Hey guys! I know, it's been a while, but school kept me rather busy. I'm really sorry that you had to wait so long and hope that you will enjoy this chapter. I tried to make it little longer than the others to make up for the lost updates!!!

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About Winners and Losers

Clap!

The sign that it was time to let all the anger and tension leave the body to drive. To do nothing else but driving. To feel the NOS running through your veins.

Brian O'Connor lived for this feeling.

Stepping on the gas pedal, he left the cheering crowd behind and overtook the guy named John, before entering the first corner. He shot a look into the mirror to get a better view on the situation behind him.

While Vittorio was almost next to him, the moron tried to stay close to John with as much power as his car had to offer. Brian had to smile evilly at that.

"C'mon moron",he changed the gear,"not going to lose, are you?"

But the young man wasn't planning on wasting his time by thinking about some stupid, arrogant kid whose driving skills weren't good enough to win a race. He turned the steering wheel and took the first corner, getting some space between him and Vittorio, who was also driving at the limits of his car without having pressed the NOS-buttons yet.

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"Fuck!" Mike Anders wasn't happy with the situation. He was almost at full-speed by now and still, the other guys in his group were in front of him. He was last! He, The One and Only, was last! These guys had to be cheating somehow, otherwise it couldn't be possible for them to be in front of him………. especially this Bullitt! Turning the wheel to the right to enter the next corner, he saw the large amount of street between his and Bullitt's car, while this man-Jack or Jim, he didn't know-was overtaking him.

"NO!"The team-captain couldn't believe this was happening. He would lose! He had never lost before! But now, he would lose a total of 2500$ and he needed the money. He had to get behind these guys' secret…………. he had to learn more about this NOS-stuff and how it worked, then he would win and get all of his money back. Though, right now, he would have to think about a good excuse for him being last. The people at school wouldn't believe Shane and Lilly, if they told them, but what about all of the babes who were waiting for him at the finish.

"Oh, well", he sighed and stepped on his gas pedal while changing the gear,"I still do look better than all of the others, so they'll still have the hots for me."

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"Vitto, Vitto, Vitto",Brian shook his head in disbelief,"already pressing your buttons? And there I thought you'd be smarter than that."

The leading duo had reached the last leg of the race and Vittorio's nervousness had ended in him using his NOS…………..way too early, how Brian knew. He felt the adrenaline with every breath he took and his thumbs were itching to press the tiny red buttons on his steering wheel, but he would have to wait another 100 yards or so, otherwise he wouldn't be able to overtake Vittorio.

The sound of a roaring engine behind him caught his attention and the blond man looked into his mirror to see John coming closer from behind………..no sign of the moron or the trash he called his car.

The time had come.

Brian O'Connor leaned back in his seat, while his thumbs were pushing the red buttons. Immediately, he was pressed into his seat and whooped, feeling the rush of freedom and NOS.

Vittorio's car was soon overtaken and Brian saw the cheering crowd in front of him. This night seemed to be perfect! Not only he had won, but he had beaten this damn guy who had been stupid enough to insult his baby…………..and he would get 10.000$.

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"That's my big bro!" Lilly whooped as loud as possible and raised her arms high up into the air, clapping and smiling and feeling completely happy, while Brian was getting out of his car, also grinning like mad. She was embraced by Shane who was shouting that he couldn't believe The One and Only had lost and that Brian was the greatest driver alive and some other stuff Lilly wasn't able to understand due to all the people around them who were celebrating Bullitt's victory. Lilly imagined heaven to be something close to these few moments after this race.

"My man", Tej laid his hand on Brian's shoulder and gave him his winnings,"how come you always win? I'll tell ya: cause you're the best!" The men laughed before Brian got kissed by Suki and asked her where his sister was. He had so gotten used to this beautiful smile and shining eyes after he had won a race that he would somehow miss it, even, if merely a few minutes passed between him getting out of the car and her approaching.  

"Somewhere around, I guess", Suki shrugged,"you know she'd never dare not coming to tell you that you're the best."

"True again", the blond man nodded and turned his attention back to the cheering crowd, being sure that his younger sister would manage to find him eventually.

"Where is he?" Lilly folded her arms in front of her belly and tapped with one foot on the hard ground, eyes focused on the road.

"Turn your head to the right and you will see your brother", Shane couldn't understand why his friend was still scanning the street, when the race had been over since at least thirty seconds. Why didn't she want to see her brother like she usually did?

"M not talking 'bout Brian", the girl tucked on of her blond strands behind her left ear,"m waiting for The One and Only to arrive. Even with his car, he should be here by now."

"Oh", that was everything the boy had on his mind at this very second before the thoughts started blurting out of his mouth,"why do you even care? It's not like he'll accept that he has lost. You know him just as well as I do! He's the sorest loser alive and after having been himself before the race started, he is most likely to have run away like the coward he is! Let's just go joining the party, 'kay? C'mon."

He took her gently by her upper arm but was shaken off immediately.

"The party's goin' to last the whole night. There won't be any difference, if I go there now or in a minute", it bothered her that The One and Only wasn't showing up. Of course, she thought of him as a complete idiot and a loser, but she had at least imagined him to be honest and smart enough to bring the race to an end. If he didn't come within the next few seconds, there wouldn't be any mercy for him and maybe he would never be allowed to start again. Even the ones who lost control over their cars had the courage to stand up for their mistakes and to cross the finish line.

"But don't be angry afterwards", Shane knew that his friend was indeed stubborn and so, he didn't try to change her mind about waiting,"I'm goin' to congratulate your brother on his victory now and I'll tell him that you'll be coming in a minute or two, 'kay?"

"I'm not stubborn and, of course, it's okay", at times, Lilly could really read her best friends thoughts and she didn't want him to stay with her, when his mind was all about celebrating and getting some girls' numbers. She saw the boy entering the area of the party and her attention went back to the road.

Shane's right, though, she sighed, I can't be waiting here for the rest of the night. Just another minute, then I'll be going. How ridiculous is it to wait for an arrogant guy whom you wanted to lose? I should go. I have to hug my bro and make him smile.

With that, the girl was just about to turn around, when a pair of headlights appeared at the end of the street. Could it be…….? She checked her watch and shook her head no. The race had been over for fifty seconds and he was coming now? What did he do on the way? Stopped to drink some coffee? But that didn't matter. She had proven Crash that he had been wrong about The One and Only.

The horrible painted car came closer and closer until it was driven over to the side, where some other cars were standing. Anders couldn't cross the finish line due to the people still standing there, but he was already wearing his arrogant smile again when he got out of the Renault. Lilly decided that she had seen enough of this, she would have preferred the sight of a Mike Anders who finally understood that he wasn't the best and that there were people who could beat him, instead, she received The One and Only in top form, diving slowly into the crowd, always smiling and trying to look cool.

The girl shook her head and sighed. Some people are never gonna change.

That was when she turned around to search her big brother to congratulate him.

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There had been only seven groups this night and the cops hadn't come to disturb any of the fun, so now, the party had moved to the backyard of Tej's garage.

The people were drinking and dancing and, of course, talking about cars. All around the dance-floor were little groups of three or more people. Men showing off their latest equipment, women chattering about clothes and men, every now and then a couple doing each other's mouth with their tongues, a little bar, where the people got their drinks. Everything was lit by festoons/lanterns, something like that but it didn't matter anyway, there was some light and nobody bothered to ask where it was coming from.

Lilly was sitting on one of the loungers Tej owned, among a group of six other teenagers who were also coming to the races due to them being related to somebody or anything like that. Right next to Lilly on the lounger sat Sam, a 17-year-old guy with tousled hazelnut-colored hair and green eyes, who was also a quite successful biker, on a chair Caroline, shooting glares at Lilly because Sam was talking to the blond, though Caroline thought that she was looking a lot hotter. Then, there were Shane close to a chick named Tanya, both sitting on a towel laid on the sand. Andy and Greg, both 17-year-old bikers and good friends of Sam, were sitting on the sand and on a chair and completed the group.

"Ya should 'ave seen me Dad", Sam took a sip from his beer and smiled at the memory," 'e went all white when 'e saw 'is brand-new Mercedes totally wrecked."

"I can only imagine",Lilly grinned and saw Shane and his flirt, Tanya, getting up and going over to the dancing area.

"I think I left my purse somewhere", Caroline announced and stood up, hoping that Sam would take a good look at her long bronze legs while she was walking away over the sandy ground with her high heels.

"Can't stand it, when she isn't the center of attention", Greg swallowed down another mouth full of beer,"I really don't understand such people."

"Tell me 'bout it", the only girl left answered, thinking of The One and Only, whom she could see in the distance, flirting with some air-heads.

"Time to go home or my mom's gonna freak", Andy said after looking at his watch. He rose up from his chair, took his two empty bottles of beer with him and was already off, when Greg, whose parents would also not like the fact that their son had been out till three o'clock in the morning, shouted that he should wait for him, so that they could leave together.

So there were only Sam and Lilly left.

"Do ya also spray motorbikes?" The boy rested his hands on his knees and eyed the scratches in Lilly's jeans accidently, seeing golden skin beneath the blue material.

"I have never done one before, but it's no difference, I guess. Why?"

"Well", Sam didn't want his answer to sound cheesy or anything, that's why he thought before speaking,"I saw some o' yer sprayings and I wondered, if ya would give me Cash a new one."

"Your Cash?" Lilly knew that Sam called his motorcycle Cash because of all the cash he won with it and she knew just as well that Cash was Sam's greatest treasure, so it was quite a big deal that he would let her spray it. "Course, I can. You just have to tell me the colors and what's exactly on your mind and then……….well, then I can start ASAP."

"Cool", Sam nodded and saw Lilly slightly yawning,"hope, I'm not tiring ya, am I?"

"No, no, no", Lilly waved with her hands,"it's just, you know, it's three o'clock in the morning and I'm up since, like, seven o'clock yesterday morning non-stop. 'S all, please don't think it's you or anything, okay?"

"Sorry, I didn't know…….."

"'S okay, don't be. I'll be in a better mood this afternoon", she looked into his deep green eyes and caught herself staring a little,"you comin' around today to talk 'bout the spraying?"

"O' course. How about four o'clock?"

"Sounds good to me", she nodded and both of them got up from the lounger, walking side by side. Sam then said bye and Lilly went to find Brian to tell him that she was going home. Their apartment wasn't even half a mile away from Tej's garage, so she didn't need a car, but she wanted Brian at least to know that she was at home. She didn't want him to worry about her.

Scanning the crowd for any sign of her older brother, Lilly didn't really look at the people she was passing by, until an all too familiar voice made her turn her head to the left.

"Look who's here", a slightly drunken Mike Anders was standing less than two yards away from her, surrounded by three racing-queen wanna-bes and holding a bottle of beer in his right hand,"want to congratulate me?"

The girl thought that maybe she had heard him wrong, but even if she was tired and had drunken two bottles herself, her mind wouldn't play such tricks on her.

"What the hell are you talkin' about, Anders? Don't you know the difference between winning and losing? You lost! You didn't even cross the line."

"Winning and losing isn't about crossing the line as the first one", the boy told her with an arrogant sneer,"it's about the way you're handling it. And I'm handling it better than anybody else. That makes me the winner."

"Yeah, sure", Lilly rolled her eyes,"handling it by getting drunk, that much I can see."

"Jealous 'cause you can't win a race by yourself", he faked pity on the girl,"I'm so sorry."

"What do you mean can't win a race by myself? I've already won more than your Dad earns per year", why am I even talking to him? I should just go and search Brian. But I want to know what his last comment means!

"Course, you did", Mike felt so superior to Lilly, he couldn't believe it himself………..almost,"but everybody can drive his or her older brother's car. It's not like you deserve to win. Even the most untalented driver could beat everybody else, if he was sitting in a great car that has been built by somebody else. So, you wanna congratulate me on my first race I lost driving my own car, or what?"

It took much to take Lilly aback, but right now, the blond had to review the conversation she was just having. She didn't want to see Anders' face anymore, she just wanted to go home.

"No, I won't", she continued searching a way through the crowd, leaving The One and Only behind, while cursing innerly. No I won't? No I won't! What kind of answer is that?! Great Lilly, I really am proud of you! How much I hate this guy! How dare he……………being right. What?! What was that?! This is Mike Anders I'm thinking about, he can't be right! But he is. No, he's not! I win because I'm good, that's it! Yeah, in my brother's car. Oh my God, I'm arguing with myself! I really am tired.

Lilly kept on scanning the crowd for Brian, but he was nowhere to be seen and she wanted to fall into her bed as soon as possible, so when she saw Jimmy, she decided that he could tell Brian as well that she was at home.

"Bro?"She tipped him on the shoulder and made him look up from a magazine he seemed to be reading. The article was about engines.

"Hey", he smiled at her,"'s up?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to ask you, if you'd be so nice to tell Brian that I already went home. Would you do that for me? Please, please?" She was batting her eyelashes at him, knowing that he couldn't deny her anything. She really liked the young man, not everybody earned the term bro.

"Got it", she was about to leave, when he gently grabbed her hand,"which group you wanna be?"

It was something like a tradition that Tej would draw up the list with the groups for the next time on every party after the last race. Usually, the people stayed until he pulled out his pager, but close friends were allowed to tell him or some friend the number of their group when they went home before the party was over and that was it.

Lilly didn't think before answering Jimmy's question and a "I don't wanna race tonight" escaped her mouth.

She didn't even realize what she had said until she was standing in front of Tej's garage.

"I don't wanna race tonight", she spoke the words as if she had never heard them from her lips before. Well, actually, she did. The girl couldn't remember her using this sentence ever before, but it had just rolled off her tongue while talking to Jimmy.

"Stupid Anders!" She hissed through her teeth and while walking home, Lilly kept on wondering why such a jerk could make her not want to race.

"I can win by myself", she told herself, looking down at her sneakers, but the little traiterous voice inside her head nagged on the fact that she had never lost in Brian's car.

"Shut up."

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Okay, I hope the next chapter won't take so long and I beg you to review!

REVIEW!

Till next time………….