A/N - This was based off a brief moment in one of the video blogs of The Hobbit, which was basically just a screenshot of Bilbo, standing in his doorway and gazing into the distance. The expression on his face was enough to make me excited again for the first movie, so you can understand how ready I am for The Desolation. I NEED MORE BILBO.

Home Behind, the World Ahead

"I'm sorry, I can't sign this," Bilbo said, backing away from the wizard. "You've got the wrong hobbit."

He saw the flicker of disappointment in Gandalf's eyes, which quickly turned to resignation.

"Well, if that is your choice," was all he said, looking away and pulling on his pipe.

Bilbo all but fled to his room. He needed to escape. He needed to shut out the world.

But when he made to close his door and with it the horror of dragons and the notion of adventures, something stayed his hand. He wasn't sure what it was as he peeked through the crack in the door that was his only barrier between magic and mundane. Instead, he turned and sat on the edge of his four-poster bed, leaving his door slightly ajar. The talk and goings on of the dwarves seem to have come to a conclusion, for all he could hear was the steady crackle of the fire, and the heavy breathing of the fourteen visitors in his living room.

He leaned against a bedpost as the silence dragged on and on, unable to bring himself to settle down for the night, even though he felt so physically and mentally drained.

The scent of smoke and weed filled his nostrils.

He must have started slipping into unconsciousness, for when a deep, haunting melody rose from beyond his door and floated into his room, he jerked awake, suddenly alert. It was the dwarves, and they were singing. Bilbo couldn't help but listen. And as he listened, he felt a glimmer of longing bubble up in his stomach. A longing for something he couldn't quite place...

He closed his eyes, remaining motionless as the song continued, and even after it had died down.

He didn't know how long he simply sat there.

It seemed mere moments later when the sun came pouring through his windows, signalling the beginning of a new day. At first he was quite ready to simply relax in bed and forget, at the moment, whatever business he would eventually have to see to.

But then he remembered.

The dwarves. The wizard. The kingdom. The dragon.

Images from the previous night flooded to the foreground of his mind, and he sat bolt upright.

All was quiet.

He peered 'round his bedroom door, and, seeing nothing and no one, tiptoed into the hall. All traces of mud and dirt were gone from his carpet. His hardwood floors were sparkling. He craned his head around into the next room, and saw that every chair had been returned to its rightful place. There wasn't a dirty dish in the sink.

"Hello?" he hesitantly called, and when there was no answer, he chanced a quick pace through the rest of the house, peering in every room and finding things in perfect order.

Not a dwarf in sight. Not even a sign that they had been there. Well, except for the empty pantry.

Bilbo strolled slowly into his living room. He felt he should have been pleased that the dwarves were gone.

And yet...

He glanced down at the ottoman sitting at the foot of his favorite armchair, on which still lay the contract. Astonished, he picked it up, staring at the signatures at the bottom of the paper. He thought he had made it perfectly clear to Gandalf that he would not be joining the company.

But he suddenly felt that longing, that tug in his gut again. Indecision threatened to overpower him as he glanced at the window, leading to the outside. He rushed to the door, flung it open, and stepped into the morning breeze. It made him dizzy...so perfect a day when he felt so tumultuous within. From his house he could see all of Hobbiton...the hills, the houses and the hobbits, all going about their daily lives.

And beyond the hills and the houses, he could see the world.

Maybe it was the breeze that swept his honey-blonde curls away from his face, carrying with it the scent of grass and earth, but it was as if all doubt had been swept away with it. His eyes widened, the corners of his mouth lifted, and he took a deep breath.

He had made his decision. If he let this chance go now, he would regret it forever.