Sorry about the delay, folks, but my teachers are, as always, on a homework binge. *shakes fist* On with the story…

No Corona! What will the reunited team do?!

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"Oh my G-d, girl!!! Look at you!!!" One shriek coming from inside the house told me all I needed to know as to what was coming. I braced myself for the oncoming one-woman stampede.

"Oof!" There it was. Wow, she's gotten stronger; I clung on to Leon for support (bad idea- we fell).

"Oh, I'm so sorry, let me help you up Letty!" I sighed as I let Mia pull me up. Guess I'd gotten too used to jut lounging around in bed, hehe.

"And me? What about me, chica? You just gonna leave me on the ground, where there could be a dangerous spider that's plotting to attack me, or some sort of-" Leon was quieted by a hyper Fernando.

"Vicious Chihuahua?" Vince laughed out as he followed Mia out of the large white house that always had- and always will be- my home. It had been so long, and I'd been so scared of never coming back. Family means so much to me, especially since my father's death.

Pulling myself out of old memories, I snickered along as Leon smacked Vince on the arm and threw our suitcases in his direction.

"Carry!" Leon demanded, standing one inch shorter than Vince. Mia and I giggled as the two began to argue.

"I am not carrying your damn bags in, you do it! You've been in Mexico on the beach all along, and Mia's been playing slave driver over here! Carry your own bag in! Besides, my arm hurts…" V complained, rubbing his tattooed and scarred arm gently.

Mia interjected, saying, "You liar! You took your pills this morning, you aren't in any pain!"

"What the hell's going on out here? I'm supposed to get time to re-, rec-"

"Recuperate, and we'll quiet down soon, dinner's almost ready, okay? Kat called and said she might be late, though," Mia offered, helping Jesse while bringing a satisfied look on his face at the same time.

I looked up at the boy who'd been like a little brother to me for so long. He was a little bit paler now, and his eyes had a kind of haunted look in them. Nonetheless, he was still smiling that sweet smile he'd always had. I rushed up to hug him, Fernando yapping along behind me.

"Jess, I missed you! How are you doing?" I asked, just as Leon rushed up and hugged his little brother tightly.

"I'm alright, you know, just taking it a day at a time. How are you guys doing? You took a long honeymoon down there, you crazy kids!" He broke into another grin as Leon pushed at him and started mumbling incoherent words.

Smiling for about the millionth time that day, I walked into the living room to find that nothing had changed, all of the pictures were still hanging on the walls, from the ones from when we were kids, all the way up to when Melanie had joined us. I looked at this one shot of all seven of us from when we'd gone to Race Wars, three years back. Leon was holding me and making jokes at the same time, Dom had his arms wrapped around Melanie's waist (A/N: Remember this pic? : P), and he had his face nuzzled into her neck, but he was so obviously laughing with the rest of us.

"Letty, can I get some help in here?" Mia called from the kitchen where I noticed Brian was getting under her feet, trying to help and miserably failing. Home's where the heart is, for sure.

*Dom's POV*

We climbed into the driveway that I never thought I'd see again. Exhaling, I pulled the key out of the ignition and sat for a second.

"Let's go…they'll be eating soon, and you know how Vince gets," Mel prodded at me. I nodded and opened the door, walking around to where Melanie was waiting for me.

She smiled up at me, an angelic little grin; "We're home!"

Wrapping my arms around her waist, we started up the porch steps towards the already noticeable aroma of my sister's cooking. I kissed Mel on the top of her head before we moved any further. "Don't forget, I still want to talk about you becoming a Toretto, baby. We never finished that conversation."

She laughed and rested her head on my shoulder, pulling me towards the kitchen brimming with people.

"Haven't you guys heard that too many chefs spoil the soup?" Mel asked, laughing at the sight of Brian getting a lecture from Vince as to where the chicken should go.

"Dominic! Melanie!! It's been ages!!" Mia screamed, shoving everyone else out of the way in order to get to us.

"Aw, Mi, it's great to see you, but I've kind of grown accustomed to breathing on a regular basis…would you let go, please?" Mel staggered back for a second fake choking as Leon grabbed her by the hands and twirled her around. Vince sniggered, "No, we haven't heard that, and in case you haven't noticed-"

"We don't got soup!" Jesse finished.

"There you go, man," Vince laughed as Jesse completed his sentence.

I was taken by the fact that Jesse was right there, standing in front of me, snickering like nothing had ever happened. So many nights, I'd stayed awake in her arms, wondering how Vince was, whether Jesse was alive. Everyone I loved was right in front of me, my whole family was still surrounding me, fighting, talking, shouting- they were all still right here. I started plowing through the group, shaking hands and hugging the guys, kissing all of my favorite girls…until I saw Brian.

"Spilner. Is that still your name? What do you call yourself, detective?" I boomed out loud, silencing the joyful team.

"It's O'Connor, Dom. Always has been. And, I'm not with the police anymore. I work at Harry's and at DT."

"Oh, so you work at my shop, huh?" I noticed that everyone else was in fear for Brian, scared of what I might do. I continued in an even more threatening voice, "You work at the establishment that my father passed down to me? Who let you stay?"

He started to stammer, "Dom…you know I didn't want to take you guys down in the end- I gave you the Supra!"

"Shut up!" I growled, and then I grinned. "Can't you see the food's getting cold? Come on, everyone outside, airplane food sucks!" Everyone let out a sigh of relief as I pushed Brian outside to the picnic table, a sign of my acceptance.

"Um, excuse me! Jesse? Which way should I come in?" came a voice from outside the gate. A girl with purple streaks in her hair stood at the gate, waiting for a welcome.

"Kat! Come in, girl, I can't believe we almost started dinner without you!" Jesse dashed to the gate and held it open for the girl as she walked in.

"Hi. Who are you?" Melanie asked, bluntly.

"My name's Kat, Jesse invited me. Who are you?"

"Oh, I'm Melanie. Dominic here invited me a while ago, and look what happened, we're still eating!" Melanie laughed, along with the rest of the family, including myself.

Kat grinned and plopped down next to Jesse as I placed the task of saying grace onto her shoulders.

"Aw, fine. I'll do it. Wait, how come Mel isn't doing it? She just reached for the bread!" Kat complained.

Glancing over at Mel, sheepishly returning the cornbread to the plate with a look that said, 'It's been a while, I forgot!' I told her, "Fine Mel; you can do the prayers tonight. Do 'em in Hebrew."

Blushing a very deep red, she said, "Nooo, Kat can have the honor, in any case, I only know the prayer for grape juice. Besides, my hair hurts too much."

Everyone started laughing at the inside joke which had been created partially at my expense, although that was a completely different story. Finally, I gave in. "Alright, alright! I'll say grace tonight, is that okay with everyone?"

"AMEN!" came the resounding chorus.

~~~~

"What the hell is this?" Vince moaned as he went to the cooler for a Corona.

Letty went to check out what Vince was griping about. "I think that's called an empty cooler, darling. See- nothing inside," she stated matter-of-factly.

"No shit, Sherlock," Jesse said, also wandering over to stare at the abyss in front of him.

"How can this house not have beer? We haven't had any parties in a while…" Brian murmured, joining the crowd.

"Well, of course, less demand calls for a smaller quantity of the products," Mel said, taking a sip of Corona and passing the rest to Dominic.

"Thanks, babe. Someone needs to go out and buy more, or at least make coffee or something," he added after taking a sip.

By now, seven people were staring at a hole filled with nothing but some ice cubes, as if they were expecting more beer to appear. Melanie sighed, standing a few feet away from the sight, and offered, "How about I go get the beer? Will that make everybody happy?"

"Yes mommy, buy me some candy too," Vince snickered.

"Okay, no beer for the V-man, seeing as he's a random idiot," came her response. "Does anyone else want anything while I'm gone?"

Dom crept up behind her and locked two powerful arms around her waist. "I should go with you…make sure you don't get cold," he whispered, kissing her temple.

"Ewww, public displays of affection, make them stop!" Mia groaned as Leon and Letty followed suit and Brian pulled her into a kiss.

Mel managed to stop the fun (and the terror in Jesse, Vince, and Kat) by moving away from me and grabbing her keys.

"Okay. I am going to get beer for you people. When I come back, there had better not be any pregnant girls up in here! I swear, the way you couples act…disgusting! At least get a room…" She went off like that, grumbling like an angry old person.

"Bye chica!!" yelled the girls and Leon, as Vince and Dominic sat down with empty hands, talking about what they'd missed.

~~~~

Melanie pushed her Postal Service CD into the disc player and sang with the simple verses.

//You have a lure I can't deny,

But,

You've had your chance so say goodbye...

Say goodbye…//

She rounded the corner to the supermarket, speeding up in the empty street. She loved it when there was no one on the road; she could speed as her heart desired, and go flying over hills and bumps, thus setting her mind and soul free.

"Nothing like the speed," she said to herself as she approached the intersection leading to the market.

As she drove forward, she heard a sickening croak as if her bumper was being ripped out. The front of her Nissan flew forward, crumpling into a nearby building. Melanie screamed as she looked at her hand and saw blood spilling. The windshield made a crunching noise as it fell on top of her, and her car scrunched together like a piece of crumpled paper.

She fell onto her wheel which let out a long beep, softly fading away in her failing consciousness.

Far off, the sounds of an ambulance and wheels screeching could be heard, coming to save the girl who would least likely see light again. In Melanie's mind, black swam like an inky dark void, swallowing her mind and thoughts, making her numb all over.

TBC

What do you think?