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

Sorry for the long wait. I do, surprisingly, have a life outside the internet, but this is another super de dooper long chapter so this should more than make up my absence. I took some liberties with this chapter and Relly's involvement with the company does um, change things but I think I made it believable.

Also, naked dwarf time. And Beorn. I can't wait to see Beorn in the movies. I did my best writing as him so please let me know if he seems in character!

The Thief's Past

I change shapes just to hide in this place
But I'm still, I'm still an animal

- Miike Snow, "Animal"

As the eagles took off into the morning sun, a floating hum of hunger hung above Thorin Oakenshield's company, some bellies grumbling louder than others. Bilbo Baggins heard the grubbly-wubbly of his tummy, suddenly embarrassed that after a friendly moment with Thorin Oakenshield, he would ruin it by his loud, pudgy belly. He wished the giant birds could have at least brought them food or something. They had no pots or pans to cook with, much to his dismay, and Bilbo had no snacks in his pockets. Even after all his time here on this journey, Bilbo's appetite was still on Hobbit time, sorely missing the second breakfasts, elevensies and tea times back home.

"Aye, I'm starving myself," Bofur commented on the loud rumble of Bilbo's tummy, the dwarf with the curly hat scratching his stomach as he eyed his fellow companions. "When do we get to chow down again?" His question was met with laughs, though many of the dwarves were serious in that they were all hungry and wanted some nourishment soon. There was never a fury like a dwarf hungry.

"If only the Goblins hadn't forced us to leave our belongings!" Kili grumpily exclaimed, the young nephew of the dwarf lord looking more like a pouty child than a fierce warrior. He, Fili and Ori were the youngest of the company but Bilbo knew better than to assume their age made them less qualified to be here. "I want to fight them and reclaim our stuff!"

"Kili, while your enthusiasm is inspiring, it would be unwise to risk our lives to go back," Balin sighed, showing the young dwarf lad some exasperated grandfatherly affection. Bilbo liked Balin, even if the wizened dwarf occasionally called his sword a "letter opener". True, to a grown up man it would be best suited as a dagger, but it rightly sized for him. Bilbo glanced down at his sword; unnamed after all this time. Relly had named her weapon Toothpick and the more he reluctantly thought about it, the more it suited her.

"You could have been a troll's toothpick with how bony you are."

Skinny, lanky, gets right in the annoying cracks of the teeth. He blinked a few times, realizing that just described Relly in general. His mind quickly flashed back to last night when she grudgingly removed his sword from the dead Warg's skull. He saw she pretended not to care, how she avoided looking at him this morning when he gave his little impromptu speech, maybe even seeing a hint of sunrise red on her face. Shaking away his thoughts of the quarterling, Bilbo focused back on the important task at hand: leaving this giant rock.

"Er, Gandalf?" he called for the attention of the life-saving grey wizard. Gandalf turned around, expectantly curious of the question the master Hobbit was about to ask him. "Where exactly are we going to do next?"

Gandalf let out a light chuckle, his head tilted towards Thorin. "I believe we would like to leave this rock, what do you think Thorin?"

Thorin agreed as he ordered his men, and Relly, to get in line and begin the trek down the stony path of the towering Carrock. With mutterings of food, eagles and other tidbits of information, everyone filed into a singular line due to the narrow steps and followed Gandalf and Thorin down the path, partials of conversations wafting in Bilbo's ears.

"I'm just glad to be on the ground again," Relly explained to Ori. "I hated riding on those eagles."

"But they saved our lives," Ori replied to her statement, confused as to why she would hate the eagles so much. Bilbo had to hide away some unnamed feeling, watching Ori eye Relly like a young boy with a crush on his playmate. Since day one Bilbo, and the rest of the entire company minus Relly, had been aware of Ori's affection for the thief. Relly, however, was oblivious to such feelings. He remembered asking Bofur why Ori would even bother revealing his feelings for her if he was just going to be rejected.

"Have you ever been in love, Bilbo Baggins?"

Bofur asked Bilbo that question the night he was planning to leave the company behind. The question had thrown him off-guard, flustered him. He accused Bofur of asking such an ridiculous question. The truth was, Bilbo had never been romantically attached to anyone. Platonic love, yes. But never romantically, fully, in love with anyone. He wanted to stop thinking about that subject, for it made his toes curl up weirdly and tightened the muscles in his chest. Although he was a middle-aged Hobbit at the ripe age of 50, he was past the usual courting age and the girls who did have crushes on him were already married off anyway.

His mind needed stronger reins than to wander off to such inane subjects. Bilbo shifted gears and focused on the path ahead, wondering what other new experiences were in store for him. Now that Thorin saw Bilbo as a valuable asset to the company, he wanted to continue proving himself and stay on Thorin's respectable side. The chattering died down for the most part, with the exception of Fili and Relly. Thorin's nephew was complimenting Relly's ever-blossoming fighting skill, the black haired thief smiling at every word he spoke. "Er...thanks?" How she answered Fili was almost a question, like she was unsure of how the word 'thanks' tasted.

Bilbo grumbled as he straightened out his back and broadened his shoulders, annoyed that Relly actually said 'thanks' to Fili when she was all red and stammer-y the other night towards him. She made absolutely no sense whatsoever. He continued to walk with his new stance, as if he had just grown a couple inches taller in the past few seconds. Bombur, who was surprisingly keeping up with the pace set by his dwarven brethren, followed behind his Hobbit friend while panting out of breath.

"What's wrong Mr. Bilbo?" Bombur curiously asked, finding it strange that Bilbo would suddenly get so stiff while walking. Bilbo stretched his lips to the side, his eyes landing on the jolly brother of Bofur as his shoulders relaxed.

"Nothing, nothing at all Bombur," Bilbo was glad he remembered the dwarf's name. Then again, Bombur wasn't hard to miss or forget.

"Oh, alright." Content with his friend's answer, Bombur ended the subject and went back to his usual self.

The stone trail from the Carrock ended by a gurgling river near a cave, and Gandalf decided this would be a good place to settle down and discuss some business he had been meaning to say for some time now. As the hungry company sat down on some flat topped rocks near the cave, Thorin waited for Gandalf to speak. Bilbo sat near Oin and Gloin, a few seats away from where Relly and Bofur were sharing a rock. He kept his eyes on Gandalf, wondering what the grey wizard wanted to talk about. Gandalf looked at every single member of their little party, from the fierce Dwalin, wise Balin, hard of hearing Oin and lastly, their little thief Relly. He drew in a breath as his grey eyes shined with some saddening news. Bilbo's gut told him he would not like what the wizard was about to say.

"I have always meant to keep you all safe, if possible, over the Misty Mountains," Gandalf started, clutching his staff with a lopsided smile-ish frown on his wrinkled face. "By good management and good luck, I have done that. But," he hesitated. "This, sadly, is not my adventure and I have other serious business to attend to, things that I cannot reveal to you all in the hope and understanding that there are some things better left unsaid," his voice dropped, the dwarves scratching their heads as to what pressing matters Gandalf could possibly have. "I have traveled much farther with you all than I ever expected, and have learned many a thing of the curious natures of Hobbits and Dwarves," his tone lightened up a little. Did he just wink at Relly? Bilbo was not sure.

With the rise of mutterings of "Is he leaving right now?" and "What?!", Gandalf decided to make himself a bit more clear about the situation. "I will not disappear this very instant, much as you all are beginning to think," he shook his head. "I won't simply abandon you in your desperate plight. After all, we are without baggage, food and no ponies to ride on. I will stay with you all for a day or two more, enough to get us back onto the main path and to lead you to someone who may be able to help us."

Although Gandalf was not leaving right away, Bilbo felt the pit in his stomach deepen. Gandalf had been their last-minute miracle for all the danger they had been put through; what if something happened that was truly out of their realm?

"Huh? What'd he say, lad?" Oin gestured to his ear as Bilbo let out a stuttered sigh and spoke loudly to the dwarf about Gandalf's intentions to leave. Oin, understanding now, thanked him and mumbled about losing his ear trumpet.

"Who is this someone?" Thorin asked Gandalf, eyeing the wizard with a suspicious glare. "Can we trust him?"

Gandalf chuckled. "This Somebody is a bit gruff if I do say so, but I believe he will be hospitable to us if we time it right. You know, he carved out the stairs we just walked on," he held out his open palm to the Carrock stairs. "We must go to him now for it would be unwise to linger here much longer. We shall go and find him, and if everything turns out successful I will bid you all a fond farewell."

This didn't go over too well with everyone. Bilbo rubbed both of his temples with his thumbs, not wanting Gandalf to leave them. Bombur pledged to stop eating if Gandalf stayed. Thorin even tried swaying Gandalf's mind with the treasure he'd promise him, but wizards are rich in merit and wit and had no such desire for precious metals or valuable stones. "I would think I earned enough of your dragon-gold," Gandalf laughed, "when you do finally get it."

It was agreed they all needed a bath to wash themselves of the blood, grime, dirt and who knows what else caked up on their bodies. Although Bilbo had his reservations about bathing with other dwarves, he desperately wanted to feel clean and well, they were all male weren't they? It wouldn't be too terribly awkward, even if Bilbo did feel a bit self-conscious about his body around other men. Scratch that, he had always been a little too aware of his body. In Hobbiton, it was seen as a positive thing to be chubby, pudgy, plump and with meat on the bones. It meant you had good food, great health and a happy living. But with his life on the road and having become accustomed to not eating as much, it was not until recently that Bilbo began to truly appreciate how well off he was back home.

As Bilbo removed his trousers, he overhead the loud conversation taking place between Thorin and Relly not too far from the riverbed. His eyes widened, feeling rather exposed at the moment as he quickly swam further out into the water, peeking from the large ford rocks in the Anduin river to see what Relly and Thorin were talking about.

"You can't expect me to bathe with them," Relly puffed out her cheeks and gave Thorin a thin-lipped frown while her dark eyebrows went bumpy across her forehead, using one hand to shield her eyes from the dwarves now disrobing and dunking themselves in the clear river. "It'd be weird."

Thorin placed his hand on Relly's right shoulder, like a father about to tell his daughter to suck it up and get used to it. Thorin turned his head towards a more secluded side of the great river, noticing some large rocks blocking the view from the large group of males bathing. There was no four star inn around these parts, they had to make do with whatever was available. However, Relly appeared distressed at the very idea of being naked around other men. Thorin couldn't say no to her. "See where those rocks part the river? You may bathe over there."

A chorus of "Awws," left the group of the younger male dwarves, although this was more teasing in nature as Relly stomped off, avoiding looking at the river full of naked dwarves. She did not need that mental picture and she deserved some privacy for decency's sake. Bilbo watched her leave to the other side of the Anduin, where large grey rocks blocked their view. He shook his head, shuddering that he would ever dare look over in that direction.

A few minutes passed and initially, no one talked because well, it was bath time. Eventually though, Fili and Kili began chattering and soon the conversation turned to a logical subject that naked male dwarves would discuss: women. Bilbo tried to stay out of it but as always, he was dragged into the things he never asked for.

"Ori here is too shy to admit he is fond of our little thief," Nori brought his brother into a headlock, mashing his knuckles into Ori's wet braided hair before he released the squirming young dwarf. Dori stepped in, fussing over Ori's hair as he yanked him away from the middle brother. "The boy better speak up, just saying," Nori dissented.

"Leave Ori alone, he'll tell her when he's ready, isn't that right?" Like a mother hen, Dori waited expectantly for an answer from his baby sibling. A scarlet tinge brushed Ori's face. Bilbo could only imagine how vulnerable and on the spot the artistic dwarf felt. Personally, he wished they would stop talking about Relly, only for the reason it was bothering Ori.

Ori lowered himself into the water, only his chin above surface level. "It's none of your...business...and don't talk too loud, Dori," he muttered, still red in the face. Bifur let out a gurgled chuckle, pushing his fist down onto Ori's head and dunked him in the water, much to Ori's dismay as Nori, Oin and Bombur laughed at the scene.

"Mr. Bilbo, you're a Hobbit!" Kili gleefully stated the obvious as he waded his way over to Bilbo, not aware of the concept of personal space. "If you were a female Hobbit, how would you like to be confessed to?" he genuinely wanted to know, wanting a male Hobbit's advice. Unfortunately, Bilbo had no answer prepared for that question.

Bilbo sputtered out, "W-well, I'm not one so I have no idea and therefore cannot offer any opinion. Go ask Relly," he folded his arms across his chest. He hadn't meant to sound so final but it certainly came across that way. Kili gave him a strange look, scrunching his eyebrows together as if he were not entirely satisfied with the flustered Hobbit's answer.

"Come to think of it, those goblins said something very odd about Relly," Gloin cut in the conversation as he rubbed his bearded chin. "I heard the one next to me say she smelled human. That's not right though."

Well, she is half-human, Bilbo said in his mind but did not say out loud. It took him a while but Bilbo figured it out thanks to his fuzzy childhood memories of Relly's mother being ostracized for carrying a Man's child, and the hazy rumors he heard from his own mother and other female Hobbits about Ms. Crillynook's circumstances. Yet Relly had dared not mention her mixed blood. Gandalf had to be aware of it, and perhaps Thorin as well, but everyone else? Not so much.

"Human?" Bofur perked up, somehow managing to keep his hat on even while bathing. "Well, aye, the lass doesn't really fit the image of what I imagined for a lady Hobbit, but..." he shrugged as his expression changed to a more somber one. "She would have told us if she was."

I doubt that, Bilbo rolled his eyes as he decided it was time for him to leave the river, feeling very uncomfortable. He climbed out, the rays of the sun baking his skin with welcomed warmth. He sighed when he saw how many buttons were missing from his vest. It was his favorite too. Perhaps when this was all over and done, he'd sew new brass buttons back on. If this journey ever ends.

Bath time was over as the company gathered back in front of the pebbly cave, Relly the last to join them considering her love for long, private baths. Bofur and Ori stood close by her, the young dwarf silently admiring how the sun reflected off her black hair. It was so painfully obvious that Ori liked her, the very thought causing Bilbo to cringe. With her hair flatter than it usually was, he clearly saw the two-inch cut on her cheek, guessing the gauze must have peeled off since her dip in the river. The scar would never fully fade away.

The company set off once more, with Gandalf leading the way to wherever this Somebody lived. Bilbo put his faith in Gandalf; if the wizard trusted someone, he or she would definitely be an ally to their cause. Plus, he was sore all over and although the refreshing vitality of the Anduin did soothe some of his pain, he was also very hungry and began to think of the Hobbit hole rum cake his dear mother used to bake. He absently licked his lips at the fond memory, craving a slice right now.

"Mr. Gandalf, who are we seeing, exactly?" one of the dwarves asked Gandalf. Gandalf had been very discreet about the identity of this Somebody who lived in the Old Ford, only mentioning little tidbits here and there. Bilbo himself wanted to know the name of this strange male Someone. About four or five impatient questions later, Gandalf finally revealed who he was taking them to see.

"This Somebody I know is a very great person. You all must be polite and on the best of behavior, since he does, if I do recall, have a bit of a nasty temper. Now listen: I will introduce you all to him two by two; and you must be careful to not agitate or annoy him or you will truly see the consequences. However, he is quite kind and good hearted so perhaps...we will be alright." At this point, Gandalf was mainly talking to himself until Thorin demanded the name of this "very great person", snapping the wizard back into the conversation.

"Don't be so impatient, Thorin. I was about to say that his name is Beorn. He is very strong and he is a skin changer, if you shall call it."

Bilbo was about to make an idiot of himself. "You mean, he changes the skins of squirrels and such, like a furrier?"

Gandalf just stared at him, close to whipping him with his staff for Bilbo's silliness. "Good gracious no! Don't be so foolish, Mr. Baggins. Say that in front of Beorn and you will not have much skin left afterwards," his warning caused Relly to snort, Bilbo glaring back at Relly, the mischievous thief hiding her smirk with her hand as Bofur encouraged her little laugh. Bilbo once again made a fool of himself and it felt worse now that Relly saw him ask such a dumb question.

"He is a skin-changer. He can turn into a bear as he pleases, and can speak the language as such. That ought to be enough for you nosy dwarves and Hobbits," he ended it there, obviously not wanting to divulge any more information about this Beorn fellow.

"A bear-man?" Dwalin stated, liking the idea of transforming into a mighty, fierce creature. The other dwarves discussed the topic, very intrigued that shape-shifters existed in their world. It was not out of the realm of possibly after all and even Bilbo found himself enamored with the dream to be able to morph into any creature at will. Ultimately though, he much preferred being a Hobbit than any other animal or race.

Bilbo and the dwarves did not bother Gandalf with any further questions, left to wonder among themselves the nature of Beorn as Bilbo admired the lovely scenery unfolding around him. All the sloping hills of clovers, large patches of flowers and even the luscious green grass tickling his bare feet...it almost reminded him of home, but not quite. The Shire was more pastoral while the ford was...well...crisp, clean and very wild. Thorin allowed the company to rest a few minutes, perhaps feeling some sympathy for his men and Relly. Bilbo sat down on the ground, smelling the sweet scent of honey floating in the air and the noises of busy bees buzzing loudly around him.

Bilbo leapt up, saving his bottom from a nasty bee sting as he saw the plump bee land on a flower. The last thing I need is a sore bum, he thought to himself, watching the bee zip from flower to flower. The adventurer Bilbo Baggins and how he was undone by a choice sting to the bottom. That would make for an interesting if not humiliating ballad, as Bilbo began to imagine poetic lines in his head about the lovely scenery.

"Time to go, we must continue on," Thorin's steely voice prompted the company back on their feet, ending the romantic landscape moment that Bilbo was experiencing.

"A picnic would have been nice on such a day," Bilbo sighed, brushing his finger past one last little honeysuckle before standing up and following his friends, his statement overheard by Ori.

"I like picnics too," the young dwarf commented, giving Bilbo one of his cute eager smiles, similar to the ones Kili often wore. Bilbo suddenly fell ill at the very sight of Ori, as if he had ate one too many slices of homemade cream cheese cake. "M-may I talk to you privately, Mr. Bilbo?"

Bilbo raised a brow as his interrupted frown curved into a wrinkled half-smile. He couldn't really turn him down. "Um, sure, what did you need Ori?" He already knew the answer to his own question as Ori walked beside the bachelor Hobbit, his fingers curled up in the open knit of his scarf.

"Er, well," Ori began and the yarned up lad began to glow bright red. "How would one...go about telling a special friend that they're rather—," his voice dropped to a softer octave, "that you like them very much?"

The genuine expression in Ori's eyes could have stung Bilbo. "I suppose, well, if I were to tell someone about any possible feelings— not that I do— but if it were the case, I would tell them directly, honestly and hope for the best."

"Really?"

Bilbo nodded, assuring Ori. Of course, this is truly hypothetical. Ori could be brave and boastful at times but he was still in his adolescent dwarf years and suffered the same pangs of hormones any other living being did. There was no possible way he could really sum up the courage and tell Relly about his strong feelings towards her. And even if Ori did, Relly would surely reject him, right? Bofur even implied she did not see him more than as a dear friend. Bofur also told Bilbo that Relly had been growing fond of him, but Bilbo chose to ignore that particular memory at the moment.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Bilbo!" Ori graciously thanked him, his sense of politeness having been stemmed from Dori drilling manners into Ori's skull as the dwarf bowed his head and left him.

Bilbo weakly smiled. "You're welcome," he trailed off, watching Ori catch up with the rest of the dwarves as the pit in his own stomach grew into a chasm of strange confusion.

The company had finally reached the quaint cottage of Beorn the skin-changer, much to their delight. Unfortunately, Gandalf abruptly reminded everyone about his plan to slowly introduce them to Beorn in pairs, as to slyly sneak everyone into the cottage without alarm from the bear-man. He decided to bring Mr. Baggins and Ms. Crillynook first, failing to mention that Beorn was not exactly fond of dwarves. They would soon learn that as pairs of dwarves filtered into Beorn's cottage within spans of five minutes each, as to not upset their new host.

Relly liked Beorn the very instant she met him, finding his rugged and wild aura very alike her own, the both of them headstrong and coarse around the edges. She spoke rapidly towards the mountain bear-man, her subjects changing every few seconds or so before Beorn could even answer. Bilbo found the whole event to be quite humorous, yet he was deeply annoyed that Relly would so easily talk to a stranger over someone she had been travelling with for months, say him. Gandalf also noticed how quickly Relly befriended the skin-changer, using her as a distraction so he could allow more dwarves to walk into Beorn's cottage.

"I don't tolerate thievery," Beorn gruffly warned Relly, his words sliding off Relly's back like water to a duck. Meanwhile, Bifur and Bofur entered the cottage, extending their services to Beorn.

Relly shrugged, keeping her twitchy hands behind her back. "Well...er...there's not much here I would even want to take," she honestly told him, half-lidding her eyes at the hairy man. "Unless you got food...or something...I haven't eaten in three days because we lost our things and..." she continued to talk.

Beorn heartily chucked at Relly's attitude, finding her a breath of fresh air compared to some of the female critters his animal friends put up with, as he told the quarterling herself. Bilbo wasn't jealous, no he was much better than that.

"Well, little one, I suppose I must feed you and all your friends now, all...wait, I only counted twelve of you here a minute ago and now it has become sixteen?" Beorn raised his voice, realizing he had been deceived by Gandalf the Grey. "...as it may be. You all are probably making up your adventure and your female friend here is chirping at me louder than the swallows in the trees, but I suppose you deserve a supper for it all the same. Let's eat!"

The company could not have agreed any louder, Relly grinning her stupid, crooked grin as they all took their place at a dark dining hall soon lit up by torches brought in by Beorn's familiars. Compared to the dinner had at Bilbo Baggins' home all those months ago, it was certainly different and Bilbo was unnerved by how normal Beorn treated this. Dogs on two legs and horses with torches? They would laugh at me back home if I told anyone about this, he mumbled in his mind.

The way everyone was seated at the long dining table, Bilbo was sitting right across from the highly talkative Relly, two seats away from Beorn in his blackthorn chair, the young woman still chatting to him. The sheep, the rams, the dogs, ponies and all of Beorn's animal servants set the table and carted the food around them as everyone hungrily dug into their long-deserved meal.

Beorn spoke of rolling hills, thunderous night skies in the summer and the wild lands that bordered his property, even detailing the forests of Mirkwood. Bilbo found his tales amazing even with the mountain man's less-elevated vocabulary and the rough speech the man used. The dwarves exchanged dialogue about gold, silver and precious things; Bilbo could tell Beorn was quite bored with their stories, eyes flickering to a dog servant sniffing the shoulder of Relly as she drank some mead. Peculiar, peculiar indeed but Bilbo was distracted by the smell of honey once more as he slurped every sip.

It was times like this that made the journey nearly worth it, with all its dangers, horrors and mishaps. Bilbo was respected by Thorin now, the dwarf lord even directly talking to him over the dinner table. His modest pride swelled, his plump cheeks puffing up with self-assured happiness. It wouldn't last.

"Hey! Stop that! S-stop it!" Relly smacked the dog's nose when it tried to bite her, a scowl twisting her angular face. Beorn noticed this, speaking in his queer and beastly language as the dog barked back in a odd pattern that vaguely reminded Bilbo of words. He wondered what could possibly be wrong.

Beorn cleared his throat, bare arms resting on his wooden table as he raised his head and rested his dark eyes on Relly. After a tense few minutes, the skin-changer loudly laughed, his left hairy arm pounding the surface of the table, the force causing some dinner plates to shake. "I grow drowsy of hearing dwarves' stories. No, I want to hear hers, the female. Tell me, little one," his voice dropped, "how are you human and this...Hobbit race, as wizard Gandalf puts it? I had a hint but even my animals smell the two bloods in you; you cannot deny that."

Every dwarf in the room whipped their heads to look at Relly, the expressions ranging from shock to surprise. Gandalf's brows arched in concern but said nothing, waiting for an overdue honest confession from Relly Crillynook.

Bilbo heard her audibly gulp!, how scared and pained she looked. He didn't see a trace of mischief on her face, only the two-inch cut on her cheek and her hazel eyes lit up by the candle on the table. He felt sorry and yet, this was an explanation she owed every single member of the party. The revelation was met with loud mutterings by every single dwarf, Bilbo spending more than a second's time studying Ori's frown.

"I..." she hesitated, desperately seeking some savior to interrupt her but none came. She had to own up. "I tried. I tried to tell everyone but I got scared," her eyes darted from face to face. "Thorin knew, Gandalf knew...even Bilbo knew," she avoided looking at him despite her glances at Gandalf and Thorin. "I just...didn't know how to say it to you all, my friends."

Beorn's look marginally softened, Bilbo seeing that his rash words were hurting Relly's feelings as the thief continued to talk. "The trolls smelled it, the goblins smelled it and now these dumb dogs know," she sighed. "I didn't mean to lie...or...well, maybe I did lie. I'm just so used to lying and I just put the whole idea off."

Balin finally spoke, his fellow dwarves not having the nerve to speak so soon. "I admit, I am unearthly surprised, but did you honestly believe we would hate you, Miss Relly?" he asked. He did not immediately get an answer.

"...I did, at first. But I liked you all so much and I know what it's like to not a home and I..." she hesitated again and decided not to speak whatever she was about to say, "so I decided not to bring it up. But Thorin found out and he didn't say anything to you all," and some of the dwarves immediately looked to Thorin, as if he should have informed the company. Bilbo himself though she was shifting the blame but her next words erased that opinion of his.

"No, it's not his place to tell you. I should have told everyone but I was too afraid and didn't want to ruin anything," she sunk into her seat, ashamed of herself. She choked on the apology. "I-I'm sorry."

Relly did not shed a single tear in her apology but it would be foolish to not be aware of the pain in her voice. She looked at every person now, including Bilbo as she decided to tell Beorn her story. "My mother was a Hobbit and her name was Hecaterina Crillynook. My father, well I never knew him, but he was human. His name was Rellan and I have this really ugly name in his memory."

"Your name isn't Relly?" Bombur interrupted, Bofur elbowing him in the gut. Relly didn't take offense as she slumped her shoulders.

"Relly's just short for Rellanora. It's a mouthful and Relly's better, I think. Um," obviously she was not used to telling her backstory. "well...my father died in a tavern brawl months after my parents eloped. Wrong place, wrong time sort of thing. So my mother left to return home. She gave birth to me in Hobbiton and raised me there but we kept to ourselves and didn't really talk to anyone. My grandpap died when I was ten or so. Then my mother caught pneumonia and died right before I turned twenty," she revealed.

"Oh no," replied some of the dwarves, sorry to hear of such a tragic death. Even Bilbo did not know that her mother passed away due to pneumonia; he just knew she died. Relly waited for everyone to stop talking again, her hazel eyes focused on the wooden floor. Beorn also listened with intent, much more curious than he was when the dwarves talked of mining and mountains.

"I don't really have a home. Well, it's there still, kinda, but there's hardly anything good in it since it got ransacked by the same people who hated my mother," she quietly spoke. "I didn't really fit in with humans either. So I stole to make a living and after a while, I got pretty good at it. For twenty years I lived like that. Then I met Gandalf in Rivertown and well, I'm here," she ended it awkwardly. "I just didn't want to be hated," she quietly repeated.

Relly was not a storyteller by heart and even the dwarves noticed large gaps in her story and they started to ask her many questions. It should have comforted Relly that they did not say they hated her but Bilbo could see the distress on her face. Relly was trying so hard to be honest and judging by how strained she was when she talked about her mixed heritage, even Gandalf did not prompt her to say more. Bilbo's own heart hurt, probably because he didn't even know the entirety of the thief's past. He had a loving mother and father, Bag End and was educated by books; Relly never had the opportunity.

Bilbo could not sleep that night. Even on homemade straw mattresses, heavy woolen blankets and with a roof over his head, the Hobbit could not sleep. He tried thinking of poems he once read or even making up a poem to put him to sleep. None of these methods were to his avail and so he stared up at the ceiling for quite some time, his eyes wide open, occasionally gazing at the milky white moon reflected on the floor to try and lull himself to bed. Again, this did not work.

Trying not to make his bed creak, Bilbo slowly rose out from his bed and placed his bare feet on the wooden floor. Beorn had set up their beds in the hallway and he was surrounding by the snoozing, sleeping forms of Thorin, Gandalf and twelve other dwarves. But the cot that should have held Relly was empty and the blankets were pushed aside as if she had pretended to fall asleep.

She must have run off, Bilbo concluded. This reminded him of that night in Rivendell except this time, Relly wasn't looking to steal elven possessions. Bilbo took it upon himself, due to his Baggins' tendencies, to look for the upset thief. He heard a low growling sound and scratching from the front door and he almost curled back up under his sheets but he was determined to find Relly before anyone else woke up.

"Relly?" he whispered harshly, wishing he had a candle so he could see better. He used the moon as his light, to peer around corners and empty rooms in the hall. Something stirred as he froze still, his heart beating inside his chest. He didn't have to look for her. Certainly by morning she'd be back in her own bed and buried under the covers. The Baggins blood in him ebbed to the Tookish blood, feeling more adventurous as he tiptoed around corners.

He was out on the veranda, where the night time spring air touched him, the soft wind flirting with his exposed skin. A dark form was sitting on the floor, just staring out into nowhere. "Relly?" he quietly asked, not wanting to wake any creatures lurking around. Bilbo hoped Beorn was asleep.

It was indeed Relly out on the veranda, but she didn't answer, not at first. Bilbo frowned when she was silent. "You ought to be in bed like everyone else inside. Gandalf himself said you should be the first to rest and you're out here, not sleeping."

"I don't feel like it."

Bilbo was taken aback, almost relieved she was being her normal stubborn self. Well, almost. I'm going to catch a cold from being out here in the dark and it will be all her fault. "Why?" he gently shook his hands at her.

"You hate me so why are you even out here?" she accused him. "Just go away, leave me alone."

Ouch. If she had told him this at the very beginning of their journey, he would have most certainly done as she said, just so he wouldn't have to deal with her. But Bilbo had seen Relly stick out her neck for him, drop to her stomach to try and pull him off the ledge and defend him in front of Thorin a couple times. A few months ago he would have left her alone but now, Bilbo would feel guilty to abandon her outside just so he could get some sleep.

"I don't hate you Relly, if that's what you mean," Bilbo quietly answered, looking down in the direction of where he assumed his feet were. He stepped closer into the moonlight, seeing more of Relly's profile. "You are selfish, rather annoying sometimes with your talking and I don't even know how you charmed Beorn long enough to allow Gandalf to bring in the dwarves, but..." he paused, feeling some color rise to his cheeks. "You can also be selfless, friendly and Thorin respected you before he saw me as his equal. You even saved my life. So no, I don't hate you Relly."

Silence, then she said: "I don't hate you either."

"Well that-that is good to know. But you ought to go to bed right now." Bilbo was about to say something more but he was beginning to feel sleepy, strange as that was.

He could hear her smile. "You're just scared Beorn's going to turn into a bear and eat you."

"No I am not," he denied. "Beorn would not eat me."

"Pfft," and he thought he heard a small little laugh from her, but the howl of a faraway dog jolted through him as he dropped his jaw and slowly inched away from the veranda. "Fine, I'll go to sleep. Only because you're too scared to walk back by yourself."

Bilbo shook his head, relieved Relly was finally going back to her little straw bed even if it meant wounding his pride in the process. He heard her footsteps behind him and for the first time, he was uncomfortable walking in front of her. Like he were walking on eggshells the entire time they were in the hallway, right up until he saw the vague forms of their beds. Bilbo would definitely fall asleep this time around as he felt the welcomed heaviness of sleep on his eyelids. He tucked himself under the covers, safe again.

" 'night, Bilbo."

"I don't hate you" is the new "I love you". Just kidding. Sort of :D

Okay, so I really, really, really want to hear your feedback/opinions on this chapter. Please? Esp. if I portrayed Beorn realistically and the Bilbo/Relly development.