The next two days were no more than a vague blur in Diamond's memory, punctuated only by meeting the rest of her soon-to-be-new relatives over the forty-eight hours before the wedding.
She could hardly believe it when she woke up at dawn and realized- she was getting married today.
"Diamond! Time to get up!" Laurel jumped up on the bed, grinning. Diamond groaned and rolled off the bed with a dull thump. It wasn't that she hated mornings, it was just that she hated this particular morning with a vengeance.
"Must I?"
"I'm afraid you must, and your mum says to get dressed quick and come to the dining room for breakfast. The ceremony's at ten, so we haven't a great lot of time to get you ready."
"Don't remind me," Diamond muttered mutinously. She stood and shuffled over to the chest at the foot of the bed- inside were her clothes. Most of her things had already been transferred to wherever she was going to be living, but this one small chest of clothing had been left with her. For half an instant she vaguely wished for her old toys, but banished the thought just as quickly. She was thirty-two years old, not fifteen.
"Well, hurry up, then," said Laurel brightly, and then she was gone. Diamond sighed and set about getting ready for the day.
Breakfast was usually a rowdy affair, taking over an hour to get through, but that morning it was even more so than usual. Everyone was talking, laughing, and stuffing themselves to the gills. To add insult to injury, whoever was cooking that morning had made flapjacks, sausage, porridge, and toast.
Diamond's favorite.
At that point, she just wanted to go and maim someone. They were trying to make her feel better about the completely ludicrous affair, and all they had accomplished was to get her hacked off.
"Diamond! There you are! Well, hurry up and eat girl, we've a lot to do this morning." Sage pushed her roughly from behind towards the long table. Diamond almost tripped and fell, but caught herself just in time. She whirled on her mother.
"I'm not hungry," said Diamond, eyes positively Antarctic, her voice even more so. "I'm going to go take a walk for a bit."
"Diamond-"
"I'll be back in three-quarters of an hour." Without waiting for a reply Diamond pushed past her mother and found her way to the exit.
She practically ran towards the front door and burst out into the pale morning sunshine, trying desperately not to break down in hysterical sobbing. Two months before she hadn't a care in the world beyond avoiding spring-cleaning, now she had to deal with an entire army of hobbits she'd never seen before in her life and before midday she would be wed to a complete and utter stranger. She leaned heavily on a convenient tree, trying to control herself.
"You all right, miss?"
Diamond jumped and whirled. She calmed when she realized it wasn't Pippin; rather it was the dark-haired, blue-eyed hobbit Pippin was always around. She didn't remember his name, but from the way he was looking at her he obviously knew who she was.
"You're Diamond, right?"
Diamond nodded warily. "Aye. And, you are...?"
"Meriadoc Brandybuck. Most folks call me Merry. I'm a friend of Pippin's," said Merry, extending a hand in greeting. Diamond quickly shook his hand and pulled back.
"Nice to meet you... I guess," she said lamely. Merry grinned impishly, and Diamond felt herself warming to this tall, rather attractive hobbit.
"You look like you could use a nice, long talk. My ear's open. We'll walk and talk." Merry gestured at a well-worn path and wound away behind the Smials towards the woods.
Diamond didn't really mean to pour out her soul when she went on that short walk with Merry, but something about his laid-back manner and quick wit made her dump her entire sob story into his lap. Obviously he'd heard the same sort of stuff from Pippin and took it all in stride.
"And that's the whole pathetic story," Diamond finished. "It's rather silly, I suppose-"
"Not at all," said Merry, shaking his head. "I'd feel the same way, in your situation. I know Pippin does."
"Really?"
"Certainly. Don't tell him I said that, though," Merry added, a teasing sparkle flickering in his azure eyes. "He thinks I hold everything he says in the strictest confidence."
Something about the way Merry said it made Diamond giggle, smiling for the first time in almost three days. "You're a bit of a turncoat, aren't you?"
Merry gave her a mock-scandalized look. "Me? Turncoat? How absurd," he replied, trying not to smile. "No, just when I think something out to be told, I tell it. Which isn't often. I just thought you'd like to know you're in a bloody mess, but at least you've got company."
"What's Pippin like?" asked Diamond suddenly. Merry looked rather surprised by the question.
"Well- he's easy to make fun of. Mostly a cheerful, friendly bloke, although lately he's been rather... touchy. Tries to make the best of things- usually, anyway. He seems to have got himself awful wound up about this whole mess." Merry shrugged. "Other than that- he hates peas and ashcakes, adores melon, and otherwise will eat absolutely anything."
Diamond grinned easily. "Thanks for the warning, Merry."
Merry returned the smile, eyes twinkling playfully. "You're more than welcome."
By now they had come within sight of the Great Smials again. Diamond started to say good-bye to Merry, but Sage came running from nowhere and dragged her away, babbling something about time and veils.
Not really registering what was going on, Diamond was bodily taken to a tent set up near where the wedding pavilion had been pitched. Inside was everything a bride-to-be might need, and a few she didn't. Without wasting a second, she was set in a chair and Laurel began doing her hair while Ermine, the other bridesmaid, got the dress ready. Sage had vanished after dropping Diamond off and was apparently fussing at someone over floral arrangements, judging from the noise outside.
"You're going to look absolutely smashing," Laurel gushed, making tiny braids in Diamond's curly hair. "Lots of little braids and yellow ribbons."
Diamond merely sighed and let Laurel do what she wanted with her hair.
It took almost an hour just to fix Diamond's hair to Laurel and Ermine's satisfaction. Then, without even the slightest peek into a looking glass, it was into the dress she went. Diamond stared at the embroidered flowers climbing the skirt while Ermine fussed over her.
"Now, all you need is the veil and headpiece and your bouquet and you'll be ready," said Ermine in a breathless sort of way. The willowy redhead–a solid six years younger than Diamond–was rather overexcited. "They should be here in a moment."
Diamond nodded vaguely, not really paying attention. She was too busy trying to convince herself it wasn't really happening, that she was still asleep in her bed at home in Long Cleave and that the whole affair was just a bad dream.
Something pricked her scalp. Diamond jumped. Sage gave a small noise of annoyance. "Hold still, or I shan't get it on right." She was attaching the headpiece to Diamond's hair with tiny hairpins; they were sharp and Diamond almost thought the tiny prick might be bleeding- but it wasn't, of course.
"What time is it?"
"Half past nine. Quiet, I need to get this fixed on properly."
The only thought in Diamond's mind was that her mother wasn't very sad about losing her daughter.
* * *
Fifteen minutes. Pippin glowered at the mantel clock. If he could have, he would've turned back time a few hours and took off running for the Grey Havens.
"Nervous?"
Pippin jumped. Merry grinned impishly, blue eyes dancing with mirth. "No," said Pippin sharply. "Just..."
"Nervous?"
Pippin sighed heavily. "Yes."
Merry laughed and clapped his cousin on the shoulder. "So is she," he said, as if this were supposed to be comforting. "Hacked off, but nervous."
"And how would you know?"
Merry shrugged. "Took a walk with her this morning. She's a nice girl, once you get past the moody bit."
"Moody bit?"
"Well, yes- all her other bits are quite nice too, though." He grinned playfully. Pippin rolled his eyes.
"Only you, Merry. Only you."
"But of course. I don't dare be unoriginal- I have a reputation to uphold, Took."
"What reputation?"
Merry was about to retort, but Pippin's sister Pervinca stuck her head in the doorway. "Time for it, Pip," she said.
"All right," said Pippin wearily. "Come on Meriadoc, you're going to keep me from hurting myself when I pass out."
* * *
Diamond was standing just outside the large wedding tent, holding her bouquet in a white-knuckled grip and trying not to hyperventilate. Tiberius gave her a sympathetic look, but he didn't offer a convenient lifeline.
"Ready, love?"
"I'll never be ready, Papa," said Diamond wearily. "But I am resigned, and that is enough for now."
Tiberius nodded, brow crinkling slightly. Then he made a gesture and took his daughter's arm in his own. Music started up inside and Laurel went in, followed swiftly by Ermine. They waited three, four, five heartbeats, and then Diamond and her father went inside.
All the hobbits within stood to get a better view of the bride. Diamond ignored them all, focusing her gaze on the bouquet above the Mayor's lectern. It kept her calm, trying to name all the flowers as she was marched steadily towards her fate.
Then they were there. Tiberius released his daughter, giving her hand one last squeeze, and stepped to the side. She stepped up to the lectern and stood beside Pippin, who looked just as nervous if not more so than her, constantly tugging at his clothes.
Mayor Gamgee cleared his throat, and began.
Diamond fazed out, examining her bouquet as if her life depended on it. She paid no attention whatsoever to the ceremony- it was all just too surreal for her. She spoke when necessary, not noticing what she said, her mind far from where she was.
Until Pippin slipped a slender silver band over her finger, obediently murmuring what Mayer Gamgee told him to. A cold shock ran down her spine. This is it, she thought.
Then another ring was thrust into her own hand, the Mayor prompting her to repeat after her. She did as she was told, examining the ring she was placing on Pippin's hand to keep herself from screaming.
It was silver, like hers, but larger and with a wider band. Elvish words were engraved on the inside, she noticed- there was probably some on her own ring as well.
Then it was all over. Unlike the human custom, hobbits did not end the ceremony with a kiss- rather, everyone yelled at the top of their lungs, threw confetti (because they would never waste rice that way, these are hobbits we're talking about here) and then ran for the refreshments. Diamond giggled hysterically and let herself be dragged towards the food.
That wasn't so bad.
* * *
The hobbits danced until long past midnight, eating and laughing the whole time. Fireworks went up periodically, and although they were quite splendid several hobbits that had been to the Party commented that they weren't nearly as spectacular as Gandalf's infamous light display.
Diamond enjoyed herself as much as possible while avoiding her new husband just as fervently. She didn't want to reminded of her new position as Married Hobbit-Woman at all- rather, she would laugh with her friends and pretend tomorrow would never come.
At the end of the party an entire enclave of rather drunk, loudly singing hobbits escorted the new couple to the little house that was now theirs. Both Diamond and Pippin were laughing- more from the infectious mood of the others than anything else.
When they were inside with the door closed behind them, and the voices of their relatives and friends slowly vanished from hearing, reality came swarming back. They stood there, staring at each other in uncertainty, for almost five minutes.
"Well," Diamond said uncomfortably. "Here we are."
Pippin nodded slowly. "That we are."
There was another long, tense pause. Then Diamond sighed explosively and went down the hallway.
"My mother said there's a guest room somewhere, I'll sleep there and you can have the master bedroom."
Pippin couldn't pretend to be unhappy with this arrangement. He had no inclination to share a bed with a stranger.
And so the new couple—made so by politics and parents, not their own free will—spent the first of many nights in separate bedrooms, down separate hallways.