Author: Moon Roses or Moony
Rating: R for language
Disclaimer: Don't own anything.
Feedback: Not necessary but greatly appreciated.
Recap: She nodded in agreement and leaned her seat back until she was watching the sky fly past. "Oh, and thanks for coming to get us," she grinned. Settling into her seat comfortably she placed her bare feet on the dash and let herself fall into the music playing. L.A. was less than a hundred and fifty kilometers away and she needed those last miles to come up with a plausible excuse to their early arrival.

Chapter Twenty Six

Shorty heard about her arrest constantly for the next month. Hector and Dom had been as angry as she'd expected but after the initial fury they'd found teasing her was much more fun than nagging her. Both she and Letty often spent hours red faced in anger and embarrassment. The boys found it hard to believe anyone could get arrested in Vegas, but weren't surprised that she had found a way to do it. The fact that Letty suffered the same fate only increased their amusement. It was a case of "fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me".

By the time the weather turned and the end of October was approaching the novelty of her fuck up had worn off. Frankly, more important things had pushed the incident out of everyone's minds. With Christmas only two months away business was picking up again. Though most wouldn't expect the holiday season to be good for the garages, even car enthusiasts needed Christmas presents. She was thrilled to be sketching again full time and had even started accepting orders for the next Race Wars.

While she and her team were happy about the flourishing business, Mia could care less. She had spent the past couple weeks planning a huge Halloween benefit for the pre-med program. She had forced almost everyone from the racing world to support her cause, and Shorty and her team had been no exception. Normally, Shorty wouldn't have been excited for something so ridiculous, but for Mia she could suck it up for one night. Besides, she'd always enjoyed Halloween. What wasn't to enjoy about free candy and pulse pounding adrenaline rushes?

Shorty had tried to convince Leon to dress as Peter Pan but he venomously refused stating, "Real men don't wear tights."

She had replied simply, "Robin Hood was a real man and he wore tights."

He hadn't believed her but he'd asked anyway, "For real?"

"Would I lie to you?" she grinned. "Don't answer that."

Of course, she had no idea whether Robin Hood was a real man or not, but her Halloween, complete with Leon in tights, was realized. If real men wore tights then he would too - as Robin Hood and not some "punk kid who hangs around with fairies".

So, with a costume idea for Leon, she'd decided to accompany him as Maid Marian. When she'd gone costume shopping with Letty he'd tagged along and they'd spent more money than was required for any Halloween party. Shorty and Leon's costumes were as intricate as you could buy and Letty had stayed with the fairy tale theme as well, albeit a little more revealing. A sexy Latin Snow White was exactly what society needed and she had to admit that Letty looked fabulous.

Halloween fell on a chilly Saturday and the much anticipated party had finally come together. Mia assured them it would be a wonderful evening. The pre-med students had rented a chic bar and restaurant with gothic ceilings and velvet drapery covering the floor to ceiling windows. The atmosphere fit the event perfectly and when Shorty walked in with her team she was drawn aback. It wasn't what she'd been expecting at all but it was a pleasant surprise. Contrary to her thoughts of green witches hanging from the roof and bobbing for apple booths, she received a heavily romanticized Halloween.

Shorty excused herself from her team and wandered off to find the host of the evening. She knew how frantic Mia had been planning the event and she wanted to congratulate her. If Mia's heart hadn't been set on being a cardiothoracic surgeon she sure as hell would have made an amazing party planner.

When she spied Mia in her Swiffer mop costume she couldn't help but chuckle. At least Dom wouldn't have to worry about warning any men away from his baby sister at the party. The grey leotard with some sort of fluffy fabric glued to it would deter any man from making a move. "Hey girl, this is unreal. You really out did yourself."

"Shorty, you look fantastic," she said, gazing appreciatively at the costume she was wearing. "When I left Leon was still complaining about how itchy his balls were in the tights."

Shorty laughed and picked up her long red satin floor length skirts and curtseyed demurely. The fabric slid through her fingers as she released it and she wiggled her hand out of the overly long sleeves to touch the painted bunches on Mia's costume. "What are those?"

"Cotton balls," she grinned and reached for Shorty's hand. "Shall we go get a drink?"

"I'm safety tonight, but it's only nine o'clock. I guess I'll have one though," Shorty answered, letting Mia tug her to the fully stocked bar.

"When the boys and Letty getting here?"

"Leon said they'd be here around tenish," she answered, as Mia handed her a beer. "I don't think they're too thrilled though. Missing the races? You must have them wrapped around your finger."

"Me? Yeah right, how'd you get Leon into tights?" Mia laughed.

Shorty shook her head and tried to think of an explanation. She wasn't exactly sure how she'd managed it but she was sure glad she had. She shrugged like it had been her idea all along and answered conspiratorially behind a hand, "Reverse psychology."

Mia was overly eager for Shorty to meet all of her school friends. She introduced her with fervour, overjoyed because the academic world and racing world rarely crossed paths. She accepted hands in greeting and made small talk, finding that although these people were incredibly smart they were also extremely interested in the world Mia spent her free time in. They showed her that their worlds could collide without negative outcomes. And it was nice to see that Mia had something more lucrative and worthwhile to fall back on when she outgrew the racing world. Unlike Shorty, whose whole world revolved around racing and the lifestyle, Mia was bound to make something of herself. She'd never be stuck in a persona beneath her. Not that Shorty thought it was a bad lifestyle, but she knew Mia needed more to survive. Cars and partying would never satisfy her.

Shorty was playing beer pong with Mia against a team of schoolmates when she spied her Robin Hood strolling in the door next to Jesse. They looked comical beside each other, Leon clad in his period garb and Jesse's short hair blown out with a white lab coat and pocket protector. The mad scientist was more a reality than a costume but she had to give him props for pulling it off. He'd had his face painted sickly white with dark under eye patches and a plastic knife strapped to his leg.

She laughed and nudged Mia as the rest of the DT team walked through the low arch into the party. The partygoers seemed to freeze in awe as they caught sight of the beautiful team. It was nothing new to see the general public pause and lose themselves in staring, but she never would have thought so many educated folk could be brought to a standstill by something so cosmetic. When the moment passed and people returned to their previous activities she could still see eyes following the crew. More than a few of those eyes belonged strikingly gorgeous females waltzing around in low cut tops. She knew if she'd been a man, or even bi-curious she'd be fascinated, but as a female with only a medium to small cup size she felt just a little threatened as she watched girls approaching her men. Not that she could do anything about it in one case, Vince didn't belong to her, but for all intensive purposes Leon did.

She frowned as Leon chatted politely with some of the more friendly females. She raised her arm and whipped her ping pong ball into the single cup left on the opposing side, called the game and stalked to Leon's side. Shorty knew she had no reason to be jealous but as a hot headed female sometimes she found it hard just to let it pass. She was almost ready to accept his friendliness when a blonde in a Bo Peep costume rubbed her breasts along his arm seductively.

Shorty huffed in annoyance but tapped the woman on the shoulder gently. These were Mia's people after all and she knew she had to maintain a civil attitude. When Bo Peep turned to her she smiled sweetly, "Hi, I don't think we've met. I'm Shorty. I just wanted to say thanks for keeping my mans arm warm, he looked a bit cold." She slipped her hand into a shocked Leon's and tugged him away to the bar.

"What was that?"

"If I wanted to see nipples on your arm I'd pay to have them tattooed there," she joked. "You're too friendly for your own good, baby. Some girls are looking to trap you, too many drinks and you lose me and end up as her baby daddy."

"I would never cheat on you," he answered honestly, as he placed a gentle kiss below her earlobe.

"I know that, but Rohypnol doesn't."

He laughed obnoxiously at the ludicrous idea of a man being slipped the date rape drug and tickled her sides until she cracked a smile despite her effort to remain straight faced. He turned her back to him and pulled him against his chest, hugging her tightly from behind. Burrowing his face into her curls and swaying in time with the rhythm he whispered assurances in her ear.

She knew she didn't have to interrupt every conversation he had with another female, but that didn't mean she didn't feel uncomfortable leaving him to it. Why couldn't he just talk to Letty and Mia instead of all the gorgeous girls that practically threw themselves at him? She knew he'd never cheat on her, and although he hadn't professed his undying devotion for her, she thought he might have some pretty deep feelings for her.

"Baby, you're enough woman for me."

"Did you just call me fat?" she scoffed playfully, as she pulled out of his arms and led the way to the large table where most of their two crews were sitting.

"Women," he grunted, clapping Vince on the back and sitting in the empty seat beside him.

"She's like Barbie on steroids. Up, down, up, down, that girl is seriously psycho," Vince said and brought his beer to his lips.

Shorty didn't answer but glared dangerously at the man she knew was right. Females were always a little hard for men to handle but she knew she and Letty were a little more difficult than others. While most girlfriends were worried about keeping their men out of another woman's pants, they had to worry about keeping other woman out of their men's pants. As attentive as Leon was, she couldn't blame him for ever thinking of straying. She was as psycho as Vince said, and much too overprotective for her own liking. "I'm not Barbie. You asshole."

"You're right about that, Lil' Coyote. Barbie's mouth is sweet like honey, not foul like a sewage drain."

"Fuck you, sweetheart," Shorty chuckled.

"I'd love to," Vince beamed at her, receiving a rough punch from Leon.

The party was the most extravagant thing she'd ever attended. She hadn't been at Hector's high school graduation and she hadn't made it to her own. Her parties mainly consisted of loud music, drugs and booze. So with such an amazing venue and a brilliant DJ she spent the evening dancing with Letty, Jesse, and Mia while the other men played nice with the academics.

Mia was the first to retreat from the dance floor that evening, but Shorty stuck it out for another hour before she followed Letty and Jesse back to their table. Her team had long since split to change before the races and a couple studious looking gentlemen had filled their seats. When she reached the table she was astounded to hear the men arguing intensely over who the better man was. She would have expected to hear them comparing Dom to one of the student doctors. But to hear such a riveting argument over Mr. T verses Chuck Norris was hilarious. She whole heartedly agreed with the DT team that Chuck Norris was the be-all and end-all while Mr. T was a washed up D-list celebrity, therefore unworthy of comparison.

She slid onto Vince's lap and placed her elbows on the table, leaning her chin into her hands. The argument was getting heated when she cleared her throat obnoxiously and interjected into the conversation. "You know, leading hand sanitizers claim they can kill 99.9 percent of germs. Chuck Norris can kill 100 percent of whatever the fuck he wants."

"Oh, nice one, babe," Leon grinned, high fiving her.

"Yeah well, Mr. T destroyed the periodic table, saying Mr. T only recognizes the element of surprise," answered a dark skinned man with shocking blue eyes.

Her grin broadened as Vince leaned around her and spoke before she could respond, "Chuck Norris doesn't pop his collar, his shirts just get erections when they touch his body."

"Mr. T took Mother Nature from behind. We refer to that as the Big Bang," responded the same dark skinned man.

"Liam, do you really have to stoop as low as these fools?" Mia asked him. "They won't give up. They're like herpes, you think you're rid of them, but then another outbreak pops up."

"Chuck Norris invented black. In fact, he invented the entire spectrum of visible light. Except pink. Tom Cruise invented pink," Shorty cut in loudly; glaring at Mia, "Let him fight his own battles, Mia. He's a big boy."

"Mr. T is so scary that his hair is actually afraid to grow. The only reason he has a Mohawk is because it's in his blind spot," Liam answered just as loudly.

Shorty giggled at that comment against her will but quieted herself when Leon snorted, "Chuck Norris doesn't hunt because the word hunt implies the possibility of failure. Chuck Norris goes killing."

The man known as Liam cracked a smile but continued on with his argument, "Mr. T never takes showers. Instead, whenever he's dirty, he points to himself and shouts, CLEAN!"

She realized the argument over who was better had taken a ridiculous turn for the worse but she couldn't seem to help herself from hoping it continued. Only at a swanky Halloween party, amid doctors and street racers could such an asinine conversation take place. Everyone except Mia seemed to be enjoying the bickering, and as Leon stood and pulled Shorty off Vince's lap, she could see her coming around. "Let's go home, babe," he whispered in her ear.

She nodded her head and swopped down to kiss Vince on the cheek before grabbing her keys and cell off the table. "We're out guys, don't do anything I wouldn't do," she said as she followed Leon. Just before she was out of earshot she turned and added, "Jack was nimble, Jack was quick, but Jack still couldn't dodge Chuck Norris' roundhouse kick." Leon snickered but grabbed her around the waist ushering her out the doors and into the cool air. "Hey! I was just getting started!"

"I know, baby. It wasn't a fair fight though; everyone knows Chuck Norris beats Mr. T. By dragging you out that kid might just leave with his dignity," he said as she unlocked her doors.

They slid into the car and Shorty cranked the heat until her fingers were warm and she could grip the steering wheel properly. "You know, Chuck Norris would have eaten his dignity and raped his imagination."

Leon groaned in response and turned the music up to drown her out. She grinned at him but didn't bother to turn down the volume. She was able to go all night but she could see that the week before had taken its toll on Leon and he looked exhausted. Shorty applied more pressure to the gas pedal and sped the rest of the way to the Toretto household. She slid to a stop against the curb and pulled her keys from the ignition, exiting the car just after Leon.

They stumbled their way through the dark living room and kitchen towards the basement stairs. Descending into the darkness below she followed the rustle of clothing in the direction she had taken many times. Leon flicked the bedroom light on and pulled his costume off. She wasn't taken aback by his nudity but found it sexy as hell that he was comfortable enough with her to walk around without a stitch of clothing on. She struggled with the zipper on the back of the dress while he searched through his drawers for something to wear to bed. He pulled on baggy shorts and placed shorts and a wife beater on the bed for her. He grinned at her as she tilted to the side and hopped on one foot reaching behind her to grab the zipper. She frowned at him as he point to the floor in front of him, "Come here you big baby."

"Shut up," she answered, as he unzipped the dress for her. She let it fall to the ground and stepped from it naked, quickly pulling on the clothes he had left for her.

"You were naked under there? This whole time? And you didn't tell me?" he asked her, as she climbed into bed.

"Of course, did you think they had underwire bras back then?"

He climbed in beside her and crawled to her side, leaning on an elbow and looking down at her. "And the underwear?"

"Please, unless it's cotton, I'm not sitting in it for hours," she replied as she sat up enough to capture his lips. She deepened the kiss until she felt Leon collapse against her, letting her bear his entire weight. She grinned up at him when he pulled her shirt over her head she growled, "You know, Chuck Norris doesn't get laid. Laid get's Chuck."

He rolled his eyes at her and tugged her shorts off, throwing them across the room, followed by his own. "Can we stop talking about Chuck Norris and start talking about you and me," he whispered as he bit down on her collarbone. He raked his teeth across her skin roughly and she shivered at the friction. "Like how do you think Maid Marian and Robin Hood spent their cold evenings?"

"Probably hiding from Chuck Norris. That's a silly question, babe," she answered smoothly, as he kissed his way back up to her mouth.

"You just always have to have the last word," he chuckled.

"Always," she whispered as she wrapped one leg around his waist and pulled his hips closer to her own. She could feel Leon holding back his pent up energy and she had to give him credit. He'd never once harassed her about having sex; he patiently waited for some sort of sign. Maybe he'd waited too long, because as she shimmed underneath him he stayed as still as a statue.

She wrapped her other leg around his waist and kissed him passionately, locking her arms around his neck. "You sure, baby?" he whispered as he broke the kiss.

"Oh yeah," she breathed.

Her short answer was all the encouragement he needed. He descended on her with a fiery passion she never realized he harboured. He made her feel things she'd never felt before and she was thankful she'd decided to return to L.A. If she hadn't, she'd never have fallen in love with Leon. He was the one thing she prayed she'd never screw up. He was too good, too kind, too perfect, and she loved him for all of that and more.

When he collapsed beside her and laid his head against her sweaty chest she curled her fingers in his hair. His rapid breathing mingled with hers and they created enough sound to expose themselves to roommates, had they been home. As her heart rate slowed she scratched his scalp and let the silence descend around them until he broke it, "That," he paused, "That was unreal."

"I know, Chuck Norris inspires me," she agreed. She could feel Leon smile into her belly before he climbed up towards the head of the bed and leaned over her.

"You're such a smart ass," he laughed as he pressed a kiss into her forehead. He rolled out of bed and crossed to the light switch, throwing them into darkness.

"Baby, we've been over that already. Hey, did you know that Chuck Norris sleeps with a night light? Not because Chuck Norris is afraid of the dark, but because the dark is afraid of Chuck Norris."

He groaned loudly as he crawled back into bed, dragging her against his side and wrapping an arm protectively over her belly. "Michael?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

She froze the minute the words reached her ears. It wasn't that she didn't know how he felt, she did, and he'd made it obvious enough. Everyone knew he loved her, but saying it out loud made it real, made it special, made it something precious. She grinned into the darkness and turned her head towards his, "I love you too."

"Good, now I can tell you, enough with the Chuck Norrisism's. Go to sleep," he said and pressed a kiss to her lips before snuggling against her comfortably.

She released a loud sigh but wrapped her leg around his and sank into his body heat, "Ok, but Chuck Norris doesn't sleep. He waits."

"Baby?" he whispered into her hair. "Please shut up."

A/N: Huge thanks to Zoe, Love Ink, Holliday Girl, Ashes2Dust18, and Violet201 for the reviews. I truly appreciate it! Shout out's to gabriellarourke96 and Angel1103 for the alerts.

This is by far my favourite chapter, I hope everyone enjoyed reading as much as I did writing it! Cheers!