This chapter came out earlier than expected~

You have werecakes to thank for that~ Enjoy~

As soon as the front door swung open, Frodo's eyes widened and he leapt up to greet his uncle. But instead, he ran into the torso of a large man with red hair and mad eyes. His heart's pace sped up until he eventually fainted. "Excitable fellow…" In came Gandalf, Balin, Ori, and Nori. They stared at the small man on the ground. Bilbo finally made his way in, shutting the door behind him. "Bilbo!" a familiar voice shouted. He turned to find Sam surrounded by the men on the sofa, "What's going on?" He looked down to find his nephew on the floor.

He panicked, to say the least. "What have you done to my poor nephew!? Are you sacrificing him or something!?" Realization hit him. 'Damn, I invited him over! I can't believe I forgot! The poor boy must have been put through hell!'

"What did you do to him?" Gloin stepped up, "He looked more than fine until he ran into me. I must've given him quite a shock." The rest of the company nodded. Bilbo bent down and lifted the poor boy to the nearest armchair, then left to start making tea. Thorin watched every step he took down the hall until he disappeared into the kitchen. Now he could finally confront Balin.

Balin flashed a smile as Thorin came up to him which deepened as he saw him fuming. "Yes? What is it?" Thorin took a deep breath, "I just want to speak to you." Balin nodded, following the much taller man down the hall, quirking an eyebrow as he slowed down past the entry to the kitchen. They continued into their room, shutting the door, raising suspicion among the men in the living room.

"You two stayed out of trouble, I hope!" Nori rolled his eyes at his brothers. Ori animatedly described everything he moved into the house while Dori forced himself to look interested. Fili and Kili were sat on the loveseat with a laptop lying between them. They giggled at whatever it was they were looking at, causing others to crowd around them.

Sam was glued to the arm of the armchair Frodo was passed out in, feeling Oin and Gloin's stares on him. For a good ten minutes he wondered if he should just toss his friend over his shoulder and make a run for it, but he somehow doubted that would be a good idea.

Bilbo poked his head out from the kitchen. "Is anyone going to help me out with dinner tonight?" Half the room shuffled toward Bilbo, leaving Fili, Kili, Bofur, Frodo, and Sam. Even if the room was severely less crowded than it previously was, Sam felt even more uncomfortable, so he sat on the ground next to the chair as to not raise much attention to himself.

Kili cut the silence, "What do you think uncle is talking about?" Fili replied flatly, "Probably just the paperwork and stuff. He's always worrying about the work. At least that means we don't have to." Kili snorted. "Like he would leave it to any of us. And he didn't seem worried. He looked uncomfortable. Whatever they're discussing, it must have taken him some courage to get it out."

Bofur hummed, tugging at his long hair as he listened to the brothers talk back and forth. Sam stared as he began to braid it, but backed away when the man's eyes snapped toward him. He decided to be entertained by the young bickering boys.

"You can't possibly be suggesting Thorin Oakenshield was fumbling like a teenage girl, and that I missed it. At least we have those cameras around! We'll check them out later." Bofur burst out laughing, rolling on the couch, almost in tears. "You've done what now, lads?" Kili gave a smug grin and Fili resumed watching the screen of his laptop. This had Sam's attention. 'They've done what? Wait, what?' He looked around the room in search of any obvious cameras, of course, to find none. 'Maybe they're just jok- who am I kidding, they probably aren't!'

~

The door shut closed and Thorin immediately went to sit on the bed to calm his nerves. His head was in his hands, but he knew Balin had sat beside him when he felt the bed dip to hi right. "What is it you've needed to tell me lad?" Thorin rubbed at his temples, preparing himself. "I overheard you speaking with Bilbo earlier today. What was all that about?"

Balin smiled with a hint of suspicion. "What, I was just sitting outside with him before we had to leave. Did I say something out of line?" Balin loved Thorin more than anyone could, so he knew he was either getting scolded or he needed help with something. For once, he felt it was the latter. He could see it on his face when he pursed his lips and scrunched his eyes tightly. "We were simply discussing what we owe him."

Balin could see the struggle Thorin was having with himself. His brows furrowed and he almost looked annoyed. If he kept this up, Balin was sure he would soon turn different colors. "So that's not what you mean to talk about." Thorin let out a breath he had been holding for far too long, "No. Something….else…"

"I'm not a mind reader, laddie. Just come out with it, when you're ready of course." Every nervous habit he had begun to slip out of him at once. His foot tapped, his hand was running through his hair, he bit his lip, and it became all the more painful for Balin to sit there and watch his friend crumble. Something must really be troubling him.

Thorin spat out breathlessly, "He said…." Balin leaned in closer to rest his arm over Thorin's shoulders. "Yes, he said what, lad?" He heard slight murmurs from Thorin.
Thorin cursed himself under his breath. 'Why can't I get this out? Damnit, he's waiting! Come on Thorin, you're being ridiculous!' "He said he was lonely."

There was a thick silence which put Thorin's nerves even more on edge. He couldn't even think of anything else to say. What he managed to get out wasn't exactly a question, and Balin didn't know how to respond. Suddenly there was the crashing of pots and a short yelp, most likely belonging to Bilbo. Thorin jumped up and ran to the door until he heard Bilbo's voice yell, "Everything's fine, don't worry!"

Balin could see it now. Thorin cared a lot for their host, but how would he continue…

~

Frodo jumped awake. He was on his feet in seconds. "Sam? Sam! Where are you!?" Sam crawled out from behind the chair and immediately had his head rammed by his friend's knee. He fell to the floor and Fili, Kili, and Bofur laughed at him. This startled Frodo, "Where is everyone? Where's my uncle!?"

Bilbo stepped out of the kitchen hearing his nephew's voice. "Frodo, you're awake! Will you be staying for dinner?" Frodo stared at him, but was frightened by the eight men who poked their heads out from behind him. Then Thorin and Balin stepped out from the back room down the hall, and Frodo lost it, especially at Thorin's annoyed expression. "No, no, I don't think we will. Sam! Get up!" Sam groaned, finally getting to his feet.

"What's going on?" Thorin asked as the two boys ran from the house. Bilbo answered, "I only asked if they wanted to stay for dinner. What did you guys do to them anyway? Whatever, that Gamgee kid deserved whatever it was." Thorin wanted to know more about him, so he enquired, "Why would he deserve to be tied up by Fili and Kili?"

Bilbo turned around, completely surprised. "Tied up? My gosh, why would they do such a thing? But that Gamgee…I had the two boys over one day long ago. I had them in the separate rooms, but they woke me up one night, and I knew they moved to the same bed. My poor sweet Frodo, corrupted by some fat boy." Balin didn't want to question which bedroom they moved to, but Bilbo answered anyway. "I never could remove the stain from the right room's sheets."

Balin turned away with his fears being true, which Throin found greatly amusing. The men who had previously helped in the kitchen resigned to the living room. Bilbo returned to dinner, and Thorin followed, seeing this as his opportunity to talk to him more. "I haven't a clue what my nephews were going to do to those two. And maybe you shouldn't have said that about the sheets. I'm sure old Balin will be sleeping on the floor tonight."

Bilbo giggled, which strengthened Thorin's confidence. "Sometimes I don't know when to shut my mouth. Like what I'm about to say next! Do you think that your nephews would have sexually harassed them?" Thorin stared out the window. "Most likely. That sounds like something they would do."

Bilbo bobbed his head and shuffled a bit on his feet. "I can tell. Are they together? They have the same look in their eyes as my nephew and that wanker have." Thorin cleared his throat. "Yes, they are. Does that bother you?" He may not be extremely close with his nephews, but he wasn't going to let some prat he barely knew talk awfully of them. "No, not at all. I've had to deal with Sam and Frodo long enough, I don't think anything could bother or even disturb me anymore," he concluded with another laugh.

Thorin looked to the floor now. He didn't know how to feel talking about this sort of thing with him. It seemed they came to this topic very quickly. "Can you set the table, please?" Thorin stood to get out plates and silverware. "Does it bother you?" Thorin raised his brows and scoffed. "Not at all. They can do whatever the hell they want. As long as I don't have to be in the middle of it."

Bilbo moved the food from the pots and pans into serving dishes, moving them to the table that was beautifully set by Thorin. Thorin turned to find Bilbo staring straight at him and felt nervous. "So…are you going to go out there and get everyone, or will you just stare at me?" Thorin quickly moved out into the hall and brought everyone in.

He'd definitely have to get the rest from Balin tomorrow.