Just want to say a huge thank you to the 'guest' reviewers, and to 'Tess' and 'Sarah' too! Thank you so much, and I hope you all continue to enjoy this story!

OK, strong language throughout this chapter, guys.

Chapter 25 - The Family Feud

After spending some much needed time alone down by the river, Lynwen started to make her way back to the main house, wondering if her old room had still been kept for her.

The rain was still lashing, and Lynwen was completely soaked through. Her few layers of clothes were completely saturated and stuck to her skin, and her feet were uncomfortably squelching in her boots. And all she desperately wanted in that moment was a hot shower, a warm comfortable nightgown, and a bed to just curl up in.

Thankfully, on her way to her old room, she didn't bump into anyone; the rain seemingly keeping everyone indoors. And what she was even more thankful for was upon opening the door to her old chambers, she found that her old room was in fact, still, her old room. Everything was exactly how she had left it nearly eight years ago, and had remained completely untouched.

The same lime-green curtains that she'd picked out when she was little, were still hanging at the window. The same ghastly bright pink throw that she had also chosen as a child, was still laid atop her bed covers. And the shelves and wooden surfaces around the room were still strewn with her pieces of junk; cosmetics, lotions, little ornaments, and even her beloved teddy bears that had been acquired throughout her childhood days.

But a leering glance at one particular shelf, instantly brought on that immense, and gut-wrenching hurt in the pit of her stomach again, when she saw all the various little trinkets that Elrohir had gifted to her during her childhood. There they all were, on proud display on the opposite side of her room, just giving her a constant reminder of the ellon who had just completely broken her heart.

These small gifts that she had accumulated from Elrohir during the first five years of her life, were a mixture of tiny carved wooden animals, to random coloured and pretty looking stones, to little - too small for practical use - jewellery boxes. Up until the time he had left for the expedition, Elrohir would always bring back a little gift for Lynwen whenever he would go out on patrol to the outer borders, or whenever he had to make a business visit to a neighbouring town. And she knew that most of these wooden animals had actually been carved by himself! And these gifts, no matter how small or simple they were, had always meant the world to her, and had always managed to make her feel close to him somehow. She had even taken a small selection of these gifts to Mirkwood with her so that she'd feel like she had Elrohir close to her, in some way.

But now, these things were nothing but a painful reminder that the ellon whom she had always trusted wholeheartedly her entire life, was nothing but a fraud. He had led her to believe that he had truly loved her, and that he had wanted to spend the rest of his life with her; even if that meant him possibly dying of a broken heart after her death.

But it had all been lies.

That bastard had wasted eight years of her life! Eight years she had spent waiting for him, when he had been busy shagging his way through Rivendell! Eight years she had remained faithful to him! And for what? To just be made to look like a complete idiot? Because that's how she felt. She now felt so stupid for believing that Elrohir; the most desirable ellon in all of Rivendell, could actually have remained faithful to her for all these years. Even after all the warnings that Elladan and Arwen had tried to give her in the past, she still went ahead and believed that he had changed. That he was capable of remaining with only one woman. And that she had been that one woman.

Lynwen slowly closed the bedroom door behind her and firmly bolted the lock in place. She turned back around and just stood in the same spot for a good ten minutes, staring at the deadly quiet and long-time undisturbed bedroom, in silence. She just stared. Every single object in this room told a story of various periods of her young life; some of them happy, some of them sad. But regardless of the type of the memories, this room displayed the whole first chapter in her life, just like the words and illustrations of a novel. Because that's what the first eighteen years of her life felt like now; the first chapter, to which she had since read on much farther into that book, with that first chapter of her life being nothing but a distant memory.

She didn't belong here. She realised at that very moment that the girl who had once occupied this room, was not the same girl who was standing here now. No, the girl who was standing here now had seen and experienced so much in the last eight years, making that first chapter in her life seem so insignificant now. She felt so out of place here, feeling nothing more than like a spare part that no one in Rivendell would ever find any use for. Elrond didn't want her; he had made that clear all those years ago. And now, Elrohir; the only person in Rivendell who had apparently wanted her, now, seemingly, did not.

She wasn't welcome here anymore, and had arrived completely uninvited. She was all alone in this realm, even more so than when she had been a child. And she needed to leave. But where would she go? Back to Mirkwood? She knew Legolas would welcome her back with open arms, but still, it wasn't a place that she desired to live.

Lynwen let out an exasperated sigh as she cut her depressing thoughts short, and headed for the adjoining bathroom, relieved to have found that some of her old breeches and shirts were still neatly folded up in the drawers. And just feeling the hot water from the shower pound her cold, bare skin, made her feel much more revived. And much more determined.

A knock on her bedroom door around an hour later, disturbed Lynwen from her distant and empty stare out of her bedroom window, and prompted her to stand. She remained on the opposite side of the room, just staring at the door. What if it was Elrohir? She just couldn't bear to be anywhere near him right now. And what if it was Elrond? He had surely heard of her return to the realm by now, and maybe he was seeking her out. And he was someone else who Lynwen did not want to see, either.

Then the knock sounded again, followed by a familiar, and comforting voice. "Lynwen, my dear. Are you in there?"

It was Anira, her former handmaiden.

Lynwen felt instant relief at hearing her voice, and walked across the bedroom and unbolted the lock, opening the door.

Anira looked upon her with such warmness and compassion in her eyes, as her ageless face broke out into a wide smile. "Look at you! You've grown up so much, Lynwen!"

Lynwen found the strength to smile for the elleth who had almost been like a mother to her growing up. "Hello Anira, how are you?"

Anira continued to gaze lovingly at Lynwen for a number of silent moments, before she eventually answered. "I'm fine. Myself and Arandur finally got our child." She said with a huge smile, as she spoke of the birth of her and her husband's long-awaited child. "A healthy baby boy, and still only a year old!"

Lynwen smiled widely too. "Congratulations Anira, I'm really happy for you."

Anira's smile faded after a few moments as she looked down to the ground. "And how are you, Lynwen?" She asked quietly, before looking back up to meet her gaze.

Lynwen just shrugged stoically, not really wanting to get into the ups and downs of her life right now. "Yeah, fine. Nothing really happening."

But Anira just smiled subtly as she reached out and took a hold of Lynwen's hand. "My dear, you always were such a terrible liar." She smirked. "Whether it was the lies you kept telling me that one particular summer when you were three years old about whether you had been eating chocolate..."

"I hadn't!" Lynwen instinctively responded, but immediately followed it up with a smirk of her own.

Anira just laughed. "Lynwen, you had it smeared all over your face!"

Lynwen laughed too, remembering that particular period when Elrohir used to keep stealing chocolate for her from the kitchens.

"Or..." Anira continued. "...whether it was the lies you kept telling me when you were seventeen, when it was pretty clear that Elrohir had been sharing your bed,..." Anira said with a raise of her eyebrow. "... I always knew you were lying. And it seems, you still haven't acquired the knack for it. You still are a terrible liar." She said with a knowing smile, which caused Lynwen to chuckle slightly as she looked down at the ground.

"Now, are you going to invite me in so that we can have a talk about what just happened between you and Elrohir?"

Lynwen's head snapped back up at Anira with a shocked expression on her face. How did she know? Had news of their row spread that fast? Or maybe that tart that Lynwen had just found him with had taken joy in spreading the gossip that Lynwen was a loser for believing that Elrohir had remained faithful to her all these years.

"Lynwen, I know because I've just seen Elrohir." Anira said, easily reading Lynwen's expression. "And he's in a terrible state." She continued.

"Good." Lynwen responded with venom in her voice.

Anira sighed heavily as she looked around, cautiously looking to see if there were people nearby. "Can I come in, Lynwen?" Anira asked again, as she looked back to Lynwen.

Lynwen just nodded her head in agreement as she stepped aside and allowed her old handmaiden to enter, closing the bedroom door behind them.

Anira turned around in the middle of the room to face Lynwen, a genuine smile gracing her lips. "You really have grown up so much! Such a beautiful woman." Anira took a moment to look her up and down again, while shaking her head. "I just can't believe how much you've changed."

"You haven't." Lynwen said with a warm smile.

Anira laughed. "Yes, well that's the blessing, or the curse, of immortality." She said. "I think I probably still look exactly the same as I did four thousand years ago, just after I reached my majority." Anira said thoughtfully with a smile upon her face. But Anira's expression then dropped to something more serious as she looked at Lynwen. "And it was just one thousand, five hundred years after that, that I was appointed to my very first job within this household; as handmaiden to Lady Arwen."

Lynwen already knew that Anira had once been handmaiden to Arwen, and also knew that this was Anira's subtle way of beginning her talk about Elrohir.

"Being with Lady Arwen so often, meant that I also spent a lot of time with her brothers, meaning that I got to know Elladan and Elrohir very well. Even when they were only a few hundred years old, the differences between them were very evident. They're so identical, yet so different at the same time." Anira said with a chuckle.

Lynwen walked over to her bed and sat down on the edge as she continued to listen to Anira talk.

"And even at such a young age, that Elrohir was still as much of a feral ellon as he is now!" Anira said with a smile. "That's why he and Elladan have always worked very well together. Their opposite personalities compliment each other so well. And of course, Elladan has always been there to drag his troublesome brother away from troublesome situations."

Lynwen smiled at Anira's words, remembering so well what the relationship between Elladan and Elrohir was like. Even though the brothers quarrelled quite often, as most siblings do, it was clear to all that their relationship was solid and completely unbreakable, with both of them always looking out for each other. Although it was usually the very sensible Elladan that did most of the looking out for the extremely unruly Elrohir, Lynwen thought with a smile.

But immediately that smile faded from her face as she painfully acknowledged Elrohir's betrayal just a few hours before.

"But although Elrohir has forever been a rather wild character, he's always had such a huge and loving heart." Anira continued. "A heart which was completely crushed, and very nearly broken when Raina left him. You've heard about Raina, have you not?" Anira asked Lynwen, to which Lynwen only nodded a silent yes.

"Yes, well, I watched as Elrohir completely and utterly devoted himself to that elleth. He trusted in her so much, that he willingly handed over his heart to her, believing that their relationship would never end, and that they would be together for eternity. But of course, as you already know, she left him, deciding that she was going to sail, while making it very clear that she wouldn't be waiting for him when he finally decided to sail, himself."

Lynwen already knew this story, and frustratingly wondered where Anira was going with this. "Yes, I know all of this, Anira. But what does Raina have to do with Elrohir's betrayal to me?"

Anira walked over to the bed and sat herself down next to Lynwen, placing her hand onto Lynwen's knee. "I saw how deeply in love Elrohir was with Raina. And even in the thousands of years after she had gone, I had always believed that I had witnessed the extent of Elrohir's love for another being, because I could not imagine it would ever be possible for him to be able to love someone else as much as he had loved her." Anira looked at Lynwen. "But that was until he fell in love with you."

Lynwen sighed in annoyance. "He never loved me, Anira. He's just made that pretty obvious."

But Anira quickly interjected. "Oh he did love you, Lynwen." She said with certainty. "And not only was he in love with you, but he had actually fallen for you so much harder than he ever had for Raina. And knowing Elrohir like I do, I think that the poor ellon was so petrified of having his heart broken again, that I believe he may have tried to push you away, instead."

The poor ellon? Was Anira seriously defending him? "He led me to believe that we had a future together, Anira. He allowed me to wait around for eight years, remaining completely loyal to him, while he was just here with... well who knows how many there were! If he truly loved me as you say he did, then he wouldn't have put me through all that." Lynwen said in frustration, as angered tears started to blur her vision. "You know, all of my life I've always been warned to look out for strangers, orcs and various other foes that could potentially hurt me," Lynwen said as she looked down to the floor, her voice now more quiet. "But not once did I ever think that it would actually be Elrohir that would be the one to hurt me the most." She lifted her head up and looked across to the other side of the room as she rapidly began to lose control of her emotions. "He's hurt me so much, Anira." She said as she brought her hand up to her heart, the tears now freely running down her face. "I trusted him with my life. I trusted him with my heart. And now I just feel so betrayed." She began to sob heartedly into her hands.

Anira firmly pulled Lynwen into an embrace, forcing her to rest her head on her shoulder. "Shh, I know Lynwen." Anira consoled with a gentle voice as she softly stroked her hair. "And I wish I could take this pain away from you, really I do." Anira placed a kiss on the top of Lynwen's head before resting her cheek there. "And Elrohir deserves a bloody good hiding for inflicting this pain onto you, and I would have carried out that hiding myself if you hadn't already broken his nose."

Lynwen looked up at Anira with a mixture of shock and embarrassment. "Oh Valar, you know about that?"

Anira smirked. "Yes. Apparently Elrohir didn't do a very good job of fixing his nose himself, and I was there when your father had to re-set it."

Lynwen's body stiffened as all humour dropped from her face. "He's not my father, Anira." She stated coldly and simply, causing Anira to sigh heavily. But she chose not to respond to that statement, knowing that starting a conversation about Elrond would only be futile. Instead, she decided to redirect the topic of the intended conversation back to Elrohir. "If it's any consolation, Lynwen, Elrohir has been in pretty much a state of despair these last number of years. Being apart from you really seemed to take its toll on him."

"If he missed me that much then why didn't he seek me out?"

Anira sighed long and hard. "That's something you need to talk to Elrohir about."

"Well I don't think I'll ever be able to face him again. He gave up on us, Anira. He decided to move on from me while I continued to fight for our relationship, and that's something that I don't think I'll ever be able to forget. It was bad enough when I was abandoned in Mirkwood by the one person whom I had always trusted the most, but to find out now that Elrohir also gave up on me, is just excruciating."

Anira tightened her hold on Lynwen, affectionately rubbing her hands up and down her arms. "I've only just found out what really happened with Elrond in Mirkwood all those years ago, and I'm so sorry Lynwen." She placed a kiss on to the top of her head, making sure to steer the conversation back to the youngest twin of Rivendell. "Lynwen, the point I've been trying to make is that I know you may feel wronged, and that you feel deeply hurt, but..."

"But what?"

Anira sighed again as she tried to find the right words. "But, the change I saw in Elrohir while he was with you, was wonderful. For the last couple of thousand years he's been unable to allow himself to love, or even care about anyone else. But with you... well, you changed him, Lynwen. And you changed him for the better. You brought life back to him again, made him see that there is true love in this world when he had lost all hope that it ever existed. When he was with you, he was happy again, and I mean truly happy. There was light in his eyes, and a purpose to his life. You're good for him, Lynwen, and personally, I believe that you two are meant for each other."

Silence fell between them for a while as Anira allowed Lynwen to take in her words before she spoke again. "I've been able to see over the last eight years that he's never stopped loving you, Lynwen. That immense love he felt for you has never once faded." Anira took a deep steadying breath. "And I fear for what may happen to him now." Anira finished off quietly.

Lynwen knew what Anira was getting at. Anira was fearing for Elrohir's, supposedly, fragile heart causing him to fade now that their relationship was well and truly over. But Elrohir had hurt her in the worst way imaginable. All the trust she had held in him, he had snatched away. All the dreams she had built for the two of them over the past eight years, were now gone.

Lynwen knew that Elrohir had issues, but she wasn't sure if she now wanted to be the one to help him out with those. Even though she still loved him with every fibre of her being, she wasn't even sure she would ever be able to look at him in the same way again, and doubted that she would ever be able to readily hand over her heart to him ever again.

xxx

It was now early evening, and Lynwen was walking down the open-air corridors of the realm towards the dining room. Her lengthy conversation with Anira only added to the emotional strain on her body, making her feel even more defeated and lethargic than she did after her encounter with Elrohir that afternoon.

Aragorn was currently escorting her to the dining room, after he had refused to accept her desire to want to remain locked away in her room. Lynwen had told him what had happened that afternoon with Elrohir, and although he seemed disappointed, Aragorn actually didn't seem all that surprised, which only made Lynwen feel like even more of an idiot. Clearly she had been the only one to have thought that Elrohir had ever been capable of committing to her.

"Where's that fiery woman I met in Mirkwood a few weeks ago?" Aragorn had asked her in her room around half an hour before. "That woman that would face her troubles head on? That woman who would have no problems in addressing the people who have wronged her? Well, that's exactly what we're going to do right now. We're going to face them. Together." He had said firmly, not giving Lynwen a choice in the matter.

And so here they were, standing outside the dining room door, both preparing themselves a little before entering. But as Aragorn placed his hand on the door handle, Lynwen quickly placed her hand on top of his, firmly stopping him.

"I'm not sure that I can do this." She said quietly. "I really don't think I can face him. Not yet. And Elrond. I don't want to see him, either."

Aragorn dropped his hand to his side and looked at her square in the eye. "You can do this Lynwen." He said sternly. "I know you can. Don't hide away. You've done nothing wrong." He said confidently.

Lynwen just nodded her head in agreement while exhaling a long breath. Her stomach was doing somersaults at the thought that they were all behind these doors; the Rivendell family that she had once been a part of. She should have been feeling excited about seeing Elladan and Arwen again, but the betrayal that she had experienced at the hands of both Elrond and now Elrohir, only made her feel detest towards the whole family. As unfair as that was to Elladan and Arwen, Lynwen just couldn't help it. She felt betrayed and pushed out by all of them. And once again, she was asking herself 'What am I doing here?' She didn't belong here anymore. It was as simple as that.

"And you're forgetting." Aragorn interrupted her thoughts. "I haven't seen Elrond either since we arrived in the realm this afternoon. So you're not on your own."

Lynwen just smiled, but secretly knew that it wasn't the same. Aragorn hadn't been dumped and abandoned by Elrond so cruelly. And Elrohir also hadn't just ripped his heart to shreds, a few hours before. But she remained silent, appreciating Aragorn's attempts to make her feel better.

"And," Aragorn spoke up again. "although Elrond has probably heard of your arrival back into the realm, I doubt very much he is expecting you to show up to dinner this evening. So you have to go in there, just so I can see the stunned expression on his face!" Aragorn said with a grin.

Lynwen laughed a little. "Yeah, I suppose if it's as entertaining as Lindir's expression earlier, then it'll be worth it!" She chuckled, trying to hide her nervousness.

Aragorn placed his hand on the door handle again. "C'mon." He said as he swiftly opened the door without giving Lynwen another chance to protest.

The dining room door opening alerted Elladan, Arwen and Elrond, causing the three of them to look up from the table. Arwen immediately beamed from her sitting position, while Elladan and Elrond both stood from their seats and walked around to the front of the table to greet Aragorn with open arms, and smiles upon their faces.

But after their warm greeting at ended, Aragorn turned around to look at the dining room doorway, forcing the others to do the same. And it was at that moment that Lynwen chose to enter. Although she was hesitant about seeing them again, she held her head up high and walked towards the dining table with confident strides, silently grateful that Elrohir was not present.

Elrond's face instantly dropped to a stunned, slightly open-mouthed, expression, which secretly gave Lynwen a sense of satisfaction. Aragorn was right. Clearly, Elrond had not been expecting her to show her face this evening.

But Elladan was the complete opposite. An enormous smile broke out across his face just before he brought up his hand to cover his mouth in his shocked state. "Oh Valar! Lynwen?!" He exclaimed, his eyes wide. He dropped his hand and, with his huge smile still spread across his face, he quickly walked the few steps to where she was standing and embraced her in his arms, lifting her feet up off the ground in the process. "I can't believe it!" He said into her hair as he held her tightly to him. "When did you get back?!" He asked her excitedly, setting her back down on the floor.

Lynwen was a little taken aback by Elladan's greeting, and just remained stoic and expressionless. "Just this afternoon." She stated flatly.

Elladan looked to his father in surprise. "Did you know she was here?"

But Elrond only responded by stepping towards Lynwen, his previous stunned expression now replaced with a warm smile; which Lynwen couldn't determine was genuine or not.

"Hello iell nin (my daughter)." He said, placing his hands atop her shoulders before he gently pulled her into his chest, embracing her in a hug.

Lynwen froze in his embrace. She hadn't prepared herself for any physical contact with Elrond, and she felt immensely uncomfortable, with the hatred she felt for him only escalating rapidly.

And her reaction didn't go unnoticed by Elrond as he was clearly able to feel her body stiffen in his hold, which saddened him greatly. He knew at the time, when he had decided to leave her behind in Mirkwood, that he was risking their father-daughter relationship. But it was only now, at this very moment, that his worst fears had been confirmed as true; Lynwen resented him. He reluctantly released his hold on her and took a step back, but still kept his hands rested upon her shoulders. "It's good to have you home." He said softly, that warm smile still on his face.

But Lynwen's expression didn't change from her stoic one, as she coldly shrugged his hands off her shoulders. "I'm not so sure that I would class this as home anymore, Elrond," She said frostily. "But it's good to see you, nonetheless." She lied.

Her forthright and curt attitude, and the fact that she had said 'Elrond' instead of 'ada', didn't escape everyone's notice, causing a thick uncomfortable fog of awkward silence to weigh down on the entire room.

But Arwen was the one to break the silence when she stepped in front of her father, with that beautiful smile always adorning her fair face as she wrapped her arms around Lynwen. "Muinthel (sister), I'm so happy to see you again." She said as she pulled back slightly from the hug to look at her younger sister. "Wow, you've grown up into such a beautiful woman!" Arwen exclaimed, as she took Lynwen's waist-length ponytail in her hand, allowing the dark strands to slide through her fingers. "And your hair has gotten so long! And, wow, those knives are gorgeous!" She said, pointing to the twin blades that seemed to be permanently attached to Lynwen's hips in recent years. Everyone looked down, with Elladan and Elrond clearly showing concern at how heavily armed she was.

"Muinthel," Elladan said, his brow creased in worry for his younger foster sister. "You are quite safe here, you don't need to arm yourself like this." He said, gesturing to her weapons.

Lynwen looked down to her twin blades at her hips, and her hunting knife sticking out of her boot as she shrugged her shoulders. "I've grown to feel much more comfortable having them on me at all times." She said, before lifting her head to make direct, and icy, eye-contact with Elrond. "Mirkwood is a dangerous place, and is always under threat from attack. And after a pack of orcs tried to rape me during my first month in the realm, I quickly had to learn how to defend myself." She said coldly, her stern eyes boring into Elrond's.

Elladan and Aragorn noticeably stiffened in anger at her revelation of almost being raped by orcs, as Arwen gasped into her hand. But Elrond only looked heart-broken as his ancient eyes looked back at hers with a silent plea for her to forgive him.

But she answered his plea by looking away from him in disgust. She would never be able to forgive him for what he did to her. And she hoped that she wouldn't have to endure his, Elrohir's, or anyone else's company from Rivendell for much longer.

"Did they manage to touch you?" Elladan's voice was low, and frighteningly hostile, as his jaw visibly flexed.

"Elladan, I don't think now is the time to discuss this..."

But Lynwen just interrupted Elrond as she answered Elladan with a straight forward, "Yes."

Elladan's chest began rising rapidly as his breathing rose out of control. "What happened to them?" He asked through gritted teeth.

Lynwen looked at Elladan, studying him for a few moments as she watched the fury radiating off of him in waves. It was obvious for all to see right now; Elladan's pure hatred for orcs. And she knew that Elrohir was exactly the same as his brother. And hearing about what happened to her, seemed to be only igniting Elladan's detestation towards the vile creatures as it probably brought back the memory of what happened to his mother.

"Legolas killed them." Lynwen answered simply.

"How did he kill them? Did he make them suffer?" Elladan asked in a level tone. But his eyes were alight with pure hatred and a burning desire; probably a desire to want to kill the orcs, himself.

"Elladan!" Elrond scolded his son. "We are not talking about this now. Do I make myself clear?!"

Elladan kept his eyes fixed on Lynwen, as he reluctantly and slowly nodded his agreement at his father. But it was obvious that he was no less calm as he continued to work his jaw while he looked at Lynwen with a mixture of regret, worry, and concern flashing in his eyes.

Elrond sighed heavily as he rubbed his hand across his forehead. "Maybe we can all sit down now, and finally enjoy this evening's meal as a family?"

Lynwen flinched at the word 'family', but decided to quietly sit down at the table with everyone else, and to try to get through this meal as quickly and as civilly as possible. At least Elrohir wasn't here, she silently thought to herself.

But, as if some higher power somewhere was toying with her emotions and thoughts, Elrohir chose that exact moment to enter the dining room and put to bed any feelings of relief she had been momentarily experiencing. And just like Elrond, it was clear by the way in which he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, that he too wasn't expecting Lynwen to show up to this meal tonight. All that could be heard in that moment of awkward silence, was the dining room door closing shut, as Elrohir took another second or two to just look at Lynwen from his position half way across the room.

"Elrohir?" Elrond called out from the head of the table. "Are you going to join us?"

Elrohir snapped out of his shock, and began to walk towards the table, his steps now much more slower, and even a little reluctant. As he reached the table, he instinctively went to sit in the empty seat besides Elladan, but as he pulled the empty chair out from under the table, he hesitated, looking across to the other side. He saw that Arwen was sitting directly opposite to Elladan, and that Aragorn was sitting next to her, meaning that if Elrohir sat in this chair, he would be sitting directly opposite to his foster brother. Now usually this wouldn't be an issue for him, but just seeing the woman who still, and always would, have a firm grip of his heart in the palm of her hand, made him ache with longing and to want to sit as close to her as possible. He loved her more than he ever thought was possible, and his life felt empty and bleak without her. It was no good, the more he had tried to push her away, the more he realised that he needed her. He just couldn't function without her. He even felt like it would be impossible for him to ever be able to breath without her! And the way that she had looked at him this afternoon; with nothing but hatred and loathing etched into those beautiful blue eyes simply tore him to pieces. He couldn't stand to think that she detested him when he loved her so much, it hurt. It actually hurt at how much he loved her!

So he tucked the middle chair back under the table, and sat down in the chair directly opposite to Lynwen instead.

"Bloody hell, Elrohir!" Elladan exclaimed to his brother, causing Elrohir to look at him. "What the hell happened to you?!" He asked, shocked by the two prominent black eyes that Elrohir was sporting.

Elrohir dropped his head shamefully before he looked back up to face Lynwen opposite him. He just looked directly into her cold, hard eyes, while his own openly displayed the sorrow he was feeling. Oh how he wished he could take back what she had witnessed this afternoon in his chambers. He hadn't even liked the elleth Lynwen had found him with. She had simply been an easy and quick lay in his stupid attempts to try to get Lynwen out of his head.

Elrond cleared his throat uneasily. "I don't think that's a topic for discussion at the dinner table, Elladan..."

"Lynwen rightfully broke my nose." Elrohir simply stated to the entire table.

Silence. The incredibly uncomfortable and awkward silence had returned to the dining room once again. Elladan and Arwen were looking at Lynwen shocked, while Elrond was looking at her with his silent pleading for forgiveness still etched into his eyes, as Aragorn just uncomfortably looked down to his dinner plate.

But Lynwen didn't acknowledge any of them as she continued to look right back at Elrohir, while trying to hide the surprise she was feeling by his sudden admittance of what had happened earlier today. But her surprise was quickly turning to anger at the way in which Elrohir was looking at her. He was looking at her like he actually cared about the hurt in which he had caused her today. Like all that bullshit declaration of love he had spieled to her eight years previous, wasn't a total lie. Despite what Anira had said to her earlier, Lynwen still had her doubts about him, and now he was looking at her like he was still in love with her, or something. Well what ever it was, it was getting on her nerves, big time! So she broke the eye-contact with him, and started to pick food from the centre of the table.

Light conversation about general topics were sensibly chosen for discussion for the next half an hour or so, although Lynwen and Elrohir didn't participate in the pointless chatter, once. They both continued to remain silent, as Elrohir proceeded to stare at her from across the table, while Lynwen tried her hardest to ignore the eruption of fury that his gaze was causing her. She tried to look anywhere but at him, but his penetrating stare felt like it was boring holes into her head, making her unable to ignore it. And it was seriously winding her up!

She continued to try to ignore him until she just couldn't take his pretending-like-he-actually-cared-about-her stare, any longer. She slammed her fork down onto the table with a loud clatter, startling everyone, but Elrohir. "What the fuck are you staring at?!" She shouted as she looked directly at him.

Elrohir didn't flinch, and only continued to look at her with a sorrowful expression.

"Mind your tongue!" Elrond shouted at her. "I will not hear you use that foul language again!" He scolded loudly.

Lynwen turned her head to look at Elrond in disgust. "And who the fuck are you to tell me what to do?" She sneered at him.

Elrond immediately straightened up his posture as his face filled with rage, both of his hands coming down and loudly slamming onto the wooden surface of the table. "I AM YOUR FATHER!" His voice infuriatingly bellowed around the room.

But Lynwen stood up from her chair at a lightening speed, causing it to fall backwards and crash on to the floor behind her, as she whipped out the hunting knife from her boot and firmly planted the tip into the centre of the table. Her hand was holding the handle in a death-grip, as her hate-filled eyes looked right at Elrond. "YOU ARE NOT MY FATHER!" Lynwen shouted in response, taking a moment to watch the stunned look on his face. "You lost the right to call yourself that the day that you abandoned me in Mirkwood." She sneered through gritted teeth.

Elrond felt like he had been stabbed through the heart. Hearing Lynwen say that, simply crushed him. And the way that she was eyeing him up and down like he was diseased vermin, like he was something truly disgusting that she was struggling to be in the company of, only destroyed him further.

"No, Elrond," Lynwen spat out and emphasised his name before continuing on with a level, and chilling voice. "My father was a brave and courageous man, who willingly sacrificed his life so that I could survive. He and my mother died protecting me against orcs." She looked him up and down again slowly. "I'm just saddened that I had to grow up calling you father, instead of him."

And that was it. Lynwen broke Elrond with that last sentence. All he could do was sit there in silence as he struggled with the lump forming in his throat, and the pain searing in his chest.

But Lynwen wasn't finished. She pulled her knife out of the table and stood upright. "My family is dead." She stated simply and coldly, tucking the knife back into her boot. "My family died when I was only a few months old." She looked around the table at everyone sitting down. Then her eyes suddenly turned cold and hard with a flash of anger, as her face screwed up into a harsh scowl. "In fact, what the fuck am I still doing here?!" She shouted in fury to the entire table with a raised gesture of her arms. She looked around at everyone's stunned and even regretful looking faces for a few moments before quietly continuing. "None of you are my family. You never were, and you never will be." She said with a subtle shake of her head as if only realising this fact for the first time. She quickly righted herself and bowed her head professionally as she gestured to her plate. "Excuse me, please. I think I've had enough." And with that, Lynwen stalked out of the dining room, slamming the door shut on her way out, with the loud noise of the slam making Arwen close her eyes and grimace in her seat.

A dead silence returned to the table with everyone unable to find any words to speak. But after only a few moments, Aragorn spoke up. "I think I've had quite enough, too." He said in a cold tone that clearly showed his anger towards the rest of the family for their treatment towards Lynwen; specifically Elrond.

Arwen placed her hand on Aragorn's forearm as he stood from his seat and furiously threw his napkin down on to his plate. "Estel." She pleaded with her angelic voice.

But Aragorn only held his hand up to silence her while shaking his head, making it clear that he didn't want to talk. He then turned and exited the dining room without saying another word, also slamming the door closed behind him, the loud noise inciting another grimace from Arwen.

"Is it true?" Elladan asked his father after a long moment of silence. "What Lynwen said. Did you abandon her in Mirkwood?"

Elrond's continued silence as he stared blankly at the table was all the answer that Elladan needed, causing him to shake his head in disbelief. "Did you know about this? Is that what that is about?" Elladan turned to Elrohir, gesturing to his blackened eyes.

But Elrohir continued to stare down at the table, also choosing to remain silent, which had Elladan suddenly letting out a bitter laugh. "And let me guess. She found you with someone else today, didn't she?" He asked Elrohir.

Elrond chose that moment to suddenly stand up from his seat, his chair noisily scraping on the floor. "I believe that I have had quite enough, too." He said quietly as he rubbed his forehead with his hand, his eyes not doing a very good job at hiding the hurt he was feeling at hearing Lynwen's cut-throat words. He left the dining room quietly, leaving the three siblings in a charged and uncomfortable atmosphere.

After a few deadly quiet moments, Arwen sighed as she looked around at all the food still adorning the table, and the unfinished plates left on the place mats. "Maybe we should pack all of this up so as it's not wasted..."

"Well I hope you're pleased with yourself." She was cut off by Elladan's sarcastic snarl at his brother.

"Fuck you!" Elrohir shouted back at Elladan.

But Elladan just gave a fake breathy laugh as he threw his fork down onto his plate. "Yeah, you're good with that word, aren't you Elrohir; fuck. It's all you seem to know how to do. Whether you're fucking some poor woman, or whether you're fucking somebody over," He turned to face his brother to the side of him, his hard expression showing his anger. "It's what you do best."

"Shut up, Elladan." Elrohir warned in a level voice as his own anger began taking over his body at an alarming speed and force. "You're as much to blame for this shit, as I am."

Elladan tilted his head back and laughed loudly before facing his brother again. "And how do you work that out?"

"Well, I don't ever remember seeing you making it to Mirkwood to see Lynwen."

But Elladan's face changed to a harsh scowl as his clenched fists rested on the table in front of him, his jaw flexing from his rage. "Well I wasn't the one fucking her, was I?" He stated through clenched teeth.

"Elladan!" Arwen exclaimed in shock at hearing his vulgarity.

But Elladan didn't acknowledge his sister, and only continued looking at his brother with pure loathing, as Elrohir continued to look down at his plate, his chest rapidly rising up and down as he tried to steady his rising temper.

"Yeah, you've really gone and done it this time, Elrohir." Elladan continued. "But now, it seems as though your fuck-up has cost myself and Arwen our relationship with Lynwen, too." He stood from the table, angrily pushing his chair back behind him, and walked towards the dining room door. But not before he patted his brother on the shoulder. "Nice one, Elrohir!" Elladan said sarcastically.

"Just go and fuck yourself, Elladan!" Elrohir shouted after him from his seat.

"Oh, piss off, Elrohir!" Elladan shouted back before exiting the dining room and slamming the door closed.

Arwen winced in her seat again from the loud noise of the door, wondering if that was finally going to be the end of it. She wasn't sure her nerves could take any more. But Elrohir suddenly shooting up from his seat, causing the chair to slam back onto the ground behind him, made her realise that the family feud was still not over. "Where are you going?" She asked after he began walking away from the table and towards the door.

"Pissing off." He answered her over his shoulder before he too, exited the dining room and slammed the door closed behind him.

That final slam was probably the biggest yet, and even though she tried to brace herself, the loud noise still made Arwen jump in her seat. She looked around at the empty chairs – some of which were toppled over on to the floor – and just sighed to herself. She remained seated for a minute or so before she slowly stood up and began collecting up all the plates, and tidying up the mess that everyone else had left behind.