LALA sat on the curb outside of the diner that she asked Dom to meet her at and waited. Does she tell him the truth? That she's technically a part of the fbi, that Brian is working to take them down? How do you tell somebody that? She pulled the photos from her waistband and frowned at them. Every step they've taken, the feds were there. They're one step ahead of them. Is that because of Brian or just sheer luck?
Dom pulling to a stop broke her out of her thoughts. She jumped up and got in the car quickly. She put on her seatbelt as he started driving again. "Thanks for getting me."
He nodded and made a turn, "what happened again? You got lost?" He asked as he made another turn towards his house.
Lala shrugged, "it's been a while since I've been in LA, I managed to end up downtown instead of over your way." It was a lie, obviously. She couldn't tell him. Not yet at least.
"Mia still gets lost sometimes, too. Nothing wrong with that." He pulled into the driveway a few minutes later and Lala got out with him.
"Thanks for the lift. I'll have Letty run me home in a bit." She smiled at Dom and put her bag over her shoulder.
He started walking towards the side yard and she followed suit. "It's Sunday, nobody's going anywhere." Dom opened the grill and grabbed the brush from the tray next to it.
"What's special about Sunday?" She asked him with a raised brow. "Other than church."
"I barbecue every Sunday, it's a family tradition. One that you are now participating in." He scraped the grill as he spoke. "Brian is coming too, along with the usual group."
"Sounds...cozy." She hugged herself and Dom faltered for a second. He could see there was something between the two, the tension was palpable and it seemed as though he was the only one noticing it.
"Letty's inside with Mia, go help them with the sides." He stated and went back to scraping. Dom expected pushback like he'd normally get from Letty but she just smiled and nodded before going inside. For them being so close in age and sisters, the two couldn't be more different.
Lala stepped into the kitchen and laughed at the sight in front of her. Mia and Letty were putting together pasta salad and potato salad, everytime they turned their backs - Jesse scooped potato salad out of the large bowl and ate the spoonful. He made a shushing motion to Lala at her laughter.
"Hey, bird. Dom said he had to pick you up, you okay?" Letty asked while chopping potatoes, in turn Mia stopped her because they were too thick and nudged her away from the counter.
"Yeah I just got a little lost." She plopped onto a stool at the table, shrugging her jacket off and pulling her hair clip out. "I was thinking of maybe taking off, after Race Wars."
This got all three of their attention.
"What?" Jesse asked and furrowed his brows.
"You just got here, Lo." Mia chimed in at the same time.
"You're leaving already?" Letty's voice was, surprisingly, the quietest but Lala heard it the loudest over the other two. She just got her sister back and she was ditching already? How was that fair?
"It's all up in the air right now, chica. I promise once I decide for sure then I'll let you know." She leaned over and kissed her sister's cheek.
Mia smiled at them and whacked Jesse's hand when she saw the spoon going in again. "Alright, let's get cooking. Jesse, go take this to Dom." She handed him the bowl of raw meat and he groaned while taking it outside.
A short while later, Mia held the door open for Lala as she carried out the plates and utensils to the backyard. Mia honestly loved that Dom invited Lala to join them, loving it even more that Brian was invited too. Meanwhile Lala thought the only downfall was that Brian was here at Dom's request as well.
"I think I hear Leon!" Dom says from his position by the grill causing Lala to casually look over her shoulder to see him coming up the driveway with Vince and bags in tow. Her eyes glazed over him for a few seconds before Vince grunted in annoyance and gave his bag over to Leon. She followed his line of sight to see it was Brian that set him off yet again.
"I'm outta here." He grumbled like a child who got told no by his parents and Leon gave him a look.
"Come on, dawg." He says and motions his head towards everyone else in the yard. Vince eyed Brian again almost as if his presence felt like a sick taunt. Lala headed over to the two boys and took a few bags from Leon. "Yo, Dom!"
Dom looked up from the grill and saw Vince's composure. "Vince, get over here and give us a hand." He motions to the yard where everyone was chipping in and helping in some way with the set up.
"Looks like you got all the help you need, brother." He stomped down the driveway and peeled off in his car, fast enough that Lala could smell the burning rubber. She pat Leon on the back with her free hand and walked him to the others.
Soon enough, Mia came out with the rest of the sides and they pulled chairs up the the table. Unfortunately for Lala, she got stuck near the end of the table with Leon to her left...and Brian to her right. She would've taken the empty seat next to her sister but Dom advised her to keep it open for Vince, he knew he'd come back.
Jesse reached to the center to grab a piece of chicken from the plate and Dom pointed at him. "Hey, hold up because you were the first to reach in to get the chicken, you say grace." Lala smiled at the statement before looking over at Leon who had taken her hand in his and bowed his head.
"Dear Heavenly...uh..." Jesse trailed off and Lala noticed her sister hold back a giggle.
"Spirit?" Leon offered the help from next to her and she squeezed his hand lightly. He looked at her hand then at the girl and smiled.
"Spirit, thank you. Thank you for providing us with a direct port nitrous injection...four core intercoolers and ball-bearing turbos." He thanked the heavens for car mods and parts, everyone at the table being amused at his statements. "...and titanium valve springs."
"Amen." Dom said humorously before passing the plate of chicken to Jesse. He took his and passed it down to Brian.
"He was praying to the car gods, man." Letty laughed from her spot across the table and Lala picked up her corona from the table. She turned to Brian to get the plate just to see him using the tongs to put her favorite pieces on her plate for her. This didn't go unnoticed by Leon. Why was Brian being so cozy with her when he had Mia on lock?
"Force of habit." Brian mumbled to her as she took the plate and gave it to Leon. He was going to get them both caught up if he slipped. Leon took the plate and served his food before passing it over. As he was passing it, Lala noticed Vince coming up the driveway.
"Look who's back!" She smiled at Vince and he gave her a small smile in return before looking at Leon then Dom.
"Old 'Coyotes R Us'! I thought you weren't hungry, pumpkin?" Leon questioned and Lala laughed softly at his tease. Brian leaned forward on his elbows as her laughter rang around in his ears. His head tilted towards her instinctively and Mia watched him from her seat. He could've sat with her, or across from her and next to Dom but he chose to be seated right beside Lala. Maybe she was reading too deep into it?
"You know I gotta eat." He responded and Leon picked up the bowl of corn to make room. Letty took the bowl and set it aside.
"He's always hungry." She raised a brow and leaned back in her chair with a smug look.
"Alright, sit down." Dom told him, his eyes picking up on the tension at the table. Tension that the blonde man had created just by being there today. Vince kissed the back of Dom's head and squeezed Mia's shoulder lightly. Brian's eyes fixed on the man not because of the contact with Mia but because of the way he looked at Lala when he initially walked back up to them.
Lala smiled across the table at Vince and sipped her beer. Vince fountained his while staring at Brian who then drank from his almost like a pissing contest between the two men.
"Let's eat some grub, man!" Letty clapped Vince's shoulder as everyone passed the dishes amongst each other. The comfortable chatter felt different yet safe to Lala whom never got to experience these moments. She looked around the table at everyone with love filled eyes, maybe she could stay in LA for good. Especially if this is how life could be for her.
-
After the barbecue, everyone piled into the living room to watch a movie that Leon had rented for the night. Dom and Letty were cuddled up with her leaned against him, between his legs. Vince was on the loveseat behind everyone, sprawled out. Lala was on the floor against the table in front of Vince, next to Letty and Dom. Leon was to her right and Jesse was next to him. Lala looked down at the bowl that was now empty and groaned. "Lee, you ate all the popcorn."
"I got ya." Vince stood, slightly stumbling over the boys legs, before going to the kitchen to make more popcorn. Lala leaned back against the table from her spot on the floor until she heard him slapping the microwave.
"I got him." She stopped Leon from getting up and walked to the kitchen, hearing the conversation happening between Mia, Vince, and Brian.
"V, what was that Cuban restaurant you wanted to take me to?" Mia asked him as Lala leaned against the doorway, a smile on her face. Was Mia going to give him a chance? "The one with the picadillo and..."
"With the red candles, wooden tables?" Vince asks her with false hope in his voice.
"The plantains, food all over the place. What's it called?" She questioned while standing in front of him.
"Cha Cha Cha!" He says happily to her with an intoxicated smile on his face. Lala went to the microwave and pushed the button to start the popcorn. Low and behold it worked for her.
"Yeah, that's it." Mia smiled at him and glanced at Lala by the microwave. She then turned around and made her way back over to Brian. "Yeah. Well, you can take me there. Friday night at 10:00. Is that good for you?"
Lala froze in her spot, not only did her heart hurt because of Brian moving on - but it hurt for Vince too, who looked like somebody had just slapped a baby in front of him.
"Yeah, it's perfect." He smiled smugly at Vince and Lala stared at the slowly popping bag. She silently urged it to hurry up and be done already.
"Good."
Vince stormed out of the kitchen, angrily and embarrassed. He passed the guys on the floor as they piped up from their spots. "There's no popcorn."
"Make your own goddamn popcorn!" The slamming of the front door made everyone go quiet, the movie playing being the only noise in the living room.
Lala cleared her throat as the popcorn finished and Mia looked over at her. "I never thought I'd say this...but that was a bitch move, Mia." She opened the microwave and grabbed the bag out before putting another one in.
"I-I'm sorry? What?" Mia laughed in confusion which only irritated Lala even more.
"You could've gone out on a date with Blondie without having to pull that high school move." She shook her head and crossed her arms.
Mia sighed and handed Brian another plate to dry. "I didn't do it to hurt him. I was just sending a message." She did it to show him that she wanted Brian, not him. But that in turn did hurt her brother's long time friend. Part of her knew she was sending the message to Lala as well.
Brian sighed and dried the dishes quietly as the two girls talked. Did he want to go out with Mia? Kind of. It's a great in to get closer to Dominic and make the investigation close as soon as possible. He couldn't deny there was something there. But he wished it was Lala that he was taking out instead.
"But you did. It was low. You gotta work shit out with him especially if he's gonna be around more." She stated and motioned to Brian.
Mia drained the water from the sink and wiped her hands off on the towel. "I'll talk to him about it when he cools off, okay? I'm heading to bed. Goodnight guys." She gave them both a smile and walked out of the kitchen.
Lala's popcorn finally finished as Brian set the last dish away. She grabbed both bags and turned to him. "So much for no distractions, right?" Her eyes stared dead into his soul. He wanted nothing more than to just drop to his knees and beg for her forgiveness and love again but it would take a lot more than that to fix them. If he could even fix them.
Lala set the bags on the counter and walked over to him, speaking in a low voice. "If you ever mention my name to those agents as if I'm some sort of criminal again, I will make you fucking regret it. I'm not taking your pussy cop out deal. You're running out of time before I decide to just out you and end it all." Then she stepped away and grabbed the bags again. In frustration and annoyance, she walked out of the kitchen and poured the bags into the bowls before plopping onto the loveseat as Leon and Jesse were now sprawled completely across the floor.
Brian sucked in a breath and walked into the living room, taking the only open seat which was on the loveseat by Lala. She stiffly offered him the bowl of popcorn and he took a few pieces. Him mentioning her name as somebody who's running with Dom and his crew now was never meant to blow up the way that it did. He didn't think that Bilkins would pull her in off the streets and offer her that deal. Was she ever going to forgive him? On top of that, he didn't want to leave, he had to leave. It was for work - an amazing job opportunity so that he could move up in the ranks. He wanted to tell her so badly but it'd be a breach on his contract to give her any information about where he was going. All he wanted to do was protect her...that didn't work out well for him at all.