through the entire night, you tossed and turned, attempting to find a comfortable position. there was no luck in finding comfort when fear was heavier on your mind than sleep, much like your friend frodo.
you were discreet when hiding your uncomfort, especially while legolas was only a few feet away standing guard for the current moment. nearly everything that was a potential threat crossed your mind, but you tried to subdue it until actually needed to be a concern.
"(y/n)," your brother whispered, despite you thinking you'd hidden your sleepless night, legolas was not a fool.
quietly making your way over to him and sitting down on the grass next to his feet, much like you would when you were a child.
"why do you thrash around like something is bothering you?"
"because something is bothering me."
he didn't speak, which was his way of saying 'go ahead.'
"what happens if we do not help frodo destroy the ring? what will happen to the hobbits? aragorn? us? what about gimli? gandalf?" before you could notice, you began rambling on and on which legolas let you air out any concerns so he could shut them down at the end.
you continued on with hypotheticals, things that were bound to never happen. you began to scare yourself with more worries you didn't even know you had.
"do you not have faith in any of us?"
"it's not that i don't, i just fear that sauron's efforts might be more than what we're expecting."
"you're wise to acknowledge that, but it's best if you don't. the ring will be destroyed once frodo throws the ring-"
"have you not noticed how the ring has already affected the poor boy?"
"i have, but he is strong."
neither of you spoke, he was letting you process the idea that worries were insignificant in the grand scheme of things. you sat there, staring at the dirt and attempting to think of something to say but he eventually cut off your thoughts.
"go to sleep, muinthel." he ruffled your hair as if you were a little kid.
rolling your eyes and standing from your seated position, you began walking back to where your items were when you heard him ask, "why did you mention the hobbits first in your worries?"
you spun around quickly, looking back at him but he already had his back to you. heat rose to your cheeks, but luckily no one was awake to hear it. even if frodo was awake, there was no way he was worried about whatever legolas had to say.
the night after that you felt would go by just fine, especially seeing that legolas shifted your attention towards a certain hobbit.
meriadoc brandybuck.
you weren't sure how legolas knew about your crush, but that was besides the point. you'd been flirtatious with the hobbit since you first met him in rivendell. he was ruffling through your bag with pippin, they both argued that they thought it had been left behind as if you'd not just left the bag to go talk to lord elrond.
from that moment forward, you'd been smitten. he would flirt back but would often get pulled away into other more serious matters, like his dear cousin getting scolded by gandalf.
you weren't quite sure how you, an elf, could have such strong feelings for the hobbit. you often flattered yourself with using aragorn and arwen as an example, knowing neither of you quite fit those standards.
as you began thinking more and more about the potential of a relationship with merry, you began to doze off and eventually fall completely asleep. it only lasted for what felt like a few minutes until you woke up in a cold sweat.
frodo put the ring on his finger one last time. you stood next to sam, begging frodo to throw it but he wouldn't. sam had tears on his face, and he looked as if he'd just went through a lifetime of military battles.
'frodo, please."
the look in his eye was dangerous, he began to march towards you with his hands out as if he were going to strangle you. with that image in your mind, you woke up.
a loud gasp escaped your lips and the figure that was approaching you jumped a little. your breathing was hard and rigid as you tried to make yourself become back in touch with reality.
"(y/n)," they kneeled down next to you, "it's okay, you're okay."
merry grabbed your hand gently, afraid to alarm you too much. when you finally realized that frodo hadn't been tainted by the ring and that you were still where you were when you fell asleep.
"merry?"
he hummed in response, "don't worry, it's only me. everyone else is still asleep, aside from your brother."
he knew mentioning that legolas was only a few feet away would be more comforting to you than anything. you glanced to spot him, and there he was. he hadn't strayed too far from where he was earlier when you spoke.
"do you wanna talk about it?"
glancing back over to merry, you shook your head.
"not about that," your breath was still shaky, causing your words to be the same as well. you could tell he wanted to talk to you, but he understood if right after waking up from a nightmare was not the time. he began to get up but you gripped his hand before he could go anywhere, "but i still want to talk."
he put a finger up as if he was saying 'hold-on.' you watched as he nearly hopped over pippin's sleeping form to grab his satchel that he'd been using as a pillow, and then nearly trampling pippin again to come back to you.
that was another thing about your crush on merry. he could always make you laugh, no matter what mood you were in prior.
he sat down next to you, "what do we wanna talk about?"
you grinned, trying to hide your previous fears behind humor. you placed a finger on your chin, acting as if you were going to ponder on a topic.
"tell me about your life before you got wrapped up with this."
he began telling you everything. and that means everything. the poor hobbit started at the first moment of his life as a baby. he went on for ages, but you weren't complaining. it was interesting to hear about how hobbits were raised, seeing it was far different than how you were.
once he arrived at present time, he asked you about your life. you started the story as he did.
"well, my father is the king of the elves of-"
"king?"
"do you want my father's life story or my own?"
his face became red, but you could only giggle. you heard your brother chuckle beyond the trees, but continued. you told him about everything, and explained why you are so close to your brother. he was amazed at how eventful your life had been, and for an elf, you were very young.
he had a question about nearly everything, and would often find himself getting way too happy about your accomplishments for you.
"do you consider legolas your best friend?"
"the only person i really know is legolas," you smile, "he's not too bad, so i guess that is a yes."
"well you have us too!" he beamed, "us as in me, pippin,-"
"hm, legolas may be a tad better." you teased, trying to get a reaction out of him.
"yeah, but can your brother do this?" he started to get up to show you something, but you answered with a quick 'probably' that made him chuckle.
it wasn't until then, you realized how loud you both were being.
"merry, get over here!" you whisper yelled, trying to get his attention as he ran towards aragorn's sword that laid on the ground next to him.
he stopped in his tracks and looked back at you, seeing that you were smiling so he knew he was doing something right. instead of grabbing the sword, he came back to you and sat down again.
"are you feeling okay?"
you nod with no response, instead moving to lay back down. he mimicked your actions, going to lay down as-well. he noticed you had nothing to lay your head on, "a princess shouldn't have to lay her head on the ground."
you blushed at his comment, and he stretched his arm out to put it around your shoulder. your head rested perfectly on him, and you placed your hand on his chest.
the two of you laid in silence for a moment.
"merry," you paused, waiting for a sign that he was still awake.
he hummed in response again.
"thank you."
"you don't need to thank me. i just needed you to smile again."
with that, you both fell alseep in each other's grasp. that was until the next morning, which you'd not though of the reactions of the others.
the morning sun caused your eyes to flutter open, and the first thing you saw was a wide-awake pippin. he sat criss-crossed next to you and merry as if he was a lost puppy, wanting attention.
"good morning, (y/n)!" he grinned, "it looks like you and merry enjoyed each other's company last night."
"good morning pippin.."