Ride or Die

“So you and Jess huh?” Letty asks me, leaning against my car as we watch Dom talking to Hector about the races.

I shrug and smirk over at her, “it just kind of happened, ya know?”

“Yeah I get that. You guys just work. Makes more sense than you and Vince,” she states.

“Why’s that?” I ask her.

“Vince isn’t a one-girl kind of guy you know? I don’t think Dom would really like to see you guys together.”

“Plus I’m pretty sure he had a thing for Mia before Brian showed up,” I mutter, crossing my arms and remembering all the times I had sat by and watched Vince ask my twin sister out, wondering why I wasn’t good enough if she was.

“Get that out of your head, Jesse’s coming this way,” Letty states, bumping my arm and walking off.

I look up and smile as Jesse comes over, grabbing my waist and pulling me against him, kissing me hard on the lips, “I’ve been waiting a while to do that,” he mutters, sighing and leaning me back against my car.

“Oh yeah? Well how about you show me just how much,” I mumble, smirking and leaning against him as he leans down to kiss me again.

“Hey! You racing tonight or are you just gonna stand there and make out with Jesse all night?” Dom calls over.

I blush as the group around us starts laughing and hollering, except for Vince, who’s standing with a few girls near his car; the look on his face is one he usually reserves for Brian. Jesse laughs and pulls away from me, letting me get into my car and drive it up the start line. Dom leans down and looks into my window, “got your money to throw down?”

I nod my head and pull it out of the glove box, passing it over to him before sitting up in my seat and revving my engine a bit. I put my headphones into my ears and roll the window back up as the music kicks in. As soon as the girl’s arms go down, I slam on the gas and start shifting through gears; a quarter mile, ten seconds. I breathe in, the sound of my engine roars over the sound of music pounding in my ears. I breathe out, the race is over and people are surrounding the cars.
I pull my headphones out and shut my car off before getting out, “so who won?” I ask with a smirk on my face.

Dom laughs and walks over, throwing his arm around my shoulders and walking me towards Hector through the loud crowd of people around us. Hector hands me the money as Jesse jogs over to me and wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me close and kissing me. When we pull apart, I laugh and hug him tightly, until he’s pulled away from me. Vince has his hand on Jesse’s shoulder and Dom is stepping in between them as Leon steps out of his car and starts yelling about cops. I groan and take off back in the direction I had come from, trying to reach my car. As soon as I do, I hop in and try to take off, but with cars everywhere and people still looking for a ride; I’m stuck in my spot. I rev my engine a little bit and clear a small path but in no time I can see the blues in my rearview. Suddenly the way is clear and I hit the gas, following a line of cars out of the cluster of other cars, finally taking a side road. I breathe a sigh of relief only to notice more blue lights flashing behind me. I cuss and take it up a notch, until I see the blues in front of me, parked across the alleyway. With nowhere else to go, I slow the car down to a stop and turn it off, putting my window down and stashing my money underneath my seat.

“Emilia Toretto, step out of the car, hands in the air!”

With shaky hands I put one hand out the window, ever so slowly and reach for the handle, so they can watch me as I start to open my door. I notice no one coming to my rescue however and feel a sinking in my chest as I pop the door open and step out, putting my hands behind my head and backing up towards the back of my car.

As the cop roughly grabs my wrists, he pulls them behind my back and shoves me against the back of my car, cuffing me and then patting me down. With tears in my eyes, I realize it’s going to be one really long night.



Pulling up to the house I notice one car missing. Without shutting my door I run up to the house and bust through the door, searching through the regular crowd of people for her and not finding her. I search through the house, hitting the kitchen, the backyard, and then her room upstairs before I race down the stairs and out into the backyard to get to the garage where Dom is sitting with Letty, Jesse, Leon, Mia and Brian.

“Where is she?” I ask them, narrowing my eyes at Jesse.

“Who?” Dom asks.

“Emily, where the hell is Emily?”

All of a sudden Dom stands up, nearly dumping Letty on her ass as he follows me back into the house to do another quick search. Mia runs in with Brian and Jesse hot on her trail and worry in their eyes.

“They got her… They must have picked her up.” I snap, clenching my fists and slamming one into a wall.

“Vince calm down,” Mia snaps, putting her hand on my shoulder.

I pull away from her, angry with myself for being so damn blind and then losing to Jesse of all people. With a growl I walk out of the house and head to my car, ignoring the calls to get back in the house until Dom grabs my shoulder and pulls me back.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“She’s going to call someone and you know damn well you can’t go get her,” I snap.

“Jesse will.”

“I’m going to get her Dom,” I tell him, hoping he’ll pick up in my eyes the real meaning behind my words.

He sighs and looks irritated with me, but he backs off and lets me go. I nod my head at him and get into my car, backing out and speeding towards the one place I hate the most. As I pull my car into a spot out front, I shut the engine off and get out, looking around and seeing a group of cops sitting up near the front of the building.

I take a deep breath and walk up the stairs, passed the group of cops, and into the building. I walk up to the first cop I see at a desk and clear my throat, effectively getting his attention.

“Can I help you?”

“I’m looking to bail someone out,” I state.

The cop looks up at me and smirks, “yeah?”

“Look, I just want to bail someone out, alright?”

He sighs and stands up, directing me to a table, “sit here, I’ll get the paperwork and bail bondsman. What’s the name?”

“Emilia Toretto.”

He nods his head and walks over to a different desk to grab paperwork before bringing it over to me. I nod my head at him and look down at it with a frown.



With a sigh, I lean back against the cold wall and stare at another cold wall. No phone call because the cop was an asshole and said I was being mouthy and could get my call ‘later’. Whatever that means. I sigh again and stand up, pacing the small square room while trying to wrap my thin hoodie around me in the small room.

“Toretto, let’s go.”

I turn around, surprised, and follow the guard out, a small smile on my face as he leads me out of the cell block and back into the normal part of the building. As he slides my possessions back to me in a plastic baggy, asking me to sign, I look around to see who had posted my bail. I frown when I don’t see anyone, but I shrug and sign the paper, taking my bag of stuff and head out of the building. When I look down the stairs, I stop, my mind clouding with confusion as I see Vince leaning against his car, his arms crossed and his gaze on his feet. I make my way down the stairs quietly, stopping at the bottom a few feet away from him, “Vince?”

He looks up and nods, pushing off his car and walking over to the driver’s side, opening the door and turning to look back at me, “you coming?”

“What are you doing here?”

“You want to stay the night?”

I shake my head and he nods, “okay, so get in and let’s go.”

“I mean that I didn’t get my call. He wouldn’t let me call anyone,” I state, “how did you know?”

He sighs and shuts the door, walking back to the front of his car and leaning against it again, nodding towards the other side of the hood. I walk over and lean against it, looking over at him.

“I showed up at the house, you weren’t home. I searched downstairs, checked your room, and when I got into the garage and noticed that no one realized you weren’t in the house, I went out to my car and came down here.”

“Why didn’t Jesse?” I ask quietly.

“They were waiting on your phone call.”

“And you?”

“I wasn’t going to wait on a fucking phone call. You’re a Toretto… They don’t like you guys.”

I can’t help but chuckle as I push off the car and look over at Vince, “thank you,” I tell him as I lean forward and wrap my arms around him for a hug. He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me close, “I’m sorry.”

I feel a lump rising in my throat at his words as he let’s go of me. I get into the car and lean my head against the window, my stomach churning and my head swirling with all sorts of thoughts as he drives home. When we finally get there, we get out of the car and start walking towards the house, but before we get in, I grab his arm and turn him around, wrapping my arms around his waist again and resting my head on his chest, “I’m sorry too Vince.”

He rubs my back before letting go and opening the door, “look what the cat dragged in!”

I laugh and elbow him in the stomach, chuckling when he lightly pushes me into the house. Dom, Jesse, and Mia rush me, wrapping me in a big hug as I walk into the living room.

“What happened?” Mia asks as they back off, leaving Jesse attached to my side.

“I couldn’t get out quick enough and then got blocked into an alley.”

“I think you should cool it and stay away from the races,” Dom states.

I shake my head and look back at Vince, “thanks again for coming to get me,” I tell him.

“Where are you going?” Dom asks me, holding a beer in his hand.

“I’m going to bed. I think I’ve had enough excitement for one day,” I mutter, walking towards the stairs.

“One more question,” he states.

I turn around and sigh, “what?”

“Why didn’t you call?”

“They wouldn’t let me.”

Dom looks furious at his but says nothing as I walk up the stairs, disappearing from their view. At the top of the stairs, I pause and listen to the conversation, “Where do you think you’re going midget?”

“Upstairs to check on her.”

“She’s fine, give her some space,” Vince snaps.

“What, so you can go play hero later when I take off?” Jesse retorts.

“Is that what this is to you? A game and she’s the prize?”

“That’s not what I mean Vince and you know it.”

“Well it sure sounds like it.”

“Just stay away from her Vince, she’s mine.”

“Yours? Your what?”

“Enough you guys,” Letty snaps, breaking into the argument.

“No, it sounds like he’s calling her his property. Is that what you think of it?” Vince asks.

I bite my lip, waiting for Jesse’s reply when suddenly I hear the door slam shut and the sound of Jesse’s car peeling out of the driveway.

“Is that how you’re going to let him treat your sister Dom?” Vince asks.

“I heard you didn’t treat her much better Vince,” Letty states pretty loudly.

“So I fucked up, once. I didn’t even realize what the hell was going on until Mia said something!”

“What are you talking about?” Letty asks.

“Mia came up to me after the whole car mess and told me what was going on today. Do you know how shitty it felt? I didn’t know she’s in love with me! If I had I would have probably beat Jesse this morning when he left her room!”

“Well if this isn’t just one big huge mess, then I don’t know what is.” Letty mutters, laughing afterwards.

“Glad you think it’s funny,” Vince grumbles.

“Go talk to her,” Mia urges him.

“I guarantee she wants nothing to do with me,” he mutters, chuckling darkly.

“Will you just go talk to her so we can all go to bed?” Letty asks, sounding grouchy.
I back up a few steps, keeping my eye on the stairs to wait and see what was going to happen.

“I’m just going to crash on the couch, go to bed.”

“V you’re pretty stupid, you know that right?” Letty states, making everyone laugh.

“Look, I’m not going to go up there and harass her after the shit day she’s had. I mean she had to deal with me early in the morning, and then went and got arrested and her car impounded. I don’t think she’s going to want to see my face again.”

“Whatever, it’s up to you V, but again, you’re pretty stupid.”

I hear him mumble something and from the laughter and clapping I hear, I assume he made his mind up and was going to be coming up the stairs. With a bit of panic rising in my chest I back down the hallway and slip into my room, quickly stripping out of my jeans and my hoodie before climbing into my bed and rolling over just as the door opens.

“Em, you still up?”

I stay as quiet as possible, listening as he sighs and the door shuts. Before I can roll back over, I feel the bed dip, and my heart starts to pound. Vince had never sat on my bed, not to mention had never even stepped foot in my room before tonight. I hold my breath and listen as he starts to talk, his voice soft but easy to hear in the dark silence of my room.

“I never noticed you because I was so blinded by Mia. They say that you always want what you can’t have, and Mia was so unattainable because she was never into me. But when Mia told me today that you’ve been in love with me for years, it hit me like a brick. And all I wanted to do was kiss you and tell you how sorry I was. And now this thing with Jesse, it’s all really confusing and it pisses me off not knowing what I’m supposed to do. I really just want to beat Jesse every time I see him touching you but that’s not fair to him or to you. It was my own mistakes that got me where I am now. You said you were sorry too, but you have nothing to apologize for. When you wrapped your arms around me tonight… Emilia, I think I’m falling in love with you and… that scares me.”