A/N: Happy New Year! Well, not yet, but it might be by the time you guys read this. I hope you all enjoy this. Thank you to those who have read, reviewed, followed and favourite. A special thank you to my lovely lovely beta, and to all of you who have stayed with me from the very beginning! THANK YOU!

THIS CHAPTER WAS NOT EDITED BY A BETA, please excuse my mistakes

As I have been saying for the last 30 something chapters, I certainly do not own Les Miserables.

They weren't sure who did it, or how it happened, but somehow both Enjolras and Eponine had agreed to meet up at the café. Of course, they do it with a slight sense of reluctance, and friends still had to give both parties a little push. They were fed up with their childish games, avoiding each other and not wanting to talk about what had happened. They were fools, both of them, for letting a relationship like theirs slip out of their fingers. So they wait in the opposite side of the room, trying not to be seen by Enjolras who had already arrived and had taken a seat at his usual table. But Enjolras was not stupid; he could see his friends peering over at him once in a while.

When Eponine walked in, Enjolras couldn't help but breathe in sharply. It had been a while since he had seen her, and she was just as beautiful as ever. But still she hid underneath her heavy trench coat, regardless of the blasting heat they recently had. He sees her scan the room, but he knows that she is aware of where he sat. It never changed.

When their eyes meet, he has to try hard not to automatically look away. But he managed to keep his eyes locked onto hers. He nods, and she returns it as she walks over. Behind her, he sees his friends all looking over; wanting to witness what was about to go down. She sits down, and waits, but all there is, is silence for the first few minutes. He doesn't go back to his book, she doesn't do anything to distract herself, but they both looked away from each other, only when one didn't think the other was looking would their eyes linger on each other.

"Happy birthday." He says.

She nods and replies with the faintest, "Thank you."

Then it's silence again, until someone from the table across the room clears their throat. Enjolras looks up to see all his friends giving him looks to start the conversation. He glares back at them and the quickly look away. Then his focus was back on the girl in front of him how did they end up like this? As if they were strangers sitting at the same table. Both awkward about each other's presence, yet at the same time curious about the person sitting across from them. We're they not best friends once? Had they not fallen for each other in a chick-flick fashion? He could have laughed right then and there, they had both been so stupid and stubborn. He could've started the conversation anywhere, he could've asked how she had been, how school was, if anything new was going on with her. But instead he started with the words that were on the tip of his tongue, the words that he wished he could've said to her sooner.

"I'm sorry."

She shakes her head a begun to look away, but he grabs a hold of her hands, which catches her attention.

"I'm sorry." He repeats. She opens her mouth to speak, but he interrupts her. "Eponine, I'm so sorry." He closes his eyes and bows his head down. He cannot believe that she's actually here once again. He cannot believe that he can hold her hands again, and feel her skin against his. All he hopes is that whatever he says doesn't make things worse between them. "I'm a fucking idiot. I shouldn't have- I just- how can someone do that to you Eponine?" he repeats her name to remind himself that she's here, in front of him, actually listening to what he has to say. "How can I live knowing that someone you love is out there, hurting you, and you're letting him do so?"

She pulls her hands away and hides them under the table, and he can't help but feel a little upset by her action. He looks up and into her eyes. Those eyes he had missed so much.

"There's nothing you can do about it." She however, tries her best to avert her gaze.

"Yes there is," He's afraid that the conversation will lead to another falling out, but he needs to tell her these thoughts that plague his mind. "I'm here, to make sure that no one hurts you anymore."

"You can't just do that Enjolras!" They receive a few glances when she begins to raise her voice. But she lowers it back to a whisper when she notices the stares, "You can't just waltz into my life and start saving me from things I don't even want saving from. That's not how it works."

"That's how it should work." He says bitterly. Now their eyes were locked together and neither could look away. It was one of those moments where they would either turn even angrier than they already were, or they would jump each other's bones right there and then. But the latter would not happen, at least not at the café, where eyes were on them and their every word could be heard if someone listened close enough. Maybe if they were in a private setting, it would turn out differently.

"Well it's not." She finally replies. "I don't know why you don't understand that-"

"I don't know why you don't understand my side to this."

"Because I've done my wrongs," she goes into a barely audible whisper, "and those scars are just my punishment."

He sighs for a moment, and tries his best not to explode and start shouting at her once more, "You've done nothing wrong Eponine, why can't you see that? You don't understand do you? It's not just the scars, it's everything. You refuse to let me help you; you're reluctant to ask for help when you obviously need it. You think that you're better off on your own but sometimes you're not. Sometimes you need help. Why can't you see that there are other people that can help you, people that love you and can love you much better."

"I don't deserve their love."

"Yes, you do. And whether you like it or not, they will love you." He looks at her with seriousness, "I won't let anyone hurt you Eponine. I won't ever let anyone hurt you."

He can see that she's trying her best to stop herself from letting out a tear or two. He wishes her could hold her now, and tell her that he'll be there for her, no matter what. But he's not sure if she wants him back in her life, he's not sure whether or not she will fall into his arms once again and forget the fight ever happened. He hopes that she does, but he has realised that life will not be the same without her.

"Why?" he can hear her voice about to give out.

"I don't know." It's the truth. Sometimes he isn't sure why he wants to protect her so badly, he thinks that anyone that knows her situation would want to protect her, but for some reason, she was different. He was so protective over her; he just wanted to be able to know that she was fine, that she was safe, that he could stop her from facing any harm. He wanted to be with her, to hold her when she cried and to kiss her when she doubted herself. He wanted her to be the last thing he saw at night and the first face her sees in the morning. He wants to wake up with her in his arms, knowing that they had just spent another night together, away from harm, away from the people that had hurt her. He wanted the whole world to know that they were together. Then it struck him. He did in fact know why he wanted to protect her so badly. Why he wanted to be by her side, why everyday he would wish and hope that she was safe. He was in love with her.

Love. The concept that this friends would rave on and on about. The feeling that people claim to be the best feeling in the world, the one that triumphed over all the others. They said that it ate your insides and make you not think clearly, but you would still enjoy the feeling and wouldn't trade it for anything else. They said that it was a contradicting emotion, makes you feel everything yet at the same time made you numb. Enjolras never thought that he would feel such a confusing emotion; he didn't have the time or the will to feel such things. But that's how it is; at least that's what they tell him. They say that love comes when you least expect it, when you don't expect it, when you're not out looking for it. Love might not come in way or form you would expect it to, but when it does, you can't deny it. There's nothing you can do but give into it.

He thinks about the people he loves. His friends. Then he thinks of her, and why he loves her. He thinks of her eyes and her hair. Her laugh, her skin, her lips. He thinks of the way she can hold a proper conversation with him. He thinks of how she's so smart and she doesn't realise it. He thinks of how she cares so deeply for others, but can't come around to accepting the concept of someone loving her back. He can't put this finger on it, and he's still not sure why, but they fit together like two pieces of a puzzle. But he was sure of one thing that he definitely was in love with her.

"I'm sorry." She apologizes and slowly wraps her hands around his. When he notices this, he looks up and stares into those eyes that he loves so much. She lifts his hands and kisses them. Then she leans her forehead on fists, and closes her eyes.

"I'm sorry." He takes his hands out of hers and places them on either side of her face. He pulls her close and plants a short, sweet kiss. He wishes he could do much more, but he's scared that it would be too soon for such antics. He can feel her wanting more too, that they've been deprived of such things for a long time, and were desperately longing for more. When he pulls away, he is almost too afraid to see her reaction, if she would be upset at him for doing something like that, and in such a public place. But he does, and shock is written on her face. She's about to say something, but he stops her by quickly pulling something out of his bag.

He places something on the table. It's rectangular, slightly thin. The wrapping paper is a glistening red, blue and white. He pushes it closer to her, and waits for her reaction.

"What … what is this?"

"You once told me that I shouldn't buy you anything." He waits for her to respond, but she doesn't. "So I didn't. Happy birthday."

She confused as to what he means by not buying her anything, yet here it was, a beautifully wrapped present laying right in front of her eyes. It's been wrapped so neatly, she wonders if he had did it himself or if he had some help with it. She's about to protest, but decided against it, as she was curious of what was behind the wrapping paper.

She takes the rectangular object in her hands and begins to unwrap the paper. She slowly, and carefully unwraps it, as she doesn't want to ruin the paper.

She can't help but gasp when she realises what hides underneath. She quickly pulled off the rest of the wrapping paper.

He can't help but smile at the her reaction, "I told you that I had two copies. So I thought I kind of neglected this one, I hope that you'd be a better home for it."

There are tears in her eyes. No one had ever been so thoughtful towards her; she couldn't help but feel an overwhelming amount of emotion rushing through her veins. She couldn't form words to express how she felt, she was delighted and sad and touched. She didn't want anyone to give her anything for her birthday, but she couldn't help but love the object in her hands so much. She flipped through it, noticing the little notes squished into the margins, and the slightly worn out edges. She smelled it, she loved the smell of books, and this one was a mix of old book smell and him.

It was the very same copy of Animal Farm that she had found him reading the first time they had a proper conversation in this very same café. They were sitting at the same table too, but then again, they always sat at the same table. She remembered it because he had once also brought in a different copy of the same book, but with a different cover.

She moves closer to him and wraps her arms around him, her face buried in his neck. She lets her tears fall while he cannot see her face. He is shocked at first, frozen to his seat, but then slowly wraps his arms around her. He realises how much he had missed being this close to her. He misses her scent, her hair, her skin, everything. She doesn't let go for the longest time, and he doesn't want her to let go.

"Thank you so much." She whispers.

"Eponine." He whispers into her hair, "Can we start over?"

She pulls away, even though they both don't want to let go of each other. She wipes her tears away before facing him once more. Then she smiles and nods. "I wouldn't ask for anything else."

He clears his throat and settles himself in his seat. She moves back to hers and fixes her hair.

This was the moment. They both knew that after this, things would go back to how they were supposed to be, but this time even better. All cards were on the table; there would no longer be any secrets or lies. Sure, down the road there would be more fights and arguments, but there will also be good times. Times where they would love and laugh. Times where they would be grateful for each other's company, grateful that they found each other and somehow ended up loving each other endlessly. No one knows what the future holds, if they were to end in a bitter fight which leads them to never face each other again, or if they end up married with a dozen little children and a steady income, where they would live more than happy with their lives. No one knows, but for now, in this moment, they were together and they were going to go through all the ups and downs together, and nothing and no one could say otherwise.

He nods and sticks out his hand in front of him, "Enjolras." He says, and she takes his hand and smiles.

She has to stop herself from bursting into laughter.

"I'm Eponine." She replies. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

A/N: Wow. We're finally here, the very end, the very last chapter. I just want to say the greatest thank you ever to all those that have read this story. I cannot express my gratefulness for all of you. Writing this was amazing, and finding out that people actually enjoy my writing is an amazing feeling. I want to thank the reviewers for giving me such wonderful feedback. The readers and followers that have followed this story for the beginning when I updated every other day, until the end in which I had a few months without posting anything. And to those that favourited! To say that my story is one of your favourites, it is the highest compliment. And of course, thank you to future readers and reviewers!

So I don't think I'll be writing anything, Les Mis related or not, anything soon, and so I just want everyone to know that I am just so happy to have written this. Please check out the playlist I made for this fanfic over at my tumblr's sidebar (link in my profile), I think you'll enjoy it.

And a last thank you all of you :D

Happy New Year!