A/N Hi! First of all, thanks for reviewing, favoriting, following and reading! You guys are seriously the best! And since I'm the meanest person on earth, I'm going to update the next chapter if I get at least 4 reviews because I don't know if this story is boring but as always, reviews are very much appreciated. Thanks! :)

DISCLAIMER: Nooooo

Eponine's POV

I struggled to go to sleep last night so I was more or less grumpy in the morning. I woke up and saw the crutches near my bedside table. The crutches actually didn't help. It simply made my pain rise up little by little every day. I sat up in my bed and glanced at the clock. 10:30. Wow. The first time in ages that I actually woke up late. I looked to the other side, on 'Sette's bed but I didn't see her there. Then I heard faint singing from the bathroom and water splashing. I immediately understood that it was 'Sette showering. I hung my legs on the side of the bed and saw the huge bandage that Nurse Victurnien put on my ankle yesterday. It was really heavy and I wasn't exactly looking forward to be its friend for life. I reached over to the crutches and grabbed them. I stood up with the help of my 'dear' crutches and walked over to the living room and sat down on the couch. I still couldn't get my head around the fact that I was using actual crutches. Then I remembered that when I was little, I used to use my grandparents' canes and pretend that they were crutches. Then I started thinking back to my childhood-the miserable, wretched childhood of mine. I remember that a woman came to my parents' inn and left a child for us to take care. I and the girl the woman left behind were only 4 years old then and 'Zelma was about 3. We played together until Maman started bossing the girl around. The girl's name was Euphrasie. I remember because her name was unique and different from other people's. It was pretty hard to forget. Maman was so mean and nasty to her and so were we, 'Zelma and I. We probably were just following Maman because we kids usually have our parents as models for us. I remember that I beat Euphrasie up, I starved her, I didn't let her play with me, I was absolutely oblivious to her. Thinking back to all the stuff made me sick and my thinking was probably obvious because the next thing I knew, 'Sette was staring at me with such curiousness that she looked like Pandora (if only I knew how Pandora actually looked like). She slowly walked towards the couch and sat down, staring at the crutches. "What...What are those for?" She asked, still staring at the crutches. "Oh, didn't Marius tell you? Well, I sprained my ankle and then Nurse Victurnien gave me these stupid crutches. That explains the massive bandage on my leg." I gestured towards my bandaged leg and her gaze followed my hand. She gasped and reached out to touch it. "Does this hurt?" She asked, poking the ankle a little. I shook my head. "Of course, it doesn't. You're poking on the bandage, not the actual 'wound' or whatever you call it." I said. She nodded understandingly and sank back into the couch. "So...how's life?" She asked. I shrugged. "I was just thinking about my childhood. When my parents still pampered me, when they...loved me. You do remember, right? The story I told you. About a woman leaving a little girl called Euphrasie behind in our inn." I said. She nodded slowly. "Yes, yes I do." She said a little uncertainly. "What's wrong?" I asked her. She shook her head. "Nothing. I was just trying to remember the story itself." She replied. "Hey, I think you kept a lot of secrets from me. We're best friends so my idea of spending today is having a heart-to-heart chat. What do you think?" She suggested. I nodded. "Sure. Today's Sunday, right?" I asked.

"Yikes! It is! I'm actually supposed to go to church but I guess I could stay in today. So where should we start?" She asked.

"Um... What about our childhoods? That's probably a good start."

"OK. You should start, actually. I don't remember much of my childhood." She said and I nodded. "So I remember when Papa formed his stupid robbery gang. It was when I was 7 years old, I think. He had 3 friends, Brujon, Babet, Clequesous and that fucking Montparnasse. About Montparnasse and I dating in 9th grade, well, his parents and my parents knew each other and everything so they actually forced me and him to date when we were supposed to only be best friends. It was painful, really. Dating my best friend since birth and it was just weird." I started. 'Sette listened attentively to every word and I felt like maybe I was giving too much information away but still, she's my best friend. If she's not betraying Les Amis, that is... I just couldn't seem to push the thought away for some reason. "So were you...um...raped? Sometime in your life, maybe. I don't know. I'm asking out of curiosity." She suddenly asked, breaking my thoughts. "Oh, well...I guess..." I replied.

"You're lying, aren't you?" She suspected, smirking. I smacked her softly on the arm and laughed. "Fine, fine. I was. Well, not exactly raped as in raped but almost got raped by Montparnasse. I remember that he was near to stripping my bra and panties off but Gav came in time into my room to see what was going on so he just kicked that guy and he ran away. And 'Zelma got raped by Montparnasse. She was raped as in raped, not like in my case. Thank God she didn't end up pregnant. But Montparnasse did that because his family didn't have much money so my dad offered to pay him if he succeeded in raping both of his 'beloved' daughters so I and 'Zelma could be called actual prostitutes but I am not considering that as prostitution. It was more of bribing." I explained. 'Sette looked shocked and she had a hand covering her mouth. "What?" I asked.

"It's unbelievable. I mean, after all that and you're here, being who you are. It's just not possible that you've been through that kind of stuff." 'Sette replied, amusement in her voice. I smiled and put a hand on her lap. "It's all gone now, 'Sette. That was the past and now's the present. It doesn't exist anymore." I said reassuringly. She smiled and nodded. "So what about yours? I'm pretty sure you at least remember something from your past." I said. She sighed and shifted in her seat a little. "Well, remember in 3rd grade when we first met?" She started. I nodded. "Yeah, well, I ran away from you when you wanted to be my friend, right?" I nodded once more. "I knew you from before. I worked at your parents' inn as a servant. You and 'Zelma bossed me around and demanded me to clean up this and clean up that. I don't know if you remember me, of course." She said. I never met her before she came to school in 3rd grade so how could she... "Are you Euphrasie?" I asked without thinking. Her head shot up and she looked taken aback. "Yes. It was me. My mom, or Madame Fantine to you, left me at your parents' inn because she had to work, at least that's what she told me. Her career was so important to her but my biological father, whom I don't know who it is, abandoned my mom for some reason and divorced her. She-"

"Did you say 'biological father'?" I asked, surprised. So her real father isn't Mr. Valjean after all? This is very confusing. She never, in her life being my friend, ever told me about any of that. The other thing I was wondering in my mind was that, if she had a biological father and mother, what did Mr. Valjean have to do with this family at all? As I was about to ask 'Sette the question, she already started to continue her back-story. "Yes. My real dad left me and mom. Then we had no money and so on. Then one day, Monsieur Madeleine, or Mr. Valjean to you and dad to me now, came to 'buy' me from your parents and took me away. I soon found out that Mr. Valjean was my mom's boss at her work so he found out and all about my mom and me. And I'm assuming you don't know about the Monsieur Madeleine thing?" She asked.

"Not a clue." I said and she laughed. "I think I've got a lot of explaining to do here. Anyway, Mr. Valjean was under the name of Monsieur Madeleine because Mr. Javert was after him. You do know that he's secretly a cop, right?" I gaped at her instead of nodding or shaking my head. I tried to take in the information but it was way too much and too confusing. "Hold on. What did your 'dad' do to make Mr. Javert go after him. Mr. Javert is a cop, I know that, but was your dad a...prisoner before?" I couldn't help but asking. She nodded. "My dad didn't want to tell me but I eventually knew from my mom. And in 9th grade, when we just transferred to VHHS, I found out that my mom was the principal and stuff so we reunited. I'm sorry if I'm making this boring, Ep."

"Are you kidding? Now I know so much more about your past. The only thing is, why didn't you tell me all of this before?" I asked. She shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I was just too embarrassed to tell even you about it." She said then jumped a little. "Well, I'm sure you didn't tell me everything yet so now it's your turn to spill the beans!" She said excitingly. I chuckled nervously and gulped. This isn't going to turn out well. "Um... Well, I think you know everything about me already. However, there's one thing I have to admit to you. Just please don't be mad if I do." I said. She smiled. "Of course I won't. I'm not the you-tell-me-something-and-I'll-get-mad-right-away type." She said.

"Okay, so..." I hesitated. I didn't really want to tell her what I was about to but I thought that maybe it was good for her to know. I gulped hard. "I...used to have a ginormous crush on Marius since 6th grade until the start of this year. I figured that he wouldn't notice me anyway so I stopped liking him." I said quickly. She stared at me, mouth open. "But that doesn't mean I'm not happy. It doesn't mean I'm not happy with you guys dating. I'm perfectly fine. Besides, I don't like him anymore." I added quickly. Her mouth clamped shut and her eyes widened. "So who's the lucky guy?" She slurred. I rolled my eyes. "'Sette! It's not that important!" I protested.

"C'mon, Ep! I'll keep it only between the two of us and maybe 'Chetta but please! Pretty please with a cherry on top!" She pleaded. I laughed at her antics. She sounded like a 4 year-old asking her mommy to buy her a Barbie doll. I mean, for goodness' sake, she's 18! "Oh, fine! Stop being my friend, then." She said, crossing her arms around her chest, pretending to be mad at me. "I'm so sorry, Cosette! Please forgive me!" I pretended to sound desperate. She couldn't hold it any longer and burst out laughing. "Okay, okay. I'm not mad." She said between laughs. "I think I already figured that out. Isn't that magical?" I said sarcastically as 'Sette started laughing again. "So tell me. Who is he?" 'Sette asked after she could finally stop laughing. "You want to know just so you could make fun of me, right? I got that." I said. She frowned. "I'm serious, Ep. I really want to know!" She shouted, jumping on the couch. "Fine! I'm only giving clues since I'm mean and if you can't guess it, I'm not telling." I said, smiling. She pouted and said, "Deal."

"Okay, so he's cute, he loves History, his favorite color is red, he has blue eyes, he's blonde, he-"

"Enjolras! Tell me I'm right! Tell me I'm right!" She screamed, jumping on the couch and squealing. Will she ever grow up? "So will you say it already? Am I right?" She asked, still jumping. I stood up on the couch and grabbed her shoulders. She stopped jumping as I leaned in closer and whispered, "You are...right!" She squealed and started jumping again. She grabbed my hands and I took that as a sign to jump. Thank God I remembered that I had an injured leg so I pointed at my bandaged ankle. She looked down and frowned. "Too bad you can't enjoy the fun with me." She said as she sat down and I sat down after her. "Hey, Nurse Victurnien bandaged that up for you, right?" 'Sette asked. I nodded. "Did you know? She's Joly's mom." She whispered.

"Wh-What?! Really?! That explains why Joly is so protective of his and other people's health." I said. 'Sette nodded. "He only told the Les Amis and Marius told me the other day." She said. "But we're part of Les Amis, too! Why don't we get to know ourselves?" I whined. I, honestly, wasn't really used to whining because I haven't done that for a long time and it felt great to whine. "Well, only the boys got to know. 'Chetta probably doesn't even know, either." She said. Silence fell between us and I couldn't think of anything else apart from sitting and breathing to do. I suddenly thought of a crazy idea. "'Sette, let's go shopping." I said. She turned to me, obviously amused. "Did you just say you want to go shopping?"

"Well, not technically, but let's go together with 'Chetta. 'Zelma said she'd be busy today so I don't count on her for being free." I said, expecting an answer. "Sure." She said, smiling widely. I got dressed as quickly as possible (it honestly took me about 10-15 minutes) and I took off the bandage. I just couldn't take the heaviness so i thought I'd do something about it. I tried to walk without the crutches and surprisingly, it wasn't that painful but 'Sette still convinced me to use at least one of the crutches. We headed off to 'Chetta's room and found her watching TV and cuddling with Joly. They are such a cute couple! I and 'Sette waited for her to get dressed and the three of us left. We got to the mall by bus and it took us about 20 minutes to get there. The mall was full of people as usual and we practically had to squeeze ourselves through to get somewhere. As we were on the escalator, I caught a glimpse of Brujon, Babet and Clequesous. Hold on a second. Did I just see Brujon, Babet and Clequesous?! Shit, I'm doomed. "Hey, can we go somewhere else, please? I don't really...like the shops around here. Yeah." I said, trying to sound normal. 'Chetta and 'Sette nodded as we got to the end of the escalator and walked somewhere else. "Say, 'Chetta. Does Joly ever kiss you?" 'Sette suddenly asked. 'Chetta went pink and pulled some strands of her red hair to her face, trying to cover it. "Oh, 'Chetta. It's nothing bad. We're just asking you. We're best friends and we tell each other everything." I said.

"Fine. He does. Only sometimes, though, because he thinks my germs can get into his body and stuff but really, he's a good kisser." 'Chetta whispered and squealed softly at the end of the sentence. 'Sette and I laughed. "I'm pretty sure that you're the only person he kissed in his life. I mean, you're his life anyway, right?" 'Sette said, snickering. 'Chetta turned a shade of red and we knew that it was a yes. We spent the rest of the day at the mall and I tried to avoid Brujon, Babet and Clequesous in secret but 'Sette and 'Chetta eventually knew anyway. I, 'Sette and 'Chetta declared that today was officially the day of secrets or 'Heart-To-Heart Day'. It was really fun sharing secrets and thoughts with my best friends and I could very well say that I finally realized why people like to go shopping.

Note: The 'Nurse Victurnien is Joly's mom' part is false. I just wanted to make it up so that it would explain why Nurse Victurnien knows Les Amis so well. Thanks for reading! :) R&R