye, mon capitan." she jokes. Cosette then starts to spike up a conversation about nothing at all. She talks of the drinks in the bar and how it's so sweet. She says that she can't even taste the alcohol in it. She then starts talking about the band playing old timey jazz and she holds the speaker close to the band and Enjolras listens in.

This wasn't the first time Enjorlas sought out her company. Cosette knew of Enjolras fear of the night and Paris' winding streets. Whenever he feels unsafe, he would call her or any of his friends and they keep him company until he arrives at his destination.

Enjolras has finally arrived at the street and there are lights everywhere. People are trotting along, drunk or tipsy. He finds one of his classmates in his Economics class and he is slump on the ground lolling his head from side to side. His friends hover around him trying to get him up. Enjolras walks along, looking for the bar that his friends occupy.

He passes by the diner and he stops. He debates on whether or not if he should drop by but then decided against it. Eponine was probably busy.

Cosette was still on the line and she tells him the name of the bar and Enjolras finds it quickly. It was across the diner and Enjolras doesn't want to hope that Eponine was there. He took Eponine as a responsible person such as him, she might be out studying. He quenches his expectation and opens the door. He is welcomed by his friends, bunched into a corner. They occupy three tables and there are five buckets of beer.

"Enjolras!" Coufeyrac calls out and there is a cheer at his arrival. Grantaire stands and offer his chair. Enjolras sits and peers at Joly, his girlfriend sitting on his lap.

"Would you rather want the seat Chetta?" he asks already knowing her answer.

"Oh you know me, I'm perfectly comfortable where I am." She pecks Joly's cheek and giggles on his skin. Joly leans his head on her chest and sighs in content.

"So who needs a ride home?" Enjolras asks. As much as he loves his friends, he would rather go back to either study or sleep. He doesn't like the temptation of alcohol or much better, witnessing the PDA his friends are always guilty for.

"I do. " Marius raises his hand and Enjolras sees him, his head resting on the hard wood of the table. Cosette rubs his back soothingly. She presses a kiss on the crown of his head and she blushes as Enjolras notices.

"Drank too much than he could handle." Cosette explains. Marius reaches to his pocket and waves his car keys up the air. Enjolras sighs as he stands, taking the keys from him.

"C'mon then. Time to go home." At this, Prouvaire calls to him.

"No no no. Not just yet." Prouvaire said wagging his finger in Enjolras face. He was seated right next to Marius, at the head of the table.

"What now?" he asks his friend, sensing mischief in the air.

"Oh don't be such a ninny Enjolras. It is a celebration after all. My celebration. Aren't you proud of me?" he asks, his lips turn into a pout.

"Of course I am."

"Then sit. Enjoy. We still have a couple of bottles left." Prouvaire sighs as something passes in his mind. He looks at the floor but eventually shakes it off. He flashes him a smile again. Enjolras doesn't know why.

"I'm not drinking Prouvaire."

Prouvaire booed at him and Enjolras rolled his eyes.

"I dare you to drink this bottle in one go. If not, you have to bring a date to my exhibition."

"Yeah right, like Enjolras could ever get a girl." Grantaire chimes in, hearing the bet take place.

"Hey, you may never know." Combeffere adds tipping his bottle to him and drinks.

"May I remind you that I'm driving someone home." He shakes the keys at Prouvaire's face.

"It's just one bottle Enjolras." Prouvaire nudges at him.

"And? If I chug it the more I am likely to get tipsy."

"It's either that or you bring a date to my gallery." Prouvaire crosses his arms over his chest, ceasing all arguments. Enjolras eyes at the solitary amber bottle and he gulps.

"Fine." he acquiesces but he doesn't grab the bottle. Instead, he grabs Marius by the shoulders and helps him up. "I'll bring a blasted date to your exhibit." he says and he tries to make it scathing. He wants them to feel the annoyance in his voice but he hears nothing but their hollers and hoots. Marius stands and they trod to his parked car, Cosette in tow.

Marius shuffles to the back seat with Cosette beside him. He rests his forehead on the window and Enjolras starts the ignition.

"Should I drop you off to your dorm Cosette?" Enjolras asks, the car revving to life.

"Yes please." Cosette tells him. She rubs soothing circles in Marius' back and he swings his head to rest on her shoulder.

"Will you walk home again Enjolras?" Cosette asks him.

"Yeah. I mean… His house isn't that far off." Enjolras tells them as he pulls out of the driveway.

"You can stay for the night by the way." Marius slurs. Enjolras weighs the suggestion in his head but cops out.

"No. My mother will have a heart attack when she sees that I'm not at home." he tells them. There is a red light and people cross the street.

"You can always leave early in the morning. Just stay until we see the sun. I know you don't like walking in the dark." Cosette adds, her hand reaching out to him. He leans his head on her knuckles. Her fingers dart and pinch his cheeks.

"I'm fine Cosette."

"You'll call right?"

"Of course. I'll text you when I arrive home." He peers at the rear view mirror and sees Cosette's worried eyes. Her lips pout and her cheeks look puffier than normal. He chuckles.

"Don't worry Cosette. I can take of myself."