Killian Oakenshield shivered slightly as the mist from the ocean drifted across his face. He peered past the mist at the orange bridge before him and once again cursed himself for not being able to afford a car, or an apartment in the city. He lived in a houseboat with three other people in Marin and worked at a restaurant right in the heart of San Francisco. The bike and the crappy living sitch were essential to him though, as every cent he made waiting tables went straight into his Demo Savings Box.

Kili was a musician, or at least he was trying to be one. It wasn't that easy though as he was broke as dirt and he had no family to support him—or at least no family that was willing to support him. Kili's father had fought hard to get him into Stanford, and Kili had repaid him by getting arrested the first week of the semester. He hadn't been doing anything bad, mind you, he just got caught with a fake ID trying to get into a bar so he could listen to this band. Long story short, the school kicked him out and his father cut him off.

Kili right then and there decided to drop his father's dreams of him being a lawyer and purse his own dream of becoming a world famous musician.

Bilbo Baggins was the owner of the restaurant that Kili worked at, and he was a true blessing for Kili. When he found out that Kili wanted to make and sell a demo, he didn't belittle Kili with depressing facts about how few musicians actually make it. He insisted on enrolling Kili in the local community college so he could study the music business. They had struck a pretty sweet deal; Kili would work double shifts during the day and weekends, and would go to classes at night—which was a huge sacrifice on Bilbo's part as dinner was the most popular meal for the restaurant.

So that's where Kili found himself now, riding in the misty rain over an orange bridge with his apron tied around his waist because some jerk had stolen his basket and his guitar strapped to his backpack, along with his books and pencils for his night class. He squinted though the mist and the lights of the oncoming traffic. For some reason, pedestrians and bicycles weren't allowed on the other side of the bride, the one that faced the ocean which meant that he was riding into oncoming traffic—both cars and pedestrians.

"At least you don't have to pay the $7 bridge toll." Kili murmured to himself as his eyes blinked away the ink spots that were created by some jerks high beams.

"5:45 is way to early for anyone decent to be awake," he continued to mutter to himself as he pulled his beany down over his dark brown short cropped hair. Then suddenly, a flash of red caught his eye. Kili stopped dead in his tracks, he jumped off his bike and walked it over to the railing. He blinked a few times, did really just see what he thought he saw? Did he really just see someone in a red jacket hop over the railing? He looked around him; there were no other pedestrians, just grumpy commuters on their way to work in their cars. Cautiously, Kili peered over the railing and felt his heart sink at what he saw: a boy—man—maybe his age, maybe a few years older was standing underneath the railing. One hand was linked to the bars as he leaned forward and stared down at the dark waters. His blonde wavy hair was being pushed and pulled from his ponytail and despite the heavy jacket Kili could see that the man was shaking. Kili wondered vaguely what this man was doing, and several ideas popped into his head; he was a photographer, a bridge architect, a water scientist, he was doing yoga, he was doing par-core, he was meditating, he was sleepwalking.

And then it hit him like a ton of bricks.

This man was going to jump.

And Kili was the only one there to stop him.

Kili bounced on the balls of his feet. Feeling panic fill his chest.

"Hey! Hey you!" he shouted

The man didn't respond.

"Hey! HEY!" Kili shouted even louder, and this time he banged his hand on the metal railing.

The man looked up at him, and Kili had to force himself not to flinch at the shattered soul that started back at him with deep blue eyes. Their eyes met, and Kili saw pain, and sadness but he also saw fear and helplessness.

"You don't want to do this." Kili said

The man shook his head.

"Please. Don't do this." Kili said

The man just stared at him.

Kili stared back.

Then Kili did something that was both very brave and stupidly idiotic; he climbed up over the railing and joined the man standing on the platform.

Kili felt his heart pounding as he tried not to think about how one small mistake could lead to him falling hundreds of feet below and dying a terribly cold and watery death. Instead, he focused on the blonde in front of him.

The blonde man was staring at him. One hand was till on the railing bar, and he was no longer leaning out to look at the water.

Kili took a step forward, and in turn, the blonde took a step backwards, shying away from him.

"Hey, hey it's okay." Kili said, taking another step.

The blonde stepped backwards again, and Kili saw that his hands were shaking.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I want to help you. Please." Kili said, and he extended an arm towards the man.

The blonde flinched away from him and shook his head. Kili saw tears starting to form and fall onto his cheeks. The man shook his head again, and then he sunk down against the wall, pulling his feet into his chest and grabbing his long hair with his hands.

Kili took another step forward, somewhat relieved that this man was not in the jumping position anymore. Curling up against the wall and going fetal seemed easier to deal with than just about to jump at any second. At least, to Kili it seemed easier. He had no idea if he was helping or making it worse.

Kili quickly took out his phone and dialed 911—something he should have done the moment he saw the jumper. As he spoke with the operator, he watched the blonde shake and shiver in the cold. He seemed to be less preoccupied with jumping the closer Kili got to him. Kili inched forward, and when he was about a foot away from the man, he too sank down to the ground and sat.

Kili hung up with the operator—officers should arrive within 15 minutes—and stared out into the mist. Sitting down was a lot less scary than standing up. He could no longer see the dark water beneath him and he found that somewhat comforting.

Kili scooted a few inches closer to the man, and gently touched his shoulder. The blonde flinched away from him like he had been burned and sent Kili a fiery glare.

"It's okay. Sorry, no touching. Okay. I understand. You will be okay. It's gonna be okay." Kili said

The blonde stared at him with a blank look.

"Can you understand me?" Kili asked

Another stare, this time followed by a small shake of his head.

"You don't understand?"

Another shake.

"Uhhh, habla espanol?" Kili asked

Another shake.

"I only know English, and that was just about all the Spanish I know."

Another shake, and this time followed by the blonde tapping his ears and shaking his head. Kili then realized that this man couldn't hear; he was deaf.

Kili didn't know any sign language—expect for how to say fuck you, which definitely wouldn't help him in this situation at all.

He slowly turned over his bag and reached for his notebook, hoping the blonde could read English. He took out a sharpie and wrote, "It's going to be okay" and showed it to him.

The man read it, and gave him such an incredulous look that Kili almost laughed. Kili shook his head, and wrote:

"Sorry. That was dumb. We can talk. Let's get off this bridge."

He showed the blonde, who just shook his head. He looked out over the water and Kili saw his face crumble with emotion. Kili felt his chest buzz with panic. Where were the police?

"Please, don't cry. Let me help you." Kili said out loud, once again scooting forward towards the man, who once again leaned away from him.

"I'm not going to hurt you." Kili said

Then he took the sharpie and wrote, "I wont hurt you. Let me help you. Please."

The blonde shook his head.

Kili sighed. This wasn't going anywhere. He had already texted Bilbo about what was happening, so he didn't have any pressure to speed things up expect the fact that they were both freezing.

Kili wrote, "Please don't do this. Let me help you. You don't have to do this."

The blonde then motioned for the notebook and pen. Kili gave it to him hoping beyond hope that he was finally getting through to him.

With a shaking hand, the man wrote: "Yes I do. There's no escape."

He showed it to Kili and Kili felt his eyes well up.

"There is always a way out." Kili said, talking slow enough so the man could understand him. Movement from above caught his eye, and he looked up. There were policemen and firefighters looking down at them, watching silently as one of them adjust a belt and caribiner. The one of the officers motioned for Kili to keep talking to the blonde, to keep him preoccupied so he wouldn't panic when the fireman pulled him up back over the railing. Kili nodded his head.

He motioned for the notebook, and the blonde gave it to him.

Kili wrote, "There is always hope."

He gave the notebook back, and watched as the blonde read it. He looked up at him and shook his head, tears falling from his eyes.

Kili saw the fireman being lowered over the railing out of the corner of his eye.

"This is always hope." He repeated, taping his lips so the blonde would see that he was talking. The blonde clutched the notebook with shaking hands, and was about to write something else when the fireman grabbed his shoulders. He let out a yell of surprise, but the fireman was stronger than he was and within a matter of seconds was able to pull him up and over the railing, onto the floor of the bridge.

Kili stood up with shaky legs and accepted the hand up from one of the other officers who were on the scene. Silently he watched the blonde as he struggled against the paramedics, his cries sounding more like an animal than a man as they strapped him down in a gurney with strong restraints.

Their eyes met one last time before the ambulance doors shut, and then he was gone.

One of the officers patted his shoulder, "you did the right thing." He said and Kili could tell he was just as shook up as he was.

Kili then realized that he didn't even get the blonde's name before they took him away, and that this man with blue eyes and blonde hair still had his notebook.

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This is my first time writing a Hobbit AU. Please leave me a review and tell me what you think!