If anyone could hear Bilbo's internal scream, they would probably lose all hearing, glass would shatter, and the hospital would have thought a tornado on its way. Fortunately for everyone in the vicinity, no one was a mind reader. Five agonizing minutes had passed since Gandalf and Bilbo re-entered the room. True to form, Gandalf—bless his inscrutable soul—had immediately jumped in, corralling the others in conversation about topics Bilbo barely followed. Something about family history? Or was he talking about eagles? At this point, she wasn't sure.
Thorin, however, remained undistracted. His sharp gaze occasionally flicked toward Bilbo, as though cataloging every nervous twitch, every forced smile. He might as well have pinned her to the wall with those stormy blue eyes.
Gandalf, seemingly sensing her tension when around Thorin, smoothly deflected his attention with a hearty laugh. "So, Thorin, I hear you have been quite busy as of late after you took up as a volunteer firefighter."
Thorin's eyes finally left Bilbo, though his expression remained guarded. "It's true. There's no shortage of chaos to handle," he replied, his deep voice carrying a hint of pride. "It keeps me… occupied." Gandalf smiled encouragingly, "And keeping up with the family business of metalworking, Quite impressive."
Thorin's lips twitched, a subtle acknowledgment of the praise, but he didn't seem to truly acknowledge it. Instead, his eyes flitted back to Bilbo for a brief moment, as if measuring her reaction.
Dis, sitting across from them, raised an eyebrow, clearly noticing Thorin's behavior. She glanced at Vili and Frida, who were quietly watching the exchange, their expressions thoughtful but mostly neutral. Vili was, as usual, the more reserved one, while Frida's eyes seemed to flicker in silent communication.
Thráin, ever the jovial (and oblivious) one, let out a loud chuckle. "Ah, Thorin, don't be so modest! You make the finest metalwork this side of the Misty Mountains! Everyone knows it." He said proudly as if he had bragged about this many times before.
Thrór, who had been seated in a chair near the corner, glanced up with a cheeky smile on his face. "Like father, like son," he chuckled, giving Thráin a playful wink.
Thráin's gaze flickered briefly to his father and gave him an affectionate eye roll before returning to the conversation at hand. "Well, you know, we do our best," he said with a shrug, the modesty in his voice not quite matching the pride in his eyes.
Bilbo, standing quietly nearby, caught Gandalf's eye and quickly looked toward the door. Gandalf gave her the slightest nod—a small gesture, but one that sparked a flicker of hope in her chest. Now's my chance to escape, the thought shot through her like adrenaline.
She moved gently towards Dis, careful not to gather anyone's notice. Once she reached Dis all she had to do was lean in, whisper that she had to go, and make her escape. As she took a small step toward Dis the hum of conversation around her grew quieter, and she could feel Thorin's eyes on her again. She didn't dare look up.
"So, Bilbo," Thorin's voice cut through the air, deep and calm. Noooo! "You and Frerin are engaged. I must admit, I'm quite curious about you, Frerin never mentioned you. How did you two meet?" Suddenly all eyes were on Bilbo, her stomach tightened. Damn, his all-seeing eye! She had been hoping to avoid this question, but it seemed inevitable.
She forced a smile, turning around slowly to face him. "Oh, well," she hummed as calmly as she could, her mind racing, she didn't want to lie but she couldn't tell the truth either. "I was on my way to pick up groceries and we just sort of, bumped into each other. I'm not surprised he didn't say anything, we were, you know, Close, but not… not overly so for the majority of our relationship, and well, you just never know where these things go. Honestly, it all happened rather fast." Take that Mr. Nosey, the truth but not the truth.
Thorin kept a polite façade although his gaze sharpened, if he was trying to be subtle about his distrust, he sucks. Bilbo thought, she could feel the weight of his attention like a physical presence, scrutinizing her every word.
"A bit of a whirlwind, then," Thorin said slowly, his voice still calm and 'friendly' but Bilbo knew better, he was like a wolf circling its prey. He crossed his arms, leaning back slightly in his chair, and gave her an 'understanding' nod, his eyes didn't leave her. "How interesting."
Bilbo swallowed, forcing the smile to stay in place. "Yes, well, these things tend to surprise you, don't they?" she said, keeping her tone light, as though it was just another casual conversation. It certainly surprised me! she scoffed to herself.
"How... romantic," he practically spat, and Bilbo privately thought he looked somewhat constipated. "And what was it about Frerin that caught your attention?" he asked deceptively casual. Does he think I'm not aware he's interrogating me? I don't know whether to be insulted or to laugh!
Once again Bilbo fought the urge to roll her eyes. She cleared her throat, trying to ignore the insult that was Thorin and the intense scrutiny in his gaze. Remember lie as close to the truth as you can. "Well, you know, it's hard to say what draws you to a person," she said, keeping her voice light, as though she was talking about the weather. "It's just one of those things that... happens." She shrugged, trying to seem unaffected, though inside her mind was racing with the absurdity of it all. This is utterly ridiculous!
She caught Gandalf's eye across the room and gave him a brief but meaningful look. "Well, not that this hasn't been fun," she said quickly, before turning back to Dis and giving her a winning smile. "But I'm afraid I really must be going," she added, her voice as collected as she could manage when she felt the urge to toss herself out the window.
Dis was looking at her with a raised brow, but she nodded sympathetically. "Of course, Bilbo," she said. "We'll catch up later, I have a couple of ideas I wanted your opinion on for the wedding guest list,"
I'd rather pluck my eyes out! "Of course!" Bilbo said, turning to leave, her hand already on the door. Just get out. One step at a time. Don't look back.
She was almost home free when Frida's voice of all people, stopped her dead in her tracks.
"Oh, Bilbo dear, are you coming to dinner tonight? I know we said that we would meet here but if you're leaving already it might be better if you come directly to our house, Actually, come to think of it would you give me your number so I can give you the address?" Bilbo felt like her heart got punched. She turned back slowly, plastering on a smile that felt increasingly like it was made of glass.
Frida, ever the picture of maternal warmth, was standing just a few feet away, her expectant gaze already focused on Bilbo and her phone whipped out. The soft, pleasant smile on her face suggested she hadn't noticed any of the tension or subtle evasions in Bilbo's earlier behavior. Thank goodness.
"Uh, dinner? Tonight?" Bilbo repeated, forcing herself to sound more casual than she felt. There was no way she was going to put herself through the torture of going through a dinner with Thorin! Her mind scrambled for an excuse, any excuse. Just tell her you're allergic to social situations! But of course, that wouldn't work.
"Yes! I was thinking it would be a nice way for you to get to know everyone." Frida's eyes sparkled with the genuine intention of kindness, and Bilbo knew she couldn't say no, even if it would only make things more complicated.
"Alright, I'll come," she said, biting her lip. "But I can't promise I'll stay long, okay?"
Frida's face absolutely lit up, her smile wide and genuine. You Bilbo Baggins, are a bleeding, sap, doormat, "Of course, dear! No pressure at all, here I'll text you the addresses, what's your number?" And despite seeing all the others pulling out their phones as well to add her, Bilbo caved like a house of cards.
"Right, yes. Uh, 555..." Frida happily tapped away at her own phone, still beaming. "This is going to be so much fun! I'm so glad you're joining us." She looked up from her phone, eyes sparkling. "We're really looking forward to it. Everyone is, actually."
Bilbo nodded sweetly, mentally checking out of the conversation. Oh, this is a good idea! Invite the hardcore introvert who only has interactions on a semi-weekly basis to a party! This will be great! She thought sarcastically to herself. At least I'll be able to escape to the bathroom or something when it all gets too much. Frida's fingers hovered over the screen for a moment and Bilbo's phone let out a series of chimes before Frida pocked her phone in satisfaction. "All set! I'll see you 'tonight!"
"See you tonight," Bilbo responded pleasantly before she escaped out the door. As soon as she made her way through she let out a huge sigh of relief. Bilbo leaned against the door for a moment, closing her eyes and letting out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Dinner, with lots of people I have to convince that Frerin fell madly in love with me. This is going to be... a disaster. The thought of sitting down with that bloodhound they called Thorin, of all people, and pretending like everything was fine made her want to crawl into a hole and never come out.
She pushed herself away from the door, her shoes clicking softly against the wooden floor as she made her way down the hall. What on earth possessed me to agree to this? She couldn't remember the last time she'd been this stressed over a simple dinner invitation, actually, she couldn't remember the last time she had been invited to a dinner that wasn't with her editor Beorn and he was an introvert too, so it was fine if either of them disassociated. "Maybe I should just drug myself into a relaxed state before I show up," Bilbo muttered to herself as she shoved her hands into her coat pockets. Bilbo had just about made it to the elevator before a voice called out.
"Mrs. Durin-Oakenshield" Bilbo didn't stop, if fact she walked a little bit faster absolutely sure that Dis, Disrein, or Frida had come after her. "Mrs. Oakenshield!" The voice called again and there was the pitter-patter of running feet before a hand rested on her shoulder, Bilbo froze and turned around only to find a young woman in scrubs standing there with a box, "Thank goodness I caught you, I had forgotten to give this to you yesterday, It's all of your husband's things." Bilbo choked.
"He's NOT my husband!" Bilbo squeaked, the young woman blinked, clearly startled by Bilbo's outburst before smiling awkwardly "Oh right, fiancé then," she said somewhat hesitantly before launching right back into what she was saying. "I just wanted to give you this and offer my condolences, It must be so terrible to have the love of your life comatose like that, especially with that recent medical scare!" she chattered, rapid fire.
"Medical scare?" Bilbo managed, only realizing too late that the supposed love of his life would have known. Thankfully the woman only flushed and looked sheepish.
"I hope you don't mind me speaking about it, but I looked into Mr. Frerin's chart. I saw the records about his appendix bursting and how he denied consent to inform family," The nurse's face turned even redder, her hands clutching the box tighter as she awkwardly fidgeted. "I—I didn't mean to overstep," She offered a flustered smile. "I'm sorry if I've made you uncomfortable."
"No, no it's fine, I just wasn't expecting it was all," Bilbo replied feeling dizzy trying to keep up. The woman relaxed and smiled brightly before all but shoving the box of things into Bilbo's arms in her excitement.
"Well, I just wanted to give you his things back. Have a wonderful rest of your day Mrs. Oaken...I mean, uhh,"
"Baggins," Bilbo answered her unspoken question. The woman nodded quickly, gave Bilbo one last smile, and dashed off. Bilbo stood there for a moment, blinking after the nurse, trying to make sense of everything that had just happened. Her head felt foggy, and she was certain she needed some time to process it all. It was all so much—too much, too soon.
With a deep sigh, Bilbo stepped into the elevator, not even realizing she was clutching the box to her chest. The doors closed with a soft ding, and she pressed the button to her floor, trying to steady her breathing. Just as she was letting herself decompress a little, a ding from her phone echoed in the small space. Habitually, Bilbo pulled out her phone to check the message and squinted at the screen. Frida: Just checking in! Remember, dinner at 7. Can't wait to see you! Bilbo groaned softly, her forehead falling against the cool metal wall of the elevator. How am I going to survive this dinner? she thought.
Another ding. ***-***-****: This is Thorin. Bilbo's eyes widened, her heart rate picking up. Oh no. She stared at the message for a moment, debating whether to respond or pretend she'd dropped her phone in a river.
Before she could decide, another message appeared.
Thorin: Let me know if you need a ride to dinner, wouldn't want you getting lost now would we?
Bilbo frowned, trying to decipher what that meant. Was this his way of keeping tabs on her? Or was he just being... polite? The thought made her snort softly. Polite doesn't suit you, Thorin.
She hesitated, then quickly typed back: Bilbo: Thank you I'll keep that in mind should I need it.
The reply was almost immediate. Thorin: See you at dinner.
Bilbo could practically hear the skepticism in his text. She sighed, rubbing her temples. This is going to be a long night.
Thorin: Don't be late. Bilbo's internal scream reached a new octave. Next time, I'm running.