Jean Prouvaire came over to the apartment a couple hours after Combeferre left, and he did indeed bring flowers. Enjolras showed him into Éponine's room and he nearly dropped the flowers at the sight of her.
"Oh, you poor thing!" He cried, rushing to her side. "Are you all right? Look at that bruise on your cheek! Oh, and your swollen nose..."
Éponine smiled faintly. "I'm all right, Monsieur. Please don't fret. It looks worse than it actually is at this point."
He held out the purple and blue flowers to her. "Geraniums and larkspur. I grew them myself."
"Thank you. They're beautiful."
"Everyone deserves flowers when they're not well," Prouvaire said matter-of-factly. "It's the least I could do. Well, that and perhaps offer you some company, if you're feeling lonely. I have no classes until later today."
"I'd like that," Éponine said with a smile, and Prouvaire sat down on the edge of the bed. She didn't know Prouvaire very well, but she'd always liked him well enough. He was a very gentle person, and kind-hearted as well. In fact, it would have been very hard not to like Jean Prouvaire. He was simply a likable person. "So what do you study?" She asked him.
"Literature and philosophy," Prouvaire replied. "But I've also been learning Italian. My goal is to read and hopefully understand Dante's Divine Comedy in its original language. I find literature is always best when read in its original language. There are certain things that are lost in translation."
"That makes sense. I imagine languages are very nuanced."
"Indeed. But how are you? Has Marius come to visit yet?"
Her face fell slightly. "No. Not yet. He's... He's coming later."
Prouvaire studied her for a moment. "Is everything all right? Has... Has anything happened?"
"N-No. Everything's fine." Her voice shook slightly. It was a lie she was tired of telling; part of her wished people would stop asking. But Prouvaire's gaze was piercing and she almost felt as though he could see right through her. There was so much kindness and understanding there that before she could stop herself, she was telling him everything. "Th-That night at the Musain... A-After I brought him home, h-he... we... A-And then the next day... He doesn't even remember." Her face crumpled and she began to cry, despite the fact that Éponine Thénardier, as a general principle, did not cry in front of people.
"Oh, flower..." Prouvaire murmured, compassion evident in his face. She turned her face away in shame, but Prouvaire softly assured her: "Hey, it's okay to cry."
"It's not," she said, wiping away her tears. "It's really not. Monsieur—"
"Please, call me Jehan."
"Jehan... Please don't tell him. I... I don't want this to ruin our friendship. He can't know— he mustn't know."
He gently took one of her hands in both of his own. "I'm not going to tell him," he murmured, "but I really think that you should, when you're ready to."
She shook her head fervently. "I can't, Jehan. I won't ever tell him. I just... I need to get over this. I need to forget what happened and move on, otherwise... I can't lose him as a friend."
"Éponine," he ventured tentatively, "do you have feelings for Marius?"
"No," she replied, much too quickly. She could see that Jehan didn't believe her. "I... I think I... I love him," she said hopelessly. "But I know he doesn't feel the same way."
"How can you know that unless you ask?"
She shook her head again. "No... No, I know he doesn't. Just... Just trust me. Marius will never love me."
"If you say so... Will you be okay? Do you need a hug?"
No longer trusting her voice, she merely nodded and Jehan enfolded her in his arms. Éponine buried her face in his shoulder and just cried. He gently patted her hair and murmured words of reassurance, slowly rocking her back and forth. How long they stayed like that, Éponine did not know. It felt good to be held. At some point, she must have fallen asleep because when she next opened her eyes, Jehan was gone and the flowers were on the nightstand.
"Éponine?" came a voice that did not belong to Prouvaire. Éponine looked up and saw Marius in the doorway. It looked like he had been about to leave, but now he walked over to her. "You were asleep. I didn't want to bother you..."
"Marius..."
"How are you? It feels like forever since I last saw you. You were always asleep when I came to visit. I... I was starting to think you didn't want to see me. Are you all right? Are you healing?"
"I'm fine, Marius," she said in a tired voice. "How are you? And how's Azelma? Courfeyrac said you'd seen her. Is she all right?"
"She's fine," Marius assured her. "Still very quiet, but quite relieved when I told her you would be okay. I think she almost smiled. And I'm all right too, though it's been lonely without you to talk to." Éponine felt a twinge of guilt at this. "But don't feel bad!" He continued hastily, "I understand that you need time. I don't know exactly what happened with your father, of course, but if you ever want to talk about it—a-and don't feel pressured to—I'm here for you."
"Thanks, Marius," Éponine said quietly.
"Of course. Anytime. And I'll keep checking in on Azelma for you, if you want. Mostly things have been quiet at the Gorbeau House. I haven't even heard arguing coming from your family's apartment. I think your father has been intimidating Azelma though. She was even quieter than usual when I spoke with her, but it could just be that she was worried about you."
"Right... Well she knows I'm okay now, so that's... that's good."
"Yeah. You have no idea how scary it was when you... I came back to the Gorbeau House and you were lying face-down at the bottom of the stairs, a-and there was so much blood that I... I thought you might be... But you weren't. Thank god you weren't. I had no idea how long you'd been lying there like that; it was quite late when I got back from the university. The only thing I could think to do was to bring you to Combeferre. Thank god I did. He knew exactly what to do. And... And then it took what felt like forever for you to wake up... But you did wake up and that's what matters, and you're going to be okay."
"I'm sorry you had to go through that," Éponine said quietly. "I didn't mean to worry you."
"How did you fall? Did you trip?"
"Something like that."
Marius frowned. "Why do I get the feeling you're not telling me everything?"
Éponine sighed heavily. "I was hungry, Marius," she lied. "I got a bit lightheaded and... well, you saw what happened."
"Oh, 'Ponine..." he murmured. "You should have come to me. I'm always willing to buy you food."
She shook her head. "Marius, you can barely feed yourself. You shouldn't worry about feeding me as well."
"'Ponine, I know that if I ever needed to, I could go to my grandfather and he would give me money for food. I wouldn't be proud of it, but it would be an option. What I'm trying to say is that I really don't mind using what meager money I have to help you out because I don't really have the worry of running out."
"Marius... I would never ask you to go to your grandfather and wound your pride like that. That man lied to you your entire life about your father; would you really go back to him? Think about what his lies cost you. You could have had many happy years with your dad. No. You're not asking your grandfather for money on my account. I can fend for myself."
"Please let me help you."
"You're already helping me," she said softly. "You help me just by being a part of my life. You're my friend, my confidant. You're someone I can talk to about anything." Well, almost anything, she thought. "Please, try not to worry. I'm a big girl; I can take care of myself."
"If you say so, 'Ponine..."
"I do say so. Now, come sit by me. Keep me company."
Marius became somewhat flustered. "I'm really sorry, 'Ponine. Truly. But I can't stay very long. I have to get to work soon. There's a manuscript that needs to be fully translated by tomorrow morning. I got here a couple hours ago, but you were asleep and... Oh, 'Ponine. I'm sorry. I'd really like to stay..."
"No, no, it's fine," she assured him. "How much time do you have?"
He pulled out an old, battered pocket-watch. "Fifteen minutes."
"Then just sit with me a little while."
He smiled faintly. "I can do that."