Cosette awoke with a start, it was morning again and she felt like she had been sleeping for a week, she rubbed her eyes with her hand and turned her head to one side and saw Marius sitting in an armchair by the bed, he looked concerned and detached at the same time.

Cosette was still sleepy and she wasn't sure what he was doing there but for some reason she felt comforted by the fact that he was there.

She didn't know what to say to him, so she just gave an automatic greeting

"Hello" She said quietly

"Hello" Marius replied, with a tad more effort than she had mustered

Then he added "How are you feeling?" sounding hopeful

Cosette didn't respond with words, she just looked downwards and shook her head. Then she looked up at him again.

"Have you been there all night?" she said, still rubbing sleep from her eyes

He had indeed been there all night, he had been worried about her since her fainting spell the previous day and had wanted to stay by her side while she was recuperating, he also thought that maybe if she could see that he truly wanted to be there for her she might open up to him and they could finally start healing properly.

But as Cosette was waking herself up that morning he realised he still hadn't reached her

"Yes" He replied, "I wanted to make sure you slept alright"

Cosette looked into his sorrowful eyes for a moment, she felt grateful that he did that for her but at the same time she felt the same emptiness and sadness that had been overtaking her all week.

"You didn't have to do that" she simply said, not looking at him as she sat up on the bed.

"I wanted to" Marius replied

Cosette looked at him for a moment, not really sure of what to say to him. So Marius just spoke instead

"Well…. I'll um….. I'll let you get dressed then" He got up to leave but then stopped and turned to her again. "Will you come down for breakfast?" Marius asked

Cosette just nodded and looked down at her hands

Marius decided to be brave and went to kiss her, and she let him. Well, that is to say she didn't back away when he gave her a gentle peck on the cheek; it was a stiff and emotionless act, but it was the best he could do at that moment.

He then went to leave the room

"Wait…..Marius?" Cosette said suddenly

"Yes?" he asked hopefully, her face again told him that there was something she wanted desperately to say to him, but she couldn't find the words.

"Um…..I…" She stammered

Marius waited, but her face went blank again and he knew they still hadn't made any progress

"You need a shave" she said instead, and got out of bed and headed towards the bathroom.


Cosette did join the rest of the household for breakfast that morning, she washed her face and tidied her hair and went downstairs just to be polite. Everyone said hello to her as she entered the room, Grandfather in particular made a huge fuss over her, for he had grown very fond of Cosette over the past few months and he had been very concerned about her since yesterday. He said how lovely it was to see her up and about again and that she was looking a lot better today. Cosette just smiled at the old man politely and ate with the family.

And thus the day progressed exactly like that, everyone was polite, everyone was nice and Cosette tried her best to adjust to the world again, but she still felt disconnected from everything and everyone. Whenever Marius was around she couldn't talk to him and sometimes she would look away from him if he tried to come near her. She wanted so desperately to feel things again, she wanted to be able to talk to Marius like they used to before they were married, most of all she just wanted to feel like herself again, she felt so lost inside.

Early that evening Cosette was in the living room sitting on the floor with her knees against her chest absentmindedly looking at the fire when Marius walked in, she didn't turn around to look at him but she knew it was him when he entered.

He didn't say anything to her; he just sat on a chair next to her and watched her. All he wanted was to be close to her, and he thought maybe she might open up to him tonight, she had been looking better today after all so he thought that she might at last want to reach out to him. He was so desperate to help her that he would have tried anything at this point.

And then she spoke, she didn't look up at Marius or even at anything; it was like it just came out of her by accident.

"I wish I could see him again" she said sadly

Marius thought this was it, that maybe she would finally open up to him.

"Cosette?" He said, trying to bring her out of the void she had been lost in

Then Cossette realised she had spoken and she looked up at Marius, she almost managed to gather up the courage to talk to him but at the last moment she sank back into herself again.

"Cosette is there something you want to say?" Marius asked, trying one last time to reach her

"I…..um…..I'm tired Marius, I think I'm going to go to bed" she just said instead and stood up to leave the room

Marius sighed and nodded his head and watched her about to leave the room

"Cosette wait!" he suddenly yelled, he stood up to follow her

Cosette stopped and turned to him again, but she looked down at the floor instead of looking at him, he went up to her and pressed her gently against the wall.

"Please Cosette, talk to me" he said taking her hand in his, "I miss you, I need you to talk to me, I can tell there's something you want to say". Marius then put a hand softly on Cosettes face and made her look him in the eye. "I know you miss your father, and I know you're in pain but please let me in Cosette". He moved his face closer to hers, almost touching her lips with his, and he whispered once more "Please".

Cosette didnt resist him; she almost let him kiss her, almost. Their lips were so close it was like they were cruelly teasing each other.

"I'm trying Marius" she said "but I just can't yet, I'm sorry". Then she broke away from him and walked out of the room.

And Marius just stood there and watched her leave

"Dammit" he said to himself.


Cosette was headed to the bedroom when she ran into Marius's grandfather; she smiled at him politely again as she went to pass him.

"Are you off to bed my dear?" He asked her cheerfully.

"Yes", she said quietly, "Goodnight Grandfather".

"Where's Marius, will he be joining you?" He said with a smile on his face

"He's downstairs", she said and added nothing more to that.

"Oh…I see" He said sadly.

Cosette didn't know what to say to that, he could be a very crude old man when he wanted to be and right now she just wanted to get inside her room.

"Well, um…..Goodnight then". She said, hoping that he wouldn't add anything more to this conversation.

Then the old man broke the tension, he took one of her hands in his and brought it to his lips and kissed it gently.

"Goodnight my dear sweet girl" he said, and then he walked away. Cosette could have sworn she had seen a tear in his eye as she walked passed him; he could be such a strange old man sometimes Cosette thought to herself.


Marius was sat in an armchair again, his head was resting in one of his hands and he was lost in his own little world, he was so desperately lonely without his Cosette. He was so deep in thought that he didn't notice that his Grandfather was standing behind him

"Ahem!" Grandfather said loudly

Marius jumped slightly in his seat as he turned around to see his grandfather in the room.

"What the hell are you doing?!" He exclaimed, "You scared me half to death!"

"Don't swear" Grandfather said sternly

"What do you want?" Marius replied, slightly annoyed at being disturbed by the old man.

"How long are you going to let this go on my boy?" he said

"What are you talking about?" Marius replied, getting even more annoyed by him

"I'm talking about your wife, we all know she hasn't given herself to you yet" The old man said.

Marius rolled his eyes at that sentence

"Oh for the love of…" he didn't finish that sentiment. "That's none of your business" He said. "And I don't want to talk about it with you".

"It is my business when I can see you're both unhappy". The old man said, "I may be old but I'm not completely senile yet, why don't you go and be with her?"

"Grandfather stop, please". Marius said, turning away from him again. "She's grieving, I can't make her do something she doesn't feel able to do right now, and I can't make her feel better by magic can I? She's just lost her father; he was the only family she had".

"Then why aren't you working on making a new family with her?" Grandfather said, standing his ground.

Marius had heard enough from him, he stood up and faced his grandfather

"What do you want me to do?" He said with a raised voice, "Force myself on her? I won't hurt her any more than she's already been hurt; she's my wife not yours and she's not ready for that yet, I'll wait forever for her if I have too. I'm not like you Grandfather I don't just use women for pleasure". Marius said with a slight bitterness in his voice".

"Alright fine", Grandfather replied, "I'm sorry Marius, I don't want to fight with you son".

The elderly man went over to Marius and put one of his unsteady hands on the young mans shoulder.

"She's a lovely young lady; it'd be a shame to let that go to waste don't you think? He said, trying to convince him one last time.

"Grandfather, she's so lost right now, I can't…" Marius said sadly, looking down at the floor.

"Let me finish son, I won't be around forever so at least let me finish speaking" Grandfather replied, then he moved a little closer to his grandson and put a hand on his cheek.

"Find a way to help her Marius; You'll both be better for it when you do." He said softly to his grandson.

Then he simply patted his grandson on the shoulder and went to leave the room, he added one last thing before he closed the door behind him. "By the way, you need a shave".

Marius sat down again, feeling even more clueless as to any way to help Cosette.

Marius looked down at his hands and noticed his wedding ring; he ran his fingers over it as he thought about what it meant to him to be wearing it. He had fought so hard last summer to get to where he is now, he had lost all his friends and nearly his life so he could be with the girl he loved and now he couldn't even reach her. He couldn't bear knowing that he might lose Cosette as well.

His eyes started to well up at that thought

He placed his head in one of his hands and he started thinking about something else as well, he thought about when his own father died, he had barely known the man and had never had the chance to talk to him properly in his whole life, and after his death he still wasn't allowed to mention his name in the house.

Marius was overcome with sadness at that very moment and for the first time that week he allowed himself to shed just a few tears, and then he looked up at the ceiling. His and Cosettes bedroom was just above this room he supposed, and she was up there too, sad and alone, he knew that for sure.

Then suddenly he got an idea, something that hadn't occurred to him yet, it was so simple he thought how could I have not figured it out sooner?

Marius wiped his eyes and got to his feet and made his way quickly upstairs, "This could work" he thought and he hoped that Cosette wasn't asleep yet as he reached the bedroom door.


Marius was glad when he entered the room and saw Cosette sitting on the bed in her nightdress; she was resting against the headboard in the same way she had been sitting in the living room, with her knees at her chest, she was slightly startled when Marius entered the room suddenly.

"Cosette, I've thought of something that might help you" he said confidently when he saw her.

He went over to the bed and sat facing her; he took one of Cosettes hands in his and stroked the back of it with his fingers, Cosette just looked at him with the same blank expression she'd had all day.

"Marius please, I told you I can't….." She said sadly

"Wait, just hear me out please". He then paused for a minute and prayed to himself that this would work.

"Cosette, would you like to talk about your father?" Marius asked

"What do you mean?" Cosette replied, a little confused by what he was saying.

"I mean why don't you tell me about him, Marius said, still holding her hand. "He was your father and you loved him and there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to talk about him".

Cosette was still looking at him blankly, but what he was saying was making sense to her.

Marius continued, "When I was a boy I was barely allowed to speak my fathers name in this house, that's the kind of environment I was raised in, and when he died I wasn't able to talk to anyone about him. It wasn't fair but those were the rules I grew up with. But this is my house now Cosette, and I'm your husband and you can talk to me about anything you want to". He said, and then he kissed her hand.

Cosette smiled at Marius, he was the second man who had kissed that same hand this evening she thought to herself. She was really touched by this gesture.

"I'm not going to lose you Cosette, you mean everything to me". He said lovingly. "We can get through this if you let me help you, I know we can. I've been trying to think of some way to help you cope and it just came to me now I swear".

Marius smiled at Cosette who was now looking at him with a curious expression on her face. "I want to hear about your childhood, he continued, "I want to hear about the life you had with him, I want to know about the kind of man your father was, I think it'll help you feel better. I love you Cosette and I want to help you feel better".

He paused for a few seconds and then he added finally "So Cosette, would you like to talk about your father?"

Cosette smiled at him for a moment, and then she sat upright on the bed. "Yes Marius, I would" she said.