Chapter Four

Around 7:45, Jocelyn finally decided to get out of bed. She slowly slipped out of the safety of the sheets and out into the hall. Sounds of clanking plates and groggy voices filled the hallway as she made her way down stairs. A feeling of nervousness floated across Jocelyn's stomach as she reached the last step.

'I don't know these people,' she thought as she rounded the corner and headed into the living room.

She immediately found Letty on the couch asleep. A small smile spread across her face as she watched Letty sleep with her mouth slightly open and snoring lowly.

'I've got to wake her,' Jocelyn decided.

'I'm not going to walk into a kitchen full of people I don't know,' she thought as she shook Letty's shoulder.

Letty's eyes fluttered and then she slowly opened her eyes.

"Hey sis," Jocelyn said warmly as Letty sat up.

"Hey," Letty replied as she wiped sleep from her eyes. "The team up yet?"

Jocelyn nodded.

"You want to go out and get breakfast?"

"Please."

"All right, let's go," Letty replied as they headed toward the front door.

Letty drove her younger sister to an old mom-and-pop restaurant that they used to go to as teenagers. They sat in a booth that was in the very back of the restaurant.

After the waitress handed them their menu Letty said, "Order anything you want, it's on me."

Several minutes later the waitress came back and they ordered.

"Yeah, I'll take a cup of coffee with your number three."

The waitress nodded. "How will you have your coffee?"

"Black," Letty said as she closed her menu and handed it to the waitress. Her nametag told Letty that her name was Tina.

"And what will you have?" Tina asked Jocelyn with a warm smile.

Jocelyn closed her menu and said, "Just a glass of orange juice, thanks."

"You sure?" Tina asked as she took the menu.

Jocelyn nodded.

"All right, you're order will be out shortly," Tina said before disappearing.

"Orange juice? Come on sis, you got to eat better than that. I mean look at you, you're nothing but skin and bones."

"Let, I do eat."

Letty rolled her eyes. "What was the last thing you ate?"

"I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for breakfast yesterday," Jocelyn said weakly.

"Joce, you've got to take better care of yourself," Letty said. Her voice was filled with concern.

Jocelyn nodded and stared at her hands.

"What's wrong?" Letty asked.

"It's nothing."

"Jocelyn Marie Rodriguez-Garcia, I don't buy it. Now you're going to tell me what's really wrong."

Jocelyn looked up and her silver eyes met Letty's rich brown ones. She sighed and licked her lips nervously.

"The dreams are back," she said so lowly that Letty had to strain to hear them.

Letty sighed. "How long?"

"Two, three weeks tops."

Letty sighed again and ran a hand through her hair. "Mom know?"

Jocelyn shook her head. "She's send me back to that shrink if she knew."

"All right, I won't tell mom, but you have to tell me the second they get as bad as last time. Okay?"

Jocelyn nodded. Silence fell between them. Shortly after the conversation ended, Tina reappeared with their breakfast and the bill. She laid a glass of orange juice and a bagel in front of Jocelyn.

"It's on the house," she whispered into her ear before she walked off.

Letty started to eat her breakfast. Jocelyn nibbled on her bagel and took a few sips out of her glass. Letty looked up half way through her breakfast and watched her sister. Her heart broke into a million pieces. Jocelyn had changed dramatically since Carter's horrific death. She used to be outspoken and had a bubbly personality. It seemed like Jocelyn always had a smile on her face. But now she was quiet and you had to practically force her to say two words. Letty sighed and pushed her plate forward.

"You ready?" she asked.

Jocelyn nodded and stood up. She waited patiently as Letty paid the bill and left Tina a gracious tip. As they left, Letty stopped Tina and said thank you.

"No problem," Tina replied with a warm smile.

The two girls walked out and got into Letty's car. The ride back to the Toretto residence was a silent one.

When the girls pulled up, everyone was seated on the front porch goofing off. The team always took Saturday off because it was race day. As Jocelyn stepped out of the car, she could feel several eyes on her.

"Letty," a deep voice rang out. Jocelyn shut the door and sat on the hood of Letty's car.

"I'll be right back," she whispered as she headed up the front lawn.

"Where ya been?" Dom asked as Letty climbed the stairs.

"Went out to eat," Letty replied.

Jocelyn resituated herself on the car and stared at her hands. She could still feel several eyes on her and was very uncomfortable. Jocelyn could barely hear Letty's words as she talked to her friends. She could see someone out of the corner of her eye approaching her. Jocelyn looked up expecting to see Letty coming back, but she saw a man approaching her. The man was about 6'1" and was very well built. He had light brown hair with a scraggly beard. Several different tattoos decorated his muscular arms as well as a scar. The scar spiraled up his arm. It started at his wrist and worked its way up. Jocelyn then noticed his beautiful blue eyes.

"Hey," he said as he stood in front of her.

"Hi," Jocelyn said quietly.

"My name is Vince," he said as he stuck his hand out.

Jocelyn reached out and shook his hand.

"I'm Jocelyn."

"Nice to meet you. So, you're a friend of Letty's?"

Jocelyn shook her head and looked at her hands.

"I'm her stepsister; I'm surprised she didn't tell you that."

"She probably did," Vince admitted with a smile. "But I wasn't really paying attention. Something had caught my eye."

Vince's grin turned into a smile that was absolutely heart stopping. Jocelyn felt her face beginning to turn red.

"You going to be staying here for a while?" he asked.

Jocelyn felt herself slowly opening up to him. Every time he spoke, it sent chills down her spin.

"Yeah, until I can find a place of my own," she said as she looked into his eyes.

Vince didn't try to hide his excitement. Jocelyn felt her face begin to turn red again, so she looked over at the porch. Everyone was watching them. However, Letty had a look on her face that she couldn't really describe. It was almost as if Letty didn't want Jocelyn talking to Vince.

'What's wrong?' Jocelyn asked herself silently. She looked back at Vince.

Letty stood on the porch watching the interaction between Vince and Jocelyn.

'Awww, Joce. Out of all the people you could attract, you attract Vince. He's going to hurt you badly,' Letty thought.

She glanced around the porch and saw that everybody else was thinking the same thing.

'Vince,' Letty vowed, 'you better not hurt her. If you do..."

Letty didn't finish the thought. She prayed that she wouldn't have to.