On Saturday we got new snow, and yet today all of the snow was gone and it was about twenty degrees. All I can say is, WTF IS WRONG WITH THE WEATHER?! SERIOUSLY?!

Anyway, r&r please!

*Edit* A few slight changes, but nothing major.

Chapter 15

The next day, Cosette dragged Eponine and Adalina (well, just Eponine, Adalina went willingly) to Musichetta's shop. This usually wouldn't have been a problem for Eponine, but Cosette's intentions were not a pleasant conversation. Her intentions were wedding planning. Or, to be more specific, wedding dress planning.

The blonde had shown up that morning and asked Eponine to be a bridesmaid. Eponine had said yes, and the next thing she knew Cosette was whisking her out the door, chattering happily to both her and Adalina, whom Cosette had invited to join them. Musichetta was also going to be a bridesmaid, and had offered to take care of the dresses.

She had been very surprised when Cosette had asked her, but she knew she should try to be friends with her, and Cosette clearly wanted to make an effort to be friends too, so she had said yes.

She was starting to regret it, though, as Adalina wouldn't stop chattering happily about Courfeyrac. Then again, she would have had to listen to Adalina carry on about Courfeyrac either way most likely, so she figured it was probably a good thing she had said yes, as at least now there were two other women there with her. The fact that Musichetta kept accidentally stabbing her with pins each time Adalina let out a squeal of joy as she continued repeating every detail of the night before; in particular the part where Courfeyrac had walked her home and kissed her goodnight, however, was starting to drive her crazy. Cosette, however, was happily listening to Adalina, and had already become friends with her.

"It's a shame you're only here for another week and a half, I would have loved to have you as a bridesmaid," Cosette sighed, running a hand over a roll of violet fabric, clearly wondering whether or not she wanted that used in the dresses as well.

"Actually, I'm thinking about seeing if I can stay here in Paris rather than return with my family. Just so I can be closer to Courfeyrac."

Cosette let out a squeal of delight, startling Musichetta into stabbing Eponine again.

"Ouch!" Eponine hissed, and Musichetta apologized quickly. Eponine looked at Adalina, her mouth hanging open. "You just met him last night!" she exclaimed.

"And it was love at first sight," the raven haired girl sighed. Then she looked concerned. "Do you think that he'll think it too forward of me?"

Musichetta had finally finished putting pins in the dress she was working on for Eponine. "There, you're done," she said to her friend. Both young women were relieved. Musichetta then turned to Adalina. "Trust me, Courfeyrac is the definition of forward."

Eponine nodded. "You don't have to worry about him. But you might have to worry about your brother."

"Aidan or Gabriel?" Adalina asked.

"Aidan," Eponine replied.

"But he's one of Courfeyrac's friends! Why on Earth would I need to worry about him?" Adalina asked.

"He spent most of last night glaring in your direction," Eponine replied with a smirk. "I think he might be a bit protective."

"But why on Earth would he be so protective?" Adalina asked, a dreamy expression on her face. "Courfeyrac is so kind, and caring, and funny-"

"And he will flirt with anything in a skirt," Musichetta finished for her. Cosette looked startled, and Adalina looked horrified.

"Don't worry, Adalina," Eponine said quickly, a smile on her face. "I've never seen Courfeyrac look at anyone the way he was looking at you. I think for once he's actually genuinely interested."

Adalina beamed at her. "Oh, I hope so!" she sighed. "This is so romantic!"

Eponine rolled her eyes. "Again. You just met him last night!"

Cosette turned to look at Eponine. "Love at first sight is real," the blonde insisted. "Marius and I fell in love the second we saw each other, and now look at us, we're getting married!"

Eponine snorted. "You're welcome!"

Cosette blushed. "Oh, right, thank you for helping us find each other," she stammered.

Eponine smiled. "Again, you're welcome. You two really deserve each other," she told the blonde.

"So, no hard feelings then?" Cosette asked quietly.

Eponine smiled. "No hard feelings." The two hugged then, but only for a second, because Eponine was still wearing a dress filled with pins. When they broke apart, they turned to see Adalina chasing Musichetta with a broom.

"That's not funny, Chetta!" the raven haired girl was yelling.

"Actually, it was, Addy!" Musichetta replied as she ducked behind a tall roll of forest green fabric.

"I told you, Chetta, don't call me that!" Adalina shrieked.

"Should we interfere?" Cosette asked nervously as Adalina attempted to hit Musichetta over the head with the broom.

"No, they're childhood friends," Eponine replied. "They have a lot of catching up to do, and it looks like they're enjoying it."

Cosette gave her an odd look, but Eponine simply grinned. "Besides," she added, "it's fun to watch."

"Really, Enjolras, where have you been hiding her all these years?" Courfeyrac asked his friend. Enjolras groaned. His friend's head was sky-high, and filled with nothing but thoughts about his sister. He was regretting joining his friends at the café for the afternoon.

"I have never seen anyone more beautiful in all of my life!" he exclaimed. Marius raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" he asked. "And just where have I heard that before?"

"Probably from yourself, Pontmercy, when you were rambling about Cosette," Enjolras snapped in response.

Marius rolled his eyes. "I meant him, however," Marius explained, nodding his head towards Courfeyrac, who looked like he was ready to skip off into the sunset. "He's on about a new girl every week!"

"Yes, except that he's never been like this about any of those girls," Combeferre put in. "He's almost as bad as Pontmercy!"

"Hey!" Marius exclaimed in annoyance before glancing at Courfeyrac. "I wasn't like that over Cosette!"

"Actually, you were," Bahorel commented as he sipped at a drink.

"Actually, he's worse than Pontmercy!" Enjolras growled. Marius looked relieved, and the rest all raised an eyebrow. "Cosette wasn't my sister!"

Bahorel burst out laughing, Combeferre sighed and shook his head, and Marius suddenly looked less relieved.

Courfeyrac finally sat down with them again, a wistful expression on his face.

"So, Courfeyrac, since I wasn't here last night, could you please tell me about Enjolras' sister?" Marius asked.

Enjolras narrowed his eyes and gave both of his lovesick friends a stony glare, while Bahorel and Combeferre exchanged a glance, wondering whether to stay to see if it would be amusing, or if they should head to a different table. In the end they chose to stay, while Courfeyrac bean to talk.

"She is the most beautiful woman on the planet," Courfeyrac sighed. "Her hair is black as the night sky, and her skin is white as snow. Her eyes are the brightest, most beautiful shade of green, and her lips-"

"Don't even think about going there, Courfeyrac," Enjolras snapped, cutting him off, not wanting to hear another word about his sister from his friend. "She's my sister!"

"And I love her!" Courfeyrac declared. "I'm going to marry her!"

Enjolras' jaw dropped. "You have got to be joking!"

"I'm not!" his friend retorted.

"You just met her last night! You've barely spoken to her!" Enjolras was panicking. Courfeyrac couldn't possibly be serious, not about his little sister.

"I knew it the second I set eyes on her," he insisted. "I had never seen anyone so beautiful. And she's clever – far cleverer than you, I might add – and witty. She's perfect! And when I kissed her last night-"

"You did what?" Enjolras was furious at those words, and he instantly leaped to his feet. Courfeyrac quickly looked to Marius, who had also experienced love at first sight, for help, but Marius shook his head and backed away, giving Courfeyrac a look that clearly said 'you're on your own for this one'. "Didn't I tell you to leave my sister alone?" Enjolras asked.

Courfeyrac had apparently calmed down enough from the initial fear of Enjolras' wrath to smirk and reply with a witty comment. "What can I say? No woman can resist this," he said as he gestured to himself.

His choice of words proved to be a smart one, as Grantaire instantly burst out laughing while Enjolras looked incredibly flustered, and it bought him just enough time for Musichetta, Eponine, Cosette, and Adalina to walk through the door.

Cosette instantly flew into Marius' arms, babbling on about her fabric choices for the dresses, and Musichetta happily started flirting with Joly.

Eponine and Adalina, however, took one look at their beloved revolutionary, who was still quite flustered, and sighed.

"Who broke him now?" Eponine asked. "He looks like a fish out of water!"

"Ask Courfeyrac, he was the last one to actually say real words before you four walked in," Grantaire slurred.

"Let me guess: my brother found out he kissed me last night and now he can't handle it?" Adalina asked as she walked over to Courfeyrac, who was still sitting across from Enjolras and smirking at him, and draped her arms around his neck. Enjolras groaned and dropped his head to the table. "In that case, I guess it's a bad time to mention that I'm planning to see about staying in Paris," Adalina commented. Enjolras' head shot back up and he glared at his sister.

"You will do no such thing!" he insisted. Adalina simply smirked in response.

"Why, because of this?" she asked before turning Courfeyrac's head to kiss him on the lips.

Grantaire laughed, Enjolras' jaw dropped for a brief second before he replaced his expression with another stony glare, and Cosette, Musichetta, and the rest of Les Amis, Courfeyrac included, seemed entirely unsure of how to respond.

"Well, I definitely see the resemblance now!" Grantaire commented as he went to get a new bottle. "I think your sister has even more fire in her than you do, Enjolras!"

Enjolras narrowed his eyes at the drunk. "Just make sure that you at least stay well away from her."

"I wouldn't dream of stealing her away from Courfeyrac," Grantaire replied. "Besides, I've found a different girl for myself that I am much more interested." He turned to look at Eponine. "Which reminds me. Eponine, what did you say your sister's name was again?"

Enjolras turned to glance at Eponine, whose face had gone white.

"Azelma," she said softly. "Why?"

Grantaire didn't answer, but instead he wore an expression that was a combination of relief and concern.

"Grantaire, why do you want to know what my sister's name is?" she demanded, stepping towards the drunk. The rest of the conversations died down, and everyone was suddenly looking back and forth between Eponine and Grantaire. "Did you find her?" The desperation in her voice was obvious, but Grantaire still didn't answer. He looked nearly terrified. "Answer me, dammit!" she yelled, hre voice breaking. She was close to tears.

Grantaire slowly took in a deep breath. "Yes, I've found her," he said softly.

"Where is she?" Eponine asked, trembling. Enjolras stood and walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her waist to steady her.

"She's at my flat," Grantaire replied cautiously.

"What on Earth is she doing there?" Eponine demanded.

"I met her about a week ago. She was a nice girl, I liked her right away. Then last night I saw her again…" His voice trailed off, and Eponine stiffened. "It wasn't like that, trust me, Eponine, it's not what you think," Grantaire said quickly. "I took her in because the poor thing was close to death!"

Eponine's face instantly drained of colour, and she probably would have fallen if Enjolras hadn't been holding her up.

"She was beaten up pretty badly, not to mention starving and probably freezing, it's not really summer anymore, after all," Grantaire said quickly.

Eponine wasn't listening anymore, though. She instantly struggled out of Enjolras' grasp.

"Courfeyrac, where's Gavroche?" she demanded.

"At my flat, do you want me to go-"

"Get him now. Take him to Grantaire's," she ordered. Courfeyrac was up and out the door instantly. Arguing with Enjolras was one thing, but Eponine, especially in the state she was in now, was another thing entirely. "Joly, Combeferre, let's go. You too, Grantaire, she's at your place. Now let's go."

"Now?" Grantaire asked.

"Yes now, you idiot!" she yelled, slapping him across the face.

"Ok, ok, I'm going!" Grantaire replied before hurrying out the door, Combeferre, Joly, Eponine, Enjolras, and Adalina right behind him.

"Are you all right?" Enjolras asked her quietly as they hurried to Grantaire's flat.

"I haven't seen her in years," Eponine replied. "Oh, thank God she's alive. I thought I'd never see her again! But she could still…" her voice trailed off. She was clearly afraid to express her fears out loud.

Enjolras took in a deep breath. Eponine's sister was alive. But whether or not she would live was still to be determined.