Chapter 12: Rebellion


Kili remained, waiting in the driveway as she made her long, slow walk up to the front door where her father waited. She could hear the rumble of his truck behind her and she could almost pretend it gave her strength.

"Welcome home, daughter," her father's voice cut through the noise. His pale blue eyes had always unnerved her, but they seemed especially icy and daunting when he was angry.

"So kind of you to wait for me on the front step, what with your guests and all," she retorted sharply, coming to stand on the top step.

He was taller than her by nearly a foot, his lithe form making him tower over her like a cold, marble statue. Tauriel swallowed her fear and refused to break his gaze.

"You will come inside. You will go upstairs, quietly," he hissed, reaching for the door, "You will change out of those clothes, and then you will join the rest of us in the dining room. We'll discuss last night's discretions at a later time," he finished, casting another foreboding glare in the direction of Kili's truck.

Tauriel swallowed. He was calm. Too calm. Nothing good ever came from her father being so eerily calm he couldn't even throw one of his classic tantrums like he did at work when he didn't get his way. She'd spent one too many summers interning in his office, the political setting riling him up more times than she could count. He'd throw papers, scream at secretaries, slam doors, and utterly petrify almost everyone on his staff if one miniscule detail was not to his liking.

So naturally, quiet frightened her.

Taking a deep breath, she followed her father's gaze to the old truck still idling in the driveway.

A chill that had nothing to do with fearing her father shot through her, ripping up her limbs and down every nerve ending in her body.

She could see Kili staring back at him through the glass. His normally jovial expression and sparkling eyes were suddenly gone, replaced instead with a dark glare that sent a chill up her spine. While she'd always thought her father to be the master of menacing looks, it was clear Kili could hold his own in a battle of wills. Most people backed down from her father. Kili just looked ready to jump out of the truck and throw him into a headlock before beating him senseless. He'd told her the night before that his reckless, law-breaking days were long gone, but she suddenly wasn't so sure she believed him. The look Kili was giving her father was a warning – full of a mysterious yet murderous calm that threatened to explode if tampered with.

He is a biker from a motorcycle club, she reminded herself. Maybe what you saw of him last night wasn't his only personality. She realized that growing up in his world must not have been all warm family moments and pints at the bar with his friends. While he'd eluded to the fact that he'd had a rough upbringing the night before, it was suddenly very evident that she hadn't seen one very specific side of him – his dangerous one.

With one firm hand on her shoulder and the other on the door, her father swept it open and shepherded her inside. Tauriel glanced over her shoulder as Kili went peeling out of the driveway, his truck's engine roaring and the air smelling suddenly like exhaust.

The front door closed with a soft click.

He's really holding it in, she realized. Calmly, she turned to face him and crossed her arms.

"Don't look at me like that, like some petulant child!" he hissed, his face suddenly inches from hers. "I demand to know who that piece of trailer trash was that dropped you in the driveway was. Where did you ever even meet such a person?"

"None of your business," she replied, her voice low. She refused to let it quiver. No matter how much she loathed her father sometimes, it still broke her heart to rebel against him the way she often did. At the height of her fury and frustration there was no other way she knew to handle her father. Her ire often drove her decisions, but last night had been a new peak to everything and she knew she was in for it as far as he was concerned. She couldn't help it. Lashing out and acting the complete opposite of the way she knew he would want her to was usually the first thing her rebellious mind thought of to do. Why couldn't he just accept her for who she was? A free spirit with a tenacious but kind soul, who was calm until she was pushed? Tauriel shielded her emotions until they burst out of her chest uncensored, yet at times she could be so composed that she could unnerve those around her.

Deep down, the reason she angered her father with her behavior was painfully obvious: she was practically a clone of her mother. Even though his wife had been gone for years, it was clear that the likeness his daughter showed of her pained Thranduil to no end.

"It is very much my business, daughter. And we will discuss it when we have the proper privacy."

"I can't wait."

With that, she turned and hurried past him, up the steps towards her room. The house was a sprawling display of lavish arrogance that only someone from a political background and old money could stand. It was all shiny surfaces and tacky art she didn't understand and decorating that belonged in a snooty magazine. It was always scrubbed clean as if any trace of actual inhabitants, of family, was forbidden.

Making her way to her room, she hung her head as she remembered the simple little house Kili lived in. Warm, cozy, and lived in were all words she'd used to describe it. It even smelled different than her own home – she could remember the lingering traces of a recently cooked meal, the faint smell of something reminding her of motor oil, soap, and pine.

Hurrying to her room, she dashed inside and closed the door behind her, leaning against it with a sigh.

Safe for now, she thought. She had no intention of going back downstairs to join her father's brunch.

Eyes drifting closed, she took a moment to live in the happy memory of the night before. Even if she never saw Kili again she knew she would never forget the way he'd made her feel – wild, sexy, and unashamed.

Free, a little voice in her head added.

She would always savor the way his calloused hands had felt against her skin, running lightly up her body in a tantalizing preview of what was to come. How he'd gripped her firmly, need for her seeming to overwhelm him as he'd covered her and pressed her against his mattress. The way he'd made her feel powerless to move and escape the pleasure he was bound and determined to give to her, and yet how completely and utterly tantalized that had made her feel. How he'd felt against her, on top of her, behind her….the feel of his body molding with hers, with his blazing hot skin and corded muscles, feeling like a chaotic mixture of rebellion and….

Tauriel frowned. And what, exactly? Had she only gone home with Kili to rebel against her father, to prove something?

Kili's warm brown eyes flashed in her mind, smiling gently at her. The way he'd looked between her legs, begging her to come for him again was forever emblazoned in her memory.

It had been rebellion at first, but it had quickly morphed into something more. The connection between them was palpable between the sheets, of that she was sure. And then, after, he'd held her against his chest and just listened. She'd told him things about her, things about her mother, her life, her dreams. And he'd listened and genuinely seemed interested. More so than anyone else ever had. The lust she'd felt for him the night before seemed to morph in her chest and turn into something else the more she thought about it. It was affection and need, but also a longing to return to him. She had to see him again. The freedom she'd felt with Kili was not something she would give up as just a simple one night fling. It had to be more, didn't it? Did he feel the same?

Her thoughts shifted back to the way he'd watched her with her father on the front porch just minutes ago. The look on his face wasn't the face of a man who was just dropping her off and leaving her without a second thought that much she knew. But was Kili as invested in this as she clearly was?

I've fallen for him, she realized.

Someone throwing their weight against her bedroom door brought her out of her thoughts. With a yelp, she jumped away as Sigrid burst through the door with wild eyes.

"You're home!"

"Yes," Tauriel gasped, half laughing, half sputtering.

Sigrid's eyes quickly took in her mussed hair, Kili's t-shirt, and the rest of her slightly disheveled appearance and her face lit up with an approving grin.

"Tell me everything."


Short update today, but never fear! I'll be back soon with more. I've had computer issues so that was part of it. The other part is the lovely summer weather distracting me...

Many of you said you wanted to hear more about how Fili and Sigrid met on the side of the road, so just a quick update on that - I have it outlined and ready to write and I think everyone will be pleased with the mixture of fluff and smut that I have planned ; )

Thank you for reading and please review!