A/N - I'm so sorry that this story ended up on such a long hiatus, that wasn't my intention at all, but life just got in the way unfortunately!
I hope you enjoy this new chapter, and I apologize in advance for the angst and the ending!
"It looks cute here," Eponine said.
Enjolras's hometown was the quaintest place she'd ever been: full of impressive looking houses with perfectly kept gardens. Sure it looked beautiful but she didn't imagine there was much going on, and she couldn't even begin to picture Enjolras in a place like this.
"Yeah it's nice," he replied, staring absent-mindedly ahead through the windshield, his hands gripping tightly onto the steering wheel.
"Doesn't exactly look too happening though."
"That's the understatement of the century," Enjolras muttered.
Eponine continued to stare out the window as Enjolras took a left turn and pulled into a long, winding driveway. At the top, nestled amongst the trees, sat a large brick house with white window frames and pale blue shutters. It looked like something from a postcard. Enjolras pulled up in front, put the car in park and turned off the engine.
"Home sweet home," he said sarcastically.
"This is where you grew up?" Eponine asked, trying to image Enjolras as a small child, running around the vast grounds which surrounded the property.
"This is it."
Eponine noticed that he was still gripping the steering wheel for dear life, she reached over and ran her finger tips along his knuckles, which were starting to turn white.
"Are you OK?" she asked softly.
"It's just this place," he sighed, beginning to loosen his grip on the wheel thanks to the gentle coaxing of Eponine's fingertips.
Eponine had never seen Enjolras like this. She'd seen him speak in front of pretty big crowds, she'd heard the stories of him cutting down much older, much more experienced lawyers in the court room and yet here he was; sitting in his car looking close to tears at the thought of having to face his own parents.
"Right," he said suddenly, snapping out of his trance, "let's just get this over with."
He flung the car door open and Eponine followed his lead. He was already pulling their overnight bags out of the trunk by the time she had gotten out of the car. With a bag in either hand he took off across the gravel towards the large wooden front door. Eponine followed behind, coming to a stop by his side just as he knocked.
It was only a few seconds before the door was pulled open. On the other side stood a man who Eponine assumed was Enjolras's father. He was tall like Enjolras, but that was were the similarities ended. Eponine guessed that he must have gotten his looks from his mother's side of the family.
"Alexander," he said, without a hint of emotion in his voice.
In the entire time Eponine had known Enjolras she had never heard anyone call him by his first name. It sounded weird, she wasn't sure she liked it.
"Hi Dad," Enjolras replied.
His father's eyes immediately shifted from Enjolras to Eponine. He looked her up and down, with a very obvious glare of distain when his eyes locked on her swollen stomach.
"Who is this Alexander?"
"Eponine," Enjolras said, "I told you she was coming on the phone."
"I don't recall."
Eponine felt Enjolras's shoulders tense beside her. She wanted to reach over and touch him, to try and sooth him, but she knew that he wouldn't thank her for any displays of affection in front of his father.
"Are you going to invite us in, or are we just going to stand out here with our bags for the entire weekend?"
"Nice to see your attitude hasn't subsided any Alexander," his father replied, stepping aside to allow them into the hall.
"Where is Mom?" Enjolras asked.
"She's resting," his father replied, walking towards the stone staircase that stood in the middle of the hallway. "She had Maria prepare the guest room for you, I'm not sure if a room has been prepared for your companion."
Eponine looked at Enjolras at the use of the word 'companion' but he was staring straight ahead, at his father's back, as they followed him up the stairs. Eponine had never felt this uncomfortable in someone's presence in her entire life. She'd barely spent 5 minutes with this man and she felt like she was being suffocated, she had no idea how Enjolras had managed to live with him for 18 years.
They followed him along the upstairs hall until he reached a door at the end, which opened into a spacious bedroom, with crisp white walls and even crisper white bed linen.
"Your mother will be up for dinner," Enjolras's father said, making it perfectly clear that he wouldn't be hanging around any longer. "We'll be eating at 7."
And then he left, loudly shutting the door behind him. Eponine didn't know what to say. Enjolras was just standing in the middle of the room, he didn't move for a few minutes and they just stood there in silence. Then, without any warning, he walked over to the wooden dresser near the window and slammed his fists down on it.
"Fuck!" he yelled, the anger seeping through his voice.
Eponine rushed over to where he stood and put her hands on his shoulders, as he stood hunched over the dresser, breathing heavily.
"Baby," she said, trying to sound as calming as possible, "it's OK."
"I can't fucking stand him," Enjolras hissed, his hands still clenched into fists.
"I know baby, I know," she said, wrapping her arms around his middle. She felt Enjolras shift back into her.
"I'm so sorry I brought you here, it was a terrible idea."
"You don't have to be sorry, I want to be here. For you."
"You're too good to me," he said, turning round and resting his forehead against her's. "I don't deserve it."
Eponine didn't remember falling asleep. When she opened her eyes it took her a minute to realise where she even was. It was only after she manged to fully focus her vision that she remembered she was in Enjolras's parents house. She rolled over, fully expecting to find Enjolras asleep beside her, but he wasn't there – in the place where he had been lying was a note in his familiar scrawl.
I've gone down for dinner – I didn't want to wake you, you looked so peaceful.
Eponine grabbed the clock on the bedside table – it was 7.45pm. She jumped out of the bed, if Enjolras's father didn't already hate her he definitely would now that she had skipped dinner so she could take a nap. She rushed into the en-suite bathroom and winced at the sight of herself in the mirror: her eyeliner had smudged under her eyes and her hair resembled a bird's nest. She walked back out into the bedroom and grabbed her toiletry case from her overnight bag before returning to the bathroom and removing her ruined eye-make up. She quickly added some concealer to try and make it look like she was going for a more natural look and began to pull a brush through her matted hair. Once she had managed to make it look somewhat acceptable she left the en suite and returned to the bedroom, pulling the creased shirt she had slept in over her head and grabbing a fresh one from her bag. She stared at herself in the mirror, she wasn't exactly pleased with what she saw, but it would have to do; she felt like she at least needed to show her face downstairs this evening. She quickly squirted some perfume on her wrists and neck and headed for the hallway. She had no idea where the dining room was, but she figured she would just keep walking until she stumbled upon it. She made her way quietly down the stairs and headed towards the back of the house, passing an open door on the left hand side which lead into a sitting room, she stopped at the doorway and looked into the room. It looked like something from one of those fancy home magazines, with dark wooden furniture, a thick patterned rug on the wooden floor and a cream sofa which looked like you would sink right into it. Just as Eponine was about to continue her search for the dining room she noticed several photo frames sitting on a bookshelf at the side of the room. Unable to fight her curiously she gingerly walked in and crept over to the shelf, inspecting the photos. There was one of a couple on their wedding day, she recognised the man as Enjolras's father; his features weren't as harsh when he was younger. His mother looked beautiful, Enjolras resembled her much more than he did his father, right down to the dirty blonde curls. Then Eponine noticed the picture of a little boy which sat beside it. She lifted the frame to get a closer look, realising that she had never actually seen a picture of Enjolras as a child. She guessed that he was maybe 6 when it was taken, sitting on the beach, flashing a wide grin for the camera, one of his front teeth missing. Eponine couldn't help but smile when she looked at it, and made a mental note to tease Enjolras about it later. She set the frame back down and continued her search for the dining room. She didn't have to look much further, as she heard voices coming from a room across the hall.
The door was closed, Eponine took a deep breath and tried to gear herself up to walk in and apologise for her tardiness.
"So anyway, Alexander," she heard a voice she assumed was coming from Enjolras's mother say, "as we were saying, Edith and Pierre's daughter Julie is back from Italy this week. We're all going to meet for dinner in the city on Thursday night and I really think you should join us."
"I actually don't know if I'm free on Thursday night Mom." Enjolras replied.
"Oh come on Alexander," the familiar voice of his father responded, "cancel your plans. Julie is back for good this time and I really think you two should get re-acquainted."
Eponine felt her breath hitch in her throat. His parents were trying to set him up with someone. She let go of the door handle and stood motionless in the hallway.
"You know that she has always liked you Alexander," his mother said. "You two would be so good together."
"I said I was busy Mom."
"I'll speak to them and see if we can re-arrange for a time when you're free," his father replied.
"I don't want to have dinner with them Dad, it doesn't matter when you arrange it for I won't be coming."
"Well if you're not interested in Julie what about Amelie Simon? Francois and Adele's daughter? Lovely girl, she's working for a bank in the city," his mother said. "I'll give Adele a call and see if we can set something up."
"Mom-" Enjolras began before he was cut off.
"I'm not going to sit here and listen to you reject every perfectly eligible girl we suggest Alexander," his father interjected. "It's about time you came to your senses and settled down."
"And I really don't understand why you're letting that pregnant girl live in your apartment," his mother said. "I know that you like to help people Alexander, but that is just taking things too far."
Eponine suddenly felt like she was being strangled. He hadn't told them, they had absolutely no idea. After everything they'd been through he was ashamed of her, too embarrassed to tell his parents that they were together and that he was the father of her baby. They clearly just thought she was some knocked up girl he had taken pity upon.
She hated herself for being so stupid, for buying all his bullshit, she really should have known better – of course someone like him was never going to end up for someone like her. Enjolras's greatest talent was talking a good talk after all, and she couldn't believe she had bought it. He had clearly just been stringing her along this entire time, making her believe that they had a future together. That whole spiel about how he had always loved her, clearly he had just seen her as an easy target; so obsessed with someone who had no interest in her that all it would take was a few kind gestures and a bunch of sweet words and she'd been putty in his hands, lapping up the attention she had been so starved of from Marius.
She stumbled back from the the door and bolted towards the stairs, clambering up them as fast as she could. When she finally made it back to the guest room, she closed the door and finally felt her body give way from underneath her as she sank down onto the floor. She felt like her chest was being crushed.
After a few minutes she finally mustered up the strength the crawl across the floor and grab her phone from the side pocket of her purse. She scrolled through her contacts until she came to the number she was looking for.
He picked up after two rings.
"R," Eponine said, her voice coming out as a strangled yelp, "can you come and get me please?"
Eponine was stuffing her belongings into her overnight bag when the bedroom door opened.
"Oh you're up, I thought I heard someone on the stairs."
She spun round to face him. He was just standing in the doorway, oblivious to the fact that she knew he was keeping her as his dirty little secret.
"What's wrong?" Enjolras asked when he saw her face, unable to hide the obvious concern in his voice.
"I'm surprised you're not away out on an after dinner date with some eligible bitch your parents approve of."
Confusion washed over Enjolras's face. "What are you talking about?"
"I came downstairs and heard you all talking about the possible girls you could marry, and then your mother called you up on the fact that you were letting a pregnant girl live with you. Not that you were living with your pregnant girlfriend, no, she is very clearly under the impression that you are simply being a good samartian to some fallen woman."
Enjolras's face fell. "Ep-"
"Have you told them?" Eponine asked.
Enjolras just looked at her.
"Answer my fucking question Enjolras," she snapped.
"I am going to tell them," Enjolras spluttered.
Eponine felt the anger surge through her body. "I can't fucking believe you. You had the audacity to confront me for hiding things from you and here you are, bringing me to your parents house as some sort of charity case, too scared to tell them that this is your kid," she said, gesturing towards her stomach.
"Eponine, please just hear me out."
"I'd rather not, thanks. I'm just gonna go."
"Please don't, please don't go," he begged, walking towards her. "Let me explain."
"Don't you even think about fucking touching me," she said, pushing him as he attempted to grab her hands. "I don't ever want you to touch me again and I really don't want to listen to your bullshit right now."
"Eponine please, please just hear me out. My parents are difficult people-"
"Oh fuck off," she interrupted. "My parents are difficult fucking people Enjolras, don't pull that one with me."
"I know that, and so do my parents," he snapped.
It was then that everything suddenly made sense to her. His parents knew exactly who she was, his high flying, stuck up parents knew all about the Thénardiers, and they were pissed that their son would even consider giving the time of day to anyone with that name. She hated herself for not picking up on it before; his parents were lawyers, of course they knew who her parents were - every prosecutor in France knew who her parents were.
"Oh God," she said, taking a further step back. She felt that unmistakable lump rise in her throat and she hated herself for even thinking about crying in front of him.
"Eponine, please," he said, reaching out and trying to grab her hand again. She jerked it back and held it protectively over her bump.
"Forget about it, forget about this whole thing. I'm not going to be your little whore Enjolras, I might be a Thénardier but I'm so much better than that." She grabbed her bag and pushed past him, storming down the stairs and out into the night.