Because I'm dying to write an Enjonine story while My Father's Shadow catches up to the two of them meeting, I've decided to write a version of The Vow using Éponine and Enjolras. For those My Father's Shadow fans you'll see that this is semi connected to My Father's Shadow by making Javert Enjolras' father and having his mother be Adelaide, but they are two different stories as you can plainly see due to the fact that Adelaide is able to see Enjolras well into adulthood, and that she and Javert also were able to have another child (yes, I give you MFS fans permission to weep at what could have been, I know I have).

I've set the story to happen on June 6, 2012, because it's a lot more similar to 1832, than 2013, plus I don't like the idea of setting this in the future (no matter how soon that is). Also, in this chapter I talk about The King's Speech and Black Swan and how they fared at the Oscars. I have never actually seen Black Swan because of psychological triggers, but even if I had, I think (for the record) that The King's Speech is a superior film. But that's just my opinion, and I needed the characters to talk about a couple movies that were out at that time, so each to their own opinion. Plus, I couldn't resist the Tom Hooper inception.

You'll also notice that Enjolras seemed to have fallen for Éponine rather fast, in the flashbacks of this chapter. This is not true, the next couple chapters have flashbacks that show when he started

And just one last thing, in this opening chapter any passages that are fully in italics are meant to be read as if Enjolras is doing a voice over.

Disclaimer: I do not own Les Miserables, nor The Vow, and I am merely using them the write a story that I will not profit off of.

Pairing Disclaimer: The pairings in this story will be as follows, Enjolras/Éponine, Jehan/Azelma, Marius/Cosette, Valjean/Fantine, Javert/OC (or Adelaide for my MFS readers), Combeferre/Turning Woman 3, Joly/Musichetta/Bossuet, Thénardier/Mme Thénardier, Bahorel/OC, Courfeyrac/OC, some Montparnasse/Éponine, one-sided Éponine/Marius, and Grantaire/Enjolras. If you can't bring yourself to give a chance to these couples, then this story is not for you.

The Vow

Chapter One

The Sum Total of Us

How it happened doesn't matter. Neither does where it happened or what we were protesting. All that mattered is what happened.

June 6, 2012

3:47 PM

"Where are the leaders of the land?" Sébastien Enjolras stood on a platform that had been raised in the main square as people gathered around him, listening to the charismatic leader's address. "Where are the swells who run the show?"

His friend and associate, Marius Pontmercy stood next to him, addressing the crowd with his own response, "Only one man, General Lamarque, speaks for the people here below."

It was a two day protest. A protest that I led, a protest I organized, a protest born of my own mind, so the consequences of what happened rest squarely on my shoulders.

"Lamarque is ill and fading fast!" Enjolras cried out to the crowd. His friend Courfeyrac had discovered that new information that morning, via their other friend, Joly, an intern at the hospital Lamarque was being treated. The crowd booed and hissed at the thought of losing their beloved leader and Enjolras continued, "Won't last the week out, so they say."

The protest was led by me and my friends, a group we call ourselves the Les Amis de l'ABC.

"With all the anger in the land," Marius continued, "how long before the judgement day?"

"Before we cut the fat ones down to size?" Enjolras patted Marius on the arm as he scanned the crowd.

His blue eyes froze. Smiling up at him was a young woman with brown eyes, tan skin and short black hair. A woman who had once loved the redhead next to him, but whose heart now completely belonged to the blonde, and his formerly marble one, to her.

Also there was my wife of ten weeks, Éponine. She had left her brother and sister (of who are the legal guardians) with Marie, the wife of my best friend Combeferre.

"Before the barricades arise?" Enjolras yelled and the crowd cheered loudly, though Enjolras saw none but his beloved Éponine.

She never should have been there.

Nodding to Combeferre, Enjolras swiftly traded places with his friend who continued on with their political platform as he joined his wife.

Éponine beamed at him, "You were wonderful."

"Merci, Mon Amour," Enjolras took her in his arms and pressed his lips to hers.

"Our theory is that if education is free to all citizens of France, then illiteracy will be up and both crime and poverty will be down," Combeferre declared as Marius stood patiently on the platform.

I have a theory, too. My theory is about moments. Moments of impact.

"Police!"

Éponine fought hard against the panicked crowd that was jostling her every which way, separating her from her husband and friends as everyone scattered. She wasn't worried until the police turned violent.

It was hard to tell why they had become violent, but it was clear things were serious when the first shot rang out.

"Enjolras!" she desperately cried out, though her voice was lost among the masses trying to find their loved ones as the second shot fired.

Then she saw it, a police man with a gun pointed straight at Marius, and Marius blissfully unaware of his imminent doom as he stood trapped with Combeferre on the platform.

Though she no longer loved Marius, he still was her best friend, and Éponine acted on instinct.

She ran forward, grabbed the gun and pointed it at herself.

My theory is that these moments of impact, these flashes of high intensity that completely turn our lives upside down, actually ending up defining who we are.

When the first shot fired, Enjolras had been searching for Éponine. He saw a flash and watched as the bullet hit Grantaire in the leg. Enjolras rushed forward, catching his friend as Grantaire crumbled to the ground.

"Joly!" Enjolras yelled, helping Grantaire sit down, trying to ensure they didn't get trampled as another shot fired.

Enjolras spotted the young med student attending to his best friend, the notoriously unlucky Bossuet who was clutching his bloodied arm, clearly the victim of the second shot.

"Do you think you can make it to Joly?" Enjolras asked Grantaire, leaving an injured person wasn't the best idea, but he had to find Éponine.

"I've had much worse, Apollo," Grantaire grinned, trying to mask the pain as he clutched his injured leg.

Enjolras smiled lightly and then looked around at the crowd, trying to spot a familiar face.

"Courfeyrac!" Enjolras called out, and the familiar young man joined the pair. "Stay with Grantaire and get him help."

"Yes Sir!" Courfeyrac gave Enjolras a mock salute and the blonde rolled his eyes before dashing off.

Maybe leaving Grantaire in the hands of a man who had no medical experience wasn't the best plan, but he could trust Courfeyrac to take care of Grantaire. Courfeyrac had a bit of a reputation as a ladies man, but his most recent girlfriend was Grantaire's little sister, Juliette. Due to the fact Grantaire would murder Courfeyrac if he ever treated his sister badly, Courfeyrac had been with Juliette for quite some time and rumor had it, the infamous flirt actually rather enjoyed Juliette's company. So Courfeyrac letting Grantaire come to harm wouldn't be winning him brownie points anytime soon, and that was enough for Enjolras to trust Courfeyrac.

Shaking his worries of Grantaire from his mind, Enjolras weaved through the crowd, desperately trying to find his wife.

Then he saw it.

A gun was pointed directly at Marius. Suddenly, Éponine emerged from the crowd and grabbed the gun. Without hesitation she pointed it directly at herself.

Everything moved in slow motion.

He screamed out her name.

The gun flashed.

Éponine cried out.

Marius and Combeferre turned and saw what happened.

Éponine fell back from the platform.

Marius punched out the police officer.

Éponine's head smashed against the pavement.

Marius and Combeferre were at her side.

Enjolras cried out her name again.

A loud bang sounded behind him.

An intense throbbing pain hit his shoulder.

He fell forward.

Everything went black.

But what if one day you could no longer remember any of them?

June 6, 2012

4:23 PM

"The victims are Philippe Laigle, 21, gunshot to the arm. Damien Grantaire, 26, gunshot to the leg. Sébastien Enjolras, 22, gunshot to the shoulder and possible head trauma. Éponine Enjolras, 20, gunshot to stomach, powder burns to hands, unidentified head injuries and possible brain trauma. More victims to come."

"Alright," Doctor Jean Valjean nodded at the nurse as the paramedics wheeled in the patients, "take them straight to the ER, and call for Doctor Poirier to ready the CT scan. I'll prep for surgery."

The nurse frowned in confusion, Valjean should have instantly rushed into the ER with the victims, especially as he had been specifically called down when it was reported there were possible head injuries. However it seemed that he was lingering for some reason.

"Well?" Valjean asked.

The nurse nodded and headed off to carry out his instructions and Valjean sighed.

He looked up at the clock on the wall and muttered, "In three… Two… One."

Just then a very familiar crowd of faces burst into the room.

"How are they doing?"

"Are they okay?"

"I can't believe she did that!"

"Where's Grantaire?"

"How's Enjolras?"

"What happened to Éponine?"

"Is Bossuet okay?"

The voices tripped over each other as the uninjured Les Amis (or at least unneeding of hospital attention) piled in, crowding around Valjean and badgering him with all their questions. Combeferre, Courfeyrac, Jehan, Feuilly, Bahorel, Marius and Joly all queued for attention. No doubt the rest of the gang would be around shortly, and the boys would have to explain to five irate women and one far too mature for his age, 11 year old, what happened.

"We don't know anything yet," Valjean spoke above the boys' questions. "They just got here, so if you'll allow it, I'm going to go do the best I can the fix them. The waiting room is yours to occupy as long as you need it."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Joly asked. "I know I'm just an intern, but-"

"Call your loved ones, and tell them you're safe," Valjean replied. "That's all you can do right now, that and hope for the best."

The boys sighed heavily and slowly began to make their way towards the waiting room. Low mumbles emitted from their throats as they exchanged information about the day's events, and in Bahorel's case, muttered Valjean's name, followed by a string of light curses out of frustration.

"Marius?" Valjean suddenly called.

The redhead stopped in his tracks, unfortunately causing Courfeyrac to walk into him.

"Yes?" Marius frowned at his step-father-in-law.

Valjean lightly smirked, "You get to tell Cosette."

June 7, 2012

2:09 AM

"Any news yet?" Marie Combeferre née Huchelop asked. She and Feuilly had been sent to get coffee from the cafeteria for the overtired Les Amis who were desperate for news of their friends.

The women had been as irate as Valjean expected, but they were long over yelling at the boys and now were just waiting for news.

"None," Juliette sighed, staring longingly at the room to the ER.

Courfeyrac kept an arm tucked around her waist and the other on the shoulder of Gavroche, who lay sullenly at his feet, "I'm sure he'll be fine. They just got his legs."

"And I can guarantee you that Bossuet will be fine, though it's possibly they're just trying to get the bleeding to stop," Joly frowned. "They hit very close to the brachial artery."

Everyone stared at Joly.

"The upper arm artery," Joly clarified looking at Musichetta who he had in his arms.

"I hope you're right," Musichetta sighed. The relationship between Musichetta, Joly and Bossuet was complicated. Technically they were both her boyfriend, but they weren't each other's… At least that's what the Les Amis thought, no one knew for sure what happened between the three, and any attempt to find out was met with the phrase "it's none of your business". Regardless, Joly and Bossuet were still the best of friends, and all seemed to be happy about whatever arrangement they did have.

"I still don't get what happened with Éponine and Enjolras," Azelma, Éponine's sister frowned at Jehan, her fiancé.

If there was any relationship that had taken the Les Amis by surprise, it was definitely the one between Azelma Thénardier and Jean Prouvaire. Though in hindsight, the wide eyed innocent Azelma falling for the romantic Jehan, whose main concerns in their social justice group were women and children, wasn't that much of a stretch. Barely more than a year apart, the courtship had been fast, and the couple was set to wed on September 16th of that year, eight days after Azelma's 18th birthday.

"During the attacks, Combeferre and I were trapped on the platform and I didn't notice that a gun was pointed at me," Marius answered, stroking the hair of his wife, Cosette, whose head was in his lap. "Éponine saw it, grabbed the gun and took the shot, pointing it at her stomach."

"But you said her head was practically dashed in," Marie frowned at her husband Combeferre, taking a seat next to him.

"First of all, I didn't say dashed in, just pretty bad," Combeferre sighed at his wife. "And second, after taking the bullet, she lost her balance and fell off the platform."

"What about Enjolras?" Cosette asked, looking up at her husband.

Marius shrugged; he had been too busy dealing with Éponine to see what happened to Enjolras.

"He was shot right after Éponine," Bahorel stared at the clock, watching the second hand tick by trying to forget the things he had seen that day.

"Do you guys think we should call…" Musichetta jerked her head significantly. "You know?"

"Well, my darling Musichetta," Courfeyrac replied, "in circumstances like this, I like to think WWED."

"WWED?" Musichetta frowned, an unimpressed eyebrow raised.

"What Would Enjolras Do?" Courfeyrac answered only to be met with the group's groans.

"So, in other words no," Combeferre said, eyes heavy as they fought off sleep.

"Still," Marie frowned at her husband, nudging him, trying to keep him awake, "I think they should know."

"Well, let's have Enjolras decide when he's out of surgery," Combeferre suggested, staring at Cosette with envy as she had apparently succumb to her napping urges. "Though he might be a little more concerned with Éponine."

"Ahem."

Everyone looked up to see a nurse staring expectantly at the group.

"Are any of you here for," the nurse checked her chart, "Damien Grantaire or Philippe Laigle?"

"We are," Musichetta answered as she, Joly, Courfeyrac and Juliette stood.

"They're well enough to see visitors now," the nurse said.

"How are they?" Juliette asked as Courfeyrac tried, and failed, to get Gavroche to move from the floor.

"Pretty minor injuries," the nurse shrugged, "shouldn't be in here too long. Most of the wait was because Monsieur and Madame Enjolras were such high priority."

Marius sat up straight, jolting the slumbering Cosette awake, "How are they?"

"Doctor Valjean is still in surgery working on Madame Enjolras, and Monsieur Enjolras is nearing the end of his. Will you four follow me?" the nurse gestured to the door, and Musichetta, Joly, Courfeyrac and Juliette followed her out of the waiting room.

"Éponine will be okay, right?" Feuilly asked, nudging Bahorel whose eyes were still fixed on the clock.

An uncomfortable silence befell the group, honestly no one knew the answer, but none wanted to tell Gavroche and Azelma that their sister could possibly die.

"Éponine's tough," Gavroche stared at the floor, ghosts of the past floating in his eyes. "She's been through worse."

Feuilly moved over to Gavroche and patted his shoulder, before the fan maker took a seat next to the boy.

Azelma tucked herself into Jehan's arms; she couldn't help but remember the last time Éponine had been in the hospital. It was before most of the gang knew Éponine, but it was a life changing event that none would forget.

This story starts like so many others, by a boy meeting a girl. Don't get me wrong, this is no fairy tale, and who knows if this will end with happily ever after, but still, a boy met a girl.

One Year Ago

February 21, 2011

"At Notre Dame the sections are prepared," Combeferre reported to Enjolras as he poured over their plans in the Café Musain, their headquarters.

"At Rue de Bac they're straining at the leash," Feuilly grinned as Enjolras jotted something down.

"Good, progress is being made," Enjolras stared at the document in front of him. "Marius, what's your report?"

Silence.

"Marius?" Enjolras frowned as the redhead's figure suddenly passed by, heading to the stairs.

Enjolras looked up and froze. Reaching the stairs, Marius met with a young woman who had entered the room. Enjolras had never seen the girl before; she had short black hair, tan skin, brown eyes and a dazzling smile.

"Did you find tell her?" Marius asked the mysterious new girl.

She nodded in response and Marius grinned before heading down the stairs.

The mystery girl was about to follow when she glanced up.

Brown eyes met blue.

One of my absolute favorite moments.

She hesitated for a second as Enjolras stared at her in awe. Then, slowly, a smile formed across her lips. Enjolras smiled back and slowly nodded at her.

"Éponine!" Marius' voice called up.

She waited a moment, before descending the stairs, the grin still plastered across her face.

"Éponine," Enjolras whispered, before turning back to his work, a smile stuck on his face.

"What was that?" Joly asked as he observed Enjolras, with Marie (back when she was still just Mademoiselle Huchelop as her engagement to Combeferre was still a few months away).

"I don't know," Marie frowned at her boyfriend's best friend, and Enjolras' unnatural smile.

"I do," Grantaire smirked bitterly as he swung back a gulp of his drink. Crassly he wiped his sleeve across his mouth, clearing the residue of the alcohol from his lips, though the scent of it clung to his breath like a thick fog. "Apollo's marble has begun to crack."

April 2, 2011

It had been a whirlwind few months, but barely two months after Cosette Valjean had met Marius Pontmercy, she had stood up in church and vowed to love him for all time, becoming Madame Cosette Pontmercy.

For Éponine Thénardier it was a nightmare. She was forced to watch as her former foster sister, and maternal cousin married the man Éponine had been so desperately in love with, and who had practically saved her and her siblings from her horrible life on the streets.

She sat alone at the table, bitterly sipping another glass of champagne as she watched the happy couples all dancing with each other.

Musichetta was doing an entertaining dance of being passed between Bossuet and Joly; while Marie laughed as Combeferre spun her around (they were about a month away from engagement at that point in time). Courfeyrac and Bahorel were supposed to be watching Gavroche, but instead were hitting on the other female guests as Juliette tried to keep her brother, Grantaire, upright while they danced (she was not due to date Courfeyrac for about another year). Jehan had asked Azelma to dance with him, and flirtation marked every one of their moves. Marius was dancing with Fantine, his new mother-in-law, and Éponine's own Aunt, via her Mother, as Cosette pranced around with Doctor Jean Valjean, the step-father whose marriage to Fantine had been a large factor in Cosette's return to Fantine's custody.

"Lucky," Éponine bitterly threw back another swallow of champagne.

"Is this seat taken?"

Éponine looked up to see the blonde haired blue eyed, smartly dressed groomsman that led the Les Amis de l'ABC, holding a glass of champagne.

"Go ahead," Éponine uncaringly gestured to the seat next to her, eyes returning to the dance floor.

"Merci," the blonde sat down. He extended his hand to Éponine, "I'm Enjolras."

"I know," she didn't look at him.

They stayed in silence for a while. After a few minutes, Éponine sighed and bent down to pick up her handbag, which sat upon the floor. She rummaged through the purse before producing a small notebook and pencil, something she was known for always carrying around. Éponine was a young freelance artist, not exactly the steadiest way of income, but she was able to find enough jobs to keep a stable flow of money. A lot of it was thanks to the Les Amis, as they had connections, and whenever they heard that so and so's father's company was looking for someone to design a logo for a new product, or his cousin's mother's rich aunt was looking for original artworks to show off in their house, they would always try to get Éponine the job.

Enjolras frowned as he watched her sketch; Éponine had taken on a strange new project lately, which reimagined their political group as 19th century student revolutionaries. It was a weird concept, but she was pretty good at it. Currently, she was drawing the wedding scene they were witnessing with everyone in 1830's attire. She was particularly obsessed with the June Rebellion of 1832, but so was everyone else in the group. Still, she could still outfact a good portion of the guys in the group being an expert of the time period on par with Enjolras himself. Often she said that "in pictures, every detail has to be accurate" as an explanation for her obsession. A smile played on his face as he watched her hand form every perfect line, bringing the scene to life.

Éponine sighed, laying her pencil on the table and looking to him, "What do you want?"

"Pardon?" Enjolras frowned.

"What do you want? You could have taken a seat at any of the other empty tables but you chose mine. Why?"

Enjolras shrugged, "You looked lonely. Nice picture."

"I'm not lonely," she snapped, taking another drink from her glass as she placed her sketchbook on the table.

Enjolras stared at her, reading her face, "Yes you are. You love him."

Éponine lowered her glass, "Don't."

"Why not? It's true, isn't it? I've seen you; you follow him, doing his bidding, giving him everything for nothing in return."

"Oh, and you're an expert in love?" Éponine raised a brow. "I've seen you. The marble Apollo they call you. You pour over your plans, focusing on nothing but your social movements, pledging your love to Patria and Patria alone. You want me to believe The Marble Man doesn't have a heart of stone?"

"And you wish me to believe someone can have and hold The Shadow?" Enjolras shot. "You'd slip right through their fingers. Not very dateable material."

Éponine scoffed, "I am very dateable."

"Sure you are," Enjolras laughed, taking a sip from his glass.

"Yes I am!" Éponine snapped. Heads turned toward them, and Enjolras had to wave them off as a blush rose to Éponine's cheeks. "Look, I'll prove it to you."

"How?" Enjolras scoffed.

"Next Saturday, I'll go out with you and then you'll see how dateable I am."

Enjolras paused as the implications set in.

"You want to go out with me?" Enjolras raised a brow at the melancholy Maid of Honour (because the day hadn't rubbed enough salt in her wounds, Cosette had also asked her cousin to be her Maid of Honour due to how close she was to Marius).

"Don't get any ideas, it's just to prove a point," Éponine replied, knowing all too well that Enjolras was the type of person who need hard evidence to be proved wrong. "Just dinner and a movie, nothing special."

"Well," Enjolras scratched his chin, "they are rereleasing The King's Speech, and I'd like to see what all that Oscar business was."

"Do we have an accord?" Éponine asked.

"On one condition."

"What?"

"I get next dance with you," Enjolras offered his hand, the amount of champagne finally catching up with him. "Come on, let's go make Pontmercy jealous."

"With pleasure," Éponine smirked, her own alcohol setting in.

She clasped his hand, but right as Enjolras was about to shake their hands, she yanked him out of his seat and pulled him towards the dance floor.

April 9, 2011

"Ok, now I see why The King's Speech won the Oscar for best film," Enjolras walked out of the theatre with Éponine.

"Oh please, Black Swan was robbed," Éponine laughed. "The King's Speech was good, don't get me wrong, but compared with the psychological thriller that is Black Swan that was rubbish!"

"Come on, you love anything with Natalie Portman in it," Enjolras opened the car door for her.

Éponine frowned, "How did you know that?"

Enjolras shut her door and then rounded the car, climbing into the 2008 red Renault Fluence that anyone could tell you Enjolras was very proud off. The car was practically his baby, and Lord help you, if you insulted or damaged it in anyway.

Turning the keys in the ignition, Enjolras asked, "So you live at-"

"Enjolras," Éponine grabbed his hand. "How did you know I liked Natalie Portman?"

"The same way I know your favorite colour is green." Enjolras sighed and turned the car off. "I also know your favorite food is spaghetti, that you never finished High School, that your birthday is April 15th and that you used to wear your hair long."

"Mon Dieu," Éponine gasped, drawing back from him. "You've been stalking me."

Enjolras laughed, "No, not stalking, just… observing."

"You know, coming from anyone else, I'd be walking home and filling out a restraining order," Éponine frowned. "Why have you been observing me?"

Enjolras sighed, "Because you captivate me."

"What? I captivate you? What does that mean?"

Enjolras took a deep breath, it was hard to actually vocalize what he was about to admit, "It means I have what some people might label a crush."

"You have a crush on me?" Éponine stared at him.

"Yes, I do."

"A crush?" Éponine repeated as her brain strained to make the connection between Enjolras, the ability to produce hormones and the idea of him becoming infatuated with someone.

"A crush." Enjolras nodded.

Éponine frowned, her head still reeling to make the appropriate connections, "Like you can't think about anything else or you can't do your work?"

"Dieu, no! I'm not Pontmercy. I can do work and keep my head about," Enjolras shook his head. He lowered his eyes, before admitting, "But as for the thinking about you… You're right about that."

Éponine shifted uncomfortably.

Enjolras took a deep breath, "Look, I'm sorry; I shouldn't have goaded you into a date. I knew if I challenged you, you'd ask me out, and that was wrong of me. I just… I had to tell you."

"Enjolras," Éponine sighed, putting her head in her hands. "Look, you're a nice guy, but I'm sorry I can't return your feelings. I've got all these issues with my parents, as well as that Montparnasse business I have to deal with. Then there's that whole taking care of my younger siblings and trying to get custody of them. I just couldn't bring anyone into their lives right now, and certainly not anyone who couldn't accept them as part of my life. Plus, there's that hideously inappropriate crush on the man married to my cousin that I'm working on right now."

"Inappropriate crush and parental issues aside, I understand about your siblings," Enjolras replied not even willing to dignify that bastard ex-fiancé of hers by voicing Montparnasse's name or discussing the subject. "I know Gavroche and Azelma are part of your life, and the fact you work so hard to take care of them is one of the things I admire about you. I'd be more than willing to accept them into my life if anything were to happen between us."

Éponine bit her lip, "Thank you, but… A boyfriend is out of the question right now. Though… I could use a friend?"

"A friend it is, then," Enjolras nodded, and turned the key in the ignition. "I'm dropping you off at the same place?"

"Yep," Éponine buckled her seatbelt.

"Oh and Éponine?" Enjolras did up his seatbelt. "I'd still like to meet your siblings."

Eponine smiled, "I think they'd like to meet you."

April 13, 2011

"Go up! Go up!" Gavroche shouted.

"I'm trying to go up!" Enjolras cried, jerking the joystick up frantically.

No less than a minute later there was the unmistakeable sound of Enjolras' character dying and the words GAME OVER flashed across the television screen.

"Mon Dieu, you suckat video games," Gavroche snatched the controller from the man and started up his turn.

"Gavroche, language," Éponine warned struggling to pull her short hair into a ponytail as she exited the bedroom. She still wasn't used to the short hair, but she couldn't go back to her former hairstyle. Not after what it represented and reminded her of her former life. "Enjolras, thanks again for agreeing to watch Gavroche at last minute. When the Café called me up saying that Marie was sick and they needed someone, I didn't want to make myself look bad by telling them I couldn't cover the shift. I've only been working there a week and I'm so worried I'll lose this job after it took so long to find this one."

"That's alright," Enjolras replied. "I was done classes for the day anyway, plus staying meant I had to hear Marius and Combeferre argue over whether to send Marie peonies, which apparently mean healing, or yarrow, which means good health."

"I hope he picked the peonies," Azelma entered the room from her and Gavroche's bedroom. "Yarrows are ugly."

"To each their own," Éponine shrugged while looking her sister up and down. Azelma was dressed particularly fancier than for hanging out with friends. "And you are going where?"

Azelma adjusted her earrings, "Nowhere."

"Does nowhere happen to be my place of work?" Éponine glared at her younger sister.

"Maybe," Azelma entered the kitchen and checked her reflection in the microwave.

Éponine sighed, "I'm not sure how I feel about you flirting with Jehan. He's a college student."

"But he sends the nicest gifts, poems and flowers and… Oh!" Azelma had turned around to see a bundle of yellow flowers sitting on the counter. "Who are these for?"

"Oh," Enjolras looked away from the girls, "Combeferre dragged me into the store with him, so I picked up those for Éponine. I figured, why not?"

"Well, thank you, Enjolras," Éponine entered the kitchen and picked up the bundle of flowers.

There was a small card attached to the bouquet that read: Jonquils, these flowers mean "Return my affection?"

"Oh, how sweet!" Azelma sounded over Éponine's shoulder, and Éponine instantly slapped a hand over her sister's mouth.

"Yes, they are," Éponine falsely smiled. "Azelma, will you help me prepare these?"

"Sure," Azelma unwrapped the flowers as Éponine knelt down and produced a vase from the bottom cupboard. When Éponine stood, Azelma muttered under her breath, "So… flowers."

"Don't say it, Zelm," Éponine whispered, filling the vase with fresh water.

"What? I like him," Azelma glanced over at Enjolras as he and Gavroche played happily together.

"I do too," Éponine cut the stems of the flowers and added them to the vase, "but you know I can't have any relationships right now."

"I know, but Ep…" Azelma frowned. "Don't let something good go because you can't deal with it right now."

Éponine sighed and looked over at Enjolras, "I'll think about it."

Azelma grinned plopping the final jonquil into the vase and proclaimed, "There! Now, can I get a ride to the Café?"

Éponine shook her head, "Nothing's going to stop you, huh? Well, come on. See you boys later! And thanks again Enjolras for watching Gavroche and for the flowers!"

"No problem!" Enjolras called as he and Gavroche waved goodbye.

Enjolras smiled as he watched Éponine and Azelma leave the apartment. When the door shut behind them, he looked over at the vase of flowers sitting on the counter and then turned back to the television, only to find Gavroche giving him the evil eye.

"What?" Enjolras frowned.

Gavroche narrowed his eyes at Enjolras, "I'm watching you."

Present Day

June 7, 2012

7:51 AM

Enjolras slowly cracked open his eyes, and instantly regretted his decision as the sterile white lights blinded him.

"Merde," he hissed, clamping his eyes shut at the invading brightness.

"Sébastien?" a familiar voice floated in through the darkness. "Sébastien, can you hear me?"

Warily, Enjolras blinked gently, adjusting his eyes to the light, "Doctor Valjean?"

Looking around the room, Enjolras took in his position, he was in the hospital, lying on a bed, the back of his head stung faintly, and his left arm had a cast on that was resting in a sling.

"It's good to have you back Sébastien," Valjean spoke from Enjolras' bedside. The doctor was one of the few people allowed to call Enjolras by his first name, as Valjean had known the blonde since Enjolras was just a child. Enjolras' father was, to put it mildly, a grudging associate of Valjean, though it was truly through Valjean's wife, Fantine, and Enjolras' mother that Enjolras' family continued their association with the Valjeans. So when waking up in a strange hospital, and having no idea how he got there, Valjean was a welcome sight to Enjolras.

"What's going on?" Enjolras groaned, rubbing the back of his head with his good arm. He cried out in pain as the sting increased and Valjean firmly, but carefully, took Enjolras' hand and moved it from the back of his head.

"Don't touch the back of your head, we don't want the stitches to reopen," Valjean said.

"Stitches?" Enjolras frowned. "Why do I have stitches?"

"Sébastien, you were in an accident," Valjean explained looked down at the chart in his hand. "You were at a rally, the police became involved, it got violent, and you were injured. Do you remember any of that?"

"Yes," Enjolras nodded as hazy images flooded his mind, Grantaire getting shot, Combeferre's speech, something to do with Marius? "I was shot, right?"

"Yes," Valjean nodded. "You were shot in the left shoulder and when you collapsed, you hit your head on the pavement. Now, I'm worried that your head injury may have caused some damage, so I'm going to ask you a few questions, alright?"

"Alright," Enjolras nodded.

Valjean flipped a page on the chart in his hands, "Please state your full legal name."

"Sébastien Léonard Enjolras."

Valjean looked up, "Your legal name."

"It is my legal name. I changed it."

"Alright," Valjean shook his head, the feud between Enjolras and his family was well-known, but the Doctor hadn't thought it had gone that far. "When were you born?"

"February 10, 1990."

"Who is the President of France?"

"François Hollande, not that I voted for him," Enjolras grumbled. His head was swimming as his mind focused in on an image of… Marius?

"What day was your accident?" Valjean stared at him curiously, almost as if searching, or waiting for something.

"June 6, 2013," Enjolras frowned, rubbing his throbbing temples.

Why was the image of a gun pointed at Marius echoing in his aching head? Something to do with Éponine?

Then it clicked.

Enjolras shot up straight, "Éponine! Is she alright?"

Valjean's face dropped solemnly, "Let's go for a walk, your friends have been waiting to see you."

"But Éponine-"

"I'll explain Éponine's situation on the way." Valjean paused as if a thought had struck him, "Oh, and these are taken from you two before you went into surgery.

Valjean reached into his coat and withdrew three rings, the largest one was just a plain gold band, but the two smaller ones consisted of one simple gold band with a few small diamonds on it, and the other an engagement ring, another golden band, with a larger round diamond, and four small diamond on either side of it.

"Thanks," Enjolras took the rings and slipped on his wedding ring.

"Now," Valjean helped Enjolras out of the bed, "your wife."

Enjolras was silently staring at the rings in his hand, as he and Valjean walked down the hospital corridor towards the waiting room and Valjean explained Éponine's condition.

"Your wife's CT scan showed intracranial hemorrhaging," Valjean said. "We purposely keep patients with traumatic brain injuries in a comatose state in order to calm their systems and allow the brain time to heal itself while the swelling subsides. And then we slowly wean them off it."

The words echoed painfully in his head as Valjean continued explaining the situation.

Enjolras sighed, gingerly fingering his wedding ring, and swimming through memories of himself and Éponine.

He wouldn't trade them for the world.

The thing is, each one of us is the sum total of every moment that we've ever experienced, with all the people we've ever known.

June 7, 2012

8:17 AM

"Enjolras!"

Enjolras cried out as he suddenly found his injured arm being squeezed tightly, as his sister-in-law Azelma, threw herself at Enjolras into a hug.

"Zelm? My arm," Enjolras groaned, face clenched in pain, but trying not to show too much weakness. He may have been injured, but he still was the leader of this group, with the exception of Valjean, and Fantine who had shown up a few hours ago to comfort her daughter, niece and nephew. Fantine had decided that it would just be better to let her family spend the night waiting for news as she got some rest so that someone was fresh in the morning. Then when they got some news, they had called Fantine, and she brought everyone some proper breakfast and fresh clothes (no one was exactly sure how she had figured out where they all lived, got into their houses and picked out their clothes, but no one was about to ask.)

"Oh, sorry!" Azelma smiled apologetically, as Jehan eased her off of Enjolras and Gavroche gave Enjolras' legs a brief 'manly' hug, and Enjolras gave him a firm pat on the back.

"That's alright," Enjolras nodded scanning the room at all their friends, taking note of Bossuet, who had a cast like him, and Grantaire whose leg had a cast and was leaning on a crutch.

"How are you doing, Apollo?" Grantaire asked, shifting awkwardly.

"Can't complain too much," Enjolras shrugged awkwardly with his one free arm. "You?"

"Tis but a scratch," Grantaire smirked.

Enjolras just shook his head, "Is everyone else alright?"

There was a collective murmuring of positive replies, and Enjolras nodded before turning back to Valjean, who had been greeting his wife and step-daughter.

"Can we see Éponine?" Enjolras asked, his voice that of the firm authoritative leader of the Les Amis de l'ABC.

"Not, all of you," Valjean shook his head. "Éponine's in a very delicate condition right now, a crowd around her is not the best idea. I'd like to just keep it to family right now."

"Being Azelma's fiancé, can I come in?" Jehan asked, arm firmly around Azelma's waist.

"Only if Azelma wants to see her," Valjean replied.

"Why wouldn't I?" Azelma frowned.

Valjean sighed, "Like I said, Éponine's in a delicate condition right now, and it's not a pretty either. She's pretty banged up, and she literally has a tube in her throat helping her to breath. It's one of those sights that you never want to see, personally I'd recommend that Gavroche not come see her."

"Oi! I'm brave enough!" Gavroche objected, and Enjolras wrapped his good arm around the boy's shoulder.

"It's not a matter of bravery, Gavroche," Enjolras explained to the boy. He then looked up at Valjean, "Zelm, Jehan and I will go in first. If I think Gavroche can handle it, I'll send for him."

"Alright," Valjean nodded, and gestured towards the doors out of the waiting room.

"Wait!" Cosette called, rushing forward from Marius' side. "I want to come too. I am her cousin after all."

"Cosette, sweetheart," Fantine touched her daughter's shoulder. "Let's let them go first. We'll see her in a little while."

"Alright," Cosette sighed and sadly nodded as Marius came up and wrapped his arms around her.

Valjean smiled weakly at Enjolras, Azelma and Jehan, "Come on, let's go see her."

It was worse than Enjolras had imagined. The second they had entered the room, Azelma let out a huge gasp and instantly threw herself into the arms of her fiancé, unable to see her sister in such a condition.

There was no way Gavroche was coming to see Éponine any time soon.

Her hand was all banged up, scars lined her scalp (fortunately, Éponine had keep her hair at short enough length that they didn't have to cut it to access the wounds), her hands were scarred from the power guns of grabbing the gun, her hospital gown had some blood stains from the bandages wrapped around her stomach where she had held the gun to her body, there was a tube in her throat helping her breathe, as well as a bunch of other wires and tubes hooked up to her body helping her survive.

It was a miracle she was alive.

Enjolras swallowed hard, he had done everything he could to prevent something like this from happening to her, and now she was in this condition because of him.

He wanted to do something, kiss her lips, her forehead, anything, but he was terrified of hurting her. Glancing over her body, it seemed every inch of her was injured in some way.

Then his eyes landed on her left hand.

It was scarred by the powder burns, having grabbed the gun with her dominant hand (he didn't know why but Éponine being left handed was one of the small things he liked about her). Though they had only been married for a few months, she seemed naked with a bare ring finger. Feeling the round outlines of the rings still gripped in his right hand, Enjolras carefully sat down on the small free space on her bed.

Carefully, he lifted up her injured hand, and slid the rings onto her hand, first the wedding band, then the engagement ring. Still clutching her hand, Enjolras sighed and looked her over once more. It killed him to see her like that.

No! He had to be the strong leader, so that everyone else could cry. So, withholding a tear, he gently brought up her hand, and pressed his lips softly against her hand.

And it's these moments that become our history. Like our own personal greatest hits of memories that we play and replay in our minds over and over again.

One Year Ago

July 16, 2011

"I feel like an idiot," Enjolras said as he and his roommates (Combeferre, Courfeyrac and Feuilly) set the table for breakfast.

"Now, come on, we've all agreed to this," Combeferre said. "The arrangement will be fine, there's nothing to worry about."

"No, it's not the arrangement I'm worried about," Enjolras shook his head. "It's how I'm asking."

"Oh, come on!" Courfeyrac laughed, "Girls love this kind of thing!"

"And how many girls have you done this for?" Feuilly frowned.

Courfeyrac shrugged, "Okay, it's a theory."

"Food's ready!" Combeferre called as the boys finished setting the table.

"Coming!"

Enjolras couldn't help but smile as Éponine exited his bedroom and entered the kitchen, looking as beautiful as ever. He had to say that first thing in the morning was when he personally thought she looked the most beautiful. Unfortunately, Enjolras hadn't been able to see her first thing in the morning a lot, because although they had been dating since the beginning of May, and making love since the end of it, Éponine was still uncomfortable at the thought of leaving Gavroche and Azelma and someone else's house for the night while she made time with her boyfriend. She also was just getting comfortable with making love at her place, though there were some awkward moments involving Enjolras and her siblings the next morning, what with Gavroche giving her boyfriend the evil eye all the time, and Azelma smirking incessantly at Éponine with knowing looks being cast at Enjolras.

Enjolras had been able to convince Éponine to stay over at the small three bedroom house that the four boys shared (Feuilly was crashing on the couch until he could move in with Jehan at their new apartment), by having Azelma and Gavroche stay over at her Aunt and Uncle's house for the night, and the Thénardier children never turned down the chance to go over to the Valjean house.

"Morning," Enjolras smiled as Éponine walked toward him, tying her hair into a ponytail.

"Morning," Éponine greeted, pressing a kiss to his lips.

Enjolras wound his arms around her waist, deepening the kiss, completely forgetting about his roommates until Courfeyrac let out a loud wolf whistle.

The couple broke apart as Combeferre, not even looking up from his newspaper, smacked Courfeyrac upside the head, and Feuilly chuckled as Courfeyrac rubbed the bad of his head, more affected by insult than injury.

"Enjolras and I bought strawberries at the farmer's market yesterday," Éponine opened the fridge and pulled out the basket of pink fruit. "Does anyone want any?"

"Farmer's market?" Combeferre peered at Enjolras through the reading glasses perched on his nose.

"A recommendation from Marie," Enjolras shot as Éponine sat down next to Feuilly.

"Buying groceries, bad sign," Feuilly said, helping himself to a few of the fruits.

"What?" Éponine frowned, pouring herself some juice.

"And we all know what that means," Combeferre smirked at Enjolras, who was currently giving his friend a death glare as he wiped down the counter.

"I like her," Courfeyrac doled some bacon onto his plate. "She's like our mascot."

"Thanks," Éponine frowned at the man her brother got along with so well. "I think."

"Knock it off," Enjolras snapped Courfeyrac lightly but firmly with his dishtowel before throwing it over his shoulder.

"I would rather have her than that ferret you tried to make us adopt," Combeferre flipping the page of his newspaper.

"You just didn't like it because I wanted to name it Combeferret," Courfeyrac rubbed the back of his neck where the dishtowel had hit him.

Feuilly laughed taking a sip of coffee. He paused to regard it and then look at the others in surprise.

"And she makes great coffee," Feuilly raised his cup in a cheers like fashion. "Let's keep her."

"Thank you," Éponine laughed. "But haven't I already been one of you for the past six months? Like back when I met you all in February?"

"We haven't said so," Courfeyrac shook his head.

"Marie said so," Combeferre didn't look up from his paper.

"Oh," Courfeyrac frowned. "Then she has been."

If Enjolras was the leader of the men, Marie was the leader of the women. Combeferre's fiancée had gained the respect of the Les Amis, being second in matters only to Enjolras and Combeferre. If Combeferre was the guide, then Marie was the compass, ensuring the group's morality and direction was always pointing the right way. A mother hen at times, the boys took her word as law, especially when it regarded the women of the job. Truly the waitress' acceptation into the group was the beginning of something new, as with the arrival of Marie, too came Musichetta, Éponine, Juliette, Azelma, and most recently, Cosette. So if Combeferre's future wife said Éponine was one of them, it was the final word on the subject.

Plus the last thing anyone wanted was to piss off Marie, have her go to her parents, and the group suddenly find themselves unwelcome at the Musain.

"So, do I get food too, or do I just get to watch you guys eat?" Éponine looked around at the table which only had plates set out for the boys.

She didn't know why suddenly they all looked at Enjolras.

Enjolras took a deep breath, as if readying himself for something, "Here's your plate."

He carefully walked over and laid the plate in front of her, watching her carefully as he took his seat and she observed her breakfast.

Piled on the plate were three pancakes, and then laid out in blueberries, were the letters MOVEI and then something that looked like either a K, a X or an N followed by a question mark.

Éponine blinked in confusion and looked up at Enjolras, "Movie? You wanna go see a movie? Because I think you spelled movie wrong."

"No," Enjolras shot a look to the other boys watched the pair was amused looks. Leaning over, Enjolras adjusted the blueberries so that they clearly spelled out MOVE IN?

"Move in?" Éponine frowned. "No, I'm sorry, I can't. Azelma and Gavroche have to live with me, I even have papers that say so."

Enjolras laughed, "They'd move in too. We do have three bedrooms here. I know we haven't been dating long, but you guys need a bigger place to live, and this feels right."

Éponine looked at the other boys, "But what about you guys?"

"Well Jehan and I already have our apartment lined up," Feuilly replied. "We're moving in next week."

"And Marie and I have been house shopping now that we're engaged," Combeferre put down his paper to reveal he had been reading the classified.

"And you?" Éponine looked at Courfeyrac.

"I figure I'd crash here for a while," Courfeyrac nicked a piece of bacon from Enjolras' plate.

"No you won't," Enjolras glared at Courfeyrac as the black haired man shoved the stolen bacon in his mouth. "We've already discussed this, you're moving in with Grantaire. We need someone to watch him and make sure he gets home. We all know that his drinking problem has gotten worse lately, though why is beyond me."

Everyone looked away nervously, Grantaire's feelings towards Enjolras were known throughout the group. It seemed the only one who hadn't noticed was Enjolras himself, and no one had been willing to point it out.

"Because, he doesn't want me there, he thinks I'm going to try to make time with his sister." Courfeyrac laughed, "Like that'll happen."

Enjolras just shook his head and turned back to Éponine.

"So?" Éponine looked at him. "Will you move in with me?"

Éponine smiled, "Yes."

Enjolras grinned and overcome with joy, pulled her towards him and captured her lips to his.

"Told you," Combeferre smiled, turning back to his newspaper, as the boys watched the happy couple.

"Hey," Courfeyrac leaned over to Feuilly and whispered. "Twenty euros they're married before this time next year."

"You're on," Feuilly shook his hand.

March 26, 2012

"Pay up," Courfeyrac muttered to Feuilly as they kept an eye out.

"Shut up," Feuilly grumbled, glancing back and forth between the ceremony, and the entrance of the gallery.

As an artist, museums were a special place for Éponine and the Musée du Louvre even more so. Éponine and Enjolras' first "real" date had consisted of Enjolras taking her to a gallery opening at the famous museum, an event that was extremely difficult to get tickets to, but that Enjolras had managed through some of his father's contacts that still spoke to Enjolras.

Technically the Museum didn't hold weddings (unless you had insane connections and extremely deep pockets), so it had taken a lot of careful planning to sneak the group in to hold the wedding. Combeferre was Enjolras' best man, and Azelma, Éponine's maid of honour. Musichetta had been intrusted with the duty of videotaping the wedding while Bahorel acted as photographer. Since it would look suspicious if they brought in some sort of priest, the group had drawn straws and Joly got ordinated over the internet to perform the wedding, being thrilled that he could technically one day be "Reverend Doctor" or something like that. The rest of the group watched the ceremony as Feuilly and Courfeyrac managed to get stuck with lookout duty.

The ceremony was very quick, with pretty much a short spiel from Joly before he asked them to recite their vows, which they had written themselves.

"Éponine?" Joly gestured for her to speak first.

"Enjolras," Éponine began. "When I met you, I was lost. I had gone through things unimaginable to many people. I had broken my engagement to a man I had thought cared about me, and was desperately in love with a man who was in love with my cousin."

She glanced over to the redhead she used to love, who was blushing bright red and burying his face in the shoulder of his wife, who he had his arms wrapped around.

"I was invisible, The Shadow they called me. No one saw me," Éponine blinked the tears from her eyes as her voice quivered. "And then you did, The Marble Man saw The Shadow. You challenge me to love you, and I did the same, and in doing so I found a whole new world, and how to love again. So, from this day on, I vow to help you love life. To always hold you with tenderness and to have the patience that love, and your stubbornness, demands. To speak when words are needed, and to share the silence when they're not. To agree to disagree on pigeons, to accept the love you have for your car and your fish. And to live within the warmth of your heart and always call it home."

Enjolras smiled, "Wow, you set the bar kind of high."

"Says the man who's renowned for his speeches," Éponine laughed.

Enjolras suddenly frowned, his eye catching on something, "Did you write your vows on one of our pamphlets?"

"Yeah," Éponine grinned, holding up one of the pamphlets that the Les Amis handed out in hopes of spreading their cause. "Why?"

Enjolras smiled and withdrew from his jacket another of the Les Amis pamphlet.

"You know what they say about great minds." Enjolras unfolded his pamphlet, and began to read, "I have not had the easiest life, a difficult situation with my father, leaving behind my family, struggling through school while trying to make a difference in the world. I figured that the only way to deal with everything was to close myself off to the world, to become The Marble Man. And then you walked into my life, and everything changed. I wasn't in love at first, but I soon found myself unable to think of any else. But you were damaged too, and you couldn't let me in, and I knew that even if it killed me, I had to make you feel the way I did. It took time, and slowly but surely I made my way through all your walls, and you made it through mine. And now I know that no matter what happens, I can never be complete without you by my side. I vow to fiercely love you in all your forms, now and forever. I promise to never forget that this is a once-in-a-lifetime love. And to always know in the deepest part of my soul that no matter what challenges might carry us apart, that we'll always find the way back to each other."

"Do you take each other as spouses forever?" No one could wipe the smiles off their faces, as Joly asked the hallowed words, repeated throughout history, but customized for equality as Enjolras had put it, not wanting to imply he held any dominance over Éponine as her husband.

"I do," Enjolras grinned, squeezing Éponine's hands tight.

"I do," Éponine nodded, as Courfeyrac glanced away toward the entrance of the gallery.

Joly smiled, proud to say the next words, "Then by the power vested in me by the Region of Île-de-France, I-"

"Security!" Courfeyrac suddenly called.

Everyone's eyes went wide as they looked over at the entrance where a couple security guards had caught sight of the ceremony.

"I now pronounce you man and wife," Joly hurriedly finished as everyone prepared to make their break for it.

"Kiss," Jehan urged, grabbing Azelma's hand.

Éponine and Enjolras leaned in to kiss, but Courfeyrac suddenly barrelled into them, breaking them apart.

"Run!" Courfeyrac yelled and everyone scattered, heading out the opposite door toward the exit of the museum as the security guards gave chase. Everyone went in different directions, hopefully confusing the guards, and helping each other escape.

"Everyone meet back at the Musain!" Marie called right before Combeferre pulled her into a corridor.

Joly, Bossuet and Musichetta took one direction. Grantaire and Juliette another. Cosette and Marius a third. Marie and Combeferre another. Jehan and Azelma took a fifth route, Courfeyrac and Gavroche a sixth, Feuilly and Bahorel a seventh, and Enjolras and Éponine, a final eighth way.

Security stuck to the couple, pursuing them all the way until the property line of the museum, where they no longer had jurisdiction anymore. Éponine and Enjolras didn't stop running, their legs cramped, their lungs burned, but they ran laughing all the way. It wasn't until they made it to the Tuileries Gardens that Éponine finally had to ask for them to stop.

"Here," Enjolras pulled her to one of the statues, and they stopped to catch their breath.

"I… told... you… we'd get… caught," Éponine said through her gasps. She looked up to see the statue Enjolras had stopped them at, and suddenly burst out laughing.

"What?" Enjolras frowned and turned to look at the statue. It was the 1934 cast of Auguste Rodin's marble sculpture, Le Baiser aka The Kiss. "Of course that's what it would be."

"Of course," Éponine laughed. She finally regulated her breath and looked up smiling at her new husband, "You know, we never did finish our kiss."

Enjolras smiled, "I think it's time I kissed my bride."

Éponine giggled as Enjolras took her in his arms, placed a hand on her face, pulling her lips to his. The kiss was deep and passionate, a testament to the strength of their love, and a promise to never give up on it.

A moment of total physical, mental, and every other kind of love.

Present Day

July 21, 2012

So, that's my theory.

"Sébastien?"

Enjolras looked up from his chair in the waiting room to see Valjean standing in front of him. Combeferre was in the seat next to Enjolras, formerly he had been silently reading a book, but now his attention was on the Doctor. Enjolras had been sitting with his head in his hands, just taking in everything that had happened.

That these moments of impact define who we are.

It had been a little over six weeks since the accident. Bossuet had healed, Grantaire had healed, he had healed, everyone had healed, except Éponine. It had been nothing but surgeries and tests for over a month. Some of the scars had faded, the tube had been removed from her throat, and a good number of the things she had been hooked up to, had been removed.

Though his wife was sick, life had to move on, and Enjolras had returned to the law firm where he, Marius and Bahorel worked (Enjolras and Marius on paid internships and Bahorel as an associate, which no one was quite able to figure out how he managed to hang on to that job). Marie had been a great help for the family as they figured out how to work out their lives. Enjolras had been almost constantly at either the hospital or work, so Courfeyrac was pretty much babysitting Gavroche 24/7. Meanwhile Azelma struggled to balance hospital visits, working full-time and planning hers and Jehan's wedding that was fast approaching. It had been so stressful that at one point she had wanted to call off the wedding, and it took nine of them to talk her out of it.

Most of the Les Amis had come to visit Éponine, some like Combeferre were understanding and just sat with Enjolras for about an hour and read, not saying a word the whole time. Others like Bahorel didn't seem to be comfortable around a comatose banged up Éponine, and had just made the occasional brief appearance every now and then. Gavroche's visits were carefully monitored, though the boy was years beyond his age, he still was a young boy watching his sister in a situation most adults couldn't handle. It was only after Éponine had been in the hospital for three weeks, that they finally allowed him to see her.

Now, a little over six weeks later, it was finally time to wake up Éponine, and Enjolras just prayed that everything would be alright.

"Good morning, Sébastien," Valjean smiled at the blonde.

"Sir," Enjolras nodded, standing up. "Today's the day."

"It is." Valjean glanced around, "Are her siblings coming?"

"No," Enjolras shook his head. "After much convincing on my part, we agreed that we didn't want to overwhelm her, and that Jehan would bring by Gavroche and Azelma later."

"And your friend?" Valjean looked at Combeferre still in his seat.

"Moral support," Combeferre replied. "Just in case."

"Of course," Valjean nodded. "Will he be coming in?"

"No," Enjolras replied. "Just me. He can see her when she's a little better, but again, you never know."

"Good plan," Valjean smiled. He hesitated for a moment, "Not that it's really any of my business, but have you called-"

"Nope," Combeferre frowned at Enjolras. "Despite that fact I keep telling him he should call, he has yet to do so."

"I'll call when things are a little less insane," Enjolras bit. "The last thing I need is to drag them into this mess."

"Alright," Valjean sighed. "But for the record, I think you should call them."

"And a lot of people think I should do a lot of things," Enjolras snapped, "that doesn't mean I'm going to! I get enough of that from them, I don't need it from you."

"Sébastien," Valjean grabbed Enjolras' arm as the boy tried to pass him. He looked at Enjolras for a moment before calmly saying, "It's alright. These things happen for a reason, and although it's not clear why at the moment, God has a plan behind this."

Enjolras sighed, exhaling his anger, "I'm sorry, I just need her back."

"Don't crowd her," Valjean instructed Enjolras as they came to the edge of Éponine's bed. They had already begun to wean her out of the induced comatose state and she was due to wake up at any moment. "She's gonna be a little groggy, so let's just give her some space."

Enjolras held his breath as he waited. At first nothing happened, then, slowly her eyes fluttered gently open.

Confusion riddling her face as Éponine looked around weakly, and Enjolras let out a mix of a sigh and a laugh as he smiled gently at her.

"Hey," Enjolras practically whispered, and her confused eyes shot to him. The frown didn't leave her face. Carefully trying to manage his joy and the delicacy of the situation, Enjolras said, "It's so good to see you."

"Wh- Wh?" Éponine looked around; the dazed expression wasn't even letting up in the slightest.

"Éponine?" Valjean gently said, trying to stay as the professional doctor, instead of the concerned uncle he was on the inside.

The girl's eyes shot to the doctor, and she visibly relaxed, "Uncle Jean?"

"It's okay." Valjean assured his niece, gently patting her hand. He technically should have kept his professionalism, but it was clear the girl needed him to be her family at that moment. "You're in the hospital. You were in an accident. You hit your head, and hurt your stomach, but you're okay. We just kept you asleep for a while."

"How do you feel?" Enjolras asked, fighting back the urge to just grab her, and hold her and kiss her until he knew he hadn't lost her.

"My head hurts," Éponine weakly said, her voice seeming a little distant than it should be.

Worried about her head, Enjolras frowned and looked to Valjean for guidance.

"That's perfectly normal. I'll get you something for that," Valjean patted his niece's hand and began to turn away.

But what I never considered was what if, one day?

Éponine carefully looked back at Enjolras, worry, confusion and guilt mixing in her face. Enjolras frowned, he couldn't help but feel that something was… off. Why hadn't she greeted him, or even rally talked to him? Why had she sought comfort with Valjean and not her husband?

"Are you okay?" Enjolras asked, carefully staying in his spot at the foot of her bed.

Then came the blindsiding moment he never dreamed of.

Éponine met his eyes, "Was anyone else hurt, Doctor?

Valjean stopped dead in his tracks.

"Uh…" Enjolras glanced over at Valjean; Éponine was clearly looking at Enjolras, not her uncle. Enjolras shared a look with Valjean, he frowned at him and then both men turned back towards Éponine. Taking a moment, Enjolras took a deep breath and then carefully asked, "Éponine, you know who I am, right?"

"Yeah," Éponine frowned, confusion returning to her face.

"Ok, good," Enjolras let out a deep exhale that was half laugh and half sigh. He began to turn back towards Valjean in relief when suddenly Éponine answered.

"You're my doctor."

You could no longer remember any of them?

Don't worry, we'll get more into the how they fell in love flashbacks in the next few chapters, but until then, please, read and review.