I Made It (Legolas love story) *UNDER MAJOR EDITING*

Chapter 20

She looked at me as if she had never seen anything so surprising in her entire life, which she probably hadn't. It's not everyday you see the daughter you abandoned in a parallel universe. But not many can say the same about their mother, either.

"Riley? How..." She trailed off.

"I think I should be asking you the same thing. You ditch your kid and run off to be a... a queen? That's pretty low." I laughed with false confidence. My chin was held high and my chest was stuck out, but the tears still streamed down my cheeks with every word I spoke. I could see Legolas and Thranduil standing still as statues out of the corner of my eye.

She stood there stunned. I turned on my toes and ran as fast as my legs could carry me. I ran through the corridors and over the many bridges inside the castle until I reached the room I would least likely be found: Legolas' room.

I shut the door behind me and couldn't even make it to the bed. My legs collapsed from underneath me as a new tsunami of tears poured out. She left me to live in a magical world while I suffered day in and day out and prayed she'd come back and take me with her wherever she went. Every year on my birthday I would wish for the only thing I wanted, my mother. Someone to sing me to sleep after I had nightmares. Someone to hug me when I had my first heartbreak. Someone to tell everything to and be the best friend I needed. Someone to love me.

The door creaked open and I whipped my head towards the intruder. Legolas stood there with his hands up in surrender. He shut the door when he fully entered, and then rushed to my side. He kneeled next to me and I cried into his shoulder. All the tears I refused to shed over her now fell in a hurricane of emotion as he whispered soothing things into my ear that I couldn't even recognize because of how jumbled up my mind was.

His arms snaked under my knees and behind my back as he gently lifted me up and placed me lightly on his bed. My eyes closed immediately as the drowsiness settled in, but they jerked open when I heard his retreating footsteps.

"Stay?" I pleaded. He looked back at me with a light smile that made my heart flutter with anticipation.

"I thought you'd never ask." He whispered as he climbed into the bed and lied to my left. I turned and snuggled into his chest, using him as my pillow. I could feel his chest vibrate as he snickered at my action. He was in his formal robe that wasn't made of silk but instead what felt like sandpaper against my flesh. I looked up at him and made an irritated face that caused him to laugh more.

"Your clothes are painful, you know?" I huffed. He only smirked and sat up. I opened my mouth to ask what he was doing, but my sentence got lost somewhere on the way out as he took off his robe and threw it aimlessly to the floor. He was still wearing leggings, but his chest was now bare and it revealed his perfectly chiseled chest and barely noticeable six-pack.

He leaned back down on the pillow as if he hadn't just proved that he was a God, and closed his eyes. My eyes raked over his body with more attention this time and I noticed wounds that healed, but left marks and stories to be told. My hand lightly traced over every scar on his stomach and chest. He watched me for a bit with curious eyes before he finally asked, "What are you doing?"

"Tracing" I answered honestly. I continued to let my fingers run over the white lines and jagged bumps until there were no more to outline. I looked into his light blue eyes that held the slightest amount of amusement, but also a large amount of love. I could feel the blush creep up my face and I hid it by leaning down and resting my heated cheeks against his cold chest.

I breathed in his familiar scent which was traditionally the smell of nature, but now also had a pinch of vanilla. The combination mixed surprisingly well together. His breathing was slow and deep telling me he was relaxed or possibly asleep. My ear pulsed to the beat of his heart as it drummed the song of his life. I let my own eyes close and fell asleep to the calm rise and fall of his chest and the pleasant thump of his heart.