Chapter 14: Toe To Toe
Kili's truck roared up the driveway, kicking up a cloud of dust as he sped back down the lane to his house. Groaning internally, he realized his guests were still present and would be demanding answers or at least one hell of a story. Fili might be a little more forgiving as he had a touch of decorum, but even for a guy nearly twice his age Dwalin sometimes had the decorum of a lad barely out of his teens. The man could still drink more than someone half his age, ride the longest runs, and fight like a bear. Kili didn't always understand Dwalin's need to always go so hard and fast, but it wasn't his place to question him. He was a friend and a family member, but he was also the Sergeant at Arms of the Dirty Dozen motorcycle club, thus making him a higher ranking member. While Fili, who was VP, didn't usually pull his rank on his little brother, Dwalin sometimes abused the title and gave Kili a hell of a time like he was still a damn prospect still waiting for the day when he'd get his leather cut and officially be named into the club's ranks.
"Not today," Kili muttered under his breath, throwing the old truck into park. It lurched into a screeching halt a few feet from the open garage in protest, the engine choking off with a deep sputter.
Fili's blonde head popped up from behind a motorcycle, his tan face already half covered in grease. His blue eyes gave his brother what Kili would call a warning look, but he didn't much care.
"Ah, nice to see you came back. I was expectin' not to see ye round 'here fer a few more hours," Dwalin drawled, appearing from behind a rolling tool cart.
He wiped his hands on a rag and tossed it with some force at Kili's chest. He caught it, rolling his eyes and tossing it onto a nearby bench.
Dwalin was trying to annoy him and it was working. The old man just enjoyed getting his kicks in all the wrong ways. He was like a child in that way – attention was what he sought, even if it was gained through annoyance.
Normally his garage was a place of solitude. They'd converted the little outbuilding behind his house into a small garage several years ago. Kili lived far enough out of town that they could be loud until all hours of the night and not worry about prying eyes of any neighbors. Not that they had to – the Dirty Dozen were on the up and up these days, as Fili would say. Every single member was currently out of jail (a few were paroled, but, out from behind bars at least) and every business venture they currently had going was perfectly legal. Or at least, Fili made it seem that way with his accounting experience and flair for research of how to skirt the rules.
"Had to take her home s'all," he muttered, stalking to the little fridge that was older than he was in the corner. Grabbing a beer, he practically yanked the cap off and slugged half of it down.
Fili raised an eyebrow. "Barely eleven, little brother. I'm not normally one to judge, but isn't it a bit early?"
Kili scowled at him and took another long slug of the cold beer, choosing to ignore his older brother's annoying question.
Dwalin chuckled.
"Been that sort 'eh day, 'as it?"
His temper flared, causing heat to race up his spine. "No, I just want a fuckin' beer, that alright w' you? Shit," he grumbled, swigging the rest. "'an I'll thank ye to stay out my bedroom from now on, ye hear?"
Dwalin only bellowed out a laugh that irritated Kili more.
The heady rush of alcohol helped, but didn't solve his sudden flash of anger at the scene he'd just witnessed. Tauriel had been afraid to go into her own home. Not just anxious or nervous, but afraid. Kili had seen enough in his twenty something years to know what fear looked like. What would her father to do her? Uncertainty plagued him as he reached for another drink.
Fili's hand cut him off as he twisted the top off.
"Save one for me, Ki," he said gently, showing his ever persistent calm. Kili rolled his eyes and practically shoved the beer at his brother. It wasn't even noon yet – Kili knew his brother didn't really want a drink, but was more or less hoping Kili wouldn't get half drunk and say something he'd regret to Dwalin.
It's not worth the fight, he thought. Fili took an uneasy sip, his eyes never leaving his brother's.
Kili had never been afraid to go home. Sure, he'd dreaded it and rightly so – the wrath of his mother was like none other. Jails only allowed you one call, and that one call could only be used on a land line. The only people he still knew that had a land line were his mother or his uncle. Given the choice, he'd usually preferred to just spend a night in jail.
But even at their worst, he'd never actually feared his mother or uncle would do him any harm for whatever it was he'd been calling them for. While his mother would condone and lecture him endlessly for doing it, his uncle Thorin would chastise him for getting caught in the first place, Kili had never been afraid to come home. He'd avoided it and dread what awaited, but he'd never feared for what would happen. He didn't fear a lengthy lecture or a creative punishment from his uncle.
Could Tauriel say the same? Even though she'd sworn to him everything was alright, Kili didn't believe her. The look in her father's eyes was that of a man who believed karma would never quite reach him.
People who thought they were untouchable were usually the ones you were right to want to avoid in the first place.
That brought him to another sick joke that fate was currently playing on him – he'd instantly recognized Tauriel's father. The cool eyes, the calculating gaze, and the rigid posture that screamed of a self-importance that couldn't be trifled with – it was someone he'd seen before.
Kili put himself to work, not only to distract himself momentarily but to also sidetrack Dwalin. While he trusted the old man with his life, he didn't quite trust him with this news, not yet. Of course the older man was a club brother and his uncle, but he had no doubt that Dwalin would run to Thorin with any news of a potential scandal the first chance he got. And the fact that Kili had hooked up with the daughter of a man the club hated would be just that – a scandal. Dwalin would call it loyalty, Kili would call it him needing more to do with his time. The old bat enjoyed a skirmish of any kind. Any attention was good attention in his mind.
Fili seemed to sense his younger brother's trepidation. More than once he'd caught Kili's gaze and sent him a questioning look before letting his expressive blue eyes dart away to raise any suspicion.
"Later," Kili had mouthed to him over the body of a bike they were working on. If he asked the older man to leave, he would make a big deal about Kili keeping secrets and raise a stink. No, the best thing to do was to play this off and act like nothing had happened. If he could distract him, even better.
Instead of worrying about it more, he scratched Warg behind the ears, earning a tail thump and a happy panting grin from the mutt. Kili put himself to work polishing chrome pieces for the rest of the morning, enjoying the way the tedious task took over his mind and made it easy to zone out.
It was mid-afternoon before all of her father's guests left the house. She'd refused to come downstairs as he'd requested and she knew there would be repercussions for it. And yet, what worse could she possibly do? She's already stayed out all night and been dropped off by someone she knew he'd disapproved of. Her refusal to quit her job and date Legolas was already on her tab of misbehavior as well.
She'd stood at the top of the wide staircase as the last of the brunch guests left. Sigrid tossed her a concerned look over her shoulder as she was shuffled out by her father, Mayor Bowman. The look on her friend's face was on of concern, but also determination. Both girls were playing a dangerous game by dating two members of the Dirty Dozen, that they both knew. Unfortunately, they'd also both been pushed to a point where Tauriel was certain neither of them cared.
The front door clicked shut. Motionless, her father stood in front of it and let only his eyes move up to meet hers.
She felt her heart clench. When had the crystalline blue orbs suddenly become so icy? Her father used to be full of love and joy and passion for life. Now, it seemed like all he cared for was work and what he could get out of it. Gone was her caring, loving father. As far as she was concerned, that man had been buried beside her mother so many years ago. What was left behind was an icy shell of a man who seemed to care about almost nothing.
His voice was low and steady as he spoke, the sinewy tones echoing in the wide stairwell. "I'm not happy with you."
She swallowed, trying to keep the calm in her voice. "I know."
Her clipped, flippant response hung in the room.
"Who was that man that brought you home?"
"Just a friend."
"Tell me."
"No."
His eyes flashed from the bottom of the stairs, betraying his façade of calm. He took the stairs two at a time until he was standing practically toe to toe with her, practically seething.
"If I see you with that gutter trash again, so help me daughter, I'll-"
"You'll what?" She interjected bravely, her own voice dripping with ire. "You'll kick me out? Make me live my own life? Stay out of mine? Fine!"
"I am your father and I have every right to be involved in your life. You make horrible choices, Tauriel, and it's my duty to stop you-"
"Stop me from what? From living my life the way I want to and making my own choices? I'm a grown woman, and I deserve to be able to work where I want and see who I want! You shouldn't have any say in that!"
"I disagree, daughter. You've clearly proven yourself incapable of managing your own affairs, so it's only fitting I should step in."
Tauriel was boiling. The heat from so much anger was bubbling up into her head and making her ears and cheeks hot all over again.
"Why can't you just leave me alone and let me live my own life? Are you so unhappy with yours that you feel the need to barge into mine and try to make my choices for me?" she asked.
"As I said, you don't seem to be able to make the right choices."
"Right for who?"
He gave an exasperated sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Whatever happens, you are done seeing whatever that was in the driveway today. I am banning you from ever leaving this house with the intent to meet with such a person."
"You don't even know him! How could you even know what he's like?! You've never taken one moment to get to know him or even someone like him!"
"THAT", he bellowed, "is my final decision. I promise you, if I catch you with him again, the consequences will be great. Don't doubt me, Tauriel. DO you understand?"
She whirled away, only to have him grab her arm into a vice-like grip. She tried her best not to wince, to show him weakness, but her features betrayed her. A wince flashed across her face before she could contain the traitorous flinch.
"Don't you walk away from me! You snide little traitor!" he bellowed. "You show up here after being gone all night, in front of my guests! You let that disgusting swine drive you home and you have the nerve to come walking up to me like you're some common whore without a care in the world!"
Tauriel yanked her arm out of his, shaking her head. "Amazing that when I disappear for a night, the only thing you care about is how it looks on you. You didn't worry about me, you weren't afraid something bad had happened, no. No, you just worry about who I show up with and which of your friends is going to make some condescending comment about it. You didn't give a shit that I was gone and could have needed you. You didn't care about me one bit. All you care about is yourself."
Her father gaped at her, his wide blue eyes full of shock.
"That's…that's not true! You know I've sacrificed for this family-"
"I didn't want it! Any of this! Your politics, your career. It is true, it is. And we both know it."
He was too shocked to stop her that time. She rushed into her bedroom, slamming the door and locking it. Let him yell, let him scream, let him threaten, she thought. She didn't care. He could make her boss fire her, he could lock her in her room forever, but he couldn't take away her night with Kili. He simply couldn't – she would always have that.
Making her way to her bed, she dug Kili's t-shirt out from beneath her pillow. Holding it to her nose, she inhaled deeply and gasped as a flood of memories from the night before invaded her senses. The smell of wood, spice, laundry soap and most importantly Kili wafted from the worn fabric and made her feel slightly better. Curling onto her side, she rested her head against the shirt and fell into a fitful sleep.
Tauriel is about to take matters into her own hands! It won't take long for her to figure out she's no damsel in distress, even if she does have a knight in shining armor waiting for her : )
Thanks for reading!
