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The company had been walking for hours when it suddenly started raining again. They had been in the forest for days and the end didn’t seem to come. Thorin decided to keep moving until they find a place to stay for the night.
A couple of hours later they reached an abandoned farmhouse
“We’ll stay here for the night and move on early tomorrow morning,” said Thorin as they went inside.
Bilbo put his bag on the ground and sat on it, he was thoroughly soaked, tired, and cold. On top of that he wasn’t feeling very great.
Bifur and Bofur got some dry branches to get the fire started and Bombur started cooking. As Bombur was cooking the others sang and told stories to lighten the mood. When Bombur had finished he called everyone to the meal, it was stew again, but it was warm and that’s all that mattered to the wet dwarves. Bilbo heard Bomburs call went to get some food but the moment he stood he went pale, all colour drained from his face, and swayed a bit.
Kili, who was the closest to him, all but ran to him:“Bilbo! Are you okay?”
Kili helped Bilbo sit down again and his yelling had attracted the attention of the others. Oin came over to see what was wrong with Bilbo:“Bilbo are you okay?”
“Yeah, fine. Just got a bit dizzy.”
Oin wasn’t convinced and put his hand on Bilbo's forehead:“You have a fever and you’re trembling, why didn’t you say something earlier??”
“I-I didn’t know, I thought the cold was from the rain.” Bilbo’s shivering got worse.
“I’m sure some stew will make him feel warmer,” Fili chimed in.
This time Bilbo groaned at the thought of having to eat, his stomach feeling uneasy:“ I don’t think I can manage it.”
“We shouldn’t push it, he just needs some rest. The others go and eat. Bilbo is going to be okay,” Oin reassured everyone.
When everyone besides Thorin had gone to eat, he took of his fur coat and draped it on Bilbo.
“Thank you, Thorin,” Bilbo said as his shivering lessened.
“No worries, you need it more than I do at the moment.”
When everyone had finished eating they got ready and went to sleep. Thorin took the first watch, as he couldn’t stop worrying about Bilbo. He watched as everyone slowly fell asleep, until he was the only one awake. After a couple of hours he noticed that Bilbo was shivering again, more than before.
He stood and went to see what was wrong. Bilbo was still asleep as Thorin put his palm on Bilbo’s forehead, it felt hot, Bilbo was radiating heat. Thorin silently woke up Oin.
“What do you want? Is it my turn to keep watch?”
“No, it’s Bilbo. I think his fever is worse than before.”
At that Oin quickly stood, took his bag, and went to Bilbo.
“You’re right.” Oin started rummaging in his bag and took out some leaves:“Make some tea from these. It’ll help with his fever:”
Thorin did as told and took the mug to Oin, who was trying to wake Bilbo up.
“He isn’t waking up?” Thorin’s voice sounded worried.
“No, Can you help me hold him up?” Oin asked as he took the mug from Thorin.
Thorin grouched behind Bilbo and sat him up against his chest.
“Thorin? Whas goin on?” Bilbo’s voice was weak and scratchy.
“You’re sick. Can you drink this tea? It’ll help with your fever.”
“Mhmm.”
Oin handed the mug to Bilbo, who almost dropped it, and Bilbo slowly drank all it’s contents.
“You can go back to sleep now,” Thorin said as he laid Bilbo down again.
“Mhmm.” Bilbo was already half asleep.
“Will he be okay, Oin?”
“Yes, Thorin, he will.”
Since Oin was already up he decided to take the next watch and told Thorin to go to sleep.
Thorin took his advice and laid down close to Bilbo, who unconsciously rolled towards the warmth and buried himself in Thorins chest.
Oin chuckled quietly at Thorins shocked look but said nothing. That’s how they woke up in the morning.
Bilbo was horrified:“I-Im sorry, Thorin.” He scrambled up.
“Don’t worry Bilbo, it’s okay, you were sick- you’re still sick.”
The commotion woke up the others.
“Hey, how are you feeling?” Kili was the first to ask.
“Fine, better than yesterday.”
“We’ll eat and get going,” Thorin announced.
They ate, packed their things, and started their trek once again. Thorin was at the front, leading the others and Bilbo had fallen back with Balin. He was a bit dizzy again and tripped. Luckily Balin caught him and lowered him to the ground.
“Thorin, wait!” Balin yelled out.
“What is it Balin?”
“Bilbo is dizzy again!”
Thorin went to Bilbo who was sitting down, leaning against a tree stump. Thorin put his fingers on Bilbo’s cheek.
“He isn’t feverish at least. Bilbo, you okay?”
“Mhmm, fine.”
“Should we take a break?”
“No, no, let’s keep going, it’ll be lunch in a few hours, I can rest then.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
Thorin helped Bilbo up and stayed at the back with him, Dwalin was at the front, taking over Thorins position.
When lunch came Thorin decided to take a bit longer break. Bilbo took a nap, sitting next to Thorin with his head on Thorin’s shoulder. Balin sat next to Thorin.
“You know, I’ve never seen you give away you coat before.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Thorin replied calmly.
“Nothing, just you seem to care a lot about the hobbit.” Balin had knowing look.
“I do care about him.”
“Well, you should try telling him that.”
“No, he can’t find out.”
“You know he’s not stupid, he’ll figure it out.”
“If he does then he does, but promise me you won’t tell him.”
“Alright, alright, I promise.”
With that Balin left. It was once again time to move on. Thorin started to wake Bilbo, only finding that Bilbo was awake and staring at him.
“How much did you hear Bilbo?”
“Enough.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry? You’ve done nothing wrong.”
“You weren’t supposed to find out.”
“And why is that?”
“I- I don’t know. I just figured that if you found out you’d leave us.”
“You should know better than that you oaf.”
Bilbo hugged Thorin, Thorin hugged him back, a big smile on his face. They got up, packed their stuff and joined the others, who were ready to leave. All grinning and snickering. Thorin sent them all a deadly glare and went to the front with Bilbo. Everyone was a happy that Thorin had finally found his One, and started singing cheerful songs while steadily reaching closer to Erebor.