Rosalie was not patient.

Rose spent all of Friday giving Bella space. She really did. That was easy in classes they didn't have together, but in their English class, Bella was just…absent. The group had originally hoped to finish their project that week, but Bella had said Friday wasn't good. Rosalie sat at home Friday night, flipping through the manual she had gotten for Bella's Mustang. By Saturday morning, Rosalie knew what most of Bella's car looked like, inside and out. She was drifting throughout the house listlessly, trying to plan out her weekend to avoid being lost in her own mind.

"Just call her!" Edward yelled from the piano. "You're making me insane."

Get out of my head.

"It's hard when you're thinking so loud!"

Rosalie rolled her eyes and walked into the kitchen. She could smell food being made. Esme was there with her laptop, alternating between looking at the screen and looking at the stovetop. "What are you doing?"

Esme looked up, smiling at her eldest daughter. "I'm practicing. If there's going to be a human here more often, I want to make sure she's well fed." Rosalie nodded, sat at one of the bar stools, and put her elbows on the counter. Esme moved the pan off the heat and turned to face Rosalie. "Honey, what's wrong?"

Rosalie knitted her eyebrows together as she looked at Esme. "Have you heard from Bella yet?" Esme gave Rosalie a knowing smile, so Rosalie covered it up. "Shouldn't she be working with you by now?"

"I wanted to start when she felt ready," Esme smiled. "Is there a reason you're asking?"

Esme's smile was embarrassing to Rosalie. "Nope. Just wondering."

Esme watched her daughter closely. A timer went off, and Esme held up a finger, indicating Rosalie should wait. She grabbed the pan, set it out to cool, and pulled out her cell phone, handing it to Rosalie. "Could you please give me Bella's number? I think I'll text her and see if she wants to start this weekend." Esme turned back to the food, checking the temperature with a thermometer. Rosalie put the phone on the counter.

"Her number's in your phone. I'll be in the garage."

"Have fun!" Esme called after Rosalie. Esme picked up her phone when the door closed behind Rose. Rosalie had been grumpy, and Esme could guess why. She could fix this. She would call Bella.

Bella laid flat on her floor, feet up on her desk chair. She was reading Fahrenheit 451, holding it up above her face. It wasn't a comfortable position, but she had already exhausted her other positions. She'd read on her bed, at her desk, flat on her stomach on the floor, and sitting on her windowsill (which had also been uncomfortable). She was committed to sitting in this position until her arms were too tired to support the book. Bella's cell phone rang, and she dropped the book on her face.

Bella grumbled as she pushed the book off her face. She cursed under her breath and grabbed her cell phone off the desk. "Hello?"

"Hi, Bella. It's Esme. How are you doing?"

"I'm good. What's up?"

Esme's voice was warm on the other end of the line. "Were you still interested in an apprenticeship with me?"

"Absolutely!" Bella grimaced. "I'm sorry I didn't call you, it kind of slipped my mind."

Esme laughed. "Don't worry Bella. Would you mind coming by today? I can show you my workshop, and we'll hammer out the details we talked about earlier this week. When can you swing by?"

Bella looked at the clock, and saw it wasn't even noon yet. "Can I come by around one?"

"Fantastic. I look forward to it. See you then!" The line clicked and Bella looked at her phone.

When Bella pulled up to the Cullen mansion, she was again in awe of how beautiful it was. She tried to shake off her funk of the last two days. She was going to be starting a job that excited her more than most things. She parked Danvers right next to the garage, and noticed that, though the doors were closed, the lights were on and music was coming from it. She wondered if Rosalie was in the small building, but before she could check the front door opened.

Esme clapped her hands together, then shut the front door. "Bella! I'm so glad you're here." She walked quickly down the stairs, meeting the girl by her car. "I'm so happy you decided to come work with me. Are you ready to see the workshop?"

"I can't wait."

"Then, follow me." Esme waved Bella along and walked her around to the right side of the house, away from the garage.

Esme walked Bella up to a small vehicle she hadn't seen before any of the Cullen's drive before. It was black and neon green, had a roll cage, and said Yamaha on the side. "This is nice," Bella said curiously, as Esme handed her a helmet.

"It's my dune buggy. My workshop is about a mile and a half from the house to spare everyone the noise, so we're driving." Bella thought about the first time she had come to the Cullen house, and asking Alice if she was there to be murdered. She watched Esme put on a helmet as well and decided that if she was going to be killed, Esme would be nice about it. Bella climbed in and Esme showed her how to buckle into the harness. "It's for off-roading. I'm a good driver, promise. You should see the kids drive. Do you see that dent on your door?" Bella leaned over, saw the dent, and nodded. "Emmett. You ready?"

Bella nodded. She was more excited than she wanted to admit. Esme drove quickly, but carefully, down a dirt road Bella hadn't seen before. Bella couldn't wait to see the inside of the workshop. Esme stopped the car a few moments later in front of a large cabin. It had large double doors on the front. Esme flipped the bright silver latch and opened the left side of the door. Esme flipped the light on. Esme gestured into the workshop with a wide smile. "Welcome to my studio. This is where I make my art."

Esme's workshop seemed to have a little bit of everything. The cabin was one large open floor. Against the walls were different workstations. There was a station that looked like it was for welding, with a large metal station. There was a circular saw at a table that was in the middle of the room. Against one wall there were large drawings of different pieces of furniture, and on the table under that, there were some tools Bella recognized and some that she didn't. She walked over to that table and looked at some of the drawings on it. Esme seemed to be working on an intricate table that could be folded and put away against a wall but could also expand to be a full-sized dining table.

"Want the full tour?" Esme asked happily. Bella nodded. She tried to take in everything in the room, but there was too much to look at at once. "Alright," Esme rubbed her hands together. "Let's get started."

Bella was riding a high she could hardly explain. Maybe it was the idea of learning this foreign craft. Bella was slowly realizing she hadn't put enough thought into what she wants to do in the future, but maybe she could go into carpentry or even interior design. Did Bella want to do construction? That didn't seem to interest her, so she shoved it to the back of her mind.

Esme invited Bella in for dinner, but Bella said she had to get home to feed Charlie. It was true, of course, and she also wanted to tell her Dad about what she had learned today. It was exciting to know Charlie would be home and would like to hear what Bella had done with her Saturday. Renee was a loving mom, she adored Bella, but she was incredibly mentally absent and laughably lost most of the time. And on Saturday's she would Bella loved her, but she did appreciate Charlie being a present parent. Bella waved goodbye to Esme and headed to the garage, where her car was parked.

Bella almost got into her car when she heard the music was still coming from the garage. It was a little louder than it had been before, and she was curious. She slammed Danvers' door a little too hard and cringed before heading to the garage. Bella tried the side door and found it was unlocked. The door swung open silently, and Bella stood in awe of the inside of the building. She had found Esme's workshop to be impressive, and the garage was even more so.

The building was huge on the inside. She had guessed it was about two stories tall the first time she had seen it, and she was correct. Bella looked around the large room and was blown away at what she saw. The bright white walls and slate gray flooring were immaculate. In the space on the sides of the garage were small ramps with motorcycles parked on them. Bella had never seen any of the Cullen's drive motorcycles, and she wondered who they belonged to. To Bella's left, she saw the four garage doors each led to their own lanes, and most of them were occupied by Cullen cars she recognized. She saw Emmett's Jeep, Edward's Volvo, and Rosalie's BMW. The fourth lane was occupied by a sleek black car she didn't recognize.

Bella looked to the right and realized the garage was deeper than it looked from the outside. Each of the lanes continued forward about fifty feet and ended with its own set of lifts with a car on it. Something about the lifts seemed off. Next to each lift was a set of buttons she assumed controlled them. Bella walked between the sets of lifts and cars on the ground. The back wall of the garage had a set of tools hanging on it. They all looked perfectly organized as if someone had recently come through, dusted, shined, and hung them from smallest to largest. There was a door farther to Bella's right. It looked like a closet. Bella couldn't see Rosalie anywhere in this massive garage, but there was loud music blasting from speakers mounted to the walls.

Bella rubbed her hand on the back of her neck. "Rosalie?" She called out, wondering if she should just leave. The music abruptly stopped, and she tried again. "Rosalie, are you here?"

The door Bella had thought was a closet opened and Rosalie hurried through it. She was covered in oil and grime, and her hair was a little mussed. "Bella, hey!" Rosalie smiled. "I didn't know you were here." Bella laughed, and Rosalie froze, looking down at herself. "Oh god," she covered her face with an oily hand, "I'm such a mess. What are you doing here?"

Bella laughed again. Rosalie had accidentally put a new smudge of oil on her face when she covered it. Bella explained she had been seeing Esme's workshop and making her schedule. "What are you doing? Were you just in a closet?"

"Was I…in a closet?" Rosalie turned and looked at the door she'd come through. "Oh! No that's the stairs. My workshop is downstairs."

"This isn't a workshop?" Bella gestured to the garage. "And your garage has a basement?"

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Basement is a little bit of an insult, but yes. Wanna see?" Rosalie shrugged, and added, "Unless you have somewhere to be?"

Bella considered it, smiled. "Everything else can wait. I want to see this."

Rosalie raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Follow me." Bella followed Rosalie through the door. Behind it was a well-lit hallway, and a single flight of stairs. Rosalie stopped before opening the door at the bottom of the stairs. She gave Bella a mischievous look. "Are you ready to see my favorite place?" Bella nodded enthusiastically. If the upstairs had impressed Bella, she couldn't even imagine what the downstairs looked like. "Okay, close your eyes."

"Are you going to kill me?"

"Only if you break something." Rosalie laughed. "Come on, it's worth it, I promise."

"Fine." Bella closed her eyes and heard Rosalie open the door. Rose took Bella's hand, and Bella's heart took off at full speed. Rosalie's hand was cold, and Bella assumed it was because the garage was so cool.

"Take a step forward," Rosalie said, a smile in her voice. Bella heard a light switch, Rosalie dropped her hand and said, "Okay, open your eyes."

The garage was magnificent. To the left was a single lift with a car on it. There were three other spots in the garage where cars Bella hadn't seen before were parked. On the right she finally realized what was so strange about the lifts upstairs. They came all the way down through the floor! Bella gestured at the lifts, her mouth open in shock. Rosalie chuckled and answered the unasked question. "They're car elevators. Too many cars, too little space." Bella walked between the lifts, going to the wall on the right side. The entire wall was covered, left to right, with wall mounted metal toolboxes. Above each set of boxes was a matching set of cabinets. The toolboxes were three different colors. The left third of the wall was covered with black boxes, the middle was blue boxes, and the right was red.

"Why are these different colors?"

"They're coordinated. The black ones are universal tools, the red ones are standard measurements, and the blue ones are metric measurements. Some of them technically overlap, but I like to have a set of everything." Rosalie watched Bella's face carefully.

Bella looked at the far wall, which was covered in pink toolboxes. In the middle was a large worktable, and on the left was a pink rolling cart. "What about that set?"

Rosalie smiled. "I like pink. Those are my special tools. I don't let anyone touch anything over there." Rosalie walked over to the pink worktable, which was covered in tools. She grabbed an orange bottle and squirted it on her hands, then started to clean them off. "What do you think?"

"This has got to be the most expensive place I have ever been in."

Rosalie smirked. "Not true. You've been in our house."

Bella looked around the garage in awe, taking it in. There was a sound system mounted on one of the walls, and more speakers. A sign hung over the pink workstation that said, 'Don't piss me off, I'm running out of places to hide the bodies.' Bella pointed at it. "How many bodies?"

Rosalie smiled. "Lots."

Bella laughed and walked between the cars. The car Rosalie was currently working on, a sleek silver one, was on a lift. There were a few tools by it, and something that looked like one of the scooters from gym class. "This is amazing." Bella looked at Rosalie, who was preening like a proud mother. "You really want to help me with my car?"

"Okay, don't think I'm weird," Rosalie began. She went to one of the pink toolboxes and opened one of the larger drawers, which seemed to be full of books. "I've been studying." She dropped the book flat on the counter. It was bright blue and had a picture of a red Mustang on it.

Bella read the title out loud. "Haynes Repair Manual?"

Rosalie leaned on her elbows and pointed at the book. "These people take apart and rebuild entire cars, then create detailed manuals with pictures. I could use this book to do anything to Danvers I wanted," Rosalie purred.

Bella felt Rosalie's tone travel all the way down her spine and shivered. "All right," Bella sighed. "Tell me when."

"When what?"

"When are we working on Danvers?"

"Yeah?" Rosalie asked, a smile on her face. Bella nodded and spread her hands in a, 'why not' gesture. "What are you doing tomorrow?"

"I'm coming over here so we can start working?"

"Perfect. When is too early?" Rosalie was practically buzzing with excitement.

Bella watched Rosalie, who was bouncing a little. It kind of reminded her of Alice. "How does ten am sound?"

"Absolutely perfect."

Hey lovely nerds, let me know what you think!