My Unexpected Journey

A Grim Reminder

I came out of the dressing room, and Bilbo smiled.
"It's nice!" He said "I like the color...on you." He continued with his smiling eyes.
"Thank you," I said as I fanned out the dress.

It was funny and silly to see Bilbo in such attire as we walked around through the shops. He was looking through the window of Barnes and Noble.
"This is where you can buy books," I said, and I opened the door for him.
"Wow!" He said as he walked in.
"I've got a library like this at home, of course smaller," he said.
We went up the escalator to the second floor, his eyes were full of wonder, as I imagined they would be.
"Buying books is one of the most fun things. I love it," I said as we walked to one of the shelves. It was the classic section, I had already read all of them (I really have), but it's always fun picking them up.
Bilbo was holding Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.
"I like this," he said as he read on. Most people couldn't read those types of books, so large and at times difficult to read, but Bilbo is obviously an advanced reader. His hair was rather curly, lots of light brown ringlets that brushed his face.

As I browsed I noticed a group of (older) girls, and they were snickering close to us.
"Ask him!" I heard one of them say, clearly talking about Bilbo (who was still reading Great Expectations), I continued browsing close by.
"He's really cute," another said.

"Excuse me," one of them tapped him on the shoulder, he looked behind him.
"You've got an accent," the American girl continued.
"I suppose yeah," he said, and the 3 girls giggled in excitement. I rolled my eyes and continued listening.
"It's cute," She said "I like it."
Oh my God she was trying to flirt with Bilbo. She stepped closer to him.
"Oh uh thanks," he said with a friendly smile, being polite.
"Do you have a girlfriend," she said very confidently and straight forward. My eyes widened a little, and my neck got hot.
"No I don't," he answered. I don't think Bilbo knew that she was hitting on him.
"Why don't come along with me tonight for uh dinner?" She asked. Now my cheeks got hot. I couldn't help but feel jealous. Who does she think she is? I felt a natural slight angry look on my face, and Bilbo looked at me for help. He widened his eyes at me, the girl looked at who he was looking to, and turned to me.

I stepped to him and hooked my arm into his, "Sorry, we already have plans," I said with a devilish smile.
"Yes sorry," Bilbo said politely going along with the act.
She raised her eyebrow at me and rolled her eyes a little, just enough so I would notice,"Well alright." She said and went back to her friends, who were just as disappointed as she was.

We walked away together to another section, and then unhooked arms.
"Do you know what just happened?" I asked him.
He shook his head.
"She asked you out, like on a date," I said.
"But she just met me, didn't even bother to ask me my name?" He said like he was confused.
"Exactly," I said while laughing.

I looked behind me to see what section we were in, and there on the shelves was JRR Tolkien's work. Bilbo noticed before I did, he just looked at the books.
"That that's, those are the books with me in them," he said.
"Yeah they are," I said. He reached for The Hobbit.
"Are you sure you want to read it?" I asked him, afraid of how he would react to the context.
"Maybe another time," he put the book back, and we walked back to the car.

The radio was off because I could tell that Bilbo was deep in thought, so it wasn't the right time for music.
"You alright?" I asked.
"Yeah yeah. I'm just thinking about the books," he said.
"I want to know if what happened in the book really happened to me," he said.
And I shot him a 'really?' look with my eyebrows raised.
"So with that said. Can you tell me about it," he looked at me with a concerned look.
"How about, I say something and you say true or false," I suggested, and he nodded.
"Bilbo Baggins lives in the Shire at Hobbiton in Bag End," I said first.
"True."
"Gandalf the Grey is a Wizard who brought you with him on the journey."
"True."
"There were 13 Dwarves with you."
"True."
"You've got a sting sword, it flows blue when Orcs are nearby."
"True."
"And a Ring that makes you invisible, that is ev-" I was going to say evil, but I don't think he knows that yet.
"True." He hesitated a bit.
"Smaug is dead." I made everything sound simple.
"True." He got a worried look on his face, and it worries me too. I think he knew what I was getting to. The deaths.
I didn't want to remind him of the tragedy, so I took a long pause.
"Go on," he said eagerly, as if I were about to rip a bandaid off of him.
"Filli is dead."
"...True." He said, his face grew more solid
"Killi is dead."
"True.." He said, and rested his chin on his hand.
"Thorin is...dead." Every time I said the word, I felt like I was stabbing him in the heart, and hurt me as well. It hurts me every time I read the book.
He looked away and sniffled.
"True."