The blood that binds us chapter 2

Sorry for the long wait. I admit, I've re-written this chapter about three times. Even now I'm not completely satisfied with how it turned out…but I hope it's alright. I'll try to update sooner.

Years later…

Cosette stared out of the window, her eyes fixed on the cobble stone road that sat just outside her bedroom windowpane. She watched as children laughed and played with their parents, happily skipping along without a care in the world. Cosette started fiddling with the silver chain around her neck (out of habit). The necklace hadn't aged a day since Fantine had given it to her all those years ago. Cosette, even as a child, had been careful to keep the necklace in perfect condition. It was all she had left of her mother and she intended to take it to her very own grave.

Cosette had grown into a beautiful young woman with fair skin and eyes as bright as a blue summer sky. She was a quiet girl, never stepping out of her line. She understood her place in the world. Her life was all going according to plan. She had a loving father who would die for her. What more could she want? Though, sometimes, Cosette just got…a little lonely, since her father went about his usual business. She didn't expect him to hang around with her every day…but still, she wished she could have someone other than her father to take care of her. Perhaps she'd just gotten to that stage in life where loneliness got the better of her. Her father was out again. He hardly ever stuck around these days.

Cosette wondered…what was it that her father got up to? Why did he not trust her with his secrets? He still treated her as though she was still a baby. He never even let her outside of the house unless he was escorting her. Cosette frowned to herself. Her own father didn't trust her.

Perhaps she needed to show him that she was capable of taking care of herself…maybe, if she just showed him that she could be independent, he would finally give her the freedom she craved so much.

Combeferre glanced at his silver wrist watch that was fastened neatly around his left wrist and sighed, knowing that they were already fifteen minutes late. He hastily pulled his white shirt-cuffs over his wrists and buttoned them up neatly to hide his watch from public view. He raised his right hand to the face of the door and knocked three times with the back of his knuckles. When no one replied his call, Combeferre let himself in. He carefully made his way through the small apartment to find Enjolras knelt at the frame of his bed, rummaging through a draw cabinet, carelessly throwing old shirts on the floor in his attempt to dig to the bottom of the thing.

"Enjolras," Combeferre called out under his breath, "Enjolras, we're late." The man paid barely any attention to the young medical student that stood at his doorway. Enjolras mumbled something to himself as he scratched the back of his neck. Combeferre raised an eyebrow at the man. "What are you doing?"

"My chain, I can't find it." Enjolras hissed. Combeferre rolled his eyes.

"Find it when you get back."

"I'm not leaving without it." Enjolras said stubbornly. Combeferre sighed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Perhaps you left it in Le Musian." He suggested. Enjolras hummed in response. Combeferre then spotted a tarnished little trinket sitting on the chipped surface of his dresser. Once again, Combeferre rolled his eyes at Enjolras' incompetence. "It's right there."

Enjolras turned to the dresser and let out a sigh of relief. "Thank god…"

"Right, now that's out of the way, we have to get down to the square before it gets too crowded." Combeferre went on as Enjolras fumbled with the rusted silver bracelet, carefully hanging it around his wrist. Enjolras had grown into a charming young man who was capable of being terrible. He was a bright young man with a silver tongue and a sharp mind. He had dreams…dreams of a new world. A world where all where equal and not ruled by a superior being.

Though, even a man such as Enjolras has his flaws. Enjolras cannot function properly without his precious locket. To any other human being, they'd say it was just an old chain with a silver locket attached to it…but to Enjolras, it was part of who he was. It was part of his identity. It was the only thing his mother left him…surely there must be a reason why she'd leave him this useless trinket. Over the years, Enjolras had grown such a strong attachment to the bracelet, that he never leaved the house without it.

No one, not even Combeferre, knew why Enjolras was so attached to the tacky piece of silver…but it didn't matter. Enjolras glanced around the room and grabbed his black coat that hung on the back of his dresser chair. "No red today?" he asked.

"I only wear red for special events, Combeferre."

"Oh…I'd have thought a protest would count as an 'event'."

"If a protest was considered an event then I'd be wearing red twenty-four seven, which would completely destroy the whole purpose of my red jacket." Combeferre smiled as the two of them made their way out the door.

Cosette stood in the towns square, her pink hat tied neatly around her head and a blue cardigan draped over her shoulders that matched her dress. She still wore her tiny silver locket around her neck. She stood by the side of the miserable damp street, just watching as people passed by, doing the same thing as they had done the day before. It was easy to tell the different between the rich and the poor. The contrast between the beggars and the wealthy was astonishing. It was strange, the wealthy seemed to pass by as though the beggars were invisible to them…perhaps it's what they wanted.

Cosette felt somewhat guilty for leaving the house without her father's permission…but what's the worst that could happen? After all…she was no longer a little girl. Cosette met eyes with an old beggar lady who sat crossed legged on the other side of the cobble road, her head ducked low as though she were ashamed to show her face. Her clothes were covered in filth and were ripped up, like some vicious dog had a go at it. Cosette pitied the old woman and crossed the road. She reached into her tiny bag and pulled out a few francs. As she placed them down in the old woman's hands, the woman looked up at her for a second in sudden shock and then gave her a grateful toothless smile. "Bless you my dear." She said, trembling slightly. Cosette gave her a small smile in return.

Cosette then noticed that many of the people around were beginning to gather in the centre of the square, though, she couldn't see through the crowd of people. As they swarmed in to the centre of the buzzing square, Cosette watched curiously, trying to figure out what was going on. "What's with all of this commotion?" Cosette asked the lady.

"Friends of the ABC, my dear." The woman replied, shuffling about on the spot for a moment. "Students from that fancy old law school."

"Oh…"

"They fight for the poor in General Lamarque's name." The woman said, the corner of her crooked lips turning up into a friendly smile. Cosette tried to peak over the crowd, however she found she was too short to see over the full-grown men and women who gathered around. "They're good young men. You can listen to their speech if you wish."

Cosette hummed and started slowly walking over to the crowd. She stood at the back and slowly began to snake past a few people, to try and get a better look. Most of the spectators were mainly men and women from the lower class. The ones of the higher class seemed to pay no attention to the commotion. A few of the other men and women in the crowd shot her strange looks, probably because of how well dressed she was. She stopped when she got to the centre of the crowd, feeling somewhat claustrophobic being sandwiched between all of these people who were budging and shuffling about.

She then saw them. The young men that stood in the centre of the square above a raised platform. Three men stood on the platform wearing matching red, white and blue badges pinned to their coats and shirts. The other men of the ABC were scattered around, handing pamphlets out to the passers-by. Next to the platform stood a tall young woman in ragged clothes that matched the colour of her brown hair. She seemed somewhat familiar, though Cosette couldn't remember where she'd seen her before.

A tall young blonde male stood before the crowd, his eyes burning with a passion that Cosette had never seen before. "People of France, we are Les Amis, and it is my honour as leader to guide you all to a new world. As the rich young women and men scurry about their own business, the citizens of the lower class starve to death in the bitter cold of winter and the dying day of summer. It is time that you and I make a stand. As the king hides away in his own world of happiness, you are all forced into poverty. He cares not for the wellbeing of the lower class. Where is the justice in that?" As the leader went on, the men and women cheered in agreement, believing in his words.

As he spoke, Cosette noticed something rather peculiar. A tiny silver locket hanging from a rusted chain around his left wrist. At first, she believed she was just seeing things…then she realised, it was identical to her own.