Hey everyone, here's the next chapter! Good things are on their way, I swear or... maybe not good, but things are happening!

I hope you all enjoy!

**UPDATED 1/3/15**


twenty-eight

"So, how do you think the guys are doing?" Éponine asked as she set down the last of the dirty plates into the sink. She then turned around to sit back in the chair at the table.

"In Marcus' letters he's said they're not facing much action—they're probably fine." Cosette replied as she picked up her wine glass and took a quick sip out of its contents.

"That's good, we wouldn't want them getting hurt." Muse said with a small smile on her face, "Though, I do worry that even if they're just spending time at camp Thomas is panicking over something-you know how his OCD can be." The three women shared a laugh. Muse was the only one allowed to call Joly by him first names—he was her Thomas. And all the men had grown accustom to using last names due to all their time at boot camp and then on base.

"The poor guy." Cosette muttered, "Knowing him he's probably brought more sanitary products than most of those men had ever seen."

"I don't doubt it." Muse took a sip of her wine as she leaned back in her chair, "So, Ép, haven't gotten to see you lately between our packed schedules—how've you been?"

Éponine nodded slightly, "Fine. I've kept myself busy with work. And just last week I got to go visit Gav."

The other two women smiled brightly, "How is the little guy? I thought there were some complications with his foster parents."

"He's not so little anymore—he's taller than I am and a sophomore in high school!" Éponine threw her arms up as she laughed, "I feel like I've missed a lot of his life since I wasn't allowed to visit him for all those years."

"Have all the girls been falling for him?" Muse asked with a cheeky grin, "I always said he'd grow up to be good looking." Éponine rolled her eyes while pulling out her phone. She quickly opened a recent picture of her not-so-little brother and handed the phone to her friend, "I was right! He's a really cutie now."

"Muse, that's my baby brother—he's not even legal yet!" Éponine laughed as Muse continued to look at the picture.

"Oh, calm down; I bet he's got himself a girlfriend anyway."

"If he has, he hasn't told me. Not that I can see him with one, anyway—he seems more like the type to avoid girls."

"Too many germs?" Cosette asked, a slight laugh escaping her.

"Maybe he and Thom will become friends." Muse added. There was silence within the group for a couple of moments, "And what about you, Éponine?"

Éponine raised her eyebrow, "What about me?"

"You got a boyfriend?" Éponine gave a small smile.

"With the schedule I have? I don't think so."

"You've been getting more free days." Cosette added, "Why don't you go out?"

Éponine shrugged, "I don't really see the point—relationships haven't been good to me, so I haven't given them much thought. I don't need one."

"But they are fun." Muse chimed in, "Even if you don't want a relationship, just mess around with some guys." Éponine laughed.

"I feel like every time I even try just to spend a night with a guy and disappear, I always seem to attract the clingy ones that expect a relationship." Éponine sighed heavily and held her head in her hand.

"Why not one of the guys?" Muse asked without a thought. Then she quickly evaluated it, "Scratch that, that wouldn't be good."

The trio shared another laugh, "Definitely wouldn't be good."

twenty-nine

Cosette stood frozen in front of the brown door, staring at it in thought. She shouldn't be here. She was probably wrong about that guy from yesterday anyway. But she couldn't shake that feeling. The thought that she had to investigate. She needed the answer.

Finally, she lifted her fist and knocked gently on the door. After a minute, she tried again. Why was she even trying again? But now Cosette could hear movement from inside. She heard stumbling and shuffling until finally the door was answered.

Cosette sucked in a large breath. It was true. Enjolras was still alive. Immediately tears pricked at her eyes.

Enjolras looked down at the blonde in confusion, "Cosette…?" he muttered. He had honestly forgotten about her. Since the loss of his friends he's forgotten much of everything. But the sight of Cosette reminded him that there were other people, not just those men. But those other people still weren't his men.

Before she could stop herself, Cosette threw her arms around the man, taking him by utter surprise. Enjolras' eyes widened as he raised his arms back, away from the woman holding him too tightly for his comfort. She was crying, he could tell. She couldn't help it—this suddenly came to her, the knowledge that one of the men escaped death.

"Oh my god, Enjolras…" she said quietly into his shoulder. He still stood there uncomfortably.

"Cosette, get off." He said dully. She took a step back with a confused look on her face.

"How…?" she stared at him.

And suddenly, she was angry.

Since this happened, Cosette never became angry. She couldn't think of anyone or anything to be angry at. But she was all of a sudden angry at Enjolras.

"Why did you get to live?" she barked out, eyes glaring through her tears, "Why did you survive!? What about Marcus!? Why couldn't he!?"

Enjolras was stunned. Cosette had actually raised her voice. She's never been one to yell, not like this. He had never seen her angry. But this look in her eyes, the scowl on her face, was almost intimidating.

"Of all the men, it just had to be you!" she yelled further. And that line hit him. It hit Enjolras so hard. Because it made him ask—why me? All the others had loved ones, people who truly cared. But he didn't. He didn't have anyone. Yet here he was.

"You think I want to be here!?" he asked sternly, taking a step forward and looking at her with dark eyes, "You think I wanted to be the only one to live, the only one to continue through this miserable life?"

Cosette was now staring up at him, still glaring, but it was faltering. Because she realized what she said. Realized what she'd done. And listened to how he replied.

"I—"

"Is that not what you wanted to hear? Were you hoping I'd just take this?" he stepped toward her.

"Listen to me—"

"No." Enjolras slammed the door in her face quite suddenly. Cosette tried knocking again, talking through the door and trying to coax the man back out. But it didn't work.

'Good job Cosette. The time when you needed someone and you ruin everything.'

thirty

Éponine should probably pop back into work. She knew she needed to. Just in the past two weeks she's missed four days without a word to the managers. It was going to make her lose her job—it didn't matter how understanding they were of her situation right now. If this continued to conflict with her work, she'd be fired.

On top of this, she knew she needed the money. She needed to pay for rent, needed to pay for essentials. But getting herself to actually show up was difficult. Éponine didn't want to face her bosses after just bailing on them multiple times in a row. It was embarrassing, to say the least. She didn't want to look at the disappointment in their faces, didn't want to hear the doubt in their voices.

But it had to happen.

So, eventually she finally pulled herself together. She made a plan.

Make yourself look presentable.

Show up around opening tonight (after all, they never put you on the schedule for Tuesdays).

Explain how difficult it's been for you, but don't milk it.

Apologise more than once for slacking off.

Remind them how loyal you've been in the past.

Tell them you'll work hard, you just felt overwhelmed by your personal life.

They're nice people. They'd have to go for that. Right?

thirty-one

Cosette really didn't want to deal with the Metro. Not now. She just fought with a friend (whom she assumed dead) and her face was obviously streaked with tears. She knew people wouldn't think anything of it, but she still didn't like the idea of crying next to a stranger.

Why was she so stupid?

She just found out Enjolras was alive. And instead of trying to console him in any way, she let herself get angry with him.

Stupid.

She didn't want to go back and see him again, because she was certain he wouldn't forgive her senselessness. But she needed to. She needed to let him know that she cared he was alive. Let him know that she understood the difficulty of the situation. Let him know that she needed someone. Muse was back in the countryside, Éponine seemed to just disappear. If Enjolras could prove to be a companion through this, then she knew it would make everything that much less difficult.

Tomorrow.

She had to go back tomorrow. She had to control herself, try to keep strong when explaining herself. She had to make sure he didn't overreact.

She never in a million years thought she'd need Enjolras.

But right now, Cosette did.


I would just like to thank a few of you reviewers, because you almost always manage to review every chapter, whether it's a lengthy review or a "good job!" So, thanks to SleepingwithinWater, StarCatcher1858, and LivingHalfwayThere. Y'all are great!