Sméagol's Redeption

Chapter 76

After dinner, the two of them went back to Lea's place to watch a beautiful, romantic, tearjerking movie together—A Walk to Remember. It was a movie Lea had watched many times, one of her favorites, so she wasn't expecting to cry that much anymore, until Sméagol started to cry. He held her close as he sobbed heavily, which reduced her to tears, realizing why the movie touched him so deeply. She kissed him softly, and nuzzled up in his arms.

"That was a lovely movie, Precious," Sméagol sniffled.

"Yeah," Lea agreed, "it's one of my favorites."

"I relates to Landon a lot."

"You do?"

"Yes. I'm a lot like him. My life was a mess before Aini brought me here. Then, I meets you." He smiled at Lea. "You changed my life, Precious."

"You changed mine, too," said Lea. "I was a human trainwreck when we met. I mean, I still sort of am, but... you know, I was at a very low point in my life, probably at my lowest. I was dating an emotionally abusive guy who was sleeping with someone I thought was my friend. And, that wasn't the first bad relationship I was in, not the first fake friend I had. My problem is, I'm easily manipulated and fooled. I always try to see the best in people, and that gets me in deep doodoo."

Sméagol giggled at Lea's choice of words.

"So, people like Ivan and Val come along, and come off as some of the sweetest people in the world. They reel me in, and then, once they win over my trust, they show their true colors. But, I'm already sucked in too far to even see it, and even when I do see it, I love them way too much to let go. And, it happened over and over and over, and after a while, I felt like I deserved it, like I was a terrible person. Then again, when you're told multiple times by multiple people that you're a piece of shit, you actually believe it. Bri and Damian were the only genuine, true friends I ever had, but I thought they were too good for me, like I didn't deserve people as amazing as them in my life, because I was such a horrible person. Then, I met you and Gollum, and you both helped me to see my worth. You showed me that I'm not a terrible person, and that I do deserve love. And... when things got really bad, and I wanted to give up, you reminded me to keep holding on. I remember when Gollum said you wouldn't be okay without me. That really stuck with me, and it made me wanna stay alive."

Sméagol brushed back a tear.

"I still have a lot of other issues to work on, but... if you think about where I am now versus where I was a year ago... wow."

"Like the way you stood up to Val. You used to let her walk all over you."

"Yeah, because I'm too scared of conflict, but tonight, when she ripped my wig off in front of everyone, that just... The fact that she could be so heartless and evil, and expose a very vulnerable part of me, it just... I mean, it really hurt me, but it also really made me angry."

"It hurt me, too, Precious." Sméagol put his arm around Lea, and caressed her shoulder. "Seeing her humiliate my baby like that. It hurt even more when I saw the look on your face. But, it handled it so well."

"And, I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of support I got when I finally put my foot down. In the past, when I tried to defend myself against a bully, people called me a bitch, made me out to be the bad guy, and then, they defended the bully. Sad thing is, I believed them, and that's one of the many reasons why conflict scares the shit out of me."

"But, they were bullies, too, my love. They wanted you to believe things about yourself that are not true, so they could feel better about themselves. Anyone who could defend Val after what she did to you is just as nasty a bully as she is."

"I know that now. I didn't before. But, you know, I got my courage to stand up to her from you and Gollum. You've always been there to build me up and encourage me. You bring out the best in me, and you inspire me so much, as a singer, as a writer, as a person."

"You inspires me, too, Precious. I finds my passion for music, because of you. I finds Jesus Christ, because of you. I finds so much good in the world, because of you. I remembers when Sam told Master there was good in this world, and it's worth fighting for."

"But, at the time, you didn't believe it, because you saw too much bad shit in your life."

"Yes. I wanted to believe it, but I didn't think I would live to see it for myself."

"But, you did. You know, for me, I knew there was good in the world, but I didn't believe I deserved any of it."

"But, you does, Precious."

"And, so do you." Lea bent over, and picked up a large gift bag. "By the way, I have a present for you." She handed it to Sméagol. "Happy Valentine's Day, or as I like to call it, Sweatertine's Day."

Sméagol giggled as he removed the tissue paper, and pulled out a thick book. "What's this?" He looked at the front cover. It was a picture of him and her together, and the book was entitled Memories with My Angel. He opened the book, and skimmed through the pages. They were all filled with pictures of them, as well as special notes and blurbs, talking about each special memory, and expressing all the reasons why she loved him so much. Sméagol burst into tears of joy, and kissed Lea passionately. "I loves you, my precious!" he cried. "I loves you so much!" Then, he reached in the bag one more time, and pulled out a very large, very soft and fluffy teddy bear wearing a soft sweater with a large, red heart with white letters that read "I love you!" Sméagol's smile streched so far across his face as he hugged the bear. He was very surprised when it made a loud kissing sound, and said "I love you" in the cutest little voice. "Awwwwwwwwwwwww!" Sméagol cried. "So precious! This is the cutest little ball of fluff!" He hugged Lea again. "Awwwww, you sweet little honey-cake!" He planted little kisses all over her face. "I has a present for you, too, Precious." As he bent over to pick up his gift for Lea, he accidentally ripped a very loud fart.

"Holy shit!" Lea yelped. "Right in my face! Thank you!"

Sméagol burst out laughing.

Lea coughed. "Damn, Sméagol! That stinks!" She and Sméagol looked at each other, and both lost themselves in long, loud laughter. "And, I thought Damian's farts were bad."

"Not as bad as yours, Precious!" Sméagol teased.

"Oh, shut up!" Lea teased back. "Yours make skunks smell like fuckin' roses!"

Sméagol made a face at Lea.

"That reminds me of a joke," Lea said randomly. "Did you hear about the blind skunk?"

Sméagol shook his head.

"He fell in love with a fart."

Sméagol laughed. "That's funny! Here's your present, my love." He tried to calm himself down. "Happy Valentine's Day, Precious."

Lea reached in the bag, and pulled out a big, white, fluffy sweater blanket. "Oh, my gosh!" she squealed, hugging the blanket. "It's so soft and fluffy!"

"I makes it for you."

"You made this yourself?"

"Yes, Precious. Aini taught me."

"It's so beautiful! Oh, my gosh, I love it! It's so sweatery, just like you." She got a pleasant whiff of the scent on the blanket as she rubbed it against her face. "And, it smells like you! Even better, because you smell amazing!"

Sméagol smiled sweetly. "Awwww, you smells lovely, too, Sweetie."

"Thank you, Sméagol, for everything. I love you."

"I loves you, too, Lea." Sméagol wrapped the blanket around Lea, pulled her into the biggest, fluffiest sweater hug, and kissed her passionately. "Happy Sweatertine's Day, my fluffy precious."