So does anyone remember when I said I'd upload every day or two?...*Shot*...

But really, I feel so bad. I won't even start on what's been going on IRL 'cause it doesn't even matter.

I hope to get one more chapter out today, but of course, no promises.

Fili, Kili, and Bofur kept the young men alert. However, Thorin's mind was cluttered with thoughts of what their host had said to Balin before they left. He wondered why he was alone, why he allowed a bunch of strangers into his home, why he never expected pay, why he would tell Balin all of this…Why would he be the one that the short man went to first... 'I may not be the most approachable, but…I really wish to know more about that man…'

The darker haired boy scurried around the house, quite panicked, as if he were searching for someone. "Where is Bilbo?" His friend who stared in fright at the remaining guests kept as close as he possibly could to him. Thorin's hearing piqued at the sound of the peculiar man's name. "Bilbo…is not currently here…" He was glad to hear his normal, monotonous voice once more. Talking to Bilbo led him to believe he was on the track of losing his voice or becoming ill. Thorin was never prone to stuttering, and he could not recall a time beforehand where he had stuttered before meeting Bilbo.

Despair was eminent on the younger looking boy's face. His eyes scrunched tight and he pouted, showing his discontent. "Why would he invite us over when he wasn't going to be here?" His chubby friend gulped, obviously hiding his urge to bolt from the house. "It was a bit of a short notice that he would be leaving." Thorin hated having to be the one to inform these boys, but without Balin, no one else would without causing the two to go through some awful bit of trauma. Speaking of which, Fili and Kili stepped up to them, large grins disfiguring their faces and hands behind their backs in cruel plotting.

"If you'd like, we will keep you company until he returns!" Kili grabbed the stingy blue eyed boy and Fili grabbed the fat one. Thorin did not reach out to stop them realizing that he did not want to hear their whining, or have the two in his presence. The boys were dragged off into the room on the right, raising suspicion from Dwalin, but he settled, deciding that he did not care if the boys went through his weapons and slaughtered themselves or each other.

Thorin was about to settle until he heard a scream from the room, "My uncle will not be happy to hear of this!" He mentally weighed the pros and cons of stepping in. On one hand, Bilbo may thank him for stopping his nephews, but on the other hand…he didn't feel like it. 'Wait…uncle?'

Thorin stood up, walked past the raving Oin, and made his way to the room. He jiggled the handle. Locked. "Who is it~!" Thorin would not have any of this. "You will open the door right now!" The door flung open, hitting him hard in the face. He heard Fili gasp and someone else back quickly away from the door. It only hit his forehead, hardly something to worry about, so he rushed into the room seeing the mischievous looks on the brothers' faces. He looked just behind the door to find the two young boys bound and gagged. "You've got to be kidding me! Leave now!" Fili and Kili sighed, reluctantly leaving the room to join everyone else. Thorin cursed his nephews under his breath as he untied the poor lads. "That will teach you to listen to those two," he hissed at them.

As they were free, the large one almost ran for it, before his friend grabbed him. "What's going on here? Why are there so many people in here? I doubt Uncle Bilbo knows less than half of you lot!"

Thorin let out a bit of an angry growl, causing them both to jump. He sighed, beginning to tell the two why they were there.

Gandalf and Balin sat on the porch in lawn chairs as Bilbo, Nori, Ori, and Gloin were put to work. Every time Bilbo walked by, he would try to hear what they were saying. Eventually he began to notice the smirks they gave him, which made him exceedingly uncomfortable. He was about to confront them himself until he was called over by them. He wiped the sweat from his brow, trudging over with a feeling of dread. "What is it?"

Balin stood from his chair, allowing Bilbo a spot to sit down as he leaned against the fence in front of him. Bilbo slowly lowered himself, feeling quite awkward between the two old men. "What did you call me over for?" Gandalf took out his pipe, throwing something inside and lighting it. Balin took this as a sign for him to start. "Gandalf here was just telling me about how much of a loner you were." Bilbo gave the tall man a glare to which he chuckled, blowing out some smoke. "And so what if I am? What does that matter? I like my simple, single life! I don't need you setting me up!"

"Look at you Mr. Baggins, blowing things out of proportions! We haven't said a word of your lack of a romantic relationship! Now let us speak." Gandalf turned back to Balin, urging him to continue. "Truthfully, we were discussing how much room is in this house here, and we may have to shove too many people in each room if we tried to fit everyone." Bilbo's eyes narrowed. "So you're saying that you want me to keep some of these guys at my house?" Balin shifted nervously. "We were hoping…no more than one…maybe two…"

Bilbo sighed, exasperated, and stood to continue unpacking the moving van. "He'll wise up to it, he will." Gandalf shoved his pipe back into his mouth, reclining back into his chair.

Nori and Ori whispered back and forth to each other until Gloin shoved them. "Will you two shut up and help Mr. Baggins!" They turned to see him on the edge of spilling the contents of a particularly large box. He would have dropped it if it weren't for the brothers coming out to assist him. "Ori, I think they've got it. You keep helping me out here." Bilbo watched Ori skip back to the van and then looked to the sullen face of Nori. He never looked very happy, but since he finally had a good look of him, he could see both sadness and annoyance. "This is Oin's. We have to take this one upstairs." Bilbo paled, then cleared his throat, "Right, let's go then."

Bilbo struggled, being the one to carry most of the weight up the stairs, almost falling a few times. "You better not drop this, or Oin will stuff you in one of his coffins." Bilbo choked. "Is that what's in here!?" Nori shook his head. He was relieved, assuming it was meant as a joke, but he was unable to catch on because he was such a serious man. "We already took those in." Bilbo squeaked.

As they finally set the box down in a room, Bilbo began to feel very awkward being alone with Nori. He looked down into the box, seeing something that resembled a head. His breath caught in his throat, he jumped back into a coffin. His and Nori's eyes met and he blanched further. Nori stuck his hand in the box, pulling out a staff with a head attached to it. "Oin is in to witch doctor-y stuff. I suggest you stay away from his stuff if you plan on being so jumpy around it. I wasn't kidding about the coffin thing."

Silence took over the room again, and Bilbo nervously tried to start a conversation, "None of this makes you the slightest bit uncomfortable?" Nori's half lidded eyes looked right through him, making him shiver. "No, why would it. I've spent just about my entire life with all of these guys. Nothing creeps me out anymore. Maybe you'll be sorted out after this as well…" Bilbo definitely didn't like his choice of words.

"Right." He should have just kept it at that. When he looked back at it, he really should have just left and continued unpacking. But no, he had to press further. "It doesn't seem like you get along with them like the rest do." If he had known what this statement would cause him, he would have slapped himself. Nori's eyes widened a considerable amount. This is when Bilbo's regret first set in. "What do you mean?" he asked with a morose tone. His voice was softer now. Bilbo fidgeted, "It's just…you aren't as rowdy as t others seem to be. And I notice the looks you give to Ori and Dori."

Nori frowned. "Dori treats Ori and I like children. I'm so sick of him. I may have turned out more like the rest if it wasn't for him. If I were to say anything out of line he would scold me. I'm trying to convince Ori not to listen to him and rebel with me. He's been made soft by him. I know he does this because he cares for us, but it's too much. Sometimes I wish he would just die!" The whole house was silent now. Bilbo was taken aback and didn't know how to continue. "Uhm, look…I'll…see what I can do…"

Gloin's heavy steps could be heard from downstairs. "Come on! We have to get all of this crap in here!" Nori gave Bilbo a hopeful look, walking past him he whispered, "Don't get my hopes up." Bilbo gulped. How could he let him down now? He's gotten himself involved in something he never thought he would. These men…

Slow steps came up the staircase. Bilbo's head rose to see Gandalf. "It's about time to go Mr. Baggins." He nodded, following him back down. 'Bilbo, you're such an idiot! Why throw yourself into the affairs of thirteen men whom you barely know? You're going to pay for this later on.'