Life After High School. Is It Scary? You Bet.

By Risty Maskell and Silver15

Disclaimer: We don't own them 'cept our characters…damn.

Summary: WooHoo! A sequel! I dunno where it's going, so there's no summary!

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I woke up early the next morning. Quietly, so as not to wake Boromir, I got dressed and knocked on Billee's door. Colan answered, rubbing his eyes.

"Hello Emma" he said. "Billee's still asleep. Can I come downstairs with you?"

"Course you can" I scooped him up in my arms and he giggled. "But everyone else is asleep so we'll have to be very quiet"

"That's okay," he said thoughtfully. "I always had to be quiet when I was living at home"

"Well, you only have to be quiet until the others wake up" I told him. "Then you can play with Wendy again. You like Wendy don't you?"

He nodded, still too tired to be talkative. I carried him downstairs and sat him at the kitchen table. Aragorn was still asleep too, I could hear him snoring. Very quietly, I made Colan some eggs. While he was eating, I fed Laddie and Casper, and then sat down to eat some toast. Looking at the clock, I could see that it was very early indeed so it was no wonder we were the only ones up. I figured that after Colan had eaten his breakfast, he would go back to sleep again. He often did that.

When he finally dropped off at the table, his head in his arms, I decided to leave him like that. I couldn't face taking him all the way upstairs again.

Suddenly, the kitchen door opened and Damon came in. He looked at Colan and grinned.

"God, he's grown" was the first thing he said. "Is anyone else up yet?"

"Nope" I shook my head. "Do you want to have a shower or something? I show you were it is if you like"

"That would be great," he said sleepily. "I'd forgotten how nice it was to sleep in a bed. Beats the floor"

"I'll bet" I smiled, but I couldn't quite meet his eyes. The truth is I've always had a bit of a thing for Damon, ever since I was a kid. After he disappeared, I managed to block my feelings out, although I had never completely forgotten about him. And now all those hidden feelings were coming back.

'Forget it' I told myself firmly. 'You love Boromir and he loves you. Damon is just your friend. That's all'

"Emma?" Damon sounded vaguely amused. "Are you okay? You went a bit spaced out just then"

"I'm fine," I said, just a little too quickly. "Come on, I'll show you where the bathroom is"

He just nodded and followed me upstairs without another word. I paused outside the bathroom.

"Here we go," I told him. "If you hold on a second, I'll get you Boromir's spare razor and some of Billee's clothes. You're lucky you are so skinny"

"Not my choice" he said with a laugh. "That's what living rough does to you"

Quickly I got him the razor and some clothes. Legolas was half awake when I went into their bedroom but he was too busy biting Billee's ear to say anything. They make a good couple, I must say.

After I gave Damon his stuff, he just stood there for a moment, smiling at me.

"I can't believe how much you've changed," he said quietly. Slowly he brought his hand up and gently touched my cheek. A shiver went through my whole body; I didn't expect his touch to still have that effect on me. And even though I knew it was wrong, I desperately wanted to kiss him. Luckily a loud squeal of pain brought me back from my senses. Almost shoving Damon into the bathroom, I ran downstairs as fast as I could.

A terrible sight greeted me as I went back into the kitchen. Laddie was chasing Casper around, growling horribly at her. Her left ear was bleeding badly and was dripping blood all over the floor. Colan was crying loudly. I had to act quickly.

Firstly I called Laddie over while trying to comfort Colan. In the end, I had to give the poor kid some biscuits. Works every time. Then I had to go after Casper and examine her ear. While I tried to keep hold of her, she bit me on the wrist. She was really terrified, poor little dog. Not that it was Laddie's fault. She shouldn't have approached him on his blind side. Luckily her ear wasn't hurt badly. I was pretty relieved since I didn't really want to have to explain to Jamie why her dog only had one ear or something. At the same time, I was glad that the dogs had chosen that moment to fight. I knew that I would have to ensure that I wasn't alone with Damon again, just in case.

By the time Damon came down again, Billee, Elrond, Boromir and Legolas were all up. Aragorn's snoring had been replaced by the sound of giggling, which I knew Elrond was trying hard to ignore. I don't know how Arwen could do it. Have sex with her dad sitting in the next room. I couldn't do it, it would be way to embarrassing.

"Morning Damo" Billee said with a smile. "Sleep well?"

"Yes thanks" Damon replied softly. He looked a lot better now that he was clean and my heart gave a leap. I gave Boromir a kiss, feeling guilty for my thoughts.

"So who is this?" Elrond inquired. Billee introduced everyone. Colan hesitated for a minute, and then overcame his shyness.

"Are you Damon who used to tell us monster stories?" he asked. Damon grinned and nodded. Colan jumped out of his chair and gave Damon a big hug. I must say I was impressed with the kid's memory. He was just a baby back then, about four years ago. Yet he still remembered.

Jamie and Frodo came down just before lunch. Billee, Legolas and Damon had gone out to the stables with Sol-leks. That stupid wolf had taken to Legolas right away, much to our surprise. But Billee hadn't brought him inside yet. He said that it was far too dangerous, especially with so many people. Elrond was sitting out in the garden with Colan and Wendy who were playing with Laddie and Casper. Only Boromir and me were inside. They went out to one of the pantries and a moment later I heard them both laughing. Boromir smiled and starting nuzzling my neck. Normally I like him doing that, but today I just couldn't get into it. I really needed to get Jamie alone and discuss it with her. I trusted her and I knew that I needed someone's advice.