A/N: I'm glad you guys loved the last chapter! Thank you for your support and please continue to REVIEW, I love hearing what you think.
Éponine awoke from a blissful slumber to Enjolras kissing up and down her spine. Her eyelids fluttered open and she looked over her should at him to see him smiling to himself between kisses. He noticed her open eyes and pecked her playfully on the nose. "Good morning, love," he murmured.
"Who are you?" Éponine joked, "Has the marble leader's exterior cracked to reveal a love struck poet?"
"I wouldn't say that," he smirked, "But as a man who has long been prepared to die for his country, you have certainly given me something to live for."
"Is that so?" She smiled.
"Yes. It makes leading this rebellion all the more difficult. It was one thing to consider dying in the name of liberty before. But now I have love in my life and I long for a future with you. You've given me more fervor to prevail, but also a deeper fear of failure and what that will mean for us –for you."
"Don't worry about it now, there is still time. Support is growing day by day. And when that fateful day arrives and the barricades are erected, I will be standing there by your side prepared to triumph over our foes."
"I'm sorry?" Enjolras sputtered.
"What?" Her brows came together in confusion.
"Are you really expecting to be at the barricade?"
"Of course! You can't possibly expect me to sit at home and wait to hear if you've been killed or not!" Her voice was raised with the indignation and conviction she felt. She had to be at the barricade. Awaiting news of Enjolras' condition would be more torturous than any harm that could possibly come to her during battle.
"That's exactly what I expect. You're not going to put yourself in harms way. You will not be fighting on that barricade. If something were to happen to you I would never forgive myself," his tone was commanding, yet deep with worry. It sounded like an order, but Éponine was not his soldier, nor his subservient. He was staring straight into her eyes. They were both sitting up in the bed now still completely naked from the night before, but neither of them seemed to pay any attention to that.
"Fine. I won't be active in the battle, but I will be there. I can help Joly with the wounded."
"Éponine…" he sighed deeply.
"Think of what you're asking of me Enjolras," Éponine grabbed his face somewhat roughly in her hands, forcing him to look at her as she tried to get through to him. "How would you feel if I asked you to sit aside while I faced the possibility of death?"
"That is different."
"No, it's not!" She nearly yelled. "I've been beaten, but not broken. I'm not useless and I will not be a liability. I'm tough enough to deal with this. " Her voice softened and her eyes welled with tears as she continued. "If anything happened to you and I wasn't there… if you died and I wasn't there… I would hate myself. I would be miserable for the rest of my life, which would probably be very short because if you die, I will go to the national guardsmen and declare myself a supporter of the rebellion and I'll be executed too."
Enjolras grunted with dissatisfaction, but he understood where she was coming from. He would hate not knowing what fate might come to her if she was facing battle and he wasn't there. "Fine," he whispered. "But you're staying in the café and helping Joly with the injured. Do not climb the barricade and do not put yourself in harms way. We will both make it out of this."
"Deal," she whispered in response, a small smile pulling up the corners of her lips. She leaned towards him and pressed her lips tenderly against his. He responded immediately, his hard stone face coming to life beneath her fingertips. She threw her body into him causing him to fall back on the bed. She straddled him. "You're pretty sexy when you're angry," she whispered in his ear, attempting to sound seductive.
He chuckled. "You're pretty hot when you're being a pain in the ass."
Éponine feigned insult, but Enjolras just pulled her in for another kiss, which led to another, and another. Soon they were gasping and grabbing excitedly at each other. Their bodies came together like two corresponding puzzle pieces.
Many moments later, Éponine gave a final moan and went slack against Enjolras' chest, both of them breathing heavily. When their heartrates finally slowed to a normal pace, she propped herself up on one elbow, lightly tracing the contours of his chest with her other hand. He had one arm around her waist and the other behind his head. "I can't imagine I will ever get tired of this," she murmured, watching hers fingers glide across his smooth skin.
"Good," he replied with a wide smile, "because I know I never will."
They laid in silence for some time, just enjoying each other's presence. Enjolras was the first to speak. "Would you really have them kill you?"
"Hmm?" She questioned, not sure where his thoughts were at.
"If I died at the barricade, would you really hand yourself over to the National Guard to be killed?"
"Of course," she responded honestly. She tried to look in his eyes, but his head was turned away.
"Why?" His voice was barely above a whisper.
"If you were gone there would be nothing left for me here. I would much rather be with you even in death."
When Enjolras didn't respond she sat up and forced him to face her. His eyes were full of tears she realized with great surprise. I appeared as if he were exerting great effort to keep them from spilling over onto his face.
"You're crying." It was a statement, not a question. A look of concern washed over her face, creating a worried line between her eyebrows.
"I'm overwhelmed," he breathed. "This. You. I never could have anticipated any of this happening and yet loving you is easily the greatest thing in my life. And my hatred for your death is lessened by the selfish desire to be with you even in death and I'm a horrible man for saying so. But you should not die for me Éponine, regardless of my greed."
"Do not worry about it now," she spoke softly, petting his hair soothingly. "After all, we're both getting out of this alive, right?"
A/N: REVIEW PRETTY PLEASE!
