This is my first attempt at a short story, all my other ones are intended to be longer. This is a two – shot. It is also very dark. Warning!! Character death, dark themes, language, and sexual situations!!

Summery:

Holly receives an email from Artemis, and her gut tells her that something is terribly wrong, but she ignores him, remembering what happened last time she got this type of email from him. It isn't until a week later that she faces the consequences of ignoring him. A/H

In Need of A Friend

Chapter Two: The Shower

Monday, September 11, 2007

Holly raced through the Irish countryside, anxious to see her friend. She had not meant to hurt him so much. If she had known...

He had hurt her though. He told her that he had lied to her, and after she had kissed him.

"What if I'm stuck like this?" she had said, referring to her age at the time. "That wouldn't be so bad, would it?"

She had desperately hoped that Artemis would read between the lines when she said that. The true meaning: There is a chance we could be together. Let's take it.

She didn't know what would have happened if Artemis had answered her question instead of confessing his lie. Would they have kissed again? She had developed feelings for him, but she didn't exactly know when they had started.

Maybe when I kissed him in Rathdown Park?, she thought.

She reached Fowl Manor and flew to the window which she knew led to Artemis' room. She peeked inside but did not see him. Hadn't Butler said that Artemis refused to get out of bed?

She opened the window and crawled inside.

"Artemis?" she whispered. She heard the shower going in his bathroom. I should check on him, she thought. She took off her wings and helmet, tossing them onto his bed.

She opened the unlocked bathroom door and stepped inside, closing it behind her and locking it. No need for Butler to interrupt, especially if they had a lot to talk about.

"Artemis?" she said again, louder. There was no response. She would have to pull back the curtain. What if he didn't have on clothes? Oh well, she thought, shrugging.

She pulled back the curtain to reveal Artemis sitting on the floor of the tub. For whatever reason, he had left his underwear and a black button-down shirt on. He was hugging his knees and staring down at the tub floor in front of him. He didn't look up at her.

"Artemis, what are you doing?" she asked. He remained silent, ignoring her presence.

She sighed. She would have to make him talk to her. She stepped into the shower, sitting on her knees in front of him. He looked at her this time, confusion plastered onto his face.

"Butler said that you weren't getting out of bed." She inched closer to him, until her knees touched his feet. He dropped his arms and leaned back on his hands. He crossed his legs.

"I felt... unclean." Artemis croaked, using his voice for the first time in three days.

She laughed once. "Well, you aren't going to get clean with your shirt on."

He didn't move, he just stared at the tub floor beside her. She frowned and sighed quietly. She reached for the buttons on his shirt and began to unbutton it from the top. He made no effort to stop her. She got halfway down his shirt before he pulled away suddenly.

He backed up, somehow fitting his whole body in the space at the other side of the stream of water coming down. He turned sideways, his torso on one side of the faucet, and his knees on the other. His arm draped above it. It was as if he thought that the water would keep her away, seperated from him.

He looked away from her, and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Artemis, please don't." Holly pleaded with him. "Don't hate me. I'm sorry. I had no idea. I should have called."

Artemis glanced at her, and he turned to face her.

"I could never hate you." he said quietly.

"I deserve it though." Holly stated.

"No, I deserved it." Artemis said determinedly. "I was a bad son, and my father blamed himself for my mistakes. And I was a bad friend, I don't blame you for what you did." He got closer to her, where he was before. "In fact, I understand how you felt now. It hurt. Bad." He looked down at his hands and back up at her.

"What your father did, no one deserves that. Especially not you." she said.

He nodded, but didn't say anything. Holly reached for his shirt again, and continued unbuttoning it. The wet fabric clung to him. He made no effort to remove his arms, so she stood on her knees. From the bottom of his shirt she ran her hand up his chest to his shoulders. She just couldn't resist.

I like touching him, she admitted as her heart pounded against her chest. Artemis closed his eyes as she pulled the shirt down behind him, removing the sleeves from around his arms. She got the shirt off and tossed it outside of the shower.

She was still on her knees, but they were eye level. He had gotten taller.

She brought both of her hands up to cup his face, and he opened his eyes. Her hand ran down to his chest again. Artemis had always been skinny, but this was an almost-malnourished skinny.

"When was the last time you ate?" she asked him.

"Four days ago, before the funeral." He told her. There was no point in lying.

She drew in a sharp breath. "Why not?" she demanded.

"Didn't feel like eating." He turned to sit sideways in the tub. She was quiet for a moment, and then she placed her hands on his waist, near the elastic of his boxers. He thought for a moment that she might try taking those off of him too, and his heart speed, but she just turned sideways as well, wrapping him in a hug.

His right hand, the one closest to her, went to her thigh, and he snaked it around between her legs, resting the hand on the outside of her knee. She almost forgot to breath.

He bent his head down, his forehead resting on the knee, and he started to cry.

She wouldn't have been able to tell that he was crying if his shoulders hadn't been shaking from the sobs. She removed her hand from his waist and ran it through his hair, giving him some comfort.

"Holly... he never even knew...what I went through.... to get him back!" He cried out between sobs. Tears poured down her face now as well.

"Artemis, I know." She said, hoping that he would calm down.

"No you don't!" he yelled. "You have no idea! I went through Hell to put my family back together, and figure out a way to save him, and how does he repay me?!" He breathed deeply, attempting to compose himself. "He woke me up at 6 AM, only to tell me that I'm a failure as a son, and then proceeded to kill himself."

He brought himself to stand on his knees and turned his back to her. He put his face under the shower stream, and held himself up by resting his hands on the wall above the faucet, at shoulder height. The heat of the water calmed him down.

He turned his head down, so that the water didn't get in his face.

"I'm sorry that I yelled at you." he apologized after a minute.

Holly stood up. She got behind Artemis and wrapped her arms around him, hands resting on his chest, her chin on his shoulder.

"I know." she whispered. "It's okay." She kissed the back of his neck once. He relaxed his body, turned the water off, and his arms dropped. She kissed the crook of his neck, then his jaw. His hand raised to cup the other side of her face.

His heart fluttered. He had wanted this for a while. He turned his body towards her, capturing her lips with his. She kissed him back eagerly.

Their lips parted slightly, and his tongue entered her mouth. His fingers aligned with her ribs, and his thumbs at the curve of her breasts. She moaned.

Her hands tangled themselves in his hair, which had grown longer in six months. When dry, it curled at the middle of his ears, and the front stopped just before his brow.

He unzipped the LEP suit that she had on, and pulled it off of her. He tossed the suit out of the shower.

His hands went to behind knees and he pushed them forward, causing them to buckle. She gasped, but he caught her, hands on her thighs. He lifted her and leaned forward, placing her on her back on the floor of the tub, with her legs around him.

He pushed his hips against hers, and moaned. She felt his growing erection and couldn't suppress a gasp. He pushed his tongue deeper into her mouth, and the gasp turned into a moan.

"Artemis." she groaned between kisses.

His hips ground against hers again, and he repeated the action over and over, moving slowly. She arched against him.

"God, Holly." He moaned. He reached behind her and undid her bra, peeling it off and tossing it out of the tub with the rest of their clothes.

He broke the kiss, both of them gasping for air. A small smile graced his face, but Holly's was bigger. This was Artemis' first smile and overall happy moment in a week. He kissed her lips once, and moved down to her jaw, kissing his way to her neck.

He moved his hand to her left breast, kneading it. She melted, metaphorically, and moaned his name once more.

He kissed his way lower before stopping his course at the other breast. He placed his mouth around the nipple, and sucked at it, massaging it with his tongue. Holly gasped in surprise. She never would have guessed that Artemis was capable...

She was suddenly aware that Artemis was taking off her underwear. She grabbed them off of her foot, and tossed it out.

Almost immediately, his free hand was between her legs. She wrapped her legs around his waist, giving his hand room to move. He placed two fingers at her opening and pushed them in. She moaned loudly from the pleasure, and he moved his fingers in and out.

She didn't even hear what she was saying to him as she moaned. She arched as he pushed in, curling his fingers, and pushing pleasure points that she didn't even know she had.

"Oh God, Artemis, please." she groaned, scratching at his back.

He removed his fingers from her and rolled on his side slightly, taking his boxers off, and tossing them. He moved back between her legs.

"You sure?" he asked her, but she didn't hear him. She had just seen his hard member, and he was big! Well, big for an elf. The usual size of a male elf was 4 inches. Artemis looked about 7 inches. A regular human girl would have no problem taking that, but Holly was sure if he would fit her. Not that she had ever had this kind of experience before. Artemis would be her first.

"Holly?" he asked her, concerned. He sat up.

She turned to him, and kissed him deeply, pulling him back down. She reached between them, taking his erection and guiding it to her.

He pushed in, already having figured out what she had been concerned about. He went inside her a little more than halfway.

She clenched her fists and groaned, but not in a good way. He had torn through her barrier. Tears sprung up in the corners of her eyes.

"Oh shit, Holly!" he gasped. "I didn't know. I'm sorry." He began to sit up again.

She raised her hand to stop him. "I'm fine. Let's do this."

He nodded and kissed her again, and began moving in and out of her rhythmically. He was careful not to push too much inside her.

Pleasure rippled through Holly like a shockwave, blurring her vision. Her mind had no idea what to do, but her body moved with Artemis as if by magic. She had absolutely no control over her body. Her hands clenched and unclenched as Artemis moved in and out of her, and her hips lifted up as he went inside of her.

The opposite was happening to Artemis. His mind had left him. At this moment, his entire world seemed to revolve around this rhythm. He didn't even notice himself slipping deeper inside of her.

"Oh D'Arvit, Artemis!" she moaned. "Faster!"

He moaned her name as he thrust faster into her.

Holly had sometimes (Okay! More than just sometimes.) considered Artemis as, well, not the most physically fit person around. If anybody told her that Artemis was a fast runner, she would remind them of the time that they had run from trolls in the Eleven Wonders. If they said he was athletic, she would remind them of the time that she had to help him jump onto the train in the Arctic. She would have even said that he was a little weak.

Not anymore. This had proved her wrong. Even though he had gone four days without eating, Artemis was far from weak at the moment. The forces of his thrusts were so strong and controlled, that all Holly could see was a mass of swirling colors. She had to wonder briefly if Artemis had done this before.

Artemis was not weak, and no matter how slow he ran or how skinny he was, Holly would defend that. Always.

Holly was jolted into an orgasm. It came as such a surprise to her, that she had gasped loudly. Suddenly, she was aware of how deep inside of her he was. Their hips were almost touching. She was amazed that his length increased her pleasure, instead of hurting her.

She moaned greatly, screaming out his name, as he panted hers into her neck.

"Artemis! Faster! Harder!" she didn't even comprehend her words. She only knew that she needed to say them.

It was like he had turned the switch onto maximum. His lovemaking sped to such a pace, that it seemed to be in time with the beating of her heart. He pushed completely inside of her, sending a quiver up her spine that almost scared her.

He came inside of her, and the power of his thrusts decreased greatly. He was spent. She came a second later, amazed that she hadn't even noticed the pressure inside of her until it was released.

He came to a still inside of her, and they panted, exhausted. He made no move to remove himself, and she didn't mind at all.

"Holly," he said after he had caught his breath. He kissed her neck. "I love you." He whispered it gently, almost hesitantly.

But there it was. He had said it. Now he waited for her reaction. Hopefully, under this condition, she would not deny him.

He looked her in the eyes. Eyes that were completely identical to his. Her hand found his cheek as she studied his face, finding truth and love in those eyes.

She nodded her head. "I love you too." She smiled at him.

He positively beamed. He kissed her deeply for moment, then broke the kiss and removed himself from her.

"We should get dressed." he said.

"My suit is wet." she frowned.

"You could wear something of mine." he suggested. She agreed and they climbed out of the tub. She stood, only to find that her legs wobbled slightly. Apparently, she had not recovered from the sex as much as she had thought.

Artemis stood in front of Holly, a towel already wrapped around his waist. He looked her up and down once, smiling, before taking another towel and wrapping it around her shoulders, bringing the fabric together in front of her. He leaned down and kissed her again.

She grinned up at him, and they walked out into his room. He went immediately to his bedroom door and locked it.

Holly went to his dresser and dug through the drawers. She pulled out a pair of his boxers, blue and green plaid, and stepped into them. They stopped right above her knees.

Artemis chuckled slightly, and pulled out a pair of boxers for himself. Holly rolled the waistband of her boxers three times, so that they ended at her upper thigh. She smiled smugly.

"Tactical genius at work, huh?" Artemis teased her. She swatted him lightly on the arm, and moved to his closet, pulling out a white undershirt and pulling it on. She took a green, button-down shirt from its hanger and put that on over top of the undershirt. She kicked her helmet and wings underneath the bed and sat on it.

Artemis pulled on some jeans and a white wife-beater.

"Let's go eat. I'm starved." Holly suggested. Artemis smiled at her, knowing fully well what she was doing.

And he was grateful for it.

Artemis leaned against the counter of the island and munched on an apple, while Holly was around the corner, looking for milk in the fridge.

"I think your milk is bad." She called to him, sniffing it and making a face.

Artemis laughed. "Yeah, probably. No one has been grocery shopping for a week and a half. I dunno how long that's been there."

Butler chose to walk in at that moment, a confused look on his face. And a confused Butler really is a sight to behold.

Butler knocked on Artemis' door a few minutes after they had left the room, opening the door before he could get a response. Not that he expected one.

He looked around the room, surprised that Artemis wasn't in it.

Maybe the hunger got to him, Butler thought, heading for the kitchen.

As he arrived outside of the kitchen doors, he heard Artemis speaking. Not only that, but he laughed.

"Yeah, probably. No one has been grocery shopping for a week and a half. I dunno how long that's been there." He heard Artemis say.

He walked in, confusion on his face. Artemis was eating, talking, and walking!

Artemis turned to him. He smiled. "Hey." Artemis said with a mouthful of apple. A piece fell out of his mouth, and he tried to catch it, chuckling.

"Who are you talking to?" Butler asked him.

"The apple." Artemis said seriously. Butler furrowed his brow.

Holly appeared from around the corner, throwing a carton of milk in the trashcan.

Holly heard the conversation and saw the look on Butler's face. She laughed.

"Butler does not approve." She said, and her and Artemis laughed.

"Well, I was taught not to talk to strange fruit. Just to eat them." Artemis joked.

Butler found himself laughing with them.

"So Artemis, are you feeling better?" Butler asked.

"Yes, I am." Artemis said with a smile. Holly walked over to him, and plucked a pear from the fruit basket.

"Holly?" Butler said.

"Yeah?" she answered.

"Why are you wearing Artemis' clothes?"

Artemis and Holly looked at each other and smiled, shrugging their shoulders and busying themselves with their fruit.

Holly had stayed overnight with Artemis, but had to return to Haven before sunrise.

The goodbye had been sad, but Artemis had assured Holly that he would be fine now. He had her love and that was enough to keep him in high spirits until her next visit, which they planned to be next Friday. She would stay all weekend.

She arrived at the Ops Booth all smiles. Foaly, Trouble, and Mulch were all there to greet her. They were all anxious to hear about Artemis, and she told them that he was doing very well now.

"When Butler had said he wasn't eating, I imagined him looking like someone from those Holocaust pictures." Trouble said with a shiver.

Foaly and Mulch made a face. Holly just raised her eyebrow in an almost perfect imitation of Artemis.

"Yeah," said Foaly. "the Mud Boy was scrawny enough. And that was when he ate regularly."

"Artemis isn't scrawny." Holly defended him.

"Holly," Mulch said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Artemis is the very definition of scrawny."

She shrugged off his hand. "Excuse me, but you've never had sex with him. Trust me, Artemis is not scrawny."

She smiled proudly before walking off, leaving the three fairies with wide eyes and open mouths.

That's it!! R&R guys!

Thanks and love you!