He should have known.
Éponine was too special a girl to not be royalty.
A light smirk made its way onto his face when he realized that their con was actually the truth. It was an honest con. He chuckled at the irony and continued his way down the staircase.
From their first meeting, he would have never guessed that she was a princess.
It was another night after another failed auditions for their search for the "Princess of France". Which was really just a search for a good actress.
Yes, Enjolras knew it was very risky to con the royal family, but he couldn't really hear the risks over the possibility of a million euros. Combeferre and he left the small theater they had rented for the night and made their way to Le Cafe Musain for an appetizing dinner. The snow laden streets crunched under their feet and the whispering wind was the only noise to fill their ears. That is, until they heard a loud, shattering sound.
"Git outta 'ere yah little brat!" a rumble of a man's voice roared as a skinny little girl fell onto the street.
"I never wanted to stay with you anyways!" the girl shouted back, scrambling to her feet.
"Good! We never really wanted an orphan like you!" the man's voice boomed back, a viscious laugh following his statement.
The girl's eyes widened in the dim light and shock filled her face for a fraction of a second before it hardened and she tilted her chin up. "Well, I'm happy to learn that I ain't related to a scumbag pig like you!"
At that reply, a beast of a man stepped out of the door and the young girl scrambled away, pushing past Enjolras and Combeferre to run away. When the man realized that she wasn't anywhere near anymore, he grunted and reentered his abode, leaving the two men alone in the silence.
"Well, that was—" Enjolras started to say before a heart-wrenching sob filled the air.
Combeferre, moved by the sound, followed it to the alleyway only a few steps behind them. In the alley was the young girl kicked out of the house, curled up into a ball and sobbing in the freezing cold.
"Mademoiselle," Combeferre called the girl, kneeling to her side and throwing his coat over her shoulders. "It is cold out here, mademoiselle. You should find shelter."
"I was just thrown out of my own home, monsieur," she croaked back, her nailed digging into her legs. "I don't have any shelter to go to."
"Then please, come with us, even if it is just for dinner," Combeferre insisted, being the kindhearted young man that he was. It was hard enough to believe that he ever agreed to help Enjolras con the royal family.
Slowly, the girl's red rimmed eyes looked up at the young man offering his help and—finding no trace of malice or ill-will in them—she let him pull her to her feet and lead her to the cafe.
Enjolras followed behind the pair as Combeferre started to make introductions. His eyes glued on the new face, finding that her face seemed so familiar.
A distant memory of a starving, cold, and lost little girl flashed in his mind and an image of him leading the little girl into an inn to keep her safe. He remembered that the little girl was so thankful, so innocent and carefree. He knew she'd grow to be a kindhearted, smart, and beautiful young woman.
"I'm Combeferre, my good lady," Combeferre started, before pointing a thumb at Enjolras—who had gotten lost in his thoughts—behind them. "And that's my good friend Enjolras."
"Enjolras?" the girl repeated. "As in, Julien Enjolras? The great con-man?"
The girl looked over her shoulder to see a slight smirk on the man's face at hearing her comment and she knew by that look that it was the same Enjolras.
"So you're the idiot who thinks he can con the royals," she rolled her eyes and Enjolras' brows scrunched together at the insult. Maybe it isn't the same girl, he thought, frowning.
Before he could fire back a retort, the trio had reached the Cafe and Combeferre was ushering them both in.
Soon enough, the young men learn that the young girl's name was Éponine and that she had been kicked out of her house for protecting her brother—or her not-brother, really, because they weren't actually related, apparently—from a slap from her father. She learned she was adopted when the young men had heard the man shout at her and learned that she knew nothing from the time she was eight and before that.
He remembered convincing her to help them search for a girl to act as Emilie. And in the end, they had chosen her to play the part because of a surprising change of wardrobe.
Éponine had gotten a dress from her seamstress friend—Cosette—and had tied only a part of her hair back one day. And when the two men had seen her, they were taken aback by the uncanny resemblance she had with the princess. They had started feeding her regularly ever since she had joined them and she had turned from skin-and-bones to a beautiful full figure. They had let her stay with them and so she was able to enjoy the privilege of a nice, warm bath and a hairbrush and her own toothbrush!
After being cleaned and fed, and changed into some fairly decent clothes, the two boys could not deny the similarities the young woman had with the supposedly-missing Princess Emilie. So, after a lot of begging and debates and long nights trying to convince her, they had managed to get Éponine into the game of acting as Princess Emilie.
He remembered wondering how she couldn't remember her childhood, how she just seemed to exist out of nothing. A nothing-but-really-a-something out of nothing. But she was the most aggravating, infuriating, frustrating, yet beautifully different nothing he had ever had the chance to encounter.
A sad smile touched his lips at the thought of never being able to see her again. But it was for the best, he reminded himself. The Princess of France couldn't marry a kitchen boy! Much less be seen with one. So, taking a deep breath, he continued to make his way out of the manor, his shoulders back and chin set defiantly forward.
Holding her sister's—Princess Helen's—hand, Éponine—or Emilie, but she could never seem to call herself that—looked out her window to see Enjolras walking out of the manor, his shoulders set and his head never swerving. She wondered if he had his hands clasped tightly around his reward money. She wondered if he would leave and never send her a letter. She wondered if he thought about her. She wondered if he'd turn back. She wondered if he'd forgotten about her already.
"Emilie," her sister called her, squeezing her hand gently. "Come on, we should get ready for the ball. It is your welcome home celebration, after all."
Nodding absentmindedly, she let her sister pull her away from the window and help pick out a dress for her, an empty feeling in the pit of her stomach.
He never looked back.
She looked at the ballroom from behind the thick purple curtains, her eyes searching for a familiar face.
"He's not there," a gentle, bird-like voice told her from behind and Éponine turned to see her mother walking up to her. The Queen stopped to stand beside her pushing away a part of the curtain to look out into the crowd as well.
"Oh, I know he's not—he, I—" Éponine stumbled with her words, looking at her mother, then back at the crowd before asking, "Who's not there, mere?"
"A remarkable young man who had brought a cold, lost young girl to an inn for shelter."
Knowing who her mere was talking about, she shrugged, "Oh, no, he's probably off spending his reward money as fast as he can."
Giving her daughter a knowing look, the Queen looked out at the dancing crowd and spoke in a reminiscent tone, "Look at them dance," she told her daughter. "You were born into this world of jewels and titles, but I wonder if this is what you really want."
Shocked by her own mother's words, Éponine pulled away from the curtains, her heart and her mind at war with each other.
"O-Of course this is what I really want," she replied, following her mind. "I found a home I never knew existed, I found my true family, I found who I really am. I couldn't ask for anything else."
The Queen followed her daughter's pacing, placing a gentle, comforting hand on her shoulder. Calmly, she pulled her into a hug.
"You did find all those things, darling," she whispered into her hair. "And you'll always have those things. You'll always have a home, a family—you'll always have yourself to trust. But is it enough?"
Her heart screamed the answer to her but her mind was battling with the dream. As her mother started to pull away, she told her one more sentence, "And my angel, he never took the money." before disappearing into the crowd.
Her mind tried to wrap around her mother's words, but she couldn't seem to fully grasp what she had said.
He didn't take the money.
He didn't take the money.
He didn't take the money!
Her eyes widened in shock, surprised at the decision Enjolras had made. Ever since she had met him, he was all about the money. Even on the first night they had met, he had ordered the cheapest meals the cafe had and kept every change securely in his pocket. Enjolras seemed like a man just waiting for the chance to get his money and go out and do something big with it.
But he didn't do that.
He didn't take the money.
Needing some fresh air and more time to think about this new revelation, she turned form the curtain and made her way to the balcony behind her.
The night air was cold and nipping but she found that it felt better than the intoxicating perfumes that hit her when she would enter the palace. She leaned her arms on the banister of the balcony and looked up into the night sky, wondering if Enjolras had already left Paris.
As her thoughts started to wander to the man who had left her mind in turmoil, a familiar voice sliced the silence of the night.
"'Ponine," a warm, calming voice called from below and she looked down, only to see the dark expanse of nothing below her.
"No, 'Ponine, over here," the voice called again and she turned her head to the staircase on her right to see bright eyed young blond in an unkempt casual attire holding a single rose at the middle of the staircase.
"Enjolras," she whispered his name disbelievingly, taking a step towards him.
Enjolras walked up the steps in long, easy strides and stood in front of her, handing her the single red rose in his hands. "I got this for you."
She took the rose gently, cradling its petals in the palm of her hand, staring at its beauty under the moonlight before she looked up to meet his striking blue eyes.
"You came back," she stated quietly, a gentle smile blooming on her lips.
"Yes, well, there's something I forgot to do," he nodded, his normally cold blue eyes showing a spark of warmth.
"Oh," she sighed, thinking that he had changed his mind about the reward money and looked down.
"Éponine," he called her name but she stubbornly kept her eyes glued to the floor.
"Éponine," he called again, taking her chin and gently making her look him in the eyes. "Look at me, remember?"
She couldn't stop the slight twitch of a smile on her lips as the memory of him teaching her to dance played in her mind. She did remember.
"Now, do you want to know what I forgot?" he asked, trying to urge her to ask.
"I'm not so sure if I want to," she admitted quietly but Enjolras still continued to smile.
"Well, may I show you what I forgot?" he asked instead and she nodded reluctantly.
"I forgot this," he whispered as he gave her a quick kiss on the lips. When he pulled away few seconds later, his cheeks were tinted a bright red and his eyes were glued to the ground, embarrassed. "I couldn't really leave without one."
A smile was etched on Éponine's face after the kiss, realizing that he had returned for her. But her smile dimmed slightly when she realized that his words also implied that he would still be leaving.
"Do you really have to go?" she asked him, hope laced in her words as she placed her hand over his beating heart.
"I—I don't really see what I can do here," he admitted reluctantly and she looped her hands behind his neck, pulling him closer.
"Well, you could stay here and entertain me," she smirked, her old self poking through her princess exterior.
"I'm not that great an entertainer," he chuckled, hovering over her lips.
"It's a good thing I'm easily amused then," she smiled before closing the gap and pulling him in for a long, sweet kiss.
When the two broke apart with matching grins, a surprising sound of applause erupted from entrance of the balcony.
"That is so sweet!" Princess Helen clapped, having watched half of the exchange with a goofy grin on her face. "Aw, you two are just so cute together! Un couple parfait!"
Éponine quickly pulled away from Enjolras, blushing madly and embarrassed at having been seen by her sister. Enjolras was in no better state, scratching the back of his neck as he awkwardly stared at the ground.
Princess Helen laughed at the two's reactions before stepping back and waving goodbye. "Alright, I'll leave you two lovebirds alone. But mere is calling for you Emilie, so don't take too long."
Princess Helen let out a little giggle before disappearing into the palace and leaving the two alone.
"I am so sorry about that," Éponine mumbled, still embarrassed and blushing.
"It's quite alright," Enjolras smiled slightly, happy to have at least one royal's approval. "But, I think you should go to your mere now. She's calling you, isn't she?"
Éponine looked up from the floor, her flushed face losing its color but a content smile on her lips. "Will you go with me to see her?"
Enjolras hesitated, looking at her outstretched hand warily. He felt as if this was a big step he was taking. If he accepted, he was staying, he was going to stay with Éponine. If he decided to still leave, though, he could still see the world he knew so little about.
He looked up into her expectant eyes and knew then what his answer would be.
([Okay! So, I finally got around to finishing this {Because an awesome someone had requested for it, so you can thank that person for this extra long chapter}! Haha, but I guess some wouldn't really call this finished, yeah? xD Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this last chapter! Honestly, I was planning on making it longer but I just ended my exams yesterday and had an emotionally draining goodbye/Christmas party today so I'm pooped. If you want more you can... BEG. Just kidding xD I won't make you guys do that, I love you all too much! Haha, but, really, I hope you all enjoyed and can't wait to hear what you all thought of it! The ending is pretty open-ended so you guys can make of it what you wish ;)) Fave & Review and have a Merry Christmas everyone {Or whatever it is you guys celebrate...}!])