The Chance of Love

Chapter 9


In two short weeks everything changed. Thorin became a guide, a mentor to Bilbo, telling him what to do and what not to do to get Adrian's attention. If Bilbo followed Thorin's orders, success was almost hundred percent guaranteed. But if it started as friendly advice it soon turned into a game. Thorin suggested something and Bilbo had to find a way to get Adrian to do it as fast as he could. The romantic notion was quickly forgotten.

"I did it!" called Bilbo as he came running through the door, happy that he succeeded in another activity Thorin suggested. " I totally did it!" He jumped in Thorin's arms and wrapped his legs around Thorin's waist as the taller man caught him. "I completed another one of your tasks," Bilbo beamed as he looked down at Thorin who happily carried him to the kitchen and sat him down on the counter.

"Details please," Thorin requested with a mischievous smile on his lips.

"We were waiting in the line to order, and you know how crowded that place always is… So, I got my back pressed closely to his front as I allowed him to wrap his arms around me from behind. You do know what I'm talking about, don't you," asked Bilbo teasingly as he ran his fingers over Thorin unshaved jaw.

"Of course." Thorin stepped even closer so that they were only centimeters apart.

"And I just couldn't stand still, you know," explained Bilbo teasingly. "I kept squirming and grinding my ass against him-"

"Minx," smiled Thorin.

"Well it worked. He didn't realize what I was doing until it was too late and he was so turned on he had trouble hiding it."

"And that's when you left."

"I did promise I'll have lunch with you, didn't I?"

"You really are evil Master Baggins," smiled Thorin proudly.

"I do have an excellent teacher."

"Remind me to never get on you bad side."

"You already know that you shouldn't," said Bilbo before he pressed a kiss to his cheek and hopped off the counter.

"I made pasta," explained Thorin. "That's the only thing we've got left."

"Don't worry, I'll do the shopping while you're having classes." Bilbo walked to the table and pressed a kiss to Theo's head. The two-year-old has been completely ignored up until now and was doing his best to keep as much pasta as possible on the spoon as he tried to eat. "Hello Pumpkin. Did you miss me?"

Theo managed to get another spoon in his mouth even though half of the pasta fell back into his plate.

"He behaved very well today," informed him Thorin as he served Bilbo lunch.

"Of course he did." Bilbo pressed another kiss to Theo's temple before saying thank you to Thorin for making lunch.

:::

Thorin left soon after they finished eating, allowing Bilbo to do the dishes while Theo had his afternoon nap. As promised Bilbo did the grocery shopping. He took Theo with him, but quickly realized it wasn't such a good idea because apparently Thorin allowed Theo to take as much candy as he wanted, which they hid when they got home. Bilbo was furious when he discovered the truth and he promised himself to have words with Thorin about that.

Everything else went fine until it was time to pay.

"Your card has been rejected, there's not enough balance."

Bilbo cursed in his head. Why did he agreed to take Thorin's credit card in the first place? "Could you try again?"

"Sure." The cashier pushed the card in POS terminal once again only to get the same answer as before. "Not enough balance. Would you like me to try with a different card," she asked politely.

"No. I'll pay with cash."

"Okay."

Bilbo didn't know what to think. Since when did Thorin's credit cards even have a limit? Or have zero balance? This wasn't supposed to happen. Especially not with Thorin's cards. He has done shopping with Thorin a few times when they were together and there were never any problems. And he has bought groceries with this card not even two weeks ago. And now suddenly there wasn't enough balance?

"Papa?"

Theo brought Bilbo back from his thoughts. He shifted the bags so he could take Theo's hand as they walked back home. He would need to call the bank and deal with this immediately. Maybe it was their mistake. It had to be their mistake.

:::

When Thorin returned later that evening he entered a dimly lit room. The only light that was on was coming from the kitchen, and was casting a long shadow of Bilbo who was sitting at the table waiting for Thorin to come back.

"Have a seat," Bilbo offered and pulled a chair out with his foot. His tone gave away no emotion at all and since Thorin couldn't actually see his face he wasn't sure if he was receiving an award or waiting for an execution.

He slowly dropped his bag on the floor before making his way to the table. The closer he got the more he actually saw. First it was just a pile of papers, a card and the phone, but then it became clear that the papers were from the bank and that the card was actually his credit card. Bilbo still hasn't said anything and Thorin wasn't sure where they stood at the moment.

"Where's Theodore?"

"I left him with one of my classmates. He just had his baby so taking care of Theo it's like practice for him," explained Bilbo without taking his eyes off Thorin.

"I can explain," said Thorin as he sat down, feeling uncomfortable by the way Bilbo was looking at him.

Bilbo pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around it before looking at him expectantly. "Please do."

"This isn't how it looks like-"

"I think it's exactly how it looks like," interrupted Bilbo and now Thorin knew that he was angry.

"Fine! It's exactly how it looks like! Happy?"

"No, I'm not happy!" Bilbo banged his fist against the table and Thorin winced a little. "You lied to me! You've been lying to me for the past two years!"

"What do you want me to say? Yes, I lied to you, I'm sorry! Can we move on?"

"Not this time. This time you're telling me the truth or I'm taking Theo and I swear to you, you'll never see him again."

Thorin didn't even try to argue with him. Now Bilbo knew where they were standing financially and he knew he wouldn't need much to take Theodore away from him. Though Thorin hoped Bilbo wasn't that cruel.

"Since you went through the papers you already know what has happened."

"I called the bank," confirmed Bilbo. "They told me about the mortgage and all the debts you have, and why you credit card has been cancelled. Now I want to hear it from you. I know what situation you're now in but I want to know how you got there."

Thorin ran a hand over his face and sighed. "To tell you the truth even I don't know how it happened. One day we had everything a week later there was nothing."

"So all the money just disappeared into thin air?"

"Of course not," snorted Thorin. "It's just… You know how my father is taking his pills for the pressure?" Bilbo nodded at that. "Yeah, well, he's been under a lot of stress for the last couple of years. We've been doing fine for the past couple of years because the mine was still-"

"Wait, what mine? What are you talking about?"

"Erebor," clarified Thorin. "The Lonely Mountain. Ever heard of it?"

"Yes of course. Erebor produces the finest jewelry in the country."

"Yes, and all the gold and precious gems are dug under the Lonely Mountain."

"And you're connected to it how exactly?"

Thorin frowned. Didn't Bilbo really know anything? "We own it. Both the company and the mine."

"Oh. Well, that makes sense," Bilbo wondered.

"What I wanted to say that before we had no problems with money, or my father's gambling problem because the mine was still opened. Now there's nothing."

"What do you mean there's nothing?"

"It's nothing there. It's empty. Everything that was useful was already excavated. There's nothing else to dig."

"It's a mountain! How can there be nothing?"

Thorin let out a laugh. "Yes, it's a mountain, but there really isn't anything there. My father paid the geologists to take a look, but sadly they only confirmed what we already knew. So we had to laid off miners and then other people who worked for the company."

"Including Bofur's parents."

"Including them. As you can see it was nothing personal. I wasn't threatened by him, if I wanted I could have had you."

"You're dating someone else," reminded him Bilbo.

"We'll get to that later. Where was I? Oh, yes. When I realized how bad it was I wanted to buy The Mines of Moria, but someone got the first. Then my father made some bad investments and gambled away even more money… and here we are. I didn't return home because I needed someone who would cook and clean for me, I returned home because we couldn't pay for the school anymore."

"You have a big family. Dwalin is your cousin. Couldn't they help?"

"All their money was tied to the company. When our shares lost value they lost their money. They're not doing much better than we are," explained Thorin. "The mortgage on the house is because of my father's hospital bill and my credit card has been cancelled because-"

"You reached the limit when Dana bought that ring," finished Bilbo. "What I don't understand is why you didn't just tell her the truth. I'm sure she would have helped."

"Are you crazy? She cannot know! You're not allowed to say a word about this to her."

"Don't you think you're being a little unfair to her. She's your fiancé and she has the money to help you."

"Why do you think I'm marrying her?" Thorin asked and Bilbo looked at him confused. "Do you think I'm marrying her for her good looks, or because she's nice person? She's a bitch and I've told you before that's she's even more annoying than you, but at least you got a nice arse."

Bilbo needed a minute to put all the pieces together. And when finally all made sense he was absolutely furious. "You bastard!" he yelled at Thorin after he slapped him hard. "You lied! You used her! You used me! I hate you so much right now!" Thorin watched Bilbo angrily pace up and down the room while he rubbed his sore cheek. "You used that poor girl to get to her money!"

"And she used me because of my last name! She's not as innocent as she looks."

"Of course she isn't. You despoiled her! You took her innocence-"

"Whoa, stop the horses! I didn't even touch her-"

"Don't lie to me," interrupted Bilbo.

"I'm not lying to you! She's a minor. I didn't sleep with her. I'm not crazy, you know. I slept with I minor once and I ended up with a kid. I won't say that she didn't try to get me to sleep with her, and I'm pretty sure she told all her friends she did, but the age gap between us is too big. Her father would kill me if he even thought I touched his princess." Thorin watched Bilbo as he tried to calm himself down by taking deep breaths. "The only person I slept with in the last two years is standing right in front of me."

This was too much information at once. Bilbo did his best to process all the information as fast as he could while remaining calm. Which was harder to do than say because apparently Thorin has been lying to him for the past two years and Bilbo really wanted to slap him again.

"She'll be eighteen in a few months," continued Thorin. "But she wants a summer wedding so we'll have to wait a few more months. When we're married I'll be able to control all her money."

"So that's it? This is all a business deal for you? An easy way to get the money."

"What else would you have me do? She has more than enough money. And once I get hands on it you and Theodore will benefit from it too."

"I don't think Theo would prefer money over his father. What are you going to do? Hide our existence for the rest of our lives?"

"Of course not. Once I'm married and Dana's old man can't do anything about it, I will tell them. I would still want to spend time with Theodore."

Bilbo crossed his arms over his chest and turned his back on Thorin. "I can't believe you lied to me all this time."

Thorin slowly closed the distance between them and placed his hands on Bilbo's arms. "Don't be angry at me. I did it with my best intentions."

"And look where it got you. You're almost as poor as I am." Bilbo turned around so he could look Thorin in the eyes.

"Before you slap me again I would just like to remind you that you're the only person I've been with," Thorin tried to lighten the mood. "So I must get at least a few bonus points for that."

"I'm so angry at you right now!"

"Yes, I can tell."

"This isn't funny!"

"I know it's not."

"And you've been with Dana since we broke up."

"At the beginning I did it just to annoy you," admitted Thorin and in the last moment caught Bilbo hand as he wanted to hit him again. "I'm sorry," he said and pulled Bilbo closer. Even though he didn't went willingly Bilbo didn't fight him and allowed him to pull him closer. "I never wanted for things to come this far."

"You never should have allowed for things to come this far," corrected Bilbo as Thorin pulled him even closer. Slowly his anger was melting away and Bilbo hated that Thorin had so much influence over him.

"I'm sorry." A kiss to his forehead. "I'm sorry." Another one to his temple. "I'm sorry." To his cheek. "I'm sorry." They were getting even closer. "I'm sorry."

"Just stop talking," ordered Bilbo before he sealed their lips into a passionate kiss. Thorin didn't need more encouragement than that and immediately responded to the kiss. This was the same, but at the same time different from all the kisses they've shared before. It was filled with desperation and with need. But Thorin didn't care. He wanted this, Bilbo wanted this, and it was perfect.

"W-What are you doing?" Thorin managed to ask between kisses when Bilbo pushed him back to the bed and straddled his thighs.

Bilbo buried his fingers in Thorin's hair before kissing him again. "Please tell me you have condoms."

Thorin met Bilbo's eyes for a second, searching for any doubt, but he found none. "Top drawer," he answered as he motioned to the nightstand.

"Excellent," smiled Bilbo before he pushed him on his back.

:::

An hour later they laid on their backs, staring at the ceiling.

"So…" drawled Bilbo as he picked his nails, not really knowing what to say. This wasn't supposed to happen. This shouldn't happen.

Thorin, who was still breathing heavily, turned his head to look at him for a second before looking back at the ceiling.

"What now?" asked Bilbo and bit his lower lip.

"I don't know…"

Bilbo let out a sigh. "Did you, uhm, did you like it?"

Thorin turned to look at him once again. "It was good… bad? I'm sorry I really don't know what you want me to say," he admitted full-heartedly.

Bilbo rolled on his stomach and put his hands under the pillow before making eye-contact. "The sex," clarified Bilbo. "Did you enjoy it?"

Thorin rolled his eyes while searching for the right answer. "Nobody wants to hear it was fine. It was weird, okay," he quickly explained. "I don't know how to explain it but something was off."

"Oh my God, we can't even have sex anymore!" Bilbo cried into the pillow kicking his legs against the bed like a child.

"You're saying it like it's my fault."

"So it's my fault?" asked Bilbo, a little annoyed that Thorin would even think something like that.

"I never said that," argued Thorin. "But you did pick some weird positions-"

"Me? With weird positions? It was you who-"

"I was just trying to follow your lead. If you're moaning and begging for more of course I'm going to continue."

"I was urging you to move-"

"If we do the missionary once again I'm going to lose it. It's absolutely boring."

"No it's not," tried to argue Bilbo only to be interrupted.

"You just lay there barking orders at me. 'Harder, faster, harder Thorin'," Thorin mimicked with a teasing tone and Bilbo slapped his arm, offended. "There are lots of different positions that would get you what you want."

"You never complained before."

"Because we were either in a relationship or it was just one time thing."

"So you never enjoyed it?"

"Of course I did, but there is a big difference between taking your time and making it quick to get your release," explained Thorin. "And we were like two horny teenagers having sex for the first time not really knowing what to do."

Bilbo burst out laughing at Thorin's words. "I'm so embarrassed! It's true! We were awful. Like we had no idea what we were doing."

"I'm glad you find this funny."

Bilbo looked at Thorin who was able to keep a straight face for a couple of seconds before he cracked a smile.

Bilbo pulled him down for a kiss and Thorin returned it. "But at least it was satisfying."

"Very satisfying," corrected Thorin and kissed him again.

Suddenly Bilbo's phone signaled a text message and they broke apart so Bilbo could read it. "Argh," he threw the phone back to the nightstand and slumped back onto the mattress. "I don't have the energy to deal with you right now," he muttered.

"Everything alright?" carefully asked Thorin.

"Yeah, everything's fine."

"Who was it?"

"Adrian, again. With some flirty message," Bilbo answered as he ran a hand through his messy curls. "Someone has to get Theo."

"I'll go," promised Thorin. "Just text Adrian back and tell him you're not interested."

Bilbo looked Thorin in the eyes and studied him for a moment. "Why? Are you going to call Dana and tell her the same."

"No. I explained everything to you-"

"Then I'm not doing it."

"-and my situation is different," continued Thorin not allowing Bilbo to interrupt him.

"I'm not breaking up with Adrian if you're not breaking up with Dana," as calmly as he could Bilbo made his point.

"Fine. Do whatever you want," said Thorin before he got up and went to the bathroom.

Bilbo knew that Thorin was angry, maybe even jealous, but he wasn't going to break up with Adrian to spare Thorin's feelings. He wanted Thorin to tell Dana the truth and the only way to make him change his mind is to get Thorin jealous. Bilbo believed that was the right way to get Thorin do what he wanted.

He allowed himself another few minutes of lying in bed, doing absolutely nothing. He would wait for Thorin to leave and get Theo before he would go to the bathroom to wash and change into his pajamas. It was getting late and he still had to change the sheets, because the last thing he wanted was for Theo to play where they just had sex.

:::

When Thorin returned with Theo fifteen minutes later all the evidence of what has happened has been cleaned up. Thorin was still giving him the silent treatment and it annoyed Bilbo to no end, but he wasn't going to break up with Adrian to make him happy. If Thorin wanted to ignore him, so be it, but Bilbo was determined to win this.

They were lying in bed, Thorin with a book and Bilbo with his phone while Theo was allowed to watch the Lion King for the hundredth time.

"It's time for bed," announced Bilbo and put his phone down.

"Five more minutes," pleaded Theo and Thorin knew that Bilbo is going to allow it.

"You already used your 'five more minutes', and it was more than just five."

"Only five more," asked Theo and Bilbo sighed.

"Fine, five more minutes and then I'm turning it off and you're going to bed whether you like it or not." Theo nodded and turned back to the TV as Bilbo laid back down and focused once again on his phone.

"I knew you were going to allow it," commented Thorin.

"Oh, so we are talking again? Good to know."

Thorin shook his head and went back to reading his book without saying anything. There was no point of starting an argument, especially because they were going to bed soon.

The cartoon was interesting, but not as interesting as Papa's phone. So Theo decided to see what was so interesting.

"Ouch, you really are heavier than you look," complained Bilbo when Theo climbed on him and sat on his stomach. "Do you need anything?" Bilbo asked his son, but the two-year-old just reached for his phone and Bilbo allowed him to have it.

"You shouldn't allow him to play with your phone," warned him Thorin.

"I'm here Thorin, if you haven't noticed. I'm not letting it out of my sight." Bilbo watched as Theo played with his phone, not really knowing what was so interesting about it. "Aren't you going to watch the Lion King? Didn't we agree you could stay up for five more minutes?" Bilbo asked as he moved a stray of hair from his son's face behind his ear.

"No."

"I think we did, Pumpkin. It's already late and you need to go to sleep."

"No…" whined Theo when Bilbo pried the phone from his hands. "No bed," Theo insisted as he put his hands on Bilbo's chest to support himself. "Five more minutes."

"You had more than just five minutes."

"I watch cartoon."

"You can watch it tomorrow."

"Five more minutes…"

"No, time for bed." Bilbo knew Thorin was watching him so he insisted on what he ordered.

"He's going to cry," warned him Thorin who knew what was coming. His son knew exactly what to do to get his way.

Bilbo shot him a glare, but sadly Thorin was right. Tears started running down Theo's cheeks and of course he felt bad that his son was crying. Bilbo pulled Theo down and wrapped his arms around him. "There's no need for that, now is it," Bilbo tried to soothe him as he rubbed his back. "Aren't you tired?"

Theo shook his head and reached for Thorin, who put the book down so he could take him in his arms. "Wrong move buddy, it's time for you to go to bed. You're not going to change my mind if you continue to cry." Theo pushed Thorin's hand away and moved to sit on the bed between his parents as he continued to cry.

Thorin decided it was best to just ignore him until he calms down, while Bilbo watched him without saying a word. Theo continued his tantrum for the next couple of minutes until he realized that neither of his parents was paying attention to him.

"Feeling better now?" Bilbo asked after he wiped Theo's cheeks and nose. His son continued to pout but at least he wasn't crying anymore. Theo ignored Bilbo's question and pointed a finger at him. "What?"

"There."

Bilbo looked down at his shirt, but he didn't find anything there. "Where?" Theo crawled to him and pressed his finger to Bilbo's neck.

"It's funny."

Bilbo's eyes widened at the realization what Theo was talking about. He quickly pulled Theo's hand away and kissed it before he pulled him in his lap. "I'm going to kill you," he hissed at Thorin.

"It hurts?" asked Theo when he looked up at his Papa.

"No, it doesn't hurt," he told Theo before looking back at Thorin. "You just had to do it, didn't you?"

Thorin rolled his eyes before answering. "I'm not going to apologize, if that's what you're expecting from me."

"You did it on purpose. You did it so Adrian would see it!"

"We were having sex," started Thorin and Bilbo quickly covered Theo's ears, "I wasn't exactly thinking what I was doing. And it's not my fault you bruise so easily."

"I didn't do it to you!"

"But you did leave some nasty marks on my back. Do you want to see?" quickly asked Thorin.

Theo pushed Bilbo's hands away and looked sternly at Thorin. "No fighting."

"I'm sorry, buddy. I didn't want to upset you. I promise no more fighting."

"Now kiss!"

Thorin just stared at his son. Where did all this suddenly come from? Theo never demanded from them to kiss before. "Theo, I'm not sure-"

"Daddies kiss," Theo insisted and when Thorin looked at Bilbo the latter just shrugged not knowing what to think. Thorin slowly leaned it and pressed a chaste kiss to Bilbo's lips while their son was watching them. Theo smiled happily before he demanded another one.

Before Thorin could even say something Bilbo told him to do it otherwise Theo won't let it go. So Thorin leaned it for another kiss, which surprisingly Bilbo returned.

Bilbo licked his lips after they parted. "Enough kisses for today," he asked his son.

"And for me," smiled Theo and waited to receive a kiss from both of his parents before climbing under covers between them.

"Theodore, you have to sleep in your bed," told him Thorin.

"I sleep here."

"No, Bilbo and I sleep here. You have your own bed."

"I sleep with you and Papa," insisted Theo.

"We never slept together before, you know," interrupted Bilbo before Thorin could order Theo to sleep in his own bed. "I mean, like a family. He slept with me and he slept with you, but never with both of us. I remember climbing into my parents bed to sleep with them when I was little and I loved it."

"Fine, you can stay," agreed Thorin before turning off the TV and laying down next to his son. Theo smiled happily and moved closer so that Thorin would wrap an arm around him. "Aren't you going to sleep?"

"I just need to check something my phone first." Theo turned around so he could see his Papa. He was comfortable in daddy's arms but the curiosity got the better of him so he reached for the phone in Bilbo's hand.

"Want to see!"

"Theodore, go to sleep," ordered Thorin and wrapped an arm tighter around his son, preventing him to move.

"No, I want to see."

Bilbo just rolled his eyes before he handed over his phone, knowing that Theo won't let it go.

"Papa with baby," said Theo after he got a look at the picture Bilbo was looking.

Thorin smiled as he brushed the hair from Theo's forehead. "With you," he corrected. It was a picture he took when Theo was just few weeks old. Bilbo was sitting on the couch with Theo in his arms, smiling fondly at the baby. Bilbo loved that picture o much he had it for his background for a couple of months.

"With me?"

"Yeah, that's you when you were just few weeks old," told him Bilbo, smiling. "You were the most beautiful baby I have ever seen."

"'m not a baby."

"Look how cute you were," said Thorin as he slid his finger over the screen to see the next picture. Theo was lying on his back trying to put his foot into his mouth. "Just look at those chubby cheeks. I never saw this picture before."

"I took a lot of pictures when he was younger and it was easy to take them. Now he can't be still for more than a couple of seconds."

Bilbo laid down next to them as they went through all the pictures Bilbo had of Theo on the phone. Theo asked questions and Bilbo or Thorin explained what they were doing. Even though the pictures were nice Thorin couldn't help but to notice that it was usually (most of the time) just Theo on them, or he was with Bilbo, or on rare occasions with him. They never took a picture together, like a family.

"You don't have any pictures of us," pointed out Thorin.

"Of you and me? I had them when we were together. After we broke up I just deleted them." Lie. Bilbo knew it was a lie, but he wasn't going to tell Thorin he kept them. They broke up.

"No, I mean us. You, me and Theodore."

"Well we hardly spend any time together. And now that we do there hasn't been much time to take pictures."

"Then do it now," suggested Thorin. "We're together and Theodore is half asleep," Thorin added as he looked down to their sleeping son.

Bilbo had to admit that Theo sleeping between them was one of the cutest things he has ever seen and that Thorin was right. They didn't have any pictures of them all being together. He scooted closer and quickly took a picture before sending it to Thorin's phone.

"What do you think?" asked Thorin as he showed him his new background. The two of them, with Theo sleeping in the middle.

"I think we should go to sleep," answered Bilbo before putting his phone away and pulling the covers up.

Thorin frowned. He was hoping that Bilbo would be happy, that he would do something similar. But nothing. Bilbo did his best to ignore him. "Right. Goodnight then," said Thorin before turning off the lights.


Author's notes:

All mistakes are mine.