Laura woke to the sounds she heard every morning in the house. Most of the team were already up, making a racket in the kitchen, even though it was still only 7am. She got up and made her way downstairs, happy to see Leon sitting in the kitchen looking his normal self. She was handed a slice of toast by Letty who kept giving her strange looks. When no one was looking Letty whispered over the table to her,
"Talk to him Laura. Don't put it off."
She was only just up and Letty was already pushing her to do the one thing she didn't want to do. Leon smiled at her and her heat strings pulled. What would she say, how exactly would she break it to him? As usual he sensed something was up and rubbed her arm affectionately.
"You Ok baby?"
"Uh, yeah. Could we maybe go for a drive later? We need to… talk."
Leon caught on this was not a good thing and motioned her to follow him out into the living room. She unwillingly followed him and sat on the couch.
"So… what do we need to talk about?" Leon shuffled on his feet. Laura knew he was aware of what was coming, he just wasn't saying so.
"Look, I love you so much Leon…you know I do. But with all that's went on in my past and the fact you can be a little possessive, in fact scarily so, I think it would be best if…" she trailed off. Leon looked as though he had been punched in the stomach.
"But Laura, we have something good. We can work through your problems…and mine. I know I can be paranoid and possessive but it's only because I'm so scared of losing you…"
Laura didn't know how to respond…it was because of his paranoia that he was losing her. She tried to push the fact that her feelings for Brian were the main reason for her breaking up with him out of her head,
"Leon, if you act this possessive with every girl you meet then no wonder they haven't lasted. I'm really sorry but we aren't meant to be together. I really do love you…but more like a brother or a friend. Please don't hate me for this…"
He stood in silence for what seemed like a lifetime, staring at the floor. Laura thought she saw a tear fall from his face but couldn't be sure.
"I don't think I can just let you go Laura…I really thought we had something. Please don't tell me there's someone else…."
Laura flinched. There wasn't really anyone else…
"No Leon. There's no one else. I'm just not ready for a relationship yet. I'm still coming to terms with the last one I had…I know I led you on a bit, what with me pouncing on you and all, but that was just spur of the moment stuff. Will you be Ok? Promise me you won't do anything stupid Leon. You're a great guy…you'll find someone else who really deserves you."
He sighed and looked her straight in the eye,
"I'll live Laura. I always do."
He walked out of the room, grabbed his jacket and keys and muttered something about going for a drive. As Laura listened to his tires screech on the tarmac she realised her own tears had been falling. The confusion and guilt that was choking her felt like the worst feeling she had ever experienced and right on que Letty came in to soothe her as she cried. Was she a heartless bitch for ditching Leon like that? Would she regret it in the end? Where her motives all wrong? Did she really lie when she told him there was no one else?
As she calmed down a little she realised the rest of the house had gone quiet. Letty stroked her back until she decided to get up and see where everyone was. Laura walked into the kitchen to find Mia and Vince sitting, talking quietly at the table. They quietened down when they noticed her and Mia smiled at her reassuringly,
"Don't worry about Leon, he'll be Ok. He'll go for a long drive and come back his old self again. It's a pity you two didn't last though…you looked good together." Vince nudged Mia as she said the last part.
Laura just smiled, wiped her eyes with a tissue and went upstairs. She guessed Dom, Brian and Jesse had gone early to the garage and she was glad they hadn't witnessed her break up. She had a quick shower and pulled on a pair of faded jeans and a black tank top. She pulled her hair into a bun and went downstairs to find the place empty. Mia had left a note on the fridge saying her, Letty and Vince had followed the others out to the garage and she had left her the keys to the store, hoping she would go and open it for her. It may have been a Saturday but the team was always working.
Laura drove out to the store and opened it a little later than the actual opening time. She sat on the stool at the counter and watched the morning go by. She was so consumed by her thoughts she hardly noticed the few customers she had come in and out. At midday, as she cleaned the counter top, she saw a familiar face walk up to the till. For the first time ever she wasn't happy to see him.
"Hey" Brian said as he perched on the edge of a stool, "You Ok? Mia told me about the split…tough huh?"
"Yeah…but I'd rather not talk about it."
"Sure, no problem. I just thought I'd come down and keep you company…it gets a little lonely over here."
"A little?" she laughed. Maybe she was glad to see him. It was pretty boring when you were here all day with only the coffee maker and a magazine as company.
"So you like your car then? Dom told me how hard you worked on her…she looks really good. You do the paint job yourself?"
Laura smiled at the appropriate change of subject, "Yeah…well Vince helped a little but I did most of it. Mia helped me with the Vinyl's though…could never quite get the hang of them… Yours isn't bad either. How long you had her?"
He looked over at his silver Skyline with pride and smiled,
"Not long. Did all the work myself and it took forever. She's been all over the country with me…won a lot of races too."
"Nice. I heard you've been all over the place. What made you come back?"
"Did Mia tell you what all happened?"
"Yeah…"
"Well, I needed to sort it all out with Dom and I needed Mia's forgiveness most of all. But mainly because, for the short time I lived out here and worked with the team, I felt at home. I wanted that again… it's no fun running when you've got nowhere to go and you're leaving all you care about behind."
Laura nodded and smiled as she thought about how trusting Brian was. He didn't seem to have any problem telling her all this.
"So what about you? You know all about my past and all my secrets. Why did you come all the way over to LA? What were you running from?"
"It's a really long story and it's pretty boring…"
"I've got time…"
"Ok…well, I ran from things I couldn't change. My parents, my boyfriend, my life in general. I felt really trapped and I always wanted to come to California so I just…packed and left home!"
"Cool. What was so wrong with your life in Ireland though?"
"My friends and parents didn't seem to care about me and my boyfriend was…violent. Also, I didn't wanna live the life I was expected to lead…Uni and a boring, monotonous job. No thanks. So I decided to come out here and look for work. Seemed a good idea then and I'm not regretting it so far."
He smiled and nodded. Laura's heart flipped as he once again caught her gaze with those intense blue eyes. He had a habit of doing that with her…
"Well, I'm glad you came out here. I wouldn't have met you if you had stayed in Ireland…"
She laughed, "Yeah…like it makes a difference though. I'm just another girl breaking hearts in the Torretto house!"
Brian found this statement quite amusing, "Well, I doubt Leon is the only guy trying hard to keep you out of his head…" he grinned at her and her breath caught in her throat.
"Oh really…"
Just as she thought she might die of happiness the phone rang. She jogged into the office at the back and picked up the reciever,
"Hello, Torrettos…"
"Hey Laura, it's Vince. Would you send Brian back over here? He said he'd only be a few minutes and it's been nearly an hour. Tell him another car has just been booked in and it's on it's way over so he'll have his hands full. In fact, Mia is on her way over to the store so when she gets there she can take over and you can come to the garage…we need all the hands we can get today…"
"Ok, see you soon Vince. I'll tell Brian you're missing him…"
She hung up just as Vince started to protest. She was still laughing as she told Brian to get back to the garage.
"You're coming over too, when Mia gets here?"
"Yup," she replied, happy he wanted her there.
"Cool… oh, by the way Laura…there was something else I needed to ask you…"
"Shoot."
"Are you really not ready for a relationship? Or were you just not ready for one with Leon?"
"That's a pretty personal question…"
He smiled shyly at her and she giggled,
"I'm not sure. I guess if I found the right guy I'd be ready for one…but Leon just wasn't the right guy. Why do you ask?"
He just grinned at her and shrugged. He walked off towards his car. Mia arrived just as he opened his drivers door and Laura ran out to meet her.
"Hey girl, keys are in the drawer…I'll see you later."
Mia nodded in reply and Laura walked over to her Skyline, which was parked behind Brian's. He was standing watching her with a thoughtful expression on his face. He suddenly grinned,
"How's about we make a little wager. I race you to the garage. If I win then I get to take you out some night, after Leon has cooled off of course. If you win then you get anything you want from me… What do ya say?"
Laura laughed, it was the most ridiculous wager she had ever been challenged to but she agreed to the terms and got into her car. She quickly started up and pulled off, just ahead of Brian. She weaved in and out of the traffic and was pleased at the fact she was able to hold first position. As she got closer to a set of red lights she slowed up a little. Surely he didn't expect her to go through a red light… She had slowed away down to 60mph when the lights turned green and Brian sped right past her.
"Damn it…"
A few seconds later she pulled up outside the garage to find Brian leaning on the hood of his car grinning.
"You cheater…how'd you know those lights would change…" she said as she got out of the car and headed over to him.
"I didn't…"
As they walked into the garage, joking and shamelessly flirting Laura didn't realise Leon was standing at the office door. She had only stopped laughing when suddenly a fist went flying at Brians face. When she realised it was Leon she tried to stop the inevitable but it was too late… Leon had split Brians lip and Brian was now in the process of pinning Leon against a Civic.
"What the fuck is your problem Brian. Every time you show up you always steal one of our women! What the fuck do you have that I don't!" Leon shouted into Brians face. He looked furious, like he could have killed Brian and when he looked over and caught Laura's eye she had to look away.
Dom came marching out and pulled Brian off Leon. This was a bad idea and Dom obviously hadn't realised it was Leon who had started it. Leon went flying at Brian again and luckily Vince pulled him back.
"Hey dawg…calm down…" Vince said as he held tightly onto Leon.
"What the fuck is going on here?" Dom looked around for an answer.
Leon spoke up, happy to drop Brian in it if he could, "That fucker…he's always stirrin' up shit."
Dom took in the situation and shook his head, "Brian, if you're gunna go after Laura next then try not to rub Leons fucking nose in it. And Leon, calm the fuck down…you don't own the girl…"
Dom marched back into his office and Leon pushed Vince off, swearing under his breath,
"So there's no one else Laura…" Leon said sarcastically as he stormed off to his car.
Laura looked around the group and immediately wanted hell to open up and swallow her whole. Letty just looked sorry for her but Vince and Jesse both looked as though they could have seriously hurt her and Brian.
"Laura you only just finished things with Leon…couldn't you have at least waited a while before…" Vince trailed off when he saw the hurt on Laura's face.
Laura didn't know what to do and she turned and ran outside. She looked around for a few minutes trying to stop the tears, which were now falling freely. She got into her Skyline and drove off, just in time to see Brian run out of the garage after her. Why did things always have to get so complicated…?