"Val was only fifteen when she graduated high school," Dom said after a brief silence in his car. Luke wasn't sure where they were headed at the moment, but he also didn't care as long as Dom led them to Val. He was on the fence about whether or not to leave Val alone so she could sort through everything on her own since she did like to be by herself when she needed to figure things out, but Mia thought different. Now here they were in a silence that was nearly deafening and Dom decided it was time for him to talk.
"She was always so much smarter than me. Her nose was always stuck in books and medical journals." Dom scoffed shaking his head as a fond memory came to mind. "We didn't even need to worry about giving her "the talk" because she had already read all about it in those books." A small grin touched Luke's lips as he looked out of the window. "When she had gotten a full ride we couldn't have been more proud of her, but she had to turn it away when dad died and I went to jail." Luke turned his attention back to Dom. The regret in his eyes was apparent.
"She dropped absolutely everything to be with Mia and finish raising her since no one else was able. And when I finally got out of jail, I forced her to go back to college no matter how much she didn't want to since she had lost her scholarship. She said there was no way we were going to be able to afford it, but that didn't matter. She was going to follow her dream and become a doctor whether she liked it or not."
"She was tormented a lot because of her age and it was at least once a week she would call me crying her eyes out because of something someone said to her about her age." Dom shook his head and he turned down another street. "It took everything in my power not to go down there with every call and beat the ever living shit out of those punks for making fun of my little sister just because she was smarter than them. She begged me not to come. She said that it would just make it worse." Dom gripped the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles turned white.
"There was a point in time that she had met a guy there and she really liked him." The mention of a boyfriend caught Luke's attention. The only boyfriend that he knew about was Leon. "He was older and I didn't need to meet him to know I didn't like him. Mia would just tell me that it was where he was so much older. He was nearly ten years older than her and it was just too much. I knew there was something up.
"She calls me one night, crying her eyes out and blubbering away about something that I couldn't make out and I immediately get in my car and start driving to her. When I finally get to her, I find her in her dorm, eyes all puffy. She tells me that the only reason why that guy was showing any kind of interest in her was because she was able to do his work for him so he could go out and party any time he wanted to. He had come in drunk, and tried to force himself on her, but she had managed to fight him off. She said he had called her a lot of bad names before storming off and when she went to find him, he was balls deep in some little dorm slut.
"The bad thing about it was, Val really did care about him. She always liked to talk about the little gifts that he would buy her. He would bring her food whenever she was out of money and I wasn't able to send her some. He would buy her clothes. I hunted him down and beat the shit out of him for what he did. And because of that, I nearly got Val kicked out of school permanently.
"She had to appear in front of some type of board and state her case. She was allowed character witnesses and honestly, she probably would have been kicked out if it wasn't for the character witnesses she brought in. Instead of kicking her out permanently, she suspended her for the rest of the semester and allowed her to come back." Dom fell into another silence again and they drove through the streets of Los Angeles to a destination that was still a mystery to Luke. He wondered if there was a point in the story that Dom was telling him or if it was just for the sake of ending the silence that was between the two, not that it was awkward.
"Val has had to fight tooth and nail for absolutely everything in her life just to have it all ripped away from her because of me. She almost died because of me. She lost her job because of me. She lost any chance of having a normal life because of me." Dom scoffed shaking his head.
"And she never once complained. Never once held it against me. I never deserved her as a sister." Dom turned the car into a large cemetery. There were gravestones perfectly spaced out as far as the eye could see. Some of the gravestones had just a simple last name on them while others said some type of phrase. Luke's curiosity peaked as Dom slowly drove through the gravestones.
"I'm going to be honest, when she hooked up with you, I didn't think it was going to last. Hell, not really anyone did for that matter. But, I'll tell you what, I don't think I've ever seen her this happy and it's all thanks to you. You've given back to her everything that I've taken away from her and there is nothing I can do to repay you for that." They finally came to a stop behind Val's Barracuda. Luke looked out of the window to see Val among the tombstones. She was sitting in front of a pair of them with her knees drawled up to her chest. She looked so small with her limbs all knotted together.
"Why is she here?" Luke asked, his eyes never wavering from his woman.
"When she was having problems with handling the effects of the accident, she would come here and visit mom and dad. I'm not sure why, but it always put her at ease." Dom pulled out his phone and pointed it at Val. Luke heard the shutter click as he took a picture of Val. Dom chuckled shaking his head. "I'll be damned."
Dom turned the camera to Luke so he could see the picture. Sure enough, it was of Val sitting in front of the tombstones all knotted together, but there were the two familiar mist-like beings near her as if someone or something were with her. Luke shook his head then looked back at Val.
"So, what do we do now?" Luke asked. Dom took a deep breath.
"Now we wait. She's not ready yet." Luke gave Dom a curious look. Luke supposed Dom was right, any time Val needed any form of space, the last thing anyone wanted to do was be around her. She would either shut them out completely or she would lash out at them and say things she never really meant. Luke had learned that the hard way when they had gotten into an argument over something he couldn't even remember.
She had stormed off trying to get away from Luke, but he followed after her since he wasn't done fighting with her. At first, she had tried to shut him out, but he kept after her until she finally lashed out and said a few choice words to him that, needless to say, put him in his place. She had left his place and went to hers. Luke had decided to leave her alone for the night and let her cool off. When he had went to see her the next day, she had met him at his truck and started apologizing for what she had said to the point that she had brought tears to her eyes.
He was sure she wasn't angry in the current case, but the storm of emotions that was raging inside her probably left her unsure of how to feel. She probably had no idea who to blame for her accident, or if there was anyone to truly blame. From Luke's standpoint there was a little bit of blame to go in all directions. It was the bitch's fault for lying about who the father of her baby was. It was Dom's fault for simply turning his back on the woman instead of handling the situation like a grown man should. It was Jason's fault for trying to take revenge for the death of his unborn niece/nephew by trying to kill Dom's sister.
"I played football back in highschool," Luke started as his gaze stayed on Val. "I was damned good at it too. Had recruiters coming to bribe me left and right trying to get me to come to their colleges and play for them. I pretty much had my choice of any college in the country, but I had only one college in my sights. When they finally came to check me out, it was homecoming and I was on fire. Every time I looked up in the stands to where the recruiters were sitting, they were looking impressed which only pushed me harder. I was tackled on one play and it was the strangest thing. There was a sharp pain in my lower back that nearly blinded me it was so sudden, but it was gone just as fast as it happened. And when I tried to get up, I couldn't." Luke paused for a moment when he saw Val shift how she was sitting. She sat indian style, but it still seemed she wasn't ready for any type of company.
"I remember thinking first what the hell? Then I remember trying to move again, but nothing happened. And that was when the panic set in. I wasn't in any kind of pain, so why couldn't I move? My teammates and coaches were surrounding me and I can remember someone asking me to lay flat with my legs straight and I told them that they were straight. Evidently, that was the wrong answer because everyone seemed to panic around me. When they got me to the hospital and ran all of their tests, they told me I was never going to never walk again. And," Luke paused and moved his hand as if something was flying away from him. "There went all my dreams of going pro." Luke took a deep breath.
"I got low during that time convinced that my life was over. I wouldn't eat. I couldn't sleep. I never wanted to be around anyone, whether it was my friends or my own mother. That kind of isolation it… it brings out a certain darkness in people and it can and will swallow them whole. And it nearly did with me." Dom stayed quiet hoping that Luke would continue since Dom wasn't too sure what Luke was getting at though he did have an idea of where the story was going. Luke sighed.
"I tried killing myself a couple times then my mother put me in an institution. They helped me cope with the fact that I would never walk again and helped me understand that just because I couldn't walk didn't mean that everything was over. It took me a year or so, but I finally got tired of feeling sorry for myself and started trying to walk again and before I knew it I was walking again. I still don't know how I managed to do it, but I did, but that solidarity stayed with me. I excommunicated myself from the rest of the world only focusing on me.
"I met Shana in a bar once I learned that I was going to be apart of DSS. There was some guy being really forward with her and it was clear that she wasn't interested so I stepped in. Next thing I know, we're getting married and I blink and our marriage is ending." Luke paused again as he searched for the right way to word the next sentence. "I did love Shana, but it's different with Val. She looks passed all the bull shit and can see people for who they really are." Luke stopped talking for a moment before Dom realized that he was done talking all together. It was different hearing about Luke's past. Dom was always curious to where he had come from, but he grinned deciding that he was going to break the silence.
"There for a minute I thought you were going to tell me that you want to marry her," Dom joked with a chuckle on his breath. Luke didn't move.
"I plan to," was all he said as he watched Val from his window. The confession took Dom by surprise for a moment, but he smiled once it settled over him. He was okay with it amazingly. He figured he would feel some kind of discomfort with Val getting married to Luke, but it felt just the same as when Brian approached him to ask for his blessing to marry Mia. It was just meant to be.
Luke sighed and opened the car door.
"Screw this," he mumbled and slammed the door shut. Dom watched as Luke walked through the cemetery towards Val. Luke stood behind Val at the tombstones for a moment before he sat down behind her. Dom watched as Val scooted backwards until Luke was able to wrap her up in his embrace. She seemed to disappear against his large body. Dom wasn't sure what was happening, but whatever it was, it seemed to be working. He could see that Val was talking though she was too far away for him to make anything out. Luke sat still as he listened to everything she said, only speaking when it seemed it was important.
Val leaned forward and wiped hidden tears from her cheeks before looking back to Luke. She kissed his lips gently then pulled away from him. Luke stood and pulled her up with him. Dom took it upon himself to go ahead and exit the vehicle praying that Val wasn't angry with him. Or worse, disappointed. As soon as he walked around the front of the car, Val rushed in front of Luke and threw her arms around Dom's neck. She sniffed against his shoulder.
"It's not your fault," she whispered. Relief washed over him as he wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her shoulder. "You saved me from the car. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. I don't want you blaming yourself anymore."
"I'm sorry I waited so long to tell you," he whispered. Val grinned as she pulled away from him and placed her hands on his cheeks.
"It's okay. I know now," she said with a smile. Dom grinned with a shake of his head. There was no way that he deserved to have such an understanding sister. "And I'm sorry I took off. I just didn't know how to feel about all this. I still don't, really. I'm just glad I know now." Dom leaned forward and kissed her forehead gently. Val backed away until she was touching Luke and smiled up at him.
Val took the back seat since there was no way that Luke was going to be able to fit in the back. Hell, she could barely fit and that was just sad. Dom's phone went off while he was driving and he tossed it back to Val so she could check the message. She unlocked his phone and opened up the message to find that it was from Leon. He was currently in route to their home so he could begin his detox.
A slight nervousness gripped her. She had remembered what her room had looked like when they had returned. He had acted like he was obsessed with her, but she wondered if he had done it all in a drunken/drug induced state. She wondered if he would even remember that he had done it. It was hard to tell how long ago that he had done it. Of course, she had Luke and she knew that as long as he was around, she would never have anything to worry about.
She was curious about how he would react once they saw each other. Would he act as a friend or would it be awkward. She was glad that Luke was home for the time being so he could meet Leon as well. She figured that would be the only awkward part about it so it was good to go ahead and get it out of the way. She bit her lip before relaying the message to Dom.
It was going to be a long week.