3. Death Death
"You're surprisingly chipper for having a team that just lost," Rosalie noted, sitting back in her chair as people passed them. It was easier to wait for the small crowd to dissipate than to weave through it and risk the chance of accidentally bumping into people. She hadn't killed anyone unintentionally yet, and she liked to keep it that way.
"Losing is for humans," Emmett quipped, grinning. "The game was amazing! I didn't think Chad would actually do a flip to dunk the basketball."
Rosalie eyes him skeptically. "He fell on his face."
He quirked a brow, grin ever present. "Why do you think I liked the game so much?"
She shoved him, and he pretended to be knocked over, distracting him from the smile that she was showing.
Emmett laughed, carefree and boisterous. A passing couple stared at him, awestruck, only for their attention to be diverted to Rosalie.
Rosalie stared right back, making them scamper away faster. It was why she didn't notice the change in Emmett right away.
He sat up straighter, peeking over the moving people. "Hey, isn't that the girl with the Death Mobile?"
Rosalie followed his line of sight, trying to find the familiar face—before his words registered. She frowned at him. "You were eavesdropping?"
He held up his hands in defense. "I tried not to, but I didn't want to interrupt your bantering."
Her frown turned skewed in confusion. "Bantering?"
"Yeah, you approached her, so... you at least don't hate her?" he guessed, shrugging. "Might be nice to have a human friend."
Rosalie was about to remind him of human characteristics and, oh yeah, whether he lost his mind, when she caught wind of a familiar voice.
"Oh thank God," Bella whispered to herself, maybe a few feet away. "Hey. Hey Rosalie!"
Rosalie turned to the commotion, watching as a smiling Bella climbed over a row of seats to bypass a few stragglers.
Death stepped onto the back of a chair with all the confidence in the world, and then, in a magnificent show of dexterity and control, slipped and fell backwards. "Oh sh—"
Rosalie was out of her chair in a blink of an eye, picking Bella from the air before she gathered too much momentum. The way she fell backwards made catching her in a bridal style the easiest, most natural way, so that was how she ended up holding her.
"—it," Bella finished, looking around in astonishment. She briefly caught Emmett's smiling eyes before locking on Rosalie's impassive gaze. Some of the stress melted from her body as she sagged in her arms. "Oh, that's cool."
Rosalie frowned, feeling Bella's warmth as she let her down, to the point that she could almost feel it in her face. Still, she smelled... nothing. Scentless warmth, with a note of pine and grass in the distance.
Emmett shook his head, looking more amused than anything as he gave the area a quick once over.
"Hey, uh, Rosalie's boyfriend?" Bella greeted Emmett, slightly fidgety as she looked him up and down. "Bearfriend...?" she corrected herself jokingly, grinning. No doubt she was commenting on his impressive size.
"Hah!" He clapped a hand onto his thigh, shooting Rosalie a look. "I like her already."
Rosalie scrunched her nose at the idea of dating Emmett. She loved him, yes, but she wasn't in love with him. "Bella, this is Emmett, my step-brother. Emmett, Bella."
"Bearfriend then," Bella confirmed with a nod.
Rosalie folded her arms, ignoring Emmett's gleeful expression as he witnessed the not-banter. "Not that I don't appreciate your second suspicious and sudden appearance today, but why are you here?"
"Oh! Yeah." She turned to face Rosalie. "I heard Emmett shout something about a basketball game earlier, and I needed to talk to you."
Rosalie raised an expectant eyebrow.
"Uh, right. So, you know things about cars?" she asked, bumping her fist into an open hand in what looked like a show of nerves.
"Know about cars? Rosalie would put the local mechanics out of business if she opened up shop," Emmett crowed. His chair creaked as he leaned forwards, only backing off slightly at Rosalie's pointed look. He mimed locking his mouth and leaned back again, much to her relief.
The information seemed to brighten Bella's mood. "Oh sweet, I was gonna ask if you could recommend a shop or mechanic, but maybe you'd like to take a look yourself?"
Everything in Rosalie screamed yes. The sheer amount of satisfaction it would bring just to improve its obvious faults... well, it would be cathartic at best. And it wasn't like she didn't have the spare time or was curious to find out why Death kept finding her.
Still, she had to mention the obvious. "You know it's cheaper to just buy a new car?"
"Probably." Bella shrugged, smile crooked. "But I like this one."
Rosalie watched her for a second, and noticed how easily the genuine glint slipped from her eyes. She had a feeling there was more to it, but she couldn't fathom what and she wasn't going to pry when they were out in the open.
"I guess I wouldn't want to be responsible for any unnecessary deaths," Rosalie mused, pretending to think it over despite the enthusiasm she felt. She heard Emmett breathe in to speak, and she cut him off, "Fine, but you're paying for the many, many replacement parts I'm gonna need."
"Great!" she cheered, apparently completely okay with the additional costs. She took out her phone and unlocked it, handing it over. "I'll send you the address and you can let me know when you're available."
Rosalie didn't look up from entering her number as she muttered, "For the sake of mankind, soon."
Bella was gone soon after that, mentioning something about having to walk home to prepare dinner. She was hardly out of earshot when Emmett piped up again, words spilling out all at once like he'd been holding himself back. "She-likes-you."
"Hmn?" Rosalie turned to look away from Bella's retreating form to come face to face with his shiteating grin.
"She came all the way over here, on foot from wherever, to ask for references?" he summarized, raising his eyebrows meaningfully.
For some reason, Rosalie hadn't really looked at it like that. She had been too focused on Death to notice what was happening in life. She took a metaphorical step back from the situation and reviewed all their interactions with a more sober attitude. Bella had been objectively kind from the start, and had taken her initial fight or flight reaction in stride. Reluctantly, she had to concede, "Maybe."
"Not to mention, she knows you're a vampire and you almost outed us just now to—"
"Shut up."
###
Rosalie had to check the truck to determine what needed to be replaced or repaired, and she did so during a short visit to the Williams'. The car was completely void of any brand names, to the point that she wondered if it was custom made. It was completely fascinating, save for its sorry state and the copious amount of heavy iron parts that were used. She had a feeling that she could shave off a lot of weight by cleaning out rust and using alloy fasteners alone.
Sadly, a lot of the damage could've been prevented by regular maintenance. She wished she could cry when she saw the brakes had practically fused together, and promptly channeled that energy into telling Bella not to drive the literal Death Mobile until she was done.
A few days later, once she'd scavenged most of the parts she needed, she gave Bella a heads up and showed up at her temporary home at a reasonable time on a Saturday. She'd barely parked her car when the garage opened, revealing Bella and the truck.
Bella smiled and waved, jogging over to help carry her things inside. She appeared to be fine in her flannel shirt despite the cool weather. "Whoa. This looks like... a lot," she said, eyeing the larger box that Rosalie picked up with ease.
Rosalie looked up, spotting the trepidation in Bella's eyes. "I'm not returning these parts."
"Huh?" Bella snapped out of whatever thought she was lost in. "Oh, uh, no. Of course. Let's get to it." As if to prove her point, she reached for a box labeled as 'fluids,' which was probably a poor decision, considering the grunt she let out when she lifted it.
Rosalie arched an eyebrow in amusement, watching as Bella struggled to bring it over to the garage. She followed after her. "Maybe you should let me do the heavy lifting."
"What? Pfft, no. What are you talking about?" Bella wheezed, soldiering on. She hurried the last few steps and almost threw the box on a sturdy iron table. "Piece of cake!" she breathed heavily, leaning her hands on the table.
Rosalie shook her head, lowering her box to the ground with the elegance that Bella lacked. "I thought aging made people wiser."
"Wise-ass, maybe," Bella quipped, turning around to face Rosalie. "Besides, how else am I going to make you comfortable? Pizza and pop?"
Rosalie tilted her head in thought, and shot her a pointed look around neck height. "You regenerate lethal wounds, don't you?"
Bella shifted slightly in place, self aware. "Yeah, why do you ask—oh." She snorted. "You're such an ass."
"That's one of my more admirable aspects," she retorted offhandedly, heading back to her car to get the rest of her stuff.
"That's rich coming from someone who just called me a snack!"
Rosalie paused in front of the trunk of her car, realizing with a start that Emmett had been right. They were definitely bantering. Her words were meant to sting, but instead they were taken as friendly jabs. Bella's responses sucked her into a downwards spiral of… bantering. And worst of all, she didn't hate it.
"Was that—was that too much?" Bella asked from right beside her, seemingly appearing out of thin air even though Rosalie was pretty sure she'd just been walking behind her.
Rosalie looked straight at her then, trying to gauge why Bella was being so sympathetic. Her face gave away nothing, however. With her eyebrows slightly raised, she just appeared inquisitive.
She could no longer stand it. She had to know.
Rosalie kicked in the proverbial door. "How much did you see of my death?"
By the way Bella blinked, she didn't see that question coming. Still, despite the 180 the conversation took, she answered. "Uh, like, the man who tried to murder you?"
Rosalie frowned at the use of the singular man. "You weren't there," she concluded, feeling a bit of anxiousness leaving her.
Bella shook her head, eyes far away as she remembered. "I wasn't gonna come at all, because your, um, death felt weird. Not quite tangible." Hands at her sides, she rubbed her fingers together as if she was physically touching something. She settled her eyes back on Rosalie, a seriousness there that she hadn't seen before. "But I'm glad I came. Judging from what I said, you deserved a bit of peace."
Rosalie narrowed her eyes, the words striking her as odd. "Judging from what you said...?"
"I'm not sure how to explain," Bella said, letting out a long breath. By all means, she looked as if she was about to do complicated math.
One question answered, several raised.
"Hey, Death Death!"
Both Rosalie and Bella looked over at the house. A woman with brown hair and a wicked forearm tattoo stood in the garage, hands on her hips. The glint of a simple ring on her ring finger drew Rosalie's attention, and she could only assume she was the professor's wife.
"Is your guest staying over for lunch?" She didn't wait for a reply, walking over.
"Absolutely not!" Bella said, a little too passionately and a little too quickly.
Despite the interruption of their serious conversation, Rosalie felt amusement bubbling up, and if she smiled, no one commented on it.
"Wow, you jerk. Be more polite, why don't you?" The woman frowned at Bella, clearly disapproving of her tone. Now that she was standing close enough to talk at a normal volume, the design of her ferns and moth tattoo was clearly visible. Her scent was notably intermingled with Dina's, and any doubt about her relationship status was wiped.
Still, that only drew attention to how Rosalie couldn't smell Bella.
"Your answer would be the same if you knew what she ate," Bella said, crossing her arms in an almost petulant fashion.
Ellie narrowed her eyes, directing her question to Rosalie, "What, are you vegan?"
Rosalie glanced at Bella, who was no help whatsoever with her curious, doe-like eyes. However, Rosalie did notice Ellie had called Bella Death Death, so she had to know about her extracurricular activities. But then, she asked if she was vegan, so she obviously did not know about her undead status. If she was taught anything, it was better to be safe than sorry. "I only eat... organically," she ended up saying.
Next to her, Bella covered up her laugh with a cough.
"Weird way to say that, but okay," Ellie conceded. "Weird attracts weird."
"Your face attracts weird," Bella said dryly.
"Your mom is weird," Ellie countered immediately.
Rosalie backed out of the conversation before she got dragged into it further and grabbed another box, wondering what the hell she had gotten herself into and whether she should outsource the Death Mobile project to a local mechanic anyway. Another look at the truck and its many quirks, however, had her sticking around. She was cursed with a hobby she loved, after all.
"You're not even gonna help her carry anything?" Ellie whispered in the background.
"She told me not to!" Bella answered indignantly.
Rosalie rolled her eyes skywards. God help her soul.
###
Nnngh, finally, some humor. We're slowly wading into my (self-proclaimed) expertise!
