Hey guys! First off, thanks to everyone who has reviewed, or followed, or added this story to their favorites. I love to know that there are people that are actually interested in this story. You're awesome! :)
So, this chapter focuses more on Brian, Mia, and Jesse that are now on the run together. Enjoy!
The drive had been pretty quiet. They had no idea where they were going in the first place. Brian was pretty much driving aimlessly. They stopped at a random McDonald's for lunch, but that was the only stop they had. Even at lunch, they didn't really say much. They didn't really know what to say. They talked about random things, but not of what was right in front of them—the fact that they were on the run. It wasn't until around 7 p.m. that Brian said something about their current predicament.
"We need to find somewhere to stay, at least for the night," the former LAPD officer said. "If we don't, then we'll have to sleep in here, and that won't be too comfortable. I don't think people would recognize us if we go to some motel, so we can go there."
Mia nodded, getting out the map they had brought along. "I'll see if there are any motels around here."
Luckily for them, the nearest motel wasn't so far away, and it was near a fast food restaurant. It would be a half an hour drive to get there. They could get dinner and get somewhere to spend the night in, which they were graceful for. They weren't stupid. They knew they couldn't take their luck for granted.
"I hope we can get away with this," Jesse said. "I don't wanna spend the rest of my life runnin', but I don't wanna be in jail like my dad. It'd be terrible, and besides, we'd have no fast cars to drive. Imagine that? No engines to work on!"
Brian chuckled slightly. Leave it to Jesse to add cars and engines into any conversation. "Yeah, that would suck." Jail definitely sucked, and not only because the lack of cars. It was terrible for many reasons. For a second, Brian thought of Roman, but he quickly shoved that thought to the back of his mind. Roman blamed him for getting caught, but Brian knew it wasn't his fault. He hadn't even known Roman had been arrested until it was too late, but even then Roman thought he was guilty because he was a cop.
Brian had gone to visit Roman once, but his once best friend had been pissed to see him there and pretty much demanded to never see him again. Roman didn't want to accept that getting arrested was his own fault, and Brian had given up trying to reason with him. As much as Brian wanted his friend in his life, he just accepted life as it was. After all, Brian was the one who chose to be a cop. Becoming a cop was supposed to be a new start, but it had all blown up in his face in the end. Brian somehow ended on the wrong side of the law again. He guessed he would just have to start over, again. "If we get away with this, then maybe we can make a fresh start."
"We'd have to know you first," Mia said, looking at her boyfriend. Brian glanced at her, knowing full well what she was talking about. "We've only met Brian Spilner, but he's not real. The only thing we know about the real Brian is that his surname definitely isn't Spilner and that he's a cop."
"What's your real surname, anyways?" Jesse asked.
"O'Conner," Brian replied. "And that's not all you know about me, Mia. You know about my family, and that I went to juvie."
"I do, but that's not enough, Brian!" Mia argued. "I want to be with you, but I have to know you. I can't just be with a stranger. Spilner wasn't a stranger, but O'Conner is and that has to change."
"It will," Brian replied smoothly. "There's no point in lying anymore. You'll get to know me as quickly as you got to know Spilner. Hell, even quicker."
"That's what I hope," Mia mumbled.
Brian was about to reply, but he got cut off when Jesse spotted the motel they were looking for. "Here it is!" the youngest of the trio exclaimed.
After they pulled over, the tree of them got out of Brian's car and walked towards the motel. The three of them checked in—one room for Brian and Mia, and another one for Jesse. The fact he was sharing a room with Mia made Brian hopeful that maybe she wasn't as angry as he thought she would be. They left their bags in the room and went to get some food in the fast restaurant near the motel. They went and ordered their food to the casher—a dyed red-hair who kept eyeing Brian as he told her what they would eat. Even after they got their order and went to a table to sit, the girl still glanced at the blond.
Jesse glanced at the girl and chuckled. "Damn, Bri, that girl's totally checkin' you out!"
Brian glanced at the casher with disinterest before looking at Jesse. "Really?"
"Yeah!" Jesse laughed. "Don't act like you didn't notice!"
Honestly, Brian did notice. He just didn't care. He wanted to be with Mia, not with some random casher girl from a fast restaurant he couldn't even remember the name of. "I noticed. It doesn't mean I care though," he shrugged.
"Man, dawg, if I were you I'd be hitin' on the girl right now! She's hot," Jesse grinned, but then he glanced at Mia. "But, then again, you're already datin' someone."
"Yeah, he is," Mia rolled her eyes, trying to ignore the girl staring at her boyfriend. Even though she felt slightly resentful about his lies, that didn't mean she wanted girls eyeing her man. She believed that she would get to know Brian O'Conner in time, and that they would make their relationship work out. They wouldn't let what happened come between them so easily. She may be foolish for this, but she trusted him, because she loved him. If she didn't, she wouldn't have chosen Brian over Dom. "And don't you forget it."
"I haven't," Brian reassured her.
They ate their meal—French fries and a hamburger—and then they made their way to the motel to get some sleep. They knew they would probably have to spend the whole next day driving, so they had to get a good night's sleep. Brian and Mia wished goodnight to Jesse and they went to their respective rooms. Brian and Mia got into their room together and began getting ready for bed. Mia went to the bathroom to get into her pyjamas while Brian stayed in the room. He wouldn't have minded if Mia changed clothes in the bedroom—not at all—but he understood that she was mad. He kicked off his shoes, took off his shirt—wincing slightly in pain because of his wound in his arm—and changed into some pyjamas pants before lying in bed, resting his back against the headboard.
Some minutes later, Mia finally came from the bathroom in her pyjamas and with a first aid kit he had no idea where she got from. "We need to get your wound patched up," she said, sitting beside him. It didn't take long for her to patch it up, and as soon as she finished she went into the bathroom again to leave the first aid kit there. She walked back to the bed quietly and got in it beside Brian.
There was a bit awkward silence for a moment and Brian decided to break it. "Hey."
Mia looked up at the blond beside her. "Hey…"
There was a little bit more silence. "You okay?"
"Yeah," she lied. Mia wasn't okay, really. Not only did she still feel a bit betrayed and angry because of Brian's lie—even though she was forgiving him and wanted to work things out with him—but she was worried about Dom and the team. She didn't know if they made it and she was terrified for their wellbeing. "I'm just worried about Dom and the others…"
"They'll be fine," Brian reassured her.
"That's what I hope," she sighed.
"Hey, the day Dom lets a cop catch him will be the day the world ends. Don't worry about it," the blond said.
Mia glanced at Brian. "Well, he let you in the team, so I guess it wouldn't be so hard to catch him, eventually. You would've if you hadn't blown your cover."
Brian stayed quiet for a little before nodding slightly. "Yeah, fair point."
There was an awkward silence after that. They both quietly agreed that they should get some sleep, but as soon as they were under the covers, Mia couldn't take the silence anymore. "Brian?"
"Yeah?"
"You think they'll catch us?"
Brian turned to look at her. "I dunno," he said after a moment. "But, I do know that we won't make it easy for them."
Mia chuckled despite the situation. "That's for sure." She cuddled to his side and resting her head on his chest. Yes, she still felt mad because of his lies, but she really wanted to be with him, and she was confident that they would be able to pull through together somehow. "Goonight."
Brian kissed her forehead. "Night."
Soon enough, the two of them were asleep.
Two weeks later, they were in Arizona. It shouldn't have taken them so long, but since they were on the run, they were keeping low, going to every single little town in the map before continuing their journey. So far, they hadn't had run-ins with cops, and they were glad about that.
"So, how does it feel bein' back home, Bri?" Jesse asked the older man with a grin as they sat in a diner for breakfast.
Brian looked at Jesse with questioning eyes. "Home?"
"Well, yeah," Jesse shrugged. "You said you were from Arizona. Unless that was part of your cover…"
"It was," Brian admitted.
"Where are you from then?" Mia questioned curiously.
"Barstow."
"Wait! You're from California, too?!" Jesse asked excitedly.
Brian chuckled at the mechanic's excitement. "Yeah."
"Did you live in Barstow your whole life? Or did you live somewhere else?" Mia asked.
"I lived in Barstow my whole life, until, uh—well, until some shit went down and I decided to leave," Brian admitted, pausing a little as he remembered why he left his hometown. "Then I went right to LA and that's where I've been since then."
Mia furrowed her brows as she noticed how Brian paused. It seemed like he was hesitating to tell them what had happened. That made her curious. "What happened?"
"It's—it's complicated," Brian replied.
"You can tell us," Mia insisted, putting her hand on Brian's reassuringly.
Brian looked at Mia before sighing. "Well, I told you about my friend—Rome."
Mia nodded, but Jesse looked confused. "Rome?" he questioned.
"Roman Pearce. My friend since childhood," Brian paused. "Well, at least he was my friend."
"Was?" Mia frowned. She remembered Brian told her he and Roman were at odds, but he hadn't said anything about stopping being friends entirely.
"Yeah. Well, you see, after we were released and graduated high school and whatever, we didn't have anything to do. We were just two kids from the streets. Money was tight, and we needed some. Roman's uncle had a garage where we worked but he didn't have enough funds to actually pay us permanently for our work, so we needed to find new ways to get cash. I figured that I could be a cop—I mean, it was that or doing criminal stuff and probably going to jail, and I had no intention of going there. So, uh, I joined the academy and worked hard to get my badge. But, Rome, he—uh—well, he didn't take too kindly the fact that I had become a cop. Basically, he saw me as the friend that turned into the enemy. I tried to save our friendship and show him that even though I was a cop, I was still the same guy I've always been and that I was still his friend."
"And did he believe you?" Jesse asked.
Brian shrugged. "Sometimes, it felt like he did, but then he'd go defensive and distant, and then it became obvious that he didn't really trust me. He never trusted authorities, and he wasn't sure if he should trust me, you know, because I was one of them now. That didn't stop me from trying though. Rome was my best friend since childhood, and I wanted it to stay that way. But, then, shit went down and it completely destroyed whatever was left of our friendship."
"What do you mean?" Mia inquired.
"Well, two months after I graduated from the academy, Rome was busted in a garage raid. He had eight sets of wheels in his possession, each and every one of them hot. I didn't even know what was goin' down, and by the time I found out, it was way too late to do anything about it."
"Damn," Jesse commented.
"Yeah. So, anyways, after he was arrested he blamed me because I was a cop. I tried to tell him that I didn't know and that it wasn't my fault when I went to visit him, but he wouldn't listen and pretty much told me he never wanted to see me again." Brian sighed. "I couldn't handle the guilt of having my best friend in prison—even though I knew I wasn't to blame—and I decided to just leave Barstow and go somewhere else. I decided to go to LA, mainly because it was near and because I love the ocean and LA's got good waves," he laughed slightly. "No, but seriously, I thought LA would be a good place for a fresh start, so I transferred to the LAPD and I've been working there since."
Brian looked at his hands. He hadn't told anyone about why he had left Barstow other than Tanner and it actually felt good to let it out of his chest. He hated that Roman still resented him, but he wouldn't beg for forgiveness if he had nothing to blame for. That didn't mean he didn't hope that someday he and Roman would be friends again, although by that point it felt like it would never happen.
"Brian…" Mia squeezed his hand and he looked up to gaze into her eyes. "I'm sorry about what happened with Roman."
Brian shook his head. "No, it's okay. That was a long time ago, anyways."
"Is that why you let my brother go? After what happened with Roman…?"
Brian stayed quiet for a moment, before nodding slightly. "I think that has something to do with it, yeah. That doesn't mean that you and the team aren't one of my reasons though, because you are." Not to mention the fact that, in the moment he gave Dom his keys, he respected Dom more than anyone else, even himself.
"I know," Mia smiled.
"It's amazing to think how if it wasn't for you getting in our side we might be in jail right now," Jesse said. "We really do owe you."
"No, you don't," Brian shook his head. "I let you all go free because I wanted to. Besides, I really fucked you guys over when everything went down. You don't owe me anything. If anything, I owe you."
"Let's call it even," Mia suggested. "Deal?"
"Deal."
After participating and winning a lot of street races all around Arizona and New Mexico, the trio finally arrived to Texas. They had gained quite a lot of money from the races—enough for them to buy food and pay nights at motels. Mia didn't like to participate in races—even though she was an amazing driver herself—and Jesse was hesitant to race after what happened with Johnny Tran, so Brian was the one who had to race to get cash.
Before the Toretto case, whatever experience that Brian had was mainly joyriding and some impromptu races he had along Roman and some other kids. However, he was pretty much the LAPD's best candidate for the job, and Tanner believed in him. It was then when he began training for the case and began racing for real. He had raced in some races outside of LA, and had even won some of them. Sure, he still had some trouble racing when the case started and Dom won when they first raced, but he was getting better and by now, he won every race he was in. He even impressed Mia and Jesse, and he was proud of that.
They were now sitting at a diner for lunch. Brian and Mia were talking while Jesse was glancing at a girl seated behind Mia while he acted like he was reading the newspaper so he wasn't so obvious like Brian had suggested.
It was then when he saw a picture of Brian in the newspaper. "Oh, shit."
Both, Brian and Mia, turned to look at the youngest of the trio. "What is it, Jess?" Mia asked worriedly.
"You should take a look at this, Bri," Jesse told him, handing him the newspaper.
Brian looked at the picture of himself in the paper and cursed. "Fuck." He glanced around to assure himself no-one was watching or paying them attention and he slid the paper to Mia. "I knew the FBI would probably be lookin' for me but I didn't think they'd be that desperate."
Mia looked at the picture and then glanced at her boyfriend with worry in her face. "What are we gonna do?"
"Honestly?" Brian asked rhetorically as he closed the newspaper, hiding the picture of him from view. "I don't know. I think we should continue to keep low until we find somewhere where we could stay hidden."
Mia was about to reply until she noticed Brian put his elbows on the table, folding his hands and hiding his face behind them. "What's going on?" she whispered and glanced over her shoulder to see two officers entering the diner. She cursed and looked to her boyfriend and friend as normally as she could. She watched as Jesse took off the beanie he was wearing and gave it to Brian so he could wear it once the officers had sat on the counter with their backs facing them. Brian nodded at him in quiet thanks and put the beanie on.
"Let's go," he whispered, and the two accomplices nodded as they followed the blond out of the diner, neither of them noticing that the girl Jesse had been looking at was watching them leave.
Later that night, the three were at another motel they found. They had been staying there for a few days, but they knew they would have to leave soon. Brian and Mia were laying in bed in silence, just holding each other, until there was some knocking in their door. Brian groaned, too comfortable to move, but he forced himself out of bed and opened the door to see a panicking Jesse.
"What is it, Jess?"
"Your car!" Jesse was trying not to talk too loudly, looking around worriedly. He was nervous, and he wanted a smoke. But, most of all, he wanted to get out of there to prevent being busted. "The cops are surrounding it."
"What?" Out of all things, his Mitsubishi just had to be found. It was bad enough that they got his car, but to make the matters worse the police would know that the car belonged to him and they would know they were around. They had to leave, and now. "Shit. This is just our luck. Pack your shit, Jesse, and meet us out here. We're leaving."
"In what?"
They didn't have any other car—Jesse's Jetta was wrecked when the Trans shot them and Mia's Acura was back in LA—which meant that they didn't have any options but to walk. Maybe they should've brought the Acura, but that would've hinted that Mia wasn't home anymore. So far, the FBI had launched a manhunt only for Brian—Mia and Jesse's names were never mentioned for some reason. Maybe the cops thought they had left with Dom instead of Brian, which made sense. They didn't think about their reasoning much and instead focused on avoiding them as much as they could.
"In nothing. We have to walk. Now go get your stuff, Jesse. We gotta hurry."
Jesse nodded and hurried back to his room to get his belongings. Mia had overheard the conversation and she was already up and alert. She and Brian packed everything they had as quickly as possible. They left the room, met up with Jesse and the three of them were going the opposite direction of where Brian's Mitsubishi was. While they were walking, Brian accidentally ran into the girl Jesse had been checking out earlier. "Sorry," he muttered, before continuing to walk with Mia and Jesse.
The girl just smiled at him, and then proceeded to walk to her car, watching from the corner of her eye as the cops identified Brian's Mitsubishi. She got in her car and watched the trio leave the motel. She glanced at the newspaper beside her. She knew who they were, who he was. She read the article, and she saw the picture of him. Perhaps she should warn the cops that were around his car that the people they were looking for had just left, but that didn't feel right with her. Instead, she followed the trio and caught up to them a ways down the road. She smiled at the three of them.
"Hey, guys! Need a ride?"
She watched at the three of them glanced at each other before shrugging. They really needed to get out of there as soon as possible and it would be that much faster if they just went by car. "Sure," Brian replied.
The three of them got in the car, Brian in the front seat and both Jesse and Mia in the back. They drove through the night without much conversation. Brian, Mia, and Jesse didn't want to share information to anyone and the girl didn't insist either. She already knew enough from reading the papers, anyway. That didn't stop her from helping them. Brian asked her if she could drop them off in a car dealership. She agreed and by the time it was morning, they had arrived to their destination.
The trio gathered their things and got out of the car. Brian smiled at the girl as he put his hands on the car. Just as he was about to thank her, he noticed the newspaper that she had in the car—mainly because it had his face on it. Mia and Jesse noticed Brian staring at something and they both looked over his shoulders to see the paper. The three of them looked at the girl, somewhat nervously, not knowing what to think. She knew about them. Then why did she help them?
The girl smiled at the expressions in their faces. She could imagine what they were thinking. Honestly, she had no idea why she had decided to help them. She had read in the paper that the blond guy was an undercover cop that let a fugitive go, supposedly because personal feelings got in the way. She knew there was a manhunt to get him, and that it wasn't a good idea to help them, but she found herself wanting to do so. She didn't know the guy, but he seemed like the kind of guy that wouldn't do things without a reason. And if it was because of his personal feelings, then it couldn't have been for any better reason.
"Good luck," she told them, smiled at them one more time, and she drove off, going to continue her journey and letting them continue theirs.
"Why would she help us?" Jesse wondered as he followed Mia and Brian to the car dealership.
"I don't know, man," Brian said.
"Maybe because she thought you were hot," Mia commented dryly. When her boyfriend glanced at her with a raised eyebrow, she rolled her eyes. "She was checking you out the whole ride. Don't tell me you didn't notice."
Brian smirked and put an arm around his girlfriend's shoulder. "Are you jealous?"
"I just don't like other girls looking at you that way," Mia explained, although she couldn't blame the other girl for checking Brian out. He was gorgeous.
Brian just laughed and kissed her forehead as they neared some men that worked there.
Since they needed to save money, they decided to just buy one car. The men showed them some few cars, but neither of them were really interested in any of them. That is, until Brian noticed a 1999 Nissan Skyline GT-R R34. It was something like love at first sight, because as soon as Brian's eyes landed on it, he knew that was the car he wanted. It looked old, abandoned, and it obviously needed some work, but Brian still liked it. With some of the money they had from the races, they paid for the car.
While they were travelling, Brian worked on the Skyline they had acquired along with Jesse. They modded it and gave it a new paint job—a metallic silver. They went to some street races to win money and Brian won every single one of them with the Skyline. Mia was amused at how attached Brian had become with the Skyline. The car was like his baby, and when she had commented that while they were on the road again, Brian didn't even deny it, much to her amusement. She could understand him, though. She loved her Acura, after all, even though it was back in LA.
Hopefully, they would be able to go back to LA someday, and it wasn't just because her car was there, even though she did miss it a little. No, it was because LA was her home and it would always be, no matter what.
"So, where do we go now?" Mia wondered, looking at the map that was in a table in front of them. They had arrived to Florida a day ago and found a motel for them to stay, but she wasn't sure where their next destination was at. They had considered going to New York back when they were in Alabama, but they decided against it and decided Florida would be a better stop. However, where exactly in Florida, they hadn't decided.
"I was thinking Miami," Brian said, pointing at where the city was in the map.
"Miami?" Jesse sounded excited about going to Miami.
"Yeah. I heard the street racing scene is big. We could make some cash there, and if we're lucky, then maybe we could find a place to stay for some months instead of just few days."
"But, what if they found out we're in Miami?" Mia asked.
"I don't think they'd find out, and even if they did, Miami is huge. They wouldn't have it easy finding us if we lay low." After three months of constant driving, jumping from place to place every single day, they could really use some stability for a while. A grin formed on Brian's face. "This could be where our fresh start begins," he said, holding Mia's hand and squeezing it reassuringly. Mia smiled back at him and kissed him. Jesse didn't pay attention to his friends making out, lighting a cigarette so he could have a smoke.
"So, Miami it is?" Mia asked once she and Brian parted.
Brian smiled. "Miami it is," he confirmed.
Jesse threw his hands out in the air and laughed in excitement. "This is awesome! We're goin' to Miami!"
"Miami is huge, man!" Jesse commented in amazement as he looked around the city from the car.
"It really is," Mia agreed.
There were some girls wearing some sexy bikinis that walked beside the Skyline and caught Jesse's attention immediately. "And the girls are hot, too!"
Brian glanced at the girls Jesse was admiring and smirked slightly. He had to admit, they were hot. But, to him, they weren't as beautiful as Mia. No-one was as beautiful as Mia in his eyes.
Mia shook her head. "Is hot girls all men can think about?"
"Nah. Add hot cars, too," Brian smirked. He noticed that she rolled her eyes and he chuckled. "You're hotter than all of them, though—to me, at least."
Mia turned to look at Brian and smirked. "I better be."
They were distracted by the sound of roaring engines. The three of them turned to see two cars turning to their right hand side. Those weren't some normal cars, though. It didn't take long for them to realize those cars belonged to some street racers. Brian, Mia, and Jesse shared a smirk. They had just found a way to get into the street racing world of Miami. Brian followed the two racers down the street and to a place called Tej's Garage.
The first thing they noticed that the parking lot was full of cars. "Looks like this is the place," Mia said as Brian parked the car on the street.
"No kiddin'," Jesse agreed.
The three of them got out of the car and walked into the garage. As they were getting near, they could hear the cheering of people and saw a guy talking into a bull horn as two people raced with their jet skis. The race seemed pretty even, until one of the racers got ahead of the other and crossed the finish line first. The man with the bull horn began telling people to pay up and announcing that the next race would be starting soon.
"Yeah, this is the place," Brian confirmed with a chuckle.
The trio watched as another Jet Ski race started up, with the man still talking and cheering into his bull horn. Just then, a small Asian man came walking towards them. "Hey, y'all! Haven't seen ya before. You new here?" he asked.
Mia smiled and nodded. "Yeah, we are."
The man nodded, then smiled. "Name's Jimmy. Where you from and what brings you to Miami?"
Brian hesitated a little, but quickly covered it up as he answered. "LA. We thought we could use a change of scenery." He smiled. "I'm Brian, she's my girlfriend, Mia, and that's Jesse," he introduced themselves.
Jimmy smiled. "Nice to meet y'all."
"Same," Mia replied.
"What's goin' on back there?" Jesse asked, pointing at the jet ski races.
"Racing," Jimmy replied. "See the guy with the bull horn? That's Tej. He owns the place and he organizes the races around here. Jet Ski, bikes, cars, whatever it is, Tej organizes it. You race?"
Brian shrugged and smiled slyly. "When we feel like it."
"What you race? Cars?"
"Yeah."
"And you any good?"
Brian smirked, not saying anything. Jesse grinned while Mia rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's antics, even though she had a slight smile on her face, showing her amusement.
Jimmy smiled. "You're gonna wait for me to find out, huh?"
"Hell yeah!"
"You're confident, ain't ya?" Jimmy laughed. "Now I wanna know how good you are—if you're any good. I could ask Tej to get you in a race tonight."
"You can ask me to get who in a race tonight?"
They all turned to see Tej walking towards them, being followed by an Asian girl who was wearing a bikini. Jimmy grinned when seeing his friends.
"This guy," Jimmy pointed to Brian. "He says he's a racer, but he ain't tellin' me if he's any good at it."
"And you want him to race to find out?"
"Yeah, man."
Tej grinned, looking at Brian. "I guess I could save a spot for ya. What's your name, fellas?"
"Name's Brian."
"Mia."
"I'm Jesse."
"I'm Tej, and the girl here's Suki," Tej said, nodding to Suki's direction.
She smiled. "'Sup?"
Mia smiled back. "How you doing?"
"Pretty good," Suki replied.
"So, Brian," Tej said, wanting to go straight to business. "What you drivin'?"
Brian nodded to his car that was parked out in the street. "The Nissan Skyline over there."
"Nissan Skyline?" Tej, Suki, and Jimmy chorused. There weren't too many Nissan Skylines in the US, and not many of the people who actually had them raced with them.
"Yeah." Brian grinned when seeing their faces.
"You mind if we see what's under the hood?" Tej inquired.
Brian and Jesse shared a smirk. "It'd be better if you just see what she's made of during the race," the former cop said confidently.
Tej smirked. "Well, I must say, I'm pretty intrigued about this, man. You're in! Come tonight and show us what you got."
Brian smirked. "Got it."
It was one a.m. and the party was only getting started. Cars were all around the place with people cleaning them, looking at them, and checking out their engines. There were racer bunnies flirting with the men and they obviously didn't mind. Music was pounding from some speakers and there were people dancing around along the beat. People were obviously having fun and they were also excited for the race that was going to happen.
"So, this is the place," Jesse whistled as they arrived in Brian's Skyline. "Looks cool."
"Yeah, it does," Brian agreed. He pulled over and the three of them got out of the car. As soon as they did that, there were a lot of people surrounding them. Many were commenting on the Nissan Skyline—even though Brian, Mia, and Jesse still refused to show what was under the hood—and when they were told Brian planned to race, they had been pretty excited to see the Skyline in action. Some girls went to try and flirt with Brian, but Mia quickly got in their way.
"That's my guy. Get your own!" she said, and the girls pouted and walked away from Brian. Brian raised an eyebrow at her with a smirk, and she shrugged. "What? I'm not gonna let some skanks steal you from me." He just laughed and kissed her.
The girls pouted when they saw Mia and Brian kissing and instead went to talk to Jesse. Jesse didn't mind that girls came over and talked to him—not at all—but it was kind of disappointing that they only came to him once they realized Brian was out of their reach. Not only was he the kid brother, but he wasn't the guy girls checked out first. He would've been thinking more about that, but his ADD got the best of him and he was soon distracted by the girls flirting with him and the cars they had around them. He soon found himself forgetting once again about those insecurities that kept nagging him sometimes ever since what happened with Tran at Race Wars.
Tej was grinning at the scene in front of him, and as soon as he saw Brian, Mia, and Jesse standing next to the Skyline, his grin widened and he walked towards them with Suki and Jimmy right behind him.
"Hey, y'all!" he exclaimed when he reached the group from California. "I see you came in the end."
"'Course we did," Brian laughed.
"That good, man. That good," Tej laughed. "You ready for the race tonight?"
"Hell yeah!"
"Who else is racing?" Mia asked curiously.
"Me, for starters," Suki smirked. "And these other dudes here—Brandon and Joaquin—they're racing, too."
"No idea who they are, but okay," Brian shrugged with a grin.
"So, you think you can beat me?" Suki asked, the smirk still in her face.
"I know I can," Brian smirked as well. "I said I'd surprise you guys and I will."
"Well, I can't wait to see what you're made of," Jimmy commented with a grin.
"We're two," Tej agreed. "Good luck, man." He turned around, raised his hands in the air, and began clapping them to get everyone's attention. "Everyone—the race starts in five minutes!" he yelled, and the crowd started cheering.
"You better smoke those guys!" Mia told Brian.
"I will," he replied before kissing her briefly.
"Good luck, man!" Jesse said.
"Thanks, Jess."
The four racers got to the starting line after giving the money to Tej—2G's. The crowd was wild and cheering. Brian glanced at Suki, Brandon and Joaquin and smirked. He knew he could win the race. Long story short, he did actually win the race. Suki came in second place, Joaquin third and Brandon came last. Brian got out of his car with a cocky smile. Mia and Jesse were cheering for him and they both rushed towards him as soon as he got out of the car. Mia leaped into her boyfriend's arms and she kissed him happily. Around them, the entire crowd was cheering and commenting about the race.
"Man, you saw that?!"
"It was awesome!"
"Way to race a Nissan Skyline, man! Congrats!"
"Did you see him? He was racing as fast as a bullet!"
"He really was!"
"You're a bullet, Blondie!"
Brian laughed at the comments. Tej walked towards them while clapping. "Wow, man, you've impressed me. You definitely weren't kidding when you said you were good."
"You really weren't," Suki said, nearing them. "You totally smoked me out there."
Brian shook his head. "Nah, you were actually pretty good." He extended his hand. "Good race." Suki looked at his hand for a moment, then smiled and shook it.
"It was," she agreed.
"You were great out there, man!" Jimmy complimented.
Tej gave Brian the money he won. "Take it, man. You've won it all."
"Thanks, man." Brian smiled. He began counting the money he won, before handing part of it to Tej. Tej looked at the money surprised, and Brian chuckled at his confusion. "That's my way of sayin' thanks for lettin' me participate."
Tej grinned as he took the money Brian handed him. "I think we're gonna be good friends, Bullet."
Brian raised an eyebrow. "Bullet?"
"Well, you heard the people. You were faster than a bullet while racing, man. I think it's accurate if we call you that to live up with your new reputation, right?"
A lot of, "Yeah!" were heard as the crowd agreed.
Mia giggled and nudged her boyfriend. "Look, Bullet, you got a nickname now!"
"Yeah, it seems like it," Brian laughed, putting his arm around Mia and pulling her closer to him.
"Hey, so now that you've surprised us all, can you finally show us what's under the hood?" Jimmy questioned.
"Sure, man!" Jesse chipped and the two went to talk about what was under the hood of the Skyline. It seemed the two would be great friends since they both were mechanics that loved cars. And they weren't the only ones that became friends because Brian, Mia, Tej, and Suki ended up having a conversation of their own. Mia and Suki actually had a lot in common, and Brian and Tej really got along. Tej even offered them a place to stay when Brian and Mia told him they didn't have anywhere to, as well as the opportunity to work in his garage.
It seemed like having a fresh start in Miami was a good idea after all.
Yes! They've made it to Miami! I don't know why, but I love the Miami crew. They're just great. :')
Sorry if anyone was disappointed that they went to Miami! I had this planned for a while now. I know what I'm gonna do. Mostly, at least. XD Oh, and don't worry about reading a whole rewrite of 2F2F. I have no intention of writing that whole movie since we all know what happens. Without spoiling much, the only scenes I'm gonna write would be those that really change because of Mia and Jesse's presence.
Next chapter, we'll find out about Vince and his situation, and we'll see Dom again as well. So you can look forward to that. :)
Please review! Reviews are, of course, greatly appreciated. :3
Until next time!
