The next few weeks went pretty much the same as the first day. Gabe would walk Gavroche to school. Éponine would go to her classes. Gabe would take her to lunch, sometimes in the dining center, sometimes for coffee in the union. He would then go to the rest of his classes while Éponine would get some homework done before going to get Gavroche with Cosette. Éponine and Gavroche would hang out and play video games or LEGOS until Gabe came home. He would join them until dinner time, in which Éponine or Enjolras would heat something up. On rare occasions Éponine would stop playing when Gabe got home and make a real recipe for dinner, including spaghetti, tacos, and breakfast burritos. On rarer occasions, they would go to the dining center or out to a real restaurant.
After dinner, the boys would do their homework. Most nights, Éponine had to work six to close at the diner. On the nights she didn't, she could relax and get caught up on any extra work or sleep. Many nights, Gavroche, Rachelle, Julien, and Hillaire would get together in one of the four rooms to be kids together. Sometimes, one pair of adults would take them to the playground across the street. There were just a couple of swings, a slide, and a basketball court, but it was some exercise for the kids. The other adults would either do their homework or get together with their friends for some stress relief.
On one night, in which Éponine didn't have to work and was all caught up on homework, they were all in Azelma and Courfeyrac's apartment. It was two weeks before midterms, and the law students were "studying" for their government test, which they all already knew all the facts for. The kids were in Julien's room, doing God-knows-what. They were being quiet and every once in a while, the students would hear laughs, so they didn't mind. Azelma and Courf were curled up on the two-seater together, Azelma with a textbook and notebook on her lap, Courf with an Azelma on his. Marius was seated in the middle of the couch, with his arm around his girlfriend, and Grantaire on his other side. Jehan had his head on the arm of the couch, and his legs on Cosette's lap, the rest of him falling on Grantaire and Marius. Enjolras was seated on the chair, with his Government textbook open on his lap, and many colored flashcards on top of it. Éponine was in between his legs, like they had been in their apartment. Éponine had a notebook and was trying to recall all of the events of that week in the classroom she was observing, but mostly just doodling in the margins.
She looked up, around the room, and smiled. Everyone seemed to be getting closer, as an effect of this project. Cosette and Marius were always good together, and R and Jehan were better than ever, having Hillaire to dote on.
"Hey, 'Ponine. Can I talk to you in the kitchen quick?" Éponine heard her sister ask. Both girls got up and walked towards the kitchen.
"Wait! I'm coming too! You can't leave me with all of this testosterone!" Cosette squealed, pushing Jehan's feet off her lap. Once the three were in the kitchen, Azelma looked kind of nervous.
"'Zel, what is it?" Éponine asked her sister.
"Umm, I'm not exactly sure how to tell you this… But…"
"You and Courf hooked up and now you aren't sure if you are a real thing or just a one night fling?" Cosette guessed.
"'Sette!" Éponine whisper yelled at the blonde before looking back at her sister, who just nodded. "Azelma! Really? Courf? When? Please tell me Julien was not in the apartment…"
"No! No! He and Hillaire don't like to be apart, so they take turns sleeping in each other's rooms. He was in Jehan and R's room two nights ago, and well, it just kind of happened." The younger girl explained, focussing her eyes back on the floor in front of her.
"What do you mean 'it just happened?' Things like that don't 'just happen.'" Éponine said, glaring at her sister.
"I mean, we were just studying and then he turned on the TV, and you know how I can't study with the TV on, and I couldn't go in my room, because I would have just fallen asleep on my bed or my laptop would have distracted me. So I asked him to turn it off, and he said make me. I tried to go back to studying, but I was just so distracted. I went over to him to try and take the remote away, and we ended up wrestling and tickling over it, and you know…"
"They got carried away. It's not a big deal, honestly, 'Ponine. You're on the pill and used a condom, right?" Cosette asked.
"Of course! I'm not stupid!" Azelma exclaimed, before being shushed by her older sister. "'Ponine, you aren't mad are you? I just don't know what to do… I don't know if I should talk to him about or just wait until he brings it up…"
"I'm not mad. Kind of disappointed, but not mad, at you. Mad at Courf? Yes. I think you should talk to him about it after we all leave tonight. Is Julien going to R's again?" When her sister nodded, Éponine continued. "Then talk to him, and see where you end up tonight."
"And by where, she means whose bed." Cosette said with a wink towards the younger Jondrette girl.
Éponine rolled her eyes. "I meant in general, but that, too. If you need me, I'll wait up or you can call me, okay?" Azelma nodded before hugging her sister.
"Thank you, 'Ponine." She said, into her shoulder.
"Let's head back out, okay? It's almost time for the kids to head home and go to sleep anyways." The other two girls nodded before following Éponine back into the living area. They went back to their places, and Éponine leaned into the chair more than she had before, disregarding her notebook and work. Soon, she felt two hands on her back. She leaned into Enjolras' touch.
"You're really tense. Are you alright? Do you want me to get Gav so we can leave?" He leaned down to whisper to her. She shook her head.
"No, everyone will be leaving pretty soon anyways. Azelma just told me some stuff. It's fine. I'm fine. Thank you." She responded, leaning her head back on the chair, in an effort to see him. He smiled down at her, she smiled back, and then they joined the conversation again.
About fifteen minutes later, Gavroche and Rachelle came out and sat down between the couch and the coffee table. "Rach, you ready to get going?" Marius asked, seeing the girl yawn. She nodded, and Marius pushed Jehan off of the couch, careful that he wouldn't hit either child, and gave Cosette his hand, to help her up.
"We should probably head out, too." Enjolras said, standing up from behind Éponine. "Ready?" He asked Éponine and Gavroche. When Gavroche hopped up, and Éponine put her arms out in front of her in a silent plea to be helped up, Enjolras helped her and the six students bid their adieus to their friends before walking out the door. In the hallway, Rachelle and Gavroche hugged before following their older counterparts into their apartments.
Once inside, Éponine turned to the boy. "Gavroche, do you have everything ready for tomorrow? All your homework is done and in your backpack?" She asked. Gavroche rolled his eyes, but nodded. "Okay. Are you going to bed now?" She asked. They didn't actually set a bedtime for the young boy, but he was so active during the day, and smart enough to know better than to stay up really late when he had to get up for school the next morning, that he normally was in bed by ten at the latest. It also helped that they didn't allow video games between seven and ten, which was when, on stressful days, Enjolras and Éponine would sometimes play by themselves. Those were normally more mature games, such as Grand Theft Auto and Assassins Creed.
"Yeah. I think I'll read my book I brought home for a little bit, but then I will. Will you come turn off my light in half an hour?" He asked, knowing he wouldn't want to get out of bed to do so. She nodded, and he ran off to his room. Enjolras had gone to change out of his jeans and into a soft t-shirt and sweats. Éponine used the time alone to plop facedown onto the couch.
"Are you sure you're alright, Ép?" She heard Enjolras ask. She also felt the couch sink a little by her feet. She flipped over, still covering her face with her hands.
"Yes." She responded shortly.
"What exactly did Azelma tell you?" He asked.
Éponine uncovered her face and sighed deeply. "She told me that she and Courfeyrac slept together, but didn't define anything, so she doesn't know what to do."
"Is that all?" He asked her, patiently, but a little aghast.
"Yeah, why?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow at him.
"Well, I imagined it would take something much bigger to bring down Éponine Jondrette." He said, chuckling slightly. She glared at him. "Well, if it makes you feel better, Courfeyrac has many flings, but if how they were acting around each other tonight is any indication, he actually likes your sister, and probably does want something to come of it. He's a little dense sometimes, but he's not stupid. He knows better than to screw around with someone he's living with, especially for a grade."
"Thanks, that makes me feel so much better." She said, in a very monotone voice.
"I'm just trying to help! What do you want me to do?" He asked.
"Why do you care so much? I was just fine laying on the couch by myself." She asked.
"Because this is also my couch, and I like you Éponine. We seem to understand each other, and I don't feel like that with many other people. And besides, you're taking care of my kid, so I feel compelled to make sure you are okay. If you go down sick, I'm not sure what I'll do…" He said, smirking at the last part. Éponine rolled her eyes again, before sitting up and punching his arm, lightly.
"I'm fine. Just a little stressed. I told Azelma I'd stay up for a while, just in case things didn't go well with Courf and she wanted out of her apartment. You can carry on with your night. I'll turn Gav's light off and then stay up just a little longer before going to bed. Don't worry about me." He nodded and stood up, heading to his room. When he got to the hallway that lead to his and Gavroche's bedrooms, Éponine said, "Gabe," he turned around to look at her. "Thank you. For caring." He nodded, and turned back around. "Also, Gav is totally not 'your kid.'" She said. He turned his head so he could wink at her before walking into his room.
Éponine smiled to herself before looking at her phone. She had a group message from Azelma to her and Cosette. A: All good. Details tomorrow!
Then there was a response from Cosette. C: Where are you sleeping?! I have to know something before I go to bed!
AJ: That's my secret, I'll never tell.
EJ: XOXO Gossip Girl! Be safe, lil sis! Love you!
CF: Same! You owe me major details tomorrow! Get some, sistah!
The messages stopped coming after that, so Éponine could only think that Azelma was following Cosette's orders, and Cosette got busy with something else. Éponine goofed around on her phone for a while, checking emails, twitter, and playing dumb games. When she saw it had been a half hour, she went in to check on Gavroche. He had fallen asleep while reading The Lightning Thief, which he had started the day before, and was more than half done with. She walked over, gently picked up the book, put his bookmark in it, and set it on his desk. She put a soft kiss on the top of his head, and walked over to the door to turn off the light and close the door. After she closed the door silently, she turned off the rest of the lights, locked the apartment door, and went to her own room to finish a paper due the next day.