Forever my ride and die

Chapter 2: Love makes you do stupid things

Harry was leaning against the counter working at the front of his store, Riders Edge, when Dominic Toretto walked through the door, instantly putting Harry on edge. Dom could be quite intimidating, but he wouldn't do anything to jeopardise his business, or at least Harry hoped that was the case. The guy was golden and brought in more business than he could ever imagine. Kids were pouring into the store every day, wanting every performance part that he had. With cash. That was the type of business Harry could get on board with.

"Hey Dominic! What can I do for you?" Harry said cheerfully but cautiously. Dominic approached the counter, looking behind Harry to see if he could find the person he was looking for. Finally directing his attention towards Harry, Dominic responds, "Hey Harry. Is Brian here?" Harry was shocked that the King of the Streets was looking for the man. He didn't think they were acquaintances, let alone friends, considering what he knew about why Brian was here.

"Ah yeah, he's out back," Harry responds with a tilt of his head towards the back of the store. Dom, not waiting for permission, starts walking in that direction.

Dom slowly approaches the back room, where he finds the man standing in front of the inventory with a clipboard in his hand, completely lost in the moment. He couldn't help but stop and stare at the man while leaning against the door frame. Dom smiles as he approaches behind him, wraps his arms around his waist, and leans his chest on the back of the man. "You know, you aren't very observant," Dom whispers sarcastically in the man's ear. Brian slightly jumps when he feels arms around him, but relaxes against the man once he recognises the voice. "Ha ha." The blonde man turns around in the man's arms, puts his arms around the man's neck, and places a passionate kiss on his lips.

The two separate and place their foreheads together. Dom whispers, "That didn't go quite as planned." Brian slightly laughs. "Yeah, well, we knew your best friend would probably be our biggest issue. But you are worth it, so I think I can manage a few bruises for you." Dom sighs not impressed, "Yeah, well, I am not okay with that. But I think he is actually more agitated with you because he thinks you're hitting on Mia." Brian smiles cheekily while pulling back from the man's embrace. "Well, she is beautiful, smart, funny, makes a killer sandwich,...". "I am sorry, and what am I?" Dom interrupts while crossing his arms over his chest, slightly offended by the blonde's comments.

Brian runs his eyes up and down Dom's body. "Mmm...you are hot, you are a very talented mechanic, you have the sexiest hands and...... you are the only Toretto I have eyes for," he finishes saying by grabbing Dom's face and placing a chaste kiss on his lips making Dom smile. Brian grabs Dom's hand and says, "Babe, we knew this wouldn't be easy, but I know how much your family means to you. They love you and want you to be happy. So we just need to give them time. It will be fine. They will accept this. I promise."

"You are right," Dom says, rubbing his fingers across his knuckles.

"Brian, I need you out here!" Both men hear Harry's voice from the front of the store: "I better get back out there." "Okay, I will see you tomorrow," says Dom. "You may see me earlier than you think," Brian cheekily responds causing Dom to be confused. "What do you mean?" but Brian doesn't respond back. He just cheekily smiles and walks past Dom back to the front of the store.

Everyone at the meet-up looks up as they hear five cars approach the scene in a V shape. Brian watches as the cars approach, however his eyes are glued specifically the red Mazda RX-7, which is at the front of the V shape, loudly approaching the scene. The moment Dom is out of the car, he is swamped by multiple people in the crowd who want to greet him.

Letty slowly gets out of her purple 1997 Nissan 240SX to the view of Dom speaking to two women who were barely wearing any clothes. She shuts her door and angrily walks towards the scene. Dom politely listens to the two blonde women as they speak to him; however, he is interrupted by Letty, who whispers in front of them, "I smell skanks. Why don't you girls just pack it up before I leave tread-marks on your face?" Both girls roll their eyes at Letty but do as they are told.

Dom, shocked by Letty's comments considering they were no longer together, responds angrily, "Was that necessary, Letty? Did you forget? We are not together, so you need to stop doing that! I can talk to whoever I want, or do I need to remind you of the reason we broke up?" Letty scoffs, "Yeah, whatever," not believing for a second that she and Dom would not get back together, and walks away before Dom argue with her any longer.

Dom rolls his eyes and points towards a man to the left of him. "Hey Hector!" The man approaches Dom and they shake hands, "Yeah, what's up, man?" Dom turns to the other guy and they pump fists together, "What's up, Edward? How are we doing this tonight?"

"One race. 2G buy-in. The winner takes it all. Hector, you are going to hold the cash," as he hands Hector his money for the race.

An Asian racer who is standing next to Dom asks, "Why Hector?" As Edward hands Hector his cash, he sarcastically responds, "Cuz he's too slow to make away with the money." Everyone in the crowd laughs at the joke, including Dom, who pats Hector on his back in sympathy. Just as Dom is about to walk towards his car to start the race, a familiar voice is heard: "Hey, wait! Hold up. I don't have any cash, but I do have the pink slip to my car," the blonde man appears in between Hector and Edward. Brian smirks, as he looks directly into his boyfriend's shocked and surprised brown eyes.

Before Dom can shake the shock of seeing his boyfriend, Jesse asks, "You just can't climb in the ring with Ali, 'cause you think you box." Brian, not wanting to miss a chance to pock the bear of his boyfriend's best friend, "He knows I can box," he says smugly causing Dom to roll his eyes at his boyfriend's comment. Brian isn't done yet, though.

"Look, it's like this: if I lose, the winner takes my car. But if I win, I take the cash and the respect."

Dom, still staring at Brian, finally finds his voice, "Respect?"

"To some people, that's more important." Dom can't help but adore the man who is standing before him. He knows that keeping their relationship is killing both of them, mostly Dom. He hates lying to his family, but he is unsure how they will react when they tell them he is dating a man. For the first time in his life, he actually feels like himself—the man before he entered Lopac. He was the man he was before his dad died. And that is all because of Brian. The man challenged him to be a better person.

"Is that your car?" Dom points towards the green mitsubish eclipse, walking towards it, with the rest of the crowd following before he even gets confirmation from Brian.

Jesse quickly opens the hood of the car and rattles off what he sees, but Dom doesn't look towards him and if he is being honest with himself he is only half listening at this point. He is lost, staring into the blue eyes of the blonde man with adoration and a slight smirk.

Dom's ears eventually perk up when he hears Edward mention the amount of NOS in the car, making Dom break eye contact with Brian to confirm himself. Dom instantly has an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, considering he did not remember seeing this in the car previously, making it a recent addition. Brian is getting tired of waiting. "So what do you say? Am I worthy? Dom's first instinct was to say yes, but instead he responded, "We don't know yet, but you are in. Let's go"

Dom and Brian both stared at each other while everyone around them moved towards their cars so that the race could get started. Dom was conveying his concern, along with his smugness, that he would get another opportunity to race against his man. Especially to remind him why he was King of the Streets. While Brian was sparkling with love and admiration for the man, who he honestly sometimes couldn't get over the fact that he wanted to be with him. He couldn't help but convey a slight cockiness as well. He wanted to show his man that he was worth it. And what better way than to do what they both loved?