Next chapter, hopefully it'll be alright

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Once Daisy and Thorin had climbed back into the courtyard they could hear the distant laughter of dwarves and realised it must be later than they thought.

'It seems we spent a rather long time down there.' Thorin chuckled as he took Daisy's hand in his. Daisy smiled nervously at him as they made their way towards the dwarves.

'There they are-' Kili told the others as he saw them enter. His gaze wandered down to their entwined hands and he let a wicked smile appear on his face. 'Oho, well this was certainly not expected.'

'What are you talking about lad?' Dwalin asked gruffly as he lifted his glass to his lips. Kili gestured towards the entering couple.

'So which one of us was closest?' Nori voiced.

'Who betted a day?' Kili asked. Everyone thought back.

'You heard him; he'll hate us forever if we carry on!' Ori cried

'My dear Ori, that's why we won't tell him. If people learn to be quiet about matters like this then we'll be fine.' Kili inclined his head towards Gloin.

'Oi laddie, I seem to remember you weren't a master of secrecy either,' Gloin defended himself. Kili waved off his comment.

'Gents, I think that I might have been the only one to bet a day. And let's face it, what were they doing? He obviously told her he loved her. Pay up.' Kili grinned and Fili rolled his eyes. Several of the dwarves grumbled but eventually handed over little pouches of gold to Kili.

'What's going on here?' Thorin's deep voice asked from above Kili's head.

'Nothing,' Kili said too quickly. Thorin eyed him suspiciously before leading Daisy over to her seat.

'So, I believe congratulations are in order!' Kili said, trying to draw Thorin's attention away from him. Daisy and Thorin looked over to him.

'Kili,' Thorin began but Kili stood up.

'A toast, to King Thorin and his newly appointed partner, Miss Daisy!' Kili cried. There was a loud cheer from the dwarves and Daisy's face turned into a tomato. Thorin put a reassuring hand on her arm. Bilbo choked on his food.

'It happened that quickly?' He exclaimed, clearly shocked.

'I think that we need to explain how dwarves court each other.' Bofur said.

'But Daisy is not a dwarf.' Bilbo pointed out.

'Well done Master Baggins.' Kili said sarcastically. 'Dwarves spend a long time in courtship, where they get to know one another better. Some dwarves have never even met before they court. As the courtship progresses, that is when more romantic things-'Right that's enough Kili.' Thorin said abruptly, cutting his nephew off.

'But Daisy is not a dwarf, so why are you doing a Dwarven courtship?' Bilbo asked.

'I suspect that is something they agreed on privately Bilbo. Stop being so nosy.' Kili teased.

'And how would you know what they did privately?' Fili asked, a hint of amusement in his eye. Kili turned red and the others laughed.

'Anyway.' Kili said hastily, 'I would like to offer my service to the royal couple.' Several murmurs of agreement went up.

'We'll look after you lassie. No Orc will get to you on this journey.' Balin assured Daisy.

'Thank you,' Daisy whispered.

'Speaking about our journey, when are we leaving this place?' Oin asked, clearly fed up with Rivendell.

'As soon as Daisy is healed properly, which should be in a few days time.' Thorin replied, filling up his plate. Oin nodded and resumed his eating.

'A few days you say,' Bofur mused. 'With the recent news, and time on our side, I think this calls for a small celebration.'

'Aye, I hear you!' Kili cried. 'A small gathering to celebrate good times!' Daisy looked at Thorin, surprised that they wanted to hold a party.

'Don't worry, I can tell them to calm down if you'd like.' Thorin said softly. Daisy shook her head.

'No. Let them do what they want; I was merely surprised that is all. I do want to fit in you see.' Daisy explained, and it was true. She wasn't going to be seen as a spoil sport and put a bad image on Thorin.

'You already fit in Daisy, don't ever think you don't' Thorin told her and put his arm around her waist. Daisy blushed a bit, but it went unnoticed by everyone except Thorin, who chuckled softly.

'Tomorrow it shall be! We shall dine and dance!' Bofur said enthusiastically. Daisy laughed a long with the rest of the company, carefully eating in small amounts at a time.

'Are you managing to eat?' Thorin asked quietly in her ear.

'Yes thank you.' Daisy replied, touched by his concern. 'Bombur did a good job in getting different food.'

'Aye, that he did.' Thorin laughed. Daisy smiled before noticing that Bilbo wasn't laughing as much as the rest were. She frowned; normally he was at least trying to make jokes. 'Is something the matter Daisy?' Thorin said, seeing her frown.

'It's Bilbo, he seems a bit down.' Thorin followed her gaze.

'Perhaps he is dreaming of his home again.'

'Bilbo is very kind and thoughtful, Thorin. It is very natural to miss his home. And he was very kind to me, please don't forget that.' Daisy told him. She had sensed Thorin was becoming annoyed with Bilbo, and she didn't want them to hate each other.

'I'm sorry, you are right. Would you like me to speak with him?' Thorin asked, and Daisy was pleased he'd relented so easily.

'Thank you, but I'll speak with him myself. I haven't been spending much time with him lately.' Thorin nodded before returning to his food.

As soon as the company had finished dining, they were off in the direction of their training ground.

'I'm afraid I must join my men Daisy.' Thorin said, and he sounded disappointed. 'I can leave Bilbo with you though for company?'

'Thank you Thorin, I'd like that very much.' Daisy smiled. 'When will you be finished?'

'In time to take you somewhere special.' He told her. 'I must go, stay safe.' He pulled her in for a hug before kissing her cheek and leaving. 'Bilbo!' He called as he was going out. 'You can have a break from training to keep Daisy company!'

Bilbo looked as though he could have kissed Thorin. Daisy bit back a smile.

'Shall we take a walk?' She asked and Bilbo nodded.

'Sounds good, away from that training session though. It was awful.' Bilbo told her as they walked.

'I take it you didn't like it?'

'Like it? I quite simply loathed it. Every one knows that a hobbit should not be handling a sword. I almost chopped poor Ori's gloves in two! Mind you, his talent doesn't lie in sword play either. But he knows how to get himself out of a scrape, unlike myself.' Bilbo sighed. Daisy sent a sad smile his way.

'Do you not like it here?' She asked quietly.

'Don't get me wrong, I love the dwarves and the elves and the prospect of adventure. But I just feel as if I'm not ready for what we are about to face.'

'That makes two of us.' Daisy admitted. 'I'm scared what will happen once we leave the safety of Rivendell.'

'You will be fine. Those dwarves would protect you until their dying breath. They won't do that for me-'

'They would! I'd make them!' Daisy said fiercely. Bilbo smiled.

'Although they would probably obey due to your current position, that doesn't mean they would be willing.' Bilbo said sadly.

'Bilbo, what's wrong? You seem….distant.' Bilbo looked at her.

'The truth is Daisy, I came with the dwarves because I felt it was my duty to protect you and if I could earn the others respect along the way then I would stay. But now that you have Thorin, he will always be by your side and protecting you. My job is over, and the others think me a fool. There is no reason for me to stay, so when you all leave I will return to the Shire.' Daisy felt as if she'd been slapped in the face.

'What? No! You can't leave Bilbo!' She cried. 'You are like a father to me, no. You are the father I never had. You are their burglar, and they won't know what they had until it's gone. Please Bilbo, I'm begging you to stay. I may be courting Thorin,' She felt butterflies in her stomach when she said this and cursed her feelings. 'But that doesn't mean I won't be there for you. You were there for me, and I will be there for you. Please Bilbo.' Daisy pleaded. She couldn't believe he was going to leave; after all they'd been through. And she wouldn't ignore him because of Thorin.

'I will think about it, for you.' He smiled and Daisy felt a wave of relief wash over her.

'Thank you.' She whispered and Bilbo embraced her in a tight hug.

'About you and Thorin.' Bilbo began. 'If I am like a father to you then I will act the role of the awkward parent. I want you to know I am pleased for you both, I know that he loves you very much.' Daisy stomach flipped when Bilbo said this. 'I just want you to know that if he ever hurts you, you are to come straight to me!' Bilbo seemed very adamant in the matter.

'Of course I will.' Daisy assured him.

'Good.'

'Daisy! Bilbo!' A voice cried and they turned to see Ednam making his way towards them.

'Master Elf,' Bilbo said politely.

'Bilbo, please. Ednam.' Ednam said as he reached them. 'I bring news from Lord Elrond. He says that your ribs should be fully healed by the end of the day. He would check them but he has an important meeting that will take the best part of two days to complete. If they do not hurt tonight you are fine, if they do you should seek a healer.' Ednam explained. Daisy nodded.

'Have you seen Gandalf?' Bilbo asked. Now that Bilbo mentioned it, Daisy did wonder where the wizard got to when he wasn't with them.

'I'm afraid he is at this meeting as well, and will not be contactable until it is over.'

'Typical.' Bilbo grunted.

'Thank you Ednam.' Daisy smiled.

'I suppose I should be congratulating you, Mrs Oakenshield.' Ednam said.

'Hey! They aren't married you know! And they won't e getting married for a long time! And they might not even get married!' Bilbo cried, his over protective parent side kicking in.

'Relax Bilbo.' Laughed Ednam. 'I was only teasing. Remember Lord Elrond's message Daisy. I'll see you later.'

The two watched Ednam leave and made their way to the gardens.

There they chatted the afternoon away, Daisy trying to convince Bilbo to stay and Bilbo trying to convince himself to stay. The sun was low in the sky when they realised they probably should be getting back.

'In a way I will be glad when we finally leave.' Daisy sighed. 'I am tired of doing the same thing day after day.'

'Yes, I do know what you mean. Are your ribs hurting?' Bilbo asked.

'No, I think they are nearly healed. Thorin will be pleased; I think he's begun to grow tired of this place.' Daisy explained as they walked up to dinner.

She still felt that the events that had happened from the time she'd woken up to now had been a dream. It was all surreal, and Daisy felt that she should cherish it forever.

Little did she know that Thorin had a surprise waiting for her when she got to the balcony.

'Where are we going?' She asked as Thorin took her hand and lead her away from the others.

'It's a surprise.' He'd simply said, and Daisy knew that this side to him was going to take some getting used to. She wasn't complaining though, he could be the romanticist as much as he wanted.

'Please?' Daisy begged and Thorin looked at her.

'Do not look at me like that.' He told her, smiling. 'For you know you will win.'

'Give me a clue.'

'Let's just say we are going out to dinner.' Thorin smiled wickedly and Daisy knew that was all she was going to get out of him.

So all she could do was wait impatiently as he led her through the gardens of Rivendell.

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Updates will probably be every other day from now on because I'm a little busy! Hopefully things will get more exciting next chapter.