by
DevilChild
Fandom: The Fast and The Furious
Rating: For Mature Readers
Pairing: Dom/Bri; Bri/Mia
Author's Note: A TF&TF High School AU inspired by an onlist challange. Thanks to Dawn and Bone for the beta. Thanks to Khal for additional helpful commentary.
Copyright and Disclaimer: The Fast and The Furious and the characters from it are creations of Gary Scott Thompson, Eric Bergquist, and David Ayer. I make no claims their ownership or creation. This bit of not for profit modern folklore (thank you Prof. Jenkins) is mine.
"I'll fucking kill him!" Leon exploded when he found out about Tran. For all that Leon bitched and moaned about having to share a room with Jesse, Leon loved (and treated) the younger teen like his brother.
Dom's anger had a slow burn. "What did Tran say?" His eyes flashed hard in the night. Brian repeated what he remembered, and while Leon ranted in the background, Dom dragged a hand over his scalp in thought. Finally, Dom said, "It could be a threat, or it could just be Tran talking trash. I'll ask my dad what he thinks."
As Brian climbed into the Civic, he asked, "How did you all get involved with Tran, and what does he do?"
Dom groaned. "That's a long story."
Brian glared at him and said, almost coldly, "Drive slow then. 'Cause I'm mixed up in it too, now and I'd like to know what's what."
Shrugging as if to say 'whatever', Dom took a deep breath and began in a low rumble, "My dad got to know Jesse's father, Mark, from the track. He's a nice enough guy, really charming, but it's shallow." He sighed. "Charm and lies -- the survival kit of the stupid asshole.
"Y'see, Mark could have really been something --"
"But he's a user," Brian cut in. "Jesse sort of told me."
Dom nodded then continued, "So, he starts boosting all sorts of shit to pay for his bad habits, and, somehow, goes into a few deals with the Johnny Tran. Bigger time stuff: high-end car theft, jacking truck loads of DVD players, knocking over a jewelry store. And, all through this, on the side, Mark's also still pretty much taking anything that's not nailed down.
"So, like the fucking smack-head he is, he steals some shit -- rings, furs, watches -- that the Trans were planning to lavish on their family and on just about anybody they might need favors from down in Little Saigon. Mark deludes himself into thinking they can't trace it to him. He trades some of it for dope, fences it, pawns it all over the place, some of it even at the shop Vince works for.
"And, while he's on this downward spiral, Jesse comes to live with us. By this time Tran's put two and two together and starts coming around. At first he's okay. Mean, but okay. We don't have his shit, and it's pretty clear we're all hella pissed at Jesse's dad, who has pretty much fallen off the face of the earth at this point.
"And then it happens. Mark's busted and the money is gone. Tran's convinced that there's a secret stash somewhere and that Mark's found a way to tell us where its hidden."
"But there is no stash, right?" Brian asked.
"Not that Tran's ever going to see," Dom said cryptically before continuing, "And, I dumped his sister."
"What?!" Brian's voice jumped a few octaves in shock.
"Letty and I had broken up for a few weeks, and Jenny Tran is really pushy. It was okay, but believe me, Letty's got nothing on her in terms of drama. So, Jenny goes bawling away about how I just used her and dumped her as soon as I got what I wanted. As. If." Dom snorted in contempt.
"So you didn't sleep with her?"
"No. I have standards."
"And now Johnny Tran comes around from time to time to lean on Jesse," Brian said.
"Yeah. Partly to convince Mark not to get any grand ideas about rolling on him, partly because he thinks he can squeeze some money out of us, and partly because he's just an asshole.
"Frankly," Dom sighed, "I'm surprised that Mark hasn't been shanked yet; I guess the Trans just don't have any people up in Boron."
"Boron?"
"Federal Pen in the ass end of nowhere. About 4 hours northeast of us. Jesse's dad was busted in Laughlin, NV. He was dealing to some bikers at a rally. Ended up being a federal crime and all because Mark, being Mark, couldn't keep his fucking mouth shut when they busted him."
"Wow, I mean, you're telling me all this and I don't know where to begin," Brian mused as they pulled into the drive. "All I can think is, what a shitty situation for Jesse."
"Eh, if you want some really fucked up shit, that's Leon's mom. Just drops him and the car off at our place one day about two years ago. Says she's going to visit some friends out of town for the weekend and she's long gone.
"Jesse's known since he was a little boy that his dad's not much of a man. Leon had no clue, never saw it coming."
Brian shuddered. "I thought my mother could be a cold witch sometimes, but even I don't think she could just ... drive away."
"Yeah." Dom gave a sort of sad half-smile and Brian wondered if he was thinking about how things stood with his dad. More and more Brian could see that Leon had it right. Nick Toretto wanted to be a good father, but the only thing tying him here was an ever fraying sense of duty.
"Um, see you at 6:15?"
"Sure thing," Dom said, and this time, the smile was genuine.
~oo(0)oo~
As soon as Brian heard the hum of the Honda's engine, he hobbled out the door.
"Hey, did you get any good footage of Leon?" Dom asked eagerly.
Brian grinned. "I got some great stuff. Short but cool. Want me to bring the camera over to your house after school?"
"Yeah." Pause. Rev. Shift. "So, when's a good time to start making the movie?"
Brian shrugged. "This weekend?"
Dom chewed his lip in thought for a moment. "Saturday's no good. I have to work the store. How's Sunday?"
"Cool. I'll let you know if anything changes."
~oo(0)oo~
Brian's mom made life easy by going out Christmas shopping. Brian hadn't even started his Christmas shopping. It wasn't like he had loads of money, either. Mom was cool to give him a big allowance, but she totally meant it when she said that once he spent the money, it was spent. And the cost of everything in LA made it pretty damn easy to spend $75 a week.
Getting a gift for Mia would be easy. A $50 gift card good for any store at the Galleria. Then he'd get Leon and Jesse some $10 gift cards for McDonalds or Best Buy or something. He had no idea what to get Dom. Brian wanted it to be something special, but at the same time, if he spent too much money now, no way could he afford tickets for the Winter Formal. Fifty dollars per couple. Sheesh!
"Okay, you realize this is going to take a few days to do, right?" Brian said as Dom pulled up a chair slightly behind and to the left of him, squeezing in as close as possible to get a decent view of the iMac's screen.
Breathy sigh over his shoulder. "Yeah, I figured as much. Let's go."
"Okay, first we start taking a look at all our footage and pictures and see what we want to use ...."
~oo(0)oo~
Two hours later they had come up with a list of pictures and clips and even talked about some ways to start putting it together, and Brian had a major, major hard-on.
Dom had practically draped himself on top of Brian. Sitting on the edge of his chair, he slung his arm along the back of Brian's chair, looming over Brian's shoulder as he leaned in to point at the screen and talk. And even when Dom wasn't talking, Brian could feel the ghostly tickle of Dom's breath along the edge of his neck, not to mention every atom of that body where it draped over his left arm and shoulder, its muscles moving, tensing with excitement then relaxing. Dom's deep voice purred in his ear when he spoke. Nor could Brian escape the smell of Dom, a faint hint of Downy, a whiff of Speed Stick, and the deep base undernote that just said 'guy'.
It only got worse when Dom took his right arm off the chair back and put his hand on Brian's left shoulder and then (oh god!) rested his chin on top of it. At that point, Brian could only pay half attention to the words dribbling out of his mouth and to Dom's replies, which were in a tone of voice which seemed almost ... flirty.
(That voice in his ear, the body pressed so smoothly to his, and ... oh god.
He could kiss Dom.
Wanted to kiss Dom.)
Some instinct, some vestige of self preservation mixed with fear caused Brian to blurt, "Dom, you're putting my shoulder to sleep."
"Oh, sorry 'bout that," Dom said, and backed off.
Brian gave a mental sigh of relief.
A moment later, a powerful set of hands clamped down on his shoulders and firmly, but gently, dug in.
"I do this all the time," Dom rumbled reassuringly. "My dad, Leon ...."
Brian wanted to scream and leap out of the chair. Dom had no clue just how dangerous this was.
But at the same time, three other little voices kept Brian's butt glued to the chair. The little WASP voice of propriety chittered about politeness. Another part of Brian purred in pleasure. Dom did know what to do; Brian's shoulders felt great as knots of tension melted away under skilled fingers. The loudest voice, however, was the one that growled that anything that got Dom's hands on his body was a good thing, and that if Dom was giving, then Brian was taking. Period.
With a low groan, Brian closed his eyes and let his head loll back against Dom's chest. Dom's hands crept forward to the tops of his shoulders, the base of his neck, his collar bones, stroking, fingers no longer kneading. Brian's eyes snapped open.
He could not mistake the look in those night-black eyes, or what that expression on Dom's face meant. Dom, for once, did not slam down the poker face. Instead, he kept the same tender yet hesitant expression on his face, and his right hand drifted lower, down to Brian's chest, caressing.
Just as hesitantly, Brian raised his hand and trailed it along Dom's forearm. Dom hitched for a second, and then his face edged closer, closer, closer, until they breathed each other's breaths and then, whisper soft, their lips brushed.
Not exactly an ideal position for a first kiss.
After a moment, Brian's chair whipped around and Dom's lips returned, less hesitantly, yet still fumbling for all their earnesty. Brian returned the kiss, giving a sort of relieved happy little half-sigh when Dom's mouth opened and oh yeah, this was kissing. Hot and needy and oh so good, and Brian wanted more, oh so much more.
Breaking for air, they each saw, mirrored in each other's eyes, and then each other's faces, the reality, the magnitude of what they had just done, intrude.
Dom cracked first. "I've got to go." He all but flew out of the room, pounded down the stairs, and peeled out in a cloud of burnt rubber.
Brian stared blankly at the wall, fingers idly stroking along his still kiss tingly lips, perhaps subconsciously seeking to prolong the sensation.
(He. Had. Kissed. Dom.)
He. Had. Kissed. Dom.
Oh fucky fuck fuck.
Life had just gotten a metric fuckload more complicated.
Shit.
What was he going to tell Mia? And what did this mean about him and Mia as a couple?
What was he going to say to Dom when he saw him? What did Dom think of him now?
What was Mom going to say about the skid marks in her drive?
Brian stared blankly at his poster of David Beckham for quite some time. Beckham in mid stride, about to kick the ball. Plant foot on the ground, kicking foot swung back. Beckham's eyes almost crossed as he focused on the ball. His hair blown back from the wind in his face.
The instant. Frozen.
Brian remembered when his life had seemed as simple as that instant. School. Soccer. Scholarship. Degree. Job. He pulled the composition book out of his desk and stared at the neat college rule pages. They seemed to mock him. So neat. So orderly. So clean and predictable. So completely and utterly unlike his incredibly messed up, fucked up life.
Brian picked up a pen and began jotting down just about anything that tumbled through his mind. He heard his mom's car in the drive. He put the pen down and squared up to face what he knew would come next.
~oo(0)oo~
He spent Monday unable to meet Mia's eyes.
At lunch, the food tasted like sand in his mouth. The few times he mustered the courage to flick his eyes up to meet Dom's, he found a stony blankness in them.
Fuck a doodle doo.
He headed down to the soccer field. Today was the first day that Coach Prince would let him do any kind of work with the team. Granted, no field time, just some basic stretching and helping with the equipment.
Just before the rest of the team took the field for scrimmage, Hector came up and asked, "Que pasa, snowman?"
"I think I'm about to break up with my girlfriend," Brian blurted.
"You a crazy man," Hector said.
Brian groaned, buried his head in his hands and said, "Tell me about it."
After practice he went straight home. When dinner time came, he ate what showed up on the table before him without complaint or comment, went to his room, attempted homework, and when bedtime came, Brian spent a long time looking up at the ceiling until somehow it was morning again.
In Biology, he managed to meet Mia's eyes a little bit, and even flash her a bit of a smile when she asked what was wrong.
The shit hit the fan at lunch.
Mia stormed up to the table, tears in her eyes, and slapped him. Brian sat frozen in shock, hand raised to his stinging cheek as she shouted at him for being such a damn coward, and that if he wanted to break up with her, she shouldn't have to hear about it from somebody else.
By the time Brian collected his thoughts enough to open his mouth and try to explain what he had really said to Hector -- oh, fuck him -- Mia had stormed off again. In the dead silence that followed, Brian felt the weight of Dom's, Vince's, and Leon's stares. "Look," he said, "There's a lot more to this story that you all don't know."
"Oh, I'm all ears," Vince said, a real edge to his voice.
"It's not what you think, " Brian said, standing up.
"What is it then?" Leon asked, not as nastily as Vince, but clearly ready to go to bat and get the jerk who had done Mia wrong.
"It's ... complicated. And," Brian drew in a deep breath, "it's gossip. It's trash talk. Somebody heard something out of context and now everybody's got the wrong idea." Brian's eyes flicked over to Dom, desperately seeking some help.
"So, educ--"
Dom cut Vince off. "Leave it."
Vince nearly broke his neck, he turned his head back around so fast. Leon also goggled in shock.
"B- But--" Leon sputtered.
"I. Said. Leave. It." Dom bit off every word. "It's not your mess to sort out."
Vince and Leon fell into a sullen silence. Their eyes glittered at him with barely restrained malice.
"Thanks, man," Brian said to Dom.
But in the minutes that followed none of them, not even Dom, would look him in the eye.
"Okay ... then." Brian stood and crutched away.
The rest of the week and short week after sucked. Brian blew up at Hector, which made things a little bumpy with the rest of the soccer team. Not a good thing considering they needed to have their minds on the upcoming playoff game. Nobody on Team Toretto would give him the time of day. Mom did the 'honey, what's wrong?' thing, so he told her the part of the truth she could wrap her brain around: that because of some gossip at school Mia broke up with him.
She tried to be sympathetic and take his side, but Brian got the distinct impression that his mother felt somewhat relieved that things had not worked out with Mia.
Brian opened up the movie of Leon and Leon's car he had started to edit together and thought about deleting it.
He fucking missed Dom and the rest of the team something awful. Christmas break without them would suck.
He had no one to talk to, so he scribbled page after page in his journal.
The only thing that made him feel a tiny bit less sad and pissed off was the sympathy he got from a few girls. Of course, Brian had to wonder if it was genuine or if they were just fishing to be his rebound date to the Winter Formal.
Final exams flew by in a blur. He hoped he didn't do too badly on them.
Last Updated: 6/14/06