Yay! I just finished writing this chapter and decided to just post it without even re-reading it, so hopefully it's not completely bonkers.

Thanks so much to FiliKiliThorinForever (on Archive Of Our Own) for giving me some of the ideas and inspiration for this chapter! It turned out a little more interesting than it would've otherwise, and I hope you all really like it. Enjoy!

/users/FiliKiliThorinForever/pseuds/FiliKiliThorinForever


Chapter 11

Choking

Fili

Fili cracked his eyes open to find himself in a very dim-lit, unfamiliar room. It smelled funny, and caused his stomach to churn in discomfort. Everything he could see was white, and the more he looked around, seeing what he could in his peripheral vision, he began to recognize the place more and more, and he didn't like what he saw.

He was also very uncomfortable. He way lying flat on his back, which was never the way he slept (for good reason,) and his throat felt scratchy and raw, as if he had swallowed shards of glass. In fact, everything was beginning to feel too familiar, and he didn't like that one bit.

"About time you woke up."

Fili turned his head to the left, wincing in pain, to find Legolas sitting in a chair next to his bed. He'd never seen his friend looking so messy; his platinum hair was ratty, dark bags hung under his bloodshot eyes, and he was still in his pajamas. To be fair, though, Fili was pretty sure he looked a lot worse, if how he felt was anything to go by.

"What happened?" he scratched out, voice hardly working. He had a feeling he knew exactly what had happened, but wanted to hear it from Legolas.

"Well," he began, "it was probably around 1:30 in the morning when I was oh-so-unpleasantly awoken by a very distraught Lara. Apparently she had gotten out of bed to use the restroom and instead had found a familiar, unconscious blonde at the bottom of our staircase. At first I was sure she was going crazy, but then when I realized you weren't in the bedroom, I followed her downstairs, and sure enough, there you were, snoozing like a real drunk."

Fili groaned.

"Actually," Legolas continued, "I take that back. When I normally picture a drunk, I imagine some wasted bloke in a pub, slumped in a corner over a pint of ale, sleeping like a very large, smelly, disgusting baby, rather than one of my best friends lying at the bottom of my own staircase in an alcohol-induced coma, choking on his own vomit. You're just lucky that Lara is very good with a mop, considering you spilt a good amount of tequila on the floor, and that my father didn't wake up and turn an already horrific situation into an even worse one. And of course, after all of that, I had to drive said 'best friend' to the hospital, because I couldn't bear to watch him die."

"Legolas," Fili croaked, unable to listen to anymore, "I'm sorry."

"I should think so," he responded sternly. "First you show up on my doorstep, looking like you've been bawling your eyes out for days, and then after refusing to tell me what is wrong, you raid my liquor cabinet and nearly kill yourself. What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing. It won't happen again."

Legolas looked like he was about ready to strangle his friend, but Fili continued talking. "You didn't tell Thorin or Bilbo did you?"

"No," Legolas shook his head. "I figured that unless you were actually dying, it was your own problem to deal with telling them. I did tell one person, though…"

"Oh, God," Fili sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "Not Tauriel?"

"Yes, Tauriel. You need someone more vocal than myself to sort you out."

"Speaking of vocal, what did they do to my fucking throat? I feel like I've been in the middle of a sandstorm for ten years."

Legolas crossed his arms, giving Fili an annoyed look. "Welcome to the world of alcohol poisoning. A small case of hypothermia, unconsciousness, and of course you, like I said, were choking on your own vomit, so they had no choice but to pump your stomach, since you wouldn't wake up. A giant tube being shoved down your throat can't feel too good."

Instead of responding, Fili went back to staring at the ceiling of his hospital room and let out a long sigh. Little did Legolas know that Fili had dealt with Alcohol poisoning on numerous occasions, although he couldn't say that it had ever left him feeling quite that bad. And the worst part was that he was already feeling the need to drink again.

Before he knew it, his stomach twisted painfully, and luckily Legolas was prepared and held a bucket out for him as he leaned over the side of the bed and spilled the remaining contents of his stomach, which wasn't much. He felt sweat begin to bead on his forehead, and Legolas somehow felt enough sympathy for him to reach out and brush his hair off of his face and out of the way. Fili had never felt so much gratitude towards someone in his life.

Shortly after he had finished practically dry-heaving, he heard the door open and both of the blonde men looked up to find Tauriel striding loudly towards them, her face shaded red with pure rage, directed completely towards Fili.

"Tauriel," Fili greeted weakly, laying back against his pillows.

"I'll never forgive you for this," she hissed, leaning towards him. He could hardly bear to look into her eyes - they were filled with so much sorrow and anger. "What would Bilbo and Thorin say? How hurt do you think they would be?"

Fili felt tears well up in his eyes, and he looked away from her, towards the window. The sun still hadn't come up, meaning it was still very early in the morning. All three of them should've still been in bed, resting peacefully. Why did he always have to screw things up. "Please don't tell them," he whispered thickly.

"I won't, as long as you promise to sober up again. You can't let this one slip-up control you."

"Again?" Legolas questioned. "This has happened before?"

Tauriel barely spared him a glance. "Yes. I'll explain later." Then she turned back to Fili. "Just tell me why you did it? We've all noticed the way you've been acting lately, and Legolas told me that you were a mess when you showed up last night. Tell me what's wrong."

Shaking his head, Fili responded, "No, I can't tell you. It's not important, and I'm taking care of it on my own."

"You're obviously not!" Tauriel retorted, sitting down on the edge of his bed. He still wouldn't look at her. "Getting wasted isn't taking care of it! It's not the answer to all of your problems, Fili. You need to find a different outlet. I wish you would've came and talked to me, or even Legolas. We're your friends. We're here for you."

Fili's lips trembled and hot tears spilled down his face. His breathing shallowed and he began to take tiny gulps of air, trying to steady his breathing and not completely break down. "I know." Speaking the words did him in, causing him to completely break down into harsh sobs. "I know you're always there for me, and I should come to you, but I couldn't help it!"

Tauriel reached out, and he responded, leaning forward so she could wrap her arms around him and allow his tears to soak into the shoulder of her shirt, wetting it quickly. "I know, Fili. It will all be okay, you will see. We are going to work through this together."


Kili

Kili woke up the next morning feeling optimistic. After a long, deep sleep, he was more than ready to confront Fili and fix things between the two of them. He hopped out of bed and changed into the most clean, grey tee shirt he could find and pulled on a pair of soft, black sweatpants over his boxer briefs. He wanted to look somewhat nice but not like he was over-doing it. He had just woken up, after all; he couldn't look too good.

After changing his clothes and grimacing at his ratty hair, he raced down the stairs two at a time, the smell of breakfast making him move even faster. It was going to be such a good morning!

"Morning, Kili," Bilbo greeted, turning the temperature down a little on the stove. "How was your first night sleeping in your new bedroom?"

"Great, actually," Kili smiled, taking a seat on a stool at the counter. "The bed is super comfortable. I slept like a baby."

"Glad to hear it," the short man replied, just as a sleepy-looking Thorin entered the room and began to pour himself a cup of coffee.

"Do you know if Fili is up yet?" Kili asked, trying hard not to sound too eager.

"Actually, he's with Legolas," came Thorin's reply. When Kili turned his head to look at the older man, cups clutched around his mug of steaming liquid, he could see a clear look of confusion on his face. "I went into his room this morning to wake him up, and when I saw he wasn't there I tried calling him, but he never answered the phone. So then I tried Legolas, and sure enough, he'd wandered over there last night. It's kind of strange that he didn't even bother leaving a note."

Bilbo shook his head, drying his hands on a hand towel. "He's an adult, Thorin. He doesn't actually have to tell us where he goes, if he doesn't want to."

"I know, but that's just the sort of boy Fili is. He always lets us know."

Kili's eyebrows dropped into a frown, his excited mood instantly punctured. He knew why Fili was with Legolas; he had clearly upset the blonde enough to make him leave the house entirely. If Kili had known how upset he'd been, he never would've left him alone. He would've made sure to talk to him before going to bed.


For the rest of the day Kili couldn't help but dwell over Fili's absence. Bilbo had kept him busy with some housework, and he'd even had a short shift at the coffee shop, but nothing he did could distract him from that same twisting gut-feeling he'd been having since the previous night. He was worried about Fili and wasn't sure why, but he knew the only way to reassure himself that he was okay was to see the blonde with his own eyes.

It wasn't until nearly 6:30 when Fili walked through the door. Kili was sitting in the living room, curled up on the sofa, trying to read a book, when he heard the door slam shut and heavy footsteps tread through the entryway and towards the stairs. Kili glanced over the back of the couch, and from where he was sitting he could see the blonde - and god, did he look terrible.

Between his noticeably blood shot eyes and the slump in his posture, he looked like the epitome of depression. But it wasn't only that - his hair was tangled and matted in places, as if he had spent much of the day sleeping, and there were heavy, dark bags under his eyes. His skin was paler than usual, and where there was usually so much life and energy, there seemed to be a dark aura surrounding him, sucking in all the surrounding life.

"Fili?" the brunette called from where he sat, hoping the blonde would notice him and come talk. Thorin and Bilbo weren't home, and it gave the two of them the perfect chance. Fili did, in fact, notice him, but all he did was give him a sad look before making his way up the stairs and disappearing again. Kili couldn't believe it. He knew the guy was upset, but he didn't expect him to just completely ignore him, and he most certainly hadn't expected to see him looking the way he was, so sad and devoid of emotion.

Setting down his book on the coffee table, Kili stood up and made to follow the older boy up the stairs. By the time he reached Fili's bedroom door, however, he found it locked, and there was no noise coming from inside.

"Fili," he murmured, tapping on the door. "I know you're in there. Please let me in so we can talk. I know I upset you, but it wasn't on purpose. You didn't give me any time to react; I was shocked. Can we try again?"

No reply came.

"Please?"

Still nothing.

Kili turned and slid down, coming to rest on the floor with his back against the door. He gripped his hair tight in his hands. It was starting to get really long, well past his shoulders, and he was definitely due for a cut. Not that it mattered. Nothing would matter to him until Fili replied to his pleading words.

"Fili, hiding in there isn't going to solve your problems. We need to talk."

The blonde remained silent, though. He didn't seem intent on cooperating any time soon, so Kili gave up and hugged his legs to his chest, allowing his head to rest on his knees. If Kili really focused, he could've swore he heard quiet sobs coming from inside the room to his back, but there was simply nothing he could do, except wait.


For the next five days, Fili didn't speak a single word with Kili. The brunette was nearly distraught, trying to catch his attention every chance he got, but nothing he could do was good enough. The older boy was gone most of the time, and when he would come home it would either be very late at night or very early in the morning, and at the times when the two would run into each other, Fili would just pass by the brunette as if he didn't even see him. Kili felt invisible.

It was one morning, when Kili was up for a very early opening shift for work, that he finally got the blonde to speak.

Fili appeared to just be getting home, and he looked worse than ever. Kili was pretty sure that he hadn't changed his clothes in at least three days, and it looked as if he hadn't slept for three days, either. His beard was definitely longer than usual, and his eyes looked dead. He had opened the front door just as Kili was walking out, and the younger boy seized his chance, grabbing Fili by the collar of his coat, holding him hostage on the front steps.

"Fili, what the hell?" he tried not to yell. "You've been ignoring me for almost a week, you stay out all night, and it doesn't look like you've had any sleep, or even a shower for that matter. Bilbo and Thorin are worried about you, and so am I."

The blonde shrugged, making Kili even more angry, causing him to give Fili a small shake. "Fili! Stop acting so uncaring. I know you love your family, so why won't you tell us what you've been up to? You look so awful, too."

"I've just been sick," Fili finally rasped out, avoiding eye contact with the brunette. He didn't even look like the same person Kili had first met and come to care for.

"If you were sick you wouldn't be out partying every night."

"Who says I'm out partying every night?" Fili snapped, finally yanking free of Kili's grip. He shoved past him and inside, a heavy drag to his feet.

"What else could you possibly be doing?" Kili called to his retreating form. As usual, the blonde gave him no response, so he stepped outside, slamming the door behind him and muttering profanities under his breath.


The first time Kili finally began to understand what was going on was when he received a rather frantic phone call from Tauriel. The two of them had been talking a lot lately, although he hadn't actually seen her since their picnic in the park. He figured it had something to do with their troubled friend. The phone call came on the same day that Kili had caught Fili sneaking back into the house so early in the morning.

"Kili?" Tauriel spoke when Kili picked up the phone, not even giving him the chance to say hello. Her voice held a strong note of fear, and he could've sworn that she sounded choked up.

"Yeah?"

There was a long pause.

"You need to go get Fili," she finally sobbed. "I can't help him anymore. He won't let me help him, but I think he'll listen to you."

Kili was already grabbing the keys to the Jeep. It was fairly late at night, and Thorin and Bilbo were already sleeping. Even though he didn't have a vehicle, Kili did happen to have his license. Everyone in his orphanage had been taught to drive and given their license, in case they were ever to need it or happened to get a car, which of course most of them would.

"Where is he? What's wrong?"

"I'll give you the address," she hiccuped. "He went to this party, and I followed him there, without him knowing, hoping I would be able to drag him out, but he wouldn't listen to me. I even tried to get Legolas to help me, but there's only so much we could do. He's still there, and I'm so scared for him, Kili. Please, you have to help him!" Her voice rose higher and higher in pitch as she spoke, hysterics taking over. Kili almost had to hold the phone away from his ear.

"Tauriel, I promise I'm going to get him out of there. I'll grab a pen and paper really quick. What is the address?"


How did you all like it? Please let me know in the comments.

I love all of you. Thanks for reading!

Until next time... 3