AN: This chapter is EDITED to remove the sex scene- it is available in full on my AO3 version of this work. As it's missing a chunk... it might not flow the best. I apologize, I tried to preserve the scene without the smut, and would have just skipped posting this entire Chapter but the flow from the previous one to the next seemed... unbearably disjointed.

Chapter:

Interlude: A Look into the Evening

The experience of being swept up into his Heart- Song's strong arms would never be something that Bilbo could ever see himself taking for granted in this life. Not after knowing a life where he didn't have this Dwarf because he had watched him die. The Hobbit knew what it was like to no longer have him- to have mourned his passing each and every day that he pushed himself to go on, so the thought of getting tired of the other man's embrace truly seemed impossible to him.

Bilbo had never come together with anyone else after finding his Heart-Song in the life he had completed before this incredible chance to try again. And that was because he knew that even if he had tried- it wouldn't do a thing to ease the pain that he carried with him. Giving himself to another wouldn't stop the Fading's Call, wouldn't have eased his suffering or given him peace. After finding his perfect match and then loosing him who else would have stood a chance to evoke even a part of what he had lost with Thorin, even if he had been willing to try? No one, because while there would have been companionship, there wouldn't have been the connection that one experience with their match. The best he could have hopped for was a sort of comfort that he doubted he would have truly received. And that wouldn't have been worth much to the 'Mad Baggins' of Bag End.

In the privacy of his own mind Bilbo would admit that there had been a couple that tried their luck, hoping that they could have a part of his life to call their own. He had never gotten any satisfaction from turning them down, but he had done so all the same. Every time someone he considered a friend would broach turning their friendship into something more, it just brought an ever increasing sadness to the Hobbit because he was living when his heart-song was not. The thought of moving on- letting someone else call him theirs had always felt like it would be a betrayal.

Instead, when the moment came that they would ask to take the next step, he would have to explain why he wouldn't ever return the feelings they had. But the part that would hurt long after was that Bilbo had to do it without letting them know of his lost heart-song. Because if that had been out in the open, there would have been eyes on him waiting for the sign that he was going to give into the fading. Looks that he remembered his mother receiving after his father had died all to vividly and the pity that came with those looks would have killed him faster than the Fading ever would have.

Then later on, after Frodo had come into his life, the pity and certainty that he wasn't long for this world would have meant that his fellow Hobbits would have tried to take the lad from him to save Frodo from another loss so soon after his parents. Because no one could resist the Fading's Call after all, and they would have been sure that Bilbo didn't have long in the world of the living. But Bilbo had resisted the call. He had lived through everything the call came with, even if it hadn't been much of an existence in the end.

The lies that he had to tell had weighed on him just as much as that thrice damned ring had, if the truth were to be told. He had not been ashamed by his match, nor had he wanted to hide it, but the lies were kinder then the truth of his every day life. His lies were better then admitting to the fact that part of him had in fact died on his grand adventure, and he was fighting every day against something that he had no chance of conquering. But they had been like lead weights- each one adding more guilt, more exhaustion and he didn't know how he had made it as long as he had with them weighing him down.

No that was a lie- later on if his people had found out that he had been resisting the call they would have felt guilty themselves, along with the pity. Because he had been an active Hobbit, always helping or doing something for someone because of his station in the community. And that activity was where their guilt would come from- he had done so much while under the call and they had never noticed. Frodo, in particular, would have blamed himself for the struggle once he was old enough to understand the Fading's meaning, taking the fact that Bilbo lived on in part because of him to mean that he had some claim to the suffering that living caused. The lad was too soft hearted for his own good after all.

Thorin pressed him into the door, before taking possession of his lips- chasing the suddenly sad turn of thoughts from his head and drawing him back to the here and now as an insistent tongue found it's way into Bilbo's mouth. The smaller man groaned, though it came out sounding more like a keen, and let the kiss deepen without any sort of protest. He needed this, and the connection to his heart song too much to put on any sort of act. The press of Thorin's body against his, the rasp of the other man's facial hair against his skin and the kiss had the Hobbit hard and aching in moment as he was anchored into reality- into the here and now with a startling accuracy. As the kiss ended, Thorin caught Bilbo's lower lip in between his teeth for a brief second. Bilbo returned the favor, making the would be king chuckle and press his hips forward.

"There are no ponies for you to protest riding in the morning dear burglar, and I intend to take advantage of that." He warned playfully, letting his intentions of fully bedding the Hobbit be known, before lowering his head and pressing a kiss to Bilbo's neck. The Hobbit sighed at the feeling, enjoying the contact with the other male, before moving his own hips in response and letting his cloth groin come into full contact with the future King's. He wanted- no needed this more then he would ever admit.

While nothing would erase the memories of his time resisting the Fading's Call, this stolen moment with his Heart-Song would go a long way in reassuring his frayed mind that this was actually happening. That he had a chance of saving his family, or joining them as he should have the first time. While he had loved Frodo, he couldn't do it again. He could not shoulder the loss of all those who were dear to him, and still manage to resist the call. Death would be far kinder to him if they happened to fail this chance.

"You won't find me complaining about that fact." The Hobbit said in a husky tone, inviting his lover to continue. "I may have pointed the inconvenience of riding out before, but I would have not regretted it had we come together in my home either. It's been far too long, my King." He added, as his mind went to those sadder memories once again without his permission. Thorin sank his teeth into the skin under his lips, drawing him back from those thoughts and to the present in an instant- as if he knew that the Hobbit's mind had gone wandering and wanted it to stop. The stubborn dwarf most likely did know, and Bilbo loved him all the more for his actions.

"One day you will tell me exactly how long it has been, my One, and I will know how much I have to make up for making you promise to live on. But that will not be a topic for us tonight, we have much more pleasurable things to attend to." Thorin murmured huskily, and even though Bilbo would rather leave such talk in the past, he knew that he would have tell his Heart Song the full truth at some point. After the Kingdom had been won back, and that cursed ring had been destroyed of course, of course.

It wouldn't do to have his King lock him up for his own protection once his whole tale was known. Thorin would not let him do what must be done if he knew the true nature of the little trinket that was able to make the Hobbit invisible. At least not alone, and Bilbo would not be endangering his Heart Song for that wretched thing if he could help it.

"Oh, I agree that right now isn't the time for such talks. Not the time at all." He breathed, rolling his hips again and drawing a growl from his Dwarf as he tried to make himself forget the things to come for the night. It wasn't too much to ask of his wandering mind, now was it? Thorin pressed another kiss to his neck before turning from where he had Bilbo pressed against the door and stalking to the bed- Bilbo still captured in his arms until the moment that the Hobbit found himself bouncing on the mattress moments after he was playfully dropped onto the soft surface. An amused laugh broke free from the smaller male before he could stop it, as he enjoyed unexpected playfulness of the moment. Thorin's eyes glittered with amusement and satisfaction as the Dwarf raised an eyebrow.

"It is good to hear you laugh Bilbo." He commented softly, his tone turning into something more serious then it had been before. "You're far less cheerful then I remember you being, and it has weighed on me." Bilbo shifted slightly at the words, knowing that his Heart Song was just making an observation, but feeling uneasy all the same. He knew that the life he had lived had changed him, and while he wanted to object to what Thorin said he couldn't. He smiled softly at the other male, trying to comfort him.

"Once we've reclaimed the mountain there will be far more time for cheer." He assured the other male, with more confidence then he had, considering the life they had lived once and the task he still had to take care of if they managed to reclaim the mountain with both of them alive. Thorin raised an eyebrow at his words.

"I think that there is time for cheer now dear One. We have received a second chance somehow, and that is enough to celebrate. Let's not darken it with gloom and dark thoughts. I promised you the morning that we departed from your home that this time would be merrier, that I would cherish the things that make life brighter over the gold in that mountain, and I do not intend to make myself a liar." He reminded Bilbo, who felt his worries start to slip. He could not spend this entire journey thinking that the worst would happen, that they would repeat the mistakes of the first time. Thorin was right, of course he was but focusing on the good of this second chance was hard when there was so much bad to remember.

"You're right, of course." He hummed, enjoying the look that crossed Thorin's face at his easy acceptance of his statement. He knew that the other male had most likely expected some for of protest from him, but the hardness in Bilbo's trousers did little to encourage the Hobbit to disagree- even if it was only on principle. Any other time, and he might have encouraged a debate, if for nothing more then the fact that he enjoyed arguing logic with the stubborn dwarf.

"Now that we've agreed on that, I think we have more… engaging activities to be indulging in tonight." The Exiled-King pressed on, a smirk playing over his lips, as his hands went to Bilbo's trousers and made quick work of getting them open. Bilbo whined in relief as the pressure of the confining cloth on his erection eased, and he didn't hesitate to lift his hips to allow them to be pulled down and off. Thorin took the chance to kiss him, nipping his lips, before pulling away and dropping his prize to the ground.

-Smut removed from here- For the full Version visit AO3-

"Would you like a bath?" He offered, a little humor in his voice. Bilbo remembered complaining once upon a time about being unable to fully get clean after one of the times they came together the first time around. He rolled his eyes, before forcing his sore and still limp feeling body towards the head of the bed. He trusted that the Dwarf had gotten him clean enough for now. He could bathe in the morning.

"I would like you to come to bed, even though I doubt that I could go again right now you silly dwarf. I would rather like to be held." He replied, after finding the edge of the blanket and squirming under it. Thorin nodded once, before going around the room and blowing out the lights, before joining him. Bilbo soon found himself wrapped firmly in his Heart Song's arms and the fact that sleep wasn't far away. He gave into the alluring call, feeling complete.