Moments of Change
Disclaimer: I don't own any of this.
Enjolras did not do panicking; it wasn't even in his vocabulary. When times got tough, he thought things through at a rapid pace while his heart sped up slightly until the situation was under control. That was not panicking.
Panicking was when Joly thought he had contracted the plague from just seeing a rat.
But, as he stepped out onto the terrace in the sunny Caribbean weather, he was starting to think that panicking had its perks. It meant that he could run the other way instead of sitting down with Marius and telling him why he was in love with his ex-girlfriend. But Enjolras scolded himself, squared his shoulders and walked over to his friend.
Marius was sitting on one of the deck chairs, a glass of water in his hand and sunglasses on his face. He hadn't woken up until late that morning after Courfeyrac and Grantaire moved him to his bed when he had passed out. He hadn't had breakfast because he was so hungover and so, he hadn't really talked to most of the group.
He had actually gotten the most sleep out of everyone; the night had been a strange one. Eponine, Musichetta and Cosette had piled into Cosette's room and talked; while he had not been allowed to actually get some sleep in Combeferre's room because the boys wanted his side of the story. Thanks to such a late night, everyone had slept in and barely interacted with each other. But, it was time to talk to Marius and Enjolras was not one to really shy away from confrontation...even if it sounded like a good idea.
"Marius," he said softly, causing the other man to look up at him. There was a pause and then Marius moved over to clear a space on the chair. Enjolras sat down beside him, resting his arms on his knees and clasping his hands together.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
Marius shrugged, "Like someone cracked my skull open and filled it with fireworks; the cheap kind. Fresh air helps though and the good news is if I need to throw up I can just do it over the balcony."
Enjolras laughed despite himself and Marius took a sip of his water. "I remember everything by the way," Marius said, "Especially your speech."
Enjolras cleared his throat and turned to his friend. "I need you to know that I never interfered with your relationship with Eponine. I kept as far away as I could and I kept my true comments to myself."
"Enjolras, you practically declared war with her; even I can see that you never tried to break us up," Marius cut in, "I just need to know a few things."
Enjolras said nothing as his friend drank down the water. Marius didn't seem upset; he certainly wasn't jumping to conclusions, which was a good sign. Marius placed the half filled glass down on the ground before straightening up.
"At the wedding, when you told me about the dark haired girl standing by Chetta, was it because you liked Eponine from the moment you saw her?"
Enjolras nodded once before answering. "Yes; if I'm honest, she stunned me and I freaked out. So I turned around and just blurted out to you that she was there."
Marius pushed his sunglasses up on his face before replying. "Ok, first of all, this is coming from the man who scoffed at Joly's reaction to Chetta; which was the exact same thing according to what you're saying. So, ha! Secondly, that was when I walked up to Eponine and flirted with her?"
"Yup," Enjolras said, "From then on I knew that I would be in the wrong if I tried anything with her so...I just pushed her away."
Marius winched slightly. "I had had a few drinks that night...and I certainly didn't think you had any interest in her. I probably should have asked if you liked her."
Enjolras frowned at him, his disbelief at his friend's calm words rising. "Marius, you didn't do anything wrong. I'm the one who should feel guilty here!"
"Why?"
The question threw Enjolras slightly, not helping at all with his confusion.
Marius continued. "You liked her but backed off when we started to date; you became her worst enemy instead of a possible boyfriend. Ok, sure, you were snarky about my job-."
"Your lack of one," Enjolras couldn't help but quip.
Marius grinned, replying, "But that is just who you are, it has nothing to do with Eponine. And on this trip, the two of you tried to be friends for the sake of Joly and Chetta..."
Marius trailed off before looking at him again. "Oh, trying to be friends with the woman you're in love with, knowing that she might go back to hating you? How painful must that have been?"
Enjolras chuckled. "Not as painful as some moments over the years."
Marius rubbed his head, moving his sunglasses for a moment before settling them back over his eyes. "Look, Eponine and I...we haven't been working for a long time. I guess we were just comfortable with each other. I mean, we met when we were barely twenty and the future was a scary place. Joly and Chetta had married young and perhaps, having a person we were used to face that fear by your side sounded like a good idea. But we are not barely twenty anymore and both Eponine and I deserve a relationship that isn't just...so."
Enjolras stared at Marius; his mouth caught between forming actually words and just hanging open. "I don't understand," he finally said, "I'm in love with the woman you've been dating for the past five years."
"Yes but there is the difference between you and me. You care about her enough that way to be angry at yourself; I don't care enough for her as a girlfriend to be angry at you." Marius frowned then and asked, "Does that make any sense?"
Enjolras laughed slightly, more in disbelief then in anything else. "Kind of, but this whole situation doesn't really make sense."
Marius patted his shoulder and said softly, "I wish you and Eponine all the happiness in the world; that is, if she loves you too?"
Enjolras raised his eyebrows and shrugged, "We will have to see. We talked last night and things seemed to be...possible."
Marius chuckled, picking up his glass again. "Thank you for talking to me about this; you always were honourable that way. But I think I need to rest because talking makes my head feel like it's crying."
Gavroche ran up the stairs, dodging his foster sister as she passed him without looking up from her phone. He made it to the landing and went into his room. Glad that his roommate was nowhere to been seen, Gavroche quickly went to his school bag. It had been thrown on the floor and he sat on his bed as he rooted though it.
"Come on where are you?" he grumbled, pushing aside his school books. He was sure that he had crumpled his school results in his bag; usually he gave them to Eponine first but she was on holiday.
Finally, his hands found the paper and he pulled it out of the bag. Smoothing out the paper, he ran an eye over the marks. He hummed slightly; they were fine-not perfect but certainly not the reason the principal wanted to talk him. He put them back in the bag and left that on the ground.
He chewed on his lip as he once again tried to think of what he had done. But he couldn't think of a thing. It was moments like this he needed his sister. She would have been on the phone to the principal and asked him straight out.
But Eponine seemed to be having problems of her own. She had sounded fine on the phone yet Gavroche knew that the break up must have been weird. She was stuck on island with Marius and when they all got back, Eponine would have to find another place to live. Sure, she had either Cosette's apartment or the one over the cafe but she would still be worrying about where he would live.
Gavroche's eyes darted to the door, and then he slid over to the side of his bed. He sat on the floor and pulled a book from the small pile on his nightstand. It was one that Enjolras had given him; the spine was now cracked and the pages worn from reading but he skipped to back and pulled out a photo.
It had been taken on his last birthday; when Les Amis had thrown a party for him in Marius and Enjolras' apartment. In the photo, Eponine had her arms wrapped around his shoulders, her chin resting on his head. He was giving the camera a crooked grin, his hands lazily placed on Eponine's.
Gavroche sighed lowly, drawing his knees up to his chest as he still looked at the photo. He didn't like this whole waiting around thing. It made him jumpy. He didn't like waiting to see what the principal wanted and he really didn't like waiting to see where Eponine was going to let him live with her.
His eyes were then drawn to the side of the picture and he frowned. He had never taken notice that, in the background, he could see what was going to be his photo holder.
It had been a present from Eponine and was essentially a large board with criss-crossing strips of material. Photos could be stuck behind these strips and displayed. Of course, it was huge and needed to be put together with instructions. The Les Amis had actually put it together and it was now sitting in the apartment because he couldn't fit it in his foster home.
In the photo, it was in pieces and Enjolras could faintly be seen frowning at the instructions.
Gavroche grinned; he remembered Enjolras saying that he could fill the board with photos from all the places he would visit when he was older. Enjolras was cool that why; he made Gavroche think he could do anything if he put his mind to it.
Gavroche bit his lip again when he remember his conversation with Eponine. He still wished that they could stay with Enjolras; it would be so cool. It was the voice of his foster mother calling him from dinner that made Gavroche put the photo back in the book and stand up.
As he walked downstairs, he honestly did wish that Eponine was ok; or Marius would find himself with a shortage of eyebrows.
Eponine peeked her head around the glass door, looking down the terrace as quietly as she could. She bit her lip and stepped out onto the cool stone floor. She took a breath and then spun around intending to hurry right back inside.
"Ep?"
She froze, shutting her eyes tightly when she heard Marius' voice call her. She opened her eyes again and turned to see Marius sitting up on the deckchair. She knew Enjolras must have talked to him earlier because that was just the kind of thing he would do. Eponine walked slowly towards Marius, giving him a soft smile.
"Hey," she said, "I was just going to tell you that I asked Pierre to put me in a different room for our last two nights here."
Marius had taken off his sunglasses and he frowned at her. "Is that really necessary? Do you have to pay for it?"
"Oh no, the discount will cover it," Eponine answered, "And I was thinking that we could do with some space from each other after everything."
Marius leaned back against the deckchair, folding one leg under him to leave space. "Here, sit down for a second."
Eponine did as he asked, anxiety clutching at her gut. Marius was tapping the cool glass of water in his hands but he seemed to be calm.
"Look, I'm not angry with you if that's what you are worried about. I think we both felt like this break up was a long time coming."
Eponine let out a breath and nodded. "I know; I just kept pushing away and ignoring all the things that didn't work. I'm sure you did the same for me."
Marius agreed, tilting his head slightly. "We just...don't have strong enough feelings for each other, Ep. You're my friend and I love you. But not like the way a boyfriend should love his girlfriend of five years. I'm sorry."
Eponine shook her head, "No I feel the same way. It's just that having someone constant for these few years felt good."
Marius grinned. "That's what I told Enjolras this morning when we talked. I never realised how freak out I was when Joly and Chetta got married so young. It made me feel like the future was barrelling down on me and being with you felt like I had...I don't know..."
"Checked a box?"
"Exactly. And I think we both deserve something more than ticking off task, don't you?"
Any worries that Eponine had earlier were gone; Marius felt the same way she did and any anger seemed as nonexistent as any romantic feelings.
"Come here," Marius quipped, pulling her into a hug, "Let's just move on with things and enjoy these last few days. The barbecue is tomorrow and that's supposed to be the highlight of the trip."
Eponine hugged him back before standing up. "I'm glad we sorted this out; but I still think I should stay in the other room. Just to give everyone a little space."
Marius just nodded and Eponine smiled at him once more before walking back into her room. She shut the terrace doors just as Cosette walked in through the other door.
Eponine jumped slightly when she saw her; then she remembered that she was actually in Cosette's room. Eponine glanced over at Enjolras' made bed, knowing that she had kicked him out of his room again.
"Hey, I brought doughy comfort food!" Cosette declared, placing a tray full of pastries and breads on the table. Eponine smiled her thanks, both girls sitting down on the plushy chairs to eat.
"Have you talked to Enjolras this morning?" Cosette asked carefully, as she spread butter over her pastry.
Eponine shook her head, chewing on a piece of bread. She swallowed, licking her lips before saying, "He's been avoiding me I guess. He's worried about the situation and he has every right to be. I mean, he said it himself: he knows things about me and I don't know him."
Cosette scowled at this, shaking her head. "That's crazy! You know plenty about him."
"Maybe, but as the woman he couldn't stand not the woman who was interested in him," Eponine argued. She paused and then added, "Or at least, the woman I thought he couldn't stand."
Cosette watched as a giddy smile worked its way onto Eponine's face and her cheeks turned a rosy red. "Oh, you are so smitten!" she exclaimed, causing Eponine to cover her face with her hands.
Both girls nearly dissolved into giggles but Eponine recovered and took her hands away. "It's just...I've seen the real him on this trip and I've discovered how much I like him. He's such a good person when you get past his cold walls. He makes me giddy, like I want to jump up and down every time I see him. But at the same time, I know that if we dated, it would be for long term you know? He's the kind of man I can see a future with; the kind of man I'd want a future with."
Cosette nearly felt like crying as her friend talked. She could see plainly that Enjolras had upped Eponine's spirit and self-esteem all at the same time. They were so suited for one another; opposite enough and yet the same goals and dreams. It just took looking past what they had all thought to be true, to see how well they worked together.
"You should talk to him today," Cosette suggested, "Who knows, you might even find out what his favourite colour is?"
Eponine laughed at her friend, eating the rest of her food. As she finished, she said, "I've decided to stay in the room next door for the rest of the trip though. I think it would be for the best."
Cosette nearly spat out the piece of pastry in her mouth. "What? Is this because of Marius? Did he say something?"
Eponine shook her head. "No, Marius and I are fine actually; we have a good talk. I just think I need some space and so does he. Plus, we can't share a room now and I don't want to have to move everyone around into different rooms. Don't worry; my new place is just next door. It's a normal hotel room and perfectly comfortable."
Cosette relaxed and said, "Ok then, well I'll room with you; I don't want you to be on your own."
Eponine started to protest but Cosette refused to budge on her offer. The girls ate away at their food and chatted about the barbecue the next day for a few minutes. It was relaxing and comforting to have a simple girl talk without worrying.
This ended when Musichetta burst thought the door and nearly knocked Eponine out of her chair. "We have a problem!" she declared.
Eponine blinked and answered, "Yes; it's you breaking every door in the building."
Cosette giggled but Musichetta just shook her head. "No! Joly just told me that Enjolras has gone down to thank the workers in the kitchen for everything they have done for us on this trip. AND his things are packed in his suitcase in Combeferre's room."
Both girls said nothing, clearly not picking up on her train of thought. Musichetta sighed and said, "He's leaving!"
Eponine's stomach dropped. Enjolras was leaving; leaving the island and her.
She heard Cosette say, "Are you sure? That doesn't sound like Enjolras to just up and leave completely. Especially not when we have two days left."
It didn't sound like Enjolras, Eponine knew that. But his suitcase was packed and maybe he was just trying to make the situation less awkward. But that didn't make sense either because he had talked to Marius and everything seemed fine with them.
Eponine sat slumped in the chair as her two friends talked back and forth but she barely listened to them. She had been hoping to spend the day with him; like Cosette had suggested.
Suddenly a thought struck in her head and she sat up straight in the chair. "Red!" she exclaimed and her friends looked at her strangely.
"What?"
Eponine laughed slightly and repeated, "Red!"
Before Cosette and Musichetta could blink, Eponine was out of the chair and running out of the room. Eponine hurried out of the suite and to the elevators. She nearly had a heart attack waiting for the elevator to get to the ground floor but she quickly ran into the dining room and straight across the large room into the kitchen. A part of her knew that non-invited guests were not allowed back there but when she saw Enjolras talking to Pierre and Marcus by some counters, she could only think of one thing.
"Red!"
Eponine blushed that exact colour when everyone in the busy room turned to stare at her. She met Enjolras' gaze and just continued talking.
"Your favourite colour is red. That's because your favourite book has that colour cover and it was a gift from your mentor in law school. You loved law school and college before that because you got away from your boarding school and your stuck up family. You like being your own person and making your own way in the world. You love taking pictures and travelling; you are this kick ass lawyer who takes care of those who can't take care of themselves. You say your favourite food is chicken but that's a lie because I know that it's apple pie."
Enjolras had been walking towards her ever since she barged in, a smile appear on his face. "Eponine," he said softly, cutting her off.
Eponine took a breath and stared at him. "I know a lot more if that's what you're thinking," she said, "Just give me a second."
Enjolras placed a hand on her arm and replied, "Maybe we should talk about this outside?"
Eponine glanced around the room again and everyone was still looking at her. She nodded and the two of them walked out of the room through the swing doors.
Marcus hurried over and shut the doors quickly to give them privacy before spinning around and declaring, "Pay up bitches; I called it!"
Eponine and Enjolras stood in the hallway outside the kitchen. The dining room was to their left but it was quiet so not many people were there. Enjolras had his hands on Eponine's arms while the girl was breathing heavily from her running and ranting.
"What is this all about?" he asked softly.
Eponine let out a sigh before replying. "Last night you said that I didn't know you; that's not true. I know things about you from hearing you talk with the group, from hearing you talk to others and even from arguing with me. And I want to know more. I want to know everything about I don't know and I want you to know everything about me. You may have been in love with me for five years but there are still things about me you need to learn about. The first thing being that I really, really want to be with you."
Enjolras was smiling widely and he rubbed his hands up and down her arms. "I want to be with you too but why are you in such a hurry? You're acting like there's no time left."
"There isn't if you're leaving!" Eponine exclaimed.
Enjolras frowned at her but his smile refused to drop. "What are you talking about? I'm not going anywhere."
Eponine froze and blinked at him. She bit her lip before she replied, "Chetta said your bags were packed and you were thanking the workers. Why do that if you are leaving?"
Enjolras laughed, his smile catching as Eponine grinned to despite her confusion. "Eponine, I booked another room to give everyone some space. And I was saying thank you now because everyone will be too busy tomorrow with the barbecue and we will be leaving early enough the day after that. I'm not leaving the island."
Eponine was silent for a moment and then said, "Wait, so I ran all the way down here to find out that you're not going anywhere?!"
"Eponine-."
"That was a really long way!"
Enjolras laughed again and pulled her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around him too, resting her face against his warm neck. They stood there for a moment, laughter still ringing in their ears.
Enjolras pulled back only slightly to look at Eponine. "So," he said, "You seemed pretty upset that I was going to leave. Any particular reason behind that?"
Eponine mirrored his teasing smile and she pretended to think for a second. "Well," she replied, "I was really getting attached to your camera."
Enjolras raised his eyebrows. "Really, the camera?"
"It's a really nice camera."
Eponine laughed once more before Enjolras kissed her; she pulled him even closer and went up on her toes to make up for the height difference. Kissing in a public hallway wasn't exactly her usual style but Eponine was sure she could deal with it.
They only pulled away when Pierre stuck his head out of the kitchen door. Enjolras cleared his throat, one arm still wrapped around Eponine's waist. "Um, sorry Pierre. We, uh, just needed to sort something out quickly."
Pierre nodded, clasping his hands together in front of him. "No problem, Enjolras. As I was saying a few minutes ago, it has been a pleasure having all of you visit us. Please tell your friends that there will be a special table for your group tomorrow at the barbecue."
He was about to leave when Eponine said to Enjolras, "Oh you better cancel your room. I've already decided to go to another room myself and there is no way I'm letting you be the one to move."
Enjolras wanted to argue with her but Pierre said, "No problem Eponine. Room number 502 is ready for you."
Enjolras frowned at him. "Room 502? That was the room number you gave me..."
They both looked at Pierre now and they could swear the smile he was giving them was sly. "Really? Well then it must be a mix up. So sorry about that."
He gave them another polite smile before retreating back into the kitchen.
Eponine looked at Enjolras, one eyebrow raised. "I think this island is filled with hopeless romantics," she mumbled.
Enjolras chuckled, placed a kiss to her head before they walked back to the rooms.
Not everyone was happy with Eponine moving into another room. Grantaire and Feuilly clearly thought it was unnecessary but they kept their comments to themselves. Combeferre and Courfeyrac didn't like the idea of her being alone either but their uneasiness was settled when they saw that her room was just next door.
They all had dinner together and Eponine was relieved to see that everything was normal. They were laughing together, telling stories and pigging out on good food.
It was after dinner that she packed up her stuff and moved into the other room. Enjolras came with her, carrying her suitcase. The room had a beautiful view of the ocean and Pierre had clearly sent up a welcome basket which was sitting on the table. She looked through it as Enjolras put her suitcase down.
"Put on the TV," she said, "We can watch a movie."
She paused and turned around to look at him. "That is, if you want to?"
Enjolras grinned at her in response and picked up the remote. By the time Eponine had torn apart the welcome basket and picked out the chocolates and candies, Enjolras was already sitting back against the head board of the bed choosing between an action flick and a science fiction.
"Which one?" he asked, as Eponine took out two cooled drinks from the mini-fridge.
"Oh, I haven't seen the action one," she said, as she hopped up onto the bed. Enjolras pressed play and caught the pack of chocolates Eponine threw at him.
The movie played on and it was at the half way point, that Eponine tore her eyes away from the screen. She was tucked into Enjolras' side, his arm thrown around her shoulders. He was still watching the movie, probably counting the amount of crimes the good guy was committing for the sake of justice. She knew he always did that; it was one of the things she defiantly knew about them.
This caused a smile to appear on her face and Enjolras looked down to catch sight of it. "What? Does seeing a middle aged man in cargo pants take out a tank make you happy?"
Eponine laughed and leaned up to kiss the corner of his mouth. "No, but this makes me happy. I like just hanging out with you."
Enjolras grinned and brushed his fingers up and down her arm. "We should do it more often then."
Eponine bit her lip, looking down slightly before meeting his gaze again. "We could but it will be kind of strange considering our living situation."
Enjolras quickly caught on and he clicked his tongue as he thought. "Yes, that is going to be a problem. I'm not sure what Marius has decided to do."
"I can always move back in with Cosette for the meantime," Eponine said, "Although Gavroche is convinced that we three will be living together simply because we are all dog people."
Enjolras didn't even blink as he replied, "Now that would be the ideal situation but we can't just ask Marius to leave."
Eponine looked at him in slightly amazement. "You-you wouldn't mind having Gavroche live with us?" she asked as casually as she could.
Enjolras just shrugged, "Where else is he going to live when he's older? The foster home isn't stable enough for him and the school he's going to is right around the corner from us, isn't it?"
Eponine felt that familiar giddiness build up in her chest again. "And where would we put him?" she asked, her voice coy.
Enjolras caught on to it and he pretended to consider it. "Well, he would have Marius' room obviously."
Eponine nodded in mock seriousness and then she said, "I see and then you would have your room?"
"Of course, I love my room."
"Uh huh, and I would be where exactly?"
Enjolras hummed for a moment before saying, "The couch is very comfortable."
She punched his side playfully and he caught her hand before she could do it again. She reached up and kissed him swiftly.
As she pulled away, Enjolras murmured, "Don't worry about moving around just yet; let's just enjoy our last few days here."
Eponine nodded and settled down beside him as they watched the rest of movie.
They had left the door open; the room was tucked in the hallway with only the suite beside it so they thought it would be fine. It was later that night when Cosette and Musichetta walked over to the room to see if they wanted to watch a movie in the suite.
They saw, as they stepped into the room that there was a movie just ending on the TV. And Eponine and Enjolras were curled up asleep on the bed.
Without making a sound, Cosette repeatedly slapped Musichetta's arm to show exactly how cute she thought they looked. Musichetta hurried her out of the room and closed the door quietly behind them.
Finally Cosette blurted out, "How can two such sarcastic people be so cute together?!"
Musichetta shrugged and threw an arm around her friend's shoulders. "Who knows and who cares; as long as Ep finally gets her happiness those two can be as confusing as they want to be."
