A/N: It's been a week since I have started this fic! Thanks for those who read this and it makes me glad that someone reads this!
To OMG-fangirl who reviewed last 2 chapters! Thanks, lovely! *sends hearts to you!
Meet me at Musain, you know where it was, right?
The text message flashed on her phone. Another day of pretending with Marius, Éponine reminded herself as she walked out of her classroom from Valjean's class.
As she walked her way to Musain, many students were talking and laughing on the sidewalk, however, Éponine was all alone. She has no friend to talk about excluding Marius. Oh god, please, how I wish something would happen She told herself. She strode to pass the bystanders. Éponine didn't notice that someone was running on her way.
They bumped Éponine and they had something on their hands that it spilled on Éponine's shirt.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Can't you see it's my favorite shirt?" Éponine shouted at them. She was staring at them but as they looked up, his black curly hair was disheveled. He flashed a grin to Éponine. "Okay, what the fuck? This man is cute, goddamit 'Ponine!" she muttered to herself.
"I'm so sorry, Mademoiselle." he picked the back of her hand and kissed it. Éponine stared in disbelief as the man has acted—it wasn't part of her daily basis that someone would consider acting like his confident man.
"Gotta go!" he rushed and left Éponine stunned in the middle of the crowd.
"Hey! Get back here! Don't leave me hanging!" Éponine shouted but he didn't hear her as he rushed. "You smelled like— wait, is he going to Musain?"
It was a nice place, after all, Éponine told herself as she walked towards the entrance of Café Musain. Café Musain isn't an ordinary coffee shop that caters students near the university. Students often go there whenever they were working on their assignments or to meet up someone just like Éponine. Musain resembles a 19th-century French café. The scent of coffee lingers in the woods of the café. It was a busy afternoon where the chairs and tables were occupied by the students from the university.
It was home for some especially for the Les Amis where they used it as their meeting place thanks to Bahorel.
Éponine spotted a familiar face as he emerges from the back room of the café. It was Marius. Éponine rushed towards Marius. He saw her approaching and grinned. "Don't smile at me like that, you're making me more in love with you," Éponine mumbled as she returned the smile to Marius. He walked towards Éponine and hugged her. "You actually came! I thought you would never come, 'Ponine. You are truly my best friend," Marius said. Éponine felt embarrassed but she liked it. I wish this would always happen— it was bliss for Éponine as he imagined Marius would always do this for her every day.
"Don't worry, Marius. That's what best friends for," Éponine told Marius as she twinge when he told Marius and there was slight pang in her chest, it was hurt. "How can Marius never see me?" Éponine mumbled to herself.
Marius led Éponine inside the backroom of the café where a group of university-school boys same as her age occupied the room. She didn't know who they were. However, his friends waved 'hello' and 'good day, Mademoiselle!'—it made Éponine blushed on their warm welcome despite being a stranger.
They sat near the boys' tables. The room was filled with chattering boys, it wasn't quite understandable for Éponine because they were debating on something—it was social injustice. However, she wasn't sure if she was right.
Afterwards, a black haired man walked near their table and placed his hands on his hips. He grinned and took Éponine's small delicate hands on his big calloused hands.
"Before anything else, Marius, who was this beautiful woman?" he said. "You are not telling us that this was your girlfriend," he remarked.
"Uhh, well, Courf. I don't have a girlfriend. Guys, I am sorry that I haven't mentioned her. Meet Éponine, Éponine Jondrette. My best friend since freshman year and Éponine meet my friends! We call ourselves as The Les Amis de l'ABC." Marius gladly introduced Éponine to his friends. Éponine was shocked when his friend, Courf, told that she was Marius' girlfriend and she knew that he doesn't have a girlfriend.
"Marius has friends that are actually boys and it wasn't only you, Éponine," the sandy-haired man stood and introduced himself as Jean Prouvaire but he insisted to call him as Jehan.
"Nice to meet you, Jehan." Éponine smiled. Jehan shook Éponine's hands—it was a firm handshake and quite strong for a pretty fellow like Jehan.
"Don't be shy and as a present for our new acquaintance, I'll be treating your coffee," Jehan said. "May I excuse Éponine, Marius? I'll just borrow her for a while and you can continue your talk as we excuse ourselves." Jehan took Éponine 's hands and made her follow near the boy's tables. "Girl, I already adore you for being strong," he added.
Éponine didn't know what Jehan was talking about. "Uhhm, I think I didn't follow what you have said." she tilted her head and stared at Jehan in confusion.
"Well, don't make me look that I didn't know that you are in love with Marius, yes? However, Marius was oblivious. Fuck Marius." he scoffed when he mentioned Marius' name.
Éponine laughed but she was hurt by Jehan's words. "Wow, I admit that I am too obvious, you're a good observer, Jehan," she said.
"Dear 'Ponine you should be careful. He might be a good guy but he can break your heart. I am concerned for you," he said and smiled at Éponine. It was sincerest among the smiles she had seen back when she was on her home— it shouldn't be called as home when your father tried to sell the two of your little brothers and only left Gavroche living in a street. Jehan held Éponine's hands. She felt that Jehan might be right. Jehan already knew about her dying love with Marius. Even though they have met on this day, she thought that he was already her best friend.
"Anyways, Marius and I weren't the only one in Les Amis. I'll tell you who were they. Beware, they might look like innocent university school boys but they can also break the law," Jehan whispered and winked at Éponine. She wanted to know who these boys were. In the back of her mind, she wants to befriend them but she was afraid especially on what he has said.
"Are you bad guys?" Éponine asked in a nice manner.
"No, no, no and no. We aren't bad guys. It's a long story. Don't worry, I know I have scared you but we were actually good," Jehan waved his hand dismissively and Éponine was relieved.
Jehan introduced the Les Amis. He started to James Combferre or 'Ferre for them. He was a medical student.
"For me, 'Ferre was caring especially to Enj. He was the typical boyfriend that always cares for you. Luckily, 'Ferre was straight and I have to admit I once liked that guy before we became friends," he admitted. Éponine wasn't shocked that Jehan might like someone of his same-sex and she has no right to judge him because it's what he was. "Well, I might add that he is single." Jehan wriggled his eyebrows and chuckled.
"Well, I think he wasn't interested in me, and I wasn't interested either," Éponine said as she shook her head.
"Hey, I was only joking about that but back to Les Amis. Next is Julien Courfeyrac, Marcus Joly, Michél Bossuet," he said.
"Julien Courfeyrac or Courf was a law student. He was a flirtatious man. I remind you 'Ponine, beware of that man," he said to Éponine as he points his hand to Courf, who started making jokes with his friends on the center of the table. "But, Courf's a good man, he won't hurt someone not unless someone hurt us and he would dare risk his life upon saving us," he added.
"All of us were good with different attitudes. However, Joly and Bossuet were different than Courf. Joly was a medical student while Bossuet was a law student just like Courf and pretty boy, Marius. Well, they both loved a girl; it was a healthy polyamorous relationship with Musichetta, anyways, hey 'Chetta!" he waved to a petite tanned girl with curly auburn hair who sat between Joly and Bossuet. She mumbled an excuse to the two and walked her way to their table. "'Cheta meet Éponine. Éponine meet Musichetta. 'Chetta's one of our favorite cute baristas," Jehan said and winked at Musichetta.
"Don't talk to me like that, Jehan. You're lucky my brother insisted the ten of you to be here all the time." Chetta rolled her eyes. "Anyways, what can I get to the both of you?" she added as she reached for her notebook in her pen.
"The usual for me and the special for 'Ponine." he smiled to 'Chetta.
"Copy that. I got to go back to the counter. Just you wait, okay?" Musichetta nodded at the pair.
'Chetta left after she got their orders. "So I haven't told you who was Ariel Feuilly and 'Chetta's brother, right? Well, they were like our fathers or should I call our daddies. Don't tell them that I slightly ship them." he smiled mischievously and it made Éponine chuckled.
"You have a wide imagination, Jehan," Éponine said.
"Yeah, I know that. Don't mention it. But anyways, both of them were career-oriented. I wish R would be like that," Jehan said as he placed his arms on the table and his eyes weren't dreamy and sparkly as they were earlier. It doesn't suit for him to be filled with sadness, as Éponine thought.
"R would always drink and I don't think that someone could change him." Jehan sighed.
"Who's R? You didn't mention someone named as R and… Enj?" Éponine asked Jehan. She can't remove the feeling that maybe one of them might be the one who bumped her earlier. Luckily, her shirt was black but it has a slight smell of—wine? Who the fuck drinks wine for lunch?
"Well, I think you shouldn't know who are they but—" Jehan was interrupted when someone passed out in the boy's tables and it was quite odd when in the middle of their conversation there would be shouting and laughing amidst the commotion made by the boys in the backroom.
"R, are you insane? How do you even manage to get here when you always do is to get drunk! Do you even care about our cause?" someone shouted at the drunk who was standing in front of him. It was a handsome—no, a beautiful man. Beautiful is the right word to define him. He was quite intimidating however despite his marble-liked stature, his face remained calm and would resemble a face of a Greek God. To Éponine, he was the most beautiful man she has ever seen. Those eyes were as blue as the ocean. His blond curly hair was disheveled and she almost wanted to tug those curls playfully. She almost forgot her feelings to Marius.
"Go back to your senses 'Ponine. It was just infatuation, it's not love just like for Marius. Marius was better than him," she muttered to herself as she stared at the marble-liked man.
"Don't stare to Enjolras like that." Jehan smiled as he patted Éponine's shoulders. "He was quite a charmer, wasn't he? Many ladies have always knelt before Enjolras but my dear, none of them was successful. He won't even dare to love someone even a woman before his beloved country," he added.
"Well, I don't think that I'll end up with that marble man. Look at him, he doesn't smile like Marius! He was like a marble!" she pointed to Enjolras when he wasn't looking at them. "If I could choose between them, I will choose Marius no matter what happens. Marius was better than him. I would never replace him with that marble man." she stared at Marius like he would melt with Éponine's fierce eyes. Éponine wouldn't change her love for Marius if she realized that for many years of pretending, it was unrequited.