Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit Preferences and Imagines

7. Is Now a Good Time? (Bard - The Hobbit)

You had known Bard a long time. For most of your life actually. You were born in Lake Town a couple of years after Bard, so you grew up together. Not together as in best friends, just as neighbours who said the odd hello. But you had a knack for getting into trouble. You didn't know how, but everywhere you went, trouble seemed to find you. You would just be walking down the street and see someone get into an argument, and, you being the nosy, over confident and opinionated person you were, would somehow end up in the argument and then most likely end up hitting someone in the face. Like you said, trouble just found you! But as you got older, you started to get into trouble for more serious things. Like arguing with guards, defending people you barely knew, and your biggest 'crime'...disagreeing with the Master and then daring to speak about it. To his face. You never did anything terrible, you were just too outspoken for your own good.

You were always seen walking out of the prison or running from a group of guards, and occasionally Bard would give you some place to hide. Eventually he was the only person to give you some place to hide. After a while you became inseparable, you were always looking out for each other or taking blame for what the other did. You also grew close to his three children; you were always looking after them when Bard was out and they loved you. Bard seemed to calm down your defiant, trouble seeking side and after knowing him properly for a while you soon got into much less trouble.

But you felt something more for Bard. You hadn't always felt it, in fact you had never felt it for any other man. Yes, you had kissed a few men and yes, you had been with others, but never had you felt something like this. Never had you fallen for so deeply for a man. However you never told Bard about this nor did you consider the fact that maybe Bard felt the same way. Well, not until one day when Bard was out on his boat and you were alone with the children, cooking dinner.

You were busy preparing the evening meal while the kids busied themselves behind you. Bain was writing something, Tilda was drawing a picture and Sigrid was trying to darn a pair of socks. Suddenly you felt a tug at your skirt and you looked down to see Tilda pulling the material with one handing while holding some paper in the other.
"Yes, Tilda?" You asked, bending down to her height. "What's wrong?"
"Look at my picture!" She said, happily. She handed you the paper and you stood up to look at it. The picture showed two bigger people holding hands with three smaller people in the background.
"How lovely, Tilda! And who are all these people?" You asked. You bent down again and she came to stand next to you while she pointed at the picture.
"Well," she started, "That's me, Sigrid and Bain. Bain has lots of hair to cover his big ears!" She giggled.
"Hey!" Bain shouted, laughing. Everyone laughed a bit.
"And who are these two people?" You asked.
"That's obvious! That's you and Da!" She said, like you had missed the most obvious thing in Middle Earth. At this comment you started to blush, why had she drawn you holding Bard's hand? You weren't that close. Sigrid saw your red cheeks and smiled slyly.
"Tilda thinks that you and Da are going to kiss and then get married and become our mother. She thinks we'll all live happily ever after." Sigrid said, a cheeky grin etched onto her face. At this, Bain also looked up and smiled slyly while Tilda was wearing the hugest grin you had ever seen. Meanwhile, your face had turned the deepest shade of red possible!
"And why do you think that, Tilda?" You asked in a shaky voice.
"Well you're always around looking after us and whenever Da is around you smile a lot more. And Da never stops talking about you!" She said. You blushed even more and didn't know where to look after Tilda's little confession.
"It's true, (Y/N)." Sigrid began. "Da's always talking about how well you look after us, how brave you are when you stand up to the Master, how pretty your smile is." She teased.
"And don't forget how pretty she looks when the sun shines on her face!" Bain started too. By now you were standing in the corner, hands covering your face and your cheeks burning red.
"And we know you like Da too, (Y/N)!" Tilda squealed, getting excited now.
"What? Don't make such assumptions Tilda!" You scolded, trying desperately to change the topic.
"She's right, (Y/N). We all see the way you look at Da when he's speaking, or the way you always offer to come round and help out." Sigrid said.
"That's just because I want to help look after you cheeky lot!" You said trying to deny the fact that you knew they were speaking the truth.
"Don't deny it, (Y/N)! We know you like him, don't you?" Bain said.
"Are you going to get married to Da, (Y/N)? Please get married to Da!" Tilda said excitedly. You were stuck for words so stood there stammering for what seemed like forever until all of a sudden the door burst open and Bard walked through the door. You were thankful for his sudden arrival as it meant you could avoid the children's teasing but it also filled the room with an incredibly awkward silence. Bard looked around and observed the situation; Bain and Sigrid sat with cheeky grins on their faces looking between him and you, Tilda looking like she was going to burst with a huge smile plastered across her face and then you, stood in the corner with your hands covering your face, your cheeks a bright pink.
"Is everything alright?" He asked.
"Oh everything's fine Da!" Sigrid said, glancing at you and smirking slightly. "We were just talking about how (Y/N) likes a man from town." As she said this you glared at her. What was she doing?!
"What? A man from town? Who? What's his name? Do I know him? What's he like?" Bard suddenly bombarded her with all these questions. You looked up slightly and removed your hands from your face.
"Just a man, she won't tell us much. But apparently he's got the most dreamy eyes! She wouldn't stop talking about him until you got here." She answered. "But why this sudden interest Da?"
"No... Well... Because... Because I need to know that (Y/N)'s safe is all, can't have every man gawking at her!" He stammered. Now you were blushing once again, but this time for different reasons. Did Bard like you? Perhaps you did have a chance.
"Of course Da." Bain smirked as he got up.
"Yes well, perhaps we should have some dinner now before I introduce some guests I bought home." Bard said. There was a silence before he looked at you. "(Y/N)?" You suddenly snapped back into action.
"Dinner! Right, yes, dinner!" You muttered to yourself.