A/N: I'm never going to update in a reasonable length of time, am I? Well, this is the second to last chapter. So enjoy.
Chapter 14.
Glorfindel rested her hand on Erestor's door handle, in the Houses of Healing. It was the morning after she had brought Erestor back in his sorry state. After spending an hour pacing outside the room, nerves slowly eating away at her, Celebrian had come to insist that she rest. She had been promised that she would be informed of any changes, but turned down the offer of some sleeping draft.
After a restless night, she had risen. Realising that she had yet to wash after the battle, she discarded her blood-stained tunic and bathed. Having no formal duties this day, she had chosen to wear a pale blue dress.
Preparing herself for the confrontation inside, she walked into the room, quietly closing the door behind her. She raised her eyes to meet Erestor's. She walked over to sit down beside Erestor and an awkward silence filled the room.
"Why are you here?" Erestor asked suddenly.
"Why am I here?" Glorfindel repeated in disbelief.
"Do not repeat the question," he said in a voice she had heard him use to his students, "Just answer."
"I am here because I care about you."
"Why?" Erestor sounded dubious.
Not quite believing what she was hearing, she replied "Erestor, I am your friend. Why do you insist on continuing with this?"
Erestor looked at her in disbelief for a moment, before giving a hollow laugh. "You still do not understand, do you?"
"No Erestor, I do not. If you would just tell me then we can sort out this mess. I am not stupid; I know this is not just about Narelda."
She watched Erestor as he looked like he was debating with himself. When she thought it would all come to nothing again, she felt Erestor grab her wrist and pull her towards him. She opened her mouth to say something, but she felt Erestor's mouth on hers instead. She was too surprised to move, to react as Erestor slipped his tongue into her mouth. She spectacularly failed to form anything in her mind beyond 'huh?' It wasn't until Erestor had pulled back and avoided her eye contact that it finally hit her.
"Erestor…" she began, but stopped, not knowing what she wanted to say.
"Get out," Erestor said closing his eyes.
Glorfindel wasn't sure if she should stay or leave, which of course meant that she just half sat in her chair.
"Now!" This time Erestor put some force into his words. Not knowing what else to do, she left.
(&)
Glorfindel leaned against the wall and sat down. She rested her forehead in one hand. Everything over the last few days was finally beginning to sink in with full force.
She wasn't sure if leaving had been the best idea, but she didn't know what else to do or say. At the moment she just wanted to escape, to run away. She wasn't normally one to think this way, but she had little experience in the field of love and her last experience had ended badly for all those involved. She suddenly got the impression that she knew how Arwen felt when she broke her mother's favourite necklace. She wasn't sure what to do now, except to sit and cry.
She must have jumped a foot into the air when she felt a hand on her arm. She yanked up her head and saw Elrond's concerned blue eyes.
"Come, Glorfindel," and he helped her up and into a room in the Houses of Healing which he used for work.
She sat down as Elrond poured her a generous amount of wine. He handed her the glass and she drink the liquid in one, only for it to be refilled again within seconds.
"Drink this a little more slowly," Elrond sounded half amused.
She didn't even attempt to smile as she felt Elrond's eyes watching her. She sat there, sipping her wine and calming herself. When it became clear that Elrond was waiting for her to speak, she did so. "Erestor loves me."
Elrond nodded, a lack of surprise on his face. "So he has finally told you."
"Not as such…" She frowned slightly at Elrond. "You knew?"
"I am ashamed to say that I never suspected until Celebrian told me. Though a lot of things fall into place once you know, do they not?"
Looking back over the years, Glorfindel did have to agree with this, especially the last few days. "How long has Erestor-"
"Been in love with you?" Elrond finished for her. He paused and thought, looking down at the floor as he did so. "Do you remember Culhith?"
Glorfindel shifted though her memory; the name seemed so familiar, and hadn't Erestor mistaken Elrond for Culhith while he had been drugged... Of course! she thought. "He was Erestor's previous lover."
Elrond nodded, and she went back to her thoughts. Before she came to Imladris, two same-gender lovers was a concept strange to her, though not completely foreign. It was just another thing she was forced to get used to when she arrived. What irritated her the most now was that she could not put a face to the name. Though she hadn't known him well, he was often quite rude to her and he had left soon after she arrived.
The thought that not only had she been the cause of misery for Erestor over the years, but she had also caused the breaking apart of him and his lover disturbed her considerably.
Elrond's hand was on hers and he spoke, as if he had heard her thoughts. "I doubt you were the cause of their breaking apart. Erestor and Culhith were having problems before you arrived. Erestor was genuinely devastated when Culhith left. It was shortly after that you began your friendship with him, though, so I would guess that it developed then."
Glorfindel took all this in. She had never thought it would have been so long. The conversations they shared over the last few days must have felt like she was rubbing all this in his face. "Elrond, I do not know what to do now."
"How do you feel for Erestor?"
That was a good question: how did she feel for Erestor? She knew that she didn't want him to leave again, but did she love him? She had thought that she loved Narelda, after all. She didn't want her or Erestor to go through that again.
"I do not know. I just know that I do not want him to leave again."
"Then act on that, but do it soon, for both your sakes."
After a moment, Glorfindel spoke up again. "I never loved Narelda, did I?"
Elrond sighed. "I can never say for sure, but I would say you both just felt lust."
Glorfindel looked down into her glass to avoid Elrond's eyes. "I suppose it was just nice to have someone see me in that way. It felt nice."
After a moments silence, in which Glorfindel felt Elrond's eyes on her, Elrond spoke again. "Glorfindel, you really are a woman."
Glorfindel looked up in surprise and then a playful smile tugged her lips.
"I am not sure you should be teaching Mirear, if you have only just realised this." She leaned towards Elrond. "Maybe it is time to tell you how your children were conceived."
Elrond grinned sheepishly. "I apologise. I just never realised how much I forget this simple fact at-"
He was interrupted by Glorfindel throwing back her head and laughing.
"Oh, Elrond, you are neither the first or last to think this way. I have realised this and, if anything, it helps me command. I have lived a long time and much of it as a warrior; I have learned to accept it."
"But I am one of your closest friends and yet I have made the same mistake as so many others."
"You are forgiven, Elrond. It is something that has long ceased to bother me."
Standing up, she drained the remaining wine. "I will talk to Erestor, though I am still not sure what I will say."
"Then may Elbereth guide you."
Placing the goblet down, she walked to the door. Upon reaching the door, she turned back to Elrond. "Thank you."
Elrond gave her a 'you're welcome' smile and watched her leave.
(&)
Erestor lay on his bed with his back to the door. He couldn't believe that he had done something as stupid as to kiss Glorfindel. So much for self control. Now all he needed to make his day complete was for the floor to swallow him whole.
He heard the door open and close behind him. He closed his eyes, hoping it wasn't Glorfindel. As he heard her come closer to the bed he decided to just lie there in the hopes that she would leave, thinking that he was asleep. There was a moment of silence, while Glorfindel just stood by the bed.
"I know you are not asleep," she said.
He continued to ignore her, hoping that she would take the hint and go away.
"I am not going to leave Erestor."
All Erestor could think was Please Glorfindel, just leave me alone.
"Erestor, please do not do this again." He could have sworn that he had heard her voice tremble slightly. Inwardly he shook his head and continued to ignore her.
Suddenly, he heard Glorfindel sob, "Please Erestor, I need you to talk to me again."
Erestor turned round and sat up. To his surprise, he saw tears running down her face. He felt terrible for having caused them, and especially over something that now just seemed to be his injured pride. He reached out with a shaky hand to wipe away her tears, and he felt Glorfindel lean into his touch. Deciding he had nothing to lose he reached out and pulled her towards him, and enfolding his arms around her.
Glorfindel allowed her self to be pulled into the embrace. She felt more secure then she had in a long while, and allowed herself to be soothed by Erestor.
End of Chapter 14
OK everyone. The next chapter is the last one and it will most likely be the shortest one too. But yay, they made up.
cosmic-dancer-uk Well, I hope this one isn't so rough. It's good to know you liked my fight scenes. I'll bare all your comments in mind if I ever write another one. I was worried that I'd done really badly on the fight scene. :D Thank you.
mrbalaclava Thank you for your comments, it's refreshing to get constructive criticism, but I will explain why I wrote it how I did. You understand already that fanfiction writing is VERY different from that of novels, so comparing this to proper authors isn't a fair comparison. I wasn't trying to copy Tolkien's style, that's not what FF writers do, we merely write our own stories. I didn't talk about the chaos of the battle because it was supposed to be Glorfindel very much focused on the job at hand. Thank you again for your review and I'll keep some of the comments in mind next time.