The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift (Han/OFC fanfic)

Zonin'

North of Shibuya in their tiny Shinjuku apartment Sean stirred from sleep and rolled over to take Neela into his arms, only to be met with an empty bed and her half of the duvet. The bright blue glow of the digital clock on the nightstand told him it was just after three am. They'd only come to bed an hour earlier. He threw back the covers with a yawn, shuffled to the bedroom door and out into the living space.

Neela was curled up on the sofa, knees tucked into her chest as she stared silently out of the window. The flashing, neon lights of the city below bounced off the four walls, making the small room look like the inside of a giant kaleidoscope.

As he moved towards her Sean didn't say anything and it was only when he sat down that she stirred from her reverie and gave him a surprised smile.

"Hey. Did I wake you?"

"No." Her dark gaze tracked the wound on his head and he watched her brow knit together. She brought her hand to his face, tracing the cut on his lip.

"Does it hurt?"

"I've had worse," he said kissing her fingertips.

Neela sighed and slowly nodded and then Sean saw the tears pool in her eyes.

'Hey, hey, what's this?' He gathered her into him and she went quietly into his arms.

"I was so scared, Sean. When I saw the gun..."

"Ssh, it's okay. I'm still in one piece. What, you think you can get rid of me that easy?" He felt her smile against his shoulder and when she lifted her head he smiled back at her.

"You don't have to do that you know," she told him.

"Do what?"

"Make a joke. It's okay if you were scared, too."

Truth of it was he had been scared. Since his arrival in Tokyo Sean had been in many brawls with Takashi, Morimoto and a few others - too many to mention - but he hadn't been fearful of his life during any of them. Having a gun shoved in your face sure had a detrimental effect on a person's state of mind.

He smoothed a loose curl from her eyes tucking it behind her ear. "I was more scared for you. And Bobbie." He felt her stiffen at the mention of her friend's name.

Back at the club when Bobbie had told them she was spending the night at Han's, Neela had barely looked her way let alone acknowledge her. She was angry, Sean got that, but underneath it all - she was scared for her friend. That guy, whoever he was, meant business. And it wasn't done.

"I'm so angry at her, Sean," Neela said.

"I know."

"And not just because of what happened to you. I've given her so many opportunities to tell me if she was in trouble. I've asked her what was going on because I knew she hadn't come here on a whim. There had to be a bigger reason at play. And I was right."

"She most likely didn't tell you because she knew you'd worry. She didn't want to involve you."

"But I am involved. And so are you."

"You can't blame her for bringing her troubles with her, Neela. When you think about it, each one of us, well...aside from Reiko maybe, we all came here to get away from something or someone."

"I don't blame her. I just wanted her to be honest with me. Is that too much to ask? We're best friends. Like sisters. There was a time we'd tell each other everything. If she's in trouble I wanna know so I can help her."

"What can you do? If Bobbie is in trouble, I don't want you involved, Neela. I don't want you getting hurt."

"You did."

"Rather me than you." Sean sighed. "Ok, look, you're thinking about this way too much. Don't do that." He stood up and tugged on her hand. "C'mon, let's just go back to bed. Everything will look better in the morning." But when he tried to pull her up she pulled away from him.

"No. I can't forget what happened tonight, Sean and I can't not worry about it. Some crazy guy from Bobbie's past is here and he didn't come alone."

"I can handle the two monkeys he brought along."

"I was talking about the gun, actually."

She was piercing him with a look that made him sigh, so he sat back down and took her hand in his, happy when she didn't pull away. "I know you're scared," he said softly. "But I'm not gonna let anyone hurt you and whatever's going on with Bobbie and this guy, it'll work itself out. Han's most likely cooking up a plan as we speak. Don't worry."

She frowned at him and shrugged. "What, so just like that I turn it off?"

He sighed. "Neela, I really don't wanna fight with you - "

"You tell me then, Sean you tell me...what do I do?" Her voice went up a notch. "I'm scared for her. Really scared." When he pulled her into him this time she went willingly, dropping her head against his chest.

"Look...all you can do is be there for her. If she needs you, she'll tell you. And you know Han, he'll help her out if she needs it."

"That's just it, though," Neela murmured. "She's too stubborn to ask."

"Well, either way she'll get it. Han won't let anything happen to her. To any of us. It'll be fine." He got to his feet, bringing her with him and cupped her face in his hands. "Stop worrying. These things have a way of working out. I love you."

Neela nodded, but only because she was too tired to fight with him. In all honesty she didn't want to fight with him at all. None of this was his fault. She gave her bottom lip a quick nibble. "I know...and I love you, too."

"Glad to hear it." He kissed her gently. "Now, can we please go back to bed?"

An hour later after making love and while Sean lay softly snoring Neela still couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes all she could see was the gun slamming into Sean's head and all she could hear was the dull thwack of metal against his flesh.

And Bobbie, dazed, head in her hands as she tumbled to the ground.

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COPYRIGHT. © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Debra Jay. 2010