A/N: Extremely short chapter written during a study break. Hope y'all enjoy!

Chapter Nineteen

Kili trusted his dad when he said he didn't think Fili would love anyone more than him. Bilbo had never lied to him, and he was sure someone as old as his dad was would know what was likely to happen as Fili and he got older.

Still, as sixth grade came to an end and summer began, Kili made sure not to stray too far from Fili's side, figuring that if his brother was always with him, then he'd never spare any attention to anyone else. However, since Bilbo seemed to think that it was good for them to spend time apart, Fili and Kili decided to appease him by figuring out things they could do apart.

Fili had immediately asked their parents if he could take jiu-jitsu lessons. Kili wasn't sure why Fili wanted to spend time learning to punch and kick things, but it wasn't something he was interested in doing. Their dad had asked him if he wanted to take the lessons too, but it wasn't something he had any interest in. Besides, if the point was to spend time apart from Fili, he couldn't very well do that by taking the same lessons with him.

Since he couldn't think of any other lessons he might want to take instead, he instead tried to spend more time with his other friends.

Of course, this was more difficult than it sounded. Spending time apart from Fili with Faramir didn't work because he lived with Aragorn. It didn't make sense for Kili to visit without Fili coming along. And though he was friends with both Eomer and Eowyn, visiting them without Fili was weird because they were Fili's friends first. Legolas and Gimli were inseparable, and though Kili loved them both dearly, he really couldn't stand their puppy love routine for very long. And Ori was spending most of his summer at some super smart and exclusive brain camp for geniuses (or something like that).

Which is how he ended up lazily watching Tauriel practice her archery on a hot August Tuesday afternoon while Fili was at jiu-jitsu.

He yawned as he watched her blow a sweaty piece of red hair out of her face before lining up another shot, back straight and elbow up as she pulled the string taunt. She let it fly and it thudded firmly into the target, just slightly to the left of the bulleyes circle.

"It doesn't look that hard," he commented, leaning back on the lawn-chair he was lounging on and taking a sip of lemonade. He wasn't sure what the Greenleaf's housekeeper did to it, but he swore he had never had anything as refreshing in his life.

Tauriel rolled her eyes at him and held the bow out. "If you think it's so easy, why don't you try it?"

Kili grinned at the challenge and sprang to his feet. He took the bow from Tauriel, who smirked at him before retrieving her arrows and stowing them back in the quiver propped up on a chair near where she was shooting.

"Go ahead, then," she dared, making a sweeting gesture with her hand before stepping back and folding her arms.

He shot her a cocky smirk before imitating how she was standing as best as possible, trying to remember all the suggestions Legolas and Tauriel always called out to each other when the practiced. His arms strained a bit with the effort it took to draw back the string. He was extremely aware of the position of his elbow, knowing it was supposed to be up but not too high. He lined up his shot, took a deep breath, and released on his exhale.

He winced as the bow string hit his arm on the release but looked at the arrow embedded in the target with satisfaction.

It wasn't a bullseye, or really anywhere close, but he had hit the outer circle of the target. He called that pretty successful for someone who had never picked up a bow before.

Tauriel agreed. "Not bad," she said with considering look. "You know, with a little work in correcting your form, you'd probably be really good. Maybe join the archery team with me when we get to high school."

"What, Legolas not joining with you?"

She pouted. "No. Says he'd rather focus on music. He likes piano lessons a lot more than I do."

"I'll pass," he said, handing her back the bow. "I think I'd get bored of shooting arrow after arrow at a target."

Tauriel rolled her eyes at him and grinned. "That's probably true. So what's up with you and Fili?" she asked, dropping down to sit on the ground and inviting him to do the same. "Why've you been spending so much time here alone with me? Please don't tell me you've developed some sort of crush on me!"

Kili scrunched up his nose in distaste. "Ew, no!" She gave him an exaggerated look of offense. "I mean, obviously you're a very pretty girl and I'm sure there are lots of people out there who would like you like that—"

"I know, I know," Tauriel interrupted him with smirk. "You're gay."

"I am," he admitted with a shrug, causing her eyes to widen.

"Please tell me you've finally realized you're in love with someone!" she cried with an eager look.

"Tauriel, I've never even had a crush on anyone, let alone been 'in love,'" Kili said sardonically, using air quotes to emphasize how ridiculous the notion was.

"You're an idiot," she said with a shake of her head, which Kili did not think was fair at all. "But that doesn't explain why you're suddenly seeking out to spend time away from Fili."

He shrugged. "Dad thinks it'd be better if we spent more time apart. Something about not wanting us to miss out on anything. I don't really understand it, but Fili seemed to think it was a good idea. And he was really quick to find something to do without me…" He bit his lip before asking the question that had been bothering him all summer. "Do you think he's getting tired of me being around all the time? I mean, ever since he was in the hospital, I've been a bit clingy."

Tauriel snorted. "You've always been 'a bit' clingy. You just got worse after Fili got sick. But I don't think Fili ever had a problem with it. Fili is happiest when you're with him."

Kili furrowed his brow. "But clingy is a bad thing, right? So I should stop."

"I don't think it's bad the way you do it," she said thoughtfully. "I mean, you two are not disgusting everyone in the room with you like Legolas and Gimli do."

"That's because we're not in a relationship," Kili said, pointing out the obvious.

Tauriel waived that off as insignificant. "You two just kinda… gravitate towards each other. It's not a bad thing. And it makes you both happy."

"If it makes Fili so happy, why did he jump at the chance to spend time away from me?" Kili asked grumpily.

She rolled her eyes. "Maybe he just wanted to take jiu-jitsu lessons and knew you wouldn't want to take them with him. I mean, martial arts definitely seems right up his alley," she commented.

"Why?"

"You know," she explained with an impatient wave of her hand, "that whole protector thing he has going on, particularly when it comes to you and Frodo."

He scowled. "I don't need protecting."

Tauriel laughed at that. "Considering how often you mouth off at the bullies who still try and pick on us, I think you should reconsider whether or not you need protection. Besides, Fili is always going to protect you whether you want him to or not."

Kili worried his bottom lip in consternation. He didn't like the idea that Fili was taking jiu-jitsu just so that he could better protect Kili. He never wanted Fili to ever be put in a situation where he might be hurt just to protect him. He wasn't worth that.

"Stop making that face," Tauriel said in exasperation. "The only way you're ever gonna stop Fili from trying to protect you is to get him to stop loving you, and that's never going to happen."

Kili felt his stomach tie in knots at that. He didn't want Fili to not love him. But his mother had loved him too, and look where that had gotten her.

He resolved not to think about it. The only way it would matter was if Kili were in danger, and if that happened, he would just have to make sure Fili didn't do anything that would get him hurt.

Tbc…