A/N: Sorry for the lack of update yesterday, I was just so tired! Also, is anyone watching the Apprentice? There's one really hairy guy on it, I actually can't tell where his beard ends XD Hope you all like this!
Prompt (thank you MariusxEponine3): Imagine Marius deciding what to get Éponine for her birthday.
Marius looked down once more, watching Éponine disappear down the stairs. He crept down and knocked on the Thénardier apartment three times.
The door opened, and two pairs of eyes appeared. Soon, Azelma's small form slipped out, followed by Gavroche. The ten and twelve year old siblings looked up at him, blue eyes blinking. Gavroche was the first to speak.
"So, M'seiur, what ya got in mind?"
"Well, Éponine's down at the market, and as you know it's her nineteenth birthday tomorrow. I've hired a cart, there's a town about two miles away which has quite a lot of items, I thought you two want to get her something without the risk of her seeing you."
Azelma and Gavroche exchanged looks, before looking up at Marius and nodding.
"We ain't got no money though" Azelma said. Marius just smiled. "All expenses paid."
They smiled and nodded. Marius smiled back, and the three of them descended down the stairs.
Before too long the three of them were seated comfortably in a farmers cart. It was clear neither of them had travelled at all except for walking, so getting them to remain still was a bit of a challenge. But nevertheless the trip was an enjoyable one, both of the kids chattering about everything under the sun.
It took about half an hour to get to the village. The group were a bit stiff but sprung to life pretty quickly, going around various stalls. Marius called the kids over to him, giving them a small amount of money each, saying to get Éponine's present first and letting them keep anything left over.
Now it was his turn.
Notebooks and pens were immediately out of the question - Éponine knew her alphabet and could write her name, but nothing else. Books were a possibility, he could read them to her, but something told him it wasn't a good idea.
Clearly she was too old for the penny dolls and children's toys (although he'd by lying if he said he didn't look anyway), but clothes weren't out of the question.
They weren't out of the question at all.
His first stop was at a stall selling shoes. Her boots were at least five sizes too big, how she was so nimble in them was a mystery to him. But he was met with disappointment when he realised they only sold very feminine shoes, the kind with little frills and bows. If he presented her with those she'd probably slap him.
His next stop was dresses. There were a few that looked lovely, and would have suited her, but as soon as he saw the price tag, he knew it was time to move on. As much as he loved Éponine, forty five francs for one dress was out of the question.
Nothing else seemed to catch his eye - gloves were impractical, she already had a hat that she never stopped wearing, dresses and skirts were too expensive for him and he couldn't see ay chemises anywhere.
But that was when he caught sight if a stall selling scarves, and an idea started to form in his mind.
He walked over to the stall and had a look. The garments were affordable and pleasant to the eye - his favourites being a blue-and-white tie-dye cotton scarf, a black with threads of silver running through it and a white with flecks of gold. They all looked lovely, but none of them looked very Éponine-ish.
Until he saw a red and black one.
It was quite masculine, but that didn't matter. Red was Éponine's favourite colour, and black went perfectly with it.
"I'll take it."
About twenty minutes later he met up with Gavroche and Azelma. Gavroche had bought some clotted cream vanilla fudge for her, and Azelma had come back with a pair of stockings ("her shoes rub her so I thought these would help" was her explanation), and Marius had bought them a bag of penny chews to eat on the way back.
He dropped the kids home, promising to give Éponine their presents, and headed down to the local market, knowing Éponine would most likely have gone home by that point.
It was one of the rare times he'd chipped into his savings - normally he didn't touch them, but this wasn't going to be a normal day. For once, Marius thought, Éponine was going to have a birthday she enjoyed.
Firstly he went to a small but select restaurant and booked a table for half past six the following evening. Luckily for him he got a discount, since he'd known the manager since they were children, leaving him with enough spare for part three.
After that, he headed into the local seamstress, glad to see clothing prices that didn't hurt his eyes. Ten francs for a simple cotton shift, and his work was complete.
The next day dawned bright and sunny, if a little chilly. Marius woke up early and sprinted down to the market, buying a small bunch of flowers and heading back to the tenement and knocking on the apartment door.
"Happy birthday, Éponine."
Éponine stared at him with a wide smile, hesitantly taking the flowers. "Th-thank you" she stuttered before lunging forwards and hugging him tightly, tears beginning to gather in her eyes. She blinked them back furiously. Nobody ever did anything for her on her birthday - her mother might give her a little money for a cake, but that was about it.
Marius smiled and hugged her back happily. "Meet me here at five, I'd advise washing your hair" he said with a wink, leaving Éponine happy but confused.
Later that evening, Éponine was waiting outside her flat, her hair brushed through and washed in the river as promised. Marius let her in and took her hand, saying nothing but leading her through to the living room.
Éponine's eyes widened. Not one, not two, not three but four separate packages were on the bed. A hand flew to her mouth as she stepped closer, running a hand over the packages.
She smiled as she opened her siblings' gifts, those pesky tears threatening to return. She slipped the stockings on and took a small nibble of fudge, grinning widely.
When she got to Marius' packages, she took her time, curious. Her reaction when she saw the clothing was - well, pleasantly surprised didn't begin to cover it. She just stood open-mouthedly smiling at them for quite a while, only brought back to reality when Marius placed a hand on her shoulder.
"You might want to get changed, we've somewhere to go" he whispered gently, smiling before heading into his room to get changed himself.
Éponine checked he was gone before taking her clothes off and hesitantly slipping on the dress. It was easily the nicest thing she'd ever worn, or at least ever worn in the past ten ears anyway. The scarf fitted perfectly, the red contrasting and bringing out the chestnut brown in her hair and eyes.
Marius came back out in a slightly worn but still presentable suit. He stopped when he saw Éponine, unable to grasp just how different she looked. With her hair washed and brushed it fell to just above her waist in loose waves, and she smiled shyly at him. He smiled back, both reassuringly and admiringly, before stepping forwards.
"Gorgeous" was his first word as he walked towards her, offering her his arm. "Well then, Mademoiselle, shall we?"
Éponine grinned up at him. "We shall."
The restaurant was fairly quiet, mainly couples like themselves enjoying a nice dinner together. Éponine needed a bit of help with her menu, but settled for chicken and potatoes with cheese and a small salad on the side. Marius opted for a chicken pie and potatoes. Both stuck with water for a drink, Éponine had fallen into alcohol once when she was about fifteen, and it wasn't a route she wanted to go back down.
The meal was comfortable and delicious, and they chatted about everything under the sun. Éponine hardly stopped smiling the whole evening, and that grin only widened when her and Marius shared a lemon meringue pie which arrived with a candle on the top.
The walk home was more than pleasant. The two of them had fallen into a comfortable silence, Marius with his arm around Éponine's shoulders and her arm around his waist. When they stopped outside the tenement, Marius turned so that Éponine was facing him.
"I had fun tonight."
"Me too. I honestly can't thank you enough, that's the best day I've ever had."
Marius smiled. "No thanks necessary, I'm just very glad you had a good evening. I think I'd prefer it if you stayed with me tonight, I don't want it to be ruined by anything happening with your father."
A look of hesitation crossed Éponine's face briefly, before she realised he was right. I she went home, the minute she saw her father would be the minute her day was ruined. So she nodded with a smile, following him up the stairs and into his flat.
Almost the identical second the door closed, Marius took a deep breath and placed two hands in her waist, before leaning in and kissing her, softly, sweetly. Éponine responded, her hands finding their way to his shoulder. Instead of deepening, the kiss remained soft, a way of sharing their happiness rather than an act of passion.
When they eventually broke away, the couple just stood there looking at each other, smiling. Éponine stepped forwards and hugged him again. His arms wrapped about her thin shoulder blades, and they stood there in their shared embrace, completely silent, for no words were necessary.
Later that night, Éponine was curled up more or less on top of Marius, back in her old clothes for fear of creasing or ruining the old ones. She'd long since fallen into a happy sleep, but Marius remained awake, studying her. A sleeping Éponine was one of the most adorable things he'd ever seen. She had a small smile on her face and was curled tightly in a ball on her side, tiny snores escaping every now and then. Of course, if he called her adorable whilst she was awake, he'd likely feel a fist connecting with his shoulder, so he simply lay down and thought it.
All in all, it was quite possibly the best day either of them had ever experienced.