Courtney woke up late, sleeping in for once but she had been sleeping in for the last week. She relaxed in the bed for a moment before climbing out of bed and got dressed. She walked down stairs quietly and found all the boys had gone along with Jenni and Summer. Hayley and Mia smiled and fixed her some breakfast.

"Once you finish that we're going shopping," Hayley told her excitedly causing Courtney to raise an eyebrow.

"Shopping trips are a rarity around here," Mia explained

"I don't understand, I'm not staying that long," Courtney told them slightly confused.

She didn't want to get her own hopes up that she would stay around once she found Letty.

"Girl, you need clothing badly. A hair cut wouldn't go astray either," Hayley told her as she studied Courtney. "You need shoes, dresses, pants, shirts, skirts, hair accessories and product, lots of product. Actually when I think about you need everything. And the way those boys were looking at you, you won't be going anywhere till they get to the bottom of your story,"

"Why are you doing this for me? I could run on you stealing your money and shooting through,"

"Because whether you like it or not you are now a part of our little family and we look after our family. You're our friend and we also needed an excuse to get out of work. And you're been here a week already and you haven't stolen anything."

Courtney nodded; she wouldn't steal, at least not from the Toretto's.

"Now, hurry up because we your hair appointment is at nine thirty and you still have to get dressed,"

Courtney ate her breakfast with a speed that had been practiced so many times. Both girls were shocked, had she even chewed?

"Okay, I'll just get changed,"

Courtney raced upstairs to change leaving the girls alone.

"Did you see how fast she ate?" Hayley whispered to Mia. "That girl has some damage,"

"At least she's not anorexic,"

Twenty minutes later the girls were walking out the door…

Finding Home

"I still can't believe you convinced me to cut my hair," Courtney said to the girls as they ate lunch.

The morning had been spent buying hundreds of things from underwear to scarfs. Courtney had never anyone spend so much on her. Today had been the best day of her life. It seemed that every day with Mia, Dom and their team would be wonderful.

"You didn't get much cut off," Hayley answered as Mia took a sip of her coffee. "Just the dead ends cut and got it layered,"

"And had a treatment," Mia added.

Her long hair had been cut to her shoulders. It was now layered and because of the treatment it was a lighter blonde. The hairdresser had known it was dyed and had fixed it up for her. She promised her it should last a couple of months and that because her hair had originally been brown, it would take a couple of goes of dying before the dye lasted longer. But Courtney didn't care - she would go back every month if it meant she felt good about herself after it was done. She'd pay with her own money of course.

But her hair looked good, really good. She looked much better than before and her hair was now curly which Courtney loved. And she had a fringe. She had never had a fringe before but according to Mia they were easy to look after and it looked good.

"Thank you," Courtney said again. "You have no idea how much this means to me,"

The girls smiled and Mia took her hand.

"So once we finished lunch, we have a couple more hours of shopping then home," Hayley exclaimed.

Hayley was an instant friend and one that loved shopping. She was a forceful one when it came to trying on and buying clothes. Hayley had a great sense of style and Courtney knew if she ever had a fashion problem, she and Mia would be the ones to go too. They finished their coffee and paid the bill. As Mia paid, Courtney noticed a small noticeboard.

She walked to it and studied one of the fliers on it. It was advertising a want of a part time nanny. Three days a week with steady pay and in was in the local area. She pulled the flier off and studied it more carefully. It was caring for three children, ages two, four and six from eight in the morning to five in the evening.

"What you got there?" Hayley asked coming up beside her.

Mia looked over her shoulder and smiled to herself.

"You any good with children?" Mia asked.

"A little, I've got experience with them,"

"Then if you're looking for a job, it could be a good opportunity," Hayley suggested. "Especially if you can handle children,"

"And we can give them a call right now," Mia said pulling out her phone.

"What? No, I can't!" she exclaimed.

"Of course you can, that is if you are looking for a job," Mia said. "Are you looking for a job?"

"I don't want to live at your place for free,"

"Then call them!" Hayley said thrusting the phone into Courtney's hand.

Nervously Courtney dialled the number and listened to it ring. After the third ring, a woman picked up.

"Hello?"

"Uh, hi. My name's Courtney and I'm just calling regarding the nanny position,"

"Oh thank God someone's called. I take it you're interested right?"

Courtney moved away from Hayley and Mia and tried to keep her excitement down.

"Ah yes, very interested,"

"Good, would you be able to call around tomorrow with your resume? We'll go through an interview and over some details to see if you're suitable,"

"That sounds wonderful. What time would you like me around?"

"Ten thirty would be good,"

Courtney grabbed a pen from Mia's outstretched hand and scribbled down the address along with the woman's name - Sonja. Sonja was extremely happy that someone was interested and was looking forward to seeing her. Courtney hung up excited and returned Mia's phone.

"So? How'd it go?" Mia asked as Courtney came back.

"She'd would like to meet me tomorrow at ten thirty," Courtney supplied.

"That's great!" Hayley told her enthusiastically. "That means we need to go shopping for your interview,"

Courtney held back her groan at more shopping because of the kindness these two girls were showing. She smiled at them and agreed as they moved back to the shops. The afternoon flew by and by about five in the afternoon they were home. The house was empty as the boys usually didn't get home till after five thirty – most days six. The three girls crowded around the kitchen and Courtney decided that she would repay them – all of them – by cooking dinner.

"Can I cook?" Courtney asked.

Mia looked at her surprised. No one had ever offered to do any of her normal chores.

"I wanna make it up to you and say thank you,"

She couldn't tell them that back home she had been forced to cook and clean and do the housework her mother refused to even think about. She had literally been their slave. But now she wanted to do those things; she wanted she say thank you and this was sadly the only way she knew how.

"You don't have too," Mia started to protest.

"I want too. Please?"

"Okay," Mia surrendered.

"And I want to do it every night," Courtney said firmly. "It isn't fair that you work and have to do the housework as well. While I look for my friend, it's the least I can do. And if I get this job with Sonja I can still be able to at least help,"

Mia was surprised that Courtney – a girl that never rose her voice – was telling her that she wanted to do the work around the house. She was being quite forceful.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah and I had to do it back with my mum so I know how to help,"

Mia grinned.

"Thanks," she said. "This is really taking a load of my back,"

Courtney smiled and shooed them out of the kitchen. She went through every cupboard and found the pots and pans she needed. Next she found the ingredients she needed as well. She picked up the white apron that was hanging on the back of the door.

Dom sighed as he walked into the house. He was tired and stressed. Work was over loading and he had so much on his plate at the moment. Not to mention the house was bursting at the seams as was the garage. He took off his boots at the door and was instantly hit by a wonderful smell.

He went into the kitchen and was surprised to see his little blonde girl fluttering around the room. She had pots all over the stove and he couldn't help but think she looked beautiful. Her hair was in a messy bun but hair had escaped. Dom thought she looked just the right amount of pretty – just enough to grab his attention and he hadn't thought about a girl being beautiful in almost a year. That thought alone gave him a slight scare. He wasn't quite sure if he was ready for a relationship that involved something more than a one night stand.

"Hey,"

Courtney turned around and blushed. Dom looked gorgeous today. Courtney admitted to herself that she had a crush on him. She felt a knot of desire at the bottom of her stomach and felt so embarrassed. Even when she had been forced with Scott she never felt this way. She had only known Dom for a week and already she had feelings for him – a man she hardly knew.

"Uh, hi,"

He smiled at her and she felt her insides turn upside down.

"How was your day?" Courtney asked, turning back to her cooking.

He inhaled deeply and let out a loud sigh. Courtney glanced over her shoulder and saw his expression. Growing up as she did, she learnt to be observant to stay alive and out of harm's way. As she looked at him she realised that things today must have been rather difficult.

"I take it, it didn't go so great,"

"No it did," Dom started as he moved closer to her. "It was a great day. We got most of the cars done and took a heap of appointments… It's just, I don't know…"

Courtney decided it might be a good idea to change the subject. He was stressed and Courtney wanted to make whatever was bothering go away.

"Mia said that you and Vince started the shop together. So you two must be close then?"

"Yeah, he's like my brother. He went through a lot when he was a teenager and ended up staying with us. My dad was the one that suggested he stay with us. He became my brother and my best friend. He had lived down the block our whole lives and when he moved in he became a brother more than a friend,"

Courtney smiled and Dom noticed.

"It was my father's garage and we just reopened it. My dad taught us everything we know about cars. I owe my dad so much and I never got to repay him,"

"I'm sure he was very proud of you,"

"I doubt it," Dom told her shaking his head. "I caused so much hassle for him. I was in and out of bad deals that cause him so much trouble. I suppose the good thing about him dying meant he never saw I was in jail. At least Mia was a good child,"

Courtney turned off everything and turned to him. She walked over to him and touched his cheek. He looked at him surprised but didn't show it, he didn't want to scare her off. Courtney wasn't sure where this was coming from but she decided to just be brave.

"You were young, you made mistakes. But you came around and got out of that game. You started a successful, overly booked and very popular mechanic's garage. I know you made him proud because everyone in this house is so proud of you especially Mia. She talks so highly about you,"

Dom grinned softly.

"Are you proud?"

"I only just met you," she said as he stepped closer to her.

She sucked in her stomach and inhaled shallowly. Courtney looked up at him and he smirked.

"Well then I hope I can impress you,"

She gulped as she heard his implementation.

"I'm sure you will," she whispered. "One day,"

Dom smirked but said no more. He moved away and told her he was going to wash up. Dom couldn't believe that tiny Courtney had flirted and teased him – well sort of. He entered the bathroom and found that his pants were tighter. He groaned. No one could deny that Courtney wasn't petty just in a more natural sort of way, in a way that she was a wallflower. And it helped that she had a personality that just sort grabbed the team. It was easy to see why Mia had decided to bring her home.

She intrigued him; not just with what had happened to her before coming here but how she had been the only one to catch and keep the whole team's attention since Letty walked out on them. He shuddered, he hadn't thought of Letty in months and he was now able to say that he had moved on and had forgiven her.

Letty had been Mia's best friend since they were four. When Letty turned sixteen, things changed and she became Dom's girlfriend. Of course, that's when he had come back from Lompoc prison. They had been dating for six years and Dom was going to propose. The problem was he agreed to do one last job for cash for the ring and it went bad. Jesse ended up shot and Vince's arm got busted pretty bad, so bad that they thought he would never drive again let alone use his arm again. When Dom was visiting them in hospital, Letty wrote a letter and walked out. She never said goodbye or where she was going. As a result Dom was drunk for six month before burying himself in his work. He hadn't looked at another woman as a love interest but there had been a number of one night stands.

Dom washed his face, shook his head and thoughts into order before opening the door and crossing to his room. He changed his shirt knowing that he would be having a shower before bed and then he wandered down stairs to laughter which wasn't that unusual but as he walked into the dining room he was surprised to see Courtney laughing.

He caught her eye which caused her to blush and turn away. He couldn't help but grin as he found out that he effected her as much as she effected him. He liked that about her, so open, so honest. His relationship with Letty had been anything but smooth, honest and open. Yes he loved Letty and a part of him always would but maybe he was ready to start a new relationship, perhaps with Courtney.

"Okay, so now that everyone's here I want to announce a few changes. As you may have noticed Courtney cooked dinner tonight which was most unexpected but she told me today, well actually demanded, that she take over cooking and cleaning," Mia explained. "And I'm fine with that as long as you lot are good with it. As you can see she can cook and she seems like a very neat person so housework should be no problems. But before I hand the reins over to her, I want to know what you guys think."

Before anyone could say anything Courtney piped up.

"I want to do this. It's my way saying thank you the only way I could think of. I'm not very smart or clever or have any real talents but I can cook and I know how to take care of a house. Let me do this; I don't want to board for free and I don't want to be a charity case,"

The next thing anyone knew Jenni (who hadn't taken a complete liking to her) was hugging her. It quickly turned into a group hug. Courtney couldn't help but feel that this was her family.

"Okay, okay!" Mia exclaimed. "Dinner's getting cold,"

Courtney was quickly abandoned for the food and she just laughed. Grace was said and everyone dug in. Courtney knew that she would never find another place like this; this was home. Pity she was only staying til she found Letty…

Finding Home

Author's Note: Okay first things first. I want to thank everyone who has read this story and liked it. A special thanks to those who have reviewed, you will never know how much it means to me to see someone liking it enough to tell me so.

Second thing; I know people think that Courtney is going to turn out to be an extremely beautiful, drop dead gorgeous model who has no problems in the world. Before you review and say that I'm stupid or whatever, just go back and watch the movies because if you look at the girls in there they are the most beautiful girls I have ever seen. Courtney is not beautiful, just simply pretty. Haven't you ever seen someone in the street and think, wow they look so pretty? And 90% percent of us women are beautiful but don't see it.

Please bare with me as this story takes form. It still has a long way to go and it will take many twists and turns. I am trying to incorporate the movies in this story but I am warning that it will not stick to the movies like a second skin. To all those that don't like the way this story is heading, please stop reading or actually give some usable advise. And if you leave bad reviews at least be game enough to log in so I can reply and give myself a chance to defend this story.

xoxo