A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it's been a while.. Between school, work, homework, and family I haven't really had time to sit down and type, and for that I am immensely sorry. Anyway, thank you to those of you that have reviewed. I absolutely love hearing your opinions on the story. Also, I just want you guys to know that I will be writing a chapter in Enjolras' point of view eventually, it just won't be this chapter. Thanks! Read and Review please?

Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own Les Miserables, and I never ever will. All rights to their rightful owners.

Chapter 4

EPONINE:

The day wore steadily on, night approaching rapidly. Darkness began taking over the pale blue of the sky as the moon began to rise outside, shining out against the black of the night sky. I stared out of the window, my hands in soapy water doing the dinner dishes, as I tried to get my mind off Marius and Cosette. Nothing I did earlier could get my thoughts to waver from Marius for more than just a few seconds, and occupying myself with dishes was no different. Even listening to Dawn complain about her horrendous disaster of a date didn't even give my brain temporary relief.

"Eponine?" Dawn said off to my left, her voice full of annoyance. "Are you even listening to me?" When I glanced back at her apologetically, I noted that she had crossed her arms sassily over her chest and glared hunter green daggers right at me.

"What? Huh?" I asked, turning back to the sink full of soapy water and picking up a plate out of the suds to begin scrubbing. "I'm sorry," I said, realizing I had dazed off staring up at the night sky and wondering what Marius was doing right at this moment. "What were you saying?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it." She retorted, her voice full of irritation. "You don't care enough to listen anyway." I heard her murmur under her breath.

I sighed and took my hands out of the water so I could turn to face her, my hands dripping suds and water all over the clean floor. "Now that's not fair." I said, defeated. "You know I have a lot on my plate right now. And I'm sorry that my mind seems to be elsewhere tonight." I felt guilt surge through my veins, and I could understand what would lead her to believe that I didn't care to listen to her problems, minor though they were.

She nodded, "I'm sorry, Ep. It's unfair of me to say that of you. I realize you have a lot going on, but I miss my best friend. You know that girl that couldn't care about anyone else in the world, aside from Pontmercy? I miss her."

I nodded in understanding. I missed her, too. The old Eponine who did whatever she had to do to protect herself, who wasn't pining after a man that she could never possibly get her hands on, who wasn't so emotional, who wasn't all of a sudden having to change everything in her life because of one drunken night. I missed being able to be carefree, and I surely missed not caring that Marius was marrying Cosette, perfect rich little Cosette, and leaving me, poor miserable Eponine, behind in the dust. "I'm sorry," I answered finally after the silence became much too heavy to bear.

She stepped closer to me. "No, I'm sorry." She wrapped me in a hug, seeming not to care that my hands were still wet. She pulled away gently. "Did you tell him?" She asked, her eyes serious.

I looked down at the floor, shame running through every fiber in my being. "No. I tried, but I talked myself out of it. I kept telling myself that he didn't need to know." I knew that wasn't the answer she wanted, but the more I thought about it, the more I convinced myself that he didn't want, or need to know.

"Eponine," she said slowly, her eyes scanning my face slowly. "You and I both know that he has the right to know. " Her voice was quiet.

"He doesn't though," I said slowly. "What he doesn't know won't kill him." I looked down at the floor, at my battered shoes. "Besides, I don't even know if he'd believe me. I'm not exactly the most pure person on the planet, Dawn. Please just stop bugging me about this. I'm stressed enough as it is."

She wrapped me into another hug. "Oh, honey, I know you are. You should get some rest. I'll finish up the dishes." I nodded into her shoulder, grateful for her offer, before she pulled away and rolled up her sleeves to stick her hands into the warm water.

I made my way slowly to my bedroom to curl up under my covers and hopefully fall fast asleep, however, as the night wore on and I listened to the sounds of Dawn getting ready for bed, and eventually settling down and snoring quietly, I tossed and turned, unable to get comfortable. Dreams threatened to cloud my mind as I lay silently in my bed with my eyes closed lightly, as though it was the only thing that I could do to welcome the images that began to seep into my brain.

Bright color swam to my eyes, flooding my vision. The room in which I was standing was large, and empty, except for a small ragged teddy bear sitting off in the corner. The walls were painted a dusty pink which looked to have been quite a few years old. The hardwood floors were scratched and battered as though they had seen a whole bombardment of feet scuffling across its surface. As my eyes scanned the room carefully, they fell back onto the stuffed bear.

I stepped closer, picking up the soft child's toy, and wondered what child was missing their bear. However, as I analyzed it, I realized that it looked exactly like the stuffed companion I had once had when I was a little girl. It looked exactly like the bear I had spilled all my secrets, worries, fears, and dreams to, the bear that I had loved and carried everywhere I went back when life was still semi-good. I turned it over in my hands, the soft fur bringing a collage of memories flowing back to me.

I looked down at it in the palms of my hand and realized the likelihood that this was my bear were very slim. After all, I had lost my companion to my father's drunken wrath one night when he decided to rip it up and tell me to live in the real world. I remember crying out, pleading for him to stop. I remember the evil glint in his eye as he made me watch as he tore my best friend limb from limb. As I looked down on it now, I noticed that it was older, the brown color faded and worn. It was missing an eye, and it had a small rip behind its tiny brown ear. It looked as though it had seen quite a few rough handlers in its' day, and even though I knew that this definitely could not be the bear I had lost to my father, I felt an odd connection to the toy in my hands, as though it was, and always had been, a missing part of me.

I cuddled the tattered bear up to my cheek, realizing the fur was still soft as a cloud, and closed my eyes. However, my eyes shot open as soon as I heard feet scraping across the floor behind the closed door. I cradled the bear close to my chest, as though it was the only thing that could protect me from any intruder that could come tumbling through the door. Fear surged through my veins, and I thought the emotion a ridiculous reaction to a tiny noise, but still I shook in my worn out boots as I waited for whoever was on the other side to open the door and enter the room. Poised to pounce, I watched as the doorknob turned slowly.

"Eponine?" A much too familiar voice asked, as a head full of dark blonde curls poked into the room. "What are you doing in here?" He asked, his brilliant blue eyes scanning me over quickly. He looked so different, older, as though he had aged ten years since I had seen him last. He had replaced his infamous red jacket with a simple grey overcoat, and I could no longer find the revolution patch pinned to his jacket. His hair was still as curly as ever, but it no longer looked unmanageable and was darker, and it was cut short enough that no wisps fell into his eyes. His eyes. His all too familiar crystal blue eyes were the only things to remain the same. There was still a spark of electricity that lurked in the pools of baby blue that had been retained despite everything else having changed.

He stepped fully into the room, a grin plastered on his granite etched face. "You look as though you've seen a ghost, are you alright?" His voice was light as he crossed the room to stand right in front of me, and reached out to touch my cheek softly.

Confused, I drew back a few steps out of his reach. "I'm fine?" I answered, my voice quiet. I analyzed his puzzled expression, and drew a bit farther away. "What are you doing here?"

He looked at me as though I was crazy, and then answered slowly. "Making sure you are doing what Joly said and taking it easy. I can see you're not. Are you sure you're alright?" He stepped closer to me, and instinctively I took as many steps as he took in the opposite direction, distancing myself from him as much as possible.

"I'm fine," I answered, feeling irritation bubble in my blood that he didn't' believe me. "I'm just confused as to why you're here, and why you're talking to me…" I let the sentence hang in the air. Usually, Enjolras wasn't like this at all. He usually spent all his time planning the revolution, and was constantly giving me the cold shoulder especially after the night we'd had at Marius' engagement gala. However, his expression now told me that he genuinely cared if I was okay or not, and for some reason that was unnerving to me. Enjolras was not someone that would care about a street urchin like me, and his sudden interest in me made me feel very uneasy, though I couldn't say why.

"Eponine," He said slowly, shaking his head and chuckling softly. "Look at yourself. You're pregnant. You didn't expect me to just leave you alone at let you disobey Joly's orders did you?" He looked at me seriously, and as though I was a complete fool for wondering why he was here. Slowly, I looked down toward my toes, only to find that they were no longer there, or rather, that I could no longer see them. Instead, when I looked down I saw only the enormous curve where my previously flat stomach had been.

"So you know that you're the father?" I asked, nervously.

"What are you talking about Eponine?" he asked slowly, looking at me like I was an idiot. "Of course I know! Why wouldn't I know that you were carrying my child? We've been married for almost four years and we have two other little girls together. In fact, you're holding the bear that belongs to one of them now. I think you need to rest?"

Married? Children? The words swam around my head, making me feel nauseous. And for some reason, those words sounded awkward coming from his mouth. "What?" I asked, suddenly very confused.

My eyelids shot open to the dark of my bedroom. At the realization that it had all been a dream, I let out a sigh of relief, and set to trying to figure out what it all meant. I placed a hand on my stomach, scared that I would find that I hadn't just been dreaming, but relieved when I felt that it was still flat as it had ever been. The one thing I could gather from my dream was that Enjolras could never find out the baby I was carrying was his. He would worry too much, he would care too much, and it would end in disaster. The already rocky relationship I had with him would crumble, and he would never be able to find someone to fall in love with (as if that could even happen) because, knowing Enjolras, he'd feel tied down to me, and I was not comfortable with being the source of any of this. No, Enjolras could never find out that this child is his.

Thoughts? Let Me know what you think, I'll try to get the next chapter up tomorrow, but life is kind of taking it's toll on me at the moment. Hopefully, with summer break finally here, I'll be able to update much more often but we'll see how that goes. Anyway, Let me know what you think, and I'm thinking that the next chapter will be in Enjolras' point of view! Thanks!