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“I don’t see why you always have to drive,” Brian said and was only a little disturbed by the pout in his voice. If it helped him to reach his goal, he was ready to use it to his advantage.
Dom spared him half a glance before his eyes were back on the road ahead of them, one hand firmly on the steering wheel and the other leisurely hanging out the open window. They were going at a comfortable speed, not fast enough to draw any unwanted attention but slightly faster than they were legally allowed. Dom looked so utterly in place and in control the way he sat there, Brian had to grudgingly admit, “Okay, I see why you think you always have to drive. But this is my car.”
He could see the smug grin forming on Dom’s lips even without the other man turning to face him. “And of course you can prove that,” Dom replied easily, voice as steady and deep as ever and seemingly unshakable.
“You gave it to me,” Brian grit out. He was starting to get pissed off, little by little. Okay, so it was far from surprising to see Dom getting possessive over every car in his new garage and still not quite trusting Brian’s driving skills which was simply unfair. Just because he’d broken his arm didn’t mean he couldn’t still drive – hell, Dom was driving with only one hand, how was that any different? This apart from the fact that it had been a couple of weeks since the accident and his arm was almost healed anyway. He’d broken it only because the prison bus driver had decided to play the hero and ram into the Charger’s quarter panel after Dom had slipped in, making them skid. Good thing that was the only damage they received during the rescue mission; the Charger still brought them back to what had become their new home.
Dom hummed in agreement but didn’t pay any more attention to Brian as he smoothly changed lanes before taking the next left turn.
“So why have I never driven my own car, man?” He was fully aware that he was downright bitching at Dom by now, but what the hell. Dom had dated Letty on and off for years. He was probably used to worse and there was no question that he wouldn’t put up with any bullshit if it was really bothering him.
“Because it’s not time yet,” was the slightly mysterious answer he got. He had admired Dom’s complete control over things when he’d first met him, but sometimes it was frustrating how little Dom let out of his control.
“When is it time, then?” Whining. Oh, he was making great progress throughout this conversation.
“You’ll know soon enough.”
Brian sighed deeply, trying to exhale the pent-up exasperation. Deep down, he knew that it wasn’t because of Dom but because he hadn’t done anything lately. After Mia had left to get back to LA, he’d hoped that the mother-henning would be over, but far from it. Dom could be even worse than his sister if he wanted to and it had seemed to quickly become one of his new priorities to take care of Brian who didn’t really appreciate it. To this day, he wasn’t absolutely certain how things had evolved from ‘Dude, I can stand on my own, I only broke my fucking arm,’ to a frantic make out session on the floor. At the time, it had felt so natural, like it was just another step on the way of their complicated relationship – it still did. Somehow, neither of them had been surprised.
When Dom coaxed him out of bed one morning to show him the Venetian-red Mitsubishi 3000GT in their backyard, he’d actually been more taken aback. Okay, so it was a little eerie how well Dom knew his taste in cars, but it was very welcome. He’d liked this ride and always regretted its loss. No car should end up impounded to never be used again; in particular not one of his cars.
They pulled up in front of the garage and Dom started to unload the mass of grocery bags from the back, while Brian tried to get the door to their upstairs apartment unlocked.
“It’s jammed again,” he yelled over his shoulder.
“Not touching it after the last time,” Dom shouted back.
Brian let out a huff of laughter as he tried to find the spot he had to kick for the door to open. They probably should have just replaced it instead of putting it back on its hinges after Dom had accidentally broken it down while trying to twist the door knob. It was a miracle things like that didn’t happen more often around him, considering how easily the big man managed to do things like pick up Brian like he weighed nothing more than an impact wrench and had never put on all those muscles, or smashed less fortunate people’s teeth in.
Finally, with a subtle ‘click’ the door sprang open. He quickly nudged the doorstop back in its place to let some fresh air into the stuffy apartment before he returned to the groceries and began unpacking them. It was crazy how many different spices and flavorings there were; Brian couldn’t even remember half of the names of the stuff while Dom somehow knew each of them by taste or consistency. Weird, how one of the few things he couldn’t get used to was seeing Dom standing in front of the stove with his eyebrows drawn together in concentration as he rattled pots and pans.
He was distracted as two strong arms slid around his waist and drew him into Dom’s embrace. Dom leaned his chin down on his shoulder, eyes fixed ahead of him like he still had to keep the road in view.
“How’s the arm?” he asked, voice soft.
Brian smiled and leaned back. “I told you, I’m good to go. Practically new,” he said and started motioning with his hand to emphasize his point. Grinning mischievously, he reached back to wrap his hand around Dom’s neck, turning himself in his partner’s arms and using his grip as leverage to pull Dom into a lazy kiss. Dom hummed appreciatively in the back of his throat before he eventually pulled back; his gaze finally on Brian and Brian alone. Dom studied him for what felt like deliciously long minutes and Brian revelled in having the other man’s full attention. He tried to press even closer, but at the same time, Dom obviously came to a decision and turned away again. Brian was about to protest loudly when he felt callused fingers wrap around his wrist and drag him along. Shaking his head slightly, he followed Dom deeper into the garage, only briefly wondering when they passed the couch and instead stopped in front of the locked up cabinet which contained their more valuable tools.
“I’ve got something for you,” Dom breathed into his ear as he skilfully unlocked the cabinet with one hand; refusing to let go of Brian any more than he had to. He rummaged around in the very corner of the shelf with the plastic tubing until he dug out a small square box and put it in Brian’s open hands, watching with an amused expression as Brian peered down suspiciously.
“I swear, if this is jewellery or some shit, I’m going to kick your ass,” Brian announced seriously; graciously ignoring Dom’s snort at that. It didn’t take him more than a couple of seconds to get the wrapping off and stare down at a small Rubik’s Cube with a tag on it. The top was a dull beige, but as he turned it curiously, he could see that there were photos on the other sides of the cube. There was a picture of Dom’s cross on one side, a picture of the two of them goofing around over the engine of an old Ford Cortina and a shot of the old team.
Brian stared at the last photo, never having seen it before. He remembered Harry taking it one day as he had to drop off Brian and pick up a couple of parts. It had been his third week with the team and every one of them was in this picture. Mia and Jesse unconsciously mirroring each other’s smile from opposite ends, Vince pulling a face in Brian’s direction, not aware that the picture was being taken right then or that Leon was mimicking his expression with an oddly distorted grin and there, Dom in the centre, one arm around Letty’s waist and one around Brian’s shoulders, a slight satisfied smile on his face with his family around him.
Brian felt the breath hitch in his throat, the guilt and pain from all those years ago rushing back to him. He’d been the one who destroyed that family. Jesse and Letty were dead, Vince still in prison, Leon in Mexico and Mia miles away from her brother. He jumped when Dom drew him back into another embrace, successfully blocking his view of the photo.
“It’s not a punishment. It’s a good luck charm,” Dom explained, seeing Brian’s wide eyes and opened mouth as the guilty expression it was.
Brian nodded, trying to shake the numbness off again. Every time he thought he’d finally accepted that it wasn’t really his fault; that everything would have gone the same way without him (maybe worse), he was thrown back again. But he could see how this really was a good luck charm, because they had been friends back then (even Vince in an odd way) and because Dom had forgiven him and if he was honest with himself, he had to admit that he valued Dom’s opinion over his own most of the time.
He forced himself to smile, knowing he would come to love this little token soon enough. “It’s nice,” he said low and just leaned into Dom for a little longer, looking at his face intently to make sure that there really was no resentment left in the deep brown eyes.
After long moments he felt his spirits come to life again, sneaking his hands around Dom’s neck and grinning up at him. “And this means you’re finally letting me drive my car, right?”
Dom snorted and whacked him upside the head before letting his hand run through the returning dark blond curls. “If you can hang that thing on the rearview with your supposedly ‘good to go’ hand,” he dictated seriously and then moved to quickly duck away from Brian’s not-so-playfully swung fist.