"Why don't you come a little closer, sweet cheeks" Éponine heard a man say, since they were the only ones on the dark alley the comment was obviously meant for her. From the way she was dressed she could not blame the man for being - well, a man. But, it was part of the job, the more skin you showed the better.

"Fuck off" Éponine said and kept walking, giving the man a dead stare.

She was on her way to her apartment after her shift had ended. Éponine dreaded her job, being a bartender was fine; the difference was that in the bar she was now working, at midnight her and her co-workers had to stand on the bar and dance provocatively for an entire song. The tips usually went higher after the dance, but she hated the job. But at least it paid the bills and with the extra tips she could maintain both 'Roche and Azelma with her.

She was now living at the Pontmercy's building. She rented a room there, a decently big one for her and her siblings, and the best part was that she got special treatment for being friends with Marius.

Marius.

He was the best thing that had happened to her since her father lost the Inn. Marius was kind, handsome, intelligent and - he was in love with somebody else. Cosette. The worst part of it all was that Éponine had tried to hate the girl but could not; she was too nice, taking care of her sibling the nights she was not home and lending her clothes when hers here all dirty. Éponine knew Marius never saw her more than just a friend but still she hoped someday that would change.

The sun was beginning to rise when she got to the apartment. She took off her heels and tiptoed to her bedroom, closing the door quietly behind her. Her room was a place where she could be herself and only her siblings got to enter. Two of the four walls were colored a boring white, but the other two were her way of getting all her feelings out. One had an enormous wave, she had even painter foam where the water was supposed to crash and on the corer she had drawn three small seagulls, the biggest was herself and the other two were her brother and 'Zelma. The other wall was the complete opposite, fire. Yellow, orange, brown, red. Bright colors, colors full of life. Full of promises.

She was tired but she wanted to paint that night. Éponine soon changed into her pajamas and looked at both clashing walls. Water. She wanted to paint the ocean that night. She started to mix colors while looking at the wall. White, blues, she even added a little green. Once she looked down at her palette she almost dropped it. The color she had created was a shade of blue she had not seen in nine years.

Ten Years Before

"Julien Alexander Enjolras, ready or not here I go!" yelled Éponine.

She and her neighbor were playing hide and seek, they had asked Azelma if she wanted to come but she refused and preferred to stay at the Inn taking care of their mother. It had been close to a year since she gave birth to Gavroche and she was still very ill.

Éponine and Azlema did their best between taking care of their baby brother, attending their mother and helping at the Inn. Their father had started to develop a drinking habit and was spending all the money. Mr Thénardier had never been a caring loving father but he had never hit any of his daughters, that had changed when Mrs Thénardier had gotten ill.

There was one time her father hit her so hard, that Éponine's eye was swollen for an entire week. No one knew the real reason of her injury except for 'Ras. Enjolras was a couple years older than Éponine but he did not treat her like the other boys her age treated her; he was not mocking her all the time or trying to pull her hair. No, he treated her like an equal. Enjolras was actually Éponine's best friend.

"Found you!" she said jumping on his back.

Enjolras started running still carrying Éponine on his back. She laughed hysterically, making him look away from the ground. He lost his balance tripping over a tree branch and both fell to the ground. Éponine falling on top of him.

"Mademoiselle, are you all right?" asked Enjolras, his voice filled with concern. She just nodded and started to laugh again, Enjolras joined her after a few minutes seeing that she was actually okay and nothing had happened to her.

Éponine moved from on top of him to lay on the grass.

"Mama is getting worse" she said, all the laughter gone from her voice.

Enjolras turned on his side so he could see her face, even if it was just the profile of it. He took her hand between his and said nothing. This was the reason why he was her best friend, sometimes there were times when their silence said much more than words ever could.

She felt a tear escape her eye and run down her cheek. Enjolras quickly brushed it away, his fingers lingering on her cheek. Éponine turned to meet his eyes.

Éponine felt like there was no oxygen in the room. The memory had knocked away all the air from her lungs.

It was that blue, she was sure of it. The color she had just carelessly created was the exact same shade of his eyes. She stared down at her palette not really sure what to do with it.

Éponine was not the kind of person who threw money away, and the paint she used to create that color had been expensive. She just was not use how to use the color, where to put it. Éponine was actually scared to use it. What if she used it somewhere that was not visible enough? Or worse, what if she ran out of the color? What if she could not create that shade of blue again?

Julien Alexander Enjolras. She had not thought on that name in quite a long time. Her best friend from infancy. Her 'Ras. The only person she shared her deepest and darkest secrets with.

Éponine decided to use the shade of blue on the part of the wave where she was able to look at when she woke up and also where she was able to reach out and touch while she was lying down on her bed.

Where are you my 'Ras?

NOTE:

Why am I posting this?
I barely have time to "keep up" with Second Chances. I am such a loser but my mind just could not let this "plot" go, it's been on my mind for the entire week so I finally decided to do it.
Disapointed? Yes, very much than you.
But please let me know what YOU think. Is it worth it for me to continue it? Please review.