I looked down at the floor embarrassed by my worrisome behavior. Letting go of my shoulders Jesse gently raised my chin.

"Everything will be alright. I'm sure of it." He whispered.

I gave a small smile; again lost in the pools of his black eyes. We both became startled when two guards approached us.

"You are Jesse Callaway?" One of the guards asked in Elvish.

"Yes." I answered for him.

Giving me a strange look he continued. "Follow me please." They turned and began walking. Jesse looked at me in confusion.

"Go!" I whispered, nodding to follow the guards.

"Aren't you going to see me off?" he asked.

"If you want," I blushed slightly.

The guards led us to a large elegantly carved door, embossed with Elvish script.

"The Royal Hall," I said.

"You were right after all." Jesse praised.

The two guards parted on either side of the door, leaving me to stand with Jesse.

"Everything will be fine." I reassured him, using his own words.

Jesse grinned.

"Thanks, I'll see you later." He paused and smiled at me, before opening the large door and closing it behind him.

I wasn't sure how long Jesse and his father would be in the Royal Hall, so I began to wander around the palace, trying to pass the time. I hadn't seen Legolas since yesterday and grimaced remembering our fight. He had asked for one more chance to show that he wanted to continue to be my friend, but I denied his request. Only giving him an offer that he would show me that he truly was sorry and wanted to remain friends. So far… nothing.

Just wait. I told myself. Though I will be worried if he shows up on my door step with flowers and balloons singing "You've got a friend in me…you've got a friend in me."

Shut up mind! You are freaking me out!

Even if he didn't show me by some sane act of apology, I still had Jesse. My heart fluttered just thinking about him. I knew he cared about me, he had expressed that in Edoras before my family moved to Mirkwood. But now that he was here, I felt different about him. His kindness was something that made my heart pulse stronger and his way of making me laugh was such a welcome thing to me. I soon found myself walking down a large hallway adorned with beautiful tapestries depicting everything from the Elves' history, to battles and pictures of Mirkwood's royal line. Stepping around a group of Elleths who were flocked under Legolas' picture I continued to meander around the elegant palace. Even if I had lost a friend in Legolas, I had Jesse. The thought of him becoming more than a friend made my heart skip a beat. I decided that I would wait and see if my feelings were true; but from everything I had been feeling as of late, I knew that there was already something between us.

I smiled to myself and headed back to the Royal Hall. Now that Jesse was here, everything would unfold itself with time. A small smile was plastered to my face as I happily walked down the corridors to the Royal Hall. Turing onto the corridor that led directly to the Hall, I saw Jesse's tall, well built figure leaning against a window frame. Looking outside he didn't see me approach.

"Jesse," I said gently touching his arm.

He numbly turned and faced me, his dark eyes empty and hollow.

"What is it?" I whispered, sensing something was very wrong.

Jesse sighed, looked back out the window for a second and then again at me. He opened his mouth then closed it, as if having second thoughts about what he was going to say. He sighed again then spoke.

"We can't stay."

He glanced back and forth between me and outside, as if holding my gaze was too hard of a task.

Can't stay? The words didn't process. What did it mean, can't stay? Jesse was a blessing sent to me by the Valar, did he even know what he was saying to me?

I inhaled a deep breath, unable to take my eyes off him.

"Why?" I whimpered.

"Because it's not the right time." His voice was loud and angry. "There is too much the King is dealing with at the moment and for a long list of reasons, Dad and I are not going to be able to live in Mirkwood."

"I'm sorry I lied." He said looking into my now watering eyes.

"About what?" I choked.

"Saying that 'everything would be alright' I thought things would turn out differently." He sighed. "But I spoke too soon."

At that moment, I did something so daring I surprised even myself. Reaching out, I wrapped my hand around Jesse's and gave it a reassuring squeeze. He looked down at my hand, gave me a weak smile, before squeezing back.

"At least we got to see each other… right?" I attempted to sound hopeful but failed miserably. I felt the tears sting again. "Where will you go?" I dreaded the answer.

"I don't know." He said, his thumb gently stroking my fingers. "Probably back to Gondor. But I must say, the trees here are quite lovelier than those in Ithilian."

I looked at him blankly. Then the corners of his mouth turned up in a small smile. There it was again: the amazing ability to bring light to any situation.

"Dad left fifteen minutes ago to your house." Jesse said quietly. "I volunteered to stay here until you came back."

"So you could tell me." I stated.

Jesse nodded, then places his other free hand over mine, sandwiching mine between his calloused palms.

"I know this is a bit late, but, would you like to go out to dinner?"

I had to smile even though the tears threatened to escape.

"I'd like that." I said quietly.

"Do you want to go back to the house?" he offered.

I nodded, trying to keep my composure. I had so many feelings running through my head at once that I almost felt nauseous.

"Come on," he said gently letting go of my hand.