I feel like all I do is apologise for long gaps these days, but I am sorry, I swear!

Thank you all for your continuing support, you cuties. It was especially cool last chapter to get some reviews and messages from people I haven't heard from before - the more people I get to chat to the merrier, thank you so much!

Disclaimer: None of the things mentioned are mine.

The decision to "go hard or go home" (as Bahorel so eloquently put it) had a profound effect on the lives of every single member of Les Amis. There were even more meetings – almost every night – and they actually became productive; every one of them was busy, each Ami taking on a different role in their efforts to further their ambitious plan. It was clear to see that the conscious decision that revolution was what they were headed for had breathed new life into the campaign, galvanizing the group into action. Enjolras, who had always been the most fervent revolutionary among them, became borderline obsessed; it became unusual for him to leave the café before the early hours of the morning, and he often kept working when he got home anyway. Éponine found herself reminding him to sleep and eat and shower – a duty which she also found herself applying to Combeferre and the other guys before long. The girls of the group were all having to be a lot more supportive of their men, but to Éponine's delight they were also becoming much more involved in the plans as well: her heart had almost burst out of her chest with pride when she turned up at the café to find Cosette and Enjolras deep in discussion, huddled over a detailed list of Parisian bourgeoisie, discussing between them who was a likely supporter and who could cause bother, dividing the names up into who they would talk to. Loathe to distract them (and aware she was of little to no use in that particular area), she'd sat down at another table to thumb through her book of poetry from Jehan to look for something useful, where she was joined by an amused Marius a few minutes later. The jokey conversation between them flowed for the first time in months, and they laughed easily at their respective partners, the upcoming wedding, the plans… Éponine had forgotten how much fun Marius was to spend time with. With everything that happened between them (or rather, didn't happen), their friendship had kind of faded into the background, but as they chatted conspiratorially, she realised how much she'd missed it. They were both very different to the people who got chatting in a seedy bar over a year ago, but their friendship would never change. Éponine supposed it was just one of those things; the perpetually grinning boy with the freckles and giant lips would always have a special place in her heart, and she had one in his.

She was especially glad to have realised this by May 16th, the day of Marius and Cosette's wedding. As she walked down the aisle in front of Cosette, she found herself drawn to the look on Marius' face; he grinned his most infectious, child-like grin when she walked in and she couldn't help but grin back. Though no words passed between them, and the moment lasted no more than about 10 seconds, but they both knew what the look meant: "I'll always love you, and I'm really glad you're here". Éponine couldn't turn around, but she knew when the bride entered the church behind her just from Marius' face; a mixture of surprise, nerves, sheer joy and wonder… the guy looked like he'd just won the lottery a thousand times over. Her eyes welled up with tears, and as she tried desperately not to cry she thought about how once this day would have broken her heart rather than brought on tears of joy (a very rare event for Éponine). As she took her place at the side of the altar, she looked out over the congregation, searching for one face in particular. When her eyes found his, her heart almost stopped. It might be her imagination, but the look in Enjolras' eyes looked an awful lot like the one in Marius'.

Unable to stop smiling, she almost missed Cosette hugging her father at the end of the aisle, and only remembered at the last minute to take the bouquet from her. Her friend laughed quietly as she jumped forward to take it from her, before hugging her softly and taking her place next to Marius with a beautiful smile of pure joy.

The ceremony was as beautiful and adorable as you'd expect from those two, but it was the little moments of informality that Éponine would remember forever: like when she caught best man Courfeyrac's eye from across the alter during the vows and he 'subtly' mimed vomit at her with a wink, or Gavroche's barely contained fury at being forced into a suit manifesting itself in the most ridiculous fidgeting she'd ever seen (he repeatedly elbowed Grantaire in the stomach by accident, earning him a poke in the ribs and a threat whispered into his ear... but Éponine could see the twinkle in her unusually sober friend's eye even from here, so she knew that whatever it was, it wasn't a threat Gavroche would really be intimidated by). She'd remember the way the couples in the room all exchanged a loving glance during the 'I do's, and the nervous look Marius gave his Grandfather at "speak now or forever hold your peace" turning into the widest smile she'd ever seen. She'd remember the way the happy couple threw caution to the winds during the kiss, and kissed like they'd never get a chance to again. But as expected, most of her memories would be of the party afterwards.

Hilarity was expected whenever all of the Les Amis family got together, but add in the fact that they'd been working solidly for weeks, and the shared joy at the occasion… ridiculousness became almost inevitable. There were so many hilarious moments, from Courfeyrac's speech - set to Kanye West and Jay-Z's "Ni**as in Paris". The highlight for Éponine was "(Love so hard) Marius knew he'd never be around a girl like this again/'cause when he grabbed her hand/She didn't run for fuckin' Japan/Excuse my French but I'm in France (I'm just sayin')/ Cosette baby, you ain't do it right if you ask me/Cause I was you I would have married me or Joly" – to Marius picking Cosette up like a princess and carrying her around the room shouting "I've got a WIFE! A REAL ONE! LOOK AT HER! She's so PRETTY!" before putting her down and spinning her around the centre of the floor like a mad thing. There was Courfeyrac and Grantaire picking Jacques and Gavroche up and waltzing them around the floor, and a frankly EPIC dance-off between Cosette's Papa and Bahorel. The night ended with every last one of them on the dance floor, singing along to I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by the Proclaimers at the top of their lungs. Éponine couldn't remember ever being so happy. She'd hardly stopped smiling and laughing for hours, and never before had she felt so much like every last thing in her life was just exactly right.

There were softer moments too, though. Cosette's Papa's speech was beautiful (Éponine nearly cried again at "she was never mine to keep, and I cannot express my joy that beautiful, wonderful Cosette has found someone worthy of her love."), and she had to admit she was pleased with her performance of Train's "Marry Me" for the first dance – it was easy to conjure up the emotion, all she had to do was look down at her friends swaying around the floor, perfectly in love. Not long afterwards, Éponine had almost burst with pride at her little brother when he walked up to her with his hand outstretched and asked her to dance: he looked like a real little gentleman. She danced with Enjolras as much as she could, from silly disco numbers to the gentle, tender songs, but also got to spend some real quality time with her close friends – and it didn't even involve revolution – for the first time in ages, and felt like she got to really talk to them; she was pretty sure Combeferre was into someone (though she couldn't work out who…), and her chat with Grantaire made her feel like he might be starting to see Pierre where he once saw Enjolras for the first time. During her few rests from the dance floor, she was also able to observe some tender moments: Feuilly and Sylvie as in love as the day they married; Musichetta, Joly and Bossuet laughing happily together as they shared food at their table; Pierre and Grantaire swaying around the dance floor, completely ignoring the music; Bahorel twirling Jehan like a princess (to the great amusement of one of Marius' younger aunts); Jacques dancing with one of Marius' little cousins and pretending he didn't see Gavroche laughing; Combeferre and Courfeyrac laughing at the bar like brothers; Enjolras and Grantaire sharing an actual civil conversation – Enjolras even slapping Grantaire's shoulder amicably as he walked away. Éponine even got a chance to chat to Cosette's Papa for a while – she told him who she was, that she was the one who screamed that night in the Rue Plumet, and that she knew who he was. He seemed very moved to see her and pleased that she was doing well and away from her parents; she even got a warm smile and an almost fatherly warning to "be careful. I have a feeling I know what you lot are planning… look after yourself. There'll be trouble, of that I am certain."

But by far her favourite moment of the wedding happened in the corridor outside the toilets, of all places. She'd just nipped to the loo after a particularly exuberant (read: ridiculous and hilarious) dance with Bahorel, and was stood washing her hands in front of the mirror, examining the state she'd got herself into with amusement. What is my hair even doing?! She wondered to herself, before trying half-heartedly to pin some of the rogue curls back into the loose bun at the nape of her neck. After a minute or two, she sighed and gave the whole thing up as a lost cause, pulling the bun out and letting her hair tumble down her back. It still looks a bit wild she mused but it will have to do. Pushing her fringe back one last time, she turned for the door, only to immediately collide with –

"Enj!"
He jumped back, face flushed scarlet and eyes fixed on the floor, blustering "OH, God, sorry! That was all my –" he finally looked up. "….Éponine!"
"You ok there, tiger?"
"Yes. Yes, sorry. Bit of a shock. Why weren't you looking where you were going?"
"Why weren't YOU looking where you were… hey, how come it's only all your fault when it's not me you're bumping into?!" Éponine replied, outraged.
"I have to be polite to strangers"
"If you know what's good for you you'll be polite to me" she warned, but she knew he saw the twinkle in her eye when she said it.
"Well, you're never nice to me" he sighed back, in mock distress.
She bumped him playfully on the chest with her fist, teasing back "you never earn it"
He laughed, before raising his hand to softly hold her chin, pulling it almost to his lips. Her heartbeat rose, as it always did with him, and she felt her breath start to catch as she felt his breath on her slightly parted lips. When he stopped, they were barely a centimetre apart.
"Two can play that game, Thénardier" he breathed, dropping her chin and leaning back to stand up straight with an irritatingly smug smirk. Her body almost physically slumped in disappointment, her pulse still screaming for something as he turned away to go back to the party.

Yes, she thought determinedly. They can. Summoning every scrap of acting skill she had, she exclaimed breathily, with mock shock in every syllable: "Montparnasse?"
As predicted, Enjolras immediately swung around, irritated confusion written all over his face – and if she wasn't mistaken, a little bit of panic in his eyes! – and she pulled him in by his tie, crushing his body against hers in a searing kiss. He responded with enthusiasm immediately, wrapping his arms around her to squeeze her more tightly to him as she smiled into the kiss. "Gotcha" she murmured.
She could feel him half-laugh into her mouth as he moved a hand up to tangle into her hair. "God, I love you" she heard him huskily laugh into her mouth, and they both froze.

Did… did he just say what I think he said? She thought, stunned. For real this time?

"I love your, erm… hair like that." He hastily added, clearing his throat. Her heart sank. "Down, or… whatever. It's erm… excuse me" he turned away in a panic, heading back towards the party. Suddenly very brave, and a little pissed off, Éponine called after him.

"Oh HELL no" she declared, and he froze again, but he didn't turn around. "You're not getting off that easy." She added firmly.

As he turned to look at her, his beautiful blue eyes bright with nerves and his face bashful, she felt her anger weakening, but luckily, not her courage. "We've been dancing around this for ages." She said, exasperated. "And that's the… fourth time, I think?... that you've nearly said that to me."

She paused, before continuing. "Look, I don't care if it's on some drunken voicemail, or late at night, or during sex, or… or outside the bloody ladies' toilets!" she gathered her courage and fiercely met his gaze. "If you love me, Enjolras, would you please stop being an idiot and tell me?"

He didn't say anything, and her thumping heart began to slow down almost to a stop, convinced she'd been an idiot and imagined it all. "Of course, you don't, it's fine, it… doesn't matter" she mumbled, mortified, turning to go back into the ladies' room to crumpled up into a ball and –

He grabbed her hand, spinning her around and pulling her into him for a gentle but forceful kiss. When they broke apart, he kept his forehead resting against hers. "Éponine Thénardier, you're an idiot. Of course I love you. I love you more than I've ever loved anything or anyone" he said quietly.

She grinned, the joy and surprise hitting her all at once. "Really?" she half-laughed, squeezing his hands.
"Yes, really" he laughed back.
She felt her heart might burst, her cheeks were tightening up from smiling so wide and she could almost feel her eyes shining as she laughed happily, before pulling him in for another passionate kiss. Éponine wished time would just stop, so she could live in that moment forever. She felt so happy, happier than she'd ever felt before, she thought she might explode from happiness… but the kiss ended, as all of them must, and they breathily chuckled into each other's mouths for a few seconds before Enjolras burst out at 1000 miles an hour "OK, I wasn't going to ask you to, and if you don't want to it's fine but oh God, please say it back."
Shit, I forgot to say it back! Her eyes searched his, which were once again pointed firmly at the floor and filled with panic. Éponine, on the other hand, felt suddenly completely unafraid.

"Jean-Gabriel Enjolras" she whispered, smiling. "Can you keep a secret?"

He looked up to meet her eyes nervously.

"I think I might be a little bit in love with you" she grinned.

IT ONLY TOOK 66 CHAPTERS

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