Eponine rushed to the hospital as fast as she could. Everything else was forgotten, and all that mattered to her right now was her best friend.

Her heart beat frantically against her chest, and it felt like it was going to jump out of its cavity any time soon. Fear crept in Eponine's veins when she thought about Cosette battling for her and the baby's life; worry consumed her entire body as tears streamed down her face. She ran into the hospital, knowing that she needed to be there for Cosette when she woke up.

If she woke up, a nasty voice in the back of her mind chided.

Eponine picked up her pace. She wasn't the one who prayed, nor the person who cared about religion, but right now, she found herself praying. She prayed that Cosette did not lose too much blood when she fell. She prayed that the baby would survive. She prayed that she would not lose her best friend.

Her friends were already at the hospital when Eponine arrived. Musichetta was crying in Joly's arms, Grantaire had his face in his hands, rocking his body back and forth, wondering if this was harsh reality or an ugly nightmare. They were the sight that greeted Eponine when she arrived, and everything else was blurry to her after that. She saw that some of her friends were either sitting down or pacing back and forth, anxious and impatient.

Eponine was breathing harshly, her feet felt like they were made of jelly. However, her eyes caught sight of Combeferre, and somehow, she managed to gather enough energy to make her way to him.

Combeferre was the calmest of them all. Right now, he also seemed to be the strongest.

Combeferre was sitting beside Courfeyrac, trying to calm the clearly distressed man. He heard her footsteps approaching him, and when he turned and found her coming his way, he heaved a sigh of relief; a small, strained smile appeared on his lips.

Eponine practically sprinted towards him, bursting in tears the moment she was in his embrace. She hugged him tightly, seeking for reassurance, a comfort that right now, seemed like only he could provide.

"Cosette… is she… is she okay?" Eponine croaked, but before Combeferre could answered that, she closed her eyes tight, and asked the next question, the one that she dreaded the answer to, "Did she lose the baby?"

"We don't know yet," Combeferre pulled back and adjusted his glasses at the bridge of his nose, "The doctors are trying their best, but they haven't told us anything."

That did not sound good. Eponine felt sick to her stomach.

"Oh God," she shook her head, and Combeferre reached out, pulling her close to him again.

"Hey, shh, it's alright. It's going to be alright." He wrapped his arms around her, "It's going to be alright." He repeated again and again.

Eponine nodded, trying to get herself together. She then looked around the place, and turned to Combeferre, "Where's Enjolras?"

"He's at the cafeteria. I told him to get away from here for a moment. He needs a break." Combeferre answered, "Ep, he's a mess."

"Why? Is he okay?"

"Enjolras went to Cosette's place to get some documents that Marius told him to look through. Cosette was mopping the floor at that time. The floor was slippery, and she fell. Enjolras was there and… I don't know, I think he's still in shock. Everything happened so fast. Cosette was unconscious the whole time. Enjolras was scared beyond belief. And then he had to call everyone to inform them about Cosette, and he had everyone calling him for confirmations. And if you ask me, I think he blames himself a little bit for everything that happened today."

Eponine frowned, "What? If he wasn't there, Cosette would…"

She trailed off, and did not finish her sentence. The possibility was too much for Eponine to take. All she knew was that things would definitely be worse if Enjolras wasn't there.

Combeferre agreed with her.

"I know, Ep. I tried telling him that, but he did not listen. It's not the best time to talk to him anyway. Like I said, he's a mess."

"What about Marius? Where is he?" Eponine questioned, scanning the waiting room once again for Cosette's… ex-boyfriend? She did not know the situation with Marius and Cosette ever since the two broke up. She did not know whether Cosette and Marius had patched things up. It was weird to think of Marius as Cosette's ex-boyfriend.

Either way, boyfriend or ex-boyfriend, as the father of the baby, Marius should be here too. Fury fuelled within Eponine when she saw that Marius was not there.

Eponine felt Combeferre's hand on her arm, and she glanced at the man, "What?"

"I called Marius. He's not in New York, but he's on the first flight here. He'll be here soon enough."

Eponine did not say anything. Instead she took a seat next to Courfeyrac, rubbing the man's back as an attempt to comfort him. Courfeyrac said nothing.

"I hope we can give Marius good news when he gets here," Eponine rested her head on Combeferre's shoulder as he put his arms around her, "I don't want them to lose the baby."

Combeferre caressed her long hair, but said nothing further. Eponine suddenly felt tears streaming down her face again.

"Ferre, I'm scared."

She sounded so small, and so weak, that it made Combeferre's heart clench.

"I'm scared too, Ep." His voice was shaky, and for once, he looked like everyone else in the room, pale and anxious. He could not put on his brave face much longer.

Right that moment, Enjolras got into the room, and his steps froze when he saw Eponine with Combeferre. Combeferre made a move to retract his arms from around Eponine, but Enjolras shook his head, and walked away from both of them to sit next to Feuilly.

Combeferre did not know what to do. But then he glanced at Eponine, and she did not seem to be bothered. She was staring into nothingness, and Combeferre wondered if she even realized that Enjolras had just come in.

Eponine did not move. She remained in Combeferre's embrace, and that's where she stayed for hours.

The doctor came a few hours later.

They all rushed to him, and the doctor's eyes widened, taken a little by surprise when a group of young men came to him, attacking him with questions about Cosette and the baby.

Eponine stood next to Combeferre, her hand in his. She squeezed his hand tight, and he squeezed back.

Eponine looked up at him, finding that he was already looking at her. He gave her a reassuring nod, and they both turned to look at the doctor who held up his hand, silencing the Amis at once.

"Miss Fauchelevant is safe, so is the baby. She's not in labour, yet, but she is resting and we're keeping close eyes on her."

"Oh thank God," Eponine whispered to herself, heaving a sigh of relief. Combeferre pulled her into a hug, and she realized that he was shaking slightly. The Amis cheered, some slumped back on the chairs and some had huge smile on their faces. Colour drained back to their faces, and they no longer looked as pale as they were before. The nightmare was over.

Cosette and the baby were safe.

Eponine's gaze then darted to Enjolras, her smile vanished immediately.

Enjolras was walking from all of them. He did not turn back.

Courfeyrac offered to send her home, but she insisted on going to Enjolras' apartment.

Eponine pounded on Enjolras' door over and over again, refusing the stop until he open the door.

"Enjolras! I know you're in there! Open up!"

He opened the door five minutes later, his eyes red and unfocused, his face flushed and his hair dishevelled.

"Are you… drunk?" Eponine questioned, eyebrows furrowed in disapproval as she folded her arms, her eyes studying him.

"Shut up." Enjolras answered rudely when he saw the look of disapproval in Eponine's eyes. He made his way back into his apartment, leaving the door opened. He did not care whether Eponine wanted to come in or not.

"Why are you drunk?" Eponine questioned again as she followed him, closing the door behind her and went to the kitchen. She filled a glass with water and joined Enjolras in the living room, where he was sitting on the couch and on the table in front of him was an empty bottle of liquor

She put the glass on the table as she sat next to him.

"Enjolras," Eponine called softly, placing her hand on his shoulder. Enjolras turned his head to look at her, and for once after a few weeks, she finally saw him up close. There was deep sadness in his eyes, broken look on his face. Eponine caressed his cheek as she moved closer to him. He closed his eyes at her touch.

"What's wrong, Enjolras?"

Just like that, his eyes shot open, and he seemed distant again.

Enjolras grabbed her hand and gently moved it away from him.

"I'll be fine tomorrow. You don't have to worry about me."

"Too late for that." She replied, not moving from her spot, "What happened to Cosette was not your fault. You know that, right?"

He sighed, running his hand through his hair, looking even more distressed, "I know but… I just feel like everyone who is close to me always end up getting hurt."

Eponine shook her head, "That's not true."

"I keep on hurting other people, Eponine. I'm toxic. First, I hurt you. And then I hurt Quinn. I've hurt so many people in my life. And now, Cosette and Marius almost lost their baby."

"Enjolras…"

"What is wrong with me, Eponine? Why am I made so wrong?"

Eponine blinked. She had never seen him like this. Hell, she thought she knew him well, but this was a whole other side of him. Perhaps this was just the alcohol taking.

She cupped his chin and made him look at her. She gazed into his clear blue eyes and said, "Stop beating yourself up, Enjolras. None of this is your fault."

"If I wasn't there at the first place…"

"There's still every possibility that she might fall, and something worse might happen. Please. Stop blaming yourself. Cosette is alright, the baby is alright. Tomorrow, we're going to see her, and everything will be alright."

He neither agreed with nor denied her words.

Shaking his head, he leaned back on the couch. Old habits die hard, so when he did that, Eponine followed him, resting her head on his hard chest. He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer.

Eponine smiled. For the first time after a few weeks, she felt truly happy and at rest.

She had never felt like this when she was with Jesse. At the thought of Jesse, she felt a huge stone crush her guts, and she remembered the fight she had with him this morning. His paranoia, his distrust and his words hurt her, and she did not know if she wanted to go back to him. She liked Jesse a lot, and she cared about him, but he needed to accept that there were things that Enjolras had and could do, that he did not have and could not do.

Eponine had never loved anyone as much as she loved Enjolras. They shared a special bond that was unbreakable, and if anyone tried to break them both, they should prepare themselves for failure. Because when his hand was in hers, she finally felt like she was home. She could go across the world, swim a thousand oceans, climb the highest mountains, but in the end, she would come back to him. He was her home, and next to him was the place where she truly belonged.

She hated herself for loving the wrong things.

Enjolras' gaze was on her, and she looked up at him, feeling her breath catch when her eyes met his, his brilliant blue eyes looking into the depths of her soul.

In a way, she felt like she was betraying herself. Although she tried to control herself, her heartbeat picked up when she was merely inches from his face. Her eyes glanced at his pink lips before looking back into his eyes, losing herself completely. All sense of control lost the moment his fingers touched her, and she leaned in, meeting him halfway, his lips met hers and she was kissing him again, although everything in her kept telling her that this was wrong.

How many times did she have to do this?

Eponine wondered how he still had that effect on her. Even after all this time, the moment his lips touched hers, she lost contact with the world. The only thing that existed was him. When he adjusted and pulled her closer to his body, she felt jolts of electricity ran down her spine, and she was weakened by his touch. Long gone the thought of Jesse, of their fight, of their history… of anything.

Why did something wrong feel so right?

"I… we can't… do this." She murmured against his lips, fists clutching the front of his shirt, but she made no move to pull back.

"Don't… leave me," she heard him murmur, "Please, don't leave me… again."

She had never heard him sound so weak, so broken, so lost. Therefore, she kissed him again, and again, and again, anything she could do to make him stronger.

She loved him. She had tried resisting for so long.

It had been a long day, and maybe her judgments were a little crowded. A part of her felt like this was a mistake, but a larger part of her knew that it wasn't. She did not want to go back to her apartment, where she would spend the night alone and wondered about Enjolras. She would rather have him right here with her.

She wanted him.

She fisted her hand in his hair and pulled back, and he groaned helplessly. Eponine gazed into his eyes, which were now looking at her with dark, unwavering desire. His gaze mirrored hers. She rested her forehead against his, inhaling his scent, the familiar scent and she somehow felt like she was already home. She belonged with him. At least, tonight she belonged with him.

Eponine lie back on the couch, pulling him on top of her. She then proceeded kissing him again senseless, while her hands made a quick work of unbuttoning his shirt.

He helped her and shrugged his shirt off him. And as he moved and kissed her on her jaw, down to the nape of her neck, moving down and down, Eponine closed her eyes, losing herself completely in him.

Enjolras was her home. And when she was with him, she was safe and sound.

She needed him, and she was not going anywhere anytime soon.

Author's note:

Alright guys, I hope you liked this chapter! I have been going back and forth, writing and rewriting and plotting and re-plotting, which is why, as usual, this chapter is late (seriously guys, I'm a bad writer, but I am also a perfectionist, do you feel my struggle?). I am so, so close to writing smut for this chapter but after the bad smut I've written for Courf and Eva chapters ago, I feel like I should spare you guys the awkwardness.

I have been struggling with writer's block these days, and after reading other people's brilliant fics, I find myself questioning my own writing. But I'll make do. I'm trying to fix my own writing, so if you guys have any tips or any advice, drop me a comment?

Buuuuut, life is good for me lately. I just got my exam result, and I got into Dean's List! I'm starting my second semester soon, and I just saw my schedule, it's CRAZY. But I won't stop writing. This fic will NOT be abandoned. This is by far the biggest commitment I've ever made, and I'm not going to chicken out last minute. (alright, maybe you're wondering why I'm telling you guys this, but I consider you guys friends, and I tell my friends everything)

Anyway, thank you so much for reading. I hope you guys like this chapter!

Reviews are deeply, and massively appreciated. xxxx