AN: Sorry for the long wait with this one. I'd sort of hit a writer's block
with it but it seems that It's gone now because I just wrote 12000 new
words of it. Yeah! Ok, now I'm not giving you guys it all right now just in
case I can't or don't find time to write more for awhile. It'll make for
about two more updates so that's a good thing. Anyway, feedback is as
always much encouraged. Should I put an end to this soon? I have one in
mind or I have a few ideas to keep it going. I'll let people's opinions
tell me if I'm wasting my time if I continue to write this story. Thanks,
and on to the story. It's still a pretty long update!
Chapter 68 - Home is Where the Heart Isn't
Torrie pulled her legs to her chest in the uncomfortable plastic chair and thought about getting up to find a pay phone to call someone to come get her. She didn't want to have to talk about what had happened but she figured no matter who she called she was going to have to explain why she'd come home in such a hurry and why her face was obviously all messed up from crying.
With her forehead to her knees and her hair covering her in a blue-black halo she literally radiated despair. She couldn't see all the pitying looks that were shot her way by those walking past her as she sat, arms wrapped around her legs, oblivious to the fact that life was carrying on around her.
She didn't know what she'd done to make Dom want to cheat on her. She'd known they'd had their issues but she'd thought things had been going well. They'd been talking more, fighting less. In her misery and self doubt she started to wonder how she'd ever thought that she'd be enough to keep Dom satisfied and content. If a woman like Letty hadn't been able to keep Dom from straying then Torrie couldn't see how she ever could. She derided herself for ever having thought that she'd be able to have a happily ever after with a man like Dom. In her morose mood she had herself convinced that Letty had been 10 times the woman she was and therefore she should have known that if Dom had cheated on Letty repeatedly then he was bound to start cheating on her.
Then when you threw in the fact she was more or less convinced that someone had been out to harm her in New York it was obviously not really Torrie's week. She'd almost forgotten about the close calls that had been happening to her while she'd dealt with discovering what Dom had done to her. But now that she was back in California and more or less calmed down, it almost slapped her in the face. Not only did the love of her life cheat on her with some random girl someone was out to harm or kill her. Could her week get any worse?
She sniffled against her denim clad thighs. She knew she was going to have to pick something to do and get up and do it. She couldn't stay in the airport all night and if she didn't make up her own mind soon Vince was going to arrive and take the choice away from her. She'd landed three hours early but she'd already wasted an hour and a half of it collecting her luggage and bemoaning her luck in the airport lobby. She told herself with a grimace that it was time to grow a backbone, pick her slightly bruised heart back up off the ground where Dom had left it and get on with the rest of her life. The rest of her life without Dom.
She didn't think it would be much of a life but she knew at the same time she couldn't forgive him for cheating on her. Maybe it wasn't fair but she just felt like Letty had given him two strikes and what he'd done to her was three strikes you're out. Dominic Toretto was out of her life. She just didn't think she had it in her to forgive him this. She was glad she had two weeks to think about it before he came home. She had no idea what she was going to do.
"You ok Princess?" A dearly familiar voice growled from somewhere just off to her left.
She lifted her head and moved the hair off her face dejectedly as she looked up the familiar figure of the man in front of her and into the calm blue gaze of Vince.
"I'm fine V. How'd you know I got in early?" Torrie lied easily, but it was obvious to all and sundry she was not fine.
"Dom called." Vince watched as Torrie's eyes filled up with tears. "Come 'ere Princess." Vince murmured and held his arms open in front of him. Torrie stood up and half fell, half jumped into his arms and sighed as Vince's strong, comforting hug wrapped around her.
"I don't know what to do!" Torrie sobbed against Vince's chest, soaking his shirt. She meant about everything but of course Vince assumed she just meant about Dom.
"Well baby girl, one thing woulda been to wait to hear the story." Vince said gently, tipping her head back so he could see her eyes and brushing her hair off her face, behind her ear tenderly. He knew she was upset and he didn't want to make it worse, but he wanted her to know she'd jumped to conclusions. She tried to avoid his gaze but he wasn't going to allow her.
She finally met his look in what was almost defiance.
"What? I should wait to hear his lies? Wait to hear him tell me that nothing happened! Wait for the realization that he's good and busted to don on his face. Wait for the excuses to start. How he was lonely, how she didn't mean anything, how he loves me and he was just using her. Wait for the promises about how he'll never do it again! What should I have waited for Vince?" Torrie asked sardonically.
"You should have waited for Dom to tell you that nothing happened other then he made a stupid mistake by not throwing that shirt out." Vince went to continue but Torrie cut him off.
"You're supporting him! You're saying that he just should have been more careful so I wouldn't catch him? That he should have just made sure I never found out." Torrie started to try to back away from Vince.
"No! I'm not saying that at all. It was a mistake Torrie. Some chick from the school got all over him one night at some club and before he could get away she'd gotten too close for comfort to Dom. But he didn't do anything. He didn't want to embarrass the other woman either because Dom says she's generally a good sort, she was just really drunk."
"You buy that?" Torrie looked sceptical.
"Yeah." Vince didn't elaborate.
"Well? Why?" Torrie asked. She didn't think that story was very likely.
"Because that's what Dom told me Tor." Vince answered like Torrie should already have picked that up.
"So, you don't think he could be lying about what he did? Trying to cover his own ass so you don't tell me what he did?"
"No." Vince started to pick up Torrie's bags.
"Well, why not?" Torrie was starting to get fed up with the one word answers.
Vince didn't want to tell her why he believed what he did, but he figured he was going to have to explain it to her if she was ever going to believe Dominic's story and forgive him for leaving the 'evidence' where she could find it.
"Because whenever he cheated on Letty and told her a lie to cover it up he always told me the truth, Tor. He never lied to me about it. He always told me what he'd done and some of the time he was proud of himself. Those times were a long time ago, and he's not proud of them now, but he still never hid what he'd done from me. He knew then and knows now that if it came down to it I'd cover for him. I'll admit that in this case I might not have been able to but he knows that I've never let on about Letty. So he tells me the truth. We've been friends too long for him not to." Vince sighed and hefted the last of Torrie's baggage onto a pushcart then ran a hand through his hair.
He felt like a terrible cad to have admitted that to anyone. He'd always held Dom's darkest secrets in confidence and he knew Dom did the same for him. He just hoped that Dom would see the rationale behind telling Torrie if Dom should ever find out he'd told her at all. But he hoped that the issue died now, before Dom ever came back. Letty didn't know the extent of how bad things had been between her and Dom even to that day and Vince didn't think her finding out so far after the fact would help anyone.
"So you're saying that if he ever should cheat on me he'd tell you the truth about it and then you'd hide it from me for him?" Torrie looked up at Vince with hurt in her eyes.
"I wouldn't run to you and tell you if that's what you mean Tor. But I would kick his ass on your behalf. I don't know if I could keep it from you if you asked me outright. We were younger when that other stuff all went down and I think it'd be harder for me now." Vince tried to be honest without totally pissing Torrie off or hurting her worse. They arrived beside his Maxima and put as much of her stuff in the truck as the NOS setup and subs would allow.
"So Letty has no idea that all the times he told her he didn't cheat on her he really did and he told you and you kept it to yourself?" Torrie asked, incredulous at the amount of callous disregard that Vince had shown to a woman he professed to love like a sister and had been caring for since she was 10 and moved into his neighbourhood. In Torrie's mind Vince could have clued Letty in and maybe saved her a lot of heartache by helping clue her into her man's cheating ways so she might have left him sooner.
"A lot of the times she thought he'd cheated on her he didn't really at all either Torrie. She was more then a little paranoid about it and she was always after him about it too. She was always asking him where he'd been and stuff." Vince slammed the trunk and back door of his car closed. "You getting in or standing in the parking lot all night?"
Torrie opened the passenger door of the Maxima and got in. She did up her belt and shot Vince a mutinous glare. She was still not sure how impressed she was with Vince's revelation about covering for Dom. She worried that he'd cover for Dom against her too. She didn't know who she could trust if not Vince. Vince had, of late, been taking her side against Dom, not the other way around. Vince shot Torrie a look and saw the scowl on her face.
"I didn't want to turn you against me too Princess. I was just trying to convince you that he wouldn't lie to me about it if he had cheated on you baby girl, and he didn't. He told me that some girl just got all over him and he got away as soon as he could. You know that happens even around here, you're just around to chase them off here. You got nothing to worry about." Vince turned back to the road.
"It's just that you're the one person in that house who always had my back V. I mean every fight I've ever had with Dom it was you I could turn to. Now I have to wonder if Dom's told you something that you're hiding from me. If you're playing both sides against the middle or just being nice to me to throw me off the scent of what Dom really did." Torrie sighed, feeling even more alone then she had sitting in the airport. At least then she'd had 'her V' to fall back on. Now she wasn't even sure she had that.
Vince sighed in pure frustration. He'd thought to reassure her with his tale and instead he'd made things even worse. How could he tell Torrie that he did have her back in this issue, not Dom's without back peddling totally on what he'd told her about Dom and Letty?
"I still have your back Tor. I'll never let Dom hurt you like he hurt Letty, Ok? I swear to you as of right now that if he ever tells me he did anything to hurt you or that would hurt you behind your back I'll make him tell you himself. Ok?"
Torrie sniffled in her seat. She'd never have guessed that Vince cared enough about her to make that pledge to her. She felt bad for starting shit with Vince so soon after they'd fought over Chris.
"Have I told you I love you lately V?" Torrie asked with a smile.
"No. It's good to hear Princess." Vince smiled at Torrie and tugged on a piece of her hair, then went back to concentrating on the road.
Torrie changed the station on his radio and when she failed to find anything that she wanted to listen to on any stations she started to flip through his CD collection. She still didn't find anything she wanted to listen to in his CD's so she took hers out of her purse and started to flip through them. She settled on a mix she'd made herself and slid it into his CD player. She turned the volume way up and settled back to allow the throbbing bass to relax her and hopefully relieve most of her headache. That was all it took most of the time for her to feel better. Loud, throbbing bass.
Vince smiled at her out of the corner of his eye indulgently. He'd tear a strip off anyone else who dared to fuck with his radio let alone play their own CD in his car. He took in Torrie's tired look and the black circles under her eyes coupled with the red rims. The condition of her face made her look tired and impossibly young.
"You know I'd kill anyone else who dared to touch my radio let alone put a mixed CD with Britney Spears on it in there right?" Vince chuckled.
"You would not." Torrie mumbled as she shifted in the seat of the Maxima and started to drift off to sleep.
"I would to." Vince retorted, wondering if they were going to get into a back and forth fight about it. He could see it now, would not/would too all the way back to the house.
"No you wouldn't. I know for a fact Mia could play whatever she wanted too." Torrie said and cracked her eyes open to watch Vince's reaction.
"No she couldn't. She tried once. And I made her cry. I felt bad about it afterwards but you just don't touch my stereo." Vince grinned.
"You made her cry?" Torrie found that hard to believe. She'd figured that Vince would let Mia away with more then anyone. "You did not make Mia cry. No way."
"Yeah. I did. I felt like such a jerk. For about 10 minutes. She should have asked first then I would have told her no and it wouldn't have had to be such a big fight. I wouldn't even let Dom mess with my stereo."
"Bet you'd let Chris mess with it." Torrie answered. She regretted saying it as soon as it left her mouth and she wished she could take it back. The atmosphere of the car had been so warm and cozy. Just her and V together again, having a great time together like it was meant to be. Then she'd had to bring out the cat fight material.
"Nope, you're the only one angel. I don't know how you managed to wrap ME around your finger like you did. If it was Leon I could understand. He always was a sucker for a pretty face." Vince laughed, a real, deep laugh.
Torrie looked up at him in shock. He wasn't mad with her for saying what she had. The car hadn't gotten strained.
"It's my charm. I'm irresistible or something. Besides, I'm not blonde enough for Leon." Torrie laughed. She felt much better then she had when she'd run away from Dom. Things were starting to look up. She still wasn't sure about what had gone down with Dom, wasn't sure how much she trusted Vince to be telling her the truth. It wasn't anything personal against Vince but as he'd already said, he and Dom had been friends for a very long time.
"It's your or something alright." Vince replied and signalled to exit the freeway into the general vicinity of Echo Park.
Torrie slapped his shoulder playfully with a grin.
"So, how'd you end up with so much extra luggage?" Vince asked, wanting to keep Torrie talking, keep her in a good mood. He remembered helping her pack his car for the trip to the airport and there hadn't been as much to load then.
"I went shopping in New York and bought something for everyone. It took up a lot of room to bring it all home. I didn't plan it out very well."
"Yeah, what did I get?" Vince asked.
"You'll have to wait till I give out everyone's presents." Torrie answered.
"You mean I didn't get anything special? Everyone got stuff?"
"Everyone got stuff but you still got something special baby boy. Don't worry." Torrie smiled enigmatically and sat up straight. They were almost home. Her spirit started to fall again. She didn't want to confront the rest of the team.
They arrived and Vince got out of the car and rushed around to help Torrie out of her seat.
"Thanks V." Torrie said as she stood up with his assistance.
Vince could tell she wasn't just thanking him for the hand out of the car.
"You're welcome Princess. Now help me carry all this stuff of yours into the house. With that he grabbed Torrie for a big hug then released her and started to grab bags out of the back seat.
"Where'd you rush off to Vince?" Mia called from the porch, clearly having missed out on Torrie's presence. "You need to leave now if you're gonna get Torrie on time." Mia still remembered how late Vince had been the last time he was supposed to pick her up from work.
"Airport." Vince called back and Torrie stepped out around him.
"Hey Mi!" She called.
Mia came flying down the walk with a happy squeal.
"Torrie!" She exclaimed. "You got home early! Why? Did they change your flight on you?" Mia carried on asking questions all without ever waiting for an answer. "I missed you." Mia grabbed Torrie and started to hug her hard.
"I missed you too Mi, but I was only gone three days. Do you think I could breathe now?" Torrie squeaked out. Mia released on her on a laugh.
"Sorry but when the men start to outnumber the women again it starts to get bad for us." Mia giggled.
"But it would be you and Let and Chris against V and Brian, Jess and Le. That's pretty evenly matched." Torrie looked up in puzzlement.
"Not when Letty spends the weekend with a certain new racer in town yet again." Mia grinned slyly.
"She spent the weekend with this Rome guy again?" Torrie asked, one eyebrow raised.
"Yep." Mia answered and picked up a small bag. "You didn't leave with this much stuff." Mia said.
"Thank you captain obvious." Torrie quipped and picked another couple small bags, leaving all the heavy stuff for Vince. Mia looked at Torrie, waiting for a better answer. "I brought presents." Torrie answered finally and Mia smiled. The girls started up the walk.
"Thanks girls, leave all the hundred pound bags for me." Vince grimaced and hefted the last of the baggage up onto his shoulder.
"But you're so big and strong." Torrie crooned up at Vince playfully.
"Well, since you put it like that." Vince grinned and followed Mia and Torrie up to the door.
"Let's just set this stuff down in my room." Torrie said and started up the stairs.
"Yes Ma'am." Vince retorted sarcastically as he followed her up the stairs.
Jesse and Leon heard the commotion and came up out of their rooms to find out what was going on. They headed up the stairs and to the door of Dom's room.
"Torrie!" Jesse called and rushed into the room. "How was your trip?" He asked as he hugged Torrie.
"Good." Torrie answered. She didn't want to go into 'What Dom did' with the team so she didn't mention it. Vince shot her off a look like he approved of that decision.
"Missed you around here girl." Leon growled and hugged Torrie too, picking her up off her feet then setting her back down.
"Yeah right. You missed me around the garage cause you had to pick up my slack." Torrie grinned.
"Naw Dawg, that's not even part of it." Leon answered and blushed, giving himself away.
"Go way with you Leon. You're a shitty liar." Torrie was obviously not mad about the situation. She knew Leon was just playing.
"Well, with you and the big Dawg gone it was a lot of work for the four of us to keep up with." Jesse answered and Brian entered the room.
"What's with the party in Dom's room?" Brian asked then spotted Torrie. "You're home early Torrie. How's it goin?"
"It's goin good Bri. How're you?"
"Good. How's Dom?"
"He's fine." Torrie answered like nothing was up. Brian nodded.
"Did you leave anything in New York or did you shop them out?" Brian asked, looking around at all the loot.
"I wasn't that bad." Torrie tried to remain serious but then she thought of Dom's look when he'd seen all the stuff loaded in the mustang and she laughed, filling them in on what Dom had said about carrying all her shopping around and her quip about him needing an ensure for stamina. Everyone joined her in laughing but Vince.
"I can see where Dom had a reason to complain. I think I hurt my back carrying all that stuff up the stairs." Vince griped playfully as he looked around at it all.
No one noticed Chris had come to the door of the room. She was use to that, being the person that no one noticed, but it had gotten better for her while Torrie had been gone. Chris frowned as she thought unhappily that now that Torrie was home Chris would go back to being hardly better then the wallpaper.
"Aw baby. You want me to give you a back rub?" Torrie asked. "I know at your age how easy it is to hurt yourself after all." She smiled slyly.
"I should hold you to that offer." Vince threatened.
"I don't mind if you really hurt yourself." Torrie answered, starting to look concerned. She hoped Vince hadn't really hurt himself carrying so much at one time.
"I'm fine Torrie. But I'm glad to know you're concerned for my well being all the same Angel."
"Of course I am baby. Your wellbeing is so important to me. I never know when I might need that strong back to.carry things up the stairs for me." Torrie grinned.
"Oh, I otta." Vince moved to grab Torrie and everyone knew she had a tickling coming to her. The rest of the team just laughed as Torrie started to move away from Vince backwards, hands held up in supplication in front of her hoping to avoid the inevitable.
Leon noticed Chris at the door of the room first. He tried to get Vince's attention so his friend would stop flirting with Torrie in front of the sensitive other girl but it was to no avail. They continued to play with each other, Vince tickling the screaming Torrie on Dom's bed till she begged him to stop, and Leon watched Chris slink off, not knowing what to do.
Chris hated the fact that the man she was staying in the house to be with was so friendly with another girl right in front of her. She didn't really get it. She didn't know what to do about it either. For all, Vince and Chris had gotten closer but Chris still didn't know how far she could push him or what topics would clam him up. But it seemed that Torrie could tease, taunt and talk about anything to Vince and not get the silent treatment.
"Well, if ya'll will excuse me I need to change and shower." Torrie started to shoo people out of the room once Vince had let her up. Everyone left but Vince.
"You sure you're gonna be ok if I leave you alone Princess?" Vince asked with concern at the door.
"Yeah, I'm sure. I have some thinking to do V and I need to be alone for awhile."
"Ok baby girl, if you're sure."
"I'm sure, just do me the favour of answering the phone and telling anyone who happens to call for me that I'm not able to come to the phone."
"Torrie." Vince started in a warning tone. He wanted her to talk to Dom if the other man called. Not avoid him.
"Vince. If ANYONE calls, I'm not here, or I'm busy, OK?"
Vince sighed.
"OK. I'll make your excuses for tonight. But only for tonight. Got it?"
"Yeah. That's perfect." Vince started to walk away. "V?" Torrie stopped him.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks." Torrie's green gaze was filled with sadness, and sincerity.
"No problem baby girl. It's gonna be ok."
"I hope so V." With that Torrie closed the door to her room and started to get ready to take a shower. Elsewhere in the house she could hear the phone ring. She thought to herself it was a good thing she'd told Vince to tell anyone who called she couldn't come to the phone and heard Vince's baritone answering to whomever had called.
Chapter 68 - Home is Where the Heart Isn't
Torrie pulled her legs to her chest in the uncomfortable plastic chair and thought about getting up to find a pay phone to call someone to come get her. She didn't want to have to talk about what had happened but she figured no matter who she called she was going to have to explain why she'd come home in such a hurry and why her face was obviously all messed up from crying.
With her forehead to her knees and her hair covering her in a blue-black halo she literally radiated despair. She couldn't see all the pitying looks that were shot her way by those walking past her as she sat, arms wrapped around her legs, oblivious to the fact that life was carrying on around her.
She didn't know what she'd done to make Dom want to cheat on her. She'd known they'd had their issues but she'd thought things had been going well. They'd been talking more, fighting less. In her misery and self doubt she started to wonder how she'd ever thought that she'd be enough to keep Dom satisfied and content. If a woman like Letty hadn't been able to keep Dom from straying then Torrie couldn't see how she ever could. She derided herself for ever having thought that she'd be able to have a happily ever after with a man like Dom. In her morose mood she had herself convinced that Letty had been 10 times the woman she was and therefore she should have known that if Dom had cheated on Letty repeatedly then he was bound to start cheating on her.
Then when you threw in the fact she was more or less convinced that someone had been out to harm her in New York it was obviously not really Torrie's week. She'd almost forgotten about the close calls that had been happening to her while she'd dealt with discovering what Dom had done to her. But now that she was back in California and more or less calmed down, it almost slapped her in the face. Not only did the love of her life cheat on her with some random girl someone was out to harm or kill her. Could her week get any worse?
She sniffled against her denim clad thighs. She knew she was going to have to pick something to do and get up and do it. She couldn't stay in the airport all night and if she didn't make up her own mind soon Vince was going to arrive and take the choice away from her. She'd landed three hours early but she'd already wasted an hour and a half of it collecting her luggage and bemoaning her luck in the airport lobby. She told herself with a grimace that it was time to grow a backbone, pick her slightly bruised heart back up off the ground where Dom had left it and get on with the rest of her life. The rest of her life without Dom.
She didn't think it would be much of a life but she knew at the same time she couldn't forgive him for cheating on her. Maybe it wasn't fair but she just felt like Letty had given him two strikes and what he'd done to her was three strikes you're out. Dominic Toretto was out of her life. She just didn't think she had it in her to forgive him this. She was glad she had two weeks to think about it before he came home. She had no idea what she was going to do.
"You ok Princess?" A dearly familiar voice growled from somewhere just off to her left.
She lifted her head and moved the hair off her face dejectedly as she looked up the familiar figure of the man in front of her and into the calm blue gaze of Vince.
"I'm fine V. How'd you know I got in early?" Torrie lied easily, but it was obvious to all and sundry she was not fine.
"Dom called." Vince watched as Torrie's eyes filled up with tears. "Come 'ere Princess." Vince murmured and held his arms open in front of him. Torrie stood up and half fell, half jumped into his arms and sighed as Vince's strong, comforting hug wrapped around her.
"I don't know what to do!" Torrie sobbed against Vince's chest, soaking his shirt. She meant about everything but of course Vince assumed she just meant about Dom.
"Well baby girl, one thing woulda been to wait to hear the story." Vince said gently, tipping her head back so he could see her eyes and brushing her hair off her face, behind her ear tenderly. He knew she was upset and he didn't want to make it worse, but he wanted her to know she'd jumped to conclusions. She tried to avoid his gaze but he wasn't going to allow her.
She finally met his look in what was almost defiance.
"What? I should wait to hear his lies? Wait to hear him tell me that nothing happened! Wait for the realization that he's good and busted to don on his face. Wait for the excuses to start. How he was lonely, how she didn't mean anything, how he loves me and he was just using her. Wait for the promises about how he'll never do it again! What should I have waited for Vince?" Torrie asked sardonically.
"You should have waited for Dom to tell you that nothing happened other then he made a stupid mistake by not throwing that shirt out." Vince went to continue but Torrie cut him off.
"You're supporting him! You're saying that he just should have been more careful so I wouldn't catch him? That he should have just made sure I never found out." Torrie started to try to back away from Vince.
"No! I'm not saying that at all. It was a mistake Torrie. Some chick from the school got all over him one night at some club and before he could get away she'd gotten too close for comfort to Dom. But he didn't do anything. He didn't want to embarrass the other woman either because Dom says she's generally a good sort, she was just really drunk."
"You buy that?" Torrie looked sceptical.
"Yeah." Vince didn't elaborate.
"Well? Why?" Torrie asked. She didn't think that story was very likely.
"Because that's what Dom told me Tor." Vince answered like Torrie should already have picked that up.
"So, you don't think he could be lying about what he did? Trying to cover his own ass so you don't tell me what he did?"
"No." Vince started to pick up Torrie's bags.
"Well, why not?" Torrie was starting to get fed up with the one word answers.
Vince didn't want to tell her why he believed what he did, but he figured he was going to have to explain it to her if she was ever going to believe Dominic's story and forgive him for leaving the 'evidence' where she could find it.
"Because whenever he cheated on Letty and told her a lie to cover it up he always told me the truth, Tor. He never lied to me about it. He always told me what he'd done and some of the time he was proud of himself. Those times were a long time ago, and he's not proud of them now, but he still never hid what he'd done from me. He knew then and knows now that if it came down to it I'd cover for him. I'll admit that in this case I might not have been able to but he knows that I've never let on about Letty. So he tells me the truth. We've been friends too long for him not to." Vince sighed and hefted the last of Torrie's baggage onto a pushcart then ran a hand through his hair.
He felt like a terrible cad to have admitted that to anyone. He'd always held Dom's darkest secrets in confidence and he knew Dom did the same for him. He just hoped that Dom would see the rationale behind telling Torrie if Dom should ever find out he'd told her at all. But he hoped that the issue died now, before Dom ever came back. Letty didn't know the extent of how bad things had been between her and Dom even to that day and Vince didn't think her finding out so far after the fact would help anyone.
"So you're saying that if he ever should cheat on me he'd tell you the truth about it and then you'd hide it from me for him?" Torrie looked up at Vince with hurt in her eyes.
"I wouldn't run to you and tell you if that's what you mean Tor. But I would kick his ass on your behalf. I don't know if I could keep it from you if you asked me outright. We were younger when that other stuff all went down and I think it'd be harder for me now." Vince tried to be honest without totally pissing Torrie off or hurting her worse. They arrived beside his Maxima and put as much of her stuff in the truck as the NOS setup and subs would allow.
"So Letty has no idea that all the times he told her he didn't cheat on her he really did and he told you and you kept it to yourself?" Torrie asked, incredulous at the amount of callous disregard that Vince had shown to a woman he professed to love like a sister and had been caring for since she was 10 and moved into his neighbourhood. In Torrie's mind Vince could have clued Letty in and maybe saved her a lot of heartache by helping clue her into her man's cheating ways so she might have left him sooner.
"A lot of the times she thought he'd cheated on her he didn't really at all either Torrie. She was more then a little paranoid about it and she was always after him about it too. She was always asking him where he'd been and stuff." Vince slammed the trunk and back door of his car closed. "You getting in or standing in the parking lot all night?"
Torrie opened the passenger door of the Maxima and got in. She did up her belt and shot Vince a mutinous glare. She was still not sure how impressed she was with Vince's revelation about covering for Dom. She worried that he'd cover for Dom against her too. She didn't know who she could trust if not Vince. Vince had, of late, been taking her side against Dom, not the other way around. Vince shot Torrie a look and saw the scowl on her face.
"I didn't want to turn you against me too Princess. I was just trying to convince you that he wouldn't lie to me about it if he had cheated on you baby girl, and he didn't. He told me that some girl just got all over him and he got away as soon as he could. You know that happens even around here, you're just around to chase them off here. You got nothing to worry about." Vince turned back to the road.
"It's just that you're the one person in that house who always had my back V. I mean every fight I've ever had with Dom it was you I could turn to. Now I have to wonder if Dom's told you something that you're hiding from me. If you're playing both sides against the middle or just being nice to me to throw me off the scent of what Dom really did." Torrie sighed, feeling even more alone then she had sitting in the airport. At least then she'd had 'her V' to fall back on. Now she wasn't even sure she had that.
Vince sighed in pure frustration. He'd thought to reassure her with his tale and instead he'd made things even worse. How could he tell Torrie that he did have her back in this issue, not Dom's without back peddling totally on what he'd told her about Dom and Letty?
"I still have your back Tor. I'll never let Dom hurt you like he hurt Letty, Ok? I swear to you as of right now that if he ever tells me he did anything to hurt you or that would hurt you behind your back I'll make him tell you himself. Ok?"
Torrie sniffled in her seat. She'd never have guessed that Vince cared enough about her to make that pledge to her. She felt bad for starting shit with Vince so soon after they'd fought over Chris.
"Have I told you I love you lately V?" Torrie asked with a smile.
"No. It's good to hear Princess." Vince smiled at Torrie and tugged on a piece of her hair, then went back to concentrating on the road.
Torrie changed the station on his radio and when she failed to find anything that she wanted to listen to on any stations she started to flip through his CD collection. She still didn't find anything she wanted to listen to in his CD's so she took hers out of her purse and started to flip through them. She settled on a mix she'd made herself and slid it into his CD player. She turned the volume way up and settled back to allow the throbbing bass to relax her and hopefully relieve most of her headache. That was all it took most of the time for her to feel better. Loud, throbbing bass.
Vince smiled at her out of the corner of his eye indulgently. He'd tear a strip off anyone else who dared to fuck with his radio let alone play their own CD in his car. He took in Torrie's tired look and the black circles under her eyes coupled with the red rims. The condition of her face made her look tired and impossibly young.
"You know I'd kill anyone else who dared to touch my radio let alone put a mixed CD with Britney Spears on it in there right?" Vince chuckled.
"You would not." Torrie mumbled as she shifted in the seat of the Maxima and started to drift off to sleep.
"I would to." Vince retorted, wondering if they were going to get into a back and forth fight about it. He could see it now, would not/would too all the way back to the house.
"No you wouldn't. I know for a fact Mia could play whatever she wanted too." Torrie said and cracked her eyes open to watch Vince's reaction.
"No she couldn't. She tried once. And I made her cry. I felt bad about it afterwards but you just don't touch my stereo." Vince grinned.
"You made her cry?" Torrie found that hard to believe. She'd figured that Vince would let Mia away with more then anyone. "You did not make Mia cry. No way."
"Yeah. I did. I felt like such a jerk. For about 10 minutes. She should have asked first then I would have told her no and it wouldn't have had to be such a big fight. I wouldn't even let Dom mess with my stereo."
"Bet you'd let Chris mess with it." Torrie answered. She regretted saying it as soon as it left her mouth and she wished she could take it back. The atmosphere of the car had been so warm and cozy. Just her and V together again, having a great time together like it was meant to be. Then she'd had to bring out the cat fight material.
"Nope, you're the only one angel. I don't know how you managed to wrap ME around your finger like you did. If it was Leon I could understand. He always was a sucker for a pretty face." Vince laughed, a real, deep laugh.
Torrie looked up at him in shock. He wasn't mad with her for saying what she had. The car hadn't gotten strained.
"It's my charm. I'm irresistible or something. Besides, I'm not blonde enough for Leon." Torrie laughed. She felt much better then she had when she'd run away from Dom. Things were starting to look up. She still wasn't sure about what had gone down with Dom, wasn't sure how much she trusted Vince to be telling her the truth. It wasn't anything personal against Vince but as he'd already said, he and Dom had been friends for a very long time.
"It's your or something alright." Vince replied and signalled to exit the freeway into the general vicinity of Echo Park.
Torrie slapped his shoulder playfully with a grin.
"So, how'd you end up with so much extra luggage?" Vince asked, wanting to keep Torrie talking, keep her in a good mood. He remembered helping her pack his car for the trip to the airport and there hadn't been as much to load then.
"I went shopping in New York and bought something for everyone. It took up a lot of room to bring it all home. I didn't plan it out very well."
"Yeah, what did I get?" Vince asked.
"You'll have to wait till I give out everyone's presents." Torrie answered.
"You mean I didn't get anything special? Everyone got stuff?"
"Everyone got stuff but you still got something special baby boy. Don't worry." Torrie smiled enigmatically and sat up straight. They were almost home. Her spirit started to fall again. She didn't want to confront the rest of the team.
They arrived and Vince got out of the car and rushed around to help Torrie out of her seat.
"Thanks V." Torrie said as she stood up with his assistance.
Vince could tell she wasn't just thanking him for the hand out of the car.
"You're welcome Princess. Now help me carry all this stuff of yours into the house. With that he grabbed Torrie for a big hug then released her and started to grab bags out of the back seat.
"Where'd you rush off to Vince?" Mia called from the porch, clearly having missed out on Torrie's presence. "You need to leave now if you're gonna get Torrie on time." Mia still remembered how late Vince had been the last time he was supposed to pick her up from work.
"Airport." Vince called back and Torrie stepped out around him.
"Hey Mi!" She called.
Mia came flying down the walk with a happy squeal.
"Torrie!" She exclaimed. "You got home early! Why? Did they change your flight on you?" Mia carried on asking questions all without ever waiting for an answer. "I missed you." Mia grabbed Torrie and started to hug her hard.
"I missed you too Mi, but I was only gone three days. Do you think I could breathe now?" Torrie squeaked out. Mia released on her on a laugh.
"Sorry but when the men start to outnumber the women again it starts to get bad for us." Mia giggled.
"But it would be you and Let and Chris against V and Brian, Jess and Le. That's pretty evenly matched." Torrie looked up in puzzlement.
"Not when Letty spends the weekend with a certain new racer in town yet again." Mia grinned slyly.
"She spent the weekend with this Rome guy again?" Torrie asked, one eyebrow raised.
"Yep." Mia answered and picked up a small bag. "You didn't leave with this much stuff." Mia said.
"Thank you captain obvious." Torrie quipped and picked another couple small bags, leaving all the heavy stuff for Vince. Mia looked at Torrie, waiting for a better answer. "I brought presents." Torrie answered finally and Mia smiled. The girls started up the walk.
"Thanks girls, leave all the hundred pound bags for me." Vince grimaced and hefted the last of the baggage up onto his shoulder.
"But you're so big and strong." Torrie crooned up at Vince playfully.
"Well, since you put it like that." Vince grinned and followed Mia and Torrie up to the door.
"Let's just set this stuff down in my room." Torrie said and started up the stairs.
"Yes Ma'am." Vince retorted sarcastically as he followed her up the stairs.
Jesse and Leon heard the commotion and came up out of their rooms to find out what was going on. They headed up the stairs and to the door of Dom's room.
"Torrie!" Jesse called and rushed into the room. "How was your trip?" He asked as he hugged Torrie.
"Good." Torrie answered. She didn't want to go into 'What Dom did' with the team so she didn't mention it. Vince shot her off a look like he approved of that decision.
"Missed you around here girl." Leon growled and hugged Torrie too, picking her up off her feet then setting her back down.
"Yeah right. You missed me around the garage cause you had to pick up my slack." Torrie grinned.
"Naw Dawg, that's not even part of it." Leon answered and blushed, giving himself away.
"Go way with you Leon. You're a shitty liar." Torrie was obviously not mad about the situation. She knew Leon was just playing.
"Well, with you and the big Dawg gone it was a lot of work for the four of us to keep up with." Jesse answered and Brian entered the room.
"What's with the party in Dom's room?" Brian asked then spotted Torrie. "You're home early Torrie. How's it goin?"
"It's goin good Bri. How're you?"
"Good. How's Dom?"
"He's fine." Torrie answered like nothing was up. Brian nodded.
"Did you leave anything in New York or did you shop them out?" Brian asked, looking around at all the loot.
"I wasn't that bad." Torrie tried to remain serious but then she thought of Dom's look when he'd seen all the stuff loaded in the mustang and she laughed, filling them in on what Dom had said about carrying all her shopping around and her quip about him needing an ensure for stamina. Everyone joined her in laughing but Vince.
"I can see where Dom had a reason to complain. I think I hurt my back carrying all that stuff up the stairs." Vince griped playfully as he looked around at it all.
No one noticed Chris had come to the door of the room. She was use to that, being the person that no one noticed, but it had gotten better for her while Torrie had been gone. Chris frowned as she thought unhappily that now that Torrie was home Chris would go back to being hardly better then the wallpaper.
"Aw baby. You want me to give you a back rub?" Torrie asked. "I know at your age how easy it is to hurt yourself after all." She smiled slyly.
"I should hold you to that offer." Vince threatened.
"I don't mind if you really hurt yourself." Torrie answered, starting to look concerned. She hoped Vince hadn't really hurt himself carrying so much at one time.
"I'm fine Torrie. But I'm glad to know you're concerned for my well being all the same Angel."
"Of course I am baby. Your wellbeing is so important to me. I never know when I might need that strong back to.carry things up the stairs for me." Torrie grinned.
"Oh, I otta." Vince moved to grab Torrie and everyone knew she had a tickling coming to her. The rest of the team just laughed as Torrie started to move away from Vince backwards, hands held up in supplication in front of her hoping to avoid the inevitable.
Leon noticed Chris at the door of the room first. He tried to get Vince's attention so his friend would stop flirting with Torrie in front of the sensitive other girl but it was to no avail. They continued to play with each other, Vince tickling the screaming Torrie on Dom's bed till she begged him to stop, and Leon watched Chris slink off, not knowing what to do.
Chris hated the fact that the man she was staying in the house to be with was so friendly with another girl right in front of her. She didn't really get it. She didn't know what to do about it either. For all, Vince and Chris had gotten closer but Chris still didn't know how far she could push him or what topics would clam him up. But it seemed that Torrie could tease, taunt and talk about anything to Vince and not get the silent treatment.
"Well, if ya'll will excuse me I need to change and shower." Torrie started to shoo people out of the room once Vince had let her up. Everyone left but Vince.
"You sure you're gonna be ok if I leave you alone Princess?" Vince asked with concern at the door.
"Yeah, I'm sure. I have some thinking to do V and I need to be alone for awhile."
"Ok baby girl, if you're sure."
"I'm sure, just do me the favour of answering the phone and telling anyone who happens to call for me that I'm not able to come to the phone."
"Torrie." Vince started in a warning tone. He wanted her to talk to Dom if the other man called. Not avoid him.
"Vince. If ANYONE calls, I'm not here, or I'm busy, OK?"
Vince sighed.
"OK. I'll make your excuses for tonight. But only for tonight. Got it?"
"Yeah. That's perfect." Vince started to walk away. "V?" Torrie stopped him.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks." Torrie's green gaze was filled with sadness, and sincerity.
"No problem baby girl. It's gonna be ok."
"I hope so V." With that Torrie closed the door to her room and started to get ready to take a shower. Elsewhere in the house she could hear the phone ring. She thought to herself it was a good thing she'd told Vince to tell anyone who called she couldn't come to the phone and heard Vince's baritone answering to whomever had called.