Kili pulled into Balin's driveway alone and he couldn't wait to tell everyone why.

Flinging the door open he rushed towards the house, charging through a puddle that soaked through his shoes in his haste.

"Uncle Thorin!" He called squelching down the hall, "Billie! Aunt Dori! Uncle Balin! Guess what!" Thorin appeared in the doorway that led to the backyard a phone held to his ear. Dori poked her head out of the kitchen her cheeks stuffed with crackers, the box balanced on her pregnant belly.

"Give me a minute," Thorin said, turning back to his conversation. Billie could be heard running down the stairs.

"What is it?" Dori asked, but her mouth was so full of food it came out sounding like, "Blot bis bit?"

"Six sounds good," Thorin said into the phone as Billie came to join their huddle, "Alright…yes…okay. See you then Dessa." Kili felt his grin sliding off his face. Thorin hung up and looked at him expectantly. "Now, what is so exciting Kili?"

"Who was that on the phone?" Kili asked instead of answering. Thorin frowned at him.

"Iradessa is in town," he said, crossing his arms, "she wants to get coffee. What did you want to tel-

"Iradessa Stone?" Kili practically shouted. His stomach tightened, his skin crawled as covered in thousands of fire ants. "Uncle Thorin, NO!"

"What has gotten into you?" Thorin growled.

"Say you won't meet up with her!" Kili pleaded, "Promise me!"

"I'll get coffee with whoever I want to young man," Billie had never heard Thorin talk this way to anyone, it scared her a little bit. Dori must have felt the same way. She stepped backwards into the kitchen.

"Not her!" Kili pleaded, "Don't you remember what she did to you?"

"ENOUGH!" Thorin thundered, ears burning red. "This is none of your business!" Thorin's voice had made Billie want to flatten herself against the wall, but Kili didn't back down.

"Because I do!" He shouted, " And if you willingly let her back into your life you are an idiot!" and with that he turned and stormed up the stairs.

(…And Then)

"Kili?" Billie knocked on the door to the bedroom the twins shared, "Can I come in?"

"No."

"I have pie."

"….The door's open." Billie pushed into the room with her hip. Her hands were full with Dori's strawberry-rhubarb pie. A creation sent straight from Utopia as far as Billie was concerned. Kili was lying sprawled face up on one of the twin beds, his legs dangling over the edge. He raised his head a fraction when she placed the pie tin on his stomach.

"Do you have a fork?" Billie produced two from the pocket of her sweatshirt and was rewarded with a large Kili smile. There were a few minutes of silence while they focused on demolishing the dessert between them.

"So you want to explain to me what that was all about?" Billie asked, scraping up the last bit of crust. Kili sighed.

"Is Thorin in his room?" he asked.

"No, he's chain smoking in the backyard. Dori went out there with him." Kili played with his fork, his eyes burning a hole in the carpet.

"Have you ever heard of the Arkenstone?" he asked finally.

"No," Billie pulled herself into a more comfortable position, "what's the Arkenstone?"

"It was supposedly this diamond, owned by a Norse king way back in the Viking age." Kili started, "Legend says it was huge, bigger than a man's fist, it was the king's most prized possession, but it carried on it a curse. Anyone who touched it, came under its spell. The Arkenstone became the only thing that mattered to them, they would kill their closest friend just to hold it one more time. Within months of finding the jewel the king's children had died of starvation and neglect, his advisors had tried to kill him and the King himself had gone completely mad, locking himself in his room and talking to his stone."

"So what happened to him?" Billie asked, when Kili paused.

"His Queen stole the stone while he was sleeping and rowed as far out into the ocean as her boat would go. The king was chasing her the whole time, he fired an arrow and it pierced her heart, the stone slipped from her dead hands and sunk to the ocean floor. The king jumped in after it and drowned."

"Well that's depressing…" Billie pursed her lips. "What does that have to do with what happened downstairs?"

"Iradessa is Uncle Thorin's Arkenstone." Kili said glumly, "He is completely blind to the fact that she's awful and using him. They were together for less than a year, but she got him to by her a new car, he took her to Hawaii for a month, tons of other stuff, trust me the lady is poison!"

"Ooooooh, I get it! Because her last name is Stone and it was called the Arkenstone…" Billie trailed off, Kili was glaring at her, "Sorry."

"She broke up with him as Mom was dying, said he wasn't paying enough attention to her," Kili leaned against the wall, "he wasn't okay for a really long time. I just don't want him to go through that again."

"Well you don't know they're going to get back together," Billie said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Maybe she wants to say sorry." Kili shook his head.

"That's the thing I do know. He- The door burst open and Fili flung himself inside.

"I just had the best night of my entire life!" he spun in a circle and then collapsed to the floor before springing up again to punch the air in triumph. "WOO!" He turned to smile at them and then noticed his brother's uncharacteristic silence.

"What's wrong?"

(…And Then)

Things were awkward and strained over the next few days. Not even the news of Fili finally finding a girlfriend could ease the tension between Thorin and the rest of the household, because it was as Kili had predicted he and this Iradessa person were once again dating. Apparently no one else liked her either.

Balin and Dori whispered together every time Thorin left the room. The twins were united in their glaring at him. Billie started spending a lot of time in her room, going into any area were Thorin and the others might be was like walking into the Arctic tundra wearing only a swimsuit.

Billie saw them together one night as she was leaving work. Iradessa had a hold on Thorin's arm and was wearing four inch heels. Billie didn't think it was just Kili's portrayal of her that immediately made her think, gold digger.

"Oh Billie," Thorin stopped by the desk, "This is Iradessa. Iradessa, this is Billie the girl I was telling you about." Iradessa gave her a simpering smile.

"I'm so glad you are getting back on your feet dear," she said, "Thorin was telling me about your unfortunate turn of events."

"Yes, he and his family have been very kind to me." Billie said. Thorin smiled at her.

"Billie is a great little construction worker," he started, "I don't know how I'd be able to fix up the house without he-

"Aren't we going to be late for dinner honey?" Iradessa interrupted. She held out a hand to Billie who shook it. It was like shaking hands with a dead fish, "So nice to meet you Bucky."

"Billie." Billie said. Iradessa smirked.

"Right, sorry of course," and then she sunk her claws into Thorin's arm and towed him away.

"See you at home," Thorin called to her over his shoulder.

Billie was left standing there feeling vaguely put out. She drove back to Dori and Balin's frowning. She tried to watch Game of Thrones with the twins but her heart wasn't in it, she went upstairs and stared at the ceiling. Asking herself the same question over and over again.

Why did it bother her so much to see that lady with Thorin? Iradessa had been just as awful as described but still, she shouldn't care who Thorin attached himself to.

Should she?