I am so sorry, yall! I was so busy and I never had time to upload this chapter. I had it all written and typed out but never got a chance to upload. I think there will be 7, maybe 8 more chapters after this one. Thanks for taking an interest in my story! Leave any comments and reviews!

Bram was walking through what seemed like a forest with patches of random meadow. Like, there was dense tree then a small area of clover and flower. And on each patch was a ray of light that broke through the canopy. It seemed something would snatch her up in the trees but play with her in the meadows.

She could hear crows cawing. A mouse shrieked as it was plucked from the ground to be someone's lunch. Or dinner. Bram could not tell what time it was, or even what day. She was now standing on one of the meadows. The flowers seemed to bend over and tug at her feet. Little sparks came from the flowers but did not hurt the hobbit. They felt warm.

Bram continued until she came to a clearing. The trees formed a giant circle and bent slightly outward as if a force was making them do so. Something was sitting in the middle. As the hobbit got closer it appeared the figure was covered in hair. Head to toe it was covered in its thick black hair.

Bram was scared. She wanted to turn around and run away but the figure made a sudden cooing noise. Her heart beat faster. Her breath was out in short bursts. She reached out her hand and rested it on the figures, what she guessed, shoulder.

It spun around and the halfling screamed. It had no eyes, giant ears, and a mouth so grotesque she wanted to vomit. She began to cry and she got a sudden stinging headache. The figure reached out with large, meaty hands and grabbed her face. Bram whimpered as it got closer. It tried to say something but made a gurgling noise instead.

Bram replied, "What do you want with me?"

The figure opened its mouth and let out a noise.

RRR-AR-ERRR-ER-ERRR!

Bram yelled and fell out of bed and onto the floor. Underneath her, she could feel carpet and not grass and sparking flowers. There was ceiling and not a canopy of trees. The hobbit groaned and hoisted herself up off the floor. Outside her window a rooster continued to crow. Her bed side clock read 6:30 AM.

"Awesome." The hobbit said to no one.

Bram yanked on pants and opened her door. Her visitor had chosen the room across hers. He had not closed the door all the way. Bram peeked in and could see him sleeping. As she went to close the door the man shifted. She could see he was holding a knife in his hand, his knuckled white from clenching it all night. At first, she was scared but then she questioned the universe as to what happened in this man's life to make him sleep with a weapon.

The hobbit waltzed to the kitchen, the question still in her mind, and pulled out a pan and butter. She had decided she would surprise Thorin with breakfast. She cooked for half an hour all the while humming a songless tune. She had decided on making scrambled eggs, toast, jam, ham steak, and a pitcher of juice. After wiping her hands she went to her guest's room and knocked on the door.

"Good morning, Throin!"

FWOOSH

The dwarf has sat straight up and launched the knife in Bram's direction, missing her ear by a hair and sinking into the door frame. Bram let out a whimper and crumpled to the floor. She could feel the vibration of footsteps before she passed out.

Bram awoke on her couch in front of the fire place. A blanket was wrapped around her and she had to struggle to free herself. She could hear noises from the kitchen, noises of mumbling and plates clinking. She shook herself to gain feeling in her feet before walking into the room. Thorin was standing at the sink.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Washing the dishes. I ate all the food you made." Thorin continued to scrub the plates and cups.

Bram sat down at the table. "How long was I out?" she asked.

"About an hour."

Bram rubbed her head. There was a bump from where she must have hit her head as she fell. Almost immediately she got up and ran to the guest room. The door frame had a sizeable notch from where the knife landed. Bram stormed back to the kitchen.

"THORIN!"

The man grunted a reply without turning around. Bram did not think that was good enough. She picked up a cloth and threw it at him. It landed half on his shoulder and half on his hair with a plop, but it was enough to make the dwarf turn around, butter knife in hand.

"Throin, your knife caused a gash in my door frame!"

The man replied, "I cannot fix it, halfling. I can only work in stone."

Bram got flustered. "Well, if you can't fix it, then you can repay me by helping me with chores." She walked across the room and retrieved the cloth. "Today, you are going to help me with gardening, laundry, grooming Molly, and making a trip to Hobbiton for supplies."

Thorin did not respond. He walked back to his room and retrieved his boots. Sitting down, he pulled them on and rolled up his sleeves. Bram smiled and retreated to her room to change. As she closed the door, she could feel eyes on her back as if studying her.

Inside her little cave of comfort, Bram chose pants and a nice lacy shirt. Even though Thorin was the first man to come into her house in a long time, she did not intentionally choose a shirt that showed off her best assets. She despised her mother for what she did with her life, but thanked her for not having the standard lumpy hobbit physique.

She emerged from her room as she braided her hair to the side. Thorin was eating an orange and dropping pieces of the peel on the floor. Bram wanted to say something but instead handed him the broom and opened the door. She pointed to the peels then to the outside. Thorin snorted, set the broom aside, and resumed his orange eating and peel dropping.

"Mister Thorin! If you make a mess you clean it up! If you're going to be like this for a week then I'd suggest you find someplace else to stay."

Bram knew her words were testing his patience and he could, at any second, change his mind and actually leave. The halfling unconsciously held her breath until Thorin stood up.

"Oh please, I'm sorry!" Bram cried. "I didn't mean it. Please don't go!"

Thorin grabbed the broom and hit the peels over the threshold and into the grass. Handing back the broom he got close to Bram's face and said, "Never back down, girl. It shows weakness and gives your enemies power." Thorin stepped outside and continued to eat the rest of his orange.

Bram managed to get herself to the kitchen with weak knees and gripped the broom handle. Her heart was beating so fast. But she wasn't scared of her visitor. She remembered this feeling, back when she was almost 13. She had been friends with a boy for a while and began to develop feelings for him. Problem was, when she told him, he immediately rejected her, calling Bram a disgusting creature of a whore. It really was what made Bram stay by herself and never really want to love again.

"No bother," she said out loud. "I will deal with this feeling later." She put the broom in the closet and grabbed her gardening gloves. She could hear Thorin calling after her to hurry up. Bram laid a hand on her heart and sighed. With gloves on her hands, she strolled outside to start her week with her unexpected guest.