The trek down from the mansion was not unlike bribing a bunny rabbit from it's hole with an irresistible carrot. Though he may have given her his word, every ten feet or so, Edward would stop in his tracks, poised like a statue, and glance about several times before an abrupt tug on his arm from Coraline egged him onward. Several times she wanted to stop—to give up and let the timid man retreat back into his fortress. She would have gone through with it, too, if not for her promise to her grandmother.

The more she thought about it, the more it seemed to be the only thing keeping them both going. To fulfill the last wish of someone they both held dear.

"Oh man…." Coraline muttered, smiling to herself as she tried to envision her grandmother's face upon meeting Edward after so long…..

She blinked, realizing he had once again fallen behind.

Gritting her teeth in frustration, the blue-haired girl spun around. "Edward!" She alleged, planting one hand on her hip and pointing at him with the other, "We don't have all day, here!" She would have continued her spiel, but the poor man had flinched so noticeably, she didn't have the heart to scold him any further. Instead, she sighed, taking a few steps forward and gently dragging him the rest of the way down.

Where she faced an even bigger dilemma.

"Ooookay…." Coraline said, staring dumbly at the petite, rose-colored buggy before her, "How are we gonna get you in the car?" She turned to Edward, who of course had no idea, as was evident by his blank expression.

"It's….small." he murmured, tilting his head in observation at the vehicle.

Coraline scowled. How was that helping? "Yeah, well, it's the best we've got right now." She explained, choosing to spare the scissor-wielding man the lengthy explanation as to why she possessed such a small car. He needn't concern himself with her parents' lack of trust in….oh crap!

"My parents….I completely forgot about them."

"Parents?"

Her shoulders slumped. "Yeah." She replied briskly, unlocking the passenger door. "They don't know I'm up here….there." The front seat slid and buckled forward, revealing a narrow entryway into the back seat. Stepping aside to let her….companion….through, she finished with a "Go on, get in."

As if it were a hostile object, Edward hesitantly shuffled over to the open door. A bit stiffly, he bent his knees, eyes darting every which way, until resting in his sharp appendages—still snipping nervously. Slowly, carefully, he raised his arms, his forehead creasing in thought as he looked from his hands, to the car, then back to his hands again.

Following his actions with her own eyes, Coraline shook her head. This was going to end badly. Chest tightening if ever so slightly, she cleared her throat. "On second thought, Edward," she said, gently pulling him away from the car, "Maybe you should sit in front….with me."

"O….okay." He replied, a small smile on his bruise-colored lips. Huh, Coraline thought as she re-adjusted the passenger's seat. It wasn't that she thought him incapable of smiling….he just seemed distant—lost—so that any expression other than wide-eyed confusion surprised her.

"Thank you."

What?

She turned, raising an eyebrow. "'Thank you?'" She echoed, "Why?"

Edward's face fell, and he once again looked like a deer in the headlights. "I…." he started, scissor-fingers snipping nervously, "I couldn't fit. Now I can."

"Oh….uh, you're um, welcome…." The blue-haired teen answered awkwardly, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. It was silly, she knew, but, right when he smiled, Coraline could have sworn she'd seen another, different person living behind his scarred, leather-bound exterior. A real….normal….person. However, it was only for an instant, and seemed rather ridiculous to dwell on, so she shrugged it off and focused on the greater task at hand.

How to stuff a scissor-handed man into her car without breaking anything….or anyone.

After several minutes of pushing, shoving and—on occasion—cursing, Coraline managed to attain her goal, and was now on her way to the hospital with Edward in tow. Despite earlier gestures, the dark-haired man had kept mostly to himself during the car ride; eyes glued to the window as if watching a blockbuster film. Truth be told, Coraline preferred it that way; it kept him occupied, and kept his hands planted at his sides. No matter how hard she tried, Coraline's mind went to immediate red alert every time she looked at those hands. Even with Edward's innocent disposition, every time she heard that click click of metal on metal, her insides squirmed uncomfortably. Why? She didn't know. There was just something about them that sent a chill down her spine.

Come on, girl, she pleaded at herself, gripping the steering wheel tightly, pull yourself together before Grandma….

Abruptly, a very large, bronze-plated sign caught her eye, and she slammed on the breaks, making a rigid turn into the hospital entrance. "Damn irony…." She muttered, blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes.

"Coraline…."

"Hm?"

Edward made to raise one of his fingers, but lowered it upon the unpleasant look on the blue-haired girl's face. "There's….there's a man in that box…."

That same, amused grin tugged at the corner of her mouth. "Ahem, ma'am?" The teenaged girl shook her head, punching Edward lightly on the arm as she lowered her window.

"Yes?" She asked, meeting the eyes of a thirty-something year old African American controlling admittance into the parking lot. She stifled a laugh, digging through her purse. A man in a box. That was one way of putting it. "Here ya go!" She chirped, handing the man his money. "Have a nice….What are you looking at?"

The man inside the toll booth blushed, averting his eyes. "Nothing nothing." He replied, fumbling as he proceeded to open the entrance. "Just hurry on up, okay? He looks pretty bad."

If it were possible for Coraline's eyebrows to retreat further than her hairline, they would have. What in the world could he be….

That same, uncomfortable feeling returned when it dawned on her. He'd been referring to Edward.

Well that's just perfect, she thought bitterly, internally rolling her eyes, what else have I forgotten today?! This—more so than her lack of preparation for her parents—was a problem.

The story of the man with scissor hands had been such a part of her life, but confronting those who'd never heard of—much less seen—him at all, was going to take some planning….

"I've got it!" Slamming the top of the steering wheel with a curled fist, a solution to their dilemma popped into Coraline's head. If the toll-booth man thought Edward was an accident victim of some kind, surely others would as well? Enough so that they'd be able to enter the hospital inconspicuously.

"U-uhm…."

Reeling out of her thoughts, Coraline responded with a simple, "What?" all the while trying to find a parking space.

For a moment, Edward said nothing, but Coraline could feel his eyes on her, studying her intently for reasons unknown.

"What, Edward?" She repeated, quickly growing irritable under his gaze.

She saw him flinch from the corner of her. "Why….why were you smiling just then?"

It took her a minute to realize what he meant. When she'd come up with her elaborate plan, she had been smiling, hadn't she? How observant of him. "I was smiling, Edward, because I just thought of a way to get you through those hospital doors unnoticed." A pause. "Well, less noticed, anyway."

Fueled with a mischievous excitement, Coraline swerved into parking place, ramming her into Edward and him, in turn into the window. Wincing at the THUNK his head made against the window pane, she swiveled in her seat. "You okay?"

He nodded, glancing warily at the hostile window.

She smiled. Time to execute her plan.

"Alright, Edward," she began, unbuckling both their seatbelts, "Here's what's gonna happen. We need to get you past all those people" and here she pointed over his shoulder to the hospital's entrance, "and in to see Grandma. So….I need you to sit tight for a minute while I—"

"But—"

"I'll be back. I just need to see if I can snag a wheel chair for you." At his perplexed expression, she added, "To make sure we're authentic and all."

Edward looked as though he was going to say something, but the time for protesting had past. Moving swiftly, she threw open the door and sprang from the little car, pausing only to wink at Edward with a subtle "don't worry."

She'd only walked five feet from the car when her cell phone buzzed. Groaning, the blue-haired girl fished it from her purse, not bothering to see who it was as she flipped it open. "Hello?"

A choked, familiar voice answered on the other end. "Coraline?" Her mother gasped, "Where have you been?"

"I uh….went out." The girl said awkwardly, her fingers tightening their grasp around her phone. "….why?"

An elongated breath carried over into her ear.

"Mom?" Her previous excitement evaporated, replaced with a wave of apprehension. Her mother was notorious for her clear head and rather monotone dialect. To hear her sound so….emotional was a definite cause for alarm. "MOM! What's going on?!"

For a moment, there came no reply, leaving Coraline in the dark with the rising panic in her chest. Eventually, however, her mother sighed once again, and said slowly, "It's about your grandmother…."

Dun dun dun!

Yeah….

I hope no one's too out of character: they're all (except Edward of course) older than in the actual movie, so I've been struggling with my interpretation of a seventeen-year-old Coraline. I hope she's alright, and not too OC.