𝐒𝐀𝐊𝐔𝐑𝐀 𝐃𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐒 | HAN LUE

𝟕

Frankie spent the majority of her day at James' house. It was the place she felt most comfortable since coming home from college.

It was strange.

Dom and Mia were supposed to be her family, they only felt like strangers these days.

Did she know them at all?

They'd been living lives that she had no idea about and it hurt. As the youngest she was prone to be left out of things, she just never expected to be left out now that they were all adults.

James was right, something was going on she needed to figure out what it was.

James fired up the grill while they waited for the car parts to arrive, hand-delivered by Brian. Frankie made sure to tell him all about the blonde man who fell in love with the car. It was a car that James wouldn't need, not the way that Frankie would need it.

He was giving it to her as a gift.

She wasn't expecting that, especially since she knew that Dom and Mia would have something to say about it. If they had bothered to keep up with James, maybe they would be getting a car. She never wanted to say it out loud, but she knew who her father would be the proudest of.

She didn't even like to think about it.

It also made her feel like a horrible person to say that their father would be more proud of her than her siblings when she knew that he would be equally proud of them all.

Frankie couldn't remember a time when her father got angry to the point where he would scream, he would just be disappointed and prove it by giving anyone the silent treatment.

Frankie never got the disappointment from him.

Maybe because she was so young.

She found it interesting that even though she lost her father at such a young age she could still remember everything about him.

All the small things and big things.

She was afraid that the older she got the more she would forget things about him, especially the little things.

She needed to find ways to keep his memory alive.

Frankie always told herself that her father wasn't gone, he was everywhere. He wouldn't just leave them in a world that would be so unkind to them.

He wouldn't leave his Isabella.

The thought of it just made her want to cry.

As she stood there in the garage with James, holding onto the hotdog that he made her, she wanted to cry.

The young woman ultimately decided against it when she saw the bright orange pick-up pulling into the drive just across from where they stood.

It was Brian.

She set her plate and hotdog down on the table. He got out of the truck with a smile on his face, not directed at her but towards the car. She couldn't help the way her eyes rolled as she stood in front of him. Brian was a few inches taller than her, so she still had to look up at him.

The Torettos are a tall family.

Mia was tall for her age but much shorter than her younger sister. Frankie liked being taller than Mia and tall in general, it made her feel confident.

As she stood in front of Brian that's how she felt.

Confident.

"Wow, you meant what you said."