NATALIE'S STOMACH FLUTTERED - ONE hand held her phone to her ear, whilst the other was wrapped around the top of the steering wheel.

The gruff British voice that she loved more than anything in the world drifted from her phone, and without even realising, Natalie's entire body relaxed; every tightened muscle, every tense limb. All of the stress from the past few days had simply dissipated at the sound of Deckard's voice.

"If I ever have the absolute displeasure of running into your brother, I can't promise that he'll walk out alive." Deckard grumbled, knowing all about Dominic Toretto and his completely idiotic actions - actions that still had an effect on his wife, despite thirteen years having passed.

"I would pay to see that, you know?" Natalie grinned, effortlessly steering her car around a corner, even though she was only one-handed. "Maybe you could even recruit Xav and Nick to help. I know they'd love to get a couple punches in."

Deckard chuckled, well aware that if Xavier and Nicholas got their hands on Toretto, they'd do more than just throw punches.

"I guess we'll have to see." Deckard mused, knowing that he (unfortunately) had to cut their call short. "I love you, Natalie Shaw."

"I love you too, Deckard Shaw. Always." Natalie would never get sick of hearing her full name - it made her giddy that she had not only found, but married the love of her life. She almost felt lightheaded with what she could only describe as pure and utter love for Deckard Shaw.

As they hung up the phone, Natalie felt more at ease than she had felt in days, but Deckard couldn't stop the worry from clenching his heart in its unwavering grip - he had a feeling. His feelings had never been wrong before, which just made the nausea swirling in his stomach even worse.

Oblivious to how her husband felt, Natalie carefully drove her car up the ramp at the back of the plane and into the cargo hold, where some other vehicles were parked and waiting to go to Spain. The woman turned the keys in the ignition, turning the engine off.

She toyed with the phone that was still in her hand, a smile tugging at her lips at the thought of getting back to her family after this job was over. Just one more part to get, and then it's done. Deckard would whisk Natalie away to one of their holiday homes, probably one somewhere tropical. Hopefully, they could find a place for Letty to live - she could probably even stay with Natalie's mother for a while, if she wanted to.

Everything would go back to normal - or, well, their new normal.

Without even realising, Natalie reached for the glovebox and opened it. Among some other things, like a gun and an emergency first aid kit, sat a small pile of photos. She gently picked them up before closing the compartment, and began tracing the grinning faces of the first picture.

THE KING ESTATE, LONDON - 2007

"Mia, get over here!" Letty grinned, ushering Mia Toretto towards both herself and Natalie. The just-married King, now Shaw, wore an elegant white silk gown that hugged her in all of the right places; it had off-the-shoulder straps and a slit on the left side. She looked ethereal with her hair half up half down, and a stunning jewelled floral hair piece pushed into the centre of the pinned up hair.

Letty wore a deep olive satin dress, which only the maid of honour wore, whilst Mia wore the same dress, but in a stunning shade of sage green, as she was a bridesmaid.

"I'm coming as quick as I can! I'm not used to these ridiculous shoes." Mia laughed, half-running half-stumbling towards the pair who stood ready to take a photo. She nearly crashed into the two women, who managed to steady the wobbly girl before she fell to the ground. High heels were definitely not her friend at that moment.

Deckard had flown both Mia and Letty to London for the wedding as a surprise - Natalie was under the impression that the two couldn't make it, and she was devastated.

Two years after Daniel Poulter ruined everything, Mia had finally worked up the courage to go against Dominic's demands of disowning the eldest Toretto daughter, and reached out to Natalie. It took a while, but the pair slowly repaired their fractured bond, and if you asked anyone, they would say that the sisters had become even closer than before.

Letty never lost contact with Natalie, no matter what Dominic Toretto said. Unfortunately, the Ortiz woman couldn't visit her best friend with her boyfriend's watchful eye, so the pair didn't see each other for an entire four years. Thankfully, though, Brian O'Connor came and screwed everything up, which meant Dominic had to run. Whilst, yes, that was entirely awful (actually, it depended on who you asked), it gave Mia and Letty the freedom to see Natalie as much as they wanted, and vice versa.

Natalie wrapped an arm around either girls' waists, as she stood in between the two. Both Mia and Letty did the same to the bride as they grinned for the photographer. Just after the photo was taken, the three girls laughed, completely thrilled that Natalie had finally gotten her happily ever after.

The Shaw woman smiled softly at the pure joy and excitement written across all three of their faces. It was one of the best days of her life. One that she could never forget. Her wedding was perfect; Letty was her maid of honour, Mia, Hattie (Deckard's sister and one of Natalie's closest friends), and Alice were her bridesmaids, and Andy was the one to walk her down the aisle.

Deckard's best man was Owen, and his groomsmen were Xavier and Nick. Queenie was also there, claiming that she 'wouldn't miss their wedding even if the bloody world was ending'. Safe to say Natalie's mother-in-law was Deckard and Natalie's biggest supporter, other than Hattie, of course.

Hattie Shaw was the one to introduce the pair, and she never let them forget it. All it took was for the youngest Shaw sibling to bring her eldest brother to the pub where she was meeting Natalie, and all of a sudden, the rest was history.

Wanting to see the rest of the photos, Natalie allowed herself to slide it to the back of the pile. She could always go back to it later.

The next photograph made Natalie's heart melt - it reminded her of the first time she held her goddaughter, except in the photo, it was her nephew.

CANARY ISLANDS, SPAIN - 2012

Jack O'Connor was the cutest little boy that Natalie had ever seen, but unfortunately, she had only seen his cute rosy cheeks and button nose from video calls and photos that Mia had mailed. So, both Mia and Natalie had formulated a plan - the younger sister would find a way to get Brian out of the house and keep Dominic away, and Natalie would sneak in to see her sister and more importantly, meet her nephew.

Unsurprisingly, Deckard wanted to come with her - mainly because he didn't want to be away from his wife, but also because Mia wanted him to meet his nephew, too.

So, that was why Mia was currently ushering Brian out of their house, claiming that they needed some things from the local markets, and why Natalie and Deckard were currently sneaking around the side of the house, waiting for Mia to open the back door.

After a few short minutes, Mia finally came and opened the door, meaning that Brian had gone. Natalie grinned at the sight of her sister - the new mother was practically glowing.

"It's so good to see you guys!" Mia exclaimed as she wrapped Natalie into a tight hug. The Shaw woman wasted no time in returning the hug, squeezing her sister just as tightly.

"We've missed you, Mia." Natalie beamed, taking in the comfort that she had especially missed over the last couple of months. The last time they had seen each other had been before Mia was even pregnant, which was just under three years prior.

"We heard you became a fugitive," Deckard gave a lopsided grin, "and caused quite a bit of trouble in Rio, huh?"

"Hi to you too, Deckard." Mia mused, before moving towards him and giving him a hug.

The two had come to behave like siblings over the years, despite not seeing each other as often as real siblings do. It made Natalie's heart swell that at least one member of her biological family was actually a part of her life, and made a genuine effort to get to know the other people that truly loved her.

"Now," Natalie said, rubbing her hands together in anticipation, "where is my little nephew?"

Mia laughed at the excited gleam in her sister's eyes, overjoyed that Natalie was still in her life, and soon to be in Jack's life.

"I'll go and grab him." Mia grinned, making her way to the stairs, as Jack was in his room.

Deckard took Natalie's hand in his calloused one and pulled her towards him, leading her to one of the couches in Mia's living room. He sat down first, and Natalie followed not even a second later.

He released her hand so that he could wrap the arm around his wife's shoulders, causing Natalie to lay her head on his shoulder.

Deckard placed a gentle kiss to her forehead, making Natalie beam and giggle. Her cheeks flushed, so she tried to bury her face in her husband's chest, causing him to chuckle.

Just as Natalie lifted her pink-tinted face from Deckard's chest, Mia walked back in with a six-month-old Jack in her arms, who was staring at the new people in wonder.

"Jack," Mia spoke in a baby-ish tone as she made her way over to where the couple were sitting, "meet your Auntie Nat and Uncle Deck."

The woman carefully handed the small baby to her sister, who cooed at him as she laid him on her chest. Natalie was quick to gently support the baby with one of her arms.

"Natalie and Deckard, meet your nephew, Jack."

The couple didn't seem to hear Mia as they doted on the baby - Deckard rested his head on Natalie's shoulder so that he could see Jack, and so that the small boy could hold on to one of his uncle's fingers.

Natalie was completely smitten with the baby, as she was constantly cooing at him and stroking his little cheeks with the back of one of her index fingers.

Jack, completely entranced with the new people, lifted his head from where it rested on Natalie's chest and babbled at his aunt and uncle.

Both adults melted at the sound, and didn't even notice Mia snapping a photo of the three.

It was hard to believe that the couple had taken that trip only five months ago, and that Jack was nearly a year old already. It made Natalie and Deckard yearn for a child of their own, but the time just wasn't right.

They were happy with their goddaughter and nephew for now, but one day, they would have their own little ones running around.

Natalie brushed the photo with her thumb one last time before moving on to the next one, and giggled at the sight of one of the funniest photographs she'd ever had taken.

A PUB IN LONDON - EARLY 2008

The extended King family was gathered around one of the higher tables in their favourite pub, sitting on barstools, and sipping on many drinks.

Nick was currently at the bar getting some refills, along with Xavier and Deckard. That left all of the women sitting at the table, laughing about anything and everything.

Natalie's head felt fuzzy, as though someone had stuffed cotton into her brain. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling though, it was just the few too many tequila shots running through her veins. It allowed her to let loose and have a great time with her family.

Everyone around her was in a similar state - Bianca was completely drunk (slurring her words and all), Alice was definitely tipsy, Zoey was beginning to stumble from the amount of shots she had done, Wren's eyes had begun to droop slightly, and Andy was the most sober out of all of them (she had only had two glasses of wine).

"Before you all get too black-out drunk," Andy proposed, rummaging through her purse for something, "I want to get a photo of all of my girls."

The woman then pulled out a digital camera, showing that Andy was dead serious about cramming all five tipsy/drunk women into a photo.

"Okay, let's do this!" Bianca cheered, slurring every word, and then hiccupping. For whatever reason, Wren completely lost it and started cackling, nearly falling off her stool with how hard she was laughing.

"Muy bien, levántense todos. Estamos tomando esta foto te guste o no. (Okay, everyone, get up. We're taking this onto whether you like it or not.)" Natalie proclaimed, sliding off her stool-like seat before stumbling towards her mother, "No te preocupes mamá, obtendrás tu foto. (Don't worry, Mom, you'll get your photo.)"

Natalie giggled, patting Andy's cheek lovingly before moving to grab Wren and Bianca, and wrapping her arms over their shoulders. Andy shook her head, knowing that her daughter had a tendency to switch languages when she was drunk - it didn't matter all that much though, because Andy was fluent in seven foreign languages, and Spanish was one of them.

Both Alice and Zoey got the hint and moved so that they were either side of the three, and wrapped their arms around Wren and Bianca. Natalie was right in the middle, so they couldn't quite reach her.

Andy grinned in delight as she pointed the camera at the group of girls, and was about to take the photo when she heard a commotion behind her - Nick was making his way back to the table, but kept bumping into things.

Paying her tipsy son no mind, Andromeda turned back to the girls who were grinning at Nick's clumsiness, and just as she was about to click the button, the man tripped over his own feet and landed face-first on the hardwood floor.

Without even realising, Andy had taken the picture whilst the girls were cackling at Nick's misfortune and lack of coordination.

Natalie remembered that moment like it had happened the day before, despite it happening over five years ago. The group of women had literally collapsed to the floor out of laughter, clinging to each other as they wheezed.

Someone opening the passenger door of her car caused Natalie to nearly jump out of her skin - she had completely forgotten where she was, as the woman was too wrapped up in her reminiscing.

Letty peeked her head into the car, smiling softly to reassure Natalie that she wasn't a threat. The Ortiz woman wanted to see how 'Quinn' was doing after the fight in the London Underground, especially since the gash she had on her head looked pretty nasty right after.

"Hey," Letty spoke, her voice unusually soft, "is it alright if I join you?"

"Of course." Natalie smiled, absentmindedly toying with the photos in her hand.

"How's your head?" Letty spoke, her eyes trained on Natalie's face. "You took a pretty nasty hit."

"It's all good, see?" Natalie moved her hair away from her head (which was previously concealing the wound) to show Letty that it was all fixed up.

Now knowing that Natalie was okay, Letty allowed her eyes to flick to the photos in the woman's hand. She hesitated for a moment, wondering if it was too personal to ask about them, but her curiosity got the better of her.

"Are those photos?" Letty asked, trying to sound nonchalant, but was internally dying to know if one of them could tell her more about 'Quinn', as well as herself.

Natalie saw right through the Ortiz woman, and knew how desperate she was to know more about herself (and understandably so).

"Yeah - of my family." Natalie couldn't help but smile as she looked back down to the photo of all of the King women in the pub.

Allowing herself to focus for a moment, Natalie flicked through the photographs and found the one she had looked at first - the one from her wedding.

"Here. " Natalie said, holding out the photo to Letty. The woman hesitated for a second, before gently taking the picture from Natalie's grasp.

It took everything in Letty not to gasp at the sight of herself standing next to Natalie and a woman she didn't remember, grinning brighter than she had ever seen herself.

Without even realising, the Ortiz woman traced the faces in the photo, much like Natalie had done when she had first held them.

"Who's the girl next to us?" Letty asked, her voice thick with emotion as she kept her eyes locked on her own joyous face.

"That's my younger sister, Mia." Natalie answered softly. "All three of us were close, until.."

"Until my accident." Letty sighed solemnly.

Natalie couldn't do anything but nod in response as her mind was consumed by memories of that dreadful day that she would rather not remember.

Letty took one last look at the picture before handing it back to Natalie. The Shaw woman simply shook her head, before looking at Letty sympathetically.

"Keep it." Natalie insisted, despite Letty trying to hand it back to her. "I have digital copies and memories; you have nothing. Letty, you deserve to have something from your past."

The woman didn't need any more convincing - she simply tucked the paper into her jacket pocket, trying to keep the tears at bay as she muttered a 'thank you'.

The two sat in silence for a moment, and despite only being able to hear each other's breathing, the silence wasn't awkward. Somehow, it was comforting. Both Natalie and Letty knew that they would always have each other, but knowing that Letty only knew her best friend as 'Quinn' made Natalie's stomach uneasy.

So, she decided that enough was enough - no more lies.

"There's something that I have to tell you." Natalie started, not quite sure how she should approach telling her amnesiac best friend that their 'new' friendship has been a lie since the beginning.

"Before this job, I had made quite a name for myself, and not in a good way. There's lots of people in London, hell, in the world, that would love to arrest or kill me." Natalie chuckled dryly, hoping that she was making sense, and by the way Letty was clinging onto her every word, she clearly wasn't doing too terribly.

"So, when I was called in for this job, I made the choice to go by my middle name, Quinn." The woman said slowly. Please don't be mad, Letty.

"Wait," Letty furrowed her eyebrows, "your first name isn't Quinn?"

"No... it's Natalie."

"Natalie." Letty tested the name, feeling a rush of nostalgia, just with no memories attached. It definitely felt more familiar than Quinn, she thought.

"So, Natalie Quinn, do you have a last name?" Letty asked, an undertone of humour seeping through. Natalie was stunned for a moment, confused as to why Letty didn't make a bigger deal out of her deception, but chose not to say anything (in case the lack of anger didn't last). "I know you're married from the photo you showed me, and the fact that you're wearing your wedding rings, so what's your married name?"

"Please don't jump to conclusions," Natalie cringed, knowing what the woman next to her was going to say, "but my married name is Shaw."

Mocking disgust contorted Letty's face as she processed the information. "You're married to Owen? And I thought it was bad enough just having to work with him!"

"Oh, now I just feel sorry for you." Letty groaned, thinking back to how arrogant and heartless Owen Shaw behaved over the last four years.

Natalie jokingly (but not-so-jokingly) gagged at the idea of being married to her brother-in-law, and shivered in disgust.

"No, not Owen! Gross, he's like a brother to me." Natalie laughed, "I'm married to his older brother, Deckard."

"That makes more sense." Letty hummed, a smile tugging at her lips. "Do you have a photo of him?"

The Ortiz woman pointed to the rest of the photos in Natalie's hands, prompting her to sift through the last remaining few, only to find a photo of both Natalie and Deckard on their wedding day - they were standing at the altar, holding onto each other's hands and staring lovingly at each other as they recited their vows.

Natalie picked up the photograph, looking at it one more time before passing it to her best friend. Letty took it with gentle hands, holding it as if it were made of glass.

As her eyes scanned over the couple's beaming faces, Letty smiled - she could practically feel how much the two loved each other through the photo. Something unrecognisable bubbled inside of her as she stared at Natalie's glowing face, causing Letty to tear her eyes away from the photo. It felt like her stomach was collapsing in on itself.

Not wanting to study the photo any longer, she handed it back to Natalie with a tentative smile. "You two look really happy together."

Not seeing Letty's slight discomfort, Natalie beamed as she spoke, "Yeah, we are."

The woman tucked all of the photos away, putting them in her car door until she could return them to the glove compartment.

"I know I've lied to you, and most likely broken some of your trust in me, but I need to ask a small favour." Natalie asked hesitantly, not wanting to aggravate Letty. When the woman simply nodded and replied 'anything', Natalie continued.

"If anyone asks who I am, I need you to call me Quinn. It protects me, but most of all, it protects you. If people found out that I cared about you, a target would be painted on your back and I don't want anything to happen to you. Especially not after I just got you back."

Letty simply reached to grab Natalie's free hand and squeezed it, which released all previous nerves and tension from her body.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone a thing, Quinn." Both women chuckled, happy that everything was turning out alright. Without warning, Natalie moved forward and wrapped Letty into a tight hug, which the other woman wasted no time in returning.

It would always be them - Natalie and Letty against the world.

But unfortunately, Dominic Toretto had other plans.

HAYLEY WRITES...
y'all, this chapter is nearly 4000
words! longest chapter yet, and i hope
you enjoy!

i tried to include more of nat's family,
but i could only do it through flashbacks
so sorry about that haha

here is what nat's wedding dress and hair
looked like, along with letty and
mia's dresses:

^^ nat's dress

^^ nat's hair

^^ letty's dress

^^ mia's dress

all credits for these images go to
pinterest

we're getting so close to the end
of act one 👀

anyways, i hope you enjoyed!

until next time :)