A/N: This was a request from dwarf-to-the-core over on tumblr. She asked for a reader fic about being engaged to Fili and what would happen before, during and after the wedding. She gave me the choice to write one or all three and gave me free reign of smut or fluff, so I decided I wanted all three and I'm doing both smut and fluff. So this is the first of three and it is supposed to be fluffy. But I have a problem with fluff so I'm never quite sure I make it. But hope you enjoy! ...All I seem to be writing about is Fili lately and he isn't even my favourite Durin! Oh well, onwards!
Trying not to tug on the sleeves of your gown, you nervously paced around the room you were in. You had been told to stay put and not pick at the finery you were wearing. It was hard because you weren't used to wearing anything like this and you were alone. If someone had stayed, it wouldn't be so bad because then there would be a distraction. But no. You were in a room that was devoid of anything to keep you occupied so you had grown bored quickly.
You blew out a harsh breath and paced some more. You were trying not to think about why no one was with you, why everyone was so busy today, but it was impossible not to since the entire mountain was buzzing around you. This event had been a long time coming and the dwarves of Erebor were full of excitement.
You couldn't overly blame them because buried under your nervousness you felt it too. A part of you was in disbelief that this was happening, especially with how events had nearly played out. You shook your head, trying to banish the thoughts as you moved to the windows looking out over the land. But not even the healing land could soothe your mind. If anything, it made it worse because now you were thinking about the first time you had seen it.
A chill washed over you as memories filled your mind; memories of the journey to Erebor and the fear that your worst nightmare had come to pass.
The mountain was hard to miss, but it seemed like it had been looming in the distance for far too long now. You were impatient to get there as was nearly everyone else in the caravan. There had been too many rumours swirling about regarding the reclaiming of the mountain. Some said that a mighty battle had taken place, with elves, Men, and dwarves all fighting together to beat back the orc army. Others said that huge eagles had swept in, saving the day and adding talons to the fight. Someone had whispered that even bears had joined the fight.
You didn't care about any of those rumours. There was only one that you had paid any attention to and even then you hadn't wanted to. It made ice fill your heart, the tiny shards poking at all the worries you had had since the moment you'd heard about the quest. You tried to ignore it, but it was always lurking at the back of your mind.
The line of Durin had been ended.
Shaking your head, you clutched the reins of your pony tighter. No. Rumours were just that. Rumours. Until you heard it directly from the mouth of someone who was there you refused to believe that it had happened. You looked up again and stared at the mountain.
"We'll be there soon, girl," your father said from behind you.
You nodded absently and forced yourself to think about something else. One of your hands left the reins to close around the ring hanging from your neck. It gave you strength to keep going when you weren't certain about what was ahead.
"I can't take that!"
A low chuckle left him. "Love, you said you wanted something and this is the most important thing that I have."
You knew that, but this was too much. You didn't know what you had expected him to offer, but his signet ring was not it. Shaking your head, you shoved your hands behind you and took a step back from him. "No."
His blue eyes narrowed at you. "You can't make that demand of me and then not want to take what I'm giving you."
"Yes I can." Oh, Mahal, you sounded so childish!
He blew out a harsh breath and studied you for a moment. "Love, it's your idea and I'm willing to agree to it. Why won't you take this?"
"Fíli," you started, but he cut you off.
"You said you wanted me to give you something as a promise, something that you would give back to me when you come to Erebor. I can't think of anything that would work better than this."
"I can't take it!"
A startled noise left you when he suddenly closed the distance between you and pinned you to the wall, his hands on either side of you. "Lass," he said quietly, his demeanor serious, "I'm not going to give you anything else. It's this or nothing."
You swallowed hard and looked down for a moment. "What if I lose it?" It was a feeble question. You would never lose something he gave you.
"You won't. In fact…."
You were surprised when he pulled a chain from his pocket and your eyes narrowed. "You had this all planned out, didn't you?" you accused.
His mustache twitched as he tried not to smile. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he murmured, threading the ring through the chain and fastening it around your neck.
Taking a shaky breath, you let it go. That had been one of the last times you had seen him before he had left with his brother. It felt like a lifetime ago but it hadn't even been a year. You let the ring go before focusing on the mountain again. It was suddenly so much larger and seemed only an arm's length away.
Your heart started to pound as the heavy front doors of the kingdom came into view. Dwarves around you whispered softly, excitement humming in the air, but something else had caught your gaze. Someone was standing on one of the battlements above the gate, his yellow hair blazing golden in the sun. A soft noise left you and you couldn't look away. He was alive! The rumour was wrong!
Biting down on your lip, you watched him until he disappeared from view and your gaze dropped to the gates as they swung inward. This was it. Erebor had been reclaimed and the dwarves were finally returning to it. Your lashes fluttered and you inhaled the mountain air as you followed the caravan inside. It was nothing like the Blue Mountains, although you wondered if it was possibly left over from the dragon being in residence for so long.
As everyone else dismounted and started chattering eagerly, you stayed on your pony and just looked around. There were scars on the walls, signs of the dragon's entrance, but all in all it seemed relatively intact. Had the dragon just made a beeline for the treasure?
Jerking slightly as someone called your name, you looked over to see Balin coming toward you. He was moving slower than usual and you wondered what injury had befallen him. "Lord Balin," you said, dismounting and handing the reins to your father. You hurried over to him, trying to save him a bit of effort.
He smiled at you. "We took bets on whether you'd be with the first caravan or not."
You couldn't help the blush that tinted your cheeks. "Of course I'd come as soon as I could," you muttered. You would have gone with them if you hadn't known it was a foolish idea. You would have been in the way and gotten someone hurt and there was no way you wanted that.
He patted your arm. "I know, lassie, I know. I'm just teasing. We all knew you'd come for him."
"Is he alright?" you asked, unable to help the question. You had seen him briefly but he was too far away to tell anything.
Balin let out a slow breath and gestured to the stairs. "He wants to see you. Sent me to get you."
The fact that he didn't answer your question made the ice come back. "Balin…."
"Come along. You two have waited long enough to see one another."
Your teeth ran over your lower lip as you followed him to a set of stairs. You couldn't help your thoughts tumbling over one another, bad news compounding on horrible rumours. Was he dying? Had his family died? It broke your heart to think that he could have lost any of the family he cared so deeply about.
Balin glanced back at you and his face softened. "Lass, you haven't been listening to those rumours have you?" he chided gently.
"We didn't have anything else. There's been no news, save for the mountain being reclaimed and…they said…."
Balin caught your hand and tucked it into the crook of his arm, patting it gently. "Aye, lass. We know what they said and I'll admit. It nearly came true."
Your heart leapt into your throat and you couldn't get any words out.
"Laddie's okay now," he continued, "but he had us worried there for a while. They all did."
Your relief was short lived when you got the next level up and you saw the subject of your conversation. "Oh, Fíli," you whispered, unhooking your hand to hurry over to him.
He smiled at you as you came over to him, but he couldn't completely hide the relief in his eyes. He also couldn't hide the fading bruises on his face and you didn't want to think about how bad they had been for them to still be apparent. "I knew you'd get here as fast as you could," he said quietly.
You wanted to throw yourself at him, but you weren't sure if he was still injured or what had even happened to him. So you hesitated, torn between what you wanted and what you should do.
A low chuckle left him and he tugged you into his arms, deciding for you. "A hug," he murmured, burying his face in your neck, "is not going to kill me."
Wrapping your arms around him, you clung to his coat, loving the fact that you were back in his arms. His beard was scratching against your neck, the sensation so heart achingly familiar you nearly started crying. How could you have ever doubted that you would see him again? He had promised that you would see each other again and Fíli was not a liar.
"Don't cry," he said softly. "It's alright. Everything's alright."
You sniffed and buried your face further into his shoulder. You didn't want to cry and you tried to stop, but it was no good. The tears kept trailing down your cheeks. All the fear and loneliness that you had tried to ignore from the moment he had left was hitting you now.
His lips were moving over your neck, gentle kisses that were meant to calm you, but all they did were make you think that you might not have ever felt them again. Your breath caught as panic filled you, your heart skipping a beat.
Fíli groaned softly and shook his head against you. He ignored your protest when he pulled away from you, catching your hand. "Come on," he said quietly, tugging you down the hallway. "You aren't going to calm down like this."
You followed him, unable to even think of doing anything else. You didn't know how he thought to calm you down, but if you were with him it didn't matter. You opened your mouth to protest when he suddenly tugged you into a room, knowing the rules, but he threw you a grin that told you he knew what you were thinking. "Stop that," you huffed.
"As soon as you do," he threw back at you, pulling you into his arms again.
Letting your head rest on his chest, you listened to the steady beating of his heart and let it soothe you. He was alive. He was alive and you were in his arms again. That was all that mattered. That-
A knock at the door pulled you from your memories and you frowned at it. Had you imagined it or was it time? Panic filled you and you looked back out the window. When it came again, you called, "Come in."
The door opened and closed quickly and you heard heavy steps across the floor.
Your frowned returned as you realised a male was approaching you. All of your attendants were female and they were they only ones you had seen today. Who was-"Fíli!" you gasped, catching his reflection in the glass. "What are you-"
He grinned at you as you spun to face him. "You didn't expect me to stay away from you today of all days, did you?" he asked, pulling you to him.
"We're going to see each other all day!"
"And be surrounded by our entire nation," he added dryly. "It's our wedding day, love. We aren't going to be alone until tonight."
You smacked his chest at the look on his face. "Stop that, you pervert," you chided.
He caught your hand, kissing your palm. "You can't blame me for wanting you," he said lowly. "I've waited a long time for this day."
Your breath caught as a shiver wound through you. "Fíli, I-"
"Don't apologize," he murmured, pulling you closer. "I'm not sorry for waiting. It was just a long time."
A soft sound left you as he kissed you. Your fingers curled around his, holding him tightly as his arm wound around your waist. Your bones melted as you pressed fully to him and didn't care about the decorations on your dress biting into you. You had barely seen him in the week leading up to the wedding, too busy with final preparations.
"We shouldn't," you murmured, one hand grabbing his light tunic. "Someone could come in."
His lips moved over your cheek. "Kíli's watching the door."
A soft laugh left you at that. No one would get past his brother, but everyone would know that Fíli was in the room if they saw Kíli standing near the door. "Fíli, you're going to get us into trouble."
He smiled against you. "It would be nothing new and we've got a bit of time."
"You aren't even ready," you protested, but your head tipped back as he kissed down your neck.
"Small things, love. Don't worry. I'll be presentable for you. I won't embarrass you."
You pushed back from him, surprising him. "Fíli, you never embarrass me."
He lifted a brow, his face disbelieving. "I embarrass you all the time," he said dryly.
"But I'm never embarrassed to be with you," you clarified, knowing what he had originally meant.
Blue eyes darkened as he let his forehead rest on yours. "How do you do that?" he murmured. "How do you always know what I mean?"
You didn't know. It certainly hadn't always been that way. When you'd first been betrothed, you were constantly misunderstanding him. It had gotten so tense between both of you the contract had nearly been broken. It had actually been Kíli who had inadvertently solved your problem. The interactions between the brothers had helped you understand Fíli and his dry wit. There were still times when he utterly confused you, but your mother had assured you it was natural in any relationship.
"I wish we didn't have to go through all this," he murmured, winding one of your braids around his finger. "It would be so much simpler."
"Alas," you sighed, "you just had to be a prince."
He growled softly at you and you smiled up at him. "Do not start."
A brow lifted at him and you tugged your hair away from him. Extracting yourself from his grasp, you straightened your dress. "Start what, my prince?"
Blue eyes narrowed at you. "You're pushing it, love."
You smiled at him and you both glanced at the door when it opened, Kíli sticking his head in.
"We need to go," he said to his brother. "One of the guards said Thorin is looking for us."
Fíli flinched at that and you refrained from rolling your eyes. You could have told them that their uncle would notice their disappearance; he always did. Fíli looked at you and took a step closer to you. "Don't think I'll forget the sass," he said, his voice low and husky. "Don't think I'll forget all the sass you've thrown at me over the years."
Your breath caught at the intensity in his voice and you tried to step back, but he followed you. "Fíli," you whispered.
His lips slowly curled upwards in a smile and he caught your hand to lift it to his mouth. "Tonight," he said softly. "Tonight I will get you back for all of the years you've teased and tormented me."
"Fíli!" Kíli hissed urgently.
He kissed you again and pulled away. "Until the wedding, love," he said in parting, bowing before leaving the room.
You stared at the closed door for a long moment before sinking into a chair. Your fingers curled as you pressed them against your chest, his words echoing in your ears.
