Chapter 2 of Need For Speed Carbon Gay AU
Missed Chapter 1? Tap here to jump to it
Sorry for the slow updates! I've been really sick and just broke my fever, now I'm back to updating my fic, I wished to make more drawings for this chapter but I'm so busy with so many other art projects and fighting off my fever, so enjoy this "cover art"!! I hope you enjoy this chapter :)
I was rubbing my eyes as I leaned over the railing at some kind of Mexican food store, Neville thought it might be nice to eat something warm and I've been craving a full meal lately. I've been eating nothing but cup noodles and chips on the road… I bit into the chicken crunch wrap and felt the fresh vegetables, tomatoes, the sweet-sour sauce and the chicken enter my mouth… fuck, fresh food.
I heard laughter beside me and turned to look at Neville, "Must have been your first meal in a while," He shook his head "You slept like a log, I tried shaking you awake you know? Even called Nikki cause I got worried." I let out a snort, "Yeah? I'm still feeling a bit out of it, hope I spring back soon."
I took another bite of the wrap, stifling a moan, God, so good. I looked at the RX-8 in front of us, parked behind Neville's Brera. It was still all banged up from last night's pursuit, I wonder when I'll be able to fix it. Then I took another bite and a swig of coffee, "So, Nev. I don't remember you being on the scene when I was still around, that was like, a year or two ago?"
"Oh me?" He looked up from his phone, "Well, before all this I was pretty much a nomad… moved around Olympic City, Bayview… a small time racer just going wherever the road takes me and where the money smells the best." Neville rubbed his goatee, "Nikki told me i showed up a couple months after you left, the heat was higher back then."
"Oh." I said. "I must have left quite a mark on Palmont PD."
"Yeah, it seemed too high profile for just a racer." He continued texting on his phone, checking the feeds of what races are available. "Nikki was a bit of a flame back then too but she mellowed out quite a bit, she was a lone racer rolling all by herself. Thrashing other opponents to get a win, I joined her and we stood a better chance at winning."
"That is, until her crew merged with Darius's gang," He sighed for a while, then noticed a cop car pull up in front of their cars. The pig and his partner left their cars and entered the restaurant. "After that she and I kinda split, she started handling the other smaller racers in Stacked Deck, delegating territory to be patrolled and maintained. I'm just in the workshop all the time after that."
I could feel a sense of relief from his tone, he seems glad to be able to get out and about now. Just then, a beep sounded from my phone and Neville seemed to stiffen a bit before he relaxed. "Damn Chase, keep your phone on vibrate when you're outside your car. Cops know that sound, fastest way back into the slammer." I took my phone out and muted it, finishing the last bit of my wrap and my coffee, "That's showtime for us, your app will tell oyou when the action starts heating up."
I nodded at him and threw away the wrapper then got into our cars and made our way downtown. My first race back.
My dash beeped as I pushed my engine to the limit, spinning my car around the street and doing some burnouts before I got into position at the starting line. I looked at the cars around me, some heavy muscle cars, sports hatches, quite a few green ones, maybe a gang?
"Heating up your tyres huh?" Neville's voice came through my phone,
"I won't stand a chacne against these guys running on colds. Need to make sure I don't disappoint with my first race back." I told him, I can't imagine what Darius would say if I lost my first race. Would he take me off the streets and turn me into his full time bitch? or even worse, take my kneecaps? I shudder at the thought.
"Yeah, don't wanna make Daddy upset after he bailed you out the slammer." Neville said with a chuckle, he didn't mean it in that particular way but… it was enough to make my voice catch in my throat.
I saw a lady come out onto the front of the line and I cleared my throat, she was waving a bright green flare in front of the cars. "Let's make Daddy proud." I say to Neville.
The lady then dropped her flare and the cars launched off the starting line, my RX8 managed to keep up for a bit but started lagging behind. The other races seemed to be packing much more power and I'm pulling back along the straights, fuck.
Neville and I continued weaving through traffic, a mazda sportshatch brake checked him and though he managed to dodge it, it sent him in the back. It's not looking too good, the racers are a lot more aggressive than I remember. What the hell happened to the racing culture here? it's ruthless.
Just then, someone pit manuevered a chrysler into some scaffolding by the road in front of me. It came tumbling down in a loud crash and caught a racer under it, blocking most of the road. I was coming up on it at full speed.
Just then, I felt the hair on my arms stand on edge and my skin start to prickle. All of a sudden, everything started slowing down and my car started feeling tighter and… connected to myself. I quickly reached down to my handbrake and threw myself into a powerslide around the scaffolding and overtook a few cars, bringing myself into 4th place.
I looked into my rearview, wondering how Neville is gonna get through all that and right as I thought that, I see his Brera smash through the scaffolding unscathed. Haha! Yes!
"Nev! You okay?" I asked through the phone while my RX-8 caught up to the 240sx in front of me, his voice crackled through my phone,
"Guk- I'm fine. I'm a blocker remember? I hit hard." I could hear claps coming over the phone, I imagined it was him hitting his biceps to flex. I let out a chuckle and focused on the Nissan beside me, the driver throwing a glare before he side swiped me.
"Fuck! Asshole!" I regained control and stayed behind his car, drafting him to build up some more speed.
"We're coming up at the Oriental park," Neville said over the phone, "these heavier machines might start lagging 'round the corners."
"Right! let's show them what we got." I said as I shifted and the rotary engine in front of me roared to life and I passed the 240sx, hitting a slide as I passed a Camaro struggling around the corner.
Then I finally came behind the Mazda 3 leading the pack, the two of us were side by side, weaving in and around traffic in the tight corners of the park-side roads. He ducked into some kind of shortcut and I followed along, kicking up dirt and we both shot out into a jump over the road. He landed first but skidded and I hit his rear fender and knocked him into a spin.
He spun out behind me and the finish line was right in front of me. I passed the finish line and my phone beeped with the cash reward. "Yes!!!!" I heard Neville say over the phone, that fast huh?
"Wait so, the cash gets transferred to my account that quickly?" I asked Neville as I made a turn away from the finish line, "Back in my day we had to meet with the guy when the heat dies down tomorrow to get the cash."
"Technology babey, plus this network is traceless.", "Huh, convenient."
I looked at the clock on my dash, it's still too early to start packing up now. "Hey Nev, what do you say about a few more races? It's still too early for bedtime."
"Oh getting greedy are we?"
"Oh you know it, need some serious cash to put some more power in this ride."
"Not afraid of losing your winnings? Might just be beginner's luck."
"I can make good on it." I said with a chuckle, setting the gps to the next race. Though if the next few races are proving to be just as aggressive as this one, I might need to start patching up my car on my own… by tomorrow I might show up to the finish line in nothing but a wreck. Neville and I sped off to our next race.
A few races later and I made off with about 20 grand, not bad for a first night. I gave Neville 5 grand.
Nikki had called us before, saying she had someone who wanted to meet me at the garage. Another new guy, huh? Neville has been fun but being introduced to so many people all of a sudden is a bit much…
Neville and I came up to the garage, I could see Nikki's Ford GT parked outside and the garage door was open with a grey RX-8 parked inside with some kinda white lightning bolt vinyl on it. We both parked up inside and closed the garage door, I got out and saw my front bumper was barely holding on and my door was dented like some modern art installation.
Just then NIkki and a guy came out from the back of the garage, he had a buzzcut head and strong features. Though he was hunched somewhat, he was still a bit taller than I am. He looked at me and immediately smiled while Nikki's half-lidded eyes panned from Neville then to me. "Exciting night I hope?" She said to me and Neville went up to her
"Yeah, Chase has been really great. Met aggression with aggression and I didn't even have to worry about him all too much." He seemed to be absolutely glowing,
"That's great Neville. Could you get some drinks started for us? I gotta introduce Chase to new guy over here," "Righto." Neville then went to the back.
The new guy wiped his hand over his mouth, then turned to Nikki, clearly a bit nervous. "So, Chase. This is Sal, Sal Mustela. Amateurish racer but he grew up on these streets, pure palmontian through and through and…" She looked at my banged up car "He's a pretty good fabricator too, seems you might have your work cut out for you, Sal." She said.
Sal looked at me, "Chase, I'm glad we finally met. You don't know me but I know you, I've seen all your races." Nikki let out a grunt and crossed her arms as she turned around. Swinging her ponytail onto her shoulder,
I let out a nervous chuckle, "Oh really? a long time fan huh?" I don't know if he's playing it up or… if he's actually been keeping tabs on me for a while. Both aren't any better than the other so I guess, I'll just have to see how it goes. It has been a long time though, I wonder how much is true or just nostalgia.
"Yeah" he gave a toothy grin, he actually looks kinda cute with a smile. "Nikki told me you were looking for a wingman. Look, I haven't had much time behind the wheel in these big races, but I know these streets and all the back streets. I'll shave a lot of time between you and the finish line."
He paused for a bit and pointed at all the bumpers and hoods lining up the walls of the garage, "Hell, I've built all these parts. Need your car to look good on the finish line? I'm your man right here." He finished off with a smirk,
"Yeah yeah Sal, he doesn't need any convincing. He's gonna need you around anyways whether he wants you or not." Nikki interjected, turning back around to face me. "I'll let the two of you get acquainted, I'm out." She said as she left, the roar of the Ford GT starting up and then fades out into the night again.
I turned back to Sal, who took a few steps closer to me and I looked up at him. I let out a huff, he seemed ready for me to put him straight to work already. "So, fabricator huh… I think my car is barely holding on at this point, wanna take a look at it?" I nodded towards my car and he seemed to glow up a bit.
Sal took off his hoodie and stretched his built arms… he's got some tattooes over his deltoids and he flexed his arm over his head for a bit before he knelt down to my front bumper and felt it with his fingers. "Some latches are missing but nothing a torch and some plaster can't fix." was what he said but I can't help but check out how wide his shoulders were, he had some kind of sleeper build or something. I didn't clock it until he took off his hoodie. All that lifting and fabricating must be doing him good.
I leaned on the rear driver-side door as he slowly moved from the front to the driver's side door. I banged on the door a bit, "I don't remember the races in Palmont being this aggressive… it was like some destruction derby." I said, failing in trying to sound cool but I bet it just came off as me being shaken by it somewhat.
"Yeah… things haven't been the same since you've been gone… Lots of posers, no respect." Sal said as he examined the door, "Hm, well nothing but a few knocks and I'll get the car looking presentable by tomorrow." Sal slid his hands along the door and then let his fingers touch the tip of mine,
"You'll get used to the changes in a bit," He looked up from the dented up door and up to me and his grey eyes made me take a deep breath, "they're just nothing but dents that you'll shake off in no time." we lingered like that a bit and I considered wrapping my fingers around his.
but just then Neville came out from the back and I pulled my hand back and put it behind my neck which was probably a bit red by now, he came over with a tray of drinks beside us, "Where's Nikki?" He asked us
"Ah, she just left actually." I told him as Sal stood up and grabbed a glass of coke and brought it up to his lips, smacking them before setting the drink back on the tray.
"How come your Brera is all right? His RX-8 is all banged up, you didn't leave him all to himself did you?" Sal tried to start off with a joke,
"Naw, I'm a blocker man. My car has reinforced everything, would take an 18 wheeler to leave a dent." Neville responded with a laugh, it seemed the two of them will be getting along fine. As the laugher died down, Sal looked over to me.
"Well, I'll get to fixing your car tonight, Chase. You should get some rest." I just nodded and walked past him, though I could feel his eyes following me. As I moved to my room, I could hear Sal and Neville start talking again, Neville mentioned having some upgrades lying around to give my car a bit of a boost…
I showered and put on a light tank and some shorts, then I got under the covers and covered my eyes with my arm. Today was fun, racing's a bit too rough and I could hear the crack of the glass and bumpers but fuck, was it not fun? Though…
I put my hand in front of me and looked at my fingers where Sal touched me, was it the lack of human connection? I haven't felt the touch of another man since i left Palmont… Rockport was a fucking dry spell.
Suddenly my phone buzzed beside me, I sighed as i dropped my arm back onto my face. It was probably Darius again.
Darius: "Had fun tonight?"
A speech bubble appeared from Darius' side before it disappeared. I waited for a bit but it didn't seem like he gonna continue typing.
Chase: "I got some wins tonight, in a stock car too."
Darius: "That's my boy, that's what I like to hear."
Darius: "I got some free time tomorrow around 4pm, let's grab some lunch. On me."
Chase: "It better be, nobody just drops 20 mil like that."
Darius: "Hah, I didn't expect to see your doe-eyes at the canyon that night. You never called either, i wanted to catch up."
I then put the phone down by my side and then laid down on my side, I could hear Sal working on my car outside my door. I'm feeling a bit nervous for tomorrow, hopefully I get some good sleep tonight.
