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“Okay, if you don’t want me to rip off somebody’s head, you get me some alcohol, right now.”, Éponine was stomping over campus with a tired Grantaire in tow. Who decided to let an absolute asshole of a lecturer hold a lecture at 8 during winter semester?
This was torture. She was pretty sure, there were laws against this. Grantaire only rolled his eyes and caught up with here.
“You know I usually am the first one to get the two of us drunk, but it’s 10 in the morning and we have classes until 4, so no.” Grantaire patted her on the shoulder and held the door open. He had that mistake once and drinking surprisingly didn't make uni more bearable.
The two headed towards the building of the humanities department. Only a handful of other students passed them, looking dead on their feet. In their defense, it was a particularly grey and dark Monday morning. Both Grantaire and Éponine valued the fact that, unlike many other students, they usually didn’t have to get up very early.
Most semester they managed to have lectures not earlier than 2 pm, but this time they actually had to take an advanced course in Philosophy.
“Also I am pretty sure, there is nobody at the booth yet.”, he added after he had sensed that Éponine’s mood hadn’t gotten better.
And true, when they passed the tables in front of the classrooms, they were empty.
It was one of the best things about the humanities department: They had so many different student associations and clubs, that some years ago those had started to alternate selling mulled wine, gingerbread and cookies in the weeks before Christmas. Les Amis, a student group Grantaire sometimes hung out with, had the booth on Friday mornings, the Philosophy department had the Thursday afternoons. But apparently nobody was here on Monday mornings and Éponine hated her bad luck.
“Yeah, but as soon as somebody is there I’m going to get a drink.”
*
When they came out of their only slightly less annoying tutorial on Philosophy and Psychopolitics two hours later there was already a small group of students surrounding the tables and cheery Christmas music was playing from cheap speakers. Éponine grabbed Grantaire’s arm and dragged him over to the booth.
She needed something warm and alcoholic. And she needed it now!
A small banner told them, that the department for Eastern European Studies was responsible this afternoon. Éponine couldn’t care less, who was serving her the alcohol.
At least that was what she thought until the moment it was her turn and she lost the ability to speak. The girl in front of her was gorgeous. She was smiling brightly, looking up at her with big blue eyes.
“What can I do for you?”, she asked. It took Éponine a moment to notice, that she hadn’t answered and had been gaping at the girl instead. She could hear Grantaire’s faint cackle and out she swatted him absentmindedly, hitting him on his cheek, while not taking her eyes away from the girl.
Usually, Éponine was great at flirting, she knew what to do and got phone numbers in a matter of minutes. And usually, she didn’t blush or stutter. But now she noticed the heat rising in her cheeks as she answered the girl.
“I uhm. One uh mulled wine, please.”
The girl didn’t seem to notice her inner turmoil and prepared her drink.
They exchanged drink for money and the girl gave her a last smile before she turned to another student.
“What was that?”, Grantaire asked when Éponine turned around to face him. She was pretty sure, she was still furiously blushing.
“I have no fucking idea, but I feel like I need another drink after this one.”
And with that, she started to walk to class, definitely not looking over her shoulder to catch another glimpse of the girl.
(She only looked three times. That wasn’t completely embarrassing.”
*
Throughout the week Éponine had hoped she would be able to forget the girl, but then next Monday came and Grantaire and her were back at the booth.
“You know, you could just ask her out?”, Grantaire watched with amusement as Éponine picked at her hair, trying to tame it. Of course, she would have a terrible case of bed hair today.
“Yeah… Do you think I stand a chance?”, she mused. Actually, what did she have to lose? She didn’t even know the girl's name, she could just ask her out and look what would happen.
“Yeah, you do and you know that. Damn, I have never seen you so shy.”, Grantaire laughed. “You’ve got it bad.”
“Ah fuck you, okay I’ll ask her out.
And really, she had tried, but in the end, it had ended up like this.
“Hi! What can I do for you?”
“Hi. One mulled wine please.”
“There you go.”
“Thank you. I’m Éponine by the way…”
“I’m Cosette. See you soon, Éponine.”
Éponine shoved Grantaire out of the way.
“Fuck and I always thought you were so smooth. This was painful to watch.”
“Shut the fuck up!”
*
Once more Éponine was left for another six days thinking about the girl. It was slowly getting ridiculous. “You are pining.”, Jehan said from where he was laying on her sofa, his head in Montparnasse’s lap.
“I am not.”, she retorted. She had never been pining. Pining was something soft people did. Jehan had pined, he had pined for almost a year before Éponine had threatened to lock him and Montparnasse in a closet. But she herself had never had a crush. Or whatever this was supposed to be.
Cosette.
“Judging by the look on your face you are pining.”, Montparnasse commented dryly. “Seriously, it’s disgusting.”
Okay, when Montparnasse called her disgusting, it was a crush.
*
By next Monday, she had made a decision. This was going to end. For the whole week, she hadn’t been able to get anything done, without thinking of Cosette. If she didn’t have to actually do shit for uni she would have considered it hilarious. But like this, it only made the already terrible hours of studying and essay-writing only worse.
She had spent all of Saturday lying on her sofa with Jehan, eating ice cream and watching ‘Notting Hill’. When Montparnasse had come out of his room, seeing his flatmate and his boyfriend, with who had had a date planned, he had only shaken his head and left the flat.
Now the two of them and Grantaire were at her side, either to support her (Jehan) or to laugh at her (Grantaire and Montparnasse).
“Okay, this time I will not chicken out.”, she said taking a deep breath.
“You can do this!”, Jehan squeezed her hand and then sent her off to the booth.
“Hi. What can I get you? Oh hi Éponine, right?”
Shit, she remembered her name!
“Hi, yes. Uhm one mulled wine please.”
She walked back to the three men, who only gave her an unbelieving look. “Don’t ask.”, she said and proceeded to down the cup in one go.
“So who wants some mulled wine?”, she sighed already turning around again.
It went on like this for a while. Éponine would get drinks for the others or herself and she even managed to make some Smalltalk.
“My friends over there want to try your mulled wine as well.”
“Ah, they seem nice.”
“Oh they aren’t, but I can deal.”
“So I guess our drinks were to their satisfaction?”
“Yes, I think you got yourself some new regulars.”
But she never got around, asking what she wanted to. Whenever she thought she might finally get over herself it was like her mouth stopped working. Every time when she came back, without having asked Cosette out, Jehan patted her on the shoulder, Grantaire laughed and Montparnasse scoffed.
About two hours and much wine later she felt slightly drunk and her self-confidence seemed to come back.
“Ok, I’m going to ask her now!”, she declared. “Yeah, you have been saying this for two weeks.”
When she finally stood in front of Cosette, she had about ten plans, how to be smooth and seem cool. (As cool as she could, after all the embarrassment of the last few hours.)
But in the end, she ended out blurting: “I think you’re really pretty, would you like to a go on a date with me?”
Éponine was sure she heard Grantaire snicker and Jehan cheer.
In front of her Cosette’s expression had changed. From amused to surprised. In the end, she was smiling, just as brightly as she had when they had met the first time.
“I was afraid you’d never ask.”, she laughed happily. “I have been giving you the alcohol-free stuff for an hour because I have been afraid you’d give yourself an alcohol poisoning before you’d ask me out.”
Éponine blushed and felt suddenly very sober.
“I… I am usually not this shy.”, she shrugged defensively.
“Oh, is that so? I take this as a compliment.”, Cosette winked at her. “My shift is over in an hour. How about you send your friends home and keep me company? We can go for coffee afterward?”
"I'd love that."