I was thankful that I quickly found Fili, to be honest it was hardly difficult bearing in mind the small trail of destruction he was leaving in his wake. I tried to put things back as I went, silverware and china littered the floor and the noise of further chaos echoed ahead.

When I eventually caught up with him he was sitting on a stone windowsill, his head in his large hands and his elbows resting on his knees. Kili sat beside him, his hand on his back. The pair were disturbingly silent.

Kili noticed me first and when he did I sent him an apologising look, and he gently nudged his brother. Fili raised his head and looked at Kili, then followed his eyes to me, his expression was painfully blank.

"Hi." I tried, but I got nothing in return. In fact Fili turned away again to stare blankly in front of him. Something in my chest pined for him and I took a deep breath. "Kili, would you mind giving us a moment?"

Kili shot his brother a look, and seemingly he was asking something for Fili just nodded. The brunette slowly stood and walked towards me, as he walked past he sent me a glare. I wasn't sure if I deserved the look, but I understood why he sent it.

When I was sure the younger Dwarf was far enough away I hesitantly shuffled towards Fili. My stomach was filled to brim with butterflies, and something had lodged in my throat.

I sat beside him, a good foot between us and for a long few minutes I shared glances between my sweating hands in my lap and Fili, who was still staring ahead of him.

Finally I mustered up the strength to speak, "Fili…" I trailed off, fighting for the words. Fili continued to stare ahead. I went to finally string a sentence together but he cut me off.

His voice was deeper than usual, and his words sent a shiver down my spine and knotted my stomach. "I don't need your pity."

I swallowed the lump in my throat, "Fili, Bilbo and I aren't courting."

I saw Fili frown, but he still didn't look at me. I didn't know why I was so nervous.

"We were in the garden, and it was my idea to pick some flowers and put them in my hair. I thought they were pretty, that was all."

"You look just as pretty without them."

I hid my smile, slightly embarrassed at his words.

"How can you tell? You won't look at me."

I watched at his shoulders dropped slightly and he finally leant back, positioning himself into the corner of the windowsill and looking straight at me. His expression was still blank, but at least I could see his beautiful eyes. His beautiful greeny, blue eyes were filled with sadness as he quickly looked me up and down before averting his gaze to the right of me to stare out into the garden.

"Don't sulk." I teased, mirroring his position in to adjacent corner, pulling my legs up with me.

"I'm not sulking." Came his monotone reply.

"Thorin told me, by the way."

Fili looked at me then, "Did he now?"

"Yes he did. Why didn't you say anything instead of stewing in silence?"

"Why did I need say anything? You're not a Dwarf, you don't understand."

I rolled my eyes, "I know I'm socially retarded, but I'm not totally inept when it comes to feelings, Fili." Something within me started to swell and I looked at him in the eyes then properly, and suddenly the gravity of the situation hit me like a brick wall. "I know what a crush is."

"Who said anything about a crush?" He asked, furrowing his brow slightly in confusion and I turned into a beetroot then and there.

Awkward.

"What?"

He leant forward then, taking my hands into his freakishly large ones. He was so warm, and I couldn't help but relax into his touch.

"You are my One, Olivia."

I swear to God I almost laughed.

"Okay." I scoffed, and instantly Fili let me go, his face visibly annoyed and somewhat hurt. I instantly felt guilty at my insensitivity. "I'm sorry, it's just…"

"Just what?" He almost spat, and I then realised he must have inherited his heated temper from Thorin. He made a move to get up but I stopped him, reaching out and placing my arm on his bicep.

Instantly my heart thumped loudly at the contact, feeling the warmth of his skin seeping through his clothes and I desperately wanted to be near him.

"It's just you're a Dwarf, and a prince Fili." I almost laughed again at how ridiculous the words were as they left my tongue.

He must have noticed and deciphered the look on my face for his expression softened and he sighed, settling himself back down on the window ledge.

"That bothers you?"

"I don't know, I don't know what that means exactly, but if you think I'm your One then this is serious." I wasn't foolish, I wasn't a bad person, and I wasn't going to take this lightly, nor was I going to abuse it. "You're probably wrong."

He shook his head, "I'm not wrong."

"But I'm not a Dwarf."

"You don't need to be. This is not something I have just made up on decided. I knew it from the moment I saw you that I had to have you as mine."

I sighed and rubbed my eyes, exhausted. Once my eyes were free of my hands they trailed up and down his sturdy form, from big booted feet as they hung lazily over the side of the windowsill, up and over his calves and knees, over his dense thighs, up his robust chest and along his square shoulders, down his solid arms before coming to rest on his thick fingers. Without thinking I reached forward put my hand on his.

I looked up at him, he was staring down at our hands, and I felt him lace our fingers together before raising his gaze back to mine. I couldn't help but smile when I saw the small smirk creep onto his face. I squeezed his hand.

"You believed this even when I looked like a man?" I joked and he snorted.

"Even then."

I smiled at him, but that's when I remembered and I suddenly frowned. "What about those Elf maids?"

"What Elf maids?" He asked, straightening up and inching closer to me.

"Bilbo said he saw you flirting with some Elf maids."

Fili frowned then, his expression becoming thoughtful, "I have only spoken to a she-Elf here once and that was about you."

"Me?"

Fili's smirk reappeared, "She found it funny when I asked how to court a human female."

I spluttered and gaped at him, finding his words surprisingly forward, "Really?" I scoffed. Why am I so socially awkward?

Fili didn't reply, instead he reached into the pocked of his slacks and pulled out a large silver clasp, although in his hand it looked relatively average in size, but once placed in mine it was easily a little under half the size of my thumb. I gave the blonde a questioning glance and he chuckled taking it back off me and reaching forward to pull a loose strand of my hair towards him. Patiently and rather awkwardly I watched him make quick work of a medium sized plait, once again I found myself surprised by how gentle he was. Once at the end of the braid he used the clasp to finish it off, before letting it drop free.

I instantly went to pick it up, examining the peculiar markings engraved into it. It was decorated in a sequence of vertical interlocking squares, and although it was a little heavy it was handmade and beautifully crafted from twinkling silver.

"It's a token."

"A token?" I asked looking back up at him, I didn't even care that he was now so close that he was preaching my personal bubble.

He nodded, "A promise of my feelings, a promise that once we reclaim Erebor I wish to properly court you."

I literally melted, and I couldn't help but die of embarrassment a little inside. Although I couldn't help but hear alarm bells ringing in my head, and suddenly my stomach felt as though it was made from lead.

"You genuinely want to court me?" I was totally surprised that this was happening, and although my heart was beating unusually quickly, the alarm bells in my head grew louder and louder.

"Yes." He replied, giving me a small smile and with his free hand he reached up, trailing the back of his fingers from my temple to my chin. It wasn't until I saw his gaze drop from my eyes to my lips that my bubble popped, instantly I straighten up and Fili seemed to get the message for he removed his hands from mine. I wasn't willing to commit myself to him, simply because I did not know what this would mean, I didn't know what being courted by a prince would entail and I didn't know if I was willing to find out. I wasn't ready to say my commitment and then somewhere along the line hurt him. Unfortunately I was a commitaphobe. What happened to my parents caused a devastating effect on me, and despite getting feelings I completely shut them away, no matter how much it hurt I would never act on my emotions. What's the point when it will never last? The idea of commitment totally, and utterly petrified me.

Nearly as much as horses did.

"Will you walk me back to my room? I'm really sleepy." I offered him an olive branch, rubbing my eyes as I did so to support my words. Fili simply nodded, and stood up, offering me his hand as he did so. I took it and let him gently pull me up.

For the first few minutes it was awkward silence, the air was tense and I was aware that I had basically just rejected Fili. Not intentionally of course, I didn't want to lead him on and hurt him.

Although after a while it got so awkward I began to waffle away about nonsense, like I usually did. After a few more minutes the conversation began to flow surprisingly easily on the way back to my room. And I realised that although I hadn't had many conversations with Fili until now, that didn't mean I didn't know him. I'd been around him 24/7 since the beginning of the quest and I hadn't realised that I'd picked up a surprisingly large amount of information about him, which I happened to like, which led me to question how deep my 'crush' on this Dwarf ran. Obviously it wasn't love, but I was fonder of him than I'd originally thought, having known him for a fair amount of time. We'd always been involved in the same conversations, even if it wasn't directly to one another we'd always been around each other. It sort of felt like when you're at a party, and you see someone from across the room and you quite fancy the look of them, and whenever you see them they're doing something that you like, whether that's making someone laugh, or helping someone, and before you even meet them properly you already like them. And then when you finally speak to them you instantly hit it off because you already have a good idea of who they are and what they're like.

That's sort of how I felt in a nutshell, but I'd known Fili for longer than just one night so my feelings were on a much larger scale but that was the sort of thing, and it wasn't just observing his actions towards others from a distance that pleased me, it was the ones he did to me as well. By the time we reached my bedroom door I had realised that he's unlocked a door of emotions I'd kept shut, and I had realised that my feelings for him ran deeper than I'd previously thought.

When we stopped walking Fili instantly took me in his arms, his hands snaking around my waist and pulling our bodies together. Obviously he'd quickly bounced back from my rejection and I, ss if it was second nature, raised my hands and placed them lightly on his shoulders.

"Well until tomorrow." I smiled at him, and he returned it.

"Good night."

"Nun-night." I didn't let him go however, I didn't actually want to give him up. He made no move to let me go either, and instead he placed a small kiss on my temple. Instantly I began to tingle inside, buzzing pleasantly at the contact. Stop it, Olivia, don't let yourself fall for him, it's not right and it will not work.

"Menu zirup men." I heard him murmur before pulling away.

"What does that mean?" I asked, hoping to catch him out.

His eyes twinkled in the dim light, "Can't say."

And with that he winked at me and let me go.

I watched him swagger away, he glanced over his shoulder; his familiar smirk on his lips. He was fully aware of the effect he'd just had on me, it was painfully evident on the bright red that graced my features.

"I'll find out what that means!" I called after him, and I heard his chuckle.

"Good night, miz azyung," He shoot me another amused glance before he rounded the corner.

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Hmmmm, not sure how I feel about this chapter. I'm really tired and I'm not sure if I effectively got what I meant across. I will elaborate further on in the story but basically there are two ways for dwarves to find their 'ones' (in this story anyway), by falling in love over time, or instantly. But Olivia is too messed up by her family to believe in such things….

Bluh

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