Fili hurried as he walked down the empty street. He was late, he knew. The sun already settled down and the last thing he needed was Kili going home without him. His mother would be totally pissed, if she wasn't already.

The thought of his brother and his hurt expression before he had left made Fili feel guilty all over again. He really should make it up to him. Hopefully Kili would have calmed a bit.

Fili was almost running by now. His breath came out in little puffs as he reached the crossroad where they usually met. But there was no sign of Kili.

He silently cursed. Had his brother truly ditched him? No way he could do that! How dare! Kili knew Fili would get in major trouble, if he came home alone. Especially at that hour.

There wasn't much choice for the princeling. All he could do was wait or rather pace restless back and forth. Maybe Kili was still at the training ground or he hung out with Ori. Those two seemed to get along rather well for all their differences. Surely Kili was just being late like himself.

Time moved on and still no Kili. Where the heck was he? Worries slowly started to nag at his mind, leaving a sour taste. He called out for him in the dark, just in case the little devil was hiding to mess with him. But nothing.

It was getting cold.

When Fili was certain that Kili wouldn't show up, his worry turned into anger. His brother was most likely sitting at home around the warm fire, with a full belly and probably laughing at him. Fili felt incredibly stupid.

Oh, the little bastard was so gonna pay for that, he thought bitter as he went home.

.

.

.

Quietly the young dwarf entered through the back door, not wanting to attract any unwanted attention. The least Fili could do was delay his punishment. After he slipped off his heavy boots and hung his coat, he snuck upstairs.

"You're late." His mother's sharp voice cut through the air even before he could even put a food on the first step.

So much for his stealth abilities.

"Uhm... sorry." He muttered, trying to sound as rueful as possible.

When he turned to face his mother, she seemed not amused. Not at all. But more interestingly she also doesn't seemed plain outraged either. Sure there was irritation in her eyes and a tiny bit of disappointment, that always managed to sting, but otherwise nothing out of the ordinary. Sniffing his chance, Fili kept his gaze submissive on the ground.

Dis shook her head, "Go wash your hands."

The lad followed his mother into the kitchen and did what he was told. Fili couldn't believe his luck. That went surprisingly well.

"Where is Kili?" Dis asked while she was busying herself with the final touches of tonights supper.

Fili's stomach dropped.

"He's not here?"

"No." His mother paused in her movement. "Why would he? Isn't he with you?"

When her eldest son didn't reply she looked up. The silence stretched and slowly she realized that one was missing.

"Fili?" Dis took a deep breath, attempting to keep the upcoming panic out of her voice and at the same time fearing the answer of her next question more than anything else.

"Where. Is. Your. Brother?"

Filis thoughts ran with a thousand miles per hour. Kili wasn't here. He's alone. It was dark outside, dark and cold. And most of all: KILI WASN'T HERE!

"I… He…We had an argument, and he, he..." The words slurred together into an indistinguishable mess with the speed they were released.

"Slow down." Dis commanded, putting her hands firmly on his shoulder.

"Look at me." With her eyes she captured Fili's till he calmed enough to continue.

"Good." She nodded. "And now tell me what happened."

After he finished Fili felt drained. He knew he had somehow horribly screwed up, but there was no time to wallow in self-pity, Kili needed his help.

"Go fetch your uncle." His mother ordered and Fili took of as fast as he could.