Author's Note: More of a question really, because I have been wondering for a while now; Does anyone actually listen to the songs that I pair with the chapters? That is all.

Chapter 13: Contagious

"So I have been thinking about changing my name." Anita spared a glance over her shoulder at her twin, who was occupying space on her bed to watch as Ani painted. Over the past two days, any time not spent with Legolas, whom she was still trying to remain on good behavior with, she had been here working on her room. In record time she had traced the outline of what she wanted to paint, in less than a day she had drawn the entire design, and had started painting background colors. She had been painting over the outline for the mountains on the Tucson side of her wall for an hour, and now she had a crink in her neck.

"What would you change it to?" Slinking down from her vantage point atop her armoire where she had been working, Ani started to clean up her meager painting supplies until she could continue to work later.

"Maybe I would just go by my middle name?"

"Celeste?!" Anita was barely able to contain her laughter.

"What's wrong with that?" Leila asked indignantly, "Everyone here had such proper Elvish names; Arwen, Celebrían, Elrond…. And I'm Lady Leila. It just seems kind of silly, and Lady Celeste has a nice ring to it."

Anita didn't even have the energy to try and hide the dramatic eye roll from her twin. "Okay two things; first, I am NOT calling you Celeste, and secondly this is so typical of you."

"Typical of me?" Leila was bristling at her sister's accusation, and Ani realized maybe she had unintentionally hit a nerve. Too late now to undo the damage.

"Yeah. Remember the time you went vegan? Or the time you were a 'country girl'? or when you wanted to drop out of school to go found schools in the Congo?"

"Yes Anita, they were just fazes of my life, what's your point?" Lei was getting mad, and fast. Ani knew it would have been smarter to drop it, back off, and pretend that this conversation never happened, but since the two of them had shown up here Leila's little act had been grating on Anita's nerves. So instead of letting it go, Ani just stoked the fire.

"They were fazes caused by the people you were hanging out with. You always do this Lei, whenever there in a new influence in your life you change everything about who you are to fit the bill better. You want everyone to call you Celeste? Bullshit, you have hated the name since day one."

"It's called growing up Ani, maybe you've heard of it? Just because you are too stubborn and set in your ways to try anything new, doesn't mean I can't." Their voices were quickly rising in anger exponentially. If the whole house couldn't already hear their argument, they would be able to in only a matter of seconds.

"Whatever! You don't just experience it, you fade into the shadows of whatever is around you, trying to be what everyone else wants you to be. I might be stubborn, but at least I know who I am, I don't live my life based on other's peoples' opinions of me, I don't need someone else to define who I am. "

The tears were flowing freely down Leila's face, puncturing a little hole in Ani's heart and instantly filling her with regret for her harsh words. "Lei I didn't mean…" But it her apology was already too late, and her twin was out the door and slamming the door to her own bedroom shut even as Ani tried to fix the situation. Throwing her hands in exasperation, Ani let out a string of curses that would have had her family cringing if they head heard her. She was going to have to apologize before the day was out, she accepted that, but right now Lei needed some time to cool down, and anyway Ani was late to meet Legolas.

Nobody could frustrate her on such a level quite like her twin could, Ani was still fighting the dual battle of fuming with frustration and drowning in remorse as she walked to the meeting place. Legolas didn't need to ask when he saw her, it was written plainly in her posture, on her face, and in the way she was stomping; Anita was upset. He could also tell she was going to pretend like nothing was the matter, but the elf knew better.

Legolas didn't say anything right away, instead he silently began walking and exited Rivendell's gate, Anita followed behind him in the same manner. It wasn't until after they had crossed over the river and began following its banks that he finally broke the silence.

"Are you going to willingly tell me what bothers you or must I pry it from you?"

Anita gave a deflated sigh. "I feel like I don't know my own twin anymore."

Legolas didn't have anything to say to that. He had never been blessed with brothers or sisters, so he had very limited experience to draw upon to help. The only help he could offer was to try and distract Ani from what was upsetting her. Gently he took her hand and diverted her from the rocky river bank and up to the tree line which had leveled out into a forest. Anita had to jog just to keep up with his pace as he towed her along through the hidden paths between the trees.

"Legolas, where are we going?"

"Patience, Ani ." Even as he said it, they broke through the dense tree line, to an area where trees were lined up in perfect rows that appeared to go on forever. Every tree was teeming with delicate pink and white blossoms, that not only covered every branch of the trees, but also covered the forest floor in a fragrant carpet.

Anita inhaled deeply before letting out a little sigh of pleasure. "Apples."

It was the strangest thing, how a fragrance could recall so many memories. It felt like a lifetime ago when Ani had gone apple picking with her mother and sister, one of the happier days the trio had. She entered the orchard amid the sounds of buzzing bees and reached up to touch one of the fragile white blossoms. The fruits were just barely coming in, the apples were no bigger than a ping pong balls.

"How did you know?" Anita had only mentioned to Legolas about her family's yearly trips to Apple Annie's orchard once in passing, how could he have possibly remembered? A gentle gust of wind showered both of them in a flurry of pink and white petals. Legolas didn't answer her question, instead his hand outstretched and began to pull the little white flowers from Ani's hair where the wind had blown them. His hands running through her hair sent little shivers down her spine, and Anita stepped back to remove herself from his touch. The past two days had been a struggle to maintain their promise and behave themselves. Two days may not be much time, but for two people trying to fight against rising sexual tension, two days was a lifetime.

Slipping around the tree, Anita disappeared from Legolas' line of sight. The young girl reached up and plucked a premature apple from its home on the tree, rolling it back and forth between her hands a devilish idea formed in her head. Slithering back around to the other side of the tree, she could see that Legolas had moved down the row a little ways, walking away from her location.

Perfect.

The small apple sailed from her fingertips in a perfectly formed arch before it collided with Legolas' shoulder. Immediately the elf turned and looked back at Ani, who had a look of feigned innocence on her face.

"Somebody is throwing stuff." She was trying so hard to suppress a smile, to continue to look cherub like. But Legolas knew better. Leaning over he picked the apple up from the bed of petals on the orchard floor and took a mock threatening step in Ani's direction. She responded by taking a step backward and putting her hands up in surrender. She could see the playful glint in his eye as he stepped toward her again causing Ani to giggle nervously. For one tense moment, neither of them moved, watching and waiting for the other. Anita broke first.

With a squeal she spun on her heels and took off running, zigzagging through the evenly spaced rows of trees. She didn't have to hear or see him to know that Legolas was giving chase, so she kept running at full tilt hoping she was keeping some distance on him. It wasn't until she came around the last row of trees and she collided with his solid form, that she understood she had never stood a chance of outrunning him. Tangled together, they fell to the ground and began a fight for dominance.

Legolas was surprised by Ani's strength, and despite the fact they were both laughing uncontrollably, he really had to try to suppress her. Wrapping her legs around his waist for leverage, she flipped them over so she was straddling him, slamming his lean shoulders into the layer of petals beneath them. Ani only looked victorious for a second before Legolas began to tickle her ribcage, turning her superior expression to one of shock, causing her to shriek and loose her grip on him. He used his advantage to roll them back over. Legolas ceased his tickling torment only to snatch both Anita's small wrists in his iron grip and pin them above her head. With her hands in his grasp and her small frame trapped under his larger one, Anita was completely and absolutely at his mercy.

The laughter at their raucous play fighting slowly faded out, and soon both parties became only too aware of their proximity to each other. With her legs still wrapped around his waist and their bodies pressed up to close to each other leaving their faces only inches apart, they both knew it was a toxic situation. With her body underneath his like this, Legolas' mind drifted back to the night they had been together, the way she had arched and writhed, just the memory was enough to make him harden. A reaction that didn't go unnoticed by Ani.

She bit her bottom lip, trying to hide her nervousness and her own arousal simultaneously, but her action only served to draw Legolas' attention to the plump lower lip which was caught between her teeth. In his eyes Anita could see the same battle she was waging between lust and reason reflected in his face. For two days they had been fighting the reality that there was an obvious physical attraction between them, fighting to maintain that they could remain just friends despite their lust for each other. It was a fight that ended the second Legolas' lips found Anita's.

The kiss was desperate and harsh, days of sexual tension fighting for release. His hardness rubbed against her center, eliciting a gasp from Ani; and all her fortitude and strength she had been using to fight these urges melted away. He could have her right here on the forest floor if he wanted; she was tired of fighting it.

Just as quickly as it happened, just as soon as she had given into her desire, it ended. The feel of his lips on hers vanished, and the pressure of his body on hers was lifted as was his grip on her wrists. She lay on the ground alone, and watched as Legolas strode away from her, clawing his hands through his hair and shaking his head.

"Anita….Anita we can't…" She didn't know whether to be hurt or relieved that Legolas had stopped before things had gotten more heated. Slowly getting to her feet, Ani brushed the fallen petals off her clothes before following Legolas – who was already halfway out of the orchard- back to Rivendell. It was the longest, quietest, most awkward walk of her life. What could she say? However confused she was about the situation she was, Legolas must have been twice as confused, so there was no point in asking him about it.

As soon as they crossed the threshold back into Rivendell, Legolas split from Ani's company, no 'goodbye', no 'see you tomorrow', nothing. Anita tried not to be hurt by it, after all she understood their situation was delicate…but there was an unmistakable twinge of pain in her heart as he walked away.

Legolas didn't even spare her a backward glance. He knew what he had to do, and if he didn't do it now he may lose the will to do it. The young prince bee lined it for the sitting room where he knew the older Elf liked to spend his afternoons reading. He paused for only a second to steady his nerves with a deep breath before entering the room; glad to see he wasn't wrong about Elladan's whereabouts.

"Prince Legolas, I thought you would be out with Anita."

"My Lord Elladan, it is actually about your daughter that I need to speak to you about."

"Oh dear," Elladan closed the dusty tome he had been reading and turned his full attention to younger Elf, "what has she done now?"

Legolas was slightly taken aback that Elladan would assume that any troubles had been caused by his own daughter. "Nothing, Anita has done nothing to cause offense. I thought perhaps it best that a new guide be assigned to her."

"Nonsense. My daughter had flourished with your friendship. Anita is happier, she has begun to eat again, and she taken up her art once more. I do believe your time together has made the transition here easier for her. And I know for a fact that your father approves of how you are spending your time in Rivendell."

That brought Legolas up short. "My father?"

"Indeed. I wrote to him perhaps a fortnight ago and explained to him how you were occupied since coming here. King Thranduil seemed an enthusiastic supporter of your new responsibility as my daughter's guide and protector outside these walls." Elladan set his book aside, stood and walked to stand next to Legolas. He laid a reassuring hand on the prince's shoulder in a gesture of friendship. "Most importantly though, your father and I both trust you. There are some Elves who would not remain so honorable while unsupervised with a young maiden, but I know you have treated Anita with respect."

It was bad enough that he had violated his friend's trust, not to mention that he didn't have the courage to confess that he had violated that trust. It was far worse for Legolas to know that his own father's approval, which was rare to come by, would surely disappear if Thrandruil really knew how Legolas had been spending his time with Ani.

As surely as Legolas knew his own name he KNEW Elladan would kill him if he ever suspected what had transpired between the young prince and his daughter. So now Legolas was stuck. Unable and unwilling to confess to his sins there was no way for him to avoid the girl who, with little effort, was able to awaken all his primal desires. The prince had so little energy left with which to fight those growing desires, and it seemed Ani was at that same point if what happened in the orchard was any indicator.

If there was a curse in the Common Tongue that encompassed how mucked up this was, Legolas didn't know it. Actually after spending so much time with Anita perhaps he did know a curse that encompassed just how bad the situation was. The words he had heard her use on more than one occasion slowly surfaced in his brain and echoed around in none other than Anita's voice;

Oh we are fucked.

Contagious- Trapt