AN:Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. It means so much to me! I know its been sad but I will get better I promise! Here is another one for you.
Gabriella didn't even remember the drive home, it was a blur as Johnny sped through traffic trying to get her back to he
r house. Her hands were shaking as she stared up at the place she called home.
"Do you want me to go up there with you?" Johnny asked rubbing her leg. She looked over at him, her eyes glazed over. She was in shock. "Gabriella?"
"Ella!" Vince was at the door in an instant swinging it open. He jumped in taking her seatbelt off and pulling her out of the car.
"Is there anything I can do?" Johnny asked.
"She will call you, we just need to get to the station." He put Gabriella down on the ground and grabbed her shoulders. "Look at me, Gab. Look at me."
"What happened?" She asked as the tears fell down her face. She looked up just as the rain began to fall but she just stood there. Vince jerked her in his arms as they began to get wet. Neither one seemed to care.
"Let's get you inside before you get sick."
"I want to go to him Vince." She jerked away. "I want to go to him now."
"You can't come Gab, it's not right for you to be out this late."
"He is my brother!" She yelled. It felt like as much as she yelled he couldn't hear her. Her heart was beating so loud that it was clouding her mind. She couldn't think. She couldn't move. "You tell me what happened Vince, you tell me right now….everything was fine wasn't it? He was fine."
"It was all so fast Gab, it just happened before I could react, Dom was already hitting him."
"Hitting who?"
"Kenny Linder."
Gabriella dropped everything to the ground. She felt her knees give out on her as Vince dove to catch her. She was in his arms when she opened her eyes back up, the light shining from the living room was in her eyes.
"Is she okay?" Jesse asked as Gabriella sat up. She didn't even remember passing out.
"Get some towels Jess…"
"I got the money." Mia came running into the living room. Gabriella looked up at her, her family was falling apart. "Ella…" She whispered.
"Can we get him out?" Gabriella asked. No one spoke. She bowed her head.
"Gab, his bail is set at three hundred thousand dollars. We can get that, but he might be doing some time." Vince explained.
"Why?" She wiped her face from the tears.
Vince looked up at Mia. "Just tell me, don't lie to me." Her voice was hoarse.
"He beat Linder with a wrench, he almost killed him." Vince rubbed the side of her head. "They arrested him at the store today…"
"When can we go get him?"
"In the morning. They are closed right now; we will all go in the morning."
"I don't want her going." Mia finally spoke.
"You okay Gab?" Jesse asked.
"It's really cold." She whispered. She looked down at her shaking hands as he sat down next to her wrapping the towel tighter around her. She laid her head on his shoulder as she closed her eyes. The tears streamed down her face.
"We are going to get through this like we always do." Vince replied. "We are going to get him out, then wait for his court date."
"This is all just a dream right?" Gabriella leaned up. "Please just tell me that this is just some bad dream."
"I wish it was Gab, I really wish it was." Vince whispered. Jesse pulled her back over to him as they all sat in the living in silence.
"You sure you are okay?" Johnny asked her for the seventh time as she sat in the car patting her hand on her leg. She was nervous, very nervous. Almost scared to death. She felt the car start as it rumbled underneath her. She clenched her hands to the seat as she looked over at him. She was trying to tell herself to breath but it wasn't working. "You really aren't convincing me this is the right thing to do."
Gabriella couldn't help but laugh at him. "Relax please, I am not going to let anything happen to you."
"I'm just...nervous."
"El, if you don't want to do this we can walk away."
She shook her head quickly. "I'm fine." She gasped. She gave a forced smile at him. Two girls stood at the opposite end of each other. "Wow." Was all she could reply as Johnny let out a laugh. The flag came down. She tightened her grip as the car shot forward. She closed her eyes, it's almost over. It's almost over. She could feel the speed get up but she refused to look. Her hands were aching as she held her grip. She arched her back, waiting for the wreck…and explosion but it never came. The car stopped. She was waiting for her mind to catch back up to her but it was taking its time as she heard Johnny talking to her. She felt like she was going to throw up.
Gabriella stood outside the next morning, the sun was hitting her in the face. It wasn't quite seven thirty but the air was hot, the sun was hot. She looked down at the street as the cars were passing by. It was a normal day for most people but that day, no that day was the day she had to go get her brother out of jail for almost beating a guy to death. She took a deep breath as she heard voices behind her.
"She's fine Mia." Vince replied. Then it was quiet. "Ella, let's go."
She turned around towards him crossing her arms over her chest. Everyone was riding together, they were going to get Dom. She had this plan, a plan to run away. Yeah…they would run away from everything and never look back. "When we get here, El I need you to stay in the car. I don't want you going in here."
"He is coming home with us right? He is going to get out?" Gabriella asked.
"He is going to get out today Gab…" Vince looked back at her in his mirror.
"But?"
No one spoke. Gabriella nodded her head as she leaned it against the window staring out. The car pulled up to the police station. It was huge, cops were everywhere.
"I'll stay with Gabby." Jesse replied. "Just so you don't have to be alone."
"Did you get the money?" Gabriella asked.
"We have everything we need Gab, just calm down. We will be back in a few minutes." Vince assured her. "Just sit tight."
She nodded her head as she began to bite her finger nails. "Just tell me Jess, I know they are keeping me in the dark. How bad is it? Am I going to see my brother again?"
Jesse sighed as he looked at the window. He refused to look at her. "Your brother is going to jail Gab. He almost killed a man, this is just going to be temporary until his court date, which is in two days."
"Why? Why so soon?"
"He's a felon now Gab, this isn't going to end well."
"How did it come to this Jess? How does this happen? Our father just died…"
"He was just so angry."
Gabriella leaned her head against the seat in front of her and closed her eyes. She didn't want to talk anymore. Her cell phone began to go off in her lap as she looked down at it. "Johnny?" Jesse asked.
"Yeah."
"Dom's going to be pissed when he finds out you were hanging out with him last night."
"I don't care Jess, I really don't care."
"Do you like him?"
"Jesse?"
"Just answer the question."
"Yes…I do." Gabriella looked over him but he refused to look at her. "Jess…"
"Dom's here!" Jesse raised his voice. Gabriella's head shot towards where her sister, Dom, and Vince were walking. His shirt was bloody, and his hand was wrapped up in bandages. She went to get out of the car but Vince shoved her back in then climbing in next to her.
"What's going on?" Gabriella asked.
"We are going home." Dom replied putting the car in reverse. No one spoke on the way home. It was silent the entire drive. Maybe everyone was afraid to speak or they just didn't know what to say. "Get inside, I will be in there in a few minutes."
"Dom…" Gabriella whispered.
"Please Gab!" He raised his voice. She bowed her head nodding it as she climbed out of the backseat. She walked up the steps as Vince stayed behind.
"Come on, let's get inside." Mia ushered Gabriella in shutting the door behind her.
"I am going to go lay down." Gabriella whispered. "I am really tired."
"I will call you when lunch is ready."
Gabriella looked over at Jesse who turned the TV on refusing to look up. "Jess…" She whispered but decided against it. She sighed as she made her way up to her room, shutting her door behind her and throwing herself on her bed. She was exhausted. Her body was exhausted. All she wanted to do was sleep but she couldn't, her mind wouldn't let her. She kept thinking over and over again about what to do about Dom. They needed to leave. She leaned up from the bed and looked out the window. Vince was throwing his arms in the air towards Dom who was leaned against the door of the warehouse. Gabriella quickly moved out of her room and down the stairs, she was out the door before anyone could say anything to her. She ran over to where Dom and Vince were.
"Ella!" Dom yelled.
"No!" Gabriella yelled trying to catch her breath. "I will not leave."
"Gabby, you need to go back inside." Vince told her.
"It's bad isn't it?" Gabriella asked. "It's really bad?"
"Yes." Dom's voice was firm.
"Why did you do it? Why?"
"Gabby…" Vince stepped in.
"No Vince! I want to know." Gabriella felt like she had just run a mile. She was breathing heavily as she looked over at her brother who was walking in a circle. "What are you going to do?"
"What do you mean what am I going to do?" Dom asked.
"We can run away Dom, I will go with you. We can run away together." Tears fell out of her eyes down her face.
"Gab…" Dom whispered moving towards her. She jerked away from him.
"We can go somewhere where no one will know where to look, you don't have to do this. It was a mistake, I know it was. You didn't mean to."
"Gab, it's not that easy."
"Yes it is. It is that easy!" She yelled. "I will go with you."
Vince walked over to her pulling her into his arms as Dom slide down to the ground with his face in his hands. "I can't lose you too Dom, I won't survive it. I can't…I can't…do this." She sobbed. Her arms were wrapping around Vince's waist as she stared at her brother.
"You don't have a choice." Dom replied softly. "You are going to be alright, I promise you that."
Gabriella's cell phone went off again as she stared at it on the table. The house was quiet. Dinner was quiet. No one spoke as they all ate around the table. When it was over, Gabriella was left there alone. The dishes weren't done, they were still in the sink. She wanted to move, she was to run away but all she did was just sit there staring at the cell phone lying on the table. Johnny had called her three times that day, she didn't answer it once. What would she say? Everyone knew what happened with Dom and Kenny Linder, it was all around town. She was tired, but she couldn't sleep. If she slept that meant that the next day would come and Lord only knew what was going to happen in that court room. She rubbed her hands over face pulling her hair back and tying into a ponytail. She was exhausted.
"What are you doing in here?" Vince asked walking in. He had a beer in his hands, it was probably his fifth one.
"Nothing." She replied softly.
"You alright?"
"No not really." She gave a soft smile.
"You know that I have your back right? I will not let anything happen to you while he is gone."
"He is going to be gone for a long time Vince."
"And we will make do with that time."
"I went racing the other night with Johnny Tran." She blurted out. "It scared the crap out of me."
"You are testing me aren't you?" Vince eyed her.
"I had fun." Her cell phone went off again. "He keeps calling me."
Vince sighed as he took a sip of his beer. "You want one?" He asked leaning his towards her. She couldn't help but laugh as she shook her head. "Gabriella, I will kick your ass if you go racing without one of us again. As for Johnny Tran, well you know how I feel about him…"
"Not really. All I get is 'you can't see him' or 'don't hang out with him anymore'. I never get an explanation of why."
"He can't be trusted."
"You should really stop drinking." She stood up from the table. "I am going to go outside for a little bit."
"It's almost midnight."
"I won't be sleeping tonight Vince." She patted him on the shoulder before moving to the back door. "If life were different Vince, I would wish for wings. Maybe they could take us wherever we wanted to go, where there wasn't any pain."
"I wish that too Gab, I wish that too." Gabriella bowed her head as she let the door close behind her. She walked down the steps letting the night breeze blow against her. She looked up at the sky as the moon lit up the night.
"What am I going to do?" She asked herself, as if someone was going to answer her. She sighed as she moved over to the building. It had been a week since her father's death, one week Dom had gotten the car back from the wreckage and had began working on it. She opened the door, the smell of metal and rubber hit her in the face. She sighed as she walked closer to the car. The image of her father racing filled her mind. This car was a curse, she didn't know why Dom had saved it. She ran her hand across the top of it as she closed her eyes. She was supposed to learn to drive in this car. She sighed as she threw open the door and climbed into the backseat. She laid her head against the window as she closed her eyes remembering her father in that car. She remembered everything about him. She slowly titled her head to side as the memories flooded her mind, letting her drift off into a peaceful sleep.
"You going to talk to me?" Letty asked climbing into the bed with Dom. He had his eyes closed. He wasn't up for having a chit chat that night. It felt like the past day had just flown by and disappeared. He was appearing in court the next day and he knew exactly how it was going to turn out. He was going to prison, for how long he had no idea but it wasn't going to be an overnighter. He slowly turned towards her. The moon hit her just right making her face glow. He ran his hand along the side of her face.
"You remember when we first met?" He asked.
"I was eight Dom." She told him.
"Well I remember it."
"You and Vince were rolling skating down the hill, Vince fell and you laughed at him. I ran over and shoved you down for making fun of him. You thought I had the biggest crush on him because I did that."
"You probably did." He laughed. She hit him softly in the stomach. She looked down trying to fight looking him in the eye. He lifted her chin with his hand. "Let…" He whispered.
"I don't know what I am supposed to do without you here." She replied softly. "Its not right."
"I did what I did, now I have to pay the price."
"Will I ever see you again?"
He didn't respond. "You take care of my sister Let, both of them but especially Ella. I don't think this is going to go over too well with her. She is slowly letting go, I can tell."
"You know I would never let anything happen to her or to Mia. Even though you are going to be gone, we are still a family."
"How the hell did it get this bad?" Dom wrapped his arms around her body bringing her down to him. She slowly kissed him on the lips.
"I don't know Dom. I just wish it didn't happen at all."
"I love you." He whispered squeezing his eyes shut. "I have always loved you and I always will. No matter the time Let, no matter what they give me tomorrow, you will always be mine."
"I'm not going anywhere Dom." She kissed him again. "Now go to sleep, I will still be in here in the morning."
The night quickly turned into the next morning. Everyone was up and ready to go to the court house, but one person was missing. Gabriella was nowhere to be found in the house. "She's isn't in her room, she is downstairs. I checked everywhere." Mia replied.
"She wouldn't just run away would she?" Jesse asked. Dom looked over at Vince who shook his head.
"Last time I saw her, she was headed outside to sit around." Vince replied. "I had been drinking so I didn't stop her. She didn't make it seem like she was going to go anywhere."
"Jesse, check the garage. Mia call Brianna, see if she is there. Let, come with me we will ride around town." Dom was in panic mode. "We have one hour to find her…"
"Then what happens?" Mia asked.
"I don't know." He sighed. "Let's just find her."
Everyone nodded their heads and moved to the door. "She just said she was going to go outside because she didn't plan on sleeping." Vince explained.
"We need to find her."
"Dom, the warehouse door is open." Jesse replied running into the room. Dom was out the backdoor in a second. He rushed into the warehouse expecting the Charger to be gone, but it wasn't. It was still there. He let out a breath he was holding as he slowly walked over to the car. "She's inside." He replied as he got closer. Gabriella was curled up in the backseat fast asleep. He couldn't help but laugh as he opened the door and climbed in. "Ella…" He whispered. This was the most peaceful he has seen her in a long time. He rubbed his fingers in his eyes as he thought of leaving his baby sister behind. "Ella, baby wake up."
Gabriella groaned as she slowly opened her eyes looking over at Dom who had a small smile on his lips. "Hey sleepy head, you decide your bed isn't comfortable enough?"
"Is it time?" She asked stretching her arms above her head.
"Yeah, its time."
"Dom…" She whispered sitting up. She couldn't find the words to say to him.
"I know." He ran his hand down the side of her head. "I know baby."
"I want you to know that you are the best brother anyone could ask for. I do not blame you for anything that happened okay, I love you so much and I am so proud of you. I wouldn't change anything about our family Dom, its perfect the way that it is. You are going to come home today Dom, I just know it."
"Gab…"
"No, you will. They cant send you away from me."
"I need you to get out so we can go. We are going to be late." Dom sighed. He got out of the car and walked away from her as she slowly climbed out and followed. Everyone was standing outside waiting on them.
"You alright ma?" Vince asked. She nodded her head walking past them. Dom was already to the car when she got to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist digging her head into his stomach. He closed his eyes lifting his head to the sky. This was hard. This was so hard on him. He looked over at Vince who moved over to Gabriella, getting her to release her brother. "We have to go." He whispered. Dom moved away from the car so no one would see him break down. He held back the tears as he straightened his shirt out before turning back around. No one spoke as they all climbed into the car. The whole family was going causing them to drive two separate cars. No one spoke, there wasn't much to say. The road in silence as Gabriella stared at her brother through the mirror. She closed her eyes as her stomach tightened. They were getting closer. She had to believe what she told him in the warehouse. He was going to come home. He had to come home. She couldn't live her life without him.
"Why did they let him come home Vince if they were just going to put him right back in?" Gabriella asked taking her seat next to him.
"Because we had the money to get him out."
"I'm never going to see him again am i?"
Vince looked away from her without responding. She was sixteen years old, but she felt like she was five the way everyone was treating her.
"All rise! Court is now in session. Please stand for Judge Randall Murphy." The bailiff replied. Gabrielle stood up as Dom was escorted into the court room and the judge appeared up on the stand. Gabriella took a deep breath as she stared at the man who fixing to decide her brother's fate.
"You may be seated." Judge Murphy replied. Everyone sat down together.
"Dominic Toretto, you are here today for one thing and for one thing only. I wish this was a normal case, I wish there was something that I could do. I loved your father as much as everyone else in this town did. But what you did was inexcusable. You beat a man half to death. You beat him so badly, he is permanently scared. I understand your pain. But still, a man's life has been altered…" He cleared his throat. "I hereby charge you Dominic Toretto with attempt to murder. You are being sent to the state penitentiary where you will serve ten years. You will be eligible fornparole on the third year..."
"What?" Gabriella jumped up. She moved towards Dom who wouldnt look at her. The guards turned him around putting handcuffs on his hands. "DOM!" She screamed. "No you cant do this!" vince grabbed her arm keeping her from going past him. She fought him. She fought with every ounce of energy she had in her to grt to her brother. "DOM!" She screamed after him. The tears were streaming down her face as Vince picked her up his arms and carried her kicking and screaming out of the courtroom. Mia didnt move from her spot as she bowed her head. She felt Lettys arm come around her shoulders as they sat there together silently crying. Ten years was what he got, ten years could turn into a lifetime in just a very short time.
An: so in know this is super long but I wanted to get the arrest and court room scene outof the way. Let me know what you think! ! I added some dotty in for you lovers out there. REVIEW!