Warnings: None.

The eighth day of the journey, during lunch break

Kíli

Something was going on between Fíli and Sam, and I knew it was not something good.

The two of them had avoided each other for the past couple of days, and everytime they accidentally looked at each other, the Tale-Changer seemed angry, and my brother looked guilty. I had asked him a few times if something was wrong, and he always replied that there was, but that he did not want to talk about it. I respected that; I did not force him to say something, although I was pretty curious.

We had just stopped walking to have lunch, and I had just taken a bite of the rabbit that someone had caught this morning, when I heard my brother's voice behind me.

"Kíli?"

"Hm-m?" I replied, unable to speak because my mouth was full. I quickly chewed and swallowed. "Yes?"

Fíli sat down on the ground next to me, legs crossed.

"Can- Can I talk to you about something?"

I grinned and responded: "Why do you still ask? You know the answer."

"I know," he sighed. "It is about Sam."

"What about her? Did she say something wrong? Is that the reason you do not sleep?"

He shook his head.

"She did not do anything wrong," he said, looking at his boots. "I did."

I waited until he would say more. I knew my brother; if he said something vague, there would always follow an explanation.

"I have made her believe that I have only saved her from the spiders because I wanted to protect you and Mother and Uncle Thorin, not because I care about her."

I did not need to ask how he had done that. It did not matter.

"That is not so bad, is it?" I asked, unable to believe that this was why he was so upset. "You just need to talk to her, make it up to her."

My brother's head snapped towards me, and I involuntarily flinched. He did not seem angry, though, only incredibly frustrated.

"You did not hear what she said," he hissed. "You did not hear how she sounded. I do not dare talk to her. I would rather battle a thousand Orcs than that."

Whoa. Then it must be really bad.

I shrugged.

"I could do it," I offered. "I could talk to her."

Fíli brightened up instantly. "Really?"

"Yes, sure. Otherwise I would not offer it, would I?"

Slowly, a grin started to spread over his face, and he pulled me into a hug.

"Thank you, brother."

A/N:

Double update! Couple of minutes until the next chapter (my computer is acting weird, so I'm going to restart it and then I'm going to edit it).

Also: thanks for THREE THOUSAND AND THIRTY-EIGHT VIEWS! I love you, my dear readers!