Disclaimer: I do not own anything that does not have my name written next to it in pretty pink pen. I only own my own fictional characters, this include my OFC Nicola Andrews and her family. I also do not own any of the songs used to write this story…except on CD.
Reviews etc. are always appreciated and adored.
Summary- "She always said you were her knight in shining armour." Mia appeared from nowhere, her face stained with tears as she looked down at the car. Leon looked up at her and his face fell. She started to sob again and Leon stood up pulling the girl into a hug, pressing a kiss into her hair. "Hey Mia, it wasn't your fault, girl."
Gosh well thanks to all of you who reviewed the last chapter of HOME - you know who you are! Anyways lets get on with it. This story uses the song "The Difference" By Matchbox 20. If you don't know it I reccomend it- its a pretty awesome song. Thank you so much for reading =D
Playlist-
Hungover – Kesha
Back of your Hand- Dwight Yoakam (yes I realise its country music but its beautiful)
Prologue
"I'm sorry, Mr Palermo, we did all we could but we couldn't save the baby. This is Dr Newberry, he performed the initial examination on Nicola." Looking into blank eyes the blonde doctor knew that the last thing the green eyed boy wanted was a clinical description of what had happened to the love of his life. "Would you like to see her?" Leon nodded mutely and she led Leon towards the hospital room, leaving the rest of his family watching him leave.
When he walked in his heart stopped for not the first time that day. She looked so peaceful, her long dark hair fanned out behind her head and her bandaged arms resting on top of the blankets. Seeing the blood seeping through the bandages he looked down at his checked shirt and saw the dark brown stains all over it and felt sick. He was covered in her blood.
"I'll let the nurses know you're staying here." The small woman said before disappearing and Leon fell into the chair just looking at her all broken and bruised, her torso wrapped in a metal brace. For three years he let himself believe that he would always save her from everything, until he was the reason she was in that ambulance, a broken back and their baby was gone.
"You know, La, when you fell out of that window and broke your arm, and you were smoking a cigarette that you thought would be your last, I was falling so deeply in love with you."
Ten days later
"Jesus Christ Dom, I'm sick of it, all of it!" Mia shouted and Dom tried to suppress the anger that was clawing at his throat as he stared at his little sister who had tears running down her cheeks. "It's been a week and he won't go and see her. You need to do something about it!"
"What am I supposed to do Mia? Drag him up there by the hair?" Dom finally snapped.
"If that's what you have to do it then do it. I don't like this anymore than you do, but he needs to go and see her." A gentle knock on the kitchen door made both Torettos look around at Vince who was standing at the door.
"I tried Mia, he won't budge." He replied, gruff. Mia noticed he'd been like that lately. It was like he'd forgotten that he used to be a nice guy.
"I don't care, Vince, I don't care if you have to chain him to the back of a car to get him out of there, just do it." Mia slapped her hand down on the table and walked out nearly running into Letty on the way.
"Hey, Mia, you alright girl." Mia, tears still pouring down her face waved Letty off and kept going towards her car.
When she got to the hospital she made her way to Nicola's private room and smiled when she saw her friend was awake.
"Hey Mia. Why so sad, girly?" Nicola smiled and Mia came in and sat down beside her.
"Just worried about you Lala." She replied quietly.
"It seems you all are. Vince was just here." Mia nodded, she should have known, it seemed like he spent a lot of time here these days. "He's worried about Leon."
"He shouldn't have told you, La. You've got enough to worry about." Mia replied taking her friends hand.
"You know I only worry about him." Nicola replied softly and looked down at her stomach.
"Then ask him to come back." Mia said softly and Nicolas head fell in her direction as her hazel eyes welled up with tears and Mia couldn't help but start to cry again.
"I can't Mia. I can't look at him knowing I've hurt him so much." Mia flinched. "I mean, he wanted a baby so much and I just…I've got to stop whingeing. So tell me about the hot-blonde-tuna-no-crusts guy." Nicola said making Mia laugh.
"How did you hear about that?" Mia asked.
"Like I said Vince was just here. Except he didn't phrase it the same way. I think he used the word 'faggot'. Does Letty think he's hot? Wait don't answer that, Letty thinks your brother is hot. Is he nice? What kind of car does he drive?"
Vince stood at the doorway like he had every afternoon when he got back from the hospital. Leon was in his old room in the basement. He was curled up on the bed, a pillow pressed between his chest and his knees. At least he'd showered, Vince thought as he looked around the bright yellow room and realised why he wanted to stay curled up on the bed in there even if he had shifted most of their stuff to the house next door.
He hadn't really been in Leons bedroom much, ever and now in the dim light he could see the yellow walls and the black dress hanging on the closet door. There were clothes on the floor and a pair of yellow converses sitting by the door next to a pair of black high heels. The corkboard on the wall near the closet was covered in pictures, most of them of Nicola and Leon as well as a drawing on pink notepaper that Vince recognised as one of Leons drawings of Nicola. The tickets from the ball game she'd shouted him for his birthday were stuck there as well, a pink tie hanging from the corner, the same one Leon had worn to Nicolas Dad's wedding. Inhaling he could make out the slight hint of vanilla floating through the room as well as mint and coffee.
If his room reminded him so much of what he could lose he would have curled up in there for days as well.
"Come on dawg, you gotta eat." He finally said to Leon but he didn't move. Vince looked down at the parcel in his hand that was addressed to Leon and he walked over and placed in on the bed. "That came in the mail for you."
And he left Leon lying there.
Letty ignored Doms voice as he asked her to come and shower with him and made her way downstairs in a pair of old boxer shorts and a tank. The rest of the house was quiet. Mia hadn't come back from the hospital and the rest of the boys were downstairs.
Making her way into the kitchen she was about to flick the light on when she saw the outside light on. Walking out the back door and past the barbeque she could see Leon sitting in the driveway next to the yellow Skyline. He had a card in his mouth as he used a scalpel to apply the decal to the side of the car.
Walking over to him she realised it was the decals Nicola had designed for him.
"She ordered them the day that it happened." Letty said quietly as Leon smoothed the charging knight decal out along the side of the car.
"It's amazing." Leon replied quietly as he sat and stared at the decal. Nicola had designed Vince and Jesse's decals as well but this one was different, this one was his, the one he'd asked her for.
"She always said you were her knight in shining armour." Mia appeared from nowhere, her face stained with tears as she looked down at the car. Leon looked up at her and his face fell. "I'm so sorry, Le. If we hadn't…" She started to sob again and Leon stood up pulling the girl into a hug, pressing a kiss into her hair.
"Hey Mia, it wasn't your fault, girl." He said quietly as she clung to him. He looked over at Letty who was starting to fall apart as well.
"It was our fault Leon. All of ours. And you paid the price." Letty turned on her heel and stormed away as Leon continued to shush Mia, stroking her hair.
"Fuck!" Leon yelled at he threw the screw driver at the wall and it bounced back and flew over his shoulder. He didn't look after it, instead picking up the cordless drill and placing a screw on the bit. He pressed the button gently and the screw started to go into the plaster before there was the sound of grinding before the drill bit slipped from the head of the screw. "Fuck!" He screamed and dropping the drill into the bottom of the bath he hit the wall.
The bond had been paid on the house the day before Nicola had had her accident and Leon had planned to surprise her with it. It was perfect, it was next door to the Torettos, had a huge garage and had a room that was perfect for a nursery. But he'd never got to show her.
"Leon? Are you okay baby?" His breath caught in his throat and he refused to turn around in case it was a dream. He could picture her standing there, that worried look in her hazel eyes as she leaned against the doorframe her hair in a long messy plait over her shoulder.
"Leon?" He snapped out of it and turned his head to see Mia standing in the doorway, looking scared and the lump in his throat was swallowed as he looked over at her.
"Sorry, you just sounded like her." He muttered and picked the drill back up and put the bit against the head but didn't press the button. "What do you want Mia?" He asked and he heard her sighing.
"What are you doing Leon?" She asked softly and he put the drill down, but didn't look back at her.
"She's going to need something to help her get up out of the bath when she comes home." He replied.
"You haven't been to see her Leon. How do you know she wants to come home?"
"I need her to come home so I can look after her." He lifted the drill and pressed the button sending the screw quickly into the plaster. "Did you want something Mia?" He asked.
"We're going to the races. And uh…" She paused briefly, "Thanks for this morning with Vince. I don't know what his problem has been lately. I didn't think he'd pick a fight with that guy." She said quietly but Leon refused to look up at her.
"No worries Mia." He replied shortly and Mia got the hint, leaving him to his hole in the bathroom wall.
He considered sitting there staring at the bar for another five hours, he also considered going to the hospital and begging her forgiveness. Instead he got changed, pulled on the beanie that she hated so much and made his way next door to find the others heading out the front door.
"Glad to see you could make it." Dom said as he approached. Leon just kept walking down to the Skyline, not bothering to answer him.
Hours later after being tailed by the cops halfway home Leon shoved the door to the Toretto house open and looked around for Vince who was nowhere to be seen. Letty came down the stairs at the sound and looked down at him.
"What's wrong?" she asked, her hand on her hip as the door opened again and Vince stumbled in with Jesse and a pack of other people.
"Party!" Someone yelled and suddenly Leon was being pushed away from the staircase and handed a beer.
"Vince I need to-" Vince cut him off with a hand gesture and pointed over his shoulder to two girls watching them from the corner.
"Look, I'm tuning this chick, I need you to be my wingman." Vince said quickly and threw a smile to the two girls.
"Man…you know…"
"Uh-uh I don't wanna hear any of that Lala shit okay man? Just do us a favour, sit down, pretend you're interested and I won't tell her okay?" He pushed Leon back into a chair and waved the two girls over. Seconds later one was perched on his lap and Dom was storming through the door, Brian Earl Spilner close on his tail.
"Fuck me." Leon muttered before his beer was hit out of his hand.
"Where the hell where you?" Dom shouted and Leon bit his lip. It wasn't worth getting into it with Dom now. Not when they were both as angry as they were.
"What girls are here?" Dom asked minutes later when he had Leon, Vince and Jesse standing in front of him looking livid at his choice of company.
"You want mine?" Leon sneered and saw Dom flinch.
"Don't start that shit Leon." He hissed and Leon rolled his eyes and watched Letty stalk over, shaking her head at him before getting Doms attention.
"How about we go upstairs and you give me a massage?" She said as she pulled him up and Dom said something but Leon wasn't listening. He was watching Vince glare at the punk. He had to admit, the guy didn't seem that bad, if you were into that All American kind of thing, which Mia was.
When he turned his attention back to Dom, he was gone, so was Letty. Sighing Leon made his way towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Vince asked.
"Got shit to do." Leon replied and made his way out the door towards the house next door. As he unlocked the door he stared at the blank hallway, he would need to get some furniture. He kicked his boots off and walked down the hall to the room he'd chosen for Nicola. It was big, large windows and was the only bedroom that was downstairs. He stared at the bed sitting in the middle of the room, her stuff sat in boxes on top of the bed and he considered going through it but it hurt to much to even look at it.
Turning around and pulling on his boots before going back out the door he climbed into his car and pulled out of the drive.
When he pulled into the carpark he looked up at the huge hospital and sighed, pushing the doors open and making his way into the building. He smiled slightly at the familiar night duty nurse who smiled back before making his way down the hall to Nicolas room. He leant against the doorframe and looked in at her sleeping so peacefully.
"You're late tonight." A tall brunette nurse walked towards him and stood beside him in the doorway.
"Yeah, I had some stuff to do. How is she?" He asked quietly and the nurse sighed.
"She's still not sleeping, we've had to give her more tranquilisers, but the swelling in her spine is going down which is a good sign." The nurse placed a hand on Leons forearm. "Are you staying?"
"Just a little while." Leon said and walked slowly into the hospital room and sat down in the chair, watching her sleep. "Hey La." He whispered as he reached for her hand and stroked her fingers.
Nicola saw Vince's red knuckles the moment he rubbed his face in frustration at the sight of her, sitting up in the bed, a back brace strapped around her torso.
"What happened to you hand?" She asked and he looked down at them before looking back at her.
"What happened to your face?" He snarked and she smiled a rare smile.
"Finally a bit of sass. Where you been hiding V?" She saw him tense and the wall came up again. "So…what's with the knuckles?"
"I hit some punk."
"You hit someone?" Usually she would be teasing but this time her voice was angry.
"La…"
"Look I get you're pissed Vince, but if you're going to be angry be angry at me. Don't go hitting people." She growled and all of Vinces defences went down as he quickly sat down and leant into her.
"La, I would never be angry at you."
"Why wouldn't you be. I mean I fucked up right? I lost Leons baby, I totalled my Dads car, I don't remember why and now everyones worried about me!" She rambled and Vince shook his head.
"I'm not angry at you, La. It's just a fucked up situation." He said softly and she looked up at him with watery eyes.
"Tell me something funny, before I start to cry really badly." She laughed and Vince squeezed her hand.
"You're face goes all blotchy when you cry." Vince raised his eyebrows and Nicola laughed again.
"I said funny, not nasty!" He shrugged.
"He comes by you know…every night after the nurses knock you out. He comes down and sits by your bed for hours." Vince said quietly and saw the small smile disappear. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean…" She shook her head and he shut up.
"It's okay." She whispered and took a deep breath. "So this guy you hit? He the blonde tuna eating pretty boy hitting on Mia?" Vince nodded, still ashamed for upsetting her.
"What is your problem with him? You never had a problem with any of them before?" Vince opened his mouth to say something but stopped himself, closing his mouth quickly.
"I just don't like him." Nicola raised a sceptical eyebrow at him. "What? The dudes a punk."
"You're upset some dudes a punk. Get a fucking grip." Vince smirked. He'd always liked Nicola for that exact reason.
A/N: Okay first chapter- what do you think? REVIEW
