DISCLAIMER: i don't own anything...too bad, huh?

HEY HEY! well...here's a new fic that i sort of had an idea for. It's still a work in progress so i'd really appreciate any advice or ideas that you have. So yea, R and R, please! i love getting comments

CHANGE

Vince laid on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. There was nothing in particular there to look at, but he didn't really care because he wasn't really seeing it. He wasn't seeing it just like he hadn't really seen the hospital ceiling when he stared up at it from his hospital bed.

He could hear muffled sounds upstairs, just like he always could at this time of morning. Mia was probably bustling around making breakfast while Dom, Letty, and Leon sat at the table, maybe drinking coffee. No Jesse though...not anymore; not ever again. He was never going to walk upstairs and see Jesse sitting half asleep at the table. Not since Jesse was ripped from their lives three months ago. Now it was just Vince and Leon living in the basement rooms. Jesse's room was left untouched and unoccupied. Vince figured it would stay that way.

He was glad to be home...sort of. While in the hospital, he told himself everything would be better once he got home...but it wasn't. It was the same. He felt depressed and just wasn't the same Vince anymore. Little things scared the shit out of him, not that he'd ever admit it, and he barely slept in fear of nightmares.

Most of all, he resented his best friends; his family. They'd left him all alone in LA while they ran off to Mexico. If they were really his family, someone would've stuck around; Mia at least. But no, Mia was too eaten up about Brian and didn't want to stick around. The 'team' ran off to get away from the cops, leaving Vince to take all the heat. He'd be in prison right now if Brian hadn't pulled a lot of stings to get all of their names cleared. Only then did the 'team' come back.

They came back after a little over two weeks saying how much they'd worried about him and how much they cared about it. Yea, right, cared; whatever. They hadn't come to the hospital a whole lot, since Vince hadn't really felt like talking to them much, which just made him resent them more. He couldn't help that he didn't really feel upbeat after a near-death experience, could he?

"Vince, you awake bro?" Leon asked quietly, nudging the door open.

"Yea"

"Aiight, Mia's done with breakfast"

"Coming"

Leon nodded and left while Vince sat up and stretched before heading up stairs. Yep, no Jesse. Even after the time that had passed, he expected to see Jesse sitting there.

"Morning Vince," Mia said cheerily.

Vince just grunted. He wasn't usually receptive of Mia's cheery manner anymore, especially this early in the morning.

"Somebody wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" Letty asked grumpily.

"Fuck off, Let," he mumbled back.

He didn't really take her crap anymore. She didn't like it when other people were in a bad mood but seemed to be in one herself a lot. He used to brush it off, but now that bothered him too. A lot of things about his 'family' bugged him now.

Letty merely raised an eyebrow at him but said nothing, which Vince thought was very smart of her. Last time she'd tried arguing with him he'd blown up at her, and he honestly didn't feel sorry for it.

"Vince, you need more sleep, dawg? Did I wake you up?" Leon asked, always trying to be the peacemaker.

"Yes, but no," Vince grumbled, going back downstairs, hoping his next attempt at getting up would go over better.

He flopped onto his bed and tried to remember the last time he'd been truly happy.

He couldn't remember. It was definitely before the buster showed up, but it must've been a long time before that because he couldn't really recall.

As of late, he'd been extremely irritable. Everything rubbed him the wrong way when he was around the team and sometimes when he sat with them he felt he was being suffocated by emotions. He couldn't take it.

"Yo, V..."

There was a knock on the door and the voice belonged to Dom.

"Ugh, go away"

The door opened despite his request and Dom walked in, taking a seat in Vince's black Papasan chair. He just sat and stared at Vince.

Vince stared back but then broke eye contact and stared back up at the ceiling again. He resented his best friend, and he hated it. It wasn't like he wanted to be mad at him, or the others for that matter, but he just was. He'd been taken for granted, he'd realized, and he hated that. He was like that family dog that was loyal to you no matter what. No matter what you'd done or how badly you might've treated it in the past, it stuck by you. Fuck that; he deserved better.

"What's the problem here, Vince?" Dom finally said.

"No problem," Vince lied pointlessly. It was only obvious that there was one.

"When did we get to the point that we needed to lie to each other?" Dom asked, sitting back and sounded exasperated.

Vince just shrugged. That was a good question.

"Vince, talk to me, bro"

Vince remained silent. What was he supposed to say? He wished he knew, but he didn't.

Dom sighed and sat forward again.

"What do you think of a change of scenery?"

Vince sat up quickly. Was Dom kicking him out? He couldn't do that.

"What!"

"Whoa, calm down... I'm just asking what you thought of us all leaving LA for a while"

"Leaving LA?"

"Yea, I think it might do us all some good"

"Well...where would we go?"

"I was thinking a nice, long trip to New York to stay with Lucan, my cousin"

"New York..." Vince thought about it and that really didn't sound like a bad idea to him. Maybe a change of scenery would be a good idea. "...yea...yea, that'd be cool."

"Alright, I just wanted to run it by you. I'll go talk to everybody else"

Dom got up after a moment's hesitation and left the room. Vince laid back and smiled. New York...he'd never been there. He'd heard it was pretty cool though and had always wanted to go. Deciding he wanted to know what the others thought, he went back upstairs just as Dom was telling everyone his idea.

"Why?" Letty asked, sounding surprised.

"I think we need a change," Dom explained. "All of us"

Leon seemed to think it over and then nodded.

"I'm in, dawg, when are we leavin'?"

"As soon as we can get the garage locked up and I'll have to call Lucan. Girls, you in?"

"I am," Mia said readily. She liked New York and she missed Lucan; they hadn't visited in a few years now. "Let?"

"Sure, I'm out-voted even if I didn't want to"

"Great, I'll call Luke this afternoon"

That seemed to settle things and everyone kept eating. Mia quietly handed Vince a plate of pancakes and he dug in with a passion.

Vince just lounged around after breakfast, not in the mood to really do anything. He played Leon in a few games of Need For Speed Underground, and watched some TV. Late in the afternoon Dom came in and told them they'd fly out to New York in a few days. Lucan was more than happy to have them and would be expecting them soon.

Personally, Vince was thrilled about their little trip, though he wasn't really showing it. Maybe getting out of the house for a while, and away from all the memories, he'd find himself again.

"Yo, V, you ever been to New York?" Leon asked, taking a sip of beer.

"Nah; you?"

"Nope...should be fun though, yea?"

"Hope so"

Leon nodded his agreement and they ordered out pizza about an hour later.

Vince went downstairs halfway through the movie they were watching, 'The Score', and sat on his bed for a few moments before spotting his acoustic guitar. His electric one had gotten broken at a party a few weeks before everything had gone down and he hadn't taken it to get fixed yet.

He took it out of its case and made sure it was tuned right before playing. It wasn't any real songs, just chords that sounded good together, and he let his fingers take control; making melody after melody. He'd been playing ever since he was little and had a real passion for it; playing just relaxed him like nothing else.

He played until there was a knock at the door about an hour or two later.

"Yea?"

The door slowly opened and Leon was standing in the doorway.

"Hey, I'm getting to bed. Dom says we gotta get up early tomorrow to finish those couple cars in the garage; then we can leave sooner. Just thought you'd want to know so you didn't stay up too late"

"Aiight, thanks. I guess I'll hit the sack soon too"

Leon nodded and left Vince's door open before going to his own room, also leaving his door open. Vince grinned to himself. He never said it, but Leon liked hearing him play. He'd asked Vince to teach him before but quickly found he didn't have the patience for it, so he just liked to listen.

Vince played for a little while longer before putting it back in its case and changing for bed.

Well, there it was. It wasn't very long, but it's only the beginning. Once i get a few reviews I'll update again, so R and R to tell me what you think. See that little button down there? just click it.

For anyone reading this that has read This Is A Call, i think i'm gonna continue that...so look for it. Ok, adios; don't forget to review!