Bella ran back up the stairs and pulled off the t-shirt she had on. It was one of her favorite shirts and she didn't want to ruin it. She remembered how cold the garage was and looked for a long sleeve shirt instead. Should I wear a hoodie? Do I have any hoodies I don't mind if I ruin? Will Rosalie think I'm a slob if I show up dressed in sweats? Bella ran a hand through her hair. It should not be this complicated to get dressed. She looked at her closet, and for the first time regretted bringing a small wardrobe from Phoenix. It wasn't her fault, per se, but that didn't change that she had nothing she was enthusiastic about right now. Bella laid on the ground and stared at the ceiling, dropping the pile of shirts on her face. This is impossible.

"Edward, you have to go!" Rosalie gestured angrily at the door. She was tired of this argument and they were running short on time. Edward needed to leave, and he needed to leave now.

Edward dropped his shoulders and stared at the ceiling in anguish. "This is my house! Why do I have to go anywhere? Aren't you going to stay in the garage the whole time?"

"Bella is your singer. Are you telling me you can sit in the house and not try to kill her? Not expose what we are?"

"I mean, probably." He looked worried.

A growl ripped from Rosalie's throat. "You want to risk Bella's life," she growled, "on a probably?" The growl picked up again, causing Emmett to look away from the tv for the first time since the conversation had started.

"Babe," Emmett warned.

"Come on," Edward whined. "I went away, I hunt almost every day, I'm careful during school. Why do I have to forfeit my home too?"

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "You went away for like two days. What did you even do there? Shut up about it."

"I did stuff!" Edward ran a hand through his ridiculous hair. "I talked to Eliezer, I meditated with Trina. Kate told me to get over myself."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you spent time meditating and having a conversation. That taught you not to kill a woman you desperately want to drain dry?"

"Well, no," Edward grimaced, "But I know I need to separate myself. I have to be careful."

"So," Rosalie growled, "Be careful, and separate yourself from the house for a few hours." Edward shook his head, refusing to go. "Okay, tell us, Edward, what is it like when Bella's near you?"

Edward ground his teeth together and glared at Rosalie. She stared back, and finally, he answered. "It's painful." Rosalie waited, and he kept going. "It's like hot coals in my throat, but coals that I want. No matter how full I am she makes me feel like I'm starving." Rosalie folded her arms, trying to cover the spike of fear she felt with the anger. She clenched her fists, feeling like only her arms were holding her chest together. She splintered at the idea that Edward could rip Bella open with hardly a moment's hesitation. Jasper looked at Rosalie, confusion on his face. Edward growled, a rumbling deep in his chest. "I'll leave for a few hours."

The splintering stopped for a moment. "Thank you."

Emmett smiled, glad the situation was resolved. He wrapped his arms around Edward's waist and hoisted the man over his shoulder. "Date day! Let's go!"

"Put me down, you brute!"

"Human date or vampire date?" Emmett asked, ignoring Edward's protests.

Edward paused for a second, probably reading Emmett's mind to see what the different dates entailed. He sighed. "Let's go on a human date."

"We're going to the movies!" Emmett cheered while taking Edward upstairs to get ready.

Rosalie rolled her eyes again before straightening out her shirt and getting ready. She looked at Alice, who rolled her eyes and answered the unasked question. "Bella will be here in two minutes and thirty seconds. I recommend you act natural." Alice's laugh grated Rosalie's nerves.

Rosalie heard Bella pull up with Danvers. Bella was listening to the musical Hamilton, and Rosalie smiled. The girl had taste. Rose tried to take Alice's advice and sit calmly on the couch, but she was at the door as soon as the bell rang. She stood with a hand on the doorknob, counting to six slowly in her head. Alice laughed from across the room, and Rosalie could hear Emmett and Edward suddenly go silent in the upstairs hallway. Rosalie cursed herself. She would have to move Emmett's Jeep so that he and Edward wouldn't go near Bella.

Rosalie opened the door a little too quickly, her excitement getting the best of her. She smiled a little too wide, and briefly worried that her smile might repel Bella, or stress her out. The girl's heartbeat sped up, and Rosalie worried, but then Bella smiled back. "Hey, Rosalie. I don't know if you're ready for Danvers, but she is ready for you."

Rosalie tried her hardest to reign in her smile, but she just couldn't. She reached for the board by the door and picked out the Jeep's key. "Almost ready. I have to move Emmett's Jeep first. Then I want you to pull Danvers in. Sound good?"

"Great," Bella breathed out.

It took them just a few minutes to do the switch, and Rose left the Jeep running in the driveway. She shut the garage door behind them, hoping to discourage Edward's curiosity and thirst. "Wanna see something cool?" Bella nodded, so Rosalie hit the button next to the lift she had Bella park on. "Hold on!" The floor opened and started slowly lowering into the floor. Bella's face lit up and she laughed exuberantly.

Rosalie watched her disappear, then hit another button to make the temporary panel close over the hole. She walked down the stairs to meet Bella. Bella looked out Danvers' window. "I'm not gonna lie, a tiny part of me wondered if I was disappearing down a hatch to never be seen again."

"I would have to trap you here in a basement to make you stay forever?" Rosalie arched an eyebrow at Bella.

"Well, I mean, no, not really. You could probably just ask nicely, but not the point." Rosalie bit her bottom lip and tried not to smirk. Bella's heart stuttered and she backtracked. "I mean, no I wouldn't just stay if you asked, I meant-"

"So you wouldn't stay if I asked nicely?"

Bella turned red and clapped her hands in front of her face and stared at the steering wheel. "So how do we start?"

"First, you get out of the car so I can move it to the workspace."

"What is this?" Bella held up a small piece Rosalie had removed and set aside. She was surrounded by parts and was carefully going through them as Rosalie kept working. There was a plastic housing full of parts (a distributor, Bella thought Rosalie had said), and attached to it were a bunch of wires. Next to the wires were small parts that looked like big screws.

"That's one of your spark plugs." Rosalie finally pulled free the part she'd been removing and set it on the sheet next to the other parts. Rosalie turned Bella's hand upside down. "It goes in the engine like this." Rosalie's hands were still cool, but Bella didn't mind. "See that?" Rosalie asked. She paused for a second, but Bella was too focused on Rosalie's touch. "Are you alright?"

Bella snapped out of it. She'd been distracted by Rosalie's touch, by her proximity. Again. "Yeah, sorry. I'm paying attention."

Rosalie's smile made Bella feel lost. "See this gap?" Bella nodded. "Electricity comes across here and basically sparks the gas to make your engine work." Rosalie shrugged. "That's why they're called spark plugs."

Bella nodded. "Cool." She set it back down where Rosalie had it, and followed her back to the engine. Rosalie grabbed a second light and hooked it to the right side of the hood to help them see better.

"Do you see how gunky it is down here?" Bella looked into Danver's gaping mouth, looking over the dirty, grimy parts. She nodded. "You have an oil leak."

"That sounds bad."

"It is kind of bad. It's not the end of the world." Rosalie shined a light into the engine, walking around the side to peek into it. "I think I can tell where it's coming from, though." Rosalie pointed, her hands covered in oil. "See how the top of the engine is pretty clean, but there is oil everywhere else?"

"Yeah." Bella couldn't help but watch Rosalie in awe as she continued.

"I think a gasket has failed here. It happens pretty commonly."

"Is that easy to fix?"

"Yes and no." Rosalie leaned on an elbow and looked up at Bella. "Is it always easy? No. Am I amazing at what I do? Yes." Rosalie winked, and Bella quickly looked back at the engine. "We'll take the engine out to take it apart on the table, but that's not your only problem, either."

"You're telling me," Bella mumbled under her breath. Rosalie arched an eyebrow at her again and watched her. Bella cleared her throat and tried again. "So, what's next?"

By the end of the evening, it was even clearer that Danvers would not be put back together. Bella and Rosalie had been prepared for this, especially after the gasket turned out to be a problem, but now that it was ten pm, they had to talk about it. Bella looked at the floor of the garage, which was littered with Danvers' guts. "Okay, I have two questions."

"I might have two answers," Rosalie smirked.

"First, are you totally sure you can fix this?"

Rosalie laughed. "Bella, I'm a little insulted. It's not broken. It's in pieces. That's different. I can definitely get every piece back together. What's your second question?"

"How will I get to school?"

Rosalie nodded. "Well, I can drive you home, stay up late, and put your engine back together, then bring you your car tomorrow."

Bella was shaking her head before Rosalie was even finished talking. "No, you shouldn't stay up. It's been a long day. I'm tired, and I only watched!" Bella watched Rosalie, who shrugged. "And you said you had to get a new piece!"

Rosalie smiled. "How about I pick you up for school and take you home? Tomorrow and Tuesday, if we need to, we'll work together to get Danvers back to saving the world."

Rosalie sat in her room, her door open as she examined a 3d version of Danvers engine. She dragged a few pieces to the side, tossing them from one computer screen to the other. She looked at the inner workings of the engine, thankful they had bought a crane for the garage, if only for convenience. Rosalie could lift the entire engine, but it was awkward, just because of its size. And she couldn't very well do that with a clueless human watching. She pushed her chair away from the desk, frustrated. It was only midnight. She wouldn't be picking up Bella for seven hours, and time was moving so slowly.

A knock echoed on Rosalie's door. "Come in!"

Alice danced in. "Jasper and Edward are conspiring. They know Bella is your mate."

Rosalie slipped, knocking the keyboard down. "What? I didn't say that!"

"I know!" Alice sang, dancing circles around the room. "But, Edward read your mind, Jasper read your emotions, and then Edward read Jasper's mind and I had a vision of them talking about it. Isn't that fun?"

"No, Alice, that is not fun. You don't get to just decide that she's my mate."

Alice spun faster, throwing her arms in the air and pretending to be a ballerina. "I didn't decide anything!"

"Alice! Stop!"

Alice froze, balancing on one leg with her arms still in the air. "Are you mad? Don't you think she's your mate?"

Rosalie's stomach clenched. "I mean, I don't- that's not what I'm saying. I'm not mad."

"You look mad."

"I'm mildly irritated that I don't get to solve anything for myself. You freaks just run around deciding everyone's emotions and thoughts and futures."

Alice dropped her arms but kept balancing on one leg. "Mom said not to call us freaks. And again, we don't decide anything. We just see it! Or hear it. Or feel it. You know what I mean." Alice stretched out the leg she wasn't balancing on, then tucked it behind her head. "Isn't it exciting to know you've officially met your mate?"

Rosalie picked up the keyboard and put it back on the desk. "It's exhausting."

"Just exhausting?"

"And exhilarating." Rose smiled and rubbed her chin. "And terrifying. What if she doesn't feel it? What if humans don't mate?"

Alice wiggled her eyebrows. "Humans definitely mate."

A fire erupted in Rosalie's chest, and she tried not to growl. What if Bella has a mate? No, a boyfriend. A girlfriend. Something. "Stop it."

"Rosalie, Bella does not have a mate. Jeez."

"I didn't say anything!"

"You didn't have to!" Alice dropped onto the big bed. "So, what are you wearing to pick her up tomorrow? Did you plan that? Very sly, I like it. What are you wearing?"

Rosalie set her jaw, ready for a long night.

"So, uh, Bells, where is the car?" Charlie asked over his coffee the next morning.

"She is uh, parked at the Cullen's house."

Charlie set the coffee down. "Something wrong?"

"She had a tiny oil leak, and Rosalie is helping me fix it."

"You know how to fix it?"

Bella rolled her eyes. "Rosalie knows how to fix it, and is showing me how."

"So, you're watching someone else fix your car…for free?"

A knock on the door distracted them. Bella hurried over to open it. Rosalie stood on the other side of the door, looking like a model dropped into this extremely rainy town. "Good morning Chief Swan," Rose nodded to Charlie. "Bella," she said warmly, smiling.

"Please, call me Charlie." Charlie huffed. "Chief Swan, jeez."

"Yes sir, uh, Charlie." Rosalie gestured to the red BMW behind her. "Ready to go?"

Bella nodded. "Bye dad!" she started to pull the door shut behind her and Charlie yelled, "Rose you better not be fixing her car for free!" Bella slammed the door shut as fast as she could.

"That man is so embarrassing."

"No, he's sweet."

Rosalie took a few long strides to beat Bella to the car and pulled the door open for her. She gestured, waiting for Bella to go in. Bella hesitated. Why was Rosalie holding the door open for her? Why couldn't she be cool, like a normal person. "Thanks." Bella sat in the car, trying to get her smile under control. Rosalie slid into the car, and Bella looked around it. The leather seats were comfortable. She was pretty sure hers was heated, which was nice after the cool drizzle outside. Bella took a deep breath, steadying herself. "So, how am I going to pay you back for the car? Charlie's right, you can't fix it for free."

Rosalie pulled away from the curb, and she sat quietly for a moment. Bella would have wondered if Rose had heard her, if Rosalie hadn't tapped her chin, clearly thinking. "Go out with me. There's a bookstore in Port Angeles I've been dying to go to. Come with me?"

"Go out? Like, hang out?" Bella felt her heart in her throat. She looked out the window, not wanting to get her hopes up. They pulled into the school parking lot, and Bella finally turned to look at Rosalie.

"I mean, yeah, like hang out." Bella tried to swallow her disappointment. "Or, you know," Rosalie looked out the windshield across the parking lot, and Bella followed her gaze to all the other Cullen's, who were waving. "Out. Like out. If you want."

Bella watched Rosalie, waiting for the girl to look back at her. Her chest hurt, and she was doing her best not to smile, while looking at the model next to her. She felt like it was a lie, maybe a joke. But even so, she nodded. "Yes, okay, yeah. I'd like that."

Sorry for the delay, time for me to get this PLOT MOVING