If I Ever See You Again | Ćponine x Cosette
{A small drabble for the Les Mis WLW event | For @alopey}
They had grown up in the same place, but not together. Ćponine was seven years older than Cosette and the eldest daughter of the ThĆ©nardiers, Cosetteās foster family. It was more accurate to say sheād grown up with Azelma, the younger sister. They both were eight years old when Cosette was transfered to their house from the Child Protective Services office, right after her mom died; Ćponine was fifteen and not so fond of her family taking in orphans in exchange of money from the government.
The first time Cosette saw Ćponine, she hid behind the Social Services worker, a chubby woman that was holding Cosetteās hand painfully tight. The woman had assured between giggles that the teenager wasnāt going to hurt her, but Cosette wasnāt scared; she was completely enchanted by Ćponineās looks: her long, black hair caressed the small of her back and her eyeliner was smudged up, like sheād been sleeping with her make up on. She was wearing all-black clothes and combat boots that would have made her look intimidating, hadnāt been for the gentle smile on her red lips.
The ThĆ©nardiers busied themselves with the woman that had brought her while Ćponine took Cosette to Azelmaās room, where she would sleep now. Cosette cried in Azelmaās arms for the first time since they told her her mother wasnāt going to wake up; for that moment forward, the ThĆ©nardiers became her caregivers.
Azelma was always around with her, but Ćponine barely ever set foot in the house. On the times she did, Cosette would spend all day staring at her from behind a cereal box, or the column between the kitchen and the living room. There was something absolutely fascinating about Ćponine that the blonde couldnāt decipher. A few days before Cosetteās tenth birthday, Ćponine left the house to never come back again; Cosette was adopted by a gentle man, named Valjean, the morning after.
She didnāt see Ćponine again until she turned twenty-five. She had stayed in contact with Azelma all those years, and knew through her that Ćponine had moved to the city, but nothing else. Cosette had lost all hope of seeing her again any time soon, if ever. That was why she wasnāt expecting to run into her buying clothes downtown on a Wednesday afternoon. Cosette stood still next to a counter, and stared at her intently, wondering if her eyes hadnāt deceive her. Ćponine was different, of course she was, but on her face was still that look of eternal boredom with the world, like nothing could really impress her; when she was a kid, that look had given Cosette her first experiences with butterflies in her stomach.
Ćponine turned around, probably feeling Cosetteās eyes on her, and smiled widely when she spotted the blonde. She strode to her and asked āCosette?ā the blonde nodded, smiling; Ćponine shortened the distance between them. āOh, my God. Itās been years! Look at you, youāreā¦ Wow. Itās nice to see you.ā
āSame to you! Itās great to see you,ā Cosette confirmed, sensing a faint trace of Ćponineās perfume mingling with the air between them.
āThereās so much we need to talk about. Wanna go for a coffee? My treat.ā Ćponine offered.
Cosette nodded again; the butterflies reborn in her stomach when the tip of Ćponineās fingers brushed hers on their way to the coffee shop.
{fanart of this drabble by alopey}
