The next evening, the sky was filled with dark, grey clouds and there was a cold chill in the air. I carefully scanned the environment around me.

"I hope that Pippin is alright out there." I said to Merry.

"Me too."

"What are we going to do we do now? Wait for Pippin to come back?"

"I think that would be the wisest thing for us to do." Merry agreed.

I let out a sigh in frustration. I gazed up at the sky above me. "Looks like the weather isn't going to get any better."

I felt a cold splash of water on my nose. "Great, it's raining." I huffed. "How could it get any worse?!"

"We could have orcs chase after us." Merry replied.

"There already are orcs chasing after us, Merry. They're after me." I grumbled. "Don't you remember what Gandalf said?"

"Oh, right. I'm sorry." Merry apologized, sincerely.

Merry spotted a tree nearby with a giant hole big enough to fit into. "Look, Brianna. Over there. See that tree? It'll protect us from the rain and keep us safe."

I nodded my head in agreement. "That looks like a good shelter. We should go check it out."

Merry and I headed over to the tall, leafy tree and crawled into the massive hole. Inside the tree, it was warm and cozy and there were dry, crunchy leaves scattered around.

"Wow. It's almost feels like a hobbit hole." My voice echoed inside of the walls of the hollow tree.

"Almost." uttered Merry.

Merry and I kept to ourselves for most of the evening. We both watched the rain pouring down from above. I turned around and glanced over at Merry, who seemed to be in deep thought.

"You haven't spoken in a long while, Merry." I murmured.

""Hmm." Mumbled Merry.

"I would like to know what's wrong." I inquired.

"Nothing's wrong. It's just that...." Merry paused for a moment and shook his head. "Oh, never mind, you wouldn't understand."

"Come on, you can tell me anything."I grinned.

Merry's large greyish-blue eyes were fixed upon my almond shaped dark green eyes.

"Tell me." I insisted. "Please tell me."

"You want to know? Alright, I'll tell you!", he shouted. "I'm...I'm in love with you! There! I said it! Are you satisfied?!"

I didn't know how to reply. I was in total shock.

"M-Merry......Why?" I stuttered.

"After Pippin left, I pitied you." Merry's voice softened a bit.

"I couldn't stand to see you all heartbroken. And alone. You see, Pippin he can be a bit unreasonable. He'll never change his mind about anything. What he did to you...what he did to us....was wrong. I want to make things right again. I want to be here for you. To love you, to protect you. I'm never going to leave you. I cross my heart. I want you to stay with me. Won't you?"

"You won't leave me?"

Merry smiled. "I promise. I will never leave you."

I lowered my head and chuckled nervously. I was blushing like crazy. Merry shuffled over towards me. He began to comb through my hair with soft, gentle hands.

"You're so lovely." He whispered softly.

"You are, too, Merry."

"Yes, but not as lovely as you."

Merry pulled me forward and wrapped me up in a hug. I nestled my head underneath his silky, brown, chestnut curls. "I love you. I love you." I whispered.

"I love you, too, Bri." Merry whispered back. "I love you, too."

I lifted up my head and stared into Merry's beautiful eyes. He gently put both of his hands on my dimpled cheeks and leaned forward.
Merry kissed me softly on the lips.

I felt like I was under a magical spell. We moved away from each other and laughed.

"Why were you so afraid to tell me that you loved me?" I asked, curiously.

"I was...I was just afraid because I thought that you would get upset at me." Merry answered.

"I would never get upset at you, Merry. I'd only get upset at you if you were lying to me."

"I would never lie to you, Brianna."

"I know." I smiled.

Merry noticed that the rain had finally stopped. "Hmm, would you look at that? The rain's disappeared."It's getting awfully late. I think we should get some rest."

"Yeah, we should." I agreed. Merry and I crawled to opposite ends of the hollow tree and we drifted off into a deep sleep.