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!

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I felt really guilty when Jaime ran off. I hadn't meant to upset her; it was just that the one person I hadn't wanted to talk about was Boromir. Although I suppose that being pregnant wasn't helping her. I wanted to go after her and tell her that I was sorry, but I thought that maybe I should give her until the morning to calm down, since I didn't want to make things worse. If it was only her hormones, I hoped she would be back to normal by then.

I sat down under a tree, with the video cradled in my arms. I was beginning to feel really bad again, I guess because I had started thinking about my parents. My life was nothing, my parents didn't give a damn about me, my best friends were all making their own lives and none of them needed me anymore. To top it off, I was now fairly sure that I was pregnant, however hard I tried not to believe it. I was scared, but I had no idea who to turn to. It seemed like my options were limited.

Slowly I stood up and crept back inside. Everything was in darkness and it seemed like nearly everyone had gone to bed. Being careful not to draw any attention to myself, I slipped into Thanduil's office and shut the door behind me. Then I picked up the phone and dialled the number of the only tavern in Silverwood.

"Hello" the male voice on the other end sounded tired. "The Silver Stallion, how can we help you?"

"Is…is Damon Darkshield around?" I asked, trying desperately to hold back the tears. "I really need to speak to him"

"How on a second" the man put down the receiver. "Damon!" he called loudly. "Damon, there's a young girl on the phone. She wants to speak to you"

There was a bit of muffled talking and then Damon picked up the phone.

"Emma?" he asked softly. "Kid, is that you?"

"Yes" I whispered, tears beginning to slide down my cheeks. "Damon, I…could I come stay with you for a while?"

"If you want" he agreed immediately. "Things getting that bad?"

"Something like that" I told him. "Everything is going wrong and I don't know what to do…"

"It'll be alright" Damon sounded worried now. "Where are you?"

"Mirkwood"

"Do you know the crossroads about two hours north of Mirkwood?" Damon said thoughtfully. "Meet me there, okay? I'll leave now"

"Sure. Thanks Damon"

"No problem. By the way, are you going to tell your friends where you're going?"

"No" I said quietly. "I'll leave them a note telling them that I'm okay, but I'm not going to tell them that I'm with you. See you soon"

I rushed to my room and threw a few clothes and my birthday presents into a bag. Then I found a pen and scribbled a short note for the others. I told them that I was sorry but I really needed some space and I was safe but I didn't want them to come looking for me. At the end I added a short note for Jaime, just telling her that I was sorry for our argument and that she would always be my best friend. Then I went outside, mounted Flamedancer and called for Laddie. Without looking back, I rode away from Mirkwood.

Damon was already there when I arrived. I jumped off my horse and threw myself into his arms. He looked completely exhausted, well it was the early hours of the morning, but he didn't complain. I was touched that he had come for me.

"You don't look well" Damon commented. "You've lost weight and you look really worried"

"I haven't been well," I admitted. "I've been throwing up a lot. I can't keep anything down"

"Well then" he said, giving me a weary smile. "Let's get home to bed, eh?"

On the way to Silverwood, I told him a lot of the stuff that had been going on, although I didn't tell him that I thought I was pregnant. He didn't say much, just listened and nodded in the right places. He did tell me however, that I was welcome to stay for as long as I needed. When I thanked him, he just laughed.

"I told you that I'd always be here for you and Billee," he said with a smile. "It's what Marcus would have wanted"

His house wasn't much, a bit of a dump to be honest, but at least it was somewhere to live. Damon told me that he shared it with three other guys, but none of them would be up right then. He let me in and made me a hot drink. It felt kind of nice to be looked after.

"I think we had better go to bed," he said after ten minutes or so. "I have a double bed, but you can have that. I'll sleep on the floor"

"You can sleep in there too," I said quickly. "It's not like we've never…" I trailed off, but he understood.

"If you are sure," he said with a nod. I was, I trusted Damon. We went upstairs and he waited until I was changed and in bed before coming in. He crashed out, fully clothed on the bed. I lay there watching him sleep for a few minutes, wondering what the others would think when they found me missing…