Driving Lessons

A Coulson/May Story

By Brown Eyes Parker

Author's Note: This is for stopbleepingmeplease on tumblr, she/he was my Summer Secret Santa. I've been SO busy taking care of the house for my mother, this kind of snuck up on me. I hate that I couldn't have done more for her.

Rated: K

Disclaimer: I own nothing at all.

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18-year-old Philip Coulson tried to remember why he thought teaching his 17-year-old best friend, Melinda May to drive would be a good idea. She was a complete maniac on the road, paying little or no heed to his careful direction or the speed limits that went whizzing by them as they sped down a lonely stretch of country road with a rock & roll song blaring from the stereo. He gulped and clutched his hands together in prayer; his father was going to kill him if he came home with so much of a scratch on the Mustang Convertible.

He clapped his fingers over his eyes and groaned as she went over a bump. "Would you be careful?"

"Where's your sense of adventure, Phil?" She asked, looking over at him with sparkling eyes and the wind blowing her dark hair around her face.

"I left it back in the garage," he muttered as she accelerated on the gas. "Please Melinda, be careful. If we get caught, we'll both be in so much trouble!"

"Don't you think I'm a natural?" May asked, fishing for a compliment.

"Sure," Coulson replied, throwing his hand on the steering wheel to avoid taking a sharp turn. "You're a natural race car driver. I think you missed your calling, you should be a race car driver, not a SHIELD agent."

May laughed and took his hand off the wheel, placing it back in his lap. "If I did that then who would keep you company at SHIELD? Not everybody can handle you, you know."

"Well, not everybody can handle you either," he told her, finding the radio dial and turning the music way down. "You shouldn't have the music that high, it's a distraction."

"You're a distraction!" She replied gleefully as she play punched him in the arm.

"Melinda, PLEASE keep both of your hands on the wheel!" Coulson snapped.

"Fine, fine!" May answered, rolling her eyes and smirking a little as she put her hands back on the steering wheel. "You're really uptight, aren't you?"

"Only when it comes to my father's car," Coulson answered, peering through his fingers.

"Well, you're the one who suggested we take your father's car out in the first place."

"You didn't try and change my mind! You went along willingly!"

May hit him again. "Don't blame this on me!"

"Ouch! Melinda, don't take your hands off the wheel!" Coulson repeated, slapping her hand away from him.

"Are you trying to get us pulled over by the police?" May asked.

"Are YOU trying to get us pulled over by the police!?" Coulson parroted.

May glared at him and pulled over herself, jumping over the driver's seat and coming 'round the car the passenger's side. "You know what!? I'm done! You can drive me home Philip!"

"Fine!" Coulson answered, sliding over to the driver's seat. He looked up at her and gave her his best bossy look. "Well, are you coming or not?"

"You're a horrible teacher," May told him as she got into the car.

"If it helps you're a horrible student."

May made a face at him. "Like I said, I never asked you to teach me how to drive. You volunteered!"

Coulson rolled his eyes. "Well, I should have known better than to volunteer to teach you how to drive. Stubborn woman."

May turned to look at him, a sharp retort on the tip of her tongue and then she shrugged, turning up the music again to avoid arguing further with him.

After what seemed like forever, they finally turned into her driveway. She grabbed her backpack and waved at him. "See you around Philip."

"Wait a second," Coulson answered, considerably calmer since he was back in control of the situation. "I'm sorry that we argued. You're right, it was my fault. . . I should have thought twice before I suggested teaching you how to drive. Or I should have at least realized that teaching somebody how to drive is a big job. My father made it seem so effortless when he was teaching me how to drive; I thought I would be able to do it too."

May sighed wearily. "It's okay."

"We're good though?" He asked hopefully.

"The best," she assured him, hefting her bag up higher on her shoulder. "I'll see you later. Goodnight."

"Hey," Coulson said, stopping her again. "How about we try again later? The next time I can try and be a little more patient."

May's lips quirked into half a smile. "And I guess I can try and be a better student. And actually, you know, try and respect your impulsive need to obey the letter of the law."

"I can try and appreciate your out of the box thinking," he added.

May smiled, thankful for his friendship. Thankful that he never ever let a fight go unresolved between them. She went around the car and leaned in, giving him an impulsive side hug. He returned the gesture and then playfully slugged her in the arm, not used to an open act of affection from his best friend.

He cleared his throat. "So, we'll just pick up where we left off tomorrow then?"

May smiled at him. "Hopefully not exactly where we left off," she said.

"No," he agreed. "Probably not. . . definitely not."

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Several Years Later

"Be gentle on her," May reminded him as she handed Coulson the keys to the mini-van she used to cart their team and only daughter around when they weren't on missions.

"I'll have you know that I'm a very good teacher," Coulson replied, pocketing the keys and smiling charmingly at her.

"Need I remind you about the first time you tried to teach me how to drive?" May asked, smirking at him.

"Need I remind you how you drove the first time I took you out in the car?" Coulson answered. "It was like you were training for the Indy 500 or something!"

"You always say that!" May said. "Do you know that Stark's called me Danica Patrick ever since you told him and Pepper that story?"

"You know Tony, he only calls you Danica Patrick because he knows it annoys you," Coulson told her. "If you stopped reacting to it, I bet he'd stop calling you Danica Patrick."

"Mom! Dad!" Danielle Coulson shouted as she came running out of the Hub at break neck speed. "I'm ready for my first driving lesson!"

May smiled at Coulson and gave him an affectionate kiss on the cheek. "Good luck."

"Thanks," Coulson answered dryly, returning her smile as he followed Danielle to the van. "I'm going to need it."

_The End_

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Author's Note II:

This was shorter then I wanted and not exactly what I wanted to write either. But I hope you guys enjoyed it. Leave a review and tell me what you thought!

Until next time!

Love,

Holly, 6/8/2014_