Kili was done working with Tauriel. Because of the small incident they had, she was making his life a living hell. The redhead was always complaining to Thorin about everything he did and always found a way to turn everyone against him. He had to stop working in his usual clothes and change into something more formal, his working hours were much more strict than they were before and he barely had time to do anything but work.
His free time at his apartment was spent playing video games. He refused each and every single invitation he received from anyone who even dared to call his phone. His place was a complete mess. Three floors in which the ground could not be seen due to the amount of dirty clothes, food and other things that lay there carelessly thrown by him.
Kili spent almost two months going like that. But, on a Friday night, once he had beaten every single game he had-about 20 of them- twice, he had nothing more to do but to resign himself to the cold and hard reality of his current situation. He started off with cleaning his apartment, that was the task that lasted the longest, then he decided on having a bath. Kili was ready for a good night of sleep so he could start fresh in the morning, he was almost done putting on his pajamas when his phone rang.
"Kili here." He answered trying to repress a sigh.
"Hi, Kili." Thorin's voice sounded from the other side of the line.
"Oh, hi, Uncle Thorin." Kili said.
"So, we're all going out to the movies tonight and, since you haven't been out of weeks, I was wondering if you'd like to join us there?"
"Sure." Kili replied. Maybe he should start with being more social. "What time do I meet you there?"
"The movie starts at eight, so we're all meeting at seven thirty inside the cinema near your place."
"Okay. Meet you in half an hour."
"See ya, Kee." He hung up the phone.
~X~
Since the place where they were meeting were very close to his house, Kili left when it was almost time. He was just getting there when his vision was assaulted by a wave of bright white flashes and people screaming a name he knew... It sounded like... Tauriel!
"Dammit!" Kili muttered to himself as his eyes got used to the bright lights. He was able to see a lot of red hair trying to run in high heels from the paparazzi and failing miserably, so, despite all their differences, he decided to help her escape from them.
Kili managed to make his way inside the confusion of cameras and people dressed in black and help Tauriel out of there, taking her through a shortcut to the cinema and entered through the back door so the photographer wouldn't know they arrived.
They soon found out that Thorin had closed the place and paid for a session only for them.
"You're welcome, ma'am." Kili said when they were in a quiet place.
"I never asked for your help." Tauriel spat coldly.
"If it wasn't for me, you'd still be out there trying to run away from those paparazzi. Why is it so hard for you to thank me?!" He was losing his temper.
"Like I don't know you! You just did that because you wanted to appear on the magazines and win a lot of money spreading nasty stories about me." She shrugged turning her back on him.
"Listen here, you spoiled brat! I don't need anyone's money, I get paid- very well by the way- because of my work. You turned my life into a living hell and now you even dare to accuse me of trying to sell nasty stories about you? Grow up, Tauriel! The world doesn't spin sround you."" He grabbed her hand forcing her to turn and face him. "You know what? I was right about you, Tauriel. I thought you were different, but ends up, you are just like all the other models I ever worked with, so sure of yourself."
He finally released everything he had been suppressing for two months in a row. Kili felt way more relieved then. But that feeling was over rather quickly when he saw the look in her eyes. It was a mix of pain and despise.
"You know nothing about me, Kili." She hissed before roughly pulling her arm out of his grip and walking to talk to Legolas and Thranduil.
"Quite a fight you were having there, eh?" Fili said approaching his brother from behind.
"Oh, Hi, Fili. It wasn't anything important." The man waved his hand dismissively, "Now, shall we buy something to eat while watching the movie?"
"Sure, let's go."
They watched a very good action movie, just the way Kili liked it, with lots of battles and blood- and some spicy scenes. Still, he couldn't help but notice that Legolas was there too, sitting right next to Tauriel, her head rested on his shoulder. Perhaps, the thought, they were a couple.
~X~
On the next Monday, the first person that went to talk to him as soon as he set foot on the studio was Tauiel. She seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.
"Hi, Kili." She said a bit shyly.
"Good morning, Tauriel." He replied coldly.
"Listen, um... About last Friday... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be that rude." She almost muttered looking down.
"It's okay," Kili waved his hand dismissively, "Now tell me, who asked you to come here and apologize?"
"No one. Why do you ask." Tauriel looked at him, her green eyes gazing coldly into his.
"Come on. You wouldn't just come to me and apologize without a good reason. What else could it be if not because someone requested asked you to do it?"
"Well, Kili, perhaps, I wanted to have a better relationship with you, I can see you're not interested in that, so I'll just go." She turned her back on him and left.
It wasn't that Kili didn't want to have a better relationship with her, it was just that he was too proud to admit it. He knew he earned her an apology, but she would have to give him a very good reason for him to tell her that he was sorry.
That day, the shooting wasn't as good as the others, she was too distracted and he was too. Maybe he should just go there and say he was sorry already, it wouldn't hurt, would it? Kili just needed the right opportunity to do so.
~X~
Almost a month had passed since their little fight and Kili always caught himself delaying the moment when he would say the words that might change their relationship forever. All he had to do was ask her to have a coffee with him so they could talk and figure things out. Maybe during lunch or on whichever free time they had. Kili barely knew that, on that day, seemingly just another ordinary 5th of June would be the one day that would change his life forever.
When the first photo session was over, he walked towards Tauriel, his heart beating nervously in his chest.
"Hi. I know our relationship hasn't been that good since the first day we met, but I was wondering if you're willing to start again." Kili told her.
"Um... What did you mean by that?" Tauriel asked confused.
"Well..." He cleared his throat before finally asking, "Would you like to have a coffee with me later? Maybe during lunch? Just so we can talk."
"Of course, I would love to." She smiled brightly at him.
"Really?!" He gasped not believing in what he had just heard.
"Yeah, why not?" Tauriel shrugged and excused herself, she had to change for the next shoot.
~X~
When it was lunch time, he almost ran down the stairs not to be late for their meeting. He wanted to start fresh with her and give her no excuse to hate him unless she didn't like his personality. Consequently, he got there earlier than he was supposed to be. He bought two coffees, one for him and one for Tauriel, just the way he knew her assistant brought her every morning.
Kili was nervous, he was scared of ruining it all. In his head, it was his only chance of fixing things and he wasn't sure of what her reaction would be. He chose a table and waited for her to enter the shop. Kili checked his phone for any messages and calls he might have missed while taking a small sip of his coffee. He was distracted answering a message from his brother asking where he was, when he was surprised by Tauriel who sat in front of him.
"Hi." She greeted the man shyly.
"Oh, hi." He smiled at her and handed her her coffee, "I bought you this."
"Why, thank you, Kili." the redhead smiled back gladly accepting the drink, before taking a sip and commenting, "How did you know which one to buy?"
"I see your assistant getting you this one every day." He chuckled lightly.
"I had no idea you paid that much attention to me, Mr. Durin." Tauriel joked
"I'm a photographer, Tauriel, I have to pay attention to every single detail." Kili told her laughing.
"I should have guessed that earlier, shouldn't I?" She inquired taking another sip from her coffee.
"Perhaps." He shrugged.
"Kili, um... I don't know if I'm making wrong assumptions, but you know I'm seeing someone, don't you." She told him.
"Yeah, I do. But I can assure you I don't have any sort of love interest on you. I just want to be friends, y'know. Like, start again, since we didn't do very well the first time we met."
"I guess." She looked down at the table and put a loose strand of hair behind her ear nervously. Even after all those months, he still hadn't found out what had happened on their first meeting and decided it was better not to ask.
"You're dating Legolas, right?" He asked.
"Yup." She seemed to relax a little at the change of subject.
"He doesn't seem to like us very much. I mean, me and my friends." Kili said, "I mean, my other friends, 'cuz you're my friend too... I guess."
"Yeah, I am," She laughed at his confusion with the words before replying, "And, well, there's all thing between your uncle and Thranduil, it seems it's been in your family for centuries. They never really like each other. So Legolas doesn't seem to like you too."
"It makes sense..." Kili muttered absently, "Uncle and Thranduil seem to be getting along so well, though.
"I know... It's weird, as if there was something else between them." She laughed, "I'm just kidding, okay?"
"It's fine!" Kili laughed along and waved his hand dismissively.
"Well, I'm sorry to interrupt you love birds here, but it's almost time to get back to the studio and you don't want to be late." Fili seemed to from behind his brother.
"What the fuck, Fili! Where did you come from." Kili turned around staring incredulously at his brother, he did such childish jokes, "We're already going, I'm keeping track of time."
"If you say so, Kee. Well, see ya later."
"Sorry about him." The dark haired man apologized.
"Don't worry, but he's right, we better get going."
"Sure. Shall we?" Kili stood and helped Tauriel stand too. Something he did more of force of habit.
~X~
Kili still had to finish storing his stuff when he spotted Tauriel leaving. Quickly, he ran to her and invited, "Hey, so we're all going to watch that new movie, '300 Rise of An Empire' this Friday. If you want, you can join us there after work. You can take Legolas with you too if you want."
"Sure, I'll be there." She smiled at him and left.