A/N: I am soooo sorry for the long wait. When we took the computer to get fixed, the guy acidentally erased everything in my FanFiction folder, and my school folder. Luckily, all the assignments in the school folder are already turned in, but I really miss my FF folder. I had finished drafts for all of my stories, and was so excited to upload them for you all to read. We finally got a floppy disk drive(ours broke some time ago), and being the tech freak person I am, I decided to install it. I succeeded only in messing up some wire, and having to remove my CD Drive and the two blank area drives, and my computer got messed up. So we took it to the guy's house and he fixed it, but I lost my two files. Oh, and I'll try to update for Lost Trust as soon as I can. I'm fixing up some of the plot holes, y'know stuff that didn't make sense, so I'll try to have that up within the week.

This chapter is a combination of two chapters, because it seemed to need the other chapter in it to get the feel of it. I'm trying my best to re-write the chapters, and this isn't my best version of this chapter. I tried to remember all that I'd written before, but I couldn't. Ah well. Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: Hallfauxes, nothing else. Wish I did. But I don't. Oh yeah, I also removed the family tree from this version, because it isn't really needed.
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The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, and many conversations, Merry announced that he felt it was time for them to leave. Fredregar and Aldegreen, the husbands of two of Ollie's aunts, insisted that the three stay for lunch, but Frodo denied the offer, much to Pippin's dismay. An hour or so before second breakfast, Oliren called a carriage to take them back to Brandy Hall. As the driver escorted the boys out towards the carriage, Asphodel, Laurel, Ollie, and a number of their young cousins came out to wave goodbye to them. Asphodel scooped Pippin up and cuddled him close, while Laurel ruffled his hair. Pippin giggled and blushed when Laurel planted a kiss on his cheek. Merry and Ollie both rolled their eyes. With a hearty laugh, Oliren bustled the boys into the carriage. The three boys climbed in, having been supplied with a rather large basket of food, with Mrs. Hallfaux's blessing, for the long journey. There wasn't much room in the carriage, only enough for one person to sit on each side, so Frodo asked Merry if he'd sit Pippin on his lap. Merry would have rather held the food basket, but Frodo's look shut him up. Pippin was rather heavy for being so small. Frodo and Pippin leaned out the windows, waving. The young Hallfauxes gathered on the lawn waved back, and called out to them:
"Good-bye! Nice to meet you!"
"Have a nice trip!"
"Come back and see us!"
"Don't forget us!"
"We'll miss you!"
"Come back soon!"
"Good-bye!"

The carriage jolted up with a start, as the pony clomped northwards, towards the Brandywine Bridge. Quite some time after their departure, once he had succeeded in devouring several slices of bread, a large handful of mushrooms, three apples, and four slices of cheese, Pippin fell against Merry in a deep slumber. He hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, as he wasn't really used to having to sleep on the floor. Frodo was staring out the window, deep in thought, so Merry decided not to disturb him. Merry looked down at Pippin, who was snoring lightly. He noticed that the little one seemed even younger while he slept.
Do I look younger when I sleep? What about Frodo? Do we all look younger when we sleep? Merry thought. He looked at Frodo, and was a bit surprised to see signs of age on Frodo's face. It jolted Merry. He's not even thirty yet, and he's already looking old. My mother told me all about Frodo's parents drowning, and about Frodo being, well, delicate, but I never realised that he looked so old sometimes. Merry studyed Frodo's face a bit longer, until Frodo realised that Merry was looking at him.
"Everything all right?" Frodo asked, turning to look at Merry, eyebrows knitted together.
Merry snapped from his spell. "I'm fine, everything's fine."
"All right..." Frodo turned back towards the window, and Merry gazed down at the floor. His eyes then shifted again to Pippin. He's not so bad when he's sleeping. Merry thought to himself. He looks so...so...angelic. No, wait, what am I saying? I hate him, don't I? I don't love him...do I? No, no, I hate him. He ate my mushrooms, and he stole my bed, and my parents never pay me any attention now that he's here...But why do I feel funny inside? Why do I hear a voice telling me it's my duty to protect him? Protect him from what? Nothing ever happens in the Shire for me to protect him from. No, I don't love him. He's a pest. But...should I truly say I hate him? Do I?
Merry placed a hand on Pippin's cheek. Pippin stirred, and Merry pulled his hand back, slightly alarmed. Merry shifted Pippin, who was scrunched up against Merry and the wall, and put Pippin back onto his lap. Pippin stirred again, still not waking, and stuck his thumb in his mouth. Merry brushed some of Pippin's curls back from his eyes. He leaned down and kissed the top of Pippin's head, and rested his chin atop Pippin's curls. He is, after all, still little, and he doesn't know any better, I suppose. And even if he is bothersome, I think I do. Yeah, I do. Merry shut his own eyes for a moment, before opening them again and turning his gaze to the window.

Frodo watched this from out of the corner of his eye. He'd been right in making Pippin sit with Merry. Bilbo had told him some time ago that what young Merry needed was a friend. His parents had never had any other children, and he was always lonely. His father was an only child also, and most of the child of Merry's great-uncles and -aunts were either girls or older. The closest friends that Merry had were his three girl cousins, Melliot, Merimas and Mentha, and they were rare visitors to Brandy Hall. Merry had been quite spoiled as a boy, and was still spoiled by his parents. They rarely refused him anything, and he always got what he wanted. He wasn't arrogant or selfish, but he needed someone to talk to, someone to share adventures with. Merry liked Frodo's company, but Frodo knew that Merry needed someone closer to his own age. More than anything, Merry needed a friend. Frodo had known it the moment he'd seen Pippin. Sure, Pippin was eight years younger, but he might just be the breath of air that Merry so badly needed.

Night fell by the time the carriage rolled up the lane, stopping in front of Brandy Hall. The driver opened the door for the three young boys. Frodo hopped out first, with the basket, and Merry, with Pippin in tow, climbed out, slowly. Pippin woke as they arrived, his eyes blinking widely. He yawned, and Merry put him down, where he stumbled at first. Having been sitting so long, his legs took some time to get accoustomed to solid ground again. The driver tipped his hat at them and hopped back onto the carriage, rolling back down the lane towards the Brandywine Bridge, back to the Marish.

Frodo sighed and approached the great door. "We're in for it, you know." He told Merry. With another sigh, he knocked on the door.

Esmerelda Brandybuck was at the door in a second. She hurried them inside. Bilbo and Saradoc were leaning against the fireplace in the front hall, while Merry's grandfather, Rorimac, called Rory, sat in a chair nearby. When Bilbo saw the three boys coming in, he approached them and took Frodo's arm firmly.
"I'm sorry about this, Saradoc, Esme." Bilbo said. "Come, Frodo, we've overstayed our welcome. The carriage is in the back."
Bilbo thanked Merry's parents and pulled Frodo to the door. Frodo said a quick goodbye to Merry and Pippin, and to Merry's parents, before Bilbo hurried him out the door.

They stood there, in silence for a few minutes. Merry's grandfather broke the silence.
"Come, Peregrin, lad, and let your aunt and uncle have a talk with your cousin." Old Rory said, ushering Pippin from the room. When the door closed, Esmerelda nearly exploded with rage. The Took side of her, the one brimming with emotions, spilled over. She could be kind and gentle one moment, raging the next, and as stubborn as a child another.
"DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED WE WERE ABOUT YOU? RUNNING OFF LIKE THAT! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED, AND WE'D'VE NEVER KNOWN! AND LEADING PIPPIN AFTER YOU, MERRY I'M ASHAMED! YOU AND FRODO KNOW BETTER, AND WE EXPECTED BETTER FROM YOU!" His mother screamed, angrily.
"Mum..." Merry began, but his mother wasn't finished.
"WE WERE WORRIED SICK, AND YOU NEVER STOPPED TO CARE, DID YOU? NO, YOU DIDN'T! AND TAKING OFFERS FROM STRANGERS, MERRY, WE TAUGHT YOU BETTER!"
"Mum." Merry pressed again.
YOU DON'T KNOW THOSE HOBBITS IN THE MARISH, AND IT WOULD HAVE SERVED YOU RIGHT IF THEY'D KIDNAPPED YOU AND TAKEN YOU AWAY FOR DISOBEYING US LIKE THAT! YOU KNOW THAT YOU'RE NEVER TO CROSS THE BRANDYWINE RIVER WITHOUT OUR PERMISSION!"
"Mum."
"AND LURING PIPPIN WITH YOU, BECAUSE YOU THOUGHT HE WOULD GET INTO TROUBLE? YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND, MERRY, YOU'RE A BAD INFLUENCE ON HIM, AND YOU NEED TO STRAIGHTEN UP. YOU KEEP GETTING OUT OF LINE AND YOUR FATHER AND I WILL SEND YOU OFF!"
"MUM!"
"WHAT?" His mother stopped and glared at him.
"Pippin followed us!" Merry protested angrily. "I told him to go home before he got into trouble, but Frodo insisted he come. And if we hadn't come when we did, Ollie would have drowned. I helped save someone's life, Mama. You have to realise that--"
"REALISE? REALISE WHAT? MERRY, YOU AND YOUR THICK HEAD AND QUICK TONGUE WILL GET YOU INTO TROUBLE ONE OF THESE DAYS." Esmerelda Brandybuck's face was red with fury, and her husband stood and came to put a hand on her shoulder.
"Darling, calm down." Saradoc said, forcing his wife into the chair that Rory had formerly been sitting. Merry attempted to take this interference to escape, but his father was too quick, and caught him by the arm.
"Don't move."
"But, Papa!" Merry whined.
"Not another word, Meriadoc." His father said firmly, and Merry huffed in anger. Why were his parents being so unfair!? His father went over to his mother and the two of them talked for some time. Finally, Saradoc turned around to face his son.
"Your mother and I have decided on a punishment that we believe fit." He said, and waited a beat, as though waiting for the very idea of a punishment sink in to Merry. It obviously had. Merry's mouth was wide open, and his eyes were so wide they almost popped out. His parents had never, ever punished him. As the only child, he'd always been able to get away with anything. His father continued.
"For your punishment...you're not to use the ferry for two months. You're confined in Buckland for two months. You're not to go past the Brandywine Bridge or beyond the Old Forest, and you're to stay within the area of Brandy Hall. There are consequences for your actions, my boy, and you're going to have to suffer them. Your mother and I have been very, er...lenient, with you in the past, but we're going to have to stop that. You'll have to realise that we're doing this for your own good. You need to realise that--Merry!"
Merry had snapped from the shock of punishment, and now turned around, ready to storm to his room. His father again grabbed his arm and stopped him.
"Why can't you be fair?!" Merry exploded, trying to yank loose. His father only held on tighter.
"This is for your own good, son." His mother said softly from her seat, having calmed down for the most part.
"You're only doing this because Pippin's here! I can't believe you! You didn't even ask if I was alright! You went straight to yelling at me! You don't even care about me and I'm tired of you never paying attention to me! You won't even let me have a party! Why can't you be like normal parents? You never have time for me!"
"Merry, you're being unfair, love, now--" His mother was on her feet again.
"No, you're the ones being unfair! And don't "love" me, just because I'm saying something against you. You're always telling me that I should speak my mind, that I should say what I believe, and I believe you're treating me like a child, and I'm not! And...and I think...I think you're terrible parents! That's what I think! You care about everything and everyone except your own son! I wish...I hate you. You want the truth, and there it is. I hate you! I hate you!" Merry stamped his foot, the same manner of a child who wasn't getting his way. "Why can't you...why can't you be like Bilbo? He's much better than either of you!"
"Why don't you go and live with Bilbo then, if you think we're such bad parents!" Esmerelda exclaimed, before she could stop herself. There was a pregnant pause, a horrid silence that blanketed the room. Merry hadn't really meant what he'd said, and neither had his mother, but the damage was done. He felt a hot burning in his eyes as he squeezed his eyes shut and fought back the tears.
"Fine! I will! I'll go and pack now!" He said, and turned, running from the room. His mother reached as hand out for him as he ran, and then both hands went to cover her mouth and nose in a gasping motion. She stumbled back to the chair, and collapsed into it, sobbing into her hands. Her husband went over to her and comforted her. Their son had inherited a good deal of his mother's fiery temper, but he was not old enough to be able to control his emotions.
"We offer him everything he wants," Esmerelda said softly. "Why would he say something like that?"
"You know he didn't mean it, darling." Saradoc said. "But...perhaps there is one thing he needs that we can't give it to him. But I believe there is someone who can."