Luke, Dom, and Val had managed to make it back to the house before Leon had showed up much to Val's relief. She wanted to go ahead and start getting the bedroom set up for whenever he started going through the first stages of withdrawal. She had Dom go down into the basement and find the IV pole they had kept after she had healed from her injuries. She made sure there were fresh sheets and blankets on the bed to maximise comfort. She lowered the blinds and closed them to make it as dark as possible. She could remember that Leon couldn't sleep with any form of light or sound in the bedroom.
Mia was in the kitchen making Leon a small meal so he had something on his stomach when he started with his withdrawal since they weren't sure how quickly he was going to start showing symptoms. The earlier the better since that would mean it would be sooner that he was over them and they could go back to living a normal life.
Val knew that she was going to have to stay for the next couple days since the those were the worst part of the withdrawal. She wasn't sure the severity of his addiction and she hoped that he would be honest with her when she questioned him about it so she could better prepare. She would possibly have to have him transported to the hospital because of the withdrawal symptoms if they were bad enough. She hoped that it wasn't as bad as she was expecting. She had just finished preparing the room when she had heard an unfamiliar car pull up in front of the house. She knew it had to be him.
She stepped out into the living room to see Dom walking to the front to meet Leon. Brian, Tej, and Letty took Samantha out back to distract her while they brought Leon into the house. Val stood next to Luke and let him wrap an arm around her waist. She bit her lip and the nervousness gripped her again. There was no turning back now, she knew it, but it was going to be awkward. She heard the familiar voice of Leon approaching the house and a weird sense of deja vu filled her mind. She shook the little memories away from her mind.
She seen his shadow move up the stairs and she saw Dom step out of the way so he could enter the house. She couldn't believe her eyes when he finally stepped in. He looked so much worse in person compared to the photo Dom had showed her. The first thing she noticed was the filth that covered his body. There were grease stains on his skin that looked weeks old and dirt all over his clothes. His clothes had worn out holes all over them and it looked that he was using an old piece of rope to keep his pants up. His hair was shining how oily it was. He had a beard that looked scraggly due to no upkeep. The circles under his eyes were from days with little to no sleep. Val could see every bone in his face. It wasn't long before his odor hit her nose.
She let out a slight, involuntary gasp. He looked terrible. He looked like he was sleeping on the streets. Leon had always been so clean cut. He always looked like a wanna-be gangster, sure, but his wardrobe was always picked very carefully by him every single day. He had to shower every day because of where he worked in the garage. He said that it messed with his hair too much. He told her one time that the only reason why there was hair on his face was because he allowed it to be there. As soon as he would see one little hair out of place, he would pluck it with a pair of tweezers he carried in his pocket at all times.
He would even fuss at Val if she wore her pajamas past noon until she got up to put regular attire on. It didn't matter if they were planning on leaving the house or not. He always wanted his woman to be looking her best at all times.
His eyes finally landed on her and Val immediately dropped her gaze. She didn't want him seeing the look of utter shock on her face. His stench got stronger as he approached her. She struggled against the urge to cover her nose.
"It's good to see you again, Val. You look good," Leon said in a quiet voice. Val met his gaze with the best friendly smile she could manage.
"Thanks. The guest bedroom is all set up. Mia is making you some food. Why don't you go get settled in." Leon lowered his gaze and nodded his head. He walked passed her and stepped into the guest bedroom. Dom stopped next to Val. He watched her for a moment before leaning in close so he could whisper to her.
"You don't have to do this," he said in a low voice. Val nodded her head. Either way she knew that Dom was going to help Leon. Whether she liked it or not. He was in desperate need of their help. He needed to get back on his feet. He needed to get clean or else he was going to get himself killed. But there was one thing that she did know for certain.
"This is going to be bad, Dom," she whispered. Dom nodded his head in agreement.
"I know," he said with a sigh. "But you can tell me what I need to do and I can take care of this." Val rubbed the back of her neck before looking up at Luke. He seemed to be waiting for her to decide what she was going to do about the situation. Dom was offering her an out. Val weighed her options for a moment, but it didn't take long for her to decide.
"We shouldn't start seeing real symptoms until tomorrow. Small things like nausea, anxiety, agitation. By tomorrow night, we'll start seeing worse symptoms and that's when we're going to want to start keeping track of his vitals. We can give him aspirin for his aches and antacids for his stomach problems. Where was he staying?" Dom crossed his arms over his chest.
"In his car," he said simply. Val shook her head in pity.
"Someone needs to go search his car and make sure it is completely cleaned out. The last thing we need is for him to find a forgotten needle under his floor mats and relapse. I also need specifics of his addiction: how long he was on this stuff, how often he did it, how much of it he was doing at a time. Vital signs need to be taken regularly once the withdrawal symptoms start showing up. The worst part of the withdrawal is going to last for the next couple days, but after that they should start dissipating and he'll be back to normal after a week or so." She paused for a moment and looked to her brother. "And make sure he gets cleaned up before all this happens. I'll be back later on tonight so I can watch him while he's detoxing."
Dom nodded slowly as he mentally made a list of all the things Val had just said to him. Luke and Val made their way out back to find Brian kicking around a soccer ball with Sam. He wasn't very good at it and Sam was trying to teach him how to do it properly, but he had her laughing so hard that she was hardly able to walk around, let alone kick a ball. Val wasn't sure where Letty had gotten off to, but she wasn't really worried about it either.
"Sam, come on, we're leaving," Luke called out as he walked down the back steps. Samantha stopped in mid step and looked to her father. She pouted a little, but still gave him no grief as she ran off to get in his truck.
"Bye, Brian!" she yelled over her shoulder. Brian waved at her saying his own goodbyes as Val walked up to him. He grinned at Val as she stepped next to him.
"Cute kid," he said crossing his arms. Val chuckled. Luke waved to Brian as he cut the corner of the house to get in his truck so he and Sam could go ahead and take off. Luke didn't want her around Leon, Val figured. And for good reason. Seeing a man in such a state would probably raise questions Luke wasn't ready to answer at such a young age. "So, how bad is this going to be?" Brian asked lowering his voice. Val shrugged her shoulder and let out a breath.
"It's going to be a long week," she said already feeling drained from the upcoming detox session Leon was going to go through. She wasn't going to be leaving until after the peak of the withdrawal was over with. Once the peak was over, he was going to be getting better and better with each passing day. It was hard saying what Dom was going to do with him after his detox was over, but Leon was eventually going to be let back into the team.
Val wasn't sure if he was going to like the turn of events that led the family to live a life on the straight and narrow instead of ripping off big rigs carrying various electronics. Val had to fight back a giggle. They had come so far over the years. It was so hard to believe that they had gotten their start from stealing electronics.
"I'll see you later," Val said walking away from him. Val made her way back to her car and got in. She took a deep breath leaning her head back against the headrest for a moment. She wasn't sure if she was going to regret being there while Leon was detoxing. She turned on her car and backed it out of the driveway carefully before pulling away to head back to Luke's for a couple more hours before she returned.
She thought about how they had went through withdrawal together way back when. She wondered if she would have stayed if she would be in the same boat as Leon. Would she have been a needle junkie just like him or would they have been completely sober? Would they have any kids together? She couldn't help, but feel a little responsible for Leon's condition. She had turned her back on him without even giving it a second though. She hadn't even felt bad for leaving him. She had always felt that it was his fault that he didn't come with her. She wasn't going to leave her brother to suffer and grieve the death of his wife alone just because Leon didn't want her to leave.
She had every intention of returning once she figured that her brother was well enough to be on his own, but she never got around to doing it. She had come close to leaving a couple times when she had gotten into arguments with Dom, but she never did. The worst she did was drive around in a bad mood for a couple hours before she returned.
If she would have left, she would have never met Luke. Well, she may have met him, but the chances were slim to none. She never once regretted being with him in the least except for when he was going for long periods of time. She wasn't one to really believe in destiny, but there was no denying that she would have never met Luke Hobbs if she would've left her brother to return to Leon.
It could have been her living out of her car. It could have been her wearing clothes so dirty and matted that they were getting ready to fall off. It could have been her so filthy that she was nearly unrecognizable.
She pulled into Luke's driveway wondering how in the world she had even made it there since she had zoned out on her drive over. She got out of the car and walked into the house. She found Samantha in the living room watching television. She was sprawled out on the floor staring up at the tv with the utmost interest. She grinned at the small child and walked farther into the house to find Luke.
She found him in the kitchen drinking a glass of water. He was leaning his back against the countertop. He seemed distant. He stared across the kitchen at nothing as he sipped away at the liquid. He didn't even acknowledge Val's presence and she was afraid she had upset him. She stepped in front of him and rested her hands on his waist. He lowered his gaze to her. He didn't pull away from her or anything which promised her that he wasn't angry with her. If he was, he would have put a little distance between them until he started calming down.
She wrapped her arms around him loosely and he finally met her gaze. He put the glass on the countertop near him then rested his palms on the corner of the countertop.
"What are you thinking about?" she asked in a low voice. Luke looked away from her towards the living room for a split second before he pushed himself away from the counter. He led her into the bedroom where he closed the door so they could speak in private. He sat down on the edge of the bed and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Sam told me on the way over that she doesn't want to go home. She said she wants to come live with you and me." Val grinned as she wrapped her arms around his neck and she slid into his lap.
"And what did you say to her?" she asked nuzzling into his neck.
"I told her that you and I didn't live together." Val snorted out a laugh. Of course he told her that. She bit her lip as she waited for him to continue. "Then she asked me why we didn't live together and I honestly didn't know how to answer her." She raised her head a little so she could look him in the eye. She wasn't sure what he was getting at, but she shrugged her shoulder a little unsure of what to say either. They had never really talked about living together.
"Move in with me, Val," he said out of nowhere. Val blinked her eyes a couple times as if it was helping his words sink in a little more. She smiled at him.
"No," she countered. Luke narrowed his eyes at her.
"What?"
Val giggled then kissed his lips.
"My place is bigger," she started. "You move in with me." Luke gave her a flat look and shook his head no.
"You're the woman, I can't do that," he said nonchalantly with a shrug of his shoulder. Val clicked her tongue at him.
"The fifties called, not even they want those standards back." Luke laughed at her and shook his head.
"Then let's get a place together," he reasoned. Val tilted her head a little and studied him for a moment.
"You're serious about this," she said finally. Luke nodded his head. Val chuckled and kissed his lips gently. "We'll talk more about this once I'm done taking care of Leon. It's going to be a couple days before he's done with the worst part of detox." Luke fell silent and stared at the bedroom door for a moment. Val narrowed her eyes at him wondering what was going through his mind.
"What did you ever see in him?" he asked truly curious. Val snorted again and shook her head. She shrugged her shoulders as she stood from his lap.
"He wasn't always like this. We were both on a destructive path and I think that may have had a lot to do with it. I'm not sure though. We were together for a long time before I left to be with Dom. I just can't believe he has fallen this far." Luke hummed as Val turned away from him to start gathering some clothes that she could take with her.
"Are you sure you want to do this? You told me about the shape your room was in when you came back. And you seemed a little scared when you spotted him at Race Wars." Val sighed as she pulled a bag from the closet to use for her clothes.
"If he did what he did because of the drugs, then yes I'm sure I want to do this. Heroin will make your mind go crazy. Whether it's from the lack of sleep or the drug itself or a mixture of both. If we can get him clean, maybe he can think clearly again." She threw some clothes into the bag before turning to Luke. "But don't worry, I'm not going to go back to him or anything," she teased. Luke rolled his eyes and stood from the bed.
"It never crossed my mind. But you know you don't have to do this," he said in a low voice. She nodded.
"I'm going to be there in case something happens. Dom doesn't have to do this alone." Val turned to Luke when he fell silent. He stood there like a stone watching her. She grinned and stepped in front of him. She curled her fingers around his belt tugging him against her gently. "You don't want me to do this, do you?"
"I just want to make sure that you're comfortable with this," he admitted. Val leaned her forehead against his chest.
"It's never comfortable seeing a friend go through something like this. Maybe we should have sought him out when we got back just to make sure he was okay, but we didn't. Maybe I should have tried harder to get him to come with me when I left to be with Dom. We abandoned him and this is what happened to him."
"It's not your fault, Val. He chose to live like this." She sighed stepping away from him.
"Maybe, but we can't turn our backs on him now. He needs us now more than ever." Luke sighed and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Samantha needs us too," he said as a certain sadness touched his eyes. Val tilted her head in curiosity. "She said Shana and Jerry are fighting a lot. She said they are waking her up at night arguing with each other." Val frowned.
"Oh." So that was why she wanted to move in with them. She figured it was just where she was a daddy's girl through and through. Shana and Jerry seemed to get along just fine when she had met them except for when Jerry went off the deep end when he discovered that Val had been one of Luke's targets. Shana had been very angry and most likely embarrassed for the way he reacted to the fact, but they didn't seem to her that they were going through any form of rough patch, but it was amazing what happened behind closed doors.
"If she moves in with you, she'll have to change schools. That's never easy for a kid," Val thought out loud. "Maybe we could find a place together over in her school district so she doesn't have to change schools." She bit her lip in thought as Luke grinned down at her. "And what will happen when you have to leave for work?"
"Well, that's what you're going to be there for," Luke reasoned. Val rolled her eyes and grinned playfully.
"Oh, I see now. You want me to move in with you so you have a babysitter," she said in a teasing tone. Luke shook his head.
"Now you're catching on," he teased back. Val giggled and pulled away from him so she could finish putting a bag together for when she went back to Dom's to care for Leon. She made her way into the bathroom to gather up some toiletries to take with her. Luke stood in the doorway and watched her as she gathered everything. "Do you think that realtor of yours will be able to help us find a place?" Val shrugged her shoulders as she gathered everything that she was wanting to take with her in her arms and carried it out to drop in her bag.
"Probably, but we'll talk about this later. I want to go spend a little more time with Samantha before I head back over there." She threw the strap of the bag over her shoulder and walked out of the bedroom so she could finish watching the movie with Samantha. Luke huffed a little annoyed, but he followed after Val anyways to watch whatever movie Sam had found to watch.
Author's Note: Alright guys, another chapter down. Hope you like it. Reviews and shit!
Aven