Matty rolled over in the bed, moaning at the faint smell of Vince that lingered in the sheets. Vince reached out and rubbed the small of her back, eliciting more moans from her. "You almost slept a full 24 hours," he whispered, placing a kiss on the back of her head. She rolled over and sat up in bed, facing him. "I was tired. It was a long drive," she said, yawning. Matty stretched out in the bed, her bones creaking as she placed strain on them.
He sat on the edge of the bed, staring intently at her. Before she knew it, she had her arms wrapped around him, sobbing quietly once again. She lost her hands in his hair and placed her head in the crook of neck and cried. He held her, as best as he could, whispering sweet nothings in her ears. Trying to ease the pain she was riddled with. "I thought you were dead," she whispered, pulling away from him, stifling a sob. "Wish I was," he whispered back, pushing the hair out of her eyes and behind her ear.
She glanced down at his arm and reached out to touch it. He pulled away roughly. Not wanting her to touch him. To touch his mistake. Every day he woke up and looked down at his arm, it was like he was facing his guilt. His fucked up choice. He was facing himself. And he didn't like what he saw.
"I came back to tell you that I fixed everything. I made everything go away, Vince. You can come home. We can go back to the way things were," she said, placing a kiss on his lips. He scoffed and stood up from the bed. "You left me alone in that house. YOU left! Not me. I didn't turn my back on you. I was there. Waiting. Every God damn day I hoped that you would come back. Things will never be the same. It's too late now," he yelled. Matty stared at him, her eyes wide at his outburst. Vince ran out of the room, his stomps shaking the house.
Matty climbed out of the bed, realizing she was clad in one of his work shirts. She rummaged around until she found a pair of his old basketball shorts. She exploded down the stairs and sped through out the house. When she entered the kitchen, she found the team sitting around the table. "What the hell is up his ass? I tell him that I got the charges to go away and he freaks out," she said, waving her arms around wildly.
"Ever since you left, V has been teetering over the edge, Matty. The accident with his arm and us running from the cops just pushed him over. All he spends his days doing is drinking and sleeping. He barely even eats any more," Mia said, shaking her head sadly. Matty took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as she exited the kitchen and met up with him at the shore.
The sky was getting dark as the sun was setting far off in the horizon. "Can we talk about what happened? About everything?" She asked, standing besides him. His simple response was a grunt. "I needed to do that for me, Vince. I needed to go out and spread my wings. We all did," she said, placing a hand on his good arm, forcing him to turn and look at her. "What you did was run off into some strangers arms and never look back," he replied.
Matty scoffed and shook her head. "I never slept with him, V. The relationship was one of just understanding. He worked too much and just needed someone to talk to. I needed someone to make me feel grounded. It worked out that way. The change of lifestyle made me realize who I was and where I really wanted to be. With you. In the basement," she said. He shook his head, refusing to let her back into his world. "Don't fight this, V. I came all this way to find you. I did so much to get you guys the green light to go back home. I saved myself from myself to be here by your side once again. Please, don't push me away. Not when we need each other the most."
"I'm ready to go home," was his only response before disappearing back into the house, leaving her standing there. Matty yelled in frustration. Things weren't going the way she had planned. She had dreamt of running into his arms and of him showering her with hugs and kisses. She had dreamt of being the happy family they once were. But the reality was that Vince was too damaged- partly by her, Brian and the accident. He left a piece of himself hanging off of that truck.
Matty shuffled back into the house, leaning against the door frame for support. Her body was still tired, her mind was breaking down and her heart hurt. Vince was no where in sight and she assumed he was back upstairs in his room. "What's this you were saying about us being able to go back home?" Leon asked, pulling a pack of Coronas out of the fridge and passing them around the room. Even Mia accepted one.
"I did some blackmailing. Got Mark and my dad to grease the wheels and make the charges go away," Matty said, taking a sip of her beer. Letty released a sigh of relief and Leon patted Dom on the back. "That's too good to be true. What's the catch?" Dom asked. Matty shrugged and thought about how Dom would take the news. "You have to turn yourself in. You probably have to spend a night or two in jail, but the case is guaranteed to get thrown out in court," she said, bracing herself for the blow.
Dom shook his head and leaned back in chair. "I rather die than go back to jail," he said, slamming his beer bottle on the table. Mia stood up and flung her beer bottle across the room. The bottle shattered, sending glass everywhere. Everyone stared at Mia as she ran a hand over her face and pushed her hair behind her ears. "You'll do it. We all risked our lives for your little money hungry stunt. You will do the same or I'll call the cops myself and tell them where you are," she said, a murderous tone in her voice.
Every one was frozen still at her outburst and shocked to see what Dom would do in retaliation to his sister's threat. But the biggest shock was when Dom stood up and nodded at her. "I'll go upstairs and pack," he said, heading for the stairs. The team stared after him, silent. When he was out of sight, Mia ran over to Matty and hugged her, sobbing hysterically.
Letty and Leon pulled Mia off of her and told her to go upstairs and pack and her things. They would leave first thing in the morning. "I'm gonna go check on, V," Leon said, leaving Letty and Matty alone in the room. "I know it took a lot to go see your father, but I wanna say thank you," Letty said, hugging Matty. "You guys are the only family I have. I had to help you," Matty said, hugging Letty back. "Who did you leave the baby with? I know you must have pictures or something on you. I gotta see what the little rugrat looks like," Letty said, pulling away from her.
Matty shrugged and finished off the rest of her beer. "I lost the baby, Let," she whispered, shaking her head softly. "I'm sorry," Letty whispered back, pulling her into another hug. The friends hugged for a long time, feeling each of their personal sorrows draining away from them as time passed.
---
The next couple of days passed in a blur. After driving back to California and getting all of their affairs in order, the team (with the exclusion of Mia), turned themselves in. Vince was the only unlucky one. He was spotted by a police officer before he had a chance to walk into the precinct and was tackled to the ground, injuring his arm even more. A day and a half later, they all walked free. Mark and Manuel had held up their end of the deal and had the case against the team thrown out due to insufficient and circumstantial evidence.
Life for the team was everything but normal at this point. Word on the street about the case being thrown out catapulted the team's popularity. They were known as the outlaws now, doing things their way. Everywhere they went, people would step aside and let them through. No one challenged them, in fear that they would reap the consequences. They were infamous.
Dominic Toretto ruled the streets on a completely different level now and he liked it. He was raking in the money now. Every one wanted a chance to take him on. It was now an honor to lose to the great Dominic Toretto. The one and only. Except that he was saddened every time he won a race because he didn't have his trophy by his side. He didn't have Letty looking over his shoulder, protecting him. Now she stood on the side lines with Mia and watched the races. Now he sat in his car and looked at her in his rearview mirror. And before every race, he would say a prayer. For all of them.
Mia found herself falling into her school work and the books for the garage and the store more and more every day. Her day consisted of work and more work. Just the way she liked it. It kept her busy. She didn't have any extra time to kill. She didn't have any friends. She didn't need any. She didn't need another intruder to come and disrupt her family. And yet, she dreamt of him every night. She looked for him everywhere she went. She wished her would come back and take her away from everything. But she knew he was long gone. He needed to be, if he didn't want to die at her hands.
Leon was lost. And as hard as he tried, he couldn't disturb that room. He would enter it and sit down on the edge of the bed, studying every inch of it. Remembering his little brother. He did this at least once a day, usually when he thought of picking up his things and leaving. That was just how him and Jesse had ended up in Echo Park, in Dom's graces. They left Nevada and just stared driving. Ended up at the races. Caught Dom's eye and got a job at the garage. The rest was history. Their history.
Letty shrugged the tension in the house off and fell back into her normal routine. All except Dom. He was the only part of her old life that she didn't have. She still missed him but she was enjoying discovering her new life without him. Discovering what she had missed out on by becoming his at the age of 16. She was discovering herself.
Matty fell back into her old ways. Work. Time with the team. Races. Party. She had become Dom's number two down at the races. It's not like she could spend her time raising babies or with her new boo. She only had eyes for Vince and since he wouldn't look twice at her, she found herself lonely. She would crawl into her bed in the basement and stifle her cries with her pillow, since she was currently sharing a room with Letty. They were both in the same boat, but Letty seemed to be having more fun, while she was rapidly sinking.
Very much like Matty, Vince slipped back into his old ways. Sleeping with anything that had a pulse and looked interested. He couldn't really do any work down at the garage because of him arm, mostly paint jobs. It didn't matter, he had enough money left over from the heists to keep him busy for a while. He worked. He drank. He fucked. And then he crawled into his bed alone. No one to keep the nightmares away or to comfort him when he woke up in the middle of the night with chills in his arms. No one to try to make him feel whole once again. He needed to feel.