To Be Needed

Chapter 21

"Hey Jesse! Mia wants to go to the mall later. You down?" Leon yelled down the basement stairs the next morning. It was already ten and Jesse was usually up by then, but Leon frowned when he received no answer to his question. Jesse never sleeps much so it was very rare for him to sleep in. Leon headed down the stairs quietly incase Jesse was indeed sleeping. Leon didn't want to disturb his friend if he was indeed asleep.

Leon looked around and frowned. The bed lay empty. Jesse never makes his bed so Leon had no way of knowing if Jesse had slept at all. Jesse was nowhere in sight. Leon checked the ashtray and knew Jesse hadn't been home all night. Leon turned and jogged back up the stairs.

It wasn't like Jesse couldn't go out on his own. It wasn't like Jesse to leave without telling someone, especially Ashby. Maybe he told Dom, Leon mused.

He stepped back into the kitchen to where Mia sat feeding Maria. He saw Dom and asked, "hey Jesse say anything about going out early to you?"

Dom looked at Leon intently. "No, why?"

Leon shrugged. "Just asking, cuz he's gone already," Leon explained.

Dom's eyes widened. He rushed to the front door and saw the familiar white Jetta was indeed gone. "Shit!"

Dom ran up to his room and came back down dressed in jeans and a white v-neck t-shirt. "I'll be back. I gotta find Jesse. Tell Mia," Dom threw at Leon as he ran out the front door.

Leon nodded as he saw Dom toss his cell phone on the seat next to him and start his car, and was gone a second later. Leon stood there in confusion. Did he miss something? Since when was Jesse going out such a big deal?

Dom pulled into the diner off the highway. He saw Jesse's white Jetta just as he was told it would be in this area. He called in a favor to track down and Jesse and Dom was glad it worked. Dom entered the restaurant and spotted Jesse immediately. He walked over and slides into the booth, facing Jesse.

Jesse's eyes widened at the sight of Dominic sitting across from him. He was in trouble and he knew it.

"I think you and I need to have a little talk. Jesse are you in love with Ash?"

Jesse's jaw dropped. He was in shock. "Hell No! She's like a sister to me. Why the hell would you think that?" Jesse asked confused.

Dom breathed a sigh of relief. He was thankful it would be a lot less complicated than he thought. Unless of course Jesse was lying. "If you're not in love with her then how come ever since they got together you haven't been able to leave them the hell alone?" Dom asked in an irritated voice.

Jesse looked away, feeling guilty. "I just don't' want her to get hurt. That's all," Jesse said lamely.

Dominic scowled. "That's bullshit Jesse and you know it. You know Vince. He wouldn't hurt her. You know that."

Jesse turned an angry scowl at Dom. "Yeah I know V. He never hurts 'em. But what happens after he gets tired of them? Do you know Dom? No of course not because they call me. Crying and upset because they don't understand why V suddenly doesn't want anything to do with them anymore. They want to know what they did wrong so they can fix it so he'll take them back. Do you wanna know how many of them have called me Dom? DO YOU? All of them. They're a wreck when V's done with them. No fucking way he's doin that to Ash! That's why I go in their room at night and pretend I'm scared to sleep alone. That's why I always make sure V can't have her. If he really loved her he'd be willing to wait. He'd be willing to marry her. If Ash really loved him and was ready she would tell me to leave them alone. She hasn't Dom, which tells me one thing. She isn't ready. AND fuck that if I let V try and get her to do somethin she ain't ready to do," Jesse ranted.

Dominic said nothing. He was in shock. He had no idea about any of it. Jesse never told anyone. But Ashby and Vince were still adults. Ashby can make her own decisions. Dom smiled at his little brother because if he had been in Jesse's place he probably would have done the same thing.

"Jesse do you really think Vince would force Ashby to do something she didn't want to do? Do you think she would let him do that to her?"

Jesse opened his mouth, but then closed it. He sighed deeply.

"I know you're trying to protect her and after we found out about David we're all even more protective of her, but she's an adult. If they want to be together, you can't force them apart. Vince won't hurt her, but if he does all you can do is be there for her and I'll kick his ass," Dom told him.

Jesse smiled. "I guess I messed up going after them, huh?" he asked sheepishly.

Dom laughed. "No. You were being a protective brother. It's good Ash has you and us. She doesn't have anyone else. But you're lucky Vince hasn't seen you yet. I think he's way past frustration at this point."

Jesse laughed. "Yeah he's been giving me evil looks for the last couple of weeks. So I guess I gotta go home now huh?"

Dom eyes him for a moment. He's never really spent time with Jesse outside of dealing with cars. They always had the team around and they always talked about cars. Especially with race wars coming up. "Tell you what. How about you and me just drive up the coast and hang out? We can do whatever you want," Dominic offered.

The reaction on Jesse's face was enough to tell him that he made the right decision. Dom realized that everyone needs to feel loved and appreciated. He knew Jesse had been feeling neglected and he had been trying to work on that, but there is life outside of cars and racing. Dom just needed help in remembering that. Maybe Jesse could be the one to show him.

Leon sat in the living room with Maria in his lap. They were watching TV. Well he was Maria was playing with the chain that hung from his belt. She lies on her stomach across his lap happily wiggling the chain so it would make noise. When his cell phone rang Maria jumped slightly which caused him to laugh.

"Yeah?" he said in amusement as Maria turned to watch him talk in the ringing object. She smiled at him and reached for it, wanting to play with it. She strained to lift herself up, but couldn't.

"Hey it's Dom. I found Jesse. We're gonna hang out for next couple of days. We'll be back Monday morning. Where's Mia?" Dom told Leon.

Leon watched Maria in amusement as she struggled to sit up until finally she gave a small whine to be helped. He lifted her up so she was level with his chest. "She's doing laundry. She said she couldn't leave the house until it was done. How's Jesse?" Leon asked, concerned about his little brother. He heard Dom chuckle.

"He's aight. He's determined. We're gonna a long talk. Jesse here was on his way to catch up with Ash and V. He's afraid V is gonna hurt her, but I'll fix that."

Leon smiled. He should have known it was something like that. Lately Jesse seemed to be attached to Ashby's hip. He couldn't be anywhere unless she was. Leon batted Maria's grab for the phone. "Aight. Well tell him he shouldn't worry. V's got all of us to worry about if he does anything to Ash. You guys need anything just call,"

Leon said.

"Aight Bro. Talk to ya later.

"Later dawg," Leon said and hung up. He moved the phone out of Maria's reach before she could make another grab for it. She was laughing happily thinking they were playing a game.

"Princess, first you gotta talk before you can have one of these," he told her playfully then tickled her. Maria laughed and squirmed, trying to wiggle out of reach of his fingers.

Leon laughed at her and hoisted her up as he stood. He made his way over to the basement door. He crept down quietly. He could hear Mia as she grumbled about how Maria had more dirty clothes than anyone and she still couldn't walk yet.

"I can just imagine how much there will be when she does walk," Mia said to herself unaware Leon was watching her.

Leon laughed out loud.

Mia turned around startled. "Oh jeez Leon. Don't do that! You scared the crap out of me," she said as she held a hand up to her chest.

Leon smiled and just looked at her. He didn't know why he never looked at her in this way before. Her beauty sometimes just took his breath away. "Just wait until she's old enough to be interested in cars. You know we won't be able to keep her away from the garage," he told her in amusement.

Mia groaned at the thought. "Oh god don't remind me. It's bad enough she likes to be in the car all the time."

Leon laughed. Maria grew bored with the adults around her so she made a grab for Leon's chain around his neck. Leon quickly reached up and dislodged it from her little fingers. "Oh no princess. That's Uncle Leon's. We'll get you your own," he said as if she could really understand him.

Leon looked back at Mia who was watching him with her daughter. "Dom called. He found Jesse, but they're gonna hang out. He said they'd be back Monday morning. You know what this means right?" He asked her slyly.

Mia frowned at him. "No, what?"

Leon grinned at her. "That we'll be all alone until Monday."

Mia rolled her eyes. "And don't forget Maria. Unless she plans on taking off too."

"You still want to go shopping right?" Leon asked.

"Yeah. I'm almost done here. Can you do me a favor and get her dressed for me?" Mia asked him hesitantly.

Leon smiled. "Oh yeah sure Mi. I'll get her diaper bag ready too," Leon said and he was gone.

Mia stared after Leon. Deep in her heart Mia knew Leon would do anything for anyone on the team. He didn't have any family he cared to talk about so the team was all he had. Mia also knew Leon would do anything for Maria. She never knew Leon was so good with children. Suddenly Mia realized there were a lot of things about Leon she didn't know.

Leon has always been a player. He always had a different girl with him every weekend so Mia never really paid much attention to him. She never looked at him in that way. Suddenly Mia realized Leon had changed a lot. She knew he hadn't been going out as much as he used too. And he hasn't brought a girl home since before Maria was born. But it's Leon. I can't like Leon like that. Can I? Mia thought to herself.

Mia had never been so confused in her life. She thought she was in love with Brian and that didn't work out. Did she really want to go jump into a situation with another guy so soon? She had Maria to worry about now. Plus it would be all weird since Leon lived in the same house. Mia didn't want to ruin the friendship she and Leon shared right now. Things were finally going good for everyone. Mia didn't want to rock the boat. She didn't think she could handle any more drama in her life. Emotionally Mia was tired and didn't want to have to deal with anything too difficult. Mia sighed and went back to the laundry. But he's so good with Maria maybe Leon wouldn't be so bad. He's always been so sweet. Mia thought absently.

Mia decided she would just let things take their course if Leon ever showed signs he was interested Mia wouldn't turn him away. Who knows maybe with everyone gone this weekend it would give her the chance to see if she could see Leon in that way. She couldn't deny the fact that Leon was attractive, very attractive. Mia suddenly wondered why she never looked at Leon like that. Sure he was her brother's friend, but she didn't grow up with him like she did Vince. He wasn't as much of a brother like Vince. Which was why Mia always turned down Vince. She couldn't ever go out with Vince because it would be like dating her own brother. Mia couldn't do it. Leon was a different matter. When Mia met him she immediately dismissed him because he was Dom's friend.

Mia wondered what would have happened if she looked at Leon instead of Brian. Would everything would have happened the same a year ago or would things be different. Mia pushed the thought out of her mind. It didn't matter. She got Maria out of everything so it didn't really matter what would have happened instead. All that mattered to Mia now was making sure her daughter was taken care of.

Leon looks so cute when he's holding Maria…


Author's Notes: I just want to say thank you to everyone who has reviewed and let me know you enjoyed this story. There is only one more part and it is fairly short compared to the rest of the chapters. Unfortunately I had to end the stoy because I felt trying to force out of it wouldn't have been right.I no longer write Het fics nor do I read/write in this fandom. (I wrote this fic approx. 2 years ago).

If any of you like slash then be on the look out for new fics. I'm currently working on fics in the following genres: Harry Potter, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, andStarGate: Atlantis.

Once again THANK YOU to all who read and reviewed my story. I appreciate it. With that said enjoy the the last part.