A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed for last chapter! Specifically, Mad As A Bloody Hatter, BlackHreat, Tob,i Violentchick2011, animegirl4321, (and Brezel for the first chapter)! I'm sure you could care less about disclaimers, and I'm sure that if I owned the Hobbit the third movie would be out by now! Anyways, on to the story...

Chapter 3: Choices

Bilbo sighed and rose from his bed, trudging through his bedroom and onto the veranda. He hesitated before opening the door, Why would anyone come here at this hour of the night? The last time anyone had come this late to his home had been the first time he met his companions. What if it was…? At that point he was done with hoping that someone would return for him. After he was done shooing away this person, whoever they were, he was going back into his bedroom and finishing what he started. He swung the door open for the last time. His grumbling cut off as he stared at the person, scratch that, dwarf in front of him and gaped, not being able to say a word.

Balin looked at the troubled hobbit, "Good ev'ning Master Baggins."

Bilbo, still too shocked to respond, just stood there unable to comprehend what was happening. Balin sighed and ushered the hobbit into the sitting room, hoping some movement would bring him back to reality. Bilbo moved dumbly through the house and asked suddenly, "Would you like some tea?

Balin smiled, "That would be greatly appreciated, after such a long journey."

Bilbo put the kettle over the fire in the kitchen and walked back to the sitting room. "Now I know this may come as a shock," Bilbo started, "but I don't have any idea why you're here…"

The dwarf watched him with sad eyes, "My dear Bilbo, I know the last time you were in Erebor it did not end well. Thorin is alive – "

The kettle whistled and Bilbo jumped in surprise trying to understand what in Middle Earth was going on! He readied the tea and brought it out to Balin and sat back down. His hands shook as he tried to sip on the hot drink. His cup and saucer rattled as he set them down on the end table.

"I know this is a shock Bilbo, but you must come back with me, if you don't Thorin will die."

"Please, Balin, I know this is urgent, but Thorin doesn't care about me anymore. I mean look at what happened the first time I was in Erebor! How can I be the one that's supposed to help Thorin?"

The dwarf sighed and looked thoughtful for a moment, "I suppose for you to understand why you are needed I must start from the day Thorin was thought to have died. After the battle had finished we scoured the battlefield for the dead and found Thorin. He had deep wounds, enough so, that without the quick help of Ori and Nori, Thorin would have died. He was in critical condition for many months, in and out of consciousness. When he finally woke up fully he asked for you – "

"Did he not remember what happened?" Bilbo interrupted, then looked down, "I mean did he not remember what he said to me, how he almost killed me?"

Balin's eyes held so much sorrow and regret, "At first he did not. He asked for you every day, wondering why you left, not understanding how you could leave him."

Bilbo gasped, and his heart felt like it was going to break again.

"I didn't… none of us had the heart to tell Thorin that the Gold Sickness got the better of him. Then one day he just remembered. That day was the one and only day that I had ever seen Thorin weep. Not only weeping, but wailing and angry, he didn't wear his robes that day. He lay kneeling face down on the floor for hours before someone went into his chambers and moved him back to his bed. He had passed out from exhaustion and grief."

Bilbo's eyes shone with hope as he continued to listen to Balin's tale. "But what happened after? Why does Thorin need me?"

"A few months ago Thorin started showing signs of fading. Dwarves only love once in a lifetime, without their One they begin to fade. I know it may seem hard to understand but dwarves were created by the stone and once they no longer have their purpose, their One, they fade back into the stone that once created them." Bilbo opened his mouth to interrupt, but Balin beat him to it. "I know Thorin told you he didn't love you. But if there is one thing I know about Thorin Oakenshield is that he loves you Bilbo Baggins. He is one of the most stubborn dwarves I have ever met, and I know for sure that he would have never said he loved you if he didn't mean it."

"But – "

"No buts Master Baggins, the reason I came here is to ask you to come back to Erebor. To save our king from fading. He believes he has completely lost your love and you are the only one who can help him. You don't have to forgive him right away, but you just being there will help him recover."

Bilbo couldn't speak. He was caught in a rush of emotions; all of this was too much to take in at once. Balin saw the emotions flicker across Bilbo's face and couldn't imagine what the hobbit must be going through. To hear all of this after living through four years of nothing.

"It's quite all right if you don't have an answer for me right now, laddie. I just wanted to tell you in case you still cared for Thorin like you used to. I'll be staying at the Prancing Pony for the next few days, in Bree. If you so choose to come with me, I will be in room twelve."

Balin stood, setting his cup and saucer on the side table, patted Bilbo on the shoulder and walked out of Bag End. As the door shut with a click Bilbo broke out of his stupor and sucked in a sobbing breath. He stumbled out of the sitting room and back to his bedroom, falling limply onto his mattress. It was there that he finally gave into the weight of everything that Balin had said. Sobs shook his tiny form as he thought over what had just happened. Could he just leave Thorin to his fate?

He still had a difficult time believing that Thorin could mourn so heavily for anything, especially him. His breathing evened out and he fell into a restless sleep, unable to escape the dreams that flooded his mind.

All right everybody that it for this chapter T.T but i hope to get the next chapter up within the week just like this one. Please R&R! It makes me want to write faster for you! Until next time,

Mystic