I am refusing to call this a Twilight AU because it doesn't follow the Twilight story. It just borrows certain elements of the Twilight universe and twists them to serve my own purposes. The werewolves and vampires in this story will resemble the ones in Twilight, but will be a little different as well. You don't have to know anything about Twilight to enjoy the story, and I doubt you'd even have to like it to enjoy it.
Chapter One
Kili sighed as he leant heavily on the counter and eyed the clock that hung on the far side of the store. It had been a slower than usual day in the tiny general store on the reservation. Ever since Bombur had had to give up selling gas, there just wasn't much to draw customers in. And with the larger (and cheaper) supermarket in Dale only ten miles down the road, there was little wonder why business was so slow.
Not that Kili was counting down the minutes before he could go home. The unpleasantness of home aside, what kept his eyes on the clock was something else entirely. Something, or rather someone who always dropped in sometime after five but never later than six.
However, seeing as how it was only 4:45, he had a bit of time to wait.
So he was understandably surprised, then, when the little bell over the door rang and he looked up to see Fili smirking at him from the other side of the counter.
"I see you're hard at work," he teased, leaning a hip against the counter as Kili straightened up.
"It's been dead all day," he replied with a shrug, having long since gotten used to keeping calm while his heart tried to leap out of his chest. And thankfully, Fili's unusual blue eyes smiling at him like that now only made him stammer stupidly a quarter of the time instead of all the time. "This keeps up and Bombur won't be able to keep me on."
He was only half joking about that. He had been working part-time for Bombur ever since he was fourteen and had come to depend on his small amount of income. But Fili didn't need to know all that.
"We can't have that," Fili said, smirk on his face and flashing one perfect dimple at him. "Then who would I talk to before inevitably going home to wallow in my loneliness" he continued with a wink.
Kili had to stop himself from staring dumbly at him. It really wasn't fair that he was so gorgeous. The sharp contrast of his russet skin and his golden blond hair and his bright blue eyes made a stunning combination. Add to that the muscles that were always more than evident under the oil-stained t-shirts he worse, and Kili could definitely be excused if it still caught him off-guard even after knowing him for so long. Especially when the older man teased him like that.
He mentally shook himself before scoffing. "I'm sure you'd manage just fine without me."
Fili looked as if he were about to say something further before he shook his head. He grabbed his usual candy bar before reaching into the drink cooler on the side of the counter to grab a Snapple.
"That gonna be it?" Kili asked with a knowing smile. Fili came in every day and always got the same thing.
"Yep," the blond confirmed with a grin, already pulling out a wallet from his back pocket.
"$2.75," he told him, punching the numbers into the old cash register. He took the three dollars Fili handed to him, ignoring the stupid way his heart wanted to flutter when their fingers accidentally brushed.
He really had to stop silly reactions like that if he didn't want Fili to find out about his ridiculous little crush and stop dropping by. He was nearly eighteen years old, for crying out loud! He was too old for hopeless crushes. It was time he grew up and faced reality.
"Here ya go," Kili said pleasantly, forcing out of his mind all other thoughts and handing Fili a quarter back.
Fili winked at him as he took it. "Thanks. See you tomorrow?"
Kili fought down a blush as he smiled and shrugged. "I'll be here."
He sighed as he watched Fili walk out. He didn't stop staring through the glass door after him until the blond disappeared into the mechanic's shop across the street. He was glad there was no one else in the store with him. That meant there was no one there to see him sigh after Fili like a love-struck little girl.
He shook such thoughts out of his head and decided to sweep the store just for something to do.
Still, he thought as he grabbed the broom and tossed one more look at the shop across the street, the thought of seeing Fili again the next day would help him get through the first day of school tomorrow.
That was something at least.
#
Fili groaned as he stopped to lean on the wall of the shop. Another dizzy spell. He had been having them off and on for the past week, but today it had been particularly bad, causing him to close up shop early.
Maybe he shouldn't have made the trek to the general store, but after feeling pretty lousy all day, he had wanted to see Kili before he went up to his apartment above the shop. It had been over a year since he had begun visiting the shop daily in order to see the handsome brunet, and he wasn't going to miss one over whatever stupid summer cold he had managed to catch.
He held tightly to the railing as he climbed the stairs to his apartment, barely summoning enough energy to life open the hatch. He let it fall shut behind him with a thud and made straight for his bed and collapsed heavily.
His mother, he knew, would have been pestering him to go see a doctor if he still lived with her. That knowledge, though, just made him more grateful that he had converted the storage space over the shop into an apartment shortly after graduating from Washington State last year, once it was apparent that he was going to be staying in Erebor longer than he had planned.
Fili had been all set to continue his education and get his masters in mechanical engineering. His Uncle Thorin, though, had asked him to come back to Erebor for a short time, and Fili hadn't been able to say no.
That short time had turned into more than a year, but Fili really couldn't begrudge the time. There was always help to be needed by someone on the reservation. His uncle, as chief, had always done his best to take care of their people, even outside the official day-to-day duties of his position. However, after his uncle's accident a few years ago, his mobility issues had made it difficult to do everything he had done before.
And with how Thorin had stepped up and been like a father to him after his own had died, helping him out now was the least Fili could do.
Besides, if he hadn't come back, he'd never would have met Kili.
Of course, he had known about Kili. On a small reservation like Erebor, it was hard not to know about any scandals that rocked the community. And a pregnant girl from the Ered Luin reservation claiming the father was Khuzdul and demanding to be taken care of was a scandal by anyone's definition.
Thorin, because he hadn't wanted to see the girl or her child suffer, had given them a place to live on the reservation. However, in order to protect the secrets of the Khuzdul tribe, he had arranged for Kili to be enrolled in school in Dale.
It seemed a little silly to Fili, but Thorin, and many of those in his generation, were ridiculously superstitious when it came to the tribe's legends.
Admittedly, he had always been a little curious about the younger boy. After hearing his mother rant about the outrage of "that Ered Luin girl" giving her son a name so similar to Fili's, he really couldn't help it. But his curiosity had turned into something… different… when he laid eyes on Kili the day after he had opened re-opened his dad's old mechanic's shop.
Considering how the Khuzdul had basically ostracized him, though, Fili was certain Kili would want nothing to do with him. Maybe he'd eventually build up the courage to ask him out anyway, but it would have to wait for another day.
He felt a headache building behind his eyes and he groaned again, flopping over and burying his face in his pillow, kicking the blankets away as the heat became unbearable. If he wasn't better by tomorrow, he decided he would go see a doctor. This felt like something more serious than a summer cold.
#
Kili groaned as his alarm went off at 6:30. He shut it off quickly out of habit, not wanting to wake his mom if she had come home last night. She had been spending more and more nights in Laketown, though, so it was a good chance that she hadn't.
He stumbled into the shower, letting the hot water cascade hit his face and wake him up. He stood there for a few minutes before sighing and reaching for the shampoo. Once he was clean, he jumped out the shower and dried off quickly, scrubbing his hair vigorously to get as much moisture out of it as possible.
He threw on the first clothes he could grab that were clean before throwing his still damp hair up in a messy bun. Unlike everyone else on the reservation, he never braided his hair, not even a simple, single braid to keep it back. Kili might not know the meaning behind the different braids the Khuzdul wore in their hair, but he knew the braids did have meaning. A lot of the people on the reservation already resented his presence there enough, he wasn't about to antagonize them further by wearing braids he shouldn't.
There were times he wanted to chop off all the long, thick hair. It would be easier to maintain, and would help him fit in better at school. But in the end, though, he still couldn't help but hope for acceptance by the Khuzdul one day. They'd never consider him one of them if he cut his hair short.
He shook those thoughts from his head before checking the time. 7:00. Good. That gave him half an hour to eat breakfast and pack a lunch. School didn't start until 8:30, but it took him about 40 minutes to bike to the high school in Dale. On a good day, he could make it in 30, but if the weather was rainy or especially cold, it was closer to 45. When he first started biking to school at age ten, it had taken him well over an hour to get there. Thankfully, it hadn't taken him too long to speed up.
He put a couple pieces of bread in the toaster before slapping together a peanut butter sandwich with another couple slices. He debated making two, knowing biking back and forth would making him ravenous, but his bread was running low and he wouldn't have any money to buy more until Friday.
He'd just have to make do, he decided, grabbing his toast as it popped up. As it was, he'd probably have to forego breakfast for the next couple of mornings. He should have considered school starting the last time he went shopping, but oh well. He could last for a couple of days.
It was a nice day, cloudy as always, but in the 70s and not raining, making his morning bike ride pretty easy. He got to school with time to spare, managing to find his homeroom with no problem and settling into a seat in the back corner.
Kili silently watched his classmates filter, slightly envious as they greet each other enthusiastically and talked about their summers. Sure, he knew that most of their friendships wouldn't last past graduation this year, but they were more than he had ever had. The kids from Dale had called him the reservation reject ever since he had started kindergarten, and the moniker had stuck. Sure, some of them treated him better than others, but no one bothered to actually be his friend.
He had always wondered if he would have able to make friends had he been allowed to go to school in Erebor, but he didn't like to dwell on that. It wasn't like it mattered anyway.
A boy he didn't recognize slipped quietly in the seat next to him about five minutes before the bell was due to ring. Kili glanced at him surreptitiously, taking in his tan skin, dark hair, and green eyes and coming up blank as he tried to figure out who he was. The tan, though, was throwing him off. Surely he wasn't a new student. No one ever moved to the tiny town of Dale.
Just as he was beginning to accept that apparently someone had moved to Dale, two more new students slid into the desks in front of him and the other boy. These two Kili knew were new because there was no way he would forget their faces. They were… intimidatingly beautiful.
The girl in front of him had long red hair and when she turned to smile at Kili, he couldn't help but stare. He wasn't even interested in girls and she made his stomach do flip-flops. Golden eyes twinkled mischievously as she shot a glance at the boy who had come in with her, who had the same eyes and was equally pale with long dark hair.
"Hi!" she greeted enthusiastically, looking between Kili and the other boy with a grin, revealing perfectly straight, white teeth. "I'm Tauriel Mirkwood. This is my boyfriend Elrohir Peredhel. We just moved here with our foster parents."
Slightly surprised that the two weren't related, Kili didn't react for a moment.
"I'm Bain Bowman," the other boy introduced himself, giving them a tentative smile. "I'm new too."
Bowman. Kili knew that name. "Any relation to Chief Bowman?" he asked curiously.
Bain gave him a tight smile. "My dad," he answered.
Kili didn't press him, even though he was sure there was a story there. Their classmates (and their parents) were probably wagging their tongues enough about the police chief's son moving in with him. Kili knew how uncomfortable it was to have people gossiping about you.
"And you are?" Tauriel inquired, golden eyes on him once more.
"Kili Oakley," he answered.
Elrohir laughed. "Oakley? Like Annie Oakley? How quick is your draw? Please tell me you know someone named Buffalo Bill."
Kili blinked at him while Tauriel just rolled her eyes. "You'll have to excuse him," she said with a shake of her head. "He's an idiot with a Wild West fetish."
"You love me," he shot back at her, still grinning.
"Lucky for you."
Kili shared a look with Bain, who looked as unsure about the two teens in front of them as he was.
Thankfully, the bell rang then and Mr. Gibbons called for the class to take their seats. As roll was called, Kili wondered absently how long it would take for these new students to decide to have nothing to do with him. Even if two of them were a bit… odd, Kili would have liked to have friends.
#
Fili woke up later than he intended. His head had mercifully quit pounding, but he still felt as if he was on fire. He wasn't sure what woke him up until the vibrating of his phone registered in his mind.
"'Lo?" he mumbled.
"Still not feeling well?" Thorin's deep voice asked.
Fili groaned and threw an arm over his face. "Mom make you call to get me to go see a doctor?"
Fili's mother, Dis, was pale, blond, and tiny, barely a head taller than Thorin when he was sitting in his wheelchair. Still, she was a force to be reckoned with. It was little wonder the Khuzdul people had accepted her so readily after she married Thorin's brother Frerin.
"She may have mentioned you were ill," Thorin replied dismissively. "But I don't need an excuse to call my favorite nephew to see if he is alright."
"I'm your only nephew," he muttered.
"How do you feel?" his uncle asked, ignoring him.
"Hot," he said with a groan. "Don't need a doctor though."
"No," Thorin said seriously. "You need to go outside."
"Wha?" Fili asked in confusion, wondering if the fever was finally getting to him. "Outside?"
"I'm serious, Fili." He certainly sounded serious. "You need to get outside. Go behind the shop and into the woods so you can't be seen from the road."
"You're finally cracked, old man," he mumbled with a shake of his head.
"Trust me, Fili. You'll thank me later when you don't ruin your apartment."
Not really in the mood to argue with his uncle, he rolled out of the bed and stumbled downstairs and out of the backdoor of the shop. He made it just past the woods and leaned heavily against one of the trees.
"Now what?" he asked Thorin.
He heard his uncle sigh. "Just wait there for a while. It'll happen soon."
"What will happen soon?"
"You wouldn't believe me I told you," he replied. "You never did take the legends of our people seriously."
"Please tell me you didn't make me get out of bed over some silly superstition," he begged with a groan.
"Just stay there, Fili," Thorin ordered in exasperation. "And try not to lose yourself, okay?"
"How would I lose myself?" he asked, but Thorin had already hung up.
Superstitious old man, he thought as he leaned his head back against the tree. He was about to walk back to the shop when he doubled over as sharp pain pierced every part of his body. He fell to his hands and knees with a gasp, vaguely registered a ripping sound through the pain.
He looked down at his hands and balked as he saw paws instead. Large paws covered in golden fur.
What was happening to him?
When the pain receded, he stood up on four legs. What was he? He screamed in horror and heard a howl of a wolf from somewhere close. With a start, he realized the howl was his scream of horror.
Panic seized his mind, and he ran.
Tbc…
Well, that's the first chapter! Let me know what you think!