Fandom: The Hobbit
Paring: Bilbo Baggins x Thorin Oakenshield
Words: 1,542
Authors Note: Had this idea while watching bagginshield videos (honestly, what am I doing to myself?)
Thorin’s about to head out to face a huge group of orcs that they ran into on their journey to Erebor. Before the dwarf king leaves, however, Bilbo catches his attention and it takes him by surprise.
~x~
Bilbo’s eyes flicked quickly to Thorin’s back, watching his muscles move as he walked in front of him. Bilbo’s small body shaking as a sharp wind blew into the valley in which they now stood. They were damp with rain, their clothes sticking to their skin.
It was around midday, as Bilbo guessed by the way the sun beat down on them, high in the sky. They had been wading through a shallow stream that ran down the slim valley, slipping on wet stones and tripping over holes in the sand-bed that lay underneath. It was more exhausting that one would’ve original thought and the hobbits’ calves burned and ached as they treaded through the water. Blasted dwarves, he thought bitterly, kicking the water in front of him angrily. And to think that he would be back in his hole in Hobbiton if it weren’t for Gandalf.
Of course, these were usual things for such a hobbit as Bilbo Baggins to be thinking, for it was quite unusual for a Baggins to run out in the blue. But a small part of him was enjoying this journey beyond belief. Whether it was the merry company of the dwarves, the wide and beautiful landscapes or just merely being on the road that made it attractive, it was hard to say. I guess you could also say that Mr.Baggins was taking a particular interest into a certain dwarf.
The hobbit slowly switched his gaze to Thorin Oakenshield, who was trudging through the cold water without a word, his fists clenched at his sides. His hair was flopped lazily down his back, darker than its’ usual color due to the previous rain that day.
Bilbo bit down on his lip as his ears caught the sound of a twig snapping under-foot amongst the trees on the right side of the bank. The Company instantly stopped as Thorin quickly raised his hand to silence their heavy breathing. All was silent for a moment, and Bilbo silently wished for it to be nothing more than a doe or a bird.
They had been on the run from the foul beasts known as orcs. The hobbit merely thought of such things as fairytales, nothing of reality. But they had spotted a large pack hunting them down a few days back, and Bilbo often dreamt of the foul faces of the orcs and the sharp, bared fangs of the wargs which they rode on.
And as the twig had snapped, all minds had instantly gone to orcs. When there was to be a situation where they thought they heard or saw an orc, Thorin would usually volunteer himself to go and see it out, sometimes alone even. This would leave the poor hobbit silently worrying himself to death, for he would not be able to bare not seeing the dwarf again.
Yes, it was true. For no matter how many times he simply denied it to himself, he had become truly smitten with the dwarf king. He would be on his toes worrying about Thorin when he wasn’t with them, and tried to avoid being alone with Thorin, for Bilbo knew that he could not hide his feelings forever. There would be a day to come in which he would have the words accidentally leave his mouth.
And he had it in his head that Thorin Oakenshield could not possibly love such a being as he, for he was such a useless, weak hobbit from The Shire. Compared to a dwarf king, there was a good amount of difference between the two.
The dwarves and hobbit stood still in their tracks, their eyes fixed on the area in which they had heard the twig snap. Thorins’ voice broke the silence first, rough and low.
“I’ll go see what it is” He said in a calm tone, lowering his hand to reach for his sword and began to take a step forward. Balin waded quickly through the water in front of Thorin, pressing a hand to his chest to stop him from moving forward.
“It’s unlikely that it’s anythin’, Thorin” He said, furrowing his white, bushy eyebrows together.
“I shall not take that chance” He snapped quickly, before gathering up Dwalin, Fili and Kili with him to set off to scout.
Balin, in defeat, rounded up the other dwarves and let them rest on the bank of the river, landing with cracks and thuds as they fell down onto pebbles and sand. Bilbo’s jaw clenched as he watched Dwalin, pulling Kili with him, up the slope that lead into the forest on the other side of the stream. Fili followed close behind them, with Thorin trailing behind. Something snapped in Bilbo’s mind, for before he knew it, he had run up behind Thorin and pulled him by the end of his sleeve to face the hobbit.
“What is it?” Thorin asked calmly as his eyes rested on Bilbo’s with an unknown expression, his mouth set in it’s usual straight-line. The hobbit chewed on the inside of his cheek nervously, fumbling his thumbs in front of his hips.
“P-Please” He stuttered, desperately searching for the correct words.
Mr.Baggins didn’t seem the best for talking to someone whom he had feelings for. This had proven itself to him many times before. The dwarf ticked his head slowly to the side, raising a brow in confusion. Bilbo breathed in a shaky breath, before exhaling and looking into Thorin’s eyes.
“Please do not go again. I-I couldn’t… I wouldn’t know what to do if you didn’t return” He admitted quickly, pausing between every couple of words, his voice cracking. He blinked quickly, trying to keep back the blush appearing on his cheeks, nose and ears.
Thorin gazed down at Bilbo in surprise, his lips parted as he struggled to make words escape his lips. “Bilbo, I-“
“Please. N-No matter how many times I try to ignore it.. I- I can’t… it’s..” He shook his head, raising a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose as he tried to articulate his words correctly.
They stood silent for a brief moment, with the only sounds around them being the water and dwarves. Suddenly, Bilbo looked back up at Thorin’s face, his eyebrows furrowed together as he spoke.
“It’s always you”
The dwarf didn’t flinch or make any sign of surprise. Instead, he stood still and looked down at the hobbit with furrowed brows and eyes full of something that Bilbo couldn’t quite put his finger on. But it suddenly hit the hobbit that he had just admitted to Thorin of his feelings, and his heart felt as if it was about to burst out of his chest. How could he have been so foolish to tell Thorin his feelings?
“I’m sorry..” Bilbo whispered lowly, almost inaudible. As he began to step slowly backwards, his attention turned back to Thorin once he heard a soft laugh in his direction. When the hobbit looked back at him, the dwarf king was in fact laughing with a warm blush on his face. Bilbo looked up at him in a confused expression.
“Oh, Mahal..” Thorin shook his head with a loving smile as he looked at Bilbo. Without saying anything, the dwarf slowly walked towards him and suddenly leaned forward so that his lips were only just hovering over Bilbo’s. The hobbit’s breath hitched in the back of his throat, his eyes wide.
“I am sorry to have caused you such worry” Thorin whispered softly, his breath warm against Bilbo’s cheek.
As the hobbit looked down to his lips, the dwarf leaned to the left slightly and rested his chin on top of Mr.Baggins’s shoulder. His strong, wide arms slowly wrapped around Bilbo’s sides, pulling his smaller frame to his broader one. Bilbo stood speechless and still into Thorin’s hug, before nuzzling his face closer into Thorin’s fur-rimmed coat, breathing in the smell of wilderness and sweat. They stood like that for what felt like hours for Bilbo, but was merely a couple of minutes, until Thorin pulled back slowly, looking lovingly into the hobbits’ eyes.
“Please, do not worry about me. I will come back to you. You have my word” He said slowly and deeply, pressing his forehead briefly against Bilbo’s before turning on his heel and jogging after Fili who stood at the edge of the forest, his face red as to what he just saw.
Bilbo blinked a few times, trying to take in what Thorin had just done. Something in Mr.Baggins’s mind told him that Thorin would keep his promise, no matter what were to happen. Bilbo smiled to himself knowingly, shuffling his feet against the pebble-scattered ground.
As he watched Fili disappear beneath the shadow of the trees, he spotted Thorin turning around quickly to glance back at him. Bilbo’s eyes turned to Thorin’s lips as he mouthed something, which made the blush return once more to his face, before running off after his nephew.
Bilbo giggled softly to himself, rubbing his neck with a shaky hand. Shyly, he glanced back at Balin, who was grinning knowingly behind him, before turning back to the forest in which the four dwarves had disappeared in.
…
“I love you too”
~x~
