"Don't Leave Me Behind"
A short vignette about Regina and Frodo in their teens. Regina is 16 and Frodo is 18, so he is still living at Brandy Hall.
"UUUgggh! You wretched lads! You are not going without me!" Regina's angry and betrayed voice came to all hobbit ears within a mile.
"Shhh! Reg, quiet down!" Came the voice of Milo Burrows, one of Frodo's cousins. "You're a lass, and only lads can come."
"Who says?! Oh, never mind, I don't care, I'm coming anyway even if the Master himself said it." Reggie retorted, hands on her hips. Frodo looked at her sympathetically out of the group of lads going to play roopie at Merimac's, but made no move to help her in her frustrating plight. "Besides, I can play just as well, or BETTER, than any of you, so why can't I come?" She said logically. Milo was exasperated.
"I've already told you, Reggie, you're a lass. Lasses just don't play roopie. You can't come and that's final. Go and play dolls with little Pimpernel." Milo finished, referring to the second oldest child of the Thain's family that was visiting from the Smials in Tookland. Reggie's sea-colored eyes flashed and turned a stormy grey, as they always did when she was angry.
"Why you little...... ugh! DOLLS?! With Pimmie?!" She cried, gesturing wildly with her fists. "I bet if Pearl or Angelica or Rosa wanted to come and play, you'd let them." She said grumpily, naming off the most sought after lasses in Buckland. "Frodo," she said, turning her eyes towards him pitifully. "You're not going to let them do this are you? Tell them I can come." Frodo looked torn, glancing back and forth between the lads, who he knew would tease him if he said anything in Reggie's defense, to Regina, who was the person dearest to him. Somehow, against Frodo's better judgment, the lads won out.
"Regina...... I...... I think you should stay here this time. We'll be back soon. You'll have more fun here, I... I'm sure of it." He said weakly. Frodo gave Reggie a look that said, "I'm so sorry. You just don't understand." Reggie was staring at Frodo wide-eyed and open-mouthed, a look of utter disbelief and betrayal on her pretty face.
"You...... Frodo?" She began softly. Then she flew into a silent rage. "All right. Go on then. I don't care." She finished sullenly, and crossed her arms. Frodo could see by her face that she sure did care. She was angry, and he was going to get it when he returned. Then he saw something else in her eyes, but before he could place it, Milo said,
"Come on, Frodo. Leave little Miss Laddie Lass here to pout. You'll have so much more fun without her." With that he and the lads began walking off again towards Merimac's. Frodo looked once more at Reggie. She glared silently at him for a moment, a moment of pure agony for Frodo, and then turned away. Frodo moved to catch up with the other lads, but before he had taken five steps he turned back and did a double take. Regina had had tears in her eyes.
Frodo walked back from the roopie game a little after the others, having stayed to visit with Merimac a few minutes. Really, though, he was dreading what he would find when he returned to Brandy Hall. Had Reggie really been crying? Had he hurt her that badly? Frodo hadn't really meant anything by leaving her behind, and he certainly hadn't wanted to hurt her, though he knew he had.
Frodo approached Brandy Hall from the garden side. The gardens were his and Regina's special place. Sure enough, there was Regina, legs curled up beneath her, head bent into her hands with her hair falling down in curly waves all around her. She heard him approaching and looked up, red hair still covering half her face. She impatiently pushed it back, glared at Frodo for a minute, and turned her head away. Frodo sighed. She was still upset. Very much so, in fact.
"Hullo, Reggie." Frodo said simply. He went and sat down beside her. Reggie flinched but didn't look his way or respond. "Still angry with me?" No answer. "I suppose that's a definite yes." He said resignedly. "Why is this bothering you so much?" Regina finally looked at him for a moment.
"You left me, Frodo." She responded simply and looked down at her hands.
"But only for a little while. It doesn't mean anything, Reg." Frodo told her. He tried to put his arm around her shoulders to comfort her, but Reggie would have none of it and shrugged him off.
"Yes...... yes it did!" She cried angrily, and Frodo could see her lower lip trembling a little. "You've never left me before, Frodo." Frodo waited, he could tell there was more to come. "You're...... leaving me. You're forgetting me. You and the other lads... you all are always fawning on the fussy lasses who never muss up their hair or skirts. You're always paying them attention: talking to them at meals, taking them on walks and making sure they don't muss themselves. Frodo, how can you have any fun with a lass like that? They've all left me behind, grown up into proper ladies, and they look down their noses at a wild girl like me. It's always been that way, so I've grown up with the lads. I've always been one of you, at least in your eyes and mine. You've never left me behind, Frodo. You...... I'm losing you...... All I have now is Merry." Her last sentence came out as a sob. "I don't want to lose you, Frodo."
Frodo's face had gone through many emotions since she had begun: self-defense, guilt, sympathy, and pure misery. "Oh, Reggie..." He started, but he was interrupted as Regina's small body began to shake with sobs. "Reggie, dear," He said, and pulled her to him. She snuggled into his chest gratefully and simply cried.
The next morning after elevenses, Frodo saw Reggie heading towards him. He thought about what had happened yesterday after Regina had finished crying. She hadn't cried in a long time, and Frodo was all the more affected by it. They had walked into Brandy Hall in silence, Frodo still with his arm comfortingly about Regina's shoulders. When they'd had to part ways, they still didn't speak and Reggie had given Frodo a look of thanks. Now, it seemed, she wanted to talk it over again. That was fine, as far as he was concerned. He would never tire of talking with the one he loved most.
"Frodo?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you for listening." Reggie said softly.
"I'll always be here to listen to you, Reg. Forever." Reggie nodded, but there was something else.
"Frodo?"
"What?"
"Will you promise me something?" Regina asked.
"Anything." Frodo responded truthfully.
"Don't leave me behind, Frodo. Please." Reggie said. Frodo smiled gently and pulled her into a warm embrace. She laid her head on his shoulder.
"Reggie, I will never leave you behind." Frodo said into Reggie's ear, his cheek brushing against her soft curls.
"You are so dear to me, Frodo." Frodo felt a warmth inside him when she said those words and he hugged her tighter. He knew he need not respond. There was no need for words. He thought again, 'I will never leave you behind.'