A/N - Thank you so much for the reviews on the last chapter, I hope you enjoy this update! Have a great weekend :-)

Enjolras couldn't stand the silence. Before her he used to relish it; he used to enjoy his own company, he used to look forward to being alone with his thoughts – now he did everything in his power to avoid it. He was in work every morning before 7am and stayed in the office every night until security came up and kicked him out. When he got back to the apartment there would always be a moment when he opened the door that would forget about the reality of his current situation: he would expect all the lights to be on - because apparently Eponine was incapable of turning off the lights when she left a room - and for her to be curled up on the couch watching Netflix or sprawled out on their bed, trying to balance her computer on top of her bump.

Instead the place was in darkness and she was gone.

Over the past few days he had started to find random items that she had accidentally left behind in her rush to remove every trace of herself: a black sweater that she loved, but could no longer contain her bump, a couple of nail polishes, a necklace, multiple lip balms. Even though he felt like he was being stabbed in the chest every time he found something of her's, he knew that eventually he would stop stumbling across the remnants of her presence; and the threat of that inevitable constant emptiness seemed worse.

He wandered into the kitchen and opened the fridge. There was half a carton of milk, a questionable yoghurt and some butter. Enjolras sighed, he didn't even bother checking the cupboards; he knew they would be equally as bare. He grabbed the milk and slammed the fridge door shut, leaning against the counter as he finished off the carton. It was only then that he noticed that Eponine's first scan picture was still stuck to the fridge. He stared at the fuzzy grey baby and his mind flashed back to that day – it was the first time that he had even begun to consider the possibility of her developing feelings for him, that what was happening between them wasn't just a physical connection.

He abandoned the empty milk carton on the counter and went to bed – he couldn't stand the silence any longer.

Eponine couldn't wait to get home; after the morning she had had she would have loved nothing more than to get back to the apartment and start drinking wine out of the bottle, but instead she knew that she would have to make do with the tub of ice cream that was waiting for her in the freezer.

The dress fitting has been just as hideous as Eponine feared it would be. She had been nearly half an hour late because she slept in, then got off at the wrong Metro stop and had to wander aimlessly around a neighborhood she had never been in before until she eventually found the bridal boutique. By the time she made it into the quaint little store she was already exhausted. Cosette was having 3 bridesmaids, all girls she had known from school who Eponine had never met before; they were all perfectly nice, but it was obvious that Cosette had already warned them not to bring up her baby's father.

Cosette kept shooting Eponine these sympathetic looks every now and again, and she could tell that she was trying to downplay her excitement for her sake, which was the last thing Eponine wanted. Just because she was in the situation she was in, didn't mean that Cosette should have to dilute her own happiness. Eponine had never had a dress fitting before, but she didn't imagine it would be something that would ever really excite her, so having to go through it whilst almost 7 months pregnant was not an experience she would be keen to repeat. She was starting to become more and more conscious of her constantly changing body, feeling as though there wasn't a single part of her that wasn't now swollen in some way.

Cosette's dress was beautiful, and when she first walked out in it Eponine couldn't help but feel her heart sink; not because she was marrying Marius, that didn't bother her anymore, but because it seemed as though everything was working out for her: she was about to marry a guy who was crazy in love with her with her doting father walking her down the aisle - whilst Eponine was facing the prospect of being a single parent, terrified of not being able to give her child the stable upbringing she had so longed for.

She was in such a rush to get into her apartment building and start her little pity party that she didn't even noticed the hooded figure standing outside leaning up against the wall. She had just put her key in the lock of the main door when she felt the hand on her shoulder.

"Surely you weren't going to just walk right past your own father?"

Eponine froze as she felt panic consume her whole body. This had to be some kind of sick joke? When turned round it wasn't going to actually be her father that was standing barely a few centimeters away from her.

"What's wrong Eponine? You're not even going to say hello?"

"You're in prison" she said, still refusing to turn her head as she attempted to re-assure herself that this couldn't actually be happening.

"I got parole Eppy, I'm a free man now."

Eponine's head snapped round and her worse fears were confirmed – as she was greeted by her father's smirking face.

"Aren't you pleased to see your old dad?"

"What are you doing here?" she hissed.

"I came to see you," he paused, glancing down towards her stomach, "and that grand-baby of mine."

"How did you find out where I lived?" Eponine asked, the anger that he had the audacity to show up at her apartment starting to over-take the panic she had initially felt.

"Oh you know me Eppy," he said, "I have my ways."

"Did you have one of your cohorts follow me or something?"

"Or something," he winked at her.

"I want you to leave," Eponine snapped, trying desperately to keep her voice down and not draw attention to herself in the middle of the street. "You shouldn't even fucking be here."

"'Parnesse said that you still hadn't lost your sass, I guess he was right."

"Did you not just hear me?" Eponine glared at her father. "Leave."

All of a sudden she felt him reach out and grab her arm, causing Eponine to wince.

"Less of your fucking mouth Eponine," he said, holding her arm in a vice-like grip. "Remember who you're talking to here."

"Let go of me."

Her father suddenly jerked backwards, as someone grabbed his shoulders and pulled him away from Eponine, causing him to let go of her arm. As her father struggled to keep his footing Eponine gasped when she saw who was standing behind him.

Enjolras.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Enjolras spat, squaring up to Eponine's father.

"I don't know who the fuck you think you are, but this is none of your business," her father said, as he went to turn back towards Eponine, who was practically frozen to the spot in shock at the scene that was unfolding in front of her.

He had barely moved before Enjolras grabbed him his arm, causing him to stall. "Don't you even think about touching her."

"Eppy," her father said, ignoring Enjolras's attempts to intervene, "I suggest you tell your little friend here to leave."

"I asked you to leave," Eponine replied.

"You heard her," Enjolras said, still grasping her father's arm. "Leave."

For a moment no-one moved: Eponine continued to stare at her father, who remained facing her whilst Enjolras held onto his arm. Her father suddenly let out a sarcastic laugh before he spun round and punched Enjolras. The sound of his fist colliding with Enjolras's cheekbone caused Eponine to let out at yell as the force of the punch caused Enjolras to fall back onto the pavement.

Eponine watched as her father began to watch towards where Enjolras was now winching on the ground, his hand clutching as his face. As soon as she saw him make a move to crouch down towards Enjolras she lept forward, terrified that he was going to beat Enjolras to a pulp.

"Stop it!" she yelled, forcing her body in between her father and Enjolras. "Just fucking go."

Her father laughed again. "Ack Eppy, is this him?" he said, pointing towards Enjolras. "Is this who knocked you up? Is that why he's here being all chivalrous?"

Before Eponine had the chance to respond her father's whole demeanor changed: his eyes began to quickly scan whatever was going on behind Eponine's head and the cocky smile quickly disappeared from his face. As Eponine moved to turn around and see what had him so nervous he leant in and whispered in her ear. "Gotta run Eppy, but I'll see you soon."

"Do you want us to call the cops?" an unfamiliar voice asked from behind Eponine. "Or an ambulance?"

She watched as her father took off down the street, and when she turned around she knew exactly why he departed so abruptly – a small crowd had now gathered round Enjolras, who had managed to sit up.

"Miss?" the unfamiliar voice asked again.

Eponine turned to face the man who was standing beside her, his face awash with concern.

"Eh, no," Eponine said, shaking her head. "No thank you." She moved towards Enjolras and his crowd of observers.

"I'm fine," he said as soon as he saw her.

He was clearly not fine – his cheekbone was already swollen, the skin had been broken by the force of her father's knuckles and the whole area was turning a dark purple color.

"Are you sure you don't want us to call the police?" one of the crowd asked.

Enjolras slowly stood up. "No, it's fine," he said, smiling weakly. "Honestly, it was just a misunderstanding."

"As long as your sure mate," another one of the crowd said.

"I'm sure," Enjolras said. "Thank you though."

Murmuring amongst themselves, the crowd began to slowly disperse.

"Come inside," Eponine said, "I'll clean up your face."

Enjolras nodded, following Eponine into the building and up to the apartment.

"Sit," Eponine said, pulling off her coat before she made her way into the bathroom. She rummaged under the sink, eventually finding the first aid kit she knew Grantaire's parents had stashed in there for him during one of their rare visits.

When she walked back out into the living room Enjolras was sitting on the couch, the bruise on his face getting darker by the second. She sat down beside him and took some antiseptic and cotton pads from the kit.

"This will probably sting," she said before she placed the pad onto Enjolras's face.

He scrunched his face up as soon as the pad made contact; Eponine pulled her hand back. "Do you want me to stop?" she asked.

He gulped. "No, it's OK."

She gently returned the pad back to his face, and began to dab at the small bloody cuts which marked his cheekbone.

"I can handle him myself," Eponine said, keeping her eyes fixed on Enjolras's wounds as she spoke.

"I know," he said, between gritted teeth, "but when I saw him, I couldn't just stand there."

"I didn't need you to protect me," she said. "I'm not worth brawling in the street over."

"Yes you are."

Eponine looked up – her eyes locking with Enjolras's as her hand froze against his cheek.

"Sorry," he muttered. "I shouldn't have said that."

"What are you even doing here?" Eponine asked, resuming her dabbing of Enjolras's wounds and trying not to think about his previous comment.

"I was supposed to meeting Grantaire for lunch but he didn't show and he's not answering his phone, so I figured I'd come over and see if he was still alive."

"He didn't come home last night," Eponine replied. "He hooked up with some girl he met at the Musain."

"Should have known," Enjolras said.

"Standard R behavior really," she said.

Eponine leant forward so she could examine Enjolras's swollen cheek more closely. "Do you want me to call Joly to come and have a look at this?"

"Eh, no," he said, trying not to focus on how close she was to him and how desperately he wanted to just kiss her and beg her to take him back.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, it'll be fine."

Eponine sat back, allowing Enjolras to let out the breath that had been caught in his throat.

"You should probably ice it," she said, "it might help stop the swelling."

"Are you OK?" he asked. "After what happened, are you OK?"

"I'm not the one who got punched in the face," Eponine replied.

"I don't care about my face," Enjolras said, "I care about you."

"I don't need a knight in shining armor Enjolras."

"I know you don't, but I wasn't just stand there and do nothing."

"You have such a hero complex."

"No I don't!" Enjolras protested.

"Yes you do," Eponine said, the ghost of a smile creeping onto her face. "You know you do."

"I do not!"

For a moment it was though things had gone back to the way they used to be – they so easily slipped back into the comfortableness of being in each other's company. And then it was almost as though a switch clicked in both their heads; bringing them crushingly back to reality.

Enjolras cleared his throat. "Why isn't he in prison?"

"He got parole."

"What the fuck?"

Eponine shrugged. "I knew it would happen eventually."

"That's why he ran then," Enjolras said, sitting back on the couch.

"Exactly," Eponine replied, sinking back into the couch beside him. "I'm sure his parole officer would love to know that he's already been making good use of his fists."

"I should have hit him back."

"No you shouldn't have."

"He was grabbing you Eponine," Enjolras said, his anger omitting from every word. "He had his hands on you."

"He's done much worse than grab my arm Enjolras."

Enjolras's eyes darkened and Eponine noticed that his fists, which rested on his lap, were clenched. "He's fucking scum."

"I meant what I said," she said, "I can handle him, seriously. You don't need to worry about me."

"But you shouldn't have to," Enjolras replied. "I don't want you to be in that position. You don't deserve to be dealing with someone like him."

Eponine stood up. "I'll go get you some ice from the freezer."

Enjolras tried not to focus on his throbbing cheekbone and was just about to close his eyes for a minute when he heard Eponine's voice from the doorway.

"Enjolras?"

"Yeah?" he said, turning his round to look at her.

"Thanks."

"What for?"

"For being on my side."

Enjolras smiled. "I'll always be on your side Ep."