Author's Notes: Hello all! Sorry this chapter took so long to write/pose. College started back up and I haven't been able to focus long enough to write. But here it is! I have the next two chapters already thought out and then that's all folks! Thanks again for reviewing and following. Again, if you want, I'm NoxCaligo on tumblr 3


A date indeed. Thorin huffed to himself.

After dropping off Frodo with the family of his friend Sam, Bilbo had escorted Thorin through Hobbiton to one of the hills on the outskirts of town. There nestled within this large hill was a tavern, filled to the brim with hobbits, each with mug of mead in one hand and an item of food in the other. Inside a fire crackled in a hearth and music flowed through the air along with the smoke from several pipes that were being lit up. There was joy and merriment from wall to wall as the citizens of the Shire skipped around on the tops of the long wooden tables and clapped their hands together in tune and hollered with drunken glee.

Bilbo and Thorin set themselves up at the end of one of the many rows. Bilbo hadn't spoken once since he had left Frodo, nor had he cracked even the slightest smile. Thorin as well was rather quiet although his mind was filled with the noise of doubt and excitement as he wondered how he should go forth talking to the one he loved most of all.

The uncomfortable silence was only broken with when a tavern woman- whose name Bilbo mumbled in passing but Thorin could not recall- came over with empty plates, a platter of roast beef covered in gravy, bowls of sliced apples coated in cinnamon, nuts and cranberries, along with two cups filled to the brim with mead.

She cast Bilbo a curious smile, "Shall I just add it to your tab Mr. Baggins?"

Bilbo nodded, taking the mud of mead in hand. "Yes, thank you."

Then they were alone again.

Tab? Does he come here often then? Thorin pondered.

"It's nice to finally be able to see you again," Thorin said finally. He would be damned if he traveled through two months' worth of elf country to sit in silence.

"It is good to see you as well."

The reply however lacked sincerity, or so it seemed to Thorin. The dwarf's frown impossibly deepened.

"Bilbo."

Hearing the king say his name in his deep, rough voice once more sent Bilbo back to his final days in Erebor where Thorin would appear in his doorway, clad in leathers and furs and smelling of the earth. Bilbo's hazel eyes flicked up from where they had been staring into his cup to across the table where he found Thorin staring him down.

"Have I displeased you Bilbo?" the dwarf asked. His tone was rough as usual, but there was something broken about it.

The hobbit sighed. "It would have been nice to have you there that day…to see me off," he replied quietly.

Thorin's eyes didn't leave Bilbo's much to the hobbit's surprised. He had expected guilt, for him to look away perhaps.

"If I could have found it in my heart to watch you walk away from Erebor and past the mountains, I would have," Thorin said. His voice was soft and yet Bilbo could still hear him over the din of the tavern. "But I could not. Every time I thought of you taking your leave…I couldn't…"

"Did it really bother you so?" Bilbo asked disbelievingly.

Thorin slammed his hands down on the table, jumping up so he almost tipped the entire bench he was sitting on over. His normally cold eyes burned with a kind of passion, the likes of which Bilbo hadn't seen since Elrond had condemned him to the dungeons.

"Of course it did!" he yelled.

His booming voice drew every eye to them. Realizing this, Thorin coughed awkwardly and sank back down onto the bench. He threaded his hands through his long peppered hair with aggravation. Bilbo studied him quietly, a pink blush dusted across his cheeks and bridge of his nose.

In a voice just barely above a whisper Thorin continued, "There wasn't a day that didn't go by where you were not on my mind. Not a night where you were not in my dreams…"

"Thorin…"

"I received your letter," Thorin stated, this time back to a more conversational volume. As if to prove it he pulled the rolled up and weathered letter from his pocket, and much to Bilbo's horror he also produced the others. When Bilbo glanced up from looking at the parchment Thorin snarled, "You had a lot of gall…"

Here it is. Bilbo braced himself for the verbal thrashing of a life time.

"I'm sorry Thorin." He didn't want to admit that his voice cracked as he apologized.

A hand slid across the table and grabbed Bilbo's gently. The tender touch was so unexpected that Bilbo gave a jerk of surprise.

"You had a lot of gall leaving me like you did," he whispered while soothing his fingers over the top of Bilbo's hands. His touch was warm, inviting, and intimate. "I walked the halls of Erebor since before we rid it of Smaug, desiring you and your love more than the gold, more than the jewels, more than Erebor itself."

The words stunned Bilbo to silence. His mouth slackened.

Did I hear him right…?

"Every day I watched you," he continued, his eyes drilling into Bilbo's, "as you walked about, unknowing of my love. Watched as you talked with all of my company, a smile on your face. But then the moment I would say your name, you would shrink back as though you thought I would strike you."

The king's eyes faltered, dropping down to his lap. A firm frown tugged at him mouth and the passionate air that had slowly developed dropped instantly.

"I know, after what I did to you, I have no right to love you," he stated. "What I did was beyond forgivable. And I've told myself this every night before I shut my eyes. 'Give it up,' I would say, 'You don't deserve him', but then I would dream of you. Your pale, flawless, smooth skin, your hazel eyes, your beautiful locks, the way you blush so easily when you're flustered…And I realized something."

"And…what was…that?" Bilbo asked shyly. He hadn't realized it, but slowly he had been leaning forward. Now he was slid completely forward on the bench, his elbows resting on the table, his body craned forward gently. He had long forgiven Thorin for the way he had acted while under the Gold Sickness, but it was almost reassuring that Thorin held guilt in his heart for his actions.

Thorin leaned forward too, ignoring the stray eyes that were lingering on them. His face was only inches from the hobbit's, their noses so close to brushing that Thorin could feel the hot breath between them.

"I realize that no matter how much I deny myself…no matter how far away you are…I will always think of you. I admit I did not always hold such a fondness for you, but…" His frown quirked upwards into a smile as he whispered with intended irony, "since we arrived at Erebor I knew. I loved you."

In a second a deep red blush ignited across Bilbo's skin. The words that he had desired more than anything were being spoken to him, those words that he believed he would never hear.

Bilbo gave a sigh of relief, in contrast to Thorin who had sucked in a breath, holding it as waited for Bilbo's reply. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to hear those words."

"As long as I wished for them too it would seem," Thorin replied, tapping the pile of letters with a finger.

As much as they both wanted to close the extra distance between them there were just too many eyes. The last thing Bilbo needed was to stir up even more trouble in the conservative Shire. Slowly both drew back. Bilbo's eyes were downcast, his face red and his hands clammy. Thorin swept his gaze around the room, giving death glares to everyone who had been watching their exchange. The two of them slipped back into a comfortable silence as they continued eating. The food was good; Thorin was more thankful than usual after having to eat berries and half-cooked rabbits for two months.

"What kind of soup were you making?" Thorin asked.

Bilbo looked up from his food. "I don't know if there's a name for it really. It has carrots, peas, potatoes, celery, a lot of different spices…I've always just called it soup!"

"I was just curious. It smelled very good when I came in your house."

The hobbit perked up immensely. Hobbits as a rule of thumb always enjoy good food and company, and more so when the two are combined. Aside from talking about family lineage, food was the next big topic of talk whereas the dwarves were more focused on talking about their days in the mines. For Thorin to be willing to talk food with Bilbo it meant a lot to the hobbit.

"I was out getting some potatoes when you arrived. I had completely forgotten them while I was at the market earlier," Bilbo admitted. "I can make another pot tomorrow if you wish."

Thorin smiled gently across the table as he finished his last slice of roast beef. "I would like that very much."

"You look a bit thin," Bilbo noted.

"I can't disagree. I've been living out in the woods for two months…living like an elf."

The hobbit chuckled. Thorin was infamous for having a terrible sense of direction. The incidents leading up to their encounter with Tranduil and the other elves of Mirkwood had been evidence enough.

"You look thinner as well," Thorin continued. His tone was anything but amused however. "You mentioned you've been having nightmares…Have they been effecting you so much?"

It was something Bilbo instantly regretted having admitted to Thorin. "I know they shouldn't…but it was hard to sleep and it messed up my eating."

Thorin's face showed nothing but concern as he reached across the table once more and held onto Bilbo's hands. "What could possibly affect you so much?"

Bilbo shook his head rapidly. "I don't want to talk about it. Not now…"

The dwarf nodded. "We will talk about it, Bilbo."

The stern tone sent a shiver down Bilbo's spine. His voice was so rough just like the ore he worked at the forge, deep like the mines of Moria. Before he could get too distracted the barmaid returned with a single plate in hand and two forks. On the plate was a slice of red velvet cake with white creamy icing.

"A desert to share with your boyfriend Mr. Baggins?"

Both Thorin and Bilbo flushed a deep shade of red.

"He's not my boy-"

"Thanks you," Thorin told the woman, ignoring Bilbo's protest. The woman smiled and left as quickly as she disappeared. He stabbed a bite's worth of cake and held it up for Bilbo. "Wanna bite?"

Bilbo scowled but that did not make his blush dissipate. He parted his lips ever so slightly. The dwarf chuckled at the suddenly shy hobbit and opened his own mouth wide, a silent order for Bilbo to open his wider as well. Bilbo complied and the cake was delicately placed in his mouth. The way Bilbo's lips parted for the fork and cake along with the fact those large hazel eyes never left his sent a jolt down into his stomach, something he would never ever admit. The two continued like this for several minutes, alternating eating between the two of them until the slice of cake was gone.

"You've got a bit on your nose," Thorin whispered. Without waiting for a reply he reached across the table to swipe some icing off from under Bilbo's lip.

In an utterly surprising move and a Tookish gleam in his eyes, Bilbo flicked his tongue out just as Thorin was about to get the icing and got it himself. Thorin withdrew his hand slowly, hesitantly. Then Bilbo did the unthinkable and dragged his small pink tongue across his equally pink lips. Thorin watched and felt another jolt.

He can't be doing this on purpose, Thorin groaned inwardly. But something in those hazel orbs told him that Bilbo meant everything he was doing.

"Bilbo…"

Without a word the hobbit stood. Thorin hesitantly stood as well, confused to what Bilbo was doing. He came around to Thorin's side of the table and took ahold of his hand.

"Thorin. Let's leave."

The words surprised him. "Leave?"

The smaller male nodded. "Back to my house. We could have a night cap, and we could…"

Thorin smiled and leaned forward, his mouth close to Bilbo's ear. "That would be lovely."

As he went to draw away he gave a quick peck of a kiss on Bilbo's cheek. Bilbo shivered. The scrape of beard on his bare cheek, however brief, was a foreign feeling but not unwanted. The hobbit's hand that held onto Thorin's tightened his grip and his lips inched forward in an attempt to capture Thorin's lips. Halfway to his destination he stopped. Thorin watched as the hobbit backed down, a frown appearing on his lips.

"What's wrong?" Thorin whispered.

Bilbo glanced around. "I don't…"

Too many people.

Thorin caught on to the unsaid words and squeezed Bilbo small hand. "Let's leave then. There'll be nobody at your house."

Bilbo couldn't pull him out the door quick enough.