Hey everyone! This fic is written in honor of Neril, who is incredibly amazing and fabulous! I really hope you enjoy, Oh Mistress of Fire, and I hope all the other readers enjoy too!
WARNING! THIS FIC CONTAINS MENTIONS OF ABUSE! PLEASE DO NOT READ IF IT WILL TRIGGER YOU BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO HURT YOU IN ANYWAY!
Modern Fic. All you really need to know is that I consider Legolas as a child whose skipped a grade.
...
Aragorn glanced to the side, his eyebrows furrowing in quiet concern, at the blonde who sat next to him. Legolas' eyes were fixed on the teacher, and his left hand was scribbling down all the notes that were on the board with perfect handwriting, all without looking at the paper.
(It was a skill everyone had tried to replicate at some point, and everyone had failed miserably, no matter how hard they tried or watched or studied the blonde…)
Then the scratching of pencils stopped, for the teacher had gone off track and was rambling about the intricacies of hedgehog nests… again. Mr. Brown was an incredible biology teacher, but he had the tendency to get lost in his awe for nature. At least he wasn't discussing the eating habits of otters; small mercies were what Aragorn lived for.**
Seeing his chance, the brunette leaned to the side and tapped Legolas lightly on the shoulder, frowning when the blonde shied away from the touch. Perhaps he had hurt his shoulder in archery training again?
Aragorn hoped so, for the alternate option was much less pleasant.
Still, he had gotten the blonde's attention, and he was not going to waste the opportunity.
"You okay?"
Legolas ducked his head at the question, his fingers toying with the edges of his baggy sweater- a sure sign he was upset- and nodded silently, biting his lip as he did so.
The brunette frowned further at the uncharacteristic response and, double checking to make sure that was still occupied (He was; the man was going on about the killing methods of house cats) he whispered again.
"You sure? You've been… quiet."
It was true. Although Legolas was not one to be loud and exuberant amidst strangers- or ever, really- he was quick to laugh and easy to talk with among his friends. But now he had gone oddly silent, and he only really interacted with the world if prompted by someone else. It was as if he wasn't all there, lost in the recesses of his mind.
And it was worrying.
Finally, the blonde looked up, a small, strained smile on his lips. Strands of hair were escaping his messy bun and framing his face, and that, combined with the too big sweater and the fragile look in his eyes just made him seem so very small and delicate, almost like a small child.
"I'm fine. Don't worry 'bout it…"
(He was lying, and they both knew it.)
His big brother protective instincts surged at the quiet, almost broken words, but he pushed them back into line; this wasn't the time or the place.
Aragorn considered pestering him further, but thought better of it; Legolas wouldn't appreciate the confrontation in the middle of class, where anyone could listen in.
And so he simply nodded and leaned back into his chair, just in time for Mr. Brown to shake himself out of his rambling awe and continue on with the lesson.
Aragorn glanced at the clock, and barely managed to stop himself from groaning; they still had a half-hour to go, and then three more classes to go after that.
Sighing, he picked up his pencil and started to copy down the notes.
It was going to be a long day.
…
When the bell finally rang, Aragorn was the first out of his seat. As quickly as possible, he headed towards his locker, which just so happened to be right next to Legolas'. The last period was the only period in which the two friends went to different classes- he had chosen health class and the blonde had opted for art- and that was perfectly fine, most of the time.
It was days like these in which it was not.
Because the art room was far closer to their lockers- and therefore the exit- than his own classroom was, and when Legolas was all quiet and angsty, he often just walked out the door without a single goodbye. Then he wouldn't answer any calls or texts sent his way, and the next day apologize profoundly for it.
Aragorn wasn't going to leave the blonde to deal with his troubles alone though, not this time.
As it was, by the time he got to their lockers Legolas was just exiting the building, ignoring Aragorn's yell to wait.
Cursing, he quickly shoved all the necessary books for the weekend into his bag and swung it over his shoulder. Boromir, who had the next locker over, raised an eyebrow as if to say, "What's his problem?" to which Aragorn responded with an exasperated I don't know gesture before running after his friend.
When he finally caught up, Legolas was already a block down the road. Panting with exertion, he put a hand down on his friend's shoulder as he attempted to catch his breath, noticing again that the blonde flinched heavily at the contact.
"What do you want, Aragorn?"
The words were not so much accusing as tired, and the voice was tentative at best, catching oddly on the first word.
He got a good look at his friend, who was clutching his bag tightly to his chest- Why wasn't he wearing it properly?- and whose eyes were suspiciously wet.
"I- I just wanted to get some ice cream with you, that's all…"
The excuse sounded pathetic, even to his own ears, and it wasn't what he meant to say at all, but seeing how small and sad and down his friend was he couldn't quite make himself to demand answers. He was the (self appointed) big brother, and being an honorary big brother meant cheering up honorary little brothers when they were upset. And cheering up honorary little brothers meant ice cream.***
"I- Aragorn, it's in the middle of fall."
Indeed, it was, and as if to prove the blonde's point a large brown leaf blew straight into Aragorn's face. Hastily, he swiped it aside.
"So what? Doesn't matter; every time is ice cream time!"
Then he grabbed Legolas' bag from his arms and swung it over his own shoulder to join his own bag and pretended not to notice how Legolas rubbed at his abused appendages gingerly. Then he gently- very gently- wrapped his own arm around the blonde's slim shoulders and started to tug him in the direction of Bilbo's Bakery, which just so happened to sell the best ice cream of the entire town.
"Come on, my treat."
And Legolas hesitated, a hundred excuses upon his lips, but then he relaxed into the one armed embrace, allowing himself to be lead away.
...
The bell tinkled merrily when they entered the shop, and Bilbo- the kind, middle aged man who owned the shop- shot them a large smile from where he was making a cup of coffee for another customer before poking his head into the kitchens and yelling, "Boys, we got another one!"
The sound of arguing filtered out from behind the door, and then the sound of something shattering, and then some muffled curses.
Bilbo gave a long-suffering sigh and closed his eyes for a brief moment, and then he walked off to deliver somebody's order.****
Aragorn and Legolas watched on with no small amount amusement.
Finally, a pair of curly heads cautiously peeped out from the kitchen, looking this way and that before landing on the waiting pair. Once they saw who it was, their weary looks transformed into brilliant grins. They disappeared for a moment to give the all-clear to their companions and then emerged fully from the door.
"Legolas! Aragorn! How are ya?"
Aragorn gave his own smile to the shorter teens, happy to see them again.
"We're good," he hoped he was telling the truth, "how are you and Pip?"
"Fine, fine… Sorry 'bout all that," Merry waved in the general direction of the kitchen, "We thought you were… someone else."
Legolas spoke up for the first time, concern clouding his voice, "Is Gollum bothering you again?"
They both shook their heads, and then Pippin piped up, "No, nothin' like that. We think his brother, Smeagol, has developed a bit of a crush on Frodo, though."
"Ah…"
Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin didn't actually go to the same school as them, they went to a different school called Hobbiton High that was located at the edge of the city. The two groups had met when Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and Boromir had stopped a boy called Gollum from stealing Frodo's gold ring- which just so happened to be an ancient family heirloom- on a field trip that their kooky home-room teacher, Mr. Grey, had taken them on.
They had become fast friends afterwards, and they managed to return the ring back to where it belonged, with Bilbo. Still… sometimes Aragorn wondered if it was truly over, because there was something the greasy boy had said, something that just didn't add up. After all, he had mentioned...
Well, that didn't really matter, did it? They were there to get ice cream, not to reminiscence old memories.*****
"Anyways, can we get some ice cream?"
"Course you can!"
Soon enough, they left the bakery with two cones in hand- a scoop of Lemon Sorbet for Legolas and Mint Chocolate Chip for Aragorn- and walked down to the park underneath the light of the setting sun. Once there, they scampered up their favorite tree, the same one they've been climbing for years, and chatted nonchalantly as the ate their ice-cream cones.******
Only when they finished did Aragorn bring up Legolas' strange behavior.
"Sooo, what happened?"
Legolas froze at the question, looking down at his feet and clasping his hands on his lap, his teeth nibbling his lower lip once more.
"Nothing…"
The brunette gave an unimpressed look at the blatant lie and prompted the blonde once more.
"Come on, Legs, you've been off all day. What's eating you?"
Legolas turned away so that his back faced his companion, and shook his head.
"Leave it, Aragorn, I'm fine."
"No your not! You've been all sad and mopey and you've hardly said a word all day and-"
It was then that Aragorn realized his friend's shoulders were shaking.
Sadly, tiredly, he grabbed Legolas and pulled him closer, hugging him tightly as the blonde cried silently into the crook of his neck. Murmuring meaningless reassurances, he rubbed gently at his younger brother's back, trying to comfort in any way he could.
"Did you and your dad fight again?"
He received a small nod in response.
His grip tightened in anger, for Legolas' father was one of the few people that Aragorn truly hated in life. To make such a happy and cheerful person into the sacred and miserable child in his arms was the worst crime that he could think of.
Then he noticed how Legolas had tensed the moment he added the extra pressure, and relaxed his grip. But then another thought hit him, and he couldn't help but ask the blonde if it was true.
"Did he- Did he hurt you?"
There was a pause, and then another tentative nod, much more hesitant than the last.
Aragorn pulled away, his eyes alight with anger and shock, and asked, "How?"
Legolas mumbled something that he couldn't understand.
"What?"
The blonde looked up again, and his eyes were still watery and so very sad and scared, but there was also something like defiance in the blue orbs, and Aragorn was glad to see it.
"I said that he threw me into a wall…"
For a moment, Aragorn stayed stock still, and then he was pulling Legolas close once more, burying his head into the blonde hair.
"Gods, Legs, I'm sorry."
Legolas said nothing, simply melted into the embrace once more.
How long they stayed like that, neither of them know. It could have been hours, it could have been minutes, but eventually Legolas started to pull away. Aragorn let him go, and then grabbed his bag.
"Come on, you're sleeping at my house tonight."
Legolas looked up from where he was picking up his own bag, his eyes wide with shock.
"What!? No! My dad- I mean, I couldn't do that-"
Aragorn cut off his protestations by crouching down once more and placing a hand on the blonde's shoulder.
"Course you can, Legs, your family."
"But Aragorn…"
The brunette's brows furrowed, and anger welled up once more.
"No buts. He's crossed a line, and there's no way I'm letting you back into that hellhole."
And then he scrambled down the tree before the blonde could protest again. He was upset, upset that Legolas did not want to be helped. Upset that he didn't help his friend before this. Upset that he didn't insist more, that he wasn't enough to stop the pain.
Swiftly, he walked towards his house, leaving his friend behind. It was a familiar scene, one that happened before, except now the blonde ran after the brunette, and not the other way around.
"Aragorn! Aragorn, wait!"
And he did not ignore the cry. He waited.
And when a single slim hand rested on his shoulder, he did not tense or shrug it off, he simply let it sit there. And when his honorary little brother searched his eyes- for what he did not know- he simply let them search. And when he finally reacted and raised a single brow, Legolas simply gave a small, slightly broken smile.
"I… Thanks."
And Aragorn simply smiled back, nodding his head once and grabbing his friend's bag.
"Come on, Legs, let's go home."
And so they went.
...
The End. :)
Notes:
*Mr. Brown is Ragadast, and Mr. Grey is Gandalf, just in case you didn't know
**I put this in here for a reason, who knows?
***Aragorn would be the best big brother ever. Just saying.
****Poor Bilbo, he's so done...
*****I'm sorry, I couldn't resist. I might write a actual fanfic about this, but we'll see
******This tree is based off a tree that was once in my garden, which had a really huge base where you could walk around a few paces before in branched out.
Alternate Note: If you are male and you are reading this and your thinking, "THAT'S NOT HOW MODERN TEENAGE BOYS ACT!" I'm really sorry and I would love feedback to make it more realistic. Also, I based Legolas off of someone I know, so that's why he acts like he does.
Anywho, I hope this was to your satisfaction Neril and that you enjoyed! I managed to get most of the your options in, though I'm sorry I left out Glorfindel and Erestor. Sorry bout that.
To all my lovely readers, advice, comments, and criticism is always welcome, but the fact that you take the time to read this is always more than enough!
I hope everyone enjoyed!
-The Mashpotatoe Queen.