"So he tasted the deep pain that is reserved only for the strong, just as he had tasted for a little while the deep happiness." F. Scott Fitzgerald

~oOo~

The following morning made Lena's head heavy with her last night scare. She passed out well beyond the time Bilbo and Gandalf went to bed and stayed in as long as she could but it was Gandalf who woke her. She washed her face, combed her hair so that she could put it back, then started to get her things together. Lena felt numb when Gandalf placed a hand on her shoulder, telling her that things had cooled off but the others were worried. She didn't want them to worry but yesterday...she tried so hard to forget at least for a little while but that stupid mad smelled just like him...and his hands...

"Are you alright Lady Lena?" Lena turned around to see Bilbo standing behind her with a frown. She smiled faintly, nodding her head.

"I'm alright. That man just shook my up that's all." She wrote down on her pad then showing him.

"The others told me that they're very protective of their women so you're safe with them. No one is going to hurt you again." He gave Lena a reassuring smile to which she returned one.

"Thank you." Lena sighed. "Are they still eating breakfast? I didn't have much last night." Bilbo smiled and said yes, walking her downstairs. There was a lot less people than last night to which only the company plus a few others were sitting down eating. The company all stopped and turned to face her. She felt horrible but she tried not to make eye contact with anyone, especially Thorin. She ended up sitting in-between Oin and Fili who gave her smiles which she returned. Lena wrote down what she wanted from the barmaid who nodded after reading Lena's note.

When she looked up she caught Thorin's eye.

She tried to smile at him but his face was like stone, unfeeling and yet there was a storm behind his gray eyes. When he didn't smile back she bent her head to look at the table.

"You alright lass?" Lena looked to to Dwalin asking but she knew the others were thinking the same question.

Lena nodded her head, "I'm okay. Tired and hungry from last night. Thank you for asking." She stopped writing for a moment before continuing. "I'm sorry about last night. I didn't mean to freak out." Oin read the note out loud. The others growled and shook their heads.

"That ollikh is nothing but scum of the humans. He had not right to touch you." Dwalin growled and Lena smiled.

"Thank you. He frightened me and I was a little shaken up I could hardly fight back." She tried to explain but they wouldn't hear nothing of it. They told her that until she could learn to fight back they would protect her and even when she learned they would still. Lena thought herself more of a burden than anything but she didn't write anything more. Her food came a short while later and there was little talking. Every once and a while she would look up to see Thorin looking at her but she quickly diverted her eyes away.

Once breakfast was taken care of, the company got their things together to head out. They saddled up the ponies and Lena noticed that there was the exact same number of ponies they had started out with. Didn't Thorin say she would be getting a pony of her own?

"We couldn't find a pony for sale or one for your size Lady Lena. We're stuck with riding one of us still." Bofur said and Lena just smiled, giving him a shrugged her shoulders like she didn't mind at all.

"Who do I ride with then?" She wrote down so Bofur could read out loud.

"You'll ride with me." Thorin's booming voice sounded over the lot of them. Heat rose to Lena's face and butterflies appeared in her stomach when he turned to look at her with the same storm gray eyes. Lena approached him slowly, unsure to what might he say but she could tell by the way his eyes softened that it wasn't going to be towards her. There was a way to tell how people were thinking just by looking at their eyes. Softer and kinder, the lighter they are. Passion is darker and yet you can still see what color. Anger...is all dark; there's not color and it seems so lifeless with so much fire.

"I'm sorry about last night. I didn't mean to freak out. He just startled me." Lena wrote, showing it to Thorin.

"Do not apologize. You did nothing wrong Lena." Thorin said tightly strapping on the saddle to the pony.

"I caused trouble." Lena wrote. When Thorin saw it he growled under his breath before snapping on Lena that it was the drunk who caused trouble, not her. Lena flinched at the tone of his voice. She started to back away from him slowly, bumping into Gandalf who appeared right behind her.

"Lady Lena, why don't you ride with me this time? It will give us a chance to catch up since our last talk. Come Lena." Gandalf guided Lena to his horse which was the tallest animal out of the bunch. She looked over her shoulder to see Thorin's sullen face that held anger and guilt for some reason.

Gandalf helped her up onto the back of a horse, sliding behind her to take the reins. The ride was silent, except for the minor talk from the back of the group but Lena felt confused and dizzy about the situation. At first he isn't mad and then he snaps at her. Ugh...

"Do not fret over such things. Dwarven men are very protective of their women. Give him time. He will come around." Gandalf said.

"I'm trying Gandalf." Lena wrote on her pad.

"I know young one. As you know, situations like yours will take time. Things will get better." He said. Lena remained quiet for the rest of the ride until they broke for camp at dawn. Thankfully, the men gave Lena her space instead of hovering over her. Fili and Kili tried to lighten the mood but it only helped a bit. She helped Bombor cook dinner and then went to the stream near the camp site to wash the dishes they had. She volunteered of course to do it but she didn't expect Thorin to help her.

"I...apologize. I didn't mean to snap at you." Thorin spoke after a while. "Nor was it my attention to scare you." Lena reached over and patted his shoulder. Thorin was oddly vocal, asking Lena yes or no questions until they returned to camp so that Lena could write on her pad.

"Can you describe Erebor? What was it liked when you lived there?" Lena asked as they sat together, a little ways from the others to look up at the sky. "Where I'm from, you never see stars like this. So beautiful..." Thorin smiled faintly and then told her everything about his lost home. It felt oddly comforting to have Lena sit next to the dwarf king. He had said sorry about the way he acted around her and it felt like...there was this trust around the both of them Lena couldn't really explain.

She felt safe around him.

When he smiled and she saw Lena couldn't help but grin as well. And then there was the slight touches of each others hands. Slight brushes but nothing much but they could feel the warmth radiating off both of them.

"Lena...if you don't mind me asking...I've notice you flinch whenever someone touches you." Lena froze. "Please Lena...I can't explain it but if anyone harmed you in anyway..." Thorin sighed and clenched his fists to control the anger burning inside him. The mire thought of anyone harming his One...

"I'm sorry...I can't..." Lena wrote but her handwriting wasn't its cursive writing but more like chicken scratch.

"Just know Lena...you are not alone." With that said Thorin stood and went to stand by the fire. Lena sighed, looking up at the stars above her head.

Must this world test her so?

Why can't she just stay in peace?

~oOo~

A/N: Not the best chapter but it's a filler before we move on to fluffier stuff. If Thorin or anyone sounds too OOC let me know and I will try to correct it in the next chapter. Thank you for reading!