Disclaimer: I do not own anything that does not have my name written next to it in pretty pink pen. I only own my own fictional characters, this include my OFC Nicola Andrews and her family. I also do not own any of the songs used to write this story…except on CD.
Reviews etc. are always appreciated and adored.
Summary: "Do you remember that time I fell out your window and you came jumping out after me?" There was a twinge of humour to her husky voice and Leon smiled for her benefit. For three years he let himself believe that he would always save her from everything, until he was the reason she was in that ambulance, a broken back and their baby was gone.
Playlist:
Soak up the Sun- Sheryl Crow
Can't Fight This Feeling- REO Speedwagon (yes very corny I know!)
Hot- Avril Lavigne
Ava- Haha I love how excited you were for the update. Guess what's about to happen! Thanks for your review!
Gingermegs- I know they're all cute and stuff lol. Thanks I love that you're a regular reviewer! And I will try to keep the work good – fingers crossed
MrzLettyortiztoretto – yes that was aimed at you- my computer really hates your name and I don't know why so I apologise. Yeah well Nicola can defs kick some ass when she needs to.
Tfatfreak207- Thank you so much and I'm glad you love it!
Because you guys were so awesome I thought I'd give you an early update so enjoy!
June 1998- I scream it to the Nothingness
Vince cursed as he dropped the keys to the garage and picked them up again to stick in the lock. Then he saw movement behind the large glass windows. Turning the handle of the front door it popped open. He put the keys back in his pocket and slowly made his way into the reception of DT's.
"Hiya!" A womans voice made him jump and he looked over to see a blonde haired girl with blue eyes sitting on a chair, her long pale legs crossed, the hem of her blue sundress falling over her knees.
Vince looked at her for a moment, not sure whether he should say anything.
"I'm Katie." She gave a small wave and looked the big good looking man over.
"How did you get in here?" he asked, looking around the room for any sight of entry. Only the team members knew where the spare keys were stashed.
"Well my BMW was making this funny sound so my friend brought it in to fix it. They're in the shed." She shrugged like it was obvious and Vince looked at her warily before making his way towards the shed.
Walking into the spacious room he saw the Beamer propped up on the hoist, two long tanned legs sticking out from underneath it.
At first he thought it was Letty, but she was still at home, she had stumbled down the stairs in her pajamas just as he was leaving.
He should have noticed the pair of grey lace up court shoes, the fact that the legs were not Latino, the pink scar that ran across the mechanics left knee or the fact that there was only one person that matched that description that knew where the spare key to the shed was. But he didn't.
Vince growled as he yanked one of the slender ankles toward him and was quickly presented with short denim cut off shorts, a toned stomach then a torn black Led Zepplin t-shirt that had once belonged to Jess, then a smiling brunette who laughed as Vince glared down at her.
"Why so serious?" She asked sweetly and Vince realised who it was.
"Lala?" In one quick movement he had her on her feet then swept up into his arms as he spun her around and around.
"Vince, whoah, Vince. Motion sickness." He quickly put her down and she swayed on her feet before he grabbed her, remembering her lack of gravitational skills.
"What're you doing here?" He asked looking her over. She hadn't changed a bit since she'd left.
"It's summer break and I thought I'd bring Katie to LA." She gestured to the blonde behind Vince.
"Everyones going to be so excited to see you!" He swept her up in another hug before dragging her to the door, letting her grab her friend as they went.
He opened the door of the blue Maxima and gestured for them to get in. Within seconds he was speeding down the street back to the familiar Toretto house. The whole trip Nicola was looking at her friends grinning.
When they pulled into the driveway Vince turned to Nicola.
"Leons going to flip when he sees you girl."
"Let me surprise him?" She asked and Vince gestured for her to go around the back and he led the blonde through the front door.
"Sorry it's a bit of a mess." Vince said gruffly to the blonde who was smiling as she looked around the place.
"No this place is great. How many of you live here?" She asked still looking around.
"Ah, about six. Come on." He gestured towards the kitchen where everyone was still sitting slowly making their way through breakfast.
"Hey, Coyote, thought you were going to work?" Leon asked, looking up from his coffee.
"I was, but the place had been broken into."
"What?" Doms head shot up as Vince spotted Nicola sneak past the back window towards the door.
"Yeah…this is Katie." He gestured to the blonde who was staring at the scene around her, her mouth dropping.
"Hey V, I thought you were at work." Mia made her way through the door and looked at the small blonde beside him before looking at her brother who was turning red.
"What the…?" Leon suddenly yelled and everyone turned around to see Leon sitting in his chair, Nicola standing behind him, her hands place over his eyes.
"Holy Shit!" Jesse jumped up, his chair flying backwards, making Leon snatch the hands off his face and look around at his attacker, hands still in his.
When he saw her standing there he jumped up and hugged her.
"Lalalalalalala!" Jesse started singing as he got in on the hug.
Letty appeared in the doorway, dressed and saw the two boys hugging someone.
"It's Lala!" Jesse yelled over at Letty and she shrieked running over to the trio and pushing the two men out of the way and wrapping her arms around her best friend.
"Ohmygod, I can't believe you're home!"
Nicola laughed her way through all the greeting with her friends and finally introduced them to the blonde still standing by the door with Vince.
"This is Katie, one of my friends from school." Holding her hand up to her mouth she muttered to Letty, "New Yorker."
Letty smiled devilishly as she looked over the blonde.
"Oh Katie, you're going to love LA." Mia swooped in and saved the girl and directed her away from the group. "Don't you lot have to be at work?" They all grumbled and made their way out to their cars and Nicola followed them out, catching up with Leon as he opened the door to his old Chevy.
"You still drive this heap of shit around?" She looked over the body of the car and shook her head, catching the smirk on Leons face.
"It gets me from A to B." He replied, leaning against the open door and taking Nicolas appearance in as he chewed lazily on a toothpick. She hadn't changed at all, her long brown hair pulled up into a messy pony tail, the smallest bit of skin showing between her shorts and old shirt. She was still as beautiful as the last time he's seen her.
"I can think of a better place for it." She muttered and watched the sly smile on Leons face. God she missed him. She was close enough to smell him and could almost feel the heat radiate off his body. He smiled down at her, like he knew something she didn't and she rolled her eyes, the strong scent of coffee and aftershave and a lingering hint of mint assaulted her nose as he leaned closer.
"Its good to have you back Lala." He said before getting in the car and revving it and back it out of the driveway behind the rest of the team.
"So they seem nice." Nicola jumped and turned around to see Katie standing behind her.
"Ha! Lucky you're only here a week, Chica." She put her arm around the blonde and led her back to the house.
A few hours later Nicola was back underneath the hood of the Beamer while Katie sat in the store chatting to Mia who she had become fast friends with.
Tightening the fanbelt with a spanner she inspected the rest of the engine and smiled at the feeling that she hadn't lost any of her skills. It may have been a year since she was under the hood of a car, but it was like riding a bike as far as she was concerned.
"You nearly finished?" Dom was leaning against the car and Nicola glanced up before dropping the hood and nodding. "Come on then." He gestured her towards his office and she followed him sheepishly.
When they were inside he sat down on one side of the desk and she sat on the other silently.
"You looking for a summer job or fulltime job girl?" He crossed his large arms over his chest and Nicola shrugged not looking him in the eye. "Look at me Nicola." Her hazel eyes flickered up to his and she resisted the urge to quirk an eyebrow in a smartass way.
"I don't know what you mean?"
"You put Mia down as your contact when you filled the forms out for that school, Nicola. They rang her when you got expelled." Nicola bit her lip nervously as she waited for Dom to explode. "Fighting, La? Really?"
"Hey that bitch had it coming." Nicola snapped and Dom was visibly taken aback.
"I wouldn't think you would hit someone for no reason La, but you got expelled. What's your Dad going to say?" His tone was disappointed and Nicola sighed.
"Can I have a job or what?" She didn't want to discuss it anymore. She'd come back to LA to get away from people ordering her around.
"You always have a job here, and a room if you need it." Nicola nodded and smiled over at him.
"I'm going to get Katie to come and get her car." Exiting the office she saw Jesse look up from his computer.
"Everything alright, Lala?" she pulled his beanie down over his eyes as she walked passed him and laughed.
"Of course, Jess. I'm home aren't I?" The loud doors banging as she left.
"Get off the counter, La." Mia said from her spot at the back of the counter while Nicola swung her legs back and forth.
"Nah…" The sound of high performance cars coming their way made Nicola turn around and see three cars coming towards the store. Mia looked down at her watch.
"I guess it's lunchtime." She muttered before going back to her books.
"What about if I went brunette- like you?" Katie appeared from behind a shelf holding up a packet of hair dye making Nicola and Mia shake their heads. Nicola turned her head back as the cars parked along the front of the store and Leon and Jesse climbed out of the Jetta while Vince and Letty climbed out of Vinces Maxima. Dom took his sweet time as he shuffled things around and stepped out of the car.
They all lazily walked into the store and Nicola watched them. It had only been nine months since she'd last seen them but things had changed. She'd noticed that Leon had given up smoking, Vince had cut his shaggy hair to a crew cut and Dom, well Dom hadn't changed but after listening to them in the garage earlier that morning she realised that next to Dom, Leon was the next alpha male on the team. She'd thought it was funny at first as she'd listened to Vince asking Leons opinion considering Vince had always been Doms right hand man, but Leon had a few more brains than Vince and had an easy way of leading people.
He noticed her watching them and walked over to lean on the counter beside her.
"Vince thinks your friend is hot." He said pulling a toothpick from his mouth and Nicola was too distracted by the movement to answer. "What?" Leon asked as she stared at him.
"You gave up smoking?" She rose an eyebrow and he shrugged.
"Yeah I guess."
"Good, it's a disgusting habit." Leon rolled his eyes.
"You weren't saying that when you were smoking," a devilish smile on his face, "or kissing me." He said the last part softly and Nicola felt the heat rising up her neck while his green eyes glanced up at her through long lashes.
"Guess things have changed." She replied softly, wondering if he knew what she meant.
"Not all things." He smiled a genuine smile and put the toothpick back before wandering outside to where Jesse was waiting for him.
Nicola stared at the large mirror in front of her and took deep steady breaths.
"You can do this girl, just concentrate." She held her arms out as straight as she could, holding her head up she began to pirouette, keeping the momentum going until she was too dizzy and had to stop.
"I see you still have trouble with it." Turning her head a young red-headed woman walked towards her making her smile.
"Hey Steph, what are you doing here?" Nicola pulled at her ponytail as the girl came to stand in front of her.
"I bought the place off Jenny." Nicolas jaw dropped. The older lady that had owned the dance studio for thirty years had been Nicolas mentor after her mother had run off with one of her leading instructors. Nicola and Steph had taken ballet lessons at the small studio since they were tiny and only split up when Nicola went to the high school and Steph was sent to a private school.
"Wow, how's that going?" Nicola sat down on the wooden floor and Steph sat down across from her, her rolled up sweats pushing up her knees as she crossed them.
"Good I just need another instructor or two and I'm all set." She raised an eyebrow at Nicola who looked at her blankly, "I hear you're possibly back for good."
"Who told you that?" Nicola asked as she began to unlace her shoes.
"Mia Torretto." Nicola raised an eyebrow at Steph who laughed, "I just ran into her. She said she'd had a phonecall from the school something about fighting. And I had been like "Whaaaaat?"
"When did you just run into Mia Toretto?" Nicola avoided the unasked question and Steph twirled a long strand of red hair around her forefinger.
"At De-des when I was around at Mums. I also saw Leon Palermo. Bet you're enjoying being in the same house as him." Her eyebrows waggled at Nicola who laughed loudly, "He's all growed up girl. What are you doing not pouncing on that fine piece of ass?"
"How'dya know I haven't already?" Nicola teased and Steph looked at her blankly.
"Because I asked Mia and she said you haven't so much as kissed the boy. What is the matter?" Nicola was surprised that Mia hadn't said anything. Leon had told her that Mia had seen them in the kitchen the night before she left. Then she silently thanked her, even if Letty couldn't keep her mouth shut, Mia sure could. "Oh my god, you have." Steph suddenly broke into her thoughts and Nicola looked back at her.
"What?"
"You had that thinking look on your face, you have kissed Leon! This is so exciting! When?" Steph shifted forward on the wooden floor and leaned in.
"Um, before I left for New York."
"So if you kissed Leon Palermo…finally then what the hell are you doing here?" Steph questioned and Nicola sighed.
"It was over a year ago. Things change."
"Have your feelings for him changed?" Nicola shook her head, "Have his feelings for you changed?"
"I don't think so."
"Well then damn girl! I think you should go and claim your prize!" Steph stood up quickly, grabbing Nicolas arm and pulling her up with her.
"Isn't it weird that he's one of my best friends? I mean we all live in the same house." Steph rolled her eyes at her brunette friend.
"Keep it quiet, who cares. Just be with the boy already, Nicola!" The red head quickly hugged her before saying, "And I expect you here every weekend to give lessons." Nicola shook her head; Steph was going to run the dance studio just fine.
"I'll be here."
"Excellent. Go get 'em tiger." And Steph skipped out of the main studio and disappeared leaving Nicola to take her leg warmers off and making her way over to her bag.
She considered going and hiding at De-de's for awhile. But she'd been waiting to get home to Leon since the moment she'd left, she just couldn't bare the thought that he had changed his mind.
Her doubts were erased when she walked through the door at the Torettos house and Leon was standing there a huge grin on his face.
"What?" She asked softly as she closed the front door behind her.
"You look hot in those tiny little dance shorts." He nodded towards her legs and Nicola rolled her eyes.
"Hot? You think I look hot? Wow, gee thanks." Nicola replied sarcastically as she dropped her bag and put a hand on her hip.
"Yes those shorts make you look hot, compared to how beautiful you usually are." She nearly swooned at his mischievous grin.
"Where is everyone else?" Nicola asked, glancing towards the stairs.
"Gone." He replied softly as he made his way towards her the grin still plastered on his face.
"How long?"
"Awhile." He was standing in front of her now his breath on her cheeks as his fingers grabbed the waistband of her shorts and pulled her up against him as a hand slid down her bare thigh. "I missed you Lala."
Her vision went fuzzy and her heart beat so hard she thought it would come out of her chest.
"Leon…" Her voice was breathless as her chest pressed against his and she looked up at him.
"You want to back out, pretty girl?" He rose an eyebrow and she mutely shook her head watching his lips descend on hers. The kiss was slow and soft and she fisted the fabric of his wifebeater in her hands.
The roaring of high performance vehicles made them pull apart, both taking large breaths and still looking at each other.
Slamming doors made Nicola finally release Leons shirt and they stepped apart reluctantly.
"I'm going to take a shower." Nicola said breathlessly and picking up her bag before making her way upstairs to Letty's old room resisting the temptation to look back at him watching her.
A/N: Oh yeah, woo! Anyways hope you liked it. Let me know. I can always stealthly change it lol. Thank you for reading even if you didn't review but if you ever get the temptation the buttons right there- REVIEW x
p.s I hope you all know the song Hot by Avril Lavigne and I know it's Avril Lavigne but this song is perfect for this chapter so listen to it!