Arwen nibbled at a slice of watermelon from where she sat on the porch swing sandwiched between her grandmother and grandfather. She wasn't particularly hungry, but they always insisted on feeding her whenever she came to visit.
It was a very peaceful summer evening, the only sounds were the creak of old the swings' chain and occasionally the muffled sound of a car passing on the other side of the trees. It was the kind of peaceful scene Arwen didn't want to disturb, rather she wanted to live in this kind of quiet contentment forever - but she also wanted to talk about the growing discontentment in her heart. Finishing off her watermelon, she tossed the rind into the garden like she had since she was a child.
Taking a deep breath she began, "Grandma, Grandpa," she said, while staring at her bare feet, "I think I like girls. No, I don't think, I-I know."
She continued to stare determinedly at her feet, focusing on where the pale blue polish had chipped off and wishing she could take back her words. Better yet, she wished she could just curl up in her grandmother's lap like she had when she was a little girl - getting her hair braided before going to help Grandpa in the garden. Back when everything felt so simple and she wasn't so unsure about what her heart felt.
Her grandparents looked at each other above her bowed head and then turned to look at her. Galadriel gently turned Arwen's face upward to look at her and found that it was streaked with tears, even more spilling from her eyes. In that moment her heart broke for her granddaughter. Who knew how long she had been keeping this in because of her fear of rejection? For fear of being punished? Wrapping her arms around Arwen, she pulled her into a tight hug, letting the girl's tears soak her t shirt. Pressing her face against the top of Arwen's head, she felt her own tears threatening to fall.
"Arwen," she said softly, "my little star, don't cry. We aren't mad at you."
Celeborn took his granddaughter's hand and squeezed. "Arwen, honey, we love you no matter what. And your parents will as well."
He looked sadly at his wife, having come to the same conclusion she had about their granddaughter's terror at coming out.
Sniffling hard, Arwen sat up trying to remove hair that was now soaked with snot and tears from her face; her voice cracked as she said, "Really?"
Galadriel rubbed her back gently. "Really. You're our granddaughter and we love you. Your sexuality won't change that."
Arwen sniffled some more, wiping at her face with her hands. Celeborn pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket and passed it to her. Arwen smiled slightly at this very grandpa-like gesture and wiped her face some more. She felt a little more confident about later telling her parents. Pushing her hair back off of her face, she sniffled one last time and wiped the last of the tears from her eyes.
Crumpling up the used handkerchief and shoving it in the pocket of her cutoffs, she looked at her grandparents and smiled fully this time. "Thank you, I don't know what I'd do without you."
Smiling back, they both enveloped her in a hug. Arwen felt incredibly blessed to have the family she did, though she still dreaded going home to tell her parents. She feared that this was never going to get any easier. But for now she was content to sit and swing.
Celeborn ruffled Arwen's hair and said, "Besides honey, we've all had gay experiences. Why, when Ereinion Gil-Galad and I were younger-"
Arwen flushed and covered her face with her hands practically yelling, "Oh my god, Grandpa no!"