Warnings: Not much, although I must say it really hurt to write (a big part of) this chapter. You have been warned.
October 28th, late in the evening
Sam
I had just pulled myself up into a tree, ready to go to sleep although I knew I wouldn't be able to nod off, when I heard someone approaching. Weird; I had especially chosen this spot because it was far away from the others. The person had to be looking for me.
"Fuck off!" I yelled without opening my eyes.
I didn't want to talk to the Dwarves anymore. They only thought of me as some handy tool, anyway. If I hadn't promised to join them in their stupid war, I would've gone straight back to my own world.
A voice replied: "Sorry, calm down. I only want to talk."
My eyes flew open when I recognized Kíli's voice. With a sound that was somewhere between an annoyed sigh and a frustrated growl, I sat up.
"What?" I said rudely.
He raised his hands in a gesture of peace.
"I only want to talk," he repeated. "About Fíli. He wants to make it up to you, but he does not dare."
I rolled my eyes.
"He's sent you, hasn't he?"
The black-haired Dwarf shook his head.
"No," he replied. "I have decided to come here myself."
"Oh dear."
"He has talked to me, though," he continued, as if he hadn't heard me. Very annoying. "He did not mean what he said."
"Sure. I heard him say it to Thorin myself. He sounded like he meant it just fine."
"He merely said it to prove his point."
"Then, tell me, how does the idea even get inside his head?" I suddenly yelled, startling a raven that sat nearby and causing it to fly away. Stupid bird. "How?"
Kíli didn't reply. Then he shook his head.
"I do not know," he said softly. "All I know is that it troubles him. A lot. He has not slept in four nights, just because he was worrying about it too much. You do not see the guilt in his eyes every time he looks at you. I do. And I know it is destroying him."
That shut me up. I swallowed the sharp remark I was going to make, knowing my voice would be trembling if I said something, and looked at my dirty, grey sneakers.
"So..."
I swallowed the lump in my throat away, although I wasn't sure when and how it had gotten there.
"What do you suggest I do, now?"
Kíli had the courage to straighten up a little, to show that he knew that he had won, and said: "Let him make it up to you. You will have to ask him, though. He does not dare."
I thought about it for a moment. Did I really want to make it up to Fíli? Did I really want to give him another chance, even after what he said?
Yes.
Yes, I did.
I turned to Kíli.
"Tell your brother that I want to talk to him. Next morning, during breakfast. Tell him to meet me at this tree."
The Dwarf prince grinned, nodded, and ran off, wishing me a good night as he left.
It was the first time since October 23th that I slept without nightmares.
A/N:
Are you guys enjoying your feelings? Good. Me, too.