Finding Belle (a Ricky Bowen fanfiction)🌹

Chapter Thirty-Three

Isabella Johnson

I sat in my broken car crying as I heard Ricky's car pull up in front of mine. I looked like a mess but I didn't care. I needed a friend right now. My car randomly broke down while I was driving home but thankfully, I was able to stop and pull over to a curb.

"Hey, what happened? What's wrong? It's gonna be okay. Shhh. Shh. I'm here now." Ricky said as he came over to my side while I opened my car door.

"Hey Ricky, thanks for coming. My car made this weird sound and stopped so I pulled over to a curb. I don't know what's wrong. I can't pay for it to be fixed and this was my dad's car. I can't lose it. I don't know what I'm going to do. I have to drive my evil step-sisters to school tomorrow and run errands for my step-mom." I said while crying more while Ricky pulled me in to a tight hug.

"Shhh. It's gonna be okay. I'll call my dads' friend. He owns a car shop and can get it fixed by this weekend. You can borrow my car tomorrow and I'll just get a ride from Gina or Big Red." Ricky said as he wiped my tears and side hugged me.

"No. That's too much Ricky. It's okay I'll pull some money out of my savings account and get an Uber tomorrow. You don't need to offer me your car for a day." I replied as I got up from the hug.

"Its ok. I owe you anyway. It's not much but I'll do whatever I can for you to forgive me, even if it has to do with cars. Don't waste your money. I'll pay for it. You work too hard and deserve all that for savings." Ricky said to me while getting a strand of hair out of my face.

"Are you sure? I don't want to be a burden and you need your car. I can just ask Brandon if he can drop me off at school." I said as I walked over to get tissues out of my purse.

"I'm sure. I'll pick you up tomorrow so that we can get to school on time and I'll drive you home after I call my dad. Are you going to be okay tonight by yourself?" Ricky asked while pulling out his phone.

"I'll be fine. Thanks again Ricky." I replied while grabbing my purse from my car.

"Get your belongings from your car. I'll take you home and make sure that you are safe." Ricky said as he watched me wipe my tears away.

"Thanks again Ricky. If this is too much, I can always pay you back. The car place must be a lot of money to fix my car in one or tow days." I replied while following to his car as I grabbed my purse and backpack from my car.

"It's no problem. Once again, I do owe you for what I did but this is not my full apology to you." Ricky said as he opened the passenger door side of his car for me.

"I'll give you the directions to my house, just keep your eyes on the road." I replied since Ricky kept looking at me.

"Yes m'am Miss Johnson." Ricky said in a serious voice making me laugh.

While I was admiring Ricky's messy car full of junk food bags and skateboard accessories, he got into the driver's seat and turned on the radio. Maren Morris' new song 'Bones' starts playing loudly and the softly. Ricky realized that the volume was too loud and turned it down to soft mode while he turned the car on.

As Ricky started riving down the road, I started singing the lyrics to the song softly. I didn't realize that I was singing until Ricky said something.

When the bones are good, the rest don't matter

Yeah, the paint could peel, the glass could shatter

Let it rain 'cause you and I remain the same

When there ain't a crack in the foundation

Baby, I know any storm we're facing

Will blow right over while we stay put
The house don't fall when the bones are good

"Your voice is so angelic. I bet your mom is so proud of you. You really should have rethought about resigning as Belle. Your voice is perfect for the role." Ricky said while driving.

I suddenly got so quiet and stopped singing. Maybe he forgot about my moms' death or he's just too focused on driving. Whatever it is, he still triggered something in me and I shut my mouth the rest of the way as I was pointing to where he should turn left and right.

"Hey Bella, we're here." Ricky nudged me since I fell asleep after I stopped giving directions. He must have remembered where I lived from his little visit a month or so ago.

"What? Oh yeah. Sorry I fell asleep. Thanks for the ride. I'll see you tomorrow Ricky." I replied while grabbing my bags from the back.

"Wait Bella....Did I uhhh do something wrong? You kind of shut me out after that song came on." Ricky said as he got out of his car.

"Oh its nothing. I just remembered something about my mom even though I don't really know her. You know the whole missing a parent thing. I should  have said something but I always get triggered by little things like that. Goodnight Ricky." I replied while ignoring him since I didn't like when people saw me get emotional even though he just saw me breakdown about my car.

"I get it. I'm sorry for bringing it up. I'll see you tomorrow. I'll pick you up at 7:15. Just so we're clear, we're friends right?" Ricky said from 6 feet away.

"Yeah..." I replied while taking one more glance at his curls.

"Goodnight Bella." Ricky walked over to me slowly and kissed me on the cheek before walking back to his car.

What was that? Just friends.....? I thought that he's still into Nini? I don't even know if I have feelings for him after all he's done to me. I want to forgive him and I kind of already did but the past is reminder of how he hurt me. He's a beast literally and physically but he's also really cute and a good friend. Ugh. I am not falling for Ricky am I?

"OMG! Ricky Bowen just drove my step-sister home and kissed her on the cheek. You need to hear all about this tomorrow." I heard Renee say to one of her friends on the phone as I walked into the house.

I rolled my eyes at her and walked up to my room to get some rest.

It's been a long day.