Bilbo ruffled Fili's hair affectionately as the dwarfling slung a borrowed pack over his shoulders, much to the younger's chagrin as he tried and failed to duck his head away from the gesture.
"Bilbo," Fili whined, though the wide grin on his face easily belayed the fact that he enjoyed every moment of the hobbit's affection.
Bilbo simply chuckled at the blonde, tugging him into a tight hug, before taking a step back. Fili's demeanor had changed very much for the better since Bilbo had found him not far from his back yard, huddled under a tree, looking as if his entire world had come crashing down around his head.
"You take care of yourself, all right?" the hobbit hummed, patting the blonde on the shoulder, and offering a warm smile.
"I shall," Fili nodded, unable to resist the urge to pull Bilbo into one last hug.
"And, promise me, if you ever find yourself feeling like before, or even if you simply want to get away, you come here, all right? My door is always open to you," Bilbo insisted, waving a hand when Fili opened his mouth to protest.
The young dwarf let his jaw shut with a click, smiling tearfully at the hobbit, before bowing deeply. "Your hospitality has meant the world to me," he said quietly, casting one last sad smile at the hobbit, before turning to join his uncle near the front garden gate. He couldn't help but continuously turn to wave at Bilbo as they walked until they'd finally rounded a bend, and Bag End was out of sight.
~
"I am sorry for running away," Fili murmured that night as he sat in front of the small fire his uncle had built to roast some fish he'd caught in the small nearby creek.
Thorin glanced up at his nephew from cooking the fish, letting out a quiet sigh at the dejected look on Fili's face. They had spoken little on their journey so far, and it was none but Thorin's fault for it. Years worth of habit was hard to break, but he was trying hard to do just that. Especially knowing that his actions caused his nephew to feel so alone in the world.
"I know you are, lad," Thorin murmured, shifting to sit next to the young blonde, turning the fish over the fire, "I know." He threw an arm over Fili's shoulder, tugging him into his side and pretended he didn't notice as the young prince's shoulders began to shake as tears slowly rolled down his cheeks.
~
"Fili."
The young blonde shrunk a little and half ducked behind his uncle at the hushed sound of his name, glancing up to see his mother looking teary eyed and like she hadn't slept in a week.
"Fili," she repeated, hurrying forward as Fili stepped out from behind his uncle, keeping his gaze firmly on the ground as his mother paused in front of him. He froze a little at the feeling of her work rough fingers brushing through his hair, finally daring to look up to see fat tears rolling down her cheeks.
"My baby," she whispered, tugging him to her chest, rocking him a little as he tentatively wrapped his arms around her to return the gesture. "I thought I'd lost you, too," she murmured into his hair, making his chest ache for the pain he put his mother through.
"I'm sorry, mother," he muttered, letting his clinging fingers slip out of the material of her dress as she pulled away from him.
Dis took a moment to compose herself, hastily wiping tears from her face, before placing her hands on her hips. "As you should be," she huffed, wagging her finger at Fili, "You had us all worried sick! You have no idea what we've been through since you disappeared-"
Fili hazarded a glance up when his mother abruptly cut herself off, watching in curiosity as Thorin stopped his sister's rant, and murmured something to her too quietly for the blonde to catch. Dis' breath seemed to catch in her throat at whatever she'd been told, though, and she turned sad eyes on her son.
"Well," she finally sighed, shaking her head a little as she moved to loop her arm through Fili's, tugging him along into their house, "You're home now, and safe. I suppose that's all that matters right now."
Fili shot his uncle a curious look, only to receive a small smile in return.
~
"Fee!"
Fili nearly fell over once he'd finally made it up to his room, after his mother had insisted one stuffing him full on honey cakes and milk, when he was all but bowled over by his brother.
"Kili! Mahal! Get off me!" the blonde gasped, splayed out across the floor, his brother covering a good chunk of his person with his own bulk, face hidden in his shoulder.
"I'm so sorry I yelled at you," Kili said quickly once he'd pulled himself up and off his brother, offering a hand to help pull Fili back to his feet.
Fili grunted as he grabbed his brother's hand and hoisted himself up onto his feet, brushing dust and dirt off his backside once he was righted. He frowned for a moment at Kili, who looked contrite, before grinned and yanking his brother into a hug.
"It's all right, Kee," he hummed, releasing his brother and grabbing the pack he'd gotten from Bilbo, "I get that I was being a little clingy. I'm sorry for that. You need your space."
Kili stared at his brother for a long moment, before moving to sit on the edge of Fili's bed, watching the blonde tug small memento's he'd gotten from Bilbo out of the pack. "Where did you go?" the brunette finally asked as Fili pulled yet another book from the bag.
"I wound up in the Shire," the blonde replied, smiling fondly as he lined the books up on a shelf, "I met a very kind hobbit there, named Bilbo. One day, I'll take you to go meet him. He let me stay with him, and sort some things out."
Kili allowed a small, lopsided smile grace his lips, enjoying simply watching his brother bustle about with a smile on his face. It had been a rare thing, before, to see a smile on the blonde's face that hadn't been put there by the brunette himself.
"I think I will have to meet this hobbit," Kili hummed, laughing as Fili swatted him with a pillow.
"It wasn't like that, you troll," Fili huffed, rolling his eyes.
"I never said anything of the like," Kili defended, cackling as he was hit with another pillow, ducking his head and running from the room as Fili swore he'd smother him in his sleep.
Fili sighed happily once his brother had left the room, setting his pillows back on his bed. He looked up and out the window at the bright blue sky, humming contentedly to himself. He would take it as a sign. A good omen that the worst was behind him.