Frolic the Fourth: Harvest

In which Pippin gets a long-awaited birthday present and an old scandal is resurrected.

Great Smials, Tuckborough - 25 Halimath 1408 SR

Pippin was pacing up and down the main hall. He had expected the Buckland party hours ago, but they were still not here and he had run out of tasks to keep himself occupied. Even his mother had run out of tasks to keep him occupied, and that was quite an accomplishment. He caught sight of his father coming down the large staircase and tried to look innocent, but from the way his father was looking at him he suspected that he hadn't succeeded. At least everyone was used to him being eager to see Merry, since he had often ridden or walked out to meet the carriage on previous visits. He wondered what his father would say, though, if he knew what had happened between himself and Merry at Lithe, when - after years of growing affection and months of frustrated desire - they had finally become lovers. He still couldn't believe that they had managed to avoid an outcry so far. Merry had even kept his word to Pippin and had danced with him at the Overlithe party, but luckily, as both his parents and Pippin's parents had wandered off themselves by that stage, it had gone largely unnoticed.

Since his return to Brandy Hall, Merry had been busy with the harvest and helping his father sort out what remained of Old Rory's records. Though Saradoc had been increasingly involved in the business of the Mastership for quite a few years, there were, it appeared, several things that Rorimac had kept to himself that were only now coming to light, though Merry had been somewhat reticent about details. Between the harvest and the sorting out of records, Merry had been kept busy at Brandy Hall all summer, and Pippin hadn't seen him since the week after Overlithe. He could count on one hand the nights they had spent as lovers, and he was almost desperate to see him again, even if it would only be for a week.

This visit was a triple celebration, in a way. The wedding of Reginard Took and Periwinkle Bolger was to be held on 28th Halimath and would be marked by a large reception that would double as a harvest dance. Two days before that, though, was Merry's 26th birthday, for which there was to be a small family party. It had been Pippin's suggestion to invite the Brandy Hall guests early so that Merry didn't have to spend his birthday travelling, and his father had readily agreed. Then, since Great Smials was going to be crowded, he had suggested that Merry share his room. His mother had looked at him with suspicion, but he had smiled sweetly at her and pointed out, with impeccable logic, that as all the available guestrooms had been allocated for the wedding, and the children doubled and trebled into each other's rooms, there was really no other place for Merry to stay. His father had demurred, thnking it unsuitable for a hobbit who was now the heir to the Master of Buckland, but Pippin had assured him that Merry wouldn't mind, not for a week.

Finally, Pippin could hear the sound of hooves and wheels on the gravel and he raced out to see the Brandy Hall carriages swinging into view. Merry was riding beside them as usual, on his neat bay pony, and the smile he gave Pippin before he dismounted was enough to make the youngster feel dizzy.

The carriages stopped in front of the main entrance, and in no time at all there were dozens of people milling around, greeting each other and shouting directions about baggage to no one in particular. A couple of boys clambered up onto the carriage roofs to undo the straps, and then boxes and trunks were being lifted down and piled by the doors. Some of the younger children were already running in and out of the crowd, laughing and shrieking, happy to be able to move again after two days of forced inactivity. A stray curse or two floated on the air as the men hoisting the trunks tried to cope with the boddies that appeared unexpectedly in their way.

In all the confusion, no one was paying any attention to a couple of tweenagers and Pippin was able to give Merry a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Did you miss me?" he asked.

"Every day. Every moment of every day." Merry's voice was low and intense and his face had a hungry look.

Pippin caught his breath. It wouldn't do to kiss Merry as a lover, not here in front of everyone, but the way that Merry looked at him told him that Lithe had not been forgotten, and he was relieved. He hadn't realised, until that moment, how he had been dreading the possibility that Merry might not want him anymore.

"I got Mother to agree to let you share my room - because of the wedding guests, you understand. I said you wouldn’t mind, if it was just for a few days."

"Clever lad! Though of course I shall say that it's terribly tiresome if anyone asks. Now, you'd better let me go before someone notices. I promise you can hold me all you want once we get into your room."

Pippin let his cousin go reluctantly and they turned to see how the rest of the guests were doing.

By then, the new Master was being greeted by Paladin and in a few minutes he was taken inside to greet the Thain. The rest of the party began to pick up smaller bags and squabble over rooms. Merry grabbed his own bag and followed Pippin indoors. His vision of a lengthy greeting kiss (or better) was, however, forestalled by Eglantine, who called out to them as they disappeared through the door. "Don't go far, you two, I shall want your help before tea." Pippin waved an acknowledgment and they continued into the Smial.

* * *

The moment that the door of Pippin's room closed behind them, Merry dropped his bag. It hadn't even hit the floor before Pippin was in his arms and they were kissing, embracing, pressing up against each other. Pippin pushed and Merry found his back to the wall, with Pippin grinding rather inexpertly against him in front. It felt heavenly, though, and he simply wasn't able to tell Pippin to stop. Instead, he turned them both around, lifted one of Pippin's legs so that it was wrapped around his thigh, and proceeded to show Pippin how it should be done. As aroused as they both were, it was only seconds before they came, though Merry held Pippin for at least as long again while they recovered their breath and nestled into each other's arms.

"Oh, my love," breathed Merry. "I missed you so much. I missed this."

"I missed you, too."

"Mmm, I'd forgotten how good you smell. I'd forgotten how good you taste." Merry ran his lips over Pippin's neck and jaw, feeling him shiver, then drew away. "Is there any water in your washstand? We'd better clean up a little before we go back downstairs."

"Yes, but it's cold. I could get some hot..."

"Not now, not with everyone running around. Cold will do for now. And tonight we'll have all the time in the world."

"I wish it were tonight already," Pippin whispered.

"Soon, love, soon."

Merry washed first and hurried back to the main hall, where he saw that his cousin Berilac had just arrived. If he remembered correctly, Berry had come up from Longbottom, where he had been handling some of the negotiations concerning Buckland's harvest. Merry was surprised to see him there for a Took-Bolger wedding, until he realised that he must be one of Reg's guests - the two of them had been lovers for years, off and on, until Reg's engagement to Periwinkle that spring. Frankly, Merry was glad that this particular liaison of Berry's would soon be over, as Reg was not one of his favourite relatives and he had never been able to work out what Berry saw in him. Or what Frodo had seen in him eight years ago, if it came to that. Mind you, he admired Berry's courage, if not his taste in hobbits: he wasn't sure that he could stand by and watch one of his own lovers - especially Pippin - marry someone else.

"Berry! What a surprise!" He gave his cousin a hug, then had a discomforting thought. "I didn't know you were going to be here - I left your birthday present in Buckland."

"Never mind, pet. I'll be home in a couple of weeks; you can give it to me then. In the meantime you can tell me all the Buckland gossip. How are the foals doing? How's Uncle Sara coping with his first harvest as Master? Has he finally decided how many new drains we're going to be digging this winter?"

Merry did his best to answer all the questions as they walked through the hallways to the Green Parlour, where afternoon tea was laid out. Most of the Tooks were already there, plus his parents and some of the earlier wedding guests. He caught sight of Pippin talking to Cousin Frodo, who had escorted the bride-to-be, Periwinkle Bolger, and her mother, Poppy Baggins-Bolger, down from Frogmorton. Though Frodo looked calm enough, the set of his jaw suggested that the journey had been less than pleasant.

Merry pitied Frodo for having been persuaded to act as Periwinkle's sponsor for the wedding, but accepted that Frodo had been given little choice. Periwinkle's father, Filibert, had moved away some years ago to parts unknown (and there were those who said that he had done well to escape his wife's incessant nagging this side of the grave). Odovacar, the senior remaining Bolger, was unwell and unable to travel and his son Fredegar was underage, so Odovacar had asked Frodo to act for him. It wasn't ideal, since Frodo was only Periwinkle's second cousin once removed, but the only other possibilities were relatives more distant still. The only one beside Odovacar bearing the Bolger name was Wilimar, Periwinkle's fourth cousin once removed, who had flatly refused to attend any function at which Poppy would be present. Frodo wasn't keen on spending time in the same smial as Poppy either, but he wasn't quite so blatant about saying so. When he had suggested Griffo Boffin, who was at least Periwinkle's first cousin once removed on the Boffin side, Odovacar had explained, with some reluctance, that Griffo had not been invited, having clashed with Poppy on a previous occasion. Eventually Frodo had accepted that there was no one else, and acquiesced to Odovacar's final argument - that being related to Periwinkle through Bolger, Boffin and Baggins lines was more than enough to make up for the different surname.

Merry hoped that Frodo would recover his spirits soon, but wasn't confident. Frodo had been a little unhappy for some weeks now, and Merry thought there might be more to it than just the impending wedding. He wondered how Sam's family had reacted to what had happened at Overlithe, and how Frodo was coping with the aftermath. Merry knew how his cousin hated to be talked about, and the sight of Frodo Baggins in a blue dress and being carried off to the woods in the strong arms of his gardener had made food for gossip the length and breadth of the Shire for several weeks. Still, it had been Overlithe, after all, and stranger things had happened in past years. Merry was trying to recall the details of an old scandal involving Hugo Bracegirdle, Rusty Noakes and a billy-goat when his attention was drawn back to his immediate surroundings by Pippin's return.

"Cousin Berry!" Pippin exclaimed as he ran over, throwing his arms around the new arrival and kissing him firmly on the cheek.

"How are you, young Pippin?"

"Very well, thank you, Cousin Berry, and all the better for seeing you."

"Cheeky brat!" Berry smiled, and pinched his chin. Then, giving Pippin a light kiss on the lips he added, in a lower voice, "Since you have joined those of us who dance in the garden of earthly delights, you may dispense with the 'Cousin' and just call me Berry. Otherwise I'll start to feel that you disapprove of me, like all the great-aunts."

Pippin looked at Merry, his face aglow. "Did you hear that? I 'dance in the garden of earthly delights'!" He went to put his arms around Merry, then remembered where they were and blushed profusely, hoping that he hadn't spoken too loudly. Merry slid an arm around him for a second, in reassurance, then gave him a teasing punch on the arm.

Frodo strolled over and greeted both his cousins - Merry warmly and Berry rather coolly. Berry's manner was polite, but he excused himself less than a minute later and went to change. Pippin made a note to ask Merry about it later - he had no idea why two such wonderful cousins didn't get on, and his previous attempts to glean information on the reason why had not been successful.

* * *

Merry hadn’t intended to stay so long after supper, but he had become involved in a discussion on translation with Frodo and a couple of others. Pippin, of course, had not been interested at all, and had flitted from group to group, like a bee sampling nectar, until he had finally whispered a request to Merry to wake him when he came up and gone to bed. It was another half an hour before Merry withdrew himself from the conversation, and even then it looked as if it would continue for several hours more. He hoped that he hadn’t been too obvious - usually he was one of the last to retire – but he wanted to be with Pippin.

He felt a little nervous as he ascended the stairs and made his way to their room. It was the first time that he and Pippin had actually shared a room since they became lovers, and he was worried that, if they had the misfortune to argue, there would be nowhere for either of them to escape. But then, he reasoned, most of their arguments in the previous year had been about tumbling, which was no longer an issue between them, so he should have nothing to fear.

When he entered the room, he found that Pippin had already fallen asleep and lay curled up in the bed, his face innocent of any mischief, looking even younger than his 18 years in the soft light of the candle. It was warm in the room and even in the dim candlelight Merry could see a faint blush on the boy’s rounded cheeks. He stood by the bed for several minutes, watching Pippin sleep, feeling his heart pound as he realised once more how much his cousin meant to him. He sent a hasty prayer to Elbereth to keep Pippin safe and help them stay together, then changed into his nightshirt, blew out the candle and climbed into the bed. Pippin stirred and rolled towards him, not waking, but seeking Merry's arms. Merry drifted off to sleep, one arm wrapped around the slim body and his chin tickled by soft curls.

* * *

Merry's birthday dawned with a light mist that dispersed as the sun rose over the hills. Pippin awoke first, still nestled against Merry's side, one arm flung over his chest. He smiled to himself as he felt Merry's arm around him, and remembered that this time there was no need to leave the warmth of Merry's bed for his own. His smile widened and he gave a cat-like stretch.

Merry stirred, and Pippin decided that he had had enough sleep. He pulled himself up the bed and leaned over to brush Merry's curls away from his face. Merry's eyes fluttered open and he gave a sleepy smile as he met Pippin's gaze.

Pippin kissed Merry's cheek. "Happy Birthday."

"Hello, sweeting. How are you?"

"All the better for waking up with you here and not having to get up and go back to my own room, or watch you go back to yours."

"I agree. There are much better things to do in the mornings."

Merry reached over and pulled Pippin towards him, but Pippin resisted. "Why didn't you wake me last night when you came in? We only have a few nights together - I don't want to waste any of them."

"Lovely Pippin, my sweet, you were fast asleep. I don't think you would have woken even if I had rolled you out of the bed!"

"Did you try?"

"Well, no. You looked so peaceful, and I thought you needed your sleep. You were so tired earlier."

"But you knew I wanted to tumble with you. You didn't ask me if I'd changed my mind."

Merry felt a flash of irritation, but then he realised that Pippin was right. They had agreed that Merry would wake him and he had not done so. "I'm sorry, I should have woken you. I won't do it again."

Pippin grinned. "You're forgiven... this time. But you have to make up for it." He leaned in for a kiss.

Merry responded eagerly and several minutes went by until he had the opportunity to ask his question. "I never got the chance to ask if you wanted something special for my birthday."

"Well, you could always ask me now."

"Dearest Pippin, my love, do you want something special for my birthday?"

"Yes, Merry, actually I do."

"And what would you like."

"You."

"Me?"

"You. I want you. I want us to… well…" Pippin faltered, and the grin faded from his face as he felt strangely embarrassed, because although he had demanded this for months it had always been with the knowledge that Merry would say no. Now, however, a yes was a real possibility and Pippin was suddenly aware that he couldn't joke about it any longer. He looked Merry in the eye and said, "I want you to give yourself to me, and... I want to give myself to you."

When Merry didn't answer at once, Pippin wondered if he was about to be refused again, and he couldn't bear to think of it. "You know what I mean," he continued, almost angry, "don't pretend that you don't."

Merry remained silent but took Pippin's hand and kissed it, then guided it down to his groin so that Pippin could feel his body's response. "I know what you mean."

Pippin ran his hand slowly up Merry's length, watching Merry's eyes turn dark. It still amazed him that he could cause such a change in his lover with a simple touch. "Well, as long as you don't mean to say no."

"I don't. I want you more than ever."

"You mean it?"

"I mean it. Tonight, after supper, here in this room. I want to feel us joined, as one, taking and giving and loving each other." Merry's hands had shifted to Pippin's erection while he spoke, and in a moment they were stroking each other, their eyes locked, their breaths becoming gasps. Pippin pushed Merry’s nightshirt up to his chin and, as Merry raised his shoulders, pulled the garment off and threw it on the floor. Merry lay back down, allowing Pippin full access to his body. Pippin began nuzzling the skin below Merry's navel, drifting off to the left to catch the sensitive areas of his groin. Merry squirmed - he was ticklish there - but Pippin held him firmly by the hips and kept on teasing him with kisses and flicks of the tongue and the gentlest of bites. Then, grasping Merry by the knees, he opened his legs wide, pressing a finger to the small opening, circling it, feeling the muscles twitch beneath the wrinkled skin as Merry drew a deep breath. He pressed a little more deeply and felt the muscles start to yield to his touch. He would have pressed deeper yet, but Merry grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"Not yet, love. Tonight. Wait for tonight."

Pippin almost pouted, but allowed Merry to pull him up into a fierce kiss. Merry then crawled down the bed himself, so that they were aligned head to crotch, and started to stroke Pippin's arousal. Pippin shivered but moved so that he could reach Merry's erection, pushing Merry's thigh up with one hand and guiding the hardening shaft into his mouth with the other. Merry gave Pippin's length a few more strokes then took it into his own mouth, and they started a gentle to-and-fro, each following the rhythm of the other. Gradually their movements became deeper, letting heat and sensation build in them and between them, but, as they approached the end, depth gave way to speed. Pippin climaxed first, throwing his head back as he bucked into Merry's mouth. He let himself take a couple of deep breaths, and then returned to his lover's shaft, using his hand as well as his mouth. It wasn't long before Merry came, hot and bitter-sweet-salt in his throat. He choked a little but swallowed bravely - it was only the third time he had done this and he was still getting used to it.

Merry turned himself around again and they snuggled together as they recovered their breath, then drifted off to sleep again. It was a couple of hours later before they woke again, and second breakfast was almost over by the time they had washed, dressed and emerged from the room. Pippin caught a questioning look from his mother but smiled brightly and headed for the food.

* * *

Afterwards, Pippin had no clear recollection of what they did that day between breakfast and supper. It was Merry's birthday, but he didn't even remember getting his present (a real, honest-to-goodness sea shell), let alone mundane things like meals, though he did have a vague recollection of a splendid dinner and a birthday cake with candles. His memories began again only as the door to his room was closed and locked, and Merry turned to him with a glow in his eyes and a smile on his lips.

Pippin felt nervous, and was embarrassed by his trembling. He had longed for this for months, but now that the hour had come, he felt unsure.

"Come lie down, love," Merry whispered. "It's not that frightening. We've spent nights together, we've made love, we've explored each other's bodies. This isn't very different, truly it isn't."

"I know. I don't know why I'm so nervous."

"Everybody is. It seems to be a law of nature. But you don't have to worry."

"It will hurt."

"I'll try to make it as painless as possible."

"But it won't be painless."

"No. Though if you've changed your mind we can do something else. There's always time to change your mind. Don't feel that you have to go on if you would rather not."

"But I do want to go on. I just don't want it to hurt."

"It won't hurt for long, and then it will feel wonderful."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Pippin took a deep breath and started to unbutton his shirt with quick, nervous fingers. "Let's lie down then." He knew that Merry preferred to undress them slowly, with kisses and caresses, and usually that was wonderful, but tonight it would be torment. He was thankful to see Merry copying his lead and stripping his clothes off before getting onto the bed and pushing the covers back. As soon as Pippin was naked he stepped forward and took Merry's outstretched hand, climbing up into Merry's arms.

They were kneeling on the bed, face to face. Pippin was trembling slightly and he was grateful that Merry held him close, reassuring him with his warmth and his confidence. Merry tilted his face up and smiled at him, whispering "I love you" as if it were a a spell to soothe him. Oddly enough, it did soothe him, and he relaxed into the now-familiar embrace as Merry's lips gently touched his own. The kiss was neither invasive nor threatening, and after a few seconds he pushed forward, noting how sweet Merry tasted, how soft and warm his lips were, how delightful it felt to suck Merry' s tongue into his own mouth, how Merry responded with an inhalation and a tightening of arms around him. When Merry probed his own mouth it was only natural to tilt his head back and allow his lover to explore every surface, every crevice.

His hands moved over Merry's back, over the shoulders that seemed to grow broader and stronger with each season. He felt Merry's arms around him, the pressure firm but not threatening, while one hand moved in slow circles around his shoulder-blades. After a few minutes Pippin let his hands drift down to fondle Merry's hips and his wonderfully soft, round bottom, feeling Merry's response in the hitch of breath and the small forward movement of his hips. He felt Merry's hands curving around his hips and pulling him closer so that their erections were caught between their bellies, causing them both to gasp and move back. Pippin took advantage of the momentary separation to bring one hand around Merry's front, running his fingertips over collarbone, ribs, nipples and stomach. Merry gave a breathy moan of appreciation, and Pippin wriggled closer for another kiss. He felt Merry's hand slide between them to touch his stomach, just as he had done a few seconds before and he realised, with a jolt, that Merry wasn't doing anything that Pippin hadn't done. Every movement was the mirror of his own, allowing Pippin to determine action and pace.

He looked at Merry, overwhelmed by the love and gratitude and awe and adoration that washed through him. He couldn't speak but he could still use his mouth to tell Merry how much he loved him, and so he did, with a kiss that burned through them both. As Pippin opened his eyes again, after what seemed to have been an hour but might only have been a few seconds, he found that they had lain down, though he couldn't remember moving. Merry's fingers were drifting delightfully over Pippin's belly and hips and thighs, now and again just brushing the hairs between his legs then moving away again. He squirmed, trying to move his body so that fingers encountered more than hair, but Merry was too clever at this. Finally he grabbed the hand and placed it squarely on his erection, saying, "I want you to touch me here."

Merry laughed and complied, and his fingers began to stroke up and down the length. Again, the touch was light and teasing, and Pippin was soon begging for more.

"Please, Merry..."

"What do you want?"

"More."

"More what?"

"More... harder, faster."

Merry's hand closed into a fist and he commenced a smooth, regular action, gradually increasing the pace. Pippin couldn't suppress a squirm as he grew harder, and when he looked down he could see fluid appearing at the tip. Merry took one finger and smeared the fluid around the head, a glint of amusement in his eye as Pippin bit his lip in frustration. Merry touched the wet finger to Pippin's upper lip, coating it with the glistening fluid, then immediately licked it off, following that with a deep kiss that continued even as his hand returned to Pippin's shaft.

Pippin could feel the climax building and tried to hold it back. "Merry...I'm.."

"Sshh, it's all right. It'll relax you, make the next part easier."

Pippin acquiesced and allowed the sensations to engulf him. He needed only a few strokes more to reach his climax, and his cries were muffled by Merry's mouth.

As Pippin lay panting, he looked up at Merry's face and felt his heart almost bursting with love. He reached an arm up and pulled Merry down to him, not kissing but holding him close. Pippin let one hand slip between them and trailed a teasing finger up and down Merry’s length. After a couple of minutes of this, Merry pulled away and reached for the bottle of sweet almond oil that he had placed on the bedside table. Pippin watched as Merry took out the stopper and poured a little onto his hand. A few drops fell down onto Pippin's belly, causing him to twitch. This was it, then. Pippin opened his legs.

Merry sensed his nervousness. "You can still change your mind, love."

Pippin shook his head. "I want this."

Merry nodded, and pushed the legs open a little wider, exposing all the most intimate areas of Pippin's body. Pippin felt the oil being smoothed over the sensitive skin behind the scrotum, then Merry brought his hand forward to cup the balls and roll them in his palm. He poured a little more oil and directed the drops to fall on the tiny rosebud that guarded the entrance to Pippin's body.

Pippin watched Merry's fingers as they followed the oil down to his skin. He felt heat building up underneath their touch and wanted more Gentle, insistent pressure heralded the insertion of one finger, and Pippin registered the unusual sensation. It wasn't pain, it wasn't even really uncomfortable, it was just... odd. After a couple of minutes Merry added a second finger, bringing a slight discomfort, but it was soon forgotten in the swirling heat that centred in his groin. Merry's fingers were stretching and twisting, rolling around the opening, and it felt wonderful.

A third finger produced enough stretch to cause pain and Pippin winced. Merry's fingers slowed, and he spent a long time working the muscles open, until everything was as relaxed as it could be. Only when the three fingers were pushed right in, almost to the palm, did Merry allow them to curve forward. The first touch to the small gland in front caused a shiver to run through Pippin's body and his eyes to open.

"What's that?"

"That, my love, is spot I'm going to be aiming for with every stroke." Merry brushed it again, and Pippin's body started to vibrate in response. "I can keep doing this, if you want, and you will come just from my fingers. That won't hurt."

"No." Pippin regained enough control to place his own hand on Merry's shaft and give it a few firm strokes that caused Merry to shiver. "Want this."

Merry withdrew his fingers. "Remember what I said about making this as painless as possible?"

Pippin nodded.

"The best way - the most comfortable - is for you to be on your hands and knees."

Pippin was dismayed. He had imagined that Merry would enter him from in front, where he could see Merry's face and wrap his arms around him. He didn't want to be facing away on all fours, like a ewe being tupped.

Merry tried to reassure him. "It seems to make things more relaxed. It's the least painful position, honestly."

"But I want to see you."

"Please, Pippin. We will do it other ways in future, in ways when you can look at me. But tonight it's best to do it this way. Please, trust me in this, love."

Pippin looked at him for a second, then sat up and kissed him. "I do trust you. But next time I get to look at you."

"Promise."

Pippin rolled over and brought himself up on his hands and knees. He watched as Merry put a small towel under his belly, to catch his release and protect the sheets, then as he poured more oil over his hands and made sure that shaft and tip were richly coated with the warm liquid.

Pippin felt Merry reach around to give Pippin's reawakening erection a gentle caress before pushing forward and into him. He tensed as pain burned right through him, and Merry stopped immediately, but, oddly, that seemed to make it worse. "Keep moving," Pippin managed to gasp, and felt Merry obey him, withdrawing slightly, then pushing forward. Gradually, the burning pain was matched and overtaken by burning pleasure as Merry's gentle movements in and out of his body became deeper and deeper. When the tip of Merry's member touched the spot his fingers had found earlier, Pippin gasped again. It felt as though small bolts of lightning were being generated with each thrust, starting in his groin and spreading through his belly right up to his heart.

He found that everything was moving to the rhythm of Merry's thrusts -his heart, his breathing, the gentle rocking of his body. With every breath he was making noise, though Merry was telling him to keep quiet. He couldn't - he was so consumed by sensation that he had to cry out.

Merry stopped moving again, and Pippin cursed under his breath.

"Pippin, you have to be quiet. You'll wake the whole smial."

"Can't be quiet," he gasped. "Feels too good."

"Well you'll just have to bite on something then. I'm serious, Pip, or everyone on this corridor will know what we're doing."

Pippin grabbed a handkerchief from the bedside table, twisted it roughly into a spindle and thrust it between his jaws. Anger had made his body tense, and he felt Merry running one hand over his back and another around the front to his erection, soothing him, waiting until he relaxed before starting to move inside him again.

Pippin’s anger seemed to melt away as he felt Merry’s renewed thrusts, neither too hard nor too gentle, building a delicious heat deep in his body’s core. A slight change of angle caused him to shudder and gasp as Merry’s length brushed over that spot inside him and sent shooting stars through his groin. Gradually, Merry increased the speed and depth of his movements, keeping pace with Pippin's desire.

Pippin was floating, barely coherent, barely conscious. Merry was taking him to new heights of sensation with every thrust and he could feel his climax beginning to form, deep within him, deeper than he had ever felt it before. It was rotating in a spiral inside him, dragging with it every nerve-ending, every part of his body, every wisp of thought in his mind, until there was nothing but light and heat and stars and a rushing in his ears, and the sure knowledge that he was going to die.

Time stopped, and in an instant of clarity Pippin saw that here, at the still centre of the universe, there was himself and there was Merry, and they were joined forever in this place where Eternity and Now were the same. This was what he had craved, this was what he had been born for, and he thanked the Valar that they had allowed him to know this in the last, wondrous instant of his life.

His climax was an explosion that shattered him into shards of colour, white-hot and ice-cold, and the world disappeared as darkness took him yet again.

Awareness returned slowly. He could tell that Merry was no longer inside him and ached for the loss, but at least Merry was close beside him, holding him and whispering words of love. Towel and handkerchief had gone and Merry was moving him, using those strong arms to lift him and turn him and lay him down again as gently as if he had been made of thistledown. He met Merry's eyes with a sense of wonder. "I'm still alive?"

"Yes, love," Merry whispered. "It was only the little death. Some people call it that, you know."

"No, I didn't. But I know why, now." He touched Merry's cheek, smiling as Merry turned to kiss his fingers. "Thank you."

Merry didn't speak, but the blush on his cheek and the glow in his eyes told Pippin how much his words meant to his lover. Pippin wriggled a little to make himself more comfortable and murmured, "Mmm, I'm feeling very sleepy."

"Then go to sleep, and I'll watch over you." Merry sat up to blow out the candle. Dragging the bedclothes over them, he snuggled up against Pippin's chest. "I love you," he whispered.

"I love you, too," Pippin managed to reply before sleep claimed him.

* * *

Merry woke to the sensation of soft kisses on his neck and a hand gently drifting over his chest. Dim light was coming from the shutters as he turned and saw Pippin's bright face watching him.

"Morning, love."

"Morning, Merry-my-own," Pippin murmured in return, smiling down at him. "I love watching you wake up."

"Mmm, I love the way you wake me." Merry smiled sleepily and ran his hands through Pippin's curls and down his back. "It's always a good morning when you are with me."

"Then we shall have to try and find a way to wake up together every morning."

"One day..."

"We will. One day. I'm sure of it." Pippin's confidence was, as always, unshakeable.

"Are you sore?"

Pippin wriggled. "A little. Not much." He smiled. "You were very gentle. Can we do it again tonight?"

"Yes, we can, but I thought that tonight you would take me." Merry felt Pippin shiver at the thought. His own body was stirring and he pressed into Pippin's thigh.

Pippin's hands started to caress Merry's chest as he spoke. "I'd like that. But I still want to see your face."

"You will."

"Mmm... Do you think we have time for something before breakfast?"

"I think we might... oh, yes," he added as Pippin's hand drifted lower. "Yes, I'm certain we have time." He rolled over, pinning Pippin to the sheets, and pushed his knee between Pippin's legs, drawing it up slowly so that it brushed the whole length of his thigh on its way up to where Pippin suddenly caught his breath. Merry had just seized the opportunity to place a firm kiss on Pippin's open mouth when there was a hammering at the door.

They broke apart, panting. Merry grabbed a robe and unlocked the door. It was Vinca, tumbling through the doorway as soon as the door had started to open.

"What did you want to lock the door for?" she exclaimed.

"So nosy sisters like you don't come barging in!" countered Pippin instantly.

"Oh, go and play with a troll." She turned to Merry. "Have you heard what happened? It's a frightful scandal!"

They looked at each other concerned, but Vinca was already continuing.

"Apparently Cousin Rosamunda saw Reg with Berry in the conservatory last night. She told Periwinkle at breakfast, and now Periwinkle’s having hysterics and wants to call off the wedding. She wants Berry banished or imprisoned or something."

"Oh, no!" Merry hurried to grab clothing. He couldn't allow that. He owed a lot to Berry - not least of which was his help with Pippin - and he couldn't stand by and let his cousin be sent away in disgrace... not again.

He grabbed hold of Vinca's arm. "Where are they?"

"Ow, that hurts!"

"Where are they?"

"In the dining hall. Everyone is shouting so loud I'm surprised you can't hear it from here."

Merry turned to grab his breeches and shirt, throwing them on the bed and reaching for the tie on his robe. Vinca gave an exclamation of shock. "You're not going to get dressed in front of me?"

"I will if you don't leave." As she turned to go, though, he stopped her. "Vinca, does Frodo know?

"Frodo?"

"Yes, is Frodo down there? Does he know about this?"

"I don't think so. I haven't seen him this morning."

"Go and get him. Shout it through the door if you have to."

"Why?"

"He'll want to know. Trust me."

"Very well."

Vinca turned to go, but cast a quick glance back as she turned the handle of the door. Merry had stripped off the robe and was stepping into his breeches, not even bothering with his linens. She gave an appreciative wink to Pippin and stepped out, closing the door firnly behind her.

Pippin laughed and jumped out to get dressed himself. "What are you going to do?" he asked Merry.

"I have no idea."

* * *

Whatever it had been when Vinca left, the scene was chaos now. Merry could hear the shouts from two corridors back as he approached, a jumble of angry voices -Reg's, Periwinkle's, Poppy's, Saradoc's. Not Berry's voice though, not that he had expected to hear that. As he ran full tilt into the room and skidded to a stop, he could see that Berry was standing slightly apart from the others and was looking tired but otherwise expressionless. Merry tried to speak with him but he was silent, merely shaking his head. "Come on, Berry! You have to tell me if I'm going to be able to help you."

"I don't need your help."

"You need someone's help! You can't stand by and let Periwinkle destroy your life!"

Berry looked at him, distantly. "She can't. And don't you think you're a little young to be playing Master of the Hall?"

Merry opened his mouth to protest but then, from behind the mass of onlookers, came a voice – a quiet, calm, and utterly compelling voice – that cut through the noise like a blade of ice.

"Would someone please explain to me the cause of all this commotion?"

Merry turned, giddy with relief, as silence fell.

Frodo stepped through the crowd, which parted before him as if he had been the Thain himself, and faced the protagonists. He took in the situation at a glance: Berry, to one side, with Merry; Reg, Periwinkle, and Poppy on the other. Several others, with degrees of involvement that ranged from little to none at all, stood awaiting developments. No one spoke.

The silence stretched out, thinned, and eventually broke as Cousin Rosamunda, meddlesome Took that she was, summed up the situation with masterly understatement and self-righteous justification. "I saw Reg and Berry in an Intimate Embrace late last night in the conservatory. I felt it to be my duty to tell Periwinkle about it this morning when I saw her. She is a little upset."

"Yes, I have no doubt that she is." Frodo spoke coolly, as if it were a matter of indifference to him whether Periwinkle was upset or not. "Well, I am never at my best so early in the morning, particularly before breakfast, and I daresay that others aren't either. Perhaps a cup of tea might help us to view this matter a little more calmly and rationally."

"Calm? I don't want to be calm!!" Periwinkle's voice was shrill and her complexion, always high, was now mottled with patches of scarlet and puce, making her look rather like a turnip. "He's a lying bastard! He said it was all over between him and that trollop of a Brandybuck years ago, and now I find he's still tupping him behind my back! The wedding is off!"

"Well, of course, my dear, if you truly want to cancel the wedding, then that is what we shall do." Frodo paused, allowing Periwinkle to realise that she was standing with mouth open and eyes goggling. Slowly she subsided, and Frodo resumed talking. "But it would be foolish to take such a final step before examining all the facts and making sure that everything has been taken into consideration." He cast a thoughtful glance at the crowd, then turned to Eglantine, who had just entered. "Would the Green Parlour be available? Excellent. Reg, Berry, Periwinkle - into the parlour. Saradoc, Paladin - I believe that it would be best to have this... ah.. preliminary discussion... among the principal parties before bringing the Thain into it. Do you agree?"

Paladin nodded, but asked, "What about you?"

"Since I am standing as Periwinkle's father at the wedding, I believe that I have some interest in this matter."

Saradoc opened his mouth as if to say something, but subsided at a quelling look from Esme.

Paladin looked around and, seeing no real opposition, said, "Very well." He took Saradoc's arm and they went into the parlour.

Merry cleared his throat but Frodo gave a tiny shake of his head and followed Saradoc. The door closed behind them.

There was little that he could do for the moment, so Merry went back to his room, where he washed and changed into fresh clothes. Pippin had disappeared, but he had a fair idea where the young hobbit would be. He had a talent for stealth that was surprising in one so loud and he'd had at least a two-minute head start.

* * *

It was an hour later and Merry was looking out of the window, when he heard the door open and close and Pippin's soft footsteps approaching. A pair of strong arms slipped around his waist, a chin came to rest on his shoulder, and Pippin's voice rumbled in his ear.

"I knew you'd be waiting for me."

"Was it very bad?" Merry whispered.

"Ghastly." Pippin turned Merry to face him and rested his head on Merry's shoulder. "Thank heavens Frodo was there. The wedding is still on and he managed to stop your father banishing Berry forever, but it was a close-run thing. Bloody Reginard - I've never liked him. From what I gather, he was the one trying to have one last fling with Berry, and Berry was trying to say no. At least, that's the way it seemed to me, but Poppy and Periwinkle insisted that Berry was trying to seduce Reg against his will. And Berry wouldn't say a word in his own defence! If Frodo hadn't been there, he'd have been rolled up in a carpet and tossed in the Brandywine!"

"Berry's odd like that. It's as if he really doesn't care what people think about him, even when they're wrong." Merry's voice choked, and, to his embarrassment, he found that he was crying.

Pippin tightened his arms, saying, "It's more than just Berry, isn't it?"

Merry nodded. "I kept on looking at my father, in the dining hall, seeing how angry he was, thinking how much worse it would be if he were trying to take you away from me. I don't think that I could bear it."

Pippin held him close, rubbing his back in slow, soothing circles. "I won't let them separate us. If they try, I'll find a way for us to be together. Even if we have to run away to Bree."

"You're underage."

Pippin laughed. "Since when has that ever stopped me? So are you, if it comes to that. Mind you, I think we're safe for the moment. The only good part about all this is that it makes our little tumble look very uninteresting. I think we'd have to kiss in the middle of the Main Hall to get anyone to notice us today."

* * *

The rest of the day passed without much in the way of incident. Berry took himself off for a long walk as soon as he was released from the Green Parlour and didn't return until supper. Merry tried to talk to him after the meal, but Berry shrugged him off and went to bed early.

In fact, most of the guests decided to have an early night in preparation for the big day ahead. Merry and Pippin were able to steal away soon after supper was cleared and they ran up to Pippin's room where they lost no time in undressing.

As they washed, Pippin suddenly remembered something that he had meant to ask earlier. "Why did Uncle Saradoc not want Frodo to be there this morning? Is it because Frodo and Berry don't like each other?"

Merry shook his head. "It's old history, love, and not my story to tell." He threw his nightshirt over his head and reached an arm out to Pippin. "Come and kiss me instead and tell me you won't leave me, because I need to hear that tonight."

Pippin relinquished the puzzle for the moment and took Merry in his arms. "I won't leave you, Merry. Not ever. I'll be with you every day that I can, every night that I can. And even if we are not in the same room, or in the same part of the Shire, I'll still be in your heart. I'll never leave you."

Merry looked into Pippin's eyes, astonished once more at his lover's new maturity. "When did you get to be so wise, love?"

Pippin brushed his lips against Merry's. "Not wise, just yours."

"Oh, yes, you're mine." Merry claimed Pippin's mouth with a deep, ravaging kiss and his hands gripped Pippin's body with a strength that thrilled them both.

Pippin pulled back from the kiss but when Merry opened his eyes to question why, he smiled in reassurance, saying, "Tonight, you're mine."

Merry caught his meaning at once, and anticipation lit in his eyes.

"Come to bed, Merry, my love." Pippin's hands descended over Merry's bottom and thighs and he started to pull up the cotton nightshirt. "I don't know why you bothered to put this on."

"So that I can feel you take it off, of course."

Pippin laughed and pushed Merry backwards so that he fell onto the bed. Climbing up over him, he dragged Merry's legs onto the bed.

Merry giggled and lay still. "What do you want me to do, love?" he asked.

Pippin tilted his head, considering, then gave an impish grin. "Don't move." He twisted around and began to run his hands lightly over Merry's skin, starting with belly and thighs, avoiding the erection that was rising with every second, and continuing down the legs. He played with Merry's toes and ran his fingers through the thick curls on each foot, enjoying the response that it caused in both of them.

Turning again, he started kissing his way back up the legs, paying particular attention to the knees and to the inner thighs. As he approached the groin he spread Merry's legs, kissing the thighs and running his fingers through hair and over skin. He took each one of the heavy globes into his mouth, running his tongue around them, squeezing them against his palate and letting his teeth scrape lightly over the skin as he released them. Once Merry had stopped twitching he ran his tongue over the whole scrotum and the sensitive perineum, grinning to himself as he felt Merry's body jerk and twist at the sensation.

"Pippin, please..." Merry sounded desperate and. How Pippin loved hearing Merry beg!

He sat back on his heels for a minute, until Merry opened his eyes, then leaned forward and kissed him. "Love you, Merry"

"I love you too, Pip, but if you don't get down there and finish what you started I'll have to consider hating you instead."

Pippin laughed, and giving only a preliminary flick of the tongue to the head, swallowed Merry's length as far as he could. Merry yelped and Pippin lifted his head, smirking. "Hush, we don't want to wake the whole smial. You'll have to bite on something if you can't keep quiet."

Merry poked his tongue out at Pippin, then put his hand to his mouth, trying to stifle his involuntary exclamations as Pippin resumed his actions.

Pippin's tongue was developing talents that Merry had never dreamed of. After a long slow stroke up the underside, it circled the head, tasting the fluid there, before Pippin closed his mouth over it. Pippin took a deep breath then, trying to relax as much as possible, he took the shaft as far back into his throat as he could. After holding it there for a few seconds, he withdrew, applying a gentle suction and letting his tongue sweep from side to side up the shaft. He repeated this a couple of times, gratified at the way he could reduce Merry to incoherent moans and wails.

Merry managed to regain enough control to say that he was close, whereupon Pippin started a rapid movement of mouth and hand. In only a few seconds Merry's release was spurting into his throat. This time he didn't choke, just swallowed, and he noted how the movements of his throat made Merry groan and pant even more.

When it was finished, he swallowed again and sat up. Merry was sprawled on the bed with one arm flung out to the side and the other above his head, sweaty and flushed, looking the very picture of debauchery. Pippin grabbed the oil and nudged Merry's legs apart. He poured some oil onto his hand, noting, with annoyance, that some of it spilled onto the sheets. He moved his hand over Merry's stomach and saw Merry squirm as the cool oil hit his skin. He hurriedly put the bottle back on the table and placed his fingers between Merry's legs, trying to push them apart further so that he could see where he wanted to be, but with little success. He was starting to get annoyed when Merry, obviously sensing his frustration, drew his knees up and let them drop to the sides, revealing everything.

Pippin's hand darted into touch Merry's opening, smoothing the oil over it, rubbing it, letting the fingers stroke back and forth. Merry's breathing changed, and Pippin saw that he was starting to become hard again. He gave the shaft a few lazy, oil-slicked strokes, feeling Merry push up into his hand. He drew his hand down over the firm, down-covered balls and the sensitive skin behind them before continuing on to the tiny, puckered area that promised so much pleasure. He saw that it had become flushed with blood, and rolled his fingers over it, causing Merry to murmur something incomprehensible. He poured a little more oil onto his hand and slowly inserted one finger, feeling how firm the ring of muscle was, how hot Merry's body was inside, how smooth the lining of the passage. Since one finger apparently caused no problem at all, he withdrew and then inserted two fingers. The tightness increased, and, as Merry instructed him, he spread his fingers, stretching the tissue and making sure that the oil was evenly distributed. He added more oil before inserting three fingers, and noted how this much stretch was causing Merry some discomfort, if not pain. But Merry told him to keep going, and he did, stretching and sliding and rolling his fingers around the inside of the passage. When Merry told him to push forward he did, and found the gland on the front wall, firm and smooth, with a central groove, like a tiny plum or apricot. He couldn't resist running his fingers up and down the groove and around the gland, fascinated by it, until Merry, gasping, begged him to stop.

He grabbed the bottle of oil for the last time and coated his erection. He was harder than he had ever been in his life and wasn't at all sure that he would last more than a few seconds once inside, so he gave Merry a few more strokes until Merry forcibly grabbed his wrist and pulled him away.

"Now, Pippin. I need you in me now!"

He didn't need any more encouragement. He placed himself at the opening and pushed in. Looking up, he saw his beloved's face contort in pain, and pulled back.

"No, no - keep going," Merry choked. "Keep going."

"But it's hurting you."

"It won't in a minute - just keep going."

He pushed in again, a little more tentatively this time, and felt the muscles press down around him so tightly that it was almost painful. He kept pushing in until he was almost fully sheathed, then pulled back halfway and pushed in again. As he started the third thrust he felt the muscles ease a little, and the expression on Merry's face changed subtly from pain to passion. He kept thrusting, trying to reach the gland he had felt with his fingers, but couldn't. He felt Merry's hands tapping his arms and looked up.

"Put my legs on your shoulders," Merry told him, and he did so, slipping out in the process. When he positioned himself and entered again, he felt the difference immediately. The tip of his member touched the spot he had been looking for and Merry almost convulsed. He started pushing in, slowly at first, trying to prolong the sensation of each thrust, but Merry cried "Harder" and he obeyed. After a few increasingly vigorous thrusts, with Merry grunting his encouragement, he felt his climax coming. He tried to slow down but Merry wouldn't allow it, and after a few more strokes he released into his lover's body. As he was still thrusting, he grabbed Merry's erection and brought Merry to his peak a few seconds later. Merry cried out and Pippin wondered if anyone had heard.

Reluctantly, he pulled out of his lover's body, bringing his legs down from his shoulders and laying them gently on the sheets. He crawled up Merry's body, kissing belly and chest and neck as he advanced. When he reached Merry's mouth he found that they were still too breathless for a proper kiss so he settled for a quick touch of the lips before settling his head on Merry's chest. He felt strong arms enfold him immediately and they lay there, their skin glowing in the candlelight, for several minutes.

Pippin let his hand roam over Merry's chest and abdomen, but almost immediately found the residue of Merry's release. He reached up for a cloth and wiped his lover clean, then himself, before leaning over for a kiss.

"You're really mine, now," he whispered.

Merry rolled them over and looked down into his eyes before covering his face with kisses. "Yes, I'm yours."

* * *

As nothing else untoward happened overnight, the wedding proceeded as planned the next day. At eleven o'clock precisely, Periwinkle Bolger became Periwinkle Bolger-Took (her mother being of a rather eccentric line, Chubb in origin, that insisted on retaining maiden names after marriage), and shortly thereafter the wedding breakfast began, set out under a large marquee on the lawn.

Much later, when Frodo had the leisure to examine the day's events, he considered it distinctly unfortunate that he had taken his duties as Periwinkle's sponsor seriously enough to supply several cases of Old Winyards for the wedding breakfast. It was a particularly good vintage and it had cost Frodo a pang to part with it, but he had told himself that his vehement dislike of Poppy, his indifference to Periwinkle and his rather less-than-satisfactory involvement with Reg several years previously were none of them reasons enough to stint on the provisions. As it turned out, it would have been better for all concerned if he had succumbed to his selfish wish to keep the good wine for himself and sent over six cases of whatever the Ivy Bush wanted to get rid of, for it can't be denied that Reginard would never have drunk as much cheap plonk as he did the good wine. Or, if he had, he would have been unconscious and thus harmless.

By two o'clock, it was evident to the bridal party that Reg was drunk; by three o'clock it was clear to everyone in the marquee. What was worse, he was drunk enough to reveal that he was not entirely happy with his new bride, and rather more than unhappy with his mother-in-law. The two women had started as they meant to go on and had laid out, for his edification, a list of all the changes they expected him to make to his work habits, clothes, hobbies and friends. As this left Reg very little to claim as his own, it was hardly surprising that his befuddled brain latched on to the one item that they had omitted to mention, which was lovers. To Reg, that meant only one hobbit: Berilac Brandybuck.

Berilac, for his part, had stood and watched the ceremony with an attitude of indifference that his friends and relatives found puzzling. Reg had never been popular with the group of cousins along the Merry-Pippin axis that connected Tuckborough and Buckland, and, to be frank, none of them could understand what attraction he held for Berry, who could have had almost any hobbit he wanted (and often did). But Berry gave no reply to impertinent questions and kept his reasons, odd though they were, to himself.

Even so, by three o'clock he had had enough of the crowd and slipped away, intending to go for a solitary ramble. Unfortunately, his departure, while discreet, was not unobserved. As he left his room a few minutes later, having changed his party clothes for something more comfortable, he saw Reg weaving up the corridor towards him. He muttered a curse under his breath but maintained a neutral expression.

"Berry!"

"What is it, Reg?"

"One last tumble?"

"No. We've already discussed this."

"Wan' a tumble."

"You have a wife now."

"But I don' love her!"

"Then why on earth did you just get married to her?"

"Don' know."

"Well, I suggest that you try to find out, fast, otherwise you're going to be miserable."

"You never loved me."

"No, Reg, I never loved you. I've told you that before."

"Then why? Why lie with me, Berry, if you don' love me?"

"You'll never know, and you wouldn't understand even if I told you. Just accept that it's over. You made your choice."

Berry looked over Reg's shoulder and saw Frodo coming up the stairs.

"What's the matter, Reg?" Frodo asked. "Shouldn't you be getting back to the party?" He put his arm on Reg's shoulder and attempted to turn him around, but Reg wasn't going to be distracted.

"No! Don' touch me." He staggered, bumping against the wall. "You tol' me to go 'way, too. I 'member. You said I had to move on. So I did. Moved to Berry. Now Berry don' wan' me either." He took a deep breath. "Bloody Brandybucks!"

"That's enough." Frodo let his exasperation show through. "You're drunk. If you can't be civil, then perhaps you should go and sleep it off."

Reg looked from one to the other, a puzzled look on his face, as if he were seeing double. In fact, the resemblance between the cousins was not particularly strong, when compared feature by feature, but in the dim light of the corridor the overall family likeness predominated, and to one whose vision was blurred by alcohol they might have passed for brothers, if not twins.

He gave a weak, sickly smile. "Tumbled you both. Tumble' you both, I did. Only hobbit in the Shire can say that, I bet."

"That is completely beside the point," snapped Frodo as Berry paled.

Reg saw it too and raised his voice, harsh with resentment. "Is tha' why? You tumble Frodo, Frodo tumbles me, I tumble you. Nice, neat li'l circle. Tha's all I was to you. Jus' Frodo."

Berry's face was mask-like, completely devoid of all expression. "No, it wasn't like that," he stated flatly.

The denial was useless: once Reg got an idea into his head, it was hard to dislodge it. "You only wanted me 'cause of Frodo. Not me, no' me."

Frodo caught sight of movement in the hall below: it was Merry, who saw the drama being played out above him and ran up the stairs.

"What's going on?" Merry asked as he reached the landing.

Frodo gestured for him to stay back, but it was too late. Reg blinked and stopped shouting as he realised that there was a third face in front of him. He took a step forward. "'Nother Brandybuck."

"Come on, Reg, let's get you back outside." Frodo reached to take Reg's arm, but was shrugged off.

"Maybe Merry wants a tumble. Wanna tumble, Merry?"

"No."

"See?" Reg turned back to Berry. "No one wan's a tumble. All your fault, Berry. Was happy with you."

"I've told you, Reg. It's over. Now get back outside."

"No. Poppy's ou'side. She hates me."

"That's hardly my fault,"

"Is your fault. All your fault." Reg's voce was turning from maudlin to bitter. He staggered towards Berry and pushed him, sending him a couple of feet closer to the stairs. "Wasn' good enough for you, was I? No one's ever good enough for you. You're so good you c'n have anyone, but no one's ever good enough for you."

"Reg, that's not true."

Reg clearly wasn't listening. He was pushing Berry again, and Berry was retreating, still trying to keep things calm, reluctant to get into a brawl.

Frodo's eye flickered to the main hall again. This time it was Pippin who had entered, with Brandy and Ev, followed by Paladin, Saradoc and Esme. Obviously the word had got out, and just in time, if he was any judge.

Berry's refusal to fight seemed, paradoxically, to irritate Reg further. He was becoming more aggressive, his pushes getting stronger. Frodo attempted to hold him back but Reg just shrugged him off and advanced on Berry, who retreated further. "All your fault!" he shouted once more, giving Berry a final shove. Berry staggered and his foot slipped over the top step...

Neither Pippin nor Frodo would ever forget the few seconds that followed. Time slowed down as Berry overbalanced, and began falling backwards, unable to right himself. Merry shouted "No!" and lunged forward, trying to catch him. His fingers reached out for Berry's arm, but missed by a scant inch, and momentum carried him over the edge as well. Pippin could see them, tumbling down the stairs, seemingly forever, until they reached the bottom.

"Merry!" Pippin yelled and while they were still falling he was racing across the floor, trying to reach the stairs in time to catch his lover. But the hall was large and the staircase steep, and by the time he reached them they were both lying, unmoving, on the floor.

Frodo had also tried to catch Berry, but had not fallen, though he teetered on the edge of the top stair for a few seconds and only saved himself by grabbing onto the bannister. He cast one murderous look at Reg, who was standing there, slack-jawed and witless, and ran down to Berry.

For one awful, mind-destroying moment, Pippin thought that Merry might be dead. He crouched over the still form, dragging him off Berry, crying, "Merry! Merry! Wake up! Are you all right?"

Merry stirred and opened his eyes, searching for something. "Pippin," he murmured. He would have said more, but Pippin was so relieved to see him still alive that he was covering his face with kisses, while words of desperation and relief poured out.

"Oh, Merry, I thought you were dead! I thought I'd never see you again. I couldn't bear it, I love you so much. I love you, I love you."

Merry managed to sit up and put his arms around Pippin, who burried his head in Merry's shoulder and started sobbing with relief.

"Shhh, Pippin, it's all right. I'm fine. I'm not dead. I love you too. Hush, now." He held Pippin close for a few more seconds, then released him.

"Tell me you're all right," Pippin pleaded.

"Well, I think I am. My head hurts, though, and my wrist. Can you help me up?"

Pippin nodded, and even managed a weak smile as he helped his cousin to get up, though he promptly fell into Merry's arms again and clung onto him as if he might float away otherwise.

Frodo, meanwhile, had made a rough examination of Berry and did not like what he saw. "Paladin!" he called. "Send for a healer. I think we'll need one. And I'll need something to use as a stretcher. I suggest that we get him into the music room for now - it's the closest."

Hearing no confirmation of his instructions, he looked up at Paladin, to find him staring at Merry and Pippin. "Paladin!" he called again, but it was Esme who answered.

"Everard. Make yourself useful and ride to Gammer Bellwether's. Tell her that Merry and Berry have fallen down the stairs and Berry is unconscious. We'll need her overnight at least, so make sure she brings a bag with her. Ferdibrand, you'll find a canvas stretcher in the stable. Run a pitchfork handle through each side and bring it here. Daffy, find Mistress Eglantine: we'll need willow-bark, arnica and kingsfoil from the stillroom. Then fetch me a basin and some towels. Paladin, I'll need a bottle of the good brandy."

During the latter part of her speech she had been approaching the group at the bottom of the stairs. On reaching them, she tapped Pippin on the shoulder. "Stop making a spectacle of yourself and help Merry into the music room." Without waiting to see if her instructions were obeyed, she turned and knelt down next to Frodo.

Berry was pasty white. He was breathing but he didn't move at all, even when Esme shook him and pinched his arm. Frodo showed her the lump at the back of his skull, but she reassured him that the skull appeared to be intact - not that such was always a good sign. Apart from the obviously broken right leg, the only other injury that was easily identifiable was his right forearm, which was swelling rapidly, and which Esme and Frodo thought might also be broken.

Ferdibrand returned and Frodo, Saradoc and Paladin all helped to lift Berry onto the stretcher and carry him into the music room.

Merry and Pippin were already there; Merry's shirt sleeve had been rolled back to bare the left arm. There was some swelling around the wrist, but, after a brief examination, Esme was satisfied that the wrist wasn't broken, only sprained. While the others were still arranging Berry on one of the long couches, she looked at Merry and quietly asked: "Is there something that I should know, Merry?"

Merry and Pippin looked at each other. Pippin was still obviously upset from the scare he had had, but Merry straightened up and looked his mother in the eye. "We are lovers."

"Since?"

"Since Lithe."

She pursed her lips, but said nothing for a moment as she looked at Pippin. At a nudge from Merry, he looked at her, half scared, half defiant.

"I love him," he said in a low voice, stealing his left hand into Merry's right, a movement that did not go unnoticed by Esme.

"Very well." was all she said. "I shall want to speak to you as soon as Berry is settled, Pippin. I don't doubt that your parents and Saradoc will want to discuss this matter before the end of the day."

"Yes, Aunt Esme," he managed to say.

"Now run along and help Daffy bring those things I asked her to get. I'll let you help me tend to Merry's wrist." She smiled at him, receiving a tentative smile in return, and watched him race off.

"I love him, too," Merry said, a little anxiously.

"I don't doubt that, son. I've seen it in your eyes this last year and more. I did wonder what happened at Lithe - you seemed to be having argument after argument."

Merry was about to answer her, when Brandy came up to tell her that Berry was stirring. Eglantine arrived as well, not best pleased to find that Esmeralda had been giving orders as if she were still living there.

As Berry regained consciousness, it was clear that he was in a great deal of pain. His right leg and arm had been placed on pillows, but they had not yet been splinted, and there was some discussion between Eglantine and Esmeralda on the relative merits of splinting now or waiting until after the healer had examined him. He also had pain in his right shoulder and in some of his ribs on the right side, and the lump at the back of his skull had grown to the size of an egg. Frodo wanted Eglantine to give him some poppy-juice, but neither of the women thought it was a good idea.

Pippin and Daffy arrived with armfuls of supplies, and there was a bustle of activity as cool damp cloths were placed gently over Berry's injuries. Meanwhile, Esme showed Pippin how to bind a sprained wrist and how to make a sling to support it. Pippin watched intently and insisted on tying the sling himself so that he could do it whenever Merry needed it.

It was nearly an hour before the healer arrived. Ellis Bellwether was a bustling, middle-aged woman, who had lived for a time in Bree and had picked up some strange but useful tricks there. She immediately threw out most of the onlookers, leaving only Eglantine, Esmeralda and, surprisingly, Frodo, who had offered to stay in case the patient had to be moved and who had exhibited a polite but total deafness when told that it wasn't necessary.

She examined Berry thoroughly, starting with his head and working her way down to his feet. She even insisted on looking at his back, though he had not complained of pain there. Sure enough, there were bruises there.

She spent little time on the arm, which she dismissed as a clean break through both bones and no problem at all as long as he didn't do anything silly. The ribs were possibly cracked, but intact, and would heal with strapping, while the shoulder was simply bruised from the impact. The leg, however, was a different matter. She spent a long time looking at it and then checking the ankle and foot before she allowed her hands anywhere near the fracture itself.

"Well, my dear," she spoke finally, "this is a nasty injury and no mistake. The bone is not broken clean across, but at an angle, and the pieces are sliding past each other. I'll do my best, but it is going to be a long time before you can walk on it, and the bone is likely to heal short."

Berry nodded but his face was a picture of misery. If the leg healed short he would limp for the rest of his life - if he could walk at all.

Frodo patted him on the shoulder and asked, "What do we do now?"

"Well, two things. Firstly, I'll need some bandages, some potter's clay - white clay, if he has it - two yards of fine wire, a square baking tray at least the length of this arm from fingertip to elbow, and something to use as padding - old sheets, an old sweater, something like that. After that, I'll need a splint for the leg until the carpenter can knock up a frame for whichever bed he ends up in." She looked at Eglantine. "I'd suggest a ground-floor room, mistress, as being much easier in the long run."

Eglantine considered for a moment. There were some ground-floor guest rooms, but they were all occupied by rather elderly hobbits who had difficulty climbing stairs. "I'll see to it, but he may have to remain here tonight."

"One night won't hurt much, though I'd like to get some weight on as soon as possible." At their bemused looks, she explained. "We have to fix a weight to the foot to draw the bone back into the right place. If not, even if we splint it, it will heal maybe two inches too short." She noted the dismay on their faces. "Aye, 'tis the nastiest of breaks. But the weight should pull it back, so with a little luck the shortening should be no more than an inch - maybe only a half.

Berry swallowed. "Will it hurt?"

Ellis nodded. "I won't lie to you, my dear. The weight will make your leg ache, especially around the knee and ankle. But there is no other way, if you want to keep the bones in the right position." She laughed. "After all, we can't just nail the pieces together like bits of wood!"

They smiled politely at her witticism, but privately Frodo thought it was in very bad taste.

Frodo offered to accompany Pippin down to the village for the clay. He blinked in astonishment as they left the smial and found that the party was still going, with the majority of guests dancing or still eating. It was unexpected, but then he could hardly expect everything to stop just because of an accident. He and Pippin managed to get to the road without being drawn into any dances or drinking games, and headed straight for the potter's.

They returned, an hour later, to find that Berry's leg had been splinted temporarily. He must have been given poppy-juice to help him through the procedure because he was quite drowsy and when he opened his eyes they could see that the pupils were very small. He was lying down, but the healer wanted him to sit up while she casted the arm. Frodo and Pippin lifted him up and Frodo moved to sit behind him, supporting his weight so that Berry could relax against his chest, while his right arm rested on more pillows in front of him.

They were allowed to watch as Ellis placed padding over injured limb, then laid a length of wire along each side. She took the clay and moulded a thin layer over the forearm, extending it a little over both the elbow and the hand. Then she applied a strip of muslin about three inches wide along each side of the arm and covered that with another layer of clay. When she was satisfied, she took the ends of the wire and drew them through the clay, splitting it into two lengthwise pieces. Slowly and very carefully she detached each half from the padding and placed them on the baking dish. Finally she applied a normal wooden splint to the arm.

"Now then, one of you should take that tray back to the potter's and get him to dry it overnight and fire it in the morning. Then we'll see about putting it back on. The full cast should be on for three weeks, and then only the bottom half for another three."

"It seems such a lot of work for a splint," Frodo pointed out.

"Aye, it is, but the results are worth it. Moulding the clay to the arm holds the bones together better than a splint. It will still be a bit fragile, though, so you mustn't knock it," she told the patient.

Berry was exhausted after all the movement and could barely nod. Frodo held up a glass of water for him to sip but made no effort to move otherwise, and Berry was soon asleep again.

After all the mess was cleaned up, Eglantine suggested that they have a late tea. Merry and Pippin went eagerly, but Frodo demurred, saying that he could have something later, when Berry was more comfortable. Eglantine shrugged and went to restore her stillroom to something resembling order, taking Gammer Bellwether with her.

Esme remained for a few minutes. "Are you sure you don’t need anything?" she asked.

Frodo smiled. "I'll be fine here, Esme. Though I'd be grateful if you could obtain a jug of water and a chamber pot. I doubt that our lad here will be up to using the privy for a while."

"Of course." She smiled down at them. "I remember watching you hold him like that when he was small, after he fell out of the oak tree."

"Yes, I remember, too."

Frodo sat completely still, remembering how he had held Berry in his arms that summer, so long ago. Berry's shoulder had hurt so much that he couldn't lie down comfortably, and couldn't sleep. He had gone from irritable to fractious to downright maddening, until Frodo had sat up on the bed with him and rested Berry against his chest, much like they were now, and the child had fallen asleep in seconds. They had slept like that for a week, though by the end of it Frodo had been the fractious one.

Esme's voice dragged him back to the present. "He looks so young still. I keep forgetting, because he's done so much, but he isn't very old."

"No," whispered Frodo, "he isn't." He brushed a lock of hair from Berry's forehead, his fingers barely touching the skin.

Esme looked at him shrewdly, and almost spoke, but decided against it. They were both of age, and whatever might have happened in the past, the now was theirs alone to work out.

"Esme?"

"Yes?"

Frodo looked up at her. "Don't let them separate Merry and Pippin. You saw what it did to us. Don't let it happen again."

"I'll do what I can."

"Thank you. That's all I ask."

She nodded, and left the room.

It wasn't long before Merry and Pippin returned, Merry bemoaning the discovery that he had broken his best pipe in the fall. "I mean, I'm glad it wasn't my arm, but my best pipe - honestly!" he exclaimed, as well as one can exclaim in a whisper.

They insisted on bringing Frodo something to eat, though he protested, not wanting to disturb Berry. But Berry soon woke up, and the three of them managed to pile a sufficiently large number of pillows behind him to keep him comfortable while Frodo ate.

It was only a few minutes later that the inevitable summons came: they were to present themselves to the Thain's study. Pippin headed out of the door, but Merry was delayed by Frodo.

"Merry, wait a moment," he said in a low voice, not wanting to wake Berry. "Don't go in there feeling guilty. Be confident."

"But -"

"You haven't hurt Pippin - in fact, knowing him, you've probably kept him from a rude awakening with some others who aren't nearly so scrupulous."

"Funny, that's what Berry said."

To Merry's surprise, his words seemed to upset Frodo, who looked to be on the verge of tears for a moment before collecting himself. "Never mind what Berry said. What is important now is that you stand up for yourself, and for Pippin. Be someone that Pippin can be proud of. Don't just accept their views - explain your own. Don't let them separate you without a fight. Don't let his last sight of you be one of despair and defeat. Fight them, Merry! If you won't fight for yourself, do it for Pippin. He's worth fighting for, isn't he?"

"Yes, yes, he is." Merry drew himself upright, bracing his shoulders and lifting his chin. He smiled at Frodo and walked confidently out of the room.

"Lady, help them, please," whispered Frodo, head bowed, before turning back to the sleeping form on the couch.

* * *

The Thain's study was a pleasant room, if poorly named, since it was rarely used for studying. There was a desk, to be sure, and some bookshelves, but there were also several armchairs and sofas as well, and the room had an atmosphere that was more akin to the private room of an inn rather than an office, which was probably the intent.

Thain Ferumbras III was seated in his armchair, with Paladin standing at his side.

"Meriadoc, Peregrin, sit down there," Paladin instructed, pointing to a small sofa opposite the Thain.

Pippin shivered. Since everyone agreed that Peregrin was a ridiculously grand name for a child, he only ever heard it when he was in trouble or when introduced for the first time. This was definitely trouble. He sat down as ordered, and Merry immediately joined him, giving him an encouraging smile.

Saradoc was obviously uncomfortable, and the expression on his face as he watched Esmeralda and Eglantine walk in suggested that he would just as soon have welcomed a couple of Big People. "Esme, Egg," he said truculently, "I think that it might be better if you leave this to us."

Paladin nodded but the women didn't agree. Eglantine sat down in one of the armchairs, saying, "This matter concerns my son and my nephew. I have every intention of staying."

Esmeralda was also insistent. "My son and my nephew as well," she said quietly, and settled herself down on the other sofa, adjusting her skirts. She beckoned to Saradoc, who sat down next to her.

Paladin looked at the Thain, then opened the discussion. He cleared his throat a couple of times and said: "Well, Meriadoc, Peregrin, it appears that you two have taken to tumbling."

"Yes, Uncle, we have." Merry was surprised at how calm and confident his voice sounded, and blessed Frodo for his advice.

"But Pippin is only 18!" Paladin still seemed stunned.

"I'm old enough!" Pippin interjected, but Merry put a hand on his arm and gave him a speaking look.

"Trust me," he breathed. "Yes, he is 18."

"Well!" said Paladin.

"Well, what, Uncle?"

"He's too young to be tumbling!"

"Pippin doesn't think so. Nor do I."

"Well, of course you wouldn't. How long has this been going on?"

"Since Lithe."

Saradoc shot a dagger-look at Paladin. "You and your damned Overlithe parties," he muttered.

"Actually, it was three days before the party," Pippin added helpfully, "and -"

"Hush," chided Merry.

"I was only going to say that it wasn't your fault."

Merry glared at him, and he subsided.

Saradoc had a further query to make. "I saw you leaving the trees hand in hand with Berilac at Overlithe. Were you tumbling Berry as well?"

Merry shook his head. "No, Father. Berry and I walked out hand in hand because it suited us both to mislead people. And before you ask, no, I don't know who Berry was with. He was alone when I met him."

Saradoc grunted and Paladin resumed the interrogation. "Meriadoc, you are the elder by eight years. You were expected to look after Pippin, not take advantage of him."

A wave of guilt, familiar from long hours debating the same argument with himself, washed over Merry, but he remembered Frodo's words and rallied. "I am eight years older, yes. And I have looked after Pippin for many years, whenever we have been together. Now Pippin looks after me, too. When grandfather Rory died, Pippin was the one who comforted me the most, just by holding me and telling me that he loved me."

"That is hardly the point," said Paladin, and would have continued, but he was interrupted by Saradoc.

"He's not even a tween yet! You of all people should have known better."

Merry bit his lip. He wasn't going to let them repeat history. "I thought I did. I know what happened before, and I didn't want it to happen to us. That's why I tried to ignore it – I tried to tell myself it didn't exist, that nothing had changed. And it worked, for a while - I almost forgot how I felt. It wasn't until Pippin kissed me at Yule that I realised he felt the same way, and even after that, I kept pushing him away, telling myself - and him - that it was for his own good. But it was the worst six months of my life. We kept on arguing about it and it was horrible. Then... well, at Lithe..." His voice trailed off, wondering how on earth he could describe what had happened without making things ten times worse.

"I think," put in Eglantine, "that perhaps we ought to allow Pippin to tell us what happened. After all, he is the supposedly injured party here."

The others looked at each other, then nodded. Saradoc sat back in his chair, while Esme gave Pippin and Merry an encouraging look.

"Go on, Peregrin," she said. "Tell us how this came to pass."

This time, the use of his full name had a rather different effect on Pippin. Before, it had made him feel nervous; now it made him feel grown-up, as if his mother wanted him to live up to the dignity of his name.

He took a deep breath and began. "I've always loved Merry, in one way or another. He was always my favourite cousin and my best friend. I suppose that my feelings towards him started to change about two summers ago. I wanted to be with him more and more, and I wanted to... well, hold him, and kiss him. But I never said anything because I didn't think that he liked me the same way and I didn't want to upset him. Then last Yule, at Brandy Hall, I kissed him under the mistletoe and I found that I loved him and he loved me." Pippin's hand stole into Merry's and he felt Merry squeeze it gently. "Umm... I asked him to lie with me and he wouldn't. He said I was too young. He kept on saying that for months and months. Then at Lithe..." he faltered, remembering the pain, "...I tried again and he pushed me away, and he was very angry." His grip on Merry's hand tightened.

Pippin looked up at his parents. "I was scared. It hurt so much. It was as if we weren't friends any more, and I was so afraid that I was going to lose Merry completely, that he wouldn't see me any more, and I couldn't bear the thought of that. It seemed so stupid - both of us wanting, both of us angry and frustrated. It didn't make sense to me, so - so I decided to do something about it." He stopped again.

"What did you do?" asked Eglantine, her voice kindly.

Pippin blushed and dropped his head, and Merry found his hand being gripped so tightly he thought his bones would be crushed, but he wasn't going to pull away, not now.

Pippin cleared his throat. "I - umm, well - that is - umm -" He stopped again and looked at Merry, who smiled reassuringly. Pippin took another deep breath, fixed his gaze firmly on the carpet and rattled out the words: "I tied him to the bed."

There was a strangled noise from Esme, who made valiant attempts to convert it into a cough, but from the disgusted look she was getting from Saradoc, it was apparent that she had not succeeded. What's more, after a second or two it was equally clear that everyone except Saradoc was struggling with the effort of not smiling.

Paladin harrumphed, but looked almost pleased, as if to say "Well, son, that's a very Tookish thing to do". The Thain's smile was more of a "That reminds me..." type, and Merry was assailed by the horrid thought that his grandfather might have had a more eventful life than he cared to contemplate. Eglantine was looking down at the ground, her hand pressed to her mouth, but she couldn't quite hide the smile that peeped out. Even Saradoc began to see the funny side after a few seconds and his shoulders relaxed a little as Esme took his hand.

Pippin regained control of himself and continued. "I know it wasn't the right thing to do - well, not by Shire rules, maybe. But it was the right thing for Merry and me, because it was wonderful -" his face lit up "- and now we are friends again as well as being lovers. He looks after me and I look after him, and we love each other, and I really don't see what all the fuss is about!"

There was silence for a few seconds. When put like that, there seemed to be very little that anyone could say.

"You realise that you both have to marry one day." Esme's tone was gentle, as if it could negate the doom implicit in her words.

This time Merry squeezed Pippin's hand, hoping that he would remember that long conversation they had had before Lithe. To his relief, Pippin did not burst out with protestations of endless devotion to Merry, nor did he point out the fact that Thain Ferumbras had never married. Instead, he said clearly (if not quite calmly), "I realise that we both have obligations to our families and to our positions in the Shire. We have discussed it, Merry and I, and we have no intention of making this any more difficult for you than is absolutely necessary. All we ask is that you give us the same freedom that you would to any other tween pairing and let us sort things out between us when the time comes."

"Well, that sounds reasonable," Esme said, leaning forward. "Tween pairings rarely last, after all, and it's silly to worry now about something that isn't going to happen for a decade or more." She looked pointedly at Saradoc, who realised that he was expected to say something.

"Well, dear, when you put it like that, I suppose it is," he agreed, and looked to Paladin, who nodded.

The Thain was smiling. "I've always said that there's no sense at all in worrying about things before their time. Good to know that at least one of my children listens to what I say!" He looked at Esme, who winked back at her father.

Merry gazed at his mother in awe. In the space of a few sentences, the argument had changed from "This must stop now" to "This can't go on forever". He was beginning to realise just how powerful an ally they had acquired in her.

"Well, then, that's that," said Saradoc, with the air of one who had successfully completed a journey without quite knowing how he had got there. "I think it's time for a nice cup of tea and a pipe of Old Toby."

And with that the ordeal was over.

* * *

Merry went straight back to Frodo and led him out to the conservatory. "Thank you for your advice today. It helped."

Frodo smiled, but Merry hadn't finished. "And thank you for coaching Pippin as well. I don't know when you found the time, but I'm grateful. That did more for us than anything I could say."

Frodo looked a trifle uncomfortable but nodded. "While we walked to the village. I thought he ought to be prepared for it so I gave him a couple of hints and some useful phrases. I gather he used them very well."

"Very well! Mum helped too - I don't quite know how she did it, but she diverted them completely. As long as we agree to get married eventually, we can be together now."

"I'm glad of that. I've always had a lot of time for Esme. She's been a good influence in Buckland, and now that Saradoc is the Master things will get even better. I only wish... ah, no, one cannot change the past, and one is foolish to try."

Merry put his good arm around Frodo and hugged him as tightly as he could.

* * *

Eglantine looked in on the patient before she went to bed. Berry had been dosed with poppy-juice again and was sleeping. She spotted Frodo on a chair beside him, reading, and stepped into the room.

"Are you going to sit there all night?" she asked.

"No, Esme will take over at about two." Frodo placed a bookmark carefully on the page he was reading and closed the book. "Merry wanted to, but he wouldn't be much use with his arm in a sling, and I don't think that Pippin could sit still for long enough."

"Oh, I don't know. Pippin's grown up a lot these last few months." Her eyes twinkled, and Frodo had a sudden suspicion....

"You knew already."

"I knew already. Though, blest be the Lady, I didn't know the details. Little scamp!"

Berry stirred at her exclamation, then settled. Eglantine nodded and turned to go, saying "Wake me if you need anything."

"I will. Thank you for all your help." Frodo smiled up at her.

"Don't mention it. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

* * *

Pippin could be amazingly quiet when he wanted to be. As he sneaked down to the kitchens in search of a midnight snack, he passed the door of the music room, which stood open a little way. Through the gap he could see Berry, stretched out on the couch, asleep or unconscious. Frodo sat beside him, holding Berry's left hand to his cheek and stroking the pale brow gently. Pippin couldn't see the expression on Frodo's face, but the way he was leaning towards Berry spoke volumes.

Brisk footsteps sounded as the healer walked up from the kitchen, and Pippin melted into the shadows. The door closed behind her, but not before Pippin had seen Frodo straighten up and relinquish his hold on Berry's hand.

Pippin stood there for several minutes, thinking about what he had seen, before proceeding to the kitchen and finding several morsels suitable for a still-growing hobbit.

* * *

The next day saw Periwinkle and a chastened Reginard leave for Frogmorton, where they would be living. Poppy went with them, but Frodo stayed behind since, as he pointed out, they had Reginard to look after them now. Reg had been allowed to make a stumbling apology to Berry, but Frodo and Esme had stood guard and had hustled him out as soon as it became apparent that Berry wasn't going to say a word. If the question of calling in the Shirriff had ever been raised it had been allowed to drop without comment; no one doubted that Reg had sentenced himself to an existence far more miserable than any punishment the Shire could have devised for him.

Shortly after second breakfast, the carpenters arrived to begin work on the frame for the bed in the guest room that Eglantine had arranged for Berilac. After discussing the design with Gammer Bellwether and taking measurements of the bed, they went away, returning after lunch with several lengths of wood and a bag of tools. Throughout the afternoon, the smial was treated to the sound of saws, hammers and the occasional curse as the ungainly device was constructed.

Berry felt that the second day was worse than the first. He ached all over and there was nothing he could do about it. There was no position that was comfortable. The poppy-juice tasted vile and made him feel drowsy and unwell, and he refused to take it. He hated having to have assistance to sit up, to eat his food, or to use the chamber pot. He couldn't concentrate to read, or to talk, and found that the chatter of people in his room irritated him beyond measure.

Gammer Bellwether, Eglantine and Esmeralda combined to make his life more miserable by insisting that he eat breakfast and that he be washed. The latter tested him to the limits of his endurance, but finally it was over and he settled back into the pillows, trying to find a position that was comfortable for ribs, arm and leg.

Frodo appeared after elevenses and tried to cheer him up, but Berry was not in a mood to be cheered. He did, however, consent to let Frodo sit behind him, as he had done the previous day and, as before, Berry was asleep within minutes. The sighs of relief were almost loud enough to wake him again.

The cast was re-applied in the afternoon. It was heavy, but Berry realised within an hour that his arm was more comfortable than it had been with the wooden splint. After that, he was made ready for the move to the guestroom. He was offered poppy-juice but refused, initially. Eglantine and Esmeralda threatened to pour it down his throat, while the healer promised dire consequences if he should fail to sleep afterwards. Frodo had a quiet word with Pippin, who returned a few minutes later with a pot of jam and a large spoon.

Once Berry had been persuaded to take the poppy-juice, followed immediately by a spoonful of jam to take the taste away, he was lifted carefully onto a canvas stretcher. The trip through the smial took several minutes, with a couple of anxious moments as corners and doorways were negotiated, but eventually he was transferred to the guest bed, where the healer spent time adjusting his position and placing pillows under his leg to get him aligned with the frame. Then the splint was removed from his leg and she examined the position of the bones. As she had suspected, there had been some shortening overnight.

"I'm going to have to pull the leg again before the weights can be applied," she pronounced.

Berry nodded, though he was already in pain from the journey and the movement from bed to stretcher to bed. He struggled to sit up, the better to see what she was going to do, but he couldn't support his weight on the soft mattress. He felt Frodo slide an arm beneath his shoulders to help and then move to sit behind him as he had done for much of the day. Berry leaned back with a sigh, grateful that his cousin was there and hating the need to be grateful.

Ellis took up an odd-looking device - a stiff leather band, lined with sheepskin. Two stout leather straps about ten inches long had been doubled over and riveted to the collar, and in the loop of each strap there was a metal ring.

Berry watched as the healer attached the collar around his ankle, adjusting its position so that the straps ran down each side, extending beyond the foot. Next, she picked up a leather belt, to which was attached a large pouch containing the weights, and after threading it through the rings and securing the buckle she let it rest at the foot of the bed for the moment.

She nodded to Frodo, who was supporting Berry, and to Pippin, who held the knee, and pulled gently. Berry gritted his teeth and his left hand clutched at Frodo's arm as the bones shifted. Ellis continued to pull on the leg until she was satisfied that that bones were aligned as best as could be achieved, which took several minutes. At her direction, Paladin picked up the leather belt, ran it over the frame and damped the movement of the weight pouch as best he could. Once the weight had stopped moving, the healer released her hold on the ankle, and Berry felt the slightly lesser pull of the weights, changing from second to second. It wasn't painful, exactly, especially not in comparison with the way the bones had moved, but it was disconcerting.

Once Ellis was happy with the position of the weights and the way that the leather straps were aligned with the leg, she made a mark at the knee and a mark just above the ankle, then measured the distance between them. After that she replaced the splint, telling him that both would be needed for a while.

Berry relaxed slightly as the pain eased. "It feels very strange."

"Aye, it will be odd, until you get used to it. Every time you move in bed, there will be some movement of the weights. That can't be helped."

"Couldn't you simply tie my leg to the frame?"

"No, for then you would move down the bed to relieve the pressure and the bones would shorten again."

"Oh."

"There now." She finished with the splint. "All set. I'll come and see you every day to start with, then we'll see how you get along." She collected her bag and strode off.

* * *

Frodo went to his room immediately after supper. After sitting with Berry for most of the day, he and Esme had arranged to split the night between them again, with Esme taking the first shift and Frodo the second. He had announced his intention of getting some sleep first, and so was surprised to get a knock on his door a few minutes later. He was even more surprised when he saw Pippin standing there.

"Yes, Pippin? Is anything wrong? Where's Merry?"

"Merry's sitting with Berry and Aunt Esme." Pippin hesitated. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course." Frodo stepped back, inviting the boy in.

After entering the room, Pippin felt embarrassed at having disturbed his cousin, who looked very tired. But the question had to be asked and no one else, it appeared, would tell him the answer. "What happened to you and Berry? I've always known that something was wrong between you, and I keep hearing things about something that happened a long time ago, at Brandy Hall, only no one will tell me about it. But now I know it has something to do with Merry and me as well."

"How do you know that?"

"Because that's how it starts. The old tabbies have been talking about Merry and me all day, and then they say something like 'well, look at what happened at Brandy Hall' or 'they should have known better after what happened to the other lad', and then they look at you.

Frodo sighed. "I really don't want to start digging up old history, Pippin."

"But I need to know. I don't like it when everyone else knows something and I don't. I don't like people whispering about me - or you and Berry. It scares me. I - I keep thinking that Uncle Sara might change his mind and try to separate us again."

"What has Merry told you?"

"Nothing. Whenever I ask him, he just says that it was a long time ago, and it's not his story to tell."

Frodo considered it for a minute, then nodded, slowly. "You're right, Pip. It does concern you, now, and I know that half the Shire will be talking about it for the next few months. I think it's only fair that you should hear it from me rather than a garbled version from someone else. Go and get us a cup of cocoa each and I'll tell you."

"That bad?" Pippin's eyes widened. In the nursery, cocoa was the cure for all ills, and was always kept on hand when telling scary stories.

Frodo's eyes twinkled. "That bad."

Pippin was back in fifteen minutes, carefully carrying a tray on which rested two large mugs of cocoa and some plum cake, which he put on the bedside table.

"Well done, young Pip. Now, chairs or bed?"

"If it’s very scary, it had better be the bed."

"Bed it is." Frodo pushed the pillows up against the bed head and settled himself. Pippin climbed up next to him, then handed over the cocoa and some cake. They ate without speaking for a minute or two, then Frodo finished his cake, took a sip of cocoa and began.

"As you know, my parents died when I was twelve and I went to live at Brandy Hall with my mother's relatives. There weren't many people of my own age around. In some respects it might have been better if I had been fostered here at Tuckborough, but I ended up at the Hall. Berry was six and I was 12, and we became friends, in spite of the age difference between us. Everyone loved him, then. He was such a beautiful child, and so open and loving. He was the next heir, at that stage, after Saradoc, and they didn't know if Saradoc would ever have an heir of his own, as Cousin Esme had lost several babies by then. But Baby Merry was born a couple of years later and all the attention went to him, especially when he was sick, which was quite often, so we were left to amuse ourselves. They were glad to have me around to look after Berry and keep him out of everyone's way. I'd take him for some of his lessons, or we'd go for walks down the river, or we'd climb all the high trees in the park. He used to love listening to me read, so we'd take a book and a blanket and find a warm spot somewhere and I would read to him. Sometimes we'd make up our own stories too, about two hobbit-lads running off and having adventures.

"As we grew up, I became aware that I felt no attraction for lasses and found lads much more to my liking. I didn't know, then, that Berry was the same way - though it may explain why we became such good friends.

"I was twenty and Berry was only just turned fifteen when I kissed him for the first time. He was too young. I was young myself, but I was old enough to realise that. But he was so beautiful, so passionate about everything. I couldn't say no to him - well, not to kisses.

"It was a magical summer. We still went walking and climbed trees and did all the usual summer things, but we also found places we could sit and talk, and cuddle, and kiss.

"We were... well, we weren't very discreet. Berry was too young to realise that his affection for me could be viewed as anything other than innocent. He made no secret of his liking for me, nor of the change from a child's affection to... I can hardly call it an adult's, but certainly more than a child's... to desire.

"It was just after my twenty-first birthday, at the start of Winterfilth, that Merimac turned up. He saw at once the change in Berry and in me. He assumed - wrongly - that I had tumbled Berry. I hadn't. But Merimac spoke to Uncle Rory and within the week I was bundled off to Hobbiton."

"To Bilbo."

"Yes, to Bilbo."

"And Berry went to Michel Delving."

"No, that was later."

"Oh, but I thought -"

"Hush, Pip. Who's telling this story?"

"Sorry."

"Drink your cocoa."

"All right."

"So... I went to Bag End, and Bilbo was very good to me. I learned far more from him than I ever would have in the chaos at Brandy Hall and so in one sense, at least, it was a good decision. But Berry suffered a great deal after I left and I never forgave my uncle for that."

"Is that why you didn't stay at the Hall for the funeral? And why you left so early?"

"Yes, that's why."

Frodo was silent for a while and Pippin had to nudge him. "Go on."

"Well, I settled in at Bag End, but Berry had a hard time of it at the Hall. There was still no one of his own age and he was thrown in with Merry, though there were eight years separating them. Merry was in line to be Master of Buckland, and Berry had become just another Brandybuck cousin, so Merry got much more attention. The reason I was sent away was supposed to be a secret, but of course everyone knew within a few weeks. Merimac went off on his trading rounds again in the spring and thought that everything was fixed, leaving Berry to face the rumours and the whispers and the knowing looks. He stuck it out for a few months, but it became unbearable. So, he did what any enterprising Brandybuck lad would do - he ran away."

"To Hobbiton."

"Yes, he ran to Hobbiton. The first time, he only got as far as the bridge - that was on foot. They caught him and sent him back. The second time he cadged a lift in a carrier's cart and turned up at Bag End - about twenty minutes ahead of Saradoc." He stopped again and sat picking at his nails until Pippin prompted him.

"What did Saradoc do?"

"Ranted and raved for a couple of hours, then took him straight back to Buckland. I tried to get Bilbo to say that he could stay with us, even if it was just for a few days or weeks. Berry hadn't been able to say much but I could see that he was in a bad way. A few days with us - even if I didn't touch him - would have helped. But Bilbo sat me down and explained to me all the laws and the rules and the customs, all of which said that Merimac could do whatever he liked with his son, and Saradoc was acting as his agent, until, in the end, I watched Saradoc take Berry away and I never lifted a finger. He was crying for me and I just let them take him away. I heard later that they thrashed him and locked him up for a month. I shouldn't have let him go. I shouldn't have let them take him. I should have fought for him."

There were tears running down Frodo's face, and Pippin set his mug down so that he could hug him. Frodo rummaged for his handkerchief and blew his nose. After a couple of sniffles, he continued. "Anyway, after that, Merimac decided that he could keep a better eye on Berry if he kept him at his side, so he began to take him on his travels. As the Master's agent, he went all over the Shire, seeking buyers for Buckland produce, so in fact it was a good education for him. The only problem from Merimac's point of view was that Bywater, where he often stopped, was too close to Hobbiton, so he tried to time their journeys so that they stopped at Waymeet or Frogmorton instead. One day... one day, he had been delayed by something and they had to stop in Bywater. This was about eighteen months after I had left, so I was 22 and Berry had just turned 17."

For the third time, Frodo stopped, and Pippin was about to nudge him again when he restarted. "You have to understand, I had heard that Berry was travelling with Merimac, and was getting along pretty well. We weren't allowed to write to each other, so we only had third hand news at best. I thought he was happy. I thought, perhaps, that he might have... well, not forgotten me, but might not be in love with me any more.

"I was 22. I think I mentioned that. Well, there was a party that day in Hobbiton - one of the village boys had got married and everyone was there. We'd all had a fair bit to drink. I'd had a lot to drink - though it's no excuse." He looked up. "Is there any more cocoa?"

"I have some left." Pippin took his half-full cup from the table and swapped it for Frodo's empty one.

Frodo grimaced. "You never put enough sugar in."

"You always put too much in. Go on with the story."

"I don't like this bit."

"Does that mean it's the most important part?"

Frodo smiled ruefully. "Maybe. It's certainly the part that changed everything." He drained the last of the cocoa, shuddered, then visibly made the decision to go on. He took a deep breath. "Very well, then. To put it quite bluntly: Berry came to Hobbiton, looking for me. He asked where I was, was shown where I was, and found me in a barn, naked underneath my cousin Lotho."

The sheer unexpectedness of it stunned Pippin to the core. He sat silent and still for several seconds, until he found the breath to speak and even then all he could manage was, "Oh."

"Yes. Oh."

They sat in silence for a while longer until Pippin asked, "What did he say when he saw you?"

"Nothing. He never said a word. I never even knew he was there. Not until later, when Lotho told me. He... gloated. He said he must have been good if I didn't even notice my - my 'ripe little Brandybuck tart'." Frodo's knuckles were white and he was shaking. "My fucking Cousin Lotho!" He threw the mug across the room and it shattered on the wall.

Pippin was alarmed - he had never seen Frodo swear nor lose his temper in quite that fashion. He looked at the wall, where the dregs of cocoa were dribbling down the plaster, then at Frodo, who sat with head tilted back and eyes closed, hands apparently relaxed on his knee. Only the depth of his breathing gave any indication of the maelstrom that had erupted a few seconds before.

Frodo opened his eyes and said calmly, "It was after that that Berry moved to Michel Delving."

There was another minute's silence before Pippin said, "I thought you didn't like Lotho."

"I don't."

"Then why...?"

Frodo took one of Pippin's hands in his and squeezed it. "Pippin, lad, you don't know how lucky you are to have Merry. He'll look after you, he'll be there whenever you need him. It's not easy, being a tween, wanting desperately to tumble and not sure of what's good and what's bad. When you long for it, when - when you burn for it, and you don't have a playmate of your own... sometimes, anyone who wants you looks good." He shrugged.

"And Lotho wanted you."

"Lotho wanted the knowledge of having had me. That's all." At Pippin's puzzled look, he added, "I thought he wanted me - I thought he liked me, perhaps even loved me. Afterwards, I realised that he just wanted to be able to say he had tumbled me. He didn't really care about me at all. There are people like that, Pip, people who will lie to you to get something they want. And when you aren't thinking clearly because all your blood has gone to your groin, then it's very easy for those people to take advantage of you."

Pippin considered this. "Uncle Sara said that Merry was taking advantage of me."

"Did he? I can understand why." Frodo saw Pippin's face change and hurried to prevent that thought from taking hold. "It's not true. Anyone can see that Merry is desperately in love with you - he would cut off his own hand rather than hurt you. But, yes, I can understand why they were concerned."

"Why?"

"Because Merry is so much older than you and because you are used to him telling you what to do."

"Do they really think I would lie with him just because he told me to? That's silly."

"It's a little more complicated than that. In fact, it's a lot more complicated than that, and I'm not sure that I can explain it in a way you could understand."

"I'm not completely stupid, you know, even if I can't read as fast as you."

Frodo laughed. "That's not what I meant. I know you're not stupid. In fact, you're much wiser in some things than I ever was. No, what I meant was that I can't even explain it to myself properly, let alone to anyone else. It has something to do with age and authority and force of character and habit, but none of those things are enough on their own."

"Did Lotho have all that?"

"No, he didn't. He didn't have any of it. Well, not much. That piece of stupidity was almost entirely my own fault. I was drunk, and I wanted to know what it was like."

"Was that your first time?"

Frodo nodded, and Pippin couldn't help but think of the contrast with his own first time, at Lithe, and then of the time that Merry had finally claimed him, just three nights ago. He and Merry had shared themselves in love and affection and golden warmth. He couldn't imagine what it must have been like for Frodo: a hurried coupling in a cold barn with a cousin he didn't even like. He shuddered.

"Did Berry hate you after that?"

"I don't know."

"Why not? Didn't you ask him?"

"I've barely spoken to him since then, and never about that. I rarely went to Michel Delving, so it was two years before I saw him again, and he was with another lad, so I left without saying anything. The next time was about four years after that, and we just said hello. I avoided Buckland anyway, and since Berry moved back, five years ago, I don't think I've been there at all, apart from the funeral in March. We've become almost strangers." He sighed. "I think I've spent more time with Berry in the last two days than I had in the previous eighteen years."

"That's sad."

"Well, yes, it's sad, but it’s not the end of the world. We've both made our own lives, now, and they're very different. I have Bag End, and Berry has his position as the Hall's factor."

"And you have Sam, now."

Frodo's face inexplicably closed up. 'Yes," he said dully, "Yes, now I have Sam." He hauled himself off the bed. "Speaking of which, I'll be heading back to Hobbiton tomorrow afternoon, so as to be back for Quarter Day. And I'll need to get some sleep if I'm to take over the watch at two."

"Oh, of course. I'll take these down and make sure that Merry's coping."

Frodo nodded, his eyes still veiled. "Goodnight."

Pippin picked up the dirty crockery and the pottery shards and took them back down to the kitchen, where he discarded the broken mug and washed and dried the rest. He wandered back through the dimly-lit corridors to the invalid's room, to find Berry asleep and Merry sitting at a table, reading a book. Esme wasn't there.

"Merry..."

"Yes, love?"

"I need a hug."

Merry placed a marker in the book and closed it. He stood up and took Pippin in his good arm.

"What's wrong?"

"I asked Frodo what happened to him and Berry."

"Oh. Did he tell you?"

"Yes. It was horrible." Pippin shivered and Merry held him more closely, rubbing his back until Pippin eventually relaxed. "Thank you."

"Do you feel a little better now, love?"

Pippin nodded, then stood up straight and reached a hand up to touch Merry's cheek. "Thank you for making my first time so good, so special. I didn't know that it wasn't like that for everyone."

Merry's eyes filled with tears, and he flushed, embarrassed. "It had to be special for you - I love you so much I had to make it the best that it could possibly be."

"It was."

Pippin brought Merry's head down for a long, sweet, tender kiss. After another couple of minutes he asked, "Did Mum and Aunt Esme know about what happened to Frodo and Berry?"

"Yes, they did."

"Is that why they helped us? When Granpa and Father and Uncle Sara wanted to separate us?"

"It might be."

"If Frodo and Berry hadn't... well, if all that hadn't happened, do you think that they would have separated us?"

"I don't know, Pip." Merry's arm tightened, as if to ward off the very thought. "It's possible. Why do you ask?"

"Because it doesn't seem fair - that they were punished and we weren't. It makes me feel sad and not very comfortable."

"I know, sweetheart. I feel a bit guilty, too. But there isn't much that we can do about it now, except to be thankful that things went differently for us."

"But it's not fair."

"Life isn't fair, Pip, my love. Good things and bad things happen all the time and not always to the people who deserve them. We've been lucky this year - maybe something bad will happen to us next year or the year after, or ten years from now - who knows? All we can do is enjoy today."

"Do you think they'll ever fall in love again?"

Merry frowned. "I doubt it, love. It was too long ago. But I'd like to see them both happy again.

Esme came back into the room, carrying a clean chamber pot. She shooed the boys out and they climbed the stairs, hand in hand. Their lovemaking that night was tinged with sorrow and healing, and neither of them had to be reminded to keep quiet.

* * *

Frodo took his leave the next afternoon, telling Paladin and Eglantine that he would visit again soon. He gave Berry an awkward hug, trying not to lean on the injured arm. Berry was still in pain and his goodbye was terse.

The other farewells were much warmer. Esme and Merry were staying on for a while, since Merry wasn't really fit to travel either, and Eglantine had hinted that she could use a little extra help with the patient rather than place an unfair burden on her staff. Pippin was delighted, of course, and not even the proposal to move Merry to another room, for appearance's sake, was enough to dampen his spirits.

He and Merry stood at the door and watched Frodo ride off in the afternoon sun. They waved at him when he turned, just before heading over the hill, and then went back inside, closing the door behind them.

Pippin gave a huge sigh and wrapped his arms around Merry.

"What was that for, love?"

"Oh, I don't know. It just felt like... a new beginning."

"It does, at that."

Pippin's nose twitched as an unmistakable odour drifted through the air. "Aha! Raspberry tarts for tea! Come on!"

Merry laughed, and followed him into the smial.

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