A/N: Hello. I'm not gonna write much this time (just give you a little warning). My next chapter will probably be a while. I have exams coming up, you see, and they will finish on the 24th June. It might come earlier, but these exams are my A-levels and AS, so they are important.

Chapter 10

Now that Erestor had calmed down, he could see a major flaw in his plan: he had nowhere to go! Well, that wasn't entirely true. He had two options. As Mirkwood was out of the question, as was Lothlorien, (as the Peredhil family visited the Lord and Lady often, and he could not face them), the only option was to go to the Grey Havens and either stay with his sister or sail into the west. He hadn't seen his sister for several centuries; it would be good to see her again, but the pain in his heart seemed to draw him away from Middle Earth. Maybe he would visit her briefly, to tell her he was leaving.

Erestor was deeply lost in these thoughts as he reached the fringes of Imladris forest. He was completely oblivious to his surroundings, so he wasn't aware of either the fact that he was passing out of the forest, or that, as he did this, he was being closely watched.

He was roughly awoken from his musings when his horse gave a shriek and reared, throwing the startled rider from its' back. Erestor went flying and was stopped, rather painfully, by a tree that stood in the way. He crumpled to the ground and his vision started to darken. The last thing he saw as his horse fell dead, were orcs emerging from around the steep slopes of the valley.

(&)

"Here, drink this." Elrond handed a cup of tea to Glorfindel, which would help her relax and sleep. Glorfindel drank the tea and curled up on her bed.

"I drove him away. He was one of my closest friends and I forced him to leave."

Elrond remained silent, partly because he didn't trust himself to speak. He was worried that he would ask her what she had thought would happen; that they would argue and from that a miraculous solution would appear, they would laugh it off and live happily ever after. She was old enough to know that life isn't that simple.

But just looking at the distraught figure was enough to put a halt to his rants. He knew that this wasn't what she had intended and it was eating her up inside. He also realised that she wasn't the only one he was angry with. He was angry at Glorfindel for never telling her how he felt, but he was also angry at himself for not preventing this.

"He hates me now," she whispered.

Elrond rested a hand on her head. "Glorfindel, you must believe me when I tell you that Erestor could never hate you."

Glorfindel half-heartedly smiled. "Thank you, but I know he does." As the tea began to take effect, her voice became softer and lazy. "I really ruined everything. I don' understand… I'm usually good at this… friends 'n' plans… How can I run the entire defence of Imladris…. but I can't make Erestor stay or listen to me?.." Glorfindel's voice trailed off, and Elrond watched as her breathing evened out and her eyes glazed over, half closed, in sleep.

"I am afraid such things happen when one is in love." Elrond rose and left the chamber.

As he closed the door, Narelda came dashing up, concern shining in his eyes. However, Elrond stopped Narelda from entering the room. He really shouldn't have been resentful towards Narelda, he really wasn't a bad person, but he couldn't help it. A large part of him knew that this never would have happened if it hadn't been for the elf in front of him. "Glorfindel is resting. She needs time alone, to sleep and recover from this evening's events."

Narelda did nothing for a moment, but just looked between Elrond and his lover's door. Then, a resolve took him as his affection for Glorfindel seemed to win over his slight fear of Elrond. However, Elrond continued when he opened his mouth to speak, opting for reason instead of giving into pettiness and turning him away straight out.

"Glorfindel needs rest if she is to travel tomorrow. She will not wake until morning."

"Then can I not at least sit with her?"

"No, I believe that she needs peace." Though his voice was not harsh, it left no room for argument. Narelda merely nodded and, giving a final look to the closed door, left to go to his own chambers.

(&)

When Elrond entered the room, Celebrian was standing on the balcony, the breeze playing with her hair. Elrond thanked the Valar that she was his, and that nothing would take her away from him. He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

"How is she?" his wife asked.

"Distraught: she blames herself. It is her fault, but she is taking it difficultly."

Celebrian closed her eyes. "She would, poor Elf."

Elrond sighed in frustration, thinking back over the last few weeks. "Glorfindel's finally finding out that we sometimes know not what we have until it is lost. For that matter, I never expected any of this to happen either."

"Oh, you did not? Well I have been expecting this." Celebrian broke away from him and whirled round, an angry sparkle in his eyes. "Elrond is a Lady, a she-elf." Elrond stared at his wife, surprised by this comment and her sudden change in moods. His wife continued; "I think you forget this sometimes, and not only you, everyone, with the possible exception of Erestor. No matter how she acts or reacts, nothing will change this. Narelda was the first to show that he realised this, to show an interest in her this way."

"Elladan did," Elrond replied, turning away from her, knowing how pathetic the words sounded as they left his lips.

"Elladan was an elfling, and I am surprised you noticed."

Elrond felt wounded by her words. She was very different to Mirindil in this way, who very rarely opposed her husband and only on family matters. If Celebrian thought that Elrond was wrong, she would let him know. But he knew that Glorfindel was a woman, didn't he? Not that it would matter much now.

After a few moments of silence, he felt his wife's warm hands on his face, and turned it towards her.

"My poor lover, tomorrow you will lose the second of your closest friends."

"But I will still have you."

She smiled up at him, and he felt his worries melt away. Then she looked back up at the stars. "May Elbereth watch over them."

They stood there a while, staring at the stars and drinking in each others company. Eventually, Elrond took Celebrian's hand.

"Come, we should retire now. I think it will do us both some good."

Celebrian nodded, and looked away from the stars. She smiled at him and wrapped an arm around his neck, a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

"Yes, let us."

End of Chapter 10.

Sorry this was such a short chapter. I think the next one will be a lot longer. I think.

mrbalaclava You decided to review again :D. Good to see that you thought I handled the tender moments well.

cosmic dancer: You're not alone in feeling frustrated at Glorfindel, as long as you count fictional characters that is. But did you like the way she responded? As to her feelings for him. . . I think that question was answered in the chapter. If not :D singsongI'm not tellingsingsong.

Haldir's Heart and Soulgasp I can't just TELL you that. ; D