Remember Me (Thilbo - Bagginshield)

Sólarlag

Iceland, 2016 (Part 2)
20th Life
The professor and the photographer
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Thorin opened his eyes and let out a loud groan. He had been trying to fall asleep for the past three hours, at least, with no success. Scowling, he craned his neck so that he could see the clock resting on his bedside table—it was just past 1:30 in the morning. Though the room around him was dark, he could see the faintest amount of sunlight creeping in past the edges of the blackout curtains. Lifting himself up onto his elbows, he ran a hand through his mussed-up hair and over his face.

It had been a day since he had seen Bilbo at Öxarárfoss, and though he had entered his number into his phone, he had yet to call or even message him. Of course, Bilbo had no way to contact him in return, which Thorin realized had been a mistake on his part. He had spent the previous day keeping a close eye on the news, frightened that he would see a story about a Dutch tourist killed in some freak accident, though to his relief no such story had appeared. Still, he worried; he of all people knew how quickly and suddenly death could occur.

In the darkness, Thorin reached for his phone, his hand groping around on the nightstand until he found it. The brightness of the screen stung his eyes as he turned it on, and he squinted. He opened up his contacts, quickly finding Bilbo's name at the very top of the list. He clicked on it, staring at the information—a name and a phone number—for a long while. Finally, he tapped on the small speech bubble beside Bilbo's phone number, and a new message opened up.

He didn't know why he was finally messaging Bilbo then, at 1:30 in the morning. There were plenty of more reasonable times to send someone a text, when they would actually be awake and able to reply. But Thorin didn't want to put it off anymore, because he knew if he did, he might never get around to it.

He stared at the blinking cursor for a long while, trying to figure out what to say. After what felt like an eternity, he finally typed out a simple message: I hope everything is okay. He read it over a dozen times before finally hitting send. A few seconds later, he added: It's Thorin. For several minutes afterwards, he watched the screen, as if he expected Bilbo to reply. When he didn't, Thorin finally placed his phone back on the nightstand and turned over on his side to once again try to get some sleep.

He pushed all thoughts of Bilbo from his mind, trying to make himself relax. Still, Bilbo continually managed to wheedle his way into Thorin's thoughts—he couldn't stop himself from thinking that they might never see each other again, that Bilbo was already dead or that he would be dead in a few hours, killed in some gruesome car crash or by a sudden fatal illness.

His phone began ringing, the sudden noise piercing through the dark and startling Thorin into a sitting position. He scrambled for his phone, pausing when he saw that it was Bilbo's name lighting up the screen. He hastily pressed "answer" and held it to his ear.

"Bilbo?"

"Did I wake you up?" Bilbo asked. "I'm sorry."

"No, no," Thorin said quickly. "I was already awake, it's alright."

"Why were still awake?"

Thorin lied back, stifling a yawn. "I haven't been able to sleep."

"Oh," Bilbo said. "Me neither. I've just been thinking and..." He trailed off, letting out a loud sigh. "I don't know. The past day has been hell for me."

Thorin was silent for a while, picking absently at the edge of his blanket. "I'm sorry," he muttered eventually.

"What? Why are you apologizing?"

"This whole situation feels like my fault," Thorin said. "I'm making you choose, and that's not fair."

"You're not making me do anything," snapped Bilbo, and Thorin could almost feel his glare through the phone. "I've told you this before—you are not at fault for everything. You are not Atlas, with the weight of the world on your shoulders. Believe it or not, you aren't the only person capable of making decisions. I decided to go after you the other day, so if anything, this is my fault." He paused, letting out an annoyed huff. "Honestly. You need to stop trying to turn yourself into a martyr. It's really very tiring, you know."