Sam had no idea why Frodo wanted to go out walking. Sam personally thought that getting knifed today would be quite horrible, seeing as he had a date with Rosie and he would very much like to actually go on it. It wasn't safe out anymore. Ever since Dalamyr and his buddy had been paid off to kill Mr. Gandalf in broad daylight Sam had taken precautions to avoid danger.

Those precautions consisted of only going outside when it was completely necessary, and staying outside for the shortest time possible.

Frodo, however, seemed to throw caution to the wind when he decided to go out on a walk. Sam had stared at him for a good couple of minutes, doing nothing but blinking and judging the dark-haired writer severely.

But Sam liked to think of himself as a good friend, and a good friend would definitely not abandon his friends, no matter how stupid of an idea his friend had. Sam had suggested other options as Frodo slipped on his boots, and slid his arm, which was now quite recovered, into their coat. Sam had tried to avoid this walk, mentioning the spring snow storm that had caused at least fifteen centimetres to fall overnight and how Frodo could slip and hurt his arm again.

Frodo, however, was having none of it. When Sam suggested that they study for their final exams in a meek voice, Frodo simply said, "There's no harm in going on a walk, Sam. It'll clear our heads."

Now, Sam was quite fond of walks on a good day. But, with a man trying to buy up the city by tormenting and/or murdering members of the university, Sam felt like a walk could be easily forgotten.

The snow was heavy and wet, and the sidewalks had yet to be ploughed. It was only five minutes into their walk when the snow seeped through Sam's boots and he had cold toes. How he hated the winter. He knew that the calendar said that it was spring, it just seemed as though the weather had not yet gotten the memo.

He longed for the snow to melt and for the ground to thaw so he could start planting his balcony garden again. He thought of what he was going to plant in his garden as he walked alongside Frodo.

Frodo was not fond of speaking during walks. Sam had once asked, and Frodo had simply said that he thought about stories when he walked and got too occupied with them. Sam would never say this aloud, but he was somewhat certain that was how Frodo had gotten stabbed. He didn't blame Frodo in the slightest, though. Nobody would have been expected to be stabbed on campus before.

Sam had no idea where they were going, all he could do was hope that it would be a short walk and that they'd be able to get home soon. His date with Rosie wasn't until a long while so Sam wouldn't use it as an excuse to make them leave faster.

Sam didn't know how long they'd been out when Frodo suddenly stopped, staring down an alleyway with furrowed brows. Sam nearly rammed the writer over, but he managed to stop himself. He turned his gaze to where Frodo was looking. Sam immediately knew what Frodo was staring at.

Hunched over, flicking through the trash, was a man (or Sam thought them to be), wrapped in multiple tattered and stained blankets. His face was hollow, cheek bones largely protruding, seemingly stretching his skin across his face. Normally, Sam would have offered to help a man like this, but this homeless person was not one that Sam wanted to reckon with.

"Do you know who that is?" Frodo whispered, watching as the man pulled something out from the trash and threw it away.

"I've heard of him," Sam said grimly, "And he's nasty business he is."

"How so?" Frodo demanded, looking at his companion.

"You don't know?" Sam asked, shocked at Frodo. Sam then realized that Frodo kept his nose in his books instead of in other people's business. Sam didn't wait for an answer, "He's Smeagol. Goes by the name of Gollum now. Got kicked out of school for biting somebody's finger off."

"Why didn't he go back home?"

"I'm not very certain of this, but apparent he has nowhere to go back to," Sam said, "All I know is that he's violent, and dangerous and we'd do better to stay away from him."

Frodo seemed to linger for a second, listening as the man coughed, before he shook his head and walked off. Sam felt mildly relieved. Gollum brought nothing good. Sam had heard of him sneaking into houses during parties and robbing the host. He had also heard that Gollum was an impulsive liar and could easily keep the stories of his lies untangled.

They were a block away from Gollum when Sam said, "May I ask where we are going?"

Frodo turned back, smiling at Sam for a moment before he said, "Why, to visit Bilbo of course! He's filming right here on campus. I think it's just an excuse to come here and see me, but don't tell Bilbo that, he'll have a fit."

Sam smiled back at Frodo. Bilbo he could handle. Sam's family had long been friends with Bilbo Baggins; his father was even the famed director and writer's gardener. Sam hadn't seen Bilbo in quite a while, so he was pleased to hear of this.

Sam then suddenly understood the whole Thranduil incident that had happened at the café. He hoped that Legolas's father was on break when they visited. Last time Sam had met him, Thranduil had started acting like Sam was his butler.

Bilbo was filming in front of the large lake on campus. The trees and grass had been cleared of their snow, and Thorin Oakenshield was standing in front of a numerous amount of cameras, talking to a tall, red haired woman.

Suddenly, there was a loud "CUT!" coming from a rather short man sitting on a chair that had the white word DIRECTOR written on the back of it. "That is very good! Very good indeed. Excellent acting, Thorin, and to you Tauriel. Go and get warm, have a cup of tea and some food and then we'll start from scene 34."

The two actors nodded at their director, before at least a dozen people swarmed them, one carrying their coats, another some hot beverage.

"Now now, Bofur, did you get that shot? Perfect," Bilbo was saying to the camera man, who then noticed Frodo and Sam.

"Lookie here. It's the lad and his body guard," Bofur mused. Sam felt his cheeks flush. Ever since Sam had defended Frodo from some insults when they were both seven, Bofur had taken to calling Sam Frodo's body guard. Despite Sam's constant begging for him to stop, the Scottish man refused.

Bilbo whirled around, before he grinned, and outstretched his arms, "My dear Frodo. How is you arm? Oh, you're looking awfully thin, have a biscuit."

Frodo, who had been unable to utter any sort of hello took the biscuit from his Uncle and then said, "It is good to see you, Bilbo."

"And you, Frodo. I see you brought Sam here. Taking a break from studying? I remember studying. Never really enjoyed it myself," Bilbo mused, before he said, "Make yourselves at home, well, as homely as a set can be. This ruddy snow isn't helping much. Can I interest you in some hot chocolate? Tea? Coffee?"

"No thank you Uncle," Frodo said whilst Sam shook his head.

"Oh… you don't mind if I do?" Bilbo asked, raising his mug. Frodo smiled at Bilbo, who then took a large draught of his drink.

"How is the filming going, Bofur?" Frodo asked, and Bofur gave a large sigh.

"If I have my fingers by the end of the day, it'll be a miracle," Bofur told him, "At least they're getting their scenes done relatively quickly. Thorin did a scene in one take, and it was marvellous. I got to stuff my hands back in my gloves."

Bofur wriggled his woollen gloved fingers at Frodo and Sam. Sam rolled his eyes at the cameraman while Frodo simply smiled.

"Yes yes," Bilbo said agreeably, "Didn't expect the snow when he came here. We had to spend all morning melting it so we could film," Bilbo sighed and shook his head. "At least we're filming now." Bilbo then abruptly turned to a man behind him, "Have you had Ori clear those scripts? He'll be wanting to see them. Oh, sorry Frodo, you came at such a busy time. Scene changes are always the worst. How long until Tauriel's makeup is complete?"

Sam stared at Bilbo, deciding that he never wanted to be a film director if it was going to be such work. Sam had been on film sets before. Whenever Frodo wanted to play with him as a child, they always held their playdates on the sets, since Sam's house was occupied by far too many children already.

"Oh, we don't mind Uncle," Frodo simply said, "It's always good to see you, busy or not."

"Well thank you," Bilbo said. "Bofur, scene 34 is going to start in five… four… three… two…" Bilbo lowered his hand and the actors began to do their jobs.

Sam no longer regretted this walk. It reminded him of simpler times, when he didn't have to worry about exams, dangerous college students, and untrustworthy homeless people rooting though the trash.

Thanks to Quiet Hiker, BoricuaPinkRanger, StormwalkerofLorien, Revolutionary Star, Wanderingidealism, KittehVader, BrightWatcher, Daeril Ullothwen, Spartan-G257, . , Louisianna Stephenic, and LoTR-HP-PJ for reviewing! Thanks to red lighting for favouriting! Thank you for reading and please review!

The weather in Middle-Earth is based off of the weather in my home town. It snowed last night. A lot. And my birthday is in six days. There hasn't been snow on my birthday since I was five. I'm so done with snow.

The read aloud is posted to Soundcloud under the user Boromerely. Of course, if you do not want to search that all up, the link will be on my profile. There are also bloopers.