Chapter 10 -

Eponine was left standing alone in the street. She struggled to regain her composure as her mind replayed the events of the past few minutes over and over. Enjolras had kissed her. Yes they had kissed before but only from Eponine's instigation. This time it had been all his own doing, she had not even expected it. And then... Then he had left. Just like that. No explanation, just a hurried goodbye. He had ended the kiss tenderly, gazing into her eyes in an intimate afterthought. Then, as if he had been bitten, he jerked back.

"I - err - I have to go. I'll see you at the Musain later." He had gushed, stumbling over his words before backing away and disappearing back around the corner.

Eponine raised her hand and gingerly pressed her fingertips to her lips. She could still feel his upon hers. What had just happened? She could not make sense of it. Just like the last time, he had bailed on her and ran.
Eponine suddenly felt very vulnerable, standing alone in the open street. She shook her head in an attempt to rid herself of the confusion and picked her feet off the ground to send her ambling towards the Musain.

She was greeted by a cheer from the Les Amis de l'ABC inside as they had not seen her out for almost two weeks now. Many, such as Bahorel and Feuilly, ahad not seen her at all in this period and so descended upon her like a flock of excited birds. Eponine felt a fulfilling warmth spread from her fingertips into her chest as she was enveloped by hugs and kind smiles. Was this what it felt like? To have people care about you, that is. She wondered to herself as Joly busied himself to check on her health, lifting her chin and instructing her to say 'ahh'.

"All better then, Enjolras must have taken good care of you." He emphasised the word 'good' with a flicker of a grin crossing his expression. Eponine's eyes widened at his discretion and grabbed his wrist to pull him from the crowd.

"What did Courf tell you?" She hissed at the student. He quaked before bursting into laughter. Eponine yanked on his wrist again to reiterate her irascibility.

"It's okay, don't blame Courf, he only told me because we're roommates and well, he's a terrible gossip." He broke out into a rough chuckle at his afterthought.

"You won't tell anyone?" Eponine demanded more than requested.

"Your secret's safe with me, well and Musichetta. And also Grantaire, but you told him, did you not?"
Eponine groaned.

"Musichetta will tell Bossuet! And yes of course I told Grantaire, he's my closest friend." She muttered, her irritation making itself apparent in her tone. Joly was still grinning and pulled up a chair for the girl at the nearest table before seating himself opposite. Eponine slumped into the chair and sighed.

"What's a secret between friends, 'Ponine? Besides, Bossuet is the fault in the chain, he won't tell anyone else, he despises Musichetta's gossiping." At that moment, Grantaire dropped into the seat beside her, wine spilling down the neck of his bottle from the jolt.

"I, on the other hand, love her gossip. It's always top quality; no doubt she gets it all from you, my friend." He grinned at Joly, clasping his hand on his shoulder in a friendly gesture.

"I believe you already know this topic, however." Joly countered making Grantaire snigger.

"Ah, I see, this is about the magnificent marmoreal man and his luxurious lips." This was cause enough for Joly to give a great guffaw and descend into raucous laughter once more whilst Grantaire beamed, looking rather smug and pleased with himself. Eponine saw it as the perfect opportunity to elbow him square in the gut.

"I jest, I jest." Grantaire laughed, putting up his hands to mock surrender. He cleared his throat once his laughter has subsided and addressed her again.
"On a more serious note, have there been any advances on the situation?" Eponine bit her lip, debating whether to tell them or not. Usually she would have told Grantaire immediately but she was not as close with Joly and was worried since anything he knew, so did Bossuet and Musichetta.

"I can't, it's not right for everyone to know. He is your leader after all." Joly nodded in agreement as he lit up the pipe he had just produced from his pocket.

"You're right, Eponine, and very loyal at that. It is no feat to understand Enjolras's interest in you." He grinned, took a puff of his smoking pipe and wandered off into the cafe.

"It's true, you have most clearly captured his thoughts." Grantaire pushed his bottle to Eponine. She grasped the glass and was surprised at the weight of the drink.

"You haven't drunk any..?" She eyed him suspiciously and he shook his head slightly. "Why?"
Grantaire exhaled a deep sigh.

"I haven't had a drop since you were taken, 'Ponine." She gazed at him with growing wonder in her eyes. "Enjolras, he had words with me." Eponine raised her eyebrows.

"Just words?" She asked sceptically.

"Okay he yelled at me." Eponine opened her mouth to protest his actions but Grantaire continued before she could interrupt. "And he had every right to. It was my fault you were alone that night, letting you walk me home then allowing you to walk the streets on your own in the dark. It was stupid and selfish of me and it never would have happened if I hadn't been an irresponsible sot." He sighed deeply and slid his hand into Eponine's.
"I swear, I'm going to be better now. And who knows, being sober could solve all my problems." He let out a nervous laugh, Eponine smiled warmly at him, now observing the way in which his hand trembled in hers. Withdrawal symptoms most likely. She was suddenly urged to take his mind off of it and threw in her own bombshell.

"He kissed me again. Today."
Grantaire locked eyes with her, a joyful surprise colouring his expression.

"Gosh, Eponine. What did he say?" He asked, rather eagerly.

"Well we were having a rather heated debate-"

"You were fighting." Grantaire interjected. Eponine rolled her eyes.

"Yes, okay we were fighting."

"What about?" He interrupted again.

"Are you going to let me tell this story or not?" Eponine snapped. He grinned at her impatience and nodded for her to go on.

"Okay. So we were fighting because I was under the impression that I was being treated like a charity case and that he did not care about me for me. He got pretty mad about that and said something about everything being about me and how of course he cared about me."
She paused, she could still feel the heat of the moment, just thinking about it.
"I told him to prove it... And then he kissed me."
Grantaire gaped at her, waiting for her to continue. Then when it became clear she wasn't going to, he spoke up again.

"And then what?"

"And then nothing. He just left." She sighed and slumped back into her seat.
"I just don't get it."

"Ahh my dear, Eponine. I do believe his heart may still belong to patria." Grantaire gave her a sympathetic smile. This did not seem to settle Eponine more than it did rile her.

"I have taken many things that did not belong to me. His heart should be no exception." She frowned at the bottle perched on the table before snatching it and taking a swig.

"A stolen heart. Wouldn't that be quite something." Grantaire mused over the thought.

"It might be an impossible target." She muttered and then felt a sudden urge to leave.
"I think I should get going before it gets dark actually. I'll see you soon, R." Eponine leapt up and swiftly disappeared before Grantaire could protest.

Eponine had no intentions of returning home that night, though. It was time to take this into her own hands and show Enjolras that he could not just treat her like that and then expect her to return to him so easily.
Her cellar was just as she had left it. Cold, dark, damp. But completely under her control. It felt safe that night when everything had been spiralling out of her command recently. Yes, this would do for the night.

A.N - wow I'm so sorry for the wait, I have just been very distracted, so you can blame Callum for the lack of updates! Haha

Thank you for all the follows/ favourites/ reviews! Please continue to review even though this is mainly a filler chapter :S more action will return soon!

Thank you just for reading, I hope you enjoyed it :)

Jess x