A/N: I'm back! As promised, a very short wait! Here is the next chapter for you!

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justme- your review made my night! Aragorn did enjoy it too and he will stop being in denial soon. hopefully. If he cooperates, which, somehow, Aragorn never does. *sigh*. I'm glad you are enjoying it and I will keep updating!

Merry was just falling asleep, his pillow wet with tears, when he heard a pounding at his door. Great, he thought. Someone else who hates me. Wiping his eyes as best as he could, he pulled open the door, not sure what to expect. What he saw, however, was something he wouldn't have thought he would ever see.

Legolas was standing in his doorway, his face covered in tears, his face contorted with anger, remorse, and depression. He opened his mouth, clearly ready to shout at Merry, but upon seeing that Merry didn't look much better than he did at the moment, he stopped.

"Are you okay, Merry?" he said, instantly concerned despite his previous anger.

Merry laughed hollowly. "Why should you care?"

"Because, Merry, I'm your friend, like it or not. Friends are there for each other. Now can I come in while you tell me what's wrong?"

"Only if you tell me what's wrong with you too," Merry said, pulling the door wider to allow Legolas to enter.

Legolas came in, sitting down at the small table and chairs in the room. Merry, after closing the door, joined him.

"So what's going on?" Legolas asked gently.

"First, well, I wanted to apologize. I never, ever meant for things to go so far between you and Aragorn. We only wanted to have some fun. Something like that... I never would have invited you two in to drink if I had known."

"Don't worry about it, Merry. We'll talk about me later," Legolas said, his voice tightening. "For now, we are talking about you."

"I don't know where to start," Merry said, his eyes filling with tears. "After that night, I started to discover, well, some feelings I didn't know I had. And they really complicated things for me."

Legolas nodded. "These feelings aren't about young master Peregrin, are they?" Merry looked at him, shocked. "Come on, Merry, I may have been part drunk but I'm still observant. I saw the way you were acting around him, and I don't think it was just the drink." Merry's entire face flushed red, from his cheeks to his ears. "I thought so," Legolas smiled. "There's nothing wrong with that, Merry."

"But we're cousins!" Merry protested.

Legolas shrugged. "With love, I don't think it matters. Some people may say differently, but I have always thought that as long as people are happy, it doesn't matter if they are related or not."

Merry seemed a little more comfortable about that, but still miserable.

"You are worried, I would assume, that he does not feel the same way." Legolas continued.

Merry nodded. "He seemed to like kissing Frodo... a lot. I don't know if it was because he was drunk - I mean we all know it's not the first time - but still. He and Frodo have always been close, and, well, let's face it- Frodo's better than me at everything anyways."

Legolas was shocked. Merry honestly felt that way? "Merry, don't be so hard on yourself! What do you mean?"

"Well, back home, everyone pays attention to Frodo. They all care about him, he has tons of friends, and even more admirers, if at all possible. He's way better-looking than me and way smarter, and with him being the Ringbearer and all, I mean, who *wouldn't* choose him over me?"

Legolas was temporarily stunned. "Merry. Please. I can't speak on behalf of Pippin's feelings, but I do know for sure that you have a chance. I can see it in his eyes, the way he admires you. It was you that he went through danger after danger with on that quest, and it was you that he always seemed to worry over more than anyone else. And according to Gandalf, the look in his eyes after he took him away from you in Rohan was heartbreaking. He also told me that Pippin cried for nights in Minas Tirith because you weren't there, and because he was worried for you. Pippin cares for you a lot. In what way, I'm not sure, but don't give up so easily."

Merry smiled. "Thank you, Legolas. I would definitely like some more help with this, but for now, we should talk about you."

Legolas closed his eyes and sighed. "It's complicated. We don't need to go into it," he said, trying in vain to get out of it.

"Oh please, Legolas. I know there is something bothering you, and it definitely has to do with that night. And the only thing you really did that night, was, well, with Aragorn. So would I be correct to assume that it has something to do with him?"

Legolas vowed to never underestimate a hobbit's perceptive abilities again. "Yes, it's about Aragorn."

Merry nodded. "Have you talked to him since the game?"

Legolas avoided looking at Merry. "I was up at his rooms just before I came down here," he said slowly, trying not to let his voice give away anything.

"Really? What did he say?"

"It's what he didn't say. He slammed the door in my face, Merry."

Dead silence. *cricket* *cricket*

"Oh, Eru," Merry said despairingly, covering his face with his hands and turning away from Legolas. "I've gone and messed everything up between you two! What if he never talks to you again! It would be my fault, mine!"

"Merry," Legolas said quietly, "not helping."

"I'm so, so sorry," Merry whispered. Then he turned back to face Legolas, taking deep breaths to calm himself. "Well, the first step to fixing this is to find out what needs to be fixed. So what exactly would that be?"

"We were friends. Friends do not do the type of things to each other that I did to him that night. I would never have done it if not for the drink-" Then he stopped guiltily, clearing his throat and avoiding Merry's gaze.

"Legolas, you can tell me," Merry said. "Honestly, I just informed you that I'm in love with my cousin. There is not anything that you could say to me that I would find weird."

Legolas looked up. "Well, you do have a point," he admitted. "Fine. I like Aragorn. A lot. More than a friend. But he is married, he likes females, I messed everything up anyways, and he will probably never even talk to me again."

Merry looked at him incredulously. "You think you don't have any chance with him? Before the incident, you two were so close. You were best friends. The way he would look at you, so trustingly, someone who didn't know he was married might have thought that you two were together. He would have followed you anywhere, done anything at all to save you if you were in danger, and he trusted you with his life above anyone else. And he still would. Because even if you think that he hates you, he is probably just ashamed and humiliated right now. Think about it. The King of Gondor, the *married* King of Gondor, was drunk, kissing elves and hobbits. He just needs some time with Arwen, is all. He doesn't want her to think that he is leaving her. After that is established, and you two talk for a while, things will be back to normal." Elbereth, who knew? That was almost...poetic. And Merry sounded so convincing...

"I guess so. 'Back to normal' is about the best I can hope for."

"Oh, I never said it would stop at normal," Merry grinned. "Who knows? Anything can happen, right? He might decide that he liked kissing you. Just giving it time is the best I can suggest."

Legolas blushed and smiled. "Thank you, Merry. I feel much, much better. Now, like you said, I will give it time. When Aragorn is ready to talk to me, I will talk to him. But in the meantime, I think we need to find out how Pippin feels about you."

It was Merry's turn to blush.

A/N: I'm sorry that nothing much happened in this chapter, but this needed to be written, so...here it is! Let me know what you think, even if you hate it! Also, it will probably be four or five days until I can update it again:/ sorry for the wait!