Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OCs and storyline!

She Will Be Loved

Chapter 6: Visit from Home

By Love Ink

Lino stared at the huge skyscrapers as they whipped past the windows of the taxi cab, his jaw hanging open as he watched New York fly by. The city was huge! Unlike anything he'd ever seen! He'd thought San Francisco was big with its tall buildings and hills, but New York City was on a whole other level. He couldn't believe he was there! He was excited to explore the city, and even more excited to see the girl he'd considered a sister. They'd met when they were both three years old after their fathers had both died from cancer. Their mothers went to a support group, landing them in the same little daycare the support group provided. Their moms had hit it off, and the rest as they say, was history.

It'd been a couple of years since he'd last seen Angela, and they had a lot to catch up on. He caught the cab driver laughing at him, and immediately shut his jaw, sitting back in the seat. The cab driver cleared her throat and smiled at him. "First time, sweetheart?" she asked, a motherly tone in her voice.

"Yeah. This place is huge!" he replied with a big grin.

She laughed softly. "You here for school, for fun, or for a girl?"

"Oh for fun. But also a girl, but not in that kinda way. She's my sister, and not in that weird like we're hella close friends way, but by blood," he lied, knowing exactly what would happen if he didn't specify. People had been trying to imply he and Angela had feelings for each other for years. Both of them got so tired of denying it, they just started telling people they were actually related. They looked enough alike to pull it off so people rarely questioned them. "She goes to school out here. She's real smart."

"Lucky boy to have a place to stay out here. Want me to point out places for you?"

Lino nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah!

He listened to her in awe, excitement coursing through his veins as they drove through the city. "That your sister there?" the cab driver questioned, nodding towards a front stoop.

He couldn't help but grin as he spotted Angela sitting on the stairs with a book in her hands. "It is! Can you...can you honk? Scare the shit outta her?"

The cab driver obliged and Angela jolted, her hand pressing over her heart as she looked around. She beamed when she saw him, her whole face lighting up as she waved frantically. He waited for the cab driver to stop, paid her with a hefty tip, and grabbed his bag. He walked slowly towards Angela, putting a little gangster lean in his walk which she mimicked as she walked towards him. They both couldn't do it for long before busting up in laughter. "C'mere, 'mano," she said, wrapping him in a tight hug. (slang for "hermano" which means brother)

He hugged her back, giving her a quick squeeze before letting her go and giving her a once over. "Damn, chiqui. New York looks good on you." (Chiqui is short for chiquita which means little girl)

Angela rolled her eyes at him. "And you're too skinny. We're going on a food tour. Stat."

Lino rubbed at his flat stomach, knowing she was right; he'd been starving himself to stay thin while on the soccer team at his university. Now that he was no longer playing, he was ready to enjoy eating whatever the hell he wanted. "Jeez, you're startin' to sound like your Mom."

She pinched his arm, hard, and offended look on her face. "Am not!"

He chuckled, slinging an arm around her shoulders and pulling her towards the stoop he'd seen her standing at. "Okay, okay. More like your Aunt. Fair?"

"I'd much rather be like her than my mother," she said, wrinkling her nose. "How was your flight over?"

"Long as hell. Played a good movie, though," he answered on a shrug.

"Your leg doin' all right?"

Lino frowned a bit as he stopped walking. He'd torn his ACL the year before during a soccer game at his university. Idiot that he was, he'd been too eager to get back on the field and started training and playing a game before he'd healed. He'd re-injured it and had an even longer recovery ahead of him. A longer recovery the university didn't want to pay for. So they kicked him off the team. Without the team, his athletic scholarship went out the window, and his Mom didn't have the money to foot the bill, so he quit school and went back home to work as a mechanic at one of the local garages. "A little stiff. Had an aisle seat, so I stretched it out a lot. Got a wicked scar though."

"Yeah? Y'know chicks dig scars," she teased, elbowing him lightly.

"Yeah, right," he said on a chuckle, scratching at the back of his neck. There was only one "chick" in his life right now. His girlfriend, Vanessa, who wasn't too fond of Angela. "Me and Nessa got back together since at I'm back home 'n' all. She uh...wasn't too happy about this trip."

Angela looked at him with wide eyes for a moment. "Shit, Lee. I hope I didn't mess shit up."

"Nah, I mean, we both saved up a lot for this trip. Wasn't gonna cancel on ya. I told her you had a boyfriend you were head over heels in love with and she calmed down. I needed a getaway, think she kinda understood that."

"Good. I like her, even if she hates me."

Lino chuckled, holding the door open for Angela and letting her walk into the building first. "She don't hate you, she's scared a you. I think she just needs to spend more time with you. You intimidate the crap outta her."

"Don't know why," she muttered, holding open the elevator for him. "I never did anything to her."

"Think she saw Soli's face after you punched her that one time. Ever since then, she's been a little scared a you."

Angela rolled her eyes as they waited for the elevator. "Soli had it comin'," she muttered, her arms crossed over her chest.

Lino knew despite her tough exterior and the penchant for working things out with her fists; Angela was pretty sensitive. In high school, Soli had been after her boyfriend and had called Angela every name in the book until one day, she'd finally snapped and punched her. Later that day, Lino had found Angela sitting in their local park almost in tears, upset because she'd let Soli's words get to her and made her lose lose control just like Soli had wanted. "Yeah, she did. But that's in the past. We're grown-ups now and clear across the fuckin' country!" he exclaimed with a big grin.

She smiled at him, her dark eyes sparkling with excitement. "Isn't this insane? We never thought we'd leave Oakand!"

"I know, man! I can't believe it! Blew my mind when you said you were movin' out here," he said, standing by while she unlocked her apartment door. "I still don't think Esai's properly recovered."

Angela grimaced at the mention of her ex-boyfriend. "He doesn't know where I went...or he shouldn't."

"He don't. Not that I know of, at least. I don't see him too often," Lino said on a shrug. He smiled at the simple living room with his big black, leather couch. "Dang, girl. This is a nice place!"

She grinned, throwing her arms out to the side. "Welcome to my biker apartment," she said on a laugh.

Lino raised his eyebrow at the large Sons of Anarchy mural on the wall. "Shit. That's one hell of a decoration. You joinin' the Sons now?"

"The Sons actually pay for the place and own it. Three rooms, two and a half baths. It an overflow apartment for when visiting charters come and they can't fit in their huge clubhouse. Basically, I'm staying here for free as long as I keep it clean and maybe host a Son if needed."

"You been here like three years. How many times has it been needed?"

Angela smirked, shrugging a shoulder. "Only when Hap and Koz are here, which is rare."

Lino chuckled softly, shaking his head at her. "I'm sure you're the very last resort too. Those guys don't want you anywhere near the Sons. Get all wifed up with a Reaper."

"Yeah, no. Better than a Mayan but not by much," she said around a laugh. "Speaking of which, we're having dinner with my boyfriend tonight."

"Oh yeah? This the guy with mafia connections? OJ?"

Angela scowled at him and shook her head. "No, not Juice. Juice is...he was my best friend over here. He's actually...back in Oakland now. All that mafia shit caught up to him, so I told him to go to my Ma's and told my cousin to take care of him."

"You mean the dude you told me so much about ain't even your boyfriend?" Lino asked in shock. The way Angela had talked about her supposed "friend" was closer to the way she'd talk about a boyfriend, not just a friend.

"No, and I don't talk so much about him. I told you all about Raj too! He's the lawyer, remember?"

"Ah. Right. The boring one."

"He's not boring."

"You go on study dates with him."

"So? We're both in school! We have to study!" she defended, her arms crossed over her chest. "He's a good guy. You'll like him."

Lino shrugged a shoulder. "We'll see," he said, throwing himself on the couch. "So? Where to first, sister?"

They spent the whole day exploring the city and gorging themselves on every food Lino could think of. He was officially out of his college scholarship and taking advantage of not having to stay in shape. They were walking through Central Park when Angela nodded towards a guy standing by a fountain. "That's Raj," she said with a big smile.

Lino took a moment to look him over. He didn't look like much. Dark skin, longer, slightly curly black hair with a neatly trimmed beard and goatee. In his red sweater, dark jeans, and dress shoes, the guy was the exact opposite of Esai. "That's your boyfriend? Really? He looks like a well-dressed Aladdin."

Angela rolled her eyes. "He's Indian, you racist."

"Whatever. That is...not what I was expecting. He's wearing a purse."

"It's a bookbag, dumbass," she said with scowl. "Be nice."

Lino scowled right back at her. "I'm always nice."

He watched as Raj smiled at Angela, genuinely happy to see her. He greeted her with a hug and a sweet kiss. If Lino wasn't mistaken, he even whispered to her how beautiful she looked. Guy was smooth, Lino had to give him that. Angela looked just as happy to see him, her smile lighting up her dark eyes. It was a little gross. "Lee, this is my boyfriend, Raj," she introduced, a proud look on her face. "Raj, this is my best friend from home, Paulino."

"Lino's fine," he corrected quickly, shaking Raj's outstretched hand. "Good to meet you."

"You too, Lino," Raj replied with a smile. "Good to meet one of Angela's friends for once. She spends all her time meeting mine. Unfortunately, we haven't gotten the chance to make the trip to California just yet. School and internships and all that keep getting in the way."

Angela's smile faded a bit as she looked down at her feet. "We're gonna try for Christmas, though," she said, forcing a bigger smile on her face.

Lino could tell by her expression she didn't believe it would actually happen. He had a feeling Raj's career and school came first to a lot of things they'd planned before. "That would be great. I know her Ma and Aunt would love to see her."

Raj nodded slowly. "We'll make it over there soon."

"Good," he commented, bobbing his head for a moment. "So where we goin' to eat?"

"There's a new Ramen place a couple of subway stops away. It's supposed to be pretty good."

Lino furrowed his brows in confusion. "Like...those noodles you microwave with the flavor packet?"

Raj laughed making Angela elbow him in the side. "Kinda, but fancier," she answered sweetly. "C'mon. You'll like it, I swear."

Lino did like it, and he ended up liking Raj too. He was a good guy who had the utmost respect for Angela. Treated her like a goddamn queen which was something Esai never did. It was refreshing to see someone respect her as a person. But as much as he liked Raj, he had to admit, the dude was boring as fuck. Lino could've fallen asleep listening to him drone on and on about his future career. Even Angela's eyes had glazed over sometime during their talk. He could see them as friends, but he didn't understand the romantic relationship aspect. Maybe he had a big dick or something.

He didn't see much of Raj for the rest of the week he was there. The guy kept cancelling on them for his internship or in favor of studying. Angela didn't seem to mind it much, but it was starting to bother Lino; did the guy cancel on her all the time? That was kind of shitty. At least Esai was around; he never cancelled on her. In fact, he was almost obsessive in the way he constantly wanted to be with her. Lino kept his thoughts to himself, not wanting to rock the boat while he was still there, though he couldn't shake the feeling that the two didn't fit together. Something was missing; he just wasn't sure what.

Laying out on a mess of blankets and pillows with a joint in hand, Angela felt completely at peace and happy for the first time in what felt like weeks. It Lino's last night in New York and they were taking it relatively easy just passing a bottle of overpriced tequila and the joint Lino had somehow smuggled over from California between them. They were drinking and smoking in a comfortable silence, both of them enjoying each other's presence. "Can I ask you somethin' without you gettin' pissed?" Lino asked, breaking the comfortable silence.

She exhaled a plume of smoke, nodding her head. "Sure."

"This Raj guy. You really like him?" he asked, handing her the bottle and taking the joint. "I mean, he's a good dude. Real nice, but he likes his books more than you."

Angela knew this question was coming. She'd seen the way Lino looked at Raj, had caught his looks of disapproval every time Raj cancelled on them. "That's not true. He loves me. Tells me all the time. He's just focused, that's all. He's got his dream of being a lawyer. Shit ain't easy," she answered on a sigh. "I understand. Least he's leavin' me for books and not stupid club shit."

"Ang, you gotta admit, he's boring as fuck. I mean, the best part about him is that he so clearly loves you, but otherwise..." he started mimicking snoring.

She stared at the sky for a minute, her thoughts drifting off to her conversation with Juice about his snoring, and how she missed it. Taking a swig of tequila, she banished that thought from her head; why had Juice come up when they were talking about Raj anyway? "After being with Esai, its kinda nice to have boring. I don't have to worry about boring."

"No, but you're bored all the time."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Not all the time."

Lino shook his head, blowing out some smoke. "If he makes you happy, I ain't gonna say no more pero I don't think you're as happy as you could be."

Again, a picture of Juice flashed through her mind. She missed him like crazy. "Maybe not," she answered honestly. "But at least I know he's coming home every night. Least I know he won't smack me around. He's safe. I like that."

"Guess that's fair," he said with a shrug. "Was lookin' around your room last night. Know what I noticed? Despite the absence of any pictures of my handsome face or any of your friends at home?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "I don't have pictures of you guys 'cause they make me homesick, fool," she defended.

"Whatever. Do you wanna know what I noticed or not?"

"Sure."

He sat up a bit, his dark eyes a little excited. "I saw one of those photo-booth strips of you and a dude who ain't Raj. It's up on your mirror next to the many pictures of you and Raj, but this one is different. In this one you got this big like genuine smile on your face, and the way he's lookin' at you is just like...damn. Where's that dude?"

"That's Juice," she told him softly. "I told you about him. We're just friends."

"Nuh-uh. Not possible. Not with the way you two looked in those pics. There's feelin's there."

Angela felt her cheeks warm slightly as she thought of Juice's smile, of the way he looked at her. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach, and she quickly took a long swig of tequila to drown them. She was drunk, which always made her horny. That's where the feelings were coming from. Not because there were real feelings there. Lino didn't know what he was talking about. "Nah."

Lino sat up, narrowing his eyes at her. "Don't lie to me, Ang. I know you."

"Juice is a friend. That's it. I mean, I wanted him to be more when I first met him and then he didn't call for a few weeks, so I gave up and started dating Raj," she explained, realizing she'd never told anyone that out loud. "By the time we saw each other again, Raj and I were in a relationship and I...it was comfortable. I didn't want to lose that by starting something new with Juice, a guy who had my number and didn't call for weeks. Felt too risky."

"He didn't call?"

Angela let out a long breath and explained the way she met Juice to Lino. The robbery in the park, the way Juice had flashed his gun, and name-dropped his mob connection to send the guy running. "It was before everyone had cell phones and shit. I had to call his home landline. He told me later his roommate didn't give him my message, so he thought I was the one who wasn't interested," she stated, picking at a hole in her jeans. "So we became friends."

"No benefits there?"

She laughed and shook her head. "No. Never. Shockingly, Juice was incredibly respectful of mine and Raj's relationship. He...he and Raj were friends too. I dunno, it was weird. We did have this moment right before he left...I swore he was gonna kiss me and then Raj came in and...it just defused everything."

"Did you want to kiss him?"

She sucked in a quick breath and held it for a moment, considering his question. "I dunno. Yeah, I guess," she admitted as she let out her breath. Her heart skipped a beat as she thought of that moment. The intense heat that had built up between them, the way he'd touched her cheek, his dark eyes darting to her lips. Unconsciously, she licked her lips remembering the feel of his breath against them.

Lino's chuckle pulled her out of her memory. "Dude. You love him."

"I love Raj," she corrected, not even remotely wanting to go down that route.

"You can love both of 'em."

Angela shook her head. "Pretty sure that's not how real love works."

"Nah, it can. I mean you love 'em for different reasons. You love Raj 'cause he's boring and safe, and you love Juice 'cause he's fun and I'm sure he's got a lot of other qualities that I don't know 'cause I don't know the dude."

"I don't love Juice. Not romantically. I love him like a brother. Like I love you," she stated, nudging him lightly.

Lino chuckled condescendingly, shaking his head. "Nah, you definitely don't love him like you love me unless you been crushin' on me and I don't know it."

"Don't flatter yourself," she said with a laugh. "And I don't have those feelings for Juice. Not anymore, anyways."

He sighed, hanging his head down. "Chiqui, you gotta stop foolin' yourself. Those feelin's are gonna come up and hit you back hard and you're gonna end up hurtin' and hurtin' Raj too. He don't deserve that shit."

Angela closed her eyes letting out a long breath. She wasn't going to entertain those ideas "You don't know what you're talking about."

"I do. You'll see," he said, winking at her. He lay back down next to her on a sigh. "But it don't matter now. Now, its just you and me here for one last night 'til you move back to Cali 'cause that flight is long as shit and I don't wanna do it again. Next time, you're comin' to me."

She smiled, tilting her head against his shoulder. "Hopefully that'll be soon. I miss this. I miss California. I didn't realize it until..." She faltered off the sentence, knowing to finish it the way she wanted to would only support Lino's obsession with her supposed "feelings" for Juice. It was true, though, she hadn't missed home when Juice was around. Mostly because he'd felt like home. "Until you came over," she finished smoothly.

"So come home. You're almost done with school here, right?"

"Mmm. But Raj has law school so...I'm stuck until he's done, and he's taking the bar here so he can only practice in New York. Think I'm gonna be here awhile."

Lino scowled at that. "Don't build your life around him. Do what makes you happy. If you wanna come back home, you should come back home."

Angela sighed heavily. She'd been thinking about moving back home after graduating a lot more recently, but she hated the idea of leaving Raj. She really liked him, could see herself maybe starting a family with him. Lino was wrong about her feelings about Juice. She loved Raj; he was the one she wanted to be with. He was good for her. Still...she felt drawn to California more than she ever had before. "I'll definitely come to visit."

He smirked, kissing her forehead. "Nah, you'll visit and then you'll stay."

She smiled a little, knowing there was a little truth to his statement. It was the reason she had yet to visit in the years she'd been in New York; she knew as soon as she got back home, she'd never want to leave. "We'll see."

Lino and Angela's relationship is one of my favorites to write! Hopefully you all love him just as much as I do!

If you guys ever have questions about who I picture in my head as my characters when I write, let me know! I'd be happy to share them! Also, if there are actors you picture when reading, tell me! That's one of my favorite things to hear, honestly! No character is meant to be pigeon-holed one way or the other, so if you don't see my characters the way I do, that's AWESOME and I'd love to see who you see them as!

As always, let me know what you think!

~Love Ink