Chapter 1

The first days of heavy autumn were finally upon them. Not that he adored rain and clouds and shitty weather altogether, but sunshine and warmth kinda didn't go well with his idea of October.

Tightening the grip of his signature leather jacket around his body, he strode away from his Harley and up into his house. Really, it was not his house, not his alone after all. He shared it with his older brother, a college senior, and their two younger cousins. Being a prominent member of an influential family, more importantly, of the Sons of Durin, had its perks everywhere, college being no exception to the rule.

As young Kili Durin ascended the stairs to the first floor of their makeshift home, he eyed his brother lying half-dead on the sofa in the huge living-room. A highly unusual sight, one might think, but one would truly be surprised if one found Fili Durin awake and fully functioning on a Sunday morning. Or Saturday morning. Or any other morning following a heavy-drinking party that usually led to a drug- induced coma.

Yeah, Fili was alright. He'd get his college senior arse up in a few hours and straighten up.

The crazy lumberjack of their cousin, Gimli, was another kind of a story. Being only a freshman, the two of them were supposed to watch over him. But the task itself was a waste, for the crazy-head would listen to no one. There he lied, in his bed, sprawled between two unknown girls in a state of undress and indecency Kili never wished to see. Damn, he'd have to drink one up to clear his mind of the picture. Well fuck, probably a whole bloody bottle wouldn't even be enough to purge his brain of the scarring images.

Only poor Ori was snoring loudly in his room, his doors locked for obvious reasons. He was a kind soul, a nerd, some would call him (though not in front of them). He probably just had a few beers and went straight to bed. After all, the little fucker was a nerd and Sundays were meant for studying. Kili smiled with no small amount of love for the kindest one of them in his heart.

His bedroom was unoccupied , a fact he was grateful for, because more than once someone uninvited claimed it when he was not at home. Fili's parties were known to be wild, after all. And why would one of his friends do a girl in the middle of a hallway if there was a free, empty bed nearby? He shuddered with the thought. Disgusting.

His brother's room was occupied by an equally drunk chick with a pillow over her face, a drunk chick he had probably never seen before nor he ever will again, knowing Fili.

But the door on the end of the hall was opened, a room that was usually empty. There he found Legolas Greenleaf, his brother's friend and an archery expert, actually an Olympic champion . What the guy truly deserved a gold medal for was excessive pot-smoking. He used to hate the guy, but somehow grew attached against his own will. His long blond hair was a mess, he could see something akin to a crown of twigs and leaves on top of his head... They'd probably crowned him the Prince of Mirkwood or something equally moronic when he appeared with no small amount of weed in the middle of the night. Otherwise, he was wrapped in a blanket so tightly, one would assume he had undergone a mummification treatment.

"What the fuck happened here?" Laughing silently to himself, he retreated to the living-room and turned the music off, navigating in between the piles of half eaten take-out and empty bottles and glasses.

Sudden silence shook his brother awake and he jumped onto his feet only to fall back onto his arse again. He didn't acknowledge his brother's presence for the still obvious presence of alcohol and probably a fair amount of hallucinogenic substances in his blood. He just slumped on his side and soon enough, soft snores reached Kili's ears.

"Son of a bitch..." Kili laughed.

Honestly, when arriving, he could hear the heavy metal banging from the other side of the street. The only reason their neighbours didn't call the cops on them was probably the woven insignia they wore on their jackets. A sign that marked the two Durins, Ori and Gimli, as well as many others, a part of a family.

The Sons of Durin.

Once a notorious MC, the name still rose whispers amongst most and fear amongst many. Even after their uncle, Thorin "Oakenshield" Durin, reclaimed it from his arch-enemy, Smaug Drakarys, and made their business entirely legal, cutting loose on the drug and weapon dealing. Some even say Smaug used to smuggle young girls, selling them across the border. Kili honestly believed all that was said about Smaug and feared his real dealings were even worse.

Nowadays, Sons of Durin were a family running one of the most prosperous business empires in the country. Erebor Inc. closely specialized in mining precious metals, iron and gems. Also, various subdivisions specialized in crafting of that what was mined.

Fili and Kili also participated, even from their young days. Fili was making a name in MetalWorks, enjoying nothing more than a feeling of fresh iron bending to the command of his hands. Word was, no one in those parts of the Middle-Earth could even dream of producing iron-forged swords and daggers his brother crafted without a blink of an eye. A natural born, that one was. He alone could counter nearly entire profit of MetalWorks only by his works for private collectors.

Kili, on the other hand, was more interested in gems, and even in young age he showed interest in art and design. Thus a natural way for him was to sharpen his talents in the CraftingDept. The younger brother has shown envious talent in handling gems and turning them into incredibly beautiful pieces of jewellery. But also, he enjoyed working for his crazy uncle Bofur in one of his garages that handled their bikes. Not a lot of things in life could bring him as much happiness and peace as bringing a Harley to life again, after it's been mended and repaired.

They were bikers. There was something in their blood that didn't let them go away. And they mostly didn't want to.

They weren't that kind of redneck bikers from TV shows, knee deep in smuggling guns and drugs, but they all learned at young age how to protect their own. And still, from time to time, they would be called to arms and defend their family against others.

The younger generation would usually take a gap year after high school and then join college. Even though Kili was 22, he was a junior. His grades were well enough, and his studies, as well as those of the rest, perfectly mirrored his interests in life. Art and engineering, an unusual combination if there ever was one, but still fitting him perfectly. Fili, besides his usual studies, took additional management courses, for he was expected to exceed Thorin on the throne, as they joked in between themselves. Gimli, that crazy kid, alone didn't know what exactly he was studying, and Ori, the smartest of them, just became a sophomore in Theoretical Physics. His mad brain pulled him into the pits of heavy science, but his heart warmed up to books and old scribes.

But they still looked like true Sons of Durin. Even now, on the ride back from home, Kili wore his usual attire. Black jeans, granite T-shirt that clinged onto his muscles for dear life, black button-up over it and naturally, the heavy leather jacket with "Sons of Durin" written on its back, above the two crossed battle axes.

They looked dangerous. Especially Kili at that moment, with his shoulder-length dark curls tied into a bun on the back of his head, a few wild strands escaping their bonds and falling over his eyes. His unshaven face added even more to the look. He was not overly tall, but still taller than his brother and cousins. Nowhere near that pot-head Legolas though. Bus he was strong and muscular.

Their looks sent a message. Don't mess with us. But obviously that was exactly what all the ladies wanted to do. They were popular. His brother was a perfect example of it, bringing a new girl to his bed every night. Sometimes even more than one.

Kili did his share of sleeping around in his earlier years of college-life, finding out very soon that sort of life would never truly satisfy him. So he spent most of his nights alone, an occasional girl here and there, but nowhere near his brother or Gimli.

Now, looking at his brother's unconscious figure drooling on the sofa, he quickly decided he could not possibly stand the stench of alcohol, sweat and sex for a minute longer. As he never actually dropped his stuff, he was at the door quickly.

But someone was there already. She was just preparing to knock, somewhat unwillingly by the looks of it and her deep, rich green eyes mesmerized him and left him frozen in spot.

She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. He was frozen, completely speechless, and god knows he always had something to say, not to the delight of those close to him.

When he finally managed to tear his gaze off her hypnotizing eyes, and that beautiful red hair, he realized she had asked him something.

"I'm sorry?"

She seemed annoyed. "Legolas. Legolas Greenleaf. I was told he should be here."

Son of a bitch. Legolas Greenleaf. Of course, it would be to good to be true. Such a beauty without a boyfriend? And it had to be that bloody baked "elf" lying unconscious in his house.

"Yes. He's here. But I'm afraid he hasn't... umm... came to his senses yet."

To his utter amazement, she managed a shy smile. "I thought so."

She was maybe two or three inches taller than him, but he couldn't bring himself to care. She was so beautiful, he felt like an idiot not being able to form a single sentence.

"Umm... I haven't introduced myself, I'm sorry. I'm Tauriel."

He accepted her hand, the skin exposed by his fingerless gloves immediately burning under her touch.

"Kili. At your service." He grinned like an idiot, astonished to see a faint blush forming on her cheeks. "I haven't seen you around before."

It was not a question because he was absolutely sure he could not have erased her image from his brain if he ever had.

"Umm... I don't think so. I've heard of you, though. I'm taking classes with your cousin, Ori."

"Oh... No wonder I haven't seen you then. It's on the complete opposite side of the campus."

"Yes." She smiled and blushed. His probing gaze made her nervous. She knew him by reputation. Kili Durin , the younger and a bit less wild brother of Fili, the most popular guy on college. Every girl she knew wanted to be with them, regardless of their somewhat shorter height. She could totally understand them now, because up close, that "bad-boy" look on him, combined with the deepest dark brown eyes that seemed to pierce her soul, left her almost breathless.

"Um... I would very much like to invite you in, but... The place is a wreck." He smiled apologetically.

She smiled. "Quite a party you were having here?"

He chuckled. "Hah, no. No. I've just arrived. Couldn't bear the mess they left so I decided to head out for a coffee."

Her eyes slightly widened. "Oh? Alright. I guess I'll.. umm... see you around." She finished awkwardly and turned to leave.

"Unless..." Kili added immediately. "Unless you would like to join me?"

She looked him in the eyes, confused. They stood in silence for a couple of moments. Well, it was a rather relative silence considering Kili's own voice in his head that was pleading the gods of all religions and ages for her to agree.

Then she smiled and nodded. "I'd like to, if that's not a problem."

Kili grinned widely. "Why the hell would it be a problem to have such a beautiful woman in my company? I may look a bit crazy, but I assure you, I'm not that nuts."

She chuckled and he tried to ignore the warmth spreading through his own body caused by the intense flush of her cheeks. She liked him. Of course she liked him, every damn girl ever liked him. But she was so... so different. She was something else.

They headed to one of his favourite college cafe's, a dimly lit but surprisingly refreshing place with great music.

Suddenly the rain, the clouds and all the shitty weather seemed utterly beautiful.

Dammit. He thought to himself, smiling at her beautiful features for no special reason. That Greenleaf junkie's gonna kill me.

AN: So, here it is, as promised! My Modern Kiliel AU! I'm totally in LOVE with awkward/shy Tauriel! It's such a challenge to write! And yup, the main reason I'm doing this, apart from the obvious depths of denial about Durins' deaths, is that I've started watching Sons of Anarchy, and jfc I haven't been able to get this AU outta my head ever since!

If you've read my other story, you noticed how my writing style is miles away! I wanted to challenge myself with something new and different, cause I tend to drown in more archaic waters concerning my writing... Anyway, I hope you like it!
And it's still Middle-Earth. Thousands of years later, but still Middle-Earth!

I'll update soon cause I'm kinda navigating in between three stories right now!

So please, read and REVIEW! Your thoughts are appreciated!

Cheers!