So, here's the situation.
I've fancied my cousin since I was quite young, probably no older than ten or eleven, but time for me was never made because my older brother is, put gently, a hog.
I love Merry dearly, but when it comes to our cousin Pippin he is quite the selfish wanker.

In fact, it's rather strange the way he covets the our endearing cousin. My brother is quite a generous fellow, and I'm probably his second favorite thing ever- but always after Pippin.
You see, they've been really close for as long as I can remember. Merry's quite a few years older than me, but he was always a tender, protective brother. He treats me well and allows me no fault. But when it comes to Pippin... well. Pippin is his and no one else's.

I remember once back a few years ago, in fall of the year that I turned sixteen, all the cousins had make the long trek to Bywater to harvest pumpkins before the first frost.
It was quite a trip- though much work was neglected in favor of play and mischief.
Meriadoc and Pippin disappeared the second we arrived, knowing work was to be had and they'd take no part in it.

I, like a good young girl, spent a good part of the day lugging pumpkins through the fields and onto wagons, then back into the field and so on and so forth. But at one point, soreness and boredom overtook me and I decided to scoot off with Pervinca Took, one of Pippin's older sisters. We snuck into the woods when adults were preoccupied and managed to find a cluster of wild mushrooms usually found only in Buckland. Overjoyed, we spent the better part of an hour stuffing our faces happily. After we exhausted the patch, we decided to explore a little further into the dense but friendly forest.
About a kilometer in, with sunlight still poking holes through the treetops, Pervinca and I stumbled upon a very large rusty key embedded in the soft earth.
Pervinca leaned down and picked it up carefully.
"Why, Gwen, what do you suppose this could go to?"
I raised my eyebrows and shrugged.
"It must unlock an awfully large lock. Wouldn't you say?"
My cousin nodded, her eyes still wide with wonder.
"Perhaps," I mused. "We should continue walking and we'll stumble across the thing it unlocks."
Agreeing that this was a reasonable plan, Pervinca and I set out with a purpose. Work forgotten; we were investigating a mystery now.
After walking a length longer, we decided to rest for a moment. We took a seat on a fallen tree and examined the key more thouroghly.
As measured, it was as long as my head, and weighed quite a bit. Though rusted, silvery bits of the design shined through at the head of the key. There were depictions of clouds carved into the head, trailing down into the stem.
"I wonder what clouds have to do with giant locks." Pervinca mused dreamily. "Maybe it's a key to the sky."
I grinned. "What a strange thing to say! How would you secure the sky with a lock? It has no handle."
"You don't know that. There may be a sky handle outside of the Shire." My cousin looked at me very seriously. It was all I could do to keep from laughing.
"Sure there is." I giggled and shook my head. Pervinca may have been years older, but she was what they called 'touched in the head'. I liked to think she had a unique perspective.
We stood up, stretched, and continued our search for the mysterious lock.
Our search came to fruition another kilometer through the woods. Pushing through thorny vines, we found ourselves in a grassy clearing, hosting a small wooden structure at it's center.
We made our way across the clearing and found the door shut tightly, but with no apparent lock. I turned the handle and found the door opening with ease. The interior was unlit, but sunlight streaming in through a single broken window and the open door illuminated enough for us to walk in without fear of hidden danger.
Stepping into the room and onto the polished wooden floor, Pervinca and I examined it throuroughly. The broken window was on the wall to our right, and the room was bare of furniture. Straight ahead, hiding in shadows, we could make out a large, heavy-looking door embedded into the back wall.
Very carefully, Pervinca and I made our way to the door, being careful to avoid the especially squeaky floorboards in fear of possible structural damage. We reached the door and finally found what we had been looking for; a very large, very old-looking padlock. I looked at her and grinned. She handed me the key and stepped back while I, with two hands, pushed it into the lock and heaved to turn it. A very loud click resounded, and Pervinca and I exchanged looks of triumph.
At that moment, a voice came from the door.
"And what exactly do you two think you're doing in here?"
I jumped and whirled about, realizing the familiar voice could belong to only one person.
"Gwenledyr Bradybuck, you know better than to go frolicking off into dark forests- picking up garbage you find laying around then breaking into people's houses." Merry scolded. I couldn't tell if he was serious, but I wasn't willing to take the chance.
"You- I- what-?" I stammered. "This is someone's house?"
"It might be!" Pippin popped his head through the window, looking just as stern as my brother. My cheeks flushed and I took to examining the floor with interest.
"Hush up, you." Pervinca put her hands on her hips. "We have as much right to explore as you do."
Merry raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms, sauntering further into the house.
"Oh do you now? Pip!"
Pippin sprang into the room and imitated Merry's posture.
"He's right, P." He waggled a finger. "And you, Miss Brandybuck, should know better." He nodded confidently and his curls shook with the movement. I blushed again and looked down.
"I wasn't trying to cause mischief, Merry, we just HAD to know where this key belonged!"
"Well you've caused it now." He mused. "And since mischief should never go to waste, I can't see how any more damage could be caused by investigating whatever lies behind that door..." A grin crept onto my brother's face, and I lit up.
"Oh! You mean it? Let's, let's!"
Pippin grinned as well, and all four of us approached the lock again, with the key still in place.
"So it's unlocked then?" Merry murmured.
"Let's not waste time!" Pippin popped up and bounced past his sister. He pushed on the door, and it creaked heavily. He groaned. "A little help would be appreciated! This is heavy!"
All four of us placed our weight against it and heaved, moving the door centimeter by centimeter, eventually opening it far enough for us to squeeze through.
We peered behind the door, and realized it was a platform for a dark staircase leading far down into the ground beneath the cabin.
The four of us exchanged looks, did some nodding and grinning, then one by one squeezed down into the passage, making our way down the staircase.