A/N: I kid you not, Grantaire is the most fun person to write. I love writing Grantaire! I don't own him though, or Les Miserables for that matter, just an Eddie Redmayne poster. It lives in my room. It's a nice thing to wake up to.
Eponine was abruptly woken up by someone nudging her in the ribs, hard. Her eyes shot open and sunlight flooded into them. When she blinked out the light she could see her father towering over her, thankfully his gang was elsewhere because he appeared to be alone.
"I didn't know you were taking customers," M. Thenardier sneered. Eponine saw the compromising position she and Enjolras were in, and she quickly detached herself from the sleeping man. "He's not a customer, papa. He's just a friend I met in the streets and we were cold last night," she lied. Eponine thought it was best to tell a false story about Enjolras, or her father might try to take advantage of his money.
M. Thenardier squinted at Enjolras before he returned his attention back to his daughter. "Did ya get the money I sent ya out for?" he demanded with crossed arms and a glare for added effect. Eponine looked down and twiddled her thumbs, wishing Enjolras had given her the money yesterday instead of to the other people on the street.
"No, papa," she admitted. M. Thenardier placed his head in his hands and sighed.
"You know what this means, 'Ponine," he said menacingly as he shoved her away from Enjolras who didn't even stir. First, he slapped her swiftly across the face, and then he went for her stomach as she fell down. Eponine couldn't even help the scream that erupted from her throat.
Enjolras upon hearing the scream snapped awake and ran to Eponine.
"Get away, you scum!" he shouted pushing away M. Thenardier away, who in response attacked Enjolras due to his angry temperament. Enjolras received a hard blow to his eye, and stumbled backwards and then managed to recover and punch M. Thenardier squarely in the nose.
"Leave him alone, papa!" Eponine cried trying to pin her father's arms down.
"Gerrof me, brat," he spat at his child. Eponine stepped back for a moment and watched as Enjolras punched her father again.
"Alright, alright. I'll be on my way now, but I'm warning you Eponine: next time I ask you for money, I mean I want the money, dammit, and I want it on time," he said as he walked away from the pair.
Eponine looked apologetically at Enjolras trying to cover the bruise that was forming on her face. She could see one forming on Enjolras' eye. Enjolras definitely blended in with the scum of the streets more than he did yesterday, Eponine thought pleased with herself. His feet and shirt were starting to get soiled with grime, and the bruise upon his face helped him look like a street rat. His hair had lost some of its angelic quality.
"Was that your father?" Enjolras asked incredulously massaging his eye. Eponine bit her lip and nodded slowly, she was too tough to cry. Enjolras embraced Eponine carefully as though she may break if he hugged her any tighter.
No words needed to be exchanged; the hug communicated all Enjolras' emotions of empathy and understanding. Eponine was even beginning to tear up when he pulled away. She dabbed at the corner of her eyes so Enjolras wouldn't see.
"So, what are we going to do for breakfast?" Enjolras asked without thinking. He had been smart enough to not ask for dinner the previous night, but he was starving now and was desperate for anything.
Eponine look sadly at him. "We're either going to have to steal money for food, or steal the food. If you want, we can get my little brother to help us; he's really good at pickpocketing." Eponine hated stealing but she had to do it in order to survive.
Enjolras did not want to participate in stealing either, but he had never in his life gone a day without a meal. He had only skipped one meal when most of these people had gone days without food, and Enjolras felt a little bad for acting so needy for food.
"We can just go to the café and get some support from one of Les Amis," Enjolras suggested hopeful Eponine would agree. Enjolras deflated when Eponine shook her head.
"Be tough, Enjolras. I'm sure you had breakfast and lunch yesterday; I had no food at all. We can't accept money from them, but pickpocketing them is a whole different story…" Eponine said suggestively. She felt she was being a little harsh on Enjolras for his first day in the streets and wouldn't mind be a little flexible. After all, she had attempted to pickpocket some of Les Amis before with success.
The sun was bright, and it was too hot for Eponine to wear Enjolras' coat so she tied in around her tiny waist. "Let's go towards the café. We won't go in it now, but maybe later in the day," Eponine suggested.
The two started the walk back to the café, and Enjolras starting to feel brave enough to bring up a touchy subject.
"You deserve much better than how your father treats you, you know that? You're so… good, and what I had to witness was terrible. And I have a feeling that wasn't the first time he has hurt you," Enjolras said gently touching Eponine's cheek where a bruise had already formed. Eponine jerked away though, and she felt a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach at his concern.
"Enjolras, I don't want to bore you with my personal stories. I'm not a very interesting person," Eponine mumbled as she tried to hide the blush forming on her neck and cheeks. Enjolras clapped his hands and grabbed her face, forcing her to stare at him.
"On the contrary, Eponine. You're the most interesting person I've ever met!" he exclaimed. Eponine could definitely feel herself blushing now, both from their close proximity and his positive words. She escaped his grasp once more and continued walking.
"Thank you for saying that, but I'm sure you don't mean it," she said quietly as she cast a glance at Enjolras. He looked handsome even when he was covered in dirt from the street with a large black eye.
The two walked together in a compatible silence with an occasional growl from Enjolras' stomach that would cause Eponine to snicker. The sun started to move behind clouds, and Eponine could just feel in the air that it would rain soon. Enjolras will just love that.
"I can already smell the alcohol," Enjolras said bitterly thinking of Grantaire when the Café Musain was just visible in the distance.
"I thought I was just smelling Grantaire," Eponine said jokingly earning a small chuckle from Enjolras.
"He really would be an easy target," Enjolras thought aloud and Eponine agreed.
"Do you really spend that much time walking over here each morning?" Enjolras asked in wonder. It had been quite a long walk, and he had never realized how far away Eponine would venture to get here.
Eponine nodded in response and added, "Sometimes I just stay in the café, or I hang around the shops and flats around here. My father likes for me to stay around his area though so he can use me for money."
Enjolras nodded sympathetically. He spotted Grantaire out of the corner of his eye making his way to the café.
"Eponine, there's Grantaire, we can steal off of him," Enjolras suggested. Eponine grinned at the thought of stealing off the drunkard as they crept up slowly behind him.
"What you want to do is accidentally bump into him or brush up against him, and while he's distracted reach into his pocket and snatch the money," Eponine coached pushing Enjolras forward. He nodded in reply, and slowly approached Grantaire. He rammed into his side, and Grantaire nearly fell over.
"I'm so sorry, monsieur," Enjolras said looking down, placing a hand on Grantaire's shoulder to 'balance' himself. Enjolras then swiftly stuck his hand into Grantaire's pocket and fished out his wallet.
"It's alright, no harm done chap," Grantaire said slightly drunk even though it wasn't even noon yet. Enjolras kept his head down and started to turn away.
"WAIT! What the bloody hell Enjolras? Is that really you?" Grantaire shouted sobering up. Enjolras cursed himself and slowly turned to face his friend.
"Yes," he grumbled not allowing himself to look Grantaire in the eyes.
"You disappeared last night and I was worried something bad had happened to you, and now you show up looking like a street rat! What is wrong with you?" Grantaire asked incredulously. Enjolras shrugged.
"It's a project, Grantaire. Go back to your bottle. I'll be popping in and out of the café for the next week, but I won't be returning at night," Enjolras explained curtly. Grantaire threw his hands in the air in response.
"You're being so cryptic! What's your 'project' you speak of?" Grantaire asked with urgency.
"You have never minded what I've done before, don't start now," Enjolras said before running away with the wallet in his hand. Grantaire stared after him with a shocked expression, and only then did he notice a sudden lightness in his pocket.
"Did he bloody steal my wallet?" he said aloud as he frantically searched for his wallet. "ENJOLRAS!" he shouted after his friend's retreating figure.
"Look Eponine! I got his wallet!" Enjolras said happily showing Eponine the brown leather object he held in his hand.
"Good job, but next time don't get caught," she teased. Enjolras looked defensive. "It was only because he recognized me," he said stiffly examining the contents of his wallet. "There are twenty francs in here!" Enjolras exclaimed.
"Good find, that could last us the week. You got lucky," Eponine said wishing that she could have the coins to give to her father. Enjolras, as if he were reading her mind, said, "If we happen to run into your father again, I'll give him the money for you. There are plenty more people we can pickpocket in the future. But for now, we can use some of this to buy breakfast."
Right then Eponine's own stomach grumbled, and the pair of them made their way down to the patisserie to buy breakfast.
A/N: Sorry if there are any mistakes again, I didn't really edit this. But I have a good idea for the next chapter, it should be kind of funny. Well, funny to me at least. Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews they always make my day!