Dinner had been over for more than an hour but Mia stayed in the kitchen occupying herself with small meaningless chores. Going to the doorway, that separated the kitchen from the group that more often than not occupied their house, she watched for her brother's complete distraction. But each time she peeked around the doorway he leveled a suspicious stare at her, leaving off trying to entice Letty up stairs. That was another oddity lately, Letty. The more Mia thought about the two, the more confused she got. Dom had been as attentive as ever but Letty seemed to be finding reasons to avoid him, refusing the offers she had always jumped at before. With a sigh she turned back into the neatly arranged, thoroughly cleaned room, looking at the small brown bag waiting on the counter.
"Damn it, Dom!" she hissed, frustrated as she watched the clock on the microwave tick away the minutes. Going to the kitchen window, she craned her neck at an oddly uncomfortable angle tying to see the house across the street. She decided to wait five more minutes and then go over whether Dom was distracted or not. Finally slinking back to the doorway, she noticed Dom was gone and so was Letty. She breathed a sigh of relief and turned ready to pad across the street. Brian followed her back into the kitchen.
"What's goin on?" he asked, his easy smile lighting his face.
"I'm going over to Cam's. Where's Dominic?"
"I don''t know ... looked up and he was gone." He shrugged, sitting his beer on the counter and pulling her into the circle of her arms. His warm caressing lips descended on hers drawing a soft moan in response.
"Brian, I can't. I need to get over there before..." She was cut off by another promising kiss.
"Go." He turned, picking up the beer as he headed back to the other room to become absorbed in the fifth inning of the Dodgers and the Mets.
She smiled, knowing that tone. He wanted her to hurry and get it over with. He had other plans brewing. She hoped she was right about exactly what they were. Grabbing the bag, she dashed out the back door and almost made it past the garage.
"Going somewhere?" The hard edge of Dom's voice brought her to a sudden stop as he stepped out of the shadows. "There's not enough of us to feed? We have to start supplying for the neighbors too?"
"I...She's...Damn, Dom!" she hissed. "You always gotta be so fuckin' harsh? You don't even know her. She's not the bitch you think she is." She turned back to the street.
"Don't assume you know what I think, Mia. It's dangerous." He intercepted her in three steps, taking the bag from her and forcefully turning her back towards the house. "I'll take care of this. Go. Brian's waitin."
She stared over her shoulder, jaw hanging loosely. Dom, the boy scout, being helpful? Actually, forgoing the first impression? Not like him at all. And where was Letty? She knew she wasn't with the others. Questions mounted in her mind as she marched back inside the kitchen.
***************************************************
"SHHHH!" A hand came up covering the mouth that a series of low lustful moans were flowing from. "Someone's gonna fuckin hear and then we'll be in deep shit!"
"I don't care! Just keep...!" A whimper combined with the previous moans filled the space between the two bodies.
"You gonna care, girl! Known him awhile and he ain't into sharin'! Now, shut the hell up!" The two came together hard and fast, hot sweat soaked bodies collecting a series of moments that should have belong to someone else.
***********************************************
Dom knocked twice on the front door. Getting no answer, he turned ready to head home and tell Mia that there was no one there. But that was before he heard the barley perceptible strains of ZZ Topp from the side of the house. "Damn!" he whispered, rounding the house. He'd almost made a clean escape, almost. The driveway was deserted but beyond that he could see the lights in the garage blazing and the side door stood open. The music got louder as he moved closer, glancing inside he saw something he hadn't expected. Cameron had been living across the street for more than three weeks and he'd never seen a car come or go from the house. Now, standing there he was looking at a custom Camero, maybe a '77 or a '78 he thought as he stood appraising the car. He stepped into the garage to get a closer look and then another step until he was running his hand over the rear quarter panel, finger tracing the ghost flames below.
Cam had been searching the interior again for what she wasn't sure. Clues? Yeah, it was clues all right she told herself. Someone just doesn't disappear and leave their most prize possession behind without some sort of clue. Laying across the center console, she made one last attempt at reaching under the passenger seat. Giving up, she sat up in the driver side. From the corner of her eye she just happened to glimpse movement in the rear view mirror. Forgetting how low the roof of the Camero was she made to dart from the interior to confront the intruder. But it didn't happen that way. Her forehead made brutal contact with the door frame. She sat stunned for a moment, everything tilting around her at odd angles.
Dom's head twisted hearing the loud thud, even over the music, just in time to see Cameron's head snap back. It was hard as hell to hold in the laughter at the comical sight. Her sitting there, dazed, it was only to obvious what had happened. She shoved from the interior, one hand against her forehead the other clutching a tire iron.
"SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!" She stomped her foot, leaning forward at the pain.
"Saw the lights. Mia asked me to bring this over," he said, laughter lacing his voice as he sat the bag on the car.
Cam's eyes widened as she straightened enough to meet Dom's eyes. "Oh, we are so even now Toretto! Water nowhere compares to this! Fuck, that hurt!" She dropped her hand reveling a nice size bluish knot.
"Damn, you always this accident prone?" He moved towards her, eyeing her and the car equally.
"No, I just took it up recently as a hobby!" Her look said it all, the question was the most idiotic she'd ever heard. "What the hell kinda question is that? Besides, you scared the hell outta me." A loud sigh escaped her. "Man, someone needs to put some fuckin bells on you or something!" She dropped the tire iron and it clattered to the floor echoing in the garage.
"No one's had the balls to try yet." He moved around her to the hood of the car. "It yours?"
"Hey! Hey! There's a first time for everything!" She turned slamming the car door closed. "Well, lets see. That's sorta a tricky question. Yeah, technically she's mine. I have the title and all but I'm just hangin on to her for a friend of mine."
"Her?" Dom's eyebrows raised as he turned his attention to Cameron.
"Yeah, Nico calls her Darlene or some damn thing like that." She shrugged. "And before you ask, I have no clue why or even who Darlene is. That's just one of Nico's oddities. The one before this was Tiffany, before he scraped her after he blew the headers." She smiled a slight blush creeping into her cheeks. She wasn't used to offering up this much information. Usually she hid behind the total bitch routine, that seemed to do the trick and keep everyone at arms length.
"Mind if I take a look?" He nodded towards the hood. Just like a guy, gotta check out what's under the hood, she mused.
"Sure. Go ahead. " She walked to the opposite side of the hood and pulled forward in tandem with him. The hood popped open to reveal the shimmer of the chrome intake and valve covers. Dom examined the engine compartment for what seemed like hours, saying nothing until they were closing the car up again.
"NOS," he broke off coming around the car to her. "Your friend into racing?" he asked. Reaching out, he planted a hand on her shoulder holding her in place as she tried to twist away from him he ran a less then gentle finger on the protrusion on her forehead.
"OUCH! SHIT!" she hissed, trying to bat his hand away.
"Racing?" he asked again.
"What?" she responded. "Stop!"
"Is your friend into racing the car?" He met her eyes with a questioning glance.
"No, at least not that I know of." She stepped away from him as he dropped his hand from her shoulder. "Why?"
"Seems a fuckin waste to drop green on something your not usin," he commented absently, his eyes straying over her shoulder to the tall tanks of oxy-acetelyne chained to the wall of the garage.
DAMN, if Cam isn't full of all sorts surprises!
"Yeah, Nico's a regular Sherlock mystery all by himself." She turned following his eyes. Turning back, she simply smiled ... no explanation was required. Dom was a smart man, that much was obvious, and he'd know what the bottles were used for.
"Better get some ice on that or it'll look like a baseball by mornin. Hell, probably gave yourself a damn concussion." He smiled in return, wanting to laugh as he remembered her nearly knocking her head off.
Cam had to remind herself to breathe for as long as the smile graced Dom's lips. Where the hell did that come from, she asked herself? "Ice is in the house. Least I can do is offer you a beer after Mia tricked you, or something, into bringing me dinner." She motioned towards the door.
"Mia doesn't trick me into anything. She doesn't have to. I told her I would bring this over." He reached out, snatching the brown bag from the back of the Camero.
She turned a confused look on him. "Well, I stand corrected. Thought hell would freeze over first but hey I'm not complainin." She turned her back on him, hitting the lights as she went ahead of him.
"Careful, you sound dangerously close to admitting the company's tolerable." A low rip of laughter came from behind her.
She glanced over to him as he fell in step with her. "Ok, the company is tolerable. Pleasant even." She rolled her eyes, trying to hide the flush that settled over her skin. "Don't let it go to your head, DOM. Cause I know I left that water hose around here somewhere."
They both fell quiet. Not an awkward silence that people usually found themselves facing, but comfortable, companionable, as they walked towards the front of the house. Pushing the front door inward, she reached for the light switch.
Dom glanced around the bright interior .. fresh white paint, plush blue carpet that looked and smelled new. He'd expected something similar to the exterior. The cabinet with the previously annoying sound system took up one wall of the living room. The opposite wall was lined with neatly stacked cardboard boxes, all oddly labeled, labeled by countries.
Cam stuffed her hands in her jean pockets, totally self-conscious now. Her sanctuary had been breached, willingly or not. It made her nervous. "Mi casa su casa and all that." She moved across the room motioning to him to follow.
Dom proceeded to the kitchen, leaning on the island bar, having a nice rear view as she leaned into the fridge. "So, what's for dinner?" She smiled, producing two domestic beers. He pushed the brown bag at her, wondering again why Mia was supplying her food. Glancing over his shoulder, he discovered the answer to that question. The stove was pulled away from the wall, disconnected, with more boxes taking up the top.
"Oh, chicken," she practically giggled, and then noticed where his eyes were. "Hey, sorry about the mess. I'm not one for unpacking."
"Noticed that. What's the problem?" He turned his attention back to her, watching her tear a piece of the chicken apart and pop the meat into her mouth. He noticed for the first time the high color of her pouty lips.
"Nothing. Just the gypsy in me, I guess. Doubt I'll ever really shake it." She smiled, shrugging.
"What's got you tryin to shake it? Not a half bad way to live if ya ask me," he replied, only half teasing. Straightening, he moved to the barstool beside him, never taking his eyes off her devouring the chicken.
"No, not you Dominic Torretto. You're the one that keeps everyone around you grounded, centered. The one they come to when the shit hits the fan." She tilted her head, studying him, trying to read the emotion the flicked in his eyes. But it disappeared too quick for her to pin down. With a sigh, she continued. "But roots sound real nice. I've been on the move practically since birth." Smiling, she licked at her fingers. "Lived in seven different countries by the time I was 18. Iran, Turkey, Malaysia, Thailand, just a few. We even lived in Bangkok for awhile."
"Who is we?" He shook his head, knowing it was a stupid question. But he suddenly had the urge to keep her talking. He had a feeling she didn't do it often.
She obviously didn't think the question was stupid, she answered it without missing a beat." My mom and me most of the time." Turning to the fridge, she retrieved two more beers sitting one in front of him.
"What's the story with Dad?"
Twisting the top off her beer, she took a deep breath. "Away a lot. Six months at a time to be exact. He worked the off shore drilling platforms. We trailed behind taking a place on the main land."
"What'd he do out there for six month stretches? Must 've been hard as hell being away from his family that long. " Dom took the offered beer, downing a quarter of it in one draw.
Cam watched the muscles along his throat work as he tilted his head back swallowing the beer, her heart speeding up to slam into her rib cage. "He was a deep sea welder, did a lot of casing repair, structure assembly, that sorta stuff."
Lowering his head to meet her eyes again, he saw the bright shine of desire flash there. It certainly wasn't the first time he'd caught a covert glance of attraction leveled at him but this one surprised him. He hadn't expected it from Cam. It took him a few seconds to shake the guilt he felt for loving that look in her eyes, for wanting to see it again. "So, that's what the acetylene..."
"Yeah, he taught me a thing or two when he had the time. Then got this damn idea in his head that I was going to be this renowned sculptor. He sent me to Florence as soon as I turned 18. Got accepted to a school there. That's where I met Nicola, Nic." She paused for a moment, her heart twisting painfully. "And I was there exactly three months, four days, and ten and a half hours when I got THE CALL. That call you know you'll get one day, one day in the distant future when it doesn't feel like some fuckin nightmare you just woke up from. There was an explosion 230 feet down. They said bleed back into the torch, new rig, shit happens. The bitch of it was, it wasn't the explosion that did it. Sudden decompression from a half inch rip in his suit." She brushed away the tear that appeared from the corner of her eye. Turning to busy herself with cleaning the counter, her voice strained. After years of keeping it all buried, it was Dom she chose to confide in. "They said it was quick, he blackout after the explosion, that he didn't feel a thing. Think that's true?" She turned back to him, wanting him to answer the question, tell her what she'd know all along.
"No, I don't think it's the way things went down. You're dying, you fuckin well know it. I think he was probably thinkin about you when it happened. Hell, that's what I wanna believe about my father. Gotta believe he was thinking about me and Mia when he hit that wall ..." He quickly cut off the rest of what he had intended to say. He hated showing his pain and that was especially true with Cam standing across from him.
She came around the island, trailing her fingers across his back. "Come on, wanna show you something." She went to the back door pulling it open.
Dom was game. He followed and stepped out into a odd metal wonderland. There were metal creations, in various stages of completion, all around the back yard. Metal humanoid shapes were reaching for the sky, reaching for one another, bending and twisting into graceful forms. "He left me with something. That's something I'll always be grateful for." She smiled over her shoulder at him. "How 'bout you?"
He nodded his head, knowing exactly what she was talking about. His skill with cars, with speed, with winning, all a credit to his father.
Half an hour later Cam shut off the arch welder showing off a smooth seam in her latest masterpiece. Removing her goggles she smiled. "Not bad, huh?"
"Not bad, at all," he replied, gingerly touching the hot metal.
"Yeah, it gets me by. I take a few commissions a year." She turned as the doorbell echoed through the house, sprinting inside to answer it.
Dom waited, planning on watching her work as much as she allowed. When she returned, it was with a smirk plastered across her face. "Your girlfriend, and she looks mighty pissed, cheif." Whispering as she passed him, she hitched her thumb back towards the house. "From the looks of things, you're in for a real fun evening."
"Fuck!" he growled. His eye narrowed as he comtemplated staying and letting Letty do the wondering for a while. He moved towards the back door and just as he was about to disappear inside, he glanced back at her. "I'll take care of the stove tomorrow."
"Only if we're having dinner. Thai ok?" she called, snickering as she relit the torch.
*********************************
Dom lay on his back staring up at the ceiling, sleep escaping him, his mind squarely on Cam. She peaked his interest. She'd obviously seen a lot, been a hell of a lot of places. She was honest, real. Granted, she tried to hide from most everyone, but he like the idea that she hadn't hidden from him. He knew more about her now then even Mia. A soft sigh drew his attention. Turning his head he, watched Letty squirm farther away from him in the bed. No surprise there. Her touch had become less and less frequent. But he'd adapted, saying nothing. He had his suspicions. He stood from the bed. Moving across to the window, he pushed the curtain aside. Bracing is forearms on the window frame, he stood staring across the street, stared at her house as if that could suddenly produce her.
Bad fuckin idea, Toretto.
***********************************
There was ringing, she could hear it, from miles away she was sure. But slowly it was becoming louder and louder and suddenly she found herself sitting up in bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Reaching for the phone, her hand fumbled in the dark.
"Yeah!" she ground out finally pushing the receiver to her ear.
"Cammie!"
"What?..." She gasped, eyes widening as she reached over, switching on the bedside lamp.
"Please, Cammie! I need...You have... They're gonna... Oh GOD! They're gonna..." The phone went dead on the other end.
"NICO! Jesus, Nicola!" she shouted as if that would bring his voice back to her. She sat there, in the middle of the bed, shock filling her sleep fogged brain.
What the fuck is goin on, Nico?
She slipped from the bed padding across to the window. Her eyes traveled the yard beyond, but quickly she found that it was the house across the street that was her real excuse for being there, for watching.