A/N: So here's the chapter everyone's been waiting for...haha I think some people are going to be disappointed, to be honest.
A half a block away from the Musain, Éponine stopped. "Wait. I—I don't think I want to do this."
Musichetta, who had been striding purposefully forward, faced Éponine, hands on her hips. "Why? What's gotten into you? You were all for it yesterday, and now every time I look at you, you look like you're dreading it."
"Maybe we should do it a different day," Éponine suggested. "When I'm more up for it."
"You are up for it, and you're up for it right now," Musichetta said sternly. "The only thing holding you back is your hesitation. All you need to do is keep going, and then you won't have time to have doubts."
Éponine could see her friend would not be dissuaded. Just as well, Éponine admitted to herself. Nothing could be achieved by putting it off. "All right," Éponine said, and they started walking again. "But we're taking this my pace. Don't go doing anything right when we get in."
"I know," Musichtta. "But you do need some pushing some times, 'Ponine. Go on!" She gave Éponine a tiny nudge through the Musain door. "I'll order. You just sit down. Find out if he's here."
Éponine scanned the room. With a slight feeling of plummeting, she spotted him. There was no turning back now. This was it. From her on out, everything would (hopefully) fall into place and Éponine would just have to go with it without making a fool of herself. Even though she had been wondering how long it would take until it actually happened, now that it was here, it was a daunting prospect.
She positioned herself carefully so he could only see her profile, and not even that if her hair was in the right place. Éponine gave another quick glance over to him, coming away with a twinge of annoyance. He was writing feverishly in that stupid notebook of his and hadn't noticed her.
Stop. Éponine considered herself. Had she really just felt jealous of a notebook?
Maybe she did want to go with this after all.
Musichetta hurried over. "Well? Where is he?"
Éponine took a drink of her mocha. "The table nearest to the blackboard."
Musichetta craned her neck to locate him. Her mouth fell open at the sight of him, her eyes wide. She dropped quickly back into her seat.
"What?" Éponine wondered, alarmed. "What's wrong?"
"I know him."
"You know him!?" Éponine repeated in a shocked whisper.
"I know him," Musichetta said again. "If I had known that it was him that you saw—"
"Well—how?" Éponine hoped Musichetta wouldn't say what she was fearing.
"He's a sorta friend."
"Stop being so vague!" Éponine said, panicked. "What kind of friend?"
Musichetta waved a hand. "He's...uh..." She trailed off, trying to catch another glimpse of him from her seated position.
"He's what?"
"Oh! He's a friend of Valère's."
Éponine sighed in relief. "Mon dieu, you scared me! I thought he was some ex-boyfriend or something," she mumbled.
Musichetta laughed nervously. "That would make things awkward, certainly. No, he's not that. I don't think Alex has ever gone out with any girl, come to think of it. Just spends all his time working."
"Alex? That's his name?" Éponine asked cautiously.
"Alexandre," Musichetta corrected her. "He's a sort of weirdly formal and old-fashioned." At Éponine's questioning look, she elaborated, "I'm supposed to call him Enjolras, but...it sounds so distant, you know?"
"Maybe he doesn't like being intimate with a lot of people. You seem to not be that good friends with him, anyway."
"Well I am a little bit, I guess," Musichetta said. "I override what I said a minute ago. I know that he's the leader of a club Valère's in, so whenever I go to see Valère after the meetings, I bump into him and we talk a little."
They had been speaking in hushed tones the entire time. The Musain was emptier at this time, loud voices easier to carry through the shop.
"Well? You know about him now," Musichetta said. "It'll just be creepy if he doesn't know anything about you. Best if we go and do what we came to do, wouldn't you say?"
Éponine made a face. "You lead."
Musichetta stood up and brushed herself down. She gestured for Éponine to get up as well and began to walk towards Enjolras. (How strange it was to match a face with a name now, after so many weeks of not knowing!) Éponine followed, feeling as though she had just walked off a cliff. She could only keep going from here.
Enjolras was still bent over his notebook, making it convenient for Musichetta to make a roundabout around his table, until she stood behind Enjolras. He was oblivious to their presence, totally immersed in his work. Éponine stood next to Musichetta, her heart beating so hard she thought it would break right through her body. Any second now.
Musichetta reached out with one finger and tapped Enjolras on the shoulder. He turned around, his frown turning into one of recognition. Éponine couldn't help wondering if it was just Musichetta he remembered, or if he recollected her too.
"Musichetta. What a surprise. How are you?"
"Very well, thank you, Monsieur," Musichetta replied smoothly. "I trust you are also?"
"Yes." This one word was all that he said before his gaze slid to Éponine. It was brief, but Musichetta's sharp eyes didn't miss anything.
Without preamble, she said, "This is Éponine Thenardier. She works with me at The Idle Hour."
"Enchanté, mademoiselle," Enjolras said, nodding slightly.
"Why don't we sit down?" Musichetta suggested, and basically pulled Éponine down with her opposite of Enjolras. Looking as though he expected conversation, he pointedly laid aside his notebook and gave them his full attention. Éponine was directly across from him. She was closer to him than she had ever been, of which Éponine was very aware.
Oh crap. Now I'll have to say something, Éponine realized. Were they waiting for her to start? Éponine could already deduce that Enjolras wasn't the talkative type, but she didn't know how to even begin. Musichetta, Éponine suddenly then recalled, had more than enough chatter for all of three of them. Éponine was relieved when she took the initiative.
"So how's school, Alex?" Musichetta questioned. "Valère tells me that you hardly ever sleep now, what with school and Les Amis and all that."
"It is my safe bet, Musichetta, that what Joly is telling you is what he believes is an inadequate amount of rest. I can assure you that I am sleeping. Just several hours less than he is."
Musichetta gave Éponine a half glance. Was this an indication that she should try to add to the conversation? A clean, risk-free opportunity had just presented itself, after all. Éponine assumed so.
"Where do you go to school?" she asked.
Enjolras regarded her with faint interest. Éponine looked back steadfastly, waiting for an answer. "Normale," he said at last. "It's my second year, studying law."
Éponine was slowly assembling a profile. He didn't say much, attended one of the most prestigious universities in the country, and more than a little reserved. Probably the most put-together person in the city, judging from how he spoke and held himself. She'd managed to gather that much with the few short lines of conversation that had been exchanged. If she had ever felt inadequate before…
"So what were you so eager to jot down in that notebook?" Musichetta wondered.
"Notes for Les Amis," he said. "It's a club I lead," Enjolras added to Éponine.
"What's it a club for?" she asked.
"Helping those who need it," Enjolras said. "We raise money and donate it to charities, have drives every year for food, clothing, books, whatever someone might need. Musichetta's friend Joly's in it, maybe she's told you?"
"Uh, I can't remember," Éponine said stupidly.
"Oh, that reminds me. Marius told me to give this to Joly, but I never see him around campus, and I don't want it to wait, since it seems pretty important." Enjolras reached into his bag and handed a packet of papers over.
"Marius Pontmercy?" Éponine said. "You know him?"
"He's in the same class as I am," Enjolras said. "Why?"
Next to her, Éponine felt Musichetta turn to examine her. "He's a friend of mine as well. He's…uh…he's a nice guy."
"Yes," Enjolras agreed. "Although he could stand to keep his priorities straight."
"What do you mean by that?" Musichetta asked.
"The man is so head-over-heels in love he forgets his commitments sometimes is all," Enjolras said. "It can be detrimental when it builds up, and I regret to say that it happens more often that I would prefer."
Maybe that's why he's never had a girlfriend, Éponine thought. He obviously thinks there are more important things.
Musichetta was laughing. "Come on, Alexandre. Surely if you were in as love with a girl as Marius is, you'd want some time to be with her."
"Perhaps," Enjolras conceded. "Though I would be sure to make sure I wasn't being dominated by the relationship either, which I find sometimes to be the case with our friend Marius."
Éponine found herself keeping quiet, which surprised her. The criticism wasn't annoying her, nor was it making her upset. She could even see why it might be justified, why it would understandably be irksome to Enjolras. This was a change. She was sure she still felt as strongly about Marius as she always had…but if she did, she would have surely leapt to his defense by now, instead of not saying anything. Perhaps she didn't love him as much as she'd previously thought.
But the even bigger revelation was that she wasn't saddened by it. A release was coming. Not yet, because despite the possibility that Éponine wasn't as strongly in love any more, she still was, to a certain extent. But when it did finally arrive, Éponine couldn't help thinking that it would be one of the most liberating moments of her life. When that day came, she wasn't sure. It was impossible for Éponine, or anyone for that matter, to just spontaneously decide that she wasn't going to love someone anymore.
Strange. She was hoping for the day when her love would end.
A/N: Well, that's it. Sorry for dropping the whole Marius deal without much development...but she's had her mind filled with Enjolras, so I guess it would be a sort of natural reaction for her to start falling out of love with Marius, since she's been more and more preoccupied with Enjolras.
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