A/N: The last chapter was the darkest of this story in my opinion. So while this will continue to be somewhat dark, I hope it will read easier than the last chapter had.

Unfortunately I do not know how those lessons (you will know right when you start reading) are actually done in the US, so I went from what I've seen on TV before. I hope it is not totally out of the blue!

Thanks a lot once more to Sop12345d for taking the time and doing the beta!

Chapter 4: 2253 days

It has been 2253 days – more than six years now – since he left.

Sitting at the stairs, the girl – no, the young woman – was waiting. As she always did lately. Damn this stupid guy! Hadn't he promised her to be here?! Couldn't he for the life of him just do something for her? Just this tiny little thing? It wasn't that hard now, was it?

Sighing, she looked around once more, only to confirm what she already knew - there was nobody here anymore. All her friends and classmates had already left, so she was the only one left. Staring at those stupid pylons all over the driver's learning course.

Cursing once more, she took out her cell phone, dialing the number, ready to give the guy a lesson about standing her up once again. But after the fifth ring, the phone went to voicemail so all she has left is leaving some name calling there. She closed her eyes and wished – not for the first time, by the way – that her life hadn't been turned upside down over the years. That she could just be a normal teenager like everybody else.

But she wasn't, now was she?

The cursing that had still been rambling in her head ebbed aside when she finally got up and sighed silently. There was no use waiting. Her ever elusive stepfather wouldn't turn up anyway. Gathering her belongings, she finally decided to call it quits and just get home by herself. At least her mom would be there. Brooding probably, pretending to still be happy – as she had been every day since… No, not thinking about that one!

"Hello there, Beatrice."

She stopped dead in her tracks and for a second she wasn't sure if she wanted to look up. Only, she couldn't stop herself, so she slowly got up and turned around.

And there he was. Just like she remembered him. Tall, smiling a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, though. He was wearing the same dark grey Armani suit she had seen on him before. And for the hell of it, did he look good. Had he always been this handsome? She couldn't remember but something inside her stirred when she looked at him.

"Now, look at you," he leered at her himself, his eyes wandering from head to toe, making her shiver with something she would never dare to even think about. "Not the so little spawn anymore, are you?"

Fuck that damn British accent making him even hotter than he already was.

"How…" she croaked more than she actually said. Then she shook her head and finally managed to clear her mind of those darn teenage-induced thoughts. "Does Mom know you're back?"

His smile suddenly looked sad but it never faltered when he answered her. "I'm not here for your mother. Not… this time."

This time?

"I am here… for you, my dear Beatrice."

"Me? Why?" Her head was spinning and she wasn't sure why she even cared.

"Well, I do always make good on my deals."

She understood less and less of what he was saying and it must have been very obviously visible in her frown, because he merely sighed and stepped closer. The fake smile was gone for the time being, but there was still some kind of warmth in his voice – a warmth she had been missing from the people around her for a while now.

He pointed to his Corvette. How could she have missed that one arriving, by the way?

"I am here for your lessons, darling."

For another second, her brain was somewhat frozen, not able to produce any coherent thoughts. Was it the fact that he was here? This overly stupid idea that he actually wanted to give her driving lessons? He didn't even seem to care that he had been gone for more than six fucking years!

"Do you have any idea what my mom went through the last years?" she finally spits at him with a calm voice, calmer than she herself would have expected. Still, there was some venom in it that she had rarely spit out to anyone – not even when having another fight with fucking, self-righteous Marcus.

"I know."

"I had a brother, you know that?"

"I know."

"He died, right after birth."

"I know."

"Mom couldn't even bring herself to give him a real grave. He doesn't even have a damn headstone. No name, no… nothing."

This time he didn't answer, just stared at her, as if to will her to let it all go. So that was what she did. Spitting out every damn curse she could come up with. Not to curse him, but to curse what her mother's life had become – and her own just the same by the way.

"Dad isn't around that much anymore, you know…" she finally came to an end. All that anger that hat piled up over the years finally subsiding, leaving her somewhat empty but… not in a bad way.

"I know."

How often had he replied with that simple sentence by now? Had he even listened to her? She looked up and for once she is sure that he had been listening and somehow she is even sure that he actually had been knowing everything she had been telling him.

"Why did you leave us?" It was the one question she hadn't actually planned on ever asking him. Mostly because she wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer.

But at that moment it was the only question that seemed to matter anymore.

"I didn't."

"Hell yes you did!" She spat out, anger flaring up once more, before she even knew the words were out.

He smiled fondly at her, his arm carefully and almost… tenderly coming up to caress her cheek. And it's all it took to finally made her cry. She didn't even know why she was crying but once it had started, she couldn't stop herself anymore. So she gave in to it and hugged him – something she remembered doing all the time. Only this time, he didn't respond in that stiff matter, instead carefully smoothening out her wayward curls when she buried her face to his chest.

Later, she would never been able to tell for how long she kept crying, his firm arms around her all the while she did so. But it helped to let it all out anyway. And when the anger, the sadness and everything that came with it finally subsided, she would finally let go – not only of him but also of all that darkness that had piled up inside of her over the last couple of years.

"Thank you," she finally whispered, still not daring to look up at him though.

So, she could feel his smile rather than actually see it.

"We going for a ride now?" he asked smiling when she was all calm again, back to her old, her usual self.

"You're still going with this whole 'deal' story?"

He actually laughed a bit at that. "Of course I am!" And when she merely blinked back at him, still not understanding, he huffed and shook his head. "You forgot!"

It almost sounded like an accusation when he threw his hands in the air and turned around. "Why do you humans always forget?!" There was no anger in his voice though, when he continued. "Honestly. For creatures with such a short lifespan and such a… big brain, which you tend to use to a ridiculously low amount… how can you not remember when it has only been seven years ago? September 23rd?"

"Seven years?!" she spurted out before she could stop herself. "I was a fucking kid then!"

"You are a child, Beatrice," he responded, obviously getting the message from her flaring eyes to that remark. "Well not that much of a child, maybe."

He sighed and finally smiled back at her. "We still made a deal. You helped me out with my… getting around my feelings about my mom and… I promised you those driving lessons. And even if your mom interrupted my first attempt at this – stating how impossible it was of me to let you behind a wheel when you weren't of the right age then… I am going to keep my end of the bargain."

She didn't know how to respond to that but all of a sudden she did remember how he once dragged her to this fancy private school and how her mom crashed her driving the corvette afterwards.

"You still remember that?" she asked in awe. Most adults around her didn't remember anything she ever asked from them nowadays.

"Of course I do!" Now he actually sounded hurt.

She blinked and slowly her eyes drifted to the corvette and she just knew that the excitement must have been written all over her face. This car was just so cool – had been when she was a kid, still was now that she considered herself a grown up.

"You ready for a ride?"

Finally she smiled at him, her smile soon transforming into a smirk. And she nodded. Of course she was ready. Now that she remembered that day, she had been ready for more than seven years. And if this was going to make her forget those last seven years just for a few minutes… all the better.

When she sat behind the steering wheel she couldn't help but feel excited. Driving lessons in this kind of car… to hell with that damn license! She might as well take lessons in this one for the rest of her life.

"Seems you have a really nice taste there, Beatrice."

Pulled out of her rivery for a second she simply smiled at him. That was when another thought started to crawl up from the darkest back of her head.

"You still doing favors?" It was merely more than a whisper when she finally spoke up again.

Looking at him she could see him pondering for a moment before nodding, gesturing her to continue.

"I might have a favor to ask from you."

His smile was fond and sincere, nothing like that smirk she remembered he used to wear when she was still a kid. "You do know that my favors come with a price?"

She nodded silently for a moment before answering. But it didn't take her more than a second to think about it once more – only to come up with the same answer.

"What is your price?"

His gaze searched her eyes for a while before he cocked his head and the fond smile is back.

"For you, dear Beatrice… a signature of yours… not now though, of course. Since you're not of legal age just yet." She frowned, not understanding and she could see that he very well knew that she didn't understand. "Don't be afraid. I would never hurt you."

She simply nodded because she very well knew that he never would.

"So!" he stated and this time, the smile finally transformed into that smug smirk she remembered so well.

She couldn't stop herself from shivering – not sure anymore if this was a good idea. But then… this nightmare of her life couldn't get any worse and if he could do the one thing that might make this all better… Why the hell not?

"Well my dear, dear Beatrice… What is it, that you truly desire?"

A/N: Please leave a review on your way out. Every comment is appreciated.