a/n: i hate my life, and i pretty much hate myself. thanks for reading. by the way, it would be a good thing if you downloaded 'needle in the hay' by elliot smith, and listened to it while you read this. it would make it a lot neater.

Legolas woke up before the sun kissed the earth. He wandered about the forest, wondering about last night.

Everlease had walked up to him. She did not stand before him, but to the side, staring at the wall, when she spoke to him. "So it's Douglas, is it," she stated.

Legolas looked at her, and she continued to stare at the wall. "Everlease, I told you the truth." She blinked once, but her gaze did not wander from the wall. "Whatever information that contradicts that which I told you is truth misconstrued by the minds of the others about me." Everlease glanced up. Legolas followed her eyes, then reached his hand out to her shoulder.

Everlease looked directly into his eyes. "You're a liar and a freak." She walked away stealthily, and did not speak to him for the remainder of the night.

Here and now, Legolas leaned against the trunk of an old oak tree. It said nothing to him, and Legolas shut his eyes. He had never felt so alone.

There was nothing he could do to get back home. He was stuck here with the option of exploring further and farther this territory, or returning to Bear's apartment.

or Everlease's

The thought was brief and insolent. She would not have me. He suddenly straightened up.

"I am a prince," he said aloud. Legolas inhaled deeply and his chest rose. "I am a prince!" he yelled. The response were a few leaves fluttering to the forest floor about him. He stood and stared up at the leafy canopy. "I will not be weighed down with the care of a young human girl," he whispered at the swaying tree tops. "I will not be a fool."

Where will you go? You are not a prince here.

The voice of reason hit him hard and he slumped back against the old oak and clutched his shoulder. His wound rung with a dull ache.

Legolas slid down the tree and tipped his head back to again watch the tree tops. They swayed in time to the rythym of the breezes, calmly dancing for no one but themselves, content with every aspect of their beautiful lives. Legolas watched the sky for many hours.

Night came and went.

The next day was grey, and ominous clouds threatened to spill their needling teardrops. Legolas finally dragged himself up, and walked towards the park, out of the forest.

The moment he stepped out of the woods, the clouds in a tell tale fashion began to drip their hearts down onto the world. Legolas stopped and stood with his arms outstretched towards the sky. He stared up into the rain and allowed himself to be soaked. He tried to reach as high as he could, straining to feel the raindrops on his slender fingers, catching the droplets and feeling them roll down his palm, then his arm, and soaking into the Ramones shirt. He did not know how long he stood there. The rain fell harder and he let his arms down, feeling the blood rush back into his hands and down into his narrow fingers, and finally down to his fingertips.

He stared straight ahead into the field. Everything seemed so blank and wrong. He took a step reluctantly, then another, then another.

He finally found himself standing outside Bear's apartment. He stared at the green door for a long time. He ran a fingertip over the chipping paint. Finally, he patted on the door softly. There was no answer. He let his hand rest on the door knob, and wondered if he should try to open the door.

He slowly wrapped his fingers around the knob, and turned it. He heard it click, and knew it was unlocked. Thoughtlessly, he pushed the door. It swung open, and he stepped inside, leaving the cold rain behind him. He wondered what he was going to do now that he was here.

"Bear?" he called, hating the sound of his own voice.

A familiar figure came lumbering around the corner a full three minutes later; a time in which Legolas had stood stone still. "What the fuck--hey man, it's you!" Bear's face brightened in recognition. He rolled over the back of the couch, and lie stretched out, shirtless, lighting up a morning cigarette. Legolas watched him in pleasant dismay, a sort of depressed smile wavering on his face. Bear glanced up, watching Legolas downside up from his position on the couch. "Hey man, what's up? What's the deal?" Bear sat up and began to look as serious as Bear could possibly look. He patted the seat of the couch beside him. "Sit your ass down, kid and tell me wha's on your mind." Legolas let his feet carry him over to the couch facing the one where Bear sat. "OK, over there, yeah, I probably smell like beer and ass." With the finishing word of that sentence, he clapped his hand over his mouth, in a rare moment. It was not common for Bear to actually regret something he said.

Bear's voice dropped a mile, to a raspy whisper. "Shit, I forgot Sandy's still in there." Legolas rose to his feet, expressionless, but Bear pulled him back down. "Don't worry man, she's out cold. I mean!" His face reddened. "WOW that sounds bad, I mean she's like totally fuckin asleep." He nodded, waited for the mirroring nod of understanding from Legolas, and then nodded again to confirm that he had done nothing inherently wrong. Legolas glanced up at the ceiling, then back at Bear. "Yeah, I know, it seems scummy, but we really fuckin clicked, I mean, like you have no frickin clue how much that girl in there," he waved his arm towards the general vicinity of the bedroom, "means to me. Already." He looked off into space, squinting his eyes and shook his head. "I mean, really." He looked at Legolas. "Really."

"Really," Legolas repeated, the only word he had spoken since his grand entrance of 'Bear?'.

Bear nodded furiously, overjoyed to hear Legolas agree with him. "Yeah, you see man, you see it." He smiled. "Night 'fore last, when you guys were over, she stayed over, and then yesterday, she went to Ren Fest to work, and I called her cell up there at 5, and she came straight over here again. She's got today off," he said, raising his eyebrows and grinning evilly. Once more, Legolas stood, expressionless, and Bear, once more, pulled him back down. "Simmer down, cowboy, it's not like we're trying to get into a menage-a-trois with you." Bear laughed, and Legolas' face was a blank. Bear laughed again. "Menage-a-trois? Don't know? Didn't think so." He laughed away into the other side of the room, then gave Legolas' knee a sharp possessive pat. "Look man, I really need to know what the fuckin deal is. If I don't know what the problem is, I can't help you with it."

Legolas stared ahead, opened his mouth the speak, then shut it again.

Bear slapped his knee. "Damn! We were almost about to get somewhere, man!" But at the last word, Legolas cut him off.

"I am worthless in this world and I will never be able to survive in a place where naught but sorrow is able to befall me." Bear was squinting at Legolas' face, mouthing the words after him, and Legolas gave him time to digest that statement before he began again. "I cannot see another sunrise with every last dream of joy erased from my being." Bear had began to mouth that sentence when he paused and waved his arms around dramatically.

"Woah, woah, woah, man, you have got to be kiddin me." He turned to look at Legolas with his right eye. "You're not--suicidal--are you?" he asked, with frightened eyes like a startled deer.

Legolas did something then that he in all his years had never done. He rested his elbows on his knees, cradled his face in his hands, and shut his eyes: he allowed himself to slip into a deep depression.

For all Elves, this is the most fatal sort of gorge to fall into. It can mean the end of an everlasting life. For death is not induced by old age--only by killing or sorrow. Legolas had now come upon one of these horrifying perils--he had finally felt a deep and helpless sorrow.

Bear, of course, did not know this, but he sensed that something was very wrong. He jumped up, off his couch, and rushed over to sit next to Legolas, then began to babble. "Look, if this is all about your girlfriend, what's-her-name, oh shit, what was it, shit, oh Mary! Yeah, Mary, if this is about her, then you tell me, and we'll find 'er, and talk to 'er, and we'll get this all straightened out, cos I know I haven't known you for that long, but I know that nobody should go through this kind of shit over a girl. Look, man, look at me, naw, man, don't be this way! Oh, shit, I don't know what to do, but look man, oh, God dammit!" he ended, as if with a grande finale.

As if to testify to his being loud and, once more, obnoxious, Sandy chose that moment to wander into the room, wearing a Bikini Kill shirt and underwear, and rubbing her eyes like a sleepy toddler. She stopped when she saw Legolas. "What's going on?" she asked, stretching, and sitting down on the couch where bear had been sitting. "What's wrong, Douglas?"

She did actually sound concerned, Legolas thought. It didn't matter. His head did not raise. He could not bring himself to face any of these humans.

"What's wrong with Doug?" she asked Bear.

Bear shrugged and shook his head, as if to say, "I'll tell you later." Sandy nodded, and took this as her cue to leave, and to go get dressed.

Legolas shook his head, still in his hands, from side to side slowly, not saying a word. "Come on, man!" Bear cried, wringing his hands. Now he really was worried about Legolas. "Was it something somebody said the other day?" Legolas raised his head and looked at Bear. To Bear it seemed that Legolas' eyes were empty and void of all hope, and it scared him quite badly. "OK, that's it man," Bear said, his voice wavering. "I'm calling my sister." Legolas' eyes actually looked up at Bear with some amount of distant instrest. "She's a fuckin shrink and she'll know what to do. What's today? Uhhhh... Shit yeah, it's Monday. OK, I'm callin her!" Bear got up and moved towards the kitchen. "I really am!" he warned. Legolas did not seem to care, so he dashed into the kitchen, picked up the phone and dialed his sister, Dr. Luthien Stone.

a/n: this was going to be longer but i decided not to do that. it was about to get way too long for my little pattern. but i still love you. anyways, yeah. please leave a note, i loooooove you. please! and if you have time, download needle in the hay by elliot smith and listen to it while you read the next chapter. really it would have been better for this one. i could take the time to type that in at the top. i think i will. ok.by. thanks for reading, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. i love you. kisses, sarah.