Chapter Seven
A/N: Thank you to Christine Eponine for reviewing the last chapter.
Three days had passed, and for Éponine they had been three of the most pleasurable that she could remember in a long while, albeit three of the longest. Marius had visited her every day, most often twice, before and after he had completed his day's work, and sometimes in his lunch hour as well, always with a smile on his face which brightened up her day, as well as the dreary hospital room itself.
During this time, there had been no mention of the barricade, her father, the Patron-Minette. It had been blissful, just as they had used to be, and most importantly, there had been not one mention of the little bird that had torn them apart. For that, the young brunette was most grateful, as it was all she needed to have her recovery ruined by her best friend once again speaking of Cosette as if she was a star fallen to earth.
He still thought of her, that much Éponine could tell by sight, and though she did not really like it, there was nothing she could do to make that change. It was evident that he still thought of Cosette as the one person he could ever marry, while she remained as only his friend. True, she was the most important of all of his friends, or so he had told her many a time, and remained as his best friend, but he did not love her. Not in the way she wanted to be loved.
'Perhaps he will never love me like that, like her.' the brunette thought to herself, and immediately winced for doing so. It was the worst fear she had experienced in a long while, even more severe than her father's temper, or being caught by Javert and sent to prison. 'Perhaps it is Cosette that he loves, and only she that he will ever love. Perhaps I've just been jesting myself all along.'
The thought brought her mind to think of the words she had sung to herself, only a couple of weeks earlier, as the rain had poured down over her, soaking her to the skin and causing her to shiver, though she did so due to the tears pouring down her face, rather than to the water falling from the sky.
All my life, I've only been pretending.
She had been heartbroken, and sang in the streets, calling out to the stars as if pleading for someone, anyone, to take Cosette from her life again, and to return her Marius to her, for all to be as it once was, before the two had bumped into each other in the square. Of course, she had known that no one would listen, and still knew so now, but she could hope, and when there was nothing else left to her name, hope was all Éponine Thénardier had left.
'It is my fault, in a way.' she supposed, wiping a stray tear from her eye. 'After all, Marius was calling after me when he met her, and if I had not run away from him in the first place, he would not have needed to do so. It was even me who led him to Rue Plumet, me who delivered his final letter to the woman. All of this is my doing.'
However, when the door to the room swung open, revealing a dark haired man with a pile of books in his arms, the young woman allowed her mind to empty of all thoughts of Cosette, and instead concentrated on the fact that Marius was with her now, not with the lark, who would not be returning for a good amount of time, she hoped, given that the girl was probably living the high life in England at that very moment.
"Bon matin, 'Ponine." the young man greeted, a cheery smile plastered to his face, as it always was when she saw him. It was always uplifting to have her friend around, due to his infectious smile, one which always caught onto her the moment he entered a room. This was a feat in itself, as there were few things left in the cruel world of Paris that could still lift the spirits of the 'Jondrette girl', or she had come to be known, though another money making ploy of her father's.
"Bon matin, M'sieur." she responded nonetheless, seeing it to be the polite thing to do, although manners were never a strong point for her, having been brought up living more on the streets that off them. "Have you had a good day?"
It was rather a boring question to ask, and one that the young woman would never have considered asking before, especially not to Marius, though she had very few other friends that she could ask, but she could think of no other things to say, despite having tried to do so for a long while before he had entered the room. On the contrary to her own opinions, the man seemed happy to answer. Almost a little too happy. "Oh, my day has been fantastic, 'Ponine, better than I could have ever imagined. I left the shop, this morning, to go and collect a new order of books for my employer, as a collector had decided to clear out a little, and when I had collected them, I slipped on a paving stone, just a few feet away from the shop front. There was no one around, and so I had thought, but I saw someone bend down beside me, picking up the books and helping me to stand. When I raised my head, so that I could thank the person properly, I caught sight of the woman's face, and I could hardly believe it."
Immediately, the young woman opened her mouth to ask the obvious question, but Marius had already glanced to the doorway, which had been darkened once again. And true to the man's testimony, when she caught sight of the person there, Éponine truly could not breathe, let alone allow her mind to comprehend the fact that her life had fallen to pieces before her eyes.
The woman in the doorway was Cosette.
A/N: No! Poor 'Ponine, but it had to happen. Please review!