Chapter Twenty Eight

To no one's surprise, Tauriel and Kili's names were on the list of people who made the archery team. They shared a grin as Fili threw a celebratory arm around Kili's shoulders. He kept his arm there as he escorted Kili to homeroom, a rather unnecessary precaution in Kili's mind, but he wasn't going to argue when Fili was so close to him.

It seemed that Fili had let all their friends know to keep a close watch on Kili because suddenly, Kili wasn't left alone at school for one moment. Tauriel chatted about archery with him after homeroom, seemingly accidentally walking all the way to Kili's Geometry room with him. Ori and Gimli kept him company after that during his walk to English Lit, not even bothering to pretend they were doing anything but keeping guard as they walked on either of his sides.

Ori gave him a sheepish look as Kili stopped by his locker. "Fili said Smaug was bugging you and you'd feel more comfortable with company between classes."

Kili smiled at him. "I really appreciate it, but isn't your next class on the other side of the school? I don't want you to be late because of me."

"It's not far from your Lit class," he replied with a shrug. "And I already have my books with me so I don't have to stop by my locker."

"I knew that Smaug was going to be trouble," Gimli cut in. "Walks around like he owns the whole school. Probably not used to hearing the word 'no,' and not likely to listen to it when someone does dare to say it."

"Well, he's going to listen to it this time," Ori said fiercely, Gimli nodding seriously in agreement.

Kili had to bite back a smile a smile at the two of them. Both were normally so easy-going that it was amusing to see them so ready for a fight. He felt a wave of affection for them as he realized that they were ready to fight for him.

Not that he'd ever let them, but still. It was the thought that counted.

"Well, come on, before we're all late," he said, closing his locker with a grin.

He had the next period by himself. When the bell rang, he gathered his books slowly. Given the way the day was going, he was almost positive that Fili was racing to get to his classroom before he left. Kili might as well make it easier for him by taking his time.

Sure enough, when he walked out of the room, Fili was casually leaning against the wall next to the door. He shook his head at the blond.

"How long do you think you guys can actually keep this up?" he asked in exasperation. "Are you going to race here every day to walk me to lunch?"

"Yep," Fili replied with a self-assured grin.

Kili rolled his eyes when he realized he wasn't going to add anything else and began stomping towards the cafeteria. While he was extremely grateful that his friends had decided to stick by him, the whole situation felt like he was letting them fight his battles for him, a feeling that didn't set well with him at all.

"Kili," Fili said, grabbing his elbow gently and pulling him into an empty corner. "What's wrong?" he asked in concern.

He just shook his head, tears already threatening to gather in his eyes. He didn't even know why he was choosing now to be so upset. Maybe it was seeing Ori and Gimli so ready to stand up for him. Maybe it was Fili going out of his way to walk him to the cafeteria.

Whatever it was, it had stirred unpleasant memories that he had really not wanted to think about.

"Please tell me what's wrong?" the blond pleaded, which just wasn't fair.

"It just… feels like I'm letting all of you put yourselves between me and danger," he answered thickly, unable to stop one tear from escaping. "I… don't like that feeling."

"Hey, no," Fili soothed, wrapping his arms around Kili and pulling him close. In the back of his mind, Kili knew he should care more about the other students who were still in the hallway, but he never really cared much what anyone else thought. Besides, if Fili wasn't embarrassed to hug him in plain view of the entire school, he definitely wasn't going to be embarrassed to be hugged by Fili.

Fili hooked his chin over Kili's head as the brunet buried his face in the crook of his neck. It wasn't an especially comfortable position for either of them, as Kili was slightly taller than Fili, but it was reminiscent of how Fili held him when they slept together and was endlessly comforting to the younger teen.

"I know what you're thinking and it's completely different," Fili assured, as he rubbed soothing circles on his back. "No one is going to get hurt, I promise. This isn't like your mom. Smaug is just your typical high school asshole. He's not going to hurt anyone just because we're keeping him from harassing you."

"Of course you'd say that," he accused wetly, voice muffled against Fili's shirt. He lifted his head to glare weakly at Fili. "You'd jump in front of a bullet if it was headed towards me."

"But I wouldn't lie and tell you the bullet wasn't dangerous," he said seriously, bringing his hand up to brush away Kili's tears. "I'd just tell you that it was worth it to keep you safe."

"I don't want you or any of our friends hurt to keep me safe," Kili sighed sadly. "I don't want you or any of our friends hurt period."

"No one's getting hurt, Kee. I promise," Fili stated, pulling him close once more. "Do you feel up to staying at school for the rest of the day?" he asked as Kili managed to calm down. "Pop's home today. I'm sure he wouldn't mind coming to pick you up."

Kili shook his head, knowing that there was no way he'd feel better at home if Fili wasn't there. "You're not going to stop me from going to your audition that easily," he teased, trying to lighten the mood.

"Don't blame me when your ears are bleeding then," Fili shot back with a smirk, leading Kili away from the corner and towards the cafeteria.

"You've got a great voice," he scoffed.

Fili grinned and gave him a wink. "Yeah, but you haven't heard Eowyn's voice."

That surprised a laugh out of Kili. "You're terrible!" he accused. "That's not very nice."

"Not very true, either," Fili admitted with a shrug. "She's got a decent set of pipes."

"Then why'd you say it?" he asked curiously.

Fili smirked at him. "It got you to laugh."

Kili smiled at him, unable to argue with that. They dunked in a bathroom for Kili to wash his face before lunch. Faramir and Legolas were waiting for them with worried frowns when they finally made it to the cafeteria.

"Everything alright?" Faramir asked, both of them eyeing Kili's no-doubt red-eyes in concern.

"Yeah," he mumbled as he sat down. "Just bad memories."

Faramir gave him an understanding look while Legolas just frowned in confusion. Sensing, though, that it was a topic better left alone, he quickly started talking to Fili about the auditions. Apparently, the drama teacher had asked him to play accompaniment for them, which gave Fili and Eowyn an edge because they had been practicing with Legolas.

"How did I possibly miss you sneaking off to practice?" Kili wondered, popping a fry in his mouth to appease Fili's meaningful look towards his mostly untouched lunch. He popped another in his mouth as he realized how hungry he was before turning to his burger.

Fili shrugged. "We mostly did it when you were at the Greenleafs' with Tauriel practicing for your try-outs. That's why we went over to Eowyn's instead."

"Are they any good?" he asked Legolas around a mouthful of burger, knowing his blond friend would tell the truth and maybe give Fili a confidence boost. Why Fili thought he would be anything but spectacular was beyond him.

"Fili's really good," Legolas replied with a sly grin at the older teen. "And you can tell he knows it on the stage, too, with the way he swaggers out and sings. If he doesn't get the part of the prince, it's because he's too cocky. Eowyn is good, but Lothiriel is better and is going out for Cinderella too."

"Fili's only that cocky when he's unsure of himself," Kili said knowledgeably, smiling sweetly at the older blond when he sputtered and glared at him. "Now that he's heard he's good from you, he'll tone it down a bit."

"He is right here," Fili grumbled.

"Well if you weren't then you wouldn't have heard Legolas, now would you have?" Kili teased, knowing Fili wasn't really mad. The glint in his blue eyes told Kili that the blond was grateful for the teasing, no doubt happy that Kili was trying to push away the bad thoughts from earlier.

He frowned thoughtfully as he registered what Legolas had said about Eowyn. "If Lothiriel is going out for Cinderella, why is Eowyn if she…" he trailed off as he glanced at Faramir and Legolas in panic, not knowing if Eowyn's crush was a secret that he wasn't supposed to tell.

Faramir set his mind at ease. "We know Eowyn likes Lothiriel. Anyone with eyes can see it whenever they're in the same room," he informed him with a shake of his head.

"And heaven only knows I couldn't not know if I tried with Tauriel talking about it all the time," Legolas added with a roll of his eyes.

"She hasn't said anything to me," Kili said with a frown.

"Consider yourself lucky," he replied as the bell that signaled the end of lunch rang and they all made their way out the cafeteria.

Fili caught his hand just outside the door. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?" he asked.

He squeezed his hand in reassurance. "I'll be fine. I'll see you at the audition?"

The blond gave him a long look before giving him a small smile and nodding. "Wish me luck."

"You don't need it," Kili replied matter-of-factly before turning to catch up with Faramir, who was waiting just far enough away to give the two brothers some privacy.

They walked to their history class in silence. Faramir must have sensed that Kili didn't feel like talking because he was also quiet when their class ended and they walked to study hall together.

Kili frowned as they walked in and he noticed that Aragorn and Eomer had changed up their usual seating arrangement. The two sophomores were sitting diagonally from each other on the six person table, leaving both seats on the ends of the table open along with one seat on either side of them.

Aragorn looked up at Kili before gesturing to the end seat next to him. The brunet sighed before sinking into the offered seat, Faramir sitting next to him on the other side of Eomer. It was obvious that the two older boys had taken it upon themselves to keep watch over Kili during study period. Though, with the way Eomer was glaring across the room at where Smaug was sitting as he scooted closer to Faramir, he suspected that the blond wouldn't let the senior anywhere near Faramir either.

"I guess you were right to not like Drake from the beginning," Kili muttered to Aragorn, who looked at him in surprise.

"I didn't not like him from the beginning," he stated quietly.

"You always glared at him," he argued back in an incredulous whisper.

Aragorn frowned, glancing at Faramir and Eomer who were talking quietly to each other and ignoring them, before leaning in close to Kili. "Okay, so say an older guy with a bad reputation was hanging about Legolas and Tauriel was really worried about him. Wouldn't you glare at the guy too?"

"Oh," Kili said, not realizing that Fili had been so concerned about Smaug for so long. "I didn't know Fili was so worried."

"It probably isn't the exact same thing," Aragorn said with a shrug. "Yours and Fili's relationship is different from Tauriel and Legolas', but it's close enough."

Kili frowned and turned to his homework for history, not really able to concentrate on it though.

He didn't get it. He himself had only really been uncomfortable with Drake's behavior this week. How had Fili and Aragorn known that the senior was so creepy so quickly? Had he missed something? He knew he wasn't that great at relating to other people, but he didn't think he was that bad.

It really wasn't any wonder that he took so long to make friends.

The rest of the day flew by quickly, with Smaug not once trying to approach him. Kili did notice him smirking at him during study hall, but he pointedly ignored him and didn't draw Aragorn or Eomer's attention to it. Faramir, he knew, had caught the senior's looks, but thankfully he kept quiet as well, only nudging Kili's foot and smiling at him reassuringly.

Soon, he was sitting in the auditorium next to Tauriel as they waited for the auditions to begin.

"You didn't tell me about Eowyn and Lothiriel," Kili said, looking at her out of the corner of his eye and catching her grimace.

"There's not much to tell," she replied grumpily. "I thought we had a connection and she would ask me out as soon as we were both in high school. Guess I was wrong."

"Maybe she thought the same?" he asked helplessly, not knowing what else to say.

"Well she sure as hell didn't give me much of a chance before she started mooning over someone else," she spat bitterly. "Whatever. If she can find someone else, I can too."

Kili frowned. "This isn't why you're going to that party tonight, is it?"

"So what if it is?" Tauriel asked defensively. "I'm allowed a little fun, aren't I?"

"Just be careful, okay?"

She rolled her eyes. "It's a high school house party, not an underground rave. The most trouble I'll get in is drinking a beer or two." He shot her a disapproving look. "Oh, grow up, Kili. I'm going to have fun tonight. By myself, if I have to."

He sighed. "I don't think it's going to be as much fun as you think. Wouldn't you rather me and you go out to a movie or something and celebrate making the archery team?"

"How about we do that tomorrow?" she suggested pleadingly. "I can tell you all about the party and, if it is a drag, you can gloat and tell me all the I-told-you-sos you want."

"Fine," he said unhappily, still worried that something bad was going to happen at the party. Before he could get another word out, though, Eomer plopped down in the seat next to him.

"I didn't miss anything, did I?" he asked the two of them, wide grin on his face.

"They haven't started yet," Kili answered. "What's got you so happy?"

"I have a date tonight," the blond replied with a broad smile.

"With who?" Tauriel asked with narrowed eyes, no doubt thinking the same thing Kili was.

If Eomer was going out with someone that wasn't Faramir, it would break their redheaded friend's heart.

Eomer rolled his eyes. "Put your claws away," he said in a placating voice. "It's with Faramir. And you can save any 'if you hurt him' talks as well. Pretty sure Boromir, Aragorn, and Theo would cheerfully kill me if I fuck up. Eowyn, too, come to think of it."

Kili laughed even as Tauriel resolutely turned to look at the stage at Eowyn's name. "Well, seems like we wouldn't have to worry about killing you. We'd have to coordinate with them to cover up your murder though."

"I'm not going to hurt him," Eomer muttered as the drama teacher called for quiet and the first hopefuls came on stage.

Kili really hoped that Eomer didn't hurt Faramir, but he knew the blond was a bit of a hothead at times, which often caused his mouth ran away from him. He was fiercely loyal, though, and would never intentionally hurt Faramir.

They watched the auditions mostly indifferent to the students who were Fili and Eowyn's competition. Kili knew, though, that Fili was a better singer than anyone he had heard so far. They all did watch with interest as Lothiriel walked on stage and sang "In My Own Little Corner." In Kili's biased opinion, she wasn't nearly as pretty as Tauriel. And though her acting seemed good, there was something about her when she was speaking with the drama teacher that lacked the fire and passion he knew Tauriel was bursting with.

All in all, Kili thought Eowyn was crazy for choosing her over Tauriel, although he was sure Lothiriel was nice and pretty and all.

Finally, Fili and Eowyn walked on stage. Kili couldn't help the smile that came over his face just at the sight of Fili up there. His chest was bursting with pride as Fili opened his mouth and his amazing voice came out. He looked confident, but not cocky, so Legolas' words at lunch must have sunk in.

He was the perfect prince.

It wasn't as hard as he thought it would be, watching Fili pretend to be in love on stage. Of course, that might have been because he was singing with Eowyn and Kili knew neither of them were interested in each other like that.

Eowyn sounded good, too, as she started singing her part. Her movements were a little bit more stilted, but that was probably just nerves. Her voice wasn't as good as Lothiriel's had been, but they were still strong. He didn't watch her all that closely.

He really only had eyes for Fili.

As they ended the song on the question "are you really as wonderful as you seem?", Kili couldn't help but thinking that, yes, Fili was definitely as wonderful as he seemed.

"Well, I think Fili just got the part," Eomer proclaimed with satisfaction as they clapped for their friends.

Tauriel was watching the stage with narrowed eyes before she turned her stare to Kili. He blinked at her self-consciously, the look in her eyes making him wonder just what exactly she was thinking.

"What?"

Her face cleared as she slowly smiled, a smug gleam in her eyes. "Nothing. Just realized something," she answered. "I'll tell you over dinner tomorrow."

He rolled her eyes. He probably didn't want to know. "Whatever."

Eomer and Kili quickly filed out of the auditorium to meet Fili and Eowyn in the hallway that led to the backstage area, leaving Tauriel behind as she planned on waiting until Legolas was done to leave.

Kili threw his arms gleefully around Fili as soon as he was close enough. "I knew you'd be awesome!" he cried with a grin.

Fili smiled at him shyly. "You think so?"

"Oh please, Fili, you know you got the part," Eowyn said with a smirk.

"You were great, too, Eowyn," Kili complimented, pulling away from Fili but keep a hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks, Kili. I'm going to dunk back in and talk to some people. Why don't you go home and get ready for your date?" she told Eomer slyly.

"We'll see you guys later," Fili said as he and Kili turned and walked towards the exit. "Was I really okay? You're not just being nice, are you?" he asked as soon as they were outside.

"You were really good," he answered, putting as much sincerity in his voice as possible. "You're sure to get a good part. We should celebrate!"

Fili smiled at him. "Okay. Dinner at Rosie's and then bowling later?"

"Sure," he agreed. "Let's invite Frodo too. I feel like we haven't done much with him lately."

"Sounds good to me."

When they got home, Frodo was excited to be included in the night's plans, making Kili feel a little guilty for not spending much time with his little brother. Just because he was in high school now didn't mean he should neglect his little brother. Fili never neglected him when he started high school.

He felt a little guilty going out that night, though. What if Tauriel did end up needing help at the party and he wasn't able to get to her in time?

"Is something wrong, Kili?" his dad asked him as he was sitting on the couch waiting for Fili to finish showering and getting ready.

Kili looked up at Bilbo and bit his lip. Tauriel had begged him not to tell anyone that she was going to the party, but he really had a bad feeling about the whole thing. But she was right. There really wasn't a reason for him to be so worried. It was just a party. The worst thing that could happen was that she drank a little too much and ended up with a hangover, right?

But what if she drank too much and someone took advantage of her? He'd never forgive himself if he let that happen.

"What do you do when your friend is putting themselves in a risky situation but you swore not to tell anyone?" he asked Bilbo eventually.

His dad puckered his brow in concern and took a seat on the couch next to Kili. "What kind of risky situation?"

"Nothing bad," Kili assured, trying to convince himself more than Bilbo. "Not really. They're just going somewhere alone where, if they aren't careful, bad things could happen. But they promised to be careful."

"Well, would I be upset if you were going?" Bilbo asked.

Kili snorted. "Oh yeah."

"And am I correct in thinking that this person's parents don't know they are going?"

"Yeah… But I don't want to tell their parents!" he protested vehemently. "They'd never talk to me again!"

He couldn't lose Tauriel as a friend. Not only would he lose one of his best friends, but he was sure Legolas wouldn't be his friend either if that happened. That was two friends he'd lose in one go! And his other friends wouldn't trust him once they learned he blabbed on Tauriel to her dad.

Bilbo hummed thoughtfully. "Maybe you should tell Legolas what Tauriel is planning. If he thinks she needs stopping, he might be able to do it without incurring her wrath."

"Maybe... Hey! I never said it was Tauriel!" he cried in surprise.

His dad laughed. "You really didn't have to. Talk to Legolas, tell him what's going on, and then go have fun with your brothers."

"What if Tauriel does end up going and needs my help?" Kili asked in a small voice. "What if I can't help her because I'm out having fun with Fili and Frodo?"

Bilbo scowled. "If Tauriel needs help, you call me immediately," he said sternly. "Don't you dare try and handle things yourself. Don't worry, I won't get her in trouble with Thranduil unless it's absolutely necessary."

Kili felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders and he grinned up at Bilbo before throwing his arms around him. "Thanks, Dad," he murmured.

"You're welcome. You know you can talk to me about anything," he said, pulling back and looking down at Kili with a smile. "And I mean anything."

He cocked his head in confusion at the weight Bilbo put on the last word, but before he could question it, Fili and Frodo both thundered down the stairs.

"Ready?" Fili asked with a smile, which slipped from his face as he looked from Kili's confused face to Bilbo's serious one.

"Yeah!" Kili cried with a grin, shooting up and grabbing both of his brothers' arms and tugging them towards the door. "Let's go!"

Tbc…