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

By Risty Maskell and Silver15

Disclaimer: Don't own anything.

Summary: Geez, whatever you reckon.

**************************************************************************** * (Benny's POV)

Although the evidence seemed to be against Damon, I did not believe, for one minute, that he had done it and I could see that Lucas and the boys thought the same. Even Emma and Billee, although they were slightly uncertain, wanted to believe in him. I could see it in their eyes. I know that he had admitted it, but there were too many things that didn't add up. Damon doesn't smoke so he would not have been wandering around with cigarettes, and even though he has never actually told anyone, he is petrified of fire so I could hardly see him setting someone alight. The big one however, was that despite what he had said, Damon has no real problem with black people. Bernard, the guy who runs the Silverwood tavern, was black and they had always got on great. Something didn't add up. Emma was looking at me, pleading with me to say something that would make it better. I could, and I had to. I wasn't going to have them thinking of Damon like that.

"Do you think he did it?" I asked her and Billee. Jaime started to say something and I glared at her. "Well" I asked again. "What do you think?"

"No" Billee shook his head. "I've known Damon since we were both children and I.I can't believe that the guy who was best friends with Marcus for years would do something like this."

"I don't want to believe it either" Emma whispered. "Billee is right. We know him better than anyone else in this room and he is not a monster."

She looked from Jaime to Damon and I knew that she was struggling to take in everything that had been said. Finally she made her choice. Stepping back to Damon's side, she took his hand and held it tightly. I knew what she was saying, she didn't believe that he had done it, but even if he had, it made no difference to her feelings for him. Jaime and her friend looked completely shocked and betrayed. I had to say something now, before it was too late.

"He's covering up for someone," I said to Lucas. He nodded.

"I suspected as much," he said. "But who?"

"I recognise him" Jaime's friend shrieked. "I'm not a liar!"

"No one says that you are," I said calmly. "I just think that you might have made a little mistake, that's all. Damon?"

"No comment"

"You're lying when you say that you hate black people," I said loudly, so that the rest of the room could hear. "You are afraid of fire and you don't have a habit of carrying cigarettes around with you. But I know that there is someone who once did all of those things. And we both know that not only did he look so like you that many people thought you were twins, but that he had a really nasty streak and that he could always persuade you to lie for him."

"Who?" Billee began, and then suddenly understood. "Jon. Your younger brother, Jonnie."

"Was it Jon, Damon?" Lucas asked gently. "Did your brother do this? Did he ask you to cover up for him?"

"You are lying!" Jaime shrieked. "Emma, don't listen to them! Please! We care about you!"

"Jon loved fire," Damon said absently. "He loved it, even when we were kids. He liked burning things. And he always said that one day he wanted to burn a person. Just to see what would happen."

"I remember him saying that" Billee said slowly. "He could be quite frightening sometimes."

"I never thought that he would actually do it" Damon continued. "But then when I was fifteen, I came home from work and he was sitting there smirking to himself. He looked up and said, "I did it". I asked what the hell he was on about and he told me what he had done. I was horrified, but what could I do? He was my brother and he was all I really had. He would have gone away for that, and I wasn't going to let that happen. So we just disappeared for a couple of weeks and when we came back it had all died down. But I always swore that I would protect my brother, even if he didn't deserve it."

The people on Boromir's side began muttering amongst themselves. I knew that some of them were half beginning to believe him. Jandimara and Jaime weren't convinced however, nor were Boromir and Frodo.

"I believe Jandimara" Frodo yelled across the hall. "Why should we believe anything you say?"

"I don't give a damn whether you believe me or not" Damon said quietly. "Lucas, Benny, Billee and Emma believe me and they are the only people here who I really care about. The rest of you can go and burn in hell for all I care. I don't have to explain myself to any of you and I won't."

"It really was Jon?" Emma asked him, her voice barely more than a whisper. "It doesn't change my feelings for you, Damon, but I need to know the truth."

"It was Jon" Damon said with a sigh. "And don't I half feel guilty for betraying him, even if he is gone."

"You have nothing to feel ashamed of" Emma said gently. "We believe you, don't we Billee?"

"Yes" Billee nodded and Legolas followed suit. Jaime glared at us and I noticed Blaze make an offensive gesture to them.

"Next time," he yelled out. "Why don't you damn well make sure you've got your facts straight before you start humiliating people who have done nothing wrong? I bet this was just another plot to try and spilt Emma and Damon up. Don't you people have any life to speak of?"

"That is enough, Blaze" Lucas said sharply. "I think we had better go," he told Damon and me quietly. "If we stay here, it is going to come to blows."

I looked at the others. He was right. Jaime was still crying and so was her friend. The other girls were trying to comfort them, glaring at us as they did. Elrond's sons, Boromir, Frodo, Aragorn, Baz and Jake had their fists clenched and looked ready for a fight.

"I am not going without Kane" Emma said fiercely. "Jaime, give him to me."

"My son is not going anywhere with him" Boromir yelled back. "He's dangerous and I won't risk him hurting Kane."

"And you really think I would go with someone who I thought would harm him?" Emma spat. "Kane means more to me than life and I would never put him in danger."

"Then prove it" Boromir took a step nearer. "Tell him to get lost. Come back to me. We can forget this ever happened."

"I'm sorry" Emma shook her head. "It wouldn't work. I don't love you."

"You did once," he pleaded. "We could make it work."

"Stop being so pathetic" Forrest spoke for the first time. "She doesn't want you, she wants him. Accept it and move on."

"Stay out of this" Aragorn spat. "It's got nothing to do with you, you good for nothing thief."

"Aragorn, please" Boromir said quietly. "Tell me Emma, did you ever really love me? What does he have that I haven't got?"

"Boromir" Emma spoke gently but firmly. Slowly she began to move towards the centre of the hall where he, Jandimara and Jaime and Jaime were standing with Kane. "I'll be honest, but you aren't going to like it. The truth is, maybe I did love you once, but a part of me has always loved Damon. Ever since I was a child."

"How bloody touching" someone muttered. Emma took no notice.

"As for what he does," she said quietly. "He listens to me, talks to me, and makes me feel like I'm actually worth something. He doesn't just try to tell me that everything will be okay when he knows I want more than that. And he's.he's."

"He's what?" Boromir narrowed his eyes and glared at Damon dangerously. Emma continued walking slowly towards Jaime and I suddenly realised what she was going to do.

"She's going to say that he's a better lover," Blaze yelled out suddenly and I turned to glare at him. "Not that I'm surprised. No woman has ever walked away complaining after spending a night with Damon. Face it Boromir, you never had a chance of competing with him."

"I'm going to kill that bastard!" Boromir roared and suddenly all hell broke loose. Elladan and Elrohir went directly for Billee and Legolas, Aragorn went for Forrest, Baz went for Lucas, Jake came for me and Frodo went for Blaze. Boromir of course, went for Damon. His fist raised, he swung at my friend and caught him straight in the mouth, knocking Damon clean off his feet. He landed on the floor by was soon up on his feet again, this time ready to defend. Apart from Forrest and Blaze, who were really going for their attackers, we just dodged and blocked their blows. Even Damon wouldn't throw a punch. We didn't want to hurt anyone, all we wanted was to get Kane and get the hell out of there.



(Emma's POV)

I was scared when the fighting started. None of the guys on Jaime's side had much fighting experience and I knew that Lucas and his gang could kill them if they wanted to. However, at that moment, my first priority was Kane. I was directly in front of Jaime now, although she was holding Kane tightly to her chest so that I couldn't grab him back.

"Jaime, please" I whispered. "Give Kane to me. I can't live without my son, you know that. Imagine if someone was trying to take Ria away from you. How would you feel?"

"Emma, I am so sorry" she said quietly. "But this is for the best."

I just stared at her, my brain racing. Until then I had kind of felt sorry for her, after all she had once been great friends with Benny and Lucas and now they were fighting on my side, along with Billee. She had lost all of her good friends in just a short space of time. But she was not having my baby.

"Okay then" I said quietly, a plan beginning to form in my mind. "But let me give him one last kiss"

She nodded, trusting me completely. As I moved forward and gently leaned towards my son, I brought my foot up and kicked her in the shin. As she yelled in confusion, I tore Kane from her arms. Jandimara came forward to try and get him, so I gripped him tightly with one hand and used my free hand to smack her across the face.

"Damon!" I yelled. "I've got him!"

"Then let's get out of here!" he said. Shoving Boromir backwards, so hard that he fell over, he came hurrying over and took my arm. Billee and Legolas had already darted through the door. Blaze, Lucas and Benny came over and crowded around me. The others backed away scowling, realising that it was useless. All except Aragorn who would not leave Forrest alone. Suddenly Aragorn gave a yell and stumbled away from us, clutching his side. When he took his hand away, it was covered in blood. Lucas looked at Forrest, who had a blood-covered knife in his hand, and raised his eyebrows.

"I didn't stab him hard" the thief protested. "He just would not leave me alone. He'll be fine, but maybe he'll think twice about messing with a thief again."

"Come on, let's just go" Lucas said quickly. "Before there is any more trouble. By the way Emma, Jaime was such a great friend there, wasn't she?"

"Yeah" Benny said, giving her a look of disgust. "I can tolerate anyone except people who turn against their closest friends when they are supposed to be supportive. Seems like Emma's the one who could do better."

With them still surrounding me, we headed to the door. In the doorway, I looked round at the people who had once been my friends. Arwen, Rosie and Blue were huddled around Aragorn, muttering sympathetic words. Boromir had slumped to the floor, his head in his hands, Frodo was trying to stop the nose bleed Blaze had given him and Jamie and Jandimara were trying to comfort Boromir.

"I just want to say," I said loudly. "That I never want to see any of you again. Especially you, Jaime Shadow. Damon's right, you can all go and burn in hell for all I care."

They all stood in silence as we walked out. Billee, Legolas, Wendy, Colan and Elrond were waiting outside for us. Elrond put Colan down and gave Kane and me a hug.

"I don't want to take sides in this one" he whispered in my ear. "But don't blame yourself for this mess. If you really didn't love Boromir, you did the right thing."

"I think we had better think about heading back to Rivendell, dad," Billee said quietly. "Jaime won't throw me and Legolas out while you are with us, but I get the feeling that we aren't going to be too popular for standing by Emma. I don't want any trouble."

"All right then" Elrond agreed. "We'll get our stuff sorted this evening and leave sometime tomorrow. Will you be staying at the inn, Emma?"

"Yes" I nodded. "We'll be there."

"Then we'll come and see you before we go" Billee promised. "Do you want me and Legolas to pack yours and Kane's stuff and bring it over to you?"

"That would be great" I gave him a small smile. "I don't think that it would be a good idea for me to go there." Slowly, I slipped the engagement ring off my finger. "And would you give Boromir his ring back?" I asked. "And tell him that I am really sorry."

"I will try," he promised. "I'll see you tomorrow at the inn."

"See you" Damon said with a nod. "Thanks for everything. You have a heart of gold, just like Marcus. He would have been proud of you for not going along with the crowd, for doing your own thing."

"There was nothing else we could have done" Legolas said firmly. "We were glad to help."

Before the others could come out of the hall, we went our separate ways, Billee and the others went back to Bag End to begin their packing and we went back to the inn. As we walked, Damon and I fell slightly behind the others so that we could talk privately.

"I'm sorry for coming in like that," Damon told me. "I honestly didn't want to cause any trouble, it's just the thought of you being married to Boromir was killing me. I couldn't let you go through with it, knowing that you weren't really happy. I."

"Damon" I interrupted. "I am really glad you did. It was horrible in there, especially when Jaime refused to give me Kane, but it was worth it."

"Really?" Damon did not look quite convinced. "You've lost most of your friends because of me, including Jaime. They all hate us and they think I am some sort of monster just because I stuck up for Jon. Can you honestly say that you have no regrets?"

"Yes, I can" I said at once. "I have no regrets. Those people in there, well they aren't my friends if they can't be happy for me. Boromir I can understand, but not the others. Billee and Legolas are true friends because they stood up for us, so I do still have some friends left. Honestly, if I could go back in time, knowing what would happen, I would still have chosen you. I love you, Damon."

"And I love you" He pulled me to him and kissed me gently. In the distance we could hear Kane shouting out garbled words that made no sense and Benny talking back to him in a quiet voice. I knew he was safe with Benny, despite the fact that he had known Jaime longer he, like Lucas, had still chosen to stick with us and I was glad of that. I had absolutely no regrets.