Chapter 29: The End

It was bittersweet, as Jackie and Erin helped Hector pack for his move and plan his going away party. She silently struggled with the idea of him leaving her, but she didn't dare distract him from his plan. The night of his party was finally here and Jackie had made sure to take all the necessary steps to make sure that she looked her best while hiding her pregnancy. Part of her wanted to make sure that Vince came crawling back to his knees after taking one look at her. The other part just wanted to crawl into bed and just forget it all.

Against her wishes, Hector had invited Dom and the team, trying to make sure that everything was kosher between them before his departure. "You and Vince may not be on speaking terms, but I know Dom. He will look out for you in case of an emergency," Hector said, when she questioned his decision. Hector's worse fear was that if he left to Europe, Jackie would suffer because he wasn't there, which is why he made that phone call to Dom- the one that he regretted to this day...

He had lured him out by inviting him to eat at his favorite restaurant, Neptune's Net. Hector wasn't looking forward to the conversation at hand, but he knew it had to be had. He took a sip from his soda and sighed, pondering his words carefully. "Come on, Hector. I've known you about half as long as I've known, Vince. I can tell when something's wrong. Spill it," Dom said.

"We both know this bullshit between Vince and Jackie will never come between our friendship. So when you asked me to use my connections to help Letty get set up outside of Echo Park without her or anyone else knowing, I didn't ask questions. I just made sure she was safe and happy, Dom. Like you asked me to do. Now I need you to return the favor," Hector said.

Dom put his fork down, not sure if he liked where this was going. For Hector to throw the Letty situation in his face, he knew it must be a big favor to ask. "You're my brother, Hector. Whatever you need, I got it," he responded. "Jackie's pregnant." Dom went wide eyed at Hector's words. "You have got to be shitting me," he said, running a hand over his head. Dom sighed and leaned back into his chair.

"Does Vince know?" He asked. "No, and she doesn't want him involved. She wants to raise the baby on her own and considering he'll be busy with his other family, I think it's for the best," Hector replied. Dom shook his head and picked up his fork. "He has a right to know. He-" He began to say, but was cut short. "No. HE HAD a right to know. He didn't have a right to cheat, lie, and get someone else knocked up. And besides I'm not here to arrange his visitation schedule, I'm here to place my demands," Hector said.

Dom put his fork down again and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. "Go ahead," he said. "I got a sponsor for the circuit in Europe in the works. If all goes well, I'll be leaving soon. I'll drop it all for them, but I need to know that if I get on that plane, my family is safe Toretto. That Jackie and that kid won't be lacking anything. I need my head in the game over there," he replied.

"I never questioned what I've done in the past for you and I didn't question what I did for Letty. I looked the other way when you let Vince dog my girl. I've shown loyalty all along, now I need the same from you," Hector finished. Dom nodded slowly and thought about his next move. Hector did deserve his loyalty, but Vince was his best friend. "He deserves to know. He deserves to be there for this. You know I put family over everything, I can't just sit back and let him walk around without knowing."

"You let Letty walk out of your life because you knew she would be better off. She deserved a better life than the one she had next to you. You even had me help her get out of town, find her a nice home, a cushy job. You have my crew checking in on her to make sure she is safe. I'm only asking the same thing here. Vince in her life only means drama. She needs to focus on her career and this child. I'm only asking for you to return the favor, brother."

They stared at each other in silence, for quite some time, neither daring to break the stare. Dom finally wavered, finally understanding where Hector was coming from. Just like Dom did every day, Hector was putting his family first. This would be a secret he would end up taking to his grave, he realized, as he reached across the table and held his hand out to Hector.

...

He walked up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders, staring intently into her eyes. "Listen, stay focused tonight. Enjoy yourself and don't let V or Mia drag you into any type of drama," he said, placing a kiss on her forehead, as if being able to foretell that she would be not able to avoid them. She nodded, realizing he was right. She looked hot as hell. This will probably be the last time I can wear these pair of jeans, she thought, as she glanced down to her favorite pair of skin-tight jeans.

Jackie was currently clad in a black peplum top, which covered the three month belly she was starting to sport. Her hair was pulled back in a slick ponytail, highlighting her cheekbones and bright eyes. "Come on, I'll buy you a soda," he said, motioning to the bar. As she made her way through the crowded club in her 5-inch stilettos, the team walked into the room. Like a protective mother lion, Erin instantly appeared at her side, and dragged her into the crowd, as soon as she spotted Vince trying to make his way towards Jackie. He growled, as he understood what was going on. As he turned around to head back to the team, he came face to face with Hector.

"Hey, brother," Hector said, sarcasm dripping off of the last word. "Hey, congrats," Vince responded, weakly. They looked at each other awkwardly, before Hector broke their silence over the loud music. "I'm leaving tomorrow, but that doesn't mean I won't have eyes on her. 24/7, Vince. Stay away from her. You destroyed her with all of your bullshit. She is now just getting back on track and is starting to show a little happiness. She doesn't need you around," he said. Vince opened his mouth to argue, but he quickly shut it, realizing he was right. He nodded, taking a step back and disappearing into the crowd.

Hector looked over to the bar and found Erin and Jackie deep in conversation, laughing wholeheartedly about something that most likely only the two of them would understand. He couldn't help but smile, feeling like his family was finally complete.

An hour later, Jackie exited the club's bathroom and came face to face with Mia. She kept walking past her, until Mia reached out and grabbed her arm, forcing her to turn and look at her. "I'm sorry about how things turned out," Mia said, a small smile on her face. Jackie wasn't sure if this was one of Mia's games or not, but she wasn't about to find out. "Fuck off, Mia. Only reason I'm not pounding your head in is because this is Hector's night," she replied.

And because I'm three months pregnant, she thought.

"Come on," Mia pleaded, "even Hector and Dom made up. I know they go way back to their middle school days. It would suck if they stopped being friends. Plus he promised to look after you while he was gone. You know you need the help anyways." Jackie could hear the true Mia start to creep out in her last statement. She balled her fists up and stared at her.

"You know nothing about me," she snarled. Mia scoffed. "Crappy car, apartment, and life. I know how Vince used to take care of you. I'm surprised you're not knocked up too, anything to squeeze a dime out of a man," she replied.

She couldn't help the smug smile that crept onto her face as she stared Mia down. "Well maybe I am," she responded, without even processing her words. She was simply looking for a way to one-up Mia and found it. She turned on her heel to make a quick getaway, realizing that sooner or later the world would know she was pregnant anyways and smacked right into Vince's chest.

"Well are you?"

Jackie almost choked as she realized Vince was behind her the entire time. Without missing a step, she brushed past him, walking towards the nearest exit. She barely had one foot outside, before Vince pounced on her, jumping in front of her, forcing her to stop. "Well are you?" He asked again, louder this time.

She looked around nervously; making sure no one overheard them. "I took care of it, so don't worry about it," she stammered out, walking around him and heading towards her car. "What? Why?" He asked, following her. As she fumbled with her car keys, Vince snatched them out of her hands, trying to get her attention. "You have your family now, Vince. You'll have the doting wife and the perfect, blue eyed baby soon enough. You didn't need me or my bastard baby around," she said, tears threatening to spill.

Vince felt like he had just gotten punched in the gut as he processed what she had just said. He dropped her keys on the crowd and stared dead straight at her. "For the record, I would've done anything and everything for my child. You made that decision all on your own," he said, before turning around and walking away.

Jackie stared after him, resisting the urge to chase after him. She felt her chin quiver, realizing that she was about to break down any second now. She reached down and grabbed her keys off the ground, rushing over to her car. As soon as the car door clicked behind her, Jackie leaned over the steering wheel and began to cry.

She felt like this was the end of it all, as her entire world came crashing down around her.

Vince plopped down on his bed, his head feeling fuzzy from the joint he had just smoked. He pulled off his shirt and stretched out on the bed with his eyes closed. He was so lit, he barely noticed when she entered his room, as he stretched out on the bed with his eyes closed. Kai sat down next to him and placed a hand on his thigh. She ran her eyes up and down his body, lingering on his scars. She felt her stomach turn as she drank in the carnage.

"I can feel you staring, you know," he mumbled, cracking one eye open and looking up at her. "It's that I'm still not used to them and I don't know if I can ever be okay with you walking around like that," she responded. He groaned, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. The first time they hooked up, it was in his dark backseat and neither one of them had seen much of anything. Ever since then, she had requested he keep his shirt on whenever they slept together. At first, Vince didn't mind, but now she was hinting that maybe he should wear long-sleeve shirts again.

This was one of the reasons why the team didn't like her. She making sure Vince reverted back to his old self- ashamed of his scars and feeling like he was worthless. Every time she started dropping hints about plastic surgery, he would revisit those conversations with Jackie. The ones that made him believe that it was okay to be different. It was one of the things that drew them to each other- their scars.

Lately, Vince also found himself having nightmares again, the same ones from before. The ones that came with the scars and surly scowl. And with those came the horrible memories of the things Mia used to say to him. These were all the things Jackie had fixed and Kai had brought back.

"I'll cover up around you more," he said, "but eventually, you'll just have to get used to them." She sighed softly, and ran a fingertip over his scars, a disgusted look on her face. "The baby shouldn't see you like this. Eventually when we move out-." His eyes popped open at what she said. "Move out?"

"Yeah, we can't be married and live in separate homes, V. Plus, how are we supposed to raise this baby together if you're not there? The baby will need to see you every day," she responded. He hadn't thought that far ahead or actually at all, about their living arrangements. "We're a family now. We need to be together and look out for each other," she continued.

Kai patted him on the leg and then stood up, exiting the room soon afterwards. He stared after her, pondering their conversation. He couldn't deny the feeling he had at the bottom of his stomach, like he needed to get up and do something about this, he thought to himself. Is this how Dom feels all the time? Like the whole world is on his shoulders? He thought about Jackie and the horrible choice she had to make, because of him and his fuck-ups and the guilt began to tear him apart. V stared at Kai's belly, their child together, and realized that this is all he had left now. Kai may not love him, but this child would. He needed to make sure of that.

He would do everything and anything to make a perfect life for his unborn child. She killed my child. My child. She doesn't love. Never did. I have to fight for my family, for the one I have now, since I no longer have her anymore, he thought. "You're right. We should look at some places. Not too far from here though. I want to be near my friends," he said, giving in. He was ready to be a family. He needed to have a family.

This was the beginning of the end for him, or so he thought.

{Thanks Violet201 for the support! Reviews keep me going!}