Chapter 7
"Are you sure you are allowed to do this?"
"Yes, positive."
"That doesn't sound too reassuring."
Lissa sighed and turned around, her dark hair bound in a braid turning from one shoulder to the other. "Delemir, trust me," she told him, raising an eyebrow at him. She grinned then, wryly, and began to climb up a tree with ease that most women (or she-Elves) Delemir had known would have been disgusted at. When she reached the top, Lissa looked down at Delemir, who was still staring up at her. "You coming?"
"Yes," he said and began to climb up.
"You look good in black," Lissa said absently and jumped onto the roof. "Makes me wonder why you aren't completely clad in black." She glanced at the green shirt he was wearing.
"Because there wasn't a black shirt in my closet, or Connor's," he said, grunting slightly as he reached the top.
"Oh. Now just jump over here and-"
"I know how to climb onto a roof from a tree, Lissa. I've done it before," Delemir said with a bit of his Elf-like arrogance. Of which Lissa was completely in love with.
"Okay, okay. Don't get your trousers in a bunch," she said. "Come on, we have fifteen minutes before we-"
"Shh!" Delemir hissed as he jumped behind her and pulled her behind the arch on the flat part of the roof as a car drove by. Out of completely coincidence, Delemir just happened to land on top of her. She quickly slid from under him, remembering what had happened the last time four days ago.
She cleared her throat and murmured something about "blasted cars" and continued down towards window at the edge of the house. She stopped, turned and hissed something at Delemir. "Are you coming?"
"Yes," he murmured back and walked towards her again. When he reached her, she was staring over the edge of the roof at the ground three stories down. "Are you all right?" He laid his hand on her shoulder. She jolted under his touch, then calmed herself.
"Yeah, just peachy," she murmured, tearing her gaze away from the ground to Delemir.
"What is it?" he asked again, sensing her unease and discomfort.
"I hate heights. I love being high above things, but I hate heights for some reason," Lissa murmured.
"It makes no sense," Delemir told her, reaching his hand to toy with the ends of her hair.
"Hon, my life makes no sense," she said and brushed his hand away. She sighed heavily. "Hold onto my feet." She knelt down and fell flat on her stomach. When she felt Delemir's grasp on her ankles, she pushed herself forward and reached the window. It felt good to have her limbs back. She'd had her casts removed two days ago, and her arm and leg had felt like as feathers. She grinned as she pulled and tugged at the wooden frame of the window until it gave way and opened, knowing it was unlocked. "Pull me up," she said, her voice strained and forced. "I can't breathe right anymore. Too much blood in my head."
When Delemir pulled her up, her face was red as a beet. He touched her cheek and felt it turn warm under his touch. Then, a snowflake fell onto her nose, then her other cheek, and in her hair. He felt compelled to lean forward and kiss the snowflake on her nose away. But he resisted, knowing that it would cause problems at this moment.
"Great," she mumbled, shivering. "Well, at least it's winter right now. If it was summer, then it'd be raining." Her voice was overflowing with sarcastic enthusiasm as she shifted backwards and slipped down until she was hanging by her hands.
She rocked and swayed until she felt her feet slip into the room. Then she let herself slip all the way into the attic of the house and called Delemir down.
"Just do the same thing I did," she said. "Sway until you're in." Within thirty seconds, he was standing beside her, looking around.
"Are you absolutely positive that we will not find ourselves in trouble doing this?" he asked her, brushing a cobweb from Lissa's hair.
"Yes, and yes again because I know you're going to ask if I know what I'm doing. I do know what I'm doing. I've been up here a million times and know how to undo the lock from the inside-silently-and get to her room. It'll be a great New Years gift," she added with a wry laugh.
"Oh, dear," Delemir murmured.
"Hey, you picked up one of my phrases. We have eight minutes," Lissa informed him and walked to the attic door. She pulled out a credit card from her pocket and slipped it into the door. In a short amount of time, it was unlocked and she was strolling down the stairs like she owned the place, of which Delemir was completely sure she thought she did. "Quicker," she hissed when he fell behind.
When she reached a door with signs on it, she quietly took a breath and grinned. "This is it," she whispered. "You have everything?" Delemir held up a small canvas bag. "Good. Let's go." And they walked into the room as quiet as mice lurking in a kitchen for cheese or fruit.
When Lissa reached the side of the bed where a small form of a body was, she took the bag from Delemir and drew out one of the contents. She looked down at the small popper and took it firmly in both hands. She looked at her watch, saw it was fifteen more seconds, then looked at Delemir. She nodded and grasped the popped carefully in her hands.
"Now," she hissed as her watch beeped and pulled the string on the popper. A loud POP sounded and confetti flew everywhere.
Emily flew upright in her bed and let out a ruthless oath, then she spotted Delemir and Lissa, leaning against each other, laughing like hyenas.
"You bloody retards!" she shrieked at them and lunged at Lissa. She grabbed her arm and pinned her to the ground. She pulled Lissa's arm behind her back and heard her laugh and shriek at the same time.
"Happy New Year!" she finally managed and flipped Emily off of her and onto the floor. She laughed, still, and rolled onto her back. She propped herself on her elbows and watched Emily shake with laughter.
"Happy New Year, yourself. Now you've got to pay for waking me up, and you'll pay dearly," Emily said and sat up. "Once I find my breath."
"Breathe," Delemir told them both. "I don't need you two passing out or hyperventilating." He sat down on the floor and grinned. "I want you to know, Emily, that this was completely Lissa's idea."
"With pride," Lissa said breathlessly, falling onto her back again.
"That's why I'm going to murder her instead of you, Delemir." Emily let out a half laugh.
"Distract her while I make a swift get away. Tell her about your dream you had the other night," Lissa murmured.
"Oh?" Emily lifted herself up, brought her knees to her chest, then rested her chin on the top of her knees. "Do tell?"
Delemir sighed and went off on the full scale of his second dream about his having a family and living in his home. He also mentioned that his home didn't look like the one he had lived in during his time in Lothlórien. He said, "It looked like Lissa's house."
"Hey!" She smacked his head. She was now sitting up beside him. "You didn't tell me that the other day!"
"Ben came in," he said simply, rubbing his head.
"Ben? Ben's here?" Emily exclaimed. She turned a faint shade of red, but quickly the color quickly subsided to her usual ivory skin.
"Yeah. Anyway, Delemir. The home in your dream looked, strangely, like mine. What after that?" Lissa asked, leaning backwards.
"I had a wife, and children there with me." He was leaving out a very intricate detail that he would tell her when they were alone. "Two," he added. "One was a blonde little girl and the other a brown haired boy."
Lissa drew in a deep breath and let it out, slightly brokenly. She looked up at Delemir and suddenly they were the only two things in the house, in the world. She leaned forward slowly, forgetting herself, but quickly stopped when she heard Emily clear her throat. She would just pretend nothing happened, and leaned backwards against the bed again.
"Interesting," Emily mumbled. "When did you have this dream?"
"Christmas night," he told her. "I remembered sometime that afternoon after you and the other Emilie left."
"Oh. Meliss, are you still awake?" Emily asked, shoving Lissa's shoulder.
"Mmm, kind of," she muttered with a slight grunt.
Emily and Delemir laughed at her slightly. When they stopped, they saw Lissa with her eyes closed again. Emily sighed, a smirk still on her face, and Delemir smiled. When Emily looked over at Delemir, he was still smiling. She thought, with a deep seriousness, that he was honest when he had said he loved her. She just knew it from how he looked at her, with how his eyes were so soft when he looked at her, how when his lips curved into a smile, it was always so serene and gentle when it was set on her.
Now, when she was around other people, men for instance who happened to flirt with her originally, a flame would ignite in his eyes, one that said to keep their hands off his woman, one that said if they continued, they'd be flirting with his fist instead of Lissa. Emily smiled at the thought of Delemir knocking some guy's lights out. It was a humorous thought, she realized. As funny as it was though, she wouldn't ever want to see it in person.
"I don't suppose we should leave her there, huh?" Emily said, pulling herself from her thoughts. "I'll go downstairs and pull out the couch bed, then you can carry her down there. I'll pull out some blankets for you, and you can sleep on the other couch."
"All right," Delemir said an easily lifted Lissa into his arms. He followed Emily down the stairs into a living room, trashed from a party earlier, he surmised, and stopped beside a couch. He watched her go to a little closet and tug out blankets. She tossed them on the floor without care.
"Think you can use your feet and kick the cushions off the couch there?" she asked him, pointing at the couch beside him. "Without setting Meliss down."
"Of course," he said and did so without much trouble. When the cushions were in a neat stack on the floor by the closet, Emily was pulling the bed out. When she finished that, she put the sheets on the mattress easily, as if she had done so many times before.
"Okay, set Sleeping Beauty on here and I'll go get her a comforter," Emily murmured and disappeared upstairs.
Delemir, a slight smile playing on his lips, set Lissa down on the bed gently. He skimmed his hand across her cheek first and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. He saw the round top of it and traced it with his finger carefully.
And that is how Emily found Delemir: leaned over her best friend, touching her face with a gentleness she thought had disappeared in men today, and murmuring softly to her in a different language. She worried about them both now. Not just Lissa because Delemir was in love with her-that sounded too weird-but for Delemir now as well, for he was so in love with Lissa that his heart may be broken should she reject him. And if that happened, they'd have a dead Elf on their hands.
"Found a blanket for her," Emily said quietly, walking further into the room.
Delemir straightened and cleared his throat. "Good," he said.
"Take your pick for a couch since this one is taken by Queen of the Faerie Tales," Emily said. "I'll put the sheets and everything on it." She draped the thick comforter blanket of Lissa, and she curled into the pillow and the blanket in a childlike way.
Delemir looked around, then at Emily. "I'm not incapable of putting bedding on a pallet, Emily," he told her.
"I know. It's just, you guys are guests here now, so I'm stuck in the role of hostess," she said, grinning. "Just shut up and let me do it, Del."
"As you wish. That one," Delemir said and pointed at the couch across from Lissa's.
"Good pick. I love that one, too," Emily murmured and began the tedious task of putting sheets on a bed. When she finished, she chucked a pillow on it and set a thick blanket on it. "'Night, Delemir."
"Good night, Emily. Thank you for letting us stay tonight," Delemir said and slipped onto the couch.
"Anytime." She smiled at Delemir and disappeared upstairs.
Later, about an hour after Delemir had tightened the blankets around him and fallen asleep, he heard a door shut somewhere in the house. Immediately awake and alert, he slipped from the bed and followed where he had heard the sound.
Meanwhile, on the second floor balcony, Lissa stood, wrapped in a light blanket, and let out a content breath. She watched it pool out in steam and grinned. She drew in another breath, shaky from the cold, and held it for a while, then let it out slowly. She thought for a moment, then smiled wider. She opened her mouth, took another breath, and let it out on a mindless tune that became a song.
"I thought you didn't sing outside of the shower," a quiet voice said from beside her ear.
Lissa immediately whipped around and came face to face with Delemir, and he was grinning like a loon. "Well, I do sometimes, when I'm alone. But, apparently, I'm not," she said, feeling her thoughts slip already as he watched her intently. How could he make her feel like this when he only stared at her?
"Apparently," Delemir agreed. He grinned as Lissa leaned against the rail on the balcony and sighed. He followed suit and watched the snowflakes fall around them.
"Oh, my cheeks are cold," Lissa murmured, mostly to herself. She kept her gaze straight ahead of her, probably unaware she'd said that out loud.
Delemir smiled slightly and looked over at Lissa. She didn't face him, he took in. Good, he thought, and leaned forward. He pressed his lips against her cheek and felt the cold instantly warm into a searing heat that made him wonder why he didn't flinch and jump backward away from her. Probably, he mused, because he was in love with her.
"What-What was that for?" she stammered. Lissa turned her head to Delemir and saw him chuckling.
"You said your cheeks were cold. Did I assist you in warming them?" he asked her, still laughing.
"Meanie. Yes, you did." Unconsciously, Lissa touched the spot his lips had previously been and still felt the heat there. She shivered again, but not from cold, but from realization that her feelings were true and that there was no denying she loved him.
"What's a 'meanie'?" Delemir asked, leaning his hip against the rail and eyeing her.
"It's a pet name of calling someone mean. But I was only teasing," she added at his amused look. "Stop laughing at me. What's so funny?" She quickly set her hands at her sides and stared up at him.
"You are, Lissa." He grinned and toyed with the ends of her hair. "Why are you out here?" he asked before she could come up with a remark against his comment.
"Because." Lissa took a breath and let it out slowly, contemplating a good answer. "Because I like it outside at night. It's soothing, I guess. It's just so quiet and no one's outside to yell something to you and distract you. The only noises are those of the night, and your own breathing." As she spoke, Lissa's voice trailed off as she saw Delemir leaning closer to her. She drew in a breath and waited to feel his lips over hers.
But she didn't feel anything. He stopped about six inches away from her face and turned his head. "I don't hear your breathing," he said quietly. "Are you breathing, Lissa?"
"Yes," she said obstinately, slightly disappointed and irritated at herself for feeling that way. "Yes, I am now. See?" She blew out a long breath to demonstrate and shivered in the process.
"Let's go inside," Delemir said, smiling. "It's a little more than cold out here." He offered his hand to her and walked inside when she took it. They went downstairs in silence and into the living room where a fire was going. Sighing quietly, Delemir looked down at Lissa and smiled again.
"What?" she asked when she realized he was looking at her.
"Nothing," he replied and lifted his hand to her cheek slowly. He was slightly amazed when she leaned into his touch and shut her eyes slowly. His amazement was drained suddenly when Lissa reached up and grabbed his wrist and opened her eyes, with effort, he mused.
Her eyes drifted to his and held them there. The amber flecks in her eyes had disappeared in the darkness and intensity as she stared at him with fierce concentration. The deep brown was full of emotions that were unreadable to Delemir. But, he thought, he wouldn't be able to read them if he wanted. He was too lost in her gaze to think.
"Lissa," he said quietly and backed her up against a wall.
Without replying, she rose on her toes and rubbed her lips against his firmly then went flat on her feet again. She looked up at him still, and reveled in the shock that flitted across his face. She seemed to feed off of it as she rose on her toes once more and kissed him again, but longer and with more force.
Why was she doing this to him? Why was she making him feel like he was on fire and going to explode at any given moment? Delemir wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her back with the same urgency and need she was pushing across as these thoughts skittered from one side of his brain to the other and out of comprehension. He couldn't think anymore. Any thoughts were incoherent and without reason or logic. His blood ran like fire through his veins and pounded loudly in his ears when he felt Lissa's hand go around his neck and tangle in his hair. His hands found their way around her waist and played rhythmically up and down her back slowly. She arched against him as tingles flew through her spine. Oh, what a glorious feeling that was to Delemir.
Pulling back, Lissa took in a very deep breath. She looked up at Delemir and saw he was just as every bit shocked as she was that the kiss had happened. But neither of them regretted it. Then, without a word, Lissa slipped from Delemir's grasp and sank onto the couch bed slowly, intently. She pulled the blankets around her tightly. Looking up, she saw Delemir watching her still. She smiled slyly at him, slyly and sleepily. Then she yawned and drifted into sleep under Delemir's penetrating gaze.
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Sighing quietly, Emily woke up around ten, or close enough to it. She slipped out of bed and took a quick shower. The first one that year, she mused as the hot spray fell over her. When she stepped out, she dressed again then ran a brush through her hair. She was prepared for the brand new year that had started at midnight. She was ready for anything.
Laughing to herself, she started downstairs and came to a big surprise when she reached the living room. Not just the clutter and slight mess from the one-woman party she'd hosted for herself last night, but from the occupants of her living room. She finally remembered Delemir and Lissa had paid her a visit last night, or rather this morning, and she had let them sleep in the living room. It hadn't been until too late to realize it might've been a bad idea, but oh well. They were adults. They could've handled themselves.
And it seemed they did, though in a slightly strange way. They were both on the couch bed, and Delemir had his arm wrapped around Lissa's waist. His face was buried in her hair, just at her neck. Lissa's arm was snaked around his, and they were cuddled impossibly close to each other.
Letting out a long breath, Emily walked to the kitchen to start breakfast, knowing if she woke them up now, it'd probably result in bloodshed on Lissa and Delemir's account.
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Lissa took in a deep breath contently and felt glorious. She didn't know why, but she did. She knew Delemir's arm was wrapped around her. She'd woken up when he had slipped behind her on the bed and had snuggled up behind her. She'd only pretended to be asleep for both of their sakes. Now, she didn't have to since the sunlight was filtering in through windows and doors.
Stretching like a cat, she found the scent of breakfast and felt her stomach scream for it. When she felt Delemir's arm tighten around her waist, she knew he was awake now too. She smiled and heard Emily in the kitchen or the dining room. Either one.
"'Morning," Lissa murmured to Delemir as she angled her head down slightly.
Delemir made a slight, uncommitted noise that men normally made in the mornings, causing Lissa to laugh. She laughed even more when she felt his lips against the curve of her neck. When she felt his lips trace a path to the sensitive skin just below her ear, she heard Emily clear her throat distinctly.
"Sorry if I'm interrupting anything," she said intently, "but breakfast is ready."
"Great," Lissa said. "We'll be there in a minute."
"Or five," Emily joked as she left to go eat her own food.
Lissa grinned wryly and trailed her finger up Delemir's arm until she reached the crook in his elbow. She gently caressed the soft skin there and felt him stiffen and squirm slightly. "Hah, got you back," Lissa murmured softly and slipped off of the couch bed to eat the first breakfast of the year.
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Lissa sighed as she closed the door. It was the fifth of January, and she'd just spent the entire day over at Mischelle's house. It was three a.m. Or four, she mused. She didn't care. As long as she could have her bed, she would be happy. She dropped her bag on the floor and looked up the stairs. Connor and Delemir would be asleep. It was time Connor left her house and went back to New York, she mused. He'd sort of overstayed his welcome, and the whole thing with her and Delemir...
She shook her head and walked into the living room. She sighed audibly, unable to stand the itching in her back anymore. Just a few more steps, she thought, then you'll be in your room. When she reached her room, she turned the light on and went into her bathroom to carry on the nightly routine of brushing her teeth, combing her hair and pulling it back in a ponytail. When she walked back into her room, she stood in front of her dresser and reached up under her shirt to undo the strap on her bra. She sighed with relief when she felt its release. "I, ah, wouldn't go much further than that," a soft voice said from Lissa's bed. She whipped round and saw Delemir leaning against the headboard on her bed. "What-What are you doing here? Why aren't you asleep in your room, Delemir?" she demanded, suddenly aware she'd nearly stripped down to nothing to change clothes. "Waiting for you to come home," he said dryly. He watched her, and the emotions running over her face. "Why?" She felt uncomfortable under his gaze. Why did he wait for her? Why wasn't he asleep? This was the first time he had ever waited for her. At least he hadn't kept the front porch light on. Wait, he had.
"Because, that's what friends do when another is out late," Delemir said, standing and walking up to her.
"Connor isn't up," Lissa insisted.
"Because he was working all day on deciphering dreams for his clients," the Elf said fiercely. "But he did stay up until midnight. I took the baton and have been awake until now."
"Why are you doing this?" Lissa blurted. She was absolutely furious now, and not about the fact that the blasted tag on her bra was itchy still. She'd have much rather dealt with Connor than Delemir right now, especially in this mood Delemir developed. "Why are you being such an overprotective father when I was just at Mischelle's?"
"How was I supposed to know that?" he lashed out. "I couldn't call you since I have not the faintest idea of using that thing you call a phone, and I-" He stopped himself, took a calming breath.
"And you what, Delemir?" Lissa demanded, feeling her eyes brimming with tears.
"Don't want to be worried about you like I was tonight," he muttered.
"Bull," she protested. "Completely bull with a capital 'B.' I'm leaving again-without my cell phone so you can't contact me even if you tried." She tossed the handheld phone on the dresser and turned to go back out into the snow outside.
Delemir muttered an Elvish oath for handling everything so badly. He hadn't meant to, honestly. He'd meant to tell her that he was waiting for her and why-which was because he really was worried since it was three in the morning-in a very adult manner. Instead, he behaved like a child running with scissors-cocky and angry when the mother tried to take them away-when he was faced with everything. Cursing himself again, he had a flashback of a few weeks ago in the hospital.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FLASHBACK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lissa reached up and took a handful of Delemir's shirt and brought him closer. She took a shuddered breath and let it out brokenly. "Never let me leave the house angry like that again, Delemir," Lissa demanded.
"What? Lissa, I-"
"Promise me." "Lissa-"
"Say 'I promise' Delemir."
"I promise, Melissa," he told her quietly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~END~FLASHBACK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Delemir groaned, disgusted with himself and went to rouse Connor to tell him what had happened and to be chewed out again.
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Lissa shivered as the temperature dropped a few degrees and snow blew in her face. She leaned against a tree in the park and closed her eyes. She knew she shouldn't have left. She should have kicked, literally kicked, Delemir out of her room and locked the door. She should have flung herself on her bed and gone to sleep. Had she? No.
It was so cold, she thought. And she was so tired. Unaware of her movements, Lissa slipped down until she was sitting in the snow. Her body was numbed. She couldn't feel a thing, not even when the snow melted under her.
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Delemir paced back and forth quickly in the living room, waiting for Connor to come back. Waiting for Lissa to come back. Either of them, as long as it was with the other. As long as they weren't alone. When he resigned to sitting on the couch after thinking he might put a hole in the carpet, he heard the door open. He immediately jumped up and saw Connor holding Lissa in his arms. Her entire body was shaking, and her hair was all frosted. Her lips were a light shade of purple, and her face was near about white. Delemir couldn't believe it.
"Get a fire going," Connor commanded. He set her on the couch in a sitting position, leaning against the arm of the couch, and pulled the throw off of the back of it to tuck around Lissa.
"Where was she?" Delemir asked as he had a fire sparking within fifteen seconds.
"The park. Why did you let her leave?" Connor took Lissa's hand in his and rubbed it gently, wincing at the cold under her skin.
Delemir was silent. "We were both angry. She more than I, most likely," he finally said. Delemir found another blanket and handed it to Connor.
Connor shot a death glare at Delemir then said, "I didn't think Elves of your kind could become angry so easily," with a sneer curling on his upper lip.
"Excuse me?" Delemir looked up from stoking the fire and saw the gleam of disbelief and mockery in Connor's eyes. "It doesn't matter what I am and what you are right now. At least not to me. What matters to me, and it should to you as well, is Lissa and her well being. I want to know if she's going to be all right, if she's going to wake up. It isn't any of your business who made whom mad over what, when and where. It doesn't matter to me right now. I'm not going to beat myself up over what we said earlier because I don't care, and neither should you, Connor."
The gleam in Connor's eyes was dulled to barely a sparkle compared to Delemir's fire blazing like a beacon on a clear night. Connor felt slightly intimidated and out of league, so he gave one last glare to Delemir and left, muttering about something.
Delemir sighed and touched his ear softly. For the first time in his life, he wished he wasn't an Elf and was just a regular human being. When Lissa stirred slightly, he went over to her and saw her eyes open. They focused on him for a moment, but she didn't say anything. Deciding to act on his instincts, he went to her and knelt at her feet, seeing her eyes following him the entire time. He slowly took her boots off and set them on the floor then took her socks of carefully and set them in the boots beside the fire. Looking up at her once more, he saw her nod off into a cold induced sleep again. Panic swept through him when he saw that her eyes lolled to the back of her head.
"Lissa! Wake up! Open your eyes, Lissa. Look at me," Delemir pleaded with her, leaning over her and framing her face gently with his hands. "Wake up." When he spoke, his voice showed his desperation for her to look at him. "Please."
He gave her a quick shake, willing himself not to yell again. Shaking his head, now, he leaned over her more and rested his head on her shoulder. He couldn't believe he'd let her leave when she was irritated again, especially when it was still freezing outside. She'd been gone for one hour. One solid hour. Delemir felt like giving himself a swift kick in the rump for letting her go. He'd broken his promise to her. He never broke promises. First time for everything, he thought.
"Delemir," he heard Lissa murmur softly. Her voice was strained and throaty when she spoke.
"Melissa," Delemir said breathlessly. He held her against him and whispered soft kisses against her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
For the first time in the weeks Lissa had known Delemir, this was the first time she had ever witnessed him crying. She felt compelled to slip her arms around him, though she could hardly feel any part of her body at all. Except her racing heart. It felt odd to have a full-grown man with a few thousand years under his belt leaning on her shoulder, crying. Over her, she mused. Seriously odd.
"For what?" she managed as Delemir looked at her face.
"I broke a promise. I upset you." He leaned forward and kissed her lips quickly. "I'm sorry. I promised you I would never let you leave the house angry, yet I did. I'm so sorry," he told her. "So sorry." He kissed her gently again, but longer and drew the passion out until he felt her arms fall weakly to the couch again. He pulled himself back and sighed lightly.
"Delemir," she began, but he silenced her by pressing his finger against her lips.
"Shh, shh, shh, don't speak," he murmured softly. He removed his finger from her lips and replaced it with his own lips again gently. "Don't try to speak."
He moved off of her and found another thick blanket for her. He draped it around her carefully then, sitting down beside her, cradled her head against his chest. He felt her shiver slightly and hoped she wasn't crying. He only held her closer then. He gently pressed his lips to her hair only to know she wasn't some illusion and that she was really there.
"Delemir," she murmured quietly. "Thank you." She snuggled closer to his warmth, denied the thought that it was only because she was cold.
"You're welcome," he replied, resting his cheek against her hair.
'I don't know what I'd do with out you,' she thought to herself.
Lissa closed her eyes finally, letting out a shaky breath and fell asleep in Delemir's arms.
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Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own LoTR. Will never own it, either, as it all goes. I will never own anything that has a trademark in this. Anything else, like Connor, Lissa, and the house that I wrote for Emily to live in, I do own. Proudly.
Okay, to the usual 'Author's Note' here. Happy New Years-belatedly! Whoo! Ahem...anyway. Yes, I know, I am being very, very cruel in this story, and will only be crueler, most likely. I think I wrote this either Sunday morning at church, or when I was really ticked. I'm cathartic, so I tend to take out my anger on stuff like games or my stories. Or I just listen to really loud rock music. :D Mmm.....I think I'm going to have Connor move out after this since Delemir basically laid the cards on the table. Funny...he's playing poker right now. Hehehe. Things are getting better with Delemir and Lissa, but they're still liable to have an argument over which Dr. Suess book was the best (The Cat in the Hat or Green Eggs and Ham?) to leaving the front porch light on for the other, like in this chapter. Okay, rambled and babbled enough. Hope you enjoy the rest of the story! It's got a long way to go, and one more dream to deal with getting through. It'll be the next night, hopefully, in the next chapter. Talk to y'all later!
"Are you sure you are allowed to do this?"
"Yes, positive."
"That doesn't sound too reassuring."
Lissa sighed and turned around, her dark hair bound in a braid turning from one shoulder to the other. "Delemir, trust me," she told him, raising an eyebrow at him. She grinned then, wryly, and began to climb up a tree with ease that most women (or she-Elves) Delemir had known would have been disgusted at. When she reached the top, Lissa looked down at Delemir, who was still staring up at her. "You coming?"
"Yes," he said and began to climb up.
"You look good in black," Lissa said absently and jumped onto the roof. "Makes me wonder why you aren't completely clad in black." She glanced at the green shirt he was wearing.
"Because there wasn't a black shirt in my closet, or Connor's," he said, grunting slightly as he reached the top.
"Oh. Now just jump over here and-"
"I know how to climb onto a roof from a tree, Lissa. I've done it before," Delemir said with a bit of his Elf-like arrogance. Of which Lissa was completely in love with.
"Okay, okay. Don't get your trousers in a bunch," she said. "Come on, we have fifteen minutes before we-"
"Shh!" Delemir hissed as he jumped behind her and pulled her behind the arch on the flat part of the roof as a car drove by. Out of completely coincidence, Delemir just happened to land on top of her. She quickly slid from under him, remembering what had happened the last time four days ago.
She cleared her throat and murmured something about "blasted cars" and continued down towards window at the edge of the house. She stopped, turned and hissed something at Delemir. "Are you coming?"
"Yes," he murmured back and walked towards her again. When he reached her, she was staring over the edge of the roof at the ground three stories down. "Are you all right?" He laid his hand on her shoulder. She jolted under his touch, then calmed herself.
"Yeah, just peachy," she murmured, tearing her gaze away from the ground to Delemir.
"What is it?" he asked again, sensing her unease and discomfort.
"I hate heights. I love being high above things, but I hate heights for some reason," Lissa murmured.
"It makes no sense," Delemir told her, reaching his hand to toy with the ends of her hair.
"Hon, my life makes no sense," she said and brushed his hand away. She sighed heavily. "Hold onto my feet." She knelt down and fell flat on her stomach. When she felt Delemir's grasp on her ankles, she pushed herself forward and reached the window. It felt good to have her limbs back. She'd had her casts removed two days ago, and her arm and leg had felt like as feathers. She grinned as she pulled and tugged at the wooden frame of the window until it gave way and opened, knowing it was unlocked. "Pull me up," she said, her voice strained and forced. "I can't breathe right anymore. Too much blood in my head."
When Delemir pulled her up, her face was red as a beet. He touched her cheek and felt it turn warm under his touch. Then, a snowflake fell onto her nose, then her other cheek, and in her hair. He felt compelled to lean forward and kiss the snowflake on her nose away. But he resisted, knowing that it would cause problems at this moment.
"Great," she mumbled, shivering. "Well, at least it's winter right now. If it was summer, then it'd be raining." Her voice was overflowing with sarcastic enthusiasm as she shifted backwards and slipped down until she was hanging by her hands.
She rocked and swayed until she felt her feet slip into the room. Then she let herself slip all the way into the attic of the house and called Delemir down.
"Just do the same thing I did," she said. "Sway until you're in." Within thirty seconds, he was standing beside her, looking around.
"Are you absolutely positive that we will not find ourselves in trouble doing this?" he asked her, brushing a cobweb from Lissa's hair.
"Yes, and yes again because I know you're going to ask if I know what I'm doing. I do know what I'm doing. I've been up here a million times and know how to undo the lock from the inside-silently-and get to her room. It'll be a great New Years gift," she added with a wry laugh.
"Oh, dear," Delemir murmured.
"Hey, you picked up one of my phrases. We have eight minutes," Lissa informed him and walked to the attic door. She pulled out a credit card from her pocket and slipped it into the door. In a short amount of time, it was unlocked and she was strolling down the stairs like she owned the place, of which Delemir was completely sure she thought she did. "Quicker," she hissed when he fell behind.
When she reached a door with signs on it, she quietly took a breath and grinned. "This is it," she whispered. "You have everything?" Delemir held up a small canvas bag. "Good. Let's go." And they walked into the room as quiet as mice lurking in a kitchen for cheese or fruit.
When Lissa reached the side of the bed where a small form of a body was, she took the bag from Delemir and drew out one of the contents. She looked down at the small popper and took it firmly in both hands. She looked at her watch, saw it was fifteen more seconds, then looked at Delemir. She nodded and grasped the popped carefully in her hands.
"Now," she hissed as her watch beeped and pulled the string on the popper. A loud POP sounded and confetti flew everywhere.
Emily flew upright in her bed and let out a ruthless oath, then she spotted Delemir and Lissa, leaning against each other, laughing like hyenas.
"You bloody retards!" she shrieked at them and lunged at Lissa. She grabbed her arm and pinned her to the ground. She pulled Lissa's arm behind her back and heard her laugh and shriek at the same time.
"Happy New Year!" she finally managed and flipped Emily off of her and onto the floor. She laughed, still, and rolled onto her back. She propped herself on her elbows and watched Emily shake with laughter.
"Happy New Year, yourself. Now you've got to pay for waking me up, and you'll pay dearly," Emily said and sat up. "Once I find my breath."
"Breathe," Delemir told them both. "I don't need you two passing out or hyperventilating." He sat down on the floor and grinned. "I want you to know, Emily, that this was completely Lissa's idea."
"With pride," Lissa said breathlessly, falling onto her back again.
"That's why I'm going to murder her instead of you, Delemir." Emily let out a half laugh.
"Distract her while I make a swift get away. Tell her about your dream you had the other night," Lissa murmured.
"Oh?" Emily lifted herself up, brought her knees to her chest, then rested her chin on the top of her knees. "Do tell?"
Delemir sighed and went off on the full scale of his second dream about his having a family and living in his home. He also mentioned that his home didn't look like the one he had lived in during his time in Lothlórien. He said, "It looked like Lissa's house."
"Hey!" She smacked his head. She was now sitting up beside him. "You didn't tell me that the other day!"
"Ben came in," he said simply, rubbing his head.
"Ben? Ben's here?" Emily exclaimed. She turned a faint shade of red, but quickly the color quickly subsided to her usual ivory skin.
"Yeah. Anyway, Delemir. The home in your dream looked, strangely, like mine. What after that?" Lissa asked, leaning backwards.
"I had a wife, and children there with me." He was leaving out a very intricate detail that he would tell her when they were alone. "Two," he added. "One was a blonde little girl and the other a brown haired boy."
Lissa drew in a deep breath and let it out, slightly brokenly. She looked up at Delemir and suddenly they were the only two things in the house, in the world. She leaned forward slowly, forgetting herself, but quickly stopped when she heard Emily clear her throat. She would just pretend nothing happened, and leaned backwards against the bed again.
"Interesting," Emily mumbled. "When did you have this dream?"
"Christmas night," he told her. "I remembered sometime that afternoon after you and the other Emilie left."
"Oh. Meliss, are you still awake?" Emily asked, shoving Lissa's shoulder.
"Mmm, kind of," she muttered with a slight grunt.
Emily and Delemir laughed at her slightly. When they stopped, they saw Lissa with her eyes closed again. Emily sighed, a smirk still on her face, and Delemir smiled. When Emily looked over at Delemir, he was still smiling. She thought, with a deep seriousness, that he was honest when he had said he loved her. She just knew it from how he looked at her, with how his eyes were so soft when he looked at her, how when his lips curved into a smile, it was always so serene and gentle when it was set on her.
Now, when she was around other people, men for instance who happened to flirt with her originally, a flame would ignite in his eyes, one that said to keep their hands off his woman, one that said if they continued, they'd be flirting with his fist instead of Lissa. Emily smiled at the thought of Delemir knocking some guy's lights out. It was a humorous thought, she realized. As funny as it was though, she wouldn't ever want to see it in person.
"I don't suppose we should leave her there, huh?" Emily said, pulling herself from her thoughts. "I'll go downstairs and pull out the couch bed, then you can carry her down there. I'll pull out some blankets for you, and you can sleep on the other couch."
"All right," Delemir said an easily lifted Lissa into his arms. He followed Emily down the stairs into a living room, trashed from a party earlier, he surmised, and stopped beside a couch. He watched her go to a little closet and tug out blankets. She tossed them on the floor without care.
"Think you can use your feet and kick the cushions off the couch there?" she asked him, pointing at the couch beside him. "Without setting Meliss down."
"Of course," he said and did so without much trouble. When the cushions were in a neat stack on the floor by the closet, Emily was pulling the bed out. When she finished that, she put the sheets on the mattress easily, as if she had done so many times before.
"Okay, set Sleeping Beauty on here and I'll go get her a comforter," Emily murmured and disappeared upstairs.
Delemir, a slight smile playing on his lips, set Lissa down on the bed gently. He skimmed his hand across her cheek first and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. He saw the round top of it and traced it with his finger carefully.
And that is how Emily found Delemir: leaned over her best friend, touching her face with a gentleness she thought had disappeared in men today, and murmuring softly to her in a different language. She worried about them both now. Not just Lissa because Delemir was in love with her-that sounded too weird-but for Delemir now as well, for he was so in love with Lissa that his heart may be broken should she reject him. And if that happened, they'd have a dead Elf on their hands.
"Found a blanket for her," Emily said quietly, walking further into the room.
Delemir straightened and cleared his throat. "Good," he said.
"Take your pick for a couch since this one is taken by Queen of the Faerie Tales," Emily said. "I'll put the sheets and everything on it." She draped the thick comforter blanket of Lissa, and she curled into the pillow and the blanket in a childlike way.
Delemir looked around, then at Emily. "I'm not incapable of putting bedding on a pallet, Emily," he told her.
"I know. It's just, you guys are guests here now, so I'm stuck in the role of hostess," she said, grinning. "Just shut up and let me do it, Del."
"As you wish. That one," Delemir said and pointed at the couch across from Lissa's.
"Good pick. I love that one, too," Emily murmured and began the tedious task of putting sheets on a bed. When she finished, she chucked a pillow on it and set a thick blanket on it. "'Night, Delemir."
"Good night, Emily. Thank you for letting us stay tonight," Delemir said and slipped onto the couch.
"Anytime." She smiled at Delemir and disappeared upstairs.
Later, about an hour after Delemir had tightened the blankets around him and fallen asleep, he heard a door shut somewhere in the house. Immediately awake and alert, he slipped from the bed and followed where he had heard the sound.
Meanwhile, on the second floor balcony, Lissa stood, wrapped in a light blanket, and let out a content breath. She watched it pool out in steam and grinned. She drew in another breath, shaky from the cold, and held it for a while, then let it out slowly. She thought for a moment, then smiled wider. She opened her mouth, took another breath, and let it out on a mindless tune that became a song.
"I thought you didn't sing outside of the shower," a quiet voice said from beside her ear.
Lissa immediately whipped around and came face to face with Delemir, and he was grinning like a loon. "Well, I do sometimes, when I'm alone. But, apparently, I'm not," she said, feeling her thoughts slip already as he watched her intently. How could he make her feel like this when he only stared at her?
"Apparently," Delemir agreed. He grinned as Lissa leaned against the rail on the balcony and sighed. He followed suit and watched the snowflakes fall around them.
"Oh, my cheeks are cold," Lissa murmured, mostly to herself. She kept her gaze straight ahead of her, probably unaware she'd said that out loud.
Delemir smiled slightly and looked over at Lissa. She didn't face him, he took in. Good, he thought, and leaned forward. He pressed his lips against her cheek and felt the cold instantly warm into a searing heat that made him wonder why he didn't flinch and jump backward away from her. Probably, he mused, because he was in love with her.
"What-What was that for?" she stammered. Lissa turned her head to Delemir and saw him chuckling.
"You said your cheeks were cold. Did I assist you in warming them?" he asked her, still laughing.
"Meanie. Yes, you did." Unconsciously, Lissa touched the spot his lips had previously been and still felt the heat there. She shivered again, but not from cold, but from realization that her feelings were true and that there was no denying she loved him.
"What's a 'meanie'?" Delemir asked, leaning his hip against the rail and eyeing her.
"It's a pet name of calling someone mean. But I was only teasing," she added at his amused look. "Stop laughing at me. What's so funny?" She quickly set her hands at her sides and stared up at him.
"You are, Lissa." He grinned and toyed with the ends of her hair. "Why are you out here?" he asked before she could come up with a remark against his comment.
"Because." Lissa took a breath and let it out slowly, contemplating a good answer. "Because I like it outside at night. It's soothing, I guess. It's just so quiet and no one's outside to yell something to you and distract you. The only noises are those of the night, and your own breathing." As she spoke, Lissa's voice trailed off as she saw Delemir leaning closer to her. She drew in a breath and waited to feel his lips over hers.
But she didn't feel anything. He stopped about six inches away from her face and turned his head. "I don't hear your breathing," he said quietly. "Are you breathing, Lissa?"
"Yes," she said obstinately, slightly disappointed and irritated at herself for feeling that way. "Yes, I am now. See?" She blew out a long breath to demonstrate and shivered in the process.
"Let's go inside," Delemir said, smiling. "It's a little more than cold out here." He offered his hand to her and walked inside when she took it. They went downstairs in silence and into the living room where a fire was going. Sighing quietly, Delemir looked down at Lissa and smiled again.
"What?" she asked when she realized he was looking at her.
"Nothing," he replied and lifted his hand to her cheek slowly. He was slightly amazed when she leaned into his touch and shut her eyes slowly. His amazement was drained suddenly when Lissa reached up and grabbed his wrist and opened her eyes, with effort, he mused.
Her eyes drifted to his and held them there. The amber flecks in her eyes had disappeared in the darkness and intensity as she stared at him with fierce concentration. The deep brown was full of emotions that were unreadable to Delemir. But, he thought, he wouldn't be able to read them if he wanted. He was too lost in her gaze to think.
"Lissa," he said quietly and backed her up against a wall.
Without replying, she rose on her toes and rubbed her lips against his firmly then went flat on her feet again. She looked up at him still, and reveled in the shock that flitted across his face. She seemed to feed off of it as she rose on her toes once more and kissed him again, but longer and with more force.
Why was she doing this to him? Why was she making him feel like he was on fire and going to explode at any given moment? Delemir wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her back with the same urgency and need she was pushing across as these thoughts skittered from one side of his brain to the other and out of comprehension. He couldn't think anymore. Any thoughts were incoherent and without reason or logic. His blood ran like fire through his veins and pounded loudly in his ears when he felt Lissa's hand go around his neck and tangle in his hair. His hands found their way around her waist and played rhythmically up and down her back slowly. She arched against him as tingles flew through her spine. Oh, what a glorious feeling that was to Delemir.
Pulling back, Lissa took in a very deep breath. She looked up at Delemir and saw he was just as every bit shocked as she was that the kiss had happened. But neither of them regretted it. Then, without a word, Lissa slipped from Delemir's grasp and sank onto the couch bed slowly, intently. She pulled the blankets around her tightly. Looking up, she saw Delemir watching her still. She smiled slyly at him, slyly and sleepily. Then she yawned and drifted into sleep under Delemir's penetrating gaze.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sighing quietly, Emily woke up around ten, or close enough to it. She slipped out of bed and took a quick shower. The first one that year, she mused as the hot spray fell over her. When she stepped out, she dressed again then ran a brush through her hair. She was prepared for the brand new year that had started at midnight. She was ready for anything.
Laughing to herself, she started downstairs and came to a big surprise when she reached the living room. Not just the clutter and slight mess from the one-woman party she'd hosted for herself last night, but from the occupants of her living room. She finally remembered Delemir and Lissa had paid her a visit last night, or rather this morning, and she had let them sleep in the living room. It hadn't been until too late to realize it might've been a bad idea, but oh well. They were adults. They could've handled themselves.
And it seemed they did, though in a slightly strange way. They were both on the couch bed, and Delemir had his arm wrapped around Lissa's waist. His face was buried in her hair, just at her neck. Lissa's arm was snaked around his, and they were cuddled impossibly close to each other.
Letting out a long breath, Emily walked to the kitchen to start breakfast, knowing if she woke them up now, it'd probably result in bloodshed on Lissa and Delemir's account.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lissa took in a deep breath contently and felt glorious. She didn't know why, but she did. She knew Delemir's arm was wrapped around her. She'd woken up when he had slipped behind her on the bed and had snuggled up behind her. She'd only pretended to be asleep for both of their sakes. Now, she didn't have to since the sunlight was filtering in through windows and doors.
Stretching like a cat, she found the scent of breakfast and felt her stomach scream for it. When she felt Delemir's arm tighten around her waist, she knew he was awake now too. She smiled and heard Emily in the kitchen or the dining room. Either one.
"'Morning," Lissa murmured to Delemir as she angled her head down slightly.
Delemir made a slight, uncommitted noise that men normally made in the mornings, causing Lissa to laugh. She laughed even more when she felt his lips against the curve of her neck. When she felt his lips trace a path to the sensitive skin just below her ear, she heard Emily clear her throat distinctly.
"Sorry if I'm interrupting anything," she said intently, "but breakfast is ready."
"Great," Lissa said. "We'll be there in a minute."
"Or five," Emily joked as she left to go eat her own food.
Lissa grinned wryly and trailed her finger up Delemir's arm until she reached the crook in his elbow. She gently caressed the soft skin there and felt him stiffen and squirm slightly. "Hah, got you back," Lissa murmured softly and slipped off of the couch bed to eat the first breakfast of the year.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lissa sighed as she closed the door. It was the fifth of January, and she'd just spent the entire day over at Mischelle's house. It was three a.m. Or four, she mused. She didn't care. As long as she could have her bed, she would be happy. She dropped her bag on the floor and looked up the stairs. Connor and Delemir would be asleep. It was time Connor left her house and went back to New York, she mused. He'd sort of overstayed his welcome, and the whole thing with her and Delemir...
She shook her head and walked into the living room. She sighed audibly, unable to stand the itching in her back anymore. Just a few more steps, she thought, then you'll be in your room. When she reached her room, she turned the light on and went into her bathroom to carry on the nightly routine of brushing her teeth, combing her hair and pulling it back in a ponytail. When she walked back into her room, she stood in front of her dresser and reached up under her shirt to undo the strap on her bra. She sighed with relief when she felt its release. "I, ah, wouldn't go much further than that," a soft voice said from Lissa's bed. She whipped round and saw Delemir leaning against the headboard on her bed. "What-What are you doing here? Why aren't you asleep in your room, Delemir?" she demanded, suddenly aware she'd nearly stripped down to nothing to change clothes. "Waiting for you to come home," he said dryly. He watched her, and the emotions running over her face. "Why?" She felt uncomfortable under his gaze. Why did he wait for her? Why wasn't he asleep? This was the first time he had ever waited for her. At least he hadn't kept the front porch light on. Wait, he had.
"Because, that's what friends do when another is out late," Delemir said, standing and walking up to her.
"Connor isn't up," Lissa insisted.
"Because he was working all day on deciphering dreams for his clients," the Elf said fiercely. "But he did stay up until midnight. I took the baton and have been awake until now."
"Why are you doing this?" Lissa blurted. She was absolutely furious now, and not about the fact that the blasted tag on her bra was itchy still. She'd have much rather dealt with Connor than Delemir right now, especially in this mood Delemir developed. "Why are you being such an overprotective father when I was just at Mischelle's?"
"How was I supposed to know that?" he lashed out. "I couldn't call you since I have not the faintest idea of using that thing you call a phone, and I-" He stopped himself, took a calming breath.
"And you what, Delemir?" Lissa demanded, feeling her eyes brimming with tears.
"Don't want to be worried about you like I was tonight," he muttered.
"Bull," she protested. "Completely bull with a capital 'B.' I'm leaving again-without my cell phone so you can't contact me even if you tried." She tossed the handheld phone on the dresser and turned to go back out into the snow outside.
Delemir muttered an Elvish oath for handling everything so badly. He hadn't meant to, honestly. He'd meant to tell her that he was waiting for her and why-which was because he really was worried since it was three in the morning-in a very adult manner. Instead, he behaved like a child running with scissors-cocky and angry when the mother tried to take them away-when he was faced with everything. Cursing himself again, he had a flashback of a few weeks ago in the hospital.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FLASHBACK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lissa reached up and took a handful of Delemir's shirt and brought him closer. She took a shuddered breath and let it out brokenly. "Never let me leave the house angry like that again, Delemir," Lissa demanded.
"What? Lissa, I-"
"Promise me." "Lissa-"
"Say 'I promise' Delemir."
"I promise, Melissa," he told her quietly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~END~FLASHBACK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Delemir groaned, disgusted with himself and went to rouse Connor to tell him what had happened and to be chewed out again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lissa shivered as the temperature dropped a few degrees and snow blew in her face. She leaned against a tree in the park and closed her eyes. She knew she shouldn't have left. She should have kicked, literally kicked, Delemir out of her room and locked the door. She should have flung herself on her bed and gone to sleep. Had she? No.
It was so cold, she thought. And she was so tired. Unaware of her movements, Lissa slipped down until she was sitting in the snow. Her body was numbed. She couldn't feel a thing, not even when the snow melted under her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Delemir paced back and forth quickly in the living room, waiting for Connor to come back. Waiting for Lissa to come back. Either of them, as long as it was with the other. As long as they weren't alone. When he resigned to sitting on the couch after thinking he might put a hole in the carpet, he heard the door open. He immediately jumped up and saw Connor holding Lissa in his arms. Her entire body was shaking, and her hair was all frosted. Her lips were a light shade of purple, and her face was near about white. Delemir couldn't believe it.
"Get a fire going," Connor commanded. He set her on the couch in a sitting position, leaning against the arm of the couch, and pulled the throw off of the back of it to tuck around Lissa.
"Where was she?" Delemir asked as he had a fire sparking within fifteen seconds.
"The park. Why did you let her leave?" Connor took Lissa's hand in his and rubbed it gently, wincing at the cold under her skin.
Delemir was silent. "We were both angry. She more than I, most likely," he finally said. Delemir found another blanket and handed it to Connor.
Connor shot a death glare at Delemir then said, "I didn't think Elves of your kind could become angry so easily," with a sneer curling on his upper lip.
"Excuse me?" Delemir looked up from stoking the fire and saw the gleam of disbelief and mockery in Connor's eyes. "It doesn't matter what I am and what you are right now. At least not to me. What matters to me, and it should to you as well, is Lissa and her well being. I want to know if she's going to be all right, if she's going to wake up. It isn't any of your business who made whom mad over what, when and where. It doesn't matter to me right now. I'm not going to beat myself up over what we said earlier because I don't care, and neither should you, Connor."
The gleam in Connor's eyes was dulled to barely a sparkle compared to Delemir's fire blazing like a beacon on a clear night. Connor felt slightly intimidated and out of league, so he gave one last glare to Delemir and left, muttering about something.
Delemir sighed and touched his ear softly. For the first time in his life, he wished he wasn't an Elf and was just a regular human being. When Lissa stirred slightly, he went over to her and saw her eyes open. They focused on him for a moment, but she didn't say anything. Deciding to act on his instincts, he went to her and knelt at her feet, seeing her eyes following him the entire time. He slowly took her boots off and set them on the floor then took her socks of carefully and set them in the boots beside the fire. Looking up at her once more, he saw her nod off into a cold induced sleep again. Panic swept through him when he saw that her eyes lolled to the back of her head.
"Lissa! Wake up! Open your eyes, Lissa. Look at me," Delemir pleaded with her, leaning over her and framing her face gently with his hands. "Wake up." When he spoke, his voice showed his desperation for her to look at him. "Please."
He gave her a quick shake, willing himself not to yell again. Shaking his head, now, he leaned over her more and rested his head on her shoulder. He couldn't believe he'd let her leave when she was irritated again, especially when it was still freezing outside. She'd been gone for one hour. One solid hour. Delemir felt like giving himself a swift kick in the rump for letting her go. He'd broken his promise to her. He never broke promises. First time for everything, he thought.
"Delemir," he heard Lissa murmur softly. Her voice was strained and throaty when she spoke.
"Melissa," Delemir said breathlessly. He held her against him and whispered soft kisses against her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
For the first time in the weeks Lissa had known Delemir, this was the first time she had ever witnessed him crying. She felt compelled to slip her arms around him, though she could hardly feel any part of her body at all. Except her racing heart. It felt odd to have a full-grown man with a few thousand years under his belt leaning on her shoulder, crying. Over her, she mused. Seriously odd.
"For what?" she managed as Delemir looked at her face.
"I broke a promise. I upset you." He leaned forward and kissed her lips quickly. "I'm sorry. I promised you I would never let you leave the house angry, yet I did. I'm so sorry," he told her. "So sorry." He kissed her gently again, but longer and drew the passion out until he felt her arms fall weakly to the couch again. He pulled himself back and sighed lightly.
"Delemir," she began, but he silenced her by pressing his finger against her lips.
"Shh, shh, shh, don't speak," he murmured softly. He removed his finger from her lips and replaced it with his own lips again gently. "Don't try to speak."
He moved off of her and found another thick blanket for her. He draped it around her carefully then, sitting down beside her, cradled her head against his chest. He felt her shiver slightly and hoped she wasn't crying. He only held her closer then. He gently pressed his lips to her hair only to know she wasn't some illusion and that she was really there.
"Delemir," she murmured quietly. "Thank you." She snuggled closer to his warmth, denied the thought that it was only because she was cold.
"You're welcome," he replied, resting his cheek against her hair.
'I don't know what I'd do with out you,' she thought to herself.
Lissa closed her eyes finally, letting out a shaky breath and fell asleep in Delemir's arms.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own LoTR. Will never own it, either, as it all goes. I will never own anything that has a trademark in this. Anything else, like Connor, Lissa, and the house that I wrote for Emily to live in, I do own. Proudly.
Okay, to the usual 'Author's Note' here. Happy New Years-belatedly! Whoo! Ahem...anyway. Yes, I know, I am being very, very cruel in this story, and will only be crueler, most likely. I think I wrote this either Sunday morning at church, or when I was really ticked. I'm cathartic, so I tend to take out my anger on stuff like games or my stories. Or I just listen to really loud rock music. :D Mmm.....I think I'm going to have Connor move out after this since Delemir basically laid the cards on the table. Funny...he's playing poker right now. Hehehe. Things are getting better with Delemir and Lissa, but they're still liable to have an argument over which Dr. Suess book was the best (The Cat in the Hat or Green Eggs and Ham?) to leaving the front porch light on for the other, like in this chapter. Okay, rambled and babbled enough. Hope you enjoy the rest of the story! It's got a long way to go, and one more dream to deal with getting through. It'll be the next night, hopefully, in the next chapter. Talk to y'all later!
