Marius sniffled inside of his cell.  Not because he was crying, but rather because it was chilly and damp.  He sat on a straw pallet and wrapped his arms around his knees with a dejected sigh.  For some reason the prison guards thought it wisest to keep him away from the other prisoners, so Marius had the cell to himself. 

      He threw himself backwards on the mat and stared up at the ceiling.  Marius really hadn't counted on Enjolras going to the police.  And he really, really, hadn't counted on the police actually coming and arresting him. 

      Marius felt annoyed and cheated.  All he had really wanted to do was impress Cosette. 

      Ah! Cosette!  A drop of sunshine in this dismal place.  Marius sighed again.  He couldn't even take credit for that metaphor. 

  Everything Cosette liked about him was some element he had "borrowed" from one of his friends.  Cosette was in love with his friends, not Marius.  Marius sighed once more, enjoying his wallow through self-pity.

      "Pssst! Are you a murderer, a thief, or a plagiarist?" A voice softly called outside his window.

      Marius sat up and stared in disbelief at Bahorel's grinning, yet inverted face.  He was evidently hanging by his ankles from the roof in order to peer into Marius's cell.

      "Plagiarist." Marius said firmly.

      "Too bad, we're breaking out all of the thieves and murderers toni---Ouch! Stop that!"  Whoever was holding Bahorel had swung him into the iron bars that blocked Marius's window. "Alright, alright!" He muttered, taking some tools from his belt.

      "You guys are...getting me out?" Marius asked in disbelief. 

      "Yeah, yeah, we're a bunch of sweethearts, ain't we?" Bahorel said holding something in his teeth as worked with another tool. 

      "Well you're just doing what you ought to." Marius said with a frown.

      "Pardon?" Bahorel stopped filing. 

      "I mean, it is your guys' fault I'm in here."

      "All right, hoist me up, fellows!  I can't stand him anymore." Bahorel said.

      "No!" Another voice from above called frantically, yet in the same soft tones.  "If we don't get him out, Cosette will end up splitting our group." A moment's pause.  "And I don't wanna marry her!"

      Yet another voice chimed in.  "I'll marry her."

      "That's because you have a poetry sodden brain." The second voice growled.  "You believe in love at first sight, that there is good in all people, your religious views make my head hurt, and...no...no...don't do that...Jehan, I'm sorry...stop...don't..."

      Bahorel twisted around from his unusual position and added.  "You forgot that he cries easily." 

      "What do you mean, Cosette will end up splitting the group?  And...and what is it you mean by saying you don't want to marry her and that you do?" 

      Bahorel saw an opportunity to thoroughly enjoy himself.  "Cosette finds Jehan rather sweet."  Grinning at Marius's furious expression he added, "But she is in a bit of a quandary...you see she also finds Enjolras masterful and quite the looker." 

       "Bahorel, what's wrong with you?!" Enjolras cried unseen from above. "Don't tell him that!"

      "Why not? Its true, isn't it?" Bahorel asked as he filed merrily on the bars.

      "She was distraught." Prouvaire said.  "You can't judge a person by what they do when they're distraught."

    "Well, I for one think she liked you a lot, Jehan." Bahorel said.

"Really?" There was no mistaking the pleasure in the poet's voice.

      Marius ran to the window and hissed angrily at the concealed young men.  "You both stay away from my Cosette!"

      "Careful, you've seen how defensive he is about poetry, I shudder to think what would happen to the poor sap that got between him and his wom---Ow!" Bahorel was swung again into bars. 

      "Impressive aim, Jehan."  Marius commented.

      "It wasn't me, it was Enjolras."  There was once again a definite note of pleasure in his voice. 

      "I missed.  I was aiming for the mason work outside the window frame." Enjolras replied.

        Bahorel wasn't much fazed.  "I don't know why you're so stuck on Colette."

      "Cosette." Three voice corrected.

      "Whatever."

      "I just can't help it.  She's crazy about me."  Marius smirked.   

      "Yes, yes, we are all quite impressed by your prowess when it comes to impressing the ladies." Enjolras said.  "Bahorel, are you finished yet?"

      "Of course I am Enjolras.  I just like hanging upside down, its really quite entertaining." Bahorel rolled his eyes and continued filing.

      "Stop your backtalk and hurry it up then!" Enjorlas snapped. 

      "Yes, Mum."

      "Bahorel!"

      "Ah-ha!" Bahorel had finally managed to remove the bars.  "You ought to be able to fit through there, Marius."

      Marius scrambled over to the window and allowed Bahorel to help hoist him up and out of his cell.  He gave the three a smile.  "Now doesn't it feel good to do the right thing?"

      Bahorel clenched his fist and hissed through his teeth.  He was trying his utmost not to lose his temper.  It was a valiant struggle, best appreciated by those who knew Bahorel best.   

      Enjolras was in too much of a hurry to reunite Marius and Cosette to care how Marius was acting.

      Jehan was furiously apologizing for his earlier actions.  "I am so sorry Marius.  I didn't even know I had a temper...that is no one in my family ever provoked me before...and none of my friends...not even Bahorel, so you can imagine my surprise at my actions."

      Marius scowled slightly.  "You should be sorry.  You could have seriously hurt me.  Do you know that I could sue you for-"

      "Aw for the love of..." Bahorel rolled his eyes and shoved Marius slightly, and the young lawyer tottered dangerously close to the edge of the roof.  "This is why I hate lawyers.  They aren't good for anything.  They're like mosquitoes: both suck blood.  If you don't stop it, I'll knock yer lights out."

      As Bahorel was easily a head taller than Marius, not to mention at least fifty pounds heavier, he thought it wisest not to annoy Bahorel any further.

      Enjolras grabbed Marius by the shoulder and steered him the proper direction.  "Lets get this over with.  The others can't keep the guards distracted forever." 

      Jehan and Bahorel both stifled giggles. 

      Enjolras looked at them.  "What on earth is your problem?"

      "Well...um...that is to say...the idea the girl came up with to distract the guards is..."

      "Unique." Bahorel supplied, and the two sniggered. 

      "It involves...ah..."

      "Grantaire."  Bahorel supplied again.

      Enjolras clamped a hand to his forehead.  "Oh dear G-"

      "That's right!" Bahorel said cheerfully.  "They've spent the past day getting him liquored up."

      "Oh, and I'm sure it was quite the struggle!" Enjolras said, rolling his eyes.

      "Actually," Jehan said, "with his tolerance to alcohol...it took quite the number of drinks."

      "Wonderful."  Enjolras stopped and cocked his head to the side.  "What on earth is-"

      "I loves the girls

       And I loves good wine.

       I loves good girls

       But I hates bad wine,

       Now my girl ain't pretty

       But at least she's mine!

       So I'll end my ditty

       If you'll pass me some wine."

      Grantaire, obviously three sheets to the wind was singing and passing around a bottle to the prison guards. The guards, not much more sober than Grantaire, were laughing so hard tears streamed down their cheeks.  

      "What sort of mind thinks up something like that?"  Enjolras asked, wrinkling his nose.

      "Kind of catchy, actually." Bahorel remarked humming along. 

      "Cosette will love it!" Marius said, making a mental note on the lyrics.

      "Haven't you learned anything?!" Jehan asked, obviously dismayed.

      "Er…that is…Cosette will love the song that I myself compose for her." Marius lied, trying to avoid the poet's incredulous glance. 

      "Oh, well that's okay then.  Good for you, Marius."  Jehan said smiling. 

      "Yeah, and I have a bridge I'd like to sell you Jehan."  Bahorel remarked as he rolled his eyes. 

      "What would I do with a bridge, Bahorel?"

      Bahorel was too stunned to respond.  He was used to Jehan's earnestness and at times naivety; so it wasn't the reply to his sarcasm that stopped him dead in his tracks.  It was a very pretty girl dressed as a boy looking utterly bewildered as she gazed around the alley. 

      "Cosette!" Marius cried.  Enjolras quickly clamped his hand over Marius's mouth. 

      "Shhh! Do you want to get caught?"

      Cosette looked up and saw them.  She smiled brightly.  "Oh! Hello again, Jehan, Marius.  Hi Bahorel.  Hi Enjolras."

      Glowing with pleasure that his name had been mentioned first, Jehan waved cheerfully.  Marius was feeling somewhat sulky that his name had been mentioned second, and merely glared moodily down at Cosette.       

      "Marius, what's wrong, cuddle-puddle?" 

      Marius merely glared and turned his back to her. 

      "Fellows? What's wrong with Marius?" Cosette asked, as the others climbed skillfully off of the roof to join her. 

      "Well, he's moody for one thing.  Also, he has poor political views.  We think he curls his hair, and we know he doesn't bathe but bi-monthly.  He is unsympathetic to our cause, and he is unbelievably stubborn." Bahorel said in one breath. 

      Cosette blinked. "No…I meant…why is he still on the roof…er…pouting?"

      "He's jealous of Prouvaire."  Bahorel said grinning. 

      Enjolras looked up at Marius angrily.  "Get down off that roof this instant!" He snarled. 

      Cosette stared up at Marius.  "Well, gee, I can't imagine why I'm starting to look at other men!  Could it be that you are controlling, plagiaristic, and somewhat neurotic?" 

      "Yeah, Jehan is only neurotic."  Bahorel called up.

      "Shut it, Bahorel."  Jehan said mildly. 

      Marius sniffed and looked down at her.  "I should have known you were a 'loose woman'.  Ever since that day in the park, I saw your dress lift clear to your shin!  Tramp!" He added as an afterthought. 

       Cosette's eyes filled with tears.  "But…it was windy…the wind blew my dress up a bit…and I'm not a loose woman…or a…or a…"

      Bahorel supplied the last word.  "Tramp?"

      Cosette burst into tears, and started sobbing into Jehan's jacket front.  He patted her on the back sympathetically, yet in the back of his mind he couldn't help but thinking "Jean Prouvaire…human handkerchief." 

      "Oh sure, comfort your little trollop…" Marius was still feeling moody. "I don't know why I bothered copying those stupid verses of yours.  Bah."

Marius fluttered his eyelashes and recited in painfully mocking tones, "Your beauty warms me.  Puh. Drivel." 

He turned his glare away from a wounded Prouvaire to glare at Enjolras, "And those speeches? Please, who gives a flying fig about the destitute of France?  I'm not starving, so frankly, I don't care. 

      "Marius?  I'm coming up there to kick your butt up around your ears, so you might want to start running now." Bahorel said, as he hoisted himself up.

      "I wanted to just shoot him, but noooo." Enjolras muttered.     

      Cosette was attempting to comfort Jehan.  "He's just being a…well, being a lady I can't say what he's being right now.  Your verses are beautiful you know that.  Are you crying?"  She glared up at Marius and said to Bahorel, "Kick his—"

      "No…Ah'm not cr—cr-crying." Jehan sniffled.

      Marius backed away from Bahorel his eyes wide with fear.  "I just wanted to impress you, Cosette! I love you!"

      "Manipulative little such-n-such, you really expect me to believe that?"  Cosette cried. 

      "Well, you're not the swiftest girl God ever gave breath to." Marius said.

      Enjolras looked up at the cowering Marius and then over at a very happy Jehan and Cosette.  He sighed. 

      "I like June weddings.  How about June 5th?" Cosette said to Jehan as she snuggled up to him.

      "Sounds great to me."  He replied.  "Enjolras, you'll be there, right?"

      Enjolras sighed again.  Something about this June wedding didn't seem right to him.  "Well, of course I'll be there."

      "Do ya, promise?" 

      "Well, yes, I swear that nothing could stop me from attending this wedding." Enjolras had that funny feeling again.        

      Marius looked down and his jaw dropped.  "You're getting married?!"

      Bahorel grabbed him by the collar.  "You are too! Mademoiselle Marius, meet M. Fist."

      While Bahorel was beating Marius into a pulp, the other three joined the rest of the group in the Café Musain.  The Amis, were of course thrilled by Jehan's good fortune.

      "June 5th? I'll be there."  Seemed to be the general consensus.

      "Lets go home and tell Papa!" Cosette cried.

      "Good idea.  Then we can write a nicely worded letter to my family."  Jean Prouvaire said.

      "Oh, don't worry, Papa can afford the wedding."  Cosette said hurriedly. 

      "Ah...yes...I should have mentioned this before but my family's financial situation is sort of..." He whispered something in her ear.

      Cosette's eyes grew very round.  "Oh my.  Really?  That much..."

      "Well, that's my yearly allowance.  When I become head of the family it will be substantially more than...Co?  Cosette?  Co?  Are you okay?"

      Cosette staggered.  "Its just that...you're cute, you're nice, and you're pardon the expression, dear, filthy rich.  Quite the package, and if you don't mind my asking, why the heck hasn't anyone snatched you up yet."

      Bahorel came up dusting off his hands.  "Because, he's shy!  Horribly shy!  Horrifically shy! So shy that he can't even look at most girls without breaking into a cold sweat and"

      "Bahorel, want to be best man at the wedding?"

      Bahorel glowed with pleasure. "Of course I do!"

      "Then shut up." 

      "Sure thing, Kidd-o."  Bahorel tousled Jehan's hair. 

      Courfeyrac sighed.  "Well this has been an interesting month."

      Joly nodded.  "Jehan's getting married, Marius is..." he frowned.  "Bahorel, where is Marius?"

      Bahorel smiled innocently.  "I just gave him an attitude adjustment." 

      "Does he need medical attention?" Combeferre asked, somewhat concerned. 

      "Nah." Bahorel said sitting down beside Jehan. 

      Enjolras shook his head.  "Gentlemen…and Lady," he said addressing Cosette quickly.  "There is a lesson to be learned in all of this."  He frowned. "But I'll be darned if I know what it is."

      Cosette raised her hand. "Plagiarism benefits no one." She smiled.  "Ask Marius."

      "After he regains consciousness, I'm sure he'd agree with that." Bahorel said. 

      Courfeyrac raised an eyebrow.  "Thought you just said he didn't need medical attention, Bahorel."

      "He doesn't.  He's not bleeding and he is breathing.  No medical attention needed."  Bahorel said.

       Enjolras waved his hand impatiently.  "So what have we all learned from this?"

      Courfeyrac rolled his eyes.  "Besides that Marius is a chump?" 

      "Besides that."

      "Besides that Cosette is a tad deeper than she first seemed?"

      "Yes, yes, besides that." Enjolras was getting annoyed. 

      "Well we learned that the prisons of Paris are deplorably guarded." Courfeyrac said, "But I really don't know where you're going with this, mon ami."

      Enjolras sighed heavily.  "We learned that..." He paused.  "We learned that..." Enjolras frowned and sighed once again.  "Actually, Cosette put it best."  He shook his head.  He had lost the attention of his friends anyway. 

      "Why does Bahorel get to be the best man, I thought I was your best friend!" Courfeyrac asked Jehan, looking miffed.

      "Look, my family probably won't be able to make it up in time, you guys will be the only ones filling my side of the church."  Jehan pointed out. 

      Courfeyrac frowned.  "Still it isn't the same."

      Cosette shrugged, and suggested.  "I need someone to help me with my train."

      Courfeyrac grinned.  "Ooo-kaaay."

      Jehan looked startled. "Cosette, there is something you really ought to know about Courfeyrac." 

      "But look how disappointed he was!  He was feeling left out.  Now I don't want to hear another word on the subject."

      "But..." Jehan sighed.  She'd find out soon enough.