A/N: A huge thank you to everyone who decided to follow this story after last chapter, I'm not even going to pretend that it didn't have me on cloud nine! I would give you all hugs if I could but, since I can't, maybe this new chapter will do instead! I am going to try and get new chapters out within 10 days of each other (hopefulllyyy I can make that happen). However, the more love you guys give me in follows/reviews, the faster I will try and get chapters out. Okay? Okay! As always, Legolas and any characters, settings, ideas, etc. from the actual LOTR are not mine, though I may wish they were. They are Tolkien's incredible work and he deserves all credit and more for them. The rest of the characters, however, are mine. But if you like them, feel free to let me know or to follow along with the story! Thanks guys! Enjoy! 3
Chapter 4
It was the dead of winter, snow falling, the creek just up the road from the Old Oak clogged with ice and struggling to trickle its way down the slope of the hill that their, by all outside appearances, quaint little pub sat on. It couldn't have been more than 45 degrees outside, 50 at most. And yet, Legolas was sitting on a curb outside trying to pretend that he wasn't slightly worried that his ass would never regain feeling. It had gone numb hours ago from sitting on the cold concrete, but he was doing his best to pay it no mind. All he wanted to think about was the girl sitting beside him, staring at the stars with eyes that seemed to want to count each and every one.
He would gladly give up his life to become one of those stars if it meant she would give him one brief moment of her undivided attention while she counted him. He knew how ridiculous it would sound if he told anyone, especially Reinin, but he was falling for her more and more with each passing second. He was in love, falling and falling, but as long as it was for her he wouldn't mind falling for the rest of his eternity. She made everything seem okay, seem right. She filled that empty place in him, the one that he had always hated feeling. And honestly, he had never realized just how big that empty place had been until now. He wanted her to never leave his side. There was only one problem…
"Will you please tell me your name now," he asked her once again, his head lolling to the side to face her. It had been hours of talking and teasing and laughs that never seemed to end, but she refused to tell him her name.
"Why does it matter so much," she said, turning her attention back to him and his stomach began to flutter once more. She had this way of making him feel like a little kid. He was a grown man who had been alive for millennia and yet, she made him feel like a teenager who finally realizes that girls are beautiful and not cootie ridden. "'Cause I'd like to know what name to call you when I beg for mercy for doing this," he chuckled, his words coming out in a rush as he grabbed the too big beanie off her head and rolled over backwards to his feet, stepping just out of reach. "Hey!" She called after him, picking herself off the concrete and cupping the tips of her ears with her hands. As she chased him down the sidewalk and towards the city lights Legolas couldn't help but laugh. He felt fully alive at last.
He dared a glance over his shoulder to find that the powder white mess of hair had disappeared from view. Panic began to flood his system. "Hello," he hollered into the night. If anything had happened to her he would never forgive himself. "Where did you go," he asked to the emptiness around him. "Dammit," he cursed under his breath as he began running back the way he had come, "this is why I need to know your name, so I can call for you, so I can find you." As he passed by a tree he caught a flash of white out of the corner of his eye, but it was too late. She slammed into his side, nearly knocking him off his feet, as she grabbed for her hat. "Oh no you don't," he chuckled holding fast to the soft fabric in his hand.
"I swear to God I'll bite you," she said through teeth clenched in the effort of her struggle. "No you won't," he smiled in reply. She was strong, eliel strong, but he was stronger, and he wasn't going to give up. She looked up at him before placing her mouth around the flesh of his hand, a whisper of a kiss on his skin. "Still think I won't," she threatened once again, words muffled by his hand. He cocked an eye brow at her in amusement, trying not to laugh. As her teeth bit down he jumped back, releasing the hat. "You bit me!" All amusement slipped from his face, leaving only shock. She had actually bitten him. He had called a bluff that wasn't there. She had more guts than he had thought. No other girl would ever have done that to him; they were too busy trying to impress him. A huge grin graced his face as she pulled her beanie low past her ears once more. There was no denying it, she was something else.
A blush flared across her cheeks, "maybe we should get back, we've been out here a long time. I wouldn't doubt if everyone else at the bar has gone home already, our friends included, and they've closed the place down for the night. Legolas opened his mouth before biting his tongue. He figured the fact that he owned the bar might do better to remain his little secret, at least for the moment. "You're probably right," he said, trying to keep a mischievous smile from making its way to his face.
As they walked up the sidewalk, Legolas couldn't help but steal glances at her; the corners of his mouth hitching up in a smile when he realized she was doing the same. Maybe I have a chance with this girl after all, he thought to himself, daring to hope that this white haired girl with the silver eyes might actually be falling for him too. He focused on her with his peripheral vision, purposely glancing at her when tried to sneak a look at him. Her body made a small, surprised jump as she quickly looked away, her embarrassment at being caught painting itself on her cheeks in that delicious pink just for him.
When they got to the bar the door was, as she had predicted, locked and the lights were out. Legolas frowned, his lips almost pouting. It was unlike Reinin to lock up when he knew Legolas was out. This usually only happened when Reinin got mad at him and, with that thought, Legolas had to face the reality that maybe Reinin was kind of upset with him. He had every right to be. He had disappeared and ditched him with not only running the bar, but cleaning and locking up, not to mention any unruly customers that may have been there that night – they had been having a lot of those lately for some reason. Legolas sighed, he was having such a great night, the last thing he wanted was to walk into a fight with Reinin, but come what may, it would be worth it.
"Any way you can call me a cab," her voice ringing like music, "I don' really want to walk home alone and I kinda left my cell phone in my jacket which is….kinda inside." Her pink cheeks turned even darker and he felt a blush rise to his own at the sight. "Um, yeah, just let me grab my phone," he said, unlocking the door to the bar and closing it behind him. She stared at him through the small arched window in the door, jaw slightly parted and eyes wide. "Wait…what?" she choked out through her confusion as she pushed the door open and stepped inside. Legolas handed her her coat and picked his cell phone up off the counter, pretending to dial.
She snatched the phone from his hand and shove him playfully, a full on grin on her face. "You have a key? What is that about, do you work here or are friends with the guy who owns it or what? What's that about?" she asked again. "I'll only tell you if you tell me your name," Legolas smirked. "It's embarrassing," she said placing his phone back in his hand, her fingers brushing his sending a warmth throughout his body. "It can't be any worse than mine," he replied, watching his fingers trail over her thumb, her hand still resting on the cool metal of the phone. She took a few steps back and began walking around the bar, her hand running lovingly over the tables and chairs. "My name is Mythrilyn. It's from the word Mythril. Like the metal," she clarified. "My parents like to say that they chose it because they were really into Lord of the Rings. That and, you know, white hair at birth. The name kind of suited the color scheme I guess. But Middle Earth was practically my childhood," she whispered, suddenly shy.
Now Legolas was starting to get confused. She knew…didn't she? He wondered to himself, trying to solve the puzzle she had just created for him. Was she pretending because she thought he didn't know? Maybe she really didn't know. But he had been so sure that she had.
"What about you? You said yours was worse…beat that." The words may have been a challenge, but it was one she obviously expected him to fail. She still wouldn't look at him and he could tell that her name was obviously a sore spot for her. All he wanted was to see that smile again. "I still have you beat," he said as he silently crossed the room to her. "My name is Legolas," he whispered, as he came to stand beside her. The room was so quiet without the normal laughter and music that the moment seemed to stretch on forever. She turned to face him and he was surprised to see a grin on her face from ear to ear. "Get out of here, you're lying," she said playfully shoving him once more. "Dead serious," he replied, her infectious smile causing one to bloom on his lips. Her laughter bubbled out of her like a fountain, happy and lively. "I guess we really are in the same boat, huh? You know something, you kind of look like him too. You even do your hair the same way," she giggled as she tugged on one of his warrior braids.
Their eyes met, a silver moon reflecting in the midnight blue star field. And just like that they were alone together in their secret place, on their own wavelength that no one else knew about. He wondered how long she would let him stare into her eyes like this before getting creeped out. He hoped forever, he wanted to get lost in her eyes and just spend the rest of the night with her, right here in the middle of the bar. He would do anything to keep her from leaving his side for a second.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a knock on the window jolted them both back to reality. "Yo, Rilyn. Are you in there? And don't even think about lying to me, 'cause I saw you go in." Mythrilyn bit her bottom lip as she stared at the door. "I should go, she won't be happy if I keep her waiting much longer. Although I'm kinda surprised she even stuck around this long," she chirped, a small laugh chasing her words.
"Rilyn?" Legolas asked as he walked her to the door. She looked up at him and smiled and his stomach began the maddeningly wonderful butterfly assault again. Honestly, he was starting to really like the feeling. She nodded, "yeah I prefer to go by Rilyn. It's shorter, plus not so dorky sounding. No matter how you look at it Mythril is kind of a nerdy thing to be named after. It saves me a lot of grief to just go with Rilyn," she said with a shrug. "I think it's beautiful either way," Legolas whispered to her as he opened the door, one last little secret between the two of them.
The door swung open to reveal a young woman leaning against the door frame. She was short but thin with long deep brown curls that made her golden cat eyes almost glow against her bronze complexion. The quizzical look she gave Legolas as she took Rilyn's hand made Legolas feel uneasy, as if she were silently evaluating and judging him with those eyes. "Come on Rilyn, let's go home," she said as she started to walk down the street, a reluctant Rilyn in tow. Legolas sighed as he moved to close the door, but stopped when he heard his name.
"Legolas!" Rilyn called behind her as she half dragged her friend back towards the bar. "You never did tell me about the key," she yelled, the corners of her mouth turned up in the ghost of a smile. "I will," he called back, not even bothering to hide the smile that was making his face hurt. "Next Friday night. Meet me here. I'll tell you anything you want to know. After all, you did tell me your big secret," he said with a wink. She gave him one last smile before allowing herself to be dragged down the hill towards town. And with that…she was gone.
As he walked up the hidden stair case to the apartment Legolas was agonizingly aware of the emptiness that had returned. Rilyn had left, and he suddenly felt like he was more alone than ever. The hole inside of him seemed miles wide. He stopped just before the last stair and leaned against the wall. The cold of the brick felt good against his face, still warm from the blood she had kept bringing to his cheeks. Legolas sighed as he imagined her face, her soft smile gracing her lips. He thought of her laugh, the most beautiful thing he had ever heard. Better than monks chanting, or a million ocean waves; even better than the music he had loved so much in Middle Earth. "I know it's stupid," he whispered into the darkness of the stairwell, "but I miss you."
He let out one more sigh before unlocking the apartment door. Please, please, please don't let him hear me, he prayed silently as he moved with stealth that only an elf could achieve. Just as the door offered him just enough room to sneak through the lights flipped on, flooding his vision with an intensity he had become unaccustomed to since leaving the bar earlier that night. Legolas hung his head, he should have known better, Reinin was worse than his father had ever been about catching him when he had done something he 'wasn't supposed to'.
"Where the hell did you go man?" Reinin yelled as he got up from the kitchen counter. "I really needed you tonight. Did you know we had three different fights tonight?" Reinin questioned. As Legolas opened his mouth to respond he was cut off before the words even had a chance to hit his lips. "Of course you didn't! Because you were God knows where with that chick. Dude, she could have killed you! I don't know her, you don't know her. If anything had happened to you, you know I couldn't forgive myself. Just because the rein of the elves is over, it doesn't mean that I don't still consider you my prince. I can't protect you if you just take off like that on me, you asshole!" Legolas' breath hitched in his throat as Reinin's face came into view under the lights. His left eye was swollen shut, watering and purple. His lip was caked with dry blood in the corner. He was so disheveled he looked like he had been tossed through a dryer on high speed, or you know, gotten into a fight with an orc.
Legolas couldn't believe the sight before his eyes. "What happened to you," he asked, his concern causing his instincts to kick in and turn his usual English into Sindarin, like hitting the reset button on a toy. "Don't change the subject…or the language," Reinin said gruffly, his usually silky voice had become hard with anger, a hint of some unnamed cross between accents touching his English. "This is about you, not me. One: You know I don't like it when you just take off like that. 2: This happened because you bailed on me and left me to deal with three different fights on my own, although I would like to point out that the other guy looks a helluva lot worse so I consider it a win – point me," Reinin's words came out in a steady stream and Legolas couldn't help but smile, even when he was mad or hurt Reinin always went for the laugh. "And three: bro's before hoes man."
Legolas felt his smile drop. He felt angry. More than angry, he wanted to punch Reinin in his good eye. Had he really just called Rilyn a whore? Legolas took a shaky breath as he tried to keep his emotions in check. It was so unlike him to get this worked up over anything, especially 'bro's before hoes'. The two had picked the saying up years ago and had used it often, but it had never made Legolas feel so personally insulted before. He couldn't believe that he was feeling this way and, as much as he knew he loved her, over a girl he just met. Yes, he loved her, he wanted nothing more than to be with her right now, but Reinin was like a brother to him. He was his best friend. He forced himself to bite his tongue, the pain a reminder to watch what he said next.
"One," he said, his voice shaking, "I'm sorry I took off like that. I shouldn't have left you alone running the bar. I've been doing that a lot lately and if I was gonna be in my own head I should have been helping to make up for the time when I'm not all there." So far so good, he thought to himself as Reinin nodded quietly. "Two," he whispered as he licked his lips, his nerves starting to get to him, "I owe you big time for taking a beating. Whatever you want Rein, you can beat the shit out of me for all I care. There's no excuse for me not having your back tonight. I'm your best friend and I'm supposed to back you up in a fight. So I owe you one." Reinin frowned, "One and a half douche bag. This guy messed up my pretty face," he joked, his sassy attitude returning. "How am supposed to please the ladies with my face like this? Or you for that matter," he said with a wink of his good eye that turned out looking more like a blink with his other eye swollen shut. Legolas burst into laughter as he clapped Reinin on the shoulder and pulled him into a hug. "I hate to break it to you man, but you can't please me even with your 'pretty face'," he chuckled as he took a step back, a grin from ear to ear on both of their faces.
"Okay, so there's one and two," Reinin edged, "now what about three?" Legolas tried not to let his smile falter; he knew it couldn't be that easy. Of course he was going to have to respond to three. "Three," he replied, his nerves acting up once again, " You're my brother and I will always do my best to put you first…except for maybe this Friday when I invited her over," he said spitting the words out like hot coals. Legolas stared at the floor, trying to avoid the 'I hate your fucking guts' look that Reinin was no doubt giving him. "Remember when you said I could beat the shit out of you," Reinin asked. Legolas took a deep breath, "uhuh." Reinin forced his way into Legolas' field of vision. "If you don't get your ass to your room right now, I will beat the shit out of your sorry ass. And then even the guy who messed up my face is going to look better than you," Reinin whispered in a tone that made Legolas' blood run cold.
As he shut his bedroom door behind him, Legolas felt like a mess. Was he really about to mess up his relationship with his best friend in the whole world over a girl he had just met? A girl that, for all he knew, didn't even feel that same way about him. Would Reinin still be mad in the morning? Reinin was the nicest guy in the world, as long as you didn't make an enemy out of him. If Reinin had it out for you he would make your life miserable. Usually in prank form, but occasionally with violence. Legolas had seen the outcome of that a few times and it was never pretty. During the Middle Earth era he would kill the people that he who made an enemy of him, nowadays, since they were trying to lay low, he figured just beating them to a pulp was close enough. Reinin had been a whole different person during the time of Middle Earth. Ruthless. Dangerous. He had learned to control that so much better now, but it had been a long journey to get to this point and occasionally he did still lose that control, but for the most part the guy was a saint. He didn't want to lose him.
As Legolas flopped onto his bed he kept replaying their conversation in his head. He kept coming back to one thing: for thinking of me as his prince he sure has no trouble bossing me around. He smiled at the thought. That was Reinin for you. Best friend, brother, advisor, gentleman, badass, and borderline parent. With any luck, come morning, all will be forgiven, he thought to himself as he shut his eyes and pictured Rilyn's snow fall of hair and the pink of her cheeks as she blushed. He tried and tried to find the right name for that color. Over and over he imagined it until, finally, he was asleep and all was quiet in his head. Just a sea of nothingness and peace in his unconsciousness.
Reinin sank down into the couch, a bottle of vodka in his hand. He usually tried to avoid the stronger drinks, but tonight he didn't care. What the hell was happening? He felt bad for yelling at Legolas but he knew he had deserved it. Reinin had spent all night freaking out about what might happen between Legolas and Beanie Girl. He had thought that maybe one of them might hurt the other. At first he had just been worried about one of them killing the other but then it hit him that things could wind up much worse than that. At least one of them stabbing each other or something would be quick. What had concerned him the most, once he recognized it as a possibility, was that maybe Legolas would fall in love with her. What if he did? What if they bonded and she didn't care about him? What if she left him? Or worse, she was a mortal. What would happen if she loved him back and they lived out her days together? Eventually she would die and Legolas would fade into nothing. He would die slowly and the thought of having to watch his best friend deteriorate out of grief was just too much. No way, Reinin thought shaking his head as he took another gulp of the burning liquid. He couldn't watch Legolas suffer like that.
Reinin sighed as he clutched the bottle to his chest, cuddling it like a teddy bear. What was he going to do?
Rilyn laughed as Rina explained her hectic night trying to find where she and Legolas had taken off too. "I swear," she called from the bathroom, "I started climbing tree's and everything looking for you. You know how hard that is for me." At roughly four foot nine it really was quite a sight to watch Rina try and climb a tree. It looked like something out of a comic strip; struggled to get two feet up to slip back down by an entire foot. "So?" She asked, leaning against the bathroom door. "Glad I dragged you out tonight?" Rilyn couldn't hold back the smile already creeping to her face. "Okay yes," she giggled out, "it was completely worth going." It may have only been because she lost a bet with Rina, but going to the Old Oak had been the best night of her life. She had met Legolas. Someone that seemed to not care that she looked a little different or that she was shy. He had been willing to take the time to get her to open up, granted that had also been because of Rina.
Rilyn had lost a bet to Rina at work a few months earlier and so she had, rather unhappily, gotten dressed that night. Rina had picked her up just before eight and they were at the bar before nine. After hours of staring at the man with flawless ivory skin and the pale locks partially braided back Rina had made a bet with her once again and, again, she had lost. She couldn't help but feel like she recognized him. Like she knew him in a time long ago. She had gone up to him unsure of herself, of what she would say and what he would do. She had been so scared. Thinking back on it now she smiled, she had been scared that he wouldn't like her.
She never really cared about what others, except maybe Rina, thought about her. But she had wanted him to like her. Something about him just seemed so familiar. As she had gotten closer she felt less nervous, she knew he was something special. She had thought about turning back several times, but she just couldn't. She wanted to be near him. She had felt so silly, things like that only happened in movies. But she had kept moving anyways and the second her fingers brushed his pointed ears, ear just like hers, she knew this was where she needed to be. She wasn't nervous or scared at all anymore. She was supposed to meet him; for one reason or another he was going to be important in her life.
She smiled as she watched Rina unlace her boots. "Thank you for tonight Rina," she said quietly. And she really did mean it. Rina glanced up at her, shrugging her shoulders, "not a problem Rilyn. That's what I'm here for. So Mr. Blue Eyes…you going to see him again?" Rilyn's stomach flip flopped and ghost of a giggle found its way out of her lungs. "Oh come on," Rina prodded, "you know you're gonna go on Friday." Rilyn smiled softly. Yes, she thought to herself, she most definitely was going on Friday.
A/N (Again): So I am debating doing an accompanying one shot/ extra chapter that deals with these 'bets' and the mischief that happened there…any thoughts? Please and thank you guys! You are awesome!
