Now, Éponine regularly, liked to be on the Musain café, and she made several good new friends over there like Combeferre, Laigle, Feully, Courfeyrac, Grantaire, Prouvaire, Bahorel, Joly, Bossuet, and even though he did not accept her at first as a revolutionary member, Enjolras. She started to feel comfortable over there and she left formalities behind, she didn't talked les Amis as "Monsieur" or something like that, she called them by their names and also to Marius.
Enjolras was the first one arriving at Musain, he couldn't stop thinking about Éponine, now he saw her every day and he accepted her as a friend of his. He didn't understand why a girl wanted to be his friend, or wanted to be a revolutionary, that was amazing, she was amazing… All his thoughts in that moment where turning just about Éponine, he thought about her with the same passion he thought about his republic, maybe even more. Comparing a girl with his republic? It was impossible. There was nothing like his republic. No. Nothing and no one it's better than his France. "What is this?" he said aloud.
He didn't noticed Joly, Grantaire, Bahorel and Feully coming into the special room of meeting of les Amis at the Musain.
"What's what?" Joly asked.
Enjolras turned his head quickly; it was as if he had just received a shot. He was surprised like that. His heartbeats were totally fast.
"Jesus! Joly are you insane?!"Enjolras exclaimed.
"No. Are you insane?"
His friends laughed about him. He didn't take importance to that and as he used to do when his friends laughed about him, he ignored them and he opened a book.
The rest Amis didn't take so long arriving.
Gavroche and his sisters were about to arrive at the Musain.
"Thank you Gavroche, you are the best little brother ever, you seem more like our bigger brother when I'm the older one" Éponine said to Gavroche, at the time that both and Azelma were on their way to the Musain.
"The age it's just a number, little sister" Gavroche said, proudly and enthusiastic showing his beautiful and innocent smile.
The three of them laugh as they arrived to the Musain.
Azelma went with her closer friends Bahorel and Joly, the ones who use to make jokes with her and use to distract her from her bad life; they tried that she didn't felt afraid anymore; Gavroche went with Courfeyrac who was very close to him since the day he started to go at the Musain; and Éponine went with Marius to observe Grantaire who as always was drunk singing songs about drinking and enjoying the good things about life, he looked very funny and that was the reason why Éponine and Marius couldn't stop laughing. But, even when she was watching Grantaire, at the same time she was looking at Enjolras, who looked very charming "paying attention" to his political book, but the reality was that he was trying to look at her, and he didn't know why. He was just concentrate on her eyes… she was beautiful, different… but she was in love with Marius, Enjolras suppose it because she was always with him and because of the way she looked at him. That hurt him in a certain way and he didn't know why, well… maybe he was starting to have feelings for Éponine, and he cannot control it even if he wanted to. He was trying not to make his feelings being stronger than him, but he could not make it, even when his tried with all his strength. Once again he didn't accept anything of what was happening to him. Éponine has having the same experience, she was trying to make herself the idea of loving Marius, and she was clung to Marius, clung to her feelings for him, because she knew that Enjolras was just caring about the Republic, but it doesn't changed at all that she was finding really attractive Enjolras's eyes and way to talk about politic stuff, also the way he gets angry, that made her tremble but not because of being afraid.
All the ABC friends were having a great time together as the family they were.
In a moment of no awareness Grantaire took Marius by a hand, even if he didn't wanted to, and Grantaire started to dance with him making himself the idea that Marius was a lady, because he was very drunk that he had barely noticed two forms. Marius wasn't comfortable with that, and Éponine started to laugh about that.
"'Ponine, stop laughing and help me!" Marius said trying to put Grantaire as far as it was possible.
She couldn't stop laughing when she wanted to stop.
Now all les Amis paid attention to the scene where Marius was doing a whole drama, and they all were laughing about those two, especially about Marius that was the Drama Queen of the day.
"What do you want me to do, Marius? I can't do anything. My hands are tied…" Éponine teased, without stop laughing.
"Of course you can, replace me. Look: Grantaire wants to kiss me now, please… 'Ponine! You're my best friend… do something for me, help me!"
"You are beautiful mademoiselle, did you know that?" Grantaire started to say, approaching to Marius's lips.
"Éponine! Please!" Marius screamed.
She didn't wanted to, but she stood up, and approached Marius and Grantaire and she didn't allow that kiss happened. So Grantaire ended by kissing Éponine's lips but he didn't realize about the change. He tasted like cheap alcohol and that made Éponine felt really disgusted. She didn't like that and she tried to push Grantaire away, but he didn't let her go and he was still kissing her. When she could stay away from that drunk soul, she slap his face, but not so hard. So the drunkenness of Grantaire finally went down.
"Oh… what a girl" he murmured fascinated. "Éponine you should be my girl, your lips taste… so good"
She giggled a little bit, and then she shrugged, at first she felt like she was with her dad's friends that many times tried to take advantage of her and abuse her in so many horrible ways that she didn't wanted to live ever again. Those horrible experiences that made her think many time that life was only just a piece of shit where the people it's always mean and treats you like garbage. Her dad's friends always treated her like a prostitute and always abused her when she was helpless, except for Montparnasse, the youngest one that always treated her pretty well. The only good thing that she could take of those awful experiences was: to never being afraid of anything, to be stronger. Now she was a little sad because of the things she remembered, but she decided to stop thinking about that and cheer herself up.
"I am going to look out and get a girlfriend for you Grantaire, seriously you need one more than I ever imagine" she said a little less irritated as she realized that she could not blame Grantaire now that the poor guy was so drunk and it didn't meant anything for her. At least now she could joke with him about that.
Enjolras saw all of that too, so he decided to intervene on that. He took that innocent joke as something very seriously. At this point he could not distinguish what was joke and what was not.
"Not girlfriends in this moment. It is the time to worry about general Lamarque and the Revolution, did you all get that?" he said authoritative and a little bit disgusted about what he saw, the reality was that he got a little jealous when he saw that kiss. "Nothing about looking for girlfriend for my revolutionary people, Éponine, I hope that will be clear for you"
"I was just joking Enjolras, do you know what's the meaning of joking?" she inquired with a rude tone of voice.
He didn't like what he was feeling. Nobody ever had talked to him in that way, specially a newcomer. He was motionless. He really liked this girl and her bravery but he couldn't accept that she talked to him like that in from of all of his friends. He reacted a few seconds later and without saying a word, he was mad and he ordered the meeting started and what he said was fulfilled. All les Amis tried to forget that awkward moment.
After the meeting everyone went to their homes, Enjolras felt a strange change inside him. The only thing he could see was Grantaire kissing Éponine's lips the one's he wished so bad and he didn't realized that. He was still jealous about that even when that meant nothing for Éponine and Grantaire. He wished that he were the one who kissed those cherry lips he supposed that felt so warm.
He arrived to his house with the same thought he had at the moment he left the Musain café: Éponine's lips. But he still didn't want to accept that new feeling that was coming to him. For only one thing he was jealous, that one thing called LOVE. When you love someone the time is the less important thing, because when you see that person in the eyes, you're your world completely changes, everything it's different but you don't know it. And that's exactly what was happening to Enjolras. "Maybe I just need a glass of water and then rest a little bit. Tomorrow I'll feel as always. Yes…it's just tiredness… running a revolutionary group is never easy, especially this one…"
He drank a glass of water and then he felt asleep on his bed.
After falling asleep he started to dream. He regularly was dreaming about winning the Revolution and the ending of slavery. But now… he was dreaming about her. The first time they met. Then he saw himself with her sitting in a corner of the meeting room, but they were alone, talking, laughing… everything was so perfect that it was so hard to believe it was true. After that she was waking up beside him, they both smiled to each other and when they were about kissing, she stood up and started to run, he tried to catch her, but every time she was moving further, he never caught hereven though he tried to.
So he woke up. He looked for her in despair, but she wasn't beside him,she hadn't spent the night with him by his side. He felt sad and confused. A week ago he wasn't feeling like that and now, he had totally different emotions, "How can it be? What is this Jesus?" he said with bated breath.
The rest of the night he couldn't sleep well because he didn't understand anything.
At the next day, he was exhausted but he didn't miss the important meeting he had with his friends.
They all arrived and Enjolras thought they would concentrate on his tired expression but no, they wereconcentrating in Marius and his lost expression and that expression wasn't just about that day and that called Éponine's attention. Lately, Marius had something strange so Éponine asked him what was happening. He said that there was a beautiful girl with blue eyes, blond hair and beautiful factions that he saw in Luxemburg one day he was taking a walk, but she was with an old man who surely was her father so he wasn't brave enough to approach her. He said he was in love and he believed that girl had the same feelings for him, and Éponine was a little bit happy for her friend, but she was also hurt. Marius asked her to look for the address of that girl, and he promised to find her, even when she wasn't comfortable because she still had feelings about Marius.
