A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update but my school year is a little bit heavy this year so... -.- Anyways, I hope you all like where the story is going and please, please review. Your lovely feedback helps me decipher what I should write about next and essentially update quicker, so review! Thank you!
Surprise
He ran his fingers over the cut on his lip, right eyebrow, and cheekbone, wincing when a sharp pain shot through the scab.
"Ya'r a bloody idiot." Thenardier snapped, still bitter with irritation.
Only weeks ago, Montparnasse had been given a large sum of money, not bothering to reveal who the donor was or why the money had been given to him. The previous week, the money had been taken in the dead of night and the young conman had disappeared with it, not bothering to return without bruises and cuts, not bothering to mention who had given them to him or why.
"I didn't do this to myself ya know." He rolled his eyes, "So I'd appreciate it if ya'd gimme a break."
The old villain sat by the fire, sharpening a piece of jagged wood with a ragged stone he'd found near the Seine. Anger and severe annoyance boiled within him.
Montparnasse fidgeted with his fingers, anxiety building up within him, "So mind ya'r business."
Thenardier nodded slowly, not bothering to pay too much attention to the boy. Sooner or later, he'd be gone for good.
...
Enjolras sat across from Eponine, sipping his tea and watching the girl as she gazed out the window hotly.
"Is there something I can get for you Mademoiselle?" Julie asked through clenched teeth.
Joly had requested her to watch Eponine specifically and make sure she was following through with their plans.
Eponine, on the other hand, had made sure to avoid the possibility of 'romancing' him as long as possible. If Marius' relationship with Cosette fell apart, then she would still stand a chance with him. If Enjolras never healed and fell in love with her, although highly unlikely, it would destroy any chance she had left with Marius.
"No." She smiled nonchalantly.
Julie smiled back mockingly and flicked the girl on the neck as she moved past them with a tray of tea in one hand and a thin crocheted bag in her other.
Enjolras seemed oblivious to the moment, fixated on his book and his tea and nothing else. Especially not the waif.
It would take too much effort to avert his attention away – too much for her liking anyways. Taking a deep breath and holding it inside her, Eponine left her seat and moved towards the exit of the house, wary of whether or not to risk meeting Montparnasse again.
Their last meeting had left her with frequent, vivid nightmares that woke her with a jolt and kept her pondering over them the rest of the never ending night.
Just last night she had dreamt that Montparnasse had found her, kissed her on the mouth like he always so blatantly did, and then – a searing pain shot through her body, knocking the breath out of her, numbing her senses, twisting the world around her to a point where it crumbled away beneath her. Then she saw herself, lying on the cold floor beneath his feet, blood forming a gruesome crimson pool around them both as she lay gasping for air. The boy seemed conflicted, calling out for help, trembling veraciously, but the he stopped. In the blink of an eye, the boy turned into a man – Eponine's father, laughing and grinning slyly as his daughter took her final, struggling breaths.
It had caused her to revaluate every relationship she had formed in her entire lifetime. It was a dream, but it was also the reason for one of the worst feelings Eponine had ever encountered in her life. She, and her baby, had been violently murdered by one of her once closest friends and her father. Since she had almost met that fate, she could never bear to face them again. But if she-
"Eponine?" A voice called out suddenly, rapping on the door quietly, but persistently, "Eponine?"
"Yes!" She pulled it open to find a perplexed Marius standing with his hand pushing back his hair, "I have news!"
"M-Marius…?" Dazed and confused, she watched the man run into the house, stop midway through the hallway and share a glance with her.
"Where is everybody?"
"Out and about… Joly's upstairs…" She shook her head then pointed a trembling finger at him, "Why – Why are you here again?"
"I have some news." He grinned, turning pink in the cheeks. Eponine's heart melt.
"Well – what is it?"
Marius lit up, something she only saw him do when he became infatuated with Cosette…
"Cosette's, er, Cosette's pregnant."
...
When the world reconnected itself, when the black haze that had formed around Eponine's vision finally dissolved into dusky light, she reviewed what she had heard in her bustling mind.
She was with child. Marius couldn't possibly care what Eponine and her baby needed because now, he would have a baby of his own.
The haze returned, clouding her already fragile vision, causing her to take deep, heaving breaths, as if she would soon run out of them.
"Eponine!?" Marius ran to her, holding her underneath the arms as she fell to the floor, disoriented and heart broken, "Joly! Joly! Help us!"
...
Enjolras stood in the kitchen, caught off guard by the noise. What had happened so immediately?
"Is everything alright?" He ran swiftly from the kitchen to the main corridor, taken off guard by what he saw. The poor pregnant girl was half fallen on the floor with a strange man barely managing to keep her from falling.
"Eponine! Eponine wake up!" He begged, pulling her higher up.
"Excuse me!" Enjolras called, running up to him and taking the waif from her arms, "Get out."
"Enjolras…?"
"Leave."
"It's Marius you bloody idiot."
"I don't care who you are, get out."
"Look, I know you're upset about the last time but –"
"Monsieur, leave or so help me I'll-"
"Good day." Marius swallowed what seemed like a lump in his throat and left the house with the thud of the door.
Eponine lay limply in the man's arms, whimpering gently but pale as a ghost and shivering like a leaf in the wind. Hoisting her up, Enjolras moved her to the living room, laying her on the sofa and retrieving a wet cloth for her forehead.
"Mademoiselle, wake up." He begged, calling for Joly soon after, until he had confirmed that the young doctor and his nurse weren't home.
What was he to do? What if she fell into a state of dire need for professional medical care? He couldn't do much.
"Mademoiselle, please." He shook her gently and managed to get a response. The waif's eyes fluttered and she shifted her position.
"Wake up. Wake up, Mademoiselle." He prayed, finally watching the waif sit up in shock, panting and gripping Monsieur Enjolras' hand securely.
"Mademoiselle?"
She released her grip from his hand, "Where is he?"
"That man? He left." He looked around, "Are you alright?"
"He's gone…" She repeated herself a few times, slipping her fingers into his hand once more before coming to her senses and ripping it out, "You idiot!" She stood to her feet, running to the doorway and yanking it open, staring out into the streets with an empty heart.
"Mademoiselle, if I did anything to upset you I apologize…"
Eponine stared at him in resentment, ready to tell him how he had done everything to upset her. He had somehow ridden her life of Marius' once before, and had done it again. If Marius was to return once more, it would be nothing short of a miracle.
But it wasn't his fault. It was Montparnasse's, for ridding the poor oaf of his memory.
"You didn't do anything, Monsieur. It was my mistake. I apologize." She moved towards him with her arms crossed across her chest, resting lightly on her stomach.
"Is your baby alright?" He moved towards her, taking her hands into his own and feeling her pulse, "What happened?"
Frozen, Eponine stuttered briefly then shook her head. He was so close to her that she could feel his breath on her skin, the warmth sending shivers down her spine.
"I-I, don't remember." She grinned, dizzy.
"You fainted – did that man have anything to do with it."
"Marius?" She shook her head, "He had everything to do with it."
"Then we'll call the police!"
"No!" She differed, chuckling nervously, "No, he – he didn't mean any harm. He was an old friend of mine, I guess – I guess I just got overwhelmed."
He nodded, "I called for Monsieur Joly but he wasn't home."
Had the man single handedly nursed her back to health? Only God knew what he would bring for her, because for the first time after a very, very long time – Eponine felt a flutter in her heart and warmth in her cheeks.
"Thank you." She smiled, turning her head away from him.
"If you need anything, anything at all, especially for your baby – just let me know. It would be a pleasure to help."
"You're a very good man Enjolras."
It felt like déjà vu coming out of the waif's mouth. They had uttered these words to one another before the accident.
"I'm glad I could be of service." He nodded briskly and turned to leave but stopped after Eponine kissed him on the cheek, lingering for a moment before she had realized what it had meant.
She hadn't thought about the 'plan' Joly had elaborately laid out for her.
She had done it on pure instinct; it was spur of the moment…
Enjolras' eyes widened and his cheeks reddened. Eponine covered her mouth and he had been petrified by the action.
"Go away." Enjolras begged suddenly, catching the waif off guard.
Tears had welled up in Eponine's eyes, only streaming down her face when she pivoted on her heel and ran up the stairs bitterly to her chambers.
Why had she cared so much?
Enjolras wasn't even himself. There was no reason to be embarrassed, no reason to worry about how it would affect the relationship between the soon to be parents. He would forget as soon as his memory came back.
But still, the moment had left her hopeful for forgiveness from him and for him to heal from his amnesia as soon as possible.
The longer he was like this, the longer she had to face feeling this way.