So, I'm back with the next chapter already. It's just sitting there on my computer waiting to be published and I'm too eager for you to read it, so I can't seem to hold on to it any longer.

My thanks go out to all of you who took their time to read it. Thank you for following & adding this story as your favorite, it really means a lot to me. And special thanks to and Saphireanime for reviewing. These little signs of your approval are very much appreciated and do more for my motivation than anything I could do to motivate myself. So thank you :)

Maybe I should have cleared this out in the first chapter, but I'm startin off at the ending of the movie. I'm planning on keeping close to the events in the book, but I'll be having my own timeline and describe the events in my own way. I guess you could say it's an AU that is keeping paralell to the original.

Oh, and I still own nothing.

II

Bilbo Baggins woke up just in time to witness the first rays of sun peeking on the horizon. It had been a short rest for him, but he knew that more sleep would be unwelcome. Not that he wasn't tired, he was positive he could sleep for a week if only his mind allowed him to have a dreamless sleep, one without having to relive the horrors of previous night; he wouldn't mind not seeing the trees on fire and not hearing his friends screaming in fear and pain.

The hobbit remembered dreaming of Thorin charging to face Azog over and over again, and every time he, Bilbo, was too late to save him. Every time the scene ended with screams of horror from the dwarves and everything faded into blackness. Then it would repeat again and again until the hobbit's subconscious decided it was enough and allowed him to wake up.

He realised it would be the best to get up and start his day, not allowing himself to think what could have happened had he really been to late. Yesterday it had seemed so surreal, as if it hadn't really been him who had ran towards the orc, killing him with anger he hadn't known he posessed. It hadn't really been him who had stood in front of an unconsious Thorin, guarding him with his own little body. It hadn't been him who was being embraced by Thorin on top of the Carrock.

That thought jerked Bilbo back to reality. Had that really happened? Did Thorin, always being so distant and cold, really hug him? The hobbit couldn't find any indications that that had also been a dream, so it must have been true. The stoic and grumpy dwarf king had apparently been too shocked and distressed with the whole situation, that he probably hadn't been thinking of what he was doing. Such embrace must have been something out of characher for Thorin, if the surprised looks on the faces of other dwarves were any indication.

Bilbo felt good being on the receiving end of such a unique gesture, but he felt the pressure of it as well. After having some sleep Thorin probably had also had a change of heart and most likely would feel out of his comfort zone. And if he knew anything about the dwarf, Bilbo was sure that Thorin would approach the situation with denial. He couldn't really picture Thorin actually dealing with an uncomfortable situation instead of pretending that it didn't exist. With a sigh the hobbit got up and stretched his sore muscles, thinking that he should probably prepare himself for receiving annoyed glares or complete ignorance from Thorin. He definitely would prefer the latter, believing that pure ignorance was always better than obvious distaste, which he had gotten enough from the dwarf already.

Having that thought in his mind he wasn't prepared to hear the low whisper of a voice he knew too well.

„Morning, little one."

Bilbo whipped around to see if it was real or just his sleep deprived mind playing tricks on him. It was still relatively dark, so he had to squint, but eventually the hobbit was able to spot the figure of Thorin sitting on the ground not far from the group, leaning against a rock for support. His left arm was carefully cradled in his lap and Bilbo immediately wanted to rush towards him to make sure it was looking better than it had last night. He shook his head at the memory and struggled to scrape enough brains together to reply. His mind, however, didn't seem to cooperate.

„Oh.. Thorin.. Uhmm, hey." He sounded like a startled squirrel, great. Mentally he smacked himself on the head. „Good morning, that is." He tried again, unsure whether it would be wise to approach Thorin. His initial thought would be to stay where he was. But since the dwarf had started the conversation first and the look on his face didn't seem to be hostile or annoyed, Bilbo decided it probably would be fine to walk over. Plus, whispering over the heads of twelve sleeping dwarves wasn't really a proper way to have a conversation. Nor was it very wise considering that his companions were not the ones to welcome such way of awakening.

Carefully the hobbit made his way towards the dwarf, avoiding stepping on others and making his movements slower than necessary in order to have time to think of his further actions. Bilbo Baggins had never felt comfortable in Thorin's company, he felt constantly intimidated by dwarf's appearance. And now that they were presumably past the phase where they could go about without acknowleging each other more than it was necessary, the hobbit didn't know where that put them. He hadn't even considered the idea of Thorin talking to him, so the hobbit felt positively lost.

He couldn't stall forever, though, and eventually found himself standing not far away from the dwarf king. Deciding that it would be stupid of him to just stand there, he sat down, keeping his distance, trying to be as graceful as his sore muscles would allow. Bilbo felt Thorin's eyes on him and was unsure whether he wanted to meet that gaze. But considering himself a brave hobbit, he thought that no harm should come of it. Putting what he thought to be a neutral look on his face he looked at Thorin.

What he saw in those piercing blue eyes confused him even more than the dwarf greeting him a good morning. The eyes that were usually cold and distant now held something that Bilbo couldn't quite place. It was definitely an improvement considering the looks he had recieved from Thorin earlier and it made Bilbo feel good, somehow reminding him of the feeling he had when the dwarf had embraced him. But it still terrified the hobbit a little. He didn't know how to react to something he didn't understand. With the hug it had been easier, just having to hug back and let the feeling of relief, gratitude and trust wash over him. There was no way of knowing for sure, but the hobbit would bet his own head that there had been trust in that embrace. As if Thorin was allowing himself to put his own worries and fears on someone else's shoulders, even if it was just for one quick little moment. And Bilbo had felt more than happy to be a pillar for the dwarf to lean on, admitting to himself that he would gladly hug Thorin over and over again, if it meant making the dwarf feel at ease, just for a while.

But what was he supposed to do now? Bilbo doubted that jumping forward to embrace Thorin would do him any good for various reasons. First, he could not know for sure what went on in the mind of the king, having just learned that his expectations were proven to be wrong. Second, there would not be any way he could hug him without hurting his already injured frame. And the arm would probably get in the way as well. On the other hand, it would be nice to feel the large and strong frame embracing his little one again. And if he managed to get that arm out of the way, he was sure they both could be quite comfortable.

While he was weighting his options on what to do next, Bilbo wasn't really aware that time kept moving on without him. He was finally drawn away from his musings by Thorins voice, and the hobbit could swear he almost felt the air around him tremble as the dwarf spoke. Had he really just been listing the pros and cons of hugging him?

„Everything allright, halfling?"

„Yes, uhm.. Just thinking." And before Thorin could ask what thoughts had been so consuming to have captured his attention, Bilbo continued."How are your inj... I mean, how are you feeling?" He stopped himself just in time to rephrase his question, not sure if his injuries and vulnerability were something the dwarf wanted to discuss.

Thorin had obviosly noted the slip since Bilbo thought he saw corners of his mouth twich in a quick almost-smile before answering. „Better than I would have, considering the alternatives."

Bilbo was about to comment that there was no way of feeling anything without a head, but the dwarf continued, making the hobbit mentally thank him; jokes like this probably wouldn't go well with their new-found friendship. Friendship? Is this what this was?

„And my injuries are nothing to worry about." Thorin said with almost soothing softness in his voice, as if he was not the one who was injured. „You haven't seen really serious wounds, Master Baggins."

„And believe me, I'm not complaining." The hobbit retorted with distaste. He remembered seeing Thorin's bleeding torso yesterday, and wished he had been able to look away. But the scars that covered the dwarf's body were capturing his attention and not even a sight of food or something just as important would have drawn his look away from the numerous scars; he was too busy imagining every one of them being a fresh, bleeding wound. He shuddered at the memory, trying to get it out of his head.

„Not that many injuries in the Shire, eh?" Bilbo heard Thorin ask from somewhere nearby. Apparently he had drifted off somewhere with his thoughts again, the hobbit noted, being annoyed with himself.

„No, not really. I mean, there is an occasional cut finger or a bump on the head." He answered, trying to remember anything more serious happening. „I guess the worst I've seen is a broken nose when a neighbour of mine was hit in the face with an apple. That was really just an accident." With no fault of mine, he added mentally, trying to forget how his aiming skills had seemed to abandon him after a pint of mead.

„All this," he gestured towards Thorin's arm that he hadn't moved ever since he had sat down, „is really new to me. You'd think I would have become accustomed to seeing blood by now, but it still bothers me. Especially when..." he trailed off, not knowing whether he wanted to finish the thought. Even to himself, let alone out loud.

„Yes?" Thorin asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice. Bilbo tore his eyes away from Gloin who's sleeping form he had been directing his attention to while speaking and looked ar the dwarf next to him. The look in his eyes seemed more like the one the hobbit was used to, but it still held a hint of emotion from earlier. He then sighed and decided that it would not be productive to annoy Thorin with half-ended thoughts.

„Especially when the one who should be leading us goes and almost gets himself killed." He said, looking back to Gloin, not wanting to see the anger that was probably now filling Thorin's eyes; the hobbit wanted to keep the memory of those eyes carrying something warm, the emotion from before. And he would not contaminate it. He could almost imagine how Thorins eyes narrowed in distaste. So Bilbo prepared himself for well-deserved anger.

But he dwarf seemed to be determined to do the exactly the opposite of what Bilbo expected this morning. No harsh words came from him as the hobbit felt a warm hand on his shoulder.

„Dwarves are not that easy to break, Master Hobbit." He said softly with that soothing tone in his voice again and squeezed his hand lightly. „Nor is it that easy to anger us by speaking the truth." He added quietly and gave Bilbo's shoulder one last squeeze before retrieving his hand.

The hobbit looked at him with surprise. Since when did Thorin react calmly to such words? He had basically said that the dwarf had been reckless in his decision to stand against their enemies alone, and all he got for that were words of reassurance. And a reassuring touch.

As he looked at Thorin in awe, another thought hit him. Since when did Thorin read his thoughts and emotions? That last comment of his could only have been directed towards Bilbo's own assumptions of how Thorin was going to react.

To say that the hobbit was dumbfounded would be an understatement. He barely noticed that the sun was already high in the sky and the other dwarves were beginning to wake. The only thing that held his attention now was Thorin Oakenshield, looking as majestic and distant as he always had, yet feeling somehow closer. And warmer.

The dwarf gave Bilbo one last look and stood up, leaving the hobbit alone with his thoughts. And the little smile that had crept to his lips without him noticing.

Any thoughts? :) Every opinion and piece of advice will be highly appreciated!

Oh and one more thing-I'm not really sure about the title. Those always seem to be my weak spot :/ What do you think of it?