The next morning Dom decided the boys could run the garage so that he could go by the library. He glanced at his watch, the library would be open by now. Dom passed the Grazziati's house on the way and shook his head in disgust at the trash littering the lawn. A car was parked haphazardly on the lawn, several others were lined in the driveway and against the curb. The sight made him angry…he had a feeling Marco was solely responsible for the party, Dom couldn't imagine Jaida acting like the girls who would attend these parties.

Dom parked his car and walked into the old brick building that smelled of mildew and dust. He hadn't been in here since he and Mia were kids. Nothing had changed, there was still an elderly woman with sharp glare sitting at the large desk that dominated the entry way. There were several mismatching shelves that lined the walls, tables with broken chairs and rows upon rows of yellow-paged, dirty, warn, books. Dom couldn't imagine being here on a regular basis, it was depressing. He quietly walked around, peaked around the taller shelves, feeling defeated when he didn't see the girl that plagued his dreams with worry. As he returned to the front of the building he remembered the oversized lumpy chairs that were positioned in the back of the library and turned around once more.

She was there. Curled up in a chair that was easily twice her age and couldn't be comfortable. Dom let out a quiet sigh of relief and approached Jaida Grazziati. Her scuffed converse allstar shoes were perched on the arm of the chair, knees touching the back of the chair that her head also rested on. Her arms were clutched to her chest, her hair covering her face. She appeared much as she did on the cot in the nurse's office.

Dom reached out and gently shook her knee.

A scream was out of Jaida's mouth before her eyes were open. She was as startled to see Dominic Toretto standing in front of her as he obviously was hearing her reaction. He instantly stepped back and dropped his arms to his sides, palms open in a "I'm not armed" manner.

Jaida's face was instantly red and she was even more mortified when the librarian quickly waddled toward her. Before the librarian could find out what the ruckus was all about Dom looked at her and apologized, explaining that he didn't mean to startle Jaida. The librarian peered around Dom's towering frame to search Jaida's face for confirmation. Jaida nodded and cleared her throat.

"I'm sorry ma'am, I must have dozed off and he surprised me. I'm fine, we're fine, I'm sorry." The librarian clucked her tongue once, turned, and waddled back to her giant desk.

Dom's eyebrow raised as he turned back to Jaida.

"Sorry…had I known I was waking a banshee I might have found a better method of doing so."

His voice was deep and without humor but Jaida could see in his eyes that he was joking. And uncomfortable as hell.

"It's fine Dominic, sorry I yelled."

It was hard for Dom to hear her voice, her tone was scratchy and strained.

"You okay, kid?"

"You've gotta quit asking me that." Jaida replied.

"Well, are you?"

Dom noticed her physically straighten up, pushing her hair behind her ears in what he guessed was a nervous tick.

"ye..yeah. I'm fine. I'll see you on Monday at school."

Dom frowned slightly.

"Are you still sick?"

Jaida moved slightly as Dom sat down in the oversized chair next to her.

He could tell she was nervous.

There was obviously something very wrong with this girl.

Jaida didn't say anything. Dom scooted to the edge of the chair.

"Helluva party last night."

Jaida looked up and met his gaze. Dom continued,

"I saw the trash outside today. Looks like there's still a ton of people there."

The blood rushed from Jaida's face and she closed her eyes.

"Jaida? Honey?"

She felt, more than heard, Dom kneel in front of her, putting his hands on either side of her face. The gesture was awkward, something her father used to do and way too intimate coming from a person she barely knew anymore.

She heard Dom's sharp intake of breath and felt his fingertips on her cheek.

"What the fuck happened to your face?"

Jaida's eyes snapped open at the hard edge in Dom's voice.

She couldn't speak, couldn't think, she just wanted to crawl in a hole and go away from the terrible world that took her parents and brother, the terrible world that allowed this to happen to her.

Dom gently tipped her head up into the light, getting a better look at the bruise and swelling along her jaw line. He took note of her swollen bottom lip, the purple smudges under her eyes and the bruises on her neck. No…not bruises there…hickies. Hickies? What the fuck? This girl was all of 15! Why the hell did she have hickies?

"Jaida…."

Jaida stood up quickly, knocking Dom off balance. He landed on his butt on the dirty carpet of the library. Tears were pouring down Jaida's face and her hands were balled into fists at her sides. Dom swallowed, his throat suddenly thick. He quickly stood and searched the tired, agonized eyes of the girl in front of him. He wrapped his arms around her without thinking about it any further, completely enveloping her small stature. Her arms remained at her sides for a moment before reaching up Dominic's back, tightening around his shirt as she silently sobbed.

Jaida sat silently in the passenger seat of Dom's car as they pulled onto the street, leaving the library behind them. She could feel his gaze on her every few seconds as they drove. She didn't know where they were going, she didn't ask, she had simply allowed herself to be led from the old building that had provided sanctuary for the last few months and climbed into his car. It was a nice car, she would have spent more time admiring it had she possessed any more energy. Right now it was all she could do to keep conscious. The cold window felt good against her cheek and she watched as the trees and houses blurred by.

Dom was unnerved by the recent series of events. There was something going on with those kids and he didn't like it. He was aware of the anger he felt and how illogical it was for him to be angry. He had felt that anger when he lost his parents and he was feeling it on behalf of the Grazziati kids now. Dom glanced at Jaida and wondered if she was asleep again. He also wondered how her face had gotten bruised. He wondered about the hickies, and her visits to the nurse's office to sleep, Dom couldn't do much except wonder. He thought about talking to Marco…Dom would want to know about anything going on with Mia. Although, Dom wouldn't have been involved with drugs, especially at Marco's age and definitely not if Mia was in the house. He was conflicted about Marco, he was young but he needed to be a guardian to his little sister and Dom doubted there was any guarding being done.

Jaida realized she must have dozed off because she came to as Dom put the car into park. She looked around, briefly disoriented from sleep, and rubbed her eyes. She winced when her hand touched the bruise on her cheek. She turned to Dominic and caught him frowning at her. She turned away, not wanting to see the concern on his face. He couldn't help her.

She noticed they were in the parking lot of a small café a few minutes away from her house. Her dad used to bring her brothers and her there for their birthdays. She hadn't been inside in a year. Jaida swallowed back tears and stepped from the car into the hot sun, following Dominic into the café. They sat at a table inside the large front window and waited for the waitress to approach. Jaida glanced at the menu, thinking of the delicious vanilla shakes she used to share with her family. Her stomach rolled. The waitress asked for their order and after Dom ordered a turkey sandwich with fries he looked at her expectantly. She shook her head and looked up at the waitress,

"I'm fine, thank you."

The waitress started walking away but Dom spoke, advising the waitress that Jaida would have the same thing he was having. The waitress looked between Dom and Jaida, wrote the order on her pad and walked to the kitchen. Dominic locked eyes with Jaida and absentmindedly stirred his coke.

Neither one of them spoke until the food was served. Jaida looked down at the plate in front of her and bit her lip. The thought of food made her nauseas. She was afraid she wouldn't be able to swallow down even a small bite, her throat felt like it was lined with cotton from screaming last night. That train of thought led to a barrage of images that popped up one right after the other. The man's hands on her, his mouth on her, the sound of his voice as he recited the twisted version of the child's rhyme her dad used to read to her. Jaida stood so quickly that her chair fell over with a loud crash. She ran to the bathroom and barely made it to her knees in front of the toilet bowl before her stomach emptied what little it contained. Because she hadn't eaten in almost 24 hours she was wracked with dry heaves after everything else had come up. Jaida sat back and rested on her heels for a moment before flushing the toilet and opening the stall. Once again she was face to face with Dominic. He said nothing as she went to the sink and rinsed her mouth. She caught his reflection in the mirror. God she was already sick of that look.

His voice was quiet when he spoke,

"You can talk to me."

Jaida spun on her heel so she was face to face with the giant man from her childhood.

"Dominic, I don't even know you anymore. Don't you understand that? I barely knew you when I was younger and I haven't seen you for how long? I don't have anyone to talk to. Not you! Not Marco! My mom is dead! My dad is dead! My brother is dead! My other brother might as well be."

Halfway through her outburst Jaida's eyes began filling with tears. She was so sick of crying. Even worse, she hated how pathetic she sounded.

Dominic tried to think of something to say. The small girl that stood in front of him made his chest ache. She was physically and emotionally hurt and for all intents and purposes thought she was completely alone in the world. He wanted to hug her. He wanted to take her home so she could remember what a house filled with love and family felt like. In a gesture that was becoming increasingly familiar, Dom rubbed his hand over his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

There were several minutes of silence between Dominic and Jaida, when he opened his eyes she had her arms crossed around herself in a hug, eyes swollen and red, jaw swollen and blue. Her skin was paler than usual, making the red and blue parts stand out garishly. His eyes flicked down to her neck and collar bone to look at the hickies again. She must have noticed because adjusted the neckline of her shirt until they were covered.

"Jaida, let me help you. Please."

Jaida straightened her back and let out a quiet, deep, sigh that seemed to contain the weight of the world in a single breath.

"You can't."