Hi everyone, AGAIN, I'm sorry that this has taken so long; my excuse THIS time is that I started my new job! I'm an associate product manager (manager!) at a company here in Florida. So far I'm two weeks in and I like it (except for the early mornings!). I'm finally settling into THAT, so NOW I'm hoping that I'll regularly update. As far as the future looks, I'm thinking probably another interlude after this chapter, three more chaps after that, one more interlude thing, a concluding chapter, and then an "epilogue" that's going to detail what REALLY happened in the prologue.

Again, thank you guys for sticking with me despite my less than regular updates! You are all the BEST. And as always, a huge thank you and large amount of love for Jess (SleepingwithinWater) for being a fantastic person and great friend!

Chapter 10: The Aftermath

"Tell me, Éponine. Who's better, Marius or Enjolras?" Cosette's question bounced around Enjolras's brain, the implications of it finally answering the mystery of why Éponine kept condoms next to her bed. They were not for a possible stranger at the bar, or a coworker from the school. No, they were for Marius Pontmercy, and had been for a year.

The thought made Enjolras sick to his stomach.

He wondered how recently the two of them had been together. Had she seen him the night before she had been with Enjolras? Right after? Had she been so distraught from Gavroche's disappearance that she had thought that Enjolras was Marius?

She had them all convinced that she had no feelings for Marius. That she never had. That she had been mistaken with her supposed feelings; she only loved the idea of someone showing her kindness, not Marius himself.

Enjolras did not understand why the thought of Éponine with another man made him so angry. It was not that the man was Marius, an unavailable friend of his. No…it was more the idea of her – a woman whom he had certain…affections for – being with someone that was not Enjolras. The rush of jealousy unnerved him.

Sure, they had history, but was that the reason why? Or was it something more, something that had manifested within him over the years, needing the supposed death of Gavroche to break free? Enjolras did not know. What he did know was that a very distraught Marius Pontmercy was advancing on Éponine, who had not moved from her place at the table.

"Do you understand what just happened?" Marius's voice shook with emotion, tears running unchecked down his cheeks. "Do you know what you've done?"

"What I've done?" Éponine questioned, her eyebrows raised in confusion. There was a visible sheen of tears over her eyes, though they did not fall. "I didn't cheat on Cosette, Marius."

"No," He said, a sarcastic smile adorning his face. "But you weren't innocent in this either."

"I told you." Éponine began, gritting her teeth as she stood from her chair. "I told you after the first time that we shouldn't do it again. And you wanted to."

"I didn't want to, I…"

"You what?" Éponine asked, her tone low as she regarded Marius. He looked down at his hands.

"I felt like…I felt like I had to."

"You felt like you had to?" Éponine repeated slowly, as if to cement her own understanding. "And why would you feel like you had to?"

Marius took a deep breath. "I…I knew you had feelings for me. And I couldn't tell you that I didn't have feelings for you. You knew I was with Cosette and you wanted this to happen anyway…I…I got caught up. I don't even think I realized it had been going on for so long."

"Do not blame me for this." Éponine said harshly. Her hands rested on the table, though Enjolras could see them shaking. Everyone else was looking between Éponine and Marius as though they were at a tennis match.

"It is your fault."

"This is not only my fault. What you're saying is that you were too much of a coward to tell me that you didn't return my feelings and that you wanted to be with Cosette. You were too much of a coward to tell Cosette within the last year that you had been sleeping with me. You wanted to have your cake and eat it too, Marius, and that is appalling."

"So what if it is!" Marius burst out, his eyes flashing with anger, all traces of tears gone from his eyes. "So what if I'm a coward, and so what if I liked having you on the side sometimes? You're one of Cosette's closest friends, and you were fucking her boyfriend behind her back. What does that say for you?"

"You liked having me on the side sometimes?"

"You were the group slut in college, Éponine, I wanted to see – " Marius never had the chance to finish his statement, as Éponine took three steps forward and slapped him hard across the cheek.

"How fucking dare you." She ground out, the tears finally flowing from her eyes down her cheeks. "How dare you say that about me, how dare you imply that you wanted to sleep with me because everyone else had. How fucking…" Éponine trailed off, her anger preventing her from continuing.

Enjolras was silent. He knew that he had been with Éponine in college, but was he not the only one? Was their special – in his mind – affair not really that special?

"I will have you fucking know, not that it is any of your business, but I was with one person in this room in college and it was Enjolras, Marius. Not anyone else. So, I don't think you heard anything about me. I think you're looking for a fucking excuse for your own behavior. But you know what? You are a liar, and a cheater, Marius, and even though Cosette will never speak to me again, I'm glad she won't be with a scumbag like you."

Marius said nothing, just quickly stepped away from Éponine and walked toward the door. He glanced at Enjolras, his eyes conveying nothing, before pushing the door open and disappearing into the night.

In the wake of Marius's departure, snippets of argument could be heard from the kitchen area. Musichetta and Lesgle had disappeared into the back area right after Cosette's departure, and were currently having a heated fight about her infidelity. Combeferre had already texted Joly, who was on call at the hospital, to let him know what had happened.

No one spoke. Courfeyrac, the usually joyful and happy member of the group was staring at the ground, his fingers anxiously twisting together as he waited for someone to speak. Éponine was still standing in the same spot where she had slapped Marius, her hand red and shaking from the blow. Enjolras was seated at his table, a book in front of him. Combeferre was nervously glancing between the argument in the kitchen, to Éponine, to Enjolras. The remaining Amis were helplessly looking down, or to Enjolras, hoping the old leader would instruct them.

"Éponine?" Combeferre asked gently. She looked over to him, her eyes dull, and her bottom lip pulled between her teeth. "Do you want to go home?"

Éponine nodded mutely, her teeth chewing her lip as she fought tears. Combeferre nodded, before pushing his chair back and standing. He walked behind Éponine, and gathered her papers, before placing a hand lightly on her lower back to guide her to the door.

Still, no one moved. Enjolras had hundreds of questions waiting on the tip of his tongue; questions he wanted – needed – the answers to. Did she love Marius? When had they last been together? Did Enjolras mean anything to her? Did she share his…feelings?

His main question was for himself: how – and when - in the hell had he allowed himself to fall for her?

"I'm so sorry."

"I don't want to hear it."

"Cosette, please…" Marius pleaded helplessly. He had returned home to the apartment he shared with his girlfriend to find her packing her clothes into a suitcase.

"Please what, Marius? You've been cheating on me for a year with one of my friends. There is literally no way for this to end well for you. I'm leaving, and nothing that you say is going to make it so I stay."

"I…" Marius trailed off as Cosette turned her back to him, her action echoing the finality of her statement. Marius knew that no matter what he said, or did, Cosette would never forgive him.

"For what it is worth." Marius said softly, pausing in the doorway to the bedroom they had shared for the majority of their relationship. "I am truly sorry. If I could go back, I would. She meant nothing."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Cosette burst out, as she threw down the clothes in her hands and turned to face Marius again. "Is it supposed to make me feeling better that in addition to cheating on me, you were also using one of my friends, just because you knew she had feelings for you and would give you what you wanted?"

"Um…"

"That doesn't make me feel better, Marius. If anything, it makes you look even worse than before."

"Cosette…"

"Just leave, Marius. I'll be done in a few minutes and you can have your room."

Recognizing defeat, Marius turned and left the room.

Éponine stumbled into her apartment, her arms wrapped around Combeferre's neck, her hips grinding against his as she pushed him into the wall. What had started as an innocent kiss on her part in the car had escalated into a full-blown make out session. She could blame it on Combeferre's respect and friendliness, she supposed, or maybe on the undeniable attractiveness he possessed, but deep down, she knew what it was, really. It was her.

Éponine had always internalized feelings, whether they were from her parent's neglect, her ruthless fight for custody of Gavroche, Marius's rejection, or more recently, the disappearance of her brother. She found it difficult to express emotions; she didn't know how to talk about her feelings, and she certainly did not know how to deal with them in a healthy way.

Instead, Éponine liked to channel her feelings into sex.

In college, there was a semester when she thought she would lose custody of Gavroche. Her parents were scheming to get him back, citing that she was unfit to have him, as she was always busy with school. Her frustration, anger and sadness at the prospect of losing Gav after she had fought so hard to get him had driven her into Enjolras's arms, the very last place she ever expected to be.

That was when she realized that sex was a good distraction from real life. Enjolras gave her what she needed, and for a little while, she forgot about the struggles she was facing. And so, she kept doing it.

The same had happened with Enjolras the day Gavroche had disappeared. Had she wanted to have sex with him? Of course. Was she attracted to him? What woman wasn't? But…did she have an ulterior motive? Absolutely.

Marius had been something different entirely. She knew it was wrong. But she had to; she had feelings for him, no matter how much she denied it. Having him was worth everything, even though now, in the aftermath of the reveal, she hated herself for it.

And now, Combeferre. In the wake of destruction at the Musain, Éponine was not sure what to do. She had lost Marius, she had lost Cosette, she knew Enjolras was doubting her. The whole situation was enough to make her go crazy. She needed a distraction, and she needed it immediately.

"We can't." Combeferre breathed, his eyes wide beneath his askew glasses.

"Why? " Éponine breathed. His obvious erection pushing against her stomach was enough evidence that he wanted to.

"We can't… you're upset, this is wrong." Combeferre stepped away, his hand groping blindly behind him to find the doorknob. "I'm sorry, Éponine, this isn't about me not being attracted to you, I am…it just wouldn't be right."

With a look of apology and not another word, Combeferre hastily exited the apartment.

Éponine leaned against the wall, raising a shaky hand to run through her mussed hair. She didn't dare call Enjolras, Marius was not an option, and now Combeferre had rejected her.

In any other situation, she would have convinced Gavroche to play a board game, or watch a movie with her. That, however, was not possible, so Éponine did the only thing she could think of.

She cried.

Mehhh sad. I tried to do the whole sex thing in a way that makes sense; I had a brief period during college that I was upset about this one guy, so to cover it up, I started something with another guy, and then I ended up losing both of them. Moral of the story is that sex because you're sad or angry is NEVER a good idea, don't do it!

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter (and I'm glad ff is back up!) Again, thank you all for sticking with me through my sparse updates, you guys are the best. Let me know what you think, and hopefully I'll be back much sooner next time! xoxo Brittany