Why Do I Love You, Don't Even Want To

"A girl may love you from the bottom of her heart, but there's always room for some other fellow at the top"

'Now, I'll only be a few days, so don't worry about anything.' Sam rambled on, shoving the last of his clothes into a small bag, and taking it to the front door of Bag End.

'Stop worrying, I can cope on my own… anyway, Frodo's here as well.' Rose replied, following her husband around the house with Elanor in her arms.

'You're not to go bothering Mr. Frodo, Rosie. He has things he has to do, and he needs peace and quiet to do them.'

'I don't mind Sam,' Frodo said. He had been standing in the hallway, helping his friend load his bags onto his pony outside. 'Just have a good time with Pip and Merry, we can look after ourselves.'

Sam sighed, and walked out of Bag End. He stopped by his pony, and turned to Rose, Elanor and Frodo.

'Mr. Frodo, don't let Rosie bother you.'

'Really…' Rose muttered to herself.

Sam turned to his wife and daughter. 'I won't be gone long, but Pippin was so insistent I went to stay for a bit.'

'Don't worry, have a good time.' Rose said.

'Alright. I love you.' Sam kissed his wife. 'And I love you.' Sam kissed Elanor on the forehead, which made her chuckle.

With his goodbyes said, Sam mounted his pony and, with one last waves at Frodo, Rose and Elanor, rode off down the road.

Pippin had invited Sam, Rose, Elanor and Frodo over to his and Merry's house for a week or so, but Frodo was reluctant to travel and leave Bag End, and Rose didn't think that Elanor was up to a journey across the Shire just yet, she was still too young. Of course, when he heard this, Sam had also wanted to stay, but Pippin and Merry were still insistent, and Frodo and Rose didn't want to stop him having a good time, so they had forced him to go. Sam had resisted at first, but finally gave in.

Rose, Elanor and Frodo now went back into Bag End, and Rose took Elanor off to her little room for an afternoon nap. Frodo went back into his study to carry on sorting out all the notes he had been given by Bilbo about his adventures.

Frodo wasn't disturbed for most of the afternoon, but as the light outside began to lessen, Rose appeared.

'Dinner will be ready in about half an hour, Frodo.' She informed him.

'Thank you very much, Rosie. You know, you don't have to do all this for me.'

'Oh, I don't mind, honestly.' Rose replied, before leaving Frodo alone again. He laughed to himself, you would never believe that Rose was married to Sam; the two hobbits were so different. Frodo had been trying for ages to stop Sam calling him "Mr", "Master" or "Sir", and yet he wouldn't. Rose, on the other hand, had hardly ever been at all formal around Frodo, usually just calling him by his first name. Both Sam and Rose worried about him, though, which sometimes he was grateful for, and sometimes annoyed him.

***

Frodo walked into the dining room of Bag End, and was greeted with the smell of Rose's cooking. Two places were set out at the table, with Frodo's best china and glasses. The candles had also been lit, casting a romantic atmosphere. Frodo began to worry slightly – he had known Rose when she had been in her tweens, he knew how big a flirt she had been. Of course, she was older now, and married, but he still wasn't completely reassured. He found himself thinking about whether Elanor was the only reason Rose had decided to stay at Bag End with him. He pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind as Rose appeared, carrying a large dish.

On the dish was a large roast duck, covered in some kind of sauce. The smell told Frodo it was cherry sauce. (A/N: Thank Mr. Ball for the inspiration for the meal – "If you don't like duck, you're rather stuck" and "There's duck with orange sauce, duck with cherry sauce, and duck surprise. The surprise is that there isn't any sauce!") 'It smells delicious, Rosie.' Frodo complimented the hobbit lass, seating himself at the table.

'Oh, it's nothing Frodo, really.' She said, blushing slightly as she put down the duck and sat down opposite her husband's master.

She let Frodo carve the duck, and they began to eat. 'Oh! I forgot something!' Rose suddenly said, and leapt from her seat. She reappeared a minute later with a full bottle of wine. She filled both her and Frodo's glasses, before sitting down again.

Frodo looked at his glass hesitantly. He knew he wasn't very good with alcohol, two glasses and he's probably be completely drunk. But he didn't think one glass would do that much…