Hey guys, here's the next chapter. I am watching Les Miserables 25th anniversary at the O2 as I type this. Oh my God, Norm Lewis is amazing... and so is Samantha Barks, obviously.

Disclaimer: I don't own Les Miserables or any of the characters.

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Eponine woke up the next morning and wondered where she was. Then she remembered the night before. She looked over at Marius, who was asleep on the sofa. She noticed that he didn't have a blanket. She looked down and noticed the extra blanket. She looked back at Marius. Why is he being so nice to me? Eponine wondered. No one had been this nice to her for a long time. For so long she had been all alone, without any friends, without anyone she could really talk to. But now it seemed she wouldn't have to be alone anymore. That made her smile a bit. She was also smiling because she'd just realized how cute he was. He looked so peaceful in his sleep. His light brown hair was sticking up and his lips were parted slightly. She knew that behind his closed lids he had deep blue eyes that were filled with warmth. Eponine knew she could easily get lost in his eyes.

Marius shifted a bit in his sleep. Eponine watched him for a moment and then looked out the window. It was still dark out, Eponine guessed it was very early in the morning. She decided to go back to sleep.

Marius woke up a couple of hours later and looked over at Eponine, who was asleep once more. He noticed how peaceful she looked in her sleep, and more... innocent. When she was awake she was so guarded. But not when she was sleeping. Her guard was down.

Eponine's face contorted in fear. She started to toss and turn. She was obviously having a nightmare. And by the look of it, it was the worst nightmare ever. Marius decided to wake her up. He got up and walked over to her. He shook her shoulders lightly. Eponine awoke and sat up, gasping for breath. Her gasps turned into sobs.

"Eponine, what's wrong?" Marius asked her. She was sobbing too much to answer. Marius wrapped his arms around her in an attempt to comfort her. Eponine rested her head against his chest and continued to sob. They stayed like that for a while. Neither spoke. Marius just held Eponine and she let him. After a while, Eponine's tears started to subside. Then Eponine spoke.

"A couple of years ago, my father went into a blind rage. It was awful. No one knew why he was so angry. As usual, he took it out on me and my sister, Azelma. But he went a bit too far. He... he shoved 'Zelma into the wall and she hit her head with a sickening crack and she... she just dropped to the ground, dead. He'd killed her..." Eponine had started to sob again. Marius didn't know what to say, so he just held her there. In Eponine's nightmare she had relived that moment, the moment that her father had killed her sister.

"Why did you stay with him after that?" Marius asked after a moment. "Why didn't you run away from him?"

"Honestly... I did. I ran away quite a few times. But he found me. He always finds me..." she whispered.

"'Ponine, I promise that I will never let him hurt you again." Marius told her. She looked at him. She wrapped her arms around him. He held her tight. "You'll never have to be alone again." he promised her. "From now on, I will always be here."

Eponine smiled slightly. She had a friend. It had happened in an odd way, but Eponine Thenardier actually had a friend. She didn't have to be alone in the world anymore. She had someone she could trust, a friend that she could rely on. She rested her head against Marius' chest. Marius held her close. It felt nice to be held instead of throttled. Eponine actually felt a bit happy.

...

By the end of the day they had moved out of the Gorbeau House and into a new apartment. The new apartment had multiple rooms. Marius had also bought another bed so no one would have to sleep on the sofa as well as some new clothes for Eponine. He didn't want her to have to wear threadbare rags. At that moment, Marius was sitting on the sofa reading a law book and Eponine was in the other room taking a very badly needed bath. When Eponine was done, she came out wearing one of the new dresses that Marius had bought her. She almost looked like a completely different person. Her hair was no longer in tangles, her hair was no longer matted with dirt, she was no longer covered in grime. Marius looked over at her and nearly gasped. Eponine looked beautiful. She was still way too skinny, but that would change. Marius would see to that. Marius got up and walked over to her.

"Mademoiselle, you look beautiful." he told her. Eponine blushed slightly. By the look on her face Marius could tell that she didn't believe him when he told her that she was beautiful. "I mean it, Eponine. You really are beautiful." Eponine blushed even more. Marius held out a hand. "May I have this dance?" he asked her. Eponine looked at him, laughing slightly.

"But there's no music." she said.

"Does that matter?" he asked. Eponine smiled and took his hand. Marius twirled her around and the two danced. It was the most fun Eponine'd had in a long time, though she'd never tell Marius that.

It was during that moment, as Eponine and Marius danced around the room, that Eponine realized something. It was something that she'd never felt before, but she still knew what the feeling was. It was like she'd found a light in darkness, something warm in all of the cold. Eponine, having never felt like this before, knew what the feeling was all the same.

Eponine Thenardier knew that she was falling in love with Marius Pontmercy.

Well, there it is. Please review!