Chapter 10:

The next day they drove into school together. The rest of the boys greeted them as they drove in with delighted cheers and whoops. As soon as she was out of the car she was swept into Marius' arms. "'Ponine! You're back!" she laughed as he swung her around, enjoying the close proximity.

As one pair of arms left another took their place. She was practically passed round to each of the boys all of whom expressed their ecstatic feelings of having her back. "I wasn't gone that long was I?" She asked and Grantaire just shrugged.

"A couple of weeks without you felt like a lifetime love." He said and she couldn't help but smile at them all. She'd never been missed before.

The rest of the day was harder though, she was thoroughly behind on her schoolwork and the teachers all looked at her face curiously. Eponine had to fight the urge to walk around with a hand over her face as the many people gawped at her in the corridors. In a bid to draw their attention away from their friend Joly, Grantaire and Bahorel tore off their tops and proceeded to prance around in front of her. The laughter soon drowned out her worries and she decided that she loved these boys with all of her heart.

Enjolras took a firm backseat to all of these proceedings. He was happy, of course, that Eponine was back with them but he didn't feel the need to be so… liberal with his celebrations. His mind wandered back to that morning when he had awoken to find Eponine in his arms, her legs wrapped around his. He didn't know at what point in the night this had happened nor who instigated it but it seemed the two of them had decided not to talk about it. It had been nice, but shouldn't happen again.

No, he had decided that the feelings he had towards Eponine were purely brotherly.

Well, maybe not entirely brotherly, but that part he would squash down. He knew that what she needed right now was to be on her own; not tied to any other person. She should be completely selfish for a little while and then, maybe, something may happen. But it probably wouldn't happen with him. They just weren't suited, he supposed. He couldn't make her laugh as easily as Grantaire could and he wasn't as good as softening her up as Marius could. He was her friend, her equal, someone who would push against her to challenge her, but not her boyfriend. They were too alike, too stubborn.

It boiled down to the fact that he liked her far too much to complicate things. And she was such a refreshing gust of air that he was worried of dampening her spirit with his boring life. She deserved the best and Enjolras felt that the best was something he was unable to provide.

At the end of the day they all gathered at Enjolras' house. It hadn't been spoken but they were all worried about spending too much time in public. None of them knew whether Eponine had told her family about the Musain but even the idea of them lying in wait was worrisome enough that collectively they decided to avoid it.

So, instead of the tiny coffee table in the Musain the group now sat around Enjolras' dining room table. As the meeting grew on the boys became very amused at how domestic Enjolras and Eponine had gotten. She had only spent one day there but already she was bustling about the kitchen making drinks and getting Enjolras to fetch things for her. They all watched on, delighted as Eponine bossed their Great Leader about, even more happy that the man was following orders without a single argument.

"To the married couple!" Bahorel eventually said once the boys had all received their drinks. They all moved as one, raising their glasses and repeating the sentiments as Enjolras blushed and Eponine laughed.

"Oh come on love, they're only joking!" She said weaving her arm through his and patting his arm.

Enjolras made some incoherent noise trying to protest the laughter and Eponine just shook her head. "What a silly goose!" She said before placing a kiss on his cheek. Grantaire guffawed at Enjolras' shocked expression and the strange red colour he became.

That afternoon she, Marius, Cosette and Grantaire went to town to buy some new clothes for Eponine. No matter how much she protested that she was fine, everyone insisted that she should get at least two new tops to wear (her old one was incredibly tatty and after 'the incident' had a rather large blood stain down one arm.) That injury was giving her hell as she carried her bag but she hadn't yet told the boys of her incident. Instead she gritted her teeth through the pain and walked with them into the busy street.

The first shop they went into was a complete bust; having not shopped for clothes in months, Eponine felt incredibly out of place in any shop that seemed even the tiniest bit expensive. The interior was completely white, with silk curtains that hung around huge open windows. Pale roses were bunched together on little tables by each dressing room and as Eponine caught a glance of herself in the mirror, she knew she didn't fit in here. Her dark hair contrasted badly with the white-ness of the room and her tatted, dirty jeans were being watched suspiciously by the shop-keeper as if she was worried Eponine would spread dirt everywhere. Cosette, however, looked perfect. Her blonde hair was pulled into a messy bun on her head and although she was wearing jeans as well, her small frame seemed to seep into the background as if she was from the same palette. To be courteous, Eponine spent a few minutes pretending to browse as Grantaire attempted to flirt with the girl on the till.

The next shop was a little more successful, Eponine had managed to convince Cosette to look in a charity shop ("But you deserve better!" She had protested. "You're gorgeous, you need clothes that match that!") And the dusty smell that greeted them immediately made Eponine feel better. Like all charity shops, it was a little dark and empty but Eponine found a nice leather jacket that she liked and so she brought it on Cosette's condition that the next thing they brought would come from an 'actual' clothes shop.

As they walked down the busy, stone streets towards the next shop Eponine watched Marius and Cosette closely. They had now been dating for little more than a month and they were sickeningly sweet. They held hands as they walked and occasionally she noticed Marius squeeze his girlfriend's hand. At certain points they put their heads closer together and mutter things that made each other laugh. "You sure you're okay with this?" Grantaire asked, noticing the way she was studying the two in front of them.

"I think so." Eponine said, not completely sure whether that was true. So much had happened recently that she hadn't had too much time to think about Marius. She supposed that he was the reason she ran away but then again… maybe he was just the trigger. She had been feeling on the edge since becoming friends with the boys, constantly scared that they would figure out who she was and desert her. Thinking about it now, she may have run away to avoid that happening. She deserted them before they could desert her.

"So you're no longer going to pine for our freckled friend?" He asked, a little sceptically.

She shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, he's with Cosette isn't he? It clearly doesn't look like that's going to change anytime soon so… what's the point?"

"But he's so dreamy!" Grantaire teased and she shoved him. "No," He said seriously. "I think this is good."

"I mean, he's still hot so occasionally I may admire from afar…" She added.

"There it is." Grantaire chuckled. "I knew there was a catch."

They next shop they went to was a jackpot. There was no annoying shop-keeper looking down their nose at her and she felt weirdly happy. She and Cosette walked through the rows of clothes, picking out a few things they liked while Grantaire and Marius mucked about trying on ridiculous hats and sunglasses. She ended up buying a new pair of black jeans, a few simple T-shirts and a nice red dress that floated off of her hips and sat beautifully. The dress had been one of Cosette's choices and she had gasped when Eponine walked out of the changing room. "Oh that looks amazing!" She said before calling the boys over. Eponine blushed as the boys complimented her. "Doesn't that dress look wonderful?!"

Enjolras was sat in the office, finishing off an essay that he had meant to hand in today. Just as he was printing the essay his phone buzzed. Grantaire had sent him a picture of Eponine. She was stood in front of some kind of changing room, a hand covering her face in what seemed to be embarrassment and wearing a red dress. It was quite a simple dress but something about it made Enjolras almost drop the phone. He thought it might have been the fact that he had never seen Eponine in anything other than her usual clothes. Or it might have been the way the material clung to her hips and showed the curve of her body in a way he had never noticed before. Either way, he quickly saved the photo before replying.

'Tell her it looks wonderful' was Enjolras' reply. Grantaire smiled. The boy was long gone. Grantaire looked at Eponine now as she walked with Cosette laughing about something or other. He shut off his phone and re-joined the group, ignoring the strange gnawing feeling in his stomach.

After their shopping trip Cosette, Eponine, Marius and Grantaire all went back to the house. It was quickly decided that no one could be bothered to cook and so pizza was promptly ordered. While the boys argued over which movie to watch, Eponine and Cosette went upstairs to put the newly purchased clothes away.

As they were hanging the clothes Eponine felt a little awkward, she hadn't spent any time alone with Cosette since they were both children. "So…" She began. "Things seem to be going well with Marius?"

Cosette beamed as she smoothed out a dress before placing it into the wardrobe. "Yeah, it's great! I didn't expect I'd ever be so happy." Eponine smiled, genuinely happy for her. She knew of the misery of Cosette's childhood and so was glad to see that things had gotten better for her. "And you and Enjolras seem to be getting on just as well." Cosette added a little slyly.

"What?" Eponine said laughing.

"Oh come on!" Cosette said. "It's so obvious that he cares for you."

"Well sure, he cares for me." Eponine said, getting a little quiet. "We're friends."

"Yeah." Cosette scoffed. "Just friends." She gave Eponine a wink to emphasise her apparent disbelief. Eponine threw a pillow at her.

A few days had passed since Eponine had moved in and she was beginning to feel more at home. The house seemed less grand and more homely, she was no longer desperately afraid of touching anything, and she and Enjolras had fallen into a little routine. They would go to school and, if necessary, the boys would come back to the Enjolras house for a meeting. Once they'd gone, Enjolras would make dinner and they'd eat it before retiring to the study where they'd both do some work. For Eponine it would always be schoolwork but Enjolras would occasionally work on a speech or write a letter to a local MP. The group's charity efforts had to be brought down since they were still trying to hide Eponine and so Enjolras took this time to look into problems in the local community. Eponine rather liked watching him scratch his head and furrow his brow as he read. Then after doing this for about an hour Eponine would go downstairs to watch trash TV and Enjolras would tut and sigh at her choice before giving in and watching with her. It all seemed rather domestic.

"Gabe," Eponine called as the TV flickered. "Something's wrong with the TV!" When he didn't reply she got up and wandered around the hall-way looking for him. "Gabe!" She shouted. She heard a soft reply coming from the garage. "What's he doing in there?" She asked nobody in particular. "Gabe!" She yelled again. "TV's broken! How do you expect me to live like this?" She was still yelling when she pushed the door open.

Enjolras was standing in the garage shirtless, with an ironing board in front of him. On the ironing board was a white shirt which had a new pressed brown burn on it in the shape of the iron that was currently in Enjolras' hand emitting smoke. "Help?" was all Enjolras said and that was enough to send Eponine into a wave of giggles.

"What the hell are you doing?" She asked, still laughing.

"I need to iron this shirt," Enjolras explained. "I'm seeing my grandparents tomorrow but I…" He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I can't do it." He admitted and that made Eponine laugh again. The mighty intellect that was Enjolras was defeated by an iron.

"Let me show you." She said shaking her head and she went over to him. She grabbed the iron from his hands and quickly turned it off. "You put too much water on." She explained before taking his spare shirt and showing him carefully how to properly iron it. "Have you never had to iron a shirt before?" She asked as he took over from her, convinced that he know knew how to do it.

"Well no!" He said. "Obviously." He added. "I just… someone else usually does it for me."

"Such a helpless little boy." She sighed before laughing. Enjolras didn't find it very funny.

"Now why were you shouting my name?" He asked once he had finished the job.

"TV's broken." She answered and he nodded as he pulled the shirt on.

"How will you survive?" He asked grinning and she rolled her eyes. "It was strange, you yelling my real name." He told her. "I had flashbacks to when I was being told off as a kid."

"Well, when I next tell you off I'll be sure to use your full name to get your attention." She told him. "Hey, what's your middle name?" She asked grinning.

Enjolras just shook his head. "Oh no." He told her. "We're not that close." She laughed as she followed him into the hall.

Seeing Enjolras nervous was not something she was used to. She sat on the stairs and watched as he paced up and down the hallway, occasionally stopping to fiddle with his tie or his hair.

"Just sit down." She pleaded on his fifth lap of the hall.

"They'll be here any second." He told her. "They don't like waiting."

"Jesus." Eponine muttered under her breath. To fluster the stone man they must be all kinds of terrifying.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Enjolras whipped around and froze, staring at the door. Eponine stifled a laugh. Slowly Enjolras straightened his spine and walked to the door, then paused just as his hand touched the black wood. "You should probably hide." He whispered, turning to her. She just rolled her eyes and crept up a couple more stairs. She was too interested to fully hide, she wanted to see the gruesome twosome in person.

The door opened to reveal a small, old couple who were smiling nicely and had on formal wear. It was a huge anti-climax for Eponine who had imagined them with three eyes each. Greetings were passed around between the three and Eponine was interested to note that Enjolras' Grandpa had the same booming quality to his voice as his grandson.

"You're looking well!" Mr Enjolras said patting his grandson's head. Enjolras grimaced in return.

"Thanks, you're looking well as well." He replied awkwardly.

"Well aren't you going to invite us in?" Mrs Enjolras said suddenly pushing herself past Enjolras into the hall. Eponine didn't react quickly enough. "And who are you?" The woman said, her tone dropping dramatically. She tutted. "Enjolras, really you should insist on your maids wearing some kind of a uniform she looks incredibly scrappy."

Eponine's eyebrows raised at the idea of her being Enjolras' maid. The boy in question sighed and cursed Eponine for not taking his advice. "She's not a maid 'ma." He said gesturing for Eponine to come down the stairs. As Eponine walked closer to the old woman she became more and more aware that she was wearing one of Enjolras' old shirts and shorts. No one should show so much leg next to an older, rich woman that was one thing Eponine knew.

True to form, Enjolras' Grandma fixed her with a look of pure disdain as she trailed her eyes up and down Eponine's attire.

"'Ma," Enjolras began. "This is Eponine, Eponine this is my Grandmother." Eponine reached to shake her hand but the Grandmother did not return the gesture. Eponine's hand hung awkwardly in between them.

"Well." Mr Enjolras broke the silence. "It is nice to meet you Eponine, I am Elijah pleased to meet you." Eponine was suddenly pulled into an embrace. After she was released the four of them stood in uncomfortable silence. Enjolras' stare was fixed to the floor worried that he may laugh if he looked at his friend.

"We should probably get going." Enjolras eventually said. "The reservation is for 12 and we wouldn't want to miss it."

"Good idea." His Grandmother said. "Let's get going, Elijah shall we let Gabriel drive today?"

"Why not?" Elijah said, clapping his hand against Enjolras' back. They all turned to leave, Enjolras leading the way out of the house followed by his tottering Grandmother. Eponine hung back, hoping that she would be able to blend into the wall. Just as she thought she was saved, Elijah turned his attention back to her. "Why doesn't Eponine join us?" He offered.

Quickly Eponine tried to resist. "Oh no, it's fine, you go to lunch. Have some family time. I'd be intruding."

"Not at all!" Elijah insisted. Dammit, thought Eponine.

"She's got work to do." Enjolras added, equally determined to get Eponine off of the hook.

"Nonsense, you're young! You can work when you're old like me." Elijah was fixed to the doorway, the rest of the Enjolras clan were standing by the car and Elijah's wife was beginning to get impatient.

"Elijah look at the girl!" She suddenly protested. "She can hardly come to the Laguine dressed like that!"

That began to get Eponine riled up. She looked at the woman who was wearing a light blue power suit with some kind of animal skin draped around her shoulders. She was the kind of woman who had been tearing down people like Eponine for centuries. Convinced that they were superior to anyone because they had money. Well, Eponine decided that she was suddenly very hungry.

"You know what?" She said to Elijah. "Lunch sounds lovely."

The Laguine was one of those restaurants that was almost too posh. With blue and pink paisley walls lined with gold detail she felt as if she was in a fairy-tale castle. She half expected a pink talking bunny to take their orders. The tables were laden with a perfectly white table cloth and about five pieces of cutlery too many. As she walked in she realised that she had made a terrible decision. Margery Enjolras was right; she really shouldn't be there. At least she was wearing a shirt, she thought to herself, too bad it belongs to the boy she was sitting next to. In the car she had managed to scrape her knotted hair into a ponytail so it didn't look so scruffy, but within the walls of the Laguine she felt as if she had been dragged through 50 bushes backwards, stranded on a remote island for two years without a shower, and doused in shit.

Enjolras was just as uncomfortable. It was hard enough going for a meal with his Grandparents but now he also had Eponine to watch out for. He could feel his Grandmothers stare on them as they sat in silence next to each other. Enjolras was very careful to make sure that not one part of their bodies were touching. Why had she had to wear that shirt? Why had she not hidden when he'd told her to?

"So," Elijah began, breaking the silence that had lasted from the house to the restaurant. "How did you meet Enjolras?" He asked Eponine.

"We go to school together." She replied, a little quieter than she had spoken before. A few glances were being thrown her way, half were of disbelief and half were with disgust. She stuck out like a sore thumb.

"Oh really?" Margery said. "You can afford to go to that school?"

"Gran." Enjolras protested sensing Eponine's temper rising again.

"Actually I'm on scholarship." Eponine replied.

"'Ponine is one of the highest achievers in the school." Enjolras told them, willing them to show her a little more respect.

"Well that's very admirable." Elijah said smiling at the girl sat in front of him. The drinks arrived and Eponine wished she had ordered something a little stronger than tea. "So how long have you two been courting?" Eponine struggled not to spit out her tea.

"We're not dating Grandpa." Enjolras told him calmly. "She's just a friend who needed somewhere to stay."

Eponine heard Margery scoff and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Well," Elijah said, pouring milk into his tea and swirling the liquid around with his spoon. "It's nice to see you branching out from your usual group of anti-establishment buffoons." Eponine noticed how Enjolras straightened a little at the blatant criticism.

"Unfortunately I guess I'm also a buffoon as you put it." Eponine said. This commented a slight raise of the eyebrows from the old man. "And we've been focusing on helping the local community recently."

"Well it's not surprise you're so keen to encourage our boy to give charity. One tends to help those similar to oneself." Margery said sweetly. Eponine fought the urge to scowl at her.

Before Enjolras could retort, the food was brought out and there was a sweet relief where there was no conversation. Eponine determined that her best option was stuffing her mouth so she didn't say something she would regret.

Elijah also had the good mind to take the conversation on a different course. "So Jeremy at the office is very keen for you to go back up there." He began. "He said your presence at the office is missed. A bit of young blood does the older ones well. They begin to want to prove themselves a lot more when a whipper-snapper like you comes along."

"Right." Enjolras said forcing polite chuckles.

"I mean," Elijah continued. "You might as well spend as much time there as possible. Get used to layout before it becomes your office."

Eponine watched Enjolras as he quickly took a sip of water. He looked uncomfortable and she wished she knew what to do to alleviate his discomfort. "The thing is Grandpa…"

Margery cut him off. "Oh please Gabriel, if this is going to lead to your nonsense about wanting to be a civil lawyer I will not stand for it." Enjolras felt a hand brush against his leg. "You know that you will join your father's firm at the end of school and there's no need to waste your time with silly thoughts about taking a stand for the people and whatnot."

"Your Grandmother's right I'm afraid." Elijah added. "I understand how it is tempting to fight the good fight and all. As you know I thought about entering that career path myself. But my father said the same thing to me as I'm saying to you. It's madness to go into a base-level position at some other company rather than becoming a partner at the families firm within two years. You'd be an idiot to do anything but follow the path that has been laid out for you."

Enjolras sighed, this argument eventually came up every time he had a meal with his family. They all expected him to become a lawyer like his family had been for generations. But he had seen what that job did to a person. It makes you become solely focused on money. You are taught not to care whether your client is guilty or not, your services just go to the highest bidder. Screwing over people, taking advantage of those with less information, you did whatever you had to do to get your client off. It made you immoral. It had made his father immoral. But Enjolras would not become that person. He had spent his life trying to be as empathetic and moral as he could, taking time to understand politics and the plight of the less fortunate. He would not use his privilege to further himself.

With Eponine's hand reassuring him he was able to bite back the many retorts he had stored. Instead he just said: "Of course" and felt the flames that burned inside of him, determined to prove them all wrong.

The rest of lunch was tense. The quartet made polite conversation while the younger two tried to eat as quickly as possible. Eponine fought back the urge to hit Enjolras' Grandmother when she made comments about how the waiter would probably try to steal her purse if she didn't keep it on her lap and Enjolras tried to ignore the fact that Eponine had not removed her hand from his thigh.

The Grandparents sat in almost complete bliss, unaware of the irritation and offence they were causing. They had no reason to. Around them sat almost exact replicas of themselves, all in expensive suits with thinning hair but thick wallets. Eponine entertained herself by silently planning how she could steal from every one of them. It would have been easy. But she daren't. And besides, that part of her life was firmly behind her. She was determined.

Both Enjolras and Eponine sat with fire stirring in their souls. Both determined to avoid the fate of their parents. Both determined that they would do better. At that moment it became apparently clear to both of them that they would be fighting for the rest of their lives. And that only hardened their resolve.