A/N: Okay, this is short, but I updated on time, so yay! Also, I realise that in the last chapter Enjolras acted a bit OOC... I feel like that's how he acts in those rare moments when he's not stressed, and you have to have those moments if you actually want his relationship with Eponine to... y'know... progress.
Eponine stared at her reflection and wondered how she had become this person.
The girl in the mirror bore no resemblance to her usual self. The bags under her eyes were covered, her skin was clear and smooth, and her usually wildly knotted hair had been tied into a neat bun. The makeup artist, a volunteer student who was majoring in cosmetology, had done wonders, as had Fantine and a few of the advanced drama students, who had made the costumes.
It was opening night of their performance, and Eponine was starting to feel the pressure. She had arrived a few hours earlier (it was now 6pm and the show was due to start at 7:30) and immediately had her makeup and hair done, before being warned that if she messed it up, she would face Fantine's wrath.
Eponine was wearing the first of her four dresses for the performance. It was quite plain, a light brownish kind of color, and went down to her ankles. Still, it was nicer than a lot of the clothes she herself owned, and in very good condition as well, so she found herself spinning around in it several times just to watch the skirt flow around her and then come to rest back against her body. It helped take her mind off the immense amount of stress she was feeling.
How the hell was she going to pull this off? She barely had a hold on her own mind, let alone her character's, and she hadn't been able to sleep the night before because she'd been too busy worrying, and the lack of sleep was taking its toll. Her mind was foggy, and yet too active to let her rest, even for a moment. She'd tried multiple times to take a nap, but had eventually given up. It would mess up her hair, anyway, and then she'd have a whole other problem (Fantine would probably scream at her).
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
"Come in!" Eponine called out, checking her makeup in the mirror for about the millionth time. The door creaked open, and when she turned, she found Enjolras looking back at her. He was dressed in a traditional suit, and his hair had been slicked back for the occasion. Eponine chuckled at the sight of it. "Hey." She greeted.
"Hi. You look... different." Enjolras said, making an obvious effort to not stare at her.
"Bad different or good different?"
"Neither. Just different."
"Well, you're acting different, so I guess we're even."
"Sorry. It's the pre-show nerves." Enjolras explained. He looked around the room for a moment. "How are you feeling?"
The girl took in a deep breath. "Not great." She answered honestly. "You?"
"Jittery. Very excitable. I think this is what it's like to be Courfeyrac."
Eponine threw her head back and laughed, but the laughter soon subsided into crying. Enjolras' eyes were wide with alarm.
"Uh, Ep-"
"I'm fine, I'm fine." Eponine insisted, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "Just very tired."
"Get some sleep." Enjolras said softly. "We have an hour."
"Okay, I'm not tired enough to sleep in my dressing room." The girl back pedaled. Enjolras gave her a look, but she just smiled at him and turned back to the mirror to stare at herself some more (being in a room full of mirrors really brought out the vanity in her), so he slumped into the chair next to her and sighed.
"This is slightly terrifying for me." Enjolras admitted.
"You've really never been unconfident, have you?"
"Of course I have." The blonde answered defensively. "I'm just good at hiding it."
"Right. Well, not all of us have that luxury. I'm glad you're walking on the wild side and actually showing your emotions for once."
"I show my emotions a lot more than you think."
"I think I would know." Eponine said without thinking. She froze a few seconds after the words left her lips. "I mean... Because we're such good friends. That's why I would know."
"Of course."
Suddenly the silence in the room was deafening. Eponine stood up and started pacing.
"That's not going to help your pre-show nerves." Enjolras pointed out, leaning back in his chair. Eponine stopped pacing and looked at him.
"Well, what do you suggest?"
"A nap."
"Tried that before."
"Have you eaten?"
"I feel like I'm about to throw up, so, no."
"Have you tried... I don't know, meditation?"
Eponine stared at her friend incredulously. "Like yoga and shit?"
"Well... yes."
"Uh uh. No way. I can barely keep my mind on one topic for more than a minute. There's no way I could clear my brain of all thought or whatever it is you do in yoga."
Enjolras laughed and stood up, walking over to Eponine and grabbing her hands before pulling her gently to the floor with him. He crossed his legs, and after a moment, Eponine did too.
"Jehan taught me some stuff. It's just about breathing."
"Ah, breathing. One of the few things I excel at."
Enjolras was not amused. "Come on, take this seriously. Okay, so close your eyes. Try to focus on the sound of my voice and your own inhale and exhale. Just breathe, and with every breath, let your body relax a bit more. Keep breathing - in and out, in and out. If you're having trouble, try to think of something that makes you happy, but apart from that, just think about your breath."
Eponine tried her hardest to do as he said, but it was actually pretty difficult (and it didn't help that Enjolras still had her hands in his). Slowly, though, she could feel the tension seeping out of her aching bones. Warmth spread through her body (though that may have had more to do with the whole holding-hands-with-a-guy-she-liked thing).
Her head lost its heaviness, and her shoulders relaxed, and-
And then Enjolras pressed his lips against hers. Eponine felt a squeak of surprise escape her lips only to be muffled by his. Enjolras pulled back just as she opened her eyes.
"I'm sorry." He blurted out.
Eponine just looked at him. "Um."
"I don't know what happened there."
"Okay."
"I was just-"
"Please stop talking." Eponine interrupted. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. Enjolras took his hands away from hers.
"Are you mad at me?" Obviously, Enjolras couldn't stay quiet for long.
"No." Eponine answered honestly, opening her eyes again and watching the man in front of her carefully. There was a faint smudge of lipstick on his mouth. "I'm confused, scared, and the effects of the yoga have competely worn off, so I'm just as hyper as I was before, but I'm not mad."
"I... I don't know what to say."
"Maybe you should apologize for destroying my sense of peace and quiet." Eponine joked.
"I'm sorry, Eponine, I shouldn't have been so forward. I just got caught up in the moment."
Eponine's head snapped up. "Is that really all it was? Because this isn't the first time you've gotten 'caught up in the moment', and you know what? I really, really don't want to be kissed by someone who doesn't have feelings for me."
"That's the thing... I... I think I-"
The door opened and Fantine popped her head in.
"There you are, Enjolras!" The woman exclaimed, apparently unaware that she had just interrupted a tense moment. "We need you to try on the suit for scene 9 and make sure it fits."
Enjolras stood up, and after staring at Eponine for a moment, he left the room. Fantine was about to go, when suddenly she started staring very hard at Eponine.
"Might want to check in with makeup - your lipstick is smudged." Fantine told her. Then she left.
Eponine fell back and stared up at the ceiling. God, this was a mess. She had only just gotten into an argument with Grantaire where she'd argued that Enjolras definitely did not have feelings for her, and then the blonde had gone and kissed her! Of course, it didn't mean he was in love with her or any bullshit like that, but it was still extremely confusing, and the way it had happened was even stranger to think about. She had just been sitting there, minding her own business, and he had leaned over and kissed her! What was he trying to prove? And what was he going to say before Fantine cut him off?
The girl's head was a mess, and she knew that thinking about Enjolras too much was just going to make it worse, so she focused on her breath, just as she'd done earlier (before Enjolras kissed her, which resulted in loss of breath for the duration of the kiss and quite a while afterwards as well).
Eponine very calmly got up, exited her room, and went to find the makeup person.
I bet Elizabeth Bennett never had this much trouble.
A few doors down, Enjolras was thinking about the same thing.
He had been given one of his suits - they all looked the same to him, honestly - to try on, and now he was in his dressing room, doing just that. Of course, he wasn't just doing that. He was also internally freaking out about having kissed Eponine, and externally finding it hard not to scream.
He really hadn't planned on kissing her. In fact, he was just trying to be a good friend when he had suggested meditation. Surprisingly, it had worked for him when Jehan taught him a few months ago (after a particularly stressful essay deadline had Enjolras so on edge that at one point he'd yelled at a coffee table), so he thought that it might help Eponine and her obvious nerves. He hadn't expected to feel such a strong urge to kiss her when he'd opened his eyes to make sure she was doing it properly.
She had just looked so calm and peaceful - the way she'd looked when he'd woken up with her in his arms that one morning - and the obscene amount of makeup she was wearing was hiding what she normally looked like (which was probably the point, but it still irritated him for some reason), so he'd leaned forward to kiss away the lipstick (a perfectly innocent gesture, really) and ended up with blood pumping through his veins and the trace of her perfume on him, even though he hadn't pressed any of his other body parts to her.
Enjolras had no idea what had come over him. The last time they kissed, he knew what he was feeling - anger, heat, intensity - but this time hasn't been like that. He'd been filled with warmth (a soft, nice kind of warmth) that he was unfamiliar with, and even now, he felt lightheaded, though the kiss had been more of a brush of the lips than an actual kiss. He had never felt this disoriented in his life, and though he couldn't say he enjoyed the feeling, he had definitely enjoyed the cause of it.
He looked at the clock on the wall. There was a little more than an hour to go. He looked at the suit he was wearing and then exited his room to show wardrobe, trying not to let his mind fall into the familiar pattern of pondering Eponine and her thoughts and actions for hours on end. He was very sure it wasn't healthy to let just one person take up so much of his mind.
/\\\
An hour later, Enjolras and Eponine stood together backstage. Enjolras could hear the mutters of the audience (the university's theatre seated about 500, and the performance was sold out), and knowing that all his friends (except Grantaire, though Enjolras didn't know if the other man considered him a friend at the moment, because he seemed to be avoiding him) were out there - they had eventually found out about the performance and insisted on coming - only made his stomach clench tighter. He was back in his opening costume, and though he wouldn't be onstage until the third scene, he was waiting with Eponine, who was currently staring off into space and biting her lip. Enjolras tried his hardest to ignore the awkwardness between them.
"Still scared?" He asked.
"Yep. Fantine said that's good, that every performer needs butterflies to do a good job or something."
"Right."
Eponine was tapping her foot. "I... Good luck. Or break a leg, or whatever."
"Thanks. You too, though I never really understood that expression."
The girl turned to him. "Why?"
"How can wishing someone bad luck give them good luck? It's completely illogical."
"It's theatre. Everything's illogical."
Enjolras smiled at her, and was about to reply when Fantine came over (the woman seemed to have a knack for interrupting them just as things were getting interesting) and told Eponine to take her place onstage. The audience hushed, and so did everyone backstage.
"Break a leg." Enjolras mouthed, and then rolled his eyes emphatically to show his disdain for the term. Eponine laughed quietly, before smacking a hand over her mouth and rushing onto stage. She quickly got into her position, and just as Fantine stage whispered that she was about to raise the curtain, Eponine locked eyes with Enjolras.
"You're going to be amazing." Enjolras was still mouthing, but he'd always been bad at it, so he doubted she could understand it.
However, Eponine mouthed back, showing that she'd been able to understand him. "So are you."
And the curtain came up.