Chapter 7:

It was an uneasy night for her to pass.

She laid in bed, knowing that she'd never go to sleep. Had she been back at Forks, she would have broken everything in her room and then feel guilty about it, though Esme would gladly have everything replaced since it put her interior designing talents to good use. A hole in the wall, or a punch through the door was a common sight. Sometimes, it could even happen purely by accident, as Ruby recalled at how sorry Adam was when he had accidentally swung an arm too high and damaged the door hinge.

But here she was, in reality, stuck in Mirkwood. None of the things in her room belonged to her, save for the luggage in her room. She would have threw it out the window as far away as she could, though she was certain it would still land somewhere that someone would come across.

Its out-of-this-world looks would have given it away immediately and the Elves would identify it as theirs. Being a litterbug is not exactly a great impression to leave on others, especially the tree-hugging Elves.

It was troubling. Legolas was getting on her nerves and yet making her feel guilty at the same time. Multiple times, she had decided to look for him, hoping that Mirlanna wasn't there this time. Maybe she had really gone into his room just to place something inside. He was obviously already shooting away arrows on the archery target while she was there this afternoon.

But then she had also sat back down on the bed again, thinking that she should not disturb his sleep and wait until tomorrow.

But would he be able to go to bed? She knew she wouldn't be able to; even if she could fall asleep.

She stood up once more, with determination this time, hastily wrapping a robe around her nightie before leaving her room.

No one else had passed along the corridors after he left, thus his scent was still very strong.

She followed it until she came back to the exact same room that she had budged into earlier that day.

All her resolve melted as she lingered at the doorway, afraid to knock on the door. He might be asleep. Or he might be still too angry to speak with her.

She leaned on the wall that was beside his door, and exhaled. Her breath came out in a rush. It sounded abit too loud in the dead silence of the night.

She straightened herself immediately as she heard the heavy door beside her creak open. She took a split second to decide to stay on. The cloak of darkness could conceal her identity for as long as she needed if she decides to run off later.

"Ruby?" Legolas' voice called out.

Great, run, Ruby, run all you can, she thought to herself in the darkness.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, with no hint of anger in his voice.

She stepped out into the light that was emitting from his room and managed a feeble smile at Legolas. He still looked as gorgeous as ever though he was dressed for bed. A loose and typical green top that was baring too much of his well-toned chest.

Get a grip, she told herself, as she pulled her eyes away from his body to look up into his curious eyes. He was patiently waiting for a reply to his question.

Finally having found her voice, she said, "I came to apologise about just now."

"It was stupid and childish of me." She admitted. "I just came over to have a look to see if you are alright." She found it impossible to look straight back at him as she spoke. He was staring at her very intensely that it was intimidating and making her uncomfortable.

"Well…" She hesitated slightly. "You look ok to me, maybe I'd see you tomorrow at breakfast?" She asked, beating a hasty retreat and not intending to stay on for his answer.

Apparently she had not moved fast enough. He held onto her arm just as she was turning around to leave.

"Ruby, wait."

She barely struggled, not wanting to hurt the Prince by shrugging his hand off, something she would have done without second thought if it had been any of her siblings.

"Mirlanna and I… We grew up together." He explained.

"And…?" She asked. What he said did not make sense.

"Our feelings are that of siblings. We do not see each other that way."

"It is only a matter of time, Legolas." She tried to unhook his firm grasp around her upper arm. "Please, let's just leave it at that and not make things anymore difficult for me."

There were sounds of shuffling feet along the corridors and they both looked up.

Legolas quickly pulled her into the room and shut the heavy door as quietly as he could.

The sounds got louder and stopped right outside the door. Someone had obviously heard them talking earlier.

Having been suddenly hauled into the room, Ruby found herself in a compromising position, squashed between the wall and the Prince.

His heart was pounding, probably a result of having almost been caught red-handed by the night patrol. What would the guards have said if they find their Prince with another lady guest and not their supposed Crown Princess?

The sounds moved on a little while later. Legolas and Ruby remained where they were throughout it all.

As Legolas felt the sound of footsteps fading away behind the corridor, he looked down and realized Ruby was quite uncomfortably pushed up against the wall, and was apparently quite nervous about it too, as he could tell from her shifty eyes that was looking at anything else in the room just to avoid looking directly at him.

He smiled. It was very seldom to see Ruby so uptight like that.

Ruby's eyes shot up, noticing his grin. "Are you making fun of me?" She asked in disbelief.

She was not at all prepared for what happened next as his face swopped down and his lips came down on hers.