A/N: I'm so sorry. I really am. So no chitter-chatter, only want to thank everyone for reading this, for favouriting and following, for staying with it and a huge thank you to those that take their time to review. Thank you. Now to the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Les Miserables.

Some time had passed since she had first heard of her father's arrest. However instead of dying down, the news surrounding her father just kept growing and growing.

The situation was more serious than people had expected, that or the news had nothing else to report. Naturally people were looking into her father's case, looking further into her father's history; digging up all they could, all the things that Eponine tried her best to hide. All kinds of reports kept coming; robberies, murders, drug deals. It didn't stop. The worst part of it was that Eponine knew which were true and which were not. Sadly, most were true. She could recall the ones she had heard of, the plans she had eavesdropped on, the ones she witnessed, and worst of all the ones where she had participated. Those crimes were the worst. The thought that the media or the police would get to her soon enough, but for some reason, they never did. Which made her both relieved and terrified. She worried that maybe they were just waiting for the right moment to pounce on her and take her down.

She had called her brother when she first heard of the news, asking if he had heard and if he was okay. As always, he was just fine. She didn't have to worry anyway; she knew that he wouldn't be in any part of it, he had been too young. The most they could do was mention him when explaining about Thénardier's family in the media. Thankfully they never got into much detail on the news either, only mentioning the number of children he had, never a name or where they were.

Eponine hadn't talked to any of the boys since that night they gathered. Since the night she first heard of her father's arrest. Apparently one of the boys had asked Cosette when she was hanging around them where Eponine was, a question that took the blonde by surprise. She thought that her roommate spent more time with the boys than she did, they then explained how they hadn't really spoken to Eponine since the gathering. Ever since then Cosette would constantly ask Eponine how she was and what she was doing. The only boy that Eponine still saw on a regular basis was Marius when he came over with Cosette. He would ask, along with Cosette, if she was alright and what she had been up to lately. She'd reply with a smile and would say that she was simply a little busy. They would always nod and accept it, no matter how much they knew she was more than 'a little busy'. The truth was, Eponine was rather busy. Busy with all the thoughts that clouded her mind, the constant worry that something was going to happen, someone was going to find out that she too was in on her father's plans. But that was long ago, would they be bothered the track her down? She would wonder these things night and day.

She thought of it so much that soon her grades were slipping. It wasn't a drastic fall, but as her father's case gained more and more attention, the worse her grades got. She received a letter; it was a reminder, a note. The school sent her a lovely letter saying that if her grades were going to constantly drop, soon she would be dropped too. Dropped out of school, scholarship stripped, which meant there was no way for her to pay for her school, which meant she would automatically drop out. Yet another thing to plague her thoughts. She couldn't concentrate, as much as she tried, she just couldn't.

Whenever she saw one of the boys, they would wave at her and try to run up to her, talk to her, but she'd run away as quickly as she could. She couldn't face them. Not now, and maybe not ever. At least, not until she had everything in order. She hadn't even seen Enjolras in a while, though he wasn't exactly pressing her about it either. She texted him the night she left abruptly, saying that there was a family emergency. Eponine knew that Enjolras would figure it out; he'd connect the dots and understand. She hoped that was why he wasn't trying to push her to open up about it. He'd text her once in a while, asking what she was doing. She'd always answer that she was studying, even at obscure times, and he accepted the answer.

The worst was when she stopped concentrating at work.

"Eponine, we have to talk." The manager said to her one day. She knew that it was coming, with her too busy thinking about other things all the time; she could barely concentrate at work.

"Sure."

"I don't want to pry, but is something wrong?"

She sighs, "I can't deny it if you're picking up on it."

"I'm sorry but we'll have to let you go. You've been messing up orders and not thinking properly. I know you're better than this Eponine."

For some reason, she doesn't fight back, she doesn't try and convince the manager that she could do better, that she could make up for it. She just accepted it. "I'm sorry."

"When you're feeling better, come back, I'll be glad to have you back."

Eponine was now in terrible danger. Family problems. School problems. Work problems. Money problems. It was as if someone had noticed that everything was finally going well for her and that they had to change that. So they did, and they just struck her with all the tricks they had. It was overwhelming, but being the way she was, she didn't want to accept anyone's help.

Grantaire snuck up on her, surprising her and making her drop her books. He did it on purpose, knowing how she had been avoiding everyone recently. He needed to talk to her, ask what was wrong. She was acting so strange, and it bothered him.

"Hello."

"Oh God." Her books tumbled out of her hands. She bent down to pick them up, but Grantaire was already on it. She opens her mouth to stop him, but he already had all the books in his arms. She stared at him. He stared back.

"I'll give them back once you tell me why you've been avoiding us. All of us. You're not at the café, you're not answering your phone or texts, and you're basically never around anymore." Eponine tried reach for the books, but he dodged her just in time. Now she was getting pissed.

"Grantaire give them back."

"Not without an explanation and a please."

"I'm just busy, okay? Now may I please have my stuff back?" He passed her one out of three books. She sighed, knowing that there was no way out of this unless she at least partially explained herself. "I got fired from the café, and I've been busy studying and stuff. I don't have time to hang out with you guys."

"Fired?"

She sighed again, "I've been mucking up orders. Entirely my fault, I don't blame them." He passed her back another book, but the last one stayed firmly in his hands.

"Does anyone else know?"

"I haven't told anyone."

"That's not all. I know there's something else you're not telling me." She cursed to herself for letting him get that close with her. So close that he knew when she was holding information from him. She was tempted to just leave and not say anything else, but out of the three books she had, the one in Grantaire's hand was probably the most important. She had to tell him something. It was either the failing grades, or the fact that her father was the one that covered every newspaper recently. She decided to go with the former.

"My grades have been dropping. Okay Grantaire? I need to get them back up or I'm out of this school." Grantaire saw the seriousness in her eyes. He wanted to ask how it had happened, considering how hard she studied, but felt that it might have been a little insensitive to ask. Besides, he could tell that she was still hiding something, but decided to let it go. He offered her the last book. She grabbed it roughly and started to walk away without a goodbye.

"Does Enjolras know?" he asked. She didn't stop walking, but he knew that she was listening. "He can help you know."

"Leave him out of this." She called back without turning to see him.

"I'm telling him. If you won't then I will. I know I can't convince you, but Enjolras might. He won't want to see you go."

It was enough to make Eponine pause and look back, and for the first time Grantaire could see the pain and vulnerability in her eyes. Before he could say anything more, she turned around and walked off.

A/N: Yes? No? Maybe so?

Thank you to everyone that have taken the time to read, follow, favourite and reviewed. I appreciate it a lot! I'll be replying to reviews all night :D Also, thank you for all your book recommendations! I wasn't really looking for YA recommendations but I still thank you for those. I am definitely reading Pride and Prejudice after I'm done with The Phantom of the Opera and Oliver.

However, I just might have watched all of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries in one day. Maybe. Possibly.

One last thing! If you have time, could you please, maybe, possibly, go and read the other fic I posted? You know, if you have time. It's an angsty Enjolras/Eponine. I'd really appreciate it. Tell me what you think about it, and if I should write more oneshots. But if it's not your thing, it's cool. ありがとう。:D