Frodo and Merry One-Shots

If You Love Something, Set It Free

It was a quiet fall afternoon in Hobbiton. Frodo and Merry were sitting in the kitchen of Bag End, slurping at cups of warm tea that Frodo had made. Merry had his right hand shoved deep into his trouser pocket, holding onto the engagement ring that he was going to give me.

I remember Merry had proposed to me before, but things didn't work out well. I was still quite young to get married and Frodo did not approve and there were some issues that Merry and I had to resolve.

I had come of age not too long ago. Now that I'm an adult, I'm able to do things that I hadn't been able to before, like get married. Most female hobbits in the Shire would have already found their life long soul mate before they had even come of age. I guess I'm pretty lucky that I found mine.

Fitting in in the Shire was not easy. I felt like nobody understood me. I felt like nobody wanted me or loved me. But, there were two special hobbits that did. One of those hobbits was Merry. When I first met him, I thought that he was nothing more than a scoundrel and a troublemaker. I thought a person like him would never fall in love with a girl like me. I was mistaken. Meeting Merry was the best thing that's ever happened to me.

Merry was about to ask Frodo if he was allowed to marry me. He was persistent about asking him, but he was also a bit nervous. Frodo had rejected Merry's proposals a couple of times because he felt like I was way too young to be married off. Merry just wouldn't give up. He truly wanted to be with me, I know he did. I also felt the same way about him. I wanted to marry Merry, too. But, I didn't leave Frodo all by himself. He'd be lonely.

An idea came to me that if Merry married me, we could both live in Bag End so that Frodo wouldn't be lonely. Or Frodo could come over and visit us at Merry's place, which wasn't that far away from Bag End. I didn't know how Merry would feel about living at Bag End with me and Frodo. I think he would prefer to live with me at his place. I couldn't stand the thought of Frodo being lonely.

I've had second thoughts about Frodo meeting someone and having a romantic relationship with them, but as I got a bit older, I had a change of heart. He truly deserved someone to love. Frodo also had Sam. Sam was always there to cheer Frodo up, even on his worst days. Sam would never leave Frodo's side. He'd do anything for him. I guess Frodo wouldn't be alone, after all.

Merry finished his tea and folded his hands on top of the kitchen table, twiddling his thumbs in anticipation. He cleared his throat and began to speak to Frodo.

"Frodo, there's, uh, there's something I need to talk to you about. It's something important." He stuttered.

"What would you like to tell me, Merry?" Said Frodo, with a grin on his face.

"It's..." Merry took a deep breath. "It's about Brianna."

"Brianna?" Frodo finished up his tea and poured himself another cup. He scooped up a couple teaspoons of sugar, poured it into his cup and stirred the tea in circular motions.

Merry nodded. "Yes, it's about Brianna. I don't know how you'd feel about this but...but I really want to..." Merry lowered his voice. "...marry her. I'll understand if you won't let me. I get it."

Frodo stopped stirring his tea and set his spoon upon the table. "Merry...I...I...I'm not quite sure about this."

Merry shook his head. "Of course you aren't. Why did I even bother asking?" A frown fell upon Merry's face. He slowly got up from the table and pushed in his chair. "I'm sorry to have wasted your time, Frodo. I'll leave you alone." Merry lowered his head in dismay and walked towards the front door with his feet dragging across the floor. Before Merry could open the door, Frodo stopped him in his tracks.

"Merry?" He called out from the kitchen.

"What?" Merry answered, melancholy.

"You don't have to leave." Frodo got up from his seat and walked over towards the front door, where his cousin was standing. "We can talk about this, if you'd like."