Grantaire had always been the one man that Enjolras could rely on. Of all of the men that frequented the Café Musain, he could always trust him to have his back. To most it was a foolish sentiment, why would he trust a babbling drunk with his life? Perhaps now he could see why the other men had mocked Enjolras for believing in Grantaire, after all now he'd planned a trap behind his back. A foolish trap, but a trap nevertheless. The blow had come swift and hard, he would have never expected that Grantaire and Eponine would plan to get Enjolras into a bed with a woman. But the gravity of their plan settled in and he found that he was more hurt by Grantaire's betrayal than Eponine's. Perhaps it was because Eponine had a real driving force behind her deceit, but Grantaire had done it purely for sport.

Did it hurt to feel used?

Yes.

He didn't know how long it would take for him to look at her with caring and loving eyes again. He could feel his eyes narrowing when he'd seen her, his piercing gaze judging her every movement. He'd told her that it would take time for him to feel the same way again and he hadn't been lying when he'd said it. When she would sit close to him, he'd be drawn to kiss her slightly parted lips – but then he'd remember what she'd done and it would turn him bitter. He wanted to revisit the feeling of her soft skin against his, her hair tangled in his fingers but then the feelings of betrayal would revisit him.

Perhaps he was taking it all out of proportion, sure any number of the boys at the Café Musain would say that he was and that he should get over it – women will eventually always hurt you. But, he wasn't one to let his defenses down like he had with Eponine. He'd taken a leap into the unknown and he'd fallen into an abyss.

"I never meant to hurt you…" Eponine offered as she sat down across from Enjolras, her hands nervously in her lap.

"What?"

"You've been glaring at me all afternoon." Eponine bit her lip, she'd nearly gnawed it raw today.

Enjolras' eyes softened as she spoke, "I was intending to glare."

"You have every right to glare though." Eponine rested her arms on the table that separated them. She offered a faint smile, studying his face. He was silent as he sat there, his eyes flickering back and forth across her face. "I should just go." She started to get up but he jumped up to catch her wrist.

"Stay." Enjolras felt his breath catch in his throat as her skin slipped between his fingers. There dark eyes met in a silent conversation of whether or not they were alright. There was something endearing with the way Eponine had been so cautious and respective. She tried her best to keep her distance, limit any contact, but at the same time stay present in his life. She wasn't ready to let this end.

"Monsieur-"

"Eponine, we're past you being formal with me." He couldn't tell who was more confused as he let her hand slip into his. His fingers entwined with hers and he felt her tremble.

"I know that we are, but I didn't want to do anything wrong." She was biting her lip again.

Did she know what that little motion did to him? They were all alone in the Musain, no one would see if he kissed her. Trade her teeth scraping across her lips for his. He felt dizzy with desire as he stared down at her. But this wasn't working through their problems. "Good God Eponine." The words were hard to get out as he let her hand drop.

"Really, Enjolras I should go."

"But don't you want your lesson?" Enjolras offered, strangely panicked that she'd leave and he'd not see her for longer than he was willing to deal with.

"Enjolras, do you really thinks that's wise?" Eponine tried to steady herself as she started to walk away, she didn't want to leave him.

"No, but we've done a lot of unwise things."

Eponine felt her cheeks burning with his words, "I know what I did to you was unwise Enjolras, you don't have to remind me."

He hadn't meant for it to come out quite like that, but at the same time he knew he had. What she had done had been wrong. Not what they'd done together, but the way she'd gone about doing it. "I don't regret making love with you Eponine, I'm only angry with how you got me into bed with you. I made that you thought you had to lie to sleep with me."

"I didn't expect that you'd even want to sleep with me. Honestly though, no one sleeps with me, they sleep with whomever they want to imagine. I'm just a means for them to get their pleasure. I didn't think you'd fall for me, I thought that I'd just present you with the option of pleasure and then Grantaire would pay me off. I didn't figure in the possibility for me having feelings for you."

"Eponine, I don't see why someone couldn't feel something for you."

"Because bedraggled whore isn't every man's cup of tea. Least of all, your cup of tea. Enjolras, why don't you just forget me and move on with your life. Find some pretty reach flower of virtue and woo her. You deserve a beautiful damsel and not some ruined urchin." Eponine marveled at the fact that Enjolras shook her head at everything she said.

"Have any of the men you've been with brought you pleasure?" Eponine shook her head. "None of them?"

"Well," Eponine gulped as he walked towards her. "You don't count as any of them."

"Of the men you've slept with I am the only one who's cared about you?" Enjolras hesitated as he stood an arm's length away from her.

"That's because you're different Enjolras. You're sensitive and kind and gentle and naïve." She gulped as she felt tears spring to her eyes. "You're everything I wish I could have been for you. Maybe we could have worked out if I hadn't come with so much baggage."

"You're lying to yourself Eponine." Enjolras smiled gently, reaching out for her arm. She moved suddenly and he half expected her to dart towards the door but instead she dove into his arms. "I think we're both confused about all of our feelings." Enjolras smoothed his hands up and down her back. She was warm in his arms, warm and soft.

She needed to feel him in her arms, feel his firm chest pressed against her cheek. They fit perfectly together and thinking that they did, terrified her. She pulled back from him, looking up at him with teary eyes. "I'm a fool for crying."

"No you're not." He cupped her cheek, brushing the tears away with his thumbs. Beneath the grime of her lifestyle, Eponine was a beautiful girl. Not conventionally beautiful, but there was something about the way she looked. Her dark curly tangles of hair that framed her gaunt heart shaped face. She'd have full cheeks if she got full meals. Her dark eyes were sunk in with malnourishment, but there was no doubt that with a little nourishment she could be as bright eyed as she acted. Then, there were her tempting lips. They were full, red and had a near perfect bow. She'd gnawed them nearly raw today, but that didn't affect the way they made him feel.

They both knew what was coming as he bent his neck and dipped down to catch her lips, she met him half way as she leaned up on her toes, balancing against his chest for support. He wrapped a protective arm around her waist and pulled her closer. The breathless moment was interrupted by the sound of the door opening to a mixture of gasps and chuckles. They reluctantly pulled their lips away from each other, turning to see the surprised looks of half of the Café frequenters.

"Enjolras!" Coufeyrac exclaimed, dropping the stack of books that was in his arms. Of all of the men around him, Enjolras was the last one he expected to walk into the Café and find in the arms of a woman like Eponine Thenardier.

His arm fell away from Eponine's waist, slowly coming out of the haze and realizing that they had been caught and not just by a nosey Grantaire, but by half of the men that he tried to lead towards a rebellion. He had prided himself on his upright virtue and indifference to the gentler sex, swore to them that women distracted men from their higher callings and here he was as proof that women could be irresistible. At least Eponine was irresistible to him, he hadn't felt this possessed to be with a woman before her.

"Enjolras the pure and mighty seems to have fallen from his high pedestal." Joly jeered, smirking at his friend. "And for Eponine Thenardier. There's a laugh."

"Wouldn't it seem fitting though for a man wishing to uphold the honor for the people here below, that he'd end up wrapped around some poor ragdoll?"

Eponine felt her cheeks burning with their glares, "I should just go." She drew her finger across her lip, wishing they hadn't been interrupted.

"What, is your time up? Couldn't you make him pay overtime? You wouldn't have to worry about me, I'm a quick finish." Courfeyrac teased as Eponine covered her face in shame and darted for the door.

"Eponine, don't go." Enjolras barked, surprised that Eponine listened. She stopped inches away from her freedom, turning to look at him. Humiliation was written across her face as she tried to ignore the eyes of the Café boys.

"Please." She mouthed, afraid of any more ridicule. "I don't needed to be reminded of what I am." She mumbled, her eyes shifting to stare at the ground. "I know what I am."

Enjolras relented and let her go, watching her slip out the door with sympathetic eyes. She wanted to be different, she wanted a better life and that was why she'd slept with him. The offer had been her freedom and she was willing to take it. He could see why she wanted freedom from the ridicule and the scathing glares. They were enough to cripple.

"I'd rather you didn't judge Eponine for who she was, she's changed now." Enjolras gritted as he turned to face the men.

"Once a whor-"

"Joly." Enjolras threatened with hot eyes, "I'd watch what I said if I were you."

"A woman sure has got Enjolras all riled up, this is quite a fascinating study. Perhaps I should take careful notes on the effects of a woman's gentle graces have effected such a pure and holy man as Enjolras. It seems to have done quite the character change. Have you got your fill of a woman yet? Or are you taking it slow with her?" Courfeyrac smirked, "Do you see the joke in that? Enjolras, don't let yourself be played by a woman like her. She's only in it for the money."

"There is no money." Enjolras snapped.

"Are you attempting to reform her? You would find that a woman is harder to reform than a country, especially one such as she is." Joly informed with a very scientific look about him. He was surprised to see how irritated Enjolras looked about it all. "A woman sure has got you acting different."

Enjolras fell silent as he moved to take his stack of books, pulling his waistcoat on and straightening his hair out. He brushed past his friends and left the Café before his temperature rose any more.

"Enjolras!" Eponine's voice startled him and made him drop his books. "I should have just left to begin with. I'm sorry if I caused you any trouble, I never meant to. This is just, all, getting so out of hand and I think it's only going to end up hurting both of us. Please, just let it end before something happens that we're both going to regret."

"Nothing about us is going to make me regret it." Enjolras moved to sooth the trembling girl, abandoning the dropped books. "Tell me what could make me regret us?"

"What happens if I end up pregnant?" Eponine's voice was cold and unfeeling with the words. She'd always been careful with her customers, but she wasn't going to be guarded and careful with him.

Enjolras hesitated for a second, "If that were to happen Eponine, I'm not just going to abandon you and our baby. I don't want to leave you as it is, why would I leave you pregnant?"

Eponine shook her head, "You defy my logic." She laughed briskly and looked up at Enjolras. "What do you possibly see about me that could make you think that I would make a good mother to your children?"

"You're beautiful and you're witty, you're smart-"

"Hush." Eponine rolled her eyes and pried herself away from him. "You're only saying all of that because you don't know anything else besides me. You're settling for last best. There are better women out there for you."

"But I've met plenty attractive, intelligent, and wealthy women and haven't been aroused by any of them." Enjolras gave her a smirk, "There's only been you."

"You're looking at me through jaded eyes. I wouldn't wish a life with me on my worst enemy."

"Good, because I'd be disappointed if you wished for a life with your worst enemy. I don't want to be your enemy."

"You're charming." Eponine retorted with a wry smile. "Your books are on the ground."

"I know." Enjolras caught her by the waist and pulled her towards him.

"What happened to all of your building trust and being cautious?" Eponine felt breathless as his own breath danced across her face. She reached up to cup his cheek, giving him a devilish grin. She knew that he wasn't going to give up them and she wasn't exactly disappointed with that. She didn't want to give him up either, but she didn't want him to throw away a life of possibilities because he was lusting after her. She rose up on her toes and kissed hard, pushing her tongue passed his lips to kiss him thoroughly.

"Perhaps we should take this elsewhere?" Enjolras coughed, pulling away from her with another kiss.

"Probably a reasonable idea. However…" Eponine bit her lip again, "We should probably just have a lesson today, not anything else."

"Well what if I want a lesson?" Enjolras smirked as he gathered up his forgotten books.

"Well, I couldn't possibly turn away a willing student, could I?" Eponine laughed softly. She couldn't deny that Enjolras made her feel different. He made her feel special, noticed, appreciated. If she was going to embark on a relationship with him, it was relieving to feel wanted. Not just wanted as an object to find pleasure in, but to find pleasure with. There was actual attraction between the two of them.

~o~

Their lessons didn't go very long before Eponine fell asleep curled up against his chest, sitting on his lap in the arm chair. He'd been reading to her and stealing kisses from her occasionally, taking everything slowly with her. But apparently a desire for sleep outweighed the desire for anything else. He let her sleep as he ghosted his hand up and down her arm. She was obviously comfortable enough with him to fall heavily asleep.

He wasn't entirely sure how he went from being hesitant with her for weeks, to their relationship being exposed to half of the Amis, and ending the day with her curled up asleep in his lap. He carefully sat the book to the side as he shifted her weight in his arms, getting himself comfortable. He was satisfied with having her asleep in his arms, he didn't need any more than this. Contentment was an unfamiliar feeling to Enjolras. He'd never felt fully satisfied with anything in life. He was always striving for more, always dreaming of better places, always desiring something in his life that he hadn't found yet. Enter Eponine and suddenly he felt satisfied with what he had.

He listened to her breath for what felt like hours before he finally drifted off into peaceful world of sleep with Eponine. There was a certain fulfillment and comfort in having another person in your arms as you fell asleep.

~o~

Eponine had almost forgotten where she was as she woke up, forgetting that she had been sitting on Enjolras' lap listening to his captivating voice read to her some silly book of prose. The reading had been worth it though because it had been interspersed with kissing. She couldn't even remember at what point she'd started to fall asleep, only that she had and she had slept better than she had in weeks.

Could she be devious enough to wake him up? His head was rested against the wing of the arm chair; his lips had fallen apart after he'd fallen asleep. Eponine smirked as she pressed her lips against his, sliding her tongue out to swipe across his. He suddenly surged awake, his arm swinging around her back and pulling her flush to him. A hand sunk into her hair, keeping their lips pressed against each other.

"Sleep well, Eponine?" Enjolras asked as his eyes shifted from sleepy to aroused. He kissed her again with a soft chuckle. He'd been sleeping heavily until she'd kissed him and no he could honestly say that he wasn't interested in sleeping right now.

"I just wanted to give you a good wake up." Eponine smirked, shifting her hips temptingly. "Good wake up?"

Enjolras hummed approvingly and pulled her in for another kiss.

A/N: First time I've updated this in October 25th, my apologies for the lengthy delay. Midterms, holidays, vacation, and my other fics got in the way. I hope this wasn't a disappointment.