"Let her go, you're hurting her!" Ori demanded, rushing forward to intercept Dwalin as he continued to drag you into the small clearing by the nape of your neck.

"You know this lass, Ori?" Dwalin asked without loosening his grip on your hair.

"Yes!" Ori yelled, sounding angrier than you've ever heard him before. It was startling enough to make both you and Dwalin pause.

With a grunt, Dwalin released your hair and you had to catch yourself. "That wasn't really necessary, I'm hardly even armed." You fumed, trying to salvage your ravaged braids, "Not that you seemed to care, attacking a girl while she eats her breakfast. You owe me a new apple, master dwarf."

"Nobody cares about your damned breakfast, tell us why you were following us!" Thorin growled, his hand still on the hilt of Orchrist. You sighed and rubbed your forehead, "I was hoping I could get by for a couple more weeks without you noticing. I was trying to avoid having this conversation all together."

"What do you mean? You aren't making any sense." Thorin pressed, he had planned on being on the road shortly after Dwalin came back. There wasn't time to spare to deal with you, Durin's Day was fast approaching.

"If you really must know, I was following you because I thought it would be the safest. I'm traveling to Dale in search of work. Being close to a group of well-armed dwarves seemed like a good way to keep myself in one piece. I knew you all would be passing by Dale in a couple of weeks. I was hoping you wouldn't notice me." you admitted, digging the toe of your shoe into the dirt.

"Wait here with the others, and don't do anything funny. We will be back shortly." Thorin ordered before gesturing for Ori to follow him. Dwalin, Thorin, and Ori disappeared into the surrounding trees. That's when the eldest of the Ri brothers descended on you.

"What do you think you're doing here Miss Y/N?" Dori roared, his face red with anger, "I forbade you from ever coming near Ori again! Or do you not recall our last meeting young lady?"

This was exactly what you were hoping to avoid, but you wouldn't back down. Not when the first thing Dori did was go on the offensive. He made your blood boil, "How could anyone forget getting screamed at by you? Mahal, the entire town can hear it when you decide to harp on someone about something they've supposedly done!" You shouted back, "And another thing! —You made it quite clear that you didn't want me anywhere near your precious baby brother. That's why I didn't request safe passage from Thorin directly —I didn't want to start anything with you! I was going to stay as far away from the three of you as possible. Ori doesn't deserve to hear you tear into a person he used to consider a friend!" Your eyes stung from tears threatening to spill, but you weren't finished, "—I don't deserve it either! You used to enjoy seeing Ori and I studying together, I used to consider the three of you family! I still don't understand what changed or what it was that I did to deserve it."

Dori grunted in frustration and looked at Nori for some kind of input, but he just shook his head. The dwarf looked uncomfortable and frustrated as he remained silent. Not that you blamed Nori, you didn't want to be involved this fight anymore than he did.

"You're just a child, you wouldn't understand." Dori stated firmly. That's all he ever said on the matter and everytime you heard it you saw red.

"I am not a child, Dori! No more than Ori is! And you're letting him go off on a quest to reclaim Erebor from a bloody dragon. Treat me with the same respect you have for any other dwarf and tell me in a way I would understand!" you demanded. The silence that followed made you crack, and the tears began to spill down your face as you pleaded, "At least tell me what I did wrong, Dori, please."

You could hear the other dwarves muttering amongst themselves, unsure about what was happening. "Do you know what they're going on about, Bombur?" you heard the one with the funny hat whisper. Dori glared at them, and they all fell silent again.

"That's enough." Nori declared, shattering that silence, "This has gone on for far too long, Dori, I can't take it. Y/N doesn't deserve how you're treating her, especially since you won't justify your actions with at least an excuse. Tell her so we can all move on already."

"I can't!" Dori huffed.

"Why not?!" Nori shouted back, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Because!" Dori stammered, "—Because then she'll go after him regardless of what I try to say." Dori buried his face in his hands.

"She'll what?" you asked, ignoring the fact that you just referred to yourself in third person.

"You'll try to be with Ori."

"You're not making any sense man." one of the dwarves, Balin you think, interrupted, "Why is she not allowed to be with Ori? The lass said they were friends before and that the two of you were even close. What changed to- Oh. I see..."

"See what? What am I missing? What's wrong with me being with Ori? He was my best friend." You didn't understand why they continued to skirt around whatever Dori seemed to be alluding at, "I miss him, I love that ridiculous dwarf." you admitted, your voice barely a whisper.

"I know, Love. That's why I had to push you away from him." Dori sighed, taking a hesitant step forward before wrapping you in a crushing hug you didn't return, "I tried to keep the two of you away from each other because I knew there would be an attempt made to reclaim Erebor soon. I didn't- I" His voice cracked, "I didn't want to have some stranger tell you that none of us made it if things turned sour on this journey. I didn't want the two of you to become too... attached to each other. I had hoped it was just a silly crush he had, but then he asked me where our grandmother's beads were and I just couldn't-" Dori froze as you ripped free from his embrace and grabbed him by his shoulders.

"He asked you about what?" you asked, trying to keep your voice calm.

"Oh Dori, you didn't..." you heard one of the dwarves behind you say tightly.

"I couldn't- I couldn't let him do it." Dori sputtered.

"He asked you about what?" you repeated, tightening your grip on his shoulders until the tips of your fingers turned white.

"Our grandmother's beads. He had been planning to ask you on your birthday. He had it all planned out." Dori admitted, looking everywhere but at you, "I'm so sorry, Y/N. If I thought there could have been another way..."

"How could you." You said your anger boiling over to the point of sounding calm, "I would have said yes. I would have fought beside him on this journey. Beside you."

"Y/N..." Dori pleaded, on the brink of tears.

"No. Don't speak to me again." You ordered, wiping away your own tears, "Not until after I speak with Ori. And I will speak with him."

"Lass.. I know we don't know each other very well and all, but might I suggest you ask him something?" said the dwarf with the funny hat that had spoken earlier.

"Yes, master dwarf?"

"Shouldn't you see if Ori agreed with what Dori's been saying? He might be thinking that he's doing what's right."

"If they have, then i'll have to remind that ridiculous dwarf that he doesn't have to do this alone. I've been by his side through thick and thin, this journey would have been no different." You said.

"Do not make me regret allowing this." You heard Thorin warn someone as they walked back in the clearing.

"We won't, you have my word." Ori promise quickly. Ori gave you as a tight smile as Thorin called you over before going off to rejoin his brothers. Thorin wore a dark expression as he watched you walk his way.

"I have decided to allow you to travel with us as far as Dale. So long as you pull your own weight and remember that we cannot assure your safety." Thorin explained, he seemed unhappy about the decision.

"You won't regret it my King," You swore, "If it's any consolation, I never expected you all to protect me. Thorin frowned, "What do you mean? You said you were staying close by for protection."

"Well, yes, but not in the sense you're thinking of. I figured if anyone wanted to attack travelers, they would notice your company before they noticed me traveling alone." You explained sheepishly, "Which I know sounds horrible, but I know your men are more than capable of taking care of themselves."

"But Dwalin still ended up noticing you." Thorin pointed out.

"Wait. What has Master Dwalin been telling you about our first encounter?" you asked.

"He said he had woken up and thought he heard a noise off in the distance so he went to check it out. He said he found you in a bush watching him." Thorin said with a frown, "Was that not what happened?"

"Well the part about him finding me in a bush was correct, but I hadn't made any loud noises. Dwalin had gone out to... relieve himself, and just happened to pick the tree next bush I had been sleeping in last night to do so. The only reason he noticed me was because I shifted and accidentally broke a twig."

"Very well, is there anything you wish to ask about traveling with my company before we start moving for the day?" Thorin asked, his frown not quite as deep as before.

You didn't want to, but you had to ask, "What do you know about my situation with the Ri family?" An impatient look crossed his face as he chose his next words carefully, "I was told only that you and Ori used to study under the same teacher. You had been close to the family, but for reasons he didn't disclose the two of you had grown distant from each other in recent months. He admitted that the distance was his doing, and warned that Dori wouldn't be happy with you joining us. And from the shouting we heard earlier, it would appear he was correct. The young dwarf said that he would sort things out with his brother." He hesitated for a second, "Might I ask? What exactly did you do to ruffle Dori's beard so much? I've never heard him lose his composure in such a way like that before."

"At risk of sounding cliché, I fell in love with his little brother." You deadpanned.

"Oh." Thorin said, immediately becoming uncomfortable.

"Yea."

"Does Ori know?"

"With what Dori said he had been planning to do, I'd hope so." You drily. Thorin arched an eyebrow at this.

"Dori just told me that Ori- that he had asked him for their grandmother's beads." You sighed.

"Why did Dori not give him the beads?" Thorin asked frowning, "Does he not approve of you?"

"Dori in his own foolhardy way was evidently trying to protecting me from getting hurt after Ori left on this journey." You said still frustrated at the situation, "In case he didn't return."

"I'll be frank with you Y/N, I understand Dori's actions to no small degree. None of us are guaranteed to come back out of that mountain alive. He was trying to keep you from getting hurt if that future were to come to pass."

You were about to make a snide comment about how it wasn't Dori's choice to make, but Thorin continued, "But none of it matters now, you are here with us regardless. Now go pack your things, it's far past time we started moving forward."

*******

A/N: Six or so years later, I've decided to torture myself by reading my old writing and decided it needed some definite revamping. Hope y'all enjoy the reboot if anybody is still reading these after so long lmao