~Hey Everyone! OK, I've sent this story to
http://www.freewebz.com/cutefaramir/ …I got confirmation from the
archivist, and it should be up there soon. I'm also going to post it at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/The GlitteringCaves/ sometime this week. Of
course, I'll continue to post here for the rest of this week, but after
that, you'll have to go to one of these new homes (thank you both so much
for offering to host it, by the way!!!) to keep reading. Also, Laura, I
accidentally deleted the email you sent offering to post it at your site…I
would love to put it up there too, so if you get a chance could you give me
the address to send it to again? Thanks! And if anyone else has a site
they'd like to have it up on, I'd love to put it there too, just let me
know! For anyone who would still prefer to have updates sent to them
through email, let me know and I can do that too. Ok, hopefully this won't
be the last time I get to "talk" to all of you, but just in case it is, I
want to say once again how much all of your interest and reviewing has
meant to me. It really made me want to keep writing! If you're still up for
giving feedback (or if you just want to know where I am or whatever) after
the review system is no more, feel free to email me at
kcameron15@hotmail.com, I'd love to still hear from you! Oh, and Katy, I'm
still tossing around Merry fic ideas in my head, so hopefully I won't be
leaving ff.net for good come Sunday! Ok…on with it!~
Chapter 22: Fortunes and Questions With Hard Answers
Dom shook himself out of his half-asleep state and partially opened his eyes when he felt the little lump in the bed next to him shiver. He nudged it, and smiled as it buried itself underneath the covers, completely stealing them all from him.
"I'm cold," Reilly stated plaintively from her new little cocoon, and Dom laughed and tugged at the blankets, trying to find her.
"Being back in merry old England not working out so well for you?" he asked, and laughed again as he saw her head shake vehemently back and forth underneath the covers. "Well come out here, then, and we'll see if I can't do something to warm you up," he coaxed. She shook her head again, then peeked her face out of a little opening.
"Nuh-uh," she replied. "You come in here." She held open the blankets and then pulled them over both their heads after Dom crawled underneath. He smiled as she immediately curled herself against him, resting her head on his chest. Putting his arms around her, he teased her as she continued shivering.
"Isn't it supposed to be colder in Massachusetts than it is here? You should be able to handle March, c'mon Ri!" He could barely see her in the dark, but he knew she stuck her tongue out at him as she poked him. "Hey! None of that!" he told her. "Maybe you need to wear more clothes to bed," he added as he ran his hands along her shoulders and arms, playing with the spaghetti straps of her tank top. He saw a flash of her teeth and knew she was smiling.
"Oh…would you like me to wear more clothes to bed?" she asked him teasingly, and he smiled back.
"Well, no," he responded as he let his hands run over the soft skin if her lower back and around to her hipbones where her tank top failed to meet the waistband of her little cotton shorts. "This is plenty enough for me!" he announced. She laughed at this, reaching a hand up to run it through his tousled hair.
"I'm not tired!" she announced, sitting up suddenly. "Can we go bug Billy and Emma?" she asked pleadingly, and Dom laughed at her again.
"It's the middle of the night…they could be sleeping…or…" he trailed off and Reilly shook her head, hopping out of the bed and shifting from one foot to the other as she shivered.
"Nope, doubtful. Emma's not…she wouldn't…I mean, well…I know she really likes Billy, but she did just meet him, and she is leaving tomorrow without knowing when she'll see him again…and plus, she's got some heavy Catholic morals…" she finished ambiguously, not one to discuss someone else's sexual history, and Dom nodded in understanding.
"Gotcha," he replied, climbing out of bed and pulling on a tee shirt. "Well, in that case I suppose it'd be alright if we bugged 'em for a bit. It is Emma's last night," he added, and put a sympathetic arm around Reilly's shoulders as her face fell at the mention of Emma leaving the next day. She smiled up at him, pushing her momentary sadness away.
"Carry me?" she pleaded. "The floor's cold!" Dom made a face, and she responded with a pout. He relented and she quickly jumped on his back.
They were a little surprised to hear voices as they approached the guest room door. Slipping off Dom's back, Reilly raised her eyebrows as she heard a thump, followed by laughter. Then…
"Oh, God, this is sooooo good!" Emma's voice exclaimed, and Reilly's eyes nearly fell out of her head as she turned to face Dom…a little too quickly though, because…
"Ouch!" she half-shouted, half-whispered as she bumped into him turning around, not realizing how close behind her he was, and slammed her elbow against the door in the process.
"Shhh!" Dom replied with wide eyes, clapping a hand over her mouth, and starting to lead her away.
"Ahem." The two of them turned to see Billy standing in the doorway with his eyebrows raised.
"Um…hi?" Reilly chewed on her lower lip and looked to Dom to give an explanation.
"We were just, um, coming to see…what…I mean how…you two…Reilly wanted…" he sighed exasperatedly at his own stammering. "We were coming to annoy the piss out of you," he finished finally, and Reilly spoke up.
"Yeah, we didn't think we'd walk in on…anything," she added, with a wicked sparkle in her eye.
"You mean like us talking and eating chocolate?" Emma's head popped over Billy's shoulder, and she gave Reilly a what-the-hell-are-you-talking- about look.
"Chocolate?" Reilly repeated, dumbfounded. "Oh…I…I mean…we thought…because we heard…uh…"
"You thought that? Ri, you know that wouldn't be it…I mean, not now anyway," Emma told her, giving her a curious look. "What put that idea in your head? Were you…?"
Reilly's eyes widened. "No! No, no…not yet…I don't want to…you know?" Emma smiled at this. Oooh, she really likes this one, she thought to herself. Meanwhile, Billy and Dom stared open-mouthed at the two girls.
"I get the feeling," Billy stated. "That we are being discussed like we're not here." Dom nodded.
"Yes," he replied. "And within a conversation that I think I would be very interested to be involved in," he added, giving Reilly a look. She smiled sweetly.
"Nah, boys. Just a lil girl talk. So…chocolate?" she pushed between Emma and Billy and jumped onto the guest room bed, immediately claiming her green pillow. "Oooh, Baci!" she grinned as she picked up the box of Italian hazelnut chocolates. "Chocolate says romance in any language," she recited the mantra on the back of the box, and winked at her three friends. Laughing, Emma sat beside her best friend and unwrapped one, pulling out the fortune that came wrapped with the chocolate.
"Dammit!" she cried. "I hate it how they print the fortunes in six languages and they always manage to have a few fortunes where English is not one of them!" Everyone laughed as she sulked. "Oooh, wait, Ri…I think this is French…can you read it?" Dom looked surprised.
"You can speak French?" he asked Reilly, who shrugged and smiled.
"Un peu, monsieur," she replied, taking Emma's fortune. "Goute-moi: tu verras comme je suis tendre," she read aloud, then giggled. "I believe that says 'Taste me: you will see how sweet I am'," she told Emma, who blushed slightly as Billy let out a cheer.
"I love fortunes!" he proclaimed, the pulled Emma over to him. "I'll let you know," he added with a wink, before kissing her gently.
"Awwww!" Reilly pretended to wipe away a tear. "How cute was that?!"
Billy grinned like a little boy as he pulled away from Emma. "Very sweet," he said, without taking his eyes off of her. The reaction on Emma's face was one of a million different emotions…she was clearly touched, undeniably smitten, and suddenly dismayed, knowing she was leaving the next day. Reilly watched her closely, feeling her own heart race. What am I gonna do when it's my turn to have to say goodbye? She wondered to herself as she cast a sideways glance at Dom, who was smiling at Billy and Emma. What am I doing now? She chewed on her bottom lip some more, thinking of how after Dom had kissed her that first time they hadn't spoken of the fears she had expressed about leaving him right before. And now…she looked at him again, quickly glancing downward as he caught her eyes this time. Should I be doing this? She wondered.
Dom frowned as he noticed the sudden change in Reilly's mood, and saw how the happy light in her eyes had faded. Turning to Billy and Emma, he smiled. "We'll let you two alone now," he told them, getting to his feet and taking Reilly by the hand. "See you in the morning." Reilly hugged Emma goodnight, and they left her and Billy alone to enjoy their last night together.
"So," Dom said lightly as he and Reilly wandered into the kitchen to get something to drink. "Everything…alright?" he kept his tone easy. She smiled at him.
"Yeah," she replied. "Of course. I was just thinking…well, I don't want to think about it right now," she said. "Hey…you never read your fortune," she added, picking up the paper he had left on the counter. "Oh," she looked disappointed. "It's not in English…or French." Dom smiled slightly and set down his juice.
"It's in German, though," he told her, pointing it out at the bottom of the paper. "Liebe mich, wenn ich es am wenigsten verdiene, denn dann brauche ich deine Liebe am notigsten." She smiled at hearing him speak the language.
"What's it mean?" she asked, and he hesitated momentarily before responding:
"Love me when I deserve it the least, because that is when I will need it the most."
"Oh," Reilly replied, looking down at the floor. She was sitting up on the counter, and suddenly seemed very interested in her dangling feet. He watched her silently, and after a moment she spoke again. "Do you think that's hard to do?" she asked, finally looking up to meet his gaze. "Do you think it's hard to love someone when you think they don't deserve it?" Dom shook his head.
"No," he said simply. "The people I love…they'll always deserve it." Reilly looked at him quizzically.
"Always? No matter what? Like, there's never a moment where you…don't love them? Even if it's just for a second?" she asked, her gaze steady.
"Nope. Always," Dom replied firmly. "There's a difference, between being angry with someone, so angry, and not loving them. I could hate something that someone I love does, but I will still love them." Reilly let out a breath and dropped her eyes back to the floor.
"I wish I was so…sure…about love, like you are," she told him, and her words stung a little, but he forced a small smile and lifted her chin.
"You will be," he told her. "You just have to stop being afraid of it." She nodded, and tried to smile back.
"Dom? What are we doing?" she asked him, and he knew immediately what she meant. He shook his head.
"I'm not sure, Ri. Can you fall in love with someone you already love? Can you fall in love with…" he trailed off, and Reilly filled in the blank for him.
"With your best friend." Her smile faltered some more, and she shrugged. "I don't know," she replied. "But I know…I can love you when you deserve it the least. What…what do you know?" she asked him, tentatively.
"I know I never want to stop being your best friend," he replied. "And I know…I want to kiss you right now." Reilly smile grew fuller.
"You want to see how sweet I am?" she asked, and he laughed softly.
"Oh yeah." He gently took her face in his hands and brought her lips to his, relaxing as her hands moved over his back, bringing him closer to her. Pulling back, he waited a moment before opening his eyes, and she smiled softly as she watched him, running her hand across his forehead and then down over his cheek so that she cupped his face.
"Hey," she said quietly as he opened his eyes to meet hers. "I think we just had our first serious conversation since we've been…I mean, well, like the ones we'd have when we were just…or before we were…" she furrowed her eyebrows as she searched for the right words and Dom couldn't help laughing.
"How shall we put this?" he mused. "Our first serious conversation since we went from being best friends to being best friends who…kiss eachother a lot?" he finished lamely, and she wrinkled her nose and hit him playfully.
"No! It's more than that!" she insisted, and he felt his heart kind of soar a little.
"Yeah? How much more? Should we talk about this?" he demanded, and she made a debating face.
"I don't know…it's almost 3 in the morning, and two serious talks might be pushing it…" she pondered, then hurried on as his face fell. "But, hey…" she kissed him again, then continued breathily. "It's more than just that…lots more." She slid off the counter and grabbed his hand. "Now lets go hide under the covers again…it's cold! Oh, and, um, carry me?" she asked with wide, innocent eyes, and he pretended to scowl for a moment, before letting her climb onto his back again.
"Hey, Ri?" he asked after they had made it back into the bedroom.
"Yeah?" she replied, arranging blankets.
"I'm still allowed to tell you I love you, right? Just like I always have? I mean, that's not going to be weird or anything, right?" he asked, kind of quickly, then held his breath for a moment. She looked at him incredulously, then rolled her eyes.
"Dork," she muttered, and he pushed her.
"Hey!" he retorted. "I just thought I'd check!" she rolled her eyes again, then reached up to give him a hug.
"I love you Dominic," she told him, and he smiled and held her tightly.
"I love you, too, Reilly."
Chapter 22: Fortunes and Questions With Hard Answers
Dom shook himself out of his half-asleep state and partially opened his eyes when he felt the little lump in the bed next to him shiver. He nudged it, and smiled as it buried itself underneath the covers, completely stealing them all from him.
"I'm cold," Reilly stated plaintively from her new little cocoon, and Dom laughed and tugged at the blankets, trying to find her.
"Being back in merry old England not working out so well for you?" he asked, and laughed again as he saw her head shake vehemently back and forth underneath the covers. "Well come out here, then, and we'll see if I can't do something to warm you up," he coaxed. She shook her head again, then peeked her face out of a little opening.
"Nuh-uh," she replied. "You come in here." She held open the blankets and then pulled them over both their heads after Dom crawled underneath. He smiled as she immediately curled herself against him, resting her head on his chest. Putting his arms around her, he teased her as she continued shivering.
"Isn't it supposed to be colder in Massachusetts than it is here? You should be able to handle March, c'mon Ri!" He could barely see her in the dark, but he knew she stuck her tongue out at him as she poked him. "Hey! None of that!" he told her. "Maybe you need to wear more clothes to bed," he added as he ran his hands along her shoulders and arms, playing with the spaghetti straps of her tank top. He saw a flash of her teeth and knew she was smiling.
"Oh…would you like me to wear more clothes to bed?" she asked him teasingly, and he smiled back.
"Well, no," he responded as he let his hands run over the soft skin if her lower back and around to her hipbones where her tank top failed to meet the waistband of her little cotton shorts. "This is plenty enough for me!" he announced. She laughed at this, reaching a hand up to run it through his tousled hair.
"I'm not tired!" she announced, sitting up suddenly. "Can we go bug Billy and Emma?" she asked pleadingly, and Dom laughed at her again.
"It's the middle of the night…they could be sleeping…or…" he trailed off and Reilly shook her head, hopping out of the bed and shifting from one foot to the other as she shivered.
"Nope, doubtful. Emma's not…she wouldn't…I mean, well…I know she really likes Billy, but she did just meet him, and she is leaving tomorrow without knowing when she'll see him again…and plus, she's got some heavy Catholic morals…" she finished ambiguously, not one to discuss someone else's sexual history, and Dom nodded in understanding.
"Gotcha," he replied, climbing out of bed and pulling on a tee shirt. "Well, in that case I suppose it'd be alright if we bugged 'em for a bit. It is Emma's last night," he added, and put a sympathetic arm around Reilly's shoulders as her face fell at the mention of Emma leaving the next day. She smiled up at him, pushing her momentary sadness away.
"Carry me?" she pleaded. "The floor's cold!" Dom made a face, and she responded with a pout. He relented and she quickly jumped on his back.
They were a little surprised to hear voices as they approached the guest room door. Slipping off Dom's back, Reilly raised her eyebrows as she heard a thump, followed by laughter. Then…
"Oh, God, this is sooooo good!" Emma's voice exclaimed, and Reilly's eyes nearly fell out of her head as she turned to face Dom…a little too quickly though, because…
"Ouch!" she half-shouted, half-whispered as she bumped into him turning around, not realizing how close behind her he was, and slammed her elbow against the door in the process.
"Shhh!" Dom replied with wide eyes, clapping a hand over her mouth, and starting to lead her away.
"Ahem." The two of them turned to see Billy standing in the doorway with his eyebrows raised.
"Um…hi?" Reilly chewed on her lower lip and looked to Dom to give an explanation.
"We were just, um, coming to see…what…I mean how…you two…Reilly wanted…" he sighed exasperatedly at his own stammering. "We were coming to annoy the piss out of you," he finished finally, and Reilly spoke up.
"Yeah, we didn't think we'd walk in on…anything," she added, with a wicked sparkle in her eye.
"You mean like us talking and eating chocolate?" Emma's head popped over Billy's shoulder, and she gave Reilly a what-the-hell-are-you-talking- about look.
"Chocolate?" Reilly repeated, dumbfounded. "Oh…I…I mean…we thought…because we heard…uh…"
"You thought that? Ri, you know that wouldn't be it…I mean, not now anyway," Emma told her, giving her a curious look. "What put that idea in your head? Were you…?"
Reilly's eyes widened. "No! No, no…not yet…I don't want to…you know?" Emma smiled at this. Oooh, she really likes this one, she thought to herself. Meanwhile, Billy and Dom stared open-mouthed at the two girls.
"I get the feeling," Billy stated. "That we are being discussed like we're not here." Dom nodded.
"Yes," he replied. "And within a conversation that I think I would be very interested to be involved in," he added, giving Reilly a look. She smiled sweetly.
"Nah, boys. Just a lil girl talk. So…chocolate?" she pushed between Emma and Billy and jumped onto the guest room bed, immediately claiming her green pillow. "Oooh, Baci!" she grinned as she picked up the box of Italian hazelnut chocolates. "Chocolate says romance in any language," she recited the mantra on the back of the box, and winked at her three friends. Laughing, Emma sat beside her best friend and unwrapped one, pulling out the fortune that came wrapped with the chocolate.
"Dammit!" she cried. "I hate it how they print the fortunes in six languages and they always manage to have a few fortunes where English is not one of them!" Everyone laughed as she sulked. "Oooh, wait, Ri…I think this is French…can you read it?" Dom looked surprised.
"You can speak French?" he asked Reilly, who shrugged and smiled.
"Un peu, monsieur," she replied, taking Emma's fortune. "Goute-moi: tu verras comme je suis tendre," she read aloud, then giggled. "I believe that says 'Taste me: you will see how sweet I am'," she told Emma, who blushed slightly as Billy let out a cheer.
"I love fortunes!" he proclaimed, the pulled Emma over to him. "I'll let you know," he added with a wink, before kissing her gently.
"Awwww!" Reilly pretended to wipe away a tear. "How cute was that?!"
Billy grinned like a little boy as he pulled away from Emma. "Very sweet," he said, without taking his eyes off of her. The reaction on Emma's face was one of a million different emotions…she was clearly touched, undeniably smitten, and suddenly dismayed, knowing she was leaving the next day. Reilly watched her closely, feeling her own heart race. What am I gonna do when it's my turn to have to say goodbye? She wondered to herself as she cast a sideways glance at Dom, who was smiling at Billy and Emma. What am I doing now? She chewed on her bottom lip some more, thinking of how after Dom had kissed her that first time they hadn't spoken of the fears she had expressed about leaving him right before. And now…she looked at him again, quickly glancing downward as he caught her eyes this time. Should I be doing this? She wondered.
Dom frowned as he noticed the sudden change in Reilly's mood, and saw how the happy light in her eyes had faded. Turning to Billy and Emma, he smiled. "We'll let you two alone now," he told them, getting to his feet and taking Reilly by the hand. "See you in the morning." Reilly hugged Emma goodnight, and they left her and Billy alone to enjoy their last night together.
"So," Dom said lightly as he and Reilly wandered into the kitchen to get something to drink. "Everything…alright?" he kept his tone easy. She smiled at him.
"Yeah," she replied. "Of course. I was just thinking…well, I don't want to think about it right now," she said. "Hey…you never read your fortune," she added, picking up the paper he had left on the counter. "Oh," she looked disappointed. "It's not in English…or French." Dom smiled slightly and set down his juice.
"It's in German, though," he told her, pointing it out at the bottom of the paper. "Liebe mich, wenn ich es am wenigsten verdiene, denn dann brauche ich deine Liebe am notigsten." She smiled at hearing him speak the language.
"What's it mean?" she asked, and he hesitated momentarily before responding:
"Love me when I deserve it the least, because that is when I will need it the most."
"Oh," Reilly replied, looking down at the floor. She was sitting up on the counter, and suddenly seemed very interested in her dangling feet. He watched her silently, and after a moment she spoke again. "Do you think that's hard to do?" she asked, finally looking up to meet his gaze. "Do you think it's hard to love someone when you think they don't deserve it?" Dom shook his head.
"No," he said simply. "The people I love…they'll always deserve it." Reilly looked at him quizzically.
"Always? No matter what? Like, there's never a moment where you…don't love them? Even if it's just for a second?" she asked, her gaze steady.
"Nope. Always," Dom replied firmly. "There's a difference, between being angry with someone, so angry, and not loving them. I could hate something that someone I love does, but I will still love them." Reilly let out a breath and dropped her eyes back to the floor.
"I wish I was so…sure…about love, like you are," she told him, and her words stung a little, but he forced a small smile and lifted her chin.
"You will be," he told her. "You just have to stop being afraid of it." She nodded, and tried to smile back.
"Dom? What are we doing?" she asked him, and he knew immediately what she meant. He shook his head.
"I'm not sure, Ri. Can you fall in love with someone you already love? Can you fall in love with…" he trailed off, and Reilly filled in the blank for him.
"With your best friend." Her smile faltered some more, and she shrugged. "I don't know," she replied. "But I know…I can love you when you deserve it the least. What…what do you know?" she asked him, tentatively.
"I know I never want to stop being your best friend," he replied. "And I know…I want to kiss you right now." Reilly smile grew fuller.
"You want to see how sweet I am?" she asked, and he laughed softly.
"Oh yeah." He gently took her face in his hands and brought her lips to his, relaxing as her hands moved over his back, bringing him closer to her. Pulling back, he waited a moment before opening his eyes, and she smiled softly as she watched him, running her hand across his forehead and then down over his cheek so that she cupped his face.
"Hey," she said quietly as he opened his eyes to meet hers. "I think we just had our first serious conversation since we've been…I mean, well, like the ones we'd have when we were just…or before we were…" she furrowed her eyebrows as she searched for the right words and Dom couldn't help laughing.
"How shall we put this?" he mused. "Our first serious conversation since we went from being best friends to being best friends who…kiss eachother a lot?" he finished lamely, and she wrinkled her nose and hit him playfully.
"No! It's more than that!" she insisted, and he felt his heart kind of soar a little.
"Yeah? How much more? Should we talk about this?" he demanded, and she made a debating face.
"I don't know…it's almost 3 in the morning, and two serious talks might be pushing it…" she pondered, then hurried on as his face fell. "But, hey…" she kissed him again, then continued breathily. "It's more than just that…lots more." She slid off the counter and grabbed his hand. "Now lets go hide under the covers again…it's cold! Oh, and, um, carry me?" she asked with wide, innocent eyes, and he pretended to scowl for a moment, before letting her climb onto his back again.
"Hey, Ri?" he asked after they had made it back into the bedroom.
"Yeah?" she replied, arranging blankets.
"I'm still allowed to tell you I love you, right? Just like I always have? I mean, that's not going to be weird or anything, right?" he asked, kind of quickly, then held his breath for a moment. She looked at him incredulously, then rolled her eyes.
"Dork," she muttered, and he pushed her.
"Hey!" he retorted. "I just thought I'd check!" she rolled her eyes again, then reached up to give him a hug.
"I love you Dominic," she told him, and he smiled and held her tightly.
"I love you, too, Reilly."