Author: Strawberry Gashes
Summary: After Jezzie, Lay, and Fergie return beaten and bruised from Cambodia, Adam comes after them and turns their lives upside down. Jezzie, Lay, and Fergie go on a hunt to find him and end up learning more about their friends that they never knew, or wanted to know. What they learn may destory their friendships with the Toretto Team.
Disclaimer: The only thing I own in this story is anyone you don't recognize. I make no money out of this whatsoever and this is for my own fun. Everything else belongs to Universal studios and the wonderful people who brought us The Fast and the Furious and 2 Fast 2 Furious. meh! This is Part 2 to In My Eyes (I suggest very highly of reading In My Eyes, before you read this).
My Note: Here ya go. Chapter 2. I worked hard on this. I try to write feelings and emotions. I definitely think I am growing as a writer. I think reading books definitely help you grow as a writer and help you understand what a story really needs. Gah. We have a house! It's this nicE little one story house on Mt. Alverno in Delhi. Yeah, now any stalkers can really stalk me. but uh, my dad said it will probably be two to three weeks before we move in. that sucks, but it's a nice house. i get a basement bedroom, which is what i want. uh, there's a full bathroom and a large walk in closet thing in the basement and a door leading to the backyard. hehe, now people can sneak in ;). Ok,yeah...LAURA. I miss you girl! I wish I could get on aol! Sunshine, you know it rocks! :P yes. my love to all of my faithful readers: Ranger Webb, Princess Herminone, and Element Racer. You guys rock. oh, uh, in the first chapter the song 'Somebody' is by Bonnie McKee and it belongs to her. I got the name 'Fergie' from Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas. Her name is Stacy Ferguson (hence Claudia's last name), so yeah. I think that's everything. Oh, 'Broken' is by Seether and Amy Lee and it's theirs. :P
Chapter 2: Damaged Perfection
Leon stood in front of the TV and stared out the window. He looked past the red RX-7 in the driveway and the luscious green grass. He looked past the black pavement and the luscious green grass. Past the black pavement and the four car garage was a beautiful 2 story house, which Leon had seen the inside of only twice. The house belonged to the Miami team, including Lay and Fergie. There was always somebody coming in or out of that house. But that wasn't what Leon was staring at.
No, he was watching Letty and Dom argue in the driveway.
When Dom got back from picking the girls up he struck up an argument with Fergie in the driveway. Lay had taken her things to her house while Jezzie rushed inside, put her bags in her room and then left without one word. It was an odd thing for her to do, but it was, indeed, an odd day.
She seemed to ignore the heated words flying between Dom and Fergie as she ran past them. Now, an hour and a half later, Dom and Letty were arguing. Leon couldn't understand what was with everybody. Lay, Jezzie, and Fergie were secretive and always gone. Vince was moping about, pissing everybody off. Brian was spending a lot of time with Rome, leaving Linda and Trent with a very angry Mia.
Letty and Dom argued about stupid things whenever they could. Jesse seemed to be the only normal one. He would spend his days underneath the hood of his car or on his computer. He tried to add balance to a completely topsy-turvy household, but things were always too hectic and wrong for his tries to work.
Leon turned his head and watched Jesse on his computer. Jesse had been by Leon's side during the whole divorce with Jezzie. And now...all Leon had to do was give the signed papers to his lawyer and it would all be over. At least...it would all be over legally. Two years of marriage down the drain...for no reason. At least, no reason given to Leon. Jezzie just wanted it to be over. As much as he loved her, he respected her decisions and didn't make a big deal out of it. Inside Leon felt screwed up. He still loved Jezzie, but after everything...he was ready to be single again.
Besides, there was a cute blonde Leon had his eye on.
Leon turned back around as Dom and Letty finally stopped arguing and headed towards the front door. Letty walked in first and waited as Dom walked in and slammed the door, making the whole house shake. Dom stared a Leon.
"You ever notice any cuts or bruises on Jez?" Dom asked. Leon thought for a minute and nodded. He had been wondering about that for a while.
"Yeah, why?" Leon asked, confused. Dom hesitated, something he never did. That made Leon ever more confused and suspicious.
"It ain't nobody's business but they own." Letty said angrily. She was standing next to Dom, glaring up at him. Dom held up his hand to silence her. "Asshole." Letty muttered before turning and going up the stairs. Leon was even more confused and didn't like that. Especially when it concerned his wife. Ex-wife. Whatever. Jesse was trying to ignore what was going on.
He was highly unsuccessful.
"LaLaine, Claudia, and Jezebeil have been going tomb raider." Dom finally said. Leon could sense the anger and betrayal dripping from every word. He cringed as the words sank in. His sadness was taken over by his own anger. "They've been going with LaLaine's older brother Nick." He added. Leon's jaw dropped. He couldn't believe it.
"I thought they were going to races in Germany!" Leon said. Dom shrugged and ran a hand over his bald head. Leon breathed a heavy, depressed sigh and his eyes drifted to the floor. Sure, his and Jezzie's marriage was over with, but he couldn't believe she had been lying to him.
What if she had been killed? Leon thought angrily. Then the sadness returned. He still cared for Jezzie and he would be damned if he let her ruin her life. He had spent the last four years loving her and he wasn't going to let her go tomb raiding anymore.
Not if I have anything to say about it.
Ex-husbands still have rights over their ex-wives...right?
Ok, so I'm not an ex-husband yet. I'll talk her out of it.
Without the use of excessive force.
Not unless it's necessary.
It would probably end up necessary.
Leon cursed and headed past Dom and out the door. He got in his car and decided to drive to the beach. The beach was Jezzie and Leon's place. If Leon was sure of anything, it's was that Jezzie would be there.
Hopefully.
------
On the somewhat sunnier side of town, Jezzie was sitting on the hood of her car on the beach. As she ate her popcorn, she watched the sun begin to set. After all of the years, two really, that had past since Jezzie had almost died, she had changed. She wasn't the carefree woman that she had once been, in a galaxy far, far away. Now she was a 2-year-old mother who was about to be divorced, all because she was an idiot. If she could, she would give up racing to live the life of normalcy (if there is such a thing), but she loved racing too much.
She'd give anything, well almost anything, to just live a criminal free life, but she had already gone too far. There was no going back. And she was about to go farther.
Ricky and Lance Tran would be released from prison in two days. For some reason, the parole board felt that they had done their time. They would most likely show up at Race Wars. Or they might flee the state, or rather, the country.
We could only be so lucky, Jezzie thought as she drank her icee. The sound of 'Broken' by Seether and Amy Lee floated from Jezzie's car. She winced as she remembered how much of an idiot she really was. The song always seemed to make Jezzie think of Leon. She hated that. She hated that because it was her fault everything was screwed between her and Leon. She brought it upon herself. And this song reminded her just how much she really did love Leon.
Of course, she didn't have to listen to the song. But she did anyways.
I wanted you to know I love the way you laugh
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain away
I keep your photograph; I know it serves me well
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain
'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away
You've gone away, you don't feel me anymore
Could I be anymore of a retard? Jezzie screamed at herself. She had pushed not only herself to the edge, but Leon as well. She had cracked after Brandon's birth and screwed everything up. She had pushed Leon away and now she would never get him back. Even through the darkness that she caused, she still remembered the good times.
She remembered the way that Leon would laugh as they lied in bed together or when they would go speeding down an empty road. She still had that picture of them from three years ago. It was their one year anniversary and they were happy. Then everything went downhill. She had never wanted to cause Leon any pain, but she only succeeded in bringing all of her pain and bad emotions onto Leon. If she could, she would take it all back. She would steal all of his pain. It was the least she could do for causing it.
Or was it?
Jezzie sighed and tried to ignore the song. She was, like many others in her position, unable to do so. The song rang in her ears as she tried to concentrate on the setting sun.
The worst is over now and we can breathe again
I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away
There's so much left to learn, and no one left to fight
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain
'Cause I'm broken when I'm open
And I don't feel like I am strong enough
'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away
'Cause I'm broken when I'm open
And I don't feel like I am strong enough
'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away
'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone
You've gone away, you don't feel me anymore
But the truth was, Leon didn't go away, Jezzie did. She had caused everyone in the house so much pain and anguish. And they all still treated her like she had done nothing wrong. They were there for her like good friends should be and how did she repay them? By lying to them and flying to foreign countries and going 'tomb raiding'.
Screw it, Jezzie slid off the car, empty bag of popcorn in one hand, empty icee cup in the other, fully intending on ripping the CD from her stereo. She stopped next to the hood as she recognized a figure standing next to her door. It was Nick. She dropped her bag of popcorn and icee cup in surprise.
"Nick!" Jezzie called out in surprise. She smiled at him.
"Hey J. I wanted to talk to you about Cambodia." He said. Jezzie's smile quickly turned into a frown. Cambodia was the last thing she wanted to talk about. "And about Adam." No, change that, Adam was the definite last thing she wanted to talk about. A flash of anger registered on Jezzie's face. It faded to a scowl.
"Don't. He screwed us over. He's going to get it. End of story. Jesus Nick! We could have survived on our own!" Jezzie yelled at him. Nick took an instinctive step back, not used to Jezzie's anger. He nodded sheepishly and frowned.
"I know. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking straight. I'm sorry. Please forgive me." He begged. Jezzie sighed and rolled her eyes as he gave her his puppy dog face. She looked away.
"Now I know where Lay learned it from." Jezzie looked back at him with a smile. "Ok. Forgiven. Just don't let it happen again." Nick smiled and grabbed her in a hug. Jezzie laughed and hugged him back. Her face was on his chest and she stared out to the left, past her car.
Too close for comfort, half of Jezzie thought as he set his head against hers. Oh shut up, her other half told her. She looked up at him and instantly regretted it.
His lips met hers in a harsh kiss. Jezzie's mind was screaming at her. MOVE! What are you doing? But Jezzie's body (and hormones) was thinking something different. She pushed her lips against his and opened her lips and let his tongue in. His tongue hungrily tasted Jezzie's mouth. After what seemed like an eternity, Nick finally pulled away. Jezzie stood glued to her spot as she tried to make sense of it. She looked past her car again and stared at the cars passing them.
HE KISSED ME! Jezzie's mind screamed. But that wasn't good. The kiss was good, but everything else was wrong. I'm still married, Jezzie started listing in her mind. He's my best friend's brother, he's five years older than me, and I barely know him, he's nothing compared to Leon. But he's cute and single. And you will be soon. NO! I love Leon and I don't love Nick.
"I'm sorry." He said, but he didn't sound sorry. Yeah, sorry you couldn't stick your tongue further down my throat, Jezzie thought angrily. God, Shut up! She yelled at herself. "J?" He said, but his voice was a distant dream as a familiar yellow car drove past. Jezzie's eyes followed it until Nick spoke again.
"J? You ok?" He asked. Jezzie looked up at him, jaw dropped, eyes brimming with tears and pain.
"I'm so sorry." She whispered. She pushed past him and got in her car. She shut off her CD player as she pulled away and sped off in the direction the yellow car came.
Nick watched Jezzie drive away in confusion. He could still taste her on his lips and he wanted more. But for some reason, as he saw the pain and sadness in her eyes, only two words came to mind.
"Damaged Perfection."
------
Jezzie pulled up outside of the cafe and switched her CDs before getting out. She could see Fergie and Lay sitting at the counter. She walked into the cafe and sat to the left of Fergie. She didn't feel safe sitting next to Lay, not after what just happened. Jezzie folded her hands in front of her on the counter and sighed. Beside her Fergie and Lay were eating sandwiches made by Mia and were drinking Coronas. Mia stared at Jezzie, trying to read her, but there were too many emotions on her face.
"Dom get to you yet?" Fergie asked, taking a bite of her sandwich. She figured Jezzie's attitude was because of Dom. But Jezzie shook her head.
"No, I don't need him to either. He'll just add to everything." Jezzie said. She had guessed that Dom would eventually find out. After what just happened, the last thing I need is for Dom to chew me out about being 'reckless' and 'pushing the limits', Jezzie thought to herself with a scowl.
"What just happened?" Lay asked. Jezzie went white. She hadn't meant to say it out loud. She had to think quickly and then she remembered Cole Hauser. All three girls were big fans of Cole's movies.
"I went to movies to see Paparazzi, but it was sold out. Ruined my day." Jezzie said. Lay and Fergie nodded, feeling her pain and believing it, even if it was true.
"Sexy Cole Hauser." Lay said, staring dreamily at her Corona.
"Kicking ass and taking names." Fergie added. Jezzie nodded as she too thought dreamily about Cole Hauser.
"Cellular was good though." She told them. She felt bad for not telling them the truth, but she couldn't tell Lay that she had kissed her bother. Not now at least.
Maybe next year.
"So Dom knows, huh?" Jezzie asked. The silence was too much. She hated silence. Unless, of course, she was by herself. Then she didn't mind it as much. Mia knew a little bit about what they were doing overseas.
"Yup. Didn't seem too happy about it either. Kept calling me Claudia, Lay LaLaine, and you Jezebeil." All four girls, including Mia, grimaced at the use of their full first names. That was never a good thing. Especially coming from Dom. Usually he used their whole names, which was embarrassing.
"He was bound to fund out, unfortunately." Jezzie said. Fergie and Lay nodded. They had all counted on him finding out, but not so soon. The four girls sat in silence. The only noise came from Lay flipping the pages of a car magazine. Jezzie turned around in her chair and looked at Fergie's car. It looked perfect. Jezzie smiled.
"If anything can be perfect in this retard-o world..." Jezzie started to say. Lay, Fergie, and Mia looked at her as she continued to talk. "It's that car." She finished, pointing at Fergie's car. Fergie smiled proudly.
"Ain't she a beaut? Lay did it." Fergie asked. Jezzie nodded.
"Fa sho. B-e-a-utiful!" Jezzie turned around, still smiling. "Great job Lay."
"Thank you." Lay said, going back to looking at her magazine. Jezzie's smile faded as the kiss came sputtering back into her mind. But then she had other things to worry about. Soon the sound of Dom's car filled their ears. Lay, Fergie, and Jezzie all stood up. Fergie and Lay tossed some bills on the table.
"See ya at home, Mi." Jezzie said. Mia rolled her eyes as the three girls headed to their cars and jumped in. Three different songs came blaring out of the cars. 'Pimp' came from Lays; 'Anthem of Our Dying Day' came from Fergie's; and 'Lies' came from Jezzie's. As the three girls drove away, Mia shook her head and grabbed a towel. She started washing down the counter as Dom pulled a few seconds later.
"Some things never change." Mia muttered. Dom got out of his car and walked up to the counter, a smile on his face.
"Let me guess...just missed her?" Dom asked. Mia nodded, not looking at him.
"Don't bother her Dom. Give it a few days. Too much bullshit going on." Mia warned him. Dom sighed and gave her a look. Without even looking at him, Mia knew the look. "Nu uh, Dom. Not this time." Mia cut him off before he could say anything. Dom rolled his eyes and chuckled.
"Yes Mom." Mia finally looked up at him and chucked the towel at him. He caught it and threw it back. "You seen Leon?" He asked. Mia shook her head. Dom sighed once again. Leon had taken off after Dom told him about Jezzie. He hadn't seen him since.
Granted, that was about 20 minutes.
But still.
Somebody would have seen him by now.
Nobody had.
Plus Dom wanted to talk to Jezzie, but she was avoiding him. That made him angry. He was willing to have a nice, simple conversation about it, and she wouldn't try. He may love Jezzie like a sister, but he will not fail in getting mad with her. He would yell at her just like anybody else.
Then he'd apologize for yelling.
He usually felt bad for yelling at Mia, Letty, or Jezzie.
Being a father had done that to him.
"No, Dom." Mia said, breaking Dom's thoughts. Dom looked at her, confused.
"What?"
"I can see it in your face?"
"See what?"
"Don't do it."
"Do what Mi?"
"Dom!"
"What Mia? Do fucking what?" He yelled. Then he frowned. "Sorry."
"I'm warning you Dom."
"About what Mia? What can you see in my face?" He asked, starting to get frustrated.
"You look angry." She told him.
"You're making me angry!"
"No before! You looked angry while you were thinking. Don't do it Dom." Dom's frown couldn't mask his anger. He hated it when Mia would have these conversations with him. Mia matched Dom's frown with one of her own.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He said.
"Leave her alone Dom. I mean it." Mia warned him. Mia and Dom locked eyes and glared at each other. This is becoming ridiculous, Dom thought. This is hilarious, Mia thought, trying not to smile.
"Ok Fine!" Dom yelled, giving up. A smug smile crossed Mia's face as Dom held up his hands and turned towards his car. "I'll leave her alone." He opened his car door. "For now." He finished. Mia rolled her eyes as he sped away.
"Some things never do change." She muttered; going back to cleaning the towel, the smug smile had been replaced with a grin.