Life After High School - Ten Years Later

By Risty and Silver

Disclaimer: The short answer is: No. The long answer is: Nnnooooooooooooooooo.

Summary: You've read this far . . . man.

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(Damon's POV)

Over the next few days, Emma gradually began to get her memory back. The children came to visit her, along with the elves and her brothers. She was a bit nervous and a bit hesitant at first, it took her a while to really remember who they all were and she sometimes got a bit confused, but everyone was patient, even the children. Even Randy and Gimli came to see her and they looked so happy to see her. Emma was a bit wary of those two at first and I think she was remembering what had happened at school, but they kept their distance and talked softly to her while I sat on the bed with my arm around her and she was all right. She had a couple of nightmares too, but Benny or I were always with her to calm her down. During the day, we made sure that she was never left alone. But at least she was improving and things were beginning to go all right for us. Or were they?

What I had done to Boromir haunted me daily, especially when it appeared in the papers. The Black Dogs were not a group to be messed with and I knew that they would know that it was one of us who had framed them, even if I hadn't done it deliberately. They would come after us; it was only a matter of time. And of course it wasn't just that either. I had killed someone and even though I had done it before, the guilt was no easier to deal with. At night I lay awake, dreading the day when Emma would remember her first lover and ask about him. How was I supposed to tell her that I had killed him? When I finally told him, Benny told me that I had to relax and try to forget about it. No matter how evil he was or what he had done, it hadn't been right to kill him, he told me. But it happened and that is the end of it. I tried to take his advice, but it wasn't easy.

The other problem was Mark. The first day that Emma woke up, when Benny came back from making phone calls, he mentioned that he had called Jaime, just to let her know that Emma was all right and that he had briefly spoken to Mark. I could see that he was unhappy and when I pressed him, he told me that it had been good to talk about some of the old times, but that he was having a hard time adjusting to the fact that Mark was alive again. It was then that I began to feel threatened. Mark had been dead for almost fifteen years, almost as long as I had been friends with Benny, but the two had gone through school together and shared a history. I didn't like it, I just had a feeling that Mark would try to worm his way back into Benny's life. And if he was anything like his sister, I knew that he would try to turn Benny against me. From what I remembered of him at the hospital, I hadn't liked him one little bit. And if he was going to try to get his best friend back, then I was not going to let him do it without a fight. Lucas didn't want to talk to Mark, he said that too many things had changed since they had been friends and he had also told Mark that too, so I didn't understand why Benny wanted to talk to him…

One afternoon, about a week after Benny had spoken to Mark, Ranger and Kivan were down and I left them and Benny with Emma, telling them that I wanted to get a change of clothes. I didn't though, I got on my horse, whistled to Sol-leks, who was lying by the stable door, and rode to Hobbiton.

It didn't take me long to get there and I tied my horse to a tree and waited in the bushes by Jaime's house. I didn't have to wait long, after a few minutes Mark came out to take out the rubbish. Even seeing him filled me with rage and I leapt from the bushes, grabbed him by the throat and pinned him against the wall. He struggled and lashed out at me, but in my rage I barely felt his pathetic blows. Jaime, Frodo, Bilbo and the children hurried out and Jaime screamed when she saw what I was doing to her beloved brother. She tried to run forward, but Sol-leks gave such a frightening growl that they hurried back. Mark was struggling less now and was beginning to go limp.

"You bastard!" I hissed. "Benny is my friend now and I'll keep you and your kind away from him if it is the last thing I ever do."

(Benny's POV)

I knew that Damon was upset about me speaking to Mark and I could understand why. He was threatened because Mark and I went back a long way and he did not feel like he could compete with my former best friend. When he disappeared, I followed him and my suspicions were confirmed when he headed to Hobbiton. When I caught him up and saw him with his hand around Mark's throat, I wasn't sure what to do, whether he would listen to reason. But I heard what he said to Mark and I knew that I had to try.

"Don't do this, Damon," I pleaded. "You don't have to. I don't hate Mark, but too much has changed for me and him to be friends any longer, let along good friends. You have always been there for me, you got me out of a destructive job, supported me when my wife left, got the money together to allow me to finish medical school. And you and Emma have opened your arms and allowed me and Galia to become a member of the family. You are more than a friend to me, Damon, you are my brother. And how can anyone, Mark included, compete with that? I will never speak to him again if that is what you want, but please put him down."

Damon did as I asked. Then he turned and stumbled over to where I was standing. As I put my arms around him, I could see that he was crying. It had been a long few weeks for all of us.

"Mark" I said quietly, as I turned and steered Damon back to our horses. "I'm very sorry about all of this. Please…please don't contact me again."

It was quite hard to say, to put a friendship to rest like that, but when I looked at Damon, I had no regrets. It had to be done and that was the end of it…