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

By Risty Maskell and Silver15

Disclaimer: They're ours! All ours! Silver: No they aren't, Risty. Risty: Wha…? Oh damn.

Summary: You think we know? Gimme a break!

**************************************************************************** ****

(Billee's POV)

Seeing Jaime seemed to do Emma a bit of good. She was still pale and withdrawn and I knew that she was throwing up a lot, but when she was with Jaime she seemed just a bit happier. I was glad of that, since I had no idea what was wrong, I didn't know how to reach her. If she had Jamie to talk to, well maybe she could hold up for just a while longer.

I knew that at least part of the problem was Boromir. Emma still wouldn't talk about her reasons for breaking up with him, but I knew she missed him. Two nights before her birthday and the surprise party we were planning, I was walking passed her bedroom when I heard her crying. When I quietly put my head around the door, I saw that she was lying on her bed holding on of his shirts against her face. That's when the idea came to me…

I left her alone since she didn't look like she wanted to be disturbed and went to find Legolas. As soon as he saw me, he knew something was up. We went to our room and shut the door so that no one could hear us.

"Okay, what is it?" Legolas asked with a smile. "You have an idea? What about?"

"Two things. Both about Emma" Quickly I told him what I had just seen. "We have to do something," I added. "And I think I know what"

"Go on"

"In the short term, I wondered if we could give her one of our presents a bit early. Tonight maybe? I figure that it might cheer her up"

"Fine" Legolas nodded. "If you think it might cheer her up. What is the other plan?"

I leant forward and whispered into his ear. Legolas grinned and nodded.

"It could work," he said. "But you had better do it now. The party is the day after tomorrow"

"Will do," I agreed. "Let me borrow your phone"

Legolas showed me to his father's office and left me alone. Quickly I dialled a number and a woman picked up the phone.

"Can I speak to Boromir South?" I asked quickly. "It's really urgent"

Two minutes later, I heard Boromir's voice.

"Hey Boromir, it's Billee" I told him. "I wanted to talk to you about Emma"

"Is she alright?" he asked, sounding really worried. "She hasn't tried anything stupid?"

"She isn't too good" I admitted. "But no, she's still in one piece. All I wanted to tell you is that we are having a party for her, the day after tomorrow. We thought it might be good if you came"

"I'm not sure, Billee…"

"She misses you," I told him. "Please come. For her"

"I'll leave first thing tomorrow morning" he said slowly. "If you think it will be okay"

"I'm sure it will" I reassured him. "Thank you, Boromir"

As I put the phone down, Legolas came back in.

"Well?" he asked. "Did he agree?"

"He did" I nodded. "I just hope that we haven't made a big mistake"

"It doesn't matter if we have," he said softly. "She can't go on like this. You want to give her the present now?"

"Yeah" I said with a sigh. "Why not? I'll just go get Colan"

(Emma's POV)

I spent most of the day in my room. Sleeping or just lying there thinking. Jaime came and sat with me a lot, but to be perfectly honest, she was beginning to get on my nerves with all the baby talk. I had no idea whether I was pregnant or not, and I didn't want to find out. Because if I was, I was in big trouble. I won't have kids, I don't want them and I never have. I'd rather just try and ignore it, at least until I felt strong enough to actually find out for sure.

Elrond came a lot too, usually to try and get me to eat something. I tried, I really did, but every time I swallowed a mouthful of food, it all felt like it was going to come back up again. The most I could manage in one day was three mouthfuls; although I was drinking a lot of fluid, mostly milk. I also felt completely exhausted most of the time. Elrond wanted to get a doctor to check me over, but I begged him to wait until we were back in Rivendell. In the end he gave in, at least for the time being.

Two days before my birthday, I didn't even feel like getting out of bed. Strange as it may seem, I was really missing Boromir. Our break up was for the best, as I had told Billee, and I didn't really regret it, but we had had fun together and I felt really guilty for hurting him.

I was jolted from my thoughts by a knock on my bedroom door. I sat up and called for whomever it was to come in. The door opened and in came Billee, Legolas and Colan. Colan was holding a present in his arms.

"We know that you have been feeling a bit down," Billee said slowly. "So we thought that you might like one of your birthday presents a little early"

I took the package from Colan and slowly opened it. Inside was the most beautiful dress I had ever seen. I'm not usually a dress person, but this really was lovely. It was light blue and made of expensive elven material. I knew, just from looking at it, that it must have cost them a fortune.

"Thank you," I whispered, too choked up to speak properly. I hugged each of them in turn, suddenly overcome with emotion. "I love it"

"Try it on," Billee urged. "We'll wait outside"

He pushed Colan out of the door and Legolas followed them. Carefully I put the dress on and looked at myself in my full-length mirror. I was amazed by what I saw.

The dress was even more beautiful up close. The material was soft and it shimmered whenever I moved. It was sleeveless and it came to just above my knees. I completely fell in love with it. The only problem was that it was pretty obvious that I had lost a lot of weight, but that didn't particularly bother me.

"Can we come in now?" Legolas asked, through the door. "Are you decent?"

"Yeah, come on in" I called back, suddenly feeling happy for the first time in quite a while. They came in and stopped dead when they saw me.

"Oh my" Legolas shook his head in amazement. "Emma, you look stunning"

"Thanks" I said shyly, smiling at them. "What do you think, Colan?"

"Very pretty" he said with a grin. "Can I marry you when I grow up?"

We all smiled at that. Colan can't half be funny when he wants to be. Billee just looked at me for a moment before he spoke.

"You've lost a lot of weight," he said softly. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Honestly, I'm fine" I lied. "But I need some sleep now, I think"

After they had left, I took the dress off and carefully folded it up before lying down on my bed and drifting off to sleep.