Merry was lounging under the oak tree that was their favorite spot when it happened. Pippin came running down the road to him, grinning like a Chessy cat that had just caught the fattest, most juicy rat on the block. He stopped in front of Merry his chest heaving and his damp curls clinging to his forehead, but his eyes were sparkling with excitement and he was still grinning.
"What's gotten into you, Pip," Merry asked suspiciously. Had Pippin carried out some mischievous deed without him? He banished the thought. His cousin had always let him in on his devilish schemes. Pippin regained his breath and grinned wolfishly.
"I just caught Rosie Cotton and Samwise kissing in the grove," He whispered conspiratorially. Merry laughed.
"Was that it, Pippin?" Pippin looked hurt. "Remember, we caught them at that weeks ago. For a whole week we hounded him about it."
"Oh, right," he said. He glanced up at the sky. "It's going to rain." Merry glanced up too. He nodded sagely. He stood up and stretched. He gazed at Pippin's green eyes staring back at him.
"Race you home," he shouted and took off, Pippin following behind but catching up. The sky suddenly opened and rain lashed out at them, soaking them completely. Pippin laughed madly as he caught up with and surpassed Merry. He stopped so quickly at the now muddy, and very steep, hill that Merry, who was looking the other way, ran smack into him and knocked both of them down the almost vertical slope, getting completely covered with mud so that they resembled two Hobbit-sized mud balls as they rolled to a stop at the bottom. Merry wiped the mud from his eyes and looked at Pippin. Pippin looked at Merry and Merry started to laugh. Pippin frowned.
"I don't know what you're laughing at, you ugly git," he said vehemently. And, as if to prove a point, he picked up a huge glob of mud and dropped it onto Merry's already mud covered hair. Merry glared at him and scooped up two handfuls of mud, slinging them at Pippin and saying, "I'll show you 'ugly git', you fat pig of a Hobbit!" That started the biggest, messiest, and funniest wrestling venture the two had ever been on.
After ten minutes of wrestling, mud slinging, and a variety of name-calling, Pippin was straddling Merry around his middle with Merry's arms pinned over his head with one hand. Both Hobbits were trying to catch their breath, their chests heaving against one another. Pippin was so close to Merry that their breath mingled. That was when Merry realised that Pippin wasn't as young as he thought anymore. He was beginning to mature (as far as his body was concerned, Merry thought. His behaviour needed some adjustment.) and as Merry looked into Pippin's green eyes he realised how much he cared for his cousin. He looked from Pippin's mud-stained face, covered in a mixture of rainwater, sweat and mud, to his brown curls, wet and tangled, and he longed to run his fingers through that hair and kiss every inch of that beautiful face.
Merry felt confused. Pippin was his best friend, his cousin, how could he be having these thoughts about him. Not to mention that Pippin was a boy. Not a boy, he corrected, Pippin isn't a boy anymore, even if he's still in his tweens. His thoughts overwhelmed him and he shoved Pippin's weight off of him. Hurt flashed in Pippin's eyes and Merry silently swore.
"Geez, Pip, you trying to crush me with your stomach?" Merry asked and Pippin's eyes flashed angrily. "I'm only joking, Pippin, calm down. Are we going to your house for supper?" He had artfully changed the subject to Pippin's favourite: food. Pippin nodded, stood and stretched. Merry stared without realising it. His hungry eyes took in every muscle that showed beneath the shirt that Pippin was wearing. His eyes travelled down Pippin's torso to his breeches and the body parts they hid. He swallowed deeply and looked away. He scolded himself for thinking these things about Pippin. He loved Pippin, he knew that, but he'd never felt the need to touch him like he wanted to touch him at that moment. And when Pippin smiled lazily and his beautiful green eyes sparkled with their usual mischievous glint, Merry felt as if he'd fallen off of a cliff. He knew then the terrible and beautiful truth: he didn't just love his cousin; he was in love with him.
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