In the mornings Eponine preferred to spend as much time as possible in her room, awaiting the departure of her mother to the market to buy whatever the inn was in need of for the day. Her father always roused early and was off doing his daytime "honest man's work," seeing to guests and taking care of little jobs about the old building. She hated dealing with her parents, which she inevitably had to do if they ever caught sight of her. Her mother nags at her about how no man will ever take the "shrunken, useless lump" as a wife, especially when she has no dowry to offer. Her father grumbles at her and tries to put her to work cleaning or convince her to cajole money out of her rich friends.
Because of this, Eponine avoids her parents, slipping out after they've left and slipping back in long after they're either in bed or still out haunting the streets of Paris. One particular morning, several mornings after her encounter with Montparnasse, she sat before her cracked, dusty looking glass, staring at her reflection.
She picked up her tangled hair and pinned it against her head with her fingers. She tilted her head up and tried to elongate her neck. Raising her eyebrows, she attempted the smooth, arrogant look she'd often seen on those pretty society girls who sashayed around the cleaner streets of Paris.
She tilted her head. I wonder if I'm pretty enough to be like one of those girls. After another moment of searching her reflection, she decided she wasn't really very pretty at all, and exasperatedly dropped her hair onto her shoulders. Perhaps if I bathed more frequently. she thought disdainfully as she felt grease and grime from her hair on her fingertips.
Pulling off her night garments, which consisted of a long, tattered white gown, she slipped into one of her better dresses. It was nothing extravagant, but it was a handsome piece of day-wear. It had once been a fine, forest green afternoon dress adorned with little gold-colored flowers at the hem and quality gray buttons. However, it had been through some wear and tear since its first wear when her mother had gotten it as a gift from her father, Eponine's grandfather. Especially since whenever her mother had a few pints too many she'd sneak into Eponine's wardrobe and try to squeeze into it, to "make her feel young again." All she ever accomplished though was getting the dress around her hips and stretching the fabric beyond repair.
But with the right corset, it made Eponine feel beautiful. Or at least mildly attractive.
Corset. Just another one of Eponine's great enemies. But some days she would get up the courage to wear one. Today was one of those days.
After dressing and combing her hair into a somewhat manageable plait, a simple hair trick her mother had taught her in her youth, Eponine cautiously made her way down the stairs, ears straining to hear signs of life.
"Why yes, monsieur, I am a student currently. I study law and hope to go into politics one day. Is Eponine about? I've come to call on her."
A gruff voice which she recognized to be her father's mumbled something in answer. Could it be…Surely not.
She rounded the corner of the staircase.
"Ah, there she is. And looking radiant!" Enjolras smiled brightly at Eponine.
Eponine felt a confused look overtake her features. "What are you doing here, Enjolras?"
"I've come to call on you."
"Yes, I've…I've gathered that much." Eponine squinted at him, taken aback. Her heart sped up and thudded gently against her ribcage. She found it necessary to take big gulps of air. She swore inwardly at the constricting corset that felt as though it was tightened directly around her lungs.
"Eponine can't talk, she's got to help me feed the chickens!" Her father rumbled.
"No, father, I—"
At that moment, Madame Thenardier waddled into the room. "'Ponine, whatcher doing looking all dressed like that?" She caught sight of Enjolras. "Oh, hoping to catch this one 'ere, ay? Good luck with that one." She said sarcastically, giggling rudely.
"Mother, please…"
"I'm here to call on Eponine, and with your permission take her for a short stroll." Enjolras said calmly.
"Oh is that all? Thank heavens! Git along, boy!" said Madame, laughing madly and waving them both away with a dish towel.
Eponine rushed through the door held open for her, escaping further embarrassment from her parents.
"Lovely people." Enjolras commented as they began to walk down the street.
"Oh, shut up."
Enjolras turned and smiled at her. "What's the occasion?" He asked, indicating her clothing.
"I was in the mood to look nice today. Got a problem with that?"
He looked her up and down and said, "Not in the slightest."
Eponine cocked an eyebrow, but let the moment pass. "Where are we going?"
"Ah, such a trite philosophy that one always must have a destination in mind. I recall some old cliché, advising that you be contented with the journey rather than where you are left standing at the end," said Enjolras wisely.
"Oh, Monsieur thinks he can use extravagant statements and impressive wording to seem intelligent. How wrong he is." Eponine quipped back. They exchanged a smile. However, Enjolras' smile was quickly clouded by concern.
He stared at Eponine's face with such intensity that she grew red in the cheeks. She looked back at him with the question on her face, which he answered by reaching his hand to touch the bone beneath her right eye very lightly.
"What happened here?"
Realization swept through her brain and it buzzed in nervousness as she spit out the first thing she could think of. "I fell."
"On your eye?" He looked at her doubtfully, but when she nodded he did not press the matter.
They continued to walk for quite a bit of time, until the sun was directly above them in the sky. Enjolras walked Eponine back to the inn and they stood outside it, chatting for a while.
"Eponine."
Eponine's face froze in horror. Although Enjolras did not recognize the man standing behind her, Eponine seemed to know who it was immediately without having to turn around and look.
The man did not look at Enjolras or acknowledge his presence in any way, but stared intently at Eponine, almost fearful. He approached her cautiously, as though she might burst into flames at any moment. He carefully reached out and touched her shoulder, and there was a familiarity in his touch that was not lost on Enjolras.
"Let me see your face." Her face. Why on earth did he want to see her face?
"No, Montparnasse, leave me alone please." she said in a steady voice.
He ignored her, spinning her by the shoulder to face him. He gasped quietly, almost as though in physical pain, and reached to touch her face in the same place Enjolras had earlier. Only this time, Eponine smacked his hand away.
"Don't! I'm fine, now leave."
"'Ponine, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…you know my temper…It'll never happen again…" he pleaded with her.
"Montparnasse. Go. Away." Eponine snarled through her teeth. Looking as though he wanted to say something, the man simply snapped his mouth shut and stalked off. She watched him walk away, a sad longing in her eyes.
This had all happened so quickly and came together in Enjolras' head so slowly that he hadn't had time to say anything or react in any way. But within a few seconds of the man's departure, it became crystal clear to him.
"Did that man hit you? Did he give you that bruise?" He turned on her immediately, irrationally angered at her by this.
"It's…I…No. Enjolras, listen—"
"Who is he?"
"An old friend of mine." Her tongue got caught up when she said "friend."
Enjolras suddenly got to the root of his irritation. He saw it all at once: the look he gave her, the touch, the way her eyes followed him as he walked away…
"He's an old lover. You were with him at some point." It wasn't a question.
She looked to the ground, unable to formulate any response that would rewind the conversation to before Montparnasse showed up.
He tried to keep his voice from trembling. "You're not yet over him, are you?"
Her head snapped up. "What business is it yours? Perhaps I'm in love with him, what does it even matter to you?" she spat, now angered at his questioning of her.
"Becau…I…It's not my business, I just don't think any friend of mine should be interested in a man that treats her that way." His eyes bore into hers fiercely.
"Oh, so you're protecting me as a friend. Well, here's some shocking news for you Enjolras: I'm fully capable of protecting myself!"
He fired back with foolish thoughtlessness, "That's true. Like the time you fell in love with a man, followed him around like a lost, pathetic puppy, was devastated when you found out he loved another, but continued to love him anyway, hurting yourself beyond repair. You're like a foolish child, touching a hot stove again and again, never learning from the previous burn."
She surveyed him quietly in disgust, injured. Then, without a word, she turned and went into the inn, leaving him alone outside, cursing his quick tongue and great stupidity.
He didn't understand what he felt. He felt…used, cheated, led on. Reasoning with himself, he couldn't logically come up with an explanation as to why he felt these things. Eponine didn't belong to him, they weren't together in any sense of the word, really. But it was the visions his head cooked up that caused these feelings. Images of him holding her hand, running his fingers through her hair, wrapping his arms around her…breathing in her wonderful scent…kissing her neck as she lay before him, trembling with anticipation…
He swallowed hard, trying to relieve his now dry, itchy throat. These images that he couldn't get rid of, that haunted him every night, that he wished would go away for the sake of his sanity but secretly feared they would in fact be torn from him. Torn away by some random interloper. Someone like Montparnasse.
And suddenly, Enjolras had never wanted to kill anyone more. And he had been to war.
"Is love this hard for everybody?" he thought aloud to himself. He already knew the answer without having to have somebody tell him.
No, it isn't.
Author's Note:
C'mon, it's Enjolras and Eponine, they couldn't be blissfully happy and get along forever! These two clash ferociously.
ARGGHH! I know, I know, I'm back, hoorah! I'm sooo sorry for the absence, if you'd seen how busy I've been the past couple weeks/months you'd understand. But nonetheless, I'm glad to be back, and I'm looking forward to all that I've cooked up in my head for the upcoming chapters! It's juiiiicy!
So, if you feel this chapter is a little messy, you're not alone. I'm just getting back on my feet with this story and I'm kind of switching directions a little bit and trying to be more descriptive and whatnot and…yada yada yoda ( ;) if you see what I did there). And I may or may not (spoiler alert) be setting up for something spectacular coming up. SOOOO. Yeah. Hopefully I'll get some more up soon!
