OK, here's a little background for this chapter...

Aside from being a WaT fan, I am also a HUGE Lord of the Rings fan! I started writing fics about the characters in LOTR, especially Aragorn and Eowyn. (I always thought that they should have gotten together instead of Aragorn and Arwen.) Eowyn is my favorite character and so for the purposes of this fic, I am writing that Kassia played Eowyn instead of Miranda Otto. I also loved the characters of Merry and Pippen, which explains the appearance of Dominic Monaghan in this chapter.

I am trying something new...seperate stories for the two characters at first, with mentions of each other in each of their chapters. And then bringing Danny and Kassia together later. I hope it is working.

Chapter Seven - Old Friends

Kassia James' downtown apartment

Kassia slowly lowered her tired body into the hot, soapy water. She closed her eyes and leaned back against her bath pillows, allowing the soothing sound of Enya and the relaxing smell of her aroma therapy candles take over her senses. After a long day on set, this was the exact remedy for her frayed nerves. Her current co-star was none other than Brad Pitt. Brad had become a good friend, one who understood what it was like to be at the center of a media storm, and she found herself asking his advice on how to handle so many of the things happening in her life these days. They spent a lot of their down time laughing about how he was not the one the paparazzi was camping outside to see for a change and how much he enjoyed that.

Though she tried hard not to let any thoughts invade her relaxation time, she found her mind once again wandering back to another bathtub scene...much like the one she was in right now. But she hadn't been alone then. Danny had been nearby. He had wanted to take her picture in the bath. So they filled up her old fashioned tub with bubbles and she had climbed in. He had carefully arranged the bubbles around her, so that his photograph would showcase her naked form yet still leave the viewer wanting more. She had giggled at the focus in his eyes and then shivered with desire when his hand had brushed across her sensitive breasts. The intense look in his eyes was like something she had never experienced before and she felt so beautiful. He flashed his gorgeous smile at her when she blew soapy bubbles at him, and when he had gotten the exact shot he wanted, he stripped down and joined her in the tub.

Kassia smiled to herself as she thought of the lovemaking that had followed, but she was jogged back to reality by the shrill ringing of her telephone. Not wanting to move from her spot, she decided to let the machine get it. If it were her friends, they would wait until she called them back. If it were Peter...she didn't want to finish that thought. It wouldn't be Peter. He was on a plane headed back to the States. Every moment bringing them closer to the conversation she was dreading.

"Hello? If you are hiding out in your own home, my lady, rest assured that I am not a reporter. Only a mere actor who wants to say..." Kassia immediately recognized Dominic Monaghan's voice floating in from the answering machine in her bedroom, and she hurriedly grabbed the phone extension that had been installed in her bathroom.

"Dom? How are you?" Kassia said happily into the receiver.

"Screening your calls, are you now Kassia? Is that what happens when you leave L.A. behind for the bright lights of New York?" She could just see his mischievous grin as he teased her.

"Not at all. I always have time for the little people." she teased back, glad to hear his voice. "How are things in Hawaii?" Dom was shooting a second season of his ABC hit show LOST and the buzz surrounding it was already starting to make it's way around Hollywood. She was happy for him. It had been hard for him for awhile, watching the careers of Orlando, Elijah, Karl and herself flourish after Lord of the Rings while his had come to a bit of a standstill. But she just knew this new series was going to be big for him.

"Oh, you know how it is. I'm on the beach filming with the beautiful people by day, breaking girls' hearts in the clubs by night, and surfing on my days off. It's quite tiring, actually." he said, nonchalantly.

"Yeah, sounds really rough." she returned.

"Well, I don't have a lot of down time. But during those rare times when I do, I've found some interesting reading material down here to browse through. Very nice pictures!"

She knew it. She moaned her surrender and leaned back in the bathtub.

"What was that sloshing noise?" he asked.

"I'm in the tub." she answered him, readjusting the phone so she wouldn't get it wet.

"Oooh, wait. I'm getting a good visual." He said, then continued slyly, "Now what am I talking about? I don't need to create a visual in my head. I've got a picture right here in front of me."

"Don't start, Dom." she mock pleaded with him.

"Actually, the photos are quite good. I always knew that Danny boy was quite talented, but these are really gorgeous. Although, I wish they didn't cover my favorite parts with a blur, but if they hadn't I probably wouldn't have been able to buy this trash in the local market." he continued, knowing full well that she was dying of embarrassment.

"Dominic!" she protested, prompting him to break out in laughter. Dom and Kassia had actually worked together before they were both cast in Lord of the Rings. They had been cast as brother and sister in an off Broadway production and struck up a close friendship. Danny and Dom, two of the most opposite men Kassia had ever known, had become friends as well.

Dom finished laughing, and his tone turned a bit more serious. "Are you ok, Kassia? You're not letting the nut-jobs in the press get to you, are you?"

She smiled at his concern and answered, "I did at first. It was just awful. But I'm getting used to it now."

"Hell of a thing to have to get used to." he sighed into the phone, hating that this had happened to her. " I'm sorry, Kassia."

"Not your fault, hon. Not by a long shot." She was glad for his friendship, especially now.

"I just want you to know that I am not an 'unnamed source' in any of those articles. They called me, knowing that you and I were friends in New York while you and Danny were together, but I didn't give them anything. In fact, I told them to shove it up their..."

"I know, Dom." she interrupted him, giggling. "I never believed for an instant that you had."

"I just wanted to make sure you know that I would never do that to you guys."

"I do." she smiled again. It was quite adorable that he was worried that she was angry with him.

"Yeah, I called Danny the other day and he said the same thing."

"You called Danny?" Kassia asked, more than a little suprised.

"He feels awful, Miranda." Dom's voice got quiet. "You should call him."

"Not yet, Dom." she confided in him. "I just can't."

"Why?" His question was innocent enough. But she wasn't sure she could give him the answer to make him understand. As it turned out, she didn't need to. Somehow, he already knew. "You're still not over him, are you?"

She couldn't believe he had seen through her. But since he was the one who opened the door, she figured that she could walk through it now. He would understand. "It wasn't easy, Dom. The way things ended between Danny and me. We didn't stop loving each other or get into a big fight and say things to hurt each other. I mean we did, but that wasn't what broke us up. We just decided that we couldn't risk ruining our friendship with the nonsense that comes with long distance relationships. Sometimes in life you have to let your better angels shout down what your heart really wants. We just decided to be grown ups."

"Being a grown up sucks, doesn't it? That's why I've decided not to be one, for as long as I can." she could hear his smile in his voice again.

"I think you make an excellent grown up, Dom. Better than some who have been doing it for a lot longer." She reassured him with a smile.

He was quiet for a minute, then said, "I like you and Danny together. I mean, it may be out of line for me to say that, but I really thought you were good together. It was real. And comfortable." Then he hurriedly said, "I know you're with Peter now and he's a great guy, too, but...I don't know. I just like the idea of you and Danny and happily ever after. Gives me hope, you know."

Kassia was surprised at the tears that came to her eyes at his heartfelt admission. "I know." she whispered. "I liked us together, too."

"Call him."

Neither of them said anything for a little while after that, but the silence wasn't uncomfortable. It was that silence that falls between two people who understand each other and words are not necessary. Finally, Dom said, "I don't mean to rush you off the line, but I do have to go."

She realized that this call was probably getting expensive for him, too. "Thanks for calling, Dom. I've missed you."

"I've missed you, too, Kassia. Let's promise to get together when I come back to New York."

"Absolutely. You have my number. And hey," she teased, "why don't you start sleeping with one of your co-stars and get me off the hook, huh? That's what a real friend would do."

He laughed. "Well, since I am a real friend I will start working on that right away! Anything I can do to help, that's my motto."