All normal disclaimers and credits apply. I still do not own Lotr.

Estel didn't sleep well that night, or the next night, or even the nights for the next four months. He hardly slept at all. It was such a blow to his heart that Elrohir had lost the one person that had even come close to winning his heart, though it was no secret that Mireth had won Elrohir's heart and Elrohir never wanted it back. Estel still thought back to that fateful day, when everything seemed to crash down.

Lord Elrond sat in his study, his head in his hands. Elrohir and Elladan were in a tight embrace, both weeping, but Elladan's sobbing could not compare to the wails of anguish that were emitting from the younger twin. Glorfindel leaned against the wall, tears flooding down his face for the grief that raged through one of his students who had become a close friend. Estel sat in the corner, still clutching the letter that had come from Haldir, the Marchwarden of Lorien. It read:

'To the Lord of Imladris, and any whom this might concern-

Mireth of Imladris has passed. Her party had been attacked by Orcs on their way to Lothlorien and all but three were killed. Her body will be buried here, due to her parents' wishes before they sail. The Lady sends her invitation to come and see her burial and her deepest sympathies to those who held Mireth close to their hearts.

Haldir, Marchwarden of Lothlorien

Estel tossed and turned in his bed for another hour, just as the sun was peeking its golden head over the mountains that protected Imladris' borders. He stood up and crept out into the dark hallway. Most were still asleep and a shadow of gloom had taken hold of the once peace that had reigned. He didn't think to knock before entering the room that Elladan and Elrohir shared.

His footsteps were quiet, but not quiet enough to not disturb Elrohir. The twin sat up in his bed, his eyes seeking the intruder, trying to hide the fact he hadn't slept for days and that weeping had taken the place of sleeping. He cleared his throat and sighed.

"What are you doing here, Estel? You should be asleep." He whispered softly.

Estel walked to the side of Elrohir's bed. "You weren't sleeping either, brother." He replied. He could distinguish the marks of tears on his brother's face, and it broke his heart to see the once jovial elf so broken down and pained.

"Well, I won't be sleeping for a long while." He whispered bitterly.

"Elrohir…"

"Get out of here, Estel. You could never understand."

Estel was so stunned by the angry statement from his brother that he immediately left the room and entered his own. He stared down at the floor and felt a small part of himself die. He knew well that Elrohir was dangerously consumed by his grief and was only reacting out of instinct to protect himself and was only slightly injured by it. He sat down on his bed and watched the sun rise.

Hours passed and a maid entered his room quietly as always, ushering him out of bed so she could start her work. He pulled on a tunic as he left his room again. He looked around and yawned, stretching. He made his way down to the hall where breakfast was already in progress. He took his seat between his two brothers. Elrohir looked even worse than he had earlier that day, while Elladan looked considerably better than he had in a while. Looking around the head table, Estel noted that Legolas was not present.

"Ada?" Estel addressed his father.

"Yes?" Elrond looked up from his fruit.

"Where's Legolas?"

"Ah, he had to leave on urgent business for his father." Elrond explained and Estel sighed.

The young human despised it when Legolas left for his home in Mirkwood. While Estel knew he was a prince and had duties, he only got to see his close friend for a couple weeks every five years or so. Letters were not enough to make up for the physical absence of the elf. He sighed and finished his meal, leaving the hall to go outside, get some fresh air, and practice his archery.

Estel strung his bow and fitted an arrow onto the string. His mind was not fully on the arrow, and his shot was on the very edge of the target. He heard snickers and tensed up. He was definitely not in the mood. He fired another and his anger drove it to the center, almost to the bulls-eye. The next arrow he shot went flying into the air, landing somewhere in the forest, for he had been roughly shoved from behind.

Estel whirled around, anger taking the place of intimidation. "Now, listen here, Arador! Get away from me, I'm not in the mood!" He yelled.

Arador smirked, pushing Estel a little bit more. "Really? Is it because your stupid brother lost that stupid elleth? She was really dumb and ugly." He taunted.

Estel threw a punch, giving the elfling a bloody nose. "That's for insulting the elleth my brother loved!" He screamed, throwing himself on Arador in a rage.

Suddenly, he was picked up from behind and roughly restrained. "Estel! Daro!" Glorfindel commanded. (Stop, halt)

Estel was immediately quieted, and he froze. He was going to be killed for fighting. He couldn't help but be proud at the blood streaming down Arador's face. Served him right. The elfling, however, was sobbing pathetically, babbling some story about Estel insulting Arador's family and Elrohir's love for Mireth. Glorfindel simply sent the elfling up to the infirmary and turned upon Estel.

"So?" The Balrog-Slayer looked murderous.

"So what?" Estel answered, not understanding what Glorfindel meant.

"Estel! I cannot believe you! Insulting the boy's family and your own brother? Do you have any heart at all?" Glorfindel was bristling, and looked quite frightening.

"I didn't do it! It was Arador! He called Elrohir stupid, Mireth ugly and dumb, and made a mockery of Elrohir's love for Mireth! I would never!"

Glorfindel shook his head. "Arador has never lied! Estel, I shall talk to your father about this. What were you thinking? How can you think that your brother never loved Mireth?"

Elrohir took that moment to enter the scene, upon overhearing Glorfindel speak. He was frozen in disbelief. He had believed that Estel understood what he was going through, almost as well as Elrond did. His eyes were filled with betrayal and then anger. He shook with rage.

"I loved Mireth with all of my heart. You are a disgrace, Estel, if you think that way." His voice was calm, though his face told a different story. "I love her still." His voice dropped to a whisper and then he turned away and disappeared into the House.

Estel sighed, looking up at Glorfindel. "You don't believe me?" His voice shook with anger. "I love my brother and I loved Mireth, like everyone else! I would never say that, let alone feel that way! I can't believe you don't believe me!" He screamed. Most of his anger wasn't even about this situation, but he took it all out in a scream until he was left feeling so much lighter and breathless.

"Come with me." The seneschal's voice was even and had an undertone of controlled rage.

Estel could do nothing but follow Glorfindel to Elrond's study. The walk seemed longer than it actually was. The Balrog-Slayer's steps were ringing in the hallway as they ascended the stairs. His dark hair fell into his gray eyes as he hung his head. He muttered a vicious curse word in Dwarvish under his breath, earning himself a sharp, reproving glare from Erestor as he walked by.

Elrond looked up from very important looking documents to send to Lothlorien as Glorfindel and Estel walked in. He knew something was wrong, and it wasn't because of his foresight either. Glorfindel looked like he always did whenever the twins dyed his hair or stole his clothes, and Estel looked like he might cry. Might, of course, was the keyword because the boy was almost seventeen and practically a man in his own thought. The elven lord cleared his throat and leaned back.

"Do I truly want to know?" He asked, his eyebrow shooting up.

Estel took a step forward. "I would never…"

"Estel made a comment about Mireth and Elrohir, and insulted that elfling, Arador, Estel insulted his family." Glorfindel reported, his voice and manner much calmer than it had been earlier.

Elrond, surprisingly, didn't blow up. He closed his eyes with a disappointed sigh. Logically, it could only be that Estel was reacting badly to Elrohir losing Mireth and lashed out, just trying to escape from the problem. It made much sense, but he still was very disappointed. To Estel, that look of disappointment hurt him a lot more than a five-hour lecture.

"Go to your room, Estel. I will talk with you later."

Estel stormed from the room. He was glad he hadn't been given any sort of punishment, but he couldn't believe that Glorfindel and Elrond actually thought he would say something that like. He couldn't believe that ELROHIR believed he would say something. He had loved Mireth. She was sweet and caring and very beautiful. He had been the couple's number-one fan and had wanted them to get married.

Estel knocked softly on Elladan and Elrohir's room. Elladan answered it. "If you want to come in, we, meaning Elrohir and I, would like to set a few ground rules." He said importantly.

"Uh… okay." He said, taken aback.

"First off, you do not mention Mireth. Second of all, you do not try to apologize. Thirdly, you have to do stable-cleaning for a month every time you step into our room." Elladan crossed his arms over his chest.

"Fine." Estel muttered, shoving by his oldest brother.

Elrohir looked up from where he was lying on his bed. "Greetings, Estel."

"Hello Elrohir. You feeling okay? You didn't look so amazing this morning." The young human sat on the younger twin's bed.

"Eh." He muttered, rolling over onto his side.

Elladan sat down on his own respective bed. "We just miss Legolas." He lied.

"Oh please." The seventeen-year-old rolled his eyes. He was having those strange teenage mood swings, and was prone to going slightly out of character, but it is the character's fault, not the author's. "You miss Mireth. I know you hate me because you think I said all those horrible things, but I loved her too. But in a very, VERY different way." He sighed. "Look, I know you loved her, but I would never say anything like that!"

Elrohir stood up. "Be quiet! You have no idea how much I loved her and how much I miss her." Tears started to slide down his face. "I can't believe you said that about Mireth…"

"BUT I DIDN'T!" Estel screamed. He was breathing heavily by this time, red in the face. "I'm out of here." He slammed the door behind him.

The human stormed down the hallways to his private quarters. He closed the door, collapsing down onto his bed. He pulled his shirt off and laid back. He tried to do those deep breathing exercises he had learned from his Ada after his run-in with the bear. He looked around and closed his eyes. He tried using logical reasoning to understand Elrohir was going through so much pain, but didn't real families pull together after a tragedy?

Estel walked over to his balcony and opened up the doors. He went over to the bench Elladan had given to him on his tenth birthday to sit on, since he adored the stars and hearing stories about each of them. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked up. The stars were shining so bright, illuminating Imladris in all its glory, but it was lost on him. All he wanted was Elrohir to know that he'd always be there, no matter what he needed. Estel was his brother, and that was that.

Light droplets of rain started to fall down and Estel walked back inside.

"I can't believe that they don't…" He trailed off in a whisper. "I thought they were my brothers." He ran a hand through his hair, feeling incredibly selfish at his thoughts.