DISCLAIMER: I don't own Les Miserables.

A/N: Ooh, chapter ten. I decided to write another drama class chapter, because I totally wimped out on the last one and wrote like a paragraph on the actual class, but I was just introducing it, so I hope this is a bit better.

Also, I was wondering if anyone would be interesting in beta-ing this story, and possibly some other stories I'm writing at the moment?

Eponine refused Enjolras and Courfeyrac's suggestion adamantly at first – her friends already did so much for her, and this was just too much – but of course, they didn't let up.

The girl told her friends that she couldn't leave Gavroche on his own until her own brother betrayed her and said that he wanted her to move in with Courfeyrac and Enjolras. Eventually they got the rest of the group involved, and soon Eponine was fighting a losing battle that she wasn't sure she wanted to win.

She argued with them all endlessly over the weekend, but by Sunday, she had agreed to stay with them, if only for a week or two (Enjolras had said a month, but he didn't need to know that she planned on leaving as soon as her injuries were completely healed).

Gavroche helped her pack up her stuff one morning when their father was so hung over he couldn't move and her mother was out shopping. Eponine only packed the essentials (clothes, a small safe where all her money was kept – a bank account was out of the question – her shitty laptop), as well as some sentimental stuff (a photo album of her, Gav and Azelma as kids – all the photos with their parents had been thrown out – and a Swiss army knife 'Parnasse had given her for her 16th birthday that she liked for some reason).

In the end, it all fitted into a box Gavroche found in the inn's kitchen. When Enjolras drove up to the corner of their street, she hugged Gavroche tightly and told him to hang tight, whispering that she'd be back once she was better. He gave her a look that was surprisingly stern for a 10 year old and replied that she would stay there until she found an apartment.

Enjolras came over to open her door at that moment, so Eponine couldn't say what she wanted to, but she gave her brother an odd look and kissed him on the cheek. Did he really think she would stay there longer than a week?

He could get the strangest ideas in his head sometimes.

Upon waking on Monday morning, Eponine had to use very slow breaths to calm herself down once she realized she had slept in such a position that every injury she had was affected. It didn't help that she was in an unfamiliar room. She had slept in Courf's bed just for that night, because he had spent the night with a 'friend' of his (which meant he'd slept over at a one night stand's place), but today she was going to help Enjolras clean out the small but cozy room they currently used to put junk in.

That was to be her bedroom for however long she chose to stay there (which she planned to not be long).

However, she and her blonde friend had a drama class to attend before they could think about that, so Eponine got herself out of bed and changed into actual clothes, having slept in a ragged shirt and small shorts the night before.

Once she looked slightly decent, she made her way into the kitchen, where Enjolras sat at the table, sipping from a mug and reading intently.

The clock on the wall read '7:40', which was actually a bit later than the girl normally woke. She walked over to the kitchen counter to pour herself some coffee that Enjolras had probably brewed earlier that morning when the man in question jumped and almost shrieked a bit, scattering his papers across the table.

"Eponine." He said after trying to regain his composure (and failing slightly).

"Sorry, did I scare you?" She asked, trying to sound apologetic and not like she was laughing at him.

Enjolras almost blushed. "I'm just not used to having anyone up as early as me in this apartment."

"Courf has late nights, huh?"

"Very late nights. I don't see how he functions, honestly. I can't get through the day if I'm not up at the crack of dawn."

Eponine laughed. "That sounds a bit crazy."

"Why are you up this early if it's crazy, then? Did I wake you? I thought I was being quiet."

"No, I always wake up early, but I don't exactly like it."

Her friend gave her a strange look.

"Never mind." She said, before turning her attention to the pot of coffee on the counter. "Now, be honest – do you make good coffee?"

Eponine often found herself surprised at the things she didn't know about her friends, particularly Enjolras.

"Courfeyrac doesn't mind it."

"Courfeyrac drinks anything."

"You're thinking of Grantaire."

They shared a laugh, but Enjolras caught himself before Eponine had stopped.

"I... I need to stop doing that." The man frowned at the table.

Eponine quirked an eyebrow. "Doing what?"

"Saying things like that about my friends."

"Everyone says shit about their friends."

"But Grantaire takes what I say seriously."

"You take what you say seriously. It's only when you mean what you say that Grantaire gets upset." Eponine explained.

Enjolras looked up at her as if she'd asked him to stop writing letters to important politicians. "So I should stop meaning what I say?"

"No, just stop saying things that are hurtful, if you really mean them." The brunette fought the urge to roll her eyes. Wasn't that a bit obvious?

Silence fell in the kitchen, until Enjolras motioned for Eponine to pour herself a mug of coffee. The girl did it tentatively – she could survive a lot of rough situations, but drinking bad coffee was not one of them.

When she took a sip, though, she found it to be quite good. She told Enjolras this and he cracked a small smile as he continued to read his book.

Maybe spending a week here won't be so bad. Eponine thought as she blew on her drink.

Eponine and Enjolras ended up walking to the university for their drama class. It took about half an hour from Enjolras and Courfeyrac's apartment, but they had a lot of time to spare, having left an hour before the class was due to start, and the walk had a lot of nice scenery to look at.

"Do you walk to class a lot?" Eponine asked at one point during their trip.

"If it's warm." Enjolras replied, not looking her in the eye.

And that concluded their conversation until they arrived at the Drama building.

The pair arrived to class five minutes before it started, so Eponine spent a bit of time assessing the other students in the class.

It was a group of about 20, and it looked like there were a few more girls than boys. She hadn't seen any of them out of this class, so she assumed they were art students and therefore spent most of their time in completely separate buildings to Eponine.

She didn't know any of their names, even though the last two lessons had been spent getting to know the other students, so she resolved to not interact with any of them unless she had to.

Fantine arrived, just as Eponine was watching a pair of girls stare at Enjolras and giggle, and that commanded the whole room's attention.

"Alright! In case any of you hadn't noticed, this is our third lesson, and yes, we will be starting on chemistry today."

Eponine snorted quietly. Fantine always started the classes so abruptly; it was almost unsettling.

"Today is going to be about finding that particular person who you have good onstage chemistry with. I guarantee that there is someone in this room who you work especially well with. You just have to find them. It might be a bit of a frustrating process, but finding that person is extremely important." The woman looked around the room. "I gather that some of you know each other already, and that you're probably going to be tempted to pair up with someone you know, but chemistry is really about connecting with people, especially people you don't know very well. Sometimes you find chemistry with a good friend, but often it's with a stranger. Keeping all that in mind, please choose a partner for our first activity. Nobody's away today, so we should have 11 pairs."

Eponine looked around the group, deciding to follow Fantine's suggestion and pair with someone she didn't know. She caught the eye of a kind of cute guy who had stubble and a crooked smile. He cocked his head and gestured for her to come over.

"Blaise." He said when she went up to him.

"Eponine."

He chuckled. "Yeah, I know. I remembered from last lesson."

"Oh." She hadn't expected that. "Sorry I didn't remember you."

"I wouldn't expect you to, with a boyfriend like that." Blaise said, pointing to Enjolras, who was standing next to one of the giggly girls from before and looking very displeased about having said girl as a partner.

But she looks like she's about to start drooling, Eponine noted with a bit of annoyance, before Blaise's words sunk in.

"What?" She said loudly. "No, no, no, Enjolras is not my... we're... he's not... No."

Blaise held his arms up in mock defense. "Okay, okay, he's not your boyfriend. Touchy subject, huh?"

Eponine blew out a long breath and laughed. "No, not at all, he's just not into that kind of thing."

"Girls?"

"Dating."

Just then, Fantine began speaking again.

"I'm going to rotate you all around a couple times and you'll do this activity with every partner you have. If I see something that I think is working, I'll stop that pair and they can sit out and watch the others. The partner you work best with today will be your partner for most of this semester, so hopefully you get along well. As for the activity, it's a simple concept but a difficult exercise. I know a lot of you are beginners but don't give up just because you might not get it a couple of times."

She then explained the activity. Each person had to think of an experience in their lives when they desperately wanted to say something but couldn't get it out (Eponine had no trouble with this part), and then they had to silently communicate with their partner. Fantine said it was all about body movement and facial expressions. No voices were allowed; they simply had to say what they needed to get out without actually saying anything.

Eponine turned to Blaise, and gestured for him to start them off. He began pacing and waving his arms about as though he was trying to hit something. The girl tried walking up to him and stopping him, grabbing his hands and looking into his eyes. The words built up inside her, begging to come out.

Marius, I...

And then he screwed up his face and grabbed her arms and started shaking her. She wasn't sure what he was trying to communicate, but the exercise didn't seem to be working for either one of them. Also, she was still sore and his rough contact wasn't helping things.

The girl's suspicions that they didn't work well together were confirmed when Fantine came up, broke them apart and said they should move onto different partners.

Eponine sighed. It was going to be a long process.

Eponine went through another four partners, but none of them had worked properly. Fantine was moving more and more pairs to the side, and Eponine was growing impatient. It wasn't that hard to have a fucking connection with someone. It hadn't been half bad with that short girl before, but the teacher still shook her head again and again.

They were down to six people when Fantine suddenly gestured for Eponine to come and stand in front of Enjolras, who had also yet to find the right partner

"I'm aware that you two are friends, but just give it a go." The teacher started walking away, before turning back around for a moment. "Try to focus on the other person as well as yourself. You're not just getting your own point across – you're listening to what they have to say too."

Eponine turned to properly face Enjolras, and they both took a moment to look at each other and breathe.

"Let's do this." Eponine said finally.

She started moving, slowly circling Enjolras but never looking at him. She felt tension growing, pushing them apart and pulling them together at the same time. He caught her by the elbow, and when she turned to look him in the eyes, he had a look on his face that she'd never seen before. It was a mixture of anguish and guilt.

Enjolras ripped his hand away from her quickly, and then clenched it into a fist. He dropped his eyes to the floor, and then brought them back up.

Eponine could tell Enjolras was finding it difficult to say what he wanted to say, so she decided to take over. She tried to hold his gaze, though it was difficult as his eyes kept flickering away, as she wondered what to do.

Marius, I...

She slowly moved her hand and rested it just above her heart. She held it there for a few second and then took it off. Before she even knew what she was going, her hand was reaching across and resting above Enjolras' heart.

His eyes finally locked with hers.

Enjolras' chest was hard and kind of warm, and Eponine could feel his pulse. They were so close, closer than they'd ever really physically been. Eponine never really thought that her friend could be this intimate with someone. Just then, she realized that she'd let her hand linger on his chest for a bit longer than she should have. She reminded herself that it was a drama class activity, and it was all just acting, before trying to focus on getting her message across. Her mind felt a bit more relaxed, and the words came easier than they had with anyone else.

Marius, I love you. I love you, but...

Eponine took her hand back immediately, partly because of the look on Enjolras' face and partly because she hadn't expected that what she really wanted to say was more than just 'Marius, I love you'. When had it ever been more than that?

Enjolras finally started trying to convey his message. He took her hands and held them in his, pulling her a bit closer to him. He looked at their joined hands and then looked at her. Then he dropped to his knees. He rested his head on her hands and his whole body sighed.

Eponine froze for a moment. It seemed like they had gone from barely even hugging or kissing on the cheek to this and it was frightening how right it felt to be so close to him. She wondered briefly if he felt the same way.

Of course he doesn't, you stupid girl. Eponine scolded herself. You're just starved for human contact. It's a fucking drama exercise. Get yourself together.

Suddenly Enjolras looked up at her again. This time, his message was clear. I'm sorry. Then he got back up and let go of her hands.

Eponine was now determined to get her message properly across.

She brought her hand to her chest again, but this time she grabbed a handful of her t-shirt. She then ripped her hand away, letting go of the t-shirt but keeping the illusion of grasping onto something.

Eponine took Enjolras' hand and wrapped it around her fist (this time she didn't let it linger), and then slid her hand out of his, letting her fingers relax as though she'd given him whatever she'd been holding.

She then wrapped her arms around herself and stared at her feet. She looked up to give Enjolras a hard glare but when she did, he was looking at her with pity, and she realized that in this metaphorical situation, he had not taken anything from her. She had willingly given it to him, and it was a stupid decision, and she found herself wishing she hadn't done it, even though it was just a fucking drama exercise.

Eponine frowned, annoyed with herself.

Marius, I love you, but I don't want to love you.

What? Was that what she was trying to get across the whole time?

Before she could go into panic mode, the sound of applause started up.

She and Enjolras turned at the same time to see Fantine, and even some of their classmates, clapping.

"We've found a perfect match, it seems." Fantine said with a slight smirk. "And just in time. Our lesson is over, but next week, it'll go for longer. The length of these classes is going to start changing, so make sure you check your schedule before making plans on Monday evenings!"

Eponine was so grateful she could've hugged the woman, but instead, she quickly retrieved her bag from the chair she'd left it on.

Without a single glance at her friend (and temporary flat mate), Eponine ran out of the room.

A/N: Oh jeebus, I hope this wasn't too out of character. You guys should understand that this was just Eponine and Enjolras being good actors. They don't have actual romantic feelings for each other yet. They were drawing on past experience.

BUT, that's a bit of a breakthrough for Ep, right? In case you hadn't noticed, she doesn't really realize that her love for Marius is sort of pointless until her 'On My Own' moment in the musical (or just her epiphany in the book), so this was sort of the same thing but a lot less dramatic... and obviously, no rain.

Question: why is it always raining in the musical version/movie version of Les Mis? That shit is not coincidental. They must all be doing some sort of rain dance in between scenes.

Xx