True to Courfeyrac's word, Éponine appeared at the Musain a few weeks later. She confidently strode over to the group and sat herself down next to Grantaire. Enjolras knew the moment she chose her seat that this was not going to be an easy meeting. This was confirmed as soon as she met his stern gaze and smirked, holding eye contact for a few seconds before turning to Grantaire and asking him "Got any of the strong stuff? I'm going to need it." The drunkard snorted in amusement and passed her some alcoholic substance that Enjolras didn't care enough to pay attention to. He scowled at her casual insinuation that she really did not want to be here and again she caught his gaze, grinning when she saw his expression and Enjolras thought to himself 'what is it that she wants?'
"-the poor are suffering more than ever, they need to be saved from this corrupt government." Enjolras' voice boomed, bringing his speech to a close. He was met by approving cheers from the group of men around him and murmurs of agreement and he quickly surveyed the room, his cold blue gaze landing on the small shadow of a girl in the corner of the room. Éponine's dark gaze held his challengingly and when he made no move to look away, she snorted in contempt. "Is there is a problem mademoiselle?" He bit out.
Her features hardened at his challenge. "Perhaps there is Monsieur, but I doubt you would take much notice." She lifted her chin, issuing a challenge herself.
"Well we are all here to listen, maybe you should voice your concerns." His tone overly polite, almost condescending. Enjolras glanced briefly at Courfeyrac, but long enough for him to see the brown-haired man give him a slight shake of the head, a silent plea for him to stop.
"You do not need to talk to me like I am child Monsieur. I may be many things but I am not stupid." She slowly rose and took slow, calculated steps towards him, like a predator stalking its prey. Éponine jabbed an accusing finger at his chest. "You talk of equality, yet here you are a group of bourgeoisie, all men. I am the only woman started this meeting by saying it was an open discussion and yet you stood there commanding all attention, talking as if you are right and always right and they just blindly follow. As soon as I express a different opinion to your, quite frankly, idiotic ideals you immediately treat me as if I am some uneducated fool. You, Monsieur, are a hypocrite." Enjolras had grown increasingly red as she spoke, his anger gradually building. "The poor do not need saving. They need to be understood, not have some overexcited pretty boy barge in trying to change the world without stopping to think."
"I know perfectly well what it means to be equal." He snapped.
"Do you? Tell me, have you ever had to go without food for days on end? Have you ever had to steal to survive? Have you ever contemplated deliberately getting caught just so you had somewhere safe to sleep at night?"
"I suppose you have?" He replied furiously.
She laughed at him then, but not not with humour, it was mocking. "Does it matter if I have? How can you honestly say you understand what the poor go through when you do not have to fight for your life every die?" There was something in her eyes that changed as she said the last words, instead of her eyes shining with anger they changed to a dull sadness. However, as quickly as it appeared, it was gone.
Enjolras blanched at her words. He did not know how he was supposed to respond to that. A tense silence filled the room as the golden leader tried to find his words and he swallowed thickly. He lowered his voice to almost a whisper, "Mademoiselle, if you need help, you can always come here."
"I do not need your pity." She snarled. "You need to get your head out your ass Monsieur, it's not a hat." With that, she spun on her heel and stormed out of the Cafe, shooting a warning glare at Courfeyrac as he made to get up and follow her and Enjolras just watched her leave, mouth agape.
"What the hell did you do?" Courfeyrac shouted angrily, standing up and striding towards him.
"I didn't DO anything."
Courfeyrac lowered his voice so only Enjolras could hear, "What did you say?"
"I offered her help." Enjolras replied in a whisper.
Courfeyrac ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. "You idiot."
"Excuse me?"
"You are such an idiot." Courfeyrac said, looking him straight in the eyes. "You made her feel like a charity case and you really did not help things by treating her like she was stupid."
"It's not what I intended." Enjolras admitted miserably. "I just wanted to help her."
"That's the problem, you wanted to help her and yet you don't know her. Éponine doesn't trust you. She had made it through life this far on her own, what makes you think that she would immediately accept your offer. Although it is very unlikely that she will ever accept, she hates feeling like she owes someone something. You need to think Enjolras, get her to trust you rather than snap at her. I know she is challenging, but the things she has gone through have made her like that."
Enjolras contemplated this for a moment. "What things?"
"That's for 'Ponine to tell you, if she ever does. Just don't push her, give her time."
He waited. It seemed a long time. In fact it was another three weeks before he saw Éponine again. It took a lot of coaxing on Courfeyrac's part, to get her to agree to even be in the same room as him, let alone talk to him. Enjolras had found himself frequently trying to mentally prepare a speech for when he spoke to her again, but what was the use when this mystery of a woman was as unpredictable as a wildfire? She enraptured him, although he would never admit it, he found himself looking up hopefully when the door chimed, signalling someone's arrival. Éponine caused conflicting emotions deep inside him, he was mesmerised by the maginificence of the fire in her eyes when she argued with him and then he would find her infuriating and he just wanted to scream. To him she was an enigma.
Enjolras was sitting in the corner of the Musain studying when she approached him. She unceremoniously collapsed into the chair that was across from him and watched him for a few moments, almost studying him. When he felt too uncomfortable to just sit under her gaze he raised his head, expecting to see a harsh glare but instead was met with a warm gaze. He swears this girls emotions could give him whip lash. He opened his mouth to apologise, but she quickly stopped him by waving her hand dismissively. "You don't need to apologise, I know you only wanted to help." She smiled softly at him, but it never reached her eyes, there was a lingering air of sadness that was still present.
"Even so Mademoiselle, I should not presume to know you."
She groaned at the way her addressed her. "For the love of God, stop calling me mademoiselle, I am definitely not a lady! Call me Éponine." She chuckled then and he allowed a small smile to creep up onto his face.
"You need to stop calling me Monsieur then." He said smirking.
"Fine then Enjolras." She paused "How did you figure it out? That I am poor?"
"The way you spoke about. You seemed so sure of yourself."
"But I could just be really good at arguing."
"I suppose. What gave it away really was the way you looked at me. You looked upset and lonely."
"I knew you weren't that much of a marble statue." She whispered.
"Grantaire?" He asked.
"Yeah, he seems to think you're some otherworldly being."
He snorted in response and she let out a whole hearted laugh at his reaction. "I don't know why."
"Perhaps it's because you're so serious all the time." As if to demonstrate her point, she puffed out her chest, pursed her lips and frowned.
"You look ridiculous." He replied, stifling a laugh.
"What are you talking about? I look magnificent." She frowned more deeply in mock seriousness.
"Are you saying that I am magnificent?" He teased.
She snorted. "The only reason that all that business looked magnificent was because of me. When you do it you look like a distressed puppy."
"Really? A puppy? I think the animal you are looking for is a lion."
She raised an eyebrow, thinking for a moment. "Nope definitely a puppy." She stood up and stepped closer to him, looking at him with amusement. Éponine reached out a hand and ruffled his hair. "Aw so cute." She teased and Enjolras huffed in amusement. He was beginning to think that perhaps Éponine was not as irritating as he first thought.
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