A/N: Hallo, all my childrens. I hope that you like this next chapter in my epic fic of loveliness. ^__^ Warning: Great drama.

Disclaimer: Nen, Immz, Ilz and Nen’s fam are mine. Eom, Eow, Broom, Faraz and Denez aren’t mine. For some reason, I feel like not talking in complete words…

Rating: PG-13 for brief language, thematic elements and suggestive themes.

—

“IÂ’m sorry my brother bothered you,” Eowyn said, lightly moving her sword through her elegant fingertips and polishing it, “He meant no harm… none at all… heÂ’s very much a pacifist, when it comes to being vocal. I just wish youÂ’d tell me what he said,” Eowyn added in an afterthought as if she added it at the last second, I would tell her.

For the first time, Eowyn had allowed me to come out of my tent. I could tell that she was no healer, seeing as I had been perfectly fine for the past few days and completely capable of walking, but nonetheless she had confined me to my tent. I had become so lonely that I positively pleaded with her to let me roam. She and Aragorn were the only ones who visited me anymore and Aragorn didn’t come as often as he used to. Eowyn told me, with a slight flush of her cheeks, that Aragorn had very important matters to attend to–quickly adding, after she saw the look on my face, that I was important, but there were other pressing matters. She usually then trailed off with an ashamed look on her face.

“I probably overreacted,” I said, glumly, “I just wish he would talk to me… every time I try to speak with him, he turns red and runs away. Men are so unfathomable…”

“I agree,” Eowyn said, staring at something. I followed her gaze and saw her staring at Aragorn. She quickly looked away and faced me, smiling, “But Eomer is hardly secretive about his emotion, Nendae.”

“It seems like he is to me,” I shrugged, “Maybe thatÂ’s because Eomer and I arenÂ’t related… I canÂ’t read him at all… what do you reckon heÂ’s trying to tell me, then?”

Eowyn shook her head, her pale face glimmering in the fading light, “He wouldn’t want me to say,” she mumbled, though her eyes were alight with mischief.

“Come on, please?” I pleaded, “I just want to understand what heÂ’s getting at! Why he runs away… why he wonÂ’t ever have a word alone with me… I mean, I donÂ’t think itÂ’s because he doesnÂ’t like me; I always see him staring at me, but I canÂ’t think of what else–“

“I won’t tell you,” Eowyn said, decisively, “But I will tell you that he feels exactly the opposite of what you think he feels.”

“Oh, come now, don’t talk in riddles,” I said, allowing my eyes to fly towards the heavens briefly, “I just want to know what he feels so I can stop wondering–“

“IÂ’ve said too much already, Nendae, but think about it,” Eowyn said, sheathing her sword, her eyes as bright as the blade of her sword, “The opposite… you think he hates you and he always turns red when youÂ’re around… Nendae, youÂ’re smarter than this!”

I had been staring at her with a wildly confused look. What was she trying to get at? I thought he hated me… so that meant he…

He loved me…?

My face turned a brilliant red. Eowyn let out a little squeal and clapped her hands together, “I knew youÂ’d get it eventually! I daresay, it did take you forever and I couldnÂ’t have given you a larger hint, but–”

“Eowyn,” I whispered, desperately, “He canÂ’t love me… I canÂ’t love him…”

“Why else do you think he would be so torn up inside?” Eowyn said, simply, “He cares for you, but he knows that you could never love anyone as much as you loved Boromir. Of course, itÂ’s a horribly confusing feeling for him, but honestly, Nendae, you should give him a chance. ThatÂ’s all he wants is a chance to get to know you… to see if his affection is deep or shallow… just… oh, I dunno, corner him somewhere. Make him talk to you,” Eowyn winked, “I know youÂ’re aggressive enough to do so…”

“But Eowyn,” I said, softly, “Once love is there, it is never the same,” my mind flashed Immelion. I knew that I could have never been just his friend because he loved me far too much, “It’s always going to be there even if it does go away.”

“Try it and see,” Eowyn said, gently, caressing my cheek tenderly with her pale hand, “You may be surprised.” Eowyn leaned down and softly kissed me on my forehead with a look of tenderness toward me, as if I was her impossible child, “I’m retiring. Eomer has gone out for a walk by the lake.” She winked one last time and then walked towards her tent.

I knew what I had to do. I stood up and walked toward the small lake, remembering with a smile the last time I had walked by the lake. I remembered with relish the look of terror on IlsieÂ’s face as I shoved her into the water…

“Who’s there?” the deep voice of Eomer said, sharply.

“It’s me,” I said, finding myself face to face with Eomer, who turned furiously red, “How do you fair tonight?”

“I’m alright,” Eomer said, truthfully, sitting on the marshy bank of the lake, “You fancy joining me?”

I sat next to him without another word, “I was talking to your sister and–“

“Valar, she has a big mouth,” Eomer said, stiffly, his face turning positively scarlet. He finally turned to me, embarrassment in his blue eyes, “She told you, didnÂ’t she?” I nodded, smiling gently, “I know you probably hate me for it, but honestly, Nendae, if I could stop it, I would… I donÂ’t want to feel this way for you…”

“You don’t?” I said, trying not to reveal the fact that he had just hurt my feelings.

“DonÂ’t get me wrong, I mean, I do, but I know that… that you could never care for me… like I care for you,” without warning, Eomer took a stone that was sitting next to him and flung it into the water. We watched it sail towards the waterÂ’s surface and make a loud splash, “IÂ’m sorry you had to get caught up in the middle of this. ItÂ’s not fair for you.”

“It’s not fair for you, either,” I said, grinning ever so slightly, “I know you don’t want it this way..”

“Oh, well,” Eomer turned his head and smiled at me, “There’s not a whole lot we can do. You’d better get some sleep; it’s getting quite late.” He stood up and helped me to my feet like I was some poor, sick dying person. Normally, it would have made me mad, but he was so sweet, I couldn’t get mad at him, “Good night, Nendae,” Eomer leaned down and kissed me on the forehead. Then he skipped off like the best thing in the world had just happened to him.

I suppose it had.

***

“I called for you yesterday, but your mother wouldnÂ’t answer,” Immelion said, hugging me tightly when I greeted him at the door, “She said that you had gone out. If itÂ’s not too bold… where did you go?”

I could see no harm in answering, “I was talking with Boromir. It had been a while since we had spoken.”

Immelion reached for my hand and we strolled away from my house, not really going anywhere in particular. “ThatÂ’s… nice,” he said, thickly, “Just friends, right?”

My face flushed and I quickly turned away so he wouldn’t notice, “Of course,” I said, trying to sound confident.

“Did you hear?” Immelion said, eagerly, “He and that woman from Gondor were engaged, but then they broke off.”

“Oh, really?” I said, trying vainly to suppress a grin. I knew full well why they weren’t. Boromir had informed me that Ilsie had left Gondor in a wild rage, still dripping wet from her little swim, “What a shame.”

“Yes, it is, isn’t it?” Immelion said and then lowered his voice, “And do you know what else I heard?”

“What?” I said, curiously.

“I heard that he was going to ask to court you… until he found that you were courting me,” Immelion made it sound like he had found Boromir trying to court me and had beaten him to a bloody pulp. Like he had done something besides ask to court me to prevent Boromir from asking me.

My heart sank. It was a silly rumor. It probably wasnÂ’t even true… but if it was? That meant that Boromir and I could have legally wed… but instead, I was here tied to a man who loved me, but who I could never love back. I gave him a weak smile, “Oh, good,” I said, sourness escaping into my voice.

“What’s wrong?” Immelion turned my face towards his and cupped it, lovingly, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” I said, unconcernedly, mentally trying to get Immelion to take his hands off my face. It was making me endlessly uncomfortable.

But Immelion wouldnÂ’t remove his hands. He just held them there, staring deep into my blue eyes with his beautiful, dark ones, “Nendae… would you allow me… would you mind…?” his face turned red, “Uh… that is… may I kiss you?”

My face flushed a bright red. The thing I wanted more than anything in the world was to tell him no. I wanted to tell him to go away and never come back because I had no feelings for him and I never would. But he was staring into my eyes with this horrible, heart breaking, pitiful sadness… It was like he had ripped out my heart, thrown it on the ground and stomped on it. I couldnÂ’t tell him yes or no.

So I suppose he took my silence as a yes.

The kiss was certainly not like the ones Boromir and I had shared. It was much gentler and more timid. There was no tongue involved, just lips against lips, hands in hands, bodies against bodies… The rush was lacking, though. Nothing like when Boromir kissed me. When Boromir kissed me, everything felt more beautiful and wonderful. I could hardly think straight. My mind would be sent swirling off into dreamland. But here… well, I felt self-conscious. I felt like some kind of two timing whore. I felt terrible throughout the whole thing, which isnÂ’t a good thing to feel when youÂ’re kissing someone.

Immelion drew away from me, his eyes glowing with hunger, “That was fantastic… IÂ’ve never… felt anything like that before…”

I have, I thought. “Yeah,” I said, trying to dismiss it, hoping fervently that he wouldn’t ask me to kiss him again. I didn’t think I could stand it.

“May I…,” Immelion said, leaning forward, so close that his lips were already brushing against mine. My heart was somewhere in my throat, so I could not find the words to answer him. He cupped my face and kissed me again. This time, I felt his tongue touch my lips. I closed my lips, tightly, trying not to let his tongue inside my mouth. Kissing like that was far too much. But somehow, ImmelionÂ’s tongue ended up in my mouth anyway. I tried to kiss him back without showing too much passion, but without letting him down, but it proved to be extremely difficult. I suppose it looked like I was enjoying kissing him as much as he was enjoying kissing me.

Suddenly, I heard someone clear their throat. I pulled away from Immelion and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

There stood Boromir, a very forced smile planted on his face.

“Hello,” he said, stiffly.

“Boromir,” I breathed, my blue eyes wide with fright. The way he was looking at me was breaking my heart.

“What do you want?” Immelion’s voice took a frighteningly violent turn.

“May I speak to Nendae?” Boromir asked, politely.

“No,” Immelion said, wrapping his arm around my waist, a tone of arrogance in his voice. His dark eyes were glinting as it to say ‘I’ve got her and you don’t, so I win.’ It enraged me on the inside, “We were a little busy. Or are you blind?”

“Immelion!” I said, shocked. Why was he being so foul to Boromir?

“You do realize why he wants to see you, don’t you?” Immelion whispered fiercely in my ear.

“Yes,” I said, honestly, “Please, Immelion, let me talk to him.”

ImmelionÂ’s face turned gentle again. It turned so tender that I could hardly believe there had ever been violent. He looked as harmless as a puppy and as innocent as the new fallen snow, “But Nendae… why would you want that? He might… try to… hurt you,” Immelion finished lamely. I saw deep care and love for me in his eyes. Oh, why was I being so awful to him? He cared about me so very much… maybe I should tell Boromir to come back later…

“No,” I said, firmly, “Boromir would never do something like that to me.”

“I just want to talk to the lady,” Boromir said, crossing his arms and looking quite frightening and imposing. Not frightening in the sense that I was scared he would hurt me physically. He just looked so… stern. So hard. So… hurt. I was scared he would break my heart. I hadnÂ’t meant to be doing anything wrong… I just didnÂ’t want to hurt Immelion, “I mean her no harm. SheÂ’s my best friend.”

The words ‘best friendÂ’ lodged themselves in my heart. Best friend. Was that all he thought I was? No, that couldnÂ’t be. He had deserted his fiancée for me… But what if he was toying with me? What if he only wanted to take me… and then leave me. My heart was aching and threatening to split apart at the seams. So many emotions were tearing away at me. My heart actually was physically paining me. How could one man tear me to shreds with just two simple words?

“Alright,” Immelion released me, “But if you so much as lay a finger on her…,” Immelion cracked his knuckles threateningly.

“Honestly, it’s fine, Immelion,” I said in what I hoped was a soothing way. Immelion gave Boromir a reproachful glare and stormed away.

“Nendae… how could you…?” BoromirÂ’s voice was filled with desperation and hurt.

I wished that he had slapped me. It would have hurt much less. “Oh, Boromir, I honestly meant nothing by it! How could you think that I would fall for him? You know that I love you with all my heart and mind… you are my life, Boromir, and I could never love anyone else–“

“Then are you his whore?” BoromirÂ’s eyes were livid, “If heÂ’s hurting you…” My eyes filled with tears and Boromir looked at me. His face was flooded with sudden tenderness and he embraced me, “Oh, Nendae, I didnÂ’t mean it, honestly… donÂ’t be frightened, my sweet, I love you so much…”

“I know,” I sobbed, hopelessly, “How can’t you see it? Immelion loves me too!”

“I will rip him limb from limb–“

“No,” I said, softly, reaching up and touching BoromirÂ’s face, “Please donÂ’t. I-I canÂ’t bring myself to break him…”

“You must,” Boromir said, stroking my hair and pulling me to his chest, “You know what you must do, Nendae, promise me that you will.”

“But–“

“Nendae, if you honestly love me, you will do this for me,” Boromir said, firmly, “And I know that you love me.”

“Boromir, I can’t!” I said, hoarsely, pulling away from Boromir, “It’s not fair! He loves me and he can’t help it! We can’t help who we fall in love with! What if I loved you, but you didn’t love me? What would you do? Would you rip me to shreds?”

“Nendae, come here,” Boromir said, tenderly. I came to him and he kissed me on the lips. It was wonderful. I was floating away, pleasantly and the taste of his mouth was leaving my helpless to his will, “Nendae, please. Do this for me.”

I paused and debated. Immelion did not deserve to have his heart ripped out. He had done nothing except love me. But I loved Boromir and misleading someone in the world of romance was a horrible, miserable thing to do. But my heart told me that I was being unfair to both Boromir and Immelion. Both deserved to have the truth. Boromir deserved to have me without worrying about Immelion and Immelion deserved to know that I could never love hi, “I will,” I said, breathlessly, “But only because I love you.”

“That’s my girl,” Boromir ruffled my curly hair and kissed me on the lips again, “Now go back there and tell him.”

I walked over to Immelion, my heavy feet and heart weighing me down.

—

A/N: Thanks for reading, my loves. Review, if yea liketh.