Okay I know that it's been a while but I'm back now and hopefully this chapter makes up for the delay in service. Initially this chapter had more to it but I thought it would be a good idea to get it clear what's going through Brian's mind before dragging anything else up. Anyway on with the show.
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Catching Up
By Rosa241
Brian POV:
Okay so family dinners are definitely something that I could get used to. Honestly it's not something I ever really experienced growing up. Between my oh so wonderful mother and my totally absent father there was never much call for a family dinner. Sitting here now I've got to admit there's something to be had for this kind of thing.
"So Brian…" Dom starts as he takes another sip from the bottle in his hand. "Never got chance to ask you before now. How were things after we left?"
The table seems to stop as he says this, all of them pondering over his words.
How were things?
Terrible?
Awful?
Lonely?
What the hell do I say to that?
"It was fine." Sensing the disbelief echoing off of them all I continue. "I mean don't get me wrong Tanner pitched a fit when he found out you guys had taken off but there was nothing he could do about it. He didn't have any evidence. Eventually they had to let it go."
"That's not what he meant." Vince voices from my side. I know. I know what Dom meant but I can't tell them that.
"Things were fine, kind of difficult getting interrogated every five minutes but I made it through." Judging from the raised eyebrows my words are raising some questions in them all.
"Interrogated? What do you mean?" Although it's my boyfriend who asks the question I can see that they all want to know.
"Well…I mean I was the one who spent all that time with you so they figured maybe I knew something." Well done Brian, completely the wrong thing to say to a bunch of over protective people.
Vince's eyes have gone dark from over worrying and I can see the thoughts floating around his brain. If he knew the truth there would be more than just worry going through him but I can't. I can see the guilt in his eyes already and if he had any idea of just how intense things had gotten then he'd be blaming himself. I made the choice to come here. I chose this.
"When you say that they figured you knew something…" Dom leaves the question hanging but I know what he's asking. Sighing heavily I take a long drink from the bottle in front of me before I think about my answer. As I open my mouth to speak Vince's voice cuts through.
"The truth Bri." Looking round the table I know right then that telling them the truth is the only thing to do. Firstly I don't think either Vince or Dom would buy it if I fed them anything but the truth and secondly they wouldn't stop until they get the full story.
Best to get it over with now.
"Aright. Look let me make this clear. They had no evidence and absolutely no proof what so ever that you guys were behind the hijacking or that I knew anything about any of it." Something in Dom's eyes relaxes slightly as I speak. "But that doesn't mean they weren't suspicious."
"What do you mean?" Vince questions as turns more to face me.
"Look think about it. I fed them two suspects, you guys and Tran. They looked like fools when Tran was hauled in and it turned out he was innocent. A lot of resources went in to searching through his buildings and everything, a lot of man power and time which turned out to be a total bust. That didn't go over too well with the people higher up." Jesse snorts whilst I speak and for a minute a smile crosses my lips. "On top of that I then gave them another name, you guys, which also turned out to be a complete bust. Thankfully."
"Well yeah but that's not your fault, at least that they knew about." Leon adds the second part as an afterthought. If only that were true.
"A lot of people higher up didn't agree." Of course it was worth it, being here with Vince is more than worth it, but that doesn't mean that it was easy. Getting up every day and going into work constantly worrying about whether or not someone was going to figure everything out was hell. The panic hit me more than once and it kills me to admit it but I thought about backing out. There were times when I didn't think I could do it, times when I didn't think that everything would work out. "Sending someone undercover takes a lot of time and a lot of money, they sunk a lot into my undercover work and got nothing as a reward. My bosses got a lot of heat from higher up about the whole thing being a waste of time. That heat came down on me. A lot of people wondered why there was no evidence linking any of you to the hijackings, especially given that they already had reason to suspect you were involved. Things were tough for a while."
The room goes silent as they digest my words. I hadn't planned on telling them this for a while, if at all really, but it's out there now.
"Do you regret it?" Mia's words catch me by surprise and I can feel the tension settle over Vince as he waits for my answer.
Looking round the room my eyes fall on each person in turn. Jesse was so excitable and so full of energy it was hard not to smile when he was in the room. Everywhere just seemed to light up when he was around. Leon was full of fun and happiness. He loved everything there is about this family and he welcomed me into it with open arms. Letty was the sister I've always wanted but never got the chance to have. Something within me was drawn to her fire and spirit. Mia is amazing and no doubt as soon as she gets used to me being with Vince she's going to be a wonderful little sister as well. Dom was the older brother that I've wanted for so long. Being a kid growing up the only thing that I wanted was an older brother to protect me and to lean on. Vince is something I never thought that I'd get. I never thought that I'd get someone as amazing as him in my life. Looking round at all of these people there's only one thought running through my mind.
"No for a single second." Vince's hand finds my own as I speak and for the first time since I got here the panic in my body falls away completely.
I don't regret this for a minute.
This is my home.
This is my family.
This is where I belong.
And that's your lot for now. Okay so not the longest chapter in the world (or the best) but I thought it prevalent to get Brian's thoughts about his move down on paper.
So woohoo Brian doesn't regret everything he's done!
Don't worry I have another chapter almost ready to go, just a bit of tweaking to do.
