Fili stared at Bilbo and he had been staring at him for quite some time. The hobbit had entered their tent with a right good scowl on his face, but after a few minutes, the scowl turned to a pout then a very sad look, one where his bottom lip protruded. He sat in the corner of the room, out of the way of everything, and was staring at the opposite wall when Fili spoke. "What did Uncle Thorin do?"

He sighed dejectedly and stood. "Doesn't matter. I need to get back to him."

"Wait, shouldn't you talk about it and come up with some sort of elaborate speech for when you return?" Kili pleaded more than suggested.

"W-we haven't had any visitors apart from the healers and Balin when we first woke up," Fili clarified. "Please stay for a bit, Bilbo. It's not as if Thorin's going anywhere."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Bilbo countered. "He already did it once, and he might do it again since I-" He stopped talking.

Fili narrowed his eyes and studied the hobbit. "Since you what?"

Bilbo fiddled with his waistcoat. "I threatened to leave him. Well, something along those lines," he muttered.

Kili raised his eyebrows and let out a short laugh which was followed by several coughs. "I shouldn't do that," he rasped. "Oin says I damaged my vocals because I was yelling too much during battle."

The hobbit smiled at the dwarf's half-hearted tries at a joke.

"So, you threatened to leave him, eh?" he continued once he drank some water. "What in the world made you do that?"

Fili snorted. "Seriously, what did Uncle Thorin do?"

Bilbo sighed heavily and shook his head. "He's just so- so-"

"Stubborn?" the boys prompted together, grinning at one another from their opposite cots.

"Yes," he puffed. "He said or implied to me that he wished he was dead!"

The brothers exchanged looks. "What exactly did he say?" Kili asked.

"I hadn't accepted his apology and he blatantly told me: 'what if the infections return and I die'. Okay, so he asked me that, but it seemed like he was provoking me to accept his words while he was still alive!"

"I see," Fili muttered. "Dragon-sickness apology?"

"Yes! And he expects me to forget what he did?! How he made me feel?! I may not hold grudges but that's a too traumatizing event for me to forget!"

Kili shifted on the cot so he could look at Bilbo better. "Maybe he doesn't want you to forget what happened."

"Oh, gee, that helps a lot!" the hobbit snapped.

"No, Bilbo. I meant... what if he was only asking you to forgive him but not forget what happened. Maybe he wants you to let go of that hobbit that he frightened when he wasn't well."

The pout was on again and he sighed heavily. He covered his face with his hands. "We're both stubborn, aren't we?"

"Unfortunately so," Fili nodded.

"Is it really that bad? I mean, could we survive being a couple?"

"Oh, yes! Yes, you can!" Kili assured him. "It's just going to be trouble for us to keep you guys in check."

Bilbo let out a small laugh. "You act as if you're the adults in this."

"Well, we are of age," Fili added with a big grin. "And Uncle can be pretty unpredictable."

"And we know what he does and how he is," Kili grinned. "You would need help, Mister Boggins, dealing with our uncle!"

The hobbit rolled his eyes at Kili's purposeful mispronunciation of his name. "Then why did he imply he wants to die?"

"He's just being stubborn because he wants you to put what he did to you in the past, and he wants to start this relationship with you free of any guilt!" Kili said in one breath.

"He should know I'll never leave him," Bilbo sighed tiredly. "He fell off a pony for me!"

"What?"

"Nevermind," Bilbo waved off. "I must get back to him-"

"Oh but stay! Please!" Kili wailed pitifully.

"Just until the tea knocks us out again," Fili added.

The tea and the pain knocked them out in under an hour, but Bilbo stayed with them to make sure the boys weren't playing a trick on him. When it was clear they weren't waking up any time soon, the hobbit nervously headed to Thorin's tent. His poor heart was pounding and his palms were sweating and his breath was uneven. He was always going to be intimidated by that dwarf, but he was also scared of what he might do. He might banish Bilbo again, he might choose some other suitor to marry, or he might want to never see Bilbo again (different from the banishment type of punishment).

He opened the flap of the tent and all the healers turned to glare at him. He didn't even want to know what Thorin had done to them.

"My Lord," one healer quietly said, a good distance away from Thorin who was sitting up on the cot, his back to the opening. "Master Baggins has returned-"

"All of you! OUT!" he shouted abruptly. "Halfling!"

Bilbo felt his legs turn to lead as he trudged to the dwarf prince. He couldn't help but feel sorry for what he had done as the healers and even Dwalin fled from the tent. He stood beside the bed, just out of arms reach of the other. "Thorin?" he asked sheepishly.

He didn't look at him. "What do you have to say for yourself?" was all he grunted. "Going off like that? No one knew where you were. I would have gone out myself but those stupid dwarfs wouldn't let me! You might have just gone off to the Shire-"

"And you would like that, I suppose," Bilbo shot back before he could stop himself. He closed his eyes and touched his forehead, sighing heavily. "I'm sorry."

Thorin muttered under his breath. "I'm not sure what I signed up for by confessing my love for you."

Bilbo looked taken aback. "I beg your pardon?! Who was it just earlier telling me to forgive him or else he'd die again?"

"I did not say that."

"Well it sure as hell sounded like that!" the hobbit huffed. "I only left because I couldn't bear the thought you wishing you had stayed dead! And pray tell what did you sign up for, huh? You're just as stubborn as I am if not worse!"

"I am not stubborn, Bilbo Baggins," he growled. "You just refuse to listen to me."

Bilbo groaned and stepped closer, in arms' length of the dwarf prince. "I don't refuse to listen to you, Thorin. I-I'm afraid I might give you all of my heart and you'll go into this string of madness. I'll be heartbroken again and I can't go through all of that one more time. I want to feel safe when I'm with you. I don't want to fear that this dragon-sickness will return and you'll become so obsessed with gold and you'll grab me by my neck and-" Bilbo couldn't finish the sentence.

Thorin made a hurt sound in the back of his throat. He reached out and tugged the hobbit close to his chest. "I'm sorry," he whispered hoarsely into Bilbo's curls. "I'm so terribly sorry." He sighed heavily and kissed his hobbit's head. "You are my friend and you did not deserve everything I did to you. I am truly sorry, my hobbit. I will not succumb to the sickness again in this new life you have made possible. Everything I do I will do for you and I will never hurt you in such a way again."

Bilbo pulled away and looked at the dwarf. "Stop," he said and Thorin frowned. "I forgive you, you stupid and stubborn dwarf." Thorin gave him a look and Bilbo smiled. "We're both stubborn in our own way, Thorin Oakenshield. But we both love each other. You weren't yourself, and with the Arkenstone dead and the gold-" He hummed his next words 'given to Bard and others' and rubbed the back of his neck. "-you might never return to that madness. Being here with you and starting a life with you is one risk I'm willing to take."

"That's your logic?"

"Yes," the hobbit smiled. "Fili and Kili might have had something to do with it but don't tell them that."

Thorin eyed him closely. "So you're alright with my apology?" he asked carefully.

"With loads of thought, your nephews, and staring at a wall for a few hours, yes. Yes, I am quite alright with your apology." He shifted. "I know I said it would take me a lot to forgive you, but what I meant was it'll take me time to forget what you did and to trust you again."

The dwarf grinned. "I can live with that. As long as you're in my bed tonight and all the nights we shall ever have together." He pulled the hobbit to him and kissed his lips sweetly. "What will I have to do to earn part of your trust back?"

Bilbo hummed. "I'm sure you can think of something."

"Ah," the other chuckled. "I shall have the healers patch me up quickly."

He laughed and poked Thorin's chest. "Be nice to them. No more shouting. Promise?"

"Bilbo," Thorin whined.

"Promise?"

The dwarf prince groaned playfully. "I promise, my hobbit."