Chapter 3
And of course, out of all the women in Paris, Marius had to befriend this one.
Unless there were two Eponine Thénardiers in this world, this had to be her. The tiny girl that had just been sitting in the table in the corner half an hour ago was the girl from his childhood. How almost funny this was, almost.
He hadn't seen her since the night she attended the annual royal party years ago. He hadn't seen her since then because he thought her parents had been offended by him calling their daughter "bratty girl".
But no. They had simply fallen into poverty.
It was strange, but it made sense. Perhaps, they weren't as rich as they seemed, and maybe they couldn't afford the life they were living. Drowning in debt seemed somewhat logical.
Even if he despised the Thénardiers so much, he still felt pity for them. Those rats were used to an almost royal life, and he couldn't imagine of them having to beg for money in a street or pickpocketing somebody. Perhaps they couldn't make it in the streets. Perhaps they catched the epidemic cholera and passed away. Or most likely starved to death, or maybe not.
All he knew was that Eponine was alive.
And that represented a big, big problem. Eponine meant hell and all bad things for him. She looked so different of what she remembered. She had dirty clothes, very dirty, and ripped, too. She wore a skirt that looked a bit short for her, but she was such a petite, so maybe she had had them since early teen years. Her hair was tangled and had a strange pale brown tone, and it was also harsh. She had eye circles and old bruises for the life in streets. It was a pity to look at her, but she was somewhat pretty. It was hard to believe how this woman could destroy everything for him.
It was simple; she was going to recognize him, she was going to tell Marius and he was going to know. Marius would tell everyone. They would finally see the resemblance with their leader and the prince, which was impossible to notice unless you carefully looked at it. And then, everything would go down.
He could almost hear it. The voices of his friends calling him liar, hypocrite, looking at him, despising him, hating him, even. And after all, les amis de l'ABC were and anti-monarchist group. There would be no time for explanations, nor that they would want to listen. He couldn't bear to imagine the faces of the boys. What would they think of him? . He was the prince, whose father they were fighting against to; he was part of the cursed monarchy they were trying to overthrow. He was all those things, and yet he was also the leader of the so called revolution. He would lose forever their friendship which he appreciated dearly, even if he didn't showed it. But most important and above all the other things, he would lose the chance to build the republic he had longed for.
But maybe he was just overreacting.
Perhaps she already forgotten him, and he was already grown up. He was no longer the child he used to be, he looked completely different.
But maybe she had good eye with faces, who knows, maybe she was these kind of person who knows who you are after ages of not seeing you.
Even if he reminded her of the prince, she would completely dismiss that idea. He was, after all, just a man in a humble café. That's enough. He had nothing to worry about.
But still…
He wasn't the kind to just let something go. He had to make sure nothing was gonna be ruined. Perhaps the future of all patria was lying in his own hands and he couldn't take any risks.
He was not going to give her the chance to know. Not even the slightest chance.
She was in the table near the stair's door. She was barely hearing to what the blonde gentleman, the leader of that odd group, was saying, while she looked at the angel in front of her; Marius.
She could see the light of the sunlight from the window reflecting in his face, and it was beautiful. She found it fascinating to look at him. Once in a while he would yawn or shift his pose, and she found it too cute. He would, in rare times, even look at her and smile. She melted every time he did. When he nodded in agreement to whatever was being discussed in the meeting, she couldn't help but to nod, too. Everything he did, she did it too. Everywhere he went, she would follow. She was hopelessly in love with him.
When he was near, she was completely oblivious to everything around. Had she looked for only a moment to the actual meeting, she would have noticed how the blonde leader wouldn't stop giving her quick glances that never lasted more than half a second.
Meanwhile, Marius was hardly paying attention anymore. He was late, terribly late. Cosette…
When he turned around to look at Eponine, she quickly turned to see other side so he wouldn't notice her staring at him. During these, she found herself locked in the blonde leader's eyes. It was a brief second that seemed to last much more.
Eponine felt overwhelmed by how intense and deep his eyes were, burning but also cold and calculating. And blue, different shades of blue. He was always so passionate about everything he was talking, and his eyes reflected him perfectly. His expression was daring as always, but when he realized she was looking at him, his face suddenly changed to wariness and… awe?
She couldn't tell, because he quickly looked somewhere else. She stared at him a few seconds, slightly narrowing her eyes and frowning. What had just happened?
"Ponine" Marius whispered form his table, leaning on her a little and getting her off her absorption. She turned her head around and looked at him, with a ghost of a smile. "Yes?" She asked almost inaudibly.
"I have to go to the Luxemburg gardens, 'Ponine" He said.
"Again, M'sieur?" She smirked sadly. She hated him going there every day.
"You know I need to see her" He whispered dreamily. "She's there with her father every noon. And it's already late.
Could you give this to Enjolras?" He begged.
"E-Enjolras?" She said, puzzled. "And that would be…?" She hardly knew any of the guy's names. She knew Courfeyrac, he was Marius's friend. He was also nice with her. He never talked to her, but when she entered to the café with Marius, Courfeyrac sometimes smiled warmly at her. She also knew a man named R, or at least that how everyone called him, tho she hardly doubted his name was actually R. He would just sit in a corner and watch everyone talk, drinking. Eponine also remembered someone calling other someone Joly, although she couldn't address the face.
"Him." Marius said pointing to the blonde leader who was speaking heated about the king and the poverty, and voting, and other absurd concepts. She had seen him all the days she came to the café, but she didn't knew his name until then. Enjolras, what a funny name.
"I have to give him these maps. But I have to go and I don't mean to interrupt him in the middle of his-" He gestured to the man with his hand, hesitant. "-speech."
"He gets like a dog when he is interrupted, and discharges his wrath on innocent people all around." R said from a table near them. He looked like the only one who wasn't concerned about the meeting at all. And it was too early for being drunk already…
Eponine looked back to Marius and nodded. She wanted to go with him, even if he was going to spy a girl and his father. But she also wanted to do this for him
"Anything for you, Monsieur." She stated, hoping he really understood she meant anything.
He gave her a huge smile and went downstairs stealthily, because he didn't wanted anyone to notice.
"And so, the young Marius is finally in love." R said in a mocking tone, and took a deep drink to his ale. Eponine just looked at him, melancholic, and waited.
Eponine couldn't care less about politics, so she spent most of the two following hours looking at the other people in the room, principally the student sitting in front of her. He was writing some sort of poetry, and Eponine entertained herself listening to him whispering different words that might rhyme. Sometimes he would get frustrated because he couldn't find the right thing to put next, but he always ended up finding something that went perfect with the rest of the poem. And although she never saw his face or heard his name, she decided she liked him. But even him, after he finished his poem, became boring. She was wondering if Marius would return before she had the opportunity to give Enjolras the maps, when the latter stopped talking.
It seemed like the meeting was over, and everyone started standing and making conversations. And so, she walked straight to him
A/N: I'M ALIVE, I'M ALIVE I'M SO ALIVE! Hehe, sorry. It's been a while, but I had no inspiration, and well… I don't think you would like me to just update with shitty chapters. But I finally inspired so…
Oh, I'm reading the brick, and I'll try to keep the characters in – well- in character. Hope you enjoyed.
I do not own Les Misérables.