'Who Ever Said Romance Was Over'
It was snowing outside as Meriadoc Brandybuck was writing out the invitations for his father, Saradoc's yuletide party. It was the 27th December, only two days before the party was meant to start. Merry was almost finished with his job, perfectly handwriting the invitations to all of his closest friends and relatives in the shire. He smiled as he looked at his final invitation, addressed to none other than one of his best friends, Mr Frodo Baggins. As soon as he had put it down he heard the sound of light footsteps up the corridor, coming towards his bedroom. His mother, Esmeralda came in and asked for his help with some preparations in the grand hall. He brought the invitations with him and handed them to his father who wanted to deliver them himself.
Frodo Baggins and his uncle Bilbo were having elevenses in the kitchen at Bag End when they heard an unexpected knock at the door. "Who could that be? Frodo, my boy go and answer that for me please" called Bilbo while sipping his tea and reading one of his many books. Frodo put down his crumpet and walked out of the kitchen and down the hall towards the door. He looked through the peep-hole to see who the unexpected caller was. "It's only Saradoc Brandybuck uncle, shall I invite him inside?" shouted Frodo, just quiet enough that Saradoc couldn't hear. "See what his business is first." replied Bilbo. Frodo then opened the door and greeted his relative with a firm handshake and invited him inside, but Saradoc had to refuse. "I'm sorry Master Frodo but I am in rather a rush, I must deliver all of my invitations to the Hobbits of Hobbiton and be home to Bucklebury before the celebrations begin. Here, take these." He handed Frodo two of Merry's handwritten invitations, one addressed to him and the other addressed to his uncle. "Thank you Saradoc! Uncle Bilbo and I would be honoured to attend your yuletide party." After Frodo had finished his sentence Saradoc grabbed him by the arm, not meaning to injure him in any way and whispered in his ear. "I've heard that my Meriadoc has invited all the prettiest hobbit lasses in the Shire!" Frodo laughed and said his goodbyes and waved as Saradoc rode off down the road towards Bagshot Raw. It was a cold and snowing as Frodo looked out over the rolling hills of Hobbiton, all covered with a heavy layer of snow. He closed the door and went back inside and told Bilbo about Saradoc's party. Then he began to back his things and prepare for the journey to Brandy Hall.
When Frodo and Bilbo arrived, almost nothing could be seen around them, only things illuminated by the light from inside. They got down from their carriage and knocked on the huge door towering above them. The door to Brandy hall was unusually large for a home that normally only hobbit folk dwell in. The door opened wide and Frodo saw Merry's face gleaming with a huge smile, he was extremely excited to his cousin and they exchanged a hug at the door. "Why, look who it is, it's Frodo Baggins!" Beamed Merry as he put his arms around his beloved friend and patted him on the back. "Meriadoc Brandybuck! It's been too long a time since I've seen you." Merry helped Frodo and Bilbo carry their bags and led them to their guest rooms. "Bilbo, my father's orders are to let you stay in the green room next to his and my mother's room. It's fairly large with its own bathroom! There you go. The Maid will be round soon to prepare new towels and bed sheets for you. Tonight's supper will be held at 9:30 in the main living room, you will come down and join us won't you? And tell us more of your adventures!" asked Merry with a grin as he placed Bilbo's luggage at the end of the large green bed in Bilbo's room. "Of course I will Master Meriadoc." And with that, Merry closed the door and carried on to lead Frodo to his room.
"Merry, where am I going to sleep? I don't remember Brandy Hall having enough rooms for lots guests to stay" asked Frodo as Merry took him down the corridor. "No, it doesn't, that's why I persuaded my parents to let me have all my closest friends stay in my room! As long as we don't cause too much trouble." They walked the rest of the way in silence. When they arrived at Merry's bedroom he opened the door and they both went inside. At the end of the bed Frodo could already see someone else's bags. "Who's are they?" asked Frodo as Merry placed Frodo's things on top of a little camp bed made up for him to sleep on. "They are Pippin's! He must be still downstairs, snacking no doubt." "What about Sam?" Frodo asked, looking out of the large circular window. "Have you invited Sam here? I wouldn't want him to celebrate yuletide alone." Just as he had said that Peregrin Took (affectionately known as Pippin) and Samwise Gamgee (known by the name of Sam) walked into the room laughing and joking. There was no need for Merry to answer Frodo now and for the rest of the night the four best friends laughed, chatted, sang, ate and drank. When they night was over and all the hobbits were drunk and tired they returned to Merry's room where they got ready for bed. As soon as Frodo put his head on his pillow, he was fast asleep, dreaming of the grand celebration tomorrow, and of the so called 'Prettiest hobbit lasses' that Merry had invited and who they might be.
"Cousin Frodo! Cousins Frodo! Wake up! Wake up or else we will be late for breakfast!" Shouted Merry. Frodo woke and sat bolt upright when he heard this. He looked around to see the room covered in yuletide decorations that he must have not seen the night before. There were luscious green wreaths and chains of green holly leaves with bright red berries. Then he saw his best friends dressed in their best velvet and silk waist-coats, with their hair washed and brushed with beaming smiles on their faces. There wasn't a Hobbit in the Shire that wasn't smiling today, as it was Yuletide-eve! Frodo quickly washed and put on his soft, gold coloured, velvet waist-coat and his favourite brown trousers. He buttoned his shirt up and quickly tucked it into his trousers and then the four young hobbit lads ran down the stairs and into the dining room where their breakfast was waiting for them on the table.
"Tell me Merry, when your father came to give me our invitations, he mentioned something quite interesting…" Frodo said with half a crumpet in his mouth. "He whispered something about you inviting all the prettiest hobbit lasses in the Shire? What are you up to this time!?" laughed Frodo as he nudged Merry who was sat next to him. Merry's face turned red with embarrassment. "Well… I was thinking… we are good looking, young hobbit lads and it's a perfect time for us to start courting! There are plenty of beautiful, kind hobbit ladies out there and I have invited some of them to this party! Some of them are childhood friends that you might remember from the summers we used to spend here, lasses like Rosie Cotton and Estella Bolger." When Sam heard Rosie's name his face lit up and he started to smile uncontrollably. He had fancied her for as long as he could remember, to him, she was the most perfect being that has ever walked middle-earth. He adored her blonde curls and her beautiful smile, there wasn't anything about her that he didn't like. Frodo tried hard to remember the faces of his young childhood friends, but to him, they all looked the same. He could hardly recall all of their names. He was more familiar with the names of the hobbit lads he was friends with as a child, such as Griffo and Folco Boffin. He remembered playing pranks on Nibs, Nick, Tom and Jolly, the Cotton brothers. He smiled and started to share his memories with his companions.
After breakfast they went upstairs and made their final adjustments to their clothes, except Merry who had to help his family with the buffet table. Pippin seemed to have spilt food all over his shirt and had to borrow one from Merry's wardrobe, it was far too big for him! Sam was constantly fixing his messy blonde hair to try and get it to look neat to impress Rosie. Frodo's curly, dark brown hair was ruffled up too but he didn't care as much, he quite liked it. Just then Merry burst into the room and almost knocked Frodo off his feet, squashing Sam behind the door where he was looking into the mirror. "Oh my! Frodo I am sorry! Where's Sam? Sam!?" exclaimed Merry. "I'm…Back…Here!" Sam responded in a muffled voice. The force of the door had pushed all the air out of him and poor Sam found it hard to catch his breath. They quickly pulled him out and set him down on the bed. "Well why are you in such a rush Merry?" asked Pippin, "You ran in 'ere like a pony on fire, what's happening?" "Come on you fools! The party starts in twenty minutes, we need to be downstairs to greet the first arriving guests." As he said this Merry grabbed Frodo's wrist and pulled him out of the door and down the corridor, Pippin and Sam tried to catch them up.
Once downstairs, Frodo checked his appearance in the mirror one last time. "Why do I keep checking myself?" Frodo thought, "There isn't any reason for me too." He turned to see that the first guest was making his way through the door, it was Odovacar Bolger, followed by his wife Rosamunda Bolger and their son Fredegar (Fatty) Bolger. It seemed their daughter, Estella, wasn't with them. "Well if it isn't my four favourite hobbits!" shouted Fatty Bolger as he was greeted by Merry, Pippin, Sam and Frodo. Saradoc and Esmeralda, Merry's mother and father, greeted the adult hobbits and led them away to the banqueting room. Fatty joined Frodo and his friends as they went into the Ballroom. When Frodo entered the room, he was overwhelmed with the decorations. There were two big spruce trees, decorated with bows, ribbons, little cookies attached to the branches and they both had big, golden stars on top. Around the top of the walls of the room there were chains of holly and ribbon and handmade yuletide bunting. Above the archway that leads towards the banqueting room and the kitchen there was a small branch of mistletoe, a tradition in the shire at yuletide. They all went and sat on a bench what was placed at the side of the room, on the edge of the dance floor. The five lads chatted for what seemed like an hour, they chatted about food, ale and what they had been doing recently. Frodo spoke about living with his uncle and all of his uncle's great stories. They didn't notice that while they were talking, the ballroom seemed to fill up with familiar faces. "D'you remember what Bilbo used to say when we…when w..." Sam couldn't finish his sentence as he'd just seen the girl of his dreams walk through the door of Brandy Hall, his eyes were fixed on her. The rest of them were all wondering what was wrong with him, they turned around to see what he was looking at. Just as they did, in walked Rosie Cotton with her long, flowing, strawberry blonde curls falling down onto her shoulders, her big blue eyes and her beaming smile. She was followed by Diamond of Long Cleeve, she had light brown, curly hair pinned up into a perfect bun at the back of her head, her eyes were dark and brown and she had perfect, white teeth. The lads were all sat there staring as they walked in, then they realised there was more lasses coming through the door! There was Estella Bolger with very long, thick, curled, brown hair and big red lips. Following her was a beautiful, young hobbit lass who Frodo didn't recognise, he racked his brain to try to remember her name but he couldn't. She had extremely long, curled, brown hair, she was average height with big brown eyes. Frodo couldn't really make out any of her other features as they lighting was bad. As the last girl walked into the middle of the room, the lads snapped out of the trance they had been put in by the beauty of these hobbit girls. Merry was the first lad to pluck up the courage to go over and greet them, he got up, adjusted his collar and his waist coat and took a deep, calming breath. When Rosie saw Merry, one of the best looking young hobbits, walking towards her and her friends, she stopped the conversation that was going on between her friends and directed their attention to him. "Hello there, Rosie" Smirked Merry as he bowed in front of her, took her hand and kissed it lightly. "Meriadoc." Rosie nodded and then curtsied to him. He then carried on, bowing and kissing the hands of all the young lasses that were now circled around him. "Diamond, Estella and… Well well well I didn't expect you to accept the invitation, Elanor Sandyman, what a surprise." "Why ever not Merry? You know I can't resist parties! Haha" Elanor replied as she put her arms around her childhood friend. Merry put his hands around her waist and they hugged.
Pippin was oblivious to the fact that Diamond was walking towards him as he was drinking a pint of the ale that the bar man was serving in the ball room. "Hi Pippin, remember me?" she asked as she batted her long eyelashes at him. "Huh…What… Oh…Um… Hi…Um...Hey Diamond" replied Pippin nervously, as he tried to hide the fact he was blushing like crazy. He took a deep breath and picked up her hand and kissed it, and then he looked up at her with his big green eyes and smiled sweetly. She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck. He was stunned, she had never hugged him before and he didn't really know what to do with himself. She could feel the butterflies filling up her stomach as she felt his breath on her neck.
"Rosie, who is that guy over there," inquired Elanor Sandyman, one of Rosie Cotton's closest friends. "That one sat next to Samwise." "Don't you remember him Elanor? You two used to be inseparable! You were the best of friends!" exclaimed Rosie "Wow, just look at Sam, isn't he the cutest hobbit you've ever seen, I wish he would notice me" Rosie sighed, sat down, cupped her chin in her palm and rested her elbow on her lap. Elanor tried to comfort her friend. "Have you not seen him? He hasn't stopped longingly staring at you since you were born!?" All that time Elanor was still trying to work out who that tall, dark haired, blue eyed hobbit lad was. Then, it hit her like a ton of bricks. It was Frodo Baggins! At that moment all the memories came flooding back to her. She remembered the young, dark haired hobbit that she knew so well and the fun that they had together. She recalled the times that they would go out into the fields of Bucklebury with him and play for hours on end, they would chase each other and wrestle one another to the ground. In winter, they would have snowball fights and every year they would make a snowman together in the middle of the big field. She remembered how good she felt when she was young because she knew that she could spend all day with her best friend in the whole of middle-earth. She let out a gasp and jumped off the bench. She couldn't believe it! "How come I didn't recognise him before," she thought, "and why hasn't he come to visit me for all this time? I guess he has grown up now" With that she walked across the ball room to where he was sitting and stood in front of him with her hands on her hips. Frodo was looking at the ground and then found he was looking at a small, hairy pair of hobbit feet. He looked up and then he remembered her. He remembered everything in that very second that he looked into her eyes. He got a very strange feeling in his tummy, his heart was racing and his ears started to burn as he stared at her. He couldn't help but smile and she smiled back at him. She looked into his big, bright blue eyes as he stood up and looked down at her. "Frodo Baggins…you're rather taller than I remember you being." Laughed Elanor. Frodo was so happy to see her. He couldn't control his excitement, he put his arms around her slender waist and lifted her off the ground, hugging her as hard as he could without crushing her. "Ah! Frodo put me down!" she screamed with a little laugh. He laughed and placed her back on the bench he was sitting on so they were the same height. "You haven't changed one bit have you Elanor?" "I rather hope I have Master Baggins, especially because the last time I saw you, was when I was only a child! I've grown up since then, and so have you." Elanor smiled again at Frodo and then turned to Sam who was sat on the end of the bench, sighing and looking longingly at Rosie. She was dancing and laughing with Hamson Gamgee, one of Sam's older brothers. "Why don't you just go over and talk to her Sam? Ask her to dance maybe?" Explained Elanor sympathetically. "What? No way! Why would a lass like that ever want to dance with a fool like me?" Muttered Sam as he turned to Elanor and furrowed his brow. "Trust me on this one Sam. Go over there and ask her to dance with you! She'd love to, that's all she's been talking about this evening!" "What?! What has she been saying?!" "Just how good looking you are and how she'd love for you to talk and dance with her! Go on! Go!" Like a flash Sam shot up and walked over to Rosie. He greeted her with a kiss on the hand. They then went off and danced in the centre of the room.
Elanor rested her hand on Frodo's shoulder as she stepped down from the bench. "Well I'd love to spend some more time catching up with you but I'm starving!" groaned Elanor. "I'll see you in a little while Frodo" with a smile, she walked over towards the door of the banqueting hall. At the same time, Merry had just left the kitchen where he was helping his mother. He came out carrying a tray of mugs full to the brim with ale. Without looking, he bumped straight into Elanor, making the mugs fall off the tray and make a mess on the floor. "Oh dear Merry, I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going!" Stuttered Elanor as her face turned red with embarrassment, Merry laughed "Don't worry Elanor, it's my fault really." However the sound of the mugs had attracted the attention of a few hobbits in the ballroom, they had noticed that Merry and Elanor were stood directly under the mistletoe. "Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her" chanted the crowd, now almost the whole room was staring at them. "Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!" the chanting gradually got louder. "Oh no, no, no Merry what are we supposed to do?!" Asked Elanor while her face became even redder. "I think there is only one thing we can do Elanor, I don't think they will be satisfied unless they see a kiss." "I guess not, oh dear... well what's one measly kiss between friends eh?" Elanor replied nervously. As she said this Merry cupped Elanor's face with the palm of his hand and slowly brought his face closer and closer to hers. She closed her eyes and he kissed her lips lightly. "I wouldn't really count that as a kiss, more of a peck really" thought Elanor. He moved his face away from hers and they both burst into laughter, neither of them knew what was so funny but they just couldn't contain themselves.
Meanwhile, Frodo was chatting and having a drink with Pippin on the bench. Pippin was complaining about how boring the party was and that it would be better if there was more singing, more dancing and more ale. "There is no need for more ale! I think you have had far too much for tonight Pip." Just as he said this, he turned to his right to see Merry and Elanor kissing and he was too far away to see the small branch of mistletoe above their heads. Something deep inside Frodo shattered. He didn't know what was wrong, all he knew was that he couldn't sit there and watch them. He almost felt betrayed. "But why?" he asked himself. Before he knew it, Frodo found himself running towards Merry's room in a huff. He burst into the room and plonked himself down on the bed. He put his head in his hands and began to think. "What's gotten into me? My heart is pounding and my stomach feels strange. I mean it was just Merry and Elanor and a little kiss? But when I looked at her kissing him, I felt sick to my stomach, maybe I'm ill. Come on Frodo it was only Elanor Sandyman!"
He then heard a knock at the door which threw him off his train of thought. "Frodo? Are you in there?" It was Elanor. She had seen him rush out of the hall and head towards Merry's room. "Come on Frodo, let me in." "the door is… the door's open" replied Frodo quietly as he tried to compose himself before she came in. As she walked into the room, he looked out at her through a gap between his fingers. She sat down on the bed beside him and looked at him. "Why are you trying to hide in here Frodo?" Elanor asked as she put her hand on his shoulder. As soon as he felt her gentle touch he lifted his head and looked back at her. "Frodo talk to me, what's wrong?" "Nothing, Elanor there's nothing wrong at all." Frodo mumbled as he tried to put on his best fake smile. "How come Merry's never told me about you two, how long has it been going on? You've kept it awfully quiet." "WHAT?!" Exclaimed Elanor as she burst into laughter. At this moment Frodo became very confused, "Then wh…why were you um…kissing him earlier?" "Didn't you see? We were caught under the mistletoe silly! There was no way we could get out of it, practically the whole room saw me bump into him under it. It was an accident." When Frodo heard this he felt much better but he still couldn't figure out why his heart was beating so hard in his chest and why his tummy was feeling uneasy. "You never answered me, why did you disappear and come hide in Merry's room?" "I just wanted to be alone for a while that's all, to clear my head." "There is a very large party going on downstairs with all yours friends there and you'd rather spend it alone up here? You are a strange one, Frodo Baggins" laughed Elanor, shaking her head. Frodo laughed and offered to walk her back to the ballroom. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to walk you back to the ballroom, Miss Sandyman. As it is 11:00 and the final dance of the evening is coming up, you wouldn't want to miss that now would you?" He offered her his arm and she accepted. They walked back through the corridors of Brandy Hall together, Frodo couldn't seem to take his eyes off her but she didn't notice.
As they walked into the room, the band called for everyone to get ready for the final dance. Elanor looked at Frodo and asked "Would you mind if I shared this dance with you Frodo?" He couldn't refuse and they walked into the middle of the dance floor. The band began to play 'Flaming Red Hair'. Frodo's face lit up, this was his favourite song and he knew the dance very well. Elanor turned to Frodo and told him, "I probably should warn you, I can't dance." "Don't worry, you'll pick this one up very quickly, watch!" He grabbed her hand and put his other around her waist, she quickly put her hand on his back as he they skipped and spun around in a circle around the dance floor. Elanor found herself looking at her feet almost all the time but she could feel Frodo looking at her. Before the song ended Frodo twirled Elanor out of his hands and he began to dance in front of her. Frodo was bobbing up and down with his thumbs hooked under his braces. "I hope this makes her laugh, if it doesn't I'll feel like a complete fool." Thought Frodo. Frodo looked at Elanor and saw that she was almost crying with laughter, he felt a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. Frodo couldn't help but laugh too, then he felt her grab his arm and pull him across the dancefloor back over to the benches. "What in the name of middle-earth was that dance?! You are still the fool I remember you being Frodo." Elanor rested her head on Frodo's shoulder. Frodo's stomach was doing flips inside of him as he could feel the warmth of her skin on his, He felt her soft hair brushing on his face and tickling his nose. Frodo didn't know what he was feeling but he knew that this felt right, something inside him told him that it felt right to have Elanor Sandyman resting in his arms. He smiled to himself, rested his head on hers and they stayed there for the rest of the evening.
The clock struck midnight and Saradoc called his guests to gather around the dancefloor as Merry and his mother brought in a large sack full to the brim with presents. Everyone's faces lit up as Saradoc began his speech. "Hello and welcome all! My dear friends and family, Hobbit lads and lasses, the hour has finally arrived. It is the beginning of Yuletide and the first day of our grand celebration! Today we shall give you all your yuletide greetings and presents, then everyone may return to their rooms or their homes, depending on where they are staying for the duration of the party. Goodbye for now and to all, Merry Yuletide!" Merry then began calling the names of his guests up to receive their gifts. Estella Bolger was one of the first to be called up, Merry handed her a box wrapped in brown paper with a beautiful bow tied around it. He bowed to her and she quickly kissed him on the cheek, he blushed uncontrollably and she skipped off giggling. Merry then called Frodo up, he left Elanor's side to collect his present. Merry gave him his present and then whispered to him as Frodo turned his head to look back at Elanor. "I can see it in your eyes, you love her don't you." "What? I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not in love with anyone!" replied Frodo with a nervous laugh. "I will find out sooner or later Frodo." stated Merry as Frodo returned to Elanor's side.
When all the presents were handed out, all the hobbits were getting ready for home and bed. "Pip, Frodo, Sam come and help me say goodbye to the guests at the door would you?" asked Merry and the hobbit lads walked up to the door and waved at all the guests with big smiles across their faces. Almost all of the guests had left and there was no sign of Elanor, Frodo was searching the crowd with his eyes, frantically looking for her. Then Elanor and Rosie walked up to the young hobbit boys giggling to each other. "Goodbye boys." giggled Rosie with a smile, then she turned to Sam, looked into his eyes and said "and Goodbye to you Samwise." As she did this, Rosie couldn't stop her smile from widening. Sam blushed and kissed Rosie's hand; she curtseyed to him and then called for Elanor to hurry up. Elanor then walked up to the hobbit lads and stood in front of Frodo, she said her goodbyes to Pippin, Merry and Sam. Then she turned again to face Frodo and started shuffling her feet. "Umm… Frodo, is it alright if I talk to you outside… alone?" He agreed and followed her out to the front of Brandy Hall. They stood facing each other in the dark, Frodo could only just make out Elanor's face in such low light. He was squinting trying to help his eyes adjust to the light. "Would you rather if we stood over there, in the light Frodo? We might actually be able to see each other's faces then!" Elanor stated as she took his hand and led him into the light. When he came into the light, Frodo noticed that Elanor wasn't wearing her coat or her jacket, he looked at her hair and saw how it was perfectly curled with a beautiful ribbon tied in at the top of her head. He then looked down at her face, her eyes were warm and brown, and she had long eye lashes and a cute little nose. Frodo started to feel very strange and his stomach was doing flips inside him, he then scanned his eyes down her long neck and then stopped himself "oh dear what am I doing?!" Frodo asked himself and snapped out of it. "So then Miss Sandyman, what is it that you were going to talk to me about?" Frodo asked with a smile, "Well I just wanted to tell you that I had a really great time tonight Frodo, I'm glad I finally saw you again, it's been so long and…" "I had a great time too Elanor, I've missed you, you know." Frodo interrupted. Elanor blushed and looked at her feet to hide her face, she could feel a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "Is it alright if I walk you home? It's getting dark and I wouldn't want you to go alone in the dark." He then offered her his arm and she gladly took it. "I live up this way a bit, it's not too far but I'd love some company." Smiled Elanor as they began to walk up the path. Frodo looked at Elanor as she began to shiver in the cold, "Here, have this to keep you warm, I wouldn't want you to catch a cold or anything." Said Frodo as he began to remove his jacket and wrap it around her. It was too big for her as Frodo was taller than she was, but it did the trick. Frodo couldn't believe how nervous he felt, his heart was pounding and he had butterflies in his tummy. "Frodo, do you remember your 10th birthday? The day where we made each other little wooden toys to play with?" "Yes, I do, you made me a little sword and I made you an awfully made spoon with our names written on it." Frodo replied with a laugh, "Well, I still have it, the little spoon you gave me. How about when we get to my house, I show you it?" Frodo agreed and they carried on up the path. Then they came to a small ledge, Frodo was just tall enough to jump down unharmed but Elanor was too short. "I'll stay down here and you jump to me. I'll catch you." "I'm not so sure about this Frodo… what if I fall?" "I've got you don't worry!" Frodo called. Elanor shut her eyes tightly and jumped off the ledge and before she knew it she could feel Frodo's hands around her waist, "See, you can trust me Elanor, I wouldn't have let you fall." Frodo put her safely back on her feet. He couldn't believe how thin she was, for a hobbit.
They carried on a little further down the road before they arrived at Elanor's house. She opened her door and called out for her parents and told them she had bought a friend over to stay for a while. She led Frodo through the door and into the living room where her parents were sat having late night supper after the party. He could feel her soft hand grip tightly around his wrist. "Oh my! Elanor, is that the Baggins child? What was his name dear?" asked Elanor's elderly mother Pansy Sandyman. "Frank? Fred? Something like that." Uttered her father, Ted. "No father, its Frodo. Frodo Baggins." Elanor told her parents as she turned and smiled at Frodo who was nervously shuffling his feet behind her. "S... Sorry for the unexpected visit. I... I was just walking Elanor home from the party to make sure she got home safely." Frodo muffled nervously. "Well, thank 'ya for looking after my daughter." Ted replied. Elanor returned her grasp of Frodo's wrist and pulled him across the room. As they walked further down the hall towards Elanor's bedroom, they heard a shout that came from where Elanor's parents were. "Oh, I'd better go and see what they want, why don't you just wait for me in there? I won't be too long" Elanor promised as she let go of his arm and walked quickly towards the other room. Frodo entered her room and began to inspect the walls, gazing at all of the beautiful works of art that were hung there. He saw portraits of familiar faces and paintings of the shire. Frodo got distracted by muffled shouts coming from behind the closed door of the room he was confined in. "I hope everything is alright. I should keep quiet and stay out of their business." Frodo said to himself as he stepped lightly backwards and sat on the end of her bed. Frodo quickly and embarrassedly stood up as he noticed he had sat on Elanor's pile of freshly washed underwear. His face started to turn a pale shade of red and he began to sweat nervously as he heard extraordinarily delicate footsteps get closer and closer to the door. Frodo resumed admiring the art work when Elanor returned. "I see you are enjoying my sketches." She chuckled. "You really do have a talent Miss Sandyman." Frodo's eyes scanned all the drawings and then turned to look at Elanor who was stood on the other side of the room. She walked towards him and reached up to a shelf that was just behind his head, but instead of moving out of her way, Frodo stood still. He could hear her gentle breath close to his ear. "I told you I would treasure it Frodo." "Treasure what...?" Frodo gulped as he looked nervously at Elanor's slender neck. "The little spoon you made me? When we were children? The reason I showed you in?" Elanor backed away so she was facing her friend. "Ah yes the spoon." He muttered nervously while fumbling with the buttons on his waistcoat. "Oh… um... its g... it's getting late," Frodo sighed, "the Brandybucks will be wondering where I am..." "Yes, I suppose they will be. I will show you out then." The two young hobbits walked silently out of the room and back towards the door. Elanor opened the large, round, blue door and then looked sweetly at Frodo as he walked slowly out. "Frodo." She sputtered. Frodo span round to face her. "I… I am very happy that I saw you again today. I had a wonderful time. Thank you." Elanor quickly wrapped her arms around Frodo's waist and rested her head on his firm chest. She closed her eyes and held him tight, accidentally forgetting everything around her. He was stunned, his nerves had taken over him and Frodo was paralysed. He felt her soft head rub against his torso as he gently wrapped his arms around her shoulders. He felt like this friendly embrace had gone on for hours, when actually it was over very quickly. She pulled away from his chest slowly and kissed him lightly on the cheek. They said good bye and Frodo walked down the path, back towards Brandy Hall, with one had pressed against the place she had kissed. As he walked, a picture of Elanor's face came into Frodo's mind. She was smiling, her brown eyes looked warm and caring, and her hair flowed perfectly onto her shoulders. Frodo felt a fuzzy feeling coming from his gut and a smile pull at the corners off his mouth, yet he didn't understand why.
Frodo finally arrived back at Merry's house and was greeted by his friends with lots of questions about his whereabouts for the past hour or so. It was so late that everyone except the four young hobbit lads was asleep. They decided to all go to bed and reminisce about the goings on at the yuletide celebration later on.