When Tomorrow Comes

Chapter 21

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Once upon a time, there lived a young woman. She was worn out, beaten down by her father, dirty and broken inside and out. She lived a tough life, yet she managed to pull through.

Once upon a time, there lived a young man. He was a student, a rich boy as they called him, determined and focus to save what he called the last bit of humanity on Earth.

One day, their lives collided. They collided in a burst of light that united their fate forever. And it's that fate that brought Enjolras on rue Plumet that day, seeking his loved one, Mademoiselle Eponine.

"'Ponine!" he shouted. "Where are you, Mademoiselle?"

He looked in every corner, but there was no sign of Eponine anywhere.

"Why must you disappear everytime I find you!" he mumbled to himself. "Does fate not want us to be together?"

"On the contrary, Monsieur," a voice said. "I don't think fate has anything to do with this..."

Enjolras felt his blood ascend to his brain. His heart was almost pumping straight out of his chest. He clenched his fists and stared at the figure emerging from the shadows.

"Montparnasse..." he hissed.

"The one and only! Happy to see me, Enjolras?"

"Do I look happy?"

"Calm down, Monsieur. We're here as civil people."

"Civil? You sold Eponine to the French army!"

"I wouldn't say 'sold'... Maybe more like bargained?"

Enjolras cursed under his breath.

"I swear to God, if I had a gun on me right now, you wouldn't be here to hear me say this."

"Well lucky for you, you don't! Because I know where Eponine is..."

Enjolras took a step towards Montparnasse.

"Where?" he asked. "Is she okay?"

"She's bleeding pretty hard, having trouble to walk... But yeah, she's used to it..."

Enjolras felt his blood boiling in his veins.

"Tell me, now," he ordered.

"Whoa, calm down, rich boy. Times are tough. I speak, you pay."

But Enjolras had had enough. With crumpled his right fist and smashed it on Montparnasse's face.

"Where is she?" he barked.

"Now that was definitely not civil," Montparnasse muttered, massaging his jaw.

And then it dawned on him. Enjolras knew exactly where Eponine must be.

"What's that face?" Montparnasse hissed.

But Enjolras ignored him and started running towards the alley on the left.

***

Eponine was sitting in a corner, breathing heavily, pressing against her wound to slow the bleeding.

"I dreamed a dreamed Enjolras stood by my side," she hummed. "It made him weep to know I die..."

She looked at the stars above her head.

"But no one will ever come for a girl like me..." she sighed.

"Someone called for me?" a voice suddenly asked.

Eponine looked in front of her and saw Enjolras, casually leaning on the wall.

"How did you find me?"

"Where else would you be?" he replied with a smirk. "This is your place..."

"Oh... Yeah..."

He walked up to her and sat next to her, passing his arm around her shoulders.

"Mademoiselle," he said. "I need to get you to a doctor! Or perhaps I could take you to..."

The name got stuck in his throat. Tears started to fill his eyes, because the name he was going to say was that of a person who just died at the barricade. An old friend...

"Never mind," he managed to say.

"I'll be fine, Monsieur. Don't you worry about me."

"I thought... I thought you had died back there..."

"I just lost consciousness... Seems to be happening a lot."

"Well you did get shot," Enjolras pointed out. "What were you thinking, Eponine?"

She sighed.

"I had nothing to lose... Look at me, Monsieur. I'm a poor excuse for a girl."

"So you would rather die than be who you are?"

"I... I don't know... I mean..."

And then she looked to the ground.

"Yeah..." she finished. "I thought the suffering would be over..."

Enjolras' heart broke.

"Mademoiselle, it's over now," he started. "I think about you every second of every day of my life. When I close my eyes, all I see is you. You make me want to be a better person."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. I know you've lived a tough life. I don't care what you did in the past, what counts for me is now. And right now, you are the reason that makes me still want to keep going. You're the reason I'm still here, Eponine."

Eponine smiled sadly and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I never believed in happy endings for girls like me..." Eponine let out.

"Ending?" Enjolras replied. "Mademoiselle, these are only the first chapters..."

Eponine looked at him funny.

"And what are you talking about, Monsieur?"

But Enjolras just smiled, pulling her closer towards him.

"The rest has still to be written..." he replied. "And we'll write it together."

"But Monsieur..."

"I know you can't write, but it's just a metaphor. It just means we'll go on this journey together."

"Okay, Monsieur, but..."

Enjolras looked down at her and saw how pale she was.

"I think I need a..."

And then she blacked out, falling loosely on his shoulder.