A/N: So hi guys! This is gonna be a new story that I'll update when I can. There was just this little plot bunny that wouldn't leave me alone! I'm planning on this being like a multi- chaptered fic. This will be my first so please review to tell me how I'm doing I just realized there is a shocking lack of Eponine/Marius fics on here that end happily so you know I decided to supply. I don't think you guys are gonna read all of this cuz it is pretty long, but if you do thanks! My Les Mis ships change like a lot so here's my favorite at the moment.

"Five francs?! What the 'ell is the matter with you?!" Monsieur Thenadier bellowed as he stared down at his daughter.

"It was pouring out. No one was around to pickpocket." Eponine murmured nervously as she stared down at her dirty bare feet.

Her excuse lit a fire of anger in Monsieur Thenadier. With a harsh tug he grabbed Eponine's hair and pulled her through the doorway to their small room in the Gorbeau House. With a sharp thud, Eponine fell to the floor and let a small whimper escape her lips. Monsieur Thenadier slammed the door with a growl.

"You bring home this measly shit again 'Ponine, and I'll send 'ya to the docks," Thenadier sneered as he threw the five coins to the ground and stalked towards her.

"Mama wouldn't allow it. Papa please don't" Eponine pleaded.

Monsieur Thenadier swiftly kicked Eponine in the stomach and watched with glee as she curled into a ball to try and shield herself.

Eponine looked up in horror at the man who was biologically her father. He used to love her. Every day he would give her a franc to go buy a treat at the local candy shop. He would dance with her and Azelma as their mom sang a merry tune. The only time he ever showed anger was towards their little servant girl. Then the servant girl left, and everything changed. Eponine was only eight. Azelma was even younger, and Gavroche was only two. In the years that passed, the Thenadiers kept losing money, and suddenly Monsieur Thenadier wasn't so nice. He first hit her when she was twelve and she had dropped a plate while washing the dishes.

Once the Inn closed, the beatings became more regular. Both Azelma and Eponine were struck regularly despite protestations from their mother. One night after a particularly awful beating, both Eponine and Azelma sat in the kids' room in the Gorbeau house. The room was slightly larger than a closet, but not by much. Eponine was 14 and Azelma was 12.

"'Ponine, I must go. I cannot take this any longer. While on the streets, I met a lovely bourgeois family who said they would allow me to stay with them as their daughter. I'm sorry." Azelma had said with a pleading look in her eye.

Although Eponine was angry at her sister for leaving, she would never condemn someone to a life like hers if they had another option. So that night, Eponine opened the window, hushed Gavroche, and let Azelma climb out into the night. Not even a month later when Gavroche was only eight, he came to Eponine as well.

"'Ponine I can't stay. Mum and Father don't give a rats ass 'bout me. Streets are my place." Gavroche stated matter-of-factly. Although he was so young, already he cursed like a sailor and was quite independent.

Although Eponine would miss him dearly, she knew he'd be better off on the streets. So that night, she distracted her parents and let Gavroche slip out the door into the night.

She now had no one. She wished she could run away as well, but after both Gavroche and 'Zelma had left, Thenadier had threatened Eponine that if she ever tried to leave he would send her to the docks to become a prostitute. So she stayed in the Gorbeau House and took the beatings as they came. Now she was almost 18 and the beatings had only gotten worse.

Thenadier kicked her again and Eponine bit her lip to keep from crying out in pain. It was a feat, but she refused to give her father the satisfaction of seeing her scream or beg.

"What 'Ponine, am I not hittin' you hard enough? You know you're almost 18. You should be married. Too bad that you're ugly." Thenadier said as he pulled Eponine up by her tangle of brownish- back hair.

Eponine felt herself being lifted but was too focused on the stabbing pain throughout her scalp. It felt like tiny needles stabbing at her skull. After what felt like a lifetime, her father set her onto her feet. Eponine sighed with relief as she shakily stood. The wooden ground was cold as her bare feet met with it.

"Oh do you like it when I let you stand? Well I like my 10 francs, so I guess the disappointment is mutual." Thenadier sneered as he shoved Eponine into the wall.

Eponine's shoulder took most of the impact and she could feel it throbbing. It took all of Eponine's will to stay standing, but she did. Her father wrapped a grimy hand around her neck to keep her in place, and struck her hard across the face. Her right cheek stung and she knew from experience that she'd have a bruise there in the morning. The candles in the room had long since burned out and the only light was that of the moon. The moon gleamed through the window and cast an eerie glow around her father's face. It made him look even more sinister than he was.

"One last chance to beg 'Ponine." Monsieur Thenadier whispered.

His foul breath was hot against Eponine's face and she grimaced in disgust. Although she knew that if she begged he may not hit her as hard, he would still beat her either way. She held her head as high as his grip would allow and looked him in the eye defiantly. She didn't utter a single word, and there was a brief moment of silence. The tension was so thick you could almost feel it in the room.

When Monsieur Thenadier realized that Eponine was not in fact going to grovel at his feet, he released her neck and punched her in the gut. Eponine slumped to the floor. Thenadier then proceeded to stomp on her legs until finally Eponine could take it no longer and cried out in pain. Realizing then, that the walls in the Gorbeau House were thin, Thenadier leaned down so he was eye level with Eponine.

"While I appreciate the fact that I finally gotcha, you better quiet down 'ya little whore." He whispered cynically.

With one last malicious kick to the face Thenadier halted his beatings. "Get out. I don't feel like lookin' at you right now." He spat as he stormed off into the room that used to be the kids room, but had turned into Monsieur and Madame Thenadier's room.

Cautiously Eponine lifted her body off the floor. Every muscle and bone screamed in protest, but she knew that if her father saw her after he strictly told her to leave; she would be in for it. She quietly inched her way to the door and opened it, praying that it wouldn't creak. Luckily it didn't, and once outside of the room, Eponine promptly slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor.

After a few lonely minute of Eponine crying, she heard the wooden floor squeal near her making her jump in fear. She closed her eyes in a silent prayer that it wasn't her father coming back for another round of beatings. Someone cleared their throat. It didn't sound like her father so she opened her eyes. Standing in front of her was her friend and neighbor Marius. Immediately she felt ashamed for waking him at such a late hour. Usually her father never beat her while at the house. Typically he'd take her into an alley that wasn't occupied by a prostitute and beat her so no one else could hear, but tonight he'd just snapped when he didn't get his francs.

"'Ponine? What on earth has happened to you?" Marius asked as he sat down in the hallway next to her.

Marius was still in his day clothes like Eponine. The difference was, Eponine didn't own night clothes, while Marius certainly had enough money to. He had been too busy to notice.

"Monsieur there's no need to worry 'bout me honest. Sorry for waking you." She said in a small voice as she looked down at her feet.

Marius noticed that underneath her eye there was a large bruise which hadn't been there the day before and he lightly brushed his thumb over it, careful not to cause her any pain.

"Is your father isn't it? 'Ponine no one deserves to be treated like this. Especially not you. You don't have a mean bone in your body yet your father still believes he can treat you like dirt! It is absolutely sickening!" Marius said.

Although he'd been speaking in a whisper, Eponine could hear in his tone an anger which she only witnessed elsewhere when he talked about politics. It made her smile to know that he cared about her so much that her pain caused him anger. Although she knew that he only thought of her as a friend, she couldn't help but think of him in a romantic way. His curly chestnut hair and kind nature was like the sun to her in a world full of darkness.

"I cannot let you stay out here in this corridor." Marius stated, "Stay with me." He added.

While Eponine wanted to stay with him, she knew she couldn't. Her father would not appreciate her finding a new shelter instead of weeping out in the hall like expected.

"Thank you Monsieur, but I can't." Eponine said reluctantly.

Marius took her hand in his, "I have an extra chaise that I will sleep on. You can have my bed. It will be just for the night. I can't under good conscience leave you hear. And for the last time 'Ponine you don't have to call me Monsieur. You can call me Marius." He smiled tenderly before adding, "Please do this for me."

Eponine knew she could never refuse him of anything, and she let him help her up. Although her body still ached, her heart was full of happiness, so she could hardly feel the pain. No matter how many times her father would tell her that nobody cared about her, she would know for fact it wasn't true, for Marius her sun, lit up the darkness. In that moment she realized that maybe she was a little bit in love with Marius Pontmercy, because there truly was no one like him.