Deceiving Passion

Chapter 14: Marius's Eavesdropping

~Marius's POV~

The next two weeks past by quickly. Cosette and I had not spoken since she had told me she was pregnant. For all I knew, she and Enjolras were doing God knows what together, and I did not want to dwell on that thought. Besides, I also had my own life to pertain to. My marriage to Eponine was vastly approaching, and recently we had seemed to be drifting apart. I had to make this thing with Eponine work. I may have come to the conclusion that I was in love with Cosette, and maybe Cosette harbored some feelings for me as well, but clearly Cosette no longer wanted me in her life after what had happened. If Eponine was the closest thing I was going to get to happiness, then so be it. 

"You know Eponine," I said to her that evening, "It's been forever since you and I have had a date night."

She chcuckled, "Oh, so now you're calling it a date night? I've been calling it that for the past year now, and you've always said that it never made any sense to give it a name?"

I wrapped my arms around her, "Well, we haven't been out together in such a long time. I thought that it would be nice to spend some time together. After all, you are my fiance."

"That is true," she replied.

"So, Eponine," I asked, "Will you do me the honor of going on a date with me?" 

She poked my nose, "You're lucky you're cute." She kissed my lips softly, which did not leave the tiny spark it normally did, "I would love to."

I held my arm out for her, "So shall we get going?" She giggled, and took my arm. With that, we headed out towards the cafe.

The cafe was having one of its busier nights that night. The room was buzzing with the sound of laughter and arguenents. Debates and parlors as well brought life to the room in discussion about the revolution. This was normal there. The cafe was the hub for all discussion about the upcoming revolution. However, Enjolras was normally at the head of all of the conversations being held. Yet, I had not seen his mop of blonde hair since we had stepped inside. Why would he possibly be away from all the action.

We sat down in a booth together, and placed our orders. I looked over at Eponine, "I'm sorry this isn't anything special. My budget has been kind of tight with the wedding."

"It's fine," she replied, "you know I love it here."

I nodded, and looked around the room a bit, trying to find a topic of conversation. Normally, I was able to talk to Eponine easily no matter what, but tonight my mouth seemed to be at a loss for words. I couldn't even think straight. My mind seemed to be somewhere else, and I didn't even know where it was wandering. My mind seemed to become a vagrant of its own streets and alleyways, only to find nothingness in return for it.

My ears, for some reason, perked up when I heard Enjolras's name in the booth behind us. It sounded as though the conversation was going on between Grantaire and Combeferre, and I couldn't help but to randomly tune in on their words.

Combeferre asked, "So you know where Enjolras is tonight?"

I could hear Grantaire's lips pop off his wine bottle as he chuckled, "Oh indeed I do."

"Well then, would you mind sharing?"

Grantaire's chuckles grew more frequent, "Oh, I'm not sure if we will be seeing much of him tonight, though we might hear quite a lot from him.

I could tell by Combeferre's voice that he was as confused as I had become, "What does that mean?"

"I bumped into Cosette on the way here," he replied, "she had a basket filled with wine, and all of Enjolras's favorites... She was also wearing that dress that we all know the boy drools over..." He paused for a moment, maybe taking his time to visualize her in it as well. He soon continued, "I think it's pretty obvious what she's trying to do."

Anyone could tell what Grantaire was hinting at, but I supposed that Combeferre was humoring the drunkard. "And what would that be?"

"It's perfectly clear that she's trying to get him in the sack tonight."

"Marius!" Eponine snapped. She brought me straight out of their conversation, and back onto her. Which was good, because I might have gone over to the next booth, and strangled Grantaire due to everything I had heard if I listened in for another minute.

"Yes?"

"I've been trying to get your attention for the past ten minutes!" She seethed. Had I really been out of it for that long? It felt like such a short amount of time for me.

"I-I'm sorry."

"Look," she sighed, "you're obviously not really up for this tonight... Why don't we just go home?"

"N-no... I'm fine Ep... Really." I forced my normal goofy grin on my face, and it took some time, but she believed me. We then continued to eat our meal, and walk back home in silence. 

When we got home, we had still not said anything. I hung my coat up on the hook, and sat down on the couch. Eponine soon joined me, still not saying anything. Was this the way it was going to be? The two of us living together in silence? I didn't know if I could deal with that for the rest of my days, and I did not want her to have to live that way either. I thought that my engagement to Eponine would be the greatest thing in the world, but now I wasn't so sure about my decision. I was now keeping secrets from Eponine, and I had had my suspicions since that day I came home from Cosette's that she was keeping some as well. I thought that maybe if I told her about Cosette, maybe we would be able to move past it, or she would kill me. Either was better than living in slience.

I took in a deep breath, "Eponine.... I need to tell you something... I s-" I was soon interrupted by a pounding at my door. I sighed, and went up to go answer it. My confession could definitely wait a trip to the door. 

I opened the door to reveal a dishoveled Enjolras. His hair was a mess, and half of his shirt unbuttoned. I looked him in the eye to see that they were permeating with fear. He was breathing heavily, "Marius... I need you to come with me..."

"Enjolras... What's going on?"

"It's Cosette..." My eyes widened as he said this, "s-she's in the hospital."