1st Semester

Before tonight, she considered herself to be a pretty good at knowing how to move her body in a way that looked appealing. Sure, she never made any of the musicals during her year at the high school, but jazz squares were never really her thing. The Bend and Snap was more her style. Marius didn't seem to notice though. She tried to get him to dance with her. After all, Cosette wouldn't be caught dead in a nightclub and would never have to know. He insisted on having Joly and Bossuet join them whenever she got more than two feet away from him. After being elbowed by Joly twice and stepped on by Bossuet more times than she could count, she decided it was time for a drink; nothing stronger than moonshine would suffice.

She found Enjolras resting against the drinking wall with his ever-present scowl. To her surprise, he was even holding a drink. She took the empty spot next to him, vodka in hand.

"You find our guy yet?" The whole clubbing idea hadn't been Courfeyrac's-surprisingly enough, but Enjolras'. Apparently one of the main DJs was a rabid revolutionist with a lot of power. Convincing him to help the Amis would be the ultimate success.

"No. I think his shift must start at midnight." They were both screaming to be heard over the pounding music.

She tapped his glass. "What is this?"

"R gave it to me. He said it would make me look less conspicuous since I refuse to dance like an animal in heat." He took a big gulp from his glass.

"No, but is it alcoholic? I didn't think you drank."

"He said it shouldn't do anything to me. I weigh enough."

Eponine took it from him and dipped her finger in. "Ew. It tastes like rum." She looked a little closer at the glass. It was hard to tell in the club lighting, but it looked like there were little white specks along the sides and rim. "Did you leave this sit anywhere?" He shook his head. "Do you know if R did?"

"Why?"

"It looks like someone put some crap in here."

"Crap?"

"Drugs."

Enjolras shrugged. "I doubt it. It's probably just sugar."

"Okay." She gave him his drink back. They sat, quietly sipping. Sometimes she thought he might be looking at her, but he was only searching for a sign that the new DJ had arrived. "What do you think of Marius?" She asked after a while to break the silence. Not that she cared about his opinion, but an outsider's perspective would be nice. Before tonight, she really thought that she'd been getting somewhere with him. Now she wasn't so sure.

"Not much." It was what she expected. Marius had some fascist views that clashed with Enjolras' socialist ones. Leave it to a revolutionist to judge someone based on their political ideology.

"No, but I mean, do you think he... I don't know. Do you think he's in love with Cosette?"

"You should stop wasting your time on him. He'snotgoodcompany."

Eponine let her head rest on his shoulder. He smelled like cheap hotel soap and rum. "He'll see me eventually."

"Yuh were right on top of him not twenty minutes ago n he made Joly join in."

She blushed. "You saw that?"

"I kin see everythun. He's either stupid or not intresed. Probly a good mix uh both," he paused, "Can we talk bout sumffin else? I hate tha kid."

Eponine took her head off his shoulder and looked at his glass. It was empty. "Are you drunk already?!"

"Wha! No! I'm sober as rain." His slurred speech seemed out-of-place after only a single drink. Then again, he'd never drank before.

"Come on." She pulled him off the wall.

"No, the Deej! This is tha bes spot!"

"I think I saw the DJ go into the bathroom, come on." He trailed behind her like a lost puppy, a hand on her shoulder so that they wouldn't be separated. She lead him through the middle of the room, grabbing Combeferre from a breakdance circle where Grantaire was kicking major ass. "Can you get a bunch of water and meet us in the men's bathroom?" she screamed over the throbbing bass. 'Ferre nodded and left without question.

In the bathroom, she made Enjolras sit in the corner of the handicap stall. "Do you think you can puke?"

"No. Where's tha Deeguy? I thaugh you said he was in hur." Enjolras tried to stand, but his muscles were jelly. Combeferre came in with six glasses of water before Enjolras could enter a full blown panic attack about not being in control of himself. "Fairy, you gotta help me!"

Combeferre set the glasses down and tried to help Enjolras up, but he was dead weight. "What's wrong with him?"

Eponine shrugged. "I think someone spiked his drink."

"He drank?"

"I know. It surprised me too."

Enjolras ran his hand over his face and started to chant the word 'sober'.

Eponine put a glass under his lips. "Drink." He did.

"Do we need to get Joly?"

"If you want."

Enjolras downed another glass. "What's this for?"

"It'll dilute the drugs and rum. Hopefully you won't have too bad of a hangover tomorrow." Eponine knew from experience

"I'm not drunk."

Combeferre checked his watch. "If I'm not going to fetch Joly, I better go find the DJ. It's almost midnight."

Enjolras tried to stand again. "I'm comin! hangon!"

"Better not. He won't take us seriously if he sees our leader completely smashed."

"I'm sober!"

Eponine gently pushed him back to the floor. "Maybe in a bit."

"It was my idea," he mumbled. So that's what he was all about. Getting credit for his idea. Combeferre left, promising to come back after he found the DJ.

Eponine locked the stall door after him and made Enjolras drink another glass of water.

"Do I look butter yet?"

"You could try puking. I bet your body hasn't absorbed all the drugs yet. They've only been in you for a couple of minutes."

He crawled over to the toilet and took a couple of deep breaths. "Are yah shore?"

Eponine took a sip from one of his waters. "Not really."

"This is turrible. Peopul drink for fun?"

"Most people do it because they're sad. Some of them don't even know they're sad."

Enjolras tried sticking his finger down his throat, but he only gagged. "Em I doin it right?"

She shrugged. "Maybe you just have a really good gag reflex."

"I need to getout thare!" he groaned and laid his head on the toilet seat.

"I wish I had a phone so that I could record this."

"You're a meanie. A meanie panini."

"Hey, I tried to warn you."

"I thaugh yah jus wanted my drink." His blinked sleepily.

"Drink more water."

"R is dead meat."

"He didn't do it. It was probably some stranger who thought you were cute."

"Noooo. He knew what thismeant tah me. He's tha enemy."

Eponine squatted on the filthy bathroom floor and whistled a sailing tune her dad used to sing when he was black-out drunk. There wasn't a point in arguing with someone as out of it as Enjolras. She listened to the din of the other bathroom users, and wished she were back on the dance floor with Marius, rather than tending to a drugged Enjolras.

"Why do yah likethat bafoon?" he said, as if reading her mind.

"I thought you didn't want to talk about him anymore."

"I don't! If I can make yah not like em anymoare, yah won't bahther me abou em."

"I didn't realize I was being such a pest, your highness. If you'd be so kind as to never bother me about revolution, that'd be very welcome as well."

"Wha?"

"Nothing." She pulled her hair out of its bun; it was giving her a headache.

"Yah should court Uncle Sam instead. He's a catch." Eponine smiled a little. "Imma marry Lady Liburty. Then we kin be in-laws!" She dug around in her purse for a sharpie and rolled his sleeve up. "Wha yah doin?"

"I'm going to write what you just said down. Then when you wake up tomorrow and you ask me what happened, you can just read your arm." She wrote down the rude Marius comment and his patriotic joke. "When I tell you that you're an asshole and that you try to make jokes when you're drunk, sober-you isn't going to believe me."

"Ah am sober!"

"Sober people can control their mouths." Enjolras grunted and retreated to his corner with a glass of water. Eponine filled the empty ones up with water from the bathroom tap and placed them around him. "I'm going to write Combeferre's number on your arm. If you get lost, call it, or make someone else call it for you."

"Where yah goin, Pony?"

"I've got some business to attend to,"

"No, wait! Kin I jus," he motioned for her to come closer. "I wanna tell yah a secret," he motioned for her to come closer yet. She leaned into him so that he could talk in her ear. "I think we're losing," he whispered. She drew back and looked at him.

"It'll work out.", she couldn't help but feel bad for him. This revolution was his life.

"You're just sayin that cause you wanna talk to Mary."

"I'll keep your secret."

"Liar."

She hooked her pinky in his before ruffling his hair, much to his chagrin, and leaving to find Marius. She'd curled her eyelashes and shaved her legs for tonight. No matter how bad she felt for him, Enjolras wasn't about to ruin the her chance with him. To her delight, and then disappointment, Marius found her first, Combeferre in tow.

"The DJ isn't coming," he shouted. "He was arrested for treason last night."

Combeferre was seething. "It was a waste. We were almost arrested too." he looked around. "What happened to Enjolras?"

"Nothing. He's locked in the bathroom."

"Marius and I will get him. Can you bring the car around?" He handed her his keys.

"No, wait!" she stopped them, remember the things she had written on Enjolras' arm about Marius and her liking him. "Marius, you bring the car around, I've been drinking."

He took the keys from her. "You shouldn't do that. You're underage."

"I'll be okay." Marius patted her shoulder sadly and left. She never seemed to be able to do right by him.

Enjolras was quiet the entire way back to his apartment. He didn't even respond when Combeferre broke the news about the DJ to him. He probably thought that if he stayed silent, he could convince everyone that he was sober.

Eponine poked him in the side to get his attention. "I take care of you a lot. I think you'll owe me after this one." She tried to write IOU on him, but he kept his sleeves firmly pulled down.

"I'll pay yah back latur," he said in what he probably thought was a quiet voice. Grantaire was singing along badly to the radio in the front seat though, so in all probability Eponine was the only one who heard.

"I don't want your money."

"I know. You'll need me soon enuf. I live in-" He took the sharpie from her and wrote his apartment number on her bicep.

"I was aware, but thanks. I guess."

"No problem. I'd say yah cud crash whenevar, but R took thah privilege already." Grantaire leaned his seat back so that he was practically laying in Enjolras' lap. "Geroff!"

"I love you."

"I know. I hate yah."

"I know."

"You ruined tonight."

"I'm sorry." The way Grantaire said it was so sincere, Eponine couldn't help but wonder if maybe R actually had had a hand in the events that had transpired. If so, she hated him too. He took her from Marius.

2nd Semester

"You're early," Enjolras opened his door wide so Eponine could walk past him.

"Am I?" she set her bag on the floor and plopped into a chair at his kitchen table. She knew well enough she was early. Two hours early. She didn't want to sit around Montparnasse's apartment a moment longer though, and could think of anywhere better to go

"You're never early."

"Would you rather I was late?"

Enjolras rubbed his neck, "No, it's fine, it's just- nothing," he sat at the table as well. "Soooo... you haven't come to any of the meetings for the last two months."

"I know, I'm sorry."

"Are you behind in your school work again?"

"No, it's my boyfriend. He's pretty needy and doesn't like it when I go out. I'll see if I can make the next one."

"I thought Marius was still with that blonde girl."

"I'm not dating Marius."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"I'll go get the paint."

"Right."

He came back a moment later with tackboard and black paint. "This shouldn't take too long. I wasn't sure what to write on them, if we should do several sayings or just one."

"Keep it simple. Then there's a mantra. Since it's so impromptu, people won't have their own signs or anything to shout."

"Yes, but will they know what we're protesting if we only have one phrase? What about the arguing points?"

Eponine opened a jar of paint. "They don't need to have arguing points, they need to get mad."

"But they won't be able to get angry if they don't have a reason to be."

"They've heard the arguments before on the t.v., they'll know what we're protesting about. Whether they join us or not is up to them."

"So what should we write then?"

Eponine dipped her brush and started painting. "Shame on you. It's easy to chant."

"You don't think that's a bit vague?"

"No. The flyers we hand out should explain enough," her sleeve started to slip off her shoulder, so she pulled it back up, flicking paint onto her blouse.

"You've got black-" Enjolras motioned to his sleeve, showing her where.

She cursed and dropped the brush in the middle of the tackboard. "He's going to kill me,"

Enjolras picked the the brush up with a sigh and tried to salvage her sign while she ran to the bathroom.

"Who's going to kill you?" he called out over the sound of the running tap. Eponine kept water on hard and cold as punishment for being so careless.

"My boyfriend. He bought me this shirt." It was a half-truth. Montparnasse really had given her money to replace the ratty clothes she used to own, but he would mostly kill her because now he would she had left the apartment.

"Just don't tell him then."

"It's not that simple," she growled in frustration.

He cracked open the door, "Do you want help? I've got laundry soap in the kitchen."

"Yeah, sure, whatever. I need to get this out!" she was getting desperate now. The paint was now a large grey smudge, twice the size as it had originally been.

"Okay," he paused before turning. "What happened to your shoulder?"

Eponine covered it with her hand instinctively. "Nothing, I scraped it."

He left to get the soap without asking anymore questions. Like Marius, he was gullible, always fooled by her thin lies.

Eponine finished the signs while Enjolras bleached the stain out of her shirt. He loaned her an unfortunate furry sweater so that he could put her blouse in the dryer. She flipped the turtleneck scruff over her face so that only her forehead was visible and put her head on the table.

"This is comfy," she said, muffled by all the fabric. "You should wear it more often."

He chuckled, "You look like Fozzie Bear."

"Wocka wocka."

"My mother sent it to me as a Christmas present last year. I put it on when she visits."

Eponine pulled the neck back down and sat up straight, fighting a laugh. "You don't."

"I did. Only once though. She hasn't spoken to me in months. Says I'm headed down the wrong path and doesn't want to be a part of it." He sat down across from her again, and handed her a stack of cardstock. "I didn't want to waste money at the printers when you and Courf can just help me pen the pamphlets." Enjolras slid an example over to her. "Copy it letter for letter. We wouldn't want you to misspell anything or leave out a word, now would we, babe?"

Eponine smirked, she was surprised he remember the Night of Chalk and felt well enough about it to joke.

"You know, I never really thought about you having a family," she said, starting on the first pamphlet. "I can't imagine you being a baby."

"Well, I didn't burst from my father's head like Athena, clothed in red and full of morals."

"What was it like? Growing up as you, I mean."

Enjolras sighed. "I don't know? Probably the same as everyone else. I got my mouth washed out with soap a lot more though."

"Did you have siblings?"

"A sister. Julia. She's a nurse."

Eponine tried to imagine Enjolras playing games of make-believe and squabbling with a sister. All she could see was Azelma flipping her off. "And your parents?"

"They were just parents. I love them, we fought sometimes, mostly they tolerated my various phases and evolutions. What's with the twenty questions?"

She slid her first pamphlet over to him for quality control. "Just curious. It's weird how you can know someone, and then suddenly you find out that they had a succession of twelve cats growing up, all named Fluffy."

"I'm allergic to cats."

"See! That's what I'm talking about! Before, you were Enjolras, Revolutionist. Now you're Enjolras, Sneezes at Cats."

"I guess. What about you then?"

"You already know everything about me, Marius told you back in high school, remember?" she waved him off. Her personal life was just that. Personal. If she let him, he would be sure to ask more probing questions than she.

"Back then you were... sketchy. Marius didn't always shed such a nice light on you, you know. Now, you're nearly reliable. You're passably intelligent. The Amis are lucky to have you."

Eponine put her pen down. "Are you saying I'm cool?"

"Relatively so."

"No, I want a definite answer. None of this beating around the bush. I'm cool, or no?"

"You're cool."

She fistpumped. "Best compliment from a dork, ever!"

"I just said you were cool, now I'm a dork?" Enjolras pouted.

"I'm sorry, do you prefer the term 'nerd'?"

He was about to retaliate when there was a knock on the door. Eponine hid under the table when he left, lest it be Montparnasse looking for her. Enjolras came back with two other pairs of shoes. Tasselled penny-loafers and a worn set of Adidas. Combeferre and Courfeyrac respectively.

"What are you doing under there?"

"Dropped my pen," she hit her head coming back up and pretended to have a pen in her hand.

Courfeyrac started laughing. "Did you skin a teddy bear for that?"

"Naw, I shaved your dad's back and knitted it."

"Sick, man," he did the secret Amis handshake with her. "Haven't seen you in a while, what've you been up to?"

"This and that. You?"

"Staying out of trouble. Can't say the same for this lot though," he gestured to Enjolras and Combeferre. "Bunch of radicals! They wanna start a revolution! It's all I can do to rein them in!"

Eponine laughed and Combeferre rolled his eyes. "How far have you two gotten with the pamphlets?" Enjolras showed him the few they had done. "Right. We'll be lucky to be done by midnight. I told you we should have just gone to the printers, Enjolras."

"I know, I know. I just thought-"

"Sure. Next time though."

Enjolras nodded. Eponine was creeped out by how good of friends they were. Anyone else contradicting Enjolras would have been an instant argument. Combeferre was like his conjoined twin. A stockier, blinder duplicate. They all pulled up chairs and got to work, speaking only to ask questions about the protest.

Eponine checked the clock periodically. Montparnasse could be in the apartment now, or at four in the morning. She was counting on him to take another shift like he usually did. The boys noticed her paranoia.

"Do you have somewhere to be?" Combeferre asked gently.

"Not really." It was only late afternoon, she told herself. He wouldn't be home until much, much later.

Around ten pm, there was another knock on the door. Eponine didn't bother to hide this time. With three revolutionaries by her side, she felt she could take whoever was on the other side. Enjolras unlocked it after checking the peephole.

"I've got Batman: The Dark Knight, or Eagle Eye," Grantaire was leaning casually in the doorway with two movies. "Personally, I think we should watch-" he looked up. "Hey! You threw a party without me?"

Eponine could see a muscle in Enjolras' jaw twitch. "I asked you to help with the protest tomorrow. You said you had prior engagements."

Grantaire pushed passed him. "Plans changed. Turns out I'm free!" He went straight to the laptop connected to the television and started preparing it for a movie.

Enjolras looked at the ceiling, clenching and unclenching his fists, while Courfeyrac frantically scanned the room, searching for a way to diffuse the tension. He pulled Eponine with him to the couch.

"We can watch a movie, and finish the pamphlets while we do. There's only a couple left anyway, right?"

Combeferre saw what he was trying to do. "I can make us some pancakes; we haven't eaten yet. You hungry, R?" Grantaire shook his head, still trying to find the HDMI port.

Enjolras sat down tensely next to Eponine, his perfect posture out of place on the sagging couch. "Eagle eye." Everyone looked at him.

"What?" Grantaire had the laptop connected now.

"You made me watch batman last month. We should watch Eagle Eye."

Everyone seemed to exhale, except for Eponine, who knew Enjolras' limits in tolerating his drunken friend.

As soon as the movie started, Grantaire got up to turn off the lights. Courfeyrac stole his spot on the floor, which he seemed to expect, because he sat next to Eponine without a word of argument. Combeferre gave up on the pancake idea when he saw Enjolras was lacking in the butter and syrup. Apparently he liked his breakfasts dry and chewy.

Eponine was a little irritable from hunger, which made her hot and uncomfortable. She rolled up her sleeves and leaned into her couchmates. They seemed to be taking up more than their fair share of space. Grantaire got the memo and scooted over, but Enjolras was completely oblivious; sucked into the fast-paced movie. She huffed and pushed him a harder yet when her stomach grumbled. He didn't budge an inch. She was about to ask him how much room he really needed, when she saw what he was all about. Enjolras was staring intently at her arms and the crisscrossing cuts that meandered down her wrists like a game of tic-tac-toe gone wrong. She hurriedly pulled down her sleeves, but it was too late, the damage was done. He looked at her. All of Eponine's senses became acutely aware. The heat rolling off of his body, the grim slash of his mouth across his dimly lit face. She felt his warm fingers encircling her wrist, tugging at her to get off the couch and stand with him. She couldn't make her legs do it. Everyone was staring at Enjolras for the second time that night.

"What's going on?" Combeferre stood as well. Eponine could see where the situation was going. If she didn't give Enjolras what he wanted, there'd be a scene. She got up.

"This part is really important you guys! You can't just leave!" Grantaire whined. He eyed Eponine's hand in Enjolras', but didn't comment on it.

"It'll just be a second." He lead her into the second bedroom which served as an office of sorts, and closed the door. "You want to tell me what's going on?"

Eponine wished for room to pace and time to think, her heart high in her throat. "It's nothing. They're old."

Enjolras leaned against the door, blocking her only exit. "And you're shoulder? That didn't look too old."

"What's it to you!"

"Is it because of Marius?" He was patronizing her. She knew how he felt about Pontmercy.

Eponine pulled the sweater off and threw it to the ground. Maybe she could shock him into letting her alone. His brow merely furrowed She shivered in her camisole, gooseflesh appearing on her arms and back. "Marius? Really Enjolras? You think I'm that pathetic?"

"I don't know, are you?"

"God, you're such an ass sometimes!" she hissed. He reached out to touch the fresh cuts on her shoulder, but she drew back before he could. "I don't need this." She tried to push him out of the way so that she could open the door, but he wouldn't budge. "Why are you doing this?!" She slapped his arm. "In front of everyone too!" Maybe she could make him pity her enough to let her go. On top of not wanting his opinion on her 'problems', the night was growing old. She needed to get back, and soon.

"You're the one that made it into a scene."

"They're probably outside the door listening right now," she threw her weight into him. He pushed her back.

"You need to calm down."

"I am calm."

"You're on tilt."

"I am not."

"That's what someone on tilt would say. Just tell me why you do it and I'll let you be."

"I don't owe you anything." They were stage whispering now.

"No? What about college? And the Amis? You like them, don't you? Who do you think supplied you with those things?"

"None of that matters anymore."

He crossed his arms. "Just help me to understand."

"You can't."

"No, because I'm only a friend who cares."

"You're not my friend, and you don't care." she felt tears pricking her eyes, but blinked them away. She couldn't let him see her cry, not when he already thought her a depressed cutting freak. "You only call me when you need help with your revolution, you hate having conversations with me-"

"You know that's not true. I hate talking about Marius, there's a difference," he didn't deny only keeping her around just for protest chores.

"And then you go and pull shit like this!" She waved her arms, gesturing to the room he'd trapped her in.

He tried to grab her again. "You need to stop."

"What? Hurting myself?"

"I just wanted to talk, you're making this into an ordeal." She kicked off her shoes and started to pull at her pants. "What are you doing?!"

"You want to help me?" she slid them down her ankles and then kicked them off as well. The look of shock she had been hoping for earlier from him appeared. Her thighs were still puffy from before she came over to his apartment that morning. "You can't, okay? So just leave me alone. Don't bother calling me again either, and I'm not coming to your stupid protest tomorrow." He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. Obviously Eponine had reacted differently than he'd hoped. When he opened his eyes again, the look of shock had passed into something she couldn't place. "What. Are you angry I turned out to be Eponine: The Sketch after all? Sorry, pal. We're not all perfect like you."

He shook his head and moved from the door. "I'm just disappointed."

"That's me," she said collecting her shoes and trousers. "Just a big disappointment to everyone." She opened the door into Courfeyrac and Grantaire. "Move, bitches." They did. She dressed quickly in the kitchen, nearly forgetting the shirt Enjolras had put in the dryer for her.

Enjolras was standing in the hallway with Courf and R behind him when she returned. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me too," she flipped him off and let the door close loudly behind her. Twice on the way up the stairs back to her apartment, she found herself crumpled on the ground hyperventilating. Too much. It was too much.