A/N I would love to hear from my lurkers. To those of you who lurk and don't review, I love you all as much as the reviewers. I am happy you enjoy reading!

Chapter 4: Neglected

Estel went directly to his father's study after the twins had left. He knew he had language lessons that day. He wasn't looking forward to them, but it would give him something to do while his brothers were gone. He figured the twins would stay for no more than a month, since they would be eager to bring Legolas back with them. He decided that he could expect them home in no more than a month and a half

When he reached the door to his father's study, he knocked. He didn't want a second occurrence of what had happened to Glorfindel.

"Come in," Elrond's voice called from inside. He looked up and smiled when the teenager walked into the room.

"They're gone," Estel commented. He sat himself down and looked sadly at his father. "I'll never get used to them going away," he said sadly.

Elrond sighed and got up to comfort his son. "I'm sorry, Estel."

Estel nodded. "I know."

"You'll ride through those gates with them when you're sixteen to accompany them on anything you wish," Elrond told him.

Estel nodded again. "I know." His voice was sad and it was obvious he missed his brothers. He turned big silver eyes on his father and sighed. "What will I do when they are gone?"

Elrond smiled at him. "Whatever you like."

"I have lessons now, don't I?" Estel asked.

Elrond shook his head. He could tell his son was feeling neglected. "Maybe tomorrow. Today you may do what you like."

Estel smiled a little. "May I go to the human village?"

Elrond paused. He knew one day his son would be interested in going to the human village alone. He figured Estel wanted to find the two children that he had met a week before. "Yes," he said slowly, "but take someone with you to the borders."

Estel nodded. "I will, Ada." He stood and gave his father a hug. "Thank you."

Elrond couldn't help but feel slightly nervous as he watched his son leave the room. Something told him that allowing Estel to mingle with the two children was not a good idea. He had no reason to say 'no' however, so he pushed the thought to the back of his mind.

- - - -

Estel walked outside and found Lauwen lazing in the sun with her older brother.

Both of them had long dark hair. Lauwen had bright green eyes and her brother Lendol had blue ones. Both of them were friends of Elladan and Elrohir, and so had become good friends to Estel. Their house was one of the closest to Elrond's, so they were always near.

"Good afternoon, tithen Estel," Lendol greeted. He was younger than the twins by roughly twenty years.

Estel smiled at him. "Good afternoon."

"We heard your brothers leave just a little while ago," Lauwen commented. She was younger than the twins by roughly fifty years and was unmarried.

Estel nodded sadly. "Yes, they just left an hour ago."

"Aw, don't look so sad, Estel," Lendol chided. "We're not that bad!"

Estel smiled. "I was heading towards Poln. Would you like to come with me?"

Lendol shook his head but Lauwen nodded.

"Sure," she replied.

"Lauwen, no," Lendol said to her sternly.

Lauwen rolled her eyes and got to her feet. She shook her blouse and skirt before turning to her brother. "Don't worry, Lendol. I won't enter."

"You don't have to come if you'll get in trouble…" Estel began but Lauwen hushed him.

"I will be fine. I assume your father wanted someone to go with you as far as the borders?" When she didn't get a response she took it as a yes.

"Come with me, Estel," Lauwen said.

Estel looked at Lendol who shrugged. "When have I ever been able to tell Lauwen what to do? She doesn't care if I'm her older brother." He pouted and Lauwen gently pushed him.

"Come, Estel, you do not want to be comming home after dark. It will take two hours to walk to Poln," she said, completely ignoring her brother.

Estel gave Lendol a half smile before he followed Lauwen.

Lendol waved to them before he rested his head on his folded arms once again.

- - - -

Elladan and Elrohir rode out of Rivendell's borders and had been riding for roughly two hours on the road when they decided to stop at a stream for water. It would take them a few days to reach Mirkwood, and they were looking forward to the time together.

It was rare for the twins to find leisure time that they could just spend time with each other. As much as they had wanted Estel to come, they were happy that he had not. The twins didn't get to visit the way they used to without their little brother interrupting them.

The bond between the twins was close, and they needed the five days travel to Mirkwood to just be in each other's presence.

Elrohir broke the silence. "It feels weird for it to be just us," he said.

Elladan nodded. "Yes, as much as I enjoy your company, 'Ro, I miss Estel. It's nice to have a few days to ourselves, though."

Elrohir grinned. "What are we going to do when we reach Mirkwood?"

Elladan chuckled. "Nothing too intense. I promised Ada that we wouldn't do anything drastic, and I meant it. We cannot continue to take advantage of Thranduil's hospitality. He turns a blind eye to most of our stunts, but I think we ought to behave."

"We're only going to stay for three days. Is that still the plan?" Elrohir asked.

Elladan nodded. "Yes, I think so. The look on Estel's face when we rode out was enough to convince me that we should only stay long enough to give our greetings and collect Legolas."

"You won't need to collect me," said a light voice filled with amusement.

The twins both turned to see Legolas Greenleaf standing in the lower branches of a tree.

"Legolas!" Elrohir exclaimed happily when he saw their friend.

"It's good to see you, Elrohir," Legolas greeted as he jumped from the trees.

"Why didn't you write and tell us that you were coming?" Elladan asked. "We packed enough for three weeks!"

Legolas grinned at his two friends. "I wished to see the look of annoyance that would cross your face, Elladan, and I do believe my wish was just fulfilled."

Elladan rolled his eyes and embraced the prince like a brother. "Why did you not bring a guard or escort?"

Legolas shrugged. "I needed the alone time."

Elrohir groaned. "What did you do, mellon-nin?"

Legolas laughed. "Father asked me to please visit you because he didn't want…" He paused. "How did he put it? Oh yes, 'ultimate chaos caused by Elrond's delightfully troublesome twin sons' in our home."

The twins chuckled.

"Legolas, you can ride my horse. I'll double with Elladan," Elrohir told him.

Legolas nodded, his eyes twinkling. "Can we hurry? I am anxious to meet your little brother. I have heard so much about him but I have yet to be introduced. The poor boy, having to grow up with you two." He ducked the well-aimed swat that Elladan threw his way.

"You're just as bad as Estel, Legolas," Elladan muttered.

"Estel will be thrilled that we are returning so quickly," Elrohir said, delighted.

"Your father will be incredibly worried," Legolas put in.

The twins shrugged to show they didn't care and the three mounted the horses and rode quickly back to Imladris.

Reviewer Responses:

Someone Reading: Heehee, I tried! I wanted to add a little humor to the fic. Poor Estel! I know, the poor guy has been having one heck of a time. Hopefully this will cheer him up! Estel sure gave Glorfindel a bad headache. I wouldn't want the door slammed into me. And Erestor had to take care of him. Oh that would NOT be fun. I thank you for all of your lovely compliments. I really hope you liked this chapter!

Grumpy: LOL! Estel did run everyone over and he was running late for everything!! Hm…if only alarm clocks existed in Middle Earth. Perhaps you are right about the rooster. I should give him one.

Shadowfaxgal7: Poor Estel sure was having a bad morning. I am sure he will be happy with his brother's return! I know Estel didn't get to go, but it will be close enough. At least he will get to meet the prince! I'm glad that you had a good time at camp. When you were describing it, it sounded like fun. Too bad about the blanket. Didn't they have extras? Thanks for the review!

DreaminofLorien: You're welcome! I know, I do wonder what years feel like. Months perhaps. Could you imagine? That would be really weird. Well, I guess it is normal to them. Ok…I will stop rambling. Thanks for the review!

Leggylover03: Heehee! I am happy you like it. It makes me feel good. ::grins:: here is the next chapter!!!

Crying Phoenix: I hope you had fun at the Shakespearian festival. What sort of things did you do there? Thanks for the review! I adore my lurkers, but I wish I could hear from them! Thanks for reading!

Catmint: Heehee, you make me blush with the compliments. I am sooooo happy you liked the Glorfindel part. I had fun writing it. I shall go read 'Restless' I promise. I will check it out as soon as I post this fic! Thank you sooo much for betaing. It makes me really happy that you help me to improve my writing.

A/N I have returned to California. You can expect more frequent updates until a week from Monday. School starts the 16th. I shall return. I will try to update once a week when I am in school, but I am not sure if I will be able to. I will be in my junior year of high school and I have a couple college courses to take along with studying for the SATs and ACT.