#rodabbr

“I go on too many dates But I can't make 'em stay At least that's what people say, mm, mm That's what people say, mm, mm”

“My daddy commissary made it to commas Bitch, all my grandmas dead So ain't nobody prayin' for me, I'm on your head, ayy”

“Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake”

“If I gotta go hard on a bitch, I'ma make it look sexy I pull up, hop out, air out, made it look sexy They won't take me out my element Nah, take me out my element”

“Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake I shake it off, I shake it—"

“Hey!” Ellie exclaimed when Colt turned off the radio. “I was listening to something, you know!”

“I was listening to something as well,” he replied, his eyes glued to the road ahead of them. “But since you kept changing my song back to that pop shit, I’d rather drive in silence.”

Ellie rolled her eyes. They were on the road for many hours now and apart from the time she took to take a nap, they had been arguing about the music playing in the car majority of the time.

“Taylor Swift is not that bad, actually. I’m sure you’d enjoy—”

“Right now, all I want is to enjoy the silence.” Colt narrowed his eyes but still didn’t look at Ellie.

“Hey! I have that song somewhere on my phone! I can play it and—”

“Ellie! I’m driving! Can you keep your mouth shut for at least ten minutes?”

“Okay, okay. Sorry,” she quickly said and looked away. Not that there was much to look at but she didn’t want risk Colt changing his mind and driving her back to California. After all, he agreed to her plan and now they were driving to Oklahoma. Ellie really tried to be nice to him. Colt definitely didn’t even bother. Not that she expected anything else.

Her father also didn’t take it in very well. When she came home with marriage certificate in one hand, dragging Colt with the other one, detective Wheeler almost passed out from anger. And shock. But mostly anger.

She knew why.

Yes, he was angry that she got married without telling him but she married a Kaneko. And her father hated Teppei and devoted his life to find dirt on him. And now with Ellie being married to a Kaneko, Mr. Wheeler had to drop the case completely in the name of ‘no family affairs’ policy. Colt’s “hello Daddy” probably didn’t help either. In short, her father was so angry that Ellie was sure there was no higher level of angry.

Colt and Ellie left the same day and Ellie hadn’t spoken to her father since. Freedom tasted a bit sad but so good at the same time.

“Oh! McDonald’s! I’m so hungry, maybe we could—” Ellie pointed her finger at the restaurant as Colt picked up speed and they passed it in a blink of the eye. She looked at her husband and rolled her eyes. He couldn’t even bother to hide that awful smirk. Jerk.

“Your ten minutes of no talking isn’t over yet,” he noticed and Ellie sighed. This man was a nightmare.

Just a few more weeks. You’re doing it for Langston. Think of Langston. Think of—

“We have only six more hours. I think it’s pointless to stop anywhere to eat. You can make dinner when we’re home, wifey.” Colt finally looked at her and smiled smugly. Ellie wanted to punch him so bad but instead she only nodded and focused on the road.

Langston. Think of Langston.

~~~~

Colt didn’t intend to make it any easier for Ellie Wheeler. She blackmailed him, him, and now he was stuck with her. He couldn’t even leave the country as he wanted initially because her father would be capable of sending literal troops after him.

He still remembered Mr. Wheeler’s face when he realized Ellie married him. Teppei Kaneko’s son. For a short moment, Colt thought Mr. Wheeler would explode. Literally explode because Colt could count every single vein on his neck and face. At least he had to drop his father’s case. Colt was safe, as Ellie promised.

He looked at Ellie as she was stretching after the long ride. She was like a weed, he couldn’t get rid of her no matter what he tried to do.

“Here we are,” Colt said, taking his suitcases and leaving Ellie’s still in the car. “Take your stuff and you can start making dinner. I’m quite hungry.”

“You wouldn’t be if you’d stop at McDonald’s! Or literally anywhere else.”

“Why would I do it if my wife works in a coffee shop and is great at cooking?”

He heard her taking a deep breath and counting quietly to ten.

As he said. He had no intention of making it any easier for Ellie Wheeler.

~~~~

After dinner, for which Ellie ordered pizza since there was nothing edible in the house, Colt went upstairs to his bedroom, leaving Ellie alone downstairs. Her suitcases were still in the living room and she wondered where she was supposed to go. The house was pretty small; there was a spacious living room and a kitchen on the first floor and one bedroom and a bathroom on the second.

Ellie climbed up the stairs and hesitantly knocked on Colt’s bedroom door. At least two minutes passed before he opened the door.

“Yes?”

“Umm… Where can I sleep?” She asked hoping there was another bedroom which she hadn’t noticed before. She surely didn’t want to sleep with Colt in the same room. Considering what Colt thought about her, she was sure he felt the same.

“Definitely not here,” he replied.

“That I know.” Ellie took a deep breath. “But I need to sleep somewhere.”

Colt shrugged. “Not my problem. Should’ve thought about it before you made me marry you.”

“I’m sorry, okay! It’s only temporary, I’ll ask around and find a place in a dormitory and you’ll get rid of me.”

“You can sleep in the living room. Sofa’s comfortable.” And with that, Colt closed the door, ending their conversation.

Ellie went downstairs and put her blankets and pillows on the sofa, taking a mental note to buy some bedding. She took a quick shower, taking another mental note to buy a shower gel because the one she found smelled like Colt and she didn’t like it. Feeling a rush of anxiety, she ran to her improvisatorial bed. She closed her eyes, dreaming of her life here, hoping her mother would be proud.

~~~~

“See you’re already in a wife mode.”

“What?” Ellie stopped reading a book to look at Colt.

“Wearing baggy sweats and all. I think I’ve seen you in this Langston sweatshirt a million times and I’ve known you only for a few days,” Colt mocked her, not trying even for a split second to be nice to someone who blackmailed him.

“Well, it’s not like I have anyone to impress,” Ellie snapped back and Colt rolled his eyes. If he thought his job was difficult, he clearly never experienced being fake-married to someone like Ellie Wheeler. Although to be fair, he was probably more awful to her than she to him.

“Good,” he thought to himself. “She blackmailed me. She deserves it.”

And even though he hated her, he also understood her. She wasn’t the only one with a terrible father.

“Did Mona leave the country?” She suddenly asked.

“Hm? Why are you asking?”

“Just curious. You said it was your last job so I assumed…”

“Yeah, left. I would too if someone didn’t force me to put a ring on my finger.” He waved his left hand to prove a point. He wasn’t even sure why he was putting this stupid wedding band onto his finger every day. Ellie wasn’t wearing hers.

“As I said… I’m sorry. But at least my father dropped the case. And as far as I’m concerned no one else was involved in it but my father so… you’re in the clear.”

“Gee, thanks. How nice of you.”

“So it was you and Mona then? Only the two of you? Or is there someone else?”

Colt eyed her suspiciously. “Why are you asking?”

“Just curious,” she repeated. “When Teppei was still around I didn’t see anyone else. And then only you and Mona.” She was silent for a moment. “Colt?”

“Yea?”

“I’m really sorry about your father.”

Colt didn’t say anything for a while and Ellie assumed it was the end of their conversation. She went back to reading her book when he spoke.

“Just me, Mona and Pop.”

“Like three musketeers.” Ellie smiled.

“No. Like MPC.”

“MPC?”

“Geez, don’t you have classes to go to or something?” Colt rolled his eyes.

“Not in another two hours,” she replied. The classes technically hadn’t started yet but Ellie signed up for additional classes for freshman students.

“Mercy Park Crew. That’s us.”

“Hmm, I’ve seen MPC somewhere in my father’s files but I’m pretty sure he never realized it was you.”

“And hopefully he never will,” Colt added. Why was he telling her all of this?

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Was there anything in the files?” Colt asked. “About other car gangs?”

Ellie looked at him curiously. “No… Are there any other gangs?”

Colt was looking somewhere in the distance and it took him a moment to reply. “Yea. Our rivals. Forget it.”

“I could… do some research if you’d like—”

“Just go to your class, okay? Stop with this investigation,” he said and left the house, banging the door on his way out.

Ellie sat stunned for a few minutes before she finally decided she’d rather come too early to her class than stay in the house for another second.

~~~~

Freedom smelled like fall, felt like sun warming her face, tasted like cold air and looked like Oklahoma.

Ellie’s dream life was finally starting.

She felt tears forming in her eyes as she looked at her Langston University. Everything she went through, the arguments with her father, marrying Colt, bearing with Colt… it was all worth it.

Slowly, looking around as if not wanting to miss a single thing, she made her way through the campus. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Freedom filled her lungs. She was walking with her eyes closed, smile on her face. Everything was—

“Ooof!” She bumped into someone and would have fallen if the stranger didn’t catch her in time. Dream life or not, she still was clumsy.

“You know,” the stranger started, helping her stand up. “There are easier ways to get my attention.”

“I, uh… Thanks. I’m sorry about bumping into you. I won’t happen again, I promise.”

“It won’t? Too bad.”

“I… I’m sorry… I…” Ellie stammered as the handsome stranger smirked.

“First day?”

“Yes,” Ellie got her voice back. “I’m Ellie.”