"...remember that beat-up Civic? The one with those trash ass LED lights under it?" Enzo spoke, both hands on the wheel as he paddled a gear up. Koen instantly heard him, and took off his left earbud.
"God, we thought that was so peak." Enzo laughed, even thinking back on it. Koen proceeded to stifle his laugh, but couldn't anymore. Right now, he was far away from Fernview County. And now, it felt like he could be himself.
"Woah, woah…I never thought it was peak. You wanted to sell your Xbox for it." Koen brought up, which at the slight thought made Enzo cringe just at the mere mention.
"Yeah…let's not bring it up again."
"What…why? You were the one who brought it up first!"
Enzo guided the car along the two-lane street, cutting up as per usual. "Because, well, each time I think on it makes me remember how I truly knew nothing about cars,"
"...and plus, the guy tried to rig and high-ball me out of some Civic. I'm not the type of guy to use a damn laptop and drive at the same time."
Koen laughed, "I would. It looks like a lot of fun."
Enzo side-eyed him, "I…yeah, let's focus on that broke down GT you want to rebuild, yeah?"
Koen playfully nudged his shoulder, "Yeah, it's coming along, though. Can't wait to get that thing out there with your Audi."
There was a meager silence, but between those two, it never last long.
Koen opened up immediately again, "Hey, could we pink slips—"
"Hell would freeze over first before you and I get into some pink slips." Enzo remarked fairly quickly. Koen bursted out into another heartfull, and ugly laugh. One that no longer had to be held back by that shit ass county.
"You beat me all the time on Forza, Need for Speed, Assetto Corsa. And even fucking Gran Turismo. I never took you for a Gran Turismo type of guy." Enzo further admits.
Koen only shrugged his shoulders, "It's real realistic compared to the others. That's what I like about it, anyways."
"Yeah, never again. Even if you do manage to fix up that GT, we would never race. Not until I have some damn hypercar and a ten second head start."
Koen bursted out into another laugh, "You would've one already with a hypercar, what the hell?"
Enzo chuckled, "Knowing you…a hypercar alone wouldn't be enough. I would need almost every advantage to get by you."
"You make it seem as if you're a real shit driver, you know that?" Koen further implied.
Enzo shook his head, "Nah. I'm fairly decent. You've never seen me lose a race, no?"
Koen nodded. It's true, Enzo never did…lose a race. But then again, when you are in the midwest it's hard to find anyone with a spec'd out car. Even in the underground it's hard to find real comp.
That's why Koen admired the big cities. Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Miami, Atlanta. They all had some racing underground scene. Koen was sure of it.
But then again…hard to beat a V10 Audi R8. Especially with a driver who knows the car like the back of his hand. It would be impossible to beat it any regular car, that is. Not to mention most were just for the aesthetics, that's another level Koen didn't want to dig deeper in.
Before they set off for the highway, right in the entrance of I-97, Enzo did something completely different. He took a wrong turn, a sharp one at that. Koen watched, but didn't say anything. To say something, meant that he doubted Enzo.
He never, ever once in his life ever doubted Enzo.
And he was right, because the two pulled up short into a gas station—not the crappy hometown ones Koen was used to. Those that were built in int he 70's and 80's and never saw the daylight of renovation ever again.
No, this one was different.
Enzo and Koen got out the car shortly. The 17-year-old starboy looked around for any other cars, anything that piqued his interest. Nothing short of the mild Volkswagens, Nissans, or Ford pick-up trucks.
There was no car meet here.
"So…why…?" Koen questioned, as Enzo brushed past his shoulder and moved on, then, with both hands in his pockets, turned around as he walked back.
"C'mon, you gotta be hungry, right?"
Koen narrowed his eyes, walking along with him. "We have a car meet…and a job to pull off. Now's the time to stop for snacks at a gas station…?" He titled his head afterwards, as Enzo pushed open the door for the both of them.
"It's past 12, you never had gas station food after that time?" Enzo asked. Koen only shook his head. Not many times he got to left the house anytime after 10. This was one of the first times he was even outside the house past midnight.
"No…? That can't be healthy for you." Koen mentioned as Enzo seemed to pick up a bag of chips and some sweet candy.
Enzo deadpanned back at him, "What? You're not going to grab anything?"
Koen looked around, slightly flustered at the sudden mention, but denied. Shook his hand with a great wave, "Nah…nah. Fine. Ate before I left of course."
Enzo stared at him…because then, he had known Koen far too much. He had known him in it's entirety. It would be easy to spot a lie.
And a lie was spotted instantly.
"You know, it's real easy to hear a stomach growling over the sound of a V10." Enzo mentioned, and threw him a bag of Sour Patch Kids. Koen caught it instantly with one hand.
"Hey, man, I said I wasn't hungr—"
"I know, but you'll get hungry. You are thinking about now, but what about later? The future?" Enzo further enquired, which caused Koen to be placed into deeper thinking. He held the bag of candy between his side and arm as he grabbed his wallet.
And when he opened it.
He couldn't sworn a fly got out.
Koen nervously chuckled, and then looked away. By that time, Enzo was already in another aisle. There was no way he could pay for this. Steal? Not now. Especially for such a petty crime like that.
He would prefer to be silent and not do anything reckless until that moment gets there. So for now, he won't be able to buy this. So much for spending most of his allowance. He should've saved something…at least.
But…oh, now Koen remembers. When he did try to save, he put it right back into the GT. Great thinking, right? Of course, he couldn't help but pour more money into the thing.
He figured it was best to put it back, of course. Not to give Enzo anymore trouble. He's already done so much, and is currently doing a lot just for Koen alone. He could've asked for anyone else to accompany with him—and not to mention Enzo is a fairly reputable person.
So the fact that he asked Koen, meant a lot. He felt like he could not burden him any further at all. Then again, without Enzo, Koen wouldn't have gotten into this at all. This isn't something Koen could've got into alone.
He looked at the bag, slightly seeing his reflection. And what stared back was some kid who felt like Fernview was too much of a cage for him.
Didn't realize it in time, but Enzo tapped his shoulder. Now holding a plastic carry-on cart, the ones that supermarkets usually have if people weren't there to shop for long or weren't going to buy enough for a regular cart.
"Hey, staring awfully long at that. You sure that's all you want?" Enzo further asked. Koen…hesistated to say something, anything.
His eyes darted around, before locking onto his. "Yeah…but…there's no way I could pay for this." He then admitted painfully.
Enzo broke into a smirk, "Alright…? Then I got you covered tonight."
Koen's eyes widened at that, but that alone didn't resolve his doubts. He remembered to no longer be a burden. Even being covered for something as this.
"Then…then—yeah," Koen rubbed the back of his head embarrassingly.
"I'll pay you back when I get paid—"
At that moment, Enzo's face sharpened. Hearing the word, "payback", must've turnt another gear inside his head, because his hand outstretched to Koen's shoulder.
And just hit it, only once. But that one attempt was enough to grab Koen's attention.
"Pay back…?" Enzo repeated the word as if it was foreign to him—no, foreign for him.
Because, in this world, or the next. He couldn't ask that of someone like Koen.
Not someone who he's been treating like a brother for the past several years for.
Enzo clapped Koen's shoulder again before heading to the self-checkout register.
"No paybacks, Ko. Not now, not ever." He said, and that alone lifted up Koen. Which did indeed bring a smile to his face.
"You're family, now. That's all that matters, really." Enzo added-on. Koen stared at him, the words sinking in deeper than he would rather admit. Somewhere in his gut, he knew he would never forget them.
And something else would also be in his gut…candy, slushy, chips, energy drinks just in case…he might as well take up on Enzo's offer while he can.