Chapter 13:
As they walked back to the Musain Eponine's phone rang. Both of them looked at each other, suddenly panicked that it would be the police. But luckily she recognised the number. "Hey Cosette!" She said hoping her voice sounded light and normal. In truth she was freaking out. She and Enjolras had just kissed after running from the police and fighting with Montparnasse. There was a lot to process in such a short time.
"'Ponine!" Her friend squealed. "Of course you can move in! I've just cleared it with Pa but he said it's completely fine so you're in!" The excitement dripped from the phone and Eponine hoped that it was genuine, the last thing she wanted was to be a burden.
"Are you sure it's okay Cos?" She asked and immediately heard her friend sigh.
"Of course. It would be lovely actually to have some company for once!" Eponine agreed knowing how her father lived his life almost as a shut-in sometimes even to his own daughter. "But come over whenever you want and we can get you set up. You have everything from Enjolras' right?"
"Right." She said in slight disbelief that she'd been kicked out only this morning. She looked at Enjolras and thought about how much had changed in that small amount of time. "Well I'll be round in ten minutes or so?"
"See you then!" Cosette said before shutting off the phone.
"I'm guessing that means Cosette said yes?" Enjolras asked and Eponine nodded. Her hand self-consciously fiddled with a piece of her hair as they continued to walk.
Enjolras was almost in a complete state of shock. He walked along but the pavement felt like air, it felt like he was walking on clouds. His eyes were focused on the street ahead of him but his mind was still in that alleyway kissing 'Ponine. He didn't know what to think of it. Should they talk about it? Was it too soon to talk about it? Did she feel the same way? In that moment all the feelings he had been ignoring came flooding forward, his head was awash with memories of the first time he had held her in his arms, the first time he had seen her as she stood in the corridor, so small in comparison to the tall, wooden hallways. He wanted to tell her how he felt, how he hadn't been able to stop thinking about her since she had first spoken in that meeting. How he had been unable to eat when she disappeared, how scared he had been when he had seen her outside of his house, how angry he was at anyone who treated her anything less than perfectly. He wanted her to know that he couldn't give a toss how his parents felt, didn't care whose daughter she was; in fact, she could have been the daughter of Adolf Hitler and he wouldn't love her any less. Because he did love her, of that he was quite sure. Perhaps it was a young love, one that hadn't matured into that deep, ever-lasting kind of love, but he still thought he loved her. What he was unsure of was whether she felt the same.
They continued to walk in silence until they got to the Musain and retrieved Eponine's bags. Then they stood in that little room, both completely unsure of what to do.
"So…" Eponine said quietly.
"Do you want a lift to Cosette's?" Enjolras asked.
Eponine quickly nodded. "Thanks that would be great." They paused and looked at each other.
"We should probably clean ourselves up." Enjolras said and Eponine was suddenly aware of how terrible she probably looked. When she had been thrown to the ground her head had started to bleed, as did her hands and now she was a mess. No wonder he hadn't wanted to kiss her again.
"Probably." She replied.
To be fair to her, Enjolras was sure he looked just as terrible. His nose was throbbing and he was pretty sure his lip had been cut in the fight. His knuckles were also bloodied although whose blood it was he didn't know.
Unsure of what to say they both trailed into different bathrooms. As Eponine wiped the blood off of her face she wondered if this was what it would be like between them from now on. She wasn't sure why it had become so weird, she guessed they were both processing what had happened. Her head was certainly swirling with questions: did she want it to happen again? She thought she did. It was nice, amazing really and completely unexpected. She hadn't even considered the idea that she had feelings for Enjolras before but now it was suddenly clear to her. They were so similar and it was so easy to be around him. Well, it had been easy to be around him. What was her next move? Should they date? Did he want to date her? Perhaps he had kissed her because he had felt sorry for her, or perhaps he had gotten swept up in the moment? They needed to talk, but perhaps not today. So much had happened in such little time that they stood the chance of messing it all up but analysing it too quickly.
As he waited for Eponine to come out of the toilet Enjolras reached the same conclusion. He would wait, he didn't want to pressure her into anything. After all, she had shown no real sign of having any feelings for him in the past. Perhaps she had been caught up in the relief of escaping, and she had directed that relief onto him. In fact, it could be hypothesised that she might have kissed anyone who had been there with her. He would wait and see if she showed any sign of liking him back before he made his next move. The last thing he wanted to do was make her feel uncomfortable.
She walked out of the bathroom and they smiled at each other before getting into his car. They drove to Cosette's house hyper aware of the other's every move. Worried that any second the bubble would burst and they'd be separated again.
Cosette was the perfect host and once she had Eponine's bags taken into her new room she quickly fussed about her, patching up her cuts and bruises without asking a single question. Seeing her blonde hair flutter as she pulled plasters from her cupboards transported Eponine into her past when Cosette would be doing the same thing to a young Eponine who hadn't yet been able to tell her friend where the bruises were truly coming from.
Marius and Enjolras stood in the corner, talking quietly about nothing much, Enjolras having quickly told Marius not to ask what had happened. Enjolras wanted Eponine to be the first to tell of their encounter with her delightful ex, he didn't want to reveal anything she wanted to keep hidden.
Eponine remained silent right up until the point where Marius and Enjolras had finally left. They'd helped move Eponine's clothes and belongings into her room and had hung around a little until Cosette made the completely unsubtle move of telling them to get lost. "We need some proper girl's time on our first night as roomies." She had told them before quickly shutting the door and turning to Eponine.
"What happened?" She asked. Eponine was almost taken aback by the question. "If you don't want to tell me, that's fine." She added. "But I don't know if I'll be able to survive another year of magically appearing bruises."
Eponine sighed, guilt suddenly flooding her from the years of keeping secrets from her friend. "Montparnasse saw me." She said. Cosette gasped, her mouth forming a perfect 'o' shape.
"Are you okay?" She asked and sighed when Eponine nodded. "Stupid question Cosette," She said to herself. "You're here so of course you're okay! But what happened?"
"He saw me across the street," She explained. "And grabbed a hold of me saying he was going to take me home." Cosette was the perfect audience, gasping and nodding in all of the right places. "I managed to slam my hand into his nose but he didn't let me go and then," She took a breath. "Enjolras comes flying in and he and Montparnasse had a huge fight and crowds gathered and the police came but we got away and ran into an alleyway and…." She stopped abruptly suddenly realising the point in the story she had come up to.
"And?" Cosette prompted. "What happened?"
Eponine debated whether or not to tell her. She could tell Marius and then all of the boys would know and things would get messy and uncomfortable for everyone. But then… if she was going to live with Cosette, should she start by lying to her? And Eponine wasn't sure if she even wanted to lie to her. Wasn't the point of having girl-friends talking to them about boy trouble? It would be nice to get a second opinion…
"Oh my god Eponine you cannot leave me hanging!" Cosette said and Eponine laughed.
"We kissed." She admitted. Cosette blinked at her.
"You and Parnasse?" She asked. As Eponine shook her head realisation suddenly dawned on Cosette. She let out a shriek. "Oh my god!" she yelled and took Eponine's hands in hers. "You kissed Enjolras?" She asked.
Eponine nodded, smiling at her friend's reaction. Cosette shrieked again. "You can't tell Marius!" Eponine said and Cosette suddenly became very serious.
"I promise." She said. "I know how terrible Marius is with secrets and this is too big of a deal for him to muck up!" Her voice became that terribly high pitch again. "I can't believe it!" she yelled. "Finally!"
"Finally?" Eponine said. "Why finally? I didn't even know I liked him?"
"Well it's obvious to anyone with half a brain that you two liked each other!" Cosette told an open-mouthed Eponine. "You're always together, practically joined at the hip! And the way he looks at you, oh!" She sighed. "It's like you're his favourite food!"
"Really?" Eponine said, laughing at the image. "Are you sure? He's never acted like he likes me?" She paused and groaned. "Oh my god I sound like a teenager!"
"You are a teenager!" Cosette reminded her and laughed. "I can't believe you've been so blind! He went almost out of his mind when you left 'Ponine, we were all worried he'd never sleep again! And then when you came back, it was like he came alive again." Eponine's heart swelled at the thought of someone actually missing her. "He cares for you, it's totally obvious."
"Really?" Eponine asked and the hopeful tone to her voice made Cosette laugh and hug her clueless friend.
Enjolras had barely paid attention the whole time he was driving home. Had it really only been a couple of hours since he had left his home? A monumental shift had occurred and as he walked back into his home he was almost shocked by the fact that nothing had changed. He had half expected cob-webs and fifty years to have passed. He shook his head and walked into the kitchen to get himself a drink. His head was still filled with her. Everything in him ached to kiss her again. He took a sip and looked out into the garden.
"So, how was your little trip into town?" His mother asked. She had obviously crept into the room behind him. He turned to look at her now. Despite their disagreements, he did love his parents. They had cared for and provided for him beyond anything a child could wish for. Although he had a Nanny to help, his parents had always been present and it was only when he turned 14 that things started to change. He became more aware of the world, of how his father's business worked, of how he didn't agree with that. A part of him sometimes wished that he hadn't felt that way. His life would have been much easier if he was able to follow the path that had been laid out for him.
"It was fine thank you." He replied. "How was your trip?"
"It was lovely, the hotels were impeccable as always." His mother walked over to him as she talked. "Angela Mansbury was there, as tiresome as ever, but that didn't damper the atmosphere too much. And anyway, her daughter's new boob job was the most interesting thing that has happened to that woman all year so… I win." She chuckled and Enjolras couldn't help but smile too.
"I'm glad." He said. They chatted casually for a while, both carefully dancing around the subject of Eponine. The nice atmosphere changed however when Enjolras Snr entered the room.
"I was just telling Gabriel about the business with the golf club," Mrs Enjolras told her husband, hoping that she would be able to avoid the inevitable conflict. "Can you remember if it was Mark or his wife that was trying to fix the game?" She asked.
"It was Mark of course," Enjolras Snr replied smiling at his wife. "That bastard would cheat a baby out of a sweet if he could." She laughed but inwardly groaned when her son did not join in.
A silence swept over the room and Enjolras regretted it. He wished he could put aside their argument and have a nice few hours with his father. But as he looked into the eyes that were so familiar to him all he felt was a seething anger.
"If I may be excused," Enjolras began, "I have some school work that needs to be done." He started to walk towards the door but just before he could leave the room he heard his father's voice.
"If it turns out you're dating that girl." Enjolras stiffened. "You can kiss your inheritance goodbye."
Cosette sat on her bed, her legs either side of Eponine who was sat on the floor below her. Despite Eponine's protests Cosette had demanded that she be allowed to French Plait Eponine's hair. "It's what you do at a sleepover!" She insisted and Eponine rolled her eyes.
"We can double date!" Cosette said suddenly and Eponine frowned in confusion.
"What?" she asked.
Cosette just giggled and said, "Me, you, Enjolras and Marius!" She told her. "We can double date!"
"What?" Eponine repeated, the idea having caught her off guard. She wasn't even sure if Enjolras wanted to see her again, let alone if he wanted to go on a double date! "We aren't even dating!" Eponine told her.
"Oh come on!" Cosette said, scoffing. "You kissed! You're dating." Eponine shook her head.
"I don't think it's going to be that simple." Eponine said realising the truth in her words as she said them.
"Why not?" Cosette asked. "Not everything has to be a drama."
"True," Eponine conceded, "Maybe in your life it doesn't but this is me!" She said. "My father's a criminal and he and my equally awful ex-boyfriend are trying to find me after I ran away from them! And even if we took those two out of the equation Enjolras' family hate me and I don't even know if he likes me!"
It was Cosette's turn to roll her eyes. "We talked about this." She said. "He does like you, believe me, I have such a good sense for these kinds of things."
Eponine sighed. She really wanted things to be as simple as Cosette said they were. But in her life, things just tended to get messy. Should she really bring Enjolras into all of that?
"You need to stop doubting yourself." Cosette said as she tied the ends of Eponine's plait. "If you over-think it too much you'll talk yourself out of this."
"But what if I should talk myself out of it?" Eponine said, feeling a little stupid for voicing this concern. "What if my life is too crazy to let someone else into it?"
"Don't talk yourself out of happiness just because you're scared of letting someone in."
"When did you get to be so wise, huh?" Eponine said and Cosette laughed and flipped her hair.
"I didn't asked to be blessed with the gift of wisdom," She told her friend who laughed. "It just happened."
The rest of the evening was spent in blissful girlishness. They watched sappy rom-coms and ordered Chinese food before Cosette filled Eponine on the gossip of all the people she used to go to school with.
"No way!" Eponine yelled.
"Yes!" Cosette replied. "Pregnant within two months of seeing each other and because she was only seventeen, they got married!"
"I do not believe you." Eponine said laughing at how animated Cosette could be when she talked. She missed her, she hadn't realised she had but she did. It was nice having a female friend again, there was just a bond that Eponine didn't have with the guys. They understood each other on a deeper level due to the foundation of friendship they had.
Once Eponine had seen the pictures of Ashely Jenkins and Matt Howard getting married nine months pregnant Cosette then demanded that they watch one more film before bed. As she went to grab the pop-corn Eponine heard her phone ringing from the bedroom.
She walked into her new room which, although smaller than the one at Enjolras', was still nice. It had pale blue walls and a few flowers painted in the corner by Cosette when she had been growing up. Eponine sat on the small bed as she answered the phone. Her heart fluttered as she said, "Hey."
"Hi." Enjolras said on the other side.
"What's up?" She said, cursing herself that she couldn't think of anything better to say.
"I just…" He trailed off. She imagined him running a hand through his hair or even pacing the floor as he wondered what to say. "I just wanted to check if you were okay?"
"I'm good, Cosette's taking good care of me." She paused, he didn't sound too happy. "Are you okay?"
"Yes." Enjolras said quickly. "Just… family stuff."
Eponine nodded and looked out of the window. She wondered how far away Cosette's house was from his. "Anything I can help with?" She asked hopefully.
"No it's fine." He said. "I'm glad we kissed." He said suddenly and she was shocked by how quickly he changed the conversation. "I'm not sure how you're feeling about it but I just wanted to say I'm glad we did because… well because I like you and I wanted to kiss you and..." He trailed off again. "Yeah." He finished a little lamely.
Eponine hardly cared, she was smiling so hard it hurt and her heart beat uncomfortably against her chest. "I'm glad too." She said quietly. If she could have seen him she would have blushed at how he celebrated at those words. "Because I also like you."
It was so childish. Saying embarrassed 'I like yous' to each other while smiling like idiots. Enjolras even let out a small laugh and Eponine chuckled too. She was surprised at how happy she had been when he'd told her. And he couldn't believe that she said it back. Both of them needed each other more than the other knew.
"Well," Eponine said slowly. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" She said.
"Yeah." He replied. "I'll see you then." They said their goodbyes and Eponine hung up the phone first. Alone in her room she smiled to herself, the phone in her hand clutched against her chest. Enjolras lay back in his bed and smiled up at the ceiling. He didn't think he'd ever been happier.