Thirteen

Eponine

Upon Gavroche's insistence, I accompany him to Les Amis meetings more frequently. I know he just wants to help me, but I just want to be alone. Grantaire tries to help when I do show. He knows exactly how to help. He just sits with me, letting me know he's there. I don't need him to say anything or try to make me feel better. I suppose Enjolras knows how to help as well. He doesn't act sorry for me or patronize me. He simply makes a point to talk to me, which I guess is his way of being a friend.

The sunlight shines through the small holes in the top of the elephant statue, and I know I need to get out of here and into society. As much as I want to be by myself, I know sitting here will only further my depression. I remember how bad that feels, and I don't want Gavroche to see me like that. He wasn't around the last time I got to be in a bad place, when I thought about going for an eternal swim in the Seine. Wrapping my shawl around my shoulders, I grab the rope ladder and begin to step downward. When I reach the street and replace the piece of plaster, I take a deep breath and try to forget my sadness for the moment. The fresh air feels good to my lungs, and I know this outing will do me well.

Not too far into the streets, I see a familiar face that makes me smile. I pick up my pace to try to catch up with him, but I'm quickly losing him in the crowd.

"Marius!" I call, hoping he'll hear me.

It seems to work but as he spins around to look at me, a young woman slams into him, knocking the basket she is carrying out of her arms. Marius quickly recovers and leans down to gather up her belongings. But as they both stood up, something happened, and I could see it. He paused when he passed her the basket, and I saw something change in his eyes. He looks at her in a way that I have always wanted him to look at me, and I can feel my heart slowly crushing, making itself smaller and smaller. After they exchange a few words, the girl hurries away, and Marius's eyes trail after her. I walk up to him, trying to hide the disappointment in my face, although he wouldn't even notice as he is still watching the young woman's fleeting form.

"Marius," I greet, probably a little too flatly.

"'Ponine, it's been a while," he replies, although he isn't paying much attention to me.

"It has. I've been staying with Gavroche."

Suddenly, he looks at me with a brightness is his eyes that involuntarily makes the corners of my lips twitch upward, and he places a hand on my shoulder.

"I have to find her again, 'Ponine."

My smile deflates, "Find who?"

"That girl, the one I collided with. I have to find her. Could you help me? You know your way around."

I don't want to help him. If I do, I'll lose him forever. But if I don't, I will betray him. I want him to be happy, don't I?

Regretfully, I sigh, "What is her name?"

He smiles, "She said is was Cosette."

Suddenly, memories hit me like a blow to the chest. I know that name. Cosette. She was the little girl who lived with me for so long, the one who my parents treated as a slave. Look at us now. She is beautiful and rich. I am a filthy street rat. How the tables have turned. She can't know who I am. I can't face that humiliation.

"I can find her by tonight," I say to Marius.

Delight spreads across his face, "Thank you so much, 'Ponine! I'll see you tonight!"

Then he is gone, and my heart is shattered.

Enjolras

Yet another meeting has rolled around, and I sit in the cafe waiting for everyone to arrive. Gavroche is one of the first to arrive, and as he comes bounding up the stairs, I wave him over to me.

"Evening, Enjolras," he says cheerily when he bounces up in front of me.

"Good evening, Gav. Will your sister be joining us tonight?" I ask.

I don't know why, but Eponine has been on my mind a lot. Maybe it's because of how she seemed so down the last time I saw her, so fragile. I am concerned about her.

Gavroche shrugs nonchalantly, "Said she's got some errands."

Before I can say anything else, the boy dashes off to basically tackle Courfeyrac. I was hoping I could speak to her tonight, just in hopes that she would be in better spirits. Just then, Marius comes up the stairs with a ridiculous expression on his face. He begins to chatter incessantly, but I can't hear what about over the noise. After a moment, I begin to hear the mutters surrounding a mysterious girl and love. I am immediately infuriated. Not because Marius has seemed to fall head over heels for some girl he barely knows, but because of his complete disregard for Eponine's feelings. Now, I certainly don't want her to show up to the meeting. Finally, I stand.

"Marius, we don't have time for this nonsense. Do you not realize that we strive toward a larger goal?"

He smiles at me, "Enjolras, I realize you don't see the necessity of love in someone's life, but had you been there you would understand. It was breathless delight. Now, I must find her.

"You aren't a school boy anymore. You need to decide if you stand with us or not. If you do, we do not have time for these games," I reiterate.

He seems to ignore my words and continues on, "My world is dark as night if she isn't a part of it! She completes my -"

I raise my hand to interrupt him, "Marius, no one cares about your lonely soul!"

With that, his mouth snaps shut, and he slinks into a chair defeated. I was probably more harsh than necessary, but we have business to attend to. The room falls silent after that, and I begin the meeting. About halfway through the meeting, I notice movement at the top of the stairs and glance in that direction. I see Eponine standing there, staring at the floor with despair written all over her face. Marius nearly leaps up, the legs of his chair scraping against the wooden floors, making the sound echo through the room. Eponine disappears then, and Marius follows closely behind. And everything clicks together. Eponine already knew about Marius's "love," and she was helping him in some way to find her. I have to keep myself from sighing in exasperation. Why would she inflict that kind of pain on herself? I decide to cut the meeting short, simply because I'll be too distracted to continue.

I have just settled in for the evening on my sofa when something hits my door. I ignore it at first, but then something hits it again. Curious, I decided to get up and see what's going on. When I open the door, I am floored at what I find. Eponine lays crumpled at my door step, gasping for breath. I notice a cut across her cheek and tears in her dress.

"Enjolras," she rasps.

"Eponine, what happened to you?" I exclaim as I gingerly slip her into my arms.

She grabs hold of my shirt front as I carry her into the house, her fingers trembling, "My father. I can't. I need to catch my breath."

I sit her on the sofa and examen the cut on her cheek. Seeing that it isn't too deep, I sit with her until she regains her breath and is able to tell me what happened. Finally, she is able to speak almost normally.

"I took Marius to Cosette's house, but as I was waiting for him, my father showed up with his gang. He was going to rob the house, but I couldn't let him because Marius was inside the garden. Essentially, I ruined my father's raid, and he wasn't happy about it."

"And Marius didn't help you?" I ask, my voice hinting at the anger I felt.

"They knocked my out. Marius probably didn't even see me. When I came to, you were the first person I thought of for help."

"I'll be back. I'm going to get something to clean your cut."

I hurriedly grabbed some old cloth and some alcohol I kept in the cabinet for emergencies. I sit back down beside her and use one piece of cloth to wipe the blood off of her cheek. I uncork the alcohol and grab a clean cloth.

"Tilt your head to the side. This is going to sting," I tell her.

She does as I said, and I drip some of the alcohol into the cut. She hisses, her face contorting in pain. I dab the cut with the clean cloth and make sure it is dry.

"I'm sorry, but we couldn't have that getting infected. Are you injured anywhere else?"

Her hand brushes over her side, "My ribs, I think he broke one."

"We'll have to bind them, then."

I find a set of old bed covers and begin to rip them into strips. I can feel Eponine watching me as I work, but she doesn't say anything. For her decency, I begin to wrap the strips around her abdomen on the outside of her dress. It is thin enough that it won't be an issue. She winces when I tug on the fabric and when I knot the strips together, but smiles gratefully at me when I finish.

"Thank you, Enjolras. How did you know how to do all that?" she asks.

"I've lived on my own for a while. I don't have anyone to take care of me. Besides, when I was young, my parents made me learn to ride horses. We had a temperamental horse that didn't like to be ridden, and he managed to break a few of my ribs over time," I smirk.

"Oh," she laughs.

"Why don't you stay here for the night? It's late, and I don't know that you can climb up that elephant with your ribs like that," I offer.

She shakes her head, "I don't want to intrude."

"I think we've had this conversation before. You wouldn't be intruding."

"Fine, but I'm sleeping right here. I don't really want to move," she sighs.

"Agreed," I say to her.

Author's Note: Wow you guys. I am so sad right now. I haven't been able to write in so long, and it is driving me crazy. College doesn't give you much time for yourself. I hope you enjoy this little bit. I really want to write more during the week, so maybe I'll get a chance to. There will be more E/E coming up though, I promise. I applaud my faithful readers for sticking with me. You guys rock! So, speaking of my faithful readers, I have a question for you. If I were to write something "publishable" would you want to read it? Anyway, I hope to have more time to write. Please drop me a review if you're still sticking with me, so that I know you're there! I would greatly appreciate it.

~loislane16