Each member of the company made their way through the corridor towards the front door, the anticipation rising in the air around us. Josh walked with his new buddy Bofur, while I trailed behind, apprehensive about who we were about to meet.
I was about to enter the foyer where everyone had crowded, when I was stopped by a hand gently brushing against my forearm, freezing me in place.
My entire body stiffened before I recovered enough to shrug out of the grasp of the offender. Turning to confront them, I watched as Fili took a step backwards and lifted his open palms in surrender, eyes wide in surprise and concern. I sighed and dropped my shoulders in frustration towards myself and my reaction.
Was I going to be like this now, scared of any little movement or brush of a hand against my arm?
"I'm sorry… It's been one hell of a day."
Fili nodded in understanding, his light eyebrows furrowing as he observed my very obviously injured face.
"Who did this to you, Miss Amelia? The lads noticed, and some of us became concerned" He said, while gesturing to my cheek. His hand lingered close to my face for a split second before he put his arm back by his side. I looked down at my bare feet a few moments before replying.
"A story for another time, maybe." I looked back up at his face, before adding, "besides, it looks like we have another visitor. Bilbo is going to be so pleased with this."
I turned around and continued down the corridor, catching the last of a conversation between Bilbo and an unfamiliar voice.
"He looks more like a grocer than a burglar," the new voice stated to the company, and I noticed Bilbo looked extremely embarrassed and confused. I honestly felt sorry for the poor guy. Gandalf then turned to Josh and me, just seconds after I entered the room.
"Miss Amelia and Master Joshua, this is Thorin Oakenshield, King under the Mountain and leader of this company." Gandalf turned back to Thorin, continuing.
"The siblings will be joining us on our quest, as I have also chosen them as our burglars."
Thorin walked slowly up to Joshua and myself. He had an energy around him that certainly indicated his power, and it was hard not to flinch away from his presence.
"A woman, and an elf-like creature?" He stated while looking us up and down. "I'll be damned if I have either on this quest."
Did I just hear that right? I glanced behind Thorin and saw Dwalin, with the biggest smirk I'd ever seen on a person, or a Dwarf for that matter. Despite his intimidating aura, that pissed me right off and I took half a step towards Thorin.
There was a moment where I was looking in at the current situation, and it was then that I fully acknowledged the fact that I had completely snapped.
To hell with being pushed around after what had happened today. I wasn't going to let myself become the scared little mouse I had been moments earlier, and I sure as hell wasn't going to run away as I had done hours earlier.
It was a good thing I was about the same height as the Dwarf, otherwise it would have been incredibly awkward. I narrowed my eyes at his icy blue ones and stuck out my chin, hoping to dissuade from the fact that my entire being was trembling.
"Do you think that just because I am a girl, that I am suddenly less than you? That having boobs makes me incapable of doing anything?" I noticed Thorin shift uncomfortably at the mention of my female anatomy, much to my enjoyment, before I continued. "Oh, and my brother is not a fucking elf, can't you tell by the ears?"
Thorin looked at me for a split-second like I had just kicked a puppy, before his eyes narrowed at me.
"This is my quest and I will choose my companions according to how adequate their skills are for the journey." Thorin looked pointedly over at my brother before walking down the corridor towards the dining room.
Most of the Dwarves, with their snickers and offended glares, had followed Thorin through to the dining room before I spoke again.
"What an ass." Josh just nodded in agreement, before Kili spoke up.
"Aye, and that is our uncle. You will get used to him, though." He laughed genuinely, as he walked to the dining room with Gandalf. Josh and Bilbo followed suit after smiling at me with pride and bewilderment, respectively.
Well, shit. I had just insulted not only a King and the leader of their quest, but the cute brothers' uncle.
Whoops.
Fili was there again, seemingly waiting for me. I sighed, and he just looked at me and chuckled.
"I guess any chance of going with you lot and finding a way home has gone out the window," I muttered.
"No, lass, I would not worry about that. Uncle is not used to having anyone standing up to him, much less a human. Even if he does not agree at first, we can persuade him." He smiled at me as we walked back down the corridor.
"Oh, you're going to persuade him? And why would you do that now?" I retorted, and smirked when I saw the beginnings of a blush dusting his cheeks.
"No," he started, "I simply meant that Gandalf would be able to talk some sense into Thorin, if no one else." He looked slightly embarrassed, and I just laughed.
"Hey, if you wanted me to go on this adventure with you, all you had to do was ask," I shrugged, before walking into the dining room and standing behind Kili and Fili, who proceeded to sit with his brother. He still looked embarrassed, but smirked at me over his shoulder as Dwalin began to speak to Thorin about someone called Dain.
I zoned out a little as they spoke, returning to the conversation as Bilbo re-entered the room from wherever he had disappeared.
Despite being extremely put out by having thirteen Dwarves, two Humans and a Wizard show up on his doorstep for a dinner that was nothing short of loud and boisterous, Bilbo wasn't doing too badly. He hadn't tried to kick them out either, even after the condescending remarks made by Thorin, and I feel like despite being a recluse, he wasn't too bad.
Coming back to reality, I heard who I think I remembered as Balin addressing the group.
"The task would be difficult enough with an army behind us. But we number just thirteen, and not thirteen of the best, nor brightest." He looked around at the company, as if to emphasise his statement.
"Hey, who are you calling dim!" one of the Dwarves yelled. The others erupted into bouts of disagreements and anger, until Fili decided to have his say.
"We may be few in number, but we're fighters, to the last dwarf!" To continue his brother's positive outlook on the situation, Kili added, "and you forget; we have a Wizard in our company! Gandalf would have killed hundreds of dragons in his time!"
I couldn't see his face, but by the tone of excitement in his voice I could only imagine that he was grinning like a child who had just been given an ice-cream covered in rainbow sprinkles.
Wait-what the fuck- did he just say dragon?
"Well, I wouldn't say that..." Gandalf trailed off in response to Kili's statement. He was starting to look rather uncomfortable.
"How many then? Go on, give us a number!" a burly dwarf yelled. Gandalf obviously couldn't think of a way to get out of this pickle. He sat there in silence a few moments, before he began to choke on the smoke of the pipe he had sitting in between his lips.
The Dwarves again started yelling and stood up in anger this time, arguing and yelling words foreign to me across the table. It was getting worse, and I saw more than heard Bilbo attempting to calm them down. However, it was Thorin, who had been absent from the conversation for quite some time, who finally spoke.
Well, I say spoke. It was more of a roar, basically.
"Silence!" he bellowed over the company, standing abruptly from his seat. The reaction was instantaneous; the energy that flowed from him was so intimidating that every single dwarf sat down within milliseconds, and all arguments ceased. Even Bilbo took several steps back from his place behind Thorin.
"If we have read the signs, do you not think that others will have read them too? Rumours have begun to spread. The dragon Smaug has not been seen for 60 years. Eyes look East to the Mountain, assessing, wondering, weighing the risk. Perhaps the vast wealth of our people lies unprotected. Do we sit back while others claim what is rightfully ours? Or do we seize this chance to take back Erebor!" He ended his pep-talk with words from a language that I couldn't understand, and I made a note to ask one of the Dwarves what it meant later.
Each member of the company yelled out cheers of agreement, except for Balin, who was turning out to be a real party-pooper.
"You forget; the front gate is sealed. There is no way into the mountain." He stated solemnly.
"Ah, but Master Balin, there is another entrance, only known to few, fewer of which still live this day," Gandalf spoke while pulling out what looked to be a large key, a smile hinting at his lips.
Thorin suddenly perked up as he saw what Gandalf held. "How came you by this?" he half whispered to the wizard, his gaze transfixed on the key.
"Your father passed this onto me, to be held for sake-keeping. Now, it is yours." Gandalf replied, passing the heirloom to stunned Thorin. He took the key gently, running his fingers over the inclinations and raised edges.
I looked at the other Dwarves in the room. They looked on in wonder, excitement and curiosity.
"If there is a key, there must be a door!" Fili exclaimed, to which I rolled my eyes. Great deduction, Sherlock, I thought sarcastically. I had to try and suppress a snort of laughter when Kili then added "There's another way in!" The brothers were speaking in earnest, but I couldn't take them seriously when they stated the blaringly obvious. Gandalf smiled at the brothers, addressing the company as he did so.
"There is another entrance, hidden to anyone that does not know what to look for. But we have a key, and a map."
"However, Dwarf doors are invisible when closed. The answer lies hidden somewhere in this map and I do not have the skill to find it. But there are others in Middle-earth who can. The task I have in mind will require a great deal of stealth, and no small amount of courage. But if we are careful and clever, I believe that it can be done."
"That's why we need a burglar!" Ori piped up.
"Oh yes, and a good one at that. You would need an expert, I'd expect." Bilbo had picked the wrong moment to put in his two cents, and for what seemed like the hundredth time tonight, I felt sorry for the oblivious Hobbit.
"And are you?" the Dwarf called Dori asked.
"Am I what?" Bilbo replied after looking behind him to make sure the question wasn't directed at someone else.
"He says he's an expert!" yelled a hearing-impaired Dwarf, whom I couldn't particularly remember the name of.
"What? No, no, no, no, I'm not a burglar! I've never stolen a thing in my life" Bilbo called over the top of the group, with a hint of pride in his statement.
Again, the group exploded into arguments between themselves over the 'inadequacy' of Bilbo as a burglar, and I could hear the odd comments about Josh and myself.
I couldn't exactly argue with them, could I.
I felt as though my head were about to implode from the all the shouting, and I was damn glad when Gandalf intervened.
He stood up, towering above the company. The shadows from behind the Wizard seemed to convulse and expand, darkness creeping from the corner of the room. Anger rolled from Gandalf in waves and I cringed back even before he spoke.
"If I say Bilbo Baggins is a burglar, then a burglar he shall be." He barely had to raise his voice, but he was so intimidating and I realised that I wasn't the only one in the room that had cowered away from him.
Once the Dwarves had been silenced, the shadows begun to retreat into the corners of the room to god knows where, and the anger that had radiated from Gandalf dissipated. He looked much calmer, and he continued to speak in a more light-hearted tone.
"Hobbits are especially light on their feet. In fact, they can pass unseen by most if they choose. And Bilbo has two partners to help him; this will give us a distinct advantage, as the scent of the three will be unfamiliar to the dragon. You asked me to find a burglar for your company. While I had only initially chosen Mister Bilbo, it appears fate has it to intervene, and this is why I have also decided that Miss Amelia and Master Joshua to accompany us."
"While there are some amongst you that have your doubts, you must trust me on this. They have more to offer than any of you know, including themselves." Gandalf looked at Bilbo pointedly, who looked absolutely bewildered.
"But why would you need a burglar?" Bilbo asked desperately, obviously extremely put out by being named one of the burglars on a quest he still knew little about. I was starting to feel the same way; Gandalf hadn't said anything about stealing and damned dragons! There was no way in hell this was going to happen.
"To steal from Smaug, of course!" Bofur yelled out as though it were extremely obvious. Bilbo shifted uncomfortably at the thought of stealing from someone, but by the gist of their earlier conversations I was beginning to realise it was a something.
"And who exactly is Smaug?" Bilbo squeaked, his face paling ever so slightly. His questions were mirroring exactly what I was thinking.
"Smaug the Terrible, chiefest and greatest of calamities of our age." Bofur smiled at Bilbo, who still looked utterly confused. "Claws like meat-hooks, teeth like razors. Think furnace, with wings."
If he was trying to make Bilbo feel better, he was doing a terrible job. I was also starting to freak out, again. But seriously. What. The. Fuck. From what I gathered, they were going to steal from a dragon, which means Josh and I were also going to steal from a dragon.
Yeah, no thanks.
"Yes, I know what a dragon is! Bilbo exclaimed in a voice that had become slightly high-pitched. Thorin spoke up again, directing his comment to Balin.
"Pass the burglars their contracts." Thorin glanced at me, and- obviously seeing my distressed look at the thought of stealing from a bloody dragon- smirked.
He was banking on me to chicken out at the mention of a dragon, and he was almost right. But I was way too stubborn, so I took the contract and began reading. I glanced up at Josh, who did not look quite as shocked as I felt. I gave him a questioning look, and he mouthed the words "I'll explain after" and continued to read.
In the meantime, Bilbo had taken the contract and begun to read parts of it aloud, which were not comforting in the slightest.
"Laceration… Evisceration… Incineration?" he squealed again, looking at the company in shock. I saw him begin to pale even further, so I walked over to the poor little Hobbit and put my hand on his arm.
"Are you alright Bilbo?" I asked gently, genuinely concerned for him as he wobbled on his two hairy feet and began to take in short, sharp breaths of air. Bofur decided to speak up again, and I shot him a dark look as he did so.
"Aye, it'll melt the flesh off your bones in the blink of an eye. Flash of light, searing pain, then poof! You're nothing more than a pile of ash."
Bilbo leant over himself, digging his palms into his knees.
"Are you alright, laddie?" Balin called out. Bilbo stood up, seemingly getting over his anxiety attack. However, after all of a few moments and a few deep breaths, he replied with a simple "nope" and proceeded to pass out on the ground at my feet.
I looked down at Bilbo in shock, as Gandalf reprimanded Bofur. After finally gathering my wits, I knelt and rolled him over gently so that his face wasn't smashed into the wooden floorboards.
Gandalf stood from his chair, lifted the small Hobbit gently and carried him to another room. I followed while listening to Thorin speak to the dwarves at the table.
"There is no room on this quest for folk who faint at the mere thought of what lies ahead."
Thorin seemed powerful and what-not, but the more he spoke down to those who he thought weren't as good as him, the more I disliked him. I walked into a small living area after Gandalf, who placed Bilbo onto an armchair by the fire just as Josh walked into the room behind me.
"Come on Josh, I need to talk to you." Josh nodded in understanding before following me out of the first living room into what looked like another one just down the corridor. I stepped into the room and found a candle to light, before I turned around to face him.
"Josh," I started. "I don't like the sound of this. Dragons? Stealing? Danger? I don't remember the details of the movies or books, but I can recall the gist enough to know that it isn't all rainbows and daisies. I need to look after you, and I'm not letting you go into this. We need to find a way home, now."
Josh looked at me resolutely, until I told him we needed to go home. That's when he looked betrayed and angry.
"You can't just make me go back Amelia! You know what will happen when we get back. I'll be forced to live with our asshole of a father again, and I won't be able to get out until I'm eighteen!"
I started to argue back, but he interrupted before I could barely get a handful of words out. "No, don't start. You know that even you wouldn't be able to get me out of it. I wouldn't be able to live with you because he would just drag me back, you know that! I cannot and will not spend one more day in that place!"
"You don't know how bad it's gotten, Amelia. Ever since you left, he could only take his anger out on me." At this point, he had started to tear up. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I took a step forward with my hand outstretched to try and comfort him, but he knocked it away so fast that it sent shockwaves through my body. I flinched at the contact and instantly took several steps backwards.
He then realised that he had pushed me away, and looked even more distressed, trying to reason with me through his pleading eyes.
"Amelia... I... Today, it… It wasn't the first time he had… He had hit one of his kids…" It took so much effort to get those few words out, and with eyes downcast, he hesitantly lifted his shirt. What I saw was a pattern of fading yellow patches and bright purple bruises across his ribs and stomach, covering no less than a third of his torso.
I couldn't believe it. My jaw gaped open and I couldn't tear my eyes away.
That bastard, that absolute monster.
My chest heaved as I realised what he had done to my baby brother. The anger bubbled up inside my body and pulsed through my arms, but was soon replaced when I realised all of what he had said. "Once you left, he could only take his anger out on me…"
Guilt, sorrow and sadness washed over my body once I had put two and two together. I collapsed onto my ass on the wooden floor of the Hobbit hole. If I hadn't left my brother there, he wouldn't have gotten those bruises. He wouldn't have been beaten by my father. I had broken the one promise I had made to my mother, and I hadn't done my job as an older sister. I was so angry at myself and absorbed in my self-loathing that I hadn't realised Josh had come over and sat down next to me. He smiled sadly as he wiped my tears away. I didn't realise that I had been crying. Again.
"I was supposed to protect you, Josh. Why didn't you tell me?" I asked brokenly, as I looked down at my hands.
"You had a chance at getting out, Amelia. You had a chance to be free, and I would have done anything to keep it that way."
It was then that I realised that my younger brother was far braver than I had ever been or will ever be.
It was also in that moment that I made my choice. Gandalf was right. We had been brought to this world for a reason; whether it was to get away from our father or to help these Dwarves on their quest, I did not know. Either way, I was not going to force my brother to go back to our world to be beaten and humiliated by our father. I looked up at him, snapping myself out of my current state.
"I am so sorry Josh," I grimaced at him, before taking his hand and continuing. "While I am here, I will never let anyone hurt you ever again. We won't go back, but I don't know if I can let you go on this quest. We could both be killed."
That had him caught. He looked down at his hands thoughtfully, before looking back up to me. There was a new spark of determination in his eyes, and he began to speak again.
"I was talking to Bofur during dinner, as I saw that you noticed. He was telling me about a place called Erebor, their homeland. Well, it was their homeland, before a dragon named Smaug came and killed many of their family and almost all of the men in the neighbouring city of Dale. They were forced to leave their home as the dragon took Thorin's grandfathers' gold. Bofur was only young when it happened, but he remembers how horrible it was. There was death everywhere and they lost almost everything.
"The point is, I want to help them. We kinda know how they feel, minus the fire-breathing dragon part, but we know what it feels like to lose someone you love. Besides, we were brought here for a reason, and I'd like to believe it's more than coincidence. Like Gandalf said, I think we were brought here because they need our help."
He looked so determined to help the Dwarves; I could see a hint of fear in his eyes, though I presumed because he believed that I would say no. Yet he was right, utterly and completely. I sighed, closing my eyes.
"Okay, fine!" I put my hands up in defeat, as he wrapped his arms around me in a great hug. "But," I continued once he let me go, "we have to look out for each other. It's going to be dangerous, and I would die before I let anyone hurt you again." Josh's brows knitted into a frown at the turn of my words, but before he could get a word in, I continued.
"Come on, we need to go and sign our lives away to Balin." We walked back past the first living room, where I saw a now conscious Bilbo speaking seriously with Gandalf, and to the dining room which was filled with dwarves in quiet conversations with each other. It was a complete 180 compared to the festivities from earlier in the night. The Dwarves stopped speaking and looked to Joshua and I. Josh was the first to speak up.
"Amelia and I have decided to join your quest as your burglars. We will sign the contracts if you still have them, Balin?"
Balin's expression dropped into a disappointed frown, and Thorin, Dwalin and most of the Dwarves had scowls etched into their faces. The four Dwarves that we had already befriended, however, let out cheers.
Bofur stood up and clapped Joshua on the back, and while Josh winced slightly at the contact, he grinned right back at the dwarf.
"I'm glad to hear it, lad! Both of ya will be fine additions to our company." Bofur stated, oblivious to the looks he was getting from Dwalin and Thorin in particular.
Balin handed over the contracts, which we proceeded to sign with a quill and ink - so Harry Potter! I anxiously smiled at the dwarves and my eyes met Fili and Kili's. They looked ecstatic, which made my stomach summersault nervously.
"Well, this has all been swell, but it's time for a nap," I stated, as Josh and I headed back down the hallway to Bilbo. He had just come out of his living room, and he jumped slightly when he saw us.
"Are you feeling any better, dude?" Josh asked with a cheeky grin which Bilbo didn't seem to appreciate.
"Yes, thank you." He replied quite curtly, before his face softened as he turned to face me.
"Do you need somewhere to sleep? I can arrange a separate room for you to retire. The Dwarves and Josh can sleep in the living rooms, as there should be quite enough room."
"That would be great, thank you Bilbo." He started ushering me down the corridor, and I called out goodnight to Josh. He looked mildly uncomfortable to be sleeping in the company of the Dwarves, but Bofur appeared behind him and started chatting away. The frown on his face disappeared and his shoulders slumped slightly as he relaxed, and they turned to go back into the dining room.
Bilbo showed me to a room a fair way down the corridor. It really made me wonder just how big his home truly was.
"Here you are Miss Amelia. It is completely furnished, and the bed spread was only changed two days past, so it should be rather comfortable." He continued to mumble about the room, which I didn't mind in the slightest, but my eyes flashed over to a mirror on top of the fire place. I went over cautiously, unsure if I wanted to look. As I reached it, I gasped slightly in shock.
My cheek had turned purple along a thin cut which was only very shallow and short, but a trickle of blood had run from it. It looked as though I had just had teeth pulled with how swollen my cheek appeared.
My hand went from my cheek to the matted hair on the other side of my head. Blood had congealed from a cut I must have received from contact with the wall, and it had clumped parts of my hair rather disgustingly. Bilbo must have noticed, because he had stopped talking and came over to stand near me.
"What happened to you, Miss Amelia? You have such horrible injuries; I couldn't imagine how you might have gotten them…"
I sighed, dropping my shoulders and facing Bilbo. It wasn't only that I didn't trust him, but I also didn't trust myself to talk about it without balling my eyes out in front of another stranger.
However, when I looked at Bilbo's eyes and saw them filled with such genuine concern and worry, rather than curiosity, I decided in that moment to entrust in the Hobbit. It was something that surprised me just as much as anything else had throughout that day. I quickly went through everything Josh and I had been through, including our mother's death, briefly recapping the events that transpired that afternoon and how we ended up in Middle Earth. I wanted to glean over as quickly as possible to stop myself from crying, which I am proud to say I was successful at doing.
Bilbo listened the entire time with a shocked look on his face, which quickly turned to anger when he heard that my father was the cause of my injuries.
"What a horrid creature he must be to cause harm to someone as delicate as you!" he exclaimed, quite disgusted with this piece of information. "Come, let's get you cleaned up!" He began to shoo me towards his 'bathroom', which was something very different to what I had envisioned. It was a smaller sized room than any of the ones I had been in already, with a large rounded bathtub that was made of a smooth, brown wood. The walls in the room were unlike any other in the house; they hadn't been expertly carved and painted out of the hill we were beneath. In here, they were dark, and it seemed they had not been altered since they had originally dug out to create the space. It was cool to the touch, and Bilbo begun to explain the reason for this.
"The stone and earth from the hill are naturally cool, which is quite agreeable when bathing in hot water, otherwise it becomes much too steamy."
After showing me how to pump water into the bathtub, he left me to my own devices. I automatically moved to light candles that were place around the room using several matches Bilbo left. I was lost in thought as I undressed myself and laid down into the steamy water. It was scalding hot, but it felt nice against my dirty and grubby skin. I began to clean myself with some soap, making sure I gently scrubbed the blood from my face and hair. I felt like I had stepped into a dream in which I couldn't wake myself up from. Everything just seemed so surreal, like I had made it up. But by the heat against my skin and the throbbing in my head, I knew deep down that it wasn't a dream.
It seemed as though my brain had rebooted itself, conveniently while I was alone with my thoughts. I quickly felt overwhelmed again by everything that had transpired. Our father had hit me, Josh and I had somehow landed into a world that was only fiction to us, and we were about to go on a quest with Dwarves, a Wizard and a Hobbit to kill a Dragon.
Yeah, good joke.
But it wasn't a joke, was it? This was happening. It wasn't just that everything felt completely and utterly real, but what I felt deep down made me know that it wasn't made up, despite what my brain was saying. I had no idea what was giving me the confidence to know and accept what I didn't believe to be the truth.
In a way, I still thought it was a dream. But mostly, I knew it was reality. This was now my reality.
It took a long time to truly convince myself completely of what was happening. An attempt to distract myself by thinking of the company I had suddenly found myself only served to fuel my worries.
What worried me most though, is how comfortable I had begun to feel with some of them. I had acknowledged my trust for Gandalf after only an hour or so of speaking to him. With Bilbo, it had been even quicker. I already told him about Josh and I, and I couldn't help but feel like we were very similar. Both of us had been basically thrown off a cliff into the unknown today. He had only just found out that he was to go on a quest tomorrow, and he reacted about the same way as I had when Josh and I found out that we weren't in our world anymore.
I wondered deeply about how exactly we had gotten here. Trans-dimensional teleportation? Aliens? Wormhole? I felt as though my imaginative theories weren't going to help me figure this out. I didn't even know if we would figure it out. Would we ever go back to our world? How would we get back there? Would I even leave without Josh, if he didn't want to go back?
My whole existence had been turned upside down in a matter of hours. Confusion was the emotion that was most definitely overwhelming me. Rejection and pain were there, after having to go through being hurt by my father. Anger was also on the forefront of my mind, after finding out that he had been abusing Josh for months. Guilt was stabbing a great hole in my heart from being unable to detect and stop what had been going on for a whole year. Fear was also paralysing me, in the thought of what was lying ahead.
But somewhere in between all of that, I felt a little glimmer of hope, and a tiny speck of elation. I frowned at the completely irrelevant emotion in amongst the jumble of negativity. Why would I feel that?
Then it dawned on me. I was able to get Josh away from our father. I was able to protect him and keep him safe now, away from the abuse and the abuser. My hope was lying in my newfound ability to keep my brother close, just as my mum wanted. The elation that I felt though… It was almost like a spark of determination and excitement that was fighting its way through everything else.
I didn't know what I was going to face the next day... And that thought further fuelled the exhilaration gnawing at my chest. It was something that I had not had in a long time, especially at University. The routine that I had every single day for the past year had been boring, and I realised that the craving for something more than the nine to five had been simmering underneath for quite some time.
Well, it seemed as though I most definitely got what I wished for.
Attempting to shut off from every idle thought crossing my mind, I closed my eyes and sunk further into the steamy water. It was when I began to relax, that I heard a song being sung by deep voices down the other end of Bilbo's home. While it was completely beautiful, I could hear the sadness, the longing and the regret through each note and tone. I listened to the song until the water turned cold.