You ride. I ride.

12. 18:05

<Vince's POV> 

Where was she? It had been two hours and the whole gang was worried about her. Of course, Dom had driven off as well, clearly not having the emotional maturity to face the truth. I was tired of his bullshit. 

"We couldn't find her, man. We looked everywhere," Jesse and Leon reported. I sighed. Mia was calling everyone from their class, seeing if anyone could deliver something helpful. We heard an engine outside. Mia's face immediately lit up in hope as everyone ran to the door, disappointed when we saw Dom's car outside. 

"She still not home?" He asked. As if he'd care. 

"No. It's not like her to just drive off," Jesse mumbled. Dom sighed. 

"Did you try ringing her?" He asked. 

"No. We were sitting here knitting pot holders. Thanks for this idea Einstein," Mia replied. "Where could she be?" She asked more to herself. 

"She's at the grave of her parents," Dom said. "I'll go get her." 

My hand instinctively shot forward, holding Dom back. He glared at me. 

"I think you've done enough for today." I got in my car, ignoring the furious stare of Dom as I drove off. 

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"How'd you get up there?" I ask Letty, tilting my head. Her legs were tangling off from the tree, her eyes fixating on the grave below her. 

I somehow managed to pull myself up to the branch she was on. 

"How did you know I was here? The only person whom I ever took was-," she stopped. 

"Yeah, he told me." A pause followed. "I thought you didn't want to see him, so I volunteered." 

"Thanks, I really don't want to see him right now." She chuckled. It was a small laugh, one filled with sadness and depression. 

"He's doing all of this so wrong, you know? But he actually cares about you a lot. He just gets that way. All aggressive and out of control. But he doesn't mean what he says. He just blurts them out." 

"You're defending him right now?" 

"That's not-" I shut up, noticing that I was just upsetting her even more. He did care about her. And he always knew what's best for family. He was Dom. The good guy. He was my brother. Nothing could ever change that. 

"You know, the first time I came here Dom followed me? It was so movie like. I pushed everyone away for weeks and was moody as hell. But Dom secretly followed me here. Didn't say a word as I broke down in tears." 

"He's a good guy," I mumble in full honesty. "And that hasn't changed." 

"You're defending someone who accused you of stealing me from him. As if I were his property." 

I sigh. She was right. In the last couple of days, he had behaved like some crack addict version of Dom. 

"I know that you have a thing for him," I mumble afraid she was going to hit me. She just laughed. It was a coping mechanism of hers. 

"I know that you have a thing for Mia." I laughed too. I did have a thing for Mia. 

---------------------

"Brother, I think it's time to come clean," I stated as we continue to stare at the tracks. Mr T was talking to some tech guys about the race, confidence dominating his posture. 

"What? You on drugs or something?" He asked oblivious to what I was talking about. He never had been the sensitive guy. 

"If love counts as a drug," I hint. Dom immediately freezes in his movement. His jaw tenses. He's going into denial. "So tell me. What's going on with you and Letty." 

"There's nothing. It was a mistake. A one-time thing." 

"One-time thing." 

He nodded. 

"So why did you care so much when I tried to make a move on her?" 

He shrugged. 

"Don't do that brother. Man up! Admit it!" I raised my voice. 

"Admit what?!" He yelled back, causing a few heads to turn.

We were both going back and forth in throwing insults, unaware that the race had begun. 

"That you actually like Letty."

"I don't. You're reading into this way too much," he answered angrily. 

"That's bullshit. You know it!" 

We both stared at each other in silence. He wasn't going to admit his feelings for Letty and I wasn't going to let go of this topic. 

"Alright!" He yelled frustrated. "I was mad because I thought I'd lose my best friend. I thought that if you'd get together, you wouldn't have time for me anymore." 

That was the shittiest lie ever. But it did make me smile. The efforts he was making to hide his true feelings were incredible. 

"We both know that's a lie but I'm going to let this go for now, because I want to see the race." 

He nodded in agreement, the tension still there. When Mr T reached his final lap and was clearly about to win the race I began feeling bad. Dom and I always came to see Mr T win. Ever since fourth grade. We would always hug and cheer for Mr T. I couldn't stay mad at him just because of some drama. I noticed his guilty facial expression. He was thinking the same. 

"We good brother?" I asked. He hugged me. 

"Yeah, we're good." 

All of the sudden I heard a crash. I saw Dom's eyes widen. I turned around catching a glimpse of Tony's car crashing into the wall. The guy on second right behind him. The car immediately exploded.  

Everything just stopped. 

I saw Dom's face. Pain visible in his eyes. All his muscles tense. I saw him pushing through the crowd, screaming. I saw him jumping over the fence. Running over towards his father.

"DAD! DAAADDD!" I heard him yell as the security guards tackled him to the ground. He pushed both of them off, punching one of them in the face. He continued to run. More security guards held him back, his limbs grabbing a hold of anything. 

I heard sirens. The blue lights emerging around the corner. Although they went full speed it seemed like an eternity. 

Someone pushed me. A security guard, clearing the area. I snapped out of my trance. 

I pushed him off and followed Dom. I jumped over the railway, dodging multiple security guards trying to tackle me. The entire scenery seemed so unreal. Everywhere flames. Dom's deafening screams. 

The guy who bumped Mr T was escorted into an ambulance. Why weren't they looking after Mr T? Why were they rescuing him? Rescue him! 

"Time of death. 18:05." 

I wish I hadn't looked at Dom in that second. His face going from denial into pain. Into suffering. His anger replaced by heart-wrenching pain. He immediately sunk to his knees. The security guards giving him some space. 

I rushed to him, wrapping my arms around him. He was sobbing. The strongest man in the world I knew was crying into my arms, holding onto me as if his life depended on it.