And things had been going so well.

I say this, dear reader, simply because shit well and truly decided to hit the make believe fan that day. Heck, I could have used a fan that day. The idea that there was no way of cooling yourself down in Middle Earth, other than jumping into a pond still depresses me.

Anyway, on with how I found myself at the receiving end of one of Thorin's angry tirades, and how the words, 'Well, it's not like I haven't done it before', sent the Dwarf - and I mean The Dwarf - into a kind of shocked, spasm of a silence.

Ugh. You'll find out.

On with the painfully awkward story.

The day (what was left of it after travelling in barrels, arriving in Laketown and then proclaiming my undying and passionate love for a guy) had nearly ended, and I was pretty darn tired after all of my escapes. Mainly, awkwardly walking downstairs to meet the knowing, swanky little Dwarven smiles that had welcomed me.

Even Bilbo had on that smile that so blatantly said knew it.

After Thorin gave me a little nod (he'd already given me the talk, back at Beorn's), Kili went about throwing his arm around my shoulders and making me feel even more in the spotlight. After around ten minutes, though, Thorin had said that he needed to go and see the Master of Laketown to discuss something along the lines of transport to the mountain.

He had then assured us that we would not be leaving yet.

Thankfully.

This, of course, only turned out to be an excuse for the entirety of the company (minus Bilbo and I) to go to the local pub, somewhere called The Gulping Gull. Famous for its fish flavored ale, I'll have you know. Dori had said it had tasted like, well...fish, and not in a pleasant way, either.

'Are you sure you don't mind?' Kili had asked, as the others had yanked on boots and assured Bilbo that he was more than welcome. He was one of them, anyway.

'I'm not invited anyway,' I told him, though not unkindly. 'It's a lads thing, though don't expect me to not go and get blindingly drunk while we're here. I wanna have a taste of some proper, Middle Earth ale'. Kili huffed out a laugh as we stood in the large living room, his hand ind of brushing against mine, half holding and half stroking.

'Although,' I added, seeing the dirt on his face and brittleness of his hair. 'You've gotta have a bath once you get back, dude. You smell, my dear. Kili, go. You've worked so hard so far, you guys deserve to get wasted. We'll talk later'.

'Wasted', apparently, was a word that he had understood. A smile stretched across his stubble ridden face and his hand pulled me in for a kiss, making sure to capture the attention of everyone in the room.

'They'll never stop, now that they've finally entered the bleedin' courtship,' said Gloin, almost knowingly. 'Youngsters,' he had muttered, and Balin gave a funny little chuckle and whacked the red haired man around the back. 'Oi!'

'Like you were never young,' said Balin in return, waving Gloin and Oin out of the door. 'Goodbye Bilbo, Millie. If Thorin returns before us, be sure to tell him where we have ventured off to!'

'Yes, yes,' said Bilbo, very keen to get them out. I'd seen him eyeing the mess they'd already begun to leave, his domestic side kicking in. Kili fingered my braid before pulling himself away from me, adjusting his coat and taking one step backwards.

'You don't exactly smell of flowers either, you know,' he had informed me, before pushing slyly past Bofur, who gave a great snort before closing the wooden door behind them.

'Oh!' I grumbled. 'The nerve-'

After that, they'd come back near dark while I was closed up in my room, having been swept away by Bilbo as he cleaned away the dried dirt and dirty dishes (how we'd made so much mess after one day, I'll never know). The first thing that I'd heard was singing outside my window, and then the door bashing open and then more singing.

My Lord, had they been drunk.

'Drink another ale, oh, drink it while you sleep-'

After hopping downstairs with my hair wet (yes, I'd bathed), I saw that they had all poured into the sitting room, Thorin with them. Bilbo had been sitting on the sofa reading, and looked physically pained at the sudden mess that they were creating. Me? I'd just laughed at them, gripping the banister and watching Oin support Gloin.

'We Dwarves,' slurred Gloin. 'Can hold our drink-'

It was kinda nice to not be the drunk one for once, actually. I said this aloud and Fili spread his arms, one over his brothers shoulder and the other holding an ale that I'm still pretty sure he'd stolen from the pub.

'One day,' he said, blue eyes boring into mine (though, they had been slightly cross eyed). 'We will have a drinking-,' he suppressed a hiccup '-game. We will then see who- Master Baggins!'

His attention was then diverted to the horrified looking Bilbo, who was attacked by a mass of blonde hair and braids, holding his book to his chest. Even Thorin looked vaguely sympathetic. Perhaps he'd been used to his nephews drunken shenanigans. I watched Fili for a moment, as he continued to inquire (slur) as to what Bilbo was reading and if it was any good.

Better than me. Last time I got proper drunk, I convinced my friend that I was bottle of beer and that spilling me would result in my untimely death. Or she'd said that to me. I can't remember.

The Dwarves began to look for food and more ale, deciding that the kitchen was a better place to drink more and to talk and laugh and sing. I thought about joining them, but had decided against it. I was tired, I was pretty sure the barrel incident was giving me a cold and, on top of that, I was about eighty-nine percent sure that I was going to jump Kili, should he take his jacket off like that-

Which is precisely what he was doing, while walking toward me- Dear Lord, it was like an advert for some male perfume that Brad Pitt would appear in and say words like 'mystical' and 'sensual' while stripping out of his tuxedo-

'Hello'.

He was all lazy grins and cloudy eyes, his feet leading him to the foot of the stairs. His leather coat hung loosely in his hand and I could smell the tobacco and ale from where I stood.

'You going to bed?' I'd inquired.

He nodded. Between us, there was that unsaid thing. There was no way of him asking are you going to join me? without wondering if I would take it the wrong way or accuse him of, I don't know, insulting my virtue or whatever. I wouldn't, of course. We'd shared sleeping spaces while we'd camped more times that I can count.

Guys in Middle Earth just didn't ask girls that kind of thing, I guess.

'Go for a bath,' I'd ordered, reaching down to poke his nose and smile, seeing his drunkenness despite how he had tried to stand tall and focus his gaze. Kili, despite his best efforts, acted like as much of a youngster as I did at times. Goofy, lovely little thing that he was.

I turned away from him and started for my room, aware of him staring and aware of my still wet hair and the fact that he was there and mine and that he was walking up the stairs behind me, annoyingly quiet and breathing and-

'As you wish, Milady'.

Who even says things like that? Seriously.

Two flights of stairs later, I was turning to give him what I had hoped was a sly little smile and shut my door just as he had shut his. I mean, it was him who had started the whole staring thing - I'd just gone along with it.

Doofus.

I hadn't been sure what I would wear to bed, honestly. Shi had taken my clothes to wash them, back in Mirkwood, but due to my abrupt departure I'd never been able to retrieve my things again. I almost missed my shirt. It'd been a little part of home. A little part of Earth, of England.

But I couldn't think of that.

Instead, I'd opted for realizing that I had nothing to sleep in, aside from breeches and a shirt which I would be wearing once we left for the Lonely Mountain. Other than that, there had just been dresses. Bloody dresses.

So, stealing clothes off of Kili it was.

Upon opening my door, I could still hear the roaring of laughter, the clattering of dishes, the internal screaming of Bilbo as Fili probably spilled some drink onto the Hobbit. Snort. I was very aware of the fact that it was only Kili and I up two flights of stairs and that I was asking to borrow some of his clothes and oh my Lord, it was all so cliche, wasn't it?

How do you even ask? 'Can I borrow a shirt...and some pants?' or 'You know where those clothes would look amazing? On me'.

How did I bag him again? What he saw in me I will never know.

Three nervous little knocks on the door later and he was answering with a tired sounding, 'Yes?' Which, you know, means come in and tell me what you want, doesn't it? Back me up here, you're meant to poke your head in and talk to the person, not stand outside the door and tell them what's up.

Still, opening the door to his yes had gotten be a free shot of Kili's bangin' bod in all of it's magnificence. I guess the first time I saw him naked, though, I hadn't wanted there to be a look of horror on his face, nor see him yanking a towel to cover his manly parts. Wipe away the steam on you glasses guys, I hadn't seen anything.

I'd just kind of...squeaked out a laugh and snorted at the same time.

'Millie!'

'You said- you said yes!' I'd yelped at him, asserting all of the blame onto his fine little a- 'Yes means come in and oh my God you're naked. I should-' And then I had promptly slammed the door to his 'why are you still talking?' look.

I hadn't been scandalized or anything, just more... embarrassed. I always seemed to get myself into these horrible situations in which others couldn't quite believe how, well, embarrassing I was. But hell, despite my pink face and my clenched fists, I couldn't quite get the inviting image of Kili, covered only by a towel, out of my mind.

I'd stood there for perhaps thirty seconds, going over every single apology or excuse that I could. Flipping heck, how could someone do so many stupid little things in only one lifetime?

'Millie'.

I smiled to myself in a manner that said 'perhaps that's the way he welcomes you to open the door, not with a yes'. Still, I had opened the door with a bowed head, and then looked up a little sheepishly when he coughed.

'Only you,' he'd sighed, and then cocked an eyebrow. 'Is there something that you had wanted?'

Still smiling, I stepped further into his room. '...Yeah. Can I borrow some clothes? I'm all out and-' I coughed back a laugh. 'Sorry. I have the image of your horrified face still imprinted into my mind'.

Kili, now wearing a loose shirt and some trousers, just turned away to throw his towel into the washroom. 'I was not horrified,' he shot back, his hair wet and his shirt blotched damp in places where he had not dried himself entirely. 'I was merely surprised to see you standing in the doorway while I dried myself'.

Say something appropriate. 'I can see where all the hair for your beard went,' I joked awkwardly. My face then melted into a look of frozen disaster as Kili's own mouth quirked into a disbelieving smile. 'No!' I'd yelped, holding up my hands. 'No, no. I meant your chest. You have a hairy chest - oh my God-'

Kili approached me, my head buried into my hands. Carefully, he pried my hands away and looked at me, dark eyes amused and mouth set into a forced, straight line. 'And this is precisely why I have entered a courtship with you and only ever you,' he said. I blinked at him, cheeks burning and heart hammering. 'No one could ever quite make me laugh as much as you do'.

My mouth bent into an embarrassed smile. 'You think?'

'Now and always'.

We didn't kiss or anything after that, not like most do after those cheesy 'always' speeches. We hugged though, and I think that was what we both needed. I still doubt that Kili would have said something so romantic, had he been entirely sober.

'Ale turns you into a right Master of Wooing, doesn't it?'

'Don't ruin the moment, Millie,' he'd said into my hair, though I could feel his mouth curve and his breath huff into a small laugh. My hands linked around his waist, and his around mine. It was nice, to just settle into this comfortable position, the Dwarven singing as our background music.

'Gotcha'.

In the end, he handed me a shirt and trousers that had been given to him in the bundle of gifts from the people of Laketown. As I changed in the washroom, the floor still wet from his bath, he told me of how half of the town had joined them in The Gulping Gull and how none of the Dwarves had to buy a drink for themselves the whole night.

'Thorin didn't drink at all, though,' he said, just as I tied the string of the breeches. 'He seems to think that if he gets drunk, the Master will try and get him to promise some of the gold'.

'From the Mountain?'

'Yes'.

I'd frowned to myself, unsure. 'Would that be so bad? I mean, it sounds like there's a load of money that Smaug is guarding, and it seems proper for us to repay Laketown somehow'. I opened the door and stepped forward, dropping my dress at the foot of the bed. To see Kili already cross legged in the bed, covers thrown back had given me an odd, happy feeling.

Like a little insight into the future, maybe.

Kili glanced up, away from the sword he was inspecting. 'Fili and I don't have the heart to tell Uncle that'. I crawled onto the bed, listening to him. Once I was sitting beside him, soft covers drawn in, he carried on, 'He's seemed especially...withdrawn since arriving here. I think the thought of reclaiming Erebor has made him really think about what he will be taking back'.

Kili shook his head, aware of what he was talking about and placed his sword on the floor, next to the bed.

Taking the hint, I had changed the subject. Burrowing into the covers and placing my hands beneath my head, I had looked up at him. 'Do you think your mum - mother - will like me, Kili?'

He'd been staring at the wall, but upon hearing my question he had looked down at me. 'Yes,' he'd said simply. 'My mother is very much like her brother in the fact that she is very stubborn and very strong willed, but she is also very keen to have Fili and I be happy, above all else. So,' he shuffled, glancing away, cheeks dusted. 'Well, because of that I think that she will like you'.

I'd smiled, but did not tease him. 'What did Thorin say, when you told him about our courtship?'

Kili rested his elbows on his knees and blew a strand of wet hair away from his face. 'He approved, though stressed the fact that I should not let you distract me on the quest. Other than that, he seemed to be quite pleased that the Line was secure in me - as he said - of all people'.

The Line was secure. 'Yeah,' I murmured. 'He probably had a while to get used to the idea. What about Fili?'

Kili smiled and looked down at me. 'I think you can guess'.

'I don't know why I asked'. A pause. 'Is it entirely appropriate for us to be sharing a bed, especially since you're a Prince? Or don't Dwarven traditions, or whatever, care about that kind of thing since we've already vowed that we're gonna get married anyway?'

Kili gave me a mild look. 'Oh no,' he assured me. 'They do care. It's highly inappropriate to share a bed before marriage, but that never stopped Fili, nor any of the other Dwarves-'

'There are some things that I really do not need to know, dude'.

He grinned. 'My apologies'. Finally, he settled down beside me, facing me with his foot just touching mine and his hand resting near my collarbone. 'Dwalin mentioned that he will get back into combat training tomorrow, with you. I think many of the others will join you in the garden of the house, since we all need to grow used to our new weapons'.

'Sounds good,' I'd lied. The amount of cannot be arsed that was supplied at that moment is truly phenomenal. 'Can I, like, cuddle you...or is that too 'inappropriate'?'

Kili looked like he was a resisting a smile, but in the end just let the toothy grin out. 'You may cuddle me, yes'. With that, he had shifted onto his back, held out an arm and let my head rest on his very inviting and nice smelling chest.

'You smell so much better'.

'As do you'.

A quiet smile was shared. 'Mind story-telling me to sleep?'

'Not at all'.

I'd dreamed of funny little things, like water and voices and roads and voices and barrels and shouting. In the deep, murkiness of sleep I could hear a loud voice, but perhaps the voice seemed to go on for longer than it actually had. Still, I was awoken by the thing I had slept on jerking upright and my head flopping into the mattress.

Who dares to awake me from my slumber?

As it turns out, it was Thorin. He stood in the doorway, eye twitching and hand half pointing to something on the floor. I supported myself with my hand and nodded to him, rubbing away my sleepiness.

'Alright, Grumpy?'

Thorin narrowed his eyes and Kili just grunted with worry behind me. 'Do you realize how inappropriate this is, Kili?'

'Huh-? Oh'.

'Uncle,' Kili stressed, fighting a yawn. 'Nothing happened. Millie merely slept in here last night and we spoke-'

Thorin held a hand to his forehead, already clothed in his coat and boots and sword. 'That may be, Kili. Still, it is not proper for royalty to share a bed with his courted when they are not yet married'.

'We shared, er, ground all the time when we were travelling!' I defended, only to have Kili press his hand against my back. 'What difference does it make if we share a bed?'

'Because the first thing that I saw upon walking in here was a discarded dress!' snapped back Thorin.

'Oh - look!' I'd yelped, throwing back the covers. 'I changed into some of Kili's clothes because I didn't have any of my own, jeez'. Thorin looked even more scandalized at my action, and Kili just pressed his hand even harder.

'Millie,' said Thorin darkly. 'Do not make me change my mind about you courting my nephew'.

I slid ungracefully off of the bed and onto my bare feet, pointing a finger at him. 'Oh, as if I would listen, your Majesty'. Perhaps it had been the fact that I had been half asleep, or maybe because I was embarrassed - any of these options could have caused me to act so...irrationally. I guess, still, I could not comprehend how sharing a bed could cause such a reaction from Thorin.

'Sharing a bed between a man and a woman is meant for marriage, girl!'

And then the words came spilling out of mouth, as if they were a reasonable defense. 'Well, it's not like I've never done it before!' Still, I could have gone on some tirade about how a man and a man or a woman and a woman could have shared a bed, too. Something told me that if Thorin was having a bitch fit over just Kili and I sharing a bed, he wouldn't of taken kindly to my modern ideologies.

And then, in my panic, I had slammed the door in Thorin's face. Leaning against it, I waited until I heard angry footsteps before glancing up at Kili's frozen, horror-stuck face.

'I do not think I have seen someone shout at my Uncle like that since he told my mother that Fili and I would be accompanying him on the quest,' he said, climbing slowly off of the bed. 'Millie-'

I held up a hand. 'Yes, okay? I'm not a virgin, haven't been since I was seventeen. But Kili, you have to understand that it's different where I'm from. It's more socially acceptable and a lot of people don't even bother getting married at all, anymore. Please understand-'

'I don't,' Kili said, cutting me off. My stomach gave a horrible twist. 'I don't suppose I will ever understand how your own world works, but I...understand that you are not like many women that I have met, Millie. I understand that you have done things that would not be acceptable among my people, nor think things that I will ever be able to comprehend. When entering a courtship with you I took those facts into consideration and I promised that, despite anything I may find out about you, I will always understand'.

'How are you so bloody perfect?' I near wailed, shoulders relaxing. 'Jesus, I don't-' I threw my hands up, speechless.

Kili just stood before me and smiled toothily, though I could see the worry beneath the look. 'Above anything, I am simply disheartened that it was not me that you shared a moment like that with'.

I looked at his dark hair, his tanned skin, his itchy stubble and his almost green eyes and thought yeah, this is someone I could spend the rest of my life with. Or die alongside. Either way.

He was something that I had not encountered before. He spoke differently, acted gallantly, thought that dying for something like reclaiming his home was the highest honor. He was, perhaps, my own version of a fairy tale Knight. He teased me, treated me like an equal, laughed at my jokes, hardly washed, drank like a fish, ate like a pig. He understood things, tried to pry into my foreign little mind and understand what made Millie Fournier.

And yet, he was quite possibly the reason I hadn't yet lost my mind.

I think that we needed a chapter dedicated to their new-found relationship and, yes, Millie's past 'lovers'. I try to make this story as realistic as I can, and in this chapter I shoved in some of those realistic attributes. Firstly, Millie's virginity.

No, she isn't a virgin. If people don't necessarily agree with that then I understand, seriously. For some, sex before marriage is something that they don't agree with, but please don't see Millie as less of a character because of her choices (that I made). It just seemed to fit with Millie's character that she would have already had sex.

And then, Kili's reaction. I made it clear that no, he does not understand, but he is willing to accept it. His 'I am simply disheartened that it was not me that you shared a moment like that with' comment was so cheesy but omg I could not resist him saying something like that.

Thorin's reaction was something that I thought over. We all know what he has a short temper, so I thought that mixed with his old, Dwarven ideas would create this. If you're a little skeptical, don't worry, I was too but I am writing a conversation between him and Millie in the next chapter. I'm quite excited for this conversation, and you should be too.

Thank you so much for the reviews, much love, my lovelies!

Feedback would be much appreciated. I'm having a 'bleh' week so if some things are a little off, tell me and I shall revise them. Thank you!