Chapter 3

I don't own anything from The Hobbit or any of Tolkien's characters.

"Ilana?" I heard Bilbo ask on the other side of my door.

"Come in!" I called. The door opened and Bilbo came inside to sit on my bed. He looked down and started playing with the bottom of his vest.

After some time, he cleared his throat and said, "Ilana, I don't mean to be strict when it comes to letting you do things on your own. I just want to protect you. I know you can take care of yourself, but I feel as if I don't want to let you go. I hate to see you get hurt."

What he said really made me think. I have always been shy around everyone so I never really made friends. There are some hobbits who bully me, like Elijah, and Bilbo was the only one who stood up for me since I had no one else. I think Bilbo is just sick of watching me be bullied and he wants me safe from danger. Sometimes I wish I could defend myself…

"I know, I love you." I replied. Then suddenly there was knocking from the front door.

Bilbo got up to go answer the door. "Now who could that be? Hang on, I will be right back."

I looked out the window just to see who was at the door, but it was too dark. All I saw was a shadow. I decided to stay in my room and ignore the unexpected visitor. I took out a book about fighting techniques that I bought today without Bilbo knowing because he would have NEVER let me buy such a book. I don't exactly know how to use a weapon and I never picked one up, but this book explains some interesting tips.

A little while later, I heard another knock on the door. I don't really want to see anyone and Bilbo didn't come in here again, so I suppose he's busy.

To let time go by, I cleaned my room a bit. I arranged my bookshelf in order to fit more books, I made my bed, and I put away all my clean clothes. As I just finished cleaning, the doorbell rang a third time. 'Who keeps coming in our home?' I silently wonder. I snuck out of my door to see where all of the commotion was coming from, and I saw four dwarves in the kitchen. I was able to tell that the visitors were dwarves from the adventure novels I read. 'Wow! I have never seen a dwarf before! What are they doing here?' I wonder. I accidentally bumped into a chest on the ground and two of the younger looking dwarves looked up at me. I quickly leaned back against the wall, but it was too late because they already saw me. Then they turned to each other and whispered something. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I did not like the looks they were giving me. Their lips were crooked with a slight smirk and they kept on glancing back at me.

Bilbo caught sight of me and said, "Ilana! Come here! I need you!" I got up and walked over to Bilbo while keeping my eyes lowered so I don't make eye contact with anyone. Suddenly, Bilbo pulled me aside, out of earshot with the dwarves. "I have no idea why there are dwarves in our house! And… they are eating everything I tell ya!" He whisper-shouted. "What is a hobbit to do! Oh dear!"

"Bilbo, please relax. Maybe they need somewhere to stay for the night. I'm sure they have a reason. They do look… friendly." I tried to calm him down, but he was still restless and pacing. I purposely didn't mention the two younger dwarves acting odd because Bilbo would freak out even more. Before Bilbo said anything, the doorbell rang for the fourth time.

"Oh for the love of all that is holy! How many more dwarves are coming?!" Bilbo exclaimed all flustered. I followed him to the door and when it opened, a whole pile of dwarves fell on the floor. I laughed quietly as one very large dwarf fell on the rest of the group. They all stood up groaning, but when they saw Bilbo, they all said, "At your service, Mr. Baggins!" In the background, I saw Gandalf, but he didn't seem to notice me.

Bilbo's expression made me laugh, it was all red like he was about to blow up at any given time. All the dwarves, (I think there were twelve) went straight to the pantry to set up for a huge feast. I stayed out of everyone's way and went to my room. I also snuck some food because I figured the dwarves would not leave any food untouched. When I entered my room, I sat down at my desk to read in peace.

After a good hour, the dwarves started getting really loud and crazy, which probably meant that they are definitely drunk. I just continued reading because I didn't want to interfere with drunken dwarves. I jumped out of my seat as the two younger dwarves stumbled through my door without knocking.

Then the dark haired dwarf cleared his throat dramatically, "I don't think we introduced ourselves properly yet… I'm Kili and this is my brother, Fili."

"What's a lovely lass like you doin' in a room alone?" Fili questioned with a contorted smile.

"Well, we can change that. Let's have some fun, shall we?" Kili challenged. I didn't know how to react, so I backed up and unfortunately hit the wall. I had nowhere to run and Kili and Fili were closing in with evil smirks. My heartbeat started racing until the door swung open.

"Hey, lads! We need you in here, we were looking for ya!" I looked over to see a dwarf with a floppy hat and a long, dark mustache. 'That dwarf just saved me! Thank you, thank you, and thank you!'

Fili and Kili both gave me a sly smile before groaning obnoxiously and saying, "This better be good, Bofur."

They whirled around without question and left my room. I think I saw the other dwarf, Bofur, wink at me right before he shut the door soundlessly. I breathed a sigh of relief and started drawing to keep me occupied.

Thanks again for reading! The next chapter will have a certain someone who you were waiting for! Tell me what you guys think about my story! Is it too short? I'm trying to make it longer, but it's hard for me. Do you have any suggestions to help me?

Thanks to all of my followers!