NOTE: Cheers to Elven Sword for the idea for this chapter! Also, in this chapter I'll be toying with the idea that there is starting to be less Gollum and more Sméagol in Gollum/Sméagol. This is going to be a really short chapter so there will be the best effect. =0)

*&*

"Don't worry, Kathy. Just have a good time, all right?" Nat hugged her friend, and handed her a black duffel bag.

"Thanks," Kathy said. And she was truly grateful to her friend. Nat had volunteered to move into Kathy's house to housesit, and also to take care of Sméagol while she and Patrick went to the beach for some peace and quiet. Ah… Nat rocked. She owed her. Owed her big time. "If Sméagol gives too much trouble, just… don't call me."

Nat laughed. "Got it. Maybe I'll have more luck finding out where he plopped down onto Earth from."

"We should be going now, Kath," Patrick said from behind the driver's seat of Kathy's car.

Kathy gave her friend one more hug, and then looked around. Sméagol was nowhere to be seen. She smiled to herself. Much as she hated to admit it, she would miss him quite a bit. She had grown used to his singing, his fishes, his weird habits (like flushing the toilet every five minutes regardless of whether it needed flushing, just to see if any fishes would pop out). The poor guy was rather cute, and he seemed to be becoming a little less crazed over the Ring. He talked about "the precious" a lot less. Occasionally he would ask if she had found "the precious", and she would tell him very patiently that it was lost, and she still didn't know where it was. In the beginning he took the news really hard, but now he didn't seem to mind all that much anymore. Yes, she would miss him. But that didn't mean that it wasn't good to have a break.

Kathy got into the car, and Patrick grinned at her. As they pulled out of the driveway, she turned to wave goodbye to Nat.

*&*

It wasn't a very long drive to the beach, around 3 hours, and Patrick enjoyed every minute of it. He and Kathy turned on the radio to the country station and sang stupid country songs (even though they both hated country songs), and then told stupid jokes, and then played a stupid game of "I Spy". All in all, it was a stupid drive. But very enjoyable. He sighed happily. Perhaps this holiday was going to be good after all.

"It's going to be so fun," he said. "Lounging around on the beach, getting a tan, swimming, eating, just hanging out…"

"Yup, I totally agree. Just the two of us," Kathy agreed.

*&*

They pulled up in front of the beach house they had rented. Kathy got out of the car and went to the trunk to get the suitcase while Patrick took out the duffel bags and other things in the back. "It's going to be a great holiday, I can't wait for us to really get down to having some fun!" Kathy said, unlocking the trunk. "Just the sun, the sand, the waves, you, me and…" She threw open the trunk.

"My precioussss…"

Oops.

*&*

NOTE: See what I said about short chapter? Well I didn't think the shock of the moment would be as great if I continued further.