iii

Despite her innate optimism, Lorena thinks she should have seen this coming. After all, this is her life and nothing ever goes right for her. Sure, there are periods when she is free of worry and stress and generally able to enjoy herself. But then there are the many more and frequent instances in which she's someone's pawn. So yes, Lorena supposes she should have seen this coming.

"I can't believe this is happening to me," she says not at all intentional. "I just can't! Am I being unreasonable here for just wanting something normal in my life?" She sounds whiny even to her own ears so Lorena refuses to even think about how she sounds to him.

"You're overwhelmed, I understand," Thorin states in that calm manner of his that sets her on the edge. He watches her and it's both infuriating and maddening.

"You think?" she asks, her voice rising along with the colour in her face. Her hands automatically shot up from her lap in a gesture meant to show her aggravation.

"Not so loud," he hisses. They both glance to the two boys in the back, asleep one against the other. "There's no need for exaggerating."

"Don't you even dare!" Lorena warns with a bite in her tone. "I am not exaggerating, I'm not. You lied to me. And I can't ignore that. Were you even going to tell me?"

"Were you?" Thorin doesn't flinch when she turns her glare on him. He sighs, breaking their staring contest. "You were going to find out at some point." Safe reasoning.

"How can I possibly trust you? You couldn't even tell me you work for my father. Who knows what other dark secrets you keep locked away." Silence fills the car, hanging between them like a weight. "I can't," Lorena finally adds. "I can't."

"When I met you," Thorin starts, hands clenching on the wheel, "I had no idea you were his daughter. I didn't even know he had children." It's a lousy excuse. "And when I finally found out, well, I was already so deep in that it didn't even matter."

"It matters, Thorin. It matters," her voice breaks the words apart. "You should have told me. You should have told me."

"What do you want me to say?" Anger forces hi face in a neutral mask. "That I'm sorry? Is that it? Do you want an apology?"

The car veers to the left. Lorena doesn't dignify his outburst with a reply, so Thorin speeds along the driveway. This woman is driving him insane. And it's exactly the reason for which he hasn't said anything about working for her father all this time. She terrifies him in certain kind of way. The fear he feels is more than the cold chill a gun pointed straight at his head elicits. Because the bullet can be pulled out, and the wound eventually stops gushing blood and closes, leaving just a scar. But with her, the cut is far deeper; the damage lasts forever. Thorin fears that he won't be able to pull himself back together once she finally breaks him.

"Are we there yet?" Fili's small voice asks from behind them. The boy nudges his brother a little, not enough to wake him though. Kili is dead to the world, in his own dimesion.

"Not yet," Lorena answers, softening her voice as much as she can. "We still have a bit to go." She looks out the window, hand supporting her chin.

"Settle down. Go back to sleep and by the time you wake up, we'll be there," Thorin supplies. The review mirror shows his nephew doing just that.

And that's how it goes for the rest of the way. The children sleep. Lorena keeps quiet and Thorin tries his very best not to go into a rage. Time can't pass fast enough for all of them. Fortunately, they reach their destination before another argument starts.

Lorena jumps out of the car. She presses kisses to the cheeks of Fili and Kili, both of whom promptly pull back with twin embarrassed expressions on their faces. She eyes Thorin with suspicion but takes her bag from his outstretched hand. Then Lorena waves at the brothers who climb the steps.

"You don't have to take me home. I can get there on my own." Rebellion, she think, is never intelligent, but God does it feel good. So she provokes him without any other thought but that. It feels good.

"Get in the car," he orders softly, voice devoid of emotion. When she fails to follow his instructions, simple as they are, Thorin just snaps at her. "Get in the car."

"You can't just order me around," Lorena protests. She won't allow him to order her around because she does have her pride. Damn it, why is everything so difficult?

Fed up with her antics, Thorin grabs her hand, not roughly, just firmly, and pushes her back in the car. The door slams and he takes his own seat. The engine starts with a roar. There is a look on her face, like she might start berating him any moment now. "Shut up. Just shut up."

It's so very unnerving. "I hope you realise I don't want to see you too soon after this." He slams the brakes and she yelps at the sudden soar she does towards the windshield.

"Will you just stop? For heaven's sake," Thorin mutters. "I don't want to hear it. Not now." He really can't hear this from her.

"Too bad," Lorena counters. "Too bad because I want you to hear this. I swear to God that if you dare approach me, I will make you regret it." And she's utterly serious.

A lot of time; that's what she needs. Desperately needs it actually. Lorena doesn't think she can be around this man until she makes up her mind about some things. And she cannot do it if he is around her. Thorin is distracting. That, and she doesn't have enough room to be shocked around him. And she wants that; a little room to be shocked and scared and feel all those negative feelings.

After that she might be able to fix this, whatever their problem is. Lorena knows she can fix it if she is given what she needs.

iv

Warm, brown eyes take Thorin in with a reflexive tenderness that disarms him. "Hey," he greets, offering her the plastic cup filled with tea.

"Hey," she parrots, fingers wrapping around the cup. She's surprised she even lasted two weeks. But somehow she had. Two weeks without him have been hell for her. "Come on in."

Bilbo makes himself scarce and her father is somewhere in his study. Lucius has simply looked perturbed at his daughter's distress this past couple of weeks. It's not unknown to him that his daughter has tied herself quite deftly to one of his men. The father is actually grateful for it.

"I've been thinking about this," she starts, her voice unsteady. "For two weeks I've been trying to remember when it was that we kissed the last time. I can't remember because I don't keep a count of them. I can't remember." She needs a reason. If he could only give her a reason.

"It was a Monday," he replies. Thorin runs his tongue along the inside of his teeth. "You were actually running late for class. One of your shoes had disappeared and you were searching for it. Somehow it got behind the couch. I picked it up and handed it to you." At this point he stops to swallow. "So, you threw your hands around my neck and brushed your lips to mine. Really quick. Kind of like a habit."

Trembling, Lorena throws herself in his arms. As if to mirror the memory she brings both her arms around his neck and rises on the tips of her toes. This kiss is to tell him that she does want to be with him. "Let's make it a habit," she whispers.

"Let's," he agrees. Thorin takes he scent in. He's missed this, just holding her. So, he presses his lips to hers once more, because he missed her so damn much.

The hot rush leaves them panting. With great difficulty they move to the settee, entwined fingers and beaming faces. Bilbo spies the scene from behind the wall. It's mostly to make sure everything turns out alright, and if not to shoot Thorin's brains out. Yes, Bilbo loves his cousin this much; to the point where shooting the moron who broke her heart is acceptable behaviour to him. Thankfully there's no need for that now. So Bilbo walks away slowly.

"Did you hear that?" Lorena questions, her head turning sharply around. "The sound of steps," her voice is slightly menacing now. "You heard it too, right?" She knows very well that he did.

Laughing softly at her, Thorin pulls the woman back. "Let it go," he murmurs against her neck. There is something tranquil about feeling his warm breath on her skin, puffs of air, like a sea lapping at the shore.

"I bet that was Bilbo." She can't let it go. "That was my good for nothing cousin and I will kill him for this." She extricates herself from his arms and runs to where she knows she'll find her cousin.

Left on his own, Thorin leans back in his seat. Grey eyes roam aimlessly. The telltale smile on his face lingers even when she's not here to see it. That' good. It's good because Thorin is happy, and she's happy; and they are happy together. So, Thorin smiled. The joy is too much to hold in. For an instant his guard is down.

"If my daughter comers home with tears in her eyes again," Lucius' voice breaks him out of the reverie, "nothing will stop me from pulverising you. You can run, you can hide, but you won't be able to escape me." He is completely serious. The man means every single word that passes his lips.

"Is that a threat?" Thorin knows it is. But it's more than just that. He's dealing with a father here; the parent of a daughter. And that's plain scary. Fathers are not known for being nice, at all. Demons, maybe.

"Oh no," the other man speaks in a soothing manner, yet his eyes glint dangerously. "It's a promise. Break her heart and I will break every bone in your body." Then he smiles like they'd been discussing the weather all along.

"Why risk it?" After all, Thorin works for the man. It's a wonder Lucius hadn't already given him that little speech. But then again he's probably under supervision all the time. His boss knows all the moves he makes. "Why not just warn me away?"

"And you'd actually listen?" Lucius had to appreciate it when Thorin gives a firm shake of his head. "Thought so. Besides, my baby girl loves you. It's only fair I give you a fighting chance." Because Lucius is nothing if not fair. "Don't blow this."

Thorin knows, just knows, that this is the only warning he'll ever get. The next time he makes a false move the bullet will be in his brain. "Wasn't planning to." Yet he won't show he is unnerved. Noise from above them grabs Thorin's attention. "What was that?"

"She did tell you she was going after her cousin," Lucius points out. "You'll learn that my daughter always keep her word. So if she says she's going after her cousin you can be sure he'll be sporting the bruises to prove it."

Never would have Thorin pegged Lorena to be of the violent variety, yet he changes his mind upon hearing a how of pain which is distinctly male. "Was that the cousin?"

"You bet." Lucius wipes at invisible tears. "They grow up so fast. One day they're crawling all over the floor, and the next they're wrestling their cousin to the ground. These children, they really are amazing." Pride tinges his every word. Lucius smiles as another yell came from upstairs. He is probably imaging all the things his daughter is putting her poor cousin through.

One thing is clear to Thorin though; he has gone and got himself into a really delicate situation. One he would hopefully survive. And if he doesn't, he'll actually die happy. The lack of sense bothers him not one bit this time. Thorin listens carefully for any other sound before taking the stairs to the next floor. Lorena is standing in the hall, finger waggling in admonishment. It looks like her cousin has learned an important lesson today, which is never to piss Lorena off. Really, people don't give her enough credit. It's the stature thing and the being a benign looking thing. It confuses people. Not that Lorena minds that. They are easier to surprise and take down this way.

"And if you ever do something like that again, Bilbo, you will count yourself lucky is a few years of hospitalization will fix all the damage I'll do to you." The best part is that Thorin loves her for that.