I'm sorry everyone. There was a death in my immediate family and haven't really be into writing. I had intended more for this chapter, but this will have to suffice for now. I will continue to update, but there may be some delays in between.

Fili was tired. He fell asleep no problem. Staying asleep was another matter entirely. As soon as Kili had dropped down beside him, he felt his body return to full awareness. His body felt over sensitized, every nerve ending tuned to the suble movements of the body beside his. Every breath Kili took seemed to radiate through his body.

For the first time in years, Kili faced away from him while he slept. And Fili didn't know how he felt about that. Even when they were separated into beds on opposite sides of a room, they always faced each other. Both brothers needed to be able to see one another if nothing else.

Not being able to feel Kili's breath brushing past his cheek made Fili nervous. While he could see the minute movements of Kili's chest rising and falling, he needed to see his brother's face. Needed to see the stress of the day melt away from Kili's body.

Fili turned onto his back. Thorin had picked an outcropping of a mountain for their rest tonight. As such there were very few trees to block the night sky. Fili loved watching the sky. It was so dark and mysterious. With mischief around every corner.

Reminds him of Kili. With that last thought, Fili fell asleep.

When Fili woke in the morning prior to his watch shift, he wanted to go right back to sleep. Sometime in the night, he and Kili had drifted towards each other. His brother's back was pressed against his chest, and Fili took the opportunity to nuzzle his nose into his brother's neck.

Aule, his brother smelled good. So fresh and clean. It took every ounce of will he had in his body to force himself to pull away from Kili and sit up. And even more when his little brother let out a sigh and tried to shift his body back into him.

Fili shifted to run his hands over his brother, pausing briefly over the hip. Fili bent and breathed in his brothers' scent, then pushed himself away to head over to relieve Ori. A piece of parchment fluttering down to the ground drew his attention. He picked it up, stared curiously at the folded paper, and kept walking.

Fili unfolded the parchment carefully once he was alone and blushed. Someone had drawn a picture. Granted, the picture was innocent. But it showed him curled against his brother. From what he could see, both of their expressions were quite content.

He only wished it was mutual.

The day passed much like the day before. With one exception. All Fili could think about was the picture someone in the company had drawn. He was going to kill whoever drew this particular picture. What if Kili had found it? Oh Aule, what if everyone in the company knew and told Kili? He would die before losing his brother. He had to get control over this and now.

He would have to cut more time away from Kili. Starting today.

Riding apart from his brother was the hardest thing he had every done. He felt so alone without his brother. And honestly, all Dwalin talked about was food and the women he had. It was the longest day of his life.

Fili had to keep reminding himself how important this disassociation from his brother was. He couldn't even look behind him to see where Kili was. He didn't need to. Fili could feel his brothers' dark eyes burning through his back.

By lunch, the entire company was silent. Which was eerie, truth be told. No songs, stories or laughter. Even the hobbit wasn't up to his usual standard. By the time they made camp, everyone was relieved to rest, and to start a new day. Hopefully, the new day would be back to normal.

One member of the company rolled his eyes. What idiots those two brothers were. He had left that drawing for Fili to try and help the two brothers realize what everyone else knew.

But no. The brother's didn't speak at all that night. He would just have to step up the stakes tomorrow. After all, he had three purses' bet on this.