So my lovelies,

It has been two years since I finished One Day More! :) Anyone miss me? Yes? No? Okay, I wouldn't miss me either. x) This is the sequel titled "I Dreamed a Dream" (also a Les Miserables song). I'll do a better job of continuity and updating than I did with ODM.

The next update will be May 11 (Wednesday, US time).

Keep n mind that this story (like ODM) is severely AU - meaning, some characters that aren't even mentioned around the time in the Hobbit, exist here. :)

Finally, I do recommend you read ODM first as this story takes place two weeks after that.

Happy Reading!

- Beth


Thorin secured Orcrist, closed his pack, and slung it over his shoulder. Stealthily as any dwarf could, he walked to the front door of Bag End. His hand had just wrapped around the knob when a small voice called his name. He let out a reluctant sigh but opened the door.

"Thorin? Where are you going?" Bilbo asked, wrapping his plaid robe around himself. "You're not leaving, are you?"

The dwarf cursed under his breath, his back to the hobbit. "Go back to bed, Bilbo," he said gruffly without turning around.

A small hand touched his shoulder and he tensed. "Go back. I am returning to Erebor."

"Alone? And so soon?"

Thorin grunted. "I have been away from my kingdom for far too long. I must return."

Bilbo frowned in confusion though Thorin didn't turn around. "I thought we'd return together."

"Plans change," he gruffed, remembering when he'd spoken those words to Balin all those months ago. "Go back to bed." He stepped out into the garden, the rising sun giving the lawn an orange glow.

"Not until you tell me what is going on." He could hear the quiet curiosity giving way to anger in the hobbit's voice.

Thorin sighed heavily and reluctantly turned around. "I am going home, Bilbo. I am a dwarf and dwarves do not belong in the Shire. I need to be with my own kin in my own kingdom."

Bilbo opened his mouth to speak. "Oh, well. I'll come too Thorin-"

"No," the other interrupted harshly. "No. You must stay here."

"B-but... we're married. You promised we would stay together, no matter what," he tried, joining the dwarf on the patio.

"That was before him," Thorin growled. "Now, you have no choice in returning. You must stay in the Shire for him. You cannot leave him."

"Frodo?" clarified the hobbit. His expression aghast. "I thought you liked him. Why can't he come with me? W-with you?"

"He is not a dwarf, Bilbo. He is a hobbit and hobbits belong in the Shire," he sneered. "He just lost his parents. He needs his closest relative. He needs you. He needs to stay here where he'll be accepted and raised properly. Not in a foreign land and not by some barbarians."

Bilbo's eyes and face were unreadable. "Tell me," he began in a quiet and too composed voice, "is our marriage a sham? Did you marry me to bring me back to the place where hobbits belong only to abandon me?"

Thorin's jaw clenched and his lip curled. "No, Bilbo. I love you still... It's just- Frodo deserves to grow up here in the safety of the Shire-"

"Orcs, Thorin! Orcs came here and murdered his parents!" he huffed loudly. "The Shire is not as safe as you seem to think!"

"I brought the orcs," Thorin argued, trying not to go off on a wild tangent. "They're after me, I just know it."

"So that gives you the right to leave without me?"

He looked at Bilbo with new fire in his cold eyes. "I am a king who has been away from his own people for too long. Hell, I haven't been a very good king even I was there!" he snarled, taking a threatening step forward. "We have to stop pretending that everything's going to fall into place. I was never a proper king to Erebor with you around. I was always someone who chose his consort over his own kin. I shouldn't have done that and I shouldn't've come here!"

Bilbo's eyes narrowed.

"Stay for Frodo. I do not want to risk travelling with both of you, especially with orcs behind me." He turned away and made it to the gate before glancing back. "I'll be back one day, love."

"No," the hobbit spat bitterly. He approached the dwarf, a sour scowl on his face. "I am not your 'love' anymore. You don't leave your 'love' because you suddenly want to become king again. You don't leave him behind. You made a promise, Thorin Oakenshield! It was your vow!" He slapped the dwarf. "I forbid you to throw my love away!"

He ignored the sting of his cheek. "Frodo-"

"The boy loves you, Thorin. You're willing to abandon him too?"

"He's too young to remember me. Why stay when all he's going to do is get attached?" he growled, towering over Bilbo. "I must leave while he's young."

"And me?"

"You're strong and..." His hands tightened into fists, clenching the straps of his pack tightly. "Maybe you'll find some other pretty-"

Bilbo slapped him harder. "Don't! Don't make me the bad one here. Don't tell me to find someone else so when you return, you'll have nothing to return to!" he cried, not caring about the other hobbits looking at them.

"You're not coming! I made a mistake marrying a stubborn hobbit, Bilbo Baggins. I am King under the Mountain! Not some damn domestic dwarf! Besides, we both know you were just a mere distraction in the mountain! Do us both a favor and stay here!" he snarled, his lip curling in anger.

Bilbo screwed off his ring and threw it with great malice at Thorin's chest, not caring when it just bounced off. "See if I care. Do whatever the hell you want-"

A tiny wail floated to their ears; Frodo awake from his now-usual nightmares.

The hobbit exhaled sharply.

Thorin spoke in a gravelly voice, "Well, I guess you better go to him. The lad that'll be staying here with you, the hobbit I thought I loved." He glared coldly at the creature. "Don't bother waiting for me." He turned and left the garden, walking down the road.

Bilbo went back inside, slamming the door behind him, and into his bedroom. Frodo had been sleeping with him for the past two weeks while Thorin had taken one of the spare rooms. "You alright, Frodo? What happened?"

"I want my mommy and daddy," the boy cried.

Bilbo pulled him close. "I know, Frodo."

Frodo looked up at Bilbo. "Why won't they come back?" His bottom lip began to tremble.

"Oh, my boy," the older hobbit sighed. "They can't. I know you want them but..." He thought how to say it. "They've gone to a place where they can never return. But your parents loved you, Frodo. Believe me, they're trying to get back to you but they can't."

Frodo sniffled. "Am I gonna live here with you, Uncle Bilbo?"

"Yes, you are my dear," he repeated for the small child, knowing that the more he repeated it, the more Frodo was likely to realize it.

"Wh-what 'bout Uncle Thorin?" he asked innocently.

Bilbo's blood boiled for a brief second before he was overcome with heartbreaking pain. His mind raced of what to tell Frodo. "Um, he..." Oh, the truth would be too hard on the little boy. "He's gone on a trip. He'll return."

A fat tear rolled down his cheek. "He's left me too?"

"Oh no, Frodo. No, he loves you. He loves you very much. It's just he... He's gone to get those bad guys who hurt you."

"Oh. Okay," the boy sighed. "When is he coming back?"

"I don't know," Bilbo admitted. "He didn't tell me."

He smoothed back the little boy's curly hair. "Go back to sleep, Frodo. I'll be right here." He continued to stroke Frodo's hair and face until his breathing evened out. He tucked himself into bed beside Frodo and tried to drift off, but all he could think about was the dwarf leaving him behind because of his guilt to rule his own people.

Thorin Oakenshield was throwing away their marriage, and Bilbo Baggins had half a mind to let him.


I assure you, their marriage is not over. So, that went well didn't it? I must tell you that this story has more drama and less romance than ODM, but it is still just as good. My signature tooth-rotting fluff won't be here though :)

Thanks!