Chapter Four
Before the Barricade

Cosette was beginning to become more and more worrisome about the fate of her father after Eponine had told her that Javert had likely run him out of his home. She had locked herself in her room and cried and cried for days, only letting Marius or Eponine in for some comfort. She had no patience for Enjolras, especially after he had shut himself back out from the world and committed himself to getting the people of France to join the revolution.

"I don't understand anymore Eponine," she sighed, "I can't leave for I have no home, and I cannot fight if you can't."

"I'll stay with you." She smiled; baffled by the fact that Cosette had become something like a younger sister to her in the past few days.

She still felt sadness in her heart though, caused of course by Enjolras who seemed to have completely forgotten about their conversation. He had again thrown himself into politics and the revolution, which was reasonable considering the barricade the next day. With the upcoming conflict, the entire society was beginning to wonder what was to come and why Enjolras wasn't helping them prepare. After all, it would be them putting their lives on the line…

"Cosette, I found something by your home." Marius said, suddenly appearing by the door holding a letter. "I think your father may have written it."

Cosette suddenly ran out of her 'bed' and grabbed the letter from him anxiously, holding it close to her racing heart.

It was indeed from Jean Valjean, scribbled quickly before he had fled the country:

Dearest Cosette,

I have not the slightest idea where you have gone, but I pray that you are safe and happy. I will never stop searching for you once it is safe again in France. I apologize for not telling you all the secrets of my past, I trust that one day it will be for the best…

The rest of the letter was not legible because the ink had run and blurred the text.

Cosette could feel tears rushing to her eyes, "Well, where is he?"

"I don't know…" Marius sighed, "I'm so sorry." He walked over to comfort her, wrapping his arms around her waist and embracing her as stifled tears.

Eponine had noticed another strange thing; Marius was beginning to grow fonder of Cosette day by day… His sudden change of heart had caused something like jealousy to spark inside of Eponine. Why was Cosette so speacial to both Marius and Enjolras?

"I have to find him."

"No," Eponine answered quickly, "its dangerous Cosette."

"Besides, Enjolras wouldn't be too happy with you, would he?" Marius added.

"Well what do you propose I do?"

"This is ridiculous," Eponine sighed, "If Enjolras hadn't left us all clueless we wouldn't be in this mess! I'm going to talk to him."

Enjolras had refused to speak with anyone from the society for days and was beginning to feel a strange sensation inside of him, making him realize so many things other than his love for Patria. He felt it slowly tearing him apart from the inside, changing every belief he had ever had. He had never had this kind of compassion for Cosette, the woman he thought he had fallen in love with– why Eponine? He sat solemnly by the cafe, looking out onto the streets and thinking about tomorrow. One day more until all their fates would be decided, including his beloved Patria. Did he even want this revolution anymore?

"Enjolras," He heard, turning to find Eponine standing nervously by the door, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Eponine? What are you doing here?"

"I came to find you," she smiled sitting next to him, "your letting tes amis down. You can't do this, we have less than a day –"

"Oh what do you care? You can't fight anyways Eponine." He snapped, hoping that the look of determination would fade from her face.

"I get it." She replied through her teeth, "But you need to grow up." She pushed him down slightly, standing up to look down at him. "People are dependingon you. What happened to the man who had nothing but care for his friends and country?"

Enjolras remained quiet for a few moments, contemplating what he had just heard. Eponine was right, there was less than a full day till the conflict, and what had he done about it?

"Look –" Enjolras sighed, "I apologize. I'll do what I can to help us prepare."

"And I'll do what I can to stay out of your way." Eponine curtseyed sarcastically and began to head away, leaving Enjolras in complete confusion and misery.

Marius had kept Cosette company for the entire day, both of them talking excitedly about the chances of winning the battle, and Cosette writing a letter to her father to place by their home in case he had returned somehow.

Marius was beginning to admire Cosette for putting her fears behind her, but that wasn't what she wanted. How could her father be running for his life while she was sitting comfortably in a shelter with people to care for her? She had to win this fight for freedom, for her father, so that maybe, just as he had said, they could find each other sometime soon. Once Marius had left and Eponine had come to keep Cosette company, she began to vent.

"We should be allowed to fight." She declared, sounding much more confident than usual.

"What?" Eponine's jaw fell open. Was this the same helpless girl she had once known?

"My father is being hunted, I know it. Why shouldn't we be able to fight for the freedom of people like him? He's never committed any crime…"

"I promise you, we will." Eponine replied sadly, realizing that Cosette still had a glimmer of hope in her future, whilst she had completely run out of it as soon as Cosette had been adopted.

Even Marius was beginning to warm up to Cosette, why did Eponine have any hope of Enjolras falling for a poor, abused girl like her? Her father was a conman, her mother as well, both completely idiotic, abusive, and deceiving. In fact, Thenardier had made sure to overhear Javert's plans to spy on the students at the barricade the next day; looking forward to robbing the corpses of any goods they had on them. Of course Eponine had no clue, but she knew that wherever her father was, he was up to no good.

Soon, night had arrived, Enjolras was still missing and Eponine began to worry about the fate of the society, especially with Marius. She was beginning to feel something like the love she used to have Enjolras inside of her, was she to tell him that? Did he even still feel that way about her? She looked around for any sign of Enjolras and realized he was back at the door with Grantaire at his right and Gavroche singing songs by his other side.

"We've one day monsieur, are you not nervous?" Grantaire asked, slurring his words together.

Eponine laughed when he saw Gavroche imitating him, ruffling his shaggy hair as she made her way up to Enjolras.

"Thank you." She whispered, "I'm glad your back."

"Me too." He replied, letting his guard down slightly and shooing away Grantaire and Gavroche.

He cleared his throat and leaned against the bar, making direct eye contact with Eponine and laughing as she blushed.

"I must be going," she sighed, "Cosette will be missing me once Marius comes downstairs to drink weith you. After all, there's one more day till you all begin to fight... "

"They've grown closer, haven't they?" He asked, suddenly changing the subject before she would walk away.

"I suppose…" She replied sadly, regretting the fact that she had lost her lover so quickly. Although she had never felt the same way about him before, he had meant more than the world to her for the longest time, and now, she was losing her only lover to Cosette.

"Eponine?" Enjolras asked, putting down his drink. "I'm sorry, for everything."

"What?" She almost choked.

"For ignoring you, for tormenting you, for never thanking you for introducing me to Cosette… Should I go on?"

Eponine laughed nervously, caught completely off guard. Before she could respond, he had planted a kiss on her cheek tenderly. Clearing his throat once more and grabbing his drink, he made his way up the stairs, past Marius, who had been watching tin awe the whole time.