A/N : Ahhh! I know this took forever! I apologize in the sincerest manner I can! (bows) Please don’t feel the need to wound me! ...have you noticed how every time I’m late in updating, I say I’m really sorry, and then exact thing happens the next chapter as well?

Mlle. Éponine - Aw thanks you very much. I really, really am sorry it took me so long to update.

Kaitlyn - Thanks so much!

Ponine-Cosette - ... I wonder how crazy she has to get before people stop and say, “...goddamn.”

Anayah - Ah, love! And Marius shall hardly ever be happy in my stories. That puts him on the same level with everyone else.

Les-Mis-24601 - Ah, Midnight Show! You really do like that story, don’t you? And here I thought you were just being nice.

Surrender - Ohhh, don’t get your hopes up please. I hate disappointing people. And as much as I love to see young men grabbing at each other, I’m afraid Marius and his Courfeyrac shall have no romance. Alas!

M. Leblanc - Hmm... So many people love crazy!Éponine. I think it’s kinda funny. And taaaaank yuuuuus. :)

Alright, apparently the only way I can get my lazy ass to update is to make the chapters shorter. (cough)

---

Nighttime in early spring is very temperate--neither too cold nor too warm. Éponine, in her short life, had always enjoyed this time of year. On the streets, after all, weather exposure is sometimes the hardest thing to survive. In summer, it became agonizingly hot, and of course, in winter, hypothermia was a common cause of death.

So, theoretically, Éponine should have pleased, basking in the pleasant glow of the setting sun as she waited on the street near Cosette’s gate, enjoying the soft, pleasant breeze coming from the West.

But she was not happy.

In fact, she felt rather ill, her arms wrapped around herself, tapping her foot lightly on the pavement as she awaited the inevitable.

Marius would be here anytime now.

He would talk to Cosette...

What if he asked about her lack of letters?

Or worse, what if she asked him about his coldness?

She looked about, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She had no illusions; she had come here knowing that there were only two ways this could end : in either her exposure as a fraud, or, preferably, the subject would simply not come up. They were enamored with each other, she knew--maybe it was possible that in their bliss at actually getting to see each other after so long, they wouldn’t even speak at all, preferring to merely bask.

Or maybe they would fight.

That would be the best outcome for her.

Impatient, she quickly stepped over to the opposite side of the street, trying to poke her head around the corner to gaze into Cosette’s garden without being caught. If Cosette saw her, she would be in trouble, as certainly the lady wanted to see her man in absolute privacy.

Éponine, however, refused to grant them this.

If she came up as a subject in their discussion, she was damn well going to be around for it, so that she would know when to run. If Marius mentioned her, and they put the pieces together, she would never return to the garden again, and she would have to avoid Marius as best she could; Marius, after all, became very violent when Cosette (or harming her, or their relationship, rather) was involved.

She looked about, keeping a watchful eye on Cosette, who was pacing back and forth quietly, nervous. Éponine could practically hear the wheels in her head grinding, not to mention her teeth, as she chewed on her thumbnail. Éponine was also nervous, something she had not been for a long while.

It was a new feeling, and she almost liked it--it did, after all, mean she was feeling something.

Turning back to the matter at hand, she was just admiring how dainty Cosette’s feet were when she heard something off to the side. She looked, was startled, and jumped around the corner and behind a building to hide herself.

Poking her head out briefly to spy, she new for certain.

It was Marius.

---

Marius never noticed seasonal changes unless he felt particularly hot or cold. He never noticed leaves changing color in the fall, how the days changed, and quite frankly, he didn’t care.

He cared for only one thing :

Cosette.

Was there anyway he could stop her from leaving?

He approached the gate, and stopped in his tracks. Cosette had not yet seen him... He was terrified of seeing her. What if she had asked him to come here just to tell him good bye? What if she wouldn’t even let him into the garden?

This thought made his blood freeze, and he shivered, despite the moderate weather.

He had to stop her!

Ignoring the dread in his heart, he resumed his pace, and made himself visible in front of the gate. He stood there silently, for a minute, hands clenched at his sides, breathing through his mouth. Finally, he managed to whisper, “My dear...”

Cosette started and turned violently, and Marius saw how pale her face was and how her hair was unkempt and tangled. She stared at him in disbelief, as Marius unconsciously held his breath.

He waited.

Then, without warning, she burst into tears and ran forward, unlatching the gate so quickly and with such fervor that she cut herself on the rusted hinge. Ignoring the wound, she grabbed his arm and tugged him in, burying her face into his clothes and sobbing heavily on his chest. Marius, still trying to gather his bearings about the whole situation, did not react, leaving his arms limp at his sides.

Neither of them ever noticed Éponine, who had slunk up, and was next to the gate, hidden from view. She crouched, watching the two with narrowed eyes.

Something happened that Éponine must have missed, because suddenly Marius was thrashing and pulling himself away from Cosette as quickly and desperately as he could, as if her tears had burned him. She tried to keep her grip on him, but he was stronger and escaped. At the rejection, she began wailing loudly, and Marius, an anguished look on his face, gestured at her.

“It’s you! You have no faith in us! Why else would you leave?”

“I want to stay,” Cosette screamed, through sobs, her voice shrill and distressed.

“Then stay!”

“I can’t!”

Éponine, despite herself, was surprised.

They were screaming at each other.

She kept an eye on the lights in the house, should Cosette’s father or servant come out to investigate. The two lovers, however, paid no mind.

“You can stay! Here with me! It would work if you would just give it a chance!”

“My father--”

“Your father! What about us? We have to be together!”

They were both crying.

“I want to be with you!”

Marius, gesturing wildly, screamed, “No, you don’t! Otherwise you’d stay!”

“Why can’t you understand?”

“Understand? That you want nothing to do with me?”

Cosette fell to her knees, sobbing hysterically, and managed to wrench out, “That’s not true!”

“Then what is it? Why?”

Éponine, the only paying attention, felt a wave of excitement as she noticed a light in the house come on. Thrilled, she looked at the two. They did not see.

“I told you!” She sat there for several seconds, chest heaving with sobs, until something inside of her seemed to have an epiphany. She stopped crying, and sat perfectly still, staring up at Marius in confusion.

“I care...nothing for you?”

Marius did not understand this change. “You must not!”

Cosette’s eyebrows lowered, and she whispered, “You’re the one who doesn’t care... How could I have forgotten? All the horrible things you’ve said...”

“What?”

Éponine’s heart raced, and her eyes darted desperately between the couple, and the light. She could hear footsteps.

Hurry!

She knew that, unless Cosette’s father burst out of the house, she would be caught.

“You’re the one who doesn’t believe in us anymore. I only wanted...” She struggled to find the words. “I... You were the one who said that our love--”

The two gasped when the door to the house opened loudly, and Valjean, distressed, appeared.

“Cosette? I--”

Without another word, Marius did the only thing he could : he ran, as fast as he could, out of the garden and down the street. He did not see Éponine, and Éponine, content that she was safe, did not stick around any longer, should the father come out to investigate.

As she ambled off to her home, she replayed the events in her mind.

She had been so close to being discovered.

Clearly, in her interest, this episode could absolutely not be repeated. Something would have to be done to insure that this incident did not repeat itself.

Then, she remembered the way Cosette had been bawling, and Marius had been screaming, and she became enraged.

How could he make her cry like that?

Cosette deserved much better. Marius was nothing.

He should never be allowed to see Cosette again.

It was on this day, after having seen Marius screaming and crying, that Éponine decided he should no longer have the luxury of being alive.

With these thoughts in her mind, March ended, April began, and there were whispers, if you listened carefully and knew where to look, about a barricade.

---

A/N : Just like in Midnight Show, it’s time for another : Twisted tries shameless self-promotion tactics... Check out my live journal! I’m always on the lookout for more friends... Comment on something and tell me who you are, if you, for some weird reason, do decide to visit.

(cloudytm . livejournal . com)

(goddamn, why does this site have to make it so difficult to post a freakin' link? Argh.)