A/N: I apologize in advance for Éponine's long and confusing drivels…

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Grantaire awoke to something cold on his forehead. He heard voices conversing, but they sounded far away. He listened intently, eyes closed.

"What happened?"

"Last night, he passed out in front of the Musain, and a man tried to attack him."

"Is he alright?"

"He'll be fine, but he really should stay away from all that wine."

"I've tried to tell him that for the longest…never mind. How long do you think he'll be out?"

"Oh, he should be coming around any time now, I figure, monsieur."

"When he's well enough bring him to see me at the Musain, alright?"

"Of course."

"Thanks for taking care of him."

"It is not a problem, monsieur."

Enjolras looked her in the eye one last time before turning towards the door, leaving Éponine alone with Grantaire.

Grantaire heard the conversation, but didn't understand. Everything sounded fuzzy, and his eyelids were tremendously heavy.

He felt the cold on his forehead once more and moaned softly at the feel of it. Éponine was startled and dropped the wet rag that she had been dabbing Grantaire's forehead with.

"Monsieur Grantaire?" she asked. "Are you awake? Monsier Grantaire?"

He made another sound and opened his eyes slowly.

"Monsieur Grantaire, it's me, Éponine." she said soothingly. "Do you remember who I am?"

He groaned, and Éponine sighed softly. He probably would be out of it for a little while longer, so it was probably no use asking him questions now.

She picked up the rag once more and continued wetting his forehead with it. Grantaire struggled to remember what had happened, and where he was.

He had been at the Musain earlier. Yes, he knew that much. He had been there and he had had wine. Lots of wine. And then…everything else was pretty much a blank. He closed his eyes, concentrating very hard, trying to figure out what one earth was going on. Usually, when he woke up not remembering the night before, he woke up in his bed. He was in his bed, he thought, but Éponine was with him. And someone else had been in the room. A man. He couldn't figure out who he was, though.

He opened his eyes, though he had not gotten anywhere with his investigation. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but then closed it again. He gazed intently at Éponine, who looked lost in thought.

"Éponine…" he managed to get out.

She snapped back to her senses and looked rather startled that he had spoken. "Monsieur Grantaire, are you awake? Can you hear me?" she asked slowly.

Grantaire nodded. "What happened…?"

Éponine cringed. "It was Montparnasse." She said disgustedly. "You were nearly unconscious outside of the Café Musain, and I found you and tried to bring you back to your home, I did."

There she paused, to let Grantaire's mind digest the information.

"Go on..."

"Well, then Montparnasse came and…to make a long story short, he tried to kill you. So I attacked him and screamed at the top of my lungs, you see, Monsieur Grantaire, and the owner of the café heard me and came outside. So then Montparnasse ran…and you fainted."

Grantaire tried to comprehend. "Oh." Was all he could say.

"Oh! If you only knew how much I worried, worried about you, Monsieur Grantaire! You sat here unconscious and I said to your blond friend, I said, 'He will take a while to come to.' That man thought you might not be alive! I told him otherwise, I did. He left you here with me and I watched you to make sure you would be alright. Oh! You have no idea how long I have waited here with this rag in my hand and…are you feeling well? Does your head hurt? Would you like some water?"

Grantaire blinked twice. He wondered if this girl had even taken a breath throughout her long drivel. He thought her a tad crazy at the moment. His mind hadn't quite encoded exactly what she had said yet, but he got the feeling that most of it was irrelevant. He suddenly remembered she had been talking about his 'blond friend'.

'Enjolras!' he thought to himself. 'No, it could not have been him. He would not come to see me!'

"My friend came by…?" he asked slowly.

"Oh yes, Monsieur Grantaire, your friend did come by. A very nice fellow, he was. He had very blue eyes and pretty blond hair." Éponine was in fact envious of Enjolras hair.

"Enjolras…?"

"Oh yes! That was it! Yes! He was the one who came by! Such a noble name, I say. How long have you known him? Do you go to school with him?"

"I…have known him a while."

"Oh, well that is good, Monsieur Grantaire, to have a long time friend, I mean. I have a long time friend as well, I do. His name is Marius. Marius Pontmercy. Do you know him? We are very close friends. He comes to talk with me all the time! Sometimes, most of the time, I guess all of the time we talk about Cosette! Cosette, the girl from the Rue Plumet. Yes, she is a nice girl. She is my friend too! I come to see her when I deliver the letters…I deliver letters all of the time! They make my two friends very happy! Oh yes, it is good to have friends!"

Grantaire felt overwhelmed with pity by now. He could now figure out Éponine's story and situation. She liked Marius, no doubt, but Marius loves this Cosette, of whom he talks constantly at the café. Éponine must be the one who exchanges the letters for them.

Grantaire sighed slightly and used the energy he had to sit up. Apparently this had been the only energy he had; he sank back down, head pounding.

"Oh no! You should not have sat up Monsieur Grantaire, oh that was a bad thing to do! It will take longer for you to be better, it will!"

"Please, just…call me Grantaire. No more 'monsieur.'" Grantaire said to the girl, annoyed by her and pitying her at the same time.

"Oh that is wonderful that you let me call you by your name! Oh how wonderful! You have made my day Mons…I mean, Grantaire! Oh how nice it is to say your name! Grantaire! Grantaire!"

This girl was obviously delirious from lack of food and, as it seemed, lack of love. He sighed gently and held up an arm to quiet her. She was silenced immediately.

"Why don't you go get some food from the cupboard? It's over there." He said gesturing to the left.

The girl nodded happily. "Of course, of course! You must be hungry Grantaire--"

"Oh, no." he interrupted. "It's for you. You must eat."

She looked confused. "Eat…?"

"Yes! You must eat some food, Éponine! And bring me some bread as well. Help yourself to anything over there."

Still looking slightly confused, Éponine stood and obeyed.

She came back with two loaves of bread. She handed him one, and kept one in her hands.

He kept still, eyeing her closely.

She stared at the bread, turning it over in her hands. She gripped it tightly, as if afraid that it might disappear.

"Well, are you going to eat?" he asked her.

"I…guess I am going to eat." She replied, and cautiously took a bite of the bread. After the first bite, she began eating it like the crazed and starved teenager that she was.

Satisfied, Grantaire began to eat his own bread. When they were finished, they sat in silence, Grantaire with his eyes closed.

"How long have I been here?" Grantaire asked suddenly.

Éponine jumped slightly, then answered. "I am not quite sure! But, oh! I have forgotten! Grantaire, your friend Enjolras, he said for me to bring you to him when you are well, he did! Quick, can you stand?" she asked quickly, tugging gently on his arm.

With Éponine's assistance, Grantaire stood and walked slowly out of the door. They descended the stairs with much difficulty.

They then started down the road towards the Café Musain.