Driving Blind- Layla Gray

Chapter 1

*DISCLAIMER*
Go read "Driving Blind* on Archive of Our Own by @avenged_tenfold before you read this. It's a continuation of that story so reading that first will give you context, and it's just an amazing plot line and very well written overall so go give the author some love!

(There will be at least 2 parts to this story)

POV Tony

The sun was still high in the sky as Tony Toretto pulled out of the agency's headquarters to head home for the day. Miss Nowhere had called him in early that morning to go over some details for a small mission he was supposed to go on next week and he had not appreciated the 6am wake up call. But, at least he was done with meetings by noon and had the rest of the day off to work on his car and chill out.

While at a stoplight, Tony noticed he was right by a grocery store. He remembered his mom had said she was having some work friends over for dinner tonight, so he figured he'd stop and pick up some food and drinks on his way home to help her out. As he headed inside, he got a text from Layla.

L- when are you getting home tonight?

Layla had been staying with Tony's family ever since she'd gone blind after getting caught in a fire while saving someone on a mission. She wasn't allowed to live alone in her apartment anymore, and the other option was to stay with someone assigned by the agency, so Layla had gladly accepted Mrs. Toretto's offer of taking the guest room.

Rather than texting back, Tony decided to just call Layla and tell her he was already heading back home.

"Hey, Toretto."

"Hey. I'm actually on my way home now but I'm stopping at the grocery store first. You want anything?"

"Oh, okay...and thanks, but I'm good."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, see you soon."

"Okay...bye, Lay."

Tony sighed as he ended the call. From the sound of her voice and responses, he was pretty sure Layla had been crying again.

It had been about a little over a month since the accident. The first couple weeks had been spent at the hospital, with doctors making sure Layla was stable while also trying to save her vision and help her adjust. Then, her first week back home had been full of meetings and questions and people doting on her. Layla had been distraught over losing her sight, of course, but there hadn't been time for her to fully process the new reality and all the feelings that came with it until now, as the shock of it all finally calmed down.

She'd done a decent job of hiding it from most people, but since Layla was living with his family now, they'd been spending even more time together and Tony could tell that she was starting to fall into a dark place. Not that he could blame her. If their roles were reversed and he was the one no longer able to race or even just drive in general, he would feel pretty hopeless too. Tony had been trying to distract Layla with everything he could think of, and Frostee gave them updates everyday on the special vision device he was working on, but deep down Tony knew there was only one way to start getting Layla out of her funk.

He had the plan mostly worked out by the time he arrived back home with the groceries. His mom was in the kitchen when he walked in, surprised to see the paper bags filled with fresh food and drinks.

"Oh, Tony, thank you!" She said, hugging him before beginning to unload the bags. "I was just about to go out and get some things, so you saved me a trip!"

"Sure. I pass right by the store on my way home, and it gave me a chance to buy these-" Tony held up a box of maple-cinnamon flavored cookies. "Layla's favorite."