It was quite easy, actually. All he needed to do was find a calm place where no one would disturb him and spend the night staring at the stars. Well, more like watching them.
They were beautiful. And fascinating. That was the first thing that drew Bilbo to them. Then, they were calm. Every time he needed to get away from all the noisy, cheerful hobbits and just be alone for a while, they were the perfect place to hide.
Finally, they always listened when he needed to tell them something. At least it looked like they were listening, which was enough for Bilbo. He couldn't exactly talk to the other hobbits about his internal thoughts. They'd probably tell him "not to think about it and go eat something", and they would run away, always so light-hearted.
No, the hobbits have never been ones for deep thoughts. But still, from time to time, Bilbo needed a friend like that, and the stars were there.
So, he grew up as a respected hobbit, Bilbo Baggins from Bag End. He put away all his thoughts and sank into the hobbit life – drinking, eating, sleeping and having parties. His meetings with stars were private, they belonged only to him and nobody else.
When he went on the journey with thirteen dwarves and a terribly enthusiastic wizard, he realized that his reputation was probably didn't come to his mind at that moment. In fact, the only thing that came to his mind was that he wanted nothing more than to get away from his life once again, maybe forever.
But forever is a long time. For now, it was only a few months. It was the night after they got rescued by the eagles, they were camping near a forest and Bilbo was patrolling. It was also the first night in months when he talked to the stars again.
Because the problem with stars is that no matter how much you try, they never answer.
Bilbo kept talking because he figured out that was the only way to make them. He told them everything about the journey, everything that had happened so far. Then he talked about the dwarves; he mentioned Bofur´s kind attitude towards him, Balin´s wisdom and he described their characters. "They're good friends, all of them," he explained and the stars seemed to nod eagerly.
He was purposely avoiding talking about Gandalf or Thorin. About Gandalf, because he felt his power and was scared of it and admired it at the same time. About Thorin, because… well, that was hard to explain. He was the dwarf king. That was the only thought Bilbo could come up with.
He talked and talked until his mouth became dry. Then he stopped, staring at them intensely as if he wanted to burn them with his eyes. But that's the nature of stars; they burn only by themselves.
"They're quite impressive, aren't they?"
Bilbo spun around so quickly that he lost balance for a while. He was looking into the eyes of the dwarf king who was watching him, now amused.
"You need to be more careful. Also, with the talking."
It took a moment until Bilbo realized what he was talking about.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were listening, I hope I didn't offend…" His blabbing was fading away with every step Thorin took. When they were inches away, he once again stopped talking.
Sometimes it is good to speak and sometimes it is not. But that's the nature of stars; they are happy to hear both.
"You can always talk to me." It came out as a short breath and Bilbo was not sure for a while if he´d heard correctly.
The dwarf king was watching him, still with that smile on his face. It was strange to see him so… kind. So caring.
"It's nothing interesting, believe me." Bilbo looked at the dwarf like he was expecting him to agree. Actually, he was.
"I'll listen to anything you want to tell me." And with that, he looked up.
Because that's the nature of stars; to get to know them, you have to watch them with someone else.