Chapter 13

I DO NOT OWN LES MISERABLES OR ANY CHARACTERS INVOLVED.

In honour of it being Easter Week, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to the victims of the Easter Rising 1916, and to all those that have been directly or indirectly affected by the British Reign in Ireland, and for those who have fought for Irish freedom.

...

"So, Enjolras! You nervous about Nicolette coming over for dinner?" Éponine teased lightly.

"Oh, stop it, 'Ponine," he grumbled.

"You are!" she poked and tickled him excitedly. "The marble statute cracked! Oh, Enjolras has a girlfriend, Enjolras has a girlfriend, Enjolras has a girlfrie-"

"Enjolras has a what?!" Phillie interrupted, confused.

"Phillie! Enjolras has a girlfri-"

"No, I don't!"

"Yes you do, Enjy-"

"One, you promised that you'd never call me Enjy ever again. Two, Nicolette is not my girlfriend. She's a very good friend-"

"A very very good friend-" Éponine interrupted, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Éponine, I wasn't done. One, Bye-Bye to the nickname Enjy. Two, Nicolette is simply a friend. Three, I'm not nervous about seeing Nicolette. And four, you are going to have to calm down, or you'll scare off Joly's girlfriend!"

"What do you mean calm down, I am perfectly-"

"No, 'Ponine, you are sky-rocket high, and impossibly hyper. It's not healthy! I'm going to get Joly to check you out, I think you suffer from insanity," he shook his head with fake worry.

"I wouldn't be surprised if I did," Éponine giggled.

Phillie laughed at the pair's friendly banter, and started to serve up the dinner that Éponine had helped her make.

"Enjolras? Éponine?"

"In the kitchen!" they shouted in unison, grinning at each other.

Joly and his new love interest Lottie arrived in for dinner, and Joly took it upon himself to introduce her.

"Enjolras and Éponine, this is Lottie! Lottie, this is Enjolras and Éponine!"

"How are you, Lottie?" Enjolras asked politely.

"Hi there, Lottie!" Éponine grinned, with the complete opposite of Enjolras' polite manner, and clearly too excitable and hyper for her own good.

"Hello, Éponine! Hello, Enjolras," Lottie smiled.

Joly turned to Enjolras. "Where's Nicolette?"

"How am I meant to know, ask Éponine-"

"You're overly defensive about your love for her, that's one of the first signs, you know!" Éponine laughed, teasing him even more.

"Don't worry about 'Ponine, she finished her first dress on her own today, and has been far too crazy for her own good ever since. And she's never really calm at all, anyways," Joly shook his head, guiding Lottie to seats across from Éponine and Enjolras.

"You sew dresses?" Lottie asked, genuinely interested.

Éponine nodded quickly and over excitedly. "It's my job." She suddenly felt a wave of pride, as this was the first time she had acknowledged her 'job' to someone other than Joly, Enjolras and Phillie.

Phillie turned round from plating up their food, when she heard that one of their guests had arrived.

"Well, don't you look pretty Lottie!" grinned Phillie at her friend's daughter.

"Thank you, Phillie!" grinned Lottie, standing up to give Phillie a hug.

"Ah, it's nothing dear," she turned to Enjolras when Lottie was seated again. "Where's this young Nicolette that you tell me so much about?"

"Why does everyone look at me, she's Éponine's friend too-" Enjolras started to complain.

"You talk about Nicolette to Phillie? Aww, Enjolras you cutie!" Éponine grinned, squeezing his cheeks playfully.

"Leave me alone, 'Ponine! Go bug Joly," Enjolras complained further.

"Oh yes, dearest Joly!" she rounded on him, causing him to groan with worry. "Tell me how you asked out this lucky lady here?"

"Shut up, 'Ponine," he blushed.

Éponine laughed at his embarassment, and both Enjolras and Lottie joined in her laughter.

"Why don't you tell me Lottie, about Joly's declaration of undying and eternal love for you?"

It was Lottie's turn to blush. "W-We haven't s-said that yet..." she mumbled, embarassed and awkward.

Enjolras sucked in his breath, "Nice one, 'Ponine."

Joly and Lottie both looked awkwardly around the room and Éponine cursed under her breath.

"Woops, I apologise, I didn'- PHILLIE!" Éponine exclaimed upon seeing the woman bring over their food, glad of an excuse to end that awkward conversation.

Enjolras chuckled, and even the embarassed pair found it in themselves to join in laughing.

"That hungry, 'Ponine?" oblivious to the situation at hand.

She nodded fervently, as Phillie placed a plate of food in front of her, and she quickly stuck in.

"Enjolras?" called out a female voice from the door. Enjolras got up and went to greet Nicolette, but not before Éponine managed to tease him about Nicolette calling out to him, instead of Éponine herself, proving she valued Enjolras as more than a good friend.

Enjolras quickly came in with Nicolette, and Éponine stood up to hug her excitedly.

"Woah, 'Ponine, calm down! You saw me a few hours ago," Nicolette laughed.

"She's been like this all day since she sewed that dress for Valerie's friend," Enjolras told her, pulling out a chair for her.

"Oh, no, no! I'll move, I wouldn't deny Enjolras the chance to sit beside Nicolette," Éponine teased with a hyper grin still permanently etched on her face.

Joly rolled his eyes, Lottie laughed, Enjolras blushed, and Nicolette seemed oblivious and nodded, sitting down beside Enjolras. Éponine sat at the top of the table, and Phillie sat at the other end.

"Well, isn't this brilliant! We have a table for six, and we've got it filled! Looks like Lottie and Nicolette will have to come over for dinner alot more," Éponine winked at Joly and Enjolras.

"You are a force to be reckoned with," Joly muttered.

Sometime later, and Lottie and Éponine were talking about sewing, and Nicolette and Joly were talking about politics, while Enjolras and Phillie were currently engrossed in a conversation about her children.

"I know you know Nicolette through your sewing, but how does Enjolras know her?" enquired Lottie, curiously.

"Well, he walked me over the first day, and the poor boy got so infatuated with Nicolette, that he hasn't stopped coming!" slurred a tipsy Éponine.

Lottie giggled at her drunken state, causing Joly to look over at Éponine. He groaned when he saw that she was well on her way to becoming drunk, and so did Enjolras. Nicolette joined in laughing with Lottie, as did Phillie.

"So, Enjolras!" Enjolras looked down, anticipating the worse, cursing. He knew anything could come out of her mouth at this point. She'd restricted her teasing about Enjolras and Nicolette to small innuednos, and private, slightly disguised jokes, but Nicolette was none the wiser what Joly, Lottie and Phillie thought that was so funny, that also made Enjolras blush.

"Yes, Éponine?" he replied warily, and Joly had to try hard to stop his laughing.

"Oh, don't worry, I'll get to you in a moment," Éponine narrowed her eyes at Joly, and then proceeded to burst into fits of laughter.

"Anyway! When exactly did you two plan on telling the rest of us that you were courting?" she pointed her fingers between Nicolette and Enjolras, waggling her eyebrows.

Enjolras blushed, and Nicolette accidentally spat out the water she was drinking.

"What?" she squeaked.

"You two!" Éponine continued seriously, waving a shaky finger between them. "It's so obvious that you love each other, and so far you haven't told us that you're together!"

"That's because we're not-"

"Well, then, Enjolras! Ask Nicolette would she like to go to the opera with you! Ask her if she would like to become your lady friend!" demanded a very drunken Éponine, banging her fist on the table jokingly.

Joly, Lottie, and Phillie were finding it hard to control their laughter at Enjolras' discomfort, and Nicolette's confusion.

"I will not ask her out to the opera just because you told me to, Éponine," Enjolras glared at Éponine.

"But you would have asked her out if it wasn't forced by me?" smirked Éponine, twisting his words easily.

"Nice one, 'Ponine," winked Joly, referring to Enjolras' frozen state.

"Would you?" asked Nicolette, turning round to face him seriously, ignoring Éponine and Joly.

"Ooooh, look at Enjolras! He's blushing, Phillie, look-"

"Honestly, Éponine, please do calm down," Phillie warned, eyeing Enjolras, who was speechless, and Nicolette who was still waiting on an answer. When Éponine went to tease Enjolras some more, Phillie got up and walked down, and put a hand over Éponine's mouth.

"Would I have what?" Enjolras asked, clearly putting off the inevitable.

"Would you have asked me to the opera if Éponine hadn't forced it? Would you have asked me to become your "lady friend" as Éponine put it, if she hadn't forced it?" she asked him straight out.

Éponine tried to interrupt, and praise her own match-making skills, but Phillie muffled her. Phillie, Joly, and Lottie all waited patiently for the answer.

Enjolras looked down at his hands, and then looked up at Nicolette, nodding slightly.

Nicolette's face broke into a wide smile, and Enjolras' face came alive with relief.

"I would have accepted," Nicolette grinned back.

Phillie, had taken her hand off Éponine's mouth to place over her chest with her other hand in a proud gesture.

"Ask her properly!" demanded a giggly Éponine.

Enjolras glared at Éponine. "I'll have a long talk with you later, 'Ponine," Enjolras warned, although his eyes betrayed his mask of seriousness, with relief and delight.

"Will you come to the opera with me, Nicolette?" he asked sweetly.

"Of course, I will!" she nodded happily.

"I'm happy for you, Enjolras," Joly grinned.

"Congratulations," Lottie smiled at him.

Phillie rushed over to hug Enjolras, "her son" as she liked to think of him.

"Oh, I couldn't be any happier for you, Enjolras!" she laughed.

Enjolras nodded his thanks at all his companions, a big grin.

"Congratulations, Enjy!" chirped a high-pitched, tipsy voice from the corner, causing the rest of the group to burst out into laughter.

...

Who doesn't love tipsy Éponine? I decided to let Éponine have her fun, because:

1. She's always so serious in the book + musical, so I wanted to show another side of her that I've imagined.

2. Somebody needed to tell Nicolette and Enjolras to hurry their arses up and get together.

3. I really miss Grantaire;)

I know I said I wouldn't update before Easter, but I'm leaving for Dún na nGáll tomorrow morning until Tuesday/Wednesday, and felt guilty so I gave you another update!

As I mentioned before, I'd like to pay my respects to the victims of the Easter Rising, who died fighting for Ireland's freedom on Easter Sunday in 1916. We in Ireland owes what we are as a country today, to these brave men and women. These amazing people paved the way to a peaceful Ireland. And while there's still a lot of tension, and we're yet to gain our freedom, you've done most of the work for us lads, we owe you.

I'm sorry for that last little dedication, but I felt my need to pay respects to the 318 that were killed, the 16 that were executed and the 2,217 that were injured during Easter in 1916.

Please Review, It's my inspiration!

Lé grá,

Ó,

Niamh Ní Luachra x