(Your P.O.V.)

The books went back onto the shelf one by one. Some rows were ordered by color, starting with black and ending in bright yellow. Other rows were ordered by writers or genres.

Ori and you never agreed on anything when it came to the library. But since you both realised that neither of you was wrong, except for maybe Ori, the library now was a chaos but in order. There was order in the chaos.

The only ones who used the library were Ori and you anyway so it didn't really matter. No one could get annoyed by the way the rows were all differently. There was no one to care.

You hummed softly to yourself, putting back a book called 'Dancing with elves - and more ways to avoid them' when someone cleared their throat behind you.

"How are the books treating you today?" Thorin asked. He offered you a hand to help you down the stool you had been standing on.

"The books are treating me great today. None of them has fallen down and landed on my head just yet" you said jokingly. You smiled at each other. Awkward silence suddenly filling the space between you.

His eyes met yours. That dreamy far-off stare was still there. Whoever it was he loved, he was thinking about her right now. Then you realised you were still holding a small pile of books.

Turning red, you rushed over to the nearest table to put them down. "What brought you to the library today?" you asked.

Thorin walked after you. "I... I need advice."

You waited for him to continue but he didn't. Instead he looked at the floor, avoiding your eyes. "Advice about what? I thought Balin was your personal advisor?"

He nodded. "Aye, but this is a matter that... I think, I was hoping, that you could help me."

He sighed. "There is something that Balin can't help me with. It is about..." he hesitated. "I need some help with wooing a lady."

And just like that your heart broke in two.

You had to take a couple of seconds to regain yourself. Tears had to be pushed back and the breathing needed to be controlled again. "Wooing a lady?" Maybe you should have taken some time to get your voice under control as well.

Thorin let his fingers dart over the cover of a book about dwarven history, wearing a warm smile. "She is the most beautiful I have ever met. Every time she walks into a room I can't help but to think that I would like to wrap my arms around her."

He looked at something far off in the distance. "Her smile lightens every dark day. Her words reach my heart like nothing ever has. How can I make my feelings known to her?"

You didn't hear the question. All you could think of was how ironic this situation was.

"(Y/N)?" Thorin put a hand on your shoulder, softly squeezing it.

You blinked, only now seeing how close he was standing to you. He looked at you with his eyebrows furrowed. "Yes?'

"Did you hear me? I asked if you could help me come up with something to surprise her with. I would like to show her how I feel."

You nodded, lying to your king. "Aye, yes I did. Euhm... let me think. Is there anything special that she likes?" you asked.

Thorin' eyes darted to something behind you. His hand remained on your shoulder. "Well, she loves books. And she is kind hearted, gentle, warm, soft..." His eyes darted back to you. "She likes music?'

"And you play the harp, right? Maybe you could play her a song on your harp?" You swallowed thickly as the words left your mouth. That is what you wished he would do for you.

Thorin was positively beaming. "That is a great idea. I shall write her an original song. Thank you (y/n)!" He stalked out of the room before you realised what you had just done. Now all hope was lost for you and your feelings.

Your head fell. How could you have been so stupid? You should have said something... but was there a point when he was clearly in love with someone else?

Wasn't it enough to know that he would be happy?

No. It wasn't. There was one last thing that you could try.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Thorin' P.O.V.)

Everything was almost in place for tonight. He had written a song for you with everything he felt towards you put into it. He hoped that you still had no idea that you were the one he longed for.

Otherwise it wasn't a surprise. And it needed to be a surprise.

He wanted to see your eyes widen when you found out that he loved you. He wanted to wrap your arms around his neck, leaning in to ki-

"Can I borrow some of your time, my king?" Your golden voice filled his study. His day couldn't be more bright than it was now.

"Of course, you never have to ask for my time." He quickly got up to pull back a chair for you. You sat down on the offered chair, causing some strands of your hair to grace his fingers. It was soft and did he smell roses?

"There is something I need your help with. It is rather urgent I'm afraid."

Thorin' heart dropped. "Are you alright? Did someone hurt you? There is a whole army downstairs that I can send out to whomever did you wrong." He looked at you, fire burning bright in his eyes.

You were a little taken aback. "No, no there is nothing wrong. It is just that I need help with something that can't wait. To be more precise it needs to happen tonight."

"Tonight?"

You nodded. "Aye, there is a man that I... well, that I have strong feelings for. He is in love with someone else and I..." You swallowed back your tears. "I want to show him how I feel by doing something for him. The thing is that I don't know what to do."

His heart that had been lying on the floor before was now cruelly stepped on. "Y-your in love?" his voice broke.

"Yes, but he doesn't think of me the way I think of him" you said.

You looked down at your hands.

He looked down at the ground.

Neither of you saw the other' tears.

"Make him his favorite meal tonight" Thorin said, breaking the silence. He stood up and turned his back on you. "A man' love goes through his stomache. Maybe he will see what he is missing out on."

It stayed silent for a minute.

"Thank you Thorin." He heard how your footsteps lead you away from him.

The door closed behind you when you left.

You took his heart with you on your way out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everything was almost set in place.

There were pies, cakes, honey, ale, meat and lots of it, bread, wine, eggs, no vegetables or fruit... Every recipe you knew that didn't include anything healthy was stalled out on the table. If this didn't work then you didn't know what would.

The butterflies in your stomache was something you tried to ignore. There was no time for that. All needed to be perfect.

But now that you had to wait for Thorin to arrive... the nerves attacked in full force.

Luckily for you there was wine.

You had send a note to the king' room. Hopefully he would come to see you before he would play his song for his beloved.

Maybe it was selfish of you to ask him to come to you first. The king was probably nervous as well. For the same reasons but meant for another person. Another glass of wine should do the trick.

That is how the bottle of wine ended up half empty when Thorin arrived.

He was standing behind the door for a couple of minutes before he had the courage to knock. His smaller, traveling harp was in one hand the other trembled as it landed against the wood three times in a row.

Time passed ever so slowly before you opened the door.

A light blush adorned your cheeks.

"Thorin" you spoke softly.

"(Y/N)" he replied.

Neither of you made a move. You looked at each other.

You moved out of the doorway. "Come in."

Thorin could tell you were nervous. Whoever this man was he surely knew how to keep a woman on her toes. As soon as he walked in he saw the display of food on the table. All his favorite pies and dishes were on there.

What he wouldn't give to be the one on the receiving end of your affection.

The door closed. "This is for you."

You had muttered the words, half hoping that he wouldn't hear you. But he did.

He turned to you, his eyes clouded with tears. "(Y/N), I-"

You held up your hands to cut him off. "I know that you are in love with someone else but I had to tell you. I don't think I could live with it if I at least didn't take the chance to tell you." You looked him directly in the eyes. "I love you."

Thorin slowly but the harp down on the ground, keeping his eyes trained on you. "Why do you think that I was in love with someone other than you?"

Your mouth opened, moved, without making a sound.

He came closer, reaching for your hands. "You are the only one I have ever wanted. I thought that it was you who was in love with another. I... When you asked me what you should do to show your love I thought you were talking about another man. It broke my heart" he confessed, whispering.

A breathy giggle escaped you. "And I thought you were talking about another woman when you asked me what you should do to show your love."

"We are both fools" Thorin stated.

You smiled. "Aye, that we are."

He brought a hand up to your jaw, caressing the soft skin beneath his fingers. "There is something I've wanted to do for a long time." His fingers stopped under your chin, lifting it up, bringing his lips closer to yours.

"I love you Thorin."

"And I love you (y/n)."