"Right, blanket, food, all I need now is the horses." Enjolras muttered to himself, checking he had everything. He had been awake since six organising everything for his day with Éponine. "Honestly I need to calm down."

"Why's that Anatole?" Enjolras spun around at the sound of his mother's voice, startled.

"Oh, I... Erm... I'm meeting a friend. We're going for a ride." He mumbled.

"You're making an awful lot of effort for a friend." His mother said, amused by his nervousness.

"She's just a friend."

"Oh so you're meeting a girl." She deduced, arching an eyebrow.

"Mother!" He exclaimed, turning a brilliant red.

"Oh I'm just teasing." She chuckled "She must be special for you to make such an effort."

Enjolras smiled down at the floor. Of all the people in his family, he would only ever trust his mother, even though she does not necessarily agree with his views of society, she never completely refuses to listen like his father does. Although he would not say he is particularly close to his mother, he knows he can trust her. "She is." He whispers.

His mother smiled softly at him. "You can take my horse."

Éponine had actually managed to reach the clearing ten minutes early, so she sat herself on the ground, leaning against a tree. She began to think of the peculiar boy that had been watching her frequently, wondering what possessed her to trust him so easily. She couldn't deny that talking to him was easy and surprised herself when she began thinking of him frequently. Those mesmerising blue eyes invading her thoughts when she least expects it. The piercing blue of his gaze made her freeze when she first saw him watching her and she was immediately filled with curiosity. Then, when she spoke to him, the smooth tones of his voice made her feel immediately at ease, she felt safe with him. This was strange for her, in her life she had never felt, never felt happy really. She was a shadow. A shadow of the happy girl she used to be before everything went wrong. Unknowingly, Enjolras had become that light in her life, he made her look forward to the next day.

Éponine was in her own world as she waited for Enjolras to arrive, she closed her eyes and began to sing quietly to herself. If not for her singing anyone would have believed she was sleeping. Tanned legs were stretched out in front her, her hair pulled back loosely in a braid. This was how Enjolras found her, to him she was beautiful, lost in her own thoughts, completely relaxed. He couldn't ignore the fact that she was wearing shorts,with most of her legs bare. Finding himself staring, he scolded himself, he should not be blatantly staring at them, but he couldn't help it.

"You're late." Éponine said to him without opening her eyes.

"How did you know it was me?" He smiled down at her whilst leading over the two horses

"Well horses aren't exactly the quietest animals are they? Especially when they're moving." Éponine had now opened her eyes and was looking up at him through dusky lashes, grinning.

"Wow, you're so funny." He replied sarcastically, but returning her smile with a lop-sided grin. Enjolras then stretched out his hand in a wordless offer to help her up from the floor. Éponine gratefully grasped his hand and pulled herself up.

"Hey." She whispered as she came to stand in front of him.

"Hi." He murmured in reply.

They stared at each other for a few moments, taking in each other's features that they had not been able to see clearly that night where they finally spoke. Éponine could see that his jaw was more angular than she originally thought and his hair glowed golden in the sunlight, curling around his face. He looked like something from a Greek myth. Enjolras noticed in the light that Éponine's eyes were a deep caramel colour, swirling with emotion and secrets, something he was sure was completely unique to Éponine and it made him want to know more.

Enjolras coughed, breaking the silence. "Care to join me on this fine morning Mademoiselle?"

"Oh Monsieur!" Éponine cried, flinging her hand to her chest in mock surprise "I would be honoured. Be still my beating heart." She proceeded to fan herself, doubling over with laughter.

"You're such a drama queen 'Ponine." He lightly teased, rolling his eyes dramatically.

"I prefer the term, skilled actress if you don't mind." She quipped, jutting her chin out in mock indignation. "So where are you actually taking me today?"

"It's a surprise."

"That's not fair." She complained, playfully smacking him on the arm. "You at least have to tell me which of these shall be my trusty steed."

"You can have Annie." He said whilst passing her the reins to his mother's horse. Éponine walked around the side of the horse, stroking its neck gently. Enjolras was watching her intently and she carefully adjusted the saddle and looked at all the items he had packed for the day.

"Woah Enj how much stuff did you bring? We're not going camping you know."

"Well i didn't know what you like to eat, so I sort of packed everything." He said rubbing his neck nervously.

"Aw how sweet!" She teased playfully.

"Shut up." He muttered turning red, causing Éponine to laugh.

"Are we nearly there yet?

"Honestly 'Ponine you're like a child." Enjolras chided.

"I am not! I'm just very hungry." She said indignantly.

"I promise we're nearly there."

She scowled "You said that twenty minutes ago."

"It's worth the wait."

"You said that too."

Note: ok so I'm trying not to build their relationship too quickly, because I don't want to rush it. So let me know what you think.

I also I forgot to put disclaimers for the story, but I'm obviously not Victor Hugo because I'm using a computer and I'm not a man. :)

-windowacrosstime