The Morning After - written by Kel

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Pippin tries to convince Merry that everything's going to be fine the morning after they share their first kiss.

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It was late.

Pippin could see the light of the morning sun through his closed eyelids, feel the warmth of it on his skin. He raised his head slightly from the pillow and opened his eyes, blinking in the bright sunlight. It had to be at least 10 o'clock.

'We should have been up hours ago. Merry's gonna freak.'

Pippin laid his head back down on the pillow, turning to lay on his side so he could regard his companion. Merry had moved away in his sleep, but he still lay tantalizingly close, close enough for Pippin to feel Merry's breath on his face. The sunlight streaming in through the windows cast a golden glow on Merry's messy curls. Combined with his peacefully sleeping face, it almost made him look angelic.

Pippin knew better, of course. Laying here, watching Merry sleep, he thought back on all the mischief they had wrought together upon unsuspecting friends and relations. Merry had been his partner in crime, both figuratively and literally, for nearly his entire life. And, Pippin hoped, encouraged by the previous night's events, Merry would soon be his partner in other things as well. He smiled.

In the trees outside the window, birds twittered and chirped as they set about their morning activities. Merry stirred at the sound. Pippin's smile fell.

'No, don't wake up. Not yet.'

After he woke, Merry would no doubt want to talk about what had happened. Pippin didn't want to talk. He didn't want to let Merry debate the pros and cons of that one sweet, wonderful kiss.

Pippin sighed in resignation as Merry opened his eyes.

"Hey, Pip," Merry said with a smile, then groaned as he squinted in the bright sunlight. "Uuuuuuuuuugh."

"Are you okay?" Pippin asked, concerned.

Merry scrubbed at his eyes with his fists. "I feel like I got dragged behind a team of ponies across Buckland."

Pippin chuckled. "Mouth full of dirt?"

Merry nodded, then winced in pain. "And eyes full of sand, and stones in my head. Ugh, I hope I don't look as bad as I feel," he said, running a hand through his hair.

'You look beautiful to me,' Pippin thought, as he watched Merry gingerly sit up in bed.

"What about you, Pip? How are you feeling?"

Pippin grinned. "Fine."

Merry's eyes widened. "Fine?"

Pippin nodded. "Uh-huh."

"No headache, no cotton mouth?"

Pippin shook his head. "Nope."

"It's not fair!" Merry whined, falling back onto the pillows. "I grew up in Buckland wine country, drinking since I was practically an infant, and a little bit of old wine knocks me on my arse. You drank more than I did last night and you're just fine."

Pippin shrugged. "Just lucky, I guess."

"I hate you," Merry moaned miserably.

"No you don't," Pippin chuckled.

"Yes, I do," Merry insisted.

"If I get you some water, will all be forgiven?"

Merry brightened. "Yes, please!"

"And you won't hate me anymore?"

Merry gave a little smile. "Pippin, if you bring me water, I will love you forever."

"Ooh, promise?" Pippin laughed, hopping down from the bed.

Pippin padded over to the bathroom. As he filled a cup from the tap, he could hear Merry mumbling from the bedroom.

"...an' ever an' ever an' ever."

Pippin smiled to himself. Maybe he had no reason to worry. Maybe he and Merry would forgo "the talk" and go straight back to kissing. After all, what was there to talk about? Merry's lips said so much more when they were pressed against his.

When he returned to the bedroom, Merry was sitting back up in bed, rubbing his eyes. Pippin sat beside Merry on the bed, offering him the glass.

Merry gulped greedily at the water, sighing heavily as he set the empty glass on the bedside table. Pippin watched him hopefully, searching Merry's face for any signs of what might happen next. Neither spoke for several moments.

"So," Merry finally said, "it's kind of late."

"Yeah," Pippin answered sheepishly. "I didn't know if you wanted to get up early or what."

Merry shrugged. "Eh, it's okay. We can take it easy this morning."

Pippin nodded. "Okay. Sounds good to me."

Merry looked at Pippin. "So."

Pippin raised his eyebrows. "So?"

Merry chuckled weakly, then took a deep breath.

Pippin held his breath, his stomach churning with dread. 'Oh no, here it comes.'

"So, Pip, about last night..."

"...we need to talk," Pippin said in unison with Merry.

Merry laughed. "I'm that predictable?"

Pippin took advantage of the opening. "I know exactly what you're going to say, Merry. You're going to say that we need to think about this. That it was a mistake. That we were drunk and it was only the wine. That we never would have done it sober. But it WASN'T just the wine, Merry! What happened was real and wonderful. I FELT it. Didn't you feel it?"

"Pippin-"

"Wait, let me finish," Pippin interrupted. "Maybe I wouldn't have kissed you if I wasn't drunk, but that doesn't mean I never WANTED to! Maybe the wine gave me the courage I needed to show you how I REALLY felt!"

"Pippin-"

Pippin's voice grew louder as he continued, "And maybe it was a stupid thing for me to do, because maybe now you think I'm some sick weirdo. Maybe I put our friendship at risk by kissing you. Maybe now you'll ask me to leave and not talk to you anymore. I know we probably can't go back to the way things were, but you know what? I'm GLAD I did it, Merry. I'm GLAD I took the risk. I CARE about you, Merry. I care about you A LOT. That's WHY I kissed you. And I think, you care about me, too, and that's why you kissed me back. ISN'T IT?"

"PIPPIN!"

For the first time, Pippin noticed that Merry's eyes were closed and he was wincing in pain. "What's wrong?" he asked, suddenly worried more about his friend than his own confession. Merry looked awfully pale.

"Could you please lower your voice?" Merry pleaded, frowning as he rubbed at his temples. "When you yell at me like that, it feels like you're stabbing my head with ice picks."

"I was yelling?" Pippin asked, surprised.

Merry smiled, though his face was still pained. "You were yelling, Pip." He opened his eyes. "But you didn't need to. I got your point."

Pippin lowered his head bashfully.

"Do I get to talk now?"

Pippin nodded, still chagrined. "Sure."

Merry took another deep breath. "What I was trying to say was that last night was-" He stopped suddenly.

Pippin looked up. "Merry?" He put a hand on Merry's arm, worried at how cold and clammy the skin felt.

Without saying a word, Merry climbed down from the bed and hastily left the room. A moment later, Pippin heard the unmistakable sound of retching from the bathroom.

'Last night was what? Awful? Horrifying? So terrible that the mere thought of it made me vomit in disgust?' Pippin fretted as he heard the sound of the bathroom faucet.

Pippin pushed his anxiety aside and smiled sympathetically as Merry trudged back into the bedroom. "Are you going to be okay?" Pippin asked.

Merry sighed wearily. "I'll survive." He settled back on the bed. "What were we talking about?"

"About last night..." Pippin said, trying not to sound too eager and failing miserably.

Merry smiled. "That's right. Last night...last night was really..." He looked at Pippin and blushed. "It was nice."

"Nice?" Pippin repeated.

"Well," Merry chuckled sheepishly, "Better than nice."

"Really?"

"Yes, Pippin. Really."

"Really?"

Merry laughed and leaned over to kiss Pippin softly on the mouth. Pippin tasted toothpaste, minty-cool on Merry's lips. His heart raced as he felt another surge of electricity race through his body, even more intense than the one he felt the previous night.

"Really," Merry said as he pulled away, smiling.

...