Erebor was a rather small town in the middle of nowhere important to anyone but the even smaller villages surrounding it. A lonely mountain that was considered a thriving metropolis to anyone within a 50 mile radius.

When Thorin was just a boy he dreamed of how he was going to leave. He was going to become a soldier and fight for his country in an exotic land, as far away as possible. Or was going to invent something amazing and grow incredibly wealthy. Have enough money to own a home in every major city.

In his young mind, the possibilities were endless. Anything to escape the dullness, the responsibilities, the same thing day after day.

And yet coming home now, a wave of nostalgia overtook him.

That there was the cinema that played movies a year after they had come out and where Thorin had gotten to third base with Thranduil from the town over until he shoved him away and called him a pervert. The water fountain in the center of town was where he and Dwalin got caught smoking by his Da and was forced to clean the graffiti off the park benches in punishment.

It hadn't changed at all, not even a smidge, and Thorin was quite relieved that he had managed to leave, though the reasons were not particularly ideal. Better he see the world and put a few bullets in a couple of heads than live the same old life win the same old town with the same old people.

Thorin turned onto a gravel road and drove another mile up until he saw the old farmhouse he had spent his untroubled youth. He parked his old truck on the pebble covered drive and took a deep breath just as the front door opened and Fili and Kili rushed out.

"Uncle! Uncle Thorin!" they shouted, shoving each other side trying to reach him first.

Dis stepped out behind them, hands on her hips and scowling fiercely. "Give him a mo', boys," Dis shouted after them, as they pulled Thorin out of his truck and tackled him to the ground, the pebbles digging into their skin.

His survival skills kicking into gear, Thorin easily shoved his nephews off, pinning them to the ground with his weight. "Uncle!" Kili cried. "Ow!"

"Get off!" Fili shouted.

Thorin quickly let them go, stumbling backwards as he stood. Fili and Kili groaned on the ground. "You're heinous, Uncle," Kili grumbled.

"How'd you even keep us both down?" Fili asked, sitting up with a grin, his blonde hair dirtied by mud.

Kili shot up beside him, twigs and dirt clods stuck in his messy mane. "You're not as old as we thought," Kili said, elbowing Fili as he stood up and embraced Thorin.

"You've grown," Thorin exclaimed, wrapping his arm around Kili's neck, doing the same to Fili once he got his footing. Both boys complained as Thorin drug them to their mother.

"Let 'em go," Dis ordered and Thorin did as he was bid, his nephews shoving him away, giant smiles on their faces. "They're not boys anymore," she huffed, punching Thorin in the arm. "And neither are you."

Thorin wrapped his sister in a hug. "Good to see ya, Dis," he said as he let her go and stepped into the house.

"Boots!" she told him and Fili and Kili did a rather impressive impression of her which led to a good whack behind their heads from their mother. "Both of you, back to your cleaning. Don't think you'll get off 'cause your uncle's here."

"Mum," they groaned in unison, but Dis shot them a fearful look and the teens shuffled to their room where they were struggling to clean it up.

Dis led Thorin to the kitchen and sat him down, placing before him a plate of fried eggs, bacon, and toast. "Figured you skipped breakfast," Dis commented, pouring him some coffee and setting herself down opposite him. "What brings you here out of the blue?"

Thorin shrugged, taking a gulp of the coffee. "Felt I needed a bit of a break."

"So you rushed out here at six in the morning, yeah?"

"Hit me like a wave," Thorin said.

Dis shook her head but didn't comment further as he ate his breakfast. "Got beans if you want 'em."

"I'm fine, thanks," Thorin said. He shoveled down his food and patted his stomach in appreciation as he finished. "Dwalin?"

"The pub," Dis answered. She took his plate as he rose, but she grabbed his shoulder, stopping him. "No explanations?"

"I'll tell you everything later, Dis," Thorin promised. "I'll bear my soul, even."

She nodded, letting him go. "Fine. Run, run as fast as you can."

Ori pawed at Dwalin's great big shoulder's, panting in his ear as he sucked a bruise onto Ori's collar bone. This was a really great idea. Probably the best idea he'd ever come up with. Nothing like a mid-morning snog to start the day off right, he always said.

An uncomfortable cough disrupted the amorous couple and Ori squeaked, shoving Dwalin off of him, fixing his shirt as he hopped off the bar. Dwalin staggered back, blinking at the intruder who stood haloed in the entrance. "Bad time?" the man asked.

"You son of a bitch," Dwalin laughed, slapping a hand on the man's back and pulling him into a hug. As they pulled apart, Dwalin knocked their heads together. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Ori grabbed his sweater and threw it on, awkwardly buttoning it back up, cheeks tinted pink. "Ori," Dwalin called, flashing him a smile that made him melt into his trainers. "This here's Thorin, I've told you 'bout him, remember?"

Thorin nodded in greeting and Ori waved back, grabbing his bag. "I've got to," he coughed, "go," Ori said. "It's a pleasure, Mr. Thorin."

He squeezed past Thorin and walked briskly to the Gazette office. He managed to wrangle the door open and threw himself onto his desk. He was never going to be able to look Thorin in the eye.

"Wonder what's gotten into him," Dwalin wondered as Ori traipsed out of the pub, mumbling apologies.

"So that's the infamous Ori," Thorin said. "I thought he'd be smaller."

Dwalin rolled his eyes as he walked behind the bar, grabbing a glass and pretended to polish it. He wasn't going to open for at least another ten minutes which was why he and the significant other were getting handsy. Something about being kissed senseless always gave Dwalin a clear head as he worked.

"What're you doing here?" Dwalin asked. "You never did answer."

Thorin tapped his fingers on the bar. He leaned forward and said, "I'm hiding."

"What?" Dwalin exclaimed. "What the hell did you do?"

"Apparently I wasn't supposed to kill a certain someone," Thorin told him. Dwalin looked ready to blow up so Thorin held up his hands in appeasement. "Don't start. Gandalf threw me out of my home this morning. No one knows about Erebor so I figured I'd stay here until he clears things up."

Dwalin snorted. Like that would ever happen. They both knew what Gandalf was like. Chances were it'd be five years before he even remembered he was supposed to be keeping Thorin alive. "What do you plan on doing here, then?"

The guilty look said it all. "I'm not gonna let you drink for free," Dwalin told him.

"I've got money," Thorin replied. "I'm not a vagrant." He placed a fiver on the counter, sitting down and waiting patiently for his pint. Dwalin rolled his eyes but took the money anyway. "Fosters, I've got to drive back. And keep the change, I've got more."

Dwalin huffed. "What you plan on doing while you're here?" he asked, pouring Thorin his drink.

"Know anyone looking to off somebody?" Thorin asked, raising his pint in the air and saluting Dwalin before taking a drink. "That's horrible," he grumbled. "Love it."

"The bakery's been empty for a few years," Dwalin told him, opening himself a Coke.

"I can't bake," Thorin told him. "I tried once, remember? Da through me out of the kitchen and told me never to try again."

Dwalin downed his drink sheepishly.

"What?" Thorin asked. "What's that look? What have you done?"

"I told them you were a baker," Dwalin admitted.

"You what?" Thorin blurted. Of all the idiotic things a friend could do, this really took the cake. Him? A baker?

He so much as looked at an oven it would spontaneously combust. He was not allowed in a kitchen. Not unless you wanted to call the fire brigade, which in that case, go on and let him bake a pie. Let him boil some pasta. See how great that turns out.

"You told me to lie to them," Dwalin pointed out. "And seeing as your old man was a baker, and his old man – well I thought, naturally, that'd you go off and do the same."

Thorin dropped his onto the bar, hands gripping his hair tightly. "And people believed it?"

"Dis had a bit of a laugh," Dwalin chuckled, sobering as Thorin glared. "And Balin thought you were crazy. But then you were sending money back home and everyone just sort of assumed it was true."

"That explains all the jokes Dis loves to tell whenever I call," Thorin mumbled.

Dwalin held back a laugh. "I'll walk you down there, if you'd like."

"Don't bother," Thorin sighed, downing the rest of his pint. "If it's still down Drury Lane, I'll find it just fine."

Author's Note: Can you tell that I'm really excited yet? Because it hasn't even been a week since the first chapter. Bilbo's making an appearance next chapter. I nearly wrote him in this one, but I didn't want to end the chapter awkwardly. So enjoy the Durin family! Fili and Kili are 19 & 17, respectively. Ori is the Dwalin's boyfriend, yay! what else, what else?