Hey guys! So it's about 6:30 AM and I've been up for an hour, so... we'll see where this goes...
Disclaimer: I don't own Les Misérables or the characters
Marius kissed Eponine passionately as he held her close to him. She kissed him back, her arms wrapped around his neck, her legs wrapped around his waist. Marius kissed her neck, and then her jaw, and then her lips again.
"Oh Marius..." Eponine murmured lovingly.
"Oh 'Ponine..." Marius replied.
Marius woke with a start and sat up. He glanced over at the sleeping form of Eponine on his bed. I cannot keep having these dreams... Marius thought, shaking his head. He quietly got up and walked over to where Eponine slept peacefully. She didn't look like she was in pain, which was a good thing. That meant that whatever the doctor had given her was working. Marius gently tucked a strand of loose hair behind Eponine's ear and watched her sleep for a bit. It was hard to believe that her father, the man who had raised her, had done this to her, that he had beaten her so mercilessly. Marius only wished that she had told him sooner. He would have tried to stop her father, or at the very least, he would have offered Eponine a place to live, so that she wouldn't have to return to that. He gazed sadly at his friend. She didn't deserve the life she lived, she really didn't. Eponine was a good person. Yes, she pick-pocketed, and yes, she adept at lying, but she was a good person at heart. She was caring and selfless. She always put those she cared about above herself. She didn't pick-pocket because she needed to, she pick-pocketed because she feared being beaten by her father. She very rarely kept any of what she pick-pocketed for herself. She almost always gave it all to her father. She only kept some for herself when she managed to steal more than usual. Even then she would rarely keep any. No matter how much money she managed to get, it was never enough to her father. He was never happy with her. Her mother never made any attempt to stop him, her mother never tried to help Eponine.
Eponine didn't think much of herself. She didn't think she was pretty, she didn't think she was even worth knowing. She's wrong... Marius thought, She's beautiful and I'm glad that I know her. My life's been changed for the better because she's in it. He gently kissed her forehead. He could have sworn that he saw her smile. She's my best friend. I don't know what I'd do without her.
Marius looked out the small window in his flat. It was starting to get lighter outside. He guessed that it was about 7:00. If he listened, he could hear the sound of people talking downstairs. Then he heard something about Patria. Enjolras is awake. Marius thought.
"Monsieur?" Eponine groggily whispered. Marius looked at her.
"How do you feel?" he asked.
"I've been better." she replied tersely. "Though it's not quite as bad as it was last night."
"Are you hungry?"
"A little."
"Come on, let's go downstairs and get some breakfast." he said. He helped her up and then, noticing that she limped when she walked, he wrapped an arm around her waist to make sure that she didn't fall. He brought her downstairs to the cafe. As he helped her down the stairs, he noticed that most of Les Amis de l'ABC were already there. Grantaire seemed to have awoken from his drunken stupor. Joly and Bossuet were playing cards while they waited for the waitress at the cafe to bring them their food. Enjolras and Combeferre were discussing politics. The only one's that seemed to be missing were Bahoral, Prouvaire, Courfeyrac, and Feuilly.
Marius brought Eponine over to a table and helped her to sit down. He read the menu to her and, when they'd both decided what they wanted, he went and told the waitress. When he returned to the table, he found that Grantaire was watching them.
"Lovebirds..." Marius heard Grantaire mutter. He could see that Eponine had heard as well; she was blushing. Grantaire noticed her blush and started to laugh. Enjolras shot him a reproving look, which seemed to shut him up.
"So, 'Ponine," Marius said as the waitress brought them their food, "I was thinking... after what you said about your father... if you ever wanted somewhere else to live, well... my door's always open for you." Eponine smiled slightly.
"That's very kind of you, Monsieur." she said, "But I could never... my father would search for me and I don't want you to get hurt." She didn't mention that it would be hard for her to hide her feelings for him if she was living with him.
"Your father would be the one getting hurt."
"He has a gang, Marius. The Patron Minette. They'd hurt you, possibly even kill you..." she told him quietly. Marius couldn't think of a reply. They ate their meal in silence.
Eponine watched as Marius and the rest of Les Amis de l'ABC all left the cafe and went to their classes at the university. Marius had offered to skip his classes so he could stay with her, but Eponine had told him not to worry about her and that he needed to go to his classes if he ever hoped to become a lawyer. After they were gone, Eponine asked the waitress help her to write a letter. The waitress was a kind, old woman who agreed right away to help her. Eponine addressed the letter to Marius, and with the help of the old woman, she wrote:
Dear Marius,
I am leaving, and by the time you will have read this, I'll be gone. Thank you for your kindness and for helping
me last night. If not for you, I probably would have died. I'm sorry, but I could not stay here. I know that you
are not rich, that you can hardly afford to care for yourself, much less for me. Do not worry about me. I am not
returning to my father. Not yet, anyway. You may see me in the streets, I'll be around.
Eponine
She left the letter with the waitress, who agreed to give it to Marius, and she took to the streets once more. She tried not to think about the pain she felt, or about the earsplitting headache that attacked her head. She tried to ignore the dizziness and, as she collapsed in an alleyway several streets away from the Musain, the darkness that came without warning.
Not a very long chapter, but there ya go! Please review!