Two weeks ago Estella Bolger of Hobbiton had told the biggest lie she had ever uttered in her entire life, and she was reasonably certain that Gandalf knew she had done so. Of course, if Gandalf did know, why he had let her get away with it was beyond her. Estella was not much of a liar. In fact, she was known as one of the most truthful Hobbits in the Shire, which was, she supposed, why she had gotten away with this.

The lie had been told out of desperation. Estella had her heart set on marrying Peregrin Took. She had wanted Pippin for a very long time. Now he was going off to Gondor to get permission from Faramir, to whom he had sworn allegiance, to marry Diamond of Long Cleeve (also known as Angelica Headstrong.) Estella hated Diamond with all her heart, or at least she tried to -- it was hard because Diamond was so nice to everyone all the time, and everybody liked her. She was even nice to Estella when Estella had been nothing but rude and horrible to her, a fact of which she was thoroughly ashamed.

Still, Estella's love for Pippin was stronger than anything else she had ever known, despite the fact that Pippin had never shown any interest in her. When she heard about the planned trip to Gondor, she had schemed up the lie, waited until the last minute when her parents would not be able to stop her, then told it. Her cheeks burned when she thought about it. She had practiced it from the night of Samwise Gamgee's wedding to Rosie Cotton until the morning she had uttered it.

"My father has promised me in service to Lady Eowyn. May I travel to Gondor with you?"

The entire company, for Pippin was traveling with an odd assortment of companions, had accepted her easily, and for this her guilt was even worse. Besides Pippin, his cousin Merry, Diamond, and Gandalf, there were two elves headed for Rivendell (where the party would stop on the way to Gondor,) Gimli the Dwarf, and Frodo and Bilbo Baggins.

Samwise Gamgee had desperately wanted to come on this journey, as it seemed that Frodo and Bilbo would not be returning to the Shire. They intended to set sail for the Undying lands with Lord Elrond of Rivendell and his Elves. Frodo had talked Sam out of it as he had only been married for a few short weeks. Estella had silently witnessed their farewell.

"I'll never forget you, Mr. Frodo," Sam had said, sobbing openly.

"I won't forget you either, Sam," Frodo had said. He had not cried, but he had looked haunted and sad.

Frodo had spoken very little these past two weeks while they had been marching to Rivendell. It had been a long, boring tramp through a sunny wood during which Estella had tried desperately to get close to Pippin. She had picked mushrooms for him, given him a new scarf which she had knitted -- he had worn it, but unfortunately Estella was not much of a knitter and when Pippin brushed up against a branch the end had caught and the whole thing had come unraveled.

She tried to get some time alone with him by asking him to go collect firewood with her, but he had kindly refused. Gimli the Dwarf, however, had said he would be glad to help her find some wood. Estella had turned him down. Still, it made her sad that love seemed to be in the air all around her, between Pippin and Diamond and the two Elves, Legolas and Ciendriel, who although they did not fuss over each other in front of the Hobbits, were constantly disappearing into the woods together.

Maybe she would have a better shot at Pip in Rivendell, she thought as they reached the great city of the Elves. Estella had never been outside of the Shire in her whole life, and Rivendell was the most magnificent place she had ever seen. The Lie had been worth it, she decided, if only for seeing this. She had never had any urge to travel before, and in fact was quite scared to death of what was going to happen when they got to Gondor and her lie was revealed unless she could manage to convince Pippin that he wanted her and not Diamond.

That night they made camp in the shadow of Rivendell. Tomorrow they would be greeted by a party of Elves, Gandalf told them, who would take them across the river to meet with Lord Elrond. It was too late to safely ford the stream now. Merry and Frodo built a campfire, and Bilbo and Diamond started cooking dinner. The two of them cooked dinner (and breakfast, supper, afternoon tea, and elevensies -- second breakfast was eaten while walking, something Estella had trouble adjusting to) together nearly every night. Estella had offered to help, but they did not really need her assistance and she quickly figured out that while Diamond was cooking was a good time to chat with Pippin.

Except, of course, that when Diamond was not at his side, Merry was -- the three of them were practically inseparable. Estella wondered how Diamond put up with it. Meriadoc Brandybuck was probably the most irritating Hobbit that Estella knew. She could not quite put her finger on what it was that she didn't like about him. After all, he was adored by Pippin. Maybe it was simply his constant presence. That and the…rumors… that used to go around about Merry and Pippin, before Pippin became engaged to Diamond.

Estella sat next to Pippin now, staring sadly at the silver band on his finger, one that matched Diamond's. It frightened her more than any Ring of Power ever could, she thought. It was a symbol that Pippin might truly never be hers. Merry was on the other side of Pippin, and Gimli the Dwarf plunked himself down heavily on the ground next to Estella. Gandalf and Frodo sat across the fire from them, smoking in silence. The Elves had disappeared as usual.

"Why so sad, Estella?" Pippin asked gently. "Aren't you excited to see Rivendell?"

"It's an amazing place," said Merry.

"Lord Elrond has beautiful gardens," Gimli put in.

"No, no, I'm excited to see it," Estella said, looking up at Pippin. She wanted to touch his face. It was so earnest, and he was so handsome. She held back. "I don't mean to look sad."

"Is something bothering you?" Pippin asked gently. The fact that he cared made her spirit soar.

"Probably the same thing that is usually bothering her," Merry said idly.

Estella glared at Merry, blushing furiously. "What on earth do you mean?"

"You know what I mean," Merry said, smirking.

"I'm sure I don't."

"I'm sure I don't," Pippin said. "Merry, what are you talking about?"

"Sometimes the obvious eludes you, doesn't it Pippin?" Merry said loftily. Estella wanted to hit him, but he was sitting too far away.

"Maybe he means the lassie's tender affections for--" Gimli began, but Estella cut him off.

"Merry!"

"Merry?" said Pippin and Merry together.

Estella looked desperately at the Dwarf. She did not want Pippin to know how she felt about him until he felt the same way about her. Otherwise, it would be just too embarrassing with Diamond standing right there cooking dinner. This might not be the best path, but maybe it would throw them all off the trail.

"I…ah… I really like you, Merry," she said. There is was, the Second Biggest Lie she had ever told. Merry looked at her skeptically.

"Too bad you're going into service in Gondor and going to be away from home for so long, then," Merry said shortly.

By now Estella was certain that her entire face was a fiery red. She was embarrassed and ashamed of herself, and not at all sure what to say that would not be another lie, so she got up and dashed into the woods. She did not wish to go too far from the company -- that would be dangerous, but she needed to get away for a moment so that she could breathe.

She had not had more than five minutes respite when she found herself face to face with a rather grave looking Meriadoc Brandybuck. Merry folded his arms over his chest and tilted his head, looking at her with an expression that nearly terrified her.

"Estella, do you want to tell me what is going on?" he said.

"What do you mean?" she stammered.

"You don't like me."

"Sure I do."

"You have never liked me."

"That's not so."

"Estella, you have had a crush on Pippin forever. I know that. You know that. Everybody in the Shire knows that."

"Pippin--"

"Pippin, too."

Did he? Estella was flabbergasted. How could he? And if he did, did that mean he just really, truly did not have even a shred of feeling for her in return? Yes, it probably did. Tears flooded her eyes.

"Merry, I'm so embarrassed."

"Why? It's not so much of a big deal, and besides, now that you're going off to Gondor you probably won't see him again for a very long…" Merry trailed off. "You are really supposed to be going to Gondor to serve Eowyn, aren't you?"

Trying not to look any more mortified, Estella nodded. "Yes."

"You're not a liar, and I'm not trying to accuse you of being one. But there is something going on with you, and I'm going to find out what."

Estella took a deep breath. "I swear, Merry--"

"Don't swear," Merry said shortly. "Now, come back to the camp. It is dangerous to be out here in the woods by yourself. You could get eaten by a Warg."

"A what?"

"A Warg. It's a really big, ugly monster, like a cross between a wolf and a wild boar. Orcs ride on them."

"Orcs ride on them? You're making that up!"

Merry shook his head, grinning at her. "Nope."

"I bet you'd be glad if I got eaten by one, anyway," Estella said. Merry put his arm around her and started leading her back to the camp, but he stopped walking at her words.

“Now, that’s just a silly thing to say, Estella Bolger. I have no desire to see you get eaten by any sort of monster.”

“I just have the feeling that you don’t like me very much,” she said in a small voice. “Or that anybody does.”

“Now, that’s just plain silly,” Merry said kindly.

Estella flung her arms around him and buried her face against his yellow vest. She couldn’t stop the tears that poured out, so she tried to hide them in his shoulder. Merry put his arms around her tentatively and stroked her back. Estella clung to him even more tightly, grabbing his sleeves with her fists.

“Meriadoc! You have to help me!” she gasped. She lifted her wet face up to look into Merry’s blue eyes.

“Help you...do what?”

“I’m so embarrassed about...you know...”

“What?”

“Pippin.”

“What has Pippin done that’s embarrassing this time?” Merry asked, frowning.

“No, me. About Pippin finding out. And about what I said.”

“Which thing you said?”

“About having tender feelings for you.”

“Ah.” Merry said. “Estella, I’m sorry you feel embarrassed, but what has this really got to do with me?”

“If you and I,” Estella said, taking a deep breath, “Were to maybe pretend we were in love.”

“What?”

She had to admit that it was worth asking him simply to see that look on his face. He was a little bit shocked, but she also thought he looked a little bit intrigued.

“This way I won’t be embarrassed in front of Pippin and Gimli and everybody else. Please, Merry! It will only be until we reach Gondor.”

“You’re trying to make Pippin jealous.”

Estella felt her cheeks heat up again. “No! Well, maybe a little, but it doesn’t really matter, does it?”

“No -- because he is going to marry Angelica,” Merry said, frowning. “You do remember that, don’t you?”

“Yes... yes, of course. How could I forget?”

Estella let go of Merry and turned away, feeling the tears start to well up inside again. She tried to hold them back. She was acting an utter idiot tonight. She had reached the end of her proverbial rope. This was just reminding her more deeply that Pippin wasn’t hers, driving in the knife.

“Don’t you think it’s going to be a lot of trouble, pretending we’re in love?” Merry asked. “I’ll have to pick flowers for you, recite poetry, moon about a lot...”

That didn’t sound so bad, actually, Estella thought. She only wished that there was someone whom she liked better than Merry who she might drag into this plot. Still, being closest to Pip he was the most logical choice anyway.

“It might be fun,” she said hopefully. When Pippin saw his cousin was interested in her, that would have to turn his head.

“I mean, we’ll have to constantly be sneaking off to be alone together.”

Estella froze and turned back around. “It’s just pretending, Merry.”

“I know...but if I’m going to be tricksy, I want it to look good. Especially when you’re asking me to bamboozle my own cousin, my best friend, my--”

“All right, all right.”

Merry grinned. He sauntered forwards and lifted his hand to gently brush aside the rest of her tears with his knuckles. “Shall we seal the bargain with a kiss?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Estella drew in a deep breath. She was suddenly, sorely tempted. After all, she had never kissed anyone before. She tried to say yes.

“No,” she whispered.

Merry laughed. “All right, then. You can owe it to me.”

He took her hand and led her back to the campsite to begin their charade.