The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings belongs to JRR Tolkien and the movies belong to Peter Jackson. I'm just a devoted fan.

If I could sum up this chapter in a sentence it would be: Bilbo, you dope.

A million thanks again for everyone's lovely reviews, alerts, faves and comments! Don't forget, I have a tumblr~ it's pheniaphile, go check it out if you like the Hobbit, reading my crazy feels or if you wanna ask me stuff about Relly :3

Where I Belong

Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The company of Thorin Oakenshield saw Relly Crillynook with a spring in her step. Ever since she and Thorin made up, the black haired thief had been in a perpetually good mood despite the tumultuous weather. She hummed tunes from the top of her head, was the first one to wake up after their short rest and kept up the pace that Thorin had set for their company. No one had outright asked what Thorin and Relly discussed that night in order to respect their privacy on personal matters. However, it was safe to agree that Relly forgave the under-the-mountain king and whatever Thorin said to her really brightened her spirits.

Even Bilbo noticed she did not tease him as of late. For someone who was constantly the butt of her jokes, Bilbo was not sure what to make of Relly's sudden change in attitude. She still had his blankets much to his dismay and he knew she had a couple other things in those cloak pockets of hers but she hadn't insulted him at all. The thief kept a goofy smile on her face, often chattering with the dwarf who harbored a more-than-likely unrequited crush on her.

Ori was nearly done with the scarf he was knitting for the woman of his affections, making sure Relly wasn't around so he could present the scarf as a surprise gift. Bilbo found it funny, in a sad way of course, of how everyone in the company was aware of Ori's feelings for Relly except for the lucky lady herself. Thorin hadn't said anything on the matter, probably due to his idea of romance being a trivial pursuit. Even if he was aware of the youngest dwarf's feelings, and considering his newly mended relationship with Relly, it was hard to say whether Thorin would support the two together or not.

That is, if Relly even feels the same way about Ori. Bilbo blinked, scrunching up his nose at the little annoying thought that dug into his brain.

Bilbo had never been a particularly romantic fellow, even with his love for books, poetry and the simple pleasures of pastoral life. He had respect for women, yes, but he had been called snobbish due to his ridiculous standards of courting and marriage. In his youth, he Hobbit ladies had quite a crush on him due to his good reputation in Hobbiton, the wealth of his home Bag End and well, he had to admit, he wasn't horrible looking. His mother Belladonna had been quite attractive in her youth and his father Bungo was well known for his quips and quotes, many of which Bilbo knew by heart. However, he had resigned himself to a life of eternal bachelorhood, never quite pleased with the incessant tittering and dimpled faces of the female Brandybuck, Took, Proudfoot and Boffin lasses. Of course they were all married off by now so Bilbo doubted any woman still held feelings for him.

He quickly shook his head, the crackled thundering and heavy showering of rain and hail disrupted his inner thoughts. He gripped his walking stick, the wetness making it somewhat difficult for him to keep a good grasp. Frankly, he did not understand the trail of thought that led him to remember about the ladies of Hobbiton. Perhaps he missed the warmth and security of Bag End and the green hills, bright brown dirt and calmer weather of the Shire than this hell they were walking through.

Unfortunately, not even Relly's good cheer could save Thorin and Co. from the awful weather of the Misty Mountains. Rain and hail fell from the grey-black skies above them and never relented in its fury. Thorin yelled to them to stick together and make sure no man, or woman, was left behind. The rain made the narrow mountain "pass", if you can even call the sliver of available walking space a pass, made it harder to keep in formation because everyone's shoes, or lack thereof, were soaked.

Bilbo's bare feet betrayed him as he felt the heel of his foot slip and he was face forward into the chasm of the Misty Mountains. He was freaking out internally and felt himself dip into the never ending fall. Well, as far as painless deaths go, this isn't what I had in mind.

"Bilbo!" Dwalin yelled, having been right behind him as his and multiple other hands grabbed onto his backpack, trying to drag him back onto the path as they all grunted and groaned until they finally dragged Bilbo back onto his feet. Their portion of the line was stopped in its tracks, relieved that they recovered their master burglar Baggins from such a short notice near-death.

"Thank you," Bilbo honestly meant it as Dwalin patted the back of Bilbo's shoulder roughly, a sign of the fierce dwarf's friendly care for him.

"Be careful, Master Baggins," Dwalin warned.

"We must find shelter!" Thorin yelled, but his thoughts of safe shelter were replaced with a flying projectile aimed right at their position. "WATCH OUT!"

Bilbo's face drained of any color as the enormous boulder flying over their heads crashed into the peak above them, splitting the boulder into a rock avalanche, the debris falling around them. Everyone pressed their backs against the wall, hoping that the rocks would pass by them and not split the pass they were walking on. Bilbo turned his head to see how his comrades were doing. Everyone was frightened in some manner, even if their faces did not show it. From the corner of his brown eyes, he saw Relly's face just as pale as his was; she was just as scared.

The mountains were coming alive. No, literally, they were alive. He hardly believed it with his own eyes. The darkened outline of what he assumed was another mountain started to rumble and revealed itself as a strange rock being hundreds of feet tall. He heard the words 'thunder battle' passed around and then Bofur let out a yelp.

"The legends are true! The stone giants have come to life!"

First stone trolls, now stone giants? What was next, stone Orcs? Bilbo's head spun with the scary possibilities. There was so much screaming and yelling flying about that Bilbo did not know who was saying what or who was giving the commands. All he could do was hold on tight and pray that he would not become a Hobbit flapjack. Bilbo looked down at his feet, the edge of the cliff crumbling beneath him as he looked ahead of the line and saw Relly smushed between Kili and Fili. Then it happened. A giant, jagged split formed into the mountain and Relly let out a loud screech, her feet on opposite sides of the growing crack in the mountain. Fili lunged to grab her and luckily grabbed the quarterling onto their side of the mountain. Bilbo's heart was thumping, paralyzed by the fact this mountain was living, walking stone giant and that if two of them were playing a thunder battle, no doubt their little lives were tossed in the balance of this third stone giant. Most of all, he heard the anguished yell of Fili, who saw his brother being torn apart from him.

"Kili!" Relly cried out, not wanting her tutor to be separated from her. She tried to make a running jump but Fili held her back, not wanting her to fall into the void. "No, no, I can still make the jump!"

"No, you cannot!" Thorin did not need to tell her a second time as Relly still grabbed at the space in front of her with her hands, watching in horror as her friends were on the opposite kneecaps of the stone giant.

For what felt like years, the half of the company Bilbo was with were waiting for the opportunity to leap onto the only stable mountain in the entire range as they all watched and waited for Kili and the others stranded on the legs of the stone giant to somehow find a way to rejoin them. When the third stone giant finally approached where they were standing, every single member of the group hoped they could jump off the platform and be with them. Relly needed to get a running start so she was the last to make it, much to Bilbo's relief.

Everyone watched as their stranded half of the company stayed on the kneecap of the stone giant. The tension was palpable, thick enough to slice with a knife or even Bilbo's own "letter opener" as Balin named it. Bilbo swallowed his fear, seeing Kili and his dwarven friends come closer and closer...

WHAM!

The stone giant's leg collided with the rock wall, the crunchy sound of contact wrenching Bilbo's gut. When the thunderous being fell, there were no dwarves left on the cliff. Bilbo felt as if he were about to vomit. Thorin yelled for his nephew, running headstrong into where the kneecap of the stone giant had collided with the mountain they were on. They couldn't be dead. A part of Bilbo wanted the miraculous chance of them to have survived the crash, to be waiting around the corner like nothing happened. I'm so sorry, he thought to himself, a sharp twinge of regret searing through him when he saw the crestfallen face of young Ori, staring in shock at his fellow friends' apparent demise.

However, fate had a better plan. The voices of Thorin, Balin, Bofur and Ori changed his mind as Bilbo snapped out of his mental anguish and listened to what they were saying. Around the corner were the crumpled up forms of the dwarves moaning at the pain of landing on such a hard. The brick in Bilbo's stomach vanished as he cursed himself for even thinking about such a fate, quickly running to where Thorin and the other dwarves were at...

Not again. He slipped, and was hanging on for dear life one again. It hadn't even been the span of twenty minutes and Bilbo the damsel in distress had somehow gotten himself into a pickle once more. No, I'm going to die for certain this time, he mentally panicked as glimpses of his ever-green childhood flashed before his open eyes. Bilbo struggled, trying to propel himself upwards if he could just get his feet to touch the mountainside and climb. It was to no avail. I suppose there will ballads written about me, the ill-fated Bilbo Baggins. If Hobbits were meant for mountains, we would have been born dwarves.

"Ack!"

His absence and loud yell attracted Relly's attention as she doubled around the corner and she almost tripped over her own bare feet when she looked down and saw him hanging on the ledge for dear life. In any other situation where he wasn't near eventual death, she would have called him a damsel in distress, a whiny little princess. This was not such a time. Bilbo looked up frantically to see the fear plastered over the thief's face. In what Arda did Relly Crillynook come to his aide? Maybe he really was dead.

"Grab my hand!" she dropped onto her stomach and reached her arm over the ledge, waving it around until Bilbo grabbed her wrist with one free hand. The rain was drenching both of them, making it difficult to hold on as he rearranged his fingers to grip her wrist. Relly let out a squeak of pain due to his weight, not used to trying to pull up a full grown male Hobbit. "HELP!" her strained voice cut through the thunder and lightning. She herself was slipping and if they weren't careful, Relly would also fall to her more than likely death.

"Bilbo!" Bofur finally joined Relly, along with Dwalin, Bifur, Oin and everyone clamoring at the edge of the mountain, waving and shouting as Relly felt her own body yank itself over the edge. Gloin, Nori and Dori held onto Relly's legs to prevent her falling as Dwalin and Oin tried to pull Bilbo up. I'm going to die. I'm going to DIE.

It wasn't until Thorin finally intervened and climbed down the mountainside to give Bilbo a push up that he finally felt somewhat okay...only to see Thorin himself fall over the edge. They had just traded places; Bilbo stared in shock as he stood still against the rock wall of the misty mountain, promising himself to never go near another cliff again in his life.

"Thorin!" Relly's voice mingled with the other 'Thorin' exclamations as Dwalin finally rescued the leader of their tight-knit company back onto his feet. There was a short lived moment of joy upon saving both their burglar and mountain lord. But there was no joy inside Bilbo's heart as he gasped for breath.

"I thought we lost our burglar," Dwalin stated to Thorin, serious concern in his voice for the bachelor Hobbit. Bilbo's ears perked up when he realized Dwalin was talking about him, not Relly. "Had it not been for Miss Relly, I dare not want to consider what could have happened."

Thorin turned his head around to glare at the source of their misfortune and mishaps. "He has been lost ever since he's been here. Bilbo Baggins should never have come. Hobbits don't belong on mountains."

Bad choice of words. Relly drew in a sharp huff as Thorin realized his mistake, the dwarf lord fully facing Relly as her lips formed into an offended pout, with her arms akimbo and hands on her hips. "You're doing it again, Thorin!"

"Relly, please, this is none of your concern. You have proved your place, Bilbo Baggins has not." his tone changed when he spoke to her, like a father to his daughter. This did not go unnoticed by Bilbo.

Bilbo could not believe it. Relly was actually standing up for him? The Relly he met at the beginning of their adventure was nothing like the black haired thief before him, a sudden change that had formed over the past two days. To be honest, Bilbo felt his masculinity challenged. Normally he would be appreciative of Relly's sticking her neck out for him, which was a miracle in of itself, but at the same time this was not her battle. Thorin was right in that Relly had already confronted the heir of Erebor and rightfully earned her spot in Thorin's company. He, however, had not. And the reality of the situation stung him.

Thorin ended any chance of defending Bilbo Baggins' case as the dwarf lord led the way, no one daring to say a word. Relly opened her mouth again to speak but had no words to say, reluctantly accepting her place as she kept her hand on the hilt of her rapier. She glanced ruefully at Bilbo, moving on ahead as the tired and downtrodden company headed for shelter within the cavernous jaws of the Misty Mountains.

No fires burned in the hollow, empty cave as everyone inhaled the musty smell of the last-minute shelter. Thorin told everyone to get some sleep and that they would head out on first light. No one needed to be told twice. The cave was winding but littered with rocks and stalagmites, proving a challenge to the men and woman who wanted to lay their things down. Hardly any talking was heard and for good reason; most of them couldn't believe they were still alive after such an ordeal. Bilbo hardly believed he was alive. Forget wargs and Orcs, nature was the real killer here.

I don't belong here. I never have. I am only fooling myself into thinking I ever had a right to be among true adventurers. I belong in Bag End, sitting in my arm chair with a cup of hot tea, a slice of rum hole cake and curled up with a good book.

He could not sleep. He tossed and turned but the words of Thorin Oakenshield were eating him alive. He gently raised his head to get a good look at his sleeping companions. His eyes landed on the form of Relly Crillynook. She was buried underneath all the blankets, looking like a little mole underground. A faint half-smirk began to grow on his face but was stunted at the last minute, changing his mind about thinking of the quarterling.

Bilbo looked up at the dripping stalactites above him, blinking his eyes every time a drop of water landed on his nose. He knew this was his only opportunity to willingly leave. Maybe he could go back to Rivendell, the beautiful home of the Elves. Perhaps Gandalf would still be there, waiting for him. Certainly the grey wizard would understand his plight, possibly even blame himself for ever showing up on Bilbo's doorstep that morning. But deep down, Bilbo knew that was far from likely. No, he would be disappointed in me.

He made up his mind. Quickly and quietly he began to pack up his belongings, stopping to consider if he wanted to take back the blankets Relly stole from him. He decided against it for some reason. Once the sore adventurer finished gathering up his items, he carefully tiptoed across the snoozing lake of dwarves, sucking in as much air as he could as to not breathe loudly. So far so good. Thorin himself was asleep, unaware that Bilbo was leaving them behind.

"Where do you think you're going, lad?" Bofur's voice called out to him in the dark.

Great, just when he thought he was in the clear. Bilbo shamefully turned around, the determined expression on his face betraying his body language as he kept a strong grip on his walking stick. "Back to Rivendell. Back home, to where I belong."

The dwarf with the curly hat knitted his brows in confusion, his mouth open. "No, no!" he harshly whispered, shaking his head side to side. "You can't just turn back. You're one of us. You're part of the company now."

It was kind of sad how much attention Bofur was giving him. He had always been rather friendly towards him and was generally optimistic, but Bilbo had no time for the concerns of the toymaker. "I am not. You heard Thorin himself say I don't belong here. I should have never left Bag End."

"Ohh," Bofur said. "You're homesick. I understand."

Bilbo's features darkened. "No you don't. You don't understand. None of you do. You're dwarves, you're used to being on the road with this," he gestured wildly, "life of yours. You never stick around in one place for too long, never belonging anywhere!" Once again, Bilbo Baggins made an idiot of himself as he saw the hurt expression on Bofur's face. He cursed himself for just spouting off all that junk without realizing that the dwarves were on this journey to reclaim their home. He literally just missed the whole point. "I'm...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said any of that."

Bofur sadly shook his head. "No, no you're right lad." Bofur inadvertently stared off into the direction where Relly was sleeping. Bilbo avoided looking in that direction, his body still turned towards the exit of the cave. "I just feel bad for the lass. Y'know, I believe she's grown quite fond of you lately."

Fond? Of me? He scoffed at the idea, despite having just considered that realm of possibility. Relly could not have possibly outgrown her childish tendencies so quickly, even if she did just help save his life...and stand up to Thorin for him..."N-no, Relly has an entire company who's fond of her. She's got you, Thorin, Gloin...well, she also has Ori..."

Bofur rolled his eyes at the male Hobbit with no common sense, knowing perfectly well what Bilbo meant. "She doesn't love Ori, lad. As much as I encourage the boy to admit his feelings for her, I doubt she wants a romantic relationship with him."

Bilbo jerked his head back, surprised by what Bofur revealed. He was trying to leave the company, not stick around for their melodrama. "Then why even encourage him if she doesn't love him back? He's only going to get his feelings hurt."

Bofur raised both his hairy brows, a smirk growing on the dwarf's face as his eyes curved in a smile. "Have you ever been in love, Bilbo Baggins?"

What sort of question is that?! Bilbo's face grew a light shade of red. The flustered bachelor twisted his frown as if he had just ate something too spicy, twitching his nose. How absurd! What could have possibly possessed Bofur to even ask him such a stupid, unrelated question! He absently glimpsed over to where the dwarves were sleeping to avoid looking at Bofur, immediately regretting that because Bofur caught his glance.

"That is absolutely none of your business. It's been nice talking to you Bofur, but I must be going now." Basically, no, he had never been in love before. Of course, he'd never outright say that. In fact, he could not remember the last time he even found a lady attractive. Maybe Galadriel. She was beautiful and majestic but he wasn't necessarily attracted to the female elf.

Bofur exhaled softly, nodding his head. "I understand," and he allowed Bilbo to go on ahead without any more interruptions. The watchman sat back down on his rock, an enigmatic smile replacing his smirk. "I wish you luck, Bilbo Baggins. I really do..." but his smile faded as he saw hint of blue light shining from Bilbo's side. "Er, what is that?"

The Hobbit looked down at his sword, slowly pulling it out to reveal more of the blue light. His heart stopped because he realized he just missed his chance to flee. That is, if he ever had one.

I'm mean for ending it right here aren't I? Next chapter will be split between Relly and Bilbo's POV because well, I GOT SOME PLANS AHAHA.

Stay tuned for next time ;)