I hate me as much as you hate me right now…I'm so sorry this update is so late! And by so sorry I mean SO, SO SORRY. Please forgive me, beautiful readers!

To avoid confusion before this chapter, this next guy has so many names. He's called Lesgles, Laigle, L'Aigle and Bossuet and in the book, but most commonly the other boys call him Bossuet, their nickname for him. Just so ya know! (So don't ask why I don't have a Lesgles chapter…that'd just be writing another Bossuet one!)

Misfortune

Éponine + Bossuet

"Bossuet was a cheerful but unlucky young man, notable for the fact that he succeeded in nothing. On the other hand, he laughed at everything. He was bald at the age of twenty-five…Nothing of his inheritance remained. He possessed learning and wit, but both miscarried. Nothing went right for him, everything failed him, all his undertaking went awry. If he tried to split logs he split his finger. If he acquired a mistress, he rapidly discovered that he also had a new male friend…Nothing surprised him, for he took all these accidents for granted, smiling at the mockery of fate like someone who joins in on the joke. He was poor, but his store of good humor was inexhaustible. He was always down to his last penny, but never to his last laugh."

-Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

Éponine brushed past the group of young men in front of Café Musain, covering her face with on hand. She was wet from the pouring rain outside and her face stung from where her father had hit her. That night's meeting in the Café had just let out, and the revolutionaries were all gathered in the plaza, talking excitedly about events to come, some having a smoke. Éponine felt tears threatening to fall as she caught sight of Marius speaking animatedly with Bahorel and Combeferre. She tried to duck into the Café unseen to nurse her cheek and warm herself, but she was stopped when she ran straight into a tall figure.

"Mademoiselle Éponine!" Bossuet gasped, dropping his books when she bumped into him.

"Bossuet," Éponine said, stooping to pick up his fallen things. "I—I'm sorry, I didn't see you. Let me help." Her lank, dirty hair covered the red mark on her cheek as she began collecting the fallen books, however, the strain in her voice must have given her away.

Despite the fact that his finest textbooks had just been ruined by the mud left by the rain, Bossuet smiled kindly as he asked, "Are you quite alright? What's happened to you?"

"I'd rather not say," Éponine replied, shivering in her thin dress. Bossuet furrowed his brow before sliding out of his coat and draping it around Éponine's shoulders.

"Monsieur, please don't," Éponine protested. She tended to resist this kind of behavior from men; kind though Bossuet's actions were, Éponine could not help but feel she was betraying Marius by allowing the other boys to care for her. But Marius doesn't want you, she reminded herself bitterly. It was true; he had eyes only for Cosette, who was just like the bourgeois two-a-penny lasses she and Marius joked about. Used to joke about, that is. Now she was all he saw, even though he'd only just laid eyes upon her earlier today. Marius had known Éponine ever since he'd found her curled up under a shop window, too weak with hunger to walk, and given her a place to stay…he'd known of Cosette's existence for all of two hours, and yet he was more interested in her than he'd ever been in Éponine.

"Mademoiselle?" Bossuet was trying to get her attention.

"My apologies."

"Mademoiselle Thérnadier, I insist you take my coat. You look a fright!" Bossuet said with a smile and a pitying laugh. He led her inside the café, where Enjolras was rolling up the last of his papers and plans.

"Is she alright?" he asked Bossuet sternly when he caught sight of the haggard-looking Éponine.

"She will be fine," Bossuet said. Enjolras looked Éponine over with a sweeping glance before walking with purpose out of the Café. Once he was gone, Bossuet pulled out a chair for her. "Now…I think there's still a smidge of brandy left over, would you like some?"

"No, thank you," Éponine said softly, her hands in her lap. "Bossuet?"

"Yes?"

"What would you do if you were completely devoted to someone who had no idea of your feelings for them? Would you let them know?"

"As it just so happens, I believe I'm in a similar situation. You see, I often stay with Joly, and, well, he has Muschietta to keep him company. Little does she know just how much I adore her," he said with a laugh. "I suppose it's just as well that the one time I really fall in love, alas, it is unrequited. Now, as for letting this man know how you feel, that's up to you. It depends on how receptive you think he'll be."

"In that case, then, I should keep my mouth shut. If he didn't take notice of me before, he certainly won't now that Cos—now that he's distracted."

"Ah, isn't that always the way of it? You just know you could do, say, and be everything for someone, if only they'd let you."

Éponine drew Bossuet's coat tighter around her shoulders. "That's exactly it." Éponine paused. "On second thought, I think I'll take some of that drink."

Bossuet laughed. "Need to warm up?" he said, pouring her a glass.

"I need to forget."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that, my dear Éponine. You have a fine life; you're a very lucky girl."

Éponine scoffed. "Lucky? I'm far from that, I'm afraid. If I were lucky, I wouldn't be stealing my dinners, or only in the corner of his…of Marius's eye." She sniffed. "And I most certainly wouldn't be earning my keep sleeping around!" her voice broke and Bossuet laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Well, Mademoiselle, if your definition of good fortune is riches, love, and three square meals a day, you may want to broaden your mind. I'm afraid only one in a thousand people fit that bill," Bossuet said with a somewhat rueful laugh.

"You're right. And that one in a thousand just so happens to be called Cosette," Éponine said sourly.

"Some things we must take with a grain of salt." Éponine looked up at Bossuet, suddenly angry.

"A grain of salt?! That may be true if it's the loss of a shoe, or having to cut a knot out of your hair! But I love him. I've always loved him. Yesterday I had a chance…now that chance is gone! Don't you understand? He's the one who helped me the first day we met, when everyone else on the street looked away. He's the first person I go to with news—good, or bad. Marius is the only person who's ever truly cared for me! He knows me better than anybody, and now…now Cosette will have all that. I'm losing him, Bossuet. I'm losing my best friend, so don't expect me to just stand by and let it happen!" Her voice had risen considerably, and the silence that followed her exclamation seemed almost oppressive. Bossuet, too, was quiet. Éponine spoke again, her voice softer, but just as emphatic. "You're a man of fate, so I'll put this in your language. The world is scripted, and for people like me, I play my part of prostitute and beggar, and then I die, unless I do something to change it. Maybe you can laugh off any bad thing that happens, but I'm tired of watching every possibility for happiness slip past me."

After a moment, Bossuet spoke. "So what do you plan to do?"

Éponine took a deep breath. "I'll fight for him."

You like? I know it's a wee bit short, but the ending gives you plenty to imagine for yourself! So many 'what ifs'...It got a teensy bit OOC for Éponine towards the end, but hey, that's FanFiction for ya. Again, SO SORRY this was obscenely late! I hope it was worth it…tell me what you think! And also, which barricade boy is your favorite? I'm curious! :D