Finally, I have Chapter 26 finished! I have to say, I've rewritten this chapter three times before I was satisfied with it. And I wanted and needed to make sure that I had it posted for today! And even though I missed my Midnight deadline for myself, I'm still posting this in the VERY early morning hours of Halloween. I love Halloween, it's a great holiday!
Anyways, I hope that everyone likes this chapter! Took a while to get it just right. And even still, I don't like parts of it. It seems too rushed or like it doesn't make sense to have what happened happen. If that makes any sense whatsoever. It's currently 1:05 in the morning here and I'm kinda of seeing two screens. So if there are any grammar mistakes or such, pardon them and tell me I shall fix them!
Disclaimer: Don't own Fast and the Furious.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!
Enjoy.
Fast and the Furious 26
Ashlynn managed to hold off Dom and Johnny for a week and two days before they finally drove her crazy enough to agree to take them to where Venus was staying. She had called Venus when they left informing her that they were coming so that Venus could be prepared. They were almost there now, having made a pit stop at a local bakery to get chocolate cupcakes for Johnny and Dom to give to Venus as a means to appease her and get her to forgive them. When they finally pulled up to the house, Ashlynn knew that the group was going to be impressed by Venus' house, though, Manor might be a more appropriate description. Ashlynn clicked the button that opened up the door corresponding to her garage, there were more than ten in all, and quickly parked and cut the engine before getting out and stretching. Grabbing her purse from the backseat, Ashlynn locked and closed her door before walking out of the garage with Jesse and closing the garage to see everyone looking at Venus' house in varying levels of surprised envy. Ashlynn could understand though, the place was huge. The house was four stories high, on a plot of about thirty-two acres, a large guesthouse, a stable, a lake and a pond, and at least ten garages. The combination of French and Traditional design made the house look imposingly beautiful.
"You're never going to want to leave," Ashlynn informed them with a smirk as she began walking towards the brick curved staircase that led up the the front door. Upon opening the door, she was greeted by Roscoe and Blitz who both growled softly until they recognized her. "Ah, Roscoe, Blitz! Good dogs, guarding the house. Guess who's here to see you!" She turned to the still open door and called, "Jericho, komm!" Seconds later, the sound of claws clicking on the bricks before Jericho appeared in the doorway and was swarmed by Roscoe and Blitz, all three making noises at each other until everyone else showed up at the top of the steps, causing Roscoe and Blitz to growl loudly.
"Nice dogs," Letty remarked sarcastically.
"Setz!" Ashlynn ordered, causing Roscoe and Blitz to quiet their growling and sit on either side of her.
"I thought German commands only worked with German Shepherds," Jesse mumbled as he stared at the dogs.
Ashlynn shrugged, "They picked up on it after Jericho's training, they don't always listen, to me at least, but they listen enough."
"Miss Ashlynn?" She heard a female voice speak from behind her.
"Ah, Rosa!" Ashlynn cried after she turned around. "It's good to see you!"
"And you as well, Miss Ashlynn," Rosa replied with a smile. "Miss Venus has informed us that you would be arriving with friends, she is out at the lake, there are snacks left out on the counter and dinner will be ready at five. The guesthouse has been aired out for your friends and your room has been prepared."
"Ah, you didn't have to do that, but thank you," Ashlynn said with a smile. "We'll just go into the kitchen and then go find Venus."
"Of course, Miss Ashlynn." Rosa said with a smile before she disappeared down the hall.
Ashlynn led the way down to the first floor and into the large kitchen, which she thought was nicer than hers, but who was she to judge? True to Rosa's word, there were snacks on the counter and Ashlynn grabbed the entire plate of cucumber and avocado mini sandwiches. "Mine, don't touch!" She said as she greedily stuff one in her mouth. She waited long enough for the others to take what they wanted before leading the way out into the backyard and trekking to the lake down passed the stable. "Oooooh Veeeeeenuuuuuussss!" She called as they came up to the lake where Venus appeared to be sunbathing.
"You're here already?" Venus grumbled as she covered her bikini clad body with her towel before anyone could see the scars covering her midsection.
"Oh boohoo, I tried stalling them longer, but Johnny and Dom started to drive me crazy."
"You're already crazy."
"Crazier."
"Sounds about right."
Ashlynn rolled her eyes and snorted. "Yeah, yeah. You're just as crazy as I am, thank you very much."
"Says you," Venus countered.
"Damn right says me."
"Who all is here anyways?"
"Just Johnny, Dom, Jesse, and Letty. Luciano and Torben have school, Silver's packing, Leon stayed to be with Tor, and Vince stayed to help with Luciano I believe."
"Oh. Ok." Venus mumbled as she stood up.
Ashlynn smiled, "So, Jesse and I are going to go back up to the house and take my stuff to my room." And with that, the two started walking away.
"What are those?" Venus asked, eying the box in Johnny's hand.
"We thought you might like some cupcakes," Dom replied as Johnny held the box out to her.
Venus secured her towel around her body before accepting the box and opening it to find twelve chocolate cupcakes inside. "Yummy." She mumbled as she closed the box. "I'll have to put them in the fridge so they don't spoil." She led the way back up to the house, where she put the cupcakes in the fridge before disappearing up to her room to change. When she reappeared, she had Ashlynn and Jesse with her. "So, I suppose a tour is in order," She mumbled before she did just that, showing them the entire house, bedrooms, bathrooms, game room, cinema room, the dining room, and eventually back to the kitchen. The entire tour had taken so much time that dinner was ready and when everyone had sat down, Grace was said and everyone filled their plates. Once Venus had filled her plate, she disappeared off to her room, saying that she wanted to eat alone, which caused Ashlynn to sigh sadly. After dinner was eaten, Rosa and Fritz cleared the dishes and Ashlynn showed Johnny, Dom, and Letty to the guesthouse before retreating to her room with Jesse.
To Ashlynn's dismay, the next few days passed in the same manner; every time food was served, Venus always took it to her room. It bothered Ashlynn, because the last time Venus had sequestered herself off in her room like this, it had been after Xander's death, and she hadn't eaten in that entire time. But there wasn't anything Ashlynn could do to prove her theory. Today, she caught Venus in the living room and sat down with her on the couch, staring unseeingly at the television.
"What's wrong V?"
"It's October today," Venus replied softly.
"So it is," Ashlynn said just as softly as she reached out and squeezed one of Venus' hands.
"I thought I'd have Xander's car done by now," Venus mumbled, finally turning to look at Ashlynn.
"Come back to my house and work on it then," Ashlynn said with a shrug.
"Not ready." Venus muttered apathetically.
"Well, it'll be there for you to work on when you are then." Ashlynn declared.
"Guess so," Venus muttered.
Unbeknownst to them, they were being watch. Johnny had been passing the living room when he'd heard them talking Xander's car. He'd never actually seen the car, but he knew how special it was to Venus. And that's when it hit him, it was a great idea he thought as he went off in search of Dom. During the next few days, Dom and Johnny could be seen whispering to one another or into a phone about something or other. At one point, Johnny went missing for most of the day, only showing up after dark. And a day or two later Dom disappeared.
"Letty, you know what Dom and Johnny are up to?" Ashlynn asked on Saturday as they sat at the counter in the kitchen munching on leftover muffins.
"Every time I ask Dom, he says it's a surprise." Letty replied. "I'm just surprised that the two of them aren't trying to kill each other."
Ashlynn snorted, staring out the window, watching Venus, who was beginning to wear baggier and baggier clothing, as she rode one of the horses at a leisurely pace along one of the trails nearer to the house. "Me too. I'm seriously curious as to what they're up to."
The next week passed in the same manner, increasing the women's curiosity, Jesse on the other hand, seemed to be content not knowing. This Saturday was Torben's birthday, October 13th and everyone else was coming down to celebrate together. Venus was in the kitchen baking up a cake for Torben, insisting that they weren't going to just buy a store cake. Johnny had disappeared before dawn and Ashlynn was highly curious as to where the hell he was going, but there wasn't anything she could do about it.
Johnny grinned as he drove down the now familiar roads to get to Venus' house in San Diego, everything was going according to plan. The car was finished, down to the very last detail for the paint job, and now he was going to surprise Venus with it. He could only hope that everything from here on out would go without a hitch. Fifteen minutes later, he pulled through the gate and saw Dom walking outside, checking over his shoulder to make sure no one was following him.
"Venus is putting the finishing touched on Torben's cake," Dom informed Johnny as he got out of the Explorer with Leon, Torben, and Myka.
"Perfect." Johnny mumbled going to the trailer where he and Dom carefully extracted Xander's finished car. Everything was done, down to the last detail from Venus' paint plans, the car was painted dark gray with black racing stripes and written in the stripes in ice blue fancy lettering was In Loving Memory Of on the right one and on the left one was Xander's full name with the years of birth and death written in subscript. Johnny placed a small black box in the glove compartment and the two of them covered it with a tarp before following the others inside, leading them into the kitchen where Rosa and Fritz had set out snack foods of all sorts. Venus had just finished the words on the cake and put it in the empty space in the fridge when they all entered.
"Happy birthday Torben!" She cried as she saw the tall teen, launching herself at him to give him a hug.
"Thanks V," Torben grinned as he returned the hug.
"Little Lotus, can I talk to you?" Johnny whispered to Ashlynn, waiting until he got a nod before dragging her out into the backyard and away from the door in order to not accidentally be overheard.
"What's going on? Where have you and Dom been disappearing to lately?" Ashlynn shot at him, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I'd like to ask you for something first," Johnny said, raising his hands in a surrendered manner. "I've already asked your other friend, Silver, she said yes, and now I'm asking you. I know that I've not known your friend very long, but I'd like to ask for her hand in marriage and I would like your permission to do so. I'm asking you and Silver since her brother isn't here for me to ask."
Ashlynn's jaw dropped. "That's where you've been disappearing to? But wait, what does Dom have to do with this?"
"We finished fixing Xander's car," Johnny replied softly.
Ashlynn's eye widened a fraction and she smiled softly. "You've put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?"
Johnny smiled, "Yes, actually. It started out just as a way for Venus to forgive the two of us, but then I started thinking about it, I thought it would be the perfect way to propose."
Ashlynn nodded, "I see. Well, in place of Xander, I give you my permission to ask for Venus' hand in marriage."
Johnny grinned, "Thank you."
"Of course, you better make her happy though." Ashlynn said before turning to go back inside.
"I intend to." Johnny told her as he followed her inside where everyone was talking and laughing, even Venus, though it seemed a little strained. After everyone had eaten most of the snack foods, Johnny approached Venus. "Can I speak with you? Please." Venus looked like she was arguing with herself before she nodded, allowing him to lead her out the true front door to the little courtyard with the stair fountain. "I want to apologize, first and foremost," Johnny began softly. "I overreacted to a nickname given to you by someone who cares about you. I, then, proceeded to shove in your face your lack of blood related family, repeatedly. I shouldn't have done that. It was insensitive. You know better than anyone what your situation is. I will just have to accept that you consider Toretto family and deal with it. We used to be friends, me and them, maybe we can be again. Second, I would like to tell you that Toretto and I have been working on a surprise for you, no doubt you've noticed our absences." Venus nodded as he continued. "Well, we brought that surprise for you today and I'd like to show you." He told her as he directed her down the drive to where everyone had parked their respectively driven cars. Her attention was immediately directed to the tarp covered car, not even noticing that everyone else had gathered on the brick stairs. Johnny led Venus over to the tarp covered car and nodded at it. "Uncover it."
Venus looked up at Johnny, then back down at the car, before reaching out a shaking hand and pulling the tarp from it. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she refused to shed them as she took in Xander's car. It was exactly how she pictured the car to look when it would be finished.
"Toretto and I worked on it with the others up at Ashlynn's house to get it done as soon as possible." Johnny informed her as he watched her take in the car's details. "There's a little something extra in the glove compartment that you might want to take a look at though."
Venus looked at Johnny curiously before walking around to the passenger side door and reverently pulling the door open and carefully sliding into the seat so that she sat with one leg in the car and the other outside the car. As Johnny walked up to the door, Venus pulled the glove compartment open gently. Sitting in the middle of the compartment, all by itself, was a little black box and Venus' hand shook again as she reached for it. Picking it up, she looked at it curiously before looking at Johnny just a curiously.
"Open it, if you don't like it, we can go get a different one." Johnny whispered to her, watching as she did so. Venus' eyes went wide as she saw what rested inside the little box. It was a Venetian-5032R engagement ring. Johnny knelt next to her. "I know that I've only known you for a short time, a very short time in fact, but in the time I've known you, I've found that I don't want to live without you. I know that I upset you and drove you to coming down here just to get away, and that you're probably still mad at me," He held up a hand when she opened her mouth to speak. "No, it's understandable. I would be too if I were you. I deserve it. But I'm asking, if you could find it within yourself to forgive me, and I hope you can," He paused and smiled at her nervously. "I asked both Ashlynn and your friend Silver for their permission since I am unable to ask your brother. Toretto has informed me that if I hurt you, I'll have to deal with him, but something tells me that you'll probably beat him to it." He chuckled. "Venus, Eva Christiana Giovanna Russo, would you do me the honor of marrying me?"
Venus stared at Johnny in a surprised silence, processing everything that he'd said to her. She blink and looked down at the ring, vaguely aware of the tears trailing down her cheeks as she gently touched the ring. She looked back up at Johnny with a small smile. "Yes." She whispered. "Yes, I'll marry you."
Johnny grinned and gently took the box from her hands and pulled the engagement ring from its holder and slid it onto her finger. "You like it then?" He asked as he leaned towards her.
Venus laughed softly, "Yeah, I like it." She leaned forward and pressed her lips against his and was surprised to hear everyone cry out happily. When they pulled away, Venus looked up to the stairs and was embarrassed to see that everyone was standing there watching them. Turning back to Johnny, she smiled shyly. "How long have they been standing there?"
"Probably the entire time, I didn't notice."
"And why's that?"
"I was entirely too focused on you," He replied cheekily.
Venus laughed. "Smooth."
Johnny stood and helped her from the car and carefully shut the door before leading her towards the group. Congratulations were given by everyone and they all returned inside, with Venus giving one last look to Xander's car with a sad smile. The rest of the after noon was spent drinking champagne, wine, and cider in celebration of the engagement and Torben's birthday. Everyone was happy and for the first time in weeks, Venus nibbled on food in front of Ashlynn and the others, not ever eating a whole piece of anything, but it satisfied Ashlynn. Leon and Torben were given the guesthouse for the night and Johnny was moved into Venus' room while everyone else had been given rooms for the night. The next morning after breakfast, during which a fair number of the group looked highly satisfied, most of the group left, for Venus wasn't ready to leave yet. Therefore only Ashlynn, Dom, Letty, and Johnny stayed.
In the next few weeks, which had passed happily, Venus had been called by the Sargent in Los Angeles to inform them that the charges against Dominic and the Team had been dropped, something said by Marcos and Lance had cleared them apparently. Venus and Ashlynn didn't quite believe it, but they were happy nonetheless, and so was the rest of the Team when they were informed.
They were finally leaving, going back up to Ashlynn's house, everything was great, the team was mostly cleared of the charges, Marcos was in jail, so was Lance, everyone was happy, and it was Halloween. But perhaps that detail made it not such a happy day. This morning, everyone from Ashlynn's house had shown up at the crack of dawn, having driven the long drive to have a short celebration together before they set off so that they could be back at Ashlynn's house in time for Luciano to get ready for Trick-or-Treating. As the group of vehicles maneuvered through the streets of San Diego, Ashlynn was in the middle of telling Jesse about the time Venus' parents had invited her and Silver to come down with them for summer break one year, when she blinked and noticed that Venus' newly restored car was no longer in the group behind her.
"Where the hell did she go?" Ashlynn muttered before pulling out her cell phone and dialing Dom's number. "Hey, did you see where Venus went?"
"No, I thought she was still behind me."
"Damn it." Ashlynn paused. "Shit, today's Halloween, isn't it?"
"Yes it is," Dom replied, about to ask why when it dawned on him. "Shit."
"Guess we're taking a detour." Ashlynn said before hanging up and making a u-turn at the next light.
"What's going on?" Jesse asked worriedly, watching as Ashlynn gripped the steering wheel in a white knuckled grip.
"Today is Halloween." Ashlynn said softly. "God, how could I be stupid enough to forget?"
"What's the importance of Halloween?" Jesse asked.
"It's Uncle Xander's birthday," Luciano said softly from the backseat. While never having met his Uncle, Luciano knew it was a very important day, no matter how much he liked the fun of dressing up and going Trick-or-Treating. Last year, when Ashlynn and Luciano got back from Trick-or-Treating, they found Venus in the kitchen with a bottle of Jack Daniels mumbling to someone they couldn't see, it had sounded like she was having a conversation with Xander. Luciano remembered that it had made Mamma very sad and she'd gone over and carefully taken the bottle from Venus' hand and wrapped the girl in a hug. Luciano remembered hearing his Aunt cry for the first time and had gone over and tugged on her shirt to get her attention, only to hand her a package of Reese's to try and cheer her up. He'd gotten a sad smile out of her and a hug for his efforts. He also knew that, even though his Mamma never told anyone, he had two middle names, his full name was Luciano Seraphim Christiano Toretto. Mamma didn't use his second middle name, not that she used his first middle name much either, because she knew that it would probably make Auntie Venus sad. Nonetheless, it made Luciano feel special.
Thirty minutes later, the group pulled into the cemetery, and parked around Venus' car. As everyone got out of the car, Ashlynn motioned for them all to stay at the cars while she walked towards the girl kneeling next to a headstone. She maneuvered her way around other headstones, careful not to walk on the graves, until she reached Venus and knelt next to her, listening as Venus talked to the headstone, explaining everything that had happened lately.
"Are you going to be alright?" Ashlynn whispered, taking in the empty look on Venus' face.
"You think it'll ever stop hurting?" Venus asked softly.
Ashlynn frowned. "I would like to think so, but something tells me that it'll never stop hurting. The pain will dull, but it'll never stop hurting."
Venus sighed lightly. "Sometimes I can't believe he's gone. I expect him to just pop up out of nowhere and ask me what I'm doing."
"Me too," Ashlynn whispered, her throat tightening up on her as her eyes started prickling with tears at seeing her friend so sad with unshed tears in her eyes. "I keep waiting for him to just barg in and plop down on the couch and ask 'What's for dinner? Do I need to go to the store?' as he turns the television on."
Venus let out a watery laugh. "I remember that day."
"It was a good day."
"Yes it was." Venus sighed, closing her eyes and warding off her tears. "I miss him so much, you know."
"I know Venus, I miss him too."
"Sometimes, I wish that I had died with him, or that I had died instead of him."
Ashlynn sniffed as her tears leaked out of her eyes and down her face. "I probably would too if I was you."
"He's all I had left," Venus choked out, finally allowing her tears to fall as Ashlynn embraced her.
"I know V, I know."
"Sometimes I get so mad at him for leaving me, but then I have to remind myself that I'm the one who told him to let go." Venus took a deep breath, "Sometimes, I think I see him. I'll turn or something and I see him, but when I turn back to look there's nothing. I've played it off as just a trick of the light, but I know I've seen him."
"He's watching over you Venus. You're still his baby sister. He's always going to watch over you." Ashlynn told her softly.
"Thanks Ash," Venus whispered as she pulled away and wiped her face.
"You gonna be ok to drive by yourself?" Ashlynn asked.
Venus snorted, "I'm not a fucking invalid, Ash."
Ashlynn laughed softly. "Alright, alright. Let's go, yeah?"
Venus sighed softly, touching the bouquet of flowers Ashlynn hadn't noticed before. Damn, Venus must have disappeared early on to have gone and purchased a bouquet consisting of white clover, rosemary, lavender delphinium, and cherry blossoms, which Ashlynn remembered was what made up Venus' tattoo along her left side. Why hadn't Ashlynn noticed Venus' disappearing act? Oh well, Venus was found, that's all that matters. And now they were going back to Ashlynn's house in San Jose.
"Happy birthday, Xander." Venus whispered and Ashlynn echoed her before they both stood and walked arm in arm to the cars where everyone was waiting. Venus allowed herself to be embraced by everyone before they all got in their respective cars and drove off.
It was about five o'clock when they returned to Ashlynn's home. Ashlynn immediately went to help Luciano get ready for Trick-or-Treating. He was going to be Louis from Interview With the Vampire. Ashlynn didn't expect to get many Trick-or-Treaters, but had bought candy anyways and set it out after Luciano was ready thirty minutes later. Ashlynn was dressed as Xena: Warrior Princess with a heavy cloak in case it got cold and Jesse, who had opted to go along with them, was dressed as Hercules to sort of match. It was a tad amusing to see Jesse, the Mad Scientist, dressed up at Hercules, but it was cute. With the trio ready, everyone bid them to have fun and they were off. The rest of the large group was having a sort of freedom celebration, passing out candy to the few Trick-or-Treaters there were coming to the house, which had been decorated by Torben and Luciano with help from Leon and Vince.
By ten, Ashlynn, Jesse, and Luciano were walking in the door with quite the haul for the young boy. Apparently, he made a quite vampire and people just couldn't resist giving him candy. Luciano changed for bed and Ashlynn helped him wash off the costume make up to make sure he got everything. After that was finished, Luciano dug through his large haul and cried victoriously when he found the candy he was looking for before bounding into the living room and jumping on the couch next to Venus, who looked at him curiously. Luciano held out his hand, revealing the pack of Reese's he'd found just for her, smiling proudly at having remembered what he'd done last year, thus creating a new tradition that would continue for years to come. Venus smiled softly and hugged Luciano tightly, whispering a soft thank you in his ear before he bounded up the stairs to bed.