This chapter goes out to a friend of mine who's having a pretty tough time. Kilismaiden, this one goes out to you, my lovely.

'Millie, I promised Fili that I would practice with him today. We need to test out our new weapons given to us by the Master. May I please-?'

'No,' I replied immediately, ear pressed against the door. 'We're not going down there for at least another hour. Jesus, what was I thinking, talking Thorin like that? The guy's, like, permanently menstrual. He's probably setting up a load of booby traps to seek his revenge on me-'

'Millie,' Kili practically moaned, beating at the mattress with his palms. He had been sitting on the edge of the bed, still in his sleeping clothes. After our heart-to-heart, I had begun freaking out at the fact that most of the company had probably heard my tirade with Thorin - heard something entirely inappropriate that I had shouted at him.

'Kili, I want you to be brutally honest with me right now,' I'd informed him, fiddling with the end of my long sleeved shirt and pulling away from the door. 'Do you think they heard what I said to Thorin?' I faced him full on.

Kili stalled, an odd croak coming from his mouth.

I'd wailed.

'Firstly I get caught in bed with a Prince, to which they then hear Thorin shouting at me about. Then I inform all of bloody Laketown that I'm not, I don't know…pure!' I'd buried my hands in my hair, becoming even more mortified at the fact that I'd verbally battled with Thorin with bed head.

Kili stood up, apparently having had enough of my wailing and pink faced mortification. 'I think that you should just go and talk to Thorin,' he had told me, standing in front of me as I had leaned against the door, blowing a strand of hair from my face in frustration. With his face so close to mine, I had time to spy out every trace of stubble

I sent him a dry look. 'That would involve facing the rest of them. Will they, like...care?' I added nervously, chewing my lip and peering at him.

Kili kind of swayed from side to side on his heels, mouth half open. '…They will think it odd'.

'Fantastic'. I took a quick look in his direction and said a, 'We are so not sharing a bed until we're married. I can't be doing with protective Uncle Thorin at my heels everyday'.

Until we're married.

Kili grinned brightly and took my face in his hands. 'I haven't even asked you yet,' he had pointed out, tipping his head to keep it at height with mine.

'I know you haven't,' I said, momentarily forgetting about my troubles and woes. Kissing Kili quickly on the mouth, I pulled away. 'And I'm expecting a freakin' amazing proposal, just so you know. Fireworks, my name spelled out in the stars, Fili singing My Heart Will Go On – but nothing too fancy, of course,' I added.

'Of course,' replied Kili, the picture of seriousness. He let go of my face, but did not move away.

There was a pause in which I plopped the back of my head against the wooden door, hands tugging at the loose material of Kili's shirt. 'I should go and talk to him. Clear things up, shouldn't I?' I met his gaze.

'You should'.

I pouted and pushed him gently away from me. 'It's your fault for having such an overprotective Uncle. He's probably worried that I'll destroy his ickle nephews innocence'. I snorted at the dirty look that Kili sent my way, instead ducking, cracking open the door and winking at him before slipping through the wooden frame.

Only to come face to face with Thorin himself.

Cue minor heart attack and tripping over my own feet. 'Jesus, Mary and-' I'd heaved a great sigh, clutching at my shirt. 'Have you been there the whole time?'

Thorin considered me with a level look, his eyes scanning over my sleeping clothes (Kili's clothes – cringe) and finally resting on my frozen expression. 'I've been waiting for you to come and find me. I did not think that you would want to wade through a company of Dwarves to acquire my attention'.

Huh, how considerate. 'Well, yeah. Cheers'.

'Come. I wish to talk with you, Millie,' said Thorin, jutting his chin in the direction of my own room. Without waiting for a reply, the King Under the Mountain started for my open doorway, his boots creaking against the wooden floorboards.

I had been, quite bluntly, shitting myself.

Upon entering my room, I half pushed the door closed, keen to keep it open in case a hasty escape was needed. Thorin stood at the foot of my made bed, hands clasped behind his back while I lingered in front of him, shifting from foot to foot.

Awkward.

'…So-'

'Kili's intentions with you are clear, I know that,' started Thorin, half raising his hand to silence me. 'I have spoken to you once about these matters, and I know that upon reclaiming Erebor you will continue to court my nephew until he turns ninety – this is the usual age of marriage for those of my kind'.

That's not the idea that Kili seems to have, but okay. Despite this, I had almost felt relieved at the idea that I would not be marrying Kili the moment that the reclaiming of Erebor was done and dusted. I mean, I wasn't even twenty yet (two months, ahem) and before meeting Kili...well, the idea of having kids and marrying someone had been the last thing on my mind. I had wanted to see the world first, to move out of my parents house and establish a career for myself.

Then along came Middle Earth: the greatest adventure of them all. And along came Kili, Erebor, the Dwarves, a life set out in front of me-

'And until you are bound my marriage, I do not see it fit for the two of you to share a bed-' carried on Thorin, his tone darkening at the conversation matter. 'Or at least not while I have knowledge of it, nor any others'.

Huh. Alright then.

'Look,' I cut across him, momentarily withering at his hard look. 'Er, sorry. I know that we shouldn't have – I guess it just didn't seem like that much of a big deal after sleeping next to each other for so many nights, you know? And…about what I said to you earlier-'

Once again, Thorin held up his hand. 'I will not try to understand the way in which your mysterious homeland works, but sharing such facts about yourself with my kin will only result in your own reputation being ruined – something that Kili would not take kindly to, nor myself nor any other Dwarf in this company. Millie, it is vital that you understand that'.

My cheeks pink and my stomach churning, I rushed out with, 'I know, I know! I shouldn't have told you that. Just…please don't think any less of me, yeah? It's something that is more accepted where I'm from, I promise.'

Thorin stare softened, but only slightly. 'I will admit that I was not expecting such an outburst from a she-Dwarf as young as you are, but I will not pry. But Millie, Kili is my kin, my sister's son. Tarnishing your reputation would only result in tarnishing his, and already he has grown up with stinging remarks-'

'What?' I decided to ignore the idea of 'tarnishing' Kili's reputation, which, in my opinion, was utter B.S.

Thorin jumped at my less than quiet question. 'Well, you may have noticed that Kili's features are…softer than most male Dwarves,' explained the King, his voice lower. 'He would not like me to share his past with you, but many would call him Elf-Kind, and even accuse my sister of-' He cut himself off angrily, shaking his head. 'But they are bitter lies from bitter Dwarves that you do not need to hear'.

'I don't even have a beard, Millie. Women laugh at me'.

The sentence rung in my ears. 'He mentioned something about that before,' I'd mumbled, brow furrowed. 'I won't tell anyone, alright?' I said, probably a little too harshly. 'Don't want any tarnishing of reputations, do we?'

'I'm glad,' said Thorin, raising his chin. 'I would appreciate it if, when tell Kili asks of what I have said to you, that you would leave out the-'

'-Part about him being bullied by Dwarf brats? Gotcha'. I paused for a split second, keen on keeping up this conversation of admitting things and calming the air between Thorin and me. 'Remember when we were attacked by the Stone Giants?'

Thorin cast his gaze onto me, wry. 'Vaguely'.

'Then you'll also remember my complete spaz attack at you, when I said that you…' Oh God, it was awkward to even bring it up again. 'Well, I said you weren't my King'. Just spit it out, Millie. 'I take it back, dude. I'm pretty proud to call you my King or, like, whatever'. I crossed my arms and coughed awkwardly, brushing away some imaginary dust from my arm.

Thorin nodded slowly, a small smile creeping onto his face. 'I deserved the telling off that you gave me, although it did remind me oddly of my sister'. It's getting kind of weird that people keep comparing me to Fili and Kili's mum. 'I was unfair to the Hobbit, I did not consider that he was so far from home, and that he only ever wanted to help'.

Jesus, cue the romantic ballad and the faraway look in Thorin's eyes.

'Well,' I concluded, stepping backwards toward the half open doorway. 'I'm glad we had this little chat, Thorin old pal. It's nice to, er, clear the air and all that, you know? Now, I'm gonna go meet the others in the garden before Dwalin claps me over the head for not training with Snowthorn-'

I was almost out of the room when Thorin said, 'I will be very proud to call you family one day, Millie Fournier'. I'd paused for a second at that, not quite believing what I had heard.

Sure, the guy wasn't all that accepting about my private dealings, nor was he happy about the fact that I'd shouted at him in hearing shot of the others. Thorin thought that I was a distraction, no matter how much he had tried to downplay it. The guy would never really get over how different I was from most women he knew. But still, he was trying.

A little bemused smile found my mouth as I stopped in the doorway, facing him. 'Er, whatever tickles your pickle, dude'. Why, why, why? 'I mean, thank you'. And then I was bounding down the staircase before I could stammer and blush in front of the King even more.

You want to know what's exponentially awkward?

Walking into a garden (if you could really call the wooden ground outside of our Laketown home a garden) where many of my male companions were swinging swords (axes, knives, etc) at each other, aiming arrows at the wooden fencing, leaning against the house or just scoffing loudly when I walked out of the back door, which swung shut loudly behind me.

Dori smacked Nori, who had elbowed Ori pointedly in the side. The thief (yes, I knew of Nori's less than angelic past. I mean, why was Bilbo hired as the burglar again?) just bit back a smile at Dori's disapproving look. Ori didn't quite know what to do with himself, aside from trip over the sword that had lain at his booted feet.

'Smooth,' I'd snorted, glad that the other Dwarves had the decency to not look at me. As I made my way over to Kili and Fili in my breeches and shirt, I had noticed Bilbo training with Sting, a very concentrated look on his face. From what I had seen, the Hobbit was overtaking me in the swordplay department.

'How was Thorin?' inquired Kili, lowering his bow and turning his head to face me with his intense gaze and long eyelashes. I'm getting distracted again. A few arrows had protruded from the fence, all bang-on the crudely carved circle that had acted as an aim.

'Aye,' agreed Fili, spinning his sword in his hands and walking a few steps to stand beside his darker haired brother. 'That must have been a telling off to witness'.

I'd glared at him. 'He wasn't...impressed, to say the least-'

'Unsurprisingly,' cut in Fili. 'You two - can't you keep your hands to yourselves?'

'You're not helping,' commented Kili, for once quite serious with his brother. Something told me that Fili was being equally as serious, and embarrassment flooded through me once again. Fili, the playful, wild haired Dwarf also thought that that sharing a bed was almost as bad as doing the deed.

I clucked my tongue. 'Ugh, he's right though. Let's not talk about it though, okay?' I'd searched for something to say, anything. 'Has Thorin stopped badgering you two about staying here?'

Fili, if anything, grew even more serious. 'He mentioned it once again, while you two were sleeping'. The cheeky look was back, thank God. Seriousness hadn't suited him quite so much. He then addressed Kili more than me. 'He's thinking like our family, rather than out leader. We got into quite a heated argument when I outright refused to stay here-'

'Good,' stressed Kili. He shook his head and angrily strung his bow, dark eyes level with the tip as he aimed. 'I can't understand how he would think-' The arrow hit the dead center of the circle. 'That we would stay here, away from the quest that he invited us on!'

'Didn't you guys, like, nag him about it until he said yes?' I'd inquired, eyes lingering on the still quivering arrow that had plunged itself into the wood of the fencing.

'That is the beside the point,' said Fili lightly, walking to pull each of Kili's arrows out of the fence. 'Kee, tell Millie what Mister Dwalin said about her, go on,' he'd insisted, grunting as one particularly hard-to-get arrow dislodged itself from the wood.

I looked to Kili, internally smiling at the mention of Fili calling Kili 'Kee'. 'He said that you're getting much better at your swordplay,' Kili told me, and the smile on my face had blown away any traces of worry.

'-But that you need to keep practicing,' cut in the rough, deep voice of Dwalin. The taller Dwarf had approached us and stood a few steps behind me. 'Come on, lass. Unsheathe that Thorn of yours, and let's see how good you've gotten, aye?'

I think that's when I knew how accepted I really was. I mean, you must know how bad what I had said to Thorin was. It wasn't classy for a Lady to say such a thing to a King. It wasn't expected, nor accepted. Yet, there they were, my Dwarven friends, my Dwarven men. Welcoming me to a group that I hadn't ever thought that I could call home.

I grinned at him from over my shoulder. 'Aye,' I'd agreed, the word slipping awkwardly from my English accent. Drawing Snowthorn from my side, I'd glanced over to Kili. 'Wanna fight?'

He'd faltered.

'Oh, don't go all soft on me just because we're an 'item', or whatever-'

'You tell him, lass!' boomed Bofur, lounging against a chair with a pipe in his mouth. He'd shielded his eyes from the sun, squinting to Kili's unimpressed face. 'Dwalin here taught you most of what you know, perhaps you can help the lass with her lessons, aye?'

He did, in the end. It was a hard training session to make up for the luxury that we had been living in. Kili made me learn some newer, harder moves, while Dwalin made me go over the easier, older moves. I think that Kili was more concerned with showing me the exciting stuff, but Dwalin had just wanted me to learn the simpler stuff properly.

Throughout the ordeal, I'd overheard Dori, once again, giving Ori a telling off about his slingshot. He had, apparently, been made a new one by Bofur. 'A slingshot isn't going to protect you from Smaug, nor The Defiler!'

'We can only hope that scum has lost our scent,' said Fili, swapping pipes with Bofur and Bilbo. The curly haired Hobbit blew a large smoke ring, smiling proudly and raising his eyebrows at the chuckling Bofur. Gloin had been tearing away chunks of bread from a loaf and chucking them between himself, Bilbo and Bifur.

'I wouldn't hope too much'.

Dwalin dropped his sword arm to his side and turned, breathing hard from exertion. Thorin had been standing in the doorway, feet flat against the wooden floor in which the water of Laketown drifted beneath. 'We won't have seen the last of the Pale Orc, I can promise you that,' he carried on. Since Dwalin had turned away from me, I'd plonked onto the ground with my sword clattering beside me, exhausted.

'Where have you been?' asked Balin, one of the few who had carried on sparring, along with Bombur (surprisingly) and Nori.

'I visited the Master of Laketown once again'. The tone in which he spoke suggested his general dislike for the nervous, greedy man. 'He hinted that we are costing him a fortune, and that leaving within a week would be a fine idea. Although I believe that he only wishes this so that we get to our gold quicker, I think he is right'.

'As do I,' agreed Fili, pointedly. Thorin merely looked dejected at his nephews insistence, though I thought that I had spied out some acceptance in his gaze. 'We should get the rest that we need and then make for the Mountain, after the Master has given us ponies and such to travel on. Don't you think?'

'Aye,' said Dwalin.

'When do you think we'll leave - a week then?' I'd asked, wiping away dry sweat from my forehead with the heel of my hand. As Thorin answered my question, I had waggled my fingers up at Kili, who'd bent down to pull me to my feet.

'I...think it best if you did not join us the rest of the way, Millie'.

My head snapped around so fast that I'd nearly topped away from Kili's grasp. Ignoring my...boyfriends (just doesn't sound right, does it?) startled look, I'd blurted out, 'You what?'

'It is too dangerous. Much worse than anything that we have faced yet-'

'No'.

I pulled myself away from Kili, very aware of the stares of the rest of the group. I remember hearing the buzz of the people in Laketown, the rush of water, the chirping of birds.

Thorin paused. 'I am King-'

With pursed lips and the sheathing of my sword, I'd replied with, 'No, I understand that you're King. I'm still coming'.

After a pause, Kili had started, 'Millie-'

I could understand why they were doing it. I was a liability. Sure, I could probably kill an Orc better than I once could have, but I wasn't nearly as skilled as the rest of them. They were worried that they would have to protect me, that I would get in the way, that the journey would be too much for me. 'You're not saying this to Bilbo, and he's had as much of a sheltered life as I have - no offence,' I added to the Hobbit, who'd just held up a hand and said,

'None taken'.

'There is literally no point in arguing with me. If you guys leave without me, I'll just wait an hour and then follow you. But then that would probably end up with me getting lost and running into some kind of trouble, so it really is easier for you to agree with me and then this whole matter can be forgotten, can't it?'

Sass: On.

'I mean, you can't expect me to miss out on totaling a dragon, can you?' Heck, ever since completing Skyrim, killing a dragon had totally been on my bucket list. If I'm to have some cool last name like Thorin, they may call me Millie Dragonborn.

Kili, Fili and Thorin, five seconds after dragon remark: '...What?'

The Line of Durin don't understand my humor.

'You have lovely hands,' I told Kili, sitting at the kitchen table as Bilbo and Bombur served out some stew that they had made between the two of them. I'd liked moments like those, when everyone was loud and drinking ale and sitting around a table, just sharing stories and such. My mood had brightened considerably since Thorin had finally agreed into letting me join them the rest of the way to Erebor. Not that he had any choice in the matter.

Kili had been watching a conversation between Dori and Dwalin, but had looked at me in a bemused manner at my statement. 'I haven't heard that one before, but thank you,' he replied curtly, mouth curving into a smile. He lifted his hand from the table, spying it out. 'They just look like hands to me'.

'Nah,' I insisted, taking the hand between my own and studying the tanned skin, the rough fingertips, the prominent knuckles. 'Very nice hands'. I peeked over said hand to find Kili staring at me, still smiling. 'What?' I'd asked, amused and quite self-conscious. 'It's not like I complimented your freakin' calves. I said you have nice hands, is all'.

'You're so...' He shook his head, then looked back to me. 'Well, you have pretty eyes'.

Of course, the first thing that most people do when they receive a compliment is say, 'Tsk, no I don't!' This is, of course, the first thing that I had done upon hearing Kili's words.

'Nah,' insisted Kili, continuing to look at me. 'Very nice eyes,' he said, mirroring my words. It was Bombur pushing his beefy arm between us that cut away our stare. I'd continued to smile as I had started up a conversation with Balin about the Blue Mountains, while Kili continued to watch Dori and Dwalin talk among themselves.

And even as I spoke to Balin, I could only realize something that had settled into the back of my mind a while ago. That I was hopelessly and very obviously head-over-heels in love with Kili, the doofus that he was. That I was content being with him, talking with him, accepting him and living alongside him. Honestly, I don't know how the fact hadn't settled in sooner, though I think I had known.

And somehow, I couldn't really find anything wrong with that fact.

So, firstly. I GOT TICKETS TO SEE BEYONCE, AS WELL AS TICKETS TO READING FESTIVAL WHERE EMINEM, FALL OUT BOY, JAKE BUGG, ETC ARE PLAYING. August is going to be a very, very good month indeed. Just thought that I would tell you guys that.

I got the idea of Kili and Fili calling each other Kee and Fee off of some fanart on Tumblr and o m g, I love it. I just think it's so personal and intimate and shows the brotherly bond between the two, as well as the history. So, yeah.

Next chapter shall be preparing for leaving Laketown and such. I hope you liked this chapter. Thank you for waiting, and thank you for the reviews!