Chapter 20. 'Long awaited words'

I am sorry that it took so long for me to update this story, again. But this chapter was ready but I wasn't happy with it. Now I am so here it is ^^

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"Here we are again. In your lovely, twisted world. You did choose. I saw the comments." Smaug sits down on his black, leather chair. He swings his legs up so his feet are resting on his desk.

"For some reason you all really liked the color red."

A wicked grin spreads on his lips.

"Did you think the writer didn't know what color you would go for? That she wouldn't be smart enough to predict which color you were going to choose?" He slowly shakes his head. "What if she knows how to play you?"

A cold chill runs down your spine. 

He shrugs nonchalantly. "The only question is, did she play you in a way you prefer or will you be left disappointed?"

The clock in the background started ticking again. Had it been silent before or did you only start noticing it just now?

"I bet you would like to know how this story is going to continue. True or false?" Smaug suddenly leans forward, bringing his face afwully close to yours.

You draw away in reflex.

"I see. Well, let me tell you this. There will be two more chapters including this one. So, the story will end after the last sentence of chapter 21 is written."

A door opens behind you. Heels are clicking on the ground as the person comes closer to you.

"I wonder if you discovered the clues that I left for you in two chapters. They couldn't have been more obvious".  Smaug watches you carefully. "Or you think this is all just a game. We are just fictional characters, right?

Who cares what happens to us. It's not like we have a life. A family to come home to at night."

A heavy lump forms in the bottom of your stomache.

"I hope you are happy to hear that you didn't kill yourself. Your color was blue, if you care enough to know." 

Smaug got up from his chair without a warning. You could hear him walking a few steps before halting. A low laugh escaped his lips.

You didn't dare to turn your head to see who was standing there with him. The clicking of heels on the stone floor had stopped.

He turned to walk towards you. Smaug put a hand on your shoulder, gripping your skin tightly between his fingers. "I hope you are beginning to understand that I am not the only monster here."

Your skin was burning when he let go of you.

"Make sure our dear reader finds out who else they saved in the last chapter. Let's see if they have learned anything."

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Trees rushed by your view, becoming one blurry green mess when you didn't focus. You had seen a lake somewhere at the beginning of the forest. That was about half an hour ago.

Only the driver and the two following cars knew where you were going.

All you knew was that the safe house was located somewhere out off town. They told you Smaug didn't know of its location. They were certain.

You, on the other hand, weren't so sure at all. Katie had been able to walk in and out of the hospital without a problem. What would keep them from following you in another car or in the sky?

You quickly thought of something else, instead focusing on Dwalin' hand on your shoulder.

It wouldn't help the situation if your thoughts turned grim now. There was no telling what Smaug knew. No point in asking when you didn't have control over the situation.

"Are we almost there?" Bilbo asked. He tapped his fingers impatiently against the window.

"I can't tell you" came the reply from the policeman.

You found yourself smiling when another irritated huff sounded from Bilbo' spot. Apparently the safe house was quite some distance from the city so it took some time to get there. Your legs were starting to feel sore.

"The woods look nice" Thorin offered to brighten the mood. He turned in his seat to look at you. "Maybe, after all of this is over, we can come back here for a walk."

His hopeful smile forced you the corners of your mouth to turn up. "That sounds like a great plan" you agreed.

Dwalin' finger went up in the air, creating circles. "For now you are going to turn your ass around mister Oakenshield. You are still injured. Don't make me warn you a second time" he warned.

Thorin and you laughed before he turned around. "Are you happy now love?" he asked, teasing.

"For now, I am. But this car ride shouldn't take much longer or I will crack some skulls" he growled lowly.

"Don't worry," Thorin said to the policeman, "that is a false threat. When he gets irritated he likes to blow things up. As long as you make him feel like you understand him there won't be a problem."

He then continued to stare straight ahead and ignored the death glare he could feel burning in the back of his head. "How many times do I have to tell you that I can hear you say those things?"

Thorin shrugged. "I'll never get tired of hearing your sweet voice."

Dwalin looked away, muttering something about annoying boyfriends.

Now that he wasn't facing you, you put your hand against the side of Thorin' seat. He slid his hand down to hold yours. You were glad things weren't awkward like you had expected them to be.

After your mistake of talking to Katie you were sure that they would be mad at you.

There was still going to be a hard talk once you were left alone in the safe house, that you knew. But the car ride was comfortable so far.

It looked like Thorin was relaxed under the circumstances. Maybe he should be freaking out a little more but you were glad he didn't. Perhaps it was better for his condition if he stayed in this state of mind.

The car slowed down a little as it drove onto a driveway. A wooden cabin laid waiting at the end of it.

"That does look comfy" Bilbo commented.

Dwalin looked at it with an unreadable stare. "As long as we're safe, I'm happy."

"We have arrived" the policeman said as he stopped the car. "My colleagues have checked the grounds and everything seems to be fine. There they are" he said. He nodded at the two man who walked out the house.

The policeman got out first to greet his colleagues. Bilbo and Thorin got out after them.

"We are going to be fine lass, I'll make sure of it" Dwalin promised you.

You nodded, opening the car door. The smell of the woods greeted you as soon as you breathed in. There was a sense of freedom that the forest had always reminded you of.

Maybe that freedom would keep you safe for the coming days.

"...so tomorrow we will move you to another safe house. This one was the closest by. Another car has taken off in another direction. It looks like that one is being followed. We are following them as well."

Thorin nodded. "They did what we expected them to do" he said, summing the situation up.

"Exactly. For now we can only wait until tomorrow evening when the other car arrivés to pick you up again. Make sure you stay inside the cabin and keep the curtains closed."

Dwalin leaned against the car with his arms crossed on his chest. "Yeah, yeah, we know the drill. What is the password for tomorrow evening?"

One of the policeman frowned.

"Excuse my boyfriend, we have been through this before" Thorin explained.

The policeman took a deep breath. "Very well. The password for tomorrow evening is," he leaned in, "'firefly'. Only open the door w-"

"When we hear that word. We get it."

You walked up to the small group of man. "Dwalin, do you want to help me take the bags inside? I'm afraid I can't carry them all on my own." You pointed at the bags that were waiting in front of the cabin.

He looked at the bags, making up his mind. Without saying another word, he went on his way.

Thorin send you a thankful smile as you followed Dwalin.

The cabin itself looked nice inside and out. The furniture was outdated but it looked like a comfortable home none the less. And there were - oh yes.

You rushed to the book filled shelves against the walls. Right around the corner waited a comfortable blue chair that stood in front of a fire place. There was no doubt in your mind that you weren't going to sleep tonight.

"A great snuggling place" Dwalin said. He came back from what you assumed was the bedroom.

"Yes, it definitely is" you said. Your fingers lingered on a copy of 'The Hobbit' that was figuratively screaming for you to open it.

Maybe you could slip that one in your bag without the policeman noticing.

Dwalin sat down at the kitchen table. "Do you think they have brought in some beer? I can really go for a cold one" he said, sounding tired.

"You can always go for a cold on, Dwalin" Bilbo commented dryly. He closed the door behind him and Thorin. "They are setting up camp only a few minutes from here. We should be safe enough here. At least for a day."

His eyes darted over the items in the room. "Oh, there are books!" he squeeled in delight.

"Just so you two know," Thorin said, looking from Bilbo to you and back, "they counted the books before hand. No taking them along."

You both frowned at that information. With a deep sigh, you walked to the couch and let yourself fall down on it. "So... here we are" you said. The couch dipped when Thorin sat down beside you.

"Here we are. And now it's time to cuddle" he declared. He laid down against, pulling you along with him. "You don't know how much I've missed this" he murmured. You felt his hairy cheek against scraping against your skin.

You settled in his arms, making yourself comfortable.

"It is time to talk" Dwalin said from his place at the table.

Thorin sighed. "Not now. Let me cuddle first" he said semi-grumpy.

"There are things we have to talk about Thorin" Dwalin said. He wasn't looking at the two of you. Instead, he was staring at a picture on the wall.

"And we will talk about it. Just not right now." Before Dwalin could argue he continued; "I didn't get to hold you for a long time. Give me another hour and then we'll talk about anything you want to talk about."

Bilbo clapped his hands together. "That sounds like a great plan. For now, I'm going to start dinner. Who is hungry?"

Your hand shot into the air.

"Great, because I took the liberty to do some shopping. You won't go hungry on my watch!"

You comfortably rested in Thorin' arms during that whole time. Slowly, you drifted off.

Somewhere in the back of your mind you registered the sounds Bilbo was making in the kitchen. And finally there came the smell of apples, cinnamon and delicious meat.

But it was only when Thorin nudged you that you awoke to find dinner waiting for you.

None of you knew you were that hungry before you had your first bite. It was a good thing Bilbo had prepared more than enough because all the pans were empty at  the end of dinner. The deserts had to wait for another couple of hours.

Quite possibly until the next morning before they would get eaten.

"Now, it is time to talk" Bilbo said after the remainders of dinner were all cleaned up.

And with that statement, the feeling in the room changed from comfortable to tense. Thorin and Dwalin were still seated at the kitchen table while you had claimed the spot near the fire place.

Bilbo said in the middle of the room on the couch.

"I think it would be a good idea to start at the beginning. A lot of this mess was created because you haven't been open with each other." Bilbo looked at Thorin. "Why don't you start at the beginning?"

Dwalin shook his head. "Why don't we start with why the lass felt the need to meet our enemy while we were upstairs in the hospital?" He settled down a bit when Thorin laid a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll start at the beginning like Bilbo suggested."

Thorin moved a little in his seat. "It all started when I was eightteen years old. My grandfather owned a mining company that was doing pretty well. Over the years he managed to grow bigger and hire more employees.

The company was eventually lead by others and we lived a luxury life. Having worked all his life my grandfather couldn't sit still for very long. He needed a new project. And that is when my he met someone who came up with a new security system."

His eyebrows went down, wrinkles appearing on his forehead. "An old friend of his told him about the program he had created. It was supposed to 'keep people safer', he called it."

Dwalin huffed. "There was nothing safe about it."

Thorin stayed quiet.

"Have you heard about the 'Melanch Project'?" Bilbo asked you.

"Yes, I believe I do. Wasn't it something that happened some time ago?" you asked.

"There was software that Smaug has created. Software that could protect many people all over the world. Twelve years ago he has made this program -"

"Twelve years ago" you stammered. Katie' words had echoed through your mind.

Dwalin frowned but didn't say anything.

"Yes, my grandfather met with his friend twelve years ago" Thorin repeated. "There were two students of the man who had helped him develop the plan. One of them was Smaug." 

"An unpleasant figure, even back then" Bilbo said.

"At first we didn't have a lot to do with Smaug. The discussions were held with the leader of the project. The plan was to create a protective system that would let people use their phones and computers without the possibility of the government watching.

Of course, we knew that this had to be discussed with the government themselves. Though we wanted to start a new business we didn't want to get into trouble" Thorin explained.

"And Smaug' team?" you asked.

Thorin looked down at the table. "Everyone besides Smaug agreed. We went ahead and had a meeting with the military. They thought it could be useful for countries where the government still held a tight grip on society.

We looked at it the same way. There was more potential in the project but this way we could help the people who we believed needed it the most."

"Thror had taken it to the police, saying that it was a dangerous plan. I don't know what he said but he was convincing. Because the next day Smaug was arrested for a crime he didn't commit."

You swallowed thickly. "How did Smaug respond to that news?"

Thorin smiled sadly. "He told us that we would regret that decision. For some reason he believed he was the master mind behind the project. That we were only there to steal the glory he deserved. Then we-" he stopped.  

His hands had balled to fists on the table.

"He swore that he would take revenge on Thror and his family" Dwalin continued. "Honestly, we didn't think much of it at the time. Until we got a call from Smaug. He called with Thror' phone, the one at his house. There was something about his voice that alarmed us.

It was cold, calculated.

We rushed to the house of Thorin' grandfather but it was already too late." Dwalin shook his head.

"He laid there, in the pool. There was nothing we could do for him" Thorin said, his voice barely above a whisper.

You felt the muscles around your heart tighten. No wonder that he didn't want to tell you about it. He probably didn't want to be reminded of everything again.

"The police came in and promised protection for the rest of our family. Apparently Smaug had been involved in gangs before and knew how to take people out. Thorin and I were put in a safehouse immediately" Dwalin explained. 

"But there was no sign of Thrain. They looked everywhere for him but until this day we haven't heard a word of him. Smaug was caught and meant to be put behind bars. But he escaped before he arrived there. We thought he had dissapeared, given up. Until now."

The room fell silent.

You got up from your chair. Dwalin followed your moving form in silence.

"I'm so sorry that that happened to you" you spoke, kneeling down at Thorin' feet. "And I'm sorry that you have to tell me this under these circumstances."

He laid his hands down on top of yours. "At least we are all here. I can protect you now" he whispered. You got up and climbed on top of his lap. He pulled you close to him, holding on to you like you were his safety vest.

Dwalin swung an arm around you. "No, you're not. I'm going to protect the two of you. You have done enough for a life time" he scolded Thorin.

"And who is going to protect me?" Bilbo asked with an indignant huff.

You all smiled. Warmth spread through you as you three hugged. This was how it was supposed to be. All together without thinking too much about the luming adventure. Or talking abo-

"And what did you talk about with Katie?" Dwalin asked suddenly.

You put a finger in the air. "I still have questions about your story" you said quickly.

Thorin stroked your hair with his fingers. "Ask away" he said.

"Well, I... You see... Stuff and the like?"

"Lass, don't say you have questions when you have none. We were honest and open about what we were holding back from you. Now you share with us what you witheld from us" Dwalin chastised.

"I do have a question." They looked at you with doubtful looks on their faces. "Why couldn't you tell me this before? Despite the still lingering pain and hurtful memories, that is."

Bilbo cleared his throat. "That, I am curious about too. First of all you wouldn't have got shot if you had simply told her from what I've heard" he said, looking sternly at Thorin.

The latter puffed out his chest. "If I had been giving the time to arrange everything with the police we wouldn't have been chased like this" he pointed out.

"So it's my fault?" you spoke softly.

Thorin cupped your cheek. "Don't say that. We should have filled you in to take away the doubt that you felt. That is our fault. But..."

"You shouldn't have run off in the middle of the night. He could have kidnapped you" Dwalin said.

"DWALIN!" Bilbo and Thorin shouted.

Dwalin shrugged. "Don't say you all weren't thinking the same. Lass, do you have any idea how we felt when we woke up to you not lying in our bed? For all we knew you were already dead." He swallowed thickly.

He rubbed the back of his head when he was hit there by Thorin. "Ow!"

"What our monkey is trying to say is that we were worried. And we understand why you felt unsafe. We only knew each other for a couple of days back then. I see now that we should have filled you in on the situation. I am sorry" Thorin said. His arm that laid around your waist tightened a little.

"And I am sorry too" Dwalin added after a scowl directed at him from Bilbo. "Now tell us about that conversation with Katie. Which was a stupid decision by the way."

"Unbelievable" Bilbo said, burying his face in his hands.

"Translation: Would you be so kind as to tell us what Katie said to you this morning? Maybe next time you can make another decision" Thorin asked.

You nodded. "She texted me, basically asking me if I still trusted you and if I was sure whether I was on the right side or not. She said that I still didn't really know you" you explained.

They waited for you to continue.

"And what she told me at the hospital... she told me the same story. With the difference being that Smaug invented it, went to your grandfather with his idea and that your father went to the police with it."

Dwalin made an indignant sound.

"I am just not sure if she lied to me on purpose or if that is what she believes happened" you added.

"(Y/N)... whatever she decided to believe, she didn't have to turn to violence. That is a choice she made herself" Bilbo spoke softly.

"But still... you of all people know how Smaug can be. She has failed him and I'm not sure if she knows what she got herself into when she started." You took a deep breath. "Katie was, is, my friend. She has always been there for me."

Thorin stroked a strand of hair behind your ear. "I get that you have a history with her" he finally said, his voice strained. "I can't promise you that we can help her."

You threw your arms around his neck, hugging him. "Thank you Thorin."

"Yeah... I'm going to bed" Dwalin announced.

You all looked up at him in surprise.

"What? It has been a long day. I'm not great at this, this" he moved his hands around randomly in the air.

"Emotions?" Thorin offered.

"Feelings?" Bilbo asked.

"Talking?" you chipped in.

"Whatever. I'm going to bed. Coming?" He didn't wait for an answer. Instead he left the door to the bedroom open.

Thorin burst out laughing for the first time in weeks.

"I am kind of tired as well. Can we go to bed?" you asked, laying your head down on his shoulder. The books on the shelf were long forgotten now that everything was well again.

Thorin hummed in agreement. "I will carry you my love. Just don't expect to be doing much sleeping. After all, we haven't been together for a while" he whispered in your ear.

"I did hear that!" Bilbo shouted from the couch. "Though I love to be here with you, I don't want to hear funny things tonight!" The door was closed and locked as an answer.

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The next morning you woke up feeling a little sore but with a silly smile still plastered on your face. Dwalin was laying on his back with Thorin' head resting on his right shoulder.

"I love you too" you whispered, and went back to sleep.

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