Writing this chapter made me nostalgic for homecoming, football games at school, and just fall in general. But then I realized: fall means school and school means no sleep, so then I felt a little better about it not being fall yet. My junior year starts in 2 weeks and although I'm happy to not feel like a sweaty gross hot monster every day, I don't want school to start. These are the problems of my life.
Anyway, I don't own LOTR, Ugg boots, North Face jackets, Snickers, or Starbucks.
The Friday of the homecoming game arrived quicker than Aragorn had ever expected. The week after they had spread the word was a blur. A crazy, gossipy, romance-filled blur. Rumors of the mysterious dance floated through school, Aragorn and his friends pretending that they knew nothing more than anyone else (although when they were in private Boromir was proud and boastful). Secret romances budded, flowers being left in lockers and girls searching for the perfect dress on their smart phones after class let out, certain that it would impress their date. Groups of singles planned dinners before the dance and called dibs on back-up homecoming dates jokingly. And when Sauron or Saruman passed, everyone was smart enough to quickly change the subject, leaving no trace of their dance behind.
After parking his car across the street at Starbucks, Aragorn hurried back over to the stadium, keeping a keen eye peeled for any of his friends. Crowds of kids pushed their way up to the front gates, digging out cash for their tickets and dodging cheerleaders armed with face paints. It was a chilly night, but not cold enough for the girls to don their North Faces and Ugg boots or the hipsters to dig out their toboggan hats. Instead, everyone donned Arnor High sweatshirts and jeans, pulling their hoods up over their chilly ears and shoving their hands into the oversized pockets.
"Hey, man!" Aragorn turned to see Legolas and Gimli standing behind the chain link fence together.
"Hey, guys. Let me just pay for my ticket and I'll meet you inside. Is anyone else here?" he asked, a bit put off by their new friendship.
"Frodo's with the band and Sam's working the concession stand, but Merry and Pippin are saving our seats," Legolas answered after taking a long sip of his soda.
Aragorn fished out a five dollar bill and turned it in for a ticket. After the lady tore off the stub and gave it to him, he hurried around to where the pair was standing and waiting inside the stadium.
"Have you seen Boromir yet?" Gimli asked as they walked, munching on his popcorn as he spoke.
"Not yet. He told me he was picking someone up so he was gonna be late," Aragorn answered.
They wove their way through the groups of people scattered in the thin path between the bleachers and the fence. Freshmen stood off to the side precariously and parents randomly stopped in the middle of the walk to chat, much to the annoyance of the jostling students. After what seemed like an eternity of pushing and being pushed, stopping erratically and sprinting past stopped groups, the three finally arrived at the student section, where Merry and Pippin were saving plenty of room for the resistance.
"Hey you guys!" Pippin called, immediately diving into the popcorn Gimli brought. Merry rose to his feet too, jumping up to the empty bleacher above them that they had been saving.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" The signature booming voice of Mr. Theoden, a history teacher and the school's football announcer echoed off of the stadium walls. "Welcome to Arnor High School's homecoming game!"
The stadium erupted into cheers, banging cowbells and waving forest green towels in answer to Theoden.
"Tonight, our very own Arnor Rangers face…" he trailed off for a moment, and through the glass of the press box Aragorn could vaguely make out the discomfort and confusion on his face. "…the Isengard High Crebain!"
Everyone on the Arnor side of the stadium howled with rage and shook their towels angrily in Isengard's direction. Aragorn squinted in the din of the stadium lights and was surprised to see Saruman behind Theoden, whispering with his golden voice into his ear.
"Hey, Legolas, look at that," he pointed towards the press box and turned his friend around to see.
But as he and Legolas turned around again to observe the press box, a familiar blonde caught his eye. But it wasn't the blonde's presence that confused him, it was the chestnut-haired girl behind him, wearing a warm smile and hurrying towards him with open arms.
"Arwen?" he breathed, causing his friends to turn around in wonder to lay eyes on Aragorn's elusive girlfriend.
He rushed towards her, pushing through the bleachers to grab her from the crowd in the aisle, wrapping his arms around her waist and leaning down for a deep, long kiss. His friends snickered and whistled behind them, but he didn't care. When they finally broke apart, Aragorn tenderly brushed a strand of hair out of her face and turned to Boromir, still keeping one arm wrapped around Arwen's waist.
"What?" The blonde shrugged. "You're always talking about her, so I figured I'd pick her up so you could see her. What are friends for?"
"Yeah. What are friends for," he repeated, smiling as he said it.
The three clambered up the bleachers to where the other were waiting and turned their attention to the kickoff. Elladan was currently charging for the ball, ramming full speed towards it and slamming his foot into it, sending it flying through the darkened sky and towards the Crebain's quarterback.
"So, how are things at Imladris?" Legolas asked Arwen.
She shrugged indifferently, "Not bad, I guess. I'm always missing you guys, though, despite all my friends there."
"Well, we miss you too, Arwen!" Pippin assured her, earning a surprised look from her.
"Oh, uh, that's Pippin. He's a little…" Aragorn trailed off, looking for the right word.
"Fun? Amazing? Sexy? Hilarious?" Pippin filled in, grinning cheekily at the couple.
"Right," Merry rolled his eyes and snatched some more popcorn from the bucket. He turned to Arwen, "I'm Merry, by the way and I may as well apologize in advance for Pippin."
Pippin promptly tackled the other freshmen and Arwen laughed, "How come I've never met them before, Estel?"
"I've only met them this year," Aragorn explained. "It's been interesting. I'll catch you up on our resistance stuff later."
Arwen cocked an eyebrow at him in confusion, "What resist—"
The stadium erupted into cheers as Elrohir crossed into the touchdown zone, spiking the ball onto the ground and raising his arms in victory towards the Arnor bleachers.
"YES!" Boromir cheered, high-fiving Merry and Pippin, his grin broad and proud.
"Touchdown for the Arnor side!" Theoden recapped, his voice slightly duller than before. "That brings the score to six, zero, Rangers!"
"Theoden sounds different," Arwen observed.
"That's what I thought too," Aragorn answered. "I wonder what it is."
"Maybe he's just not feeling himself," Legolas mused.
"Yeah, that's probably it," Gimli agreed. "Now can we just enjoy the game without thinking every little thing is a plot by Sauron or Saruman?"
After laughing at the wrestler's perpetual grumpiness, Aragorn had to admit that he was right. For now, they were winning the battle against the administration. Homecoming was tomorrow night and all was right in his world. Now was the time to celebrate and relax, because for now their job was done.
"And that wraps up the second quarter, with the score at 32-26 Crebain!" Theoden announced. From where Aragorn stood in the concession line, he could see Theoden's bored, disconnected expression. Although Saruman was gone, the greasy-haired man from the main office that first day was there now.
"Damn. Can't believe we're losing," Gimli muttered, kicking at an empty, trampled cup defeatedly.
"I can," Boromir rolled his eyes. "Elladan and Elrohir are awful."
"They've scored like three times this game," Legolas argued. "And you cheered for them when they first scored."
Boromir opened his mouth to argue again, but was cut off when Frodo hurried over, grinning broadly, but looking tired and sweaty in his marching band uniform. It was a rather awkward forest green jacket, lined with silver on the cuffs and shoulder pads.
"Frodo? What are you doing here?" Aragorn asked incredulously.
"It's the band's third quarter break," Frodo explained, his eyes wandering to where Aragorn had his arm wrapped around Arwen. They widened upon realization and then his features formed into a smile. "So I'm guessing you're Arwen? Unless you're that other girl Eowyn?"
Arwen's smile fell and she turned to Aragorn with mock anger (or at least he hoped it was mock). "Who's Eowyn?"
Aragorn shot Frodo a glare of pure, unbridled anger, "She's just some sophomore with a crush on me. Her brother, Eomer, you know him, plays soccer with me."
"And me!" Boromir put in, earning him another stone-cold Aragorn glare. Clearing his throat, he continued, "Trust him, Arwen, there's no Eowyn."
"Well, there is, but he's just not dating her," Gimli finished.
"Okay, thanks, you guys!" Aragorn said hastily, rubbing his temple with one hand.
"Having problems, Strider?" Sam asked as they stepped up to the counter.
"The usual," he answered, but he smiled as he spoke. "Can I have, uh, two sodas, some M'n'Ms, a Snickers, more popcorn for Merry and Pippin, and…Sam are you even listening?"
"What? Oh, uh, yeah, I'll get those nachos for you," Sam went about working.
Frodo laughed, "He was looking at Rosie over there."
The group collectively turned and Frodo pointed out which girl was Rosie, a short, jovial-looking girl with bouncy curls and bright eyes, laughing amongst her friends and looking like she was enjoying every second of her life.
"Don't all look at once," Sam blushed as he filled up two tall cups of soda.
"Oh, right," Legolas muttered and they all turned around again.
"Have you asked her to you-know-what yet?" Gimli asked, leaning against the counter lazily.
Sam blushed all the way to the tips of his ears and looked down at the bucket of grossly yellow popcorn, "I wasn't planning on it. I mean, look at her! She's so beautiful and fun and free…and I'm a concession stand worker who spends his free time plotting against our administration."
"Aw, come on, Sam," Aragorn encouraged, fishing around his pocket for his wallet and extracting a few ones from its soft, old leather. "She'd be lucky to have you. You're a great guy and I bet if you asked her she'd go with you. Anyone have any cash?"
He flattened out four ones and laid them on the counter, digging around his other pocket for spare change.
"Yeah, Sam, it's good for the guy to make the first move. What if she wants you to ask her out badly, but she's too afraid to do anything about it?" Arwen explained, tossing two dollars and a pile of change onto the counter. "How much do we owe?"
"Three more," Sam answered. He sighed, "I just don't wanna do it yet. Maybe next time."
"What if there is no next time, huh?" Boromir asked gruffly. After seeing the freshmen recoil, he softened, "I mean, what if she thinks you don't like her after all and she moves on and finds another guy? Then you would've missed your chance." He laid down the three final dollars and picked up the bucket of popcorn, looping one arm around it and holding it close to his chest. "Just think about it, okay? And maybe you can dance with her tomorrow night."
Frodo grabbed his bag of M'n'M's and smiled gently at his friend, "You're a great guy, Sam. I bet she's fallen head over heels for you."
Sam smiled back and Frodo was about to continue, but after a glance at the growing, impatient line behind him, he settled to wave goodbye and promise that they could talk more later.
"I oughta get back to the band corner," Frodo sighed, throwing a few M'n'M's in his mouth and waving goodbye to the group.
The other melted back into the constant stream of people heading back towards the student section. They cheered as they walked, Boromir hopping up onto the bleachers to see what had happened and reporting back to them. Eventually, they made it to Merry and Pippin and settled back down in their seats again.
"Hey, where's my M'n'Ms?" Pippin asked, his eyes darting around in search.
"Oh, uh, Frodo took those by accident," Legolas explained sheepishly.
"Darn. Can I have the Snickers?"
"No, that's mine," Arwen plucked the brown-wrapped candy bar from Boromir's hand and opened it.
"Oh well. We're winning now, by the way," Pippin informed them.
"Yes! See, Elladan and Elrohir aren't bad!" Legolas cried smugly.
Boromir just shook his head and crossed his arms stubbornly. Despite Aragorn and Arwen's efforts, another fight did break out, followed by another, but Legolas was right. Elladan and Elrohir won their homecoming game and as the crowd filtered out of the stadium, each student cheering and whooping and full of ecstasy and excitement for the dance, Aragorn smiled at the group around him.
"Well, next time we see each other," Boromir said, crossing the parking lot towards his silver car. "We'll be dancing."
"Yup," Sam agreed, texting away on his phone to get a ride home. "At Frodo's place."
They all said goodbyes and departed, each going to their car or their ride, or beginning the walk home in the dark. Aragorn crossed the busy street, keeping his fingers firmly intertwined with Arwen's as they rushed across the road to the empty Starbucks lot.
"Well, I better go," he said, leaning against his car disappointedly. "Can I give you a ride?"
"You know you can't, unless you want my dad to find out about us," Arwen smiled, reclining next to him on the door of the car.
"All right, see you tomorrow?"
Arwen nodded and moved to walk over to her friend's waiting car, but Aragorn stopped her, pressing his lips against hers and pushing her back against the car door, kissing her passionately and desperately under the stars, unable to contain his love and excitement for tomorrow.
MOAR ARAGORN/ARWEN! God, I love that pairing. Tell me, followers, what's your favorite LOTR pairing? Mine's Aragorn/Arwen, followed closely by Eowyn/Faramir and Sam/Rosie. And, I'm guilty of liking one slash pairing: Erestor/Glorfindel *hides under rock and writes a hopefully amazing update to make amends for liking a blameful pairing*