A/N: Well, I am sorry to make you wait, but I've been on vacation this past week and I didn't bring my computer to update. But I hope you enjoy this next chapter, I'm sorry that the length of this one is short, but perhaps you will like it all the same.
Worlds Away
Chapter 29 - And As I Held the Door
Time isn't necessarily real. There are no other creatures on this earth who measure time except for humans. Animals can live in peace without the concept of time. But humans, on the other hand, without time, they would surely die of anxiety.
There were very few items in the apartment that made it through the night unscathed. As dawn was breaking, another crash sounded as Enjolras kicked the kitchen chair to the floor. Eponine had surprisingly slept through the noise but this last crash woke her with a start.
With a thundering heart, she jumped up from her bed. She peered about the dark room to see where the noise had come from but all she noticed was that Enjolras' bed was empty. She walked cautiously out of the bedroom and peeked around the corner of the hallway. But as soon as she did so, she instantly regretted it. Enjolras' eyes snapped up to her with the largest look of intensity and ferocity she had ever seen. It terrified her seeing him like this.
She diverted her gaze from his terrifying one and looked about the room. There was a broken wood chair lying across the living room, couch cushions laid scattered about the room, and ceramic chunks of plates or mugs were sprinkled around the kitchen.
"What's wrong, Enjolras?" she asked with courage she didn't even know she had.
His eyes held dark circles under his eye lids casting off a dark and ominous gaze. He took a menacing step toward her and she could feel the terror slowly building up. "What's wrong?" he repeated. She had never seen him like this. Enjolras was the one person she always trusted to stay calm. He had never acted mean toward her, he had never sent these shivers of fear down her spine, and he had never looked at her as if she was the devil herself. But last night was the first time she had ever seen him show any physical violence. What could of possibly happened between last night and this morning that would cause him to be upset with her? "WHAT'S WRONG!?" he shouted this time directly at her. He turned away from her and slammed his fists against the marble counter. "What a stupid question! Everything is bloody wrong! Everything in God's name is wrong, Eponine!"
When he turned back around, he immediately beheld Eponine squatted to the floor with her hands covering her head. There was no denying the petrified state she was in. He clenched his jaw and just stared at the shaking girl before him for a moment. Enjolras could feel his heart soften as he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. He took hesitant steps to approach her and squatted down right in front of her silently. She didn't notice his presence as he approached her. He reached his hand out and touched the top of her forearm.
Immediately, she jumped back, falling onto her butt and nearly swatting him in the same instant. But as she stared into his softened eyes, she slowly lowered her hands. "Eponine?" he breathed. "I'm sorry," he said tersely, rising to his feet.
She watched him with curious eyes as he retreated to the kitchen and leaned on his forearms over the counter. Slowly, she stood to her feet as well, but stayed planted in her spot. "Are you not going to hurt me?" she asked meekly.
Enjolras let out a bitter chuckle. "I'm not going to hurt you. I said I was sorry." He never looked up to her but he kept his head down, staring in concentration at the counter. "I'm just..." he snickered thinking of the word, "I don't even know what I am."
Eponine fidgeted with her fingers. "Are you cross?"
He let out a long breath. "Yeah...I guess I'm cross."
"But why?"
He shook his head dramatically. "The president wants to restore social class to France. That means separating society into upper and lower classes. But when the decision was officially made, I missed the article online. Thus, I missed the hearing in court when they officially passed the law. If I had known, I could've gone yesterday, we could've objected to it. We could've done something to stop this. But now..."
He shook his head furiously and slammed his palms against the counter again, startling the already frightened girl. Enjolras continued, "I've been neglecting my duty to France. I'm supposed to be protecting the people. This is what I vowed to do, this is why I created Les Amis." His voice began to raise again. "But we've rarely had a real meeting in weeks. My speeches have been mediocre at best. And Montparnasse! God! I can't understand for the life of me why you would waste your breath on him. I have an injured hand now because of protecting you! And to make matter worse, my parents called last night. They said that since I missed too many classes this semester - because I was too busy looking for you and taking care of you - that they won't pay my tuition. Dammit!" he yelled out in frustration. "I'm supposed to be a leader, a chief, a protector...But it looks like I can't even do that now...I've been too distracted."
"But why have you been distracted?"
"Because of you!" he snapped.
Eponine took a step back in fright. "It's my fault?"
He grumbled into his hands, "...yes." He took a deep breath. "I've been taking care of you. Everything I do now is for you. I've been too busy taking care of you that I've neglected to take care of the people!" Wickedly, his head bolted up and he stared at Eponine menacingly. But when he saw the look on her face, he couldn't help but feel the guilt that pooled in his heart. He couldn't take the words back if he wanted to. He knew he had hurt her. "Ep - "
Eponine felt her lip trembling. Her worst fear was coming true. She had finally been taking advantage of Enjolras' kindness for too long and now it cost him the freedom of the people he was supposed to be protecting. She knew what she had to do now. It was finally over. So, Eponine turned on her heel and walked back into the bedroom. Like a magnet, her fingers started piling her clothes onto the bed. Through the water in her eyes, she could barely even see what she was doing.
"What are you doing?" She looked up to see Enjolras standing in the doorway.
"Leaving."
"No, Eponine. I-I...I didn't mean for you to leave. I don't want you to leave."
"But you've made it perfectly clear. I am a burden to you now, Enjolras," she spit. "I stand in the way from the one thing you truly love." She crossed the room, pulling more clothes from the drawers and placing them on the bed, all the while, not making any eye contact with Enjolras.
"Please stop, Eponine. I didn't mean any of that..." he said coming toward her and throwing his arms up in frustration. She looked up, petrified, and abruptly step backwards in fear of him. He clenched his fists at her reaction, trying to let the anger subside. He put his hands out, palms to her, and took a step backwards. "I'm not going to hurt you. Just please, stop this Eponine. I don't want you to leave."
"But I must!" she retorted. "If I stay, I will only be keeping you from your goal. I cannot do that to you! I'm sorry I've been too much of a burden for you." Eponine turned her head downwards, trying to compose herself for her next sentence. "You love France, not me," she whispered heartbrokenly.
Enjolras didn't respond as she wiped the tears from her eyes messily. She took a backpack from the closet and began to load up the clothes into the bag. Enjolras just stood there, frozen in place.
But as she stuffed the last of the clothes into the bag, a pair of strong hands ripped her hands away from the bag. The next thing she knew, she was breathing in Enjolras' breath. His lips pushed against hers with every amount of fervor he had left in him. He channeled his anger into passion just trying to convey what he knew his words couldn't.
He pulled his lips from hers, resting his forehead against hers and still gripping her wrists. "I love France, Eponine...but I also love you."
Eponine cast her eyes up to look at Enjolras, breathless. "I don't want to compete for your love." She broke away from Enjolras' grasp and put the last of her clothing into the bag. She zipped it up and was about to sling it over her shoulder.
"No! Eponine, I love you - I need you. Please..." he begged as he gripped the strap of the backpack and pulled it off her shoulder. "I need you to stay. I need your help..."
"I can make it on my own. My father is in jail. 'Parnasse is not looking for me. I don't need your help, I will find a way to manage - "
"But you don't have to anymore. I know you can make it by yourself, but please, you can stay with me forever. You may not need my help anymore but now I need you."
"But how can I help you if I am only a distraction for you?"
His hand cupped her cheek. "When your father took you and I was without you for so long, I couldn't even concentrate on my work. I was so lost and worried about you, I barely got any work done. If you leave me now, I would never even have a chance to save the people. I need you right there with me...I'm sorry that I said those things. I was just angry. I didn't mean any of it. You could never be a burden to me...I promise." He gave her a chaste kiss on the lips which she didn't return nor pull away. "Please stay?" he asked in a desperate breath.
She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. Enjolras never removed his hand from her cheek, and slowly she reached up and placed a hand over his. She exhaled her breath as she nodded. Her eyes opened to see a soft smile spread over his lips. "Yes," she uttered.
In the next breath, his arms enveloped her meek frame and pulled her as close as possible. "Merci, Eponine."
...
The rest of the morning was spent between the two of them as Enjolras explained the ins and outs of the governmental matter at hand. He showed her countless articles, he wrote up little speeches, he explained what he would do to help the people and asked for her input on each one.
"So everyone has agreed to come for the emergency Les Amis meeting tonight," he said putting down his phone. He looked back over at the computer screen and pointed to something on it. "Look here, down south has been hit the hardest over the past few days," he explained, "many businesses and homes have been foreclosed since it is mainly farm towns. People never had much money to begin with and now they can't meet the standards the government has put in place." He paused so he could take a gulp of his coffee beside him.
"So what do we do to help them?"
Enjolras thought it over for a moment. "Well, first we need to inform them of the issue, help them understand what is happening and let them know something will be done. If everyone can rise, the people are more powerful than the government. But I just don't know..." he mumbled, stuffing his face in his hands. "We need to do something first and then eventually we will need action to stop the government."
"So we will go down south and help the people first?"
"No..." he groaned and then suddenly snapped his head up, "Yes! Yes, Eponine!" he smiled broadly. "That's a brilliant idea!"
Eponine mimicked his wide grin.
Enjolras' hands furiously began typing once again. "If I can send out some of Les Amis to different areas of France we can inform the people, we can spread the word, we can get our ideas heard..." he mused. "Ah, thank you, Eponine!" Suddenly, he jumped up from the kitchen chair. "Come! We've got to tell everyone."
She stood up eagerly just as he had and watched him run about the room grabbing his keys and his laptop case. He rushed up behind her and guided her with a hand on her lower back to the front door.
He pulled open the door and stole a glance at Eponine. "After you, mon amor," he said, holding the door for her to walk first.
She smiled back to him as she walked through, "Merci, Enjolras."
A/N: Just a small note, There are only 13 chapters left and I have some small holes in this outline, so if there is anything you would looooove to see happen, let me know! Plus, I would love to hear what you're thinking in regards to this chapter. Things are getting tricky for Enjolras between his two loves...
