::Interchapter::
a/n: This is the last chapter in the book Unresolved Issues: Book II in the Split Ends series, and it's an interchapter thingie that starts out from Eponine's pov, and moves on to the other characters all in one chapter. . .sorry, confusing and complex. . .like my brain (not).
Eponine was still in a state of shock when she heard a knock at the door.
"Come in." She heard herself say. Marius entered and walked over to her cot.
"Did Enjolras find you? She asked, not sure if that was the right question to ask at the moment.
"Yes, he did." Marius said dryly.
"So...so did you settle the argument?" She was almost positive the answer was no.
"Define settle." Marius scowled at her. "Sorry, Eponine. It's just that I am so upset, and I need to talk to you. Can I?" Eponine hadn't expected that.
"Alright. What harm can it do?" Marius sat down on the cot.
"I have no one, Eponine. No one. Cosette left me, and Enjolras hurt me."
"But he apologized!" Eponine interrupted.
"Yes, and I didn't accept."
"Why?" Eponine was confused. Was this really that big of a problem?
"Because...I won't forgive easily the person who made my life a living hell." Eponine felt her jaw drop. Was it really that bad...a living hell? What had Enjolras said to him in the past few days to make Marius talk like this? Marius paused, and then started again. "Now, I'm all alone." Eponine cleared her throat.
"And I suppose that makes me nobody?" She snapped at him.
"What?" It took him a minute to realize what she meant.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Eponine. I guess I was too wrapped up everything...what was I thinking? I didn't even realize I had more than one friend. Forgive me." Eponine nodded, regaining her calmness. She thought over what Marius had said, and then something hit her. How had she let it slip unnoticed before?
"Marius, did you say that Cosette left you?" Marius nodded sadly.
"She wrote me this letter." Marius told her, holding out the letter for her to read.
She unfolded it carefully and read. Her eyes widened as she finished and put down the letter in silence.
"I don't understand it." Marius broke in. "She was so sure of our engagement yesterday, I don't get what happened." He pocketed the letter. "I've read it over a hundred times but I still can't find the meaning of all this." He shook his head. Eponine's eyes grew wider still. "Eponine, are you ok?" Marius asked. She shook her head. "Well, what's wrong?" He sounded worried.
"I. . .I think I know why she wrote that letter."
"Oh, Eponine, you do?" He paused. "Please, I'll do anything for you if you tell me." Eponine was torn. If she told Marius, he would be angry with her for saying those things to Cosette. If she didn't tell him, he would be upset with her for keeping something from him.
"I. . ." She started again. "It's my fault Cosette wrote that letter."
Marius sighed. "Eponine, please. Don't be so hard on yourself. I'm sure it wasn't your fault. Eponine nodded.
"Yes, It was. I asked her if she was ready to be a wife, and that must have gotten her thinking." She paused to catch her breath. "Then she asked me and I said that men have too many rules and set too many boundaries." She looked up at Marius and saw that his mouth was open slightly. "I'm sorry Marius. I didn't know that she would react to that the way she did."
Marius shook his head. "You...said...and she..." Marius couldn't get the words out. Eponine understood anyway and nodded.
"I'm really sorry, Marius. I can try to help you get her back." Marius looked straight into her eyes.
"Would you do that?" She nodded.
"Thank you, Eponine." She smiled.
"Now, help me walk to Cosette's house."
Cosette was sitting in her room with all the shades closed and no lights on. She had excluded herself from the world to think about her decision, and about fixing it. She decided that it was wrong. She could stay engaged to Marius without marrying him for a year if she- Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the front door. Cosette flew out of her room and down the steps in hoped of it being Marius. When she opened the door, she was slightly disappointed to see a distraught Enjolras standing before her.
"Oh." She said, not meaning to sound so upset.
"Very nice to see you as well." Said Enjolras, stepping inside uninvited. "I need to talk to you."
"Talk?" She asked. Enjolras nodded. "To me?'
"Is there an echo in here?" Enjolras said, irritated. "Yes, I need to talk to you, and it's urgent." Cosette's eyes widened.
"By all means then, come, sit down." They both walked through the hallway and took a seat at the dining room table. "What is it that you needed to talk about, Enjolras?"
He took a deep breath. "You and Marius. Marius and I. Us three, our friendship." Cosette remained silent, apparently waiting for him to say more. "Marius is upset with me because I was angry at him for swooning over you when he should have been fighting. Then when you left him, I was so mad at him for obsessing over you that I said..." he stopped. "...I said that he deserved it." Cosette opened her mouth to say something, but Enjolras put up a hand to silence her.
"I came to you for help and to fix what I've put out of place." Cosette nodded slowly.
"I will help you, but let me start with saying that I never left Marius to begin with. I simply told him that we weren't ready to wed yet, and I gave him back the ring."
Enjolras cringed. "You...gave it back?" She nodded. "I think he took that the wrong way." Enjolras suggested He didn't know what else to say at the moment.
"Clearly, from what you've been telling me." Cosette said, as her mind raced again.
Had she really hurt Marius that much? She had had no idea.
"Cosette?" Enjolras's voice broke her train of thought. She shook her mind back into focus.
"What?" She said absently.
"What can we do?" Enjolras wondered to her. She was about to shrug when they heard the front doorknob jiggle. Cosette stiffened and her eyes widened. Enjolras pulled out his pistol and walked towards the door, lest it be a thief or a gang member. The door swung open and Marius appeared in the doorway holding Eponine's hand. She gasped at Enjolras, who kept his pistol raised out of shock. There, in the doorway, was his enemy hand in hand with Eponine!
The woman he had just kissed moments before had her fingers locked with Marius! Enjolras realized that Cosette was clinging to his arm from the fright she had received when Marius burst in.
"What are you doing?" Marius snarled, clearly hinting to why he was in Cosette's house, with her clinging to his arm.
"I should ask you the same." Enjolras shot back. After all, he was holding Eponine's hand. Marius abruptly let go of Eponine's hand as Enjolras shook off Cosette. Eponine grabbed the doorframe for support and started to explain.
"Marius helped me walk here so we could fix things up with Cosette." Enjolras was fuming.
"You let her walk all the way from the café when you KNEW that her leg was hurt?" Then he turned to Eponine. "God, Eponine, something could've happened to you on the way, I'm not kidding. I know you can walk across the room, but all the way here is a bit much. Are you ok?" He walked over to her and kissed her gently on the cheek and let her lean on his arm. He didn't care if Marius saw anymore.
"I don't know." Enjolras helped her to the dining room and into a chair, while Cosette explained to them why Enjolras was here as well. Marius and Enjolras glared at each other while Enjolras pocketed his pistol and sat down next to Eponine, Cosette next to Marius across the table.
"It's time to settle this mess." She announced.
A/n: This is the end of Book II in the Split Ends Series, look for Book III, coming soon.
