Before Val went to bed that night she took a shower because she knew that when Luke said seven thirty in the morning, he meant seven thirty. She wasn't much of a morning person and she wasn't about to get up extra early just so she could shower before he got there. Even waking up at seven in the morning was more than enough for her to be ready to slaughter someone. Lucky enough for everyone in the house, everyone stayed in bed as she moved around downstairs so she could get ready.

She had been crashing on the couch downstairs since they had returned because she had nowhere else to sleep. Mia and Brian took up residence in her old room while Jack took hers. Dom slept in his old room while Letty slept in the guest bedroom because she just wasn't ready to share a bedroom with her brother.

She woke up to the god awful sound of her alarm on her phone. She sat up on the couch and rubbed her eyes before looking around the living room trying to figure out where her phone was placed before she stood. She always had to place it somewhere away from her so she wouldn't turn it off, roll over, and go back to sleep without much of a passing thought. She walked over to the television across the floor and shut off her alarm before blinking a couple times and turned around.

She walked into the kitchen and made herself some instant coffee so she could have coffee of some kind in her system while she made actual coffee for herself. She sipped at the terrible excuse of the life giving liquid as she walked into the bathroom to start getting ready. She already had her clothes pulled out so all she had to do was change and brush her hair and teeth. The clothes she decided on was a knee length blue dress with a thin brown belt that went around her waist. She put on brown flats with it. She brushed her hair before walking into the kitchen to pour herself a real cup of coffee. She leaned against the counter sipping at it.

She glanced at the clock to see that she had another ten minutes before Luke would be sitting in front of the house and decided that she didn't care how bad the coffee would taste, she would have to brush her teeth. She stepped back into the bathroom and brushed. She walked back out and refilled her cup before stepping outside and leaned against the railing on the front porch to wait for Luke to pull up.

She didn't want to keep him waiting. She wasn't sure what kind of guy he was, but she was sure he wasn't the type of man who enjoyed to be kept waiting. She sipped at her coffee just watching the world wake up. Once she had woken up and had a chance to get her coffee and relax, she always enjoyed the early mornings. She liked as each bird woke up to greet the fresh morning light, she liked hearing as more and more vehicles hit the roads for their morning commutes, she liked how the skies became more and more blue as the sun rose.

By the time she had finished her coffee, Luke had pulled up in front of the house and she glanced down at her phone. Seven thirty on the dot. Just as she had expected. She left her cup on the porch and trotted down the steps to his truck.

"Good morning," he said handing her a cup of coffee that he had bought from a fast food place. She grinned taking it before opening it up to see what he had brought her. It was simple black coffee and she was glad.

"Good morning." She took a sip, but it burned her mouth too much so she put it back in the cup holder to let it cool more.

"Good morning. I'm glad you showed up." Luke grinned as he watched her.

"And miss an exciting day of looking at houses you may or may not buy?" Val grinned as she gave him a sarcastic smile. "Never." Val giggled. She gave him the address of the first house she was supposed to see that morning and Luke started on his way.

Val took a deep breath leaning her head against the back of the seat she was sitting in and closed her eyes. She felt completely relaxed. She didn't care how stressful her day was going to be looking at all the houses her realtor had lined up for her because she was with Luke. Everything was going to be okay because he was there with her.

"You okay over there?" he asked breaking her away from her thoughts. She let her head turn to the side and looked at him. He watched her from the corner of his eye so he could keep an eye on the road.

"Yeah, just thinking about the way today is going to go. I thought it would be a little more exciting looking for my own place." Luke hummed with a nod of his head.

"Have you ever lived on your own before?" She frowned crossing her arms loosely in front of her. She looked out the window.

"No, actually. It's just always been us." Luke looked to her. He couldn't tell if the confession bothered her or not. From what he had learned about the Torettos and their little group, they were tight nit. Always there around each other in some way. Some families were like that and he understood. He did, however, find it odd. Every last one of the group had one trait in common, and that was independence. Even Val had this trait, but it currently wasn't showing. Maybe that was why she wanted her own place. She wanted her own independence.

Val wasn't sure how to feel about that fact. She was in her thirties and, yet, had never owned her own home. Hell, she hadn't even rented her own place. It simply had just been them. Always had been. She even realized about how the thought never really crossed her mind to get her own place except for when her and Leon were together. They had talked loosely on getting their own place, starting a family, the whole shebang, but it just… never happened. She lowered her head realizing that a lot of their relationship was just that… talk.

She reached down and grabbed her coffee and took a sip no longer caring if it burned or not.

"Thank you for the coffee. That was sweet." The statement brought a grin to Luke's face. It wasn't every day that someone would call a gesture performed by him "sweet", but he liked it. Especially when it came from her lips. They pulled up in front of the first house and they looked up at it. It had white siding, brown shutters, a nice covered porch. Nice curb appeal that would make any realtor proud. Luke looked back to Val who turned her head to look around. He watched as she turned in every which way simply just taking in the neighborhood.

There was a woman who walked onto the sidewalk from what Luke was assuming the driveway and the way she was dressed in a navy blue blazer and a matching skirt, he figured it was her realtor. Val opened the door and slid out of the truck. Luke followed suit and met Val around the front to meet her realtor.

"Good morning, Miss Toretto, I see you've brought another friend with you today." Val nodded turning towards Luke so she could introduce him. The realtor's name was Mrs. Sumter. She had poofy blonde hair that clearly came out of a box and hundreds of dollars spent at a beauty salon. She tried to hide her crow's feet under thick, thick make-up and she clearly visited the tanning bed too much. Luke really didn't care for her much, but as long as she did her job and showed Val quality homes that she would be able to make a life out of, he would put up with her.

All it took was the first sentence out of Mrs. Sumter's mouth and Val didn't want the home. Five bedrooms, two and a half baths. What the hell was she supposed to do with five bedrooms and two and half baths? Val didn't say much about anything when she was being showed the house. Luke had to admit, it was a very nice home. It had large living room and decent sized dining area with two sliding doors that went into a kitchen with an island in the center. There was two bedrooms downstairs with a small room off by itself that served as the laundry room with the half bath near it. One of the bedrooms was considered the master bedroom since it had a bathroom inside it.

Upstairs was the remaining bedrooms with another bathroom at the end of the hallway, but there really wasn't much else to see up there. Luke could tell Val didn't like it. He could tell from the air around her. She walked around just glancing instead of looking. She seemed bored. Worse, she wasn't even interested.

The second house they went to was slightly smaller at only four bedrooms and two full baths. Val seemed to be really interested in it, but when they stepped out front, cops went racing by sirens blaring and spun down another side street. Mrs. Sumter wasn't too happy about it and even tried to say that it rarely happened, but it wasn't enough to change Val's mind.

By the end of the third house, Val was clearly upset. The home her realtor was showing her was more along the lines of a mansion. It had an attack that could be converted into a bedroom since it had its own half bath. There were four bedrooms upstairs with a full bathroom. And another bedroom downstairs that served as the master bedroom with its own massive bathroom. The home was immaculate, but Luke was more than certain it was way outside of her taste.

After the third house, they decided to take a break and go get some lunch. They agreed to meet Mrs. Sumter at the fourth house in an hour and a half so that would give them enough time to eat and relax. Val sat next to Luke surprisingly quiet. He could feel her mood radiating off her so much that it was starting to affect him. He felt his body tensing up as little twangs of Val's emotion passed through him. He didn't like seeing her upset, he felt the emotion didn't suit her, and he wasn't sure what he could do to cheer her up.

"Your realtor, she's quite the character," Luke said as they sat in a diner eating a burger and fries. Val leaned against her arm pushing a fry around in her ketchup. She wasn't all that hungry. Mrs. Sumter had ruined her appetite. She had specifically told her what kind of house she was looking for, but still insisted on showing her homes that Mrs. Sumter knew Val wouldn't be interested in.

"Yeah, that she is." Luke frowned at her tone. If there was even a tone to her words.

"You don't like her." Val finally met his eyes for the first time since they had sat in the restaurant.

"No, it's not that. I just hate the fact that she keeps showing all these houses that are for a family of four or more." Val sighed looking back down. "I just think it's a waste of time since I don't have a family of my own."

"Would it be too imposing to ask you why you never settled down?" Luke asked before taking a large bite of his burger. The bite made Val chuckle and she finally decided to eat the fry.

"I don't know if there would ever be a time to when a question like that wouldn't be imposing." Luke gave her an apologetic look and even went to apologize for it, but his mouth was currently full with possibly the best burger he had ever had in his life. "I just never got around to starting a family. There was someone," she paused for a moment as she bit her tongue. She didn't really want to bring Leon up to Luke just yet, but it was already too late. "But that was a long time ago. When I left to go be with Dom, he chose to stay behind. I never saw him again. After that, I was just… I don't know… wasn't interested. Next thing I know, ten years had passed."

Luke could see the regret in her eyes. He wasn't going to ask if she wanted a family eventually because all he had to do was look in her eyes and see that she did.

"I used to be married," Luke confessed. He grinned at Val's face. Apparently, the thought had never crossed her mind. "It started off just like all marriages all happy and whatnot. After a few years though, something had just changed. All we did was fight except when we were in bed together and then even that stopped. It was mutual, but we got a divorce deciding that it was for the best." By this time, he had pulled out his phone and unlocked the screen. He scrolled through as Val's curiosity was starting to get the best of her. She was more than just a little curious as to what he was doing on his phone. "It wasn't too much longer after we separated that she gave me the most wonderful gift I would ever hope to get." He paused looking down at his phone and a smile filled with utter joy and pride spread across his face.

"And what is that?" she asked even though she had a strong gut feeling as to what he was getting ready to say. Luke turned the phone around and handed it to Val. On the screen was a little girl with long black curls, dark skin and a striking resemblance to the man sitting in front of Val.

"My daughter, Samantha." Val smiled at the picture then handed the phone back to him.

"She's beautiful. Why didn't you say anything about her?" Luke shrugged shutting off his screen then shoved his phone back into his pocket.

"Well, I wasn't sure if talking about my daughter was first date material. Then before that you were an international criminal so it was for her protection." Val laughed then pointed a fry at him accusingly.

"I wouldn't have been an international criminal if it wasn't for a certain someone…" she started, but Luke interrupted her by holding up his hand. He was shaking his head at her with a smile.

"Am I ever going to live that down?" Val narrowed her eyes and hummed as if she was considering it.

"No."

After their lunch, Luke had noticed a little extra spring in Val's step and the smile on her face wouldn't go away. He wasn't sure if it was him that gave her a sudden boost in her attitude, or if it was the food and really, that didn't matter to him. He loved her smile and he didn't care what had to happen in order to keep it on her lips, just as long as it was there.

The fourth home they looked at had Val drooling at the mouth. The neighborhood was active with people of all ages, the home itself had a wonderful curb appeal. It had a covered porch the length of the front of the home with places for flowerbeds for the length of the bottom part. Upon walking in led into the living room and it was massive. There was a smaller dining room in the back corner with three doors leading into it. One from the living room, one from the hallway that led back into the master bedroom, laundry room, and kitchen, and one that led straight into the kitchen. The kitchen was wide open with plenty of counter space for anything. The master bedroom was massive to say the least, but what sold Val was the claw foot tub in the master bathroom.

Luke couldn't help, but smile as she fussed over the tub talking about how bad she always wanted one, but was never able to because of how much they cost. She ran the water in it and Luke was wondering if she was going take a bath right then and there.

But that had nothing on the look she got on her face when Mrs. Sumter showed her the garage that sat at the end of the driveway. Luke should have known better than thinking that maybe she wasn't a typical Toretto that was obsessed with cars. She went inside and took a deep breath of the inside. It still smelled like oil and grease. There was a couple oil stains on the concrete floor, but that didn't matter to her. She walked around the edges running her hands over the workbenches and shelves that lined the walls.

Val turned back to her realtor with a big smile on her face.

"This is it. This is the one." Her realtor clapped and jumped a little in place then left to start the necessary paperwork. Val walked over to Luke and wrapped her arms around his big arm and leaned her head against his upper arm. She let out a dreamy sigh taking one more look around the garage then looked up at Luke. "I do believe you are my lucky charm." Luke chuckled looked down at her.

"So I guess that means you're going to keep me around for awhile then, huh?" Val giggled and leaned her head against his arm again.

"Maybe for a while." Val released him and turned to walk out of the garage, but Luke's big hand landed on her stomach, stopping her in her tracks. She looked up at him as he slowly pulled her to face him. She felt her cheeks go hot. She felt his hand on the side of her face and she resisted letting her eyes close so she could focus on his touch and his touch alone. She felt herself lean into his touch slightly. He leaned closer to her and Val felt as if they had slipped into their own little bubble. There was nothing around them. Just Luke and Val. No sound except for their heartbeats.

Val smiled and put her finger to his lips to stop him from kissing her. Luke was clearly confused by her actions and just stared at her waiting for an explanation. He had just the sudden urge to kiss her so he acted on it. He wasn't expecting to be rejected. When she had wrapped her arms around his arm and leaned against him it felt like his body had been set on fire.

"I don't kiss on the second date," she simply said before lowering her hand and walked out of the garage. Luke followed behind her trying to calm himself down a little. Whether he liked it or not, she wasn't going to kiss him until she was ready and he was just going to have to wait. He stepped next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Val looked up at him with a smile as her arm snaked around his waist.

After finishing up all the paperwork and odds and ends of closing the sale, Luke took Val to the beach where they walked with their feet in the water hand in hand. They came across a pier and walked out to the very end enjoying the view of the ocean idly chit chatting back and forth.

Eventually, they had made their way to another restaurant for dinner. After that, it was time to bring their times spent together to an end. They sat in Luke's truck in front of her house quietly. Val really wasn't ready to end the day with Luke by no means, but the sooner they did, the sooner the could have another day together.

"Thank you for everything today. I had so much fun," Val said looking at him.

"Me too." She opened the truck door and began to slide out, but Luke's hand grabbed her arm causing her to looking back at him. He pulled her closer to him as he leaned in to kiss her once more and this time, Val leaned in too. Her hand rested on his cheek as their lips touched gently. The kiss only lasted for a short few seconds, but to them it felt like it was for eternity. Shockwaves went through them at the touches.

They weren't sure who it was that pulled away first, but the kiss was gone. Val slowly opened her eyes and smiled at Luke. Her eyes fell to his lips before bouncing back up to his eyes and Luke took that as a cue to kiss her again. The second kiss was a little harder, more confident. Val's hand lowered itself from his cheek to the back of his neck.

Val felt Luke's tongue brush along her lower lip and she parted her lips letting Luke's tongue in. She twisted her tongue around his and both of the seemed to sigh at the sensation. The kiss seemed to go on for hours before they pulled away from each other.

"Goodnight, Luke," she whispered because she was afraid she would squeak if she talked normal.

"When can I see you again?" he asked leaning back in his seat. Val thought about it for a moment.

"Well, I was going to see if Mia wanted to go with me tomorrow to start looking for furniture. Would you like to join us?" Luke made a face at her that clearly said, "Hell no".

"What about afterwards? We can go to dinner." Val smiled and nodded. "Just let me know when you and Mia are done and I'll come pick you up." Val began to slide out of the truck.

"Goodnight, Luke." He grinned.

"Goodnight." Val closed the door and watched him as he pulled away from the curb then made her way up to the house and went in. She found everyone sitting around in the living room watching television. She told them about how she had finally found a house and started showing them all pictures. Everyone seemed to be really excited for her. Mia agreed that she would go with her the next day to find some furniture and things to start putting in the house.

Val walked into the kitchen and grabbed a beer out of the fridge and leaned against the counter. After taking a sip of the beer she touched her lips remembering the electricity she felt as their lips danced over each other. She felt her heart flutter in excitement at the thought of seeing Luke again the next day.

"How are things going between you and Luke?" Dom asked walking into the kitchen.

"It's still too early to tell. It's only our second date." Dom narrowed his eyes at her with a grin.

"Second date? I thought yesterday wasn't a date," he said standing beside her and opening his own beer.

"Yeah, well, apparently the only person that believed that was me. I just had to get over it." Dom chuckled. "We're going to dinner after me and Mia get done shopping tomorrow." Dom gave her a curious look.

"Three days in a row? I think he might be a little hung up on you." She bit her lip looking down. She didn't think there was anything wrong with that fact since she was a little hung up on him. The past two days had been the most exhilarating days she had in a very long time.

She laid down on the couch though she knew she wasn't going to be going to sleep any time soon since all she could think about was Luke. She felt like a little school girl all giddy over one of the older boys. She knew she was acting ridiculous, but she couldn't help it. She wasn't sure when she managed to go to sleep, but she did eventually manage to sleep sometime within the night.

Author's Note: Hello again to all my readers! I hope you all have been doing well. This chapter took a little longer for me to get out than usual mainly because I had a hit of depression that literally had me sleeping for nearly seventy two hours and once I managed to get myself out of it my apartment was absolutely destroyed by an unseen force so I've been trying to get caught up on housework. Then upon rereading this chapter, I rewrote it... like twice. I think this is the way I wanted it to go though part of me wanted to hold off on the first kiss, but... the other part of me... just couldn't. Hope you guys understand.

So, going to need a little bit more feedback from my darling readers that I love so much. I plan on Val having her own car that she left behind with Hector for him to take care of until she returned. I'm thinking maybe a '68 GTO Judge, but I'm not sure. I seriously don't want to do a Shelby of any kind because that just seems to be a constant in all these stories no matter how yummy that car is. I for sure what her in some kind of American Muscle because, let's face it, she is a Toretto. Let me know in the reviews or pm me. Either is fine and thank you guys ahead of time.

Also, don't want to sound needy or anything, but please review and let me know what you think.

Also, hello to all my new followers and favorites people!

Much love readers!

Aven