"Hello," Drake greeted as he sidled up to Kili and leant casually against the locker next to his, voice pitched oddly low.

Kili stared at him in surprise for a moment. The senior had never approached him between classes before, and whenever they had talked, at least one of his friends had always been near him. Without their presence, Kili felt oddly vulnerable under Drake's green gaze.

"Hi," he managed to get out, quickly stuffing his geometry book in his locker and pulling out his book for English Lit.

"So you looked pretty cozy in that booth Friday night with blondie," the older teen commented with a raised brow. "Boyfriend?"

He frowned in confusion before he realized Drake was referring to Fili. "Brother," he replied, not really sure why it mattered to Drake.

"With a different last name?" he asked skeptically.

Apparently Drake had asked around about Fili before asking Kili himself. Why he would do that, Kili wasn't sure, but he wasn't so sure he liked it. He closed his locker and slung his bag back over his shoulder, planning on making a quick retreat.

"Stepbrothers," he explained hastily, moving to head towards his next class. Drake shoved off the lockers and angled his body to block Kili's escape.

"That's good to know," he murmured softly, leaning in close to Kili's ear before stepping around him. "See you in study hall," he called over his shoulder as he walked away.

Kili stared after him a moment, feeling extremely unsettled by his behavior. The feeling lasted all through his next class. It didn't help that it was the one period that he shared with none of his friends. He was inordinately grateful when lunch rolled around.

Something of his unease must have shown on his face because Faramir gave him a concerned look when he sat down. "You okay?"

He bit his lip, debating whether or not he should say anything. In all honesty, he was probably being overly sensitive. Drake hadn't been hitting on him, and he certainly hadn't meant his comments to sound as creepy as they did. The last thing he needed was for Tauriel to get in her mind that the senior was interested in him. She would pester him endlessly if she did.

"Just tired," he lied, feeling bad but not wanting to admit what was bothering him. He made himself perk up and act normally before Fili walked in. The blond was usually annoyingly good at seeing through his lies.

Kili was glad he hadn't made a big deal out of it when study hall came and went without incident. Drake hadn't even sat near him, though Kili thought he could feel his eyes on him. He was surely just being paranoid, though, as every time he looked up, the senior had his eyes on his books.

Tauriel intercepted him after the final bell rang just as he reached Fili, who was storing his books in his locker. "Uh uh, you are coming with me. Archery try-outs are Thursday, and we have to practice!"

"But—"

"No buts, mister!" she declared, pulling him away from Fili, who laughed as Kili looked imploringly at him for help.

"I'll see you at home!" the blond called after them as Tauriel determinedly dragged him towards the door.

Kili shot him a scowl before he was pulled outside. "I'm not going to make a run for it if you let me go, you know," he said in a put-out voice. "If you keep this up, I won't be able to draw my bow!"

"Which is still at my place from practicing Friday," she pointed out waspishly, reluctantly letting go of his arm. "Which means that you haven't practiced since then."

"I forgot it was there," Kili replied sheepishly. He hadn't even thought about his bow when he went home with Fili instead of going back to the Greenleafs'. All he could think about at the time had been avoiding the horror movie marathon.

He had to all but jog to keep up with Tauriel's quick pace, but they made it to her house in record time. Though they made straight for the practice range in her backyard, it quickly became clear to Kili that she had an ulterior motive for wanting to get him alone.

"So I have a favor to ask you," she said as they both lined up to take their first shots.

He frowned as he released his arrow, noting with satisfaction that it was just right of the bullseye. "Ask or demand?" he teased.

She made a face at him before continuing, "Bard told me about this party a couple of seniors are hosting this Friday night."

"And?" he asked, not really seeing where she was going with this. He drew another arrow and aimed carefully before releasing. He was pleased as it hit nearly dead center this time.

"So I want to go," Tauriel replied in an exasperated tone.

Kili shrugged, still not understanding. "So go."

"I can't go alone!" she cried. "And, the way Bard described it, it's not really the type of party any of our friends would likely go to. We're kinda a bunch of goody-two-shoes," she added with a roll of her eyes.

He frowned but said nothing as he drew back an arrow once more. If all of their friends were so-called "goody-two-shoes," then he really didn't see how that could be such a bad thing.

"So will you come with me?" she asked eagerly.

"I don't know…"

"Come on, Kili, please?" she begged, grabbing his elbow just as he released his arrow, causing it to miss the target entirely. He scowled at her as his arrow embedded itself in the grass behind the target and she gave him an unrepentant look. "For me?"

"I'll have to ask my parents," he conceded with a sigh, knowing she wouldn't give up until he gave her something.

Tauriel rolled her eyes at that. "You can't ask your parents, Kili! They'd never say yes! And you can't tell Fili either."

"What kind of party is this?" he asked, a little scandalized and more than a little put off. "I'm not going to lie to my parents, let alone lie to Fili!"

"It's a senior party," she retorted. "Do you really think your parents would let you go to a senior party if you told them?"

"And why can't I tell Fili?" he asked sardonically.

"Because he'd never let you go either!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "He's way too protective of you."

"Well, I don't want to do something that I know neither my parents nor Fili would want me to do," he huffed, going to collect his arrows from the target.

"You're allowed to think for yourself, you know," Tauriel bit out as she followed him and got her own arrows. "Don't be such a baby."

"I am thinking for myself," he shot back. "I'm just not letting you think for me, which is why you're getting mad at me."

She deflated at that but still seemed grumpy. "If you don't want to come, fine, but don't tell your parents," she said with a sigh. "They might tell Thranduil."

"You're really going to sneak out and go to a party alone?" he asked incredulously. "You won't know anyone there."

"Bard will be there," she replied with a shrug. "And what good are parties if you can't make friends there?"

Kili still didn't think it was a very good idea. He couldn't make her not go, and he couldn't make her tell Thranduil. He took comfort in the fact that there was no way she'd be able to keep her plans from Legolas, who surely would try and stop her or tell their dad. There was no reason for him to worry about her. Still…

"Text me if something happens," he told her, not really sure what he would do if something did happen, but knowing he could at least try to do something. "And tell me where the party is before you go just in case."

She rolled her eyes again. "Yes, dad," she said in resignation. "But only if you don't tell anyone. Not even Fili."

"Fine," he agreed reluctantly. If something bad happened to her, he'd want to know. Even if he couldn't tell Fili. And if it were really bad, he didn't think she'd begrudge him telling too much.

They practiced in pretty much silence after that, Tauriel still visibly disgruntled that Kili wouldn't go to the party with her. It was a relief, then, when she finally decided they had both had enough practice.

"You can just leave your bow here," she said. "We'll practice again tomorrow and rest Wednesday so we'll be fresh Thursday."

He agreed and headed home, feeling the dire need for a shower to wash the sweat that had accumulated during the abnormally warm September afternoon. When he reached his house, he waved vaguely when Frodo greeted him from the living room but immediately trudged upstairs, focused on getting his shower.

He toed his shoes off as soon as he made it to his room and tugged his shirt over his head and into the hamper. He opened the bathroom door and froze.

Fili had apparently just stepped out of the shower. Kili knew this because Fili was standing just outside the shower. Naked. And wet.

"Sorry," he squeaked, his mouth dry as he averted his eyes. The heat radiating from his face told him that his face had to be beet red. His jeans were also becoming tighter by the second.

"It's okay," the blond said, quickly wrapping a towel around himself and smiling at Kili reassuringly. "I'm done. Bathroom's yours."

Kili was extremely glad Fili seemed reluctant to look at him too closely as well. He mercifully left before the erection Kili was now sporting became obvious to him. Kili quickly, but quietly, locked the door leading to Fili's room as soon as it was shut before doing the same with his own and leaning against it with a sigh.

Obviously he had known that Fili was attractive, but shit, he had never seen so much of him. Those jiu-jitsu lessons had clearly paid off.

He tried to put the image out of his head, but he couldn't. Those muscled arms, that defined chest, that rivet of water coming from Fili's wet hair, trailing down his abs into the v that led to his…

Kili shivered and undid his jeans, shoving them and his underwear off to relieve the pressure. He bit back a moan as his wrist brushed against his arousal as he undressed. He was tempted to take himself in hand with the image of Fili fresh in his mind. It wouldn't take long at all to reach his climax.

But no. He would not do that to the image of Fili. It felt… wrong. It felt like taking advantage of Fili in the worst possible way.

Instead, he hopped in the shower and turned the cold water on full blast. He flinched as the icy stream hit him, but his erection instantly disappeared. He turned the hot water on and waited for his shower to heat up before beginning to wash up, keeping his mind resolutely on archery and cataloguing everything he could do to improve his form.

He jumped out the shower and dried off quickly as soon as he was done. The longer he lingered, the more the image of Fili's naked body threatened to pop into his brain. It was better he didn't tempt himself any further.

He slipped into his room and threw a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt on before digging in his bag to find the book they had just been assigned for English Lit class. They were supposed to have an essay written about it by next Wednesday. Thankfully, it wasn't that long of a book. Kili wasn't the biggest fan of English, but it wasn't that hard to read a book and then write a few page about it.

Usually, he and Fili would do their homework together in one of their rooms, with Frodo sometimes joining them, but after the incident in the bathroom, Kili didn't think he could face Fili and decided not to seek him out. And since neither of his brothers sought him out either, he read quietly by himself in his room until Bilbo came to get him for supper.

Kili thought that dinner would be awkward, but Fili acted as if nothing had happened. Kili followed his lead and tried to put the whole thing out of his mind.

Which worked well, right up until he went to bed and closed his eyes, realizing that it was going to be so much more difficult to forget than he realized.

Tbc…