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The office was dark, lit by a solitary lamp on the wide mahogany desk. Thorin Oakenshield, arguably the most influential business owner in the country right now, as well as an adjunct professor for one of the local universities, was bent over the stack of papers in front of him. His dark, usually tidy, short hair was spiked up at odd angles where he’d obviously ran his fingers through it, and the crease between his eyebrows spoke volumes of his opinion of his current reading material.
Bilbo leaned against the doorframe, trying not to find too much amusement in the heavy sigh his partner released as he made a note in the margins of the essay with a red felt-tip pen. He’d been diligently grading mid-term exams and essays all evening, if Fíli and Kíli were to be believed. As Thorin flipped through the paper once more to tally the final score, Bilbo slipped in the office and shut the door behind him.
At the soft click of the door, Thorin’s head shot up and his impossibly blue eyes seemed to light up as they landed on him. A smile slowly spread across his face and his voice was deep and reverent as if he didn’t quite believe his eyes, “Bilbo.”
“Hey there.” Bilbo smiled as he moved around the large desk. He placed a hand against Thorin’s bearded jaw and leaned down to press a chaste kiss to his lips. Gods, he had missed this. He dearly loved his cousins, but going out to the country for two weeks to help settle them into their new home with their even newer baby when Thorin couldn’t go with him had been torture.
“I missed you.” The words murmured against his skin as Thorin pressed scruffy kisses to his cheek and jaw. Large hands settled around his waist and tugged, urgently, until he settled in the taller man’s lap, knees tucked snugly between Thorin’s hips and the chair’s armrests. Bilbo's light chuckle at being manhandled turned into a full laugh as Thorin responded pragmatically, “What? You’d get a crick in your neck hunched over like that.”
“You’ve utterly ruined my secret master plan to convince you to rub my back later.” Bilbo tried to sound as dejected as possible, but thought the effect was lost as he wrapped his arms around Thorin’s neck. Thorin hummed noncommittally, but poked at his muscles anyways as Bilbo pressed kisses to his cheek and neck, “So, how is your grading going?”
“I have read through about three quarters of them, and none of them have been worth anything more than a score in the high seventies. Honestly, I thought composition was a prerequisite and that they would be better at this.” Thorin’s heavy sigh puffed passed his ear and ruffled his short curls, “At least their test scores were better. How did moving Drogo and Primula go?”
“Surprisingly well, though I suspect that was all due to Drogo’s obsessive planning.” Bilbo smiled at Thorin’s soft chuckle, “Little Frodo is absolutely adorable, though his bright eyes and dark hair made me think of you.”
“You make it sound as if that’s a bad thing.” Thorin huffed, poking him in the sides in retaliation.
“It is when you are so far away.” He responded, pulling on Thorin’s dark hair and glowering when he felt his love’s muscled chest shake with suppressed laughter, “Laugh all you like and see how much I care.”
Bilbo braced his hands on broad shoulders and made to stand, even as Thorin’s wide paws settled on his hips to keep him there. There was a brief, half-hearted struggle as Bilbo tried not to smile and Thorin fought to subdue his amusement, “No, no. Please – please stay. I don’t think I could bare another night without your company.”
Even with the lingering traces of humor, there was a sincere weight to the soft admission that had Bilbo settling instantly. This close he could see the signs of their time apart; the brackets around his mouth were deeper and his battle with sleep had left war paint smudged beneath those lovely eyes. Bilbo knew that Thorin could read the same things on his own face, and allowed his eyes to flutter closed as a warm palm moved to cradle his cheek.
Thorin leaned forward a little and tilted Bilbo's head just a bit so that their foreheads rested together. He let out a contented sigh as Thorin's sharp nose nuzzled his and the man whispered, "Will you stay with me tonight?"
"I will." Bilbo punctuated the soft response with a firm kiss, something brief and chaste. He could feel the other man smiling against his lips, but there was still tension in the set of his shoulders. He opened his eyes and pulled back just a fraction to see those impossibly blue eyes watching him - something uncharacteristically nervous hidden behind his gaze.
"Will you..." Thorin's voice wavered and he looked away for just a breath before meeting his gaze again and speaking in a steadier tone, "Will you stay forever?"
It took Bilbo's mind far longer than it should have to process what Thorin had just asked him, but once it did he couldn't help but stammer, "Th-Thorin, a-are you..."
The hand against his cheek moved, reaching blindly for one of the drawers of his desk and rummaging through its contents before presenting its prize. Bilbo sat back and stared down at the little box that rested in Thorin’s palm, covering his mouth with both hands in an effort not to make any noise. His heart hammered in his ears so loudly that he nearly missed Thorin’s quiet explanation, “I’ve actually had it for a little more than a month, but I couldn’t decide how I wanted to ask you. I’d thought about planning a really special evening, or something, but… This moment, right now, feels right and I want you to have it.”
Thorin opened the box, and resting inside was a gold ring, engraved with tiny geometric designs that, after closer inspection, turned out to be leaves and set with a single small diamond. Bilbo was currently finding it very hard to breathe, but Thorin wasn’t finished, “I’ve known for a while that I want to spend the rest of my life with you by my side, but the past two weeks really brought it home. I don’t think I could ever be happier than I am with you. Will you stay forever? Bilbo, will you marry me?”
Everything seemed to come to a halt and silence reigned inside his head, and for the briefest of moments, he was well and truly calm. Then he met Thorin’s earnest, hopeful gaze, and the floodgates opened. Tears welled up and spilled down his cheeks and his breath came in a squeaking hiccup as Bilbo nodded his head almost frantically. He pulled his left hand away from his face and held it out expectantly as he watched a slow, but brilliant grin spread across his fiancé's face.
Thorin set the box aside and took Bilbo’s hand, gently sliding the cool band onto his finger. It was just the tiniest bit loose, but to Bilbo it was perfect and he stared down at his hand for a long moment and let it all sink in.
He was going to be married. To Thorin. There was so much to plan, people to tell – he’d also have to sell the home his father built. It surprised him how easily the thought came and how little it hurt. Even six moths ago the thought of selling his house would have made him almost sick with depression, but now it was nothing compared to the joy he felt at the thought of living with Thorin.
A bubble of laughter spilled from his lips as he met Thorin’s gaze with a bright grin and he threw his arms around the man’s neck. The kiss Bilbo pressed to his fiancé’s lips was nothing short of searing. Noses bumped and teeth nipped as Bilbo curled his hands into Thorin’s hair and fingers rucked up his shirt in a desperate attempt to get to his skin.
Bilbo greedily swallowed Thorin’s groan as he invaded the man’s mouth, tasting coffee and Thorin and home all at once. Bare palms skimmed up his sides and he arched into the touch with a moan. He had missed this, had missed this man, and the thought of always having him to come home to made Bilbo’s heart swell. He tried to push all his feelings into their kiss, hoping that Thorin would understand.
The sound of the office door opening barely penetrated his mind, but Fíli’s voice certainly did as he spoke, “Uncle, now that Bilbo’s back, can we…” Bilbo pulled away and they both glanced at the teen as he stopped dead in his tracks, blond eyebrows raised, “Oh for heaven’s sake! Fine! Kee, we’re ordering pizza!”
Kíli’s confused response was barely heard before the door slammed shut again and the office fell into silence. Bilbo snorted, equal measures of amused and annoyed, “Well, that’ll teach him to knock.”
Beneath him, Thorin began to shake with suppressed chuckles, “Now hopefully he passes on the lesson to Kíli.”
Bilbo smiled, turning his gaze back to Thorin who was looking at him with so much love and adoration that he couldn’t help but kiss the man again. It was slower, but no less passionate than the previous. A loud knock at the door broke them apart as Bilbo descended into quiet giggles and Thorin called out an exasperated, “What?”
“Fee said not to go in there, but wanted to know if you’d be eating with us or if we should leave you to your own devices.” The younger boys voice was somewhere between humor and awkwardness and made Bilbo giggle even harder.
“We’ll be out in a moment, thanks Kíli.” Thorin managed to keep his voice steady despite the fact that he was now shaking with laughter. After Kíli’s muffled response, Thorin poked Bilbo’s ribs and muttered, “You are incorrigible.”
Bilbo actually laughed at that, swatting at Thorin’s hands as the man tried to tickle him, “Oh, come on now. You know you enjoy torturing your nephews.”
“Yes, but at least I can manage to keep my laughter in check, unlike someone I know.” His serious tone was belied by the upward tilt of his lips and the crinkling around his eyes.
He simply rolled his eyes and pressed a quick kiss to Thorin’s lips before standing to straighten his clothes, “You’ve simply had more practice – my nephew isn’t nearly old enough to understand all this yet. The one thing I do know about teenagers, however, is that they will eat any and all food in sight, so if we want anything we should go out there.”
“True enough,” Thorin sighed as he stood, brushing hands across his shirt and trousers. He watched Bilbo for a moment, something unreadable in his deep blue eyes before reaching out and pulling him into a proper hug. Bilbo wrapped his arms around the man’s solid waist as Thorin nuzzled his curls and murmured, “Thank you.”
Bilbo pressed a kiss to Thorin’s collarbone as he asked, “Whatever for?”
“For saying yes.” Those three simple words held more emotion in them than Bilbo had ever thought imaginable, and he pulled back to look up at Thorin. His gaze was watery and his smile a little wobbly around the edges, but to Bilbo he looked like the happiest man alive.
He reached up and cupped both Thorin’s cheeks and smiled, “Of course I said yes. You are the only person to ever capture my heart and keep it, and you are the only person I will ever want to spend my life with. I love you, Thorin, with all that I am.”
“I love you too, Bilbo,” Thorin whispered, leaning down to capture Bilbo’s lips again. They kissed sweetly like that until both their stomachs growled, causing both of them to laugh heartily as they went in search of food.