Washed up - A Hobbit story

XXIX

Here we go with the next part! So, there is a mention of scars caused either by self-harm or spousal abuse, so the duck marks (-<>-) will mark the parts if you want to skip it.

Bea's POV

Balin and Dwalin, as well as Dori, were walking me along the stone paths of the mountain. I had no idea where we were going but I trusted them not to lead me into a firepit or something like that. I had asked multiple times, but they just said that it was a surprise and carried on. A few of the dwarves had disappeared a while into the conversation from before, so I quess this has something to do with it. I would have wanted to talk to Fili and try and coax the answer of what was on his mind out of him, but after Balin had finished with him, he had come straight to me and told me to follow. 

Finally, we arrived at a door, and they gestured me to get in. I was sure that Kili would jump out of nowhere and scare me half to death, but I was pleasantly surprised when he didn't. I was even more pleasantly surprised when the steam cleared out and it revealed a bathtub with hot water. I was ecstatic, it had been so long that I had taken a bath and I just couldn't help but squeal in delight. 
"Ohmygosh this is exactly what I needed!" I hugged Dwalin and gave Balin and Dori a quick kiss before hurrying inside and beginning to close the door. 
"Do you know the way back to the hall?" Balin asked, and I shrugged.
"I think so. If I don't I'll call. You'll be able to hear me, right?" The three nodded and I closed the door and heard their boots walk away. "At least I don't have to worry about anyone peeking." I thought to myself and giggled lightly as I remembered the incident from earlier from the journey. Peeling off my clothes, I step into the warm bath and slide in, savoring every damn second. 

I wash my hair and I feel so much better and just lay there, enjoying the warm water. I don't know how much time passes and I don't even care as I am in heaven right now. I lay still and let the warm water slowly ease every ache on my body. Unfortunately, I'm pulled out of my thoughts by a knock.
"Are you in there, Bea?" Kili's voice is slightly muffled as it gets through the door, but I still understand his words. 
"Yea."
"In the bath?"
"Yup." I hope that my short answers would give him a hint that I want to be alone. But he does not understand. 
"Naked?" I mentally facepalm at Kili's question and answer to him, irritated. 
"Of course not, what kind of a madman takes a bath naked?!" I yell through the door. My words are met with silence and I yell again.
"Of course I'm naked, I'm in the bath for heaven's sake, you idiot!" Kili does not answer and I roll my eyes, getting into a comfortable position yet again and I close my eyes. 

"Are you still there? What do you want?" I yell as he is silent and I'm not even sure he is still behind the door.
"Yes, I'm here. I have a towel for you but if you are naked I'll leave it here..." His voice trails off and I shake my head, smiling.
"You can throw it in here, I'm not gonna get mentally scarred." A silence, yet again and I can almost hear him blushing on the other side of the door. 
"Listen. Close your eyes, open the door just a smidge and then throw the towel in and close the door." A shaky breath is heard from the other side of the door and I open my other eye to see to the door.  
"O-okay." I hear the door creak open, see the towel fly in and then, the door closes. Closing my other eye, I breathe out and call out to Kili.
"See, no big deal. Easy peasy." 
"I-I guess so. I'm going to go back to the others, take your time." I hum as an answer and soon, his footsteps disappear. "Okay, just a little moment more and then I'll get out," I promise myself and sink even further into the tub. It's just a little too short, but right now, it does not matter. 

After a longer while than a little moment I get up from the tub, shivering as I walk to the towel and wrap it around me. It's not as soft as I'm used to, and it slightly scrapes my skin as I dry myself. (-<>-) I slide it past my forearm, over the barely noticeable scars from the early days of my previous relationship. I sigh deeply, I was a truly broken person back then, and well, things got only worse afterward. I shivered as my hand met another scar, ragged and more prominent on my clavicle. For the first time in a quite some time, images of Kenneth fill my mind. The maniacal glow he had in his sleek grey eyes when he leaned over me... (-<>-)
"STOP!" I stop myself before I can truly return there.
"I've come too far to take a step back. He's in the past, he's not here." I tell myself over and over again as I pull on my clothes.
"Think of something else." I allow my thoughts to wander, and time after time, I notice them leading to a pair of eyes, but this time they are a stunning hue of green. 
"Oh come on girl, get yourself together," I tell myself sternly.
"You are not a teenager anymore, you can be adult about this." But every time my thoughts shifted to the oldest of the prices, I couldn't help it. My stomach filled with butterflies and I felt my cheeks heat up and I felt like a fool. 
"What is it about him that makes my insides dance going every time I think about him?" I ask myself (in my head, I don't want to seem like a crazy person) but, of course, my brain has an answer ready it can rub into my face.
"Well, he's handsome and nice and quite the gentleman. And he has gorgeous eyes and he smells good and..."  I slam my palm to my forehead to stop the train of thought. 
"Okay, fine, I get the point." I sigh to myself and feel like a complete idiot for having a conversation with myself, in my head.