The Long Drive Home

Warning: Mild cursing in this chapter.

Italics either indicate character thoughts or some action that happened (aka a sound)

Jaylen dashed down the dirty cobble stairs of her apartment building and ran a shaky hand through her hair in an attempt to smooth out her jumbled thoughts. Done with packing, there still remained one thing she had to sort out, Luke Hobbs.

Whenever the topic of her past came up, she lied. Well, not explicitly lie per se, rather than just leave out important, specifically illegal, details.

It was a simple decision, she could up and leave without a goodbye or she could tell him everything and hope he somehow understood. Casting a glance to the bleached city sky, she found there was only one answer. She had always gone with the coward's way out and breaking habits isn't as easy as stubbing out a cigarette.

Jaylen slapped the hood of her '69 Dodge Charger, splaying her fingers across the black paint. The right side of her mouth quirked upwards in a thoughtful smile at the car she named Leroy (what she thought sounded like a cuter version of Lee) after one too many Dukes of Hazard's marathons with Luke. She leaned into the side of her car and flipped out her phone. It rang five times before the monotone voice recording indicated he was busy.

"Hey Luke, uh ya it's-it's me. This isn't how I wanted to do this, but I'm a coward and wouldn't ever be able to say this to your face. Please don't come after me. I'm gone so there's no use trying. I can't explain everything to you. B-but just know… know that I never meant to hurt you and gosh darn-it that sounds so cliche but I promise- ugh. I never faked it when I was with you. I lo-" Beep. The machine cut off her last words.

With a defeated groan, she chucked the new phone onto the paved street and it broke with a click of her heel.

Jaylen slumped into the drivers seat and felt a tear drag itself down her cheek. She stole a look through the rear view mirror, and not for the first time Jay watched as she was forced to say goodbye to a place that was home.

She pummeled her fists against the wheel while a pop song blared itself through the radio. "This shouldn't be happening," she bawled. "I cannot have my life fall apart, not this time. I CAN'T lose my family!" With a sigh, Jaylen urged more speed from the engine. After a few more moments of drumming onto the steering wheel, Jay calmed down.

While keeping both eyes on the road, she reached blindly with her hand for her old cellphone buried deep inside the satchel that occupied the passenger seat. "Haha!" She whooped clenching the guilty phone in her raised hand. "Not so good at hide-n-seek as you thought!" She taunted the inanimate object. Thumbing the redial button, Jay held the phone up to her ear. After a few rings, Mia answered.

"Hello?"

"Mia I am on my way home. Can you please tell me what is going on?" Jaylen pleaded. Mia was scaring her, she never sounded this desperate for Jay to come home. After she had packed most of her belongings, Jay had been too paranoid to do anything else. She ended up calling Mia and what info she could get out of her was bad news. Something had happened to Letty, but Jaylen just didn't understand how or why. "It's Letty, Jay something happened and-and-" haggard sobs choked out the rest her words. Faint voices could be heard on the other line, then a male voice piped up, "Hey um-uh it's Brian."

The bitterness from before came surging back like a tidal wave. "What are YOU doing back?!" Jay seethed.

"Look I promise-" Brian started.

"Your word means nothing to me Brian, you broke apart the only family I had ever trusted, the only people who were there for me when my whole world broke apart."

"You don't ever have to trust me again, please I understand that. But Jaylen, this is bigger than my past mistakes-" Brian winced as he broke off. "Please," he tried again, "Letty got mixed up in a bad situation with Braga's cartel down here and someone came after her because of it."

There was silence while Jay considered this. And the reality of it all that Letty was gone, never really hit her. As she began to respond to Brian another voice came back onto the phone. "Please come home." It was Dom, the strong voice that Jay loved was gone.

Jay urged on her faithful car with renewed urgency.

Time Skip - Back in L.A.

It looked the same yet different, like a childhood memory. It was like remembering some place that seemed so perfect as a kid but visiting it later on and finding out it was the complete opposite. That was how Jay saw the house now. It looked almost abandoned. The place could have been something Jay's juvenile friends back home dared each other to go inside, to prove who was the bravest.

Brian's words echoed inside her head. "You need to be careful Jaylen. They are watching the house and Mia pretty closely. I need you to park your car away from the house where it won't attach attention. Then when it's dark, come by the garage into the back door."

"You want me to sneak inside my own house?!" Jay shrieked.

"Please Jaylen, it's necessary to protect the remainder of our-your family."

Jaylen grimaced knowing that she shouldn't push this too far.

After pulling her baby into a parking garage, Jay slung her bag onto her back and slipped the cover over the car. "I promise I'll be back for ya…this is just for tonight, then we can maybe get you into a nice garage, somethin with a Charger in it, ehe?" She chuckled to herself, shaking her head at the craziness that her life had become. Slipping around the corner, Jay took to the shadows. Ten minutes later, she recognized her old neighborhood. "Whoo! I'm not so useless after all, now I just have to cut in between a few backyards and I'll be home free."

"Sleuthing that's what this shit is." Jaylen mumbled to herself tripping over a small children's toy hidden in the grass. "How in the living hell did those people on TV make it look so easy?" Realizing she was speaking out loud, she cursed. No, I'm more uncoordinated than that baby deer on ice. She stopped for a moment. What the hell was the name of that cartoon? It had some other woodland animals in it, a skunk, maybe a rabbit called oh what was it? Jeez! I can't even think of the damn rabbit's name. Bunny? No…Bam Bam? No… "SHIT it's Thumper!" She squealed throwing her hands in the air as it should have been obvious all along, then promptly clamped a hand over her mouth. "This…this reason right here is why I could never ever star in a 007 movie." Jaylen whined through her hands.

Abruptly a back door slammed, jolting Jay out of her stupor.

"Jay?" It was a question whispered into the dark. Jaylen let out a breath she hadn't known she took. "Mia, oh my- I Oh Mia-" Jaylen finally sobbed launching herself at her friend that long ago had become more like a sister.

"You're home." Mia crushed the smaller girl to her as if she could physically protect Jay from more harm.

Authors Note

Hope you liked the new chapter. I tried to set this one up so that you got more of the setting of where in the F&F franchise my story takes place. And some of the personality my character has. Most of the story that I will continue to write will focus on what happens with my Oc (how she changes the plot line/impacts the group) starting before Fast Five. There will be a few flashbacks revealing some of her backstory, but I think if this story takes off like I want it to, that I'll just write a completely new story focusing on her time when she met Dom & co and their adventures together. Review if you want, thanks!