Fast Lane ━━ Brian O'Conner ¹

𝟮𝟰. failure is not fatal

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
the best of times, the worst of crimes

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

     𝐁eing on the other side of the law wasn't new to Josephine Toretto but it wasn't ideal either. Definitely not at this length where she had to go to great measures just so the federal government couldn't get to her and her family. They were fugitives now, hunted by the same system Josephine had once believed in. They were running. They had been running ever since they broke Dominic out of that prison transport bus, and every single minute of tranquility they had counted.

     Dominic was out, but the walls were closing in. I suppose Josephine finally understood why it was hard for her brother to contact them all those years ago now that she was in the same shoes as him. It didn't fit snugly with her nimble feet but the Toretto girl kept walking with the shoes with a certain will and stubbornness.

     Brian had been by her side every step of the way. After all, the former federal agent was now a wanted fugitive, too. Josephine wanted to say it was her fault but Brian wouldn't change it for the world. He was in this predicament because he wanted to. It wasn't because she or Dominic made him do this. His decision may have influenced the Toretto family but it was all his━Brian had chosen this path himself and the thought of Josephine being there made it easier for him to sacrifice things.

     Because he would do anything for her. Josephine had always been his lifeline, and he was her sanity. He intends to keep his promise to himself. He wasn't going to leave her again. Or let her go. Not unless some godforsaken situation happened and the only choice was to let her go so she'd be safe.

     Driving suddenly felt like the most excruciating thing in the world which Josephine thought she would never say. She and Brian had been exchanging positions behind the wheel as they traveled miles and miles to unfamiliar places to get away. Suddenly, the four seats of a 1971 Nissan Skyline KPGC10 GT-R or Hakosuka had been their temporary home for the past couple of months along with the cheap motels they find along the unfamiliar road ahead of them.

     It wasn't comfortable or ideal and their struggles with money had been prominent since. Hell, Josephine couldn't remember the last time they had a decent meal.

     Despite it all, they had been each other's pillars through this hard journey. Well, the couple did sometimes get into short arguments about their current situation but it always ended with one another caving into each other's arms. Fighting was not the solution to all of this. Josephine and Brian knew that. They were just tired and worn out from all the running they'd been doing, and these days, the only thing that was keeping them sane and alive was each other.

     Brian stirred beside her on the single bed of a cheap motel room in the middle of South America. His hair had grown a little longer than last time, small curls of his dirty blond hair forming aimlessly in every direction. When his eyelids fluttered open, sleepy azure eyes met her own, instantly softening at the sight of her. A subtle smile graced the edges of his mouth and a gentle warmth enveloped his expression━as if everything about Josephine Toretto made him feel at ease.

     His arms snaked around her waist, pulling her closer to his bare chest. Josephine's hand reached for his cheeks, running her thumb gently against the skin under his eyes as she gazed at him softly, trying to engrave his face into her mind. He was something that she would never forget, and at this moment, their current situation didn't matter. Nobody knew them in this place, and for a minute, they weren't criminals or anything at all. They were just Brian and Jo, and nothing seemed to matter the most when they were just being that.