Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and for all of the support so far. I hope that you enjoy this chapter. I have a pretty good feeling that Enjy fangirls will.
Chapter 3
Eponine awoke the next morning sore and exhausted. She was more bruised than she usually was after a night with Montparnasse, however, he had been furious about finding her with Enjolras. No doubt he had been trying to once again prove to her that she was his. Gratefully, he was already gone. Sighing, she stood to dress.
"Je suis seule au monde," she murmured as she pulled on her tattered chemise and skirt. She began to run her fingers through her hair in an attempt to make it look somewhat decent, and then remembered the comb from Joly. She was always forgetting about it, even nearly a month later, as for years she'd been stuck trying to simply pull the knots out of her hair with her hands.
She quickly began to tug the comb through her by now untameable curls, recalling a different time. A time when her hair had actually been perfect; it had been a beautiful reddish-brown colour that had fallen down her back in gentle waves. Her hair was still reddish-brown, only now it was dull, and in tangled curls. And by now it was also full of dirt and dust.
After a while, she gave up. Her hair was hopeless, but she thought it looked a bit better than before. With a scowl, she gave up and grabbed her hat. Cosette's hair was blonde, shining, and perfect. Just like everything else about her. Not only did she have Marius, but she also had flawless beauty.
"Cosette gets everything I want," she snarled as she pulled the cap onto her head forcefully. She squeezed her eyes shut, allowing a tear to fall down her face.
"Il ne m'a jamais vu là-bas," she murmured sadly. She bit her lip as she realized her only chemise didn't cover all of the fresh bruises from the night before. Her arms were a deep purple-blueish colour in many places.
She winced at the thought of Les Amis asking her about them, and searched frantically for her old tattered shawl, hoping that maybe it would help. When at last she found it, she grimaced. It had more tears and holes than she remembered. Oh well, it's better than nothing, she decided, and wrapped it around her shoulders before leaving her room.
She rushed down the stairs and out into the streets as fast as possible, not wanting to be caught by her father or 'Parnasse. She was not in the mood to deal with either of them.
She stepped out onto the streets, and breathed in the fresh air. She glanced around, wondering how to spend her day. It was still quite early, the sun had just risen. For the briefest moment, she considered finding Marius, but changed her mind a second later. She was not at all interested in hearing about Cosette.
She knew she would have to eventually, but not now. Now, that was the last thing on Earth that she wanted to do.
Then she remembered her brother, Gavroche. It had been a while since she had spent time with him. And she wanted to know what had happened when she had led Marius to Cosette. Yes, that was what she would do. She would find her brother and talk to him. He had been at the meeting the night before, and he could tell her what had Les Amis d'ABC so excited.
"General LaMarque died," Gavroche told her after she had found him. He was trying to make her share the loaf of bread he had with him, but she was refusing.
"No Gavroche, you're younger, you need it more!" she insisted again. "And why would someone dying get them so riled up?"
"Because, sis, he was the only one in the government that stood up for people like us!" Gavroche explained to her. "Really, don't you know anything about the government?"
"Not really, I haven't had the chance. Father sees to it that I am otherwise occupied," she replied to her brother, her tone becoming bitter at the last bit.
"Yeah, I've seen father dragging you to the streets where the whores usually are. Does he make 'Zelma do the same thing?"
"Azelma's gone. I haven't seen her in almost a month," Eponine replied, giving her brother a scathing look. She hadn't wanted him to know that about her. "I imagine he would if she were still here though."
"So you have no clue what happened to her, then?"
"None whatsoever."
The siblings sat in silence for another several moments before Gavroche once again tried to get her to eat.
"Come on, 'Ponine, you need to eat something!"
"No, 'Roche, I'm fine. You eat it. All of it." She looked at him sternly. "I can take care of myself, you don't need to worry about me."
Gavroche looked at her doubtfully, but knowing how stubborn and proud she was, obliged.
"Good boy," she said with a smile, ruffling his hair.
"So, will you be at the meeting tonight, 'Ponine?" he asked her.
She hesitated. "I- I don't know. Maybe."
Gavroche's eyes narrowed. "Are you all right?"
She opened her mouth to reply, desperately trying to think of a lie, but found herself cut off.
"I was planning to ask her the same thing."
She turned her head sharply as Gavroche's eyes lit up. "Enjolras!" he yelled happily as Eponine shot him a death glare. Just who did the revolutionary think he was?
Enjolras' dark eyes studied her carefully. "A bit warm for that shawl today, don't you think, Eponine?" he asked her. "It was colder yesterday, but you weren't wearing it then. And yet you are today..."
Gavroche glanced from his sister to the revolutionary, then back again, obviously realizing that whatever was going on, he was missing something, then understanding dawned in his eyes.
"'Ponine, did he hurt you?"
"Gavroche, ma petit frère, go get yourself some more food," Eponine told him. "Here." She pressed a couple of sous into his hands. Coins she had been lucky to find on the ground that morning while she had been looking for him, and had planned to use to get herself a little bit of food.
"But, 'Ponine-"
"No, Gavroche!" she snapped.
"Fine, but you owe me an explanation later, 'Ponine!" Gavroche said before running off.
She turned her gaze coldly back up to Enjolras. "What do you want?"
"You're not giving him an explanation later, are you?" Enjolras asked, glancing at Gavroche, who was disappearing around a corner.
"I'll think of something, I don't want him to worry about me. Now, I asked you a question first. What do want?"
"To make sure you're all right."
"I don't need your pity." Her gaze was cold as she glared at him. "And why do you care so much about me? Don't you have your precious revolution to worry about?"
"You're important too, and it's people such as yourself that I am fighting for. What happened after I left you last night? Believe me when I say that I've been regretting walking away ever since." She forced herself to meet his gaze, and saw nothing but sincerity there. What trick was he trying to play on her? She knew him, he was the cold, marble revolutionary with the face of an angel who would marry France if it were at all possible, so why was he bothering trying to find out what was wrong with her? She picked her words carefully.
"Nothing that hasn't happened before," she told him slowly, turning her face away.
"So he's treated you that way before?" he asked, suddenly eying her left arm carefully. Eponine glanced down and saw an exposed bruise, a fresh one from the night before, and she quickly tried to cover it.
"It's none of your business," she snapped, speaking quickly as she stood and began to walk away. He wouldn't let her though, and grabbed her shoulder, forcing her to turn to look at him.
"It is my business; you're my friend!"
"Friend?" Eponine was outraged as she pulled herself away from him. "Are you mad? In what world are we friends? The only times we ever really have conversations is when you try sticking your nose into places it shouldn't be! You only ever really talk to me when you're trying to interfere with my life, and believe me, that is the last thing you want to do if you value your life!"
Enjolras watched her evenly as she yelled at him, his face almost entirely expressionless.
"If you keep trying to step in and help me every time I'm in trouble, believe me when I say that you will get hurt! You're lucky you didn't get hurt last night! Montparnasse-" she cut herself off then, a touch of fear in her eyes. "I- I've said too much, I have to go."
"Eponine, wait," Enjolras said, trying to stop her, but she turned to face him again. "Forget it, Enjolras. It's better for both of us if you just leave me alone after last night."
Translations:
Je suis seule au monde: I am alone in the world (taken from the French Version of On My Own, Mon Histoire)
Il ne m'a jamais vu là-bas: He never saw me there
Ma petit frère: My little brother
