Disclaimer: Yeah I quite obviously don't own any of the characters you recognize. This is basically for my own amusement.

Alright please keep in mind its been awhile since I've done this.

Chapter 1

How Could This Happen to Me

"No don't use that color it looks like baby poop." She joked around with her friend in art class.

"Look at yours! What's it supposed to be? A giant blob?" Her friend Jael said flicking some paint onto her picture.

"Hey, at least my picture kinda looks like what we're supposed to be painting." Delia snorted as she tilted her head sideways to observe it. "What are we painting again?"

Leon observed them from the window in the hallway. She was so young; she had her whole life ahead of her. This sort of thing shouldn't happen to you when you're only 18. He walked into the classroom to speak with her teacher, dragging his feet the whole time.

She was still joking around when the teacher called her name. Looking up she noticed Leon along with the pained expression both him and her teacher wore.

"You're boyfriend needs to speak with you."

She started to say he wasn't her boyfriend but thought better of it. Standing up she followed him into the halls completely aware of the fact that everyone was staring.

"What?" She nervously laughed shifting from one foot to the other.

"There's been an accident…..Your mother…she was driving to work and she was hit." His voice trailed off unsure of how to go about the rest.

"I know its April and all but come on April Fools Day is past." She half heartedly giggled unwilling to believe his words.

He looked at her, his face filled with sadness and regret.

"You're mother was hurt…bad….She died on the way to the hospital." Leon choked on the last words.

"NO! You're lying." She tried to grasp at reality and pushed him away from her. "You're lying." She cried out before crumpling to the ground.

He knelt to the ground and wrapped his arms around her. "I wish I was, kid. I really wish I was."

They must have stayed crumpled up together on the floor for at least 20 minutes before the bell signaling the end of class rang. She wildly looked around before jumping to her feet and darting towards the nearest exit.

"Delia." He shouted, starting after her just as a class was let out and he lost her in the crowd.

"Fuck." He muttered as he went to his car instead, he had a good idea of where she was going.

She leaned against the door trying to calm her racing heart. Taking a deep breath she put the key in the knob and turned it, slowly walking in she tried to convince herself it was just a dream and if she went back to sleep when she woke it would all be okay. She went into her room and lay broken on the bed, sobbing.

He watched her from the doorway his heart wrenching with each sob. He was unsure of what to do or even how to approach her. Slowly her sobs trailed off and her breathing grew deeper as she cried herself to sleep.

He sat in the chair near her bed and watched her sleep, wondering what his next action should be. Should he wake her? Let her sleep? He knew she had to make the arrangements for her mothers' funeral and he knew it would break her even more. His heart went out to the kid who would no longer get the chance to be a kid. She'd been forced to grow up in a space of a few hours.

She woke hoping it had all been a dream but when she saw Leon sitting there she knew it wasn't. He was staring at her and she knew he was at a loss for words.

"Hey…" She whispered pulling herself into a sitting position.

"Hey kid." He offered a small smile.

"How could this happen to me? What did I do to deserve this?" She wrapped her arms around herself as the tears came again.

"I don't know……I guess like they say god takes everyone when it's their time." Leon said making a feeble excuse.

"That's bullshit! Their time? It wasn't her time; she was still a mother she still had me to raise. It's not fucking fair. I don't know what to do. How could she even leave me like this? How could she leave without saying goodbye? I hate her." She started to weep even harder.

He went over to the bed, sat next to her and wrapped his arms around her. "No you don't hate her." He whispered into her hair.

She started to talk once she calmed down. "We got in the stupidest fight this morning…..I started the fight because she wouldn't let me dye my hair. My last words to her were that I wished she was like other moms instead of a horrible overprotective mother. I left her like that, without her even knowing how much I loved her and needed her and how grateful I was to her. She left thinking I hated her."

"No your mother did not think you hated her. She knew you loved her. She knew all these things and she loved you to. Its no ones fault what happened except for the guy who ran the red-light and hit her." Leon explained, running his fingers through her hair.

She laid her head on his chest and fell silence. He held her like that until she fell asleep, slipping out from under he pulled his phone out to call Mia.

"Hey I'm bringing Delia over; I'll explain when I get there." He snapped his phone shut and went back over to her debating if he should wake her or carry her. He decided to carry her.

He picked her up and carried her out to his car. Setting her in the car, he softly shut the door before heading back to the house to lock the door. Getting back in the car, he started it and left.

He went into the house, explained the situation then brought her in. It was a wonder she'd stayed asleep this long. He brought her down to his room, laid her on the bed and covered her up. Heading back upstairs, he plopped onto the couch.

"How'd you end up with her?" Dom rudely asked.

Ignoring his tone of voice Leon sighed. "I guess her mom told the cops to have me come tell her instead of them. It'd be easier on her. I don't know how it'd be easier."

"Well how long is she going to be here?" Dom said still being rude.

"Jesus Dom! Her mom just died." Mia cut in glaring at him.

"Well it's just one more mouth to feed."

"Fuck man can you be anymore of an ass?" Leon spat out getting to his feet.

Dom stared at him with his mouth hanging open.

Leon wasn't the type to have this sort of outburst; he was always the silent one who went along with anyone. The last thing that was expected out of him was an outbreak like that. It was out of character.

"When she wakes up we'll be outta here." Leon threw at him getting ready to escape downstairs.

"We?"

"Yeah I'm not leaving her by herself. Now if you'll excuse me you're 20 fucking questions I'm going back downstairs." Leon said shooting a look at Dom before leaving the room.

He could hear Mia berating Dom as he walked away. When he got back downstairs he saw she was starting to wake up.

"Hey." He murmured sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Hey." She whispered as she sat up.

"How are you feeling?" He ventured as he looked at her pale withdrawn face.

She snorted. "How am I feeling? How do you thing I'm feeling?"

"It was just a question; you don't have to attack me." He held his hands up in defense.

"Sorry." She muttered lying back down and covering her face with the blanket.

"You know….I know what it's like to lose someone close to you." Leon pulled the covers off her face.

"You lost your mother?" She asked looking at him.

"No but I lost my best friend who was more like my brother than anything." He moved to sit next to her and leaned against the wall.

"How'd he die?" She inquired as she sat up again.

He deliberated whether to lie or be honest.

"At Race Wars he made the mistake of throwing his pink slips down and lost. He freaked out and ran off. Earlier that day Dom had gotten in a fight with the guy he raced, Tran, they had to pull him off of him. I should have stopped Jesse but I didn't I just told him to visualize the win and left it at that. Later that day Dom went back to the house and Jesse showed up asking for help. Tran and his cousin showed up and shot him up. They killed him because of the big fight with Dom…I know it but never said anything…He was just a baby and I wasn't there for him when he died." Leon started to cry as all the memories unfolded.

She wrapped her arms around him as he cried. She started to cry for both of them. There were too many hardships in life, more suffering than anybody should have to go through.

He let her wrap her arms around him and rest his head against her chest. He hadn't talked about this with anyone and it felt good to get it all out. He was aware of her fingers running through his hair and it made him sleepy. He didn't mean to but he fell asleep.

She felt his weight grow heavier and knew he'd fallen asleep. She maneuvered them around till they were both lying down. She stared at him awhile before also falling asleep with her arm across his chest.