Chapter Text
Almost five months had passed since Galadriel had broken up with her perpetually absent long-term boyfriend, and put a toe over the carefully constructed line of friendship between she and her roommate. Apart from the night of St. Patrick's day the month following, the events of which Galadriel still couldn’t fully remember but for a handful of truly embarrassing moments, the line had not been crossed again.
But, then, the line had moved.
Their new normal included things like more frequently shared meals, and the occasional cuddle on the couch. Regular movie nights, and small community events attended together. She was almost certain she had spent more time with Halbrand in the last five months than she had with Celeborn in the entire time they were together. Halbrand was also more physically affectionate than Celeborn, more instinctively tactile. Lingering touches along the small of her back, an arm slung around her shoulders, gentle tugs on her braid to catch her attention. It wasn’t something he had done before Valentine’s day, but now it seemed he couldn’t stop. She certainly wasn’t about to complain. It didn’t occur to her until sometime mid-April how accustomed to it she had become. How touch starved she had been before him.
On the first rare occasion in months where Halbrand was running late for work, he had left before completing their morning routine. Every morning, now, they brushed their teeth at the same time, almost pressed into each other’s sides in their small shared bathroom. Then they went to the kitchen where Galadriel made their coffee, and Halbrand made their breakfast. They sat at their little table together, legs bumping into each other no matter which seats they sat in, and spent the time in companionable silence.
That day she woke and found him gone, and it left her feeling off-kilter and bereft.
She called Nori to meet her for breakfast instead, somehow unable to bear the thought of eating alone, and was grateful when her friend agreed despite her busy schedule.
“So, what’s the occasion?” Nori asked, biting into her latkas with relish and smearing a light layer of sour cream across the top.
“We haven’t been out in awhile,” Galadriel said, dodging the question with a half-truth. “I missed you and wanted to catch up.”
Nori grinned at her as she chewed and took a sip of her coffee. “Gal, I hear from you every week at the same time, on the same day. I may not know all the details of it but I know that your schedule is carved in stone. Spontaneity like this isn’t you, not without cause. C’mon, out with it. Tell me the truth.”
Galadriel wrinkled her nose, displeased that her friend saw through her and dared to call her on it before she’d even finished her first cup of coffee. “Really, Nori, must I have another motive?”
Nori rolled her eyes and gave her a weary look. “Where’s Halbrand?”
Galadriel bristled, casting her eyes to her own sorry plate of scrambled eggs and bacon, both drier than they ever were when Halbrand made them. “Work, I assume?”
The corners of Nori’s lips turned up, just slightly; the only indicator the girl knew she had poked at the right spot. “You assume? You don’t know? Don’t you guys have a whole… thing?”
“We’re roommates, Nori, same as we have been. I’m not privy to everything he does, where he goes, or who he sees.”
“Well, yeah, but roommates with benefits,” Nori stage whispered, waggling her eyebrows. “I don’t know why you two don’t just admit you’re dating instead of all this…” she trailed off, waving her fork in the air.
Galadriel shook her head, pushing the eggs around on her plate. “Just roommates, Nori. No benefits. None. We’re not like that.”
Nor’s fork clattered against her plate, drawing the attention of the server and the handful of old men sharing a pot of coffee and doing their crossword. “What? Are you serious?”
Galadriel cast her eyes around, embarrassed by her friends brashness, and sunk a little further into the booth. “What do you mean am I serious? Nori, we’re not… benefiting from anything. We’ve never even gone on a date let alone… anything else.”
Nori’s mouth hung open, a small bit of chewed up latkas just barely visible in the back of her mouth. Galadriel shuddered, wrinkling her nose at the sight. “Chew your food, heathen,” she hissed, and glared down at her own plate before reaching for the bottle of Tabasco at the end of the table.
Nori’s mouth snapped shut and she chewed her food in silence, choosing to wisely remain quiet as Galadriel pried the crusted twist cap off and generously painted her entire plate orange with the hot sauce.
Nori cleared her throat, no lingering food in her mouth, and refilled her coffee, and Galadriel’s, from the hot carafe left at the end of their table. “Galadriel, I’m confused. Now, I know that’s nothin’ new — I’m often confused, let’s be fair — but, I honestly thought the two of you have been carrying on since Valentine’s day and just didn’t want to say anythin’ because of Celeborn, or fear of gettin’ criticized for rebounding. We all thought it.”
Galadriel took a hearty bite of her now over-sauced eggs, savoring the bite of the hot pepper sauce and how it killed the blandness of the unseasoned eggs and using the time to prepare her response. “You all thought it?” she asked after she swallowed her bite. “Who is ‘we all’ exactly, and why would you think that?”
Nori appeared uncharacteristically at a loss for words, her brow furrowed in genuine confusion. “Well, me, Poppy, Elrond, Durin and Disa… all of us, really.”
“Why?” Galadriel couldn’t fathom it. She and Halbrand had never crossed that line, in public or private.
“Well, I mean, especially after St. Patrick’s Day, it sort of just seemed like it was… a thing? He comes with you to our parties, my art shows, trivia nights… You guys are practically attached at the hip.”
“St. Patrick’s Day… right,” Galadriel said, taking another drink of her coffee.
Nori peered at her from beneath her fringed bangs, trying to catch her gaze. Her mouth popped open. “You don’t remember, do you? Oh my god, Galadriel,” she hissed, a hiccuping sort of laugh escaping her.
“I remember enough,” Galadriel demurred, sniffing. She didn’t, not hardly at all. The most memorable and confusing part had been waking in Halbrand’s bed the next morning, but all of their clothes were still on and she certainly didn’t feel like she’d been well-satisfied the night before. Halbrand told her that his only goal by the time they set foot in their apartment was to get her into bed, any bed, and his had been closer. It made sense.
“Galadriel, you—”
“It’s April, Nori. That was a month ago. We haven’t slept together, or gone on a date, or anything that your energetic little mind has come up with. We aren’t like that.”
“Are you sure that’s what he thinks?” Nori asked, eating her last latka with applesauce instead of sour cream. Absently, Galadriel noted the way the the sour cream and applesauce sat beside each other on the plate and mingled and could picture the exact look of disgust Halbrand would have on his face if he were here.
“He’s never said otherwise,” Galadriel said, shrugging. “Nor as he ever tried to… seduce me?” she laughed, feeling a little ridiculous even saying it.
“Uh-huh,” Nori said, unconvinced. “Right, so what do you usually do for breakfast in the morning?”
Galadriel felt a blush creep across her cheeks and stain the tips of her ears, and cursed her pale complexion, knowing that it would be impossible to hide. She cleared her throat. “Halbrand usually makes it. He didn’t this morning.”
Nori gave her an dry, annoyed look. “Every day? The man makes you breakfast every day? Gal, Poppy and I have been together for three years, and if we manage to share a bagel twice a week it’s a milestone for us. Our schedules aren’t all that different from yours and Halbrand’s. If the man is taking the time to make you breakfast every day, that says something. It’s not seduction. It’s romance.”
Galadriel scoffed, rolling her eyes. “It isn’t romance, Nori. It’s neurosis. Halbrand has a routine, and he sticks to it. He’d make himself breakfast every day anyway, regardless of whether I’m there.”
“Oh, so he did it before you broke up with Celeborn, then?” Nori asked her pointedly, peering at her over her coffee mug.
Galadriel frowned, struggling to remember if he had or not. It was hard now, after five months of a consistent routine, to think of any time it might’ve been different. “I don’t remember,” she said honestly, after a moment. “But I think so.”
Nori exhaled an exasperated sigh and shook her head, rubbing her temples as if Galadriel had given her a headache. “The last one of my art shows you came to, his arm was around your waist, like, the whole time. And he glared off anyone that tried to approach you!”
Galadriel vaguely recalled that being the case, but she was so accustomed to the weight of his arm around her she hadn’t thought anything of it. “You know how uncomfortable he is rubbing elbows with snobs, Nori. He just stayed close to avoid having to interact with anyone. And your art shows are full of cougars looking for their next new thing — he was very uncomfortable.”
Nori looked at her with a painfully disappointed, incredulous look and shook her head. “For someone so smart you really are painfully oblivious. Did you know that about yourself? Check please!” she shouted, catching their server’s attention and offering the woman a bright grin. “Whenever you have a minute; I know you’re slammed.” The server nodded gratefully and ushered off, a tray full of drinks in hand.
“Galadriel, the man is gone for you, alright? Has been for way longer than February, and the only person who doesn’t seem to know it is you. You should do something about that. He might be a grump but he seems like a good sort. He’s been good to you, if not for you.”
Galadriel didn’t argue any further but finished her sorry plate of breakfast and paid for both their meals, grateful that Nori had met her on short notice and knowing how tight the other woman’s budget was.
Three months had passed since then, and apart from that one little blip in their schedule, everything had fallen back into place. Galadriel tried to find evidence for Nori’s claim that Halbrand was gone for her, but found nothing but his own routine and preference for orderliness and stability. More than once, even, she had tried to toe their new line, pressing closer to him against the couch until she was almost in his lap, or kissing his cheek just at the corner of his mouth as a thank you for making her breakfast. He never reciprocated, it seemed, never pushed back or took the hint. So, Galadriel let it go, and accepted that her roommate was tactile, and that she was simply benefiting from his routine.
Now, it was the day before the 4th of July, and Galadriel was enjoying the time off from her job. She had carefully planned her PTO days this week to make the most of the time and successfully managed to get the week off work. The only plans she had made were to make no plans at all. The American holiday wasn’t one she celebrated, per se, but she enjoyed the fireworks, and all the revelry to be found in the city. At the very least, she was quite certain she could find a bar with decent drink specials, and maybe even someone new to meet.
She couldn’t lie to herself anymore. Halbrand’s tactility had sparked something in her that had lain long dormant in her relationship with Celeborn. She wanted to be touched. She missed sex. Celeborn had seldom been home, and while they had done their best to make up for lost time when he was home, it was never enough, for her. He had claimed fatigue, jet-lag, all manner of reasons. More than once Galadriel had found herself staring at her own bare form in the mirror, wondering what parts of her he didn’t find attractive. But neither had been true. Celeborn simply didn’t have the same level of desire that she did. Gift-giving was his love language.
Galadriel might’ve known then, in hindsight, that they were never going to work out. It was time she valued, not gifts, and Celeborn had never been able to provide her that. Time, and a helping hand between her legs, at least.
“Galadriel?” Halbrand’s voice, more terse than usual, rose above the chatter from the K-drama on the tv.
“What?” she asked, not looking up from the program she was engrossed in.
“Are you packed?” he asked, half-shouting.
Galadriel froze, taking a minute to process what it was he had asked, and scrambled to pause the show. Rising from her nest on the couch she made her way to his room, hovering in the open doorway and watched him organize his own suitcase. “Why would I pack?” she asked, confused.
He turned towards her, frowning. “My family’s 4th of July picnic is tomorrow, and my cousin Melian’s engagement party is the day after. We talked about it this morning. Weren’t you listening?”
She had been listening, but she had never heard an invitation, and told him as much. “I heard you complain for over an hour about your family, and how you were very much looking forward to leaving it before you’ve even arrived. I don’t recall an invitation being mentioned. Besides, I have plans.”
“What, to sit here by yourself on a holiday, for a whole week?” he snorted, giving her a disparaging look. “Nori and Poppy both are out of town. Durin and Disa left to visit his parents in Virginia two days ago.”
For the briefest moment, she considered telling him her plan of getting drunk and bringing a stranger home. Of letting him leave knowing that she intended to christen their apartment without him. She shuddered and banished the thought from her mind, feeling more certain than ever, however, that she was in need of a good romp sooner rather than later. “I just want to relax, Halbrand. No work, no people, no expectations. Just me, myself, and I, and a good K-drama or two to binge.” And, maybe, some unexpectant company to pass the time.
“My family has rented a park upstate with a large lodge. There’s some beautiful pools to swim in, excellent wi-fi, and free food and booze. Why would you choose to stay here by yourself? Get packed,” he ordered, dismissing her refusal.
It would make getting laid a lot easier, for one thing. Sighing, she considered her options. She had taken the whole week off work, and spending it all by herself in the apartment didn’t sound nearly as appealing as whatever luxury lodge his family had rented. Curiosity took hold of her, warring with her desire. He seldom spoke of his family. In all the time that they had roomed together, she did not ever recall him speaking to them or about them directly, even anecdotes from his childhood were vague at best. She didn’t even know the names of his parents. Galadriel understood estrangement all too well, so she had never pressed him, and accepted that he was a kindred spirit. It did not lessen her curiosity.
“Think of it as paying me back for St. Patrick’s day, if you must,” he said, unsatisfied with her lack of action.
Galadriel threw her hands up. “Fine!” One day, she would need to get someone to tell her what happened. It was beginning to rub her the wrong way that there was something she had done to have it held over her head. She returned to her room and began to hastily sort through her clothes, trying to decide what would be appropriate. It was a barbeque, so nothing too fancy. But, he had mentioned something about an engagement party for his cousin as well, so at least one little black number would suit. She packed a variety, enough to mix and match and hopefully cover whatever situation she might find herself in, and dared Halbrand to complain when she left her suitcase by the door for him to load in the car.
She packed her laptop, too, in the event that her time might wind up being better spent in her room watching tv after all. Somehow, she doubted that would be the case.
“Ready?” he asked, hoisting his own impossibly condensed backpack onto his shoulders.
“We’re leaving now?” Galadriel asked, horrified, and looked down at the fuzzy bunny slippers on her feet, and the matching pajama pants. “Halbrand, I can’t just—”
“Yes you can,” he argued, rolling his eyes. “Just get dressed and we can go. It should take five minutes.”
“My hair is a mess — I slept in this bun, Halbrand — and my makeup isn’t—” she began to argue, hands reaching blindly for the messy bun atop her head that she had slept in the night before.
He sighed, aggravated, and stepped close to her, his hands covering her own, and pulled the scrunchie from her bun, sliding it over her fingers onto her wrist and knocking he hand away. His fingers dug into her scalp, running gently through the disheveled waves and curls and separating them until her hair was loose and bouncy around her shoulders. She stood frozen, every nerve ending on fire from the feeling of his hands in her hair, his fingernails occasionally scraping her scalp. Eventually, he tugged the scrunchie back from her wrist and gathered her hair in a tight fist at the top of her head and tugged into a pony-tail high on the crown of her head. His fingers smoothed the bumps and fly-aways from her temples and sides, pressing them towards the back of her head.
“There,” he said, his voice low and warm. “All better. Get dressed, and don’t worry about the makeup. It’s just dinner tonight, not a pageant. You can shower and do yourself up for the barbeque tomorrow if you feel you need to tonight. Five minutes, Galadriel!”
He finally moved away and Galadriel exhaled, heart pounding. Turning her head to look in the mirror, she noted that he hadn’t done a half-bad job, but more importantly, it was a hairstyle she wore often enough for him to replicate. Gratitude, and some unrecognizable tendril of warmth, bloomed within her. Hastily returning to her room she selected an airy blue sundress to wear for the ride to the lodge alongside her comfortable sandals.
By the time she made her way downstairs, Halbrand had already loaded the car and pulled it around the front to wait for her. She slid in the passenger seat of the decade old Nissan and realized that she had never been in his car before. It was spotless, which was unsurprising, and smelled clean, even despite it’s age. What did surprise her, however, was the cold bottle of iced tea awaiting her in the cup holder, and the small bag of Bugles sticking out of the open console.
“Is that… for me?” she had never seen him drink that brand of tea before, and the Bugles were definitely not for him; she’d heard a thousands lectures about all the bad ingredients in them.
“It’s a long ride,” he replied, shrugging. “Never hurts to have a snack at the ready so we don’t have to stop twice along the way. Buckle up.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You planned on me coming,” she accused, folding her arms across her chest. “You didn’t give me a pity invite because I would be alone this week. What, did you forget to ask?”
He sighed, aggravated, and unbuckled his own seatbelt to lean across the center console, across her lap to grab her seatbelt and draw it across her front, fingers sliding alongside her thigh to grope for the receiver. His fingers shoved her skirt aside and clipped the seatbelt in place before returning to his own seat and re-buckling himself in.
“Would you like to pick the music, or shall I?” he asked, pointedly ignoring her question.
She scoffed, half-considering leaving him to go alone, and opened her mouth to offer a final snipe when she heard the locks on the doors click. “I’ve half a mind to play you the entire Wiggles soundtrack,” she grumbled. “How long is this drive anyway?”
“If the traffic is fair? Maybe three hours.”
Galadriel hummed thoughtfully before plugging her phone into the aux converter, and opened Taylor Swift’s album list on shuffle.
At the first strum of the recognizable guitar chords, Halbrand let out a mighty groan, rolling his eyes. “I think I would've rather had the Wiggles,” he grumbled, but did not demand her to change it. Indeed, though his lips remained pressed in a thin line, his fingers tapped the rhythm on the steering wheel. She smothered her chuckle and chose not to bait him further. Already twice today she had provoked him and he had called her bluff. The idea of pressing her luck was appealing, but not while he was driving.
The hours passed easily, and not all in silence. Galadriel still did not have the courage to ask him about his family, expecting that she would get the lay of the land soon enough, But they did talk of simple things. Little pieces of his history unfolding like a paper crane, in between the lines of what he was willing to speak of. She learned that his father was a strong man, jovial but principled, and he had not appreciated Halbrand’s stint with rebelliousness. His mother was a fierce woman, and fine gardener, and she never stopped loving him even when he refused to speak to them both; her love was written on the petals of the paper flowers hanging from his rearview mirror, with her signature tucked in the corner.
Of his brothers, he spoke less. She had known him to be the eldest among them, could only imagine the pressure of such a position. Finrod had never spoken of the difficulties of it to her but as he aged she watched his shoulders droop a little more no matter how high he held his head. Halbrand’s father had encouraged competition among them, wrongfully so, and it had driven a wedge between them all. Halbrand’s rebellious phase that ended with a short stint in rehab before he went to medical school had been the final nail in the coffin with his relationship with them. He could fall no further in their eyes.
She talked too, of her own family troubles. Of being the youngest, the only daughter, and the disappointment she bore her parents for not being enough. She’d fled one arranged marriage. Such things were not common anymore but among the aristocracy, and her family still practiced it despite their other more modern views. It was what had prompted her to flee to America to begin with. Finrod had offered her shelter and a place to call home while she settled and got on her feet, and she did not need to rely on her parents’ wealth to support her.
The time passed quickly, and before long they were pulling up the long driveway in upstate New York to a secluded lodge. It looked truly idyllic and fairytale-esque with the backdrop of the lush green woods, and the wild running water in the near distance. Several people were already outside. Men, mostly, playing football and wrestling with each other in the grass. An older couple sat at a little table watching them, holding hands and speaking quietly to one another. They both stood as Halbrand pulled in the drive, a great wide smile breaking across the woman’s face, echoing naught but joy. Reserved hope was all she was able to glimpse from the man before Halbrand turned the wheel to park the car, and they disappeared from view.
He sat for a long moment, staring out the windshield in silence. Hesitating only for a moment, Galadriel slid her hand to his thigh and grasped his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.
“Free booze and food, right?” she joked, offering him a small smile. “We can leave at any time.”
Halbrand nodded, his lips quirking up into a small semblance of a smile, before he exited the car. Galadriel waited a moment longer than he, steeling herself and resolving to be supportive as he had been for her. She flung the door open and slipped out, smoothing out her skirt as she stood, pasting a soft, warm smile on her lips. She could already hear his brothers hounding him for information, just the barest undercurrent of criticism slipping between clenched teeth for his lack of ambition. No pediatrician would ever make a name for himself in medical circles.
Galadriel felt the wild idea strike before she fully processed it, just the barest glimmer of something she could offer Halbrand that his brothers did not have. Something they would never have. For all the reasons that she had fled her arranged marriage, for the fear at being reduced to little more than a charm to hang on her husband’s arm, and simper and curtsy and say the right things to the right people, she found in this moment that, for him, she would not mind serving such a purpose. Just this once.
“Hello,” she said, voice soft and sweet, hips swaying just enough to catch their attention, and sidled up to Halbrand’s side, slipping her arm around his waist. Instinctively, he reached for her too, his hand resting just in the dip of her back.“ I’m Galadriel — Halbrand’s girlfriend. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you all!”