It'd been weeks. The barricade was built with the help of local townspeople, and kept me busy enough that I couldn't have talked to Enjolras if I'd wanted to. One volunteer, a former soldier, had offered to infiltrate the army for information. The Barricade Boys and I were happy to have him, though Gavroche didn't trust him. "I've seen 'im somewhere, I just know it." he'd tell me. It made me uneasy, but we needed all we could get.

One morning just past dawn we received warning from an officer that we had until nightfall to surrender or we would be attacked. Enjolras replied by telling him to "Damn the warnings and the lies". He said it almost casually, just a small trace of anger in his voice, but we knew what it meant. Tonight heralded the first battle.

It was on the way back to the cafe that I noticed a girl I swore I'd seen before. But it'd been ages, and what was she doing outside the ABC?

"Can I help you, miss?" she started, then stood.

"I was waiting for Marius. He's around here, isn't he?" her brown eyes widened just a hair when she said his name.

"Somewhere on the barricade, yes. Your name?"

She twisted her cap. The gesture was oddly familiar. "Eponine. You?"

"Kat. D'you mind if I ask why so keen on Marius?" She turned away, and her solemn expression reminded me where I'd seen her. Thenardier's daughter, the unhappy one. "Or not, sorry. He'll be here soon."

She nodded curtly. "Thank you."

So she was on the barricade for love as well, poor thing. I pondered how we all ended up trapped by it in the end. It was a cycle, really. Attraction, trust, love, betrayal, hurt. She would be at the barricade, come whatever hell to pay, just like me. I felt an odd connection to her.

"Just us again." the voice startled me out of my thoughts.

"Looks that way." Enjolras sat down to my right. "I meant to talk to you about the other night, it's just-"

"-we've been so busy." he finished for me, "I know."

A pause stretched between us. "So..."

He passed a hand over his face. "Kat, we may all die tonight." A short sentence that meant a great deal. No, Kat. It's too much of a risk. Not you. "Do you understand?"

I nodded. "I'm not what you're fighting for."

His fists clenched, practically of their accord, as they did when he grew frustrated. "This is bigger than either of us. Bigger than what we can even imagine. And for this effort to work, I can't be too close to anyone or it could all go wrong. You must understand that."

I stood to leave. "Of course. I'll be there to fight with you, and don't tell me you'd rather see me safe. I believe in France too." he kept silent. On the way out I nearly ran straight into Grantaire.

"Sorry." he muttered, stepping away from the wall he was leaning against. "I saw you go in and I wanted to talk to you."

"Why's that?"

"What did Enjolras say to you? About the other night, I mean."

Anger burned between my chest and my stomach. "That isn't your business, monsieur."

"It's more my business than you'd think." he spat.

I glared. "Nothing, alright? He's at that barricade for his country, can't have any distractions." He fell back against the wall, seeming almost relieved for some reason. "Glad you're so happy about it." I snapped.

"It puts my mind at ease to know he's been honest with me and consistent with himself, that's all."

"How do you mean?"

His mouth twitched up in what I would've called a smile if it hadn't held so much sadness. "You know about the similarities between us. How little we have faith in." I disliked being grouped with Grantaire, but I nodded. "I can't bring myself to believe in a god, I dislike revolutions because history shows us that people just don't learn from them. But I believe in Enjolras. Always have, with every fiber of my being."

It dawned on me slowly. "You love him."

"As much as I can, yes."

It didn't surprise me as much as it should have. What did was the foreign quality in his voice I hadn't heard before now, like a burst of clarity. "Grantaire, are you sober?"

He genuinely smirked. "Can't be drunk at a barricade, can I? It's odd, not seeing the fuzz at the edges of everything." He glanced upwards. "Sun's going down. We should find the others."

"Right." I nodded curtly and followed after him.