The next two months flew by. I went home for a week and then visited Atti in Germany and saw the show he was working on, which was fabulous as usual. I came back for three weeks then had to fly down to New Zealand for some reshoots for The Two Towers. I didn't lose contact with Torrie though. If I was in town, I took her to lunch whenever possible and if Steve was on a business trip, she would meet Elijah and I for drinks and dancing. While in Europe and New Zealand, I called her everyday and sometimes she would call me. I found out that she didn't like being in Steve's house alone at night (I saw it once and it was a fairly monstrous place to be in alone) so whenever he was out of town, she rarely got much sleep.

On those nights we would talk for hours about pretty much everything, including sex. Its weird talking with a female about some of that stuff, especially one you are completely comfortable with. I learned quite a bit from her, the most amazing fact being that women were just as perverted and sex-starved as guys, only they were taught by society to hide it. Oh yeah, she told me some pretty freaky shit, especially with regards to fan fiction, which is where fans of something - be it a movie, tv show, actor or something - write their own take on it. I guess this stuff is all over the net. Anyway, Torrie told me about slash fan fiction, where these people write about two members of the same sex that they happen to be interested in getting it on. At first I didn't believe her. Then she decided to get rude and found a bunch of it off the net, printed it off and handed it to me. Christ, if it wasn't all about me and Viggo or Elijah or any of the Hobbits and stuff about Legolas and Aragorn and it just went on and on. I was completely and totally rendered speechless. I told Elijah about it and you know what he said? "Oh yeah, man. Can't believe you didn't know that shit was out there." Color me blown the fuck away. Then the little creep asked me, right in front of Julie, if I ever wanted to give any of it a try. Brat. One of these days I swear I am going to throw him over my knee and spank his ass black and blue. Wow. Those slasher people would love to hear that.

Between traveling while back in LA, I met this girl named Julie Wiles. Absolutely stunning. I mean, drop dead gorgeous. Long, pale blonde hair, deep blue eyes, perfectly tanned skin that begged to be touched. Very, very sweet, sometimes a little shy and didn't say much, at least when we were with a group of people. Sure, she wasn't a rocket scientist or anything but if I wanted stimulating conversation I usually sought out Elijah or Torrie anyway. Julie, or Jewels as I called her, was the perfect girl to take out for a night on the town. And the sex wasn't bad either. She had these impossibly long legs and a tongue that could do some amazing shit. Torrie referred to her as my "Trophy" and Elijah always told me to remember him when I got tired of her. Hmph. She was a little young - nineteen - but she was also a model and they were forced to grow up fairly quickly. I didn't know if it would turn into anything serious, or even if I wanted it to, but it sure as hell beat being alone.

I had been in New Zealand for about a week when Torrie called me one night. It was the usual time we got to talk to each other, while she was on her lunch break at work. I was kicked back on the floor, glancing over the shooting schedule for the next day, the phone sitting beside me, when it rang.

"Yeah?"

"You need to learn proper phone etiquette."

I smiled. "You're lucky I didn't pick it up asking what the fuck do you want?"

Normally she would have laughed at something like that but this time she didn't. Oh yeah, I had gotten to know Torrie really well. Something was wrong. But you couldn't just come out and ask her to tell you or she would clam up. If there was one thing I had quickly learned about her, it was that she didn't like bothering others with her problems. She hated being a nuisance. I tried to tell her that as her friend I was there for her and wanted to help her with anything that upset or hurt her. Torrie would always just tell me I certainly had more important things to do with my life than listen to her sob stories. It frustrated me to no end. It was the one barrier I had yet to get past in her and at times, there was a little part of me that was afraid to do so.

"How're the reshoots?"

"Great!" I could play along, share in some small talk for awhile if it would make her more comfortable. "It's like a family reunion. Sometimes I think it isn't right for people to have so much fun on a movie set. The Hobbits and I went surfing this afternoon - Billy had a fairly nasty wipeout. Smacked his head on the board. Nasty fucking bruise on his forehead.'

"Poor thing! I hope he's okay."

"Oh yeah. You know Billy. He decided to drink it off at the pub."

She laughed. Good sign.

"The next few days Peter's concentrating on stuff with Sam and Frodo so the rest of us are heading over to Sydney. Lij has to get back to LA next week to start shooting that new flick of his so everything should be done by then."

"I was wondering when that was." She paused and I heard the hesitation in her voice, like you know someone wants to say something but they are afraid to say it. I kept waiting. Started chewing my nails.

A long silence, neither of us saying much. Dammit, did I have to hold her hand through everything?

"Torrie - " I began but she cut me off.

"I think Steve is cheating on me."

Whoa. Didn't see that one coming. A part of me wanted to get up and dance a little jig. Maybe this would show her what a slime he was and she'd leave him. Of course, as her friend I felt sorry for her. Nothing's got to be worse than finding out the person you love obviously doesn't share the same depth of feeling.

"Jesus, hon, I'm sorry." That was the right thing to say, right? I ran a hand through my hair. "How did you find out?"

"I'm not for certain," she told me hesitantly, the disbelief evident in her voice. "There are just little things. Phone calls that I answer and they hang up. Receipts to jewelry stores. The smell of perfume I don't wear on his clothing. Stuff like that."

"Have you confronted him about it?"

A long pause. "Uh… no. I don't think… I mean, I don't know how I would have the nerve to do such a thing."

I frowned. That sure as hell didn't sound like Torrie. She never had any trouble whatsoever telling me when I was behaving like a jerk. And one day I even saw her flip out all over her boss at work because he had let another employee work with the dolphins and the male had gotten sick when the employee had fed them bad fish.

"You've gotta say something, Tor," I told her. "You can't just let him continue doing it and ignore it. You have to make him fess up, or deny it if he can. I'm sure as hell not going to let you just remain quiet about it while he continues to screw around on you. That's bullshit."

Another pause. "You're right… of course."

"Torrie, what's wrong?" There was more than simple hesitation in her voice. It was almost like… well, fear actually. "Are you afraid of something? Are you afraid of his reaction?" I didn't know why I asked that at the time, but it somehow seemed appropriate.

"No… no. That isn't it. Maybe I'm just afraid of his answer."

"Damn, Torrie. You've never lied to me like this before." I was getting pissed. I could tell by her voice that she wasn't telling me everything. Truthfully, I had never heard her like this before and I suddenly wished I was back in LA. It's easier to get someone to open up to you face to face. At least then they can't avoid your eyes.

"I'm not lying about anything, Orli," she defended. Poorly. "Look, I have to get back to work."

"Don't you fucking dare hang up the phone!" I snapped at her. "You called me, remember?"

Silence. I stood, pacing the room.

"Torrie?" I asked finally.

"I'm sorry, Orli. I didn't mean to make you mad…"

"I'm not mad, sweetie." I kicked the wall when I reached it, turned and leaned against it. "I just hate hearing you like this. I wish I could be there."

"It's not your responsibility to make my life a bed of roses."

"Isn't it?" If not mine then whose? Steve? Obviously, such a task wasn't that important to him. "I'd be hugging you right now if I were there."

"I know." I felt her smile. It made me feel a little better.

"Are you going to talk to Steve?"

"Yeah. When he gets back from Houston next week."

Well, it was a start. "I'll be in Sydney the next few days but I'll call when I get the chance."

"Have fun. And be good."

I smiled. "Always."

"Love you."

"Love you, too."

We hung up. Oh yeah, that whole "love you" thing, I haven't the slightest idea when it started or how. I think it was around a month ago, but I can't be certain. All I know is it came out really naturally and sounded right and I couldn't talk to her without saying it. I wasn't "in" love with her. I just loved her. Kind of like a brother/sister thing but not completely. Elijah's eyes about popped out of his head when he first heard us say it. I just told him to grow up. For some reason he found that incredibly funny.

Julie flew down to join me for a couple of days in Sydney. We had a good time. I only got to call Torrie once but she seemed in much better spirits, told me she had spent the day with Christine doing some shopping. It was a short conversation because she was busy with a tour that was arriving at the Center and Julie was tugging on me to hurry so we could get to the club. And with Julie standing right there I felt a little weird about telling Torrie that I loved her so when she said it I just replied same here and then felt like a bastard about it for the rest of the night. I tried calling her the next day but no one answered the phone.

We only had a few scenes left to do and I was thinking about flying to Germany when we were done so I could spend some more time with Atti. Elijah was flying back to LA the next day and I asked him to look in on Torrie for me if he had the chance. I still hadn't been able to get a hold of her since that last phone call and I hoped she didn't feel like I was brushing her off. I called her at work yesterday but they said she had called in sick. I hoped Steve was taking care of her but I highly doubted it.

The phone rang while I was packing up the last of my things. I considered just letting it go, not really in the mood to talk to anyone at the moment, but then I wondered if it might be Torrie. It was really beginning to bother me that we hadn't talked in almost a week.

"Hello?" There I was being polite, just in case it was her.

"Orli?"

"Yeah?" The feminine voice on the other end was slightly familiar but didn't register immediately.

"This is Christine."

That was weird. I don't think she had ever called me before. I frowned. "Hey Christine. What's up?"

"I'm sorry to bother you but I just got off the phone with Sean and he told me I should give you a call." She was speaking really fast and the tone of her voice sent off peels of alarms in my head.

I was already chewing on a nail, or what was left of one. "What is it?"

"It's Torrie… "

I waited, not wanting to hear that she was in some horrible car wreck or she went swimming in that damn shark tank again and one of the Blues attacked her. I think I was holding my breath too. Maybe that was why I hadn't heard from her and couldn't get a hold of her. But I had spoken with the Center yesterday and they said she was sick. Yes, that was it. She was sick. Maybe she was really sick and had asked Christine to call me.

When she didn't say anything more, I was forced to expel the breath I held and prompt her. "What about Torrie, Christine?"

A pause. "I feel like maybe I am sticking my nose where it doesn't belong but… well, I don't know what else to do and I thought you might. If Sean were here… Well, he said you might want to come back here yourself, since you are both so close."

Now I was beginning to really worry. "Christine, what the hell is it?"

"Well, I heard from the Center that she was sick so I decided to drop by the house today and see if I could get her anything. When she answered the door… God, Orli! I can't describe it. Her face was all bruised, her eye was swollen - she looked awful! I asked her what had happened and she gave me this stupid story about how one of the seals attacked her at the Center. "

I was silent. I couldn't think of anything to say. I was standing there in the middle of my room, denying everything that was going on in my head. I was gripping the phone hard.

"Orli," Christine said softly. "I think… I think Steve did that to her."

It felt like someone had punched me hard in the stomach. I remembered her stories about tripping out of bed and falling against the night stand and the hook of the fishing pole catching her lip. I remembered our conversation about Steve cheating on her and the fear in her voice. Holy mother of fuck I felt sick.

"Orli?"

"I'm here, Christine." Goddamn I was calm.

"What should I do? I tried to get her to talk to me but she just told me everything was fine and sent me on my way. I think Steve was there."

"Don't do anything." I was already tossing the rest of my things into the suitcase, closing it. "Torrie won't open up to you. Hell, she won't want to open up to me either but I'm not going to let her get off that easy this time. I'm on my way back tonight. If you can, try to stop by again tomorrow morning on her. I'll call you when I get in."

"Okay. Sean said you would most likely catch the next flight out."

My mind was already long gone from this conversation. I just kept picturing myself bashing Steve's face in, and I'm not typically a violent person. But this was one instance I was ready to make an exception. Damn Torrie for keeping this from me.

I hung up with Christine and called the airport. Luckily there was a flight leaving in four hours. I booked it and was about to hang up when Sean and Elijah walked in. They quickly told me to get them on the same flight. I did so.

I was shaking by the time I put the phone down. Sean handed me something to drink, not sure what it was but it burned going down and then it calmed me a little. Not much. Elijah told me to relax. I told him to fuck off. Oh no, I wasn't doing well at all. I couldn't decide who I was maddest at - Steve for hitting her, Torrie for not telling me or myself for not seeing it right away. Deep inside, I had always known things weren't right. But I had ignored it. The glass was in my hand one moment and shattered against the wall the next. Elijah made me sit down. Sean promised that we'd take care of things. I barely heard either of them. I was too busy blaming myself for allowing this to happen.

If it hadn't been for the two of them, I don't know how I would have made it to the airport, or the long flight and transfers before we finally made it to LA. Sean called Christine when we got in and found out that Torrie had gone to work that morning. Well, at least she wasn't with Steve. It would make it easier to confront her. To make her admit to me that she had been lying. I had no idea what I was going to do. I sure as hell wasn't going to let her go back to that bastard or anywhere near him again. I hadn't said much since we left New Zealand, even Sean and Elijah were tense beside me. They wanted to take me to my place first and get me to calm down but I refused. I wanted to see Torrie immediately and I was going with or without them. Sean warned me I needed to calm down before I confronted her or I might scare her. I wasn't listening.

Laurie was at the ticket counter when we arrived. I was so in the mood not to talk to her. Not that it mattered. When she saw Elijah and Sean with me, she kind of forgot that I was there. She immediately asked for their autographs.

Sean shook his head. "Maybe later, hon," he told her. "Right now we have to see Torrie. Is she here?"

Laurie's eyes kind of widened. "Wow. What kind of social circles does she hang around in anyway?"

I was about to say something, which I am sure would have been rude but Elijah placed a hand on my arm and said, "We really need to see her."

The teenager blinked for a moment then nodded. "Yeah. Okay. She's with the dolphins. Mr. Bloom knows where - "

But I was already headed there before she could finish, Sean and Elijah close beside me. I led them to the outside pool, where we saw that Torrie was alone, kneeling beside the water, tossing fish out to the two dolphins. Her back was to us and she was wearing a long t-shirt and jeans. It wasn't her usual comfortable clothing she wore to work. I frowned, pulling the door open and stepping outside.

Torrie glanced over her shoulder at us and her eyes widened. She stood, turning to face us and I sucked in a sharp breath.

Mother of fuck! Christine had been generous. Torrie's right eye was covered in a ring of black and purple, the left side of her jaw harbored a similar bruise and her lower lip was once more split open. I felt sick. I barely heard Elijah make a noise of disbelief beside me.

"Orli." Torrie flashed us a nervous smile. "Hi guys. What… what are you doing here? I thought you were still in New Zealand." Her gaze flickered over Sean. If there was one thing Torrie wasn't, it was stupid. She knew very well why we were there. She knew Christine had called us.

I moved toward her, still uncertain of what to say, still telling myself not to scream at her. When I reached out to touch her, she winced, drew back, as if afraid of me. That did it.

"What the fuck, Torrie?" I demanded.

She blinked and jumped a little. "I - "

"He did this to you, didn't he?"

Fear. Definitely. Her expression was washed in it. Her gaze went past me to Elijah and Sean again and then back. "I don't know what you're talking about."

She tried to move away, I grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Stop it, Torrie! Just stop it. I'm sick of your lies! I'm sick of this bullshit that you're just absent-minded. You look me in the eyes and tell me that a goddamned seal did this to you!"

She was trembling. I hated myself for yelling at her but I was not about to let her lie her way out of this again. I wanted her to admit it. I wanted her to trust me enough to tell me the truth. There were tears in her eyes that she was trying valiantly to hold back. She said nothing.

Elijah moved up beside me. Maybe he was a little afraid of my temper. "Torrie, we just want to help you," he told her softly, much calmer than I was feeling at the moment. "We're your friends."

Nothing. She looked like a cornered animal, ready to gnaw her own leg off to get the hell away from us. I hated seeing her like this. It wasn't Torrie. It wasn't the same woman who fearlessly swam with a dozen sharks. It wasn't the same woman who took charge of a boat full of rough-hewn fishermen on weekends or called my girlfriend my "trophy" and snatched Elijah's cigarettes out of his mouth when she was sick of him smoking them.

"Do you want me to go to Scott and ask him if you got your face mangled by a seal?" I demanded. "What do you think his answer will be? What lie did you tell him? That you fell down the fucking stairs?"

"Orli." Sean spoke my name softly, in warning. "Easy."

To hell with easy. I took a step toward her, holding her when she tried to move away. I cupped her chin with my hand and pulled her head up, forced her gaze to meet mine. She continued to fight those tears. I gentled my hold, I knew that she had reached the end of her strength. She was crumbling right there in front of us. And I was about to fall apart myself. The guilt had been suffocating me for the past twenty-four hours. Oh yeah, this was all my fault and I knew it.

"Please, sweetheart," I pleaded gently. "You confronted him about his cheating on you and he did this to you, didn't he? Torrie? Just tell me whether or not he did this to you, please."

Her lip trembled. Her eyes fluttered for a moment and then she nodded.

I heard Sean curse behind me and Elijah made another noise and walked away but I kept my focus on Torrie. The tears started falling and I pulled her into my arms and held her and she began sobbing and I forced the anger that I felt at the moment - the pure hatred for Steve Rubin - aside and concentrated on calming my friend. I stroked her hair and caressed her back and Elijah was pacing around the pool, muttering to himself while Sean stood to the side, running a hand through his hair, watching me hold Torrie, shaking his head in disbelief. It was all pretty surreal. You don't really picture yourself ending up in such situations. Men who beat women were something you saw in a drama or some made-for-television movie or you might have heard it on the news with regards to some pro athlete. It wasn't supposed to happen to someone I knew, and it sure as hell wasn't supposed to happen to someone like Torrie. I don't know about you but I always pictured the women in such situations to be meek little creatures without any spine or education or self-confidence. Torrie had her insecurities sure, but didn't we all?

Fuck.

"I'm not letting you go back there, do you understand me?" I asked her softly. I waited until I felt her nod against my chest before I continued. "You just let me take care of you. I won't let anything more happen to you, sweetheart, I promise."

It was hard to hold back my own tears as she clung to me. God, she was terrified. I held her a little tighter. I couldn't stop hearing my own voice in my head telling her to confront him. She had been frightened on the phone. I had known and I had ignored it. Right then I hated myself as much as I hated Steve.

"I'm here now, baby," I assured her, burying my face against her hair. "I'm here."

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