I'm sorry I couldn't make this chapter work at all, I literally could not find a way to end this story so i just wrote crap I'm afraid. Also, my own father died when I was writing this chapter so I may have been too distracted to write any better.


Marius awoke first the next morning, the sunlight had draped through the curtains and landed on his face which annoyed him a little, but then he felt Cosettes hand on his chest and he remembered where he was and what happened the previous night and he couldn't help but feel anything but elated when he saw her sleeping next to him.

He turned to look at his wife, he noticed how peaceful and contented she looked at that moment, and so much better than she had looked all week he thought, not that she wasn't always beautiful of course but something seemed to be missing from her recently and she finally looked like herself again.

Marius touched Cosettes hair and stroked her head gently, not wanting to wake her. He just wanted to look at her for a while. He allowed himself a few moments to think about everything that had happened that week, the wedding, Valjeans death, the funeral, Cosettes grief, his feeling of utter hopelessness. It had been a terrible week but he felt that they had finally gotten through it; he thought that perhaps they might even be better for it. Marius definitely felt stronger for it that's for sure. He noticed how Cosette looked and he thought that she looked different somehow, throughout most of this week she had just looked like a scared little girl, but now he thought she looked like a woman.

Then Marius thought about something else,he thought about how amazing last night had felt for him. He had known that making love would feel good but he hadn't known how incredible it would be. He remembered how his friends had told him about the pleasure part of making love, but they had never told him about the deep connection you could feel for another person. He felt a little sorry for his friends at that moment, because they had never known real love; they had never known how amazing it could be when you truly love someone. But then they had never known Cosette had they? And she was really someone special after all.

Just then Cosette stirred and woke up gently, some hair had cascaded over her eyes and she moved it out of the way with her hand, then she noticed Marius lying next to her and she smiled.

"Good morning" she said sleepily, with a small smile on her face

"Good morning" Marius replied happily, and then he leaned over to kiss her gently.

"That's a nice way to wake up" Cosette said afterwards "Except you still need a shave" she added, stroking the stubble on his face with a smile.

"I'll shave today darling i promise " He said, returning her smile.

"Actually, you might look good with a beard" Cosette replied looking at his face curiously

Marius reached around to place one of his hands on Cosettes back so he could hold her whilst he lay next to her on his side.

"How are you feeling?" he asked

Cosette stretched gently and thought for a moment about her answer

"I'm a bit sore" she told him softly "Will it hurt every time?"

It took Marius a few seconds to realise what she meant by that, that wasn't exactly what he was getting at and he thought how adorable Cosette was at that moment for thinking that.

Marius just smiled at her for a moment

"I meant how are you feeling up here actually" he said, gently tapping her forehead,

"Oh" Cosette said, slightly embarrassed. Then she thought about her answer again.

"I'm alright Marius, really I am" she said "last night was wonderful, and I don't just mean um…that, I mean everything. I was so lost this week and you found me again, you really did. I love you".

Marius didn't say anything, he just smiled sweetly and kissed her softly on the mouth again and stroked her hair with his fingers.

"And thank you for being so patient with me" said Cosette "I shouldn't have made you wait so long before we made love, I'm sorry for that".

Marius moved slightly closer to Cosette after she had said that and put his hand on her hair again

"Cosette, it was never about patience" replied Marius, "I love you and I knew you were hurting, the only thing I was thinking about all week was how to make you feel better, nothing else. Please don't be sorry for that".

"You're a wonderful husband Marius" Cosette said, smiling as she did so.

Marius pulled Cosette closer to him again and she pressed her head into his chest whilst he kissed the top of her head, Cosette felt so completely happy in that moment, like everything that had happened that week had finally been healed. She looked forward to waking up like this every day for the rest of her life. They stayed holding each other like that for a while before Marius broke the silence.

"By the way Cosette, It doesn't hurt every time" he said quietly "Well it shouldn't anyway, as long as we're doing it right, I think we just need to practise".

Cosette looked up at him and smiled coyly, "Well we don't have to get up just yet do we?" she said "We could practise now".

And that's exactly what they did; they took comfort and pleasure in each other again. Cosette still missed her father but she never forgot that Marius was there for her, and she was grateful for that every day of her life with him.

It had been a week full of extreme happiness and extreme sadness, but they had both come through it and they were both stronger people because of it, but they never forgot the people they lost, because we never really forget the people we love, and we never really let go of them either.

The End