An Even Fifteen (Fili x reader)

(26) For Now

As soon as you were away from the throne room, Fili laughed out loud. He picked you up and swung you around in a circle, and you clung to his neck, joy bubbling out of you in breathy giggles. He set you down on your feet again and kissed you unabashedly. Your cheeks warmed with a blush when he pulled away.

"Come with me," he said breathlessly. You clung to his hand as he raced down the halls and tugged you along. You apologized through your laughter to the dwarves you bumped into as you careened down the hallways with your dress billowing around your feet as you ran. Fili's childlike antics were apparently contagious, and the dwarves merely smiled knowingly as you dashed by.

He screeched to a halt once you reached the richly decorated royal wing of Erebor in front of a closed door with a gilded knob. Fili took a moment to catch his breath and stared at you, his smile glinting beneath his braided mustache. "Miss Y/N of Greenwood," he addressed you formally, humor glinting in his eyes, "in honor of our recently blessed courtship, I have a surprise for you."

"Why, Prince Fili, you shouldn't have," you played along, putting a hand to your heart and batting your eyelashes, though your cheeks were warm with a blush.

You didn't think it was possible for him to smile any wider. "May I?" At your nod, he opened the door with a deft twist of the knob, and ushered you in with a grand gesture. "After you, ghivashel."

You were going to give a mock curtsy to keep the joke going, but you were so overwhelmed by what lay beyond the door that you merely stepped over the threshold, your lips searching for words to express the joy you felt at this sight. You settled on admiring it in silence.

The room was bigger than the bedroom you had to yourself, but it had very little furniture. No bed, no tables, only two chairs under a stove attached to where the wall met the ceiling, little tongues of flame licking behind the grate door for fuel. Ori sat in one of the chairs, knitting away. It had two small windows that let in the light from outside the mountain-- more windows than you'd seen in any one room in all of Erebor so far. The sled Fili had built for you was tucked against the wall near the door, and you ran your fingers over its smooth frame, happily surprised it had survived the battle. The floor was covered with patterned rugs, and a few crates lined the wall with bowls full of water next to them. But it was the things that sat upon the rugs and on the crates that drew you in.

The Rhosgobels crowded around you as you knelt down, eager to see if you had brought them treats. You greeted them with enthusiasm, not deterred in the slightest by their disinterest in your lack of food offerings. The door clicked shut behind you, and you looked over your shoulder to look at Fili, smiling with your eyes as much as with your mouth. He met your gaze, still smiling, before telling Ori he could leave. The red-headed dwarf shuffled to his feet and bowed awkwardly before walking out of the room and closing the door behind him.

"I thought it would be best if they had a place of their own," he said, kneeling next to you and stroking Iris's head when she approached him. "And this is near me and a few others of the company, so we can take care of them if you're busy. My room's just down a few doors. It's also out of the way if they do ever get it in their rabbit brains to escape."

You laughed. "It's wonderful. Thank you."

"You can always make improvements if you would like. I did what I could, but you know much more about what the rabbits need than I do."

You leaned to the side on your hip so that your shoulder rested on his. "We could put planters beneath the windows, and grow some grass for them. And perhaps put out a few towels for them to sleep on. They'll need a litter box, as well."

He kissed the top of your hair. "As you wish, ghivashel."

You looked up at him. "You always call me that, and I don't know what it means."

His eyes softened, and he traced your cheek with a calloused finger. "Treasure of treasures," he said softly before taking your lips in a kiss that expressed just how much he did treasure you.

You spent the rest of that day in the rabbits' room with him, eating a hearty meal that Fili had asked Ori to send. Some of the time you played with the rabbits, others you petted their heads while they took lounging naps at your side. During it all, you allowed yourself to just enjoy Fili's company. He cracked witty jokes, laughed at your antics with the rabbits, and as the day neared its end, you finally discussed your future as the light from the windows began to wane.

"I must admit," you said, petting Bren's ear, "I am afraid of what the future may hold for us now."

"What do you mean?" Fili asked. He surely had a guess or two, but he was thoughtful enough to ask anyway.

"Well, you're heir to the throne, for one. That will bring our relationship under scrutiny, if not to added responsibility. And we must prove to Thorin that our courtship can work. Then," you breathed out heavily, "there's your mother." You had heard Fili and Kili discussing the imminent return of their mother and Thorin's sister, Dis, to Erebor from the Blue Mountains. "I very much want her to like me."

Fili took your hand, smoothing his thumb over your knuckles. "She will, believe me. She can be rather intimidating, but I do not doubt that she will see in you what I see: a beautiful young woman with a heart of gold."

You smiled at him, accepting his consolation, but not altogether soothed. Your thoughts spun back to your first concerns, and you recalled the meeting with Thorin that morning. "Fili?"

"Hmm?"

"I do not want you to give up your place in line for the throne. I was upset you tried to today."

Fili frowned, his brow drawing low over his eyes. "What do you mean? Would you like me less if I was not heir?"

"No! By the Valar, no," you rushed to set him straight. "It's just that I do not want you to give up something so important to you. It's a part of who you are, and I could not bear to be the reason you let it go."

He reached out and cupped your chin, bringing your gaze to his. His brow was smooth again. "I could not be heir if it meant I could not be with you. You have awakened something in me that I cannot put back to sleep. Nor do I wish to. Not for all of Erebor," he said earnestly. "I would rather be a beggar at your side than a lonely heir to the throne."

"And the Lionheart says he has no gift for speeches," you mumbled, and Fili laughed softly before letting you kiss him.

When you had to pull away to catch your breath, you leaned your forehead on the crook between his neck and shoulder, letting the air you drew in be the air saturated with his smell of sunshine and spices. "While we are on the subject, does anything else trouble your heart, ghivashel?

You sighed. "I do wonder sometimes if this is not going too fast."

Fili pulled away to look at you with concern. "Are you unhappy with this? Any of it?"

"No," you paused. "But it's all very new. You and your uncle were talking about me being queen someday and it just, well, it frightened me a little."

He kissed your forehead, the beads at the end of his mustache braids pressing your skin with coolness. "Then we shall not think of it now. I would like nothing more than for you to rule with me someday, but we have time before it comes to that, and you are under no obligation to become queen just because I want it. For now," he said, running your courting braid through his fingers, "I am more than happy to enjoy courting you."

"That sounds wonderful," you said with a smile.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the fluff after some, er, drama last chapter. I would like to thank all of you for reading, as usual, but a special thank you for all the new readers and for getting this story over 2,000 reads!! I'm amazed that this has gotten that kind of attention, but I'm so grateful! Anyways, please vote if you enjoyed this chapter, and leave a comment if you'd like to share something with me!
--RA