The group trudged wearily into Fowl Manor. Butler decided to make himself some hot soup and retire early as he still did not feel quite right.
"Being old really takes the strength out of you," Butler said with a tired sigh, "If I'm going to be able to protect you, Artemis, then I can't afford to get a cold."
Artemis patted Butler on the arm. "Take the night off, old friend. You deserve some rest and relaxation."
Mulch clapped his hands together with excitement. "Hey, so do we! I've had enough of all these freaky clues and assassins. I just want to eat and watch TV."
"I'm there!" exclaimed Holly with a grin, "I've never wanted to be lazy this much in my life!"
Butler grinned. "I'll leave you kids to it, then. Don't stay up too late."
Holly sneezed again as Butler retired to his room. "Artemis, is it all right if I have a shower and warm up?"
Artemis nodded. "Of course. Mulch, did you want one too?"
Mulch plonked himself in front of the gigantic fireplace. "Nah, I'm good here." He grabbed the widescreen television's remote control and flicked it on. A badly dubbed Atlantean comedy came on. "Hey, how come your TV picks up the fairy stations?" Mulch asked with surprise.
Artemis grinned. "A little present from Foaly, I daresay. I only came across the extra channels last week."
Mulch snorted with satisfaction. "Who cares where it came from; if I've got cable then I'm happy." He flicked through the channels. "Ooh, 'Married with Gremlins' is on!"
Holly rolled her eyes. "Well, he's set for the night."
Artemis was confused. Holly had explained that Haven had been pinged while they were in the car. So then… "If all communications from Haven have been shut down, why can I still pick up the fairy channels?"
"I'm surprised you needed to ask, Artemis." Holly smiled, "It's because our television networks are based in Atlantis, not Haven. Just because Haven is under a lockdown, doesn't mean that Atlantis is."
Artemis nodded with a smile, and then motioned for Holly to follow him up the massive sweeping staircase.
The carpet was soft and fluffy under Holly's bare feet and everything was meticulously clean and beautifully decorated. The boy stopped outside of a door.
"You can stay here for the night." Artemis said, turning the handle to one of Fowl Manor's numerous spare rooms.
Holly gasped. The room was huge, and what's more, there was a huge bed!
"It's King size!" Holly exclaimed with glee as she jumped on the bed and bounced on it with a slight giggle.
The elf had never had the room for anything bigger than a single bed before. Her apartment in Haven was tiny, even though the rent was steep, and her apartment with Mulch wasn't anything fancy either.
Artemis delicately raised an eyebrow and Holly stifled her laughter with an embarrassed cough.
"I presume you want to see the bathroom?" Holly nodded and Artemis led her through another door. "Each of our guest rooms has its own en suite."
"Nice" Holly said with a slight whistle, admiring the marble decorations.
"I'll leave you to it." Artemis said, turning to leave.
"Wait" said Holly, touching his arm. "I want to say thank you for allowing Mulch and I stay here tonight."
Artemis smiled. "It's no problem. I'm glad I could help."
Holly returned the smile. "I can't believe that I'm actually staying at your house willingly. If you had told me we'd be in this situation a few years ago, I would've laughed in your face!"
Artemis chuckled. "Times change, I suppose."
Holly looked into the boy's eyes, no longer cold but sparkling with humour. Times certainly had changed, and for the better. She took his hand. "I'm glad."
Artemis was slightly surprised by Holly's sudden affection. Once upon a time, Artemis Fowl and Holly Short had been arch enemies. But now, they were friends.
However, as Holly held Artemis' hand, he couldn't help feeling something else, something different. His hand tingled with an unfamiliar sensation. What was this strange feeling? Artemis blushed slightly. "Holly…" he began. But he had barely opened his mouth to continue before Holly gave an almighty sneeze.
Holly let go of his hand and the moment was gone.
"Sorry, Artemis." Holly said sheepishly. "I should probably change out of my wet clothes before I get a cold."
Artemis blushed and nodded. "I think I'll take a bath as well."
"Wait." Holly stopped Artemis again as he turned to leave. "Weren't you saying something?"
Artemis shook his head and made a dash for the door. "It's not important!" he called back, "I'll tell you later!" Artemis hurried out of her room and down the hall into his own.
-----
Ten minutes later after a hot shower had helped Artemis regain his composure; he was in his bedroom getting dressed. As he dressed, Artemis decided to listen to some music. Instead of the usual classical songs he enjoyed so much, he decided to put on a CD that Juliet had sent him from the USA. Apparently it was Indie-rock or something. Artemis thought most of the songs were unsophisticated and poorly written. However, there was one song that he liked. The lyrics…Artemis could relate to them. In fact, he thought that they described him slightly, in some strange way.
…When there's nowhere else to run,
Is there room for one more son?
…If you can hold on…
…If you can hold on…
…hold on…
…I wanna stand up, I wanna let go,
You know, you know - no you don't, you don't.
I wanna shine on in the hearts of men,
I want a meaning from the back of my broken hand…
…Another head aches, another heart breaks,
I am so much older than I can take.
And my affection, well it comes and goes,
I need direction to perfection…no no no no…
…You gotta help me out…
…and when there's nowhere else to run,
Is there room for one more son?
These changes ain't changing me,
The cold-hearted boy I used to be…
…Over and in, last call for sin
While everyone's lost, the battle is won
With all these things that I've done…
…All these things that I've done…
Without knowing it, Artemis began quietly singing along. He sat there on the edge of his bed, eyes shut and singing when there was sudden clapping from the doorway. Artemis opened his eyes and jumped up with shock. Holly was leaning on the doorframe with a huge grin on her face.
"Not bad, mudboy. You should join a boy band"
Artemis blushed but stared back insolently. "I need to get a lock on my door."
The elf laughed and sat down on the bed next to him. Artemis suddenly realised what she was wearing and it was Holly's turn to blush.
"Butler gave it to me. It's a bit big, but I've got nothing else to wear." She explained quickly.
A 'bit big' was an understatement. Butler had given Holly one of his old t-shirts that Juliet had bought him several Christmases ago. It was too small for Butler, but on the slender elf it was as big as a dress, coming down about five inches above her knees. The short sleeves came down to her elbows and one of her shoulders was visible through the massive neckline. Artemis smiled. The shirt was white with big bold writing that read 'Kiss Me, I'm Irish'.
Artemis looked away with a slight blush forming. He had never seen Holly look so…human before. Sure, her pointed ears poked through her damp hair very visibly, but… she just looked so normal. Artemis had only ever seen Holly in her LEP suits, or other clothes that were ready for action. Never all 'bare arms and legs' like this. In fact, Artemis thought she looked very beautiful, but he wasn't about to tell her that. Mulch would never let him live it down.
Caught up in the moment, Artemis muttered. "I'm sorry…"
Holly was surprised. "What for?"
Artemis looked down at the floor. "For kidnapping you. It wasn't supposed to turn out like it did." He felt rather sick. "I never meant to hurt you, or make trouble for your people. I'm truly sorry."
Holly took his hands. "Artemis, you've helped the people more than you know. Maybe we were enemies in the beginning. And Frond knows, you did make it difficult for us to like you." She smiled. "But even though it took forever, we're friends now. I forgive you for the trouble you caused the people because you've saved our asses several times to make up for it."
Artemis was still upset. "But think of all the losses we've had. Commander Root, for one. I wish I could have done something to help him."
Holly turned away, tears forming in her eyes. Artemis continued, not realising the pain he was causing Holly by mentioning Root. "And I could have helped him! If I hadn't created the C-cube then you would have had no reason to mind wipe me. Then I could have been there for you, to save him."
Holly let go of Artemis' hands and wiped her eyes. Tears were flowing freely down her cheeks. "There was nothing any of us could have done. I know, Artemis, I was there."
Artemis hadn't meant to make Holly cry. He awkwardly patted her on the back, not knowing how to comfort her. All of a sudden, she had truly burst into tears.
"He was like a father to me, did you know that?" Holly sobbed, "I lost my father when I was young. As much as Root yelled at me, I respected him. I-I…I just…" she paused and took in a shuddering breath. "I just miss him so much…"
Artemis didn't really know what to say. "I'm sure that he thought of you as his daughter. I know that he cared about you."
Holly flung her arms around Artemis' neck and cried into his shoulder. Seeing her like this almost made Artemis cry himself. Holly was such a strong person, but she did not show her emotions often. Artemis guessed that she had been keeping this sadness inside of her and now it all had to come out.
The pair sat there together for a few moments. Holly's sobbing eventually ceased but she did not let go of Artemis. "Thanks" she said, her voice muffled by Artemis' shoulder. Holly took her head off his shoulder and looked into Artemis' eyes seriously, but she did not remove her arms from his neck.
"Thanks" Holly said again. She sniffed. "I really needed that. Thankyou for listening."
Artemis was embarrassed. "It's fine."
Holly was too close, only inches from his face and it made Artemis uncomfortable. His body was tingling from her touch. She was too close... Holly moved even nearer…Artemis was paralysed…their lips were almost touching…
"Ahem." There was a loud, obvious cough from the doorway.
Holly and Artemis jumped out of each others arms as if shocked by electricity. Artemis tumbled off the bed and onto the floor, landing with an undignified thump.
Mulch winked at them from the door. "I'm terribly sorry. Am I interrupting anything?"
Artemis and Holly blushed scarlet. "No!" they replied in unison.
Artemis' heart was beating so loud he though that even the fairy people below could hear it. Had they almost kissed?
Holly was mentally cursing herself. How could she have almost let that happen? Artemis was a human, for crying out loud! It was practically illegal, if not revolting! He had caught her in a moment of vulnerability and it would not happen again.
Mulch was grinning from ear to ear. "Well if you two love birds aren't busy…" he held up three boxes of pizza, a six-pack of cola and the DVD box set of the 'Lord of the Rings'. "The rest of it's downstairs!" Mulch giggled. "Let's have a sleepover!"
Artemis groaned. "I really need a lock on my door…"
-----
"I don't want to eat anything, ever again." Mulch groaned and clutched his bulging stomach.
The three friends were lying on the carpet in front of Artemis's massive television set, with the remains of their dinner strewn around them. There were empty pizza boxes and cans of cola scattered about, four empty bowls of popcorn and loose kernels ground into the carpet, and the wrappers from two family sized blocks of chocolate.
Artemis reached out his hand as far as he could from where he was lying, but couldn't quite grasp the remote control. Lazy, full of food, and too tired to get up and grab it, Artemis reverted to using his foot and kicked the remote closer. He then flicked off the television.
They had managed to get through the entire trilogy of 'Lord of the Rings' by skipping many of the long battle scenes. Holly had stayed glued to the screen, blushing at Frodo. Even now, Holly was clutching the DVD for 'The Fellowship of the Ring' and smiling at his picture.
Artemis nudged Mulch and they both made kissing noises at Holly. She looked up and scowled at them, but she was still blushing slightly.
"Holly loves Frodo" said Mulch in an annoying sing-song voice.
"I do not!" retorted Holly
"No," said Artemis earnestly, "She doesn't love Frodo"
Holly smiled at Artemis.
"No," continued Artemis suppressing a grin, "She loves ElijahWood."
Mulch erupted in guffaws of laughter while Holly blushed again. "It's just-" Holly spluttered, "Well, he's quite good looking!"
Artemis and Mulch continued laughing at the poor elf. She continued, trying to turn the conversation back in her favour. "He's got these big blue eyes." In spite of herself, Holly started to smile dreamily. Mulch fluttered his eyelids at Artemis and they both sniggered.
Mulch poked Artemis. "You better watch out, mudboy." Mulch said with a wink, "You've got eyes just like that pretty boy. She'll be in love with you next."
Artemis laughed along with Mulch again, but couldn't help thinking that he wouldn't mind that too much…
-----------------------------------------------------
Author's notes:
The song that Artemis sings is called 'All These Things That I've Done' and it's by one of my favourite bands, 'The Killers.' I recommend that you downlo… I mean buy it, as it's a very good song!
P.S
I love Elijah Wood. But seriously, who doesn't?
