Fast Lane ━━ Brian O'Conner ¹

𝟭𝟯. stuck in a limbo

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
built to fall apart and fall back together

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     𝐓wo years ago, Josephine Toretto had left the love of her life standing in her old garage full of hesitation and regret, and Brian O'Conner let her. Because despite everything that happened between them, he still respected her. They shared one last kiss that sealed the deal. Josephine had wanted to give him a chance━she was going to let him even if she wouldn't say it. But Brian disappeared before she could change her mind. He had become a ghost in her house that constantly haunted her in her sleep.

    For a while, she tried to find out what happened to him. Josephine didn't get that much answer. At least the ones she wanted to hear. For some reason, a small part of her will always wait for him to come back.

     Josephine went back to her old ways, trying to live her life without her friends and older brother. Dominic was fine. He tried his best to communicate with them as much as possible but it was kind of hard when you're a wanted man. As for Mia, she was in her last year of nursing school and Josephine had been there for her every step of the way. She dropped out of MIT, carrying the baggage Dom had left all while trying her best to not break down from pressure. But she had her sister, and they stayed by each other through rough times.

     She wasn't sure if she was ever going to get used to this lifestyle. However, cars and racing had made it a little easier for the twenty-three-year-old who only knew chaos her whole life.

     Her midnight blue Honda S2000 had been ignored for years in the auto shop where it gathered dust and cobwebs. Instead, Josephine had built herself another car━a 2001 blood-red Acura Integra Type R━and modified it to her desired image. It was different but nowadays, different was a good thing for the woman who was often reminded of the people in her past. She also had grown spiteful because of it. Everything that made her remember, she wanted to tear apart.

      Then one day, Brian O'Conner showed up and Josephine realized he was not the same man she'd left that day. Because while he was making his own name, chasing that badge, Josephine had stayed the same.

    She could still remember as clear as the day. It was at the Race Wars in the same airport and familiar deserts of Los Angeles. Josephine had been going to them religiously ever since everything fell apart. Because it was the only thing that made her feel close to what was normal for the Torettos.

     Racing distracted her from reality. Because behind the wheel of a speeding car━it makes her forget for a moment. It was the hardest thing to do nowadays so she valued her time in cars and on the racing track.

     But she could never forget those pair of blue eyes no matter how hard she tried.

     Josephine was in her red Integra that one afternoon, the Los Angeles heat made her turn her windows all the way down. She was on the track, surrounded by other racers who watched and cheered as she waited for her opponent to appear next to her. Then an unfamiliar gray 1999 Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 with blue stripes decals pulled up beside her. Smoke purposely billowed from his wheels as his engine made a loud noise, and when the fog cleared out, Josephine saw a familiar face staring back at her inside the car.

     Her breath caught. "Brian."

     "Thought I might take you on that race now," Brian uttered lightly.

     He still looked the same. Well, his blond hair was shorter, the curls in them not as prominent as before. He wore a faint smile like he wasn't quite sure if this was the right moment to do that. His plain white tee fit his body, and her eyes briefly flickered to his wrist where the same stupid gray string was still attached around them.