THE ROAD IS LONG
Okay, I apologise now if this chapter is really random and really bad because I was supremely pissed off when I was writing it. Went into work today, boss decided he was going to wax my eyebrows (don't ask…long story…you don't wanna know…). Foolishly I let him…and now I am the proud owner of one eyebrow that is thinner than the other…am not amused! Right, well, other than that I had fun with this chapter again. Leon wakes up and that's about your lot. It was a little bit of fun for me to write and let me blow off some steam after the eyebrow incident. The next chapter will be better, I promise. Tino is gonna get the shock of his life when he comes home and finds Vince and Leon livin' it up in his house. Hahaha! I can have soooo much fun with that. Happy Reading. Gem xxx Chapter 18: Together Again. Bright, blinding light stabbed into his eyes causing the already excruciating headache that pounded in the base of his skull, to flare and encompass his entire head. "Fuck..." he groaned, attempting to roll over but a hand shot out to steady him gently before he could fall off the edge of the car seat. "Take it easy, Leon." Vince's voice reached his ringing ears, but Leon was still unable to focus upon anything in the blaring light. He turned his head into the direction that he thought that Vince was, trying to pull himself to sit upright, but again Vince's large hand pressed against his tender shoulder and lightly, but firmly, forced him back down onto the back seat of the civic. Leon scrubbed at his eyes and blinked furiously until the inside of the car came into focus, albeit blearily. He was staring at the black leather ceiling, rays of the morning sun filtering in through the rolled down windows and making hot golden patterns on it. "Shit, where are we?" he queried groggily, turning to glance at Vince again, though he was not only met by the face of the man that had saved his ass. "Thank God, your awake, man!" Jesse gasped, sitting back on his heels where he knelt on the front passenger seat. "Yeah, we were beginning to worry 'bout you, Lee." Letty added leaning in through the open window of the drivers side door. "You had me scared, brother!" Vince drew in a deep breath and stepped back, out of the car so that Dom could take his place. "Glad to have you with us again, Lee." he grinned a classic Dom grin that made Leon temporarily forget the pain that scrabbled up and down his stiff back. Dom's large hands moved down to hook under his armpits and he helped Leon to shuffle out of the back of the car and to stand swaying in the fresh air. He breathed in deeply, clutching at Dom to keep himself from crashing to the ground and relishing the feeling of the warm breeze on his sticky, sweat covered skin as Vince moved up to his other side and looped his arm about Leon's waist. "You think you can manage them steps, Hop-along?" Vince teased, nodding in the direction of the mammoth house. "I can manage without your little pet-names, Pumpkin!" Leon snorted in response causing Dom to laugh out loud, his large shoulders sending their amused shaking through to Leon as he supported him. Perhaps it was lack of sleep that made the rest of the Team follow suit and join Dom's wild laughter. Perhaps it was the heat of the Mexican sun or maybe it was relief that they were all safe and together again finally. Maybe it was a mixture of all three but whatever it was, it made Leon grin wide with a happiness that he hadn't felt in years. That was until Dom and Vince moved and the pain returned with a vengeance to bite him in the ass. -00000- Mia and Donni scuttled around the house collecting bits and pieces from the many incomplete and under stocked first aid kits that where dotted about. They only stopped their mad rush when Dom and Vince staggered in supporting Leon between them, kicking the front door open so that it smashed back into the wall with a loud crack that drew a cringe from Donni and made her mutter something under her breath about them ruining the paintwork. "Watch ma gonads!" Leon howled, flinching as Dom went one way and Vince the other. "Left, V! Left!" Dom bellowed as Vince moved to his right, taking half of Leon's body with him while Dom still held onto the other side. "Your other fucking left, numbskull!" "Your left or my left?" Vince snarled in return and Mia stifled a laugh with her hand over her mouth. "Vince. Your left and Dom's left are both the same direction." she chuckled and Vince's face flushed red beneath his scratchy beard as he looked at her for the first time since he had arrived. His jaw flapped open a few times but nothing came out causing him to huff and snap his mouth shut firmly. "Just move your ass, this way!" Dom broke in, nodding to the sofa with his head and Vince coughed in embarrassment and shuffled in tandem with Dom to where Donni was plumping up the pillows ready for the injured Leon. "I swear, they're like the Three Stooges." Letty snorted so that only Mia could hear her, as she and Jesse entered the house and stood watching the spectacle of the two larger men trying in vain to coordinate their cumbersome movements and place Leon down without causing him anymore pain than they already were. Mia shook her head and swatted at Letty playfully who raised her eyebrows in an innocent gesture. "They're trying to help." Mia announced, raising her own eyebrows though she had to fight desperately to keep her amusement down to a mere giggle. "Oh that's what they're doing!" Letty gasped sarcastically, smacking her palm to her forehead as if she had only just realised what they were attempting to do. "I thought they were tryin' to make a wish!" she pointed to where Dom and Vince each had an arm around Leon's back and one under the crook of his knees, making them look like they were indeed fighting to snap a giant wishbone in two. Mia let out a blaring laugh, slapping her hand across her mouth and Letty nudged her with her elbow a few times, only setting her off into more hysterics until neither of them could breath properly and Letty made small choking noises instead of laughs. Dom gave a confused frown and stood up straight once Leon was settled, though Leon's face was contorted into agony due to their heavy handed conduct. "You two gonna help anytime soon? Or are you just gonna stand there and piss your pants?" he growled though they knew he wasn't really angry. "Yeah, stow it already, Jesus!" Vince shook his head. "Leon's in pain and all you two can do is stand there and laugh your asses off!" Letty snorted, finally able to breath properly again, folding her arms and matching her own glower to Vince's frowning face. "We're not laughing at Leon, Vincent. We're laughing at you two and how hopeless you are." she retorted and Vince rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath and earning a rather unsavoury hand gesture from Letty. "Alright, children!" Donni interrupted, stepping between them and raising her hands, a palm directed towards each. "Can we, like, focus for half a minute? Injured guy comes first." she pointed at Leon for emphasis and then folded her arms much like an irate school teacher would when lecturing a delinquent student. "Thank you…whoever you are." Leon replied with an exaggerated gratitude and Donni smiled at him, holding out her hand for him to shake. "Donni. I'm Dom's and Mia's cousin." she replied. "Leon." he returned with a lopsided grin, letting his gaze sweep over the Italian woman still clasping his hand. "And I'm very pleased to meet you." Donni, narrowed her eyes slightly at his words in amusement, letting her own eyes do a bit of wandering. Though he was badly beaten up, bloody, black and blue, he was an attractive young man. Insanely attractive, she noted. "I'm very pleased to meet you, too." she responded, placing as much emphasis upon her words as Leon had. "Oh, please!" Letty mumbled under her breath, lifting her eyes to the ceiling and moving away to where Jesse and Dom stood chatting by the still open front door, wisely keeping out of the way. Vince simply shrugged, thrusting his hands into his pockets. Inside, he was grinning, however. Just bickering with Letty again, hearing her and Mia laughing and joking and making fun of him, Leon and Dom like they use to, made him realise how much he had missed his family while they had been separated. And now, finally, they were getting back to normal. "V?" Leon's voice disturbed his thoughts and made him glance over his shoulder at the bruised young man, sprawled across the worn out sofa and being fussed over by the two women. "What, dawg?" Vince asked turning to him fully. Leon's face split into a mischievous grin and he pointed an accusing finger into his direction. "You're smiling, brother." he teased and Vince quickly replace his softened features with a scowl. "No I ain't!" he snapped but Leon's own smile simply widened knowingly. "I ain't smilin', man!" Vince insisted again. "Don't worry, Coyote. I'm glad we're all back together again, too." Leon tossed him a wink before gasping and cringing away from where Mia and Donni were prodding at the rather nasty looking split on his eyebrow. "Christ! A little warning next time you plan on dissecting me, girls!" he growled at them drawing an irritated scowl from Mia. "Stop moving around, Leon." she responded haughtily, ignoring his protests and squirming by holding his head still between her hands and allowing Donni to dab at his cut with antiseptic. The scream that left Leon's throat would have made anyone unfortunate enough to hear it, believe that he was actually being murdered instead of having a cut cleaned gently. He continued to yell out and tried to slap Donni's and Mia's hands away from him but to no avail. "Leon, stop being such a baby!" Mia growled, sounding for once in her life, so remarkably like Dom that Leon stilled instantly, eyes wide with almost horror, and Letty, Dom and Jesse whipped their heads into her direction. "That's better." Leon fell into a sulking silence, folding his arms across his chest and frowning at Mia as she and her cousin continued their assault, checking him over. Vince barked out a laugh, pointing at his friend as he did so. "Sucks to be you, dawg!" he hooted, his finger flailing around in the air as his shoulders shook with mirth. "Yeah." Leon spat back, sourly, wincing as Mia prodded at the bruise that ringed his right eye. "It does!" -00000- Tino comes home in the next chapter. Gonna jump forwards in time a bit to the evening. I promise that I am getting closer to Mia's twist. Letty's one is still quite a way off, but the Mia one should be starting soon. Very soon in fact…Hope you liked this chappie. Please read and review.
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