After dinner, I returned to my room to finally work on that paper some more. So, here I sat two hours later, once again staring at the blurring words on my laptop screen, coffee sitting on my desk, and fingers moving without much enthusiasm.

"Hey, you busy?" Kili asks peaking his head around my door.

"Sort of." I answer.

"Ok. I'll come back later." Kili starts to close the door.

"No, it's ok. Just give me a sec." I say, still typing. All I need is three more sentences to finish this paragraph. I need a break anyway. Tonight, I will be reading psychology terms and their definitions behind my eyelids. I shudder at the thought.

Out of my peripheral vision, I see Kili sit down on the side of my bed. I bring my eyes back to the screen and finish my paragraph. I save my progress, twice, and close my laptop. "There. Done."

"Did you get it finished?"

"No, I still have two pages to write." I say rubbing my hands over my face. "Word of advice: don't take twenty hours and three psychology classes during one semester."

"No problem there." Kili says with a slight chuckle.

I stand up and grab a sweatshirt from the back of my chair. I slip it on and make my way to the other side of my bed. Then, I promptly fall face first into a pillow.

"Are you sure you don't want to sleep? I can come back later."

"Stay." I mumble into the pillow.

"Ok…" Kili sounds a little reluctant.

I must admit, I would much rather be sleeping, but my big brother duties are in effect and I choose to hear about Kili's day instead.

I feel the bed sink as Kili lays down beside me. I roll over onto my back and clasp my hands together on my stomach, mimicking Kili's position. "I'm ready to listen. I promise to not fall asleep until you stop talking."

There is silence for a few minutes. I know Kili is thinking about how to tell me everything. The way I see it, there are two options: gradually or bluntly. But, I know Kili. He's more of the "upfront and in your face" type. And when he begins to speak, I realize I was right, once again. He has definitely chosen the blunt approach.

"There isn't much to say. It wasn't a glitch. It really has grown freakishly fast. There isn't anything they can do about it except for surgery or radiation. And surgery isn't a guarantee that it will be gone forever because it may come back and be even larger. Radiation is the better option, or so Bilbo says. So, I chose it. One treatment a day, Monday through Friday, for the next four weeks. If we need to go longer, we will."

"Do we start on Monday?" I ask, hoping Kili will catch my use of pronoun.

"Yeah, 10:30." Kili confirms. Well, I'm taking that as a "yes" to my pronoun usage.

"And your meds?"

"New prescription. Apparently it was an allergic reaction, like Oin suspected. Doctor Baggins said I should know if this one will work after about a week of use. If there are problems with it, we'll try something else. I think I really scared him when he found out what it was doing to me. I didn't think he was going to stop apologizing."

"Ha, probably not. He's a doctor and proud of it. He doesn't seem like the type of person to just neglect his patients. I think we got lucky with him."

"Yeah, we did." Bingo. Kili finally said "we."

"So, what about the radiation? Are there any side effects?"

Kili is quiet for a few moments. I already know this is a touchy subject. "Just the normal fatigue and nausea. There might be some skin changes, such as swelling and edema…" Kili stops. I don't say anything though because I know if I wait long enough he will continue.

"…and most definitely hair loss."

This news surprises me. It never occurred to me that he could lose his hair with radiation. I thought that was only with chemo. My mouth hangs open and I try to close it, but I can't. I don't even look at Kili. I just stare at the ceiling, mouth wide open, emotionally dead. Or close to it, anyway.

"Yeah, I know." Kili says, automatically grabbing his hair.

I literally have no words. What do you say to that? Hearing your little brother, your best friend, tell you he's going to be bald due to an illness he cannot control? How do you handle that?

"It's ok… I don't know what to do either."

We continue to lay there in silence. Neither of us making a sound, just breathing.

"Maybe your girlfriend can knit me a cute little beanie." Kili finally says, after a beyond awkward silence.

"She's not my girlfriend." I say defensively. "And she doesn't knit… she crochets."

"Even better. Maybe we can have matching scarves, too."

"Shut up," I say midst chuckle, pinching Kili's arm.

"Ow!" Kili exclaims, swatting at my retreating arm.

"Sorry, not sorry."

"You're hateful when you don't get your beauty sleep." Kili says rubbing his arm.

"You're one to talk." I roll my eyes at Kili. He is the worst when he doesn't sleep. Like an angry bear. It is frightening.

"Well, I guess I'll let you get some sleep. Thanks for listening."

I sit up. "This bed is big enough, if you don't hog it like you used to."

"Old habits die hard," Kili laughs.

"Well, I'm willing to let it go for one night. C'mon. I've got extra blankets in my closet."

"You sure?" Kili asks. He's trying to sound hesitant, but I can hear the hint of joy in his voice.

"Yes, but so help me, if those daggers you call elbows or those rocks you call knees hit me once, I'm shoving you off the bed. You can sleep in the floor. Oh, and you say another word, I'll duct tape your mouth shut. Got it?"

Kili zips and locks his mouth with an imaginary key, then throws the invisible key over his shoulder.

"Thought so." I get up and walk to my closet. I dig around through my hanging clothes and find the blankets buried in the back. I grab a few and throw them onto Kili's half of the bed.

I walk over to the door and flip the light switch down, turning the light off.

"Ouch!" This may have been my room for majority of my life, but I still can't walk around in the dark. Hence, the bookshelf I managed to kick making my way to my bed.

I can hear Kili giggling, and follow the sound back to the bed. I fall down onto it, half landing on Kili in the process. I wrap myself up in my blankets and use him as a pillow.

"You're not that comfortable, you know that?"

"Maybe that's why brothers aren't made to be pillows." Kili's muffled voice answers me.

"Guess not." I say, rolling off of him on to my half of the bed.

"Good night, Fee." Kili whispers.

I let my head sink into my pillow. "Night, Kee."

I don't know why, but something awakens me during the night. At first, I think it's the temperature, because, as expected, I am freezing. The thin sheet covering me is doing little help to warm me. I feel around for my quilt that Kili has managed to steal at some time during the night.

I pat the mattress behind me. My hand reaches nothing, just bed. I stretch my arm out farther, still feeling nothing. I roll over and my suspicions are confirmed. The mattress beside me is empty, just a pile of blankets and pillows.

"Kee?" No answer. I allow my eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room. I can see that my door is cracked open. The light from the nightlights in the hallway cast a small glow in the darkness.

A sense of alarm rushes through me, automatically thinking of the worst case scenario. Where is he? Is he sick? Is he in his room? Is he ok? Is he lying on the floor somewhere in the house unconscious and bleeding? Is he even in the house?

I throw my feet over the side of my bed and stand. I grab a flashlight from my desk, not wanting to turn all of the lights on in the house for fear of waking Thorin. Before I leave my room, I glance at my alarm clock: 3:26 AM. Great.

I turn on the flashlight and step out into the hall. The light from the flashlight shows me that Kili's bedroom door is closed. I turn the knob, and push open the door. I shine the flashlight into the room. Empty.

I check the bathroom next: lights off and empty. I turn the corner and shine the light on the stairs. He's not passed out on those either. That's good… I think.

I make my way down the stairs and reach the bottom. I can see a soft glow coming from the archway leading into the living room. As I walk closer to the room, I can hear the soft murmur of voices. Kili and Thorin? No, the longer I listen, I realize that the voices are coming from the TV.

I walk into the living room. A lamp is turned on, and along with the TV, it is enough to light the room. I turn my flashlight off. I walk up to the back of the couch. Kili is asleep; head resting on a decorative pillow, one arm wrapped around his stomach, the other stretched out hanging over the side of the couch. His mess of dark curls are covering his face. I know Kili is warm natured, but the cold chill in the room is too apparent. I grab a throw blanket from the recliner and lay it on top of the quilt. Kili shifts at the added weight, and snuggles even deeper into the warmth.

He looks too peaceful to disturb. I grab the remote from where it lays on the coffee table, and press the red button, turning the TV off. I turn around and lightly kiss the top of Kili's head.

I turn the lamp off on my way out and go back to my room, leaving Kili slumbering on the couch.

"What's this?" I ask walking into the kitchen. It's 8:15 in the morning and before me stands Kili, making pancakes. Something is obviously wrong because 1) my youngest nephew is up before noon, and 2) he is cooking.

"Woke up early, decided I wanted some breakfast, got carried away, and decided, hey, why not make enough for everybody!" Kili flips a pancake in the skillet, then turns and gives me a smile.

I'd smile back, but it's too early to smile. Happiness isn't an emotion that I am capable of at this hour of the morning, especially when I haven't even had my first cup of coffee.

As if Kili can read my mind, he points to the coffee pot. "Made some of that, too."

"You made coffee? To drink?"

"I figured one of you would be waking soon, and decided that I would make you that disgusting stuff you love so much."

"Thanks," I say grabbing a mug from the cabinet. I fill it to the brim. The heat radiating from the steaming liquid warms my hands and face. I breathe in the heavenly scent of espresso and take a drink.

My face contorts into what I can only imagine is the ugliest face I have ever been capable of making. I sputter and spit what is left of the coffee back into the mug. Then dump the remaining liquid into the sink.

"I don't know what you did, but you are never touching my coffee pot again. Ever." I grab a clean glass and fill it with water. I rinse my mouth out with it and then empty the coffee pot into the sink.

"Sorry."

I turn to look at Kili. I'm not sure if he looks disappointed or not. Maybe I did sound a little harsh, but surely he knows I really don't have any ill feelings toward him over something so trivial. I mean, really? How many pots of coffee have I made with disastrous results in my lifetime?

"Hey, don't worry about it. Happens to the best of us. Coffee making is an art, and it takes some time to master." I tell him, as I begin a new pot of coffee. A proper pot of coffee.

"Guess I need more lessons then, huh?" Kili gives a small laugh, then returns to the pancakes.

"A few wouldn't hurt," I manage to give a small laugh. Maybe coffee isn't needed to show positive emotions. Maybe I'm just a robot sometimes.

"I'll be sure to watch some tutorials on YouTube."

We remain in silence. I look at my nephew, really look at him. He looks fine on the outside, but I know something down deep is bothering him. And of course the fact that he is awake and making breakfast at this hour is only adding to my suspicions.

"Pancakes are finished." Kili says, breaking the silence.

"Perfect, so is my coffee. Let's eat." I hand Kili a glass of orange juice that I had poured for him as we waited.

"Thanks," Kili offers, taking the juice after setting the pancakes on the table. He takes a sip, then sets the glass beside his plate. "I'll just grab a couple of forks and the syrup, and we can eat."

I sit in my chair and watch Kili. He's moving a little slowly and his body seems a little stiff. Kili pulls open the drawer beside the sink, and retrieves two forks. He closes the drawer, then walks to the pantry, and pulls out the syrup.

"Here," Kili hands me a fork and the syrup. "Oh, wait. Did you want some butter?" Kili pushes his chair out.

"I'll get it." I push myself out of the chair and walk to the fridge. I grab an already open stick of butter from the side door. Then I grab a knife from the silverware drawer.

I make my way back to the table with one mission: find out what Kili is hiding.

I smooth some butter across the tops of my two pancakes and pass the butter to Kili. Then I grab the syrup bottle and pour enough to thoroughly cover both pancakes. Kili does the same when I finish.

"Wow, these are good!" I say, taking a bite of the pancake. At least he didn't mess these up.

"You seem so surprised," Kili says chuckling.

I take another bite and smile. We eat in a comfortable silence for a while longer. Kili places his fork on the side of his plate and takes a drink of his orange juice. I do the same, but with my coffee. Kili's hand moves up to his neck and he begins to massage it.

"You ok?"

"Yeah, just a little stiff. Must've slept wrong."

"I thought you slept in Fili's room last night?"

Kili looks at me with a surprised expression. Apparently, he didn't know I checked. "Yeah, I know. I checked your room last night and it was empty. Found you in Fili's room with all of the blankets." I chuckle remembering the image. It was something I hadn't seen in quite a few years. But, some things never change, I guess.

"Yeah, we were talking about everything that had happened yesterday. He threatened to make me leave if I took his quilt. Apparently, he didn't wake up until after I left." Kili takes another drink of his orange juice and continues speaking. "I couldn't sleep so I slept on the couch. Too many things were going on in my head."

I nod my head in acknowledgment because the same thing had happened to me last night. Only, I'm sure my thoughts were a little different than Kili's, considering he is the one who's sick.

"Well, I'm going to get a shower in before Fili takes all of the hot water." Kili says, grabbing his plate and empty glass and taking them to the sink.

"I think I'm going to go for a run then come back and finish some paperwork." I rub my hands over my eyes and release a heavy sigh.

"Is that all you do anymore?"

I look at Kili. He doesn't say it with a hateful tone, but I can see right through his expressive eyes. I know I haven't been spending much time with my nephews. I know I just promised to spend more time with them. I know Kili remembers that promise. And it hurts, because I do want to, more than anything. They are my life. But, I also have a career that I can't just put on hold whenever I want. Life is difficult sometimes.

But Kili's eyes… they just dig down deep into my soul. "I'm going for a run, then we can eat lunch. If you're up to it, we'll shoot some hoops after." Work can wait. Nobody likes all of those papers anyway.

"You sure about that, lawyer? Don't want you to sprain a wrist or anything."

"Get out of here. You stink." I grab a towel from the sink and swat at my retreating, laughing nephew.

I stand there a while longer, cleaning up the mess from breakfast. I also say a silent prayer that today goes as planned: no interruptions, no obstacles, and no emergencies.

"We'll be outside if you want to join us." Kili calls into the living room as he follows me to the back door.

"If I can get these last two pages finished, I'll be there." Fili says, with a sigh of frustration.

"Well, hurry it up!" Kili says, slamming the door behind me.

Kili dribbles the ball out onto the pavement. "Did you stretch?"

"Yes, coach. Don't want to pull any muscles because I am so old," I roll my eyes and rub my back for emphasis. "What'll it be? One-on-one?"

"Sounds good." Kili says shooting the ball. Perfect swish.

I grab the rebound and make a shot of my own. Swish. "Don't go easy on me." I say with a smug grin.

"No worries there, old man. You get ball first. Age before beauty." Kili grins throwing me the ball.

I dribble over to stand in front of Kili. We lock eyes, and suddenly, we aren't just playing a fun little game of basketball. This is a competition.

I maintain Kili's intense gaze. I can now understand fully why he was so good at basketball. When you made eye contact with him, it was impossible to break away from his gaze. It is like some kind of magic. It's frightening.

Before I know what is happening, Kili is making a layup after stealing the ball from me.

"That's cheating. You can't use those sorcery you just used on me." I say, putting my hands on my hips.

Kili laughs. "What are you talking about?"

"Your eyes!" I say exasperated. "That was insane. It was like you were controlling me."

Kili laughs even harder. I realize how stupid I must sound and return my focus to the game.

"Fine," I say wiping the sweat from my brow. I really was more out of shape than I thought. "If you want to play dirty, we'll play dirty."

Thirty minutes later, we were tied at twenty. Despite the numerous bumps, bruises, and cuts, we were enjoying ourselves too much to stop. Fili has also joined us about twenty minutes into our game, but chose to set out on the action and just watch from a lounge chair on the patio. There he sits yelling encouragements and laughing, acting as our number one fan and commentator.

"All right," I pause for a deep breath. "I'm older than I thought. Person who scores next wins." I say, panting and placing my hands on my thighs.

To my surprise, Kili quickly agrees. Sweat is pouring from his brow and he looks utterly exhausted. I start to panic, thinking this was a bad idea and way too much for his current health. But then his sly grin stops me, and I realize, this was just what he needed. Because, quite frankly, none of us know when Kili will be able to enjoy himself like this again. So, for now, the sweat and blood is all worth it.

I dribble the ball and try to make my way around Kili. He follows my every move and steals the ball from me. He shoots and the ball circles around the rim five times before falling out the side. I immediately jump for the rebound and dribble back to the foul line. I fake left, then break right, and go for the layup. The ball bounces off the backboard and over the basket. Kili catches the rebound, and I follow his retreating form, one eye constantly on the ball and the other on his feet. Kili spins and runs down the middle, right past me, and shoots. Swish.

"And it's Durin with the win!" Fili yells, running over toward us.

I promptly fell down into the grass surrounding the asphalt, my hands on my knees and gasping for breath. The sweat is pouring off my body and all I can think about is how nice it would be to just go for a swim, but, it's early November, and I'd rather not die from hypothermia.

I hear a soft thud and look over to find Kili laying in the soft grass beside me. He looks to be in much the same condition as I.

"Didn't do too bad," Kili pants.

"You either," I manage.

"Here, have some water." Fili tosses each of us a cold bottle of water, and we immediately begin to drink it.

"I need a shower," I say after I catch my breath. The water is helping.

"Makes two of us," Kili mumbles.

"I don't think Thorin is capable of the energy to cook tonight." Kili laughs at Fili's comment. I don't find it as funny. "Since you two future NBA star athletes have really outdone yourselves today, I'll pay for dinner tonight. You name it. We'll go."

"If you're driving, you've got a deal." Right now, Fili couldn't be anymore correct. I am utterly spent.

"Champ chooses, right?" Kili says, lifting his head.

"No seafood," Fili and I say in unison.

"Wasn't planning on it," Kili chuckles. "Let me think it over, while I shower."

"Deal," Fili agrees. Then reaches down a hand to help Kili up. Then he does the same with me.

I cannot hide my grimace as I stand. The tense stiffness in my back is already making itself know. Tomorrow will be torture.

My nephews giggle at my discomfort and I hear mumbled comments about "assisting the elderly." I just stay behind and drink it all in- the sound of laughter; of happiness.

"Do you think today was too much?"

I spare a quick glance in the rear view mirror before bringing my eyes back to the road in front of me. Kili is asleep, sweatshirt hood up, head resting against the window, arms wrapped around his stomach.

I spare another quick glance to the passenger seat. Thorin is staring intently on the road before us, but his gaze is unfocused. Obviously, his thoughts are elsewhere, focused on the sleeping kid in the backseat of my car.

After showers had been taken and cuts and bruises cleaned and bandaged quickly, Thorin and Kili had decided on a trip to Olive Garden for their victory dinner. Dinner was great, as usual; however, my credit card was now hurting.

All of the excitement from the game earlier and the never ending salad and bread sticks, had finally caught up with Kili. As soon as we had pulled onto the interstate, he had shut his eyes and now remains asleep.

"He's fine. Just tired."

"Is that a 'yes' or a 'no'?" Thorin asks.

"No, I do not believe today was too much for him. It was great, just what he needed. Stop worrying before you turn gray and people ask if you're our grandfather."

I see Thorin snap his head in my direction. "That isn't funny, Fili."

I laugh.

We ride in silence for a while longer. I pull the car off the exit that will lead us home. Kili makes a small noise and shifts a little in his sleep as the car comes to a stop at the stoplight.

"I think today was the last normal day we will all be having for a while." Thorin whispers, still looking ahead.

My silence answers for me. I hate to agree, but I have the same feeling. There is a definite storm coming.