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55 Rue Plumet. 55 Rue Plumet. 55 Rue Plumet.
Éponine kept repeating that same address in her head as she walked down the streets of Paris. The streets were uneasy, the rebellion had awoken and most people had locked themselves inside their homes. Éponine, still carrying out her male disguise, made her way to the repeated address.
55 Rue Plumet. 55 Rue Plumet. 55 Rue Plumet.
She didn’t need to repeat it this much, actually. She already had it engraved in her brain like a parasite. But that address was oh so important, for it was the address of Marius’ love; Mademoiselle Cosette Fauchelevent.
Hearing that name alone made the brunette shiver. Cosette, it haunted her like a phantom. For it was that same girl she took her anger out on all of those years ago. The lark had come almost out of nowhere to stay with them and from day one her mother treated her in the worst way she could. They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, so Éponine and Azelma ended up doing the same. The young girl would dress up in rags and overgrown shirts while the two siblings were treated as royalty by their mother. Éponine didn’t know why it was this way, but her parents did it, and kids copied their parents. At the end of the day, when she would lay in her bed, she would feel bad for the girl sleeping under the desk. She would feel a strong itch to go and apologize to her, to hug her, to give her her dresses, but her mothers wrath filled her with fear.
Éponine shook her head out from these thoughts and grabbed onto her cap.
Soon enough, she was standing outside the repeated address. The gates were covered in overgrown grass and moss with tall, hunching trees hovering over the garden. The windows of the house remained dark while the garden was lit by a singular lamp. But seeing Cosette, Éponine felt as if the lamp was simply unnecessary. The girl was a source of light herself.
Éponine hid herself as she examined Cosette. Her dark curls fell on her shoulders almost like a necklace made specifically for her. Her head was bowed and everything about her made her seem pensive yet her posture remained straight. Even while she was in this state, her hands twitchy and fidgety and her gaze elsewhere, Éponine felt as if she was looking at a painting. The latter remembered a glimpse of a book she had borrowed (or rather stolen) from Montparnasse about Lady Aphrodite, goddess of beauty. “She must have spent so much time on her,” Éponine thought.
Sooner or later, she knew she had to break the news. She subtly made her way into the garden through the gates. Cosette, alarmed by the trifling of the leaves, turned her head towards the gate.
“Who’s there?!” Cosette yelped suddenly.
Éponine froze in her place for a split second, her face covered by the shadow of the trees.
“I mean no harm, mademoiselle,” she muttered. “I have a letter, you see, addressed to you. Cosette, is it not?”
Cosette nodded hesitantly.
“A beautiful name, really…It’s from the barricades, Rue de Villette. Monsieur Marius–”
“Marius!” Cosette suddenly sprung to her feet. “You know him? Why hasn’t he come for me?”
Éponine opened her mouth to speak but to no avail, instead holding out the letter. Cosette quickly ran to grab the letter, turning her back without noticing as she read it.
Dearest Cosette,
You have entered my soul and soon you will be gone. Can it be only a day since we met and my world was reborn? If I should fall in the battle to come let this be my goodbye. Now that I know you love me as well, it is harder to die. I pray that God will take me home to be with you.
Pray for your Marius, he prays for you.
Cosette’s hand went to her mouth, soon followed by her knees hitting the grass. Soft sobs left her body as she held the letter in hand.
“That blasted boy! Battle, he says! We were supposed to get married!”
Her porcelain hands covered her eyes as the soft sobs continued. Now, Éponine was never the best at comforting people. In fact, she doesn’t think she ever tried. But she couldn’t just simply stand and do nothing. Not when it was Cosette, at the very least.
“Mademoiselle,” she muttered, slowly closing the space between them and sitting next to her, making sure Cosette won’t be able to see her face. “You mustn’t think the worst. I am certain he will be alright.”
Cosette continued her soft sobs as Éponine laid a hand on her back. The two stayed like this for a while. Éponine slowly moved her thumb left and right on her back in an attempt at comfort, so slowly that it was almost as if the brunette girl was fragile and made of glass. It certainly seems that way, Éponine thought, her beauty was out of this world. Her curls were neatly done, her face seemed smooth as butter, her blue eyes looked like a beautiful riverside and her dress completed and added to her beauty. She seemed like a doll in a shop, even in such a vulnerable state.
Soon the tears stopped and Cosette’s hands left her face, but Éponine couldn’t take her hand away from her back. Almost as if it was glued onto. Cosette stared into the distance with a pensive look into her eyes when suddenly, she laid her head on Éponine’s shoulder. The two sat together like so for a few moments before Cosette lifted her head to look at the girl. Éponine made sure to lower her head so their eyes wouldn’t meet as Cosette spoke.
“You know, this would have been considered scandalous.” she smiled a bittersweet smile, “I’m too tired to consider that.”
She lowered her head to look Éponine in the eyes. Éponine attempted to look away but it was too late.
“Your eyes remind me of someone from my past.” she muttered while slowly lifting ahead, “The daughter of the family I used to live with… Don’t tell my father I still remember that, yes? He thinks that I had long forgotten. I’d hate to upset him…”
Éponine tensed up. Oh god. Oh fuck. Her cover was blown. She tried her best to stay still.
“This stays between us, mysterious stranger.”
Ah. Nevermind.
Cosette continued, “You see, my mother had reluctantly made me stay with an innkeeper and his wife. They weren’t… the nicest.” she swallowed and stared at the distance, “They had two daughters, I find it hard to remember their names. The eldest, it always seemed to me she had kindness in her heart but was afraid to show it due to her mother. I don’t blame her, really. I was deathly afraid of her myself. I wonder what those two are doing now.” she looked up at the sky.
I’m right here, is what Éponine wanted to say. I’m right here standing next to you and I love you.
They stood in comfortable silence before Cosette added,
“Oh! I’m terribly sorry! I must be boring you, mysterious stranger.”
“Not– not at all, mademoiselle. I am happy to be your companion.”
“... How kind you are.”
Yet again they fell into silence, examining each other's faces. For the first time in this encounter, neither felt scared to look each other in the eye. That was until Cosette heard keys jingling.
“Oh! Oh dear! Kind stranger, I’m afraid you must leave immediately. That may be my father or Toussaint. If they see you–”
The two moved in quiet swiftness. As Éponine jumped out of the fence, Cosette whisper-yelled;
“Wait! Will you spare me your name?”
Éponine looked back, the feeling of yearning filling her entire chest, before turning and running away.