Chapter Seventeen
A/N: Thank you to Alex-samsprout, MissFiyerabaMeponineSherlock, Guest and Child Stew-Barks for reviewing the last chapter.
Subtly, so as to avoid being seen, Éponine caught the skin of her wrist between her thumb and forefinger and pinched. After so many years of dreaming, she just had to be sure. She had to be sure this was not just another of her fantasies.
The sting of pain was almost enough to bring tears to her eyes, but they were tears of joy. This was real, this was truly happening. Marius Pontmercy was pressing his lips to hers.
The kiss lasted for a thousand years. Or perhaps it was only a few seconds. Éponine lost all concept of time, lost all concept of everything in existence, except for the pleasure that came from knowing that Marius felt the same for her as she did for him. She hardly cared about anything else, in truth; Marius was more than enough for her.
When finally he pulled away, the young woman felt as if she had been torn in half, as if the best part of her could only surface when she was connected to him, and that now they were separate, it had buried herself deep inside her heart once again. She had waited so long for that wondrous kiss; she had not wanted it to end.
Éponine blinked her thoughts away and saw that Marius was staring at her, a good-natured smile illuminating the beauty of his features. The girl raised an eyebrow as the man began to chuckle.
"Do you find me amusing, Monsieur?" she asked, giving the appearance of being annoyed, though they both knew the comment was meant well.
"It's not that." Marius responded, shaking his head. "It is just that... well, for many years I've been searching for the perfect woman, and only now have I realised she's been traipsing in my shadow all along. In all honesty, I feel a bit of a fool."
"And so you should." 'Ponine chastised, slapping the young man on the arm, though not hard enough to hurt him. "It would've taken a blind man not to see my love for you. I was practically shouting it from the rooftops!"
"Well, I see it now." Marius sighed, planting a soft kiss on the brunette's forehead and another on each of her cheeks. Éponine revelled in the warmth his kisses awakened in her veins; no one else had ever made her feel this way, nor ever could.
Suddenly, a question came to the front of her mind. It was terrifying for the girl to think of and she almost refrained from asking... but she had to know.
"And is it only that you see my love, Monsieur?" she asked, phrasing the question carefully. It was clear from the wrinkling of Marius' brow that he had missed the point entirely.
"What do you mean?" His confusion was as clear in his voice as in his eyes. Éponine closed her own eyes tight shut, despairing; she did not want to be forced to say it more clearly.
"You see now that I love you," she repeated. "But is it nothing more than that?"
Suddenly, the pieces fell into place, as Marius managed to decipher the point of her cryptic question. Perhaps it had been the look in her eyes that had finally given her away.
"Oh, 'Ponine." he sighed, clutching her hands tightly in his. It stung a little, but Éponine did not mind; it only reinforced in her mind that she was not dreaming. "It is so much more than that. I've seen the love you bear for me and it's awakened a place deep in my heart, which was hidden until that very moment. I always thought it would be Cosette who would occupy that place, but I was wrong. It's yours, now and forever."
Éponine had stopped listening, for at the mention of Cosette, she had suddenly stiffened, her eyes wide with realisation. Marius, having noticed the sudden change, laid a gentle hand on the young woman's arm.
"Éponine?" he asked. It was only on the occasions when she was so clearly shaken that Marius used her full name; though it was momentous, she scarcely noticed the change. "What's wrong, Éponine?"
Shaking her head slowly, Éponine returned to reality, only to lean her head on the young man's shoulder. "Oh, Marius." was all she said. "Oh, Marius."
"What is it?" he asked, concern evident in the furrow of his brow.
"I've been so stupid." the young woman breathed, shaking her head slowly. "It was staring me right in the face and I didn't notice. How could I have been so blind?"
"What do you mean?" Marius questioned for the third time, becoming rather frustrated at being so out of the loop.
"Who would have the most to benefit from me being locked up and killed? Who hates the most out of everyone in the world? There's only one person who would have gone to such lengths to get me out of the way." Éponine took a deep breath, knowing how much the news she was about to impart would hurt the boy she loved. When his expression remained the same, she knew that she would have to tell him herself. "It was Cosette."
Marius' mouth dropped open into a perfect 'o' of surprise. The concern in his eyes had faded now, replaced only with pain and hurt. Éponine could not begrudge him that; only a month ago, Marius had thought Cosette was the most wonderful woman on the face of the earth. Now the illusion was shattered.
For a moment, all was still, as Éponine watched the student come to terms with this awful betrayal. His face was a tableau of shock and disgust, the face of a little boy who had discovered that there was no fairy placing a sous beneath his pillow for every tooth he lost.
Then the tableau broke, as Marius leapt to his feet. He had stormed down the street before Éponine had a chance to stop him. By the time she had scrambled to stand, he was out of sight.
The brunette took a seat once more on the cobbles, praying to the Almighty. She had never truly believed in God, not after the horrors she had seen on the streets, but now she appealed to His mercy. 'Please don't let him do anything foolish.' she prayed. 'Please, oh, please, let him come back to me.'
A/N: Please review!