"Is Kili all right?" I asked Dwalin quietly as I came to stand beside him on the far side of the barge.

"Aye, he's a Dwarf, sunshine, we're hardy folk. He'll be fine."

I wasn't convinced however, and I spared yet another glance round towards the brunette Dwarf. He was sat on the floor, still wincing and nursing his arm while Fili sat comfortingly beside him. Despite the situation, my eyes lingered on Fili for an inappropriately long time. His clothes were still damp, and clung to him in the worst ways. Humph!

I sighed and rubbed my temples, looking away and back towards the icy lake. As we ventured further north the climate began to steadily change for the worst. The sun was long gone, hidden behind a thick layer of grey clouds, and there was a dense blanket of fog coating the surface of the lake, bringing me chills and making me shiver.

I'd already snuffled Dwalin's outer shirt, and Fili had offered me his too, but I'd turned it down. He only wore his silly little baby grow underneath, whereas Dwalin had many layers.

Also, I don't think I would be able to contain myself if Fili was wondering around in a baby grow. I think I'd wet myself laughing.

"Do you trust him, sunshine?" Asked Dwalin, gesturing behind us.

"Who?" I looked around, "Oin?"

"No, Bard."

"Oh! Yes, well I suppose so, why wouldn't I? Don't you then?"

Dwalin's silence said it all really, and I sighed.

"I'm sure if he wanted to kill us he would have done it already. This seems like a lot of effort he's going through." Dwalin just grumbled to himself and turned away towards Thorin who was also grumbling about something. Honestly, those two are so grumpy. I bet their friendship is based on grunting and moaning about things.

"Lass?" Balin's voice crashed my train of thought, and I turned my attention towards him with a smile.

"Yes?"

He was sitting on the deck, using a crate to count out the gold coins he'd promised Bard, but by the looks of it we were a little short.

"You don't happen to have anything we could use for payment, do you?"

I pulled out my pockets, "Nope, you lot have bled me dry." That wasn't true, technically I hadn't started the quest with any money - well, unless you count the soggy bank notes in my purse (which was still in Mirkwood). When I tucked my pockets back into my trousers, my silver watch caught on the lining. "I... I suppose you could use this?" I said hesitantly, my heart sinking at the thought of losing my beloved watch. Even though it was broken, it would be yet another possession I'd have to part with... I've given up so much. The build-up of anxiety began to tick away in the back of my head again, and I had to physically stop myself from erupting like an angry volcano. This quest had most definitely tested my limits – and my sanity.

"Aye, I think that would do, lass."

Oh, poo. I was hoping he'd say no.

Slowly, I unfastened the silver clasp, slipped it off my wrist and placed it in Balin's outstretched hand.

"Thank you, much appreciated." I could see in his face that he was feeling sorry for me, his eyes were pretty much apologising. But I tried to suck it up as best as I could. Everyone had made sacrifices, not just me.

I was so lost in my wallowing I hadn't even noticed the Dwarves silence and turn, not until a large, warm, rough hand took hold of my own and squeezed gently.

I would have jumped if I hadn't known it was Fili, but when I turned and gave him a questioning glance, he simply nodded to my right.

"Wow… Is that?"

"Aye, the Lonely Mountain." Thorin replied, just as Fili pulled me closer to him and wrapped his thick arms around me. Is it natural for someone to be this warm all the time? Instinctively I nestled into him.

"Our home." Fili whispered into my ear before kissing my temple. My nerves suddenly prickled.

"The money, quickly, give it to me." Bard moved towards us then, his voice strained and body tense.

"We will pay you when we get our provisions and not before." Growled Thorin in his usual I'm-so-friendly tone.

I'm pretty sure Bard nearly rolled his eyes. "If you value your freedom, you'll do as I say."

I shifted awkwardly then, and turned when Fili did to face him. I tried to move forward, but Fili pulled me to him so quickly I squeaked involuntarily. "Stop man-handling me!" I hissed lowly at him. But looking up at his face I quickly realised he wasn't listening to me. He had that determined look on his face; brow lowered and jaw clenched and flexing. Against my hips I could feel his fingers twitching, obviously itching to grab a sword. Not that he had one.

"Stop that." I hissed again, slapping his hand.

"Stop what?"

"Fidgeting like a stroppy teenager."

"What's a teenager?"

"Oh, spare me." I pinched the bridge of my nose.

We fell silent when Thorin nodded to Balin, who quickly gathered the coins (and my watch – wah) and deposited them into Bard's open palm.

"Good. Now, get into the barrels."

Bard said it so matter-of-factly I very nearly just did what ordered, but I quickly stopped, "What?" I asked, trying to step forward again. Fili's grip on me only tightened and I growled.

"Into the barrels, you cannot be seen." Bard looked a little shifty, and when his eyes settled on something far in the distance only Bilbo and I were the ones to turn. Through the thick fog a dark, murky shading began to appear. What it was though, I had no idea.

Somehow the Dwarves were persuaded to get into the barrels, and I awkwardly climbed into the barrel between Dwalin and Fili (I say I climbed, technically I fell in).

It turns out that the murky, shadow in the distance was actually a dock, and when we pulled into said dock I watched with concern through a small crack in my barrel as Bard strolled past us and got off the boat.

"What's he doing?" I whispered, earning myself a sharp 'shh!' from Dwalin.

There was only a moment pause before Dwalin himself said, "What is he doing?"

My tutting went ignored.

"He's talking to someone." Bilbo replied from the barrel behind me, and I shifted awkwardly to hear him better. "Aaaaand he's pointing right at us!" Bilbo moved quickly in his barrel, causing it to gently knock onto mine. "Now they're shaking hands!"

"What?" Hissed Thorin. Oh boy, here we go…

"He's selling us out." Growled Dwalin. I frowned and growled under my breath. Honestly, spending so much time running around in the wild with these Dwarves is making me feral.

"Let's not jump to conclusions now…" I warned them, "That hasn't exactly done us good in the past."

"Oh, aye, because you're so good at judgement yourself!" I heard Thorin snap.

"Erm!" I replied sarcastically, but still keeping my voice low, "At least I can follow directions!"

There was suddenly a loud knock on my barrel. "Would you two stop?" Hissed Fili.

I had just opened my mouth to snap something back at him when a loud clanging sound stopped me. I was about to ask what was going on… But nothing kills the mood like a dead fish falling on your face.

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I wanted to be sick. In fact, I think if I was to be sick the smell would actually improve.

Turns out Bard wasn't selling us out, instead he was doing a deal. Yes! Sound lovely right? Wrong.

Hence why we are sailing away in barrels now full to the brim of dead fish. I could literally feel my sanity slipping away like a bar of soap.

I found some comfort in the fact that the Dwarves were as unimpressed as I was. They were actually being more vocal than I was about the whole fish in a barrel situation with all their moaning and whining. But amongst that I heard a small:

"Olivia?"

"Yesm." I replied, struggling not to accidently take in a mouthful of fish as I did so. I wriggled around in my barrel for a moment, just to have a fish dislodge in its place and have its tail smack me right in the eye. "Bastard!"

"Me?" Fili sounded confused.

"No, not you. The fish. What's up?"

"I… I just wanted to let you know that I love you."

"Awh, aren't you two sweet? I think I just threw up a little bit- Ah!" Kili had begun to interject, but by the sounds of wood hitting wood and the loud squawk Kili emitted Fili had just knocked his barrel against his, and cause Kili to wobble around.

I smiled to myself, but it faltered when I realised then that a part from today Fili and I hadn't actually spoken for… well… Weeks? Hell, I'd barely seen him the entire time I was in Mirkwood. I felt a little guilty for a moment, and then remembered why I had been mad at him and just like that – pop! – my guilt was gone.

"Ditto, Fili." For some reason, I could bring myself to say the words. I think Fili understood though, and he fell silent once more.

I let out a deep sigh and squeezed my eyes shut for a moment. I was totally exhausted, mentally and physically. I was tired, trained, cold, wet, hungry, and I needed a wee. I nearly sobbed then and there, all this was getting too hard for me to bare. This was too tough. I wasn't cut out for this. Sure, the Dwarves could deal with it, they were hard, sturdy and durable – not to mention they were used to travelling and demanding situations.

Then my mind travelled to Bilbo and I sighed once more. He was in the exact same boat as I was. Literally and metaphorically. I'd seen his home; warm, comfy, full of relaxation and memories. He was probably as fed up and home sick as I was. I needed to stop being so selfish. I wasn't the only one having a hard time.

The Dwarves were still moaning when Bard kicked one of the barrels to shush them, "Quiet!" He snapped lowly, "We're approaching the toll gate."

I had no idea what was going on outside my little fishy barrel, and I hated it. Have you ever played Blind Man's Bluff? Or Murder, Murder (horrible names, I know) when you were a child? And you'd have to wonder through a pitch black room looking for your friends in their hiding places? Well, this was a little like that. Except this wasn't a game, and there wasn't a light switch I could just flick back on when I got scared.

Right now, I couldn't see the ground nor the sky, and that frightened me. Anything could be going on around me and there was nothing I would be able to do about it. I knew I trusted Bard, but for all I know he could be drawing his sword right now to strike into one of the barrels!

Oh God, I'm winding myself up so tight…

"Halt!" I heard a voice cry out, "Goods inspection! Papers, please!" There was a small pause as I felt the barge slow down to a steady stop. "Oh! It's just you, Bard."

"Morning, Percy." Bard greeted politely.

"Anything to declare?"

Erm. Yeah. Me.

"Nothing," replied Bard, "Other than that I am cold and tired, and ready for home."

"You and me both." Replied the one called Percy, and I couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness that I couldn't simply just 'go home'. There was a long pause, and the sound of moving around and rustling of papers.

I had just heard Percy begin to speak again, when a third voice that made my skin crawl spoke up.

"Not so fast." He drawled. "Consignment of empty barrels from the Woodland Realm." He continued, and even from here I could tell he was a nasty soul. But, it was obvious these barrels weren't empty. "Only… They're not empty."

Thank you, captain obvious.

There was a thudding of footsteps as this unknown character approached the barge, and I instantly gulped. My heart began to pound loudly in my chest.

"If I recall correctly," He announced, "You're licenced as a bargeman… Not a fisherman."

"That's none of your business." Replied Bard coldly.

"Wrong." Replied this third, slimy man, and I found myself straining to hear what was being said through the dense supply of fish. "It's the Masters business, which makes it my business."

"Oh, come on Alfrid have a heart? People need to eat!"

"These fish are illegal," Alfrid said as if Bard hadn't even spoken. He reminded me of a power hungry slug. You know, like when you give someone dark just an ounce of responsibility and they manage to mould it and corrupt it. "Empty the barrels over the side."

Shit!

"Folk in this town are struggling!" Argued Bard, "Times are hard, food is scarce."

"That's not my problem." Replied Alfrid, and I nearly gasped at what he'd said. How could someone been so cruel?

I nearly shrieked when my barrel began to move, and again I nearly jumped out and punched the man that muttered 'this barrels heavy'.

"And when the people hear that the Master is dumping fish back in the lake? When the rioting starts?" My barrel began to tip, and I braced myself as snaps of that icy water began to peak through the holes in the falling fish. "Will it be your problem then?"

There was a painfully long silence, and I thought I was about to meet my doom, when Alfrid said a reluctant, "stop." Instantly my barrel righted, and I was glad the loud thud of wood on wood muffled my gasp.

"Ever the peoples champion, aye Bard?" Sneered Alfrid, "protector of the common folk. You might have their favour now bargeman but it won't last."

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I may have been on the brink of a total, and utter mental break down, but the sight of Dwalin poking his head out of Bard's toilet and looking round menacingly was most certainly a sight for sore eyes. In fact, I hadn't laughed so hard in a long, long time.

Unlike the Dwarves, I had used the main door. After all, there was nothing weird with a human girl walking into a house. Turns out Bard had a daughter around my age (if not a little young, I can't even remember my own age now), so it looked like I was just visiting her. However, a gang of rowdy Dwarves would not have been so easily disguised, so when Bard's son – Bain – had come running to us saying something about the house being watched, the Dwarves had no other choice but to swim under Bard's house, and go up through the loo.

Hilarious.

I helped them up gingerly one by one, and turned after Oin who was the last one I'd helped through. But I paused when I saw Fili standing there, pretty much pushing Oin up the stairs and into the house.

We were now all alone, and I was standing there staring at a once again soaking wet Fili. This totally isn't fair. Despite being a few inches shorter than me, he was still undoubtedly bigger. Definitely stocky, with extremely wide shoulders and a broad chest to match made of the perfect mixture of chiselled muscle and Dwarfy meat. Despite the expansive torso, his hips were narrow… a perfect size to fit perfectly between my-

I coughed abruptly, pulling myself from my naughty thoughts. However, when I looked at Fili in the eye I nearly gulped. He was looking at me almost hungrily, like a predator.

"Erm, Fili?" I asked him hesitantly, but any questions that lingered in my mind were soon washed away when in a few strides Fili closed the distance between us and in one swift movement pushed me back into the wall before pressing his lips firmly to mine.

I couldn't keep up with him. My mind was racing and spinning and my body was experiencing all sorts of amazingly, weird pleasures as his hot lips devoured mine and his burning hands grabbed and pulled at every part of my body.

His left hand pressed and gripped my breast, causing me to indolently melt against him and moan quietly. I knew that in the back of my mind this was definitely not the time and place to be doing this sort of thing, but at the same time it had been so long since I'd actually been close to him I literally couldn't stop myself. I entangled my fingers into his mane of golden tresses and pulled at his hair.

I gasped when his hot hand slid up my top and over my cool skin, leaving my muscles shaking as he went. When his hand wrapped around to the small of my back my hips bucked a little, simply because the skin was sensitive and it tickled a little. However, it only took Fili seconds to react, and whilst my hips were momentarily raised he grabbed both my thighs and pulled me up, to then slam his groin into mine against the wall.

I gasped again, obviously giving Fili an open invitation to explore my mouth with his wet, hot tongue, all the while I could literally feel his arousal pressing into my now open legs that were wrapped around his waist. He seemed to hold me there nearly effortlessly with one, large hand under my butt while the other started exploring my body again.

He pressed his groin into me again, and this time he let out a growl in unison with my moan. He broke away from the kiss, lips wet and slightly swollen. But his crystal eyes bore into mine almost questioningly as he pressed into me once more.

A zing of pleasure bolted through me at the contact, at the feel of him being so close to that region. His lips moved to work down my jaw and onto my neck, where Fili seemed to set up camp working his lips over the tender, sweet spot on my neck, all the while his hips ground slowly into mine. I would have begged him to take me then and there if it wasn't the sudden pounding of heavy footsteps coming down the stairs.

Fili and I were a part in seconds, and Fili awkwardly turned away to hide his arousal just as Bofur popped his head around the door.

"You two coming- Oh!" He must have clocked on. The way I was still hopelessly pressed up against the wall with my hair a mess and limbs shaking, and how Fili was awkwardly looking over his shoulder at Bofur and offering a lopsided smile. "Oh, well, um…" Bofur looked embarrassed, "Sorry! Thorin's after you, 'tis all." And then he disappeared again.

We waited until the last sound of heavy thumping of Bofur's feet against the stair before we both burst into laughter.

"Oh, my God! Did you see his face?!" I hooted, barely able to contain myself. Fili smirked, and took another suggestive step towards me, but I stopped him but holding up my hand. Fili frowned.

"What?"

"No way, mister. You take another step closer and I won't be able to stop myself."

Fili's smirk returned, and he winked at me. "Later then." He wasn't asking me, he was telling me.

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Okaaaaaaay, sorry for the long update! ):

And sorry for the sliiiiightly naughty chapter. I'm undecided just HOW naughty I plan to make the next chapter, but I promise the next one WILL be more interesting. I thought this one was very… erm… samey?

ANYWAY

Thank you to all those who have followed and favourited! Welcome aboard!

Also, thank you to all those who have reviewed. Although, I have noticed my views on this story are going up but my reviews are going down ):

That makes me sad

I love hearing what you guys have to say! It gives me more inspiration to write! WAH

Anyway, for those who follow my tumblr, I'm sure some of you saw a rather depressing snippet in the pipeline… I'm not going to tell you WHO it is… but the clue is in the pudding (ish) could you REALLY see me graving the main man REALLY

Okay, I basically just told you WHO it wasn't…. but still

Anyway

Please let me know what you all think of this story so far!

Love you all, MWAH

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