Bilbo didn't know what made him set down the Arkenstone, but he did. Was it truly worth stealing?
No, he told himself. It isn't.
"And there you go," Bilbo said, handing over the last of his treasure. "I wish you all well and apologize for how my companions treated you."
"What a sensible man you are," replied Bard. "This will surely help my people recover. "If only everyone could be like you." He placed the sacks of gold in his cart. "I presume that you are staying with them in the mountain."
Bilbo nodded. "I've grown fond of them, even though they have their faults. I'm sorry that I couldn't have gotten you all more."
"No, this is more than enough! Let us just hope that we may become allies again one day."
"Yes, one day." Bilbo, however, didn't see this as happening.
"The people of Laketown will bother us no longer," Bilbo said once he had arrived back.
"You convinced them to stop pestering us?" Thorin asked.
"No, I gave them my share of the gold."
No one said a word, all the dwarves looking to one another, seeming to ask each other if they'd heard the correct words.
"What?" Thorin roared.
"It's not like I'd even need it." Bilbo looked at each of the dwarves, but if they were on his side they didn't show it. "Besides, you wanted them to stop buzzing around us like flies."
When no one responded, he left, headed towards an empty hall. It was vast in size and filled with gold. Bilbo was sick of seeing it.
What did I do wrong? he thought. Thorin should be thanking me.
"Bilbo," came Thorin's deep, strong voice. "I wish to speak with you."
The hobbit turned to him. "What, do you wish to make me leave for what I did? Should I instead have robbed the poor people of the few treasures they had left like a good little thief?"
"No, don't think of it like that. I'm glad they're gone, and you do have a right to do with the gold as you wish, especially since you were the one who went in after Smaug. We owe so many things to you."
Bilbo wasn't convinced that his words were true. He yawned. "Two minutes you were acting as if I declared that I wanted you all to rot."
"It was a hasty decision, the words I said," Thorin said. "Please, I want to apologize. In all honesty, that was a very smart move. And to make it up to you, I will allow to take as much of my share of gold as you'd like."
"Take?"
"Well of course. You kept going on and on about how much you wanted to go back to your hobbit hole back at the Shire."
"I'm not going back."
"You aren't?"
"I've decided to stay."
Thorin smiled, more than just a regular smile, but a deep one, filled with strong emotions but hiding many more. "I can't say no then, can I? Feel free to stay." The words seemed to whisper to him that he had made an invisible binding to him and this place, and every dwarf would hate him if he were to decide to leave.
That night, when they ate the last of their food (as they planned to buy a far better amount with their gold), everyone seemed excited that Bilbo was staying.
"You're one of us now, little thief!" Gloin said, patting him on the back.
"Yes," Bombur added, "you're practically a dwarf yourself, though about child-sized and in need of a good shave to the feet!"
The dwarves began to laugh.
"Thank you," Bilbo muttered.
"I'm surprised he didn't run away screaming," said Kili.
"That would be inconsiderate of you all," Bilbo responded. "Do you take me as a rude one?"
Kili shook his head. "Sometimes it's just hard to understand hobbits."
"Don't give him such a hard time," said Thorin in his loud, commanding voice. He came up and wrapped his arm around Bilbo's back. "That's the order of the king."
In seconds, everyone was silent, and not even the sound of their breathing could be heard. Bilbo tensed up, feeling every eye on him. He laughed weakly. "Yes, you all must obey the king, dwarves."
"As do you," replied Thorin, a playful gleam in his eye. "You did say that you wanted to stay and become one of us."
Though his tone was playful and far from serious, Bilbo still couldn't find a way to answer.
"Looks like I got him tongue-tied," said Thorin. "You may speak, little hobbit."
Bilbo sighed. "I am not little!"
"And I do not have a beard."
"Thorin, I simply decided to stay here. Does that mean I am to be insulted?"
"Your size makes you cute."
Bilbo scowled. "I am not cute!"
"Well you certainly offer more to the eye than the dwarves do!" He laughed, and so did the other dwarves. It finally hit Bilbo that the others had been listening to their conversation.
"He is as small as a cute little mouse," said Kili.
Bilbo felt himself get angrier. "Would you all stop comparing me to rodents?"
"We don't mean it in offense," said Thorin, squeezing his arm around his back. "You're one of us now and you get treated like the rest of us."
Instead, Bilbo felt like the tortured younger sibling. He feared that would end up being his role in a few years. Should he have simply left with Gandalf? He certainly hadn't considered what living with the dwarves actually meant.
"I managed to get some ale," said Thorin proudly. Dwarves around him gasped, then excitedly whispered to each other, looks of pure glee on their faces. "Now let us celebrate!"
Everyone cheered, hailing him as the greatest king to ever live. Thorin finally released Bilbo from his monstrous, all-consuming grasp, and Bilbo snuck away from them, going again to a lonely corner. He sat down, took a deep breath, then once more thought about his life, and how he got where he was.
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