#Actually this one was written by Lukie B so can I give him credit!?

[smolbeandrabbles]

Diamonds or Twine pt.1 - Robin van der Hook x Reader (The Place Beyond The Pines)

Author’s Note: Possibly more a ‘mini series’ than a Full Fic Mendo. I’m pretty sure I know how this all goes and I really don’t need to drag it out, I just love him so much I want to give him his own series 💜💙 He is my 🌞 Disclaimer: So, obviously, TPBTP characters/setting/etc are not mine. We’re gonna start Pre-Luke, just gimmie a tick... Premise: Whilst on the way home from a job in up state New York you figure you could use a mechanic to make it through the last 200 miles... Apparently, Schenectady has just the guy... Words: 3858 Warnings: N/A

______   She was lost and lookin' for the interstate Needin' directions, and I was the man for the job I told her way up yonder past the caution light There's a little country store with an old Coke sign... Then a left will take you to the interstate But a right will bring you right back here to me I was sittin' there thinkin' 'bout her pretty face Kickin' myself for not catchin' her name ...'you fool, that coulda been love. I knew my old Ford couldn't run her down She probably didn't like me anyhow So I watched her disappear in a cloud of dust

Is this heat playin' tricks on me Or am I really seein' what I think I see? The woman of my dreams comin' back to me She went way up yonder past the caution light Don't know why, but somethin' felt right... Thank God for good directions... 

---

You were 250 miles from home when the noise started. And you elected to ignore it, you could get back just fine. What, it was 4 hours to New York City? That was nothing. It’d fly. Your truck was reliable… it’d get you there. It was probably just a nick, or a stone or something, nothing to worry about, it’d pass… 200 miles from New York and the noise hadn’t stopped. But luckily hadn’t got any worse. You’d passed through so many towns where you could have had it checked, but you were still determined that you could get home. Your F-150 was almost brand new, nothing bad was going to happen. Except the voice in your head, which was running through every plausible scenario; from a breakdown, to blowing up, to full on kidnap… “Shut up! Y/N! You’re being ridiculous!” You just turned the radio up a little more, then you could barely hear it… much better!

 165 miles from home and even the radio didn’t help. And you decided the next town would be your last hope. The voice in your head had finally worn you down. “Schenectady…” Sounded like a small town in the middle of nowhere that wouldn’t have much of anything; As long as it has ONE decent mechanic! You slowed your truck down to cruise through the town; it looked pretty empty. You had a hard time finding anyone, yet alone a mechanic. And your truck really didn’t sound great at a lower speed like this. What the hell was wrong with it!? Eventually you managed to flag down what appeared to be the only man in town; “Excuse me!!!” Luckily he was a kind older gent, and he came over right away; “Gosh, I’m sorry I… I really need a mechanic… Do you happen to know of a good place I can go?” Instead of answering your question he tipped his head; “Where you from?” “Uh, New York City sir, I was working up state… I’m driving home – but something’s up with my truck…” “You going back by the interstate?” “…Will be.” Although you weren’t sure what that had to do with anything “Well, you just passed a really good mechanic on your right up there. Shorter distance…. But, if you want to be pointing at the interstate, then you want to keep going in the direction you’re headed – there’s a nice little shop called Van Der Hook Autobods – it’s down Washout Road. One track, right at the end, you won’t miss it – and coming back it’ll just be one track again – trust me, it’ll be impossible for a city girl to get lost.” You chuckled politely “But, you’re in a F-150, so, I’m sure you’ll have no problem with the track. Even if there’s something wrong with it.” “Van Der Hook Autobods on Washout Road. Got it.” “He’s a good guy, there isn’t a thing he doesn’t know. If he can’t fix your truck, likely no one can.” “…I think that’s supposed to be a confident statement. And I’ll take it!” You flashed a grin “Thank you so much Sir!” “No problem! I hope you had a safe journey home.” “If he can fix this first… I guess!” “Well… There’s that-!” * Eventually you met a little bumpy dirt track at a seemingly dead-end road, and continued to roll your F-150 down it. “Van Der Hook Autobods… Huh? That’s the place…” You drove on through the gates and parked up. Even the engine cutting out sounded horrible. “…Oh God… I’ve really done it…” You opened the door and hopped down; staring around. Right now there wasn’t a soul in sight, and the worn out wooden buildings looked like they needed a little work. Added to the off-white Toyota parked up at the side, your gleaming race red Ford F-150 looked completely out of place. You walked towards what you presumed to be a workshop, by the tools strewn around and the cars parked up. But you didn’t get far enough to find the man himself as you were set upon by a dog. “Oh! Woah…!” The barking was friendly, as it jumped around you, tail wagging, paws up – you crouched down; “Hey---! Hey---!” you showered it with both love and kisses. “…Oh my goodness…! Okay…!” In return you got enough kisses to last a lifetime, and it had you giggling “Alright! Alright! I get it!” You didn’t realise that he’d appeared until he spoke. Of course, he’d heard the engine, and he’d certainly heard better ones. And the slam of the car door – and his dog’s barking. But he was finishing something up, and when he hadn’t been called out by a voice he knew, he wondered what might have happened to the driver. But, he didn’t even recognise you. And eyes flicking to the District of Colombia licence plate might explain why. He watched you for a moment, deeply curious – Tula was usually a shy dog, especially around strangers… But apparently this didn’t apply to you. “Tula! Leave her alone!” You looked up, met by the inquisitive blue eyes of, you presumed, the star mechanic. “Oh, no it’s okay…” you stood, “I’m Y/N… Sorry to kinda come unannounced, I was told you were the guy to come to…” You pointed behind you to the truck “…I have no real idea about cars, so I can’t tell you what’s wrong but… something isn’t right. And I kinda felt I needed to get it looked at. The person I asked recommended you…” He processed all your information very slowly, looking between you and the truck about 15 times; “Good thing too, if that was your engine…” He held his hand out, still black from engine oil; “Robin.” You felt like you were going to meet the worlds biggest stereotype, and shook his hand; “Well Robin, if you’re as good as he said you were. I’m gonna be in a lot of debt to you!” He didn’t quite smile; shy? Or calculating?... both?, “Aw, I’m sure it’s not all that bad. I could have you on your way in no time!” At least he sounded as confident in himself as your saviour in town did. Your next comment was almost absent minded as you took a minute to really take in your surroundings, looking out across the land in front of you, how it slopped down a hill and continued on for miles until the horizon line. “This looks like a great place to run...” “Haha. I wouldn’t know...” You stepped forward “And you get to see sunrise and sunset from here... it’s stunning...” He walked out to stand beside you; and you got a good look at him in the light - scruffy dark hair with wisps of silver. Looking like he hadn’t shaved in a while; rather by choice or simply because he never had time. His white vest top was edging grey and the array of stains from working with heavy machinery all day were innumerable. His blue jeans to match... But his eyes; as he looked out across that horizon line and the sun hit them; a clear watery blue flecked green. Maybe he looked like he hasn’t slept in weeks, but he was certainly alert and alive. And his energy was electric, if nervous; “I mean I guess...” Robin waved his hands around frantically indicating to things - “it stretches back a good couple of miles, I have a trailer down there, lots of dirt track roads that kinda thing... in summer you don’t really see the sun come up, but you can see it set pretty good; best place to view either would be up there though...” He pointed back to the roof of the ramshackle garage building. “If you climbed to the roof you’d be able to see both pretty good I’d say!” “Sounds romantic.” His laugh was as nervous as his energy “Not that I’d know anything about that... now, this car of yours...” “Oh, yeah...” “What happened?” You led him to it - “That’s what I figured you’d be able to tell me; suddenly it started making this weird sound.” He nodded; “I heard.” “Well I thought I’d make it home... but it got worse and, I don’t wanna be stuck on the side of the road so...” “Home-!? To DC?! With that racket? Girl, you are brave...” You tipped your head “DC...? Where do you get that from?” He indicated to the plates “DC plates, DC car.” “Well, I live in New York.” He shot you a look; “with DC plates?” “What’s wrong with that?” Robin shook his head “No, no, no... how long have you had this?” “... A couple of months... I guess...” He made a sharp intake of breath, “Is that bad-!?” “Why does it have DC plates?” “It was my brothers...” “And he didn’t tell you?!” Robin looked at least a little shocked at that, “Tell me... what?” “You live in New York, where?” “City.” He blinked at you a couple of times; a city girl with an F-150? “...Right... this is illegal. So as soon as you get home do me one favour. Apply for New York plates - this isn’t gonna fly, and you’re gonna get in a lot of trouble.” “...Why didn’t he tell me?!?!” Your voice pitched in disbelief; that was just like him though. JUST like him “I’m gonna kill him.” Robin popped the hood with a chuckle; “No, well, that’s also illegal...” he scanned the engine, “hmm...” You looked from it to him and back; you knew barely anything about cars so... that ‘hmm’ could mean anything. “Was that good or bad.” “Undecided... you’re gonna have to give me a minute; but I know exactly what it sounded like... How long do you reckon you’ve been driving like this?” You grimaced, unwilling to confess “C’mon, you were got try to do another 160 on it so you might as well say...” “... Probably 100...” He laughed “Oh God! And you made it??! Well-made car and well run I’ll give it that...” he walked back to his workshop, and proceeded to poke around with a screwdriver “Ah, yeah... I thought so.” “Are you gonna tell me what’s wrong?!” You folded your arms, hoping for some kind of verbal answer, not whatever he was keeping in his head. “... Okay so...” what came next was a bunch of car jargon you’d make neither heads nor tails of, and when Robin had finished all he’d succeeded in doing was confusing you. “What?” He sighed “I tried to warn you it’d be hard to understand...” but he gave you a sweet smile, “it’s a one in a million wearing accident, but it’s the kind of thing that happens and everything gets recalled? Y’know, one of those... I mean all you need to know is I can fix it.” “Today?” He gave a frown, but didn’t like that it made you look disappointed; “I don’t promise miracles... but yeah, probably...” “Well. What do I do if you can’t fix it today?!” Robin jerked his thumb back to the expanse of land he seemingly owned “There’s a trailer you can stay in... don’t worry I won’t charge you.” “Isn’t that your trailer?” He scoffed “I don’t live in a trailer.” “Well... who does?!” He tipped his head to your question, wondering why you’d be interested in the first place; “No one... currently. I mean yeah, people from time to time hit its empty... I’ll stay up here. You’ll be fine, don’t worry.” You weren’t that worried, he didn’t look that intimidating. You reckoned you could take him in a fair fight.  “I mean I’d rather not if I can help it.” “Why, city girl, important meetings?” You folded your arms defiantly; “I might.” He laughed; “What are you doing all the way up here?!” “We have an upstate office... I went to project manage up there, cuz that’s what I do, and no one ever likes going to the upstate office.” “And you volunteered because...?” You indicated to the truck “I like driving.” “Of course.” “I do!” Robin didn’t sound disbelieving but he’d put you on the defensive. “But you know nothing about cars?” “Fixing cars!” “Get a better brother!” You opened your mouth to protest but realised that Robin was probably right about that and instead made a face like you thought he was being fair. Which he wasn’t sure he liked, “...oh... I’m sorry...” “No. It’s okay... I don’t think we ever got over the teenage fighting phase.” “Older?” “By 5 years, yeah.” “Ah...” he spoke as if that made sense, which prompted your next question; “Do you have siblings?” He shook his head; “No... sometimes I wish I did....” You looked around you again; “Do you get lonely up here...?” “Sometimes... I got my dogs. Ain’t that right Tula!” She barked in agreement; “See?” You smiled and couched again; encouraging Tula over to you; “I think I’d like it...” “What?” He shut the hood and held his hand out for your keys, “Oh sorry -“ You handed them over, “The quiet... you get to think, and take time, and...” “New York City too fast paced, city girl?” You narrowed your eyes, clearly he was about to fixate on that nick-name for you; “No... but I like being able to leave...” He rolled your truck up into his garage - with your help, you didn’t want to seem like you were going to push him to fix it and expect him to do all the heavy lifting. Robin told you he didn’t want to risk starting the ignition again, in case the F-150 decided to give up completely or the damage became worse. “Light packing?” “I was there a week. I don’t need too much...” You watched as he searched his tool box to set up with exactly what he’d need, “Do you want some help? Can I help?” He shook his head “No... that’s cool... don’t worry about it! But you can keep me company. Unless you’re about to tell me you need a Starbucks and WiFi in order to effectively communicate?” You folded your arms; “Cuz I’m a city girl?” He laughed, liking that you were taking his jab in your stride; “You got it!” “No...” You hoisted yourself up onto a clutter free ledge (surprisingly few of these seemed to exist in here) with a smile, “I think I’ll be pretty good at keeping you company.”

 So for the next few hours you got to know one another. Skipping around mundane surface conversation and small talk, he wanted to know more about you. And every interesting question he asked only led you to counter with one of your own. Yes, you can know that... but only if I know this... Robin liked that; you had an openness about you without being too quick to give yourself away. And a curiosity of your own; not only that, but you were actually interested in his answers. You didn’t ask anything for the sake of asking. You would follow up on his answer with “Where’s that?... What do you do there?… Hang on you what-!?... That’s incredible!” He enjoyed that, the wish to know more. He wasn’t sure he knew all that many people who wanted to know him that well that quickly. A lot of people dropped their car off and came back when he told them to collect it. You didn’t have much choice, but you didn’t have to stay here.

 Eventually he put his spanner down and stood back. He ran his eyes over the engine once. Then leant forward and talked himself through it all again. You couldn’t hear him from where you were sitting, but it was a curious thing to watch. Then he smiled, confidently, stepped back and shut the hood, turning to you; “You’re good to go!” Your face instantly brightened; “Really?!” “Yeah... There’s little bits I can see would need doing eventually, but to get you back home, which is the most important thing, you’ll be fine. But just make sure to take it to a servicer and please, those plates! File that paperwork! If I had time I’d take you through it but…” He turned to you with a sympathetic smile; “You don’t look like you need a fine - or to get in trouble with law enforcement!” “Oh my god! Thank you!!! I... I mean I don’t even know how to thank you enough!” “Hey, good conversation is thank you enough, believe me...” There was a gentle smile on his face and you knew your observation of his loneliness wasn’t wrong. “...I guess this paperwork will be thank you enough too!” “Oh yeah! Do that and you’ve done your one job!” Robin laughed, as you opened your car door to get your purse; “How much do I owe you?” “Oh no!” He was bashful, with a shake of his head “don’t worry about it.” “No, come on...! You can’t do that..!” “Don’t worry about it!” “Robin! I could be stuck in the middle of nowhere with a broken truck right now! You halted progress on everything else for me, let me pay you!”

He gave a sigh; “You’re gonna stand there and be a pain until I cave, aren’t ya.” “Pretty much!” You grinned, knowing he’d got a good measure of you. “That’s how they do it in the city... huh?” “No I think that’s just me, but it is a useful tactic!” “Alright...” he mumbled a number, but you weren’t about to let him get away with that. “What?” “100.” You narrowed your eyes at him, betting it was nowhere near that original price and handed notes over “No change, no take backs.” He fanned out what at a quick count was at least $300.  “Oh...” he said it softly “That’s a hell of a tip...” “I think you deserve it.” You opened your car door again to straighten everything up, “You put up with me for two hours straight...” He opened his mouth, but promptly shut it with a sigh. He wasn’t sure he could tell you how much of a pleasure that was, without it coming out sounding as sad as it was meant to. Robin had done that once too often before…

**

 You kicked around for a little while longer, until you could tell the sun really was on its way down, and you ought to head off to find the interstate before it completely set on you. Driving in the dark was never particularly fun when you knew where you were. You said goodbye to Tula first. And again we’re smothered in love; “Okay! Okay!” You giggled “I love you too!” You turned back to him “Thank you, again!” His smile was shy; “You’re welcome... do you know where you’re going from here?” “Straight?” He laughed, once again shy as his pretty eyes flicked away from yours “Right... up to the end, yeah and then...?” You shook your head slowly “Not a clue!” “Okay...” He held his hands up to act out the directions; “Left to the next junction, should be a stop sign, and then a little one for the interstate. I promise you can’t miss it. Turn right there, and you’ll be on your entry ramp. Then I guess you can take it from there home?” “Uh huh! You got it! Thank you! Man, Robin, I owe ya a lot! I just... I mean it I can’t thank you enough.” He gave a grateful smile, he knew you were – you’d only expressed your gratitude to him every other sentence since he’d fixed it up. “That’s sweet… Unfortunately I’m not on tripadvisor or whatever rating site the kids are all using these days.” You laughed a little louder “Dang it! I’ll keep it in mind!” “If you’re ever back up here though, city girl, and you need a fix! I got you covered!” “I’ll remember that!” You gave a wave and walked back to your vehicle, “Until such a time, Robin!”

You opened your truck door and were about to climb up when something compelled him to call you back; “Hey! Y/N!” “Uh huh!?” You paused, looking back to him and he smiled; “I mean, if you turn right into town for any reason... or you want those other little niggles fixing before you head back, you know... to make sure it’s 100%. You can always take a U turn and it’ll bring you right back here.” You bit your lips together as you smiled, and this time you looked a little shy yourself “Thank you Robin! I’ll remember that too!”

 You turned the ignition, almost half hoping it wouldn’t start, but it did... and it sounded smoother than it had even when you’d got it. Wow... he’s done an amazing job, I’ll give him that! Robin waved you off as you started your still near enough 200 mile journey home. You didn’t want to push your truck too hard until you had to. Until you hit the interstate and could let it fly, and give that fixed up engine some exercise. Whilst you were still in reach of a mechanic you just wanted to ease her into it. You indicated left and took the road as far as you could. He was right. There was a stop sign just a little way out of town at a crossroads, with an interstate sign in the bright green you were used to. Only his voice kept resounding in your head. So before you knew it you’d been staring at that stop sign for 5 minutes. If anyone had pulled up behind you it would have compelled you to move – you’d have had to make a decision and shift somewhere. And you’d probably happily be speeding off down the highway by now. But no one did. And you might call that Devine Intervention. You took a deep breath, indicated and turned...

 Robin was clearing up when he heard the hum of a decent engine coming back down the tracks. And this time he wandered outside to watch the car arrive. Race red, of course. You hopped down, slamming the door. Something had called you back to him, like there was something here. You weren’t supposed to go anywhere just yet. Like even in those short hours, you’d left something with him… “Is something wrong with my fix?? You come to complain?! Seen as you can’t do it on the internet?!” He folded his arms jokingly, but you pointed back to your truck with a smile. “You know... I was thinking... if there are further niggles... I... I don’t think I wanna risk anything, y’know, 200 miles is… quite the way!” He took another sharp breath; “Well, you’re right, it is nearly 200 miles... I can understand the concern...” “Well, can you take another look?” He nodded, his smile widening by the second; “Of course I can... but uh...” He looked to the horizon, “Ya aren’t getting out of here before dark...” Robin looked back to you curiously, and the way you simply shrugged; “Guess I’m gonna have to stay...”

--- @dennismitchell @happyskywhale @wltz-bby #MendoTagSquad. Well. I’ve only had this in my head since I watched TPBTP for the first time. And that was the first movie I watched for my ‘Reviews’ segment... Before I started taking these requests... SO that was a LONG time ago! Anyway, Robin, didn’t I promise when Sway was over? And here we are Boi 💜💙