His knees were trembling as Gandalf guided him to the tent.
His injuries were so severe they could not even move him into the mountain.
Bilbo Baggins focused on putting one hairy foot in front of the other on the rocky, battle trodden ground beneath him until he came to stand a hairsbreadth before the fabric of the opening. He hardly recognized the touch of the wizard's hand upon his shoulder before the old man was gone, leaving Bilbo by himself with the sound of busy dwarves, elves and men around him. He could still hear the echo of the wizard's words in his head when he came to his borrowed quarters in Erebor not an hour ago.
He opened his eyes today. The first thing he asked for was you.
The hobbit forced his eyes closed against the threat of tears that came with the thought of how Thorin must have shouted his name with anger as soon as he awoke. Of course he would call for Bilbo. The first thing he would see to as King Under The Mountain would be the small burglar punished for stealing the great Arkenstone.
Opening his eyes again, he forced the tears from his eyes and the shaking from his knees. Then he pushed through the fabric and on into the tent.
There, lying alone on a cot was Thorin Oakenshield. His bare chest was wrapped in white bandages that had gone a dark rusty colour around his shoulder and side. The dwarf's eyes became alight in sight of his friend and all of Bilbo's worries melted from his mind.
"Master Baggins," Thorin said in a rough voice.
"Thorin." The name fell from his lips in no more than a whisper. A warm smile spread across Thorin's face.
"Bilbo," the dwarf said with joy. Bilbo's feet carried him swiftly and before he knew it, he found himself at Thorin's bedside. The king pulled himself up to sit in the cot, wincing against the pain.
Bilbo still couldn't believe his eyes, Thorin was alive, he was here and he didn't seem to hate Bilbo at all. He actually seemed genuinely happy to see the hobbit.
"Please," the injured dwarf said, "sit." He motioned to the stool just off to the side of the cot. Bilbo grabbed it and sat as close to Thorin as he could, knees resting on the bedframe beside his pillow.
"I am glad to see you, my burglar."
"Oh," Bilbo let slip through his lips as he bent and embraced Thorin. Immediately after he did he felt him stiffen underneath his arms. He tried to pull away but was stopped as Thorin's arm came around his back to hold him. The hobbit relaxed into him, letting his nose bury in Thorin's long dark hair and a few tears slide through his closed eyelids. Just as he thought he could stay there like that forever, Thorin pushed him back softly. He didn't let him go far, keeping the hobbit close to him with a hand on his shoulder. The smile was still on Thorin's face as he looked into the hobbit's eyes. A smile Bilbo had seen on his face only a handful of times on their journey, and never as bright as it seemed to be now. After a moment, Thorin spoke again.
Thorin's smile faltered and his eyes fell as he said, "There is something I must tell you."
Bilbo's earlier fears spiked again but he swallowed them down along with a lump in his throat.
"Yes, what is it Thorin?" The hobbit asked. The battered king took a breath before starting.
"After the battle started, after I had gone to hide in my mountain while dwarves fell to their deaths for a war I started, after I told my dawrves, my friends and nephews to stay and protect a pile of shiny yellow metal over going to fight a real war beside their brothers, I went to cower amongst my glorious possessions. I stumbled through the halls of my former home in my madness and came upon the Great Hall. There in the reflection of the river of gold that had hardened on the floor I saw what I had become.
"I felt my own greed, the same greed my Grandfather had been overcome by so many years before myself, bear down on my shoulders and push me into the surface. I felt myself fall into the gold, like a dream, as if it meant to drown me. The truth of my madness was about to suffocate me-"
Thorin's voice broke and he cast his head to the side. Bilbo wanted to say something to comfort his friend but before he could move his lips, Thorin came to face Bilbo, once again looking into his eyes.
"And the one thought that brought me out of the dark, was you. And it wasn't the anger, the betrayal I felt when I found out you had given the Arkenstone to Thranduil and the bowman. It was that you were worth so much more than the hoard of gold I had been so adamant to protect. And when I thought back to the treasure room, the only thoughts in my head were how no glittering precious gem could compare to the gleam of your eyes,"
Bilbo's mouth fell open as Thorin kept his gaze trained on his eyes and he felt the dwarf's hand slide to his neck.
"No piece of shining gold or polished bronze that could compare to the glint your hair in the sunlight," Thorin said as his hand lifted into the hobbit's curled locks, "and no mythril or forged armour to protect me against the blade with which you have pierced my heart."
As Thorin cupped his face and brought the hobbit closer until their foreheads touched, Bilbo wanted to say something, scream at the top of his lungs that he loved Thorin, that there was no way this was possible after Bilbo had betrayed him so, that he would stay here forever with the dwarf if it meant his love was true, but his words caught in his throat with his breath.
"You, Bilbo Baggins," Thorin whispered, breath tickling the hobbit's lips, "are the fire that burns in me hotter than any flame in a forge, that can melt any metal and burn even every dragon to nothing but ash. You are my One, I love you with everything I have. And I am so incredibly sorry for how I have treated you. Can you forgive me?"
Bilbo nearly laughed.
"Thorin Oakenshield, King Under The Mountain," a chuckle escaped from the hobbits lips as their noses brushed. "I love you. Of course I forgive you."
Then he leaned forward and joined their lips in a kiss. The dwarf's lips moved enthusiastically against them. He pressed their chests close together before pulling back with a groan against the pain. Bilbo stopped in an instant but kept them close.
"You," he said with mock warning, "have got to get better before we continue anymore with this."
Thorin laughed and Bilbo found himself joining him. Then a sense of seriousness graced Thorin's face again.
"There is one more thing I would ask of you, my love."
"Anything," Bilbo beamed at the affectionate term.
"Dwarves only truly love once in their lives. Each of our race has a One that they are destined to be with since birth. Once the One is discovered they will know, there is no one else they will spend their days with until their death. You, my burglar, are my One."
At this statement, Thorin placed a light kiss on the hobbits lips.
"The question I ask of you is, will you spend the rest of your days with me? Join our hands in marriage and be my Consort Under The Mountain?"
Bilbo brought both his hands to either side of Thorin's face as he said, "Yes," and joined their lips again.
"Yes, yes a thousand times yes."