Okay. This is where the actual story starts. Sorry about the last chapter. Normally I don't put that much exposition into one chapter, but it didn't seem right to just carry on without a break. So this next chapter begins like 20 minutes after Grantaire leaves Éponine's dorm (which, by the way, he was never there for THAT purpose, gutterminds. ;) ) The idea for this story actually started with this chapter. Éponine's interactions with Marius and Grantaire here are actually based on things that happened to me last week. In fact, this whole thing started with one look at my friend Grant, whom I call Grantaire (and if you knew him, you'd know exactly why). So, here we go. Awkward interactions between Éponine and Marius to ensue.
Éponine sat at the table outside the coffee shop with no sign of Marius for the longest five minutes of her life. Was Grantaire right? Did she actually look good, or was Grantaire just being... Grantaire? Suddenly, she saw a flash of blue off in the distance. Marius. She braced herself in the metal chair for whatever may come.
Éponine had tried very hard to be beautiful. Still, as pretty as she was, Marius was radiant. As good as she was, Marius was perfect. And yet, for once they were alone together. She hadn't even asked him to come - it was his idea to begin with! The moment could hardly be more perfect.
"Éponine?" Marius could sometimes be incredibly shy, even with his best friends. He approached her chair and drew her into a hug, his typical greeting for only her. Of course, these moments were never long enough for her. She would almost risk not seeing him for long periods of time just to see if his greeting would be more enthusiastic. With quickened pulse and knocking knees, Éponine motioned for her love to sit down beside her.
Marius was terrible at small talk, and he enjoyed being with Éponine purely because he rarely had to use small talk with her. However, he was totally at a loss for words. "So... how's the theatre?"
"Alright, I guess. Nothing quite like being forced to kiss Grantaire every day."
Marius laughed. "If you didn't want to be Lady Macbeth, you should have told the director that." He shifted uneasily in his seat. "Éponine, there's something I've really wanted to tell you."
Éponine hoped with all her being that she would not collapse. She was thankful that she was sitting outside, pressed against cold metal chairs and tables. "Well, go on then. I'm listening."
"I've met the most incredible girl, Éponine. She's a soprano in the choir, and she's perfect in every way. I'm thinking of asking her out."
Tears formed in the back of Éponine's eyes, but she would never allow them to fall in front of anyone, let alone Marius. "What's her name? Do you know much about her?"
"No." When Marius blushed, the redness in his face looked like it was trying to mask the eternal freckles that lived there. "She's a first soprano, and she solos on Green Finch and Linnet Bird. Do you think you could find out who she is for me?"
Éponine did not need to find anything out. Marius had fallen in love with her own roommate, Cosette Fauchelevaunt. Like today couldn't get any worse. "What does she look like?"
It was the answer Éponine dreaded most. "She's the most beautiful blonde you'll ever see, with these giant blue eyes and a perfect smile." Cosette. He had described her perfectly.
"Marius, you're drunk." Sarcasm was her only defense now against bursting into tears.
"What? No, never! Besides, you're one to talk! I can smell the whiskey on you from here."
Éponine blushed hard. "I told you, I've been spending a lot of time with Grantaire. It's not my fault he's a walking bar." He laughed. "I'll see what I can do, Marius. There's lots of things I know." Marius smiled in a way that proved he was, in fact, drunk. He rushed away without so much as another glance her direction. Éponine knew that he was not normally so rude, and may even apologize later, but she was even more certain of one thing: it was over. No one ever stopped loving Cosette, and of all people, Marius especially wouldn't. Alone and quite ashamed, Éponine slunk into the coffee shop and sat down at an unoccupied two-seater.
"Please, Azelma, how long before you can get here?" She didn't care if anyone heard her; she whispered it out loud. Slouching in the new chair, Éponine began to review her lines from Macbeth. "Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts..." She felt a pair of eyes on her. A boy she didn't recognize was walking away from a booth, and above the top of the booth she could only see a pair of eyes. A man's eyes. A handsome man, at that. As soon as he noticed her looking at him, he averted his eyes. "Great," she thought, although she was slightly intrigued. "Just what I need right now. Silent flirting." As time went on, she would look up every few minutes at the man. His skin was pale, but his eyes and hair were quite dark. She had just worked up the nerve to go over and talk to him when she saw Azelma pull up next to the shop with Gavroche in the back seat. Giving them a wave, she slipped out the door and around the corner.
Although the opportunity had passed, Éponine's curiosity drove her to look back through the window at the mysterious flirt. As she passed the booth where he had sat, her heart and mind simultaneously screamed "OH HELL NO."
Of all the people in the world who could have been sitting there. To add insult to injury, he gave an absentminded smile and waved at her.
Of all the people in the world.
Grantaire.
