The next morning, Fili found himself to be the first awake among the company. Although Thorin had expressively said that they'd be leaving early, none of the dwarves had made a move to get themselves ready yet, let alone open an eye. Good, he thought, it would leave him time to get his pack done without being disturbed.

Quietly, he rose up, and tiptoed into the hall, careful not to bother his slumbering companions or the hobbit, and made his way to his belongings. He knew that if his uncle were awake, despite Fili being nearly fully grown, he'd still insist checking to be sure that his nephew had everything he needed in his pack.

He bent down, and opened up his bag, taking in the pile of spades, rope and small swords that were packed inside. At least, he was prepared in case an unexpected problem arose. Fili also took it to pack the water his companions would need, and filled up what he could before packing it away. Then he came to an unwanted problem.

Food.

Food was going to be tricky.

The smell of last night's meal still lingered throughout the hobbit's house, and Fili thought he was going to be sick (not that he'd eaten that much at supper, he'd barely touched his plate). It wasn't the packing of it that was troubling him, it was wondering how he could convince Thorin and the other that he'd enough in his bag for himself without arousing their suspicions…

He still remembered last night. The way the smell assaulted him, making him nauseous, the way the others went about taking in as much as they could. The crunching. The dripping. The chewing. The way it fell out of their mouths when they were screaming at the other end of the table. Just… Everything. He'd thought that he was going to be sick, not being able to stomach all the sounds and seeing the enormous amounts, so he'd settled himself to cover up any suspicions the others could have by going for the drinks. At least drinking wasn't as bad, there weren't any sounds, no work to do in his mouth, no sick feeling… And it made him feel less guilty. After all, people like his brother, or Bombur were more in need of what Bilbo was offering them, not himself. They also had to think of Uncle Thorin, at least leave some for when he would arrive, and as nobody else seemed to be thinking about their leader, Fili took it upon himself to keep his plate for his uncle: he was bound to be hungry when he arrived, and after all, Fili guessed he could skip one meal, it wasn't a big deal…

Last night he'd managed to cover up, which was fine by him, but how was he possibly going to deal with it on the journey? The others were bound to notice at some point, which had started to give him knots in his stomach, as a very uncomfortable feeling began to settle in. He wasn't going to steal their food from them, he'd made that final: they needed it more than he did. So he'd have to hide it somehow, probably by tending to the ponies or going to get firewood. It would cover up his problem for a while, but he knew he'd have to eat eventually, and he wasn't ready to face that right now.

So lost in his thoughts has he that he didn't even notice his brother creeping up behind him before he felt a hearty brotherly slap to his back. Trust Kili to greet his own kin with particular manners…

"This is it Fili! We're finally going to be able to go with Uncle on one of his grand adventures! We're going to be able to chase orcs, see everything Uncle's been describing in his stories, share meals around the fire, everything! Although, I do think I'm going to miss our hobbit's cooking, his roasted meat was especially good…" Please Kili, not first thing in the morning… Fili begged unconsciously.

"You haven't forgotten anything have you?" Kili asked after a while. True, Kili had noticed that his brother had been a little quiet since they'd left the Blue Mountains, but he put it on the fact that they were finally going on an adventure. Maybe he wasn't ready to leave home just yet? Anyway, he himself had decided he'd have the time of his life, because their mother would certainly not allow them on another adventure like this one once they met up again, Thorin's arguments be damned.

Going over to his own pony, a nice brown one, Kili opened the bags on his saddle and stuffed whatever he could fit into them, making the fabric stretch with the amount he tried taking with him. He'd almost managed to put everything in, when he found a small set of knives and forks that had almost been left behind, had he not paid more attention. But his bags were full…

He looked around, noticing Fili bringing up his own pony, a grey one, and stopping it next to his brother's.

"Would you mind packing this into your bags?" Kili asked, referring to the left-over cutlery that he couldn't carry "I'm afraid my bags won't stand more stretching" he added, pointing towards to fabric behind his saddle.

Wordlessly, Fili took the offered items and Kili went on his way, towards the house to see if Thorin needed him for anything more.

As Fili fitted the utensils in the bag hanging from his saddle, he looked back at the small hobbit's house, feeling sorry that Bilbo had refused to come along with them. He had seemed like a decent person, and had been quite a good host, considering all of the dwarves had come over quite uninvited. He didn't know how to put it, but being around Bilbo made him feel calmer. Bilbo's light heartedness would have done the whole company good, especially their uncle. However, he wasn't about to force the hobbit to join them, if he didn't want to come along, it was his choice, and he was within his rights to refuse if it was what he felt was better for himself. After all, Gandalf had told them that hobbits weren't the adventurous folk. Bilbo would probably have felt odd in the company, having no experience of the outer world, in a place where he wouldn't feel he belonged. He'd probably be saying that they couldn't understand.

But Fili did. He understood what it felt like to be forced into a position that you didn't want.

Despite being Thorin's nephew, he was also an heir, meaning that someday, he'd also sit on the throne of Erebor. He most definitely was not looking forward to that. His father had repeatedly corrected decisions he'd made or actions he'd done, constantly comparing him to his younger brother, and constantly repeating how his brother was better at everything they did. He'd probably even told him he'd been disappointed in Fili more than once.

And that's why Fili fully understood the hobbit's refusal. He didn't want to cause trouble to the company because he didn't feel like it was his place to go with them. At least, Bilbo had had a choice in the matter….

Despite his reasoning, Fili admitted to himself he would have liked Mister Baggins to come with them.