Hi,

I'm finally back. I'm sorry you guys had to wait so long. Man, it almost has been two weeks since I last updated. I'm so so sorry.
This story and I are kind in a love/hate relationship right now. But I can't let it go, it's keeps yelling to me to write on. :P
Once again I want to thank you guys for the amazing reviews. ;)

Enjoy reading.


Orcrist's blade glanced in the moon's light as Thorin swung it at the hideous creature, meaning to behead it with one clean strike.

Gollum, however, easily dodged the swords blow and leaped himself at the dwarf's neck, closing its fingers around his troth to cut off his windpipe from fresh air.

Thorin clawed at gollum's fingers, trying to break free out of its suffocating grip without dropping his sword.

He had underestimated gollum's force though, the small creature was surprisingly strong and he struggled to break free out of its grip.

' Choke, choke, choke the dwarf.' Gollum chirped, the words almost coming out tunefully. ' Choke him until he's out of air, never set him free... gollum.'

' You nasty little...' Thorin managed to get out, then had to stop by the lack of air in his lungs.

' First kill the dwarf, gollum, yes...' Gollum hissed, his bright blue eyes gleaming as he tightened his grip on the dwarf's troth. ' Then finish the hobbitses,... the filthy little thief... gollum,gollum. Take back my precious, yes... yes.'

Thorin glanced at the halfling, who laid against the mountain's wall unconscious, blood trickling down his face, giving his bronze hair a gruesome red color.

He should have known better, he should have been more carefull, he shouldn't have ignored the shuffling he had heard behind them the entire day. The shuffling that disappeared every time he looked back.

He made another attempt to tear gollum's fingers from his troth, but the creature refused to let go.

Black spots started to appear in front of his eyes and his strength was slipping away, his attempts to pull away gollums fingers growing weaker every time he tried.

He was on the edge of fainting when he heard gollum cry in agony, the grip on his neck loosened before it was entirely gone.

Thorin gasped for air, then started coughing, rubbing his sore troth for a few seconds while he tried to get air into his lungs.

The black spots in his vision slowly disappeared and he saw gollum laying on the ground unconscious, blood oozing out of the back of its head.

Bilbo stood next to the lifeless body, breathing heavy and shaking on his legs, a sharp edged stone still in his trembling hand and his eyes big out of horror.

Thorin raised his sword to behead gollum, to finish him off for good. The filthy creature didn't deserve to live.

' No, wait. Stop!' Bilbo blurted out, positioning himself between gollum and Thorin. ' Don't kill him.'

' Get out of my way, Bilbo. He almost choked me, he wanted to kill you when he was done with me.' Thorin replied, but he lowered the sword anyway. ' Why do you want to let him live?'

Bilbo glanced at gollum, disgust showing on his face. ' His life is miserable without the ring. Killing him would be an act of mercy, you would release him from the worthless life he has. Besides, a wise man once told me, true courage is about knowing not when to take a life, but when to spare one.'

Thorin sighed, knowing exactly were those so called wise words came from. ' Can we at least tie him up then?'

Bilbo nodded, then took a rope out of his bag and handed it to Thorin. ' Be my guest. I'm going to sit down again. My head feels like it has been split open.'

' Let me get a look at that head of yours.' Thorin said, looking at the halfling with worried eyes. ' It's still bleeding.'

' Tie him up first, before he wakes up.' Bilbo replied as he sat down against the mountain's wall. ' I don't want him to strangle you again.'

Thorin gave the halfling another concerned glance, then tied up gollums arms and legs behind its back, making sure he couldn't escape.

He hated the creature, he hated him for sneaking up on them while they were asleep, he hated him for harming Bilbo, but he hated himself more.

He was the one who would stay awake, who had assured the halfling nothing could happen, that he would protect him from gollum when he showed up. Instead of staying true to his promises he had fallen asleep.

The terrified shriek of Bilbo had awakened him again, but by the time he had gotten to his feet, gollum already had hit Bilbo in the head and was searching for the ring in the halfling's pockets.

He had plucked gollum off of the halfling, he had thrown him away like a piece of garbage, but gollum had returned and had attacked them again, would have killed him if Bilbo hadn't saved him.

He squatted in front of the halfling, his eyes meeting Bilbo's for a second before he turned his attention on the wound. He carefully pushed Bilbo's hair aside, trying not to hurt him while inspecting the wound.

Although the wound still was bleeding, it wasn't as bad Thorin thought it would be, it would stop bleeding and heal out of itself eventually.

He took a cloth out of his bag and carefully pushed it against the wound on Bilbo's head, but the halfling still cowered underneath his touch.

'I'm sorry I let you down, Bilbo.' He said softly while he increased pressure on the wound. 'I understand if you blame me for this.''

Bilbo grabbed the dwarf's beard to pull him down, finding his eyes with his own before he responded. 'You are not to blame for this, Thorin.''

'Am I not? Was I not the one who promised you protection and failed miserably?' Thorin asked, looking away from the halfling. 'You've got hurt because of me. I let you down.'

Bilbo laid his hand on the dwarf's bearded cheek. 'I won't hold this against you. It's not your fault.''

Thorin leaned into the halfling's touch, enjoying the feeling of his soft hand against his cheek ' 'How are you feeling?''

'Still a bit dizzy.' Bilbo answered, his hand sliding from the dwarf's cheek to his troth where gollum's fingers had left marks. 'Does it hurt?''

Thorin shivered when Bilbo caressed the marks on his troth, not because it did hurt, but because it felt good. 'Only a little.''

Bilbo slowly followed the marks with his finger, making Thorin's heart pick up speed and as his gaze met the halfling's, his lips parted a little. For the second time that night he couldn't get air into his lungs, he couldn't even think straight

He wanted to tell Bilbo how he felt, how he longed for him in so many ways. He wanted to crash his lips on the halfling's , he wanted to hold him and never let him go.

'Bilbo I…' He started, his voice hoarse by the emotions he was feeling.

'Don't you dare to apologize again!' Bilbo interrupted him. 'You weren't the one who hit me on the head.''

Thorin frowned. 'Who said I was going to apologize?'

'I know you better than you think, you grumpy dwarf.' Bilbo replied, his hand going back to the dwarf's cheek. 'What else where you going to say?'

Thorin raised his brow. ' You do?'

' You know, when I first met you, I thought you were a rude, mean dwarf without much of a heart.' Bilbo said, his gaze going distant. ' I had to change my opinion about you more than once.'

The dwarf smiled in amusement. ' You did?'

' Yes, it seemed like you did have a heart, but only showed it to the ones closest to you. To others, including me, you were still rude and mean.' Bilbo babbled away. ' Until, somewhere along the way, things changed. You started to see me for who I am instead of seeing a useless hobbit from the Shire. You started to be nice to me and you managed to surprise me time after time. You became my friend and to me you might be even more than a friend...'

' Maybe gollum hit you on the head harder than I thought.' Thorin said, his heart picking up speed by the halfling's confessions. If he was going to continue this much longer, it only would be a matter of time before he spilled everything he felt for the hobbit.

' It hurts pretty bad and the dizziness is getting worse again.' Bilbo confessed, his vision getting blurrier by the second. ' So you can't hold anything I'm saying against me.'

' Understood.' Thorin said, his finger following the curves of Bilbo's lips.

Bilbo shivered underneath the dwarf's touch, goose bumps appearing over his entire body.

His heart picked up speed fast, his breathing got troubled, the dwarf was so close he couldn't think straight. Without giving it a second thought, Bilbo pulled him closer and with the last bits of strength his body had, he softly pressed his lips on Thorin's.

In pain or not, on the edge of unconsciousness or not, Bilbo was very aware of Thorin's lips moving against his, how his lips seemed to belong on the dwarf's lips.

Thorin's beard tickled his chin and his nose, what made the experience more pleasant than it already was.

His body was trembling, warmth spread through every muscle and bone he was made of, setting him on fire.

As he pulled back and opened his eyes again, he was relieved when he only found surprise on the dwarf's face. He didn't seem mad or disgusted.

' Lovely.' Bilbo mumbled, then his eyes closed again and darkness washed over him.


When Bilbo woke up again, he experienced a bad case of disorientation.

He was no longer lying on the hard ground of the Misty mountains, he was lying in a soft bed, his body covered with blankets.

His head felt much better, it didn't hurt anymore and the dizziness had somehow disappeared.

Nevertheless he didn't exactly know where he was or how he got there, the last thing he remembered was being on the mountain pass with Thorin.

A knot formed in Bilbo's stomach when he thought about the dwarf, he had kissed Thorin and then he had passed out. He didn't know what the dwarf king thought about what he did and he'd rather not start a conversation about it.

' He can be unconscious for a while. He should be fine though, he has no serious injuries.' Bilbo heard someone say. ' He probably passed out by the stress his body had to endure.'

' I've should have known better.' Another, more familiar voice replied. ' I wanted to take him here. I know he loves this place.'

' You traveled this entire distance just to bring him here?' The other voice asked.

' No, I'm bringing him back to the Shire, lord Elrond.' The familiar voice, Thorin's voice answered.

' I see. He's a magnet to danger, isn't he?' Bilbo heard lord Elrond say, but the voices were getting distant, they were moving away from him.

He was in Rivendell, that much he did understand. Thorin probably had carried him here while he was unconscious.

What he didn't understand was why the dwarf wanted to bring him to the Shire all of the sudden. He never mentioned it before and Bilbo got the idea Thorin wanted to bring him there because he had kissed him. That the dwarf king wanted to get rid of him.

Bilbo felt like crying when the idea struck his mind, how could he have been so stupid?

How could he ever have thought the dwarf had any feelings for him? He never had been more than a burden to him. His heart broke into a million pieces when he realized he wasn't wanted by the dwarf king.

But he wasn't going to be a burden to the dwarf much longer, if Thorin wanted to bring him back to the Shire so badly, he would save him the trouble.

Bilbo could find his way home all by himself.


Thanks for reading.
Don't forget to leave a review. ;)

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