Éponine's POV

I looked over at Enjolras, who was furiously scribbling in a notebook. It was late at night, and we were still stuck in the café. Most of the men had left; only Combferre, Marius, and Courfeyrac remained.

Every five minutes or so, I would sneak a peek at Marius. He is so handsome. The way his hair fell, the way he bit his lip and furrowed his eyebrows when he concentrated. I love him. But it hurt so much to see him with his little lark of a girl.

Cosette used to be the object of torment for me when I was younger. Lots of hair-pulling, kicking, demands, and verbal sneers. I didn't like it. But I was just going after Mama's example. I was praised when I did it, so it became a habit. Well, Karma can really bite you on the bottom. I'm now the poor waif, and she is the lucky, wealthy, soon-to-be-married woman. I didn't hate her. I hated myself.

"Éponine!" A call from Enjolras shook me out of my memory.

I turned toward him and waited for him to continue.

"The Café is closing. Can you help me with these?" He indicated at the several heavy books and stratagems. I grabbed a few of them, and then turned back to the leader.

"My apartment is a couple blocks away. Think you can help me there?"

I nodded and followed him out the building. We walked in silence for a bit, then he spoke up.

"'Ponine? Where do you live?" He looked back at me and waited for an answer.

"With Combeferre. Currently, I mean. I used to live with my family, but..." I broke off. Enjolras nodded and turned his head forward.

I was astonished at my answer. I'm not usually the type to reveal things like that. I should've said something like, "with Gavroche" or, "on the streets". Not at the exact location. Why on earth was I willing to talk to Enjolras? All these few days, I've revealed personal things to him.

Shrugging to myself, I turned to Enjolras, who I promptly knocked into. He barely moved, but he looked down at me with a smirk.

"Really Éponine. You mustn't have your head in the clouds all the time," he stated with a chuckle. I just rolled my eyes and followed him into his apartment.

Looking around, it was exactly how I envisioned it would look. Tons of books, papers, ink pots, pencils, and random little objects were all over the place.

"You can just set those wherever," he muttered as he set his own stack down. I looked around, and eventually just plopped them on a sofa.

"There you go!" I said cheerfully.

"Thank you, Éponine. You're a real helper."

I tipped my cap and left his apartment with a half-smile. I got an odd sense of pride in showing that I was helpful to the leader of a Revolution.

I strolled back to the café. I was concentrating on the pattern of the cobblestone and the tapping my feet made. My mind took a trip and I lost myself in a fantasy.

Usually, my dreams involved Marius. But this time, it was someone different. His form was fuzzy, but I could barely make out curly hair. Marius had straight hair.

"Please notice...please notice..." I heard the spirit whisper.

"Notice what?" I said aloud to the man as I crossed to Combeferre's apartment. The image went away, and I trudged up the stairs. What the heck did it mean; 'Please notice'? What did I need to notice this time? I have a strong hatred for reality, so I preferred not to notice things a lot.

I let myself in. Combeferre was at his desk, and he appeared to be studying.

"I'm back," I mumbled as I made my way to the bedroom. Combeferre waved, and I shut myself into the bedroom.

Sighing, I sat on the bed. What was I going to do? No doubt my father would be looking for me. If I wasn't working for him, then we were losing money. One thing he didn't appreciate was losing money. I was his punching bag and his little helper. With the students, I was the little helper, but I wasn't hurt. I was valid and interesting.

I looked in a mirror that Combeferre had mounted on the wall, and I saw shiny tears running down my cheeks. Why are you crying, stupid girl?

I used my sleeve to wipe them away, but they kept coming. I sobbed and wrapped my arms around myself. I was scared. I would've given anything for someone to hold me, to hush me, to promise all would be well. But that wouldn't happen. It never happens. Fairy tales exist in books and operas. My life is neither.

I cried myself to sleep, knowing that the next day would be just as bleak.

Enjolras' POV

It was dark, and the only way I could see was from the flares of guns. I was standing in a clearing in front of the Café Musain. In front of me, there stood a barricade made of several pieces of furniture and stray supplies. Every couple of seconds, an explosion went off that seemed to shake the street. Looking around, I could tell there were only a few men left. They fought well, but things were not going to plan.

Combeferre raced over and yelled an order, but I couldn't move to carry it out. In that moment, an explosion sounded, and he fell to the ground, convulsing. Blood poured from his body, and his eyes lost their light. I opened my mouth as if to cry out, but no sound came.

"Vive la Republique! Long live the future!" I hear Jean Prouvaire scream these words from the other side of the barricade. Though I could only stay in this one spot, in my head, I could see the soldiers take this brave man's life. The screaming of the future halted.

One after another, I watched as my comrades fell. Each would motion something, be it a prayer, a warning, or an order, and an enemy would bring them to their deaths. Each one was more gruesome than the last. I tried to shut my eyes, I tried to warn them. I couldn't move.

Little Gavroche raced to Courfeyrac's side, and the child was shot through the heart. This is what Hell is, I suppose.

The firing slowly ceased on our side. All of the fighters were gone. But our opponents did not stop. They used the cannons they loaded to break down the barricade. They hit the barricade and went straight through. The smoke burned my throat and my eyes. I looked around, and tears grew in my eyes. This was MY fault.

"Enjolras! Enjolras! Help! Hear me!" I turned my head to see Éponine waving. She had deep panic in her eyes, and she looked around like a trapped mouse. I opened my mouth to warn her like I tried with the others, but it was in vain. She raced over, but everything went into slow-motion.

Bang!

Bang!

And it was done. She shook and fell. I managed to kneel beside her, and she looked up at me.

"All…your…fault…"

"NOO!" I screamed. I became aware of my familiar surroundings, and I rubbed my forehead; covered in cold sweat. My heart was racing, and it took me a few minutes to calm down. "It was only a dream, Lucien. Only a dream, a figment of imagination," I mumbled to myself. I rubbed the tears that were stinging in my eyes away, and I sat up.

It was now that I realized how small our chance was. The Friends of the ABC was an organization of about sixty men, and the National Guard had the strength of thirty-thousand, with guns and ammunition to match. We had no chance.

They wouldn't bring all the National Guard…they doubt us, remember? The Light Brigade…now THAT sounds like something they'd send.

I attempted to convince myself of this, but it still seemed very far-fetched. I looked over at the clock on the wall, and saw it was three in the morning.

Phantasmagorias of my nightmare continued to dance in my head, and I knew that I wouldn't be going back to sleep any time soon. I lay back onto my pillow, and tried to calm myself. I breathed deeply and shut my eyes.

I forced myself to snap them open again. It was as if Éponine's death was taunting me; it was all I could see.

Sorry about the delayed update! Hope you liked it!