That afternoon, we all prepared for the street race that night. Whenever there was a race, we were there. Up in my room, I was seated at my vanity, one hand holding my wrist while the other loosely held a makeup brush as I tried to apply concealer to the red blossoming over my cheek. The door opened, and I saw Letty out the corner of my eye close the door behind her as she entered our room. "You ok?" Letty asked, approaching me.

"Yeah, I'm alright." I said. "I'm almost-" I couldn't finish my sentence as my hand seized, and the concealer brush fell from my hands, smearing makeup down my shirt. "Oh fucking hell…" I cursed.

"Hey, hey." Letty stepped up behind me, setting her calloused hands on my shoulders. I met her eyes in the mirror. She was giving me a soft smile. Her chin settled on top of my head as her arms wrapped around my shoulders. "You don't gotta be perfect straight away."

"It's been two years, Let." I said, picking up my concealer brush from my lap and tossing it onto my vanity. "And I've made barely any improvement." I felt Letty pinch my shoulder. "Ow!" Letty grabbed the back of my swivel chair, turning me around to face her. She set her hands on my armrests and leaned in close.

"You're selling yourself short." Letty told me softly. "Your rehab's been doing wonders, you just can't see it. When you got outa hospital, you could barely hold anything, but you just put on a good bit of makeup on your own."

"But-" Letty cut me off by kissing me. She pulled back after a moment.

"You have done so much in the past two years, you just can't see it. But I can, and Dom and Mia and everyone else can see it." I smiled a little. "Now, I'll do your makeup, and we can try again tomorrow, ok?"

"Ok." I replied softly. Letty kissed me one more time before straightening, spinning me to sit sideways against the vanity as she grabbed my makeup to cover up the bruise. My eyes fluttered closed at the feeling. I only opened them when I felt a gentle pair of lips against mine. Letty was smiling at me.

"Need help changing?" Letty asked softly. I nodded. "What with?"

"Shorts, belt…boots."

"Sure." I pulled my shorts over my legs, and Letty did the zip and the buttons, as well as threading a belt through the loops and doing it up. She had me sit down again so she could do up my combat boots. Letty set her hands on my hips, smiling up at me. I lifted my arms to let my sweater pool at my elbows as I wrapped my arms around Letty's shoulders. "Feeling better?"

"With you, always." I ducked my head and captured Letty's lips in a kiss.

TIMESKIP

Following Dom's red 1993 Mazda RX-7, we headed through the streets toward the street race. I got out of my Mustang, watching as Dom greeted some of the guests. A few of the girls slid up to him, caressing his muscles. Mia and Letty got out of Letty's Nissan. "Ok, Hector." Dom pointed to the man, who approached us.

"Yeah?" Hecor wondered. "What's up, man?" Another guy approached us.

"Yo. What's up?" Edwin greeted.

"Edwin." Dom said, the two of them fist-bumping.

"How we doing this tonight?"

"One race. Two G buy-in. Winner takes all. Hector, you're going to hold the cash."

"Why Hector?" Another racer, Danny Yamato, asked as Dom handed Hector his cash,

"Too slow to make away with the money, man." Edwin joked, slapping his own 2 grand into the Latino's hand. Hector smiled sarcastically as he took Danny's money.

"Okay. Good luck, guys." Dom said.

"Hey, wait!" A voice called, Tuna Boy jogging up. "Hold up. I don't have any cash. But I do have the pink slip to my car." He showed off the piece of paper.

"You just can't climb in the ring with Ali 'cause you think you box." Jesse said.

"He knows I can box." Brian pointed at Vince, who only glared at him. "Check it out. It's like this. I lose, the winner takes my car. Clean and clear. But if I win, I take the cash, and I take the respect."

"Respect." Dom repeated as everyone chuckled.

"To some people, that's more important."

"That your car?" Dom nodded to the green 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse parked among the gathered cars. Jesse hurried over to pop the hood to check out the guts.

"I see a cool air intake." He started to report. "It's got a NOs fogger system and a T4 turbo, Dominic. I see an AIC controller. It has direct port nitrous injection."

"Yeah. And a stand-alone fuel management system." Dom added. "Not a bad way to spend ten-thousand dollars."

"Admittedly, it's all flashy." I said. "You have enough NOS here that one wrong move could send you sky high, and Dom would be out of a car."

"So, what do you say?" Brian asked. "Am I worthy?"

"We don't know yet." Dom argued. He pointed at Brian. "But you're in. Let's go."

Everyone got in their cars, flooding out of the alleyway in an organised dance. Everyone started to block off the streets, awaiting the racers. Leon sat in his car, the ears of the operation for tonight to make sure no one was caught. Two people sprayed out the starting line, the cars pulling up to it. Brian, however, overshot his mark, and had to reverse to line up with the other racers, but was jeered by the bystanders. Music started to play as the drivers prepared themselves. Hector then started to wave his hands, signalling that they were good to race. Flames spluttered out of the exhaust pipes of the cars, and when Hector brought his hands down, they were off. Brian swerved a bit at the start, but straightened himself out. Dom was at the head of the pack, though Brian managed to catch up and pass Edwitn and then Danny with a boost of NOS. He crept up toward Dom, hitting another burst of NOS, and then sparks started to erupt from the underside of his car. Dom put on a hit of NOS, winning the race with Brian a few seconds behind, spinning out. I cheered for my brother as he, Edwin and Danny returned to the crowd.

"Here's what you won, right here." Hector said, putting the money and the pink slip into Dom's hand. "There you go."

"My sister holds the money." Dom said, handing the money to Mia as Brian pulled up. "Count it." Mia took the cash to count. I stepped up to Dom, wrapping him in a celebratory hug.

"Knew you'd do it." I told him. I pulled away as Brian got out of his car, smiling. Dom approached the blonde while Jesse raced to check the car.

"Was that fun?" He asked before popping the hood, smoke billowing from the engine.

"What are you smiling about?" Dom asked.

"Dude, I almost had you." Brian said confidently, pointing at Dom. Everyone laughed.

"You almost had me?" Dom repeated. "You never had me. You never had your car. Granny-shifting. Not double-clutching, like you should." Dom started to walk around Brian and the Mitsubishi. "You're lucky that hundred-shot of NOS didn't blow the welds on the intake. Almost had me?" He asked the crowd sarcastically, who chuckled.

"Now, me and the mad scientist gotta rip apart the block and replace the piston rings you fried." Dom made it back to the hood of the car and closed it. "Ask any racer. Any real racer. It don't matter if you win by an inch or a mile. Winning's winning." Everyone cheered as Dom raised his arms. Leon's voice then crackled from Hector's walkie-talkie.

"Oh, shit! We got cops! Cops! Cops! Cops! GO!" My eyes widened and I scurried to my car, sliding over the hood and hopping in the driver's seat. Mia, who was standing next to my Mustang, quickly got into the passenger seat. Not bothering with seatbelts, I quickly shifted gears and peeled away from the scene. Using back streets and alleys, I managed to be the first one back home. I pulled my car into the driveway and got out with a breath of relief. Mia got out as well, running her fingers through her hair.

"Dom's usually first back." I said, biting my lip. "I should go out and try and find him."

"You do that, you could get caught." Mia reminded me.

"Not if I take the Toyota." Mia and I headed inside, where I quickly swapped my Mustang keys for the 1998 Toyota Camry that sat across the street from us. I headed outside and into the vehicle, pulling out to prowl the streets for my brother. As I did, a boom echoed through the air, and I saw a fireball curl into the sky…over near Little Saigon. I drove over to the little suburb, and noticed both Dom and Brian strolling down the street. I pulled up beside them, rolling down my window. "Need a lift?" I wondered. Dom and Brian turned to me.

"How'd you find us?" Dom asked as he got into the passenger seat, Brian sliding in behind us.

"The ten-foot-high fireball in the middle of Little Saigon?" I reminded him. "I'm just glad you weren't caught, or worse."

"Yeah, well, the Buster saved me from the cops."

"You did?" I glanced at Brian in the rearview mirror.

"Yeah." Brian said. "Thought it'd make him let me keep my car."

"You lost it fair and square, you agreed to the rules." Brian chuckled. The three of us chatted as we headed back home. I pulled up across the street to thumping music and cars lined up and down each side of the road. I got out of the car and locked it, hearing the thumping of music coming from the house. Brian started to head off as Dom and I headed up the stairs to the house.

"Yo, Spilner!" Brian called. The blonde turned to us as I opened the front door. "You want a beer?"

"Yeah, sure." I held the door open as Brian jogged up to us and we all entered the house. I saw Letty laying on her stomach playing a video game, and I let out a breath of relief as I approached her. Letty looked up and did a double-take. She put the controller down and stood.

"Babe." She said softly, wrapping her arms around me. Myshaky fingers clutched her mesh top, holding her as I buried my head in her shoulder. "You scared the crap outa me, where were you?"

"I went to go find Dom." I told her, pulling away. "Found him. In front of Little Saigon with-"

"Yo, Dom!" Vince called. "Why did you bring the buster here?"

"Cause the buster kept me out of handcuffs!" Dom roared. "He didn't just run back to the fort!"

"I'm just glad you're ok." Letty sighed, pecking my lips. "Come on, let's head upstairs."

"Thanks." I smiled softly at my girlfriend. "You always know how to make me smile."

"That's my job." Letty stepped back and took my hand, lacing our fingers together as she lead me past Dom and Brian and upstairs.

"Night Mei Mei." Dom called up. "Night Letty."

"Night Dom." I replied softly before we disappeared upstairs.