The Barricade Girl (A Les Miserables FanFiction)

Chapter Fifteen

As the crowd starts to disperse, my lips break apart from Enjolras' and we stand there looking at each other, not really knowing what to say.

"I think your Grandfather has gone now..." Enjolras says quietly, still holding onto my waist as he blushes a little and looks to the floor.

"Yup..." is all I can get out in response. "But...what was that for?"

"What was what for?" He squints his eyebrows.

"You know...that...you know...you kissed me –" I stammer.

"It was a distraction!" He exclaims, his arm still wrapped around my waist.

"But...you kissed me!" I exclaim back.

"You asked for a distraction!" He argues, holding his hands up in the air and finally letting go of my waist.

"I didn't ask for you to kiss me!" I retort.

"But you kissed me back!" This shuts me up.

"...I did not..." I fold my arms and stand in between Enjolras and Eponine. Eponine now stands there with a smirk plastered across her face after having watched everything that just happened.

"You don't sound very convinced..." Enjolras taunts as he folds his arms.

"And you said you were just friends..." Eponine smirks, poking fun at me with a knowing look in her eye.

"We are just friends!" Enjolras and I both respond at the same time.

"Wait...you've been talking about me?" A cheeky and annoying smile works its way across Enjolras' face. "Have you been telling your friends about me?" He jokes.

"Shut up!" I say, elbowing him in the side. "Where did Marius go?"

"Stop trying to change the subject..." Enjolras murmurs. Gavroche comes running back towards us, calling our names. Enjolras places his hands on his shoulders as Gavroche stands in front of him, beaming as waves goodbye to the other children that he'd been playing with while the rally had been going on.

"No, seriously, where is he?" I look at Enjolras as if he holds all the answers, and he looks back at me as if to tell me to calm down. "Look...he was upset! It's not good for him to be alone just now...not when he's just been shouted at!"

"Found him..." Eponine speaks softly, pointing across the street. The boys start to regroup close to us, and Enjolras becomes distracted, talking to Grantaire and the other boys. I ignore the boys and look in the direction that Eponine is pointing, my gaze following her finger. Courfeyrac comes and joins me.

"Jules! Hasn't anyone told you it's rude to stare?" Courfeyrac jokes. I roll tut at him, acknowledging his joke. "What are we looking at then?" He cranes his neck, trying to figure out what I'm looking at.

"Marius...over there..." I say, not tearing my eyes away to speak to Courfeyrac. And that's when I see it, and I immediately wish that Eponine was not here to see what we're seeing. Especially after what she had confided in me moments ago. "...No..." I mutter to myself as I catch sight of the blonde girl in the black dress, walking along with her Father as the hand out food to the beggars. And Marius is completely mesmerized by her, unable to remove his gaze from her, walking parallel to her along the pavement so that he doesn't miss a single thing. The worst part is...she's looking back. I've never seen this look on my brother's face before. And if I know my brother like I do, there's no mistaking what this look on his face means.

"It's a girl..." Courfeyrac says to himself quietly, yet loudly enough for me to hear. I turn to look at Eponine. I can see it on her face. Her heart has completely sunk. The smile on her face has gone. I feel absolutely awful.

"Eponine...I'm so sorry..." I place my arm around her in an attempt to offer some kind of comfort.

"It's fine..." She whispers, discreetly wiping a stray tear that has started to fall down her cheek. I take the handkerchief that I keep stuffed up my sleeve and offer it to her.

"Keep it..." I say as she takes it from me and wipes her cheek.

"Eponine!" A gruff man's voice shouts, making Eponine almost jump out of her skin. She turns her head to look down the street. I look beyond her, following her gaze, to find a rough looking man stood with a gang of men and a short woman, all of them rather dirty and dressed in rags.

"I better go..." She says quietly. I look at the group of people again, and for some reason, I feel an instant dislike of them. I feel weary of them. They seem up to no good.

"Eponine..." I protectively tighten my arm around her shoulder. "You don't have to go if you don't want to...You can stay with us –"

"Thank you..." She whispers, letting out a weak smile, giving me a short yet tight hug. "But I really have to go. I told you my Dad would find me..." She shrugs and then turns to walk away.

"Eponine!" I call after her, making her turn around to face me once more. "Meet me at the Café Musain. Tomorrow. At 2pm?" She nods eagerly, and then turns back, joining the shady looking gang down the street. My gaze then shifts back to Marius, who is still watching the blonde girl intently. I let out an annoyed grunt.

"What's wrong?" Courfeyrac asks, placing an arm around my shoulder.

"Since when did girls start finding my brother attractive, huh?" I joke, leaning my head against his shoulder.

"Well you're one to talk, Jules!" Courfeyrac laughs loudly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I gasp, a little offended.

"I saw you and Enjolras –" He smirks.

"Courf!" I whack his arm.

"Looking very cosy –" He taunts.

"It was a distraction!" I protest.

"Yeah, it distracted him alright!" Courfeyrac laughs heartily. "He missed the crowds shouting for our cause because he was too busy showing you his cause in great detail –"

"Courf!" I whack his arm again. "My Grandfather showed up, and I didn't want him to see me. And the next thing I knew –"

"So the best way to hide was to kiss Enj–"

"Well, it worked didn't it!"

"Whatever you say, Jules...We'll talk about this later", Courfeyrac smiles cheekily. His smile fades as he looks down the street behind me. "Uh-oh..."

"What?" I ask, turning to look down the street.

"What's happening?" Enjolras joins us, as do the rest of the boys, until we're all there staring at the procession that's storming down the street, the sound of horses' hooves hitting against the cobbles filling our ears. Courfeyrac is the only one to speak up.

"It's Javert..."