Fast Lane ━━ Brian O'Conner

𝟭𝟬. a means to an end

Then there was Brian. His eyes quickly searched for her when he noticed the ruckus around him. He rushed toward Josephine, scanning her from head to toe to look for any sign of injury. She barely acknowledged him, completely shaken up by seeing her brother almost beat up someone to death again. I mean, it was probably not his intention. But seeing that again━sent a jolt of panic through the twenty-one-year-old that made her feel like she was a kid again.

Josephine hated feeling like a kid. Small. Helpless. Unheard. She never wanted to be a kid again. But being an adult wasn't any better either.

Night arrived like a flash of light and Josephine found herself listening to Mia getting angry at their brother for what seemed like the tenth time this year. She leaned on a random car, biting the skin off her fingers, still a little anxious from before. Dominic tried talking to her but she barely looked at him. He knew it was his fault. But there was no time. He had something to do for tonight. Something that his younger sisters evidently don't agree with or like in the slightest.

"I have respected you and I haven't said shit," Mia said through gritted teeth, boring glares at their brother who was leaving with Letty, Vince, and Leon. "And now I am asking you not to go."

"I'm doing this for all of us," Dominic insisted, trying to make her calm down but there was no way.

"No. No. Don't give me that crap." Mia backed away, the frustration spilling out of her as she brushed off any of his attempts to console her. "You're doing this for you. Why are you insisting on doing this? Dom, please, just don't!"

"I've told him countless times, Mia," Josephine scoffed, shaking her head at her brother and their friends. Her eyes looked tired. Dom just noticed and he felt his heart sink. "It's useless... Just go."

Mia glared at her through teary eyes as Dom finally hopped in the car with the others. They didn't get to say anything else and the cars sped away from them. The two sisters eventually gravitating toward each other despite the circumstances. Because no matter how many disagreements and arguments they have━the only person they could run to at the end of the world was each other.

Mia decided to go home early and drove off in her cerulean '94 Integra which left Josephine to her own devices. After today's events, she was starting to think something was off. She didn't even know someone arrested Tran and now he blamed her brother for snitching on him. Dominic seemed surprised, too. Maybe it riled him up because he had never narked on somebody before. None of them had. It wasn't in their blood.

As she walked around the RV to get back to her car, Brian appeared out of nowhere, looking like he was in a hurry. Little did she know, Brian had witnessed all of it━she and Mia arguing with their brother to not go into that dangerous job. But what she didn't know was that Brian dreaded the next few words that he would have to say to her.

"Jo, what's going on?" Brian breathed, brows pulled in concentration.

"What?" Josephine asked, sounding a little exasperated.

"You know what I'm talking about," He insisted as he followed her.

"No, I don't, Brian," Josephine muttered, clearly confused as to what he was talking about. Besides, nobody else knew the illegal job her brother and their friends were doing. And she doubted Dominic had already told him about it.

"Oh, so what━you always get angry when Dom drives away?"

"What's the matter with you?"

"Come on! What's your brother racing off in the middle of the night for? I'm talking about the trucks. You know about the trucks?"

"No, Brian!" Josephine raised her voice, getting frustrated with his cryptic questions, and naturally playing the fool who didn't know anything as her pace began to fasten. Yet for the same reason, her heart was threatening to jump out of her chest at every word that escaped his mouth. "What trucks? Jesus Christ."