Stars (A Legolas Love Story and Lord of the Rings Fanfiction)

"Why me?"

I tensed up at his words.
What should I say?
I did love him, but I could never have the courage to say it when I was sober.

My chest began to heave as I took quicker breaths. I was panicking and he was watching me.

He sighed.
"It's okay, you don't have to say anything. It's fine, and I like the fact that you aren't afraid of that word anymore."
He dropped the subject without saying it back to me. That hurt me a lot, but he was clearly done talking about it.

"It's nice to finally have a relaxing day. It may have not started out that way, but I'm glad I got my problems out." I said nonchalantly.

"It won't last for very long. Once we figure out where Sauron will strike next, we'll be off again." Legolas said matter-of-factly.

"Right." I said, almost melancholy.
Happiness couldn't last in my life. Something always got in the way.

I sat up and leaned backwards on my elbows, turning my face to the sun and closing my eyes.
The warmth felt good, and for once my scar didn't feel cold to the touch like it had been for the past week.

I heard Legolas inhale sharply.
"What?" I asked, looking down at him.

"You're so beautiful." He said with sincerity. Honesty and admiration shone brightly in his eyes.

"No, I'm not." I said, raising my hand up to touch my scar, which still hurt whenever I touched it.

Legolas sat up next to me and pulled my hand down from my face, bringing it to his lips.

"You are beautiful in so many ways, not only like that."
He said softly, reaching out with his other hand to entangle his fingers in my hair and pull me closer.

We were inches apart now, the temptation unbearable.
I wanted to kiss him, even if he didn't love me back.

'Wow, kissing isn't the only thing to do, Katherine.' My inner voice scolded me for thinking about it.

"Why me?" I accidentally voiced my thought out loud.

"What?" Legolas said, knitting his eyebrows together in confusion.

"Why....why did you choose me to care for? I'm just a messed up human girl." I said hesitantly.
What was I doing? I could drive him away now, after all that crying.

"Why not you?" His breath heated up my lips and I felt my cheeks blush, but I kept watching him, wondering what he was going to say next.

"Katherine, you are so different from everybody else. Not because of your past, looks, or skills, but because of your heart. Even when you had a terrible past of losing everyone you loved, you still opened your heart. You opened it to everyone in the Fellowship, allowed yourself to get close and make friendships. And you opened your heart to me last night when you stated your love for me. Drunk or not, I know it took a lot for you to say that. I know that you don't give your heart away easily. So I want you to know, I won't drop your heart and I won't break it.
So why choose you? Maybe because I think you're the right girl for me."
He stared at me after he was done, waiting for me to say something.

I licked my lips nervously, still wondering why.
I opened my mouth and began to speak.
"But I just don't-" I was cut off when suddenly Legolas' lips came down on mine in a desperate and deep kiss.

I loved him.

I didn't know if he loved me back. Maybe he wasn't ready yet, but that was fine.

All I felt in that moment was his lips on mine and a wonderful, warm feeling growing in my heart.

It was amazing that I could feel this way and not feel immediate regret.
Usually, I would feel a pang of guilt because I wasn't being loyal to Michael, my husband who had died.
But now, I hardly even remembered who Michael was. Michael who?
All my thoughts were filled with Legolas now.

Legolas broke the kiss gently and stared at me as if trying to say something that he couldn't put into words. I never figured out what it was.

After awhile, we got up to check on the horses.
Luckily, I had brought a book for me to read from my saddlebags.

"Show me your hands." He said with concern, pulling something out of his own saddlebags.

I held out my hands, palms up.
He reached out and flipped them over so the backs of my hands were showing.

My knuckles were bleeding and swelling up from hitting the tree earlier.

Legolas wordlessly wrapped bandages around my hand to cover my knuckles.
The bandages would hold until I got back to Edoras for some real treatment.

I thanked him and grabbed my book, walking back into the meadow.

We settled back into the grass. Legolas sat cross-legged and I put my head in his lap.

I read my book as Legolas played with my hair.
He took it out of the single braid and gently ran his hands through it as if marveling at the softness. His own hair was silky smooth and nothing like mine.
He began to make tiny braids in my hair with his long, nimble fingers. I couldn't believe how fast he could braid. Even I couldn't do it that fast.

I closed my book. I couldn't focus because he was right there, distracting me.

My left hand went up and touched his cheek. He leaned into my hand and I chuckled.
My fingers then proceeded to explore every inch of his face.
My hand drifted across his forehead, traced his cheekbones, the bridge of his nose, the pointy tips of his ears.
Finally, my fingers trailed down to outline his lips. As I did, he kissed my fingers.
I laughed, but continued to memorize his entire face.

Slowly, my hand made it's way down his jaw towards his left ear, but I stopped.
I turned his head to the side and inhaled sharply at what I saw.
A dark bruise had formed between his ear and jaw.

"Did....did I do that?" I stuttered in disbelief.

He chuckled. "Yes, you did. But it doesn't hurt. And it means that I'm yours."

I smiled and just like I knew he would, Legolas lost all patience, leaning down and kissing me.

He also started to trace his fingers along my face.
Everything about it was serene and unreal to me.
The most beautiful creature I had ever seen was interested in me, and I was truly, madly, deeply in love with him.

"Katherine?" His voice pierced the silence.

"Hmm?"

"Were you always called Katherine? Or did you ever have a nickname?" He asked curiously.

"Well, they used to call me Katie, but I never liked that name. It made me sound childish."

"How about I call you Kat? Because you move like a cat sometimes. And you love the sun...." Legolas laughed at the end of his sentence.

"Alright then. Kat it is."
I affirmed his nickname for me.

When it was time for lunch, we got onto our horses and meandered back to Edoras.

After my knuckles got treated, we spent the rest of the day getting to know each other more and sharing memories.

It was a wonderful day and that night, I fell asleep completely content.

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I have some good/bad news. I'm getting a full time job pretty soon, so my updating schedule may or may not be changing soon. I'll let y'all know next week what is going to happen, I just thought you should be aware.

Any questions?

See ya in the next update,

                     Elsa8001 out.