Prologue

Summary: Modern!Thranduil AU. After surrendering herself to a life of aimless wandering that she knows will ultimately lead to a life of solitude, Kyli receives some frantic news from her sister, begging for her help. But to help, she has to swallow her pride and try to make amends with the one person her inability to change cost her. Balancing her sister's secret in one hand, and her already broken relationship in the other, she must help see her sister through things while trying not to reopen old wounds. Special thank you to my RP partner, greenwoodwines, for the inspiration and any details she provided for Modern!Thranduil's and Modern!Legolas' characters.

Warnings: Sex/Adult references, language, violence, brief mentions of suicidal thoughts, and general angst. I own nothing.

"You're late."

Kyli looked up from the dresser drawer, searching for a pair of leggings as Thranduil's voice interrupted her. Though he remained in the doorway, she could see the frown on his face as he watched her with disappointment.

"Traffic was bad," she answered, finally pulling out what she needed. "And I got out of my shift late. We had a late shipment today and I had to stay behind to make sure all the cartons were accounted for. I got here as fast as I could..."

Thranduil's frown deepened and Kyli paused, her shoulders dropping as she already knew he was on to her.

"At least in the beginning, you put in a little more effort when you lied to me," he muttered, turning away from her. "Your car's not even parked outside."

Kyli closed her eyes, lowering her head, and let out a sigh. "Fine." She tossed the leggings onto the bed and moved to the closet to pull out her cocktail dress she intended to wear to their dinner. "Work was rough today, and I had a moment of weakness so I went away for a little while to blow off steam."

"A moment of weakness?" Thranduil inquired, turning back to her with annoyance in his features. "How many times have you used that term as an excuse, Kyli?" Kyli opened her mouth, wanting to defend her actions, but when she knew there was no way for her to do it, she let it fall shut again, avoiding eye contact as he confronted her. Thranduil sighed, running his fingers through his hair as he paced away from her for a moment.

He had a very important dinner meeting planned for that night, and the last thing he wanted to do was fight with her before leaving. But his mood was particularly sour, especially after hearing her lie to him again, and so poorly at that. He turned to her, keeping his tone calm as he felt the need to speak his mind. "I'm trying to be understanding. I expected in the beginning that this was not going to be easy for you, and I'd like to think I've been patient about it..."

"I'm doing the best I can," she responded, unable to look at him.

"It's been a year since you promised me you were going to end this, do you remember?" He stared her down, not allowing any room for her excuses. He had heard too many of them. "You made a promise. You said you wanted a life with me... a normal life... and I promised I would help you in any way I could because I thought then that you were as committed to our relationship as I was."

Kyli shook her head, remorse in her eyes, and she began to plead with him. "I've been weak, and I'm sorry. I still want those things. I still want all of those things."

"I don't think you do..." His gaze was piercing and she stood speechless. He sighed deeply and lowered his eyes. "And I... I don't think we can build a life together. Not when you can not decide what is more important to you even after a year's time." He lowered his eyes from her and turned away. Now was not the time to be doing this, and he knew it. They were already running late.

Kyli stood frozen, her mind unsure of how to even process what he was saying. "Just like that?" she asked in a quiet voice, her eyes hesitating before looking at him. His gaze darkened and he turned his back on her, doubting his ability to do what he knew he needed to while watching it break her heart.

"I will go alone tonight," he answered her. "While I am gone... perhaps you should start packing your things. I will pay for whatever moving arrangements you need to make. You still have your lease on your old apartment?"

While her apartment was mostly empty now, she had renewed the lease for one more year as a fail-safe. Just in case.

"Yes," she answered, nodding slowly. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream at him. There were a million things she wanted to do, all of them clamoring through her brain at once, trying to surface so she could at least react in some way, but it all seemed to become jammed and she stood numb. Thranduil nodded, his back still to her, and he began to make his way to the door when Kyli's voice stopped him. "I'm going with you, tonight," she spoke up. He paused and turned, his brow furrowed.

"I know how important this dinner is to you," she said softly, her face almost entirely emotionless. "And they are already expecting me to be there with you. If you show up alone, with that look on your face, they'll ask questions and pry... and I don't think you need that right now." He lowered his eyes, unable to argue with her. He was in no mood for anyone's curiosity as to what went wrong. He still hadn't thought up a good lie to tell them. Nothing that would avoid painting her to be the villain, at least. Kyli began to undress, pulling off her clothes and changing into her cocktail dress.

"I can pretend that we're a happy couple one last time if you can," she stated flatly, sliding the straps of her dress over her shoulders. She gathered her hair in her hand and turned her back to him. "Zip me up?"

Thranduil hesitated, his eyes growing darker. He remembered clearly a time when the woman before him fell crumpled to the floor, sobbing in fear of losing him forever the day he learned her secret. She was a far cry from the woman who now stood in front of him, carelessly waiting for him to zip her dress. Perhaps she was more lost to her nature than he initially thought. Taking a deep breath, he approached her, taking hold of her zipper and slowly tugging it upwards. Once he reached the top, his fingers lightly brushed over her skin for a moment, then over her shoulders, his eyes wandering to the mirror in front of her, looking for a reaction. Anything to hint that she still loved him.

There was nothing.

"Thank you," she said softly, stepping out from his touch to quickly fix up her hair and makeup. Once she was ready to go, she picked up her purse from the bed and drew the strap over her shoulder. "Sorry to make you late," the muttered, and walked past him, heading for the front door. Thranduil waited behind her for a moment, watching her leave, and he lowered his head. Taking a deep breath, he did what he knew Kyli was so well practiced in doing. He pushed all of his emotions aside and quickly joined her, preparing himself to pretend as much as needed in front of his potential investors.

Kyli's lying was far more impressive by the time they arrived at the restaurant. They entered with her on his arm, a smile on her face as if they had just shared in a joke at some point in the parking lot. Throughout the dinner, she spoke highly of him, reached out to lovingly take his hand in hers on occasion, even played along with any teasing inquiries as to when they would finally tie the knot. Anyone who watched them would never have known that it was already over.

As their dinner wrapped up, the business arrangements made and agreements settled, they signaled for the check while Kyli finished her glass of wine.

"Kyli, it's been a pleasure, as always," spoke up one of the gentlemen at the table, and she flashed him an appreciative smile. "I don't know how a shrewd man like Thranduil can manage to keep you in his life without marrying you before someone else snatches you up." He chuckled and Kyli laughed in return. Thranduil's eyes lowered, unable to fully hide the pain the well-intentioned joke caused him. He could put on a convincing act if he ever needed to, but he was reaching his limits, and Kyli's seemingly inability to even share a shred of what he was feeling only made it worse.

He failed to remove the look from his face fast enough, and one of the men noticed.

"Seems I plucked a nerve," he mused, letting out an awkward chuckle. Before Thranduil could answer, Kyli opened her mouth.

"You'll have to forgive my ex," she said, the smile fading from her face. "Jokes about our future together make him rather uncomfortable right now, considering the fact that he dumped me just before we got here."

Thranduil tensed, his head snapping in her direction, and the table fell silent. Kyli's eyes moved to him, and he finally saw it. A look of utter disdain for him leaked through her eyes. It was brief, but just long enough for him to see. Without another word, she slid her chair back and stood up, reaching into her purse to pull out a few bills for the tip. Setting them down on the table, she turned her back on them and made her way to the exit.

Thranduil sat stunned, unsure if he should follow after her or stay put. As the shock faded, it was quickly replaced with anger as he was not one who appreciated being made into a fool, least of all in front of others. He stared at Kyli's empty chair for a moment, his jaw clenching, and he rose from his seat, muttering a quiet, "Excuse me..." before turning to the door.

When he stepped into the parking lot, he found her waiting near his car, her arms crossed over her chest while she glared at him.

"What was that?" he demanded, closing in on her. "If being here and pretending to be a happy couple one last time bothered you, then you should have stayed behind like I suggested. There was no reason to-"

"I guess I lied," she answered coldly. "I do that a lot, remember?"

His brow furrowed and he turned away from her, running his fingers through his hair in frustration as he let out an exasperated groan. "If I had known you were only intending to be childish tonight..." his voice trailed off and he turned back to face her, his blood boiling. "Your things... I want them out of my house by the end of the week. I want you out by the end of the week." He turned, looking back to the restaurant and fearing one of the investors would wander out to check on them and overhear. "I know you're angry with me, Kyli. And I'm glad... because at least that shows some fraction of you still cares at all about us. But I would never have done that to you. I never would have blatantly tried to hurt or insult you in public out of sheer pettiness."

"No," Kyli answered softly, lowering her head. "You would only give up on me entirely..." She looked back up at him, tears rolling down her cheeks. She brushed a hand over the side of her face and turned her back on him. "I don't need the week. Provide me with a moving truck, and I'll be gone by the end of tomorrow." He said nothing, watching her as she glanced back at him from over her shoulder. "You'd better get back in there." Without another word, she vanished, and Thranduil spun around, looking to make sure no one had seen. Fortunately, the only other occupants in the parking lot were clear at the other end, and too busy getting in to their car to have noticed.

Sitting on a stone bench, Olivia stirred when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She muttered a quick apology to the person sitting beside her, seeing that she had a text from her sister on the screen, and she quickly opened it to read it.

Her expression saddened, and she frowned, lowering her phone slowly before handing it over to the young man sitting beside her, knowing he would want to see it as well. She gave him a moment to read it before speaking. "Your father's probably going to call you soon. If he hasn't already texted you."

"He hasn't yet," Legolas answered, reading the message twice before handing it back to Olivia. "He tends to wait to break bad news when he knows I have finals coming up. He prefers not to distract me with his personal life..." His eyes wandered over Olivia's face, gauging her reaction to the news. "If you need to go back to your sister, I'll understand. I can't imagine she's taking this well. She may want the comfort."

Olivia shook her head, putting her phone back in her pocket. "It can wait til morning. Besides, it'll already be pretty late at night by the time I get there." Turning to him, she sighed and shook her head again. "You do realize this just made it a million times harder to tell them about us..."

Legolas smiled sadly, slipping his arm around her waist and gently kissing her temple. "It can wait then," he murmured into her hair. "We'll let things settle for a while first... and then we'll tell them. I can wait a bit longer." Olivia smiled at his touch and nodded her head before kissing him tenderly.

"Thank you."