The Chance of Love
Chapter 11
"Papa," called Theo and Thorin immediately turned his head to see Bilbo join them in the small kitchen. His usual morning routine normally included lying in bed for a few half an hour, then getting dressed, having some breakfast and picking up Theo just before Bilbo had to go to classes.
This morning he woke up when Theo accidentally kicked him in the stomach. He didn't know that his son woke up so early in the morning and he wasn't prepared to get out of the bed the moment he opened his eyes, but Theo didn't stop talking and Thorin knew that his roommate would get angry if they woke him up so he got up and then went through the same routine Theo apparently went with Bilbo every morning.
It was exhausting.
But now they were having breakfast and while Theo was perfectly able to eat without help, but Thorin wasn't allowing him too. His son enjoyed getting people's attention and if that meant playing with food he gladly did so. And after noticing that half of the table was covered in porridge Thorin took the spoon away and decided to feed him himself.
"Hello pumpkin," smiled Bilbo. "How are you doing?"
"Theo, open," interrupted Thorin and offered another spoon to the two-year-old who wasn't able to answer Bilbo with his mouth full.
"I see you have got everything under control," commented Bilbo as he sat down next to Thorin.
"He's two. He's not hard to keep under control."
Bilbo rolled his eyes at Thorin's nasty tone, but he didn't say anything.
"What are you doing here anyway?"
"Am I not allowed to check on my son?"
Thorin didn't answer. The silence stretched on as Theo swallowed spoon after spoon of his breakfast and was finally interrupted when Thorin's roommates joined them. Once the introductions have been made the conversation flow easily.
"You looked tired as hell," said one of Thorin's roommates to Bilbo. "Have you slept?"
"He looks like that because he hasn't slept," interrupted Thorin before Bilbo could say anything.
"Thank you, Thorin, for your input," answered Bilbo back.
"So, it this some new arrangement?" another one asked. "Is Theo going to stay with us?"
"No! No, he's staying with me. It was just one time thing," Bilbo quickly answered.
"Pity, I like having him around."
"I still prefer if he stays with me," told him Bilbo. "I know what he needs. I've been taking care of him since he was born."
Thorin tried to stay out of it, but Bilbo was pushing it. "And I haven't? I have no idea what he needs?"
"Of course you have, but-"
"You're saying it like you're the only one capable of taking care of him," Thorin interrupted. "He's two. It's not rocket science to take care of him."
"I never said that you don't know how to take care of him, but you showed more than once how much he means to you. Being a parent is a full time job and if Theo is in your way you won't go near him."
Thorin glared at him, but didn't say anything.
"What? You know that's the truth." Everyone was staring at Bilbo, but he kept his eyes on Thorin, knowing that it will hurt him. "You pretend that Theo and I don't exist every time Dana is around. Because she feels uncomfortable in our presence."
"Who's Dana?"
"Thorin's fiancée," quickly answered Bilbo. "Don't tell me he didn't tell you he's engaged."
One of the roommates shook his head while others just stared in silence, not knowing whether to stay or to leave as quickly as possible.
"So you two weren't dating when you got… you know… pregnant?"
"Of course not," scoffed Bilbo, "I was drunk and Thorin wanted to win a bet so he slept with me. He hated me for months after he found out I was pregnant. He probably wished he didn't."
Suddenly Thorin gripped his wrist. "That's not true and you know it," he hissed, trying to ignore Theodore, who was watching them with everyone else in the room.
Bilbo winced in pain and pulled his hand back.
"You hated me. You hated the idea of me living with you while I was pregnant. You did everything possible to make me feel like crap! It was hard for you to go to a doctor's appointment with me. You ignored me for most of the time, and when you didn't, you yelled at me and told me many times how I'm nothing more than a living incubator! The whole school laughed at me when they found out I was pregnant and that you slept with me because of a bet! Because I was a nobody, some you could play with and toss away! You made sure I regretted falling in love with you! But what hurt the most is that you allowed them to take my baby away from me when I just wanted to see him!"
Bilbo was on the verge of crying, but Thorin was too hurt to care.
"And then I sold him like cattle. Oh, I forgot, that was you!" Thorin spat back, angry that he and Bilbo were playing this game again.
He felt better after the words left his mouth, but only for a second. Because in that second his mind caught up with him and he realized what he just said. He didn't mean it, he wanted to take it back. But it was too late. Bilbo was already gone and everyone disappeared into their rooms a moment later, leaving him alone with his son.
:::
The rest of the morning passed in a blur. Theo knew something was wrong so he was unusually quiet. He still wanted to play and do all the things they normally did, but without any fuss.
Thorin was dreading the hour when he would have to take him back to Bilbo. Will they be even able to look each other in the eyes after what has been said? Maybe it wouldn't be this difficult if they hadn't had this discussion in front of complete strangers. Maybe it was for the best. They finally got what was bothering them out of their system. But the question was – how many times more will this have to happen before they'll be able to put all behind them?
It felt like they had the same argument every time. They always argued about what happened before Theo was born. When will they start arguing about things that happened after Theo was born? Even though Thorin didn't like to admit it, they had nuclear capability when they were arguing with each other. He hoped they'll be able to lower their guns for Theo's sake, when he knocked on Bilbo's door.
Luckily it was Adrian who opened the door and Theo ran inside calling for Bilbo.
"Everything okay?" Adrian asked.
"Yeah, everything's fine," lied Thorin. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, Bilbo's upset and he won't tell me what's bothering him so I thought you would know something. You know him better than I do, you know when he's hiding something. Maybe you two could talk. He's more likely to confide in you than me…"
Thorin was about to tell him that he's imagining things, that Bilbo is okay, but then Bilbo walked in with Theo in his arms and Thorin knew that Bilbo was far from okay.
He nodded in agreement and Adrian visibly relaxed.
"Take Theodore with you."
"What? No! I don't know what are you two playing, but you're not taking Theo away from me!" interrupted Bilbo and turned away from Adrian, who tried to take Theo away from him.
"Bilbo, we need to talk."
"There's nothing to talk about. Now leave me alone. And you, stop trying to take my son away from me!" he hissed at Adrian.
"You're acting like a child," said Thorin.
"Me? Acting like a child?"
"Yes, you." Thorin walked over and took Theo away from Bilbo and handed him to Adrian. The two-year-old went into his arms without protest. "Making a tantrum every time you have to do something you don't like."
"Don't you dare leave this room," threatened Bilbo to Adrian who completely ignored him.
"Call me when you're done talking."
And with that Adrian left with Theo. Bilbo was furious and was about to go after him, but Thorin held him back.
"What do you think you're doing?" asked Bilbo as he pulled his arm from Thorin's hold. "How dare you take my son away from me?!"
"We need to talk," said Thorin as calmly as he could.
"There's nothing to talk about. We already said everything there was to say." Bilbo looked hurt and Thorin couldn't help but to feel bad about it.
"Why did you do it?"
"Did what?"
"Did what-? Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. Why did you say all those things?"
"Because they are true!"
"So you tell everyone that you meet that I slept with you because I made a bet with Bofur, that I made your life miserable, but you don't say a word about that we dated."
"You're engaged. Dating you is so two years ago. I don't even remember it anymore."
Thorin studied him for a moment. "That hurt, and you know it. We used to be in love."
"That was before you were engaged."
"Again with this!"
"Yes, again! I'm tired of your mixed signals, I had enough! You tell me you love me and the next second you pretend I don't exist."
"Because whenever I let you close you do your best to make me look like a monster. I can't imagine what my roommates think about me now." Thorin ran his hand over his face and sighed. "We have nuclear capability and we're prepared to hurt each other just to prove we're right. Don't you realize we're hurting Theodore. When we were together we were invincible."
"Being amicable isn't in our blood," said Bilbo coldly. "I've realized we're not friends. Friends have to like each other. And after what happened today, I could never like you."
"I could never like you either." Thorin regretted his words the moment the left his mouth. But Bilbo was pushing it and he couldn't help it. Bilbo brought the best and the worst in him. Don't push me away like you always do. Please don't do it.
"I think we're done here. You know the way out."
:::
They were back to ignoring each other. Which was fine – in a way. At least Theo didn't seem to notice that his parents barely spoke to each other. Adrian smiled warmly every time Thorin came for Theo or brought him back, but other than that he didn't try to interfere. Thorin had a feeling he was enjoying too much that he and Bilbo weren't speaking to each other. He didn't know for sure if he and Bilbo were now living together, since he didn't ask, but the fact was that Adrian was always there. He was there with his son or he was being sickening cute around Bilbo and Thorin hated him. He was always polite and never said anything, but he wanted to punch his face every time that bastard wrapped his arms around Bilbo, or worse - kissed him.
As much as he preferred to ignore Bilbo rather than fight with him, Thorin quickly realized they won't be able to avoid each other forever.
"I thought you knew the way out," said Bilbo one day after Thorin brought Theo back to him. Strangely Adrian was nowhere to be seen. "I could show you again if you'd like."
"I didn't come here to fight," told him Thorin calmly. "I just came to tell you that I'll be going home for a few days."
Bilbo stared at him for a few seconds. "And you came here to tell me I'll have to look after Theo all by myself. Don't worry, I'm used to it."
"I'm sure you could. Look, it's Dwalin's birthday-"
"I don't know why you're telling me this," interrupted Bilbo. "I don't care. You can go if you want."
"It's Dwalin's birthday," continued Thorin, "and since Balin can't come he'll be staying with us."
"Don't care."
"Fine, you don't care. I'm telling you this because Ori asked for you and wanted to know if you'll be coming too. And your mother misses you-"
"Why were you talking with mother?"
Thorin shrugged. "She calls me sometimes and we talk. It's mostly about Theodore. And sometimes you," he added.
"My mother calls you so she can talk to you about me?! We're not together! What could you possibly tell her about me that she doesn't already know? You told her about Adrian, didn't you?! You called my mum and told her what happened and you probably describe Adrian as a monster! How could you?!"
Thorin held himself back, otherwise he would start yelling too. "I haven't said a word about Adrian. When she calls we talk about school and how you're doing, nothing else."
"Don't you ever dare tell my mother what happened between us."
"Unlike you, I know how to keep things private," Thorin said back. "So, are you coming with me or not?"
:::
Bilbo insisted for a few days that he won't be going anywhere with Thorin. That he preferred to starve for a few days than to spend a few hours trapped inside a car with him. And that's exactly what happened.
His mum called and asked when is he coming to visit and if he knew that Thorin was coming back for a few days. And he knew he was trapped. He had to go, there was no other option.
He sulked all the way back home, sitting with his arms crossed over his chest and looking out of the window while Thorin and Theo sang all children's songs that were on that cursed CD. Bilbo had nothing against the CD when it was just him and Theo, but when he saw how much Theo enjoyed singing with Thorin Bilbo started hating it.
For crying out loud! Theo had problems forming complete sentences, and here he was singing with Thorin. Or at least trying to. And he was so adorable. And Bilbo hated it all the more. He couldn't wait for the ride to be over.
"Papa sing!"
"No thank you," said Bilbo and looked out of the window.
Thorin rolled his eyes. "The crown isn't going to fall off your head if you sing with him."
"Why would I, since you're doing such an amazing job?!"
"Fine. Sulk. I don't care what you do." Thorin looked back at Theo in the rear mirror and smiled when Theo continued to sing.
:::
The party was in full swing by the evening. It was loud and crowded, but people seemed to be enjoying themselves. Fíli and Kíli were nowhere to be seen, Thorin was, as expected, with Dana talking with some of her friends, Dwalin was laughing about something with his guests, while Bilbo and Ori were in the living room.
"So?" asked Ori all excited. "You and Thorin?"
Bilbo took a sip of his juice before he looked where Thorin was standing with his fiancé. "There is no me and Thorin. There is Thorin and there's me. There is no us."
"But you two are living together-"
"Were," interrupted Bilbo. "We were living together. We're not anymore."
Ori couldn't believe what he was hearing. "When did that happen? Thorin hasn't said a thing."
"A few weeks ago," answered Bilbo.
"What happened?"
"We had a fight."
"Where is Thorin staying now?"
"He asked for another room."
"And you're now living with Adrian?" Ori knew he made a mistake the moment he finished that sentence. "I'm sorry," he said quickly. "Dwalin made me do it. He knows you and Thorin are fighting over Adrian."
"Don't worry, I'm not mad at you. I know you know everything. Thorin probably calls Dwalin every week to complain about me."
"Every day, actually," silently corrected Ori.
"Great. Every day. At least Thorin has someone to talk to while I have no one."
"You could talk with Adrian," offered Ori, "I heard you two were close."
"Me and Adrian are not close-"
"Well, you did sleep with him," Ori pointed out.
Bilbo's eyes widened in shock. "Sleep with him? Who told you that?"
"Thorin did. He said he practically lives with you."
"Who? Adrian? He doesn't live with me. He comes to visit when Thorin comes over," said Bilbo innocently while sipping his drink.
"So you invite Adrian to come over every time you know Thorin will come as well?" asked Ori and Bilbo took a sip of his drink as he nodded. "Do you know how mean that is? Thorin believes you're sleeping with him!"
"Keep it down, will you. I don't care what Thorin thinks."
"Oh really? Then why are you trying to hurt him?"
"Because he hurt me!" snapped Bilbo at Ori.
"And you hurt him! You two are old enough to know how to do the right thing, but you're still acting like kids."
"Excuse me, he brought his fiancé to this party."
"He didn't. She just came and glued herself to his arm," corrected Ori as they both looked to where Thorin was standing with her.
Bilbo shook his head. "It doesn't matter how she came or with whom. They are engaged…" Bilbo didn't get to finish that sentence. "Oh no," he said as he put his drink down and stood up.
"What? What happened?" asked Ori in panic, but Bilbo was already gone.
"Theo! Theo come back!" Bilbo called as he hurried after the two-year-old who easily disappeared in the crowd. This was the fourth time Theo has come downstairs. How, Bilbo did not know, but it seemed that every time Bilbo took him back to bed Theo came back and then it was up to Bilbo to find him and take him back to bed. "Theo!"
"Did he come down again?" asked Ori as he appeared at Bilbo side.
"I don't know how he managed all those stairs, but yes, he came down again. Help me find him, please."
Ori nodded before he too disappeared in the crowd.
"Theo!" called Bilbo again. With the house full like this it wasn't hard for Theo to become an escape artist.
Bilbo was slowly starting to panic. Usually he found his son in a matter of minutes, but now Theo was nowhere to be seen. "Theo!" he called once again, hoping that his son will realize that it's time for his little game to end and come back. It was difficult to navigate through the crowd while looking at people's feet trying to find a two-year-old. He was about to go to Thorin and ask him for help when he spotted his son.
Theo was safe in Thorin's arms with his arms wrapped around his father's neck, while Thorin continued the conversation he was having with the group of Dwalin's guests.
Bilbo let out a sigh of relief before he approached them to take Theo back to bed.
"Papa!" smiled Theo as Thorin handed him over without saying a word.
"Aww... He's so cute," one of the girls cooed and pinched Theo's cheek. "How old is he?"
"Almost two and a half," answered Bilbo as he adjusted Theo in his arms.
The girl smiled. "He your younger brother?"
Bilbo frowned. Theo just called for him. Things couldn't be more obvious than that. "He's my son," he stated plainly and the girl's eyes widened.
"Your son?"
"Yes, my son."
"So you must have had him-"
"When I was seventeen, yes," finished Bilbo before she could. He didn't like her judging tone and he wanted to get as quickly as possible. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to put him to bed."
Theo rested his head on Bilbo's shoulder while he carried him upstairs.
"You're not being a very good boy when you're coming downstairs. And you keep running away from me," said Bilbo as he put Theo on his bed and sat down next to him. "You were supposed to be sleeping."
"Not tired," whined Theo.
"You had a bath, you had three stories and I stayed with you every time until you fell asleep. It's very late and boys your age are all sleeping, except you," added Bilbo and tickled Theo's stomach so that the boy giggled.
"I am two. And a half," said Theo as if that would explain everything.
"Yes, you're almost two and a half and you should be sleeping. You will be tired in the morning if you don't, and we're going to see grandma tomorrow."
"Yay!"
"Now go to sleep," smiled Bilbo. "I'll stay with you until you do."
"Story?"
"You already had three-"
"Please..." whined Theo and how in the world could Bilbo say no to that face?
:::
"Is he asleep?" was the first thing Thorin asked when Bilbo came back downstairs. Luckily Dana was nowhere to be seen.
"Yeah. He got another bedtime story and he fell asleep. Hopefully this time for real."
"He came downstairs three times tonight," pointed out Thorin.
"I know Thorin. What would you have me do?"
"My idea was to lock him in but you told me I couldn't do that."
"You cannot lock a two-year-old in a room!" said Bilbo outraged.
"I know," smiled Thorin. "I was joking."
"It wasn't funny," pouted Bilbo when Thorin continued to grin. "Someone will hear you and call social services and tell them we're locking our son in his room."
Thorin shrugged. "I locked Kíli in his room when he was being particularly annoying."
"That was different. He was your brother."
"I know. Don't worry, I won't do anything stupid. Why don't you go you go check on him in half an hour and then we can take turns to make sure he stays in bed," suggested Thorin. "If he's not there we find each other and look for him. How does that sound?"
"We could do that," agreed Bilbo. "But if he wakes up again, it's your turn to read him another story."
"Fine with me," smiled Thorin.
:::
Bilbo didn't understand why Theo kept waking up. The party wasn't loud, and he was usually a heavy sleeper. If he needed something he would have found one of his parents and just ask for it. But now every time Theo came downstairs he looked for someone who would hold him. It was strange but Bilbo decided not to think about it. He and Thorin were taking turns to make sure Theo stayed in bed and so far Theo continued to sleep like he was supposed to.
It was now the third time for Bilbo to go check on him and he expected to find him sleeping, but sadly he didn't. The moment Bilbo noticed the opened doors he knew that Theo was once again awake. He quickly checked the room to make sure he was right before he hurried downstairs and looked for Thorin.
"Excuse me," he said as he took Thorin's arm and pulled him away from the people he was currently talking to.
"What do you think you're doing?"demanded Dana. "You can't just come here and tell him what to do!"
Bilbo decided to ignore her and spoke to Thorin. "Theo is not in his bed."
"You sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
"He was there half an hour ago."
"Well, he's not there anymore. Can you please help me find him?"
"You and Ori can check the living room, Dwalin, Fíli and Kíli and I can check the rest."
Bilbo nodded before he hurried to find Ori to help him look for their son.
"Thorin!" hissed Dana when Thorin disappeared in the crowd, but Thorin didn't even look back.
Thorin moved as quickly as he could through the crowd, ignoring the curious glances while he looked for his son and tried to find Dwalin. He didn't understand how Theodore managed to disappear so many times in one evening. It never happened before and Thorin was worried that something might happen to him in a house full of strangers.
"Can I steal you for a moment?" he asked before he pulled his best friend away from his friends. "I need you to help me find Theodore," Thorin quickly explained before Dwalin had a chance to ask or protest for being so rudely pulled away from the people he was talking to.
"Find him?" questioned Dwalin. "You lost your son?"
Thorin didn't understand why Dwalin thought this was funny. "We," corrected Thorin, "didn't lose him. He has trouble sleeping and he keeps coming downstairs. Bilbo and I have been chasing him the entire evening."
"Well Thráin must be pissed," commented Dwalin and Thorin immediately stopped to look back at him.
"My father? What has my father to do with all this?"
"He has brought him downstairs at least two times tonight. If Theodore kept escaping him, he must be really tired." Dwalin looked at Thorin and realized that his best friend had no idea what he was talking about. "I'm guessing you had no idea…"
"No! Why didn't you say anything?!"
"How was I supposed to know that you didn't ask Thráin to watch over him?"
"Would I leave my son in the care of my crazy father?!"
"When you say it like that… We need to find Thráin."
Thorin nodded. "We need to find him quickly."
"Who knows what he's planning to do with Theodore."
"That's not making me feel any better," said Thorin angrily back. "Just hurry."
They searched everywhere and they didn't find Theodore or Thráin. Fíli and Kíli searched all the rooms upstairs while he and Dwalin helped Ori and Bilbo search downstairs.
"He's not here," said Bilbo, who was completely pale. "He's not here," he repeated and Thorin wanted to hug him and tell him that everything's going to be alright.
"Bilbo, I think that my father-"
"Thorin!" interrupted Fíli before Thorin could tell Bilbo that he believe his father kidnapped their son. "The garage is locked!"
"What?" asked Bilbo, confused why that was important.
"He's trying to take him away," said Dwalin before he and Thorin ran inside, Ori and Bilbo right behind them.
"Thorin, what's going on?" asked Bilbo when he caught him trying the open the door that lead to the garage.
"I think my father took Theodore," quickly explained Thorin before he started banging on the door. He would knock them down if necessary. "Dad, open up!"
Bilbo needed a moment to realize what was happening before he joined Thorin. "Thráin! Open this door! Thráin! You can't take him."
With all the noise they were making they didn't realize that everyone has quieted down and stared at them.
"Thráin! Dad! Open this door!"
That was all Thráin heard on the other side of the door, but he decided to ignore it. He had a screaming and kicking child to put in the car-seat. He was lucky that Thorin always left the keys in his car. It made the whole thing a lot easier. He would need to keep the child safe, it was crucial that the child was kept safe and that meant seating him in his car seat while he was crying for his parents.
"I can hear him!" said Bilbo after he pressed his ear to the door. "Theo is in there and he's crying! Thorin do something! He's going to take him!"
"I'm trying, stop yelling at me!"
"We should take down the door," suggested Dwalin.
"No time," said Thorin. He had his ear pressed to the door and he heard his car being started and the garage door opening up. He quickly ran out of the house toward the garage, hoping to stop his father.
Bilbo followed him as quickly as he could and sucked in a breath when Thorin jumped in front of a moving car with Dwalin following close behind. They were lucky that Thráin stopped the car before anyone would get hurt.
"What are you doing?!" demanded to know Thorin. "Have you lost your mind?!"
"Get away boy," called Thráin, "or I'll drive over you!"
"Stop the car immediately!"
"You're not going to tell me what to do!"
"This is my car and that is my son you took!"
Bilbo finally reached them and tried the doors while Thorin and Dwalin continued to stand in front of the car. "It's locked!" Theo started crying even harder when he realized that Bilbo couldn't get to him.
"Dad, stop the car and open the door," growled Thorin. "You're not taking my son anywhere."
"They are going to take him! He's in danger!"
"Open the door, you crazy man!" cried Bilbo as he desperately tried to get to his son. He didn't want to sound so desperate, but he couldn't help it. Theo was doing his best to pull himself out of the car-seat he was trapped in and Bilbo couldn't do anything to help him.
"Papa!" cried Theo.
"Thorin do something!"
"Thráin, open the door!" called Dwalin.
"They are going to take him!"
"No one is going to take him! Now open the door!" Thorin was slowly losing his patience. Bilbo was crying, his son was crying and half of the house came out to see his crazy father. What will people think after a spectacle like that?
"We could break one of the windows," suggested Dwalin.
"How about we leave my car in one piece," snapped Thorin back. "He's trapped, he can't go anywhere."
A moment later Fíli and Kíli joined them and now Thráin had nowhere to go. His only option was to surrender.
The moment he turned off the car and unlocked the door, Thorin opened the doors and yanked the keys out of his hand.
"Leave him to me," said Dwalin as he pulled Thorin back. He could deal with Thráin while Thorin took care of his family.
"I'm here sweetheart, I'm here, just give me a moment." Bilbo was crying and shaking so much he couldn't even get Theo out of the car.
Luckily Thorin was able to keep a clear head as he gently pulled him back. "Allow me." Bilbo nodded and gave Thorin enough space to get their son out of the car.
Theo immediately wrapped his arms around his father's neck and continued to cry. He was shaking almost as much as Bilbo did and Thorin knew they needed some privacy to calm down. He wrapped his arm around Bilbo's waist and led him inside the house without stopping or meeting any of the curious glances. They went upstairs to his room where they could take a few minutes to calm down.
Theo stopped crying in his father's arms, but was still visibly shaken and refused to let go of Thorin.
"Can I take him?" asked Bilbo the moment Thorin closed the doors behind them. "Please, I need to hold him."
Thorin nodded and passed Theo over. He had to pry Theo's hands away from his neck because the two-year-old refused to let go of him, but when he was passed into Bilbo's waiting arms he immediately glued to him as if his life depended on it.
Bilbo buried his nose in his son's curls and wrapped his arms tightly around him. He never again wanted to let go of him. He felt two strong arms wrap around him so he closed his eyes and allowed Thorin to pull him into an embrace.
It was hard to say how much time they stayed like that, but when Bilbo finally opened his eyes he wasn't crying anymore and his and Theo's breathing has returned to normal. Thorin cupped his cheeks in his hand and forced him to look him in the eyes.
"Feeling better?"
Bilbo closed his eyes and nodded. He felt Thorin press a gentle kiss to his forehead, but he didn't mind.
"You two can stay here. I'll make sure no one disturbs you."
"Where are you going?" quietly asked Bilbo.
"Downstairs. I have to go check on my father and deal with…everything."
"When are you coming back?"
Bilbo's question confused Thorin a little since he wasn't expecting it. He couldn't remember the last time Bilbo asked for his company. "I'll be back as soon as I can," promised Thorin and pressed another kiss to his forehead.
"Hurry," whispered Bilbo after him.
:::
When he woke up, what he guessed was a few hours later, he realized he was sleeping in Thorin's be with Theo right next to him, but Thorin was nowhere to be seen. The house was quiet, too quiet in his opinion. And the events of the evening came back to him. He was hoping it was just a horrible nightmare, but sadly it was all true. Thráin tried to kidnap his son and just the thought of that send shivers down Bilbo's spine.
He remembered Thorin bringing them up here, kissing him, offering him comfort, and he also remembered Thorin's promise to come back. But now Thorin wasn't here. Maybe he didn't want to intrude, but Bilbo thought he was clear enough when he said he wanted Thorin by his side. He needed him by his side.
He turned around to check the time. It was almost three in the morning. He turned back to his son and ran a hand through his hair. How he envied him. Theo was sleeping peacefully and Bilbo wanted to do the same, but he knew that wasn't going to happen. He had too much on his mind to go back to sleep.
He slowly got up from the bed, making sure not to wake up his son. His son was sound asleep and Bilbo was sure that he wasn't going to wake up anytime soon so he decided to clear his head. He gently closed the doors before making his way downstairs.
The house was quiet and dark and Bilbo expected everyone to be asleep at this hour so he was quite surprised when he saw the light coming from under one of the doors. Curiosity got the better of him and he had to check who was awake at this hour. He slowly opened the door only to hear someone abruptly stopping the beautiful melody that was playing.
"Bilbo?"
Bilbo looked surprised when he saw Thorin sitting behind the grand piano. "Oh, it's you…"
Thorin offered him a warm smile. "Can't sleep?" Bilbo shook his head an Thorin patted a place next to him, silently inviting Bilbo to join him.
"I didn't know you played," commented Bilbo when he sat down next to him.
"Only when I have nothing better to do," answered Thorin with a sigh before he continued playing. Bilbo rested his head on Thorin's shoulder and closed his eyes, allowing the melody to take his mind somewhere else.
"I hated piano lessons as a kid," admitted Thorin and Bilbo couldn't help but smile at the thought of a young Thorin, who was forced to sit for hours to learn how to play.
"All the hard work paid off," said Bilbo. "You're playing beautifully. Why didn't you ever tell me you know how to play?"
"I don't play it often. Mostly when I'm upset."
"Or when you have nothing better to do," added Bilbo with a smile.
"Or that," smiled Thorin back.
Bilbo met his eyes and couldn't help but to return the smile. "I haven't thanked you for what you did tonight."
"You don't need to thank me when I should be apologizing-"
"No," quickly interrupted Bilbo, "this wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known this would happen."
"I asked you to come," argued Thorin. "I asked you to come with me, if I didn't Theodore would be safe-"
"He is safe," assured him Bilbo. "He's sleeping in your room. He's fine. We're both fine, thanks to you."
"I'm just glad that you're both okay," added Thorin just above a whisper when Bilbo moved closer to him.
They kept looking at each other when they slowly leaned closer as if they were waiting for the other one to make the first move. And then suddenly they reached an agreement and Thorin captured Bilbo's lips with his own. Or was it the other way around?
Author's notes:
All mistakes are mine.
It's been 84 years...
I'm sorry it took me so long to update. I wish I could promise you regular updates now but sadly I can't.
This chapter is what it is. I admit that it could use a little more work but I did my best.
Google drive finally started working again on all my computers so now everything I write gets synchronized and I don't get a heart attack when half of the chapter I wrote is missing.
Next chapter: "I saw you. And Thorin. I saw you exiting the bathroom with Thorin right behind you looking like a cat that ate the canary."