A/N: I'm so incredibly sorry for not updating sooner! (I seem to be saying that alot, huh?)

I've been slammed with homework and I got into the school play AND the school musical, and a lot of people are telling me to audition for the spring play, so I'm going to be very busy! But I've been working on this a lot, so that I can give you all a nice long chapter with a little Enjonine fluff in here :)

Thank you so much for all the reviews! You're all just so nice, I can't even stand it, just ah! You're so great and awesome and I just wanna hug you all! Please enjoy, and leave a review if you liked!

Éponine's and Enjolras' eyes met, but his expression was calm and collected, whereas hers was panicked and terrified. At least he was okay, and at least the Les Amis were all together, but what did the police want? Why did Grantaire say, "Yep, that's her."? Were they ratting her out to save their own hide? She wasn't sure if they would go that far, but she really hoped that they didn't sell her out because she trusted them so much.

"That's the other girl who came with us to the Musain." Bahorel said, walking over to Éponine with an easy smile. She couldn't seem to smile, but took a hesitant step inside the apartment as Bahorel closed the door behind her. "She was Enjolras' date, you see."

Enjolras set his jaw, and Éponine fought a blush; her heart was still racing, but she forced herself to think: obviously Les Amis were lying to the police about something, so she needed to go along with it. If she was Enjolras' date, then she needed to act like she and he were romantically involved. She moved over to his chair, standing behind it, even though glancing at his curls made her stomach tighten; she needed to remain calm.

"Why did she look like a deer in the headlights when she saw us?" One of the cops asked skeptically, eyeing Éponine. He was a stout man with a pot-belly and a bushy moustache.

"She suffers from anxiety." Joly said quickly. "My father and I treat her, every other week. Have you been taking your pills, Éponine?" He looked over to her; he looked so incredibly calm, and Éponine tried to mimic him, but with Enjolras right there and the memory of her dream still fresh in her mind and the cops in the room and the thought of Delmont, it was a little hard to calm her nerves.

She thought quickly; if she was suffering from anxiety and she looked like a deer in the headlights just then, it would be a logical explanation for her to have not been 'taking her pills'.

Éponine shook her head bashfully.

Joly tut-tutted. "You really need to get on top of that, Éponine."

"So you all were in the Chez Paree last night, and you say that this young lady's father oversaw the construction, and now manages the place?" Another cop asked, pointing at Cosette; he had a pen and paper out and already had a few things written on it. He was very tall and lanky, with messy brown hair tucked under his police hat. Éponine prayed hers or her sibling's names weren't on that pad.

"Yes." Enjolras said, his voice strong and sure. "It was Musichetta's birthday, and Cosette was able to squeeze us onto the guest list just in time."

Éponine smirked a little; he was smart, keeping the lie short and sweet and partially true.

"At what time did you leave?" The first cop asked. The other cop was scribbling on his pad of paper and Éponine couldn't help but notice how frantic he seemed.

"Around midnight or… probably 12:30 or 1 am, right?" Combeferre answered, glancing around the group for confirmation. Everyone nodded in agreement, and the policeman wrote more onto his pad.

Why were the police here? Was it because of the gunshot? But they all lived fairly far away from 42nd street, and these men seemed quite intent on questioning Les Amis for something very important.

"Did any of you notice any… disturbances while you were at the Chez Paree?" The cop with the notepad asked, looking up.

Oh. Of course! They were here to see if any of them had anything to do with smuggling her parents into the club. Éponine knew exactly how to handle this.

Everyone kind of paused, thinking for the right answers. Éponine knew that the 'disturbance' they were talking about, what with her parents being caught and all, happened around 10:30.

"Oh, yes!" She said, channeling her inner stereotypical woman. "It was quite frightening; my dear Enjolras had to comfort me a while before we went back to dancing. Do you know what exactly happened? I heard on the radio that the criminals were caught, but they were smuggled into the party! You better have high-end security on those hooligans, because I don't wanna roam the streets and have to worry about-"

"Don't worry, ma'am, we've got it all under control." The man who seemed to be the head policeman said with a kind smile. He was very tall and muscular, with stubble and stood with his feet parted and his hands gripping his belt confidently.

"Oh, good. See, I knew that a fine police force such as you would keep the situation under control. I told you Enjolras, didn't I tell you?" Éponine said, placing her hand on his shoulder with a smile. He tensed a little, and turned to her with a tight smile. She noticed that the policemen looked quite flattered about her comment, and she knew that she had won them over so that they didn't suspect her anymore.

"Yes, you did, doll." He said, and Éponine ignored how nice it sounded to have him call her a doll.

"Well, sirs, will that be all?" Combeferre asked kindly, standing up to shake the policemen's hands; ever since Éponine's comment, the tension in the room seemed to ease a little since the policemen were acting less suspicious of their group.

"Yes, sir. Sorry to impose on you folks, just checkin' around to see if you were affected by the crimes that occurred last night. Have a good evening." The head policeman said, and they all filed out of the apartment one by one, and soon Combeferre closed the door with a sigh. They were silent while the policemen walked away from Enjolras' apartment, and Grantaire made his way over to the window to watch the police car leave.

Enjolras put his head in his hands, and Éponine quickly removed her hand from his shoulder.

"That was a good cover, Éponine." Courfeyrac smiled. "At first I was worried because you were talking so much, but after that compliment, I'm sure they didn't suspect us anymore."

"But why would they suspect us of anything?" Cosette piped up; she was enfolded in Marius' arms, and Éponine was proud to find that she didn't feel at all saddened by that sight. Enjolras stood and made his way to the front of the room, assuming a commanding position like he always did.

"They would suspect us of relating with speakeasies and rebelling against the prohibition. The main reason we were there, remember, was to find out who knew about which speakeasies. Luckily, the Musain wasn't found out, but I suspect that will change soon because of Delmont." He said, exchanging a glance with Éponine, who had a now sullen and slightly angered expression because of the memory of Delmont.

"Wait, what? Delmont?" Combeferre asked, crossing his arms with a frown. "What's he got to do with anything?"

"Well, actually, this concerns Grantaire as well." Enjolras responded, hooking Grantaire with an icy gaze. His back was still to Les Amis as he was staring out the window. When his name was called, he turned around with a confused expression. "Are you familiar with a certain Aurélie?"

Grantaire's expression lit up a little. "Yeah, Delmont's wife; what about her?"

"You slept with her, that's what!" Éponine blurted out; it was because of Grantaire's actions that hers and Enjolras' lives were put in danger last night! All of Les Amis were silent, their eyes hooked on the black-haired man.

Grantaire's face drooped. "Ohh, yeah… That…" He rubbed the back of his neck as he walked sheepishly towards the group.

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" Enjolras demanded; he, too, was incredibly pissed because his good friend was now his worst enemy because of what Grantaire did.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault, alright!" Grantaire said defensively. Enjolras frowned, obviously waiting for him to explain himself. Grantaire huffed. "Look, we had been flirting for a while. I didn't think anything of it, until one day she came to me with a bruise on her cheek and arms. Obviously Delmont was hitting her, so I was about to go and take care of it, but she stopped me and then we got to talking and then she kissed me, and…" He trailed off, staring at the floor. "I just felt really pissed that Delmont was hitting her and I wanted to beat him, because I really care about Aurélie." He said sincerely, and Cosette breathed an "Awe." with both her hands on her heart.

Cosette may have felt pity and forgiven Grantaire, but Éponine didn't forgive easily, especially when he put Enjolras' and her life in danger. Still, she did feel like she understood him; it was because Enjolras was about to die that she had the strength to escape from that guy's grasp and hold them at gunpoint. The very memory of him being beaten still brought anger, but as she stared at Enjolras, his gaze seemed to soften a bit and she noticed that his bruises and cuts were healing nicely. Perhaps Joly had gotten to tend to his wounds; that calmed her.

"Where is Aurélie?" Enjolras asked quietly, and Grantaire looked up.

"At my place."

Enjolras sighed. "If Delmont is as dangerous as I know he is, you need to make sure you keep Aurélie safe. We all need to stay safe, especially now."

"Why?" Musichetta piped up. "Enjolras, you still haven't told us how you got those cuts. What exactly happened last night?" She glanced between him and Éponine, and Enjolras shared a glance with her.

He still hadn't told them? Well, perhaps he didn't have the time; perhaps he was about to inform them of the Delmont situation just as the fuzz showed up.

"Last night, after Éponine and I left the Chez Paree, we came across The Lucky Clover. I figured we should go in to warn Delmont about the cops finding out his speakeasy, but he had two other guys hold Éponine and I captive at gunpoint." Enjolras said, ignoring the gasp from Cosette. "He was in a police uniform, and explained to us that he joined the police force after ratting out The Lucky Clover, but he still visited speakeasies not in uniform since no one knows but us that he's a cop. Éponine believes that he is gathering forces, and has now become the leader of a mob."

"Actually, I know." Éponine said pointedly, crossing her arms. "Montparnasse told me that Delmont has been making a name for himself recently; he killed a guy and blamed it on another successfully. This guy is not someone to mess with; and ever since-" She almost let it slip that her parents were the ones that were in jail. She glanced at Enjolras quickly, clearing her throat. "Ever since those two criminals at the Chez Paree were put away, their own gang joined up with Delmont. Who knows how many gang leaders he's killed or framed just to get their territory and their men?" Éponine let that hang in the air for a moment to let everyone know just how serious this was; she also felt a little superior since she was giving these people a glimpse into her life after they had been giving her glimpses into theirs.

"So… what do we do?" Cosette asked in a small voice; she looked so fragile and scared, like a little china doll.

"We think clearly and unemotionally, despite certain relationships we may have with certain people." Combeferre said, walking up next to Enjolras. "I would ask for Aurélie's help, but I don't want to involve the poor girl more than she needs to be. What do you suggest, Enjolras?"

Enjolras paused, frowning. He was staring at the floor, his brow knitted together as he thought. Éponine could see the wheels in his head turning, and she was a little perplexed by it for a while. He sighed, and pressed the inner corners of his eyes with his index finger and thumb; he was obviously sleep-deprived because he didn't sleep in his own bed last night; Éponine felt quite guilty about that, now that she thought about it.

"We stock up on weapons and we warn the Musain. They need to close down for a while; Musichetta, you're familiar with the owner, would you go down there and warn them?" He said finally, glancing at her.

Musichetta nodded. "I'll take Éponine with me; we can help clear out all the alcohol as well, maybe stow it away in that church down the road."

Courfeyrac nodded. "Yeah, I remember the priest teaching me how to make moonshine!" He grinned, and everyone looked at him funny. "Er, we all have our hobbies…" He said sheepishly, and Cosette chuckled.

"Alright, you all know how to use a gun, right?" Combeferre said, looking around to everyone, who looked to the floor sheepishly. Éponine stifled a laugh; of course none of them knew how to use a gun, they were all students. Did Enjolras even know how to use one? Combeferre was stifling a laugh, too; she wasn't sure how he knew how to use a firearm, but it was good that he did know so that Éponine didn't have to be put in charge of training Les Amis. "I can teach you all, but I'm not entirely sure where we'll get the money to buy so many firearms."

"We could always pickpocket." Éponine said inadvertently. When she noticed the appalled looks Les Amis had, she cleared her throat and put on a smile. "Hah, kidding!"

Enjolras sighed. "Éponine, Musichetta, would you please go and warn Maggie?" He said. "Come back once everything is clear, and perhaps we can board up the entrance to the Musain just in time, before Delmont warns the police of its whereabouts." He walked over to the table and sat down, drawing up papers as Combeferre came to sit next to him.

"Alright, let's go, doll!" Musichetta grinned, and Éponine smiled a little; she wanted to stay and help plan things with Enjolras!

She shook her head, flinching. Seriously? The only reason she wanted to be around him was because she thought she liked him. Things were getting very heated and very serious; there was no room for love in this uprising.

"Coming!" Éponine said as she followed Musichetta out the door.

Musichetta muttered the password at the door of the Musain, and Éponine heard the locks unlocking from behind the droopy door; the hallway leading into the speakeasy was a tunnel underneath the Musain café, with a ladder from the café above leading down into the tunnel. The right end of the tunnel led into the speakeasy, where the door guarded it, but the left end of the tunnel yawned on in darkness. She never liked this part of the Musain because she didn't know where the other part of the tunnel led; Éponine always felt the need to go searching in the darkness, to see if it led out to some new world, but she never did follow through.

The door opened and Musichetta and Éponine entered; the barkeeper was happy to see them, as they were regulars, but Musichetta led Éponine to the very back of the speakeasies near the bathrooms. She blushed at the memory of when Enjolras was playing the piano for her and she had fallen asleep on his lovely red jacket. Éponine shook the thought off as Musichetta led her down a dank hallway that was dimly lit, and knocked on a door at the end of it.

"Och, wot tha hell do ya wont?!" A heavy Scottish accent sounded from behind the door, along with what sounded like several books tumbling to the floor and a curse word. Musichetta held back a laugh as a short woman with frizzy red hair tied back shoved open the door. She had a stern expression, with freckles all over her face and arms. Her eyes were a piercing blue (but not as pretty as Enjolras', in Éponine's opinion; she mentally slapped herself as soon as that thought entered her mind.), and her voice was raspy—probably from alcohol and smoking. "Well? Why tha hell are yoo here, Moosichetta?"

"Maggie, Enjolras sent us over here." Musichetta answered; Maggie rolled her eyes and stepped back, allowing the two to enter into her office. It was quite cramped, and was littered with empty bottles of whiskey and several papers with scribbles and odd words on them, along with what seemed like millions of books. Éponine was, of course, drawn to the books because she hadn't really read any that weren't specifically educational. Her hand grasped the spine of a small, light blue book with golden writing: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

"If ya wonna read it, go ahead; I didn't like it very much." Maggie said carelessly as she sat behind her littered desk, putting her feet up on it. Éponine grinned to herself, and gripped the book tighter. "So wot does that pretty boy want? There won't be any revolutions in my speakeasy, so tell 'im to set up his barricade somewhere else."

"It's not that; I'm not sure if you've heard, but the police force found out about The Lucky Clover-" Musichetta began.

"Yeh, I've heard; wot, do ya fink I live under a rock?" Maggie interrupted, tossing a newspaper towards Musichetta and Éponine. "It was on tha radio, too; wot, does the police know about me speakeasy, now?" A twinge of worry was in her voice.

"No. But, Les Amis now has a… er, a mortal enemy, I guess you could say." Musichetta said. "We need to evacuate this place before the police discover it. And by evacuate, I mean we need to take all the alcohol and-"

"No." Maggie said firmly. "Yer not takin' me whiskey. I've werked too hard ta get all this, and I ain't givin' it away to some sanctuary so they can serve it every Sunday with stale bread! Get out of me office."

"How did you know we'd suggest hiding it in the church?" Éponine asked, surprised.

"Tha thought's crossed me mind before, but I'm not aboot ta let sum rev'rand get 'is dirty hands on my whiskey." Maggie said sourly.

"Other people have handled your whiskey in order to get it here, and you don't seem to have a problem with that." Éponine replied, crossing her arms. "And if you care so much about your whiskey, then just leave it here and we can take the rest of the alcohol to the church."

"No!" Maggie said, standing up quickly. "This is tha only way I can make a livin' here in this city, and if I don't pay the bills then I'll have ta go back ta Scotland with me huge family crammed into one tiny cottage! At least if I get caught, I can stay in prison; I know how ta handle meself. Now get out." She sat back down, now rather angrier than she was before.

Éponine set her jaw; she could tell that Musichetta was just as frustrated as she was. "Listen, Maggie." Éponine said tightly, placing both of her hands on Maggie's desk as she glared into the Scottish girl's blue eyes. "I don't think you're seeing the big picture here; your speakeasy is one of thousands, but yours is unique in that it has survived longer than others. We need to save the Musain because it's seen as a safe house for the rebels of this here Prohibition. If the Musain is still standing after all other speakeasies have fallen, do you know how many customers you'll get? All we need to do is to close down for a while, have the police search this place, and then open back up again. No one will even notice the closing, if we do it right. Plus," Éponine added; she could see that she was beginning to sway Maggie in her favor, "You might not care about being put away, but think of all your workers; you have to have developed a certain caring for them, after all this time of sticking together in a dark period such as this."

Maggie paused, looking down. She grunted, and sat back in her chair, swiping a bottle of whiskey from the desk and brought it to her lips. After a moment, she spoke. "I'll fink about it."

Éponine held back a grin, and she and Musichetta exchanged a look as they began to walk out of Maggie's office.

"Leave tha book." Maggie said sourly; she was obviously mad at Éponine, probably mad that she had swayed her away from her own opinion.

Éponine felt a little sad; she was excited to read it with Enjolras, so that he could help her with the bigger words in the book. Still, she obliged and set the book down carefully, memorizing the title so that perhaps she could check it out from the library later on.

Musichetta gently pushed Éponine in front of her, and they both left the speakeasy silently.

"Excellent, I'll place the orders as soon as I get to the shop." Combeferre grinned as he folded up the paper with all the supplies needed, ammunition and gun-wise.

"Good. Grantaire, I think you should get home; it's going on 10 pm, and I wouldn't put it past Delmont to go searching for Aurélie this late." Enjolras said, casting a glance to his friend.

"We should leave, too; Cosette's father will wonder where she is at this time of night." Marius said quickly, his arm wrapped around Cosette. The two hadn't been contributing to their plans at all, since they had just been glued together since Éponine and Musichetta had left; but Enjolras had made them stay in the hopes that perhaps Marius would realize just how important this was and leave Cosette alone for a while, but that of course didn't happen.

Enjolras sighed, and nodded, and felt a little relieved when they left; at least now he didn't have to deal with them muttering lovey things to one another as he was trying to plan their survival.

"Love isn't as bad as you think, mon ami." Bahorel said kindly, stacking his own papers neatly. Enjolras cast him an annoyed look.

"It's not love that I think is annoying; it's their love, and how it's distracting from something this important." He said as he got up to fill up his cup with more coffee.

"Sometimes when you're in love, the other person becomes more important than everything around you." Bahorel said as Courfeyrac reached across him to grab a pen to scribble something else down on his own papers. "Perhaps a young lady might come into your life and let you see that."

"I will not let that happen; not now." Enjolras responded, irritated. "Besides, there's no girl that I can think of who peaks my immediate interest."

"We're back!" Éponine called in a sing-song voice. Musichetta followed in right after her, and the two had brown paper bags in their hands. Enjolras looked up, his mood seeming to have lightened since his friend walked through the door.

"What do you have there?" Combeferre asked, looking up with a smile as Bahorel stood. "It smells delicious."

"We stopped by and got some caramel corn on the way; freshly popped, too!" Éponine grinned, hopping up onto the counter as she ate some of her corn. "Say, why did Cosette and Marius leave so early? We passed them in the hallway."

"They were getting on my nerves and weren't contributing in the least." Enjolras said, going right back to being irritated; why was Éponine so interested in Pontmercy? He wasn't sure why he was annoyed by her asking about him, but he didn't really think about it. "What about you two; what did Maggie say?"

"Well it's nothing definite yet, but she said she'd think about it. You know how she is." Musichetta answered, sharing her caramel corn with Joly as she sat on his lap.

"Great." Enjolras muttered, rubbing his eyes. His voice was laced with irritation and exhaustion.

"You alright?" Éponine asked, extending her bag of corn to him. "D'you want some caramel corn?"

"I'm fine." He said, eyeing the treat for a moment. "I would just like everything to be on schedule, so that we aren't surprised or hurt by Delmont or the police force."

"Understandable." Musichetta nodded. "Say, Enjolras, you've been rubbing off on Éponine; she sure did manage to sway Maggie in our favor, using only her words." She grinned, and Enjolras looked at Éponine with a mix of proudness and surprise; his mood seemed to be improving again.

Éponine grinned, shrugging. "I dunno. I think it was mostly Enjolras' doing that influenced me to talk it out; had I met her earlier, I'd probably beat her until she gave in. Then again, I'm still not opposed to the idea if she doesn't agree soon."

Combeferre chuckled. "Well, she would beat you back; she's a Scot, remember. Probably started fighting by the time she was 4. May I?" His hand hovered over her bag of caramel corn as he came to stand next to her.

Éponine nodded, and he popped some of the corn in his mouth, and turned to Musichetta. "Would you be willing to stop by there every once in a while to see if Maggie has made up her mind yet?"

"Sure." Musichetta grinned, sharing some of her popcorn with Joly. "I'm feelin' a little beat; wanna go home, Joly?" She asked, pecking him on the cheek.

He grinned, and kissed her on the cheek back. "Of course, ma chérie! See you tomorrow, Enj; I promise I'll learn to shoot!" Joly chuckled as he and Musichetta made their way to the door. The two exited soon, after Musichetta blew a kiss goodbye to Éponine, who over-dramatically accepted it with a chuckle.

"So, you won Maggie over with your words?" Combeferre asked once they had left, filling the silence. "Interesting. Enjolras couldn't do that in all his life, despite his silver tongue." He grinned, and Enjolras shot him a pointed look. Combeferre took one more handful of Éponine's popcorn, then grabbed his coat. "Well, I'd best be off, as well; if I'm going to train Les Amis tomorrow, I need to be very alert so that no one accidentally blasts my head off! Au revoir, mon ami." He said, shaking hands with Enjolras, and then exited.

Bahorel left soon after, and as did Courfeyrac; soon, it was just Éponine and Enjolras, alone again. The silence was quite loud to Éponine, since the memories of her dream were less potent, but still fresh in her mind. She glanced over to the floor next to the record player, and smiled a little to herself when she remembered their dancing.

"What?" Enjolras asked, apparently noticing her smile.

"Oh, I was just remembering our sleep-deprived dancing last night. Everything's more fun when you're beyond tired and recovering from almost losing your life." She chuckled, as did Enjolras. Was she talking too much?

"I never did thank you properly for that, did I?" He asked, walking over to her.

"I'm not sure; it's not like I'm keeping track." Éponine said; stay cool, stay cool! "Although I think I got the motivation to snatch that gun because you were about to die." Uh-oh, she said too much. What if he thought she liked him? She glanced down to her lap, refusing to look him in the eye; she felt so stupid!

"Really?" Enjolras sounded a bit surprised. "That's very courageous, Éponine. Risking your life for another isn't an easy thing to do."

"Well, I did learn from the best." She got the nerve to make eye contact with his blue eyes, and felt a little shiver. "I mean, you are doing some risky stuff for the better of these people of Chicago and for Les Amis."

"I'm not the only one doing it; we all are. We, as a collective people, are going to pull together and right the wrongs this God-forsaken government has pulled on us. And I'm quite glad to have your company, Éponine; especially because you know so much about gangs and mobs. I wasn't counting on Delmont being a problem." He said the last part quietly, and Éponine felt even guiltier.

Why did she have to get feelings for him at a time like this? So many other important things were going on, and Enjolras was dealing with enough without her love-sickness on top of it. Éponine hopped off of the counter, and trotted over to the couch; she wanted to have a little heart-to-heart with the marble man, and not just because she liked his voice. Éponine was curious as to how much she could break through to reach Enjolras on a more emotional level, because the two were really only connected on an academic and sort of friend-ship level.

"How long have you known Delmont?" She asked, sitting down on the cushion as Enjolras came to sit next to her.

Enjolras let out a huff, looking up as he began to think back a bit. "About… I believe 7 years. Yes, I remember him my freshman year of high school." He said, and Éponine leaned forward a bit, raising her eyebrows, obviously expecting more. He sighed. "We had history together. He acted like an idiot in class, but was quite smart; he never did graduate, though. I didn't really associate myself with him, until our teacher put us together for a project on the French Revolution. That was when I found out how smart he was, but he told me he didn't show it off because intelligence 'scared all the dolls away'. He said that all girls wanted was a guy who could bring home a living and could make love properly. After our junior year, he got a job at Aurélie's dad's auto shop. Monsieur Edouard was very welcoming to Delmont, and offered me a job many times, but I never did accept because I, of course, planned on going to University before I got a job." Enjolras chuckled a bit. "I remember, when I didn't want to go home, I would just hang out at the auto shop and do my work, and Delmont would always try and distract me by pretending a car was crushing him or something silly like that." His eyes were twinkling as he stared at the rug, a smile still on his lips. Éponine found that she, herself, was smiling at his reminiscing. "Then, the Prohibition rolled around and we stuck together, even though I was in University with Les Amis, and we agreed to buy that God-forsaken bookshop. Actually, Aurélie wanted to transform it into a speakeasy because she thought it had charm and she figured no one would suspect a simple little bookshop. It took about 6 months to build everything, since we mostly did work at night to avoid suspicion from the police. It was even harder for me, because of all the studying I was doing along with Les Amis, and that was when I really began to try to make a difference in the Prohibition. And then… Well, after many other events, of course, I met you…" Enjolras said quietly, glancing at Éponine.

"Yep. Here I am." She grinned, and noticed her voice sounded odd after Enjolras had been speaking for so long; perhaps that was because he was speaking to her about his own personal story, and not a gripping speech about how to better society. "I'm sorry about Delmont. I don't know what I would do if Gavroche or Azelma suddenly turned on me like that…" Éponine trailed off.

It was quiet for a while, and Éponine had finished her popcorn and wanted to throw it away, but didn't want to ruin the moment.

"I hope you know that Les Amis will never turn on you like Delmont did." Enjolras said seriously and quietly, hooking her with his eyes.

Éponine nodded, her gaze glued with his. She felt her hands begin to get clammy, and she cleared her throat. "I won't turn on you guys like that, either. I sorta consider you family." She smiled a little, as did Enjolras.

"Would you like to come with me to my University tomorrow?" Enjolras asked, standing up. "I know I asked you before, but I figured we could set the date for tomorrow since I need to go there and study. Perhaps you could find your own subjects of interest, and read up on them; I'd like to hear your thoughts."

"Oh, sure!" Éponine said, springing to her feet. "Yes, I'd love to go and get some books. You know, I found one I was interested in in Maggie's office," She walked over to the trash bin and crumpled up the empty bag of caramel corn and threw it away, "I'm not sure if you know it, but you probably do: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."

"Oh, yes." Enjolras smiled, chuckling. "Joly quite loves that book. In fact…" He strode over to the bookshelf on the left wall, and scanned it for a moment, then pulled off a light blue book with gold writing on it. "Here we are. It's a peculiar little thing, but I do like to read it when I just need to wind down." He handed it to a beaming Éponine, who took it eagerly.

"Thank you!" She exclaimed, gripping the book excitedly. On a sudden impulse, the brunette stepped forward and threw her arms around Enjolras, enveloping him in a hug.

He staggered for a moment, a bit taken aback, then cautiously wrapped his arms around her. Enjolras chuckled, then pulled away from a still smiling Éponine. "Well, I can tell you'll be enjoying it. I hope you don't think I'm rude, but I would like to retire to bed; do you want me to walk you home?"

"Oh, no, it's fine." Éponine beamed. "If I run into anyone I don't like, I can just beat them with this hard-cover." She chuckled, as did Enjolras as he walked over to the door.

"Excellent. Try not to get into any fights, though." He opened the door, and Éponine walked outside the apartment. "I'll come get you at about noon tomorrow, is that alright?"

"Yes, that's just fine." She said, and Enjolras nodded.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow, then. Goodnight, Éponine." He said, and then closed the door.

Éponine stood there for a moment, looking down at the book with a little smile. She walked over to the elevator, and got in as it took her down. Once it reached the base floor, she exited and went down to the bus stop, managing to catch the last one.

As she sat down, she pulled her hat down a little tighter to hide her eyes, mostly out of habit to avoid eye contact with strangers, but also because she didn't want what little people on the bus to see her stupid smile. She opened Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and it felt like a prized possession for some reason; she suspected that was because it came from Enjolras.