Chapter 16 – The moment of truth
Bilbo spent the rest of the day deep in thought, trying to come up with a way to approach Thorin that wouldn't make the dwarf run for the hills. In the end he decided that honesty would probably be the best policy. After the dinner was done and most of the Company had gone to the common room, Bilbo gathered his courage and went to knock on Thorin's door.
As he waited there for the dwarf to open the door for him, he tried to calm down his rising nervousness with the thought that the worst thing that could happen to him behind that door would be for Thorin to reject him. Dís didn't think it was very probable, but Bilbo was willing to give Thorin the benefit of the doubt. The unpleasant thought made Bilbo's stomach fill with ice and he almost turned on his heal and fled, but his stubbornness held him in place. He had already rejected the dwarf's offer once, so he thought that it was only fair if this time it was him who put his head on the chopping block.
Thorin opened the door, the look of surprise evident on his face when he saw Bilbo standing there.
"May I come in?" Bilbo asked. To his great relief the room appeared to be empty. Good. It this went badly after all, there would be nobody to witness the failure.
Thorin nodded, stepping back from the doorway. Bilbo tried to remember how to walk. He had never been so nervous in all his life. He stepped over the threshold and crossed the room to stand next to Thorin's desk, where he turned to watch Thorin close the door behind him.
This was it. The moment of truth.
Thorin remained standing by the door with an expectant expression on his face. Bilbo took several calming breaths, belatedly realizing that he had no idea how to do this.
"I had a very illuminating visit from your sister today," Bilbo began, saying the first thing that came to his mind. "She told me a few things that I have been unaware of."
"Such as?" One of Thorin's eyebrows shot up. It was clear that the dwarf wouldn't make this easy for him. Bilbo supposed that it was only to be expected, considering the way he himself had reacted the last time they had had a conversation like this.
Bilbo took a step towards him, then stopped. He figured it would be better to remain where he was in case his offer wasn't welcome after all.
"Apparently everyone except me lives under the impression that the two of us are courting." He tried to keep his voice as neutral as he could, but Thorin still closed his eyes briefly, as if he was preparing for a defeat. That little show of weakness gave Bilbo the courage to continue.
"If it's any excuse, I had no idea what you were doing, because nobody bothered to explain anything to me," Bilbo said softly. "I knew nothing about dwarven courtship when I came here and what I did learn didn't help me with this situation in the slightest." He raised his head to look Thorin in the eyes. "I am not normally this clueless about things, but I have little experience with romantic gestures of any kind and you have never been easy to read for me."
"I am still not sure, what is the purpose of your visit," Thorin said carefully. Bilbo bit his lip, taking a fortifying breath.
"I am aware that this is a highly inappropriate request to make, since I lost any claim I might have had on your affections when I rejected your offer five years ago, and that you are fully within your rights to refuse me, but if you are amenable, I would like to court you." He said it all in one breath and felt utterly exhausted at the end, like he had just pushed an enormous boulder all the way to the top of the mountain.
"What did you say?" Thorin's face was still unreadable, but he took a step towards Bilbo, something like hope beginning to bloom in his eyes.
Bilbo raised his chin.
"You can laugh at me if you wish – you would be justified in that, but I like you and I would like to court you, if you are open to the idea."
Thorin's breath left him in a whoosh.
"I was not sure if I heard you correctly the first time." He gave Bilbo a searching look. "Are you aware what you are offering me?"
"I have a pretty good idea." Bilbo nodded.
"If that is the case, then my answer is yes," Thorin said, a smile lighting up his face. "Yes, I accept your offer of courtship."
Bilbo sank back against the desk, his legs suddenly having trouble holding up his weight.
"Oh thank Valar. I was half convinced you would throw me out again if I did this."
"No," Thorin said, crossing the room to stand before Bilbo, "I could never treat you like that again."
"I'm glad to hear it," Bilbo smiled at him. "I think this is the bravest thing I've ever done, stealing from the dragon included."
Thorin raised his hand slowly and laid it on Bilbo's cheek.
"I admire your courage in coming to me."
"I am so glad you said yes," Bilbo told him. "You have no idea."
"No, I do not," Thorin said quietly, stepping closer. "Tell me what made you change your mind."
"Dís paid me a visit in my quarters this evening," Bilbo said. "She came to inquire why I wasn't responding properly to your courtship." He made a face. "Of course, until today, I had no idea that there was any courtship taking place at all."
"I was aiming for subtlety," Thorin said with a crooked smile. "I can see now that it was not the best tactic to choose."
Bilbo laid a hand on Thorin's chest, enjoying the steady drum of heartbeat under his palm and the fact that he could finally touch him.
"It would have been a fine tactic under normal circumstances, if it wasn't for the fact that I had no idea what dwarvish courting looked like and I was convinced that you were just being friendly. You can hardly blame me for not looking for any clues from you."
"Dís tried to warn me that my tactic might not work, but I refused to listen to her," Thorin admitted. "I believe I owe her an apology."
"We both owe her a thank you," Bilbo said, sliding both hands to Thorin's shoulders. Thorin wrapped his arms around his waist, drawing him into an embrace. Bilbo went gladly, burying his head in the dwarf's neck.
"I hoped that if I impress you enough, you may become tempted to make the necessary step yourself," Thorin murmured into Bilbo's hair.
"Oh, I was tempted," Bilbo told him. "You have no idea how tempted I was, but I was convinced that you would never be interested in me again, so I kept myself from approaching you."
Thorin sighed.
"It was...frustrating to see the difference in your behaviour when you talked to the others compared to when you spoke to me. You were always so formal in my presence. I found that I did not like it, especially after I saw how you act with my nephews." He pulled back a little to be able to see Bilbo's face. "There is truly nothing between you and Kíli?"
Bilbo laughed, shaking his head.
"No. I found out today that he was trying to make you jealous on purpose, so that you would make the first step."
"He did make me jealous," Thorin admitted. "Watching you two together felt like he was parading you under my nose."
"I think he did it as a revenge for my banishment," Bilbo said.
"He couldn't have chosen a more effective way." Thorin's gaze slid to Bilbo's mouth. "May I kiss you?"
Bilbo gave him a smile.
"I thought you'd never ask."
He was still smiling when Thorin brushed his lips against his mouth. A sharp thrill ran through Bilbo's chest at the first contact and he pressed himself closer, eager to join the gentle dance. He closed his eyes and let himself enjoy the sensations – soft lips against his own, large hands holding his waist in a gentle grip, a slight scratching of beard on his chin. The room around them disappeared as his entire world shrunk into the single point of contact and the sensual touch of their lips together.
Bilbo slid his hands from Thorin's neck into his hair, and felt a thrill of excitement when the dwarf shivered against him. The hands on his waist tightened a bit, drawing him closer and he felt an answering shiver run through his own body when they finally stood pressed from head to toe. The kiss deepened and one of them moaned at that, but Bilbo was too far gone by that point to find out which of them it had been.
The kisses seemed to go on forever, nearly drowning him with the intensity, but he found that he didn't wish them to stop. Bilbo had no idea how long they had kissed – possibly hours. They would have probably kissed the whole night, if Bilbo hadn't remembered the half-joking promise Kíli had given him on his departure just as Thorin's hand started to slide lower to rest possessively on Bilbo's backside. Bilbo pulled back from the kiss with a small sigh of regret.
"As much as I would love nothing more than to stay here and continue this pleasurable activity, I am half-convinced that your nephews are spying behind the door, prepared to drag you away from me if you so much as look at me the wrong way."
Thorin gave the door in question a weary look.
"You are probably right. I think I will have to invest in some quality locks in the future."
"You should," Bilbo told him with a grin. "I don't fancy being interrupted by your relatives every time you come within five feet of me." Something occurred to him.
"How does this courting business work? Did we just start courting today, or have we been courting for weeks? Everybody seems to think it's the latter case."
"Would you mind terribly if we let them think that?" Thorin asked, watching Bilbo's face closely.
"No," Bilbo smiled, tucking a strand of Thorin's hair behind his ear. "It will save us the trouble of having to explain why you couldn't court me in the first place. The fewer people know about our unfortunate incident, the better. We can just tell the rest that I was extremely clueless and needed some encouragement."
"I am sure Dís will be happy to take the credit for it," Thorin told him. Before he could say anything else, the side door to the chamber cracked open a bit and two curious heads poked into the room.
"Oh, good, you still have your clothes on," Kíli said, striding into the room. Bilbo didn't bother to move from his place in Thorin's arms.
"Why are you two here?" Thorin asked his nephews, the displeasure clear in his voice.
"We are here to chaperone you," Fíli announced brightly. "To make sure there's no funny business going on."
Bilbo buried his head into Thorin's shoulder, laughing.
"What did I tell you?"
"Your prediction was frighteningly accurate." Thorin said, turning to glare at the dwarves. "Are you two going to stand here all night?"
"If we have to, yes," Fíli said. "We have already left you alone for long enough."
Bilbo raised his head to give Thorin an amused smile.
"I don't think we can convince them to leave."
"Are you two finally together, then?" Kíli asked, looking between them.
"What do you think?" Bilbo retorted, giving Thorin's arms around his waist a pointed look.
"I think we interrupted you just in time," Fíli said, grinning.
Bilbo and Thorin exchanged an amused glance at that, but Bilbo's amusement didn't hold long. Thorin's eyes held a dark sort of promise when he looked at him and Bilbo realized that he was very much looking forward to having that promise fulfilled. Soon, if possible, and definitely without any nosy relatives around to barge in on them. He remembered Thorin's words about sidestepping tradition and couldn't help but wonder just how far Thorin would be willing to go to defy that tradition. Judging by the look in the dwarf's eyes, tradition was the last thing on his mind at the moment.
"Oh, for Mahal's sake, get your minds out of the gutter," Kíli's voice cut through their reverie. "There are young impressionable people in the room, you know."
That made Bilbo chuckle.
"Nobody's forcing you to be here," he told Kíli with a sly grin.
"Mum would skin us alive if we left you alone," Fíli said. He turned to Thorin. "You know the customs as well as we do. Can't you at least maintain the illusion of propriety and wait until the announcement before you jump each other?"
Thorin released Bilbo from his arms with great reluctance.
"Very well, I will let you escort him back to his rooms."
He walked with them to the door, where he drew Bilbo close for one last goodnight kiss. Bilbo went more than willingly and couldn't help but laugh when he pulled back and saw that the dwarves had both clapped their hands over their eyes. The young dwarves were both pretending to be disgusted by their display of affection, but Bilbo didn't miss that they both had pleased grins behind their hands.
"Come now, Bilbo," Fíli said, ushering the hobbit out of the door. "You two can see each other tomorrow."
Bilbo gave Thorin one last lingering glance before he let the king's nephews accompany him to his room, listening to their excited chatter with only half an ear. His head was full of the events of that evening.
Had he really proposed courtship to Thorin? And Thorin had accepted? Just yesterday he would have thought such a thing impossible, and yet here he was, engaged to the king of Erebor, with his lips still tender from the Thorin's kisses. He fought the urge to do a happy dance in the corridor and instead just smiled, knowing that he must look a bit silly, grinning at nothing in particular.
Fíli and Kíli gave him a single glance when they arrived at his door and wished him good night, wisely concluding that there wouldn't be much reasonable conversation with him tonight. He waited for the door to close before he spun in place in sheer joy, the endless world of possibilities opening before him.
Finding out that Thorin returned his feelings had been the best things to happen to him in years. He couldn't wait to see the faces of his friends when they found out about it.
It took him a long time to fall asleep that night, his mind filled to bursting with happiness and excitement, but when he did, he dreamt of Thorin.
°O°O°O°
Bilbo woke up at the crack of dawn with a smile on his face. It took him a few heartbeats to remember why he felt so happy, but when he did remember, he was flooded with a wave of giddiness so strong that he had to clutch his blanket close, his smile getting impossibly wide.
He was engaged to Thorin Oakenshield. He, Bilbo Baggins of the Shire, had finally gotten his wish. He had never even imagined something like this when he had left the Shire half a year ago, but now that he had this, he wouldn't exchange it for anything in the world. Let the dwarfs keep their treasure – this feeling alone was more precious than all the gems in the world.
Breakfast was still almost an hour away, so he took his time getting ready, giving into the temptation to wear the new clothes that the tailor's boy had brought him yesterday. He was pleased to discover that they fit him well and the materials had been crafted with obvious skill. Bilbo had never been very vain about his appearance beyond his fondness of nice clothes, but he took the care to look into the mirror now, checking for anything out of place.
The air around him seemed lighter than usual when he walked to the dining hall and he smiled pleasantly at the passing dwarfs, most of whom smiled back, much to Bilbo's astonishment. He decided to ponder that mystery some other time, because he had just reached the door to the dining hall. Bilbo walked in to find all the dwarves huddled together in the middle of the room, where they appeared to be squabbling over something. It was Nori who spotted him first.
"Bilbo!"
"Is it true?" Glóin demanded.
"Is what true?" Bilbo asked, confused.
Before anyone else could say anything, the door on the opposite side of the room opened and Thorin walked in. Their eyes met and Bilbo could feel that familiar flutter in his chest at the contact. He wouldn't have been able to keep the smile off his face even if he tried.
"Oh, Mahal, finally," Dwalin said. Everybody turned to look at him. The burly dwarf shrugged. "I'm not blind."
Bofur gave a loud whoop.
"Yes! I was right."
Nori, too, looked very pleased, but the others started groaning, shooting Bilbo and Thorin grumpy glances. Bilbo felt a little taken aback. Were they not happy for him?
"They lost the bet," Balin told him with a smile, coming to stand next to him. "All the others bet that you two would be together ages ago."
"Sorry to disappoint," Bilbo told them with a grin. "I am afraid that I can be terribly obtuse at times."
A few of the dwarves gave him half-hearted glares, but it was obvious that none of them were truly cross with him. Bilbo stopped noticing them right after because Thorin had walked over to him, looking at him with warm, amused eyes.
"I believe now would be a good time to inform our friends of this new development."
Bilbo smiled at him.
"They all seem to know already, but you can go ahead, if you wish."
Thorin offered him a hand, which Bilbo was only too happy to take. They turned to face the others with their clasped hands between them and found the dwarves all wearing wide grins.
"You may have probably guessed already," Thorin began, "but tradition requires that these words should be said out loud to prevent any misunderstandings." He and Bilbo exchanged a brief, amused glance. Thorin took a breath. "Bilbo and I have started courting."
A loud cheer went up at that, as the dwarves clapped and stomped and whooped. Bilbo realized that he had almost forgotten how much racket a band of dwarves could make when they put their minds to it and had to smile when he saw that his friends were all happy for him.
Once they stopped their cheers, the dwarves all huddled around them to congratulate them on their courtship. Bilbo had to withstand several hugs and many vigorous pats on the back, but didn't mind in the slightest. He was a little surprised by how happy Thorin looked standing there, surrounded by the acceptance of people whom he had finally started to call his friends. They would have stood there for a good while longer, if Bombur's mother hadn't arrived with a dangerous gleam in her eyes and ushered them to the table.
"Are you two really together?" Ori asked once they were seated. Despite the previous announcement, he still looked a bit doubtful. Bilbo nodded. Ori threw a furtive look in Thorin's direction before he leaned over the table in an attempt at discretion. "And you like him?"
Bilbo noticed the curious glances sent his way and decided to have a bit of fun.
"No, of course not," he said with a perfectly straight face. "I'm only doing it for the money." He took a few seconds to enjoy the shocked silence that had fallen over the table before he continued. "Oh, and the title, we can't forget that. I have always loved fancy titles."
Fíli and Kíli started snickering at that, catching onto the joke. Balin looked rather amused as well, but poor Ori looked terribly confused. Bilbo kept his face straight with great effort.
"Though I suppose the good looks don't hurt, either," he finished, shooting an appreciative glance in Thorin's direction. Bilbo could no longer hold his serious expression and started chuckling at their reactions. "Oh, if you could only see your faces right now. I can't believe anyone thought that I was being serious."
"You've been spending far too much time with Fíli and Kíli," Dori said, shaking his head. "You used to be such a terrible liar."
"That's what you get for betting on me behind my back," Bilbo told them. A few of them had the good grace to look a bit ashamed for keeping it from him, but most of them were just amused by the whole thing.
The rest of the breakfast passed in a merry mood, as the dwarves decided to tell Bilbo all about the bet and the many unsuccessful guesses they had made about him and Thorin. Bilbo couldn't help but shake his head in exasperation even as he laughed at some of the tips they had made, because he found the idea that his friends could find so much entertainment in his private affairs utterly ridiculous.
Thorin came to him after the breakfast was over, leaning close to avoid being overheard.
"There is something I would like to show you. Will you come with me?"
Bilbo gave him a smile.
"I will be happy to."
As they walked through the corridors, Bilbo noticed that Balin had joined them as well, probably out of respect for the traditions, but was discreetly keeping enough distance for them to talk in relative privacy. They took to route to the royal wing of the living quarters and for a short moment Bilbo thought that they were going to Thorin's chambers, but then the dwarf passed his own door, turned right and led Bilbo to another, similar door around the corner.
Thorin stopped by the door and gestured for Bilbo to go first. To his surprise, Bilbo noticed that the normally unflappable dwarf looked rather nervous. That discovery only strengthened Bilbo's curiosity, making him eager to find out what was behind that door. He put his hand on the knob and turned, revealing a beautiful, fully furnished sitting room.
Bilbo took a moment just to look at the room. It had a similar layout to his own sitting room here in Erebor, but was a lot bigger and the furniture looked more luxurious. Everything was done in soft shades of brown and beige and with a jolt Bilbo realized that the whole layout looked a lot like his own home back in the Shire. He shot a questioning look at Thorin, who gave him a nod and a smile, giving him a silent permission to explore to his heart's content.
The wall opposite the door was dominated by an enormous marble fireplace that had a large fur rug laid in front of it. There were several armchairs standing around the fireplace and a massive wooden desk in the corner. One of the walls was covered with bookshelves, some of which were already full, but several still stood empty, awaiting new volumes. Between the armchairs and the bookshelves was just enough free space for a weaving loom.
There were four doors leading out of the sitting room. Going out on a limb, Bilbo chose the door on the right and couldn't help his blush when he discovered the enormous bed that stood proudly by the opposite wall. The bed quickly slipped from his mind, however, when he saw the door to the balcony. As if drawn by some foreign force, he made his way over to the door and let out a small gasp of wonder upon seeing the large terrace beyond.
This was nothing like the small stone balcony in his room – the terrace was at least twenty five feet long and fifteen feet wide and covered with soil that just begged him to plant something. Most of the terrace was protected from the wind by the tall mountain walls on each side, but the top was open, allowing the rain to fall freely. Bilbo experienced a strong pang of disappointment that it was December and he would be forced to wait for at least another three months before he could start working here.
Bilbo finally turned to find Thorin standing by the balcony door, watching him.
"How do you find these rooms?"
"They are wonderful," Bilbo said truthfully. "It must have taken a lot of work to put all this together."
"They are yours," Thorin said, crossing the terrace to stand before him. "These rooms have always been meant for you." He probably saw Bilbo's puzzled look, because he reached out and ran a gentle hand down his face. Bilbo leaned into the touch.
"These quarters used to belong to my grandmother, back before the dragon came," Thorin explained. "She loved gardening and would spend many hours on this terrace. She had a beautiful garden here, full of flowers and herbs and rose bushes. I used to come here all the time and watch her work when I was a boy." His eyes turned distant for the moment, filling with fond memories. "After we reclaimed the mountain, I had started to hope that one day they might host a different occupant."
When Thorin finally gazed back at Bilbo, the light in his eyes made it suddenly hard to breathe.
"These were prepared for you years ago," Thorin continued. "I had hoped that when you finally come to Erebor and Balin puts you in them, you will like them enough to be tempted to stay in Erebor permanently." He chuckled suddenly, a sparkle of humour entering his gaze. "Of course, Kíli had to go and thwart those plans of mine, so I had to resort to other methods."
Bilbo gave him a soft smile.
"Kíli was acting on my wishes when he did that. Before we came here, I had asked him to put me somewhere out of the way, since the relations between us were still strained at the time. I had no idea what to expect from you, so I thought it would be better if we crossed paths as little as possible." He saw Thorin's downcast expression and hurried to erase it. "Of course, at that time I had no idea about any of this. If I hadn't been already planning to move to Erebor permanently, this garden alone would have probably convinced me to stay."
"You like it, then?" Thorin still looked a little unsure. Bilbo took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"Yes, I do. Very much."
Thorin drew him into an embrace.
"I am very glad to hear that."
Bilbo wrapped his arms around the dwarf's back and enjoyed the warmth and closeness.
"Are you still planning to go travelling in the spring?" Thorin asked a moment later.
"Maybe, but certainly not this spring," Bilbo told him. "All this soil will need an awful lot of work before it looks like a garden."
Remembering Thorin's previous question, he got a sudden idea. He pulled back a little to give the dwarf a mischievous smile.
"You know, you could come travelling with me," he told him. "After all, Thranduil invited you to his palace, too." When Thorin's face scrunched up in automatic distaste, Bilbo continued. "I bet it's the last thing he would expect. Imagine all the ways you could annoy him."
"That thought should not be so tempting," Thorin tried to hold on to his expression of disgust, but a smile was starting to tug at the corners of his mouth.
"And of course we have to invite him to the wedding." Bilbo started chuckling at the image. "Can you imagine his face when he finds out about it?"
Thorin shook his head in disbelief.
"I had never thought that I would ever willingly host elves in my mountain again."
Bilbo's smile widened.
"If you wanted to make this even better, you could try inviting Elrond, too. I have long suspected that Thranduil has some sort of inferiority complex towards him. He has never liked it when I mentioned him. This should be so much fun to watch."
"And here I thought that it were my nephews, who were corrupting you into mischief." Thorin gave him a fond look. "Now I have to wonder if it was not the reverse."
"No, they are entirely to blame," Bilbo said with a straight face. "Before I met you lot, I was very respectable, predictable and terribly boring to be around. You dwarves have corrupted me with your adventures." He sighed. "I wonder what I would be doing now if I hadn't come with you back then. Probably sitting in my kitchen, bored out of my mind. Shire can be dreadfully dull on the best of days. The last few winters seemed endless." He gave Thorin a look. "You know, if Kíli hadn't come in April, I would have packed my stuff and left for Rivendell. It was only good that Kíli came and presented me with a better option."
"I sent him over with the invitation because I knew that if he gave it to you, you would be at least willing to read what I had to say. He has always been able to talk people into getting his way," Thorin said with a smile.
"Yes," Bilbo nodded. "He was quite adamant that I read your letter. I found that I couldn't refuse him when he had come so far to deliver it."
"It took me weeks before I was able to write something that you would not toss into flames as soon as you had opened it," Thorin admitted. "In the end I decided to only send a simple invitation, because all my other attempts ended up sounding angry, or far too personal. I was fully aware that you would not have been in the mood to read something like that."
"No," Bilbo said quietly, "not back then." His voice trailed off as he pondered the meaning of what Thorin had just told him. Had he just admitted that he had been writing Bilbo love letters? He looked up into those blue eyes. "Do you still have those letters?"
"Yes, but only a few." Thorin looked rather embarrassed by the confession. "I can show them to you some time, if you wish."
"I do," Bilbo smiled. "There will be plenty of time over the winter to read them." Something occurred to him. "I wrote a book about our adventure," he confessed in turn, "but nobody has read it, because it's not finished yet."
"Would you be willing to let me read it?" Thorin asked.
It was Bilbo's turn to feel embarrassed.
"You can read it, but I am afraid you won't be pleased with what you find there," Bilbo told him with a grimace. "None of us are portrayed in a very flattering light. I wasn't in the best of moods when I wrote it and it shows. I will have to rewrite some of the parts before it's fit for reading."
"I would like to read it nonetheless," Thorin said. "I am well aware that my conduct was at times less than exemplary. It will give me an opportunity to see myself through the eyes of someone else."
"Very well," Bilbo said. "But I have to warn you that the author of the book didn't have a very good opinion of you when he met you."
"I would be more surprised if he did," Thorin said with a wry smile.
Bilbo reached up to run a gentle hand along the edge of his jaw.
"Luckily for you, that opinion has changed drastically since then." He looked around quickly to make sure they were still alone and was pleased to find that Balin had mysteriously forgotten himself in the living room, leaving them without witnesses.
"I would try to convince you of the fact, but I think it will be easier if I show you instead." He leaned forward with a smile and was pleased when Thorin caught onto his meaning quickly, meeting him halfway.
The kiss was just as good as the ones yesterday had been. Their lips met slowly, enjoying the fact that they had nowhere to rush. Every touch of hands and brush of lips still felt as exhilarating as it had been the first time and Bilbo felt a wave of pure joy suffuse him as the kisses continued. The heat of Thorin's body could be felt even through the clothes and Bilbo pressed himself closer, letting the warmth melt away the biting frostiness of the cold December air around them.
Thorin spent a while just running his palms over Bilbo's back with long, slow strokes before he brushed the fingers of his hand over the side of Bilbo's neck, making him shiver. Pleased with the reaction, he did it again before he reached up and tangled his hand in Bilbo's hair, turning Bilbo's knees into jelly. There could be a hundred dragons attacking Erebor at the moment and Bilbo wouldn't care.
Bilbo had no idea how long they had stood there. A good while, probably, because he felt a little chilled when he finally surfaced from his reverie. There was a soft sound of somebody cleaning their throat behind him and when he turned his head, he saw Balin standing in the doorway, watching them with twinkling eyes.
"I see that the garden meets your approval," he said.
Bilbo gave him an amused look.
"Oh yes, the garden is wonderful. I was just admiring it before you came."
From the corner of his eye, he saw Thorin's amused smile, but didn't turn back to him, keeping his eyes on Balin. The old dwarf shook his head in fond exasperation.
"While I am very happy that you enjoy the view so much, you should probably both come back inside before you catch a cold. You haven't even seen the rest of the rooms yet."
Bilbo nodded.
"It is quite cold." He gave Thorin a look. "You promised me a tour of the quarters, did you not?"
Thorin gave him a fond smile.
"I believe I did. I am afraid I got a bit sidetracked in the process."
"Lead the way, then," Bilbo told him.
Thorin put a hand on his lower back and led them both inside, shutting the door behind them. Balin had gone back to the living room, probably to continue his reading.
"That door leads to my own quarters," Thorin informed him quietly, pointing towards a door in the corner of the bedroom that Bilbo hadn't noticed before.
"Does it?" Bilbo raised an eyebrow. "How convenient. It would not look good if one of us was seen sneaking through the corridors in the middle of the night."
"No indeed," Thorin agreed with a glint in his eyes, "hardly proper. It would look strange if you moved to these rooms all of a sudden, but I think nobody will object if you do it after the announcement."
"When do you plan to make this public knowledge?" Bilbo asked.
"I will make an official announcement at my birthday celebration." He looked to Bilbo for confirmation. Bilbo nodded.
"That is as good a time to make it as any." He reached down to take Thorin's hand. "Now come and show me the rest of the rooms before Balin's overactive imagination gives him a stroke."
"As you wish."
To be continued...
AN: Thank you so much to everyone who left comments on the previous chapter! The sheer number completely floored me and I'm super happy that you like the story :)
When I started writing this story, I set myself a list of things I wanted to do with this fic. My main aim had been to write a (more or less) realistic romance between two fully fleshed out characters – to bring them together naturally, without the use of hackneyed plot devices and lazy shortcuts (magical soulmates etc.). There were also things that I wanted to avoid – over-the-top jealousy, inappropriate possessiveness, manhandling (Thorin), turning Bilbo into a woman/doormat, or going the opposite way and making him an all-powerful Gary Stu.
I'm not saying all of these things are bad – some of them can make a compelling story if they are used well (soulmates, for example, can make for a beautiful romance), but plenty of writers use these tropes to avoid having to write actual feelings and meaningful interactions between characters. Whether I succeeded in my endeavour or not will be up to you to decide.
The last chapter will be posted on October 12.