CHAPTER SEVEN
we're the masters of our own fate
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𝐉osephine had an unexplainable relationship with her older brother where they kept trying to get mad at each other but the other one always tried to fix things over and over until they were fine. Dom was the fixer. Not her. She only makes things worse. Not better. And certainly, most of the time all she did was ruin things for the sake of herself. Well, at least that's what she thought.
Because everything Josephine Toretto touches━she ruins.
Her thoughts drifted to a certain blue-eyed boy with honey curls like he'd never known how to not be perfect. Brian Spilner was the epitome of a sun. He held a certain warmth despite his hard exterior that he tried to keep up. His bright smile was infectious. And he was the central to her newfound bliss. He was her getaway car like Mia had said, and a part of her will always try to steal one last ride every chance she gets.
Maybe it was because he didn't look at her like she was this fragile girl with a sensitive past. Or an annoyingly stubborn one that pushed people away just because she wanted to. Josephine never wanted to. But feelings were dangerous things. She tried not to make it the most of her when she realized it was something that could destroy her.
It could. If she let it. Because for some reason, if having feelings for Brian was something that could ruin her━Josephine was afraid she might let it. She was afraid that maybe this time, this man might ruin her just the same way she did to all the people she ever loved.
The girl looked up from the engine of the new car they were setting up except she was alone at this time of day at the garage. Too early for everybody but not for her. She squinted slightly as the garage doors fully opened before somebody entered with light footsteps. Immediately, her eyebrows shot up when she realized who it was.
"You're up early." Josephine mimicked his words from the last time with a faint smirk.
"Hey, Jo." Brian grinned, teeth and all. His skin looked flushed from the early morning weather of Los Angeles. He wore a faded blue shirt today, making his eyes look a little grayer than usual. "What you up to?"
She shrugged, raising a random part of the engine to attach. "Putting a few pieces together to make it easier for the guys."
"Need any help?" Brian asked, lingering around her as he eyed the piece of new machinery.
"Yeah." Josephine nodded, growing amused at the sight of his expectant face. He seemed to genuinely want to help her but she really didn't need help at the moment. "You can sit next to me and watch."
The blond chuckled, shaking his head at the girl. "You sure?"
"Hm." She clicked her tongue, carefully attaching one engine part after another to the bigger machine. "Might need a pretty face to look at now and then to give me energy."
"That all you need?" Brian sat next to her and she turned to face him. The man was raising his brows and shamelessly looking at every inch of her face. They lingered on her lips before he had to force himself out of it.
Josephine noticed but she only chuckled. "For now."
The two spent the whole day hanging out at the auto shop, getting to know each other better and learning new things. Josephine taught him about the secret of racing and tips on how he could win the next time he races. Brian listened. With a smile as he watched her face lit up from talking about what she liked. He was beginning to realize just how much he liked her the more he saw who she truly was.
It was a few minutes after noon when they decided to part ways. Josephine stood by the driveway, standing in front of Brian. She still looked beautiful despite the oil and dust covering her skin and clothes. He put his hands inside the pockets of his jeans, squinting at the afternoon sun harshly shining on his face.
"Where do you want me to pick you up?" Josephine asked.
Brian nodded. "I'll go to yours then you can drive us to the place."
"Too bad I didn't get to drive your car, huh?" She chuckled and the blond shook his head, a little amused. Johnny Tran just had to blow up his Mitsubishi Eclipse right before he could take her on a ride. "I'll see you then."
"See you, Jo," He smiled.
"Got a TR7 here, with a ball-bearing upgrade," Jesse rambled. He, Leon, Letty, and Josephine gathered around the almost-finished masterpiece of an engine. A couple of feet from them were Dominic and Brian who were putting the parts inside the hood of the partial Supra. "What it's going to do is, it's going to spool up really quick."
"I got this set up for twenty-four psi," Josephine muttered as she turned the small wrench on the screw.
Jesse nodded. "Got it."
It was Friday, and Friday meant date night with a certain Buster. Speaking of the devil, Brian Spilner was helping Dom behind the others as they conversed with themselves. They were all busy doing their own tasks but Brian and Jo's constant glances didn't go unnoticed by the lot of them.
"You got big plans tonight?" Dominic suddenly asked, making the blue-eyed boy look up from the wires he was attaching.
"Yeah." Brian nodded, trying to act like he wasn't a little nervous in front of the older brother of his date. Suddenly, his mission didn't seem as important as making a good impression on Dom. "We're going out to dinner."
Dominic stared at him. His expression hard and serious. "You break her heart, I'll break your neck."
Brian returned his stare. "That's not gonna happen."
The man seemed satisfied with that but that didn't mean he liked the idea of his little sister going on dates with someone he knows. I suppose it should make it better that he knows Brian. But no━his sister, his responsibility. No matter how much his younger sisters push him away or stubbornly say that they can handle themselves. They will always be his baby sisters.
"I want to show you something," Dominic told him.
Josephine watched from the corner of her eyes as Dominic left the garage with Brian on his tail. The latter glanced back before he could disappear, making eye contact with the Toretto girl who raised her eyebrows questionably. Brian merely sent her a reassuring nod before he followed Dom into his red Mazda.
The car pulled up into the driveway of the Toretto household, parking directly at the old garage. Dominic led the blond inside, Brian walking on eggshells around him as he studied the new surroundings. The first thing he saw when he opened the garage was a sweet 1970 Dodge Charger R/T with its hood popped open and a supercharged blower motor in the middle. His blue eyes glinted.
Brian inspected the muscle car. "Wow."
"Me and my dad built her. Nine hundred horses of Detroit muscle. It's a beast," Dom told him, a small smile playing on his lips. "You know what she ran on Palmdale?"
"No. What did she run?"
"Nine seconds flat."
Brian shook his head in disbelief. "God."
"My dad was driving. So much torque━the chassis twisted coming off the line," Dominic mused. "Barely kept her on the track."
"So what's your best time?" He asked.
"I've never driven her."
"Why not?"
Dominic hesitated. "It scares the shit out of me."
Brian looked at the man. For a second, he seemed surprised. He never thought someone like him was scared of anything. Hell, all the things people told him and all that he read━maybe they were wrong. His brows furrowed but before he could ask him, Dominic pointed at the photos attached to the wall behind them.
"That's my dad." Brian looked at the picture, noticing the resemblance between Josephine and their father. She had his eyes. Not the color. But she narrows her eyes the same way he did in the photograph. "He was coming up in the pro-stock-car circuit. Last race of the season."
"A guy named Kenny Linder came up from inside, in the final turn. He clipped his bumper and put him into the wall at hundred and twenty. I... I watched my dad burn to death." Brian watched him carefully as Dominic revealed something that he would never say to anyone. "I remembered hearing him scream. But the people that were there said he had died before the tanks blew. They said it was me who was screaming."
"I saw Linder about a week later. I had a wrench, and I hit him. And I didn't intend to keep hitting him, but by the time I was done, I couldn't lift my arm." Dominic walked over to the side of the Dodge. Something about his voice told him he regretted a part of it. Brian had to take a seat, a deep frown on his face. Dom pursed his lips. "I didn't know Josephine was there. It was her birthday. And I think I've ruined it for her even if she doesn't tell me."
Brian frowned, gripping his clothed thigh as his narrowed eyes followed Dom's figure walking aimlessly around the garage. Like talking about this very thing made him restless and anxious but he didn't exactly look like it. He was good at masking his emotions. Dominic stopped by a pillar and leaned his hand against it.
"He's a janitor at a high school. He has to take the bus to work every day. And they banned me from the tracks for life," Dominic told him as Brian slowly soaked all the information he had told him. "I live my life a quarter-mile at a time. Nothing else matters. Not the mortgage, not the store, not my team and all their bullshit."
"For those ten seconds or less... I'm free."
Night fell quickly. Josephine sat in front of her vanity, calmly watching her younger sister panicked about her date as she marched back and forth picking up random things on her floor. Mia seemed to be the most nervous about it than the girl who was actually going on that date. She had made her wear this little black dress that hugged her body and made her feel smaller than she was.
"Please wear heels," Mia practically begged as she dropped a pair of heels in front of her.
Josephine stared at her. "I can't drive in that."
"Are you planning to speed and drift your car?" Mia asked in disbelief.
"Perhaps." Josephine turned around cheekily, trying to hide her smile from her sister. "I'll just wear my flats. It's just a date anyway."
"It's a date with your future husband," Mia corrected, which made a disturbed look flash over the older girl's face. "And you're going to look pretty while doing it."
"If he doesn't like me the way I am then he's most definitely not going to be my future anything." Josephine shook her head, slipping on her black flats. She glanced at herself in the mirror, popping her cherry-red lips, and smiled sweetly at her sister. "Take my advice. I know you're into that law student friend of yours."
"Jo!" Mia's eyes widened like she just got caught doing something illegal. "What are you talking about?"
Josephine sighed loudly. "You are too pretty for that guy."
"You know what━Just go!" Mia threw her arms up, becoming more nervous than she let on. How did her sister know about it? She would never know. Then she noticed a certain blond coming up the sidewalk and to their front porch. Perfect timing. "Brian's here. Please go now."
The older Toretto grinned, blowing her sister a playful kiss. "We should have a double date soon with your man."
"He's not my man." Mia sent her a look, pushing her outside the room so she could stop messing with her already. Josephine wiggled her brows suggestively which only made her turn red with embarrassment. "Shut up."
"I didn't say anything." Josephine raised her hands in surrender, giving her another cheeky smile. They walked down the stairs together. Mia sent her one last glare which she smiled at before she turned to open the door and her sister left to the living room to give them privacy.
"Oh, wow. You look..." Brian looked at her from head to toe, his sunkissed cheeks becoming a little flushed at the sight of the beauty before him. "You look beautiful, Jo."
Josephine smiled ever so slightly. Her eyebrows raised at the small bouquet of wild roses in his hand. "Is that for me?"
"Thought you might like it." Brian grinned, handing her the flowers that she gladly took.
"Do I look like a flower girl?" She asked playfully, looking at the assorted colors of wild roses.
"More like a car girl," Brian shrugged, blue eyes glossing over her face and body like she was this unbelievably unreal thing. "But I'd buy you a car another time."
Josephine laughed. "I like the sound of that."
Brian ran his fingers through his golden curls, the sleeves of his coal-black sweater falling briefly to his forearm. He lightly touched her exposed arm. "You ready?"
"Let's go." Then she shut the front door, stepping out of the house with Brian by her side, the two sharing warm smiles like they were the only thing that mattered to each other tonight. Not his duties. And not her dysfunctional family.