A/N: Hey peeps! Just thought I'd let you know I was alive and updating! WOOT WOOT! Thanks to all for adding this story to their favs/alerts. I also want to say thanks for adding me to your favorite authors. It means so much! Okay, enough with the mush. This chapter kinda goes back and forth in the POV's so just bare with me. If it gets confusing at all, just PM me and I'll be happy to answer any questions you shoot at me. Thanks and Happy Reading!
XOXO-Erika
P.S.!-If you wanna catch a glimpse of some of Jack's outfits, go to the photobucket link on my profile. Tell me what ya think!
DOM P.O.V.
As I sat there, with this now quiet girl wrapped in my arms, sitting in my lap, I knew right then and there that I had to do everything in my power to keep her safe and away from Tran.
When I left the fort back in LA, everyone was already working on finding any and everything they could on him and his family. I knew at this point I would have to leave Jack and go back to settle all of this mess.
I found myself smothering the urge to inhale her scent and take her right there in the car. She smelled of coconut and lime, and it was intoxicating.
I lifted my head from her chest and softly kissed her shoulder. "We should get back."
She nodded silently and climbed back into her seat, strapping herself back in.
We drove back to the garage in silence. I stopped the car and carried her back to her room. I knew it wasn't necessary, but I just wanted to mess with her while I could. She wasn't happy about it, I could tell, mainly because her famous stubborn frown she was wearing. I personally thought it was kinda cute when she was pouty because she thought she would get her way eventually, but I wasn't going to let her run over me.
We got inside her room and I laid her on her bed. "Stay with me?" she asked quietly.
I nodded and let her get up to go change. I watched her as she made a side trip to her dresser before ducking into the bathroom. I stared up at the ceiling while I waited for her to come out.
JACK P.O.V.
I sighed as I looked at myself in the mirror of the bathroom. I washed all the gunk of makeup from my face and took the many bobby pins out of my hair. I shed the tight clothing and traded it for a white tank top and the usual basketball shorts.
I left the bathroom and looked at Dom through the open door. He was laying on my bed, his back against the wall and his legs hanging off the side. I walked over to the bed and he opened his eyes, watching me move. I crawled under the many layers of blankets and laid my head against the mountain of pillows behind me.
Dom scooted over and turned me on my side so he could lay behind me. I felt his muscled chest against my back as he pulled me closely to him. He wrapped his arm around the front of my waist and his leg on top of my hip. I snuggled closer to him and fell asleep.
DOM POV
I put my face in her hair, memorizing the way she breathed, the way she smelled, the way she felt under my touch. I was once again leaving her without
saying goodbye, but I was doing it for her. I wouldn't let Tran get to her. I couldn't.
As soon as I felt her breathing slow and get softer, I carefully slipped out of the bed and walked over to her dresser. I was actually looking for a pen and some paper but I found her iPod instead. I smiled to myself as I went through it and found her favorite song. She had been singing it in the shower back in LA once and I had just happened to be listening in. I put the little device on the dock and turned the music up softly.
I walked over to the door and took one last look at the sleeping brunette that had stolen my heart. My heart tugged at me while I walked out of the room and shut the door quietly.
JACK POV
Ah, now I don't hardly know her
But I think I could love her
My first thought was "What the hell?"
Crimson and Clover
Ah, now when she comes walking over
I've been waitin' to show her
Oh. It was my music. I sighed and turned over, expecting Dom to be there. When I put my hand out to touch his chest, all it hit was the other side of my pillow. I opened my eyes and looked at the empty spot beside me. I sat up and looked around. His stuff was gone. His boots weren't by the door where he put them last night and his bag was gone.
I got out of my bed and stormed out of the room. I padded barefoot down to the garage. I noticed that Han was under a car looking at God knows what with Twink. "Where the fuck is he?"
I apparently startled both of him. "What are you talking about?" Twink asked.
"Where's Dom?"
Han went back to wrenching on the car. "He left last night."
"What?"
"I didn't stutter."
I climbed down the metal stairs and made my way over to the two, furious. "And how the hell do you know this?"
Han glanced over his shoulder at me. "I drove him to the airport."
I saw red. Nothing but red at this point. "Why in the fuck didn't you wake me up then you son of a bitch?"
Han turned around and looked at me. "You shouldn't be out here in no clothes, go get dressed and we'll talk."
"Fuck the clothes," I said, shoving him backwards. "Tell me why he left without saying goodbye again."
"Jack-," Twink said behind me.
I turned on my heel and gave him a death glare. Without any words, he raised his hands in defeat and turned away.
"I don't know Jack. He just didn't."
"DAMN IT," I yelled out. I didn't want to take my frustrations out on Han, he was just doing what was asked. Fucking Dom, I knew he would try to pull this shit again. Who was I kidding? He didn't just try, he succeeded. I began pacing and finally just let up and hit the metal pole of the car lift with my fist. There was a loud crunch and tears sprung into my eyes.
"Damn it Jack," Han said, walking over to me.
I slumped over and cradled my hand to my chest, wishing I didn't have such a temper problem. It was like someone stabbed my hand and now I was feeling the after effects.
"Go get dressed and I'll take you to the hospital," Han said, looking over my hand gently.
"No hospitals," I mumbled.
"It could be broken Jack. You're going to a freakin' hospital. Hurry up and put some clothes on and we'll go."
I sighed as I shuffled upstairs to throw on whatever and go. I slipped into some black sweats and a black Pink Floyd hoodie and went downstairs. Han was waiting for me with his passenger car door open and Reiko in the back seat.
I sat in the front seat and looked back at Reiko. "When are you going to learn?" she asked me in mock scolding.
I grinned at her. "As soon as people learn not to piss me off."
She just shook her head and leaned back.
Han got in the driver's seat and we raced towards the hospital. With Reiko translating, Han filling out papers, and a stern talking to in a language that I had no clue what the short doctor was saying, I was declared to have a couple of broken knuckles, but they were wrapped up and put in a black wrist cast. Once I was released, we headed back home.
"You're not going to make this a habit are you?" Han asked me, popping a Skittle in his mouth.
"Let's hope not," I said, rubbing my temple. "That doctor was getting on my nerves."
"Crazy white girl," Reiko said in the back, apparently quoting the doc.
I glared at her, then couldn't help but laugh. "I wish I knew how to speak Japanese. That doctor looked like he was ready to wring my neck."
Han turned the wheel and headed back home. "He said that he had never seen such a reckless, ill-tempered, stubborn woman in his life." I nearly giggled. "And," he continued. "That the only thing that he could figure out is that you were American, and that was what made you so unruly."
"Hey," I said frowning. "You're from California."
He looked over at me, apparently a little surprised. "How do you know that?"
I smirked, something I picked up from him lately. "I have sources."
He smirked back at me and threw a piece of candy at me. We got to the garage and got out of the car. Sean was leaning over the railing talking to Neela when he watched me get out of the car. "My gosh girl, everytime I see you you're gettin' into some kinda trouble."
"Are you okay?" she asked, eyeing my broken hand.
"It hurts like a bitch, but yeah," I replied, smiling at her.
"Why?"
"This genius decided to punch a titanium pole," Han said, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.
"Only because SOMEBODY wouldn't give me a straight answer."
"Oh I gave you a straight answer," he objected. "You just didn't like it."
I rolled my eyes. "Whatever."
I looked back over at Neela, who a strange look on her face. She was grinning, but trying to me subtle about it. "Why in God's name are you so damn chipper?"
"Oh nothing. Come on Sean," she said, grabbing his hand and dragging him away.
I looked up at Han. "What's with her?"
He shrugged. "Speaking of which, come with me."
He removed his arm and signaled for me to follow him. I sighed, not really wanting to deal with his bipolar-ness right now. We walked to a door that I hardly ever saw anyone use. It was over in the corner of the loft, slightly hidden by carefully placed potted plants and it almost looked like a closet from the outside.
He opened the door for me and I took a step inside. It was very modernly furnished, complete with black leather couches and a huge desk that had a glass top. Like any other big dog's office, there were two chairs in front of the desk for visiting guests. But Han didn't bother with the chairs and headed straight for the couch. He picked up a comic book from a side table and flopped down on the sofa.
"So is this where your plan ends?" I asked, sitting on his desk.
"First of all," he said, looking over at me. "You're sitting on my fax."
I looked down and realized my leg was on a stack of papers. Jokingly, I replied, "Well that's one I haven't been on before."
He smirked. "Secondly, Dom left last night because he was trying to help you."
I looked around his desk. Finding a silver Sharpie marker, I began doodling on my cast. "I know."
"He loves you ya know."
I stopped writing on my cast and looked over at him. He was looking at me over the top of the book, his eyes sort of sad.
I said nothing for a moment, not really knowing what to say. This wasn't exactly a conversation I wanted to have with him, of all people. "So when are you going to teach me to drift?"
"Don't change the subject."
"Don't bring it up."
"Why not?"
"Because it's not your problem," I blurted. I didn't mean to be so disrespectful, but it honestly wasn't any of his business. If Dom really loved me, then he would tell me. Right?
"When it comes to my friends putting their lives on the line for a seventeen year old school girl who doesn't get how serious this situation is, I make it my business," he said calmly, tossing the magazine aside.
"Maybe," I said, looking at the ground and trying to keep my temper in check. "You should stay out of my personal life with Dominic."
He snorted. "See, that's where you're wrong. The only person that I've ever heard say Dom's full name, was his old man. And half the time, he only did it when Dom was in trouble. Even his own mother never called him by his full first name."
"Where are you going with this?" Whoa. Seemed kinda like déjà vu.
"You love him back," he said simply. My mind went from slightly furious to confused to bewildered to denial all in less than a snap of your fingers.
"You're delusional," I claimed, wishing it were true.
He smirked at me and kicked his feet up that were on the table centered in front of the couch. "And you're in denial."
"I'm not dealing with this shit," I said, turning for the door.
"Go ahead run. It's obviously what you do best anyways."
I stopped in mid-stride. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"What exactly were you running from when Lett picked you up?"
The question startled me. Nobody ever really asked me about my past before this point. I guess that if they figured that if I wanted to talk, I would.
"It's not your problem."
"You're the one living with me, so I gotta know what I'm dealing with Jack."
I sighed. I knew this would come up sooner or later. "A bad home life."
Han didn't say anything, so I continued. "My dad died when I was younger, and my mom never quite got over it. She started selling herself out, and one day, she took one too many pills to make it all go away. She ended up overdosing and dying in a hospital two days later. My little brother and I got split up into foster homes and he ended up dying from food poisoning a year and a half ago," I explained. I didn't dare look at Han; otherwise I would never finish this.
"My social worker told me what happened and that night I snuck out the window and started wandering around. I did live in San Diego, but I caught a bus into LA. The fourth night I was in LA, I stumbled upon the races, and the rest is history."
Han was quiet for a moment, then spoke. "Where did you stay the other nights before the races?"
"Motels mostly. I had a bit of cash saved up. My foster parents were decent, and gave me an allowance every two weeks, but I always saved it for a rainy day."
"Interesting," he replied after processing what I told him.
"Well, I'm going to go do something useful for a change. Maybe bother Earl or something," I announced, hopping off the desk.
"Have fun," Han said, picking up the magazine and looking at me before I walked out of the door.
I grinned at him. "Always."
As I walked from the office, I notice that Twink and Sean were gone from the loft. "Where's the boys?" I asked, grabbing a handful of popcorn from Neela, who was sitting on the couch, watching television.
"Apparently, the docks are going to move to the other side of the country if Sean doesn't practice on them for more than fourteen hours," she answered, rolling her eyes.
"Ah," was all I said.
"So what did Han want?" she asked, nodding towards the office door.
"He just needed a clarification on some things."
She nodded and didn't press on the matter any further, which I was highly grateful for.
A week later, it was time for the races, and I was so glad that I was actually able to drive my car. After some persuasion and promising to Han on my part, he let me go with him. We were all in the garage waiting for Neela to get dressed.
"Sean, let Jack drive in between you and me and we'll put her in-between us when we park," Han told Sean. Sean looked at me questioningly.
I opened my mouth to protest the whole ordeal but Han sent me a look that quieted any thoughts I had. I crossed my fishnetted arms and basically pouted. My outfit that night was great. I had on loose black cargo pants and a black bikini with a see-though black fishnet long sleeved shirt. I had my hair up in a ponytail with my bangs in my face with dark eye make up and my newly pierced lip had a silver hoop in it.
I had gotten bored a couple of nights ago and took it upon myself to pierce my lip with an ice cube and a sewing needle. It hurt a little, and my lip looked like a million bees attacked it it was so swollen. I had snuck out before hand to get the ring itself and when I came out of my room, Twink flipped. It was amusing because he started yelling something about running over whoever hit me. I started laughing and explained to him what I did.
Han came out of his office to see what all the yelling was about and I watched his eyes zero in on my lip. "What'd you do?"
I said nothing as I pointed to the lip ring. He stood there for a minute and looked at me. Then he smirked and shook his head. I smiled a bit, then winced because it hurt my lip.
The swelling had gone down and I had picked up the habit of playing with the ring with my teeth.
"Stop playing with it," Neela told me, coming into view. I stuck my tongue out at her and started my car. Han left the garage, followed by me, then Sean, Neela, Earl, Reiko and finally Twink. We pulled up to the stoplight and I got beside Han on his right. He rolled his window down and looked over at me.
"You think you can keep up Dollface?"
I rolled my eyes at him. "Let's go Pretty Boy."
He smirked and quirked his eyebrow. Without warning, he shot forward and I put my car in gear, quickly dodging other cars. I stayed in his shadow most of the time, only losing him when he did his drifty thing around corners.
We pulled into the parking garage and parked our cars. Sure enough, I was sandwiched in-between both Sean and Han. Instead of staying by his car like usual, Han came and sat by me on my hood. I sighed, mainly because I knew I wasn't going to be able to have any fun with Mr. Grumpy watching over me like a hawk.
We watched as some newcomer rookie challenged Sean to a race, and ended up losing…big surprise. Some of the male population tried to come over and talk to me, but were chased off by Han. It was like having a babysitter, and I was getting irritated, quickly..
Finally, after I was actually carrying on a decent conversation with a guy who didn't try to get into my pants the first ten minutes of our talk, Han ran him off too.
"What the hell is your problem?" I asked him finally after watching the poor guy walk off.
"Do you want a repeat of last week?"
I snorted. "Please, like anyone would try it with you right here."
"Exactly."
"Every time I go to talk to one of them, you decide to play guard dog."
"With good reason."
I snorted and got into my car. "Where ya going'?" he asked.
"Home, since I can't have any fun here," I said, starting up the car. I didn't bother to get his approval, I just rushed off. I honked the horn rudely to people who were in my way; not caring if I got dirty looks along the way.
I turned down streets I didn't know, just wanting to get away from it all. I finally parked at a gas station when I was almost out of fuel.
I filled up and just pulled into one of the parking spots and locked the doors. I needed a nap of some kind. I was really tired and didn't feel like driving. I leaned my seat back and rested my eyes, if only for a moment.
A tapping on the window woke me up. I sat up and saw that Han was waiting for me with an irritated look on his face. I ran down the window. "Can I help you?"
"You done running for the night?" he asked.
"How'd you find me?"
He lifted a small black device from his pocket. "GPS does wonders."
I rolled my eyes. "Let's go."
I started my car and waited for Han to get back into his car and lead the way back home.
We got back to the garage and Han held out his hand for me. Again, not knowing what to do, I gave him a high five.
"Give me your keys," he said, without missing a beat.
"Why?"
"Just do it."
"No," I said, walking towards his office. If he was going to be a jerk about this, so was I. I grabbed the extra key to the lock on my bedroom door and headed that way.
"I don't even think so," Han said, grabbing my arm. I yanked it back. "Keep your hands off me."
He didn't listen. He tried to wrench both sets of keys from my hand but I bit him and ran for my room. I barely slipped inside and shut the door before Han was on the other side banging away.
"Damn it Jack, let me in."
I giggled. "Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin."
I heard him growl and continue banging. "The only reason I'm taking them is so that you won't go off by yourself again. I don't even care if you go take a drive every once in a while, I just don't want you going by yourself."
"That defeats the purpose!"
"I don't care. Let me in the room Jack."
"Not on your life."
It got quiet for a moment and I was actually afraid that he was going to pull a Dom and break down the door. Instead, he only spoke. "You have to come out sometime." The sound of footsteps followed that and faded away. I grinned as I remembered the supply of Fruit Loops and snack cakes I had hidden in my dresser for such an occasion. It was going to be a while before I came out.
o.O Wha's gunna happppeeennn? Lol. No telling with Jack and her crazy self. Don't forget to review, and if you have any suggestions for the story, don't be afraid to PM me about it :))
