A/N: Clara and Eponine get to have some girl time! And what do girls do? Talk about guys! Haha. But actually.
Clara drew Eponine's bath, and then explained to her what all the soaps and perfume did. Eponine wasn't as dirty as she normally was, thanks to the river, but she smelled foul and she was excited to take her first proper bath in years.
"Just run this rag with this soap over your body until all the dirt is gone, and then use this perfume right here when you're done; it smells divine. These bottles right here are used for your hair, and this one is for your face," Clara said pointing to the long row of bottles on the bathroom sink.
"Are all these different products really necessary?" Eponine asked with her hands on her hips. Clara stared at Eponine strangely.
"Of course they are! I'm going to let you borrow one of my dresses for today it will probably drown you, but it is better than your rags," Clara said.
"There is nothing wrong with my rags," said Eponine hotly and Clara snorted.
"They would laugh you out of the boutique if you accompanied me wearing them," Clara replied tartly.
"Do I look like a care?" Eponine retorted.
"Will you please just use my dress?" Clara begged, and Eponine nodded reluctantly.
"Get in your bath, and I will return with a dress," Clara said, and muttered as she left, "I'm sure you'd rather have Enjolras help you with your bath…"
Eponine dipped her foot in the tub, and sighed as it made contact with the warm water. Slowly, she eased her entire body in the tub, and immediately some of the dirt that caked her skin starting to slowly come off. She put some soap on the rag, and began scrubbing down her body as hard as she could in order to get all the dirt off. It took a while, but eventually she managed to scrape all of the filth off her skin, but it left her skin red and raw.
Next, Eponine attacked her mangled hair with the comb, and her eyes watered as she yanked out the tangles. She dipped her hair in the water, and massaged the soap into her dark tresses. She dunked her head in the water, and felt even more dirt come out of her head. She tried running the comb through her hair again, and managed to get out even more of the knots.
By the time she was all clean, the water had turned cold and black from the dirt. She raised herself out of the bath and dried herself and her hair. Then she applied some of the perfume that Clara had told her to put on, and it had a delectable scent.
Eponine found the dress that Clara had brought her, and she ran her calloused hands over the smooth, dark yellow fabric. Eponine thought that the color look horrid, but it wasn't her place to judge. She slipped it on over her small frame, and then she called Clara in to help her fasten it.
"That dress has always been my least favorite dress. My mother's friend gifted it to me after my mother died, and it was too small. I figured that it might fit you better than my other dresses," Clara explained as she fastened the ties on the dress as tight as she could. The dress did indeed drown Eponine, but it was still the nicest thing that she had ever worn.
"Thank you," she felt obliged to say, and Clara gave her a genuine smile in return.
"Too bad Enjolras isn't here to see you!" Clara said giddily.
"I'm sure this would look better on you than it does on me," Eponine said pointing to all the areas that were loose.
"You look very nice; I don't think anybody will be able to tell that you are from the streets. Or maybe they will, you are quite skinny," Clara said.
"As I said earlier, other's opinions hardly concern me," Eponine shrugged.
"I can do your hair and makeup for you, if you would like," Clara suggested.
Eponine agreed (though not exactly happily), and in the next moment, Clara was applying a light rouge to Eponine's lips carefully as though if she were to mess up, the world would end. When she set down the rouge, she selected a charcoal to apply carefully to Eponine's eyes. She dusted some sort of powder over Eponine's face, and then decided that her job was done.
"Voila! I have transformed you!" Clara exclaimed proudly fingering Eponine's locks. "Later you will need a trim on your hair..." she muttered.
"I like my hair the way it is," Eponine said stiffly. She took pride in her long mane.
"You have perfect, natural ringlets, I wish my hair would do the same," Clara said jealously as she swept Eponine's hair into a knot on the side of her head, letting some loose strands fall down.
"When we go into public, you have to keep your shoulders back, your head up, and chin out. If you act the part, people will believe you are one of them," Clara advised, and Eponine focused on her posture.
"You look like an entirely different person!" Clara exclaimed.
"I preferred my old self better," Eponine grumbled pulling at the fabric on the dress.
"Well, I prefer the new you," Clara snapped.
"Enjolras would prefer the old me," Eponine retorted, but Clara just laughed.
"I doubt it! I'm sure he would prefer this new you as well," Clara replied harshly.
"Grantaire, yes. Enjolras wouldn't care. He loves me, not matter what I look like," Eponine said harshly, but Clara made a noise of disbelief. The two had been getting along, but now things were taking a turn for the worst.
"Can we just go get the dresses now? I would like to get that part of the day over with," Eponine said rolling her eyes. Clara nodded, and the two of them made their way to the dress shop. The sun didn't provide much warmth, and Eponine was a little cold as they walked.
"I am not familiar with the area; do you know where we are going?" Clara asked Eponine.
"I may not have ever been inside the dress shop, but I know my way around," Eponine said implying that she did indeed know where they were headed.
The rest of the walk was silent, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Eponine noticed that the world seemed to be kinder to her when she was cleaned up. People, especially men, paid more attention to her when she passed, but it was good attention.
Or maybe it was all for Clara, but Eponine didn't really care.
The two entered the dress shop, and Eponine's eyes immediately widened at all the dresses.
"Do you need some assistance?" a plump blonde approached Eponine with kind, sparkling eyes. Her judging eyes devoured Eponine, and she sniffed when she saw how skinny Eponine was. Eponine could not help but shoot a rude look at the woman for judging her.
"Yes please," Clara said answering for her. "We need to get Eponine here about two or three formal dresses, and four more casual ones."
"Come with me, Eponine, I'll take your measurements. My name is Corinne, by the way," she said leading Eponine to the back. The woman twisted on her graying hair as they walked. Eponine already did not like Corinne.
Corinne told Eponine to stand still as she measured her (and tsked, again, at how skinny she was), and started to fit her for her new dresses.
"Do you have any color preferences?" Corinne asked, and a small smile formed on Eponine's lips.
"Red," she stated, a full grin breaking out, her mind immediately thinking of Enjolras. Eponine couldn't wait to see Enjolras' face when he would see her wearing a red dress. Red was a lovely color, after all. She could see why Enjorlas was so fond of it.
Corinne asked if there were any other colors, but Eponine said she did not know what would look best on her. Corinne looked doubtfully at her as she looked Eponine up and down once more, taking note of her hair and eye color, and turned on her heels to begin her search for the dresses. Eponine crossly folded her arms; she had almost never felt more scrutinized in your life. That's what happens when you catch a rat and force it to play.
A couple hours later, Clara and Eponine emerged from the boutique carrying garment bags filled with dresses. A couple of the dresses were red, a couple more were floral, one was purple, one was green, and the last one was a deep blue. Eponine didn't care too much about them, but she knew it was 'necessary.'
"Is Grantaire courting anybody?" Clara asked randomly, and Eponine looked at her curiously. Why would Clara want to know Grantaire's personal affairs?
"No, not that I'm aware," Eponine said slowly, staring at Clara as though she sprouted a second head. Could Clara possibly... No, that would be ridiculous.
"I was just wondering. I'm a little surprised to be honest; Grantaire is so handsome," she sighed. To say Eponine's jaw hit the ground would be under exaggerating.
"You fancy Grantaire?" Eponine gasped, and Clara blushed. Eponine almost didn't believe her.
"I suppose I do a little bit, it would be hard not to," Clara said giddily.
"As in Grantaire, the man who can barely hold his own self up?" Eponine asked in shock.
"We can choose who we fall in love with sometimes; you fell for my brother," Clara said. Eponine curled her fists, though she had no intention of hitting Clara. It was just a reflex she had picked up when she became defensive of something.
"Your brother is a great man. Whenever I'm with him, he's the only person who I can see," Eponine sighed, and she began to relax visibly as she thought of her Enjolras.
"I don't know what you see in my brother," Clara said rolling her eyes. Eponine almost laughed at Clara's expression.
"I would hope not; he's your brother. But we are entitled to our own opinions," Eponine shrugged.
"Grantaire is a better man than my brother," Clara said firmly.
"Enjolras is the best man in the world," Eponine replied with vigor.
The two girls had a stare down with pursed lips.
"Agree to disagree?" Clara said eventually, and for no apparent reason, Eponine burst out laughing.
"Yes, of course," Eponine said breathlessly, and now it was Clara's turn to look at Eponine strangely.
"What in the world is so funny?" Clara said with a small chuckle. Eponine just quirked her eyebrow.
"Does there have to be a reason to laugh?" Eponine asked.
"You know, you aren't half as bad as I originally thought," Clara admitted linking arms with Eponine.
"I could say the same thing about you," Eponine said, and Clara looked down for a moment.
"I really am sorry that I called you filth earlier, I didn't really mean it. And I don't really agree with my aunt and my uncle; I'm honestly just terrified of what they will do if I go against them," Clara said, and Eponine nodded.
"I can you forgive you. I guess I should apologize from trying to steal from you," Eponine said as she pushed open the door to Enjolras' flat.
Eponine turned around to say something to Clara, but she didn't watch where she was going, and she ran into something very solid.
"Eponine? Is that really you?" Enjolras asked. Eponine whipped her head around and found Enjolras staring at her with large eyes.
She blushed under his affectionate gaze, and nodded slightly causing her curls to bounce up and down.
"You look beautiful," Enjolras breathed embracing his Eponine. "You always look beautiful to me, though."
Eponine beamed at him, and thought that maybe her new dresses weren't so bad.
A/N: Oh my goodness, thank you everyone for your wonderful reviews! They always make my day! After this, I probably won't be able to publish anything until next Sunday