A/N: yeah, I don't know LA at all, never been, so I'm going to be pretty general on their holiday location so I don't get anything wrong. I'm also not very good with the American legal system so excuse any errors with that too. Other than that, you are all amazing and enjoy!

I didn't leave Vince's side. I stayed with him when the police arrived and questioned me. I held his hand when I refused any sort of treatment and I clung to him as he carried me to the car. I only allowed some space between us when we got home. Dom and Jamie had stayed with the police to answer more questions and to make sure that they really did arrest Dwight and looked out for Nate. Jesse and Leon tried their hardest to make me laugh while Mia made me something to drink and Letty sat next to me on the couch, allowing me to lean against her. I tried to laugh at what the boys were telling me but I was too tired and everything hurt. I drank what I could from the drink Mia made me before Vince was lifting me up and carrying me away from everyone.

He left me to shower and when I came into my bedroom he fixed me up as best as he could before allowing me to change properly. Once he sat on my bed, back against the headboard and beckoned me to him. I crawled between his legs and sat with my back against his chest. His arms wrapped around me gently so not to disturb me.

"So what was all that about?" he asked suddenly.

"I don't know," I lied. "Nate probably just wanted to get back at me, probably paid that guy to do it."

"He said you owed him though."

"Probably trying to scare me or something," I shrugged. "Can we drop it?"

"I only want to help..."

"Then let's talk about where we're going to go."

He sighed but changed the subject nonetheless. "Any ideas?"

"Somewhere nice and sunny."

"Got to be more specific," he prompted. "You say that and I'm just gonna end up taking you to the nearest beach and renting a hotel for the night."

"Well that doesn't sound too horrible," I mused.

"Then tell you what, I'll surprise you."

"How long are we going for at least?"

"I'll book wherever we're staying for five days, but if you want to leave early or stay longer you just have to let me know."

I sighed happily and relaxed into him. It didn't matter where we were going, as long as it was away from everything and had a beach where I could relax. I made a note to let the others know they were welcome to come too, they'd been through just as much as me since I came into their lives so they needed the rest just as much as I did.

"Ash, you do know that we will have to come back... And we may have to deal with all of this."

"I told you before, I don't know that guy so other than maybe answering more questions from the police I doubt we'll have much to deal with."

I pushed myself up from the bed and headed for the door. I hated lying to him but the last time I trusted someone to pay off my debt it didn't get done and they got themselves mixed up with someone dangerous, I wasn't doing that with the team. This time away would give me a chance to relax as well as think up what I was going to do. I knew Dwight was never going to leave me alone until I paid so I had to pay before he got the chance to come to me again.

When I got downstairs I spotted Jesse on the couch, curled up with his laptop. He looked at me nervously but managed a smile. I smiled back as I headed for the kitchen. I was almost through the doorway when he made a small noise. I turned to look at him and found him nervously scratching his head as he fidgeted, I could just tell he was wanting to say something.

"Jess, please just say it," I pleaded. "Whatever it is."

"Dom called with Dwight's full name," Jesse said nervously. "I did a background check, he's a 'I'll do anything you want for the right price' kind of guy."

"So what?" I asked as I went to sit beside him.

"You owe him money." It wasn't a question but a statement so I kept quiet. "It's the only thing that makes sense. He did something for you and you still have to pay him back."

I opened my mouth but when I heard Leon come in from the kitchen I shut it. "Might as well talk, Jesse already spoke to me."

I bit my lip, they already suspected so it didn't really seem like I could talk my way out of it. "I used to get into a lot of trouble," I sighed. "This one time, the last time, I decided I wanted something nice for myself so I broke into this store. There was a cheap necklace and a fairly nice bottle of perfume. I got them but as I was about to leave I knocked something over. I didn't realise anyone was there. He caught me and I couldn't get away before the police arrived."

"Where does Dwight come into it?" Leon asked as he sat on the other side of me.

"I'd heard about him so I used my one phone call to get in touch," I explained. "Nate had a girlfriend at the time so I couldn't call in case she picked up. When Dwight arrived I asked him to keep the witness quiet and make sure my record was as clean as possible."

"Why?" Jesse questioned.

"Did it work?" Leon asked.

"This was two years ago, I was about seventeen, I was still stupid I guess," I mumbled. "I wanted the best chances possible of getting into college or getting a decent job, I figured I might not get that with a record. I had a lot of warnings and this one would mean I'd go to juvey. I have no idea how he did it or who he paid off but he got my record clean bar a warning or two. He paid the witness off and to bring my grand total up he added some money to my debt for not paying the past two years."

"What have you been doing the past two years to get away with that?" Leon asked curiously.

"Nate paid Dwight some money every month as well as looking after some things for him," I explained. "When Dwight found out we weren't together Nate showed him where I was. He put the money Nate paid back on as well as the extra money for the past two years."

"You have to tell the others," Leon urged.

"What would you guys do if I did?"

"Pay it off," he said as if it were obvious.

"That's exactly the problem," I argued. "That's what Nate tried to do and he got caught up with someone dangerous, plus that came back to bite me in the ass, didn't it?"

"How much is your debt?"

"About fifty-five thousand I'd say."

"Easy," Leon shrugged. "We can make forty thousand at a race no problem, so getting the whole fifty-five will be a piece of cake."

"No, you're not risking any money for me," I argued. "There's six of you, this house, two businesses and those cars. I can't take money from you guys when it could go towards that."

"Ash, you're family too," Jesse said softly. "So the money wouldn't be taken away from any of that, it'll be going towards that."

"Well, if we're family then you won't say anything," I pleaded. "Vince and I are going away for a few days, we should all go."

"You have to tell them eventually," Leon argued.

"Fine," I reluctantly agreed. "But not now, let me think of a way to pay Dwight off myself while we're away. If I can't by time we all agree to come back here then I'll tell the team and let you guys pay my debt if you're all willing to."

"OK, so long as you promise that you will tell the team no matter what."

I nodded. "What are you guys going to tell Dom?"

"Jess and I are going to act clueless," Leon decided. "We'll suggest that Nate went to Dwight for his 'I'll do anything for the right price' offer."

I smiled and thanked them before taking up my original route of going to the kitchen.

I apologized to Vince after we all had a team meeting. We talked for a bit but I was quick to chance the subject to the holiday. The team all agreed to come but Jamie said he'd have to miss, that he wanted to stick around LA just in case something more came up. It made me nervous, Jamie knew a lot of people and he'd probably be able to work things out before I had a chance to think up a plan but I kept my mouth shut and didn't argue.

In fact, I hardly said a word until we were on the road the next day. I only sat with the team before heading to bed early and only getting up with enough time to quickly pack, shower and put on some clean clothes. As we left the house Vince grabbed some food and two cans of coke for the car before we all headed out. Vince and I took his car, Letty and Dom took his while Leon, Jesse and Mia took Leon's.

"We're almost there, you gonna talk now?" Vince asked.

"Sorry," I smiled.

"It's a good thing the ride here wasn't long."

"Why this beach?" I asked.

"We got a good deal on one of the beach houses," he explained. "I already took dibs on one of the rooms for us."

I smiled at that. "What one?"

"It's at the front of the house so it faces out onto the beach," he explained with a smile. "Mia got the one next door to us, Dom and Letty have the one at the back, and Leon and Jesse are sharing the other room at the back."

"You've been here before?" He nodded so I closed my eyes. "Show me round the house, talk to me."

"When you enter the house there's a doorway on your left, that leads to the living room which is a nice size," he started. "Straight in front is a hallway with a doorway at the end, it leads to the kitchen. To the right of you is a doorway that leads to the dining room, the kitchen and dining room are connected through another doorway. On the right of the hallway there's the stairs. The top of those brings you straight to Leon and Jesse's door, the next door you'll see from the top of the stairs is Dom and Letty's room. The flooring of the second floor goes round in a sort of square shape so you can see over the railing to the floor below. If you stand outside Dom and Letty's room with your back to their door you're faced with the longest part of the walkway. Along that walkway, on the right, you'll see a door, that's the bathroom. Straight a head, on the corner is Mia's door and then at the very end of the walkway, with no where else to go, is our doorway."

"So we get the one furthest away?" I questioned. "We have to walk passed everyone else's door to get to ours?"

He chuckled. "But it's the best view and it's the biggest room. Plus, did I mention that it's the only room with a balcony?"

"Seriously?" I asked excitedly.

"Not so bad now, is it?" he smirked.

"Are we there yet?" I asked impatiently.

"Yeah, yeah, calm down," he laughed "That's it right ahead."

I looked out of the window to see a white house come into view. There was light blue roof, light blue door and light blue trimming around the windows and round the small balcony on the second floor. I caught a glimpse of a porch that was on the beach side as we pulled up. What I assumed was the back faced onto a small gravel area where you could park your car while the front led onto the beach, although the sides had some grassy bits too. We parked our cars up and without really meaning to I left Vince to grab the bags while I wandered round the house to the front.

Dom let us all into the house and we looked around. We all went to our rooms and unpacked after we'd seen the first floor. Vince was right, the room was pretty big. We put our clothes into the set of drawers and the wardrobe. He put his bathroom stuff on top of the set of drawers while I put mine on the large table that held the vanity mirror. We managed to check out the balcony briefly before we were forced to help out with the rest of the house.

We had all kept our bathroom stuff in our rooms so it was only the kitchen and living room left to sort out. Even though it was supposed to be a holiday the boys and Letty brought some entertainment. Jesse, Leon, Letty and Vince set the playstation and that up while Dom and I were forced to help Mia in the kitchen. We were made to put all the food and drink by that she'd brought for us. I knew for a fact that it didn't take four to set up the playstation, they'd all done that just so that they weren't stuck with the boring job. I made a mental note to get them back. And from the look on Dom's face, he was thinking the same thing.

"It's dark."

I twisted round to see Vince. We hadn't had time for breakfast so once we were unpacked Mia had made something to eat before we all decided to take a look along the beach and the nearby shops. By time we were done with that it was evening and we were having dinner. After dinner I'd slipped away to put my bikini on. When I was done the team were in the living room so I headed out onto the beach. I'd walked along, letting the water splash my legs before I stopped outside the house and just let the water wash back and forward over my feet.

"So?"

He walked further down the beach until he was beside me. "You not cold in that?"

"It's warm out."

"Maybe," he half-agreed. "You never said you were coming out."

"Fancied the water."

"Is that why only the bottom half of your legs are wet?"

"The water isn't as warm as I thought," I admitted.

"Wimp," he chuckled.

"I'd like to see you go in there with hardly any clothing on," I shot back, folding my arms over my chest.

He shrugged at my words and started to peel his clothes off. I watched in disbelief as he stripped down to his boxers. With a quick smile he started making his way into the water. When he was waist deep I knew I'd have to follow. By time I reached him the water was up to his chest and my shoulders were just submerged. I tried not to shiver or let him know that I found the water cold.

But he only grinned at me so I knew he could see how cold I was. His hands gripped my hips and pulled me to him before lifting me up. I hissed as the air hit my now bare shoulders making them feel colder but not being so submerged in water did admittedly feel a little better. I wrapped my legs around him and rested my hands on his shoulders. He kissed my nose before I brought my lips up a little to meet his. He gave a happy groan from the back of his throat as we kissed, his tongue snaking out to meet mine, but as he rubbed himself against me I pulled away.

"We can't," I mumbled against his lips, causing our lips to brush together a little.

"Let's go up to our room then."

"No, we can't, here or anywhere."

"Why not?" he pouted, pressing his lips that little closer to mine.

Truth was I didn't want to sleep with him when I knew I was lying to him. "I know I said I didn't want to test the waters but I still don't want to completely rush. I just want to see how the next few days go before we get to that point."

"But kissing you is still allowed?"

I nodded. "But only if you start quick."

I chuckled as he quickly pressed his lips to mine like we'd never stopped in the first place. As I ran my tongue along the inside of his mouth he walked us out of the water and laid us down in the sand. He covered my body with his, keeping his hands on either side of my head so they wouldn't wander. I held him to me as we kissed, not giving him even the slightest chance of pulling away.

R&R