Dear Lovely Readers,

Thank you all for being you.

Sincerely,

Ally Layne.

Do Not Go Gentle

Chapter 29: Down By The Riverside

As soon as I made it down to the stables, Glorfindel was already there preparing for us to leave. I noticed he was holding a picnic basket of all things and was loading Asfoloth with some other items that looked like his normal supplies. His back was to me and didn't notice as I approached.

He had been too kind and already saddled Bud up for me, who most likely remembered that Glorfindel was the one who helped me on the way back from the battle. It was nice when the horse even trusted the elf, so I didn't think I made a bad decision by forgiving him.

Besides, I definitely would never admit to checking him out when he was standing there, but to be honest… I would be lying if I said I didn't.

Excitement and nervousness jittered throughout my veins. This was actually happening.

"So, where are we going?"

He quickly turned around, and I couldn't help but smile at the sight of his own excitement on his face. "You are going to have to find out."

I quickly walked up to where Bud was waiting and smiled slyly down at the basket still in his hands. "What's in the basket?"

The golden warrior grinned as he hooked it onto the side of the saddle. "You will find that out, too."

I rolled my eyes as I hopped onto Bud in what I thought was a graceful mount. However, Glorfindel's own mount of Asofoloth not only had me staring dreamy-eyed but definitely was a lot cooler than my own.

Daughter of the god of horses my ass.

For that short ride, Glorfindel was mighty ominous about where he was taking me. No matter how many times I asked, he refused to budge. However, I soon realized where we were going just from the sound of rushing water.

In a little less than a half an hour, we had made it to the riverbank, where fresh clear water rushed past after the crashing of the waterfall.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I smiled as I tasted the water in the air. This was now my new favorite place.

"I take it that this spot is to your liking?"

I opened my eyes to see him grinning at my obvious pleasure. "This is amazing!" I exclaimed. This was nearly as nice as being close to the sea- but it was far more refreshing than any other river I had been to.

He let out a laugh at my child-like excitement and climbed off of Asfoloth and started to gather the different things he had brought for our meal. "I thought it would be a nice spot to have a picnic, do you agree?"

I immediately slid off of Bud and took off my cloak and rolled up my sleeves to feel the mist from the waterfall on my skin. "Of course I do."

His smile was bright and he seemed to glow within the sun's rays. "Wonderful. Now, help me get set up so we can eat."

A giggle snuck through my defenses, but I couldn't bring myself to hide the glee that seeped within my saltwater veins. "Whatever you say, Goldilocks."

I walked up to him and took the basket from his hands, and immediately noticed that he paused when he took in the sight of my uncovered arms.

The scars.

My chest immediately tightened as my cheeks became red with shame. I immediately turned away from him, setting the basket on the ground to roll down the sleeves I had thoughtlessly uncovered.

"I never noticed the scars that covered your arms," he commented, sounding forcibly nonchalant.

I shrugged, turning back to face him. "It's not really a big deal. I usually keep them covered up with sleeves or makeup."

Glorfindel's bright features were darkened by this knowledge. "Why do you try to keep them hidden?"

I shrugged again, this time feeling the blush staining my cheeks become even hotter. "It's nothing, really. Don't worry about it."

He pursed his lips, and I could see the blatant worry in his eyes. However, he seemed to realize that I wasn't a fan of opening up about certain things and kept quiet.

We prepared the picnic in silence, and let our horses graze the grasses amongst the trees while we sat to prepare our meal. He opened the basket to show a great amount of food that I was surprised to see he had prepared for us.

"Did you get this ready before you came to apologize to me?" I asked, raising a brow as I peered into the basket full of goodies. It had various meats, bread, cheese, and fruits. "This seems like more than what you could have done in that short amount of time before we left."

This time he was the one who blushed. "I might have prepared for this just in case you were to forgive me," he said slowly, running his hand through his unbound hair. "I was not truly expecting it, as I did not believe I deserved it."

I shook my head exasperatedly. "We've been over this, Goldilocks. I trust you completely and because of that I forgive you completely no matter what."

His eyebrows raised. "You would have forgiven me had I been intimate with Lady Mirwen?"

I balked. "Were you?"

His laughter was all I got in response. I grabbed a spare blueberry from the basket and chucked it at him in annoyance. "Shut up, you."

Glorfindel had the gall to look hurt. "You did not throw the food I prepared for you at my face."

I grabbed another blueberry and looked between him and the fruit dramatically. "It's possible it was me."

He placed a hand on his chest, feigning pain. "You are horrible, you mad woman!"

I laughed and popped the blueberry in my mouth with a closed smile.

The smile I received back was radiant.

"I believe I heard your favorite food was blue food?"

I let out another laugh. "You heard correctly."

He leaned down onto an elbow and lay on his side while peering up at me curiously. "Why is blue food your favorite? I believe there must be a story behind this."

"You're not wrong," I admitted, leaning down on my elbows and stared out at the rushing water before us. "My mother used to make blue food for me as an inside joke. It sort of just stuck with me, I guess."

"That is understandable."

We sat in silence for a moment, and I pictured my mother taking out a batch of her freshly made blue chocolate chip cookies. My mouth watered, and I could feel a small pang of remorse run through my heart.

Even though it was slightly sad, it was nice to remember the good things.

"From what you have spoken of her, it seems your mother was a good woman," Glorfindel commented, breaking the silence.

I smiled solemnly and turned to see him gazing at me intently. "She was the greatest."

"For raising a little hellion like you, she must have been a goddess," he joked, and I choked out a laugh.

"My father always called her a goddess among man," I admitted with a small smile. "She was truly the most pure-hearted woman I had ever had the chance of meeting. But if I was in danger, she was always right there to save the day."

Glorfindel smiled. "You had been blessed to have a mother like her."

I smiled sadly. "I wish I could have saved her when she needed it most."

He took a deep breath, and looked into the basket before sitting up and started to dish out the food. "I believe she would not want you to mourn and blame yourself as you have been doing," he spoke, spooning out the fruit carefully. "From what you have said, she seems like she would have wanted you safe."

I grimaced, turning back to look out at the water. "I could have saved her."

"How do you know?"

My head flickered to him, and he continued to put bread and cheese onto a plate. "What?"

He looked up at me cautiously. "How do you know you would have been able to save her had you been there?"

I frowned. "I'm not some sort of damsel in distress, Glorfindel. I've done plenty before and I know I could have stopped whatever had hurt her had I been there."

He sighed. "You are not invincible, Persephone."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not immortal, you mean."

That made his motions stop, and he put the plate down at my side. "Eat up, before the meat becomes too cold."

I watched as he fixed up his own plate, however this time as he carefully divvied out the food he seemed to have a pained look on his face. "I'm sorry," I told him. "You are trying to make this morning a good time and I'm just feeling bad for myself."

He let out a huff of breath. "Never apologize for feeling what is normal, Nemir." He looked up at me with wide, earnest eyes. "You have been through much, and I am honored to be able to be someone you feel comfortable speaking to of your past. This is not you feeling sorry for yourself, this is you coming to terms with what happened."

I blinked.

"Now, eat the meat before it gets cold."

I immediately stuffed the pork in my mouth and tried to hide the blush that started to come to my face. He knew me too well.

And I wasn't so sure that was really a bad thing.

The rest of the meal was spent in content silence, and I pondered over the feelings which I held for the elf at my side. He was truly one of the few most important people in my life even though I had only known him for a little more than a month.

I didn't really know how to process that information.

It took nearly an entire school year for me to warm up to Grover, who I considered my best friend. And it took years for me to completely warm up to Annabeth, who was my other best friend.

This… this wasn't something I was used to.

"I am glad you came here with me," he told me as we started to put our plates back into the basket. "Being in your presence is soothing to me."

I choked. "Me? Soothing? What are you on that makes you think that?"

He laughed. "I do not know what you mean by that, but I assume you are surprised at my sentiment given your constant refusal to abide by social norms."

"Well, that's one way to put it."

Glorfindel grinned and closed the basket before looking at me once more in earnest. "It is refreshing to be in the company of someone who is as different and charming as you, Persephone. You are truly a gift to Imladris and the entirety of Middle Earth, do not doubt that."

My eyes widened. "How do you know?"

He sighed. "When one lives as long as I have, you begin to notice when something great is in front of you. And you, Nemir, will be great."

I immediately covered my face with my hands to hide the fierce blush that overtook my face and the wide toothy smile that I couldn't resist. "You are so mean to me."

Luckily, he had learned that I usually meant the opposite of what I said. "You are welcome, Nemir. However, for being as brash and dramatic as you are, you are quite terrible at accepting even the simplest of compliments."

My hands dropped as I gaped at him openly. "I am so not brash and dramatic!"

His laughter echoed off the trees and grass that surrounded us. "From what I have seen, you are!"

I glared at him playfully and leaned to slowly close the gap between us. "Say that again, Goldilocks, and you will meet your doom."

He leaned forward surely, and a wicked grin was planted on his face. I won't deny the fact that shivers ran down my spine and into my toes from the way his eyes darkened as he took me in. "You, Nemir, are one of the brashest and dramatic females I have ever met in all my years," he said huskily. "And I could not be more enchanted by you."

I pounced.

Our lips were close, as I laid my body on top of his. It was one thing to admire his many chiseled muscles, but it was a completely different thing to feel them rock solid beneath me. His eyes darkened even more, and I looked down to see him licking his lips.

I bit mine, and I swear I heard a low moan in the back of his throat. But I was too focused on my task to be sure.

My hands wandered up his sides, feeling the abs that had come from thousands of years of training as an elite warrior. "I told you," I mumbled, looking between his mouth and eyes purposefully. "You are going to meet your doom."

"I would happily meet my doom at your hands."

That was the most romantic thing a man or woman had ever said to me.

"You said it."

And I tickled him, pinning him down with my body weight as he started to sporadically spaz beneath me. "Stop this at once!" he exclaimed, though peeling apart from the laughter he expelled.

"Not until you meet your doom!" I taunted, laughing giddily as he tried (half-heartedly, as he probably could have shoved me off with a flick of his wrist) to wrestle me off of him. "You said you wanted it!"

"I assure you!" He laughed, "This is not what I meant!"

"What in Arda is going on here?"

We both stopped in our spots and peered up to see a lean, strong elven warrior standing there with crossed arms.

"Hello, Geoffry," I called, sitting up and completely straddling Glorfindel's legs. I was trying my best not to laugh at the position he found us in, but to be honest this was just too funny to resist. "Have you come to join us?"

Glorfindel groaned. "He will not be doing so, I assure you."

Geoffry, bless his heart, only smiled between us for a few moments before looking down at Glorfindel with a serious expression. "Lord Elrond has asked for me to bring you to him. There has been another sighting of an orc pack near our borders."

The golden warrior stiffened beneath me, and I quickly moved off so he could do what he needed to do. The Glorfindel I was just playing with was gone and now had been replaced with a refined warrior and one of the strongest elves this continent has ever seen.

"We will be on our way, thank you, Lord Geoffry," he told his subordinate, quickly standing up and holding out a hand so I could do the same.

I smiled gratefully and took it, before starting to gather our things and help Glorfindel as he tacked it on to Asfoloth.

"I will meet you there," Geoffry told us, as he hopped on his horse. "It was nice to see you, Lady Persephone."

I waved. "I will see you at the tavern or on the training grounds soon, mellon nin!"

By the time I had finished, he was gone.

And this little escapade with Glorfindel was most assuredly over.

I placed a hand on his arm, which had not softened from when he stiffened at the news from Elrond. "Thank you for bringing me here, Glorfindel."

He softened as he looked down at me with his swirling blue eyes. "We will be doing this again, I promise."

I grinned. "Sounds like a date."