Realization and Consequence

Slash: FrodoXSam

Summary: Sam comes to terms with his feelings for Frodo right before they're sent on their quest. How will he handle it throughout the journey?

A/N PLEASE READ FIRST!: Since I haven't read the books yet, this is going to mainly based on the timeline of the movie (and I'll most likely end up putting in direct quotes from the movie here and there, but I DO NOT own them or the movie, books or characters). And as a reminder, this is a slash so if you don't like that then don't read it. This is my first fan fiction so please be nice. I would also greatly appreciate people leaving comments giving be suggestions for later chapters and ways I can improve my writing. Enjoy!

Chapter 1. Can it Be True?

There was term folks in The Shire used to describe the feelings that seemed to be love, but really wasn't. The term was 'a blinding crush'; when you have such strong feelings for someone that you block your eyes and heart from all others. But was it true love? No, it wasn't. Because it also blinded you from seeing who the person cared about truly is like.

That was the way Sam felt about Rosie Cotton. It wasn't until Bilbo Baggins had celebrated his 111th birthday that he had realized this though. It wasn't until Frodo pushed him over to her to dance that he realized his true feelings.

His father had always told him that when you meet the right girl, you'll know it because your heart will beat faster and you'll get little butterflies in your stomach. Sam was really little when he first heard his father say this and laughed because of how funny it sounded. But, it was true, because as he got older, his friends had said that was how they felt when they found the girl they loved. But when Sam danced with Rosie, he felt nothing. It felt more like dancing with a friend you only knew for a week rather than, what some folks called, your 'soul mate.'

"Friend," mumbled Sam, somewhat sadly, when he finished dancing with Rosie. That's exactly what he needed though, a friend to talk to about his troubles. Without hesitating, he ran off to find Frodo; surely he would be a source for comfort, as he always was as they grew up together.

He spotted Frodo near some tents with Bilbo and started to walk over towards them.

"Frodo," Sam called out, but Frodo appeared not to have heard him. But before he had the chance to call again, Frodo and Bilbo had escaped into the tents; hiding from their relatives is what it looked like to Sam. Rather than follow them, he simply went back for another ale.

He didn't see Frodo again until after Bilbo 'disappeared' and Frodo chased after him, or at least attempted to, as he was nowhere to be found.

"Sam!" Frodo called as he ran towards his friend. "Help me find Bilbo!" Frodo's face was stricken with panic and fear, as well as everyone else who had witnessed Bilbo's vanishing act. Sam thought he might pass out. And Sam was sure he had the exact same expression on his face as well.

"Don't worry Mr. Frodo! We'll find him!" Sam assured and began to search the entire area for him. Any place he could possibly have hidden. At the same time they both wondered the same thing: "What in the world happened?" Neither one coming up with an answer.

It must have been hours since they took a break from searching, and the only reason they stopped was because Frodo had collapsed to his knees from too much anxiety and dizziness taking over.

"Mr. Frodo!" Sam called and rushed over to his nearly unconscious friend. Luckily, he was only about twenty-feet away. He looked like he was going to be sick. He kneeled down next to him and used one of his hands to gently rub Frodo's back to try and calm him down. "It'll be alright Mr. Frodo." At first, Frodo's head just dropped in defeat, but a few seconds later his head popped up half-way as if an idea had just entered his head. He slowly lifted his head the rest of the way and turned to look at Sam.

"I forgot to check our house!" He said without his expression changing. Frodo immediately stood up and Sam followed, unknowing his hand was still on Frodo's back. They stood there for a second just looking at each other and then Sam realized he hadn't yet taken his hand off Frodo and quickly snatched his hand away, slightly embarrassed. He mumbled and small apology and turned his head slightly away. Frodo smiled and let out a silent chuckle at this and embraced Sam in a quick, tight hug, causing Sam to slightly gasp in surprise.

"Thank you for helping me, Sam. You can go home now; I'll go and check my house." It took Sam a second to register his thoughts before he hugged Frodo back. As he did, he unconsciously inhaled the scent of his friend which immediately sent a chill down his spine and a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach. A feeling similar to the way some of his other friends described 'love.' Sam grew wide-eyed at the thought and quickly snapped himself out of his trance as Frodo let go and gave Sam one last smile as he took off hurriedly towards Bag End; leaving Sam there still in slight shock at the strange feelings that just took over him for that split second.

After a few minutes, he finally came back to his senses and got himself to start walking back to his home, his thoughts still in a haze.

That night, he had a dream that made all his sudden feelings start to make a little sense.

~Flashback to a conversation between Sam and his father~:

"Daddy, daddy!" Eight-year-old Sam called as he ran outside to where his father was relaxing. His father, Hamfast, pulled Sam up onto his lap, ready to answer another one of the millions of questions that Sam constantly asked as a child. It was easy to tell when he had another burning question in his mind that he wanted an answer for.

"Yes m'boy?" Hamfast asked with a smile.

With a curious expression, Sam asked his father, "What's love?"

Still smiling, Hamfast said, "Well, love is difficult to describe in words, especially ones that a little boy would understand at your age. But what you gotta know about love is that when you meet the right girl, there are a few signs that will let you know you're in love."

"What kinda signs?" Sam asked, fully interested and curious.

"Well the first sign is friendship. The best and the strongest love usually start with a great friendship. The second sign is how fast your heart beats when you're around her," Hamfast said putting a finger to Sam's chest where his heart was. "When you're in love, you're heart will beat faster and faster until you think it's gonna grow wings and fly out of your chest!" Sam laughed at the image as well as Hamfast before he spoke again. "And the third sign is a feeling you get in your stomach when you're around her. It feels like a thousand little butterflies swirling around in stomach." As he said this, he poked Sam's stomach causing Sam to start laughing even more in his adorable child-like way. Also causing his father to laugh again as well.

"Hey daddy," Sam asked with the same curious expression as before, "what happens if you like a guy instead of a girl?" He asked this for no real reason at the time, but simply out of curiosity.

His father's expression drastically changed from joyful to a mixture of confusion and worry. "What do you mean, son?" Was all he was able to say at the moment.

"Well, you said when I find the right 'girl' I'll have all those feelings, but what if I like a guy? Will I feel the same things?"

Hamfast's expression did not change as he attempted to explain his views without putting the wrong idea in his child's head. As each Hobbit was usually taught the same thing about such matters, even if they thought it was wrong.

"W-well, um," he said as he tried to find the right words, as this was something that was rarely dealt with in The Shire. "Let me ask you this, son, do you ever want to have kids someday?"

"I guess, maybe." Sam replied. He really wasn't quite sure yet.

"Well if you do, you'd have to find a wife, because you can't have children without woman. And I would sure love to have grandchildren someday too."

"Oh," Sam said. "So, is it wrong to like a guy?" Once again Sam only asked out of curiosity since he didn't know how he felt about it at the time.

"N-no, but it isn't… it isn't…" Hamfast tried to find the right words, again without it sounding offensive to a child. "It isn't well-thought-of among Hobbits. You understand don't you, boy?" Sam nodded, although he really didn't understand. "Good, well we ought to be getting inside now. It's about time for supper." He lifted Sam off his lap and put him back onto the grass and got up to walk inside. Sam didn't move at first, instead he waited until his father entered the house before he spoke aloud to no one in particular, "but what if I end up liking a guy?"

Sam woke up practically startled and sat up in his bed so suddenly it made him light-headed. He then rubbed his forehead with one of his hands out of confusion and slight frustration. After a few seconds, he realized it was the same hand he used to rub Frodo's back with the night before as it still had the ghost of his scent on his skin. Without thinking, he covered his nose with that hand and deeply inhaled what was left of his scent, enjoying every last second and listing in his head the different scents.

"Ale and cupcakes," were the first thoughts that he recognized. He had seen a lot of both those things at the party. "Smoke, from either Gandalf's fireworks or the pipe-weed everyone smoked, and finally the natural sweet scent that Frodo always seemed to have. Sam's eyes grew wide again as he realized the same feelings he had when Frodo hugged him last night returned, and even seemed a little stronger than before.

"Oh, for the love of the Valar," Sam whispered dropping his hand onto his lap. "Is this really… is this really… love? It can't be, can it?" Sam tried to come up with another explanation, but every time he did, he saw the image of his friend's joyful and innocent face that he loved seeing so much telling him that there could be only one explanation for his feelings: love.