OK I know I said a one-shot but I got carried away :P

It'll make sense without Singing in the Rain, but I'd love it if you could find the time to read that one too ;)

DISCLAIMER: I wish, friend. I wish.

On the morning of the 16th of January, Éponine Thénardier woke up slowly. She stretched her arms above her head, and then collapsed back onto her pillow with a wide grin. It's my birthday!

Éponine was seriously excited about this birthday; it was the first one in as long as she could remember that her birth was even going to be recognised, let alone celebrated! The day ahead promised quality time with all her friends, Gavroche, Jacques… almost everyone she cared about in the world, and she could hardly wait. As she lay cheerfully contemplating this prospect, she noticed a low, excited whispering coming from outside the door, with accompanying "shhh!" noises and quietly shuffling feet. What the fuck? She thought to herself, propped up on her elbows; her eyes trained on the door, her ears straining to identify the commotion behind it. Suddenly, the door burst open and a large group of people surged into the room grinning and shouting "happy birthday!"

Éponine's smile grew from ear to ear and she sat up properly. As she did so, she received hugs from a few of them - Gavroche, Cosette, Combeferre – and noticed that more than half of them were holding presents or gift bags. "Guys! What's all this!? I said no presents!"
"You said don't spend any money" grinned Bossuet from his perch on her desk. "You didn't really expect that to stop us, did you?!"
"I should've known!" Though she tried to hide it, Éponine was really touched; her heart warm, a lump in her throat. "Ahh this is amazing, thanks everyone!" she said, in a lame attempt to convey her gratitude.
"OPEN YOUR PRESENTS OPEN YOUR PRESENTS!" Gavroche shouted, jumping up and down next to Courfeyrac, who was holding an acoustic guitar.
"Yeah! Can't wait! Which one shall I open first?" she smiled at him, unable to choose herself.
"I reckon Courf should give his first" the familiar grunt of Bahorel sounded from the corner.
Éponine raised an eyebrow, her curiosity peaked. "Courf?"

Courfeyrac smiled, and said "all right then, make yourself comfortable, mines not exactly a physical thing. Well… you'll see. The offer's open." She shuffled back against the headboard with a questioning look, and then held out her arms for Gavroche and Jacques to come and snuggle in either side of her. Courf settled himself on the end of the bed, cleared his throat, and looked pointedly at Gavroche.

"OH! Yeah! Presentin' Courfeyrac, the best person at singing in the world except maybes Éponine or Beyoncé"
"Wow, what a sweet, impromptu and unscripted introduction, Gavroche, thank you!" she laughed.
Courfeyrac grinned and began to sing, accompanying himself with a simple tune on his guitar.

You burst into our lives in a whirlwind of sexy
when Gavroche accosted me in the street
Your dimples and bad language gave Enj apoplexy
And to strike him dumb is an impressive feat.

Well I am just so glad
Your kid brother's completely mad, cause
It's your birthday, Éponine
I'm so happy I can sing you this song
I hope you're in a comfy seat
Because it's looking like it might get pretty long.

Éponine chuckled at the line about Enjolras, catching his eye and smiling at him where he stood against the doorframe. He'd been so uncomfortable that day, the memory still made her laugh – it was crazy to think they were friends now, that she even lived with him! Funny how times change she thought to herself with a smile, before turning her attention back to her birthday song.

You came to the Musain and met all of these bell ends
You yelled and Enjolras regained his speech.
Since then we're proud that you've become our dearest girl friend
And that you're no longer living on the street

I've been meaning to ask
How'dyou put up with Enjolras?
Oh, Happy Birthday Eponine!
The strongest person I have ever known
You inspire each of us each day,
That's why we will never leave you alone

"Not that you would want us to, obviously" Grantaire chipped in, to scattered laughter.

Let's be honest, honey, there have been some hard times
Seeing you hurt was far too hard to bear
Grantaire temporarily put down his wine and
I think shows you just how much we care

An intense lump was clogging her throat and chest, so she just snuggled her boys in closer and smiled.

I can't believe we haven't shagged
But after this, it's in the bag
So Happy Birthday Éponine!
This is an offer of sexual intercourse
Gavroche wanted me to propose
But not yet babe, that's for your twenty-first

She laughed loudly and looked down at Gavroche with a raised eyebrow, but her little brother simply shrugged, a toothy grin on his young face.

You've come so far in the six months since we have known you,
Though your accomplishments are completely your own
A voice like yours, I'm positive that Broadway's waiting
Someone better warn Patti LuPone

But I want you to stay
Don't abandon us for Broadway!
Oh happy birthday, Éponine
I just wanted to tell you: you're the best
Here's your gift, sorry it's shit
The 'no money' rule has caused a lot of stress

Scattered laughter and murmurs of joking agreement sounded around the room. As the melody slowed, and Courfeyrac finished, Éponine met his eyes with a dimpled smile.

Happy Birthday Éponine
On behalf of all of Les Amis
People call us Enj's lads,
But as this song shows, we're truly Éponine's.

As the room clapped and cheered, Éponine jumped up to hug her good friend, throwing her arms around his neck, kissing him on the cheek and thanking him into his ear.

"Oh Courf, that was beautiful, thank you! Ooh I'm all emotional, don't know what to do with myself!"
"It's only just beginning, my friend" Courf grinned. "All this lot have stuff to give you yet!"
"Oh! Thank you, guys!" Éponine was completely overwhelmed, not used to all the attention being on her, or being given things, so she was immensely grateful when Musichetta suggested she sit on the bed to open the gifts one at a time.

First of all, Grantaire handed over a large, flat, rectangular parcel wrapped in various scraps of wrapping paper. Ripping off the paper, Éponine found an exquisite painting of the Jardin du Luxembourg in autumn, showing the leaves falling from the trees on a clear day. Her jaw dropped: it was so beautiful, exactly the kind of painting she liked, and showed her best friend's skill with a paintbrush off to its highest level.
"Oh R, thank you! It's beautiful, I love it!" she breathed, unable to take her eyes off the painting. "This is really, really amazing, thank you!"
"If you look carefully, you, me and a few others are painted in it, actually… forgot about that." Grantaire replied, smiling at the enthusiasm his present was being met with.
"Really?! That's so cool! I'll put it up in here so I can look at it every day!" she replied with a bright smile, before moving over to hug and kiss his cheek, whispering "thank you" into his ear.

Next, Cosette bounced forward, holding a perfectly wrapped parcel containing a knitted red and black striped scarf.
"Cosette, did you make this?!"
"Yes! I knitted it over the last few weeks… I'm not very good but I thought it'd at least be warm"
"It's brilliant, thank you so much! It's perfect! Who picked the colours?" she asked with interest.
"Marius did… said they were significant or something. Are they your favourites?"
Éponine caught Enjolras' eye with a smile and said "something like that, yeah… thanks, Cosette, Marius – this is properly, properly lovely, thank you." After wrapping it around her neck and burrowing her face in, she hugged Cosette tightly and (somewhat awkwardly) embraced Marius, with thanks.

Jehan presented his gift next, a book of poems. After thanking him, she flicked through the first few pages and looked at the titles: 'Éponine', 'Dancing through San Michel', 'Dick-nosed Arse Canoe', 'Pony Is The Master Commander', 'Éponine's Song'.
"This is awesome! Did you write all these, Jehan?" she asked.
"No, no! I mean, I wrote a lot of them, but these guys all contributed."
"Oh wow, this is really incredible! Thanks guys, I'm really touched!"
"I'd wait until you've read the poems before you say that" Bahorel chipped in with a grin. Éponine laughed… she could only imagine.

Sylvie came over to the bed next. "Mathieu had to work this morning, but he says he's sorry, happy birthday and he'll see you later… this is from us both."
"That's totally fine, I understand! Thank you" she replied with a smile. I'm still not used to hearing Feuilly called Mathieu…
Inside the decoratively folded paper bag was a fan; the background was blue, but it was covered in an ornate pattern of gold, with delicate curls and twists. Éponine found her breath was completely taken away, it was so beautiful. "This is stunning, Sylvie, thank you so much!"
The small lady's face visibly brightened, her cheeks flushed with pride. "I'm glad you like it" she said uttered quietly.
Éponine jumped up to give her a hug, careful not to squash her pretty new fan. "I love it, thank you!"

Next up, Bahorel passed her a large bag, rumbling "Happy birthday, Pony" in his deep, booming voice.
"Thanks, B!" she grinned, and then pulled out a small bundle of shiny, silvery fabric. Holding onto what appeared to be straps, she let the rest unfold, revealing a glorious evening dress; it was simple, but gorgeous, with a long skirt that cascaded down to the floor. "Oh, Bahorel this is beautiful, thank you so much!" she breathed. This is just stunning… it looks expensive, too! "Where the hell did you get this?!"
"I didn't spend any money, promise – some bird left it at mine. It might be a bit big, but Cosette said she'll alter it if you want." He grunted in reply, pride at his gift showing in a slightly throaty edge to his voice.
She wrapped her arms as far around his wide frame as they would go. "It's perfect, thank you."

Joly piped up next. "Bossuet, Musichetta and I have got a present for you, but not with us, sorry! I hope it's ok; 'Chetta's baked enough to sustain a small army, she's bringing some down later but most of it's at the Musain… we figured that we'd be down there at some point in the next few days."
He looked a little worried that he'd let her down, but she was quick to reassure him. "That's brilliant, thanks guys!" After a pause, she laughed "I think it's a fair bet to say we'll be there at SOME POINT in the next few days…" As the room joined in her laughter, the door opened and Combeferre came in, carrying a tray of bacon, eggs, pancakes, hash browns, sausage, orange juice… you name it, it was on there! "I come bearing breakfast" he smiled.
"YESSSS, thanks 'Ferre!" she grinned, kissing him on the cheek as he set the tray down beside her. Gavroche and Jacques immediately sat up straight, eyes wide at the spread in front of them, which Éponine saw out of the corner of her eye. Laughing, she handed each of them a sausage and a hash brown to keep them quiet. "Now back off, I want my breakfast" she teased.

The room filled with companionable chatter, laughter and banter as Éponine worked through her breakfast, occasionally stopping to laugh, or join in a conversation. When she was done, they all moved through into the living room, where everyone was more comfortable, and 'Ferre made a bigger, less complex breakfast for all the guests, much to the delight of her younger brother and Jacques.

They stayed like that most of the day, swapping stories, insults, and predictions for their night out. Musichetta dropped cake off around lunchtime, but had to rush back to the café- unfortunately, because it was a Thursday, most of the guys also had to leave for classes at various points of the day, and Cosette had to run to a sign-language course at 3 o'clock, but otherwise Éponine was surrounded by her friends and as happy as Larry. This is what I wanted for my birthday. All my friends around me, just having fun doing nothing. By 5 o'clock, only Enjolras and Combeferre remained in the living room with her - Gav and Jacques were sleeping over at Courfeyrac's, and everyone else had gone to get ready for the party that evening.

"Much as I'm enjoying our chat, lads, I'd better start getting ready!" she announced, noticing the time on the clock on the wall for the first time that day.
"Good plan" commented Combeferre sagely, at the same time as a confused Enjolras remarked "Really? But it's two hours until we go out!"
Éponine laughed, as 'Ferre replied in an exasperated and amused tone "you really don't understand women, do you, Enj?"
"What?!"
"Never mind, pet." Éponine cut across, still laughing. "I'll see you guys later!"
"Happy birthday!"
"Thanks!"

As the last of Éponine's curls disappeared and the bathroom door closed, Combeferre turned to Enjolras and said "You didn't get her a present."
"I was told no gifts" and I didn't want to give her it in front of everyone.
"No MONEY, that's different – it's still her birthday!"
"Oh. I'll see what I can rustle up" from the drawer beside my bed, where it's wrapped and waiting.
"Good. I'm going to call the restaurant, check the booking's ok, and then I'll shower after Ép, if that's ok with you?"
"Of course"
"All right, see you later."
"See you."

Enjolras sat alone in the living room for a minute, then, for a lack of better things to do, went into his room and sat on his bed. Looking around him, his gaze rested on his bedside table. Opening it carefully, he ran his thumb softly over the shiny red paper, lost in thought. I hope she likes it. I really hope she likes it.

Mentally shaking himself, he put it back in the drawer and carefully closed it. What happened to you, Enjolras? He thought to himself.

Please drop a line, I'd love to hear from you! It'll be a few days before the rest of it, uni deadlines :(