Note: I have posted this before! Due to the fact that I started it off on the wrong foot and I lost most of my readers because of the lack of É/E interaction, I'm reposting but cutting out parts and making the plot move a little faster. This chapter is an introduction of Éponine, Marius, Gavroche, and (briefly) Enjolras.

One thought kept her going on those hot, summer nights that time before her freshman year. She thought of music. There was a time when music was in her parents' life. Take one look at her name, Éponine. No one but a Les Mis fan would name her that, and this spurned a daydream in her head of her parents, young and in love. She imagined that they lived on the road, always traveling the country, stopping in record stores and broadway shows when they had spare money. They only stopped when... When Éponine was born. With that unhappy ending to her content moment, she was dragged roughly back to her unfortunate reality.

Her skin was covered in a silky layer of sweat, dirt, and tobacco. Her boyfriend's hot breath met that layer, having little to no effect on the young girl. He kissed her neck and tried to slide that damned hand of his up her tattered t-shirt, but she pushed him away, mumbling, "That's 'nuff, 'Parnasse."

He growled and stormed out of the trailer, but not before pushing her to the ground with those hands she hated so much, and the force put into the push would surely cause her delicate skin to bruise.

Her father was curled around a bottle of rum, asleep on the floor, and Azelma was tangled in the covers of the single bed, taking up the entire space. Éponine couldn't find the heart to move her. Instead, she rubbed the impending bruise with a sigh and gently took the bottle from her father's drunk grasp.

Of course. Empty.

She slipped her careful fingers into his pocket, and she removed a twenty dollar bill, probably the only money they had in the world.

A college student had parked an RV close to their decrepit trailer, and there was a chance that he could at least pass as 21 and buy them some more alcohol. She'd conversed with him briefly, and he'd mentioned a roommate, who could easily be older.

She ran a few fingers through her knotted hair and pulled down her tiny, threadbare shorts that doubled as underwear during the school year. Thinking herself to look a little less of a wreck, she knocked on the door.

The kid, Courferyac, answered the door and smiled at her. "Hey, Éponine, what can I do for you?"

Éponine actually went by 'Ponine, or at least she would if she had any friends. Montparnasse never called her anything, just allowed her to be silent as he talked to her dad and ran a snaking hand up her leg. Her sister, Azelma, had a glassy look in her eyes and seemed incapable of thinking anything. Her brother called her Ép, whenever he bothered to stop by. Her dad called her by her full name, but he said it mockingly, poking fun at his dead wife.

"Can you buy me some alcohol?" She asked in a rush, scared that he would think her odd.

Instead, he laughed kindly and shook his head. "I'm only eighteen, my roommate is sixteen and you're like in eighth grade, kid."

"Nah, that's my sister. I'm in high school. And anyway, don't try to tell me that you ain't got a fake ID or something! Please!" She said, and he looked hesitant. "And it's not for me, it's for my dad. If he wakes up and finds out that Parnesse drank all his rum, he'll be pissed." She lied, smiling sweetly at the older boy, who pushed a curl behind his ear. He sighed and stepped aside to let her wait in the RV.

Courferyac said, "Alright, but do you have money? I'm broke and can barely afford coffee for myself."

She handed him the twenty and turned to view the inside of the RV. There was the roommate, looking curiously at her, his dark hair just brushing his shoulders in a shaggy haircut that was unlikely to work on anyone else. His blue eyes were shining and sweet, and he had a gentle but fleeting smile that blew her away, and for the first time, Éponine 'Jondrette' knew what love was.

Gavroche inhaled deeply. He was a smart kid, despite his shabby appearance, and there was a reason for that. He lived in a library.

The smell of the books was overwhelming and comforting. Gavroche always felt at home there, in the Plumet Street Library. There was a clothes donation bin in the parking lot, and an aquatic center with showers just down the road, so he wanted for nearly nothing. Even food was somewhat accounted for.

There was a group that met every Thursday during the summer in the park across the street from the high school. He started hanging out with them, and the only reason the fifth grader wasn't shooed away was because the leader, who went by his last name (Which Gavroche found odd), thought that he was a charity case. They always had pizza and Enjolras would bring Gavroche organic granola bars that tasted like cardboard. He didn't know what they met for, all he knew was the food.

All he had to worry for was how to feed himself once his little stash ran out around Tuesday.

It was a good life. Every now and then he would check in on his family, the one who seemed not to care for him. He had two older sisters- one stupid and one pathetic. Both were abused by his father. He had been slightly surprised at the news of his mother's death the previous year, but soon forgot about the uncaring woman.

He felt bad for his 'pathetic' sister, Éponine. She did what she could to survive. He would see her at a restraunt nearby with a high school senior who even Gavroche knew was a dickwad. She hated her 'boyfriend' with every fiber of her being. It was obvious, and even Montparnasse seemed to know it, smirking whenever she flinched at his touch. She was whoring herself out, for he payed her with food everyday, and she would save half of it for their sister.

Ép was the one who was kindest to him, often stopping by the library just to share a few quiet minutes reading by his side before she was required to assist their father in his shenanigans. Gavroche didn't know what was going on with Azelma.

He couldn't wait for school to start. He once brought the principal by his trailer when his dad was at 'work', just so she could see the poverty that he 'lived' in. Because of this, the clever Gavroche got free meals at school.

In a way, the homeless boy lived better than his sisters who were always loved more than he was. Gavroche was a happy kid, but there was a bitterness to his heart, because of his early years as an unloved child in a household of pain. He never let it show, though, and he'd recently started to give them a chance. He actually smiled at the stupid sister, and he was hanging with Ép more. He would never take a second look at his greedy father, though. Mr. Jondrette would be evil until the moment his soul finally dissolved in the fires of hell.

On a warm Thursday afternoon, Gavroche was on his way to the meeting in the park. Earlier that day, he'd walked into the grocers and pocketed an apple, so he was sinking his teeth into the red skin and crisp, white flesh.

He had a smile on his face and sunshine in his eyes. The day was perfect. He saw Enjolras's golden curls from a distance, and tossed the gnawed-at core to the ground and got ready to attack the leader from behind. It was funny, because Enjolras was something awful close to a statue, and he avoided physical contact as much as possible.

Gavroche sunk his heels in the soft dirt and was about to launch forward when he faltered.

There was a figure that flittered behind the leaves, and most wouldn't notice it, but Gavroche wasn't 'most'. The figure was a tiny flame, hidden by the presence of the fiery young men. A wilted rose, she watched from the shadows with longing. It was Éponine.

He ducked behind the leaves and confronted her. "Ép, what the hell are you doing?"

She obviously wasn't expecting him, and she jumped at his small voice. "God, Gav, don't scare me like that."

She didn't answer his question, though, and instead kept watching the group converse around the old picnic table.

Gavroche rolled his eyes. He would never understand girls, least of all his older sister. Why did she go out with Parnasse when she could go out with one of the Amis? They would buy her food out of the good of their hearts, not for a price she didn't want to pay. And she obviously had her eyes on one of them, because the awe in her expression was very similar to Gavroche's when he saw the extra large pizza box on the table. His stomach growled, and Éponine's did too.

"This is ridiculous." He mumbled, and he put his hand between his sister's shoulder blades and pushed her out. She squeaked when they all turned towards the brother and sister. A couple of them gave odd looks to Éponine, but Enjolras just pulled out the largest piece of pizza and handed it to Grayson.

"Hiya, guys. This is my friend, Ép," He said, strolling forward and pulling her with him. He did his best to ignore her hurt expression when he didn't say they were siblings. With her usually dirty skin under his hand, he could tell that she'd recently taken a shower. Where, he didn't know, but he was proud that she was finally making an effort.

"Oh, hey Éponine!" Called Courferyac, Gavroche's personal favorite member of the group. "We know her, Marius and I live in the RV next door."

"Who the hell is Marius?" Gavroche asked, and Courferyac patted the back of the boy sitting next to him. He looked to be a little younger than the rest, and suddenly Gavroche knew that this was The One. Her pulse practically doubled in speed under his hand.

"Well go on, Ép, take a piece."

She looked at the pizza with a hungry eye, but she shook her head and backed away, looking down and hiding her face with her hair.

"No, I really have to get going. See you soon?" She asked, wanting a 'yes' but prepared for a 'no'. He just shrugged.

She walked away, pulling those awkward shorts down her backside, somehow aware that the entire group was staring at her ass. Except for Grantaire, the drunk, who was staring at Enjolras, surprised that he actually acknowledged a girl's presence.

"Where do I know her from?" Combeferre asked. He almost always spoke in questions, as if daring the world to answer. It was probably his philosophical nature that allowed him to be second in command to Enjolras.

"You know Montparnasse?" Gavroche asked, and a lot of them grumbled in distaste. "She's going out with him."

"That's enough to make her the biggest case in town." Enjolras murmured from his stack of fluttering pamphlets.

The group laughed, but Gavroche stayed silent, because he knew how painfully true it was.