I am Soooooooo sorry about the delay of this chapter. I've been having this huge writers block.

To make it up to you I will, between march 10 and march 17, take requests for short fanfiction conserning the Hobbit fandom. You can eather send me a PM here on or on tumblr where my name there is "LightofNoldor". Make sure to write your penname.

/Kumiko

They soon found themselves at a café close to Thorins house; he didn't want to get too far away from the twins (in case something happened). He soon thought to himself that he probably worried too much, although Bilbo did not seem to care.

"What would you like?" Thorin asked and looked at the billboard above the register, it must have been over 100 different hot drinks and he almost went pale from thinking too much.

"Just Earl Grey is fine for me." Bilbo said "but I can pay for myself. I was the one that asked you out."

"This isn't a date." He added and chuckled ever so slightly.

That final add made Thorin realise. Yes, of course, this was only business. What did he think?

"Yes. Yes of course." He stuttered a bit nervously and stiffened.

He stuttered (!). Thorin Oakenshield, respected lawyer and man stuttered, nervously. He tried to shake the feeling of discomfort as Bilbo stepped in front of him and made his order. Thorin wanted to order a whiskey or something stronger to calm his nerves but just ordered a plain black coffee.

"I never learned to drink coffee when I was younger" Bilbo said. "And now, when I'm older, I just find it bitter. I'm more of a sweet tooth."

It seemed to Thorin that Mr Baggins was also nervous and just rambled to get a conversation started. They had come here to just drink a hot beverage and speak about Fili and Kili. They were the ones that were important and the reason they met.

"Well," Thorin said as he sat down at a window table "your taste often reflects how you are as a person."

Thorin noticed how Bilbo tried to hide that he was blushing and mumbled "Thank you." It was not Thorins intention to call him sweet but he figured he would give him that one. He was, in fact, very cute with his curly, honey coloured hair and soft brown eyes. It made him look like he was much younger than he probably was and Thorin started guessing he was around the same age as Dis.

"So, Mr Baggins, how come you work as a pre-school teacher?" Thorin asked to get rid of that awkward "first date" feeling.

Bilbo fidgeted a bit and cleared his throat "Well…" he started and looked into his cup. "I like children, they are so honest and kind, and they always speak their minds. And since I can't have children on my own this was as close as I could get of being a father."

Thorin noticed a sad smile in the other males face as he took a sip of his tea. This was clearly a delicate subject for Bilbo and it seemed like he had crossed some line there. Thorin silently apologized and started drinking his coffee. It was still a little too hot.

"But, euhm" Bilbo said "what do you do for a living? Since you have a suit and live in a quite exclusive area and drive an expensive car. Are you a drug lord?" The little one giggled a bit and the mood was changed.

Thorin smiled. "No, I work as a lawyer at Lonely Mountain law firm."

"I've heard about that business. It's pretty successful." Bilbo seemed interested and smiled.

Thorin nodded. "It was funded by my grandfather Thrór and passed down to my father Thráin, and then to me. I'm basically the CEO now since my father's passing." He saw how Bilbos eyes lightened up and he guessed he was interested. This was going pretty good, they spoke and had a good time.

"And I'm only 32" he added and took a mouthful of coffee.

Bilbo straightened his back a bit. "Oh, that means you're 8 years older than me. I thought it would be more." He said and froze. "I-I mean… Not that I think you're old or anything. I just… Well…"

Thorin couldn't help himself and burst out laughing. A loud rumbling laughter that filled the whole room and Bilbo couldn't do anything but laugh along.

They spoke the rest of the evening about everything in this world. He learned that Bilbos favourite colour was yellow, his favourite animal was cats and that he had a bad relationship with his parents (he didn't say why however). Even on the drive back to Bilbos flat they spoke and Bilbo pointed out places in the town where he had been playing as a kid and where he used to go when he was trick or treating on Halloween.

It was only when Thorin was in bed that night that he realised they hadn't said a single thing about Fili and Kili.

When Thorin woke up that morning he didn't wake by the alarm, but of shattering glass and cries. He threw himself up from his bed and, only wearing a pair of boxers, rushed into the kitchen where he found Fili and Kili squatting on the floor. They froze when he entered the kitchen and it was Fili who looked at him first.

"Please don't get angry, uncle Thorin. Kili wanted a glass of water and I dropped it." He said.

"Yes, uncle Thorin." Kili sniffed "We're picking it up now. Please don't get mad."

Thorin opened a cupboard and picked up a broom and a shovel. "You shouldn't use your hands, you might cut yourselves." He said and shoved the kids away and began to sweep it up. In the corner of his eyes he could see Fili hug his crying brother, Fili had his Spiderman pyjamas and Kili had one with green aliens on. Thorin looked at them with a mild expression. "I'm not angry" he said and controlled that all the glass were gone. "Just make sure you don't walk there barefoot so you get glass in your feet." Kili sniffled and wiped some snot on his left sleeve and hugged Thorins leg. "I'm sorry, uncle. I'll be more careful next time."
How could he ever get angry at these boys?

They drove into the parking lot a little earlier than yesterday. The time was 5 when the incidence with the glass happened and it was too late to go back to bed, so they had gotten dressed and eaten breakfast in a slow manner. They had even had time to stop and talk to Bombur before he went out on his morning walk. Thorin always wondered how that man could be so big, yet so fit. On the summers Bombur used to invite Thorin to come with him and go hiking in the Scottish highlands and in the winters he went to Italy to ski. However, he was still very, well, fat. Thorin knew it was not correct to call him that but he was very large.

Fili and Kili ran into the small building with Thorin following them. They got greeted by Bilbo and it seemed like he smiled a little extra when he spotted Thorin. He got Goosebumps along his spine when he saw that genuinely happy face.

"Good morning Mr Oakenshield. You have your nephews here too?" He heard a soft voice behind him. He looked back and spotted a fair haired, tall man with a small child clinging to his sides. It was Doctor Greenleaf, the children's therapist.

"Fancy seeing you this time a day." Thorin answered and nodded to greet him. "And this must be your… child." It was that same blonde kid he had seen yesterday, the one he could not really determine if it was a girl or a boy.

Dr Greenleaf smiled "Yes, it's my son, Legolas." The child waved shyly but quickly ran away into one of the adjacent rooms.
Dr Greenleaf looked at his watch and smiled. "As lovely as it is chatting with you I need to get to work. We'll still see each other next Monday."

He turned around and started walking out. "Oh, by the way," He added and looked back. "You might want to bandage that wound on your wrist."

Thorin felt how his left hand was warm and moist. Blood ran along his fingers and dripping onto the floor. He ran a slight glance at it and saw a rather large cut right next to his thumb. He must have cut himself on the glass, but wouldn't he have noticed it before?

A slight thug at his sleeve. "We have bandages in the teachers' lounge." Bilbo said and pulled him into the room.

"What did you do? It won't stop bleeding." Bilbo said while he wrapped bandage around Thorins large hands. He had taken a first aid course in university and it came well in hand now.

Thorin looked away from the wound, breathing heavy. He clearly did not like the sight of blood. "Kili dropped a glass this morning and I must've cut myself on it while picking it up."
Bilbo fought with holding back a chuckle. Thorin obviously tried to be macho and not show Bilbo how hard he thought it was; something that failed miserably.

"I was thinking" Bilbo said, trying to change the subject. "That we didn't have time to speak about Fili and Kili yesterday. So how about meeting tonight too?"

Thorin finally looked his way and Bilbo gasped a bit. Was he going to reject him?

"That would be good." Thorin answered "Same time and place?"

Bilbo nodded and smiled.