Disclaimer: I don't own The Fast and the Furious, Fast & Furious or any of its characters, merchandise, TV/film rites, ect… (I think you get the point.)

Summery

ONE SHOT – At times it seems like they have been best friends forever, and she trusts him with everything, he just can't trust himself with her heart.

Like all of my work this is just something that happened to float through the empty void inside my head. Like it or hate it please R and R as honest opinions are always welcomed, as are random acts of worship.

"Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished and persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot."

I'm just getting older,
I'm not getting over you I'm trying to,
I wish it didn't hurt like this,
It's been way too long for the times we missed,
I can't believe it still hurts like this,

Best Friend

She's one of his best friends; probably in fact his very best friend. At times they almost seem like two halves of the same person, so in tune with each other are they. Both of them live for the moment, determined to live every second to its fullest. But at that same time they never rush head long in a situation they always look at all the angles before acting. And both of them feel a deep and unwavering responsibility for those they consider family.

She is the epitome of everything he could ever want in the person he intended to spend the rest of his life with.

He can talk to her about anything and everything in a way that he can't even talk to Mia. She understands him better than, even after all these years, Vince does. Not even Leon, with his laid back ways and calming influence, can calm him down the way she can. Jesse, ah well there is no one quite like Jesse, always excited and eager to please, but even he can't compare to her.

But that's the problem. They are best friends and that's all they can ever be. Whether she knows it or not, and he is sure that she doesn't, she is the glue that holds the team in place. He may be the leader, as it were, but she's the one that keeps them together, the linchpin. She'll scold and congratulate and stress over them all in turn, she'll even fuss over them in her tough chick way. She's a mother hen with some real nasty talons and a very sharp beak.

And that means that for him to date her would probably be the worst thing he could do. It was hard enough when Vince admitted that he kind of liked Mia, that had been almost enough to rip the team to shreds. Almost, but not quite. But with the two of them he knows that it would be far, far worse.

They fitted together almost frighteningly well; they could work around each other in ways that almost seemed bizarre to outside observers. But to them it was second nature, they had spent so much time together that they fitted into one another's space. As friends and team-mates they were phenomenal and as lovers they probably would have been even better.

But he can't let it happen.

It is a well known fact that he is fearlessly protective of those he considers family, that he would do whatever was asked of him to keep them safe and happy. But it is a daily struggle when it comes to her, because protective can so easily evolve into possessive. There have been times when he's fantasised about locking Mia away from the world because it would keep her safe, but when his thoughts travel along the same path with her in mind his reasoning is not so noble. He wants to lock her away from everyone else because he wants to keep her all to him self.

They would be happy for a few weeks, months maybe if he were lucky. But then he'd say or do something insensitive and at first it would fine. Just him being him the same as he always was and she, of all people, would understand that. But then it would get worse and in the end she would want something he was afraid he wouldn't know how to give her. He didn't want to hurt her, she was too precious, too important to him, but he knew that was what would happen.

And he's so sorry, because he knows if anything, anyone, could change him for the better then it would be her, but he just can't risk it. Partly because, though he is sure the team as a whole would only become strong if they were together, he knew it would be ripped apart at the seams if the two of them split up. But also he won't allow it to happen because he can't stand the thought of causing her pain.

She doesn't have a clue how he feels and he never intends to say anything to her. Best to let her think that her own feelings are un-reciprocated because at least that way it's safe. That way he can't really hurt her. So she dates people and so does he, both of them acting as if they are not secretly in love with other.

It's obscene in a way and yet strangely sweet in another. She loves him so much that she pretends that she doesn't. She dates other guys, flirts with them at parties all so he won't feel guilty about being the object of her crush. And he loves her so much that he won't ever tell her. He flaunts the girls he sleeps with in front of her in the hope that it will help her get over him and make her see she's better off without him.

So for now she's untouchable, a no man's land. No man's anything and his everything even if she doesn't know it. But she's hands off, and silent reminders about why he can not go there. She's out of reach even when she's standing right next to him and might very well be next to him forever. So he's logical about it, he weighs up what he has against the risk of losing her forever and tries to be content. Better to know that he has a place in her heart than try for more and end up hurting her and the close family they have built.

At least she is in his life, right by his side every day and that is enough even if he knows he wants more. Ever if she, little Letty the girl who lives down the street, can never be his girl but only ever his best friend.

(A/N) Hey guys I've been thinking of doing another drabble collection and just wanted to put some feelers out to see if it was a good idea or not. So, yes or no? Love ya guys.

Lamanth