*sobbing softly* No one loves me. Well almost no one. Here I am, writing
out dramatic action plot and now no one likes the story any more. *Sob*
Thanks to Penning Fantasy Knight twistedwords2003 vandanell cruel-
capricorn BookWorm1990 for being the points of light in this bleak time
when the fan fiction community seems to have abandoned me to write alone,
in the dark, by myself. LOL, dramatic enough for you?
Chapter 46 – Coming Home
Kat drove home. She went in her house and sat down. She was lost in thought, staring into space. She didn't know what she was going to do about the whole Leon situation yet. She knew she'd told Nyssa she'd give it more time but she honestly didn't know how much more time she could give it before Leon would either have to come around or his attitude would drive Kat crazy. She couldn't put her finger on what it was that bothered her about how Leon was acting. He hadn't been rude or mean to her since they'd gotten back together but it was like he was distant to her when ever other people were around. He was fine when they were alone but not when anyone else might be watching.
It really made her think about how he might think about her or act about her when she wasn't around at all. She was no closer to figuring anything out when a large hand waived in front of her face.
"Yo, Kat. You in there?" Stacy asked her.
"Huh? Sorry Stace, I was thinking 'bout something. What's up?" Kat came back to reality with a crash.
"You got a phone call. It's like the tenth time today the buster's called for ya." Stacy said in a voice low enough that the man on the other end of the phone wouldn't hear, but his frustration was evident. "Does this punk think he owns you or something? He acts like he should know where you are and he seemed pissed when I told him I didn't know."
"I don't know what would be up with him. But I'll talk to him and see what he says." Kat took the phone and put it to her ear. "What up?" She opened. No one would be called buster but Leon. Stacy still hadn't stopped being mad at Leon for what he'd done, no matter how good he was at acting like he had, and no matter how much he really thought that Kat and Leon had to work their issues out.
"Hi. How are you?" Leon asked.
"I'm ok." Kat answered and blew hair off her face. She knew she sounded fed up with Leon but she couldn't help it. She was still trying to figure him out and she hadn't really been in the mood to talk on the phone. "How're you?" She asked, trying to be polite.
"I'm ok too. Where you been?" Leon wondered what had kept her out for the last three hours.
"Just out for a drive. I had some thinking to do and I always think better when I go for a drive." Kat answered honestly. It did irritate her slightly how pushy and controlling Leon's question sounded.
"Me too. Have any plans tonight?" Leon hoped to take her to a movie or something before races.
"Just races." Kat answered, wondering where if anywhere his questions were going.
"Wanna get something to eat and maybe see a movie before them then?" Leon asked and if Kat wasn't mistaken he sounded almost shy about asking her.
She decided to go ahead and go with him. After all she had told Nyssa she'd give him another chance to come around. Kat figured that if Leon was going to get around to putting the past behind him they had to create a future.
"Sure. You wanna come get me or meet me somewhere? Or take my car if you want." Kat asked, trying to sound enthusiastic, and doing a fairly good job she thought.
"I'll come get you if that's ok." Leon thought she sounded excited about going out with him and he was happy. He thought if he just saw Kat more, got to know her again, that everything would be fine and it would all go back to how it was before he realized what she'd done.
"That's fine. What time around?" Kat asked and started to plan an outfit she could wear out to dinner and a movie and races.
"Say, 6?"
"That's fine." Kat answered. "See you then." It gave her about an hour to get ready.
"Yeah, see you." Leon hung up and went to get ready himself.
*~*
"Hello?" The Toretto household phone was answered by Mia.
"Heya Mi." Nyssa answered. She'd chickened out and called the house line, hoping against hope that anyone but Vince would answer.
"Nyssa? Is that you?" Mia asked.
"Yeah. It's me." Nyssa answered. She felt like such an Idiot. "Who all's home Mi?"
"Just me'n Leon. Why?"
"I need'ta talk to you girl. Can we meet somewhere?" Nyssa suddenly wanted to see what Mia thought before she went to talk to Vince. She had to be prepared if Vince didn't want to have anything to do with her.
"Why don't you just come here?"
"When're you expecting the rest of the team home?" Nyssa asked.
"Not for a while at least."
"I'm just not ready to see them yet Mi." She knew Mia would know she meant not ready to see Vince.
"Vince'll be gone for at least an hour." Just like Nyssa had figured Mia saw right through her.
"Ok, I'm out front then." Nyssa said as she got out of her car and headed up the walk. Mia hung up and threw the door open. Mia had her in a bear hug the second her foot hit the landing of the front steps.
"Nyssa. I can't believe I haven't seen you in months." Mia took one look at Nyssa's face and hauled her closer again then led her into the house. "Come here." Nyssa started to cry softly again.
"MIIIIIAAAAA, I've been such an idiot." Nyssa started to sob in the foyer of the house.
"There's a lot of that going around here lately." Leon added as he walked into the room and grabbed Nyssa in his own tight hug, taking her trembling form away from Mia as Nyssa latched onto his neck. "We missed you baby girl." He said into her hair. Nyssa always knew how to put him right. She'd been there for him when they didn't know if Jesse'd ever wake up, she'd been there for the team all along. Leon figured it was now time for him to be there for Nyssa.
"I missed you all too. But I don't know what to do now. I've been such a total moron and I don't know how to make it better." Nyssa said in a shaky voice. They migrated toward the living room and sat together on the couch.
"Do you forgive him Nys?" Mia asked.
"Nope." Nyssa answered and they looked shocked. Leon went to open his mouth. "Because it took a third party who listens with her heart not her head to show me that there was never anything to forgive him for, that I'm the one that better be begging for forgiveness. I wish I had her outlook on life instead of my own." She told them. Leon looked puzzled and then like he had a million questions to ask Nyssa and Mia looked like she approved of Nyssa's revelation. "But I'm terrified that he won't forgive me for what I did, for what I said. And terrified that Letty'll feel the same way." Nyssa sniffled.
"Who convinced you to come home?" Mia asked. Nyssa glanced at Leon out of the corner of her eye.
"Just someone who knows Vince. Better then I do it seems." But Mia was right, it was home. Nothing had felt like home till she'd walked in the front door of the house the team lived in. Nothing had been home since she'd left the team. She'd been living in houses, it was time to come home.
"What did she tell you?" Leon asked.
"Just that V was just taken care of Letty. Same as he always did and always will. Same as he would have if it had been you, or me, or some girl from school if he thought she needed him to fight for her in some battle she couldn't fight herself. And that since I love him, I should have been more willing to listen to him, to wait for him to explain himself. And really she's right. I shouldn't have believed what I did no matter what."
"Well, that's something at least." Mia said with a smile. "Just tell him what you just told us and it'll all work out. I mean, he might take a while to come around but he will."
"Yeah baby girl, he still loves you. He'll take a while to get over this but he will. Just wait and see." Leon grinned and then hugged Nyssa again. "I can't believe you stayed away so long baby girl. I guess you never saw that coming huh?"
Nyssa giggled.
"No. But I didn't see you screwing up your life so bad either." Her smile changed to a frown. "Wanna tell me what happened there?"
Leon didn't even bother asking her what she was talking about or how she knew. Nyssa just knew. There was no better explanation for it then that.
"I did mess up. But I finally found a girl that makes me feel. I guess that has to be a good thing right? I mean, she makes me mad, happy, sad, and every other emotion in between all at once." Leon tried to laugh. "And I'm trying to fix things."
"Are you really Leon? Are you sure about that?" Nyssa gave him one of the looks he hated. The look that let him know she knew more then she was letting on to and more then she should. More then he had admitted to himself or to the world yet.
"I'm trying. I don't know how good I'm doing but I'm trying." Mia looked on, trying to figure out what was going on.
"Try harder babe. Try harder. This is worth fighting for. That's all I have to say." Nyssa slipped into her pet name for every guy on the team. Well, every guy but Dom. Leon looked at her in deep thought for a moment then got up and excused himself.
"So you back to stay?" Mia asked Nyssa hopefully.
"If he'll have me." Nyssa answered and Mia squealed and hugged her friend. Mia was sure Vince would want his girl back. "Don't get too happy yet Mi. You never know with V." Mia just gave her that secret smile she did so well.
"So where you been keeping yourself?" Mia moved into safer topics. Just as Nyssa went to answer the front door burst open and Dom and Vince walked in, joking about something and clearly having a great boys day. Vince's gaze focused on the beautiful Latin girl on his couch, her long cherry hair hanging around her and he stopped short. Dom ran into his back, but even Dom's weight couldn't move a planted Vince.
"Holy shit." Dom breathed out as he saw who was on the couch with his sister. He was so thrilled to see that Nyssa wasn't dead he couldn't even be mad at her for taking off or for screwing poor Vince up the way she had. "Baby girl!" He called as he walked into the living room. Ever since Nyssa had come up with the plan that Brian had used to keep them out of jail he'd seen her just like his little sister.
"Hi Dom." She answered softly and allowed him to hug her. She tried to smile at him. Dom had taken over the roll in her life the death of her brother had left open. She had come to love him over the course of their time together. Even if at first she'd found him scary.
"Where you been baby girl?" Dom asked.
"Here and there." She answered with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. Dom realized that Vince had yet to move. Dom turned to Mia. "We should go and a....Look at that....um...supper. We need to start supper." Dom finally got out a reason to leave Nyssa and Vince alone.
"Yeah, good idea Dom." Mia answered as she stood up. "It'll be ok Nys." Mia whispered to her friend as she stood up and hugged her for good luck. Mia and Dom left the room for the kitchen and Leon headed out the door to go get his car ready to pick up Kat.
"Hey V." Nyssa started. She watched as Vince shook his head and walked closer to her.
"Where you been?" He started gruffly, not sure what her presence meant to him and his life. Not sure how he should feel. What he should do. He had no frame of reference. Nyssa had been his first truly serious girlfriend and the first girl who'd ever left him. His first real love. What she'd done, what she'd believed still stung him. Stung his heart and stung his pride. He waited for her to answer.
"Around. Drifting. Being miserable on my own." Nyssa answered, looking at her feet. "Being alone and stupid on my own." Vince did a double take.
"You ok?" Vince was confused. She wasn't making much sense to Vince and Nyssa always made sense. He thought that was part of the reason that Kat had looked good to him for awhile. Because nothing about Kat made sense. She was the opposite of Nyssa in almost every way. Coloring, attitude, outlook. Nyssa thought everything through, she was methodical. Kat didn't think much through. If ever there was a girl that exemplified the fly by the seat of your pants attitude it was Kat. Nyssa was calm most of the time, except when she thought she caught him cheating. Kat was a fireball under even the tamest circumstances. Vince was really glad that Leon had Kat to deal with, not him, but for a while there he'd thought that the opposite of Nyssa was what he needed. He knew he'd just been trying to put Nyssa out of his head. And now that she was in front of him he knew just how badly he'd failed.
"No, I'm not ok Vince. I'm not ok at all." Nyssa stood up and started to trace the scar marring her otherwise flawless skin on her stomach as she paced. Vince remembered why that scar was there and winced minutely.
"Well, what's wrong?" Vince wasn't going to make it easy on her. No matter how much he wanted her back.
"I'm a total idiot is what's wrong." And that was when she lost her composure and broke down into racking sobs. "And I..I d..d..ont...deserve i...i...it but...t...t I h..h....hope you can forgive me." She stuttered out around the sobs. She covered her face with her hands as she sobbed.
He'd planned on making her try harder then that for his forgiveness but he couldn't stand to see her cry. Besides that she'd taken less from him in apology before. He went up to her and took her against his chest. "It's ok baby girl. It'll be ok. I forgive you." She looked up at him and he saw all the hurt and sorrow for what she'd done to him, to them, in her pretty violet eyes. He hated it when she was sad because the color of her eyes when she was sad always made him think of bruises.
"You forgive me? That easy?" She stuttered out.
"I'd like to know what brought about this change of heart. And I guess I'm still sort of hurt you thought what you did. But we can get past it now that you're home."
"Home." She breathed out and a look of utter and complete happiness came over her face. "I'm home." She wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm home. I'm home. I'm home." She said, look of wonder on her face. It was almost like she wanted to convince herself of the fact. The look on her face was so priceless that Vince found himself laughing as he spun her around.
"Yeah, you're home." And then he kissed his girl. And nothing had felt so right in a long time. He hadn't lied to her. She had some serious explaining to do about why she'd thought what she had and what brought her around. But he could forgive her almost anything when he'd missed her so much and she was so obviously sincerely sorry.
He was worried Letty would be another story.
Chapter 46 – Coming Home
Kat drove home. She went in her house and sat down. She was lost in thought, staring into space. She didn't know what she was going to do about the whole Leon situation yet. She knew she'd told Nyssa she'd give it more time but she honestly didn't know how much more time she could give it before Leon would either have to come around or his attitude would drive Kat crazy. She couldn't put her finger on what it was that bothered her about how Leon was acting. He hadn't been rude or mean to her since they'd gotten back together but it was like he was distant to her when ever other people were around. He was fine when they were alone but not when anyone else might be watching.
It really made her think about how he might think about her or act about her when she wasn't around at all. She was no closer to figuring anything out when a large hand waived in front of her face.
"Yo, Kat. You in there?" Stacy asked her.
"Huh? Sorry Stace, I was thinking 'bout something. What's up?" Kat came back to reality with a crash.
"You got a phone call. It's like the tenth time today the buster's called for ya." Stacy said in a voice low enough that the man on the other end of the phone wouldn't hear, but his frustration was evident. "Does this punk think he owns you or something? He acts like he should know where you are and he seemed pissed when I told him I didn't know."
"I don't know what would be up with him. But I'll talk to him and see what he says." Kat took the phone and put it to her ear. "What up?" She opened. No one would be called buster but Leon. Stacy still hadn't stopped being mad at Leon for what he'd done, no matter how good he was at acting like he had, and no matter how much he really thought that Kat and Leon had to work their issues out.
"Hi. How are you?" Leon asked.
"I'm ok." Kat answered and blew hair off her face. She knew she sounded fed up with Leon but she couldn't help it. She was still trying to figure him out and she hadn't really been in the mood to talk on the phone. "How're you?" She asked, trying to be polite.
"I'm ok too. Where you been?" Leon wondered what had kept her out for the last three hours.
"Just out for a drive. I had some thinking to do and I always think better when I go for a drive." Kat answered honestly. It did irritate her slightly how pushy and controlling Leon's question sounded.
"Me too. Have any plans tonight?" Leon hoped to take her to a movie or something before races.
"Just races." Kat answered, wondering where if anywhere his questions were going.
"Wanna get something to eat and maybe see a movie before them then?" Leon asked and if Kat wasn't mistaken he sounded almost shy about asking her.
She decided to go ahead and go with him. After all she had told Nyssa she'd give him another chance to come around. Kat figured that if Leon was going to get around to putting the past behind him they had to create a future.
"Sure. You wanna come get me or meet me somewhere? Or take my car if you want." Kat asked, trying to sound enthusiastic, and doing a fairly good job she thought.
"I'll come get you if that's ok." Leon thought she sounded excited about going out with him and he was happy. He thought if he just saw Kat more, got to know her again, that everything would be fine and it would all go back to how it was before he realized what she'd done.
"That's fine. What time around?" Kat asked and started to plan an outfit she could wear out to dinner and a movie and races.
"Say, 6?"
"That's fine." Kat answered. "See you then." It gave her about an hour to get ready.
"Yeah, see you." Leon hung up and went to get ready himself.
*~*
"Hello?" The Toretto household phone was answered by Mia.
"Heya Mi." Nyssa answered. She'd chickened out and called the house line, hoping against hope that anyone but Vince would answer.
"Nyssa? Is that you?" Mia asked.
"Yeah. It's me." Nyssa answered. She felt like such an Idiot. "Who all's home Mi?"
"Just me'n Leon. Why?"
"I need'ta talk to you girl. Can we meet somewhere?" Nyssa suddenly wanted to see what Mia thought before she went to talk to Vince. She had to be prepared if Vince didn't want to have anything to do with her.
"Why don't you just come here?"
"When're you expecting the rest of the team home?" Nyssa asked.
"Not for a while at least."
"I'm just not ready to see them yet Mi." She knew Mia would know she meant not ready to see Vince.
"Vince'll be gone for at least an hour." Just like Nyssa had figured Mia saw right through her.
"Ok, I'm out front then." Nyssa said as she got out of her car and headed up the walk. Mia hung up and threw the door open. Mia had her in a bear hug the second her foot hit the landing of the front steps.
"Nyssa. I can't believe I haven't seen you in months." Mia took one look at Nyssa's face and hauled her closer again then led her into the house. "Come here." Nyssa started to cry softly again.
"MIIIIIAAAAA, I've been such an idiot." Nyssa started to sob in the foyer of the house.
"There's a lot of that going around here lately." Leon added as he walked into the room and grabbed Nyssa in his own tight hug, taking her trembling form away from Mia as Nyssa latched onto his neck. "We missed you baby girl." He said into her hair. Nyssa always knew how to put him right. She'd been there for him when they didn't know if Jesse'd ever wake up, she'd been there for the team all along. Leon figured it was now time for him to be there for Nyssa.
"I missed you all too. But I don't know what to do now. I've been such a total moron and I don't know how to make it better." Nyssa said in a shaky voice. They migrated toward the living room and sat together on the couch.
"Do you forgive him Nys?" Mia asked.
"Nope." Nyssa answered and they looked shocked. Leon went to open his mouth. "Because it took a third party who listens with her heart not her head to show me that there was never anything to forgive him for, that I'm the one that better be begging for forgiveness. I wish I had her outlook on life instead of my own." She told them. Leon looked puzzled and then like he had a million questions to ask Nyssa and Mia looked like she approved of Nyssa's revelation. "But I'm terrified that he won't forgive me for what I did, for what I said. And terrified that Letty'll feel the same way." Nyssa sniffled.
"Who convinced you to come home?" Mia asked. Nyssa glanced at Leon out of the corner of her eye.
"Just someone who knows Vince. Better then I do it seems." But Mia was right, it was home. Nothing had felt like home till she'd walked in the front door of the house the team lived in. Nothing had been home since she'd left the team. She'd been living in houses, it was time to come home.
"What did she tell you?" Leon asked.
"Just that V was just taken care of Letty. Same as he always did and always will. Same as he would have if it had been you, or me, or some girl from school if he thought she needed him to fight for her in some battle she couldn't fight herself. And that since I love him, I should have been more willing to listen to him, to wait for him to explain himself. And really she's right. I shouldn't have believed what I did no matter what."
"Well, that's something at least." Mia said with a smile. "Just tell him what you just told us and it'll all work out. I mean, he might take a while to come around but he will."
"Yeah baby girl, he still loves you. He'll take a while to get over this but he will. Just wait and see." Leon grinned and then hugged Nyssa again. "I can't believe you stayed away so long baby girl. I guess you never saw that coming huh?"
Nyssa giggled.
"No. But I didn't see you screwing up your life so bad either." Her smile changed to a frown. "Wanna tell me what happened there?"
Leon didn't even bother asking her what she was talking about or how she knew. Nyssa just knew. There was no better explanation for it then that.
"I did mess up. But I finally found a girl that makes me feel. I guess that has to be a good thing right? I mean, she makes me mad, happy, sad, and every other emotion in between all at once." Leon tried to laugh. "And I'm trying to fix things."
"Are you really Leon? Are you sure about that?" Nyssa gave him one of the looks he hated. The look that let him know she knew more then she was letting on to and more then she should. More then he had admitted to himself or to the world yet.
"I'm trying. I don't know how good I'm doing but I'm trying." Mia looked on, trying to figure out what was going on.
"Try harder babe. Try harder. This is worth fighting for. That's all I have to say." Nyssa slipped into her pet name for every guy on the team. Well, every guy but Dom. Leon looked at her in deep thought for a moment then got up and excused himself.
"So you back to stay?" Mia asked Nyssa hopefully.
"If he'll have me." Nyssa answered and Mia squealed and hugged her friend. Mia was sure Vince would want his girl back. "Don't get too happy yet Mi. You never know with V." Mia just gave her that secret smile she did so well.
"So where you been keeping yourself?" Mia moved into safer topics. Just as Nyssa went to answer the front door burst open and Dom and Vince walked in, joking about something and clearly having a great boys day. Vince's gaze focused on the beautiful Latin girl on his couch, her long cherry hair hanging around her and he stopped short. Dom ran into his back, but even Dom's weight couldn't move a planted Vince.
"Holy shit." Dom breathed out as he saw who was on the couch with his sister. He was so thrilled to see that Nyssa wasn't dead he couldn't even be mad at her for taking off or for screwing poor Vince up the way she had. "Baby girl!" He called as he walked into the living room. Ever since Nyssa had come up with the plan that Brian had used to keep them out of jail he'd seen her just like his little sister.
"Hi Dom." She answered softly and allowed him to hug her. She tried to smile at him. Dom had taken over the roll in her life the death of her brother had left open. She had come to love him over the course of their time together. Even if at first she'd found him scary.
"Where you been baby girl?" Dom asked.
"Here and there." She answered with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. Dom realized that Vince had yet to move. Dom turned to Mia. "We should go and a....Look at that....um...supper. We need to start supper." Dom finally got out a reason to leave Nyssa and Vince alone.
"Yeah, good idea Dom." Mia answered as she stood up. "It'll be ok Nys." Mia whispered to her friend as she stood up and hugged her for good luck. Mia and Dom left the room for the kitchen and Leon headed out the door to go get his car ready to pick up Kat.
"Hey V." Nyssa started. She watched as Vince shook his head and walked closer to her.
"Where you been?" He started gruffly, not sure what her presence meant to him and his life. Not sure how he should feel. What he should do. He had no frame of reference. Nyssa had been his first truly serious girlfriend and the first girl who'd ever left him. His first real love. What she'd done, what she'd believed still stung him. Stung his heart and stung his pride. He waited for her to answer.
"Around. Drifting. Being miserable on my own." Nyssa answered, looking at her feet. "Being alone and stupid on my own." Vince did a double take.
"You ok?" Vince was confused. She wasn't making much sense to Vince and Nyssa always made sense. He thought that was part of the reason that Kat had looked good to him for awhile. Because nothing about Kat made sense. She was the opposite of Nyssa in almost every way. Coloring, attitude, outlook. Nyssa thought everything through, she was methodical. Kat didn't think much through. If ever there was a girl that exemplified the fly by the seat of your pants attitude it was Kat. Nyssa was calm most of the time, except when she thought she caught him cheating. Kat was a fireball under even the tamest circumstances. Vince was really glad that Leon had Kat to deal with, not him, but for a while there he'd thought that the opposite of Nyssa was what he needed. He knew he'd just been trying to put Nyssa out of his head. And now that she was in front of him he knew just how badly he'd failed.
"No, I'm not ok Vince. I'm not ok at all." Nyssa stood up and started to trace the scar marring her otherwise flawless skin on her stomach as she paced. Vince remembered why that scar was there and winced minutely.
"Well, what's wrong?" Vince wasn't going to make it easy on her. No matter how much he wanted her back.
"I'm a total idiot is what's wrong." And that was when she lost her composure and broke down into racking sobs. "And I..I d..d..ont...deserve i...i...it but...t...t I h..h....hope you can forgive me." She stuttered out around the sobs. She covered her face with her hands as she sobbed.
He'd planned on making her try harder then that for his forgiveness but he couldn't stand to see her cry. Besides that she'd taken less from him in apology before. He went up to her and took her against his chest. "It's ok baby girl. It'll be ok. I forgive you." She looked up at him and he saw all the hurt and sorrow for what she'd done to him, to them, in her pretty violet eyes. He hated it when she was sad because the color of her eyes when she was sad always made him think of bruises.
"You forgive me? That easy?" She stuttered out.
"I'd like to know what brought about this change of heart. And I guess I'm still sort of hurt you thought what you did. But we can get past it now that you're home."
"Home." She breathed out and a look of utter and complete happiness came over her face. "I'm home." She wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm home. I'm home. I'm home." She said, look of wonder on her face. It was almost like she wanted to convince herself of the fact. The look on her face was so priceless that Vince found himself laughing as he spun her around.
"Yeah, you're home." And then he kissed his girl. And nothing had felt so right in a long time. He hadn't lied to her. She had some serious explaining to do about why she'd thought what she had and what brought her around. But he could forgive her almost anything when he'd missed her so much and she was so obviously sincerely sorry.
He was worried Letty would be another story.