AN: Sorry for the wait, again. I just can't get motivated to write lately. I have someone I blame, but I won't call the guilty party out by name to save them the ensuing barrage of hate mail :D. I still hope to finish this story and the sequel, which I already started. As for all the others, with the exception of Catalyst, I don't know if they'll ever be finished. I'm humbly sorry for that, but I just don't know if I can take them anywhere they should go from the position I find myself in now. Anyway, think happy thoughts about the Storm Girl making time to write, and I'll think happy thoughts about me finding that time. :) Reviews make me smile, hint hint.

The Funeral of a Good Girl

By – TempestRaces

Chapter Fifty– Of Dissed and Being Dismissed

Vince didn't bother knocking on the door in front of him. He just shoved it open and walked into the house, closing the door behind him. He was expected. He'd been expected earlier, no doubt, but he was here now. "B, you home?" he called into the hallway, picking his keys up off the hall table as he did so. He watched as Bryce walked out of the kitchen and into the hall.

"Yeah, I'm here."

"What's your problem?" Vince asked. He knew already, though he wished to god he didn't. He was about to get a tuning for something he already had praying on his mind. Why did all the people in his life have to see an issue with sides to take in this situation? That, and take her side all the time.

"Oh I dunno." Bryce shrugged negligently. "Maybe you told me you were gonna leave well enough alone?"

Vince sighed. "I was. It was just," he shook his head. "It was just me'n her. You don't understand."

"What's to understand? She's a nice girl, not the kind you normally go after. And she likes you. And not in the way that girls normally like you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that she doesn't like you for the status you could give her, and she doesn't like you because presumably you're somehow not terrible in bed, selfish prick that you are. She likes you for you, god help her. But you can't give her what she needs to be happy. I think because you'd rather be miserable yourself and if you let her really in you might just be happy, for once. So you keep on using her then pushing her away. And moreover you know exactly what you're doing. To her and to yourself. But you keep on doing it anyway. And because it's her, and I like her, I don't like watching you do it."

"If you like her so much, get in line behind Leon and marry her already," Vince growled.

"I would," Bryce answered, pacing Vince's way. "If she wasn't so hung up on some asshole I know."

"Like I don't hear this shit enough at home. I gotta come here and hear it too?"

"Maybe someday it'll sink in," Bryce answered. "You have places to be." He pointed at the door.

Vince refused to acknowledge he was being kicked out. He decided that agreement was a better option. "Yeah, I got races tonight. You comin' down Friday night?"

"Don't I always?"

"Yeah, but you ain't been this cheesed off with me in a long time," Vince answered, smiling sheepishly. He knew he had it coming but that didn't mean he had to like it.

"Well, I guess we can't hold your idiocy against you. After all, you're just an idiot."

"Ha ha ha. I'll see you Friday night then, if not tomorrow."

"Yeah, get the hell outta here."

Vince left without another word. He didn't have a wise-ass answer to quip back for once. After all, he knew he had every second of recrimination coming to him. But that still didn't make a bitter pill to swallow go down any easier. Knowing he faced more of the same from Leon made him groan out loud. And what about the girl in question? Was she any more normal now than when she had let him out of the car? He turned the Maxima toward DT Performance Automotive, resting his head onto the palm of his left hand, the elbow of his left arm propped on the sill of the open window. He was making a huge, glaring mess of things this time, but fuck if he knew what to do about it.

His gut reaction was fear, so his gut instinct was to run as far from her as he could as fast as he could. He was plain terrified that he was getting way too attached to her, and he was plain terrified of what that meant for him. And what the meant for the plan he had for his life. Because she didn't fit into that plan. Not on any level.

And then there was this nagging part of him that was actually begging him to take his chances and ask her to stick around longer. Maybe even in a permanent sense. And that part terrified him too. But it almost terrified him into running toward her as fast as he could. What if she was as wonderful as Leon and Bryce and Jesse seemed to think? And if she was, what if she was the best thing that would ever happen to him and he ran screaming the other way? Did the universe give out second chances on something like finding the person you were supposed to spend the rest of your life with?

But Dom had been his best friend as long as he could remember, and Dom hated her. Letty wasn't too thrilled with her either. But Letty was mostly indifferent and it was only because she was suspicious just why Dom hated Tempest so much. Once it became clear they hated each other because they just did, Letty would likely warm up to her just fine. Mia and Tempest weren't speaking, but of course he knew exactly why and knew he was also largely to blame. Not that he intended to take credit for that one. Not on his life he didn't.

He parked his car around the back of the garage. He noted, not without irony, that he had parked right beside her car. He got out of his car without enthusiasm and walked in the door. He found everyone busily doing their own thing but for Leon, who was working with Tempest on a red convertible in the corner of the room. Or rather, Leon was working and Tempest was sat watching him while he did so. She was perhaps supervising, but she wasn't doing much in the line of actual work. And she looked sad. Leon looked angry. He almost turned around and left.

But before he could disappear himself right out of the picture, Dominic spotted him. "Where the fuck were you this morning? You're supposed to show up at nine. Not three pm."

"I was busy," Vince grumbled back. He was uncomfortable with having so much attention drawn to his presence. He watched as Letty's narrowed gaze landed on him, and watched as Leon went out of his way not to look despite clearly wanting to.

"Really?" Dom asked. "And let's consider that I don't call finishing up last night's drunken booty call a good reason to blow off work because you're busy."

Vince noted that Dom's statement sure had gotten Leon's attention in the second before he saw so red nothing registered but his determination to beat Dom's face in. Dom was still pissed off about the scene with Tempest in the dining room the night before and the phone conversation at lunch time so he was doing his best to humiliate and hurt her. Reminding her and everyone else that she wasn't supposed to be anything to any of them but Jesse. Least of all to Vince. "I'm sorry. I know I couldn't have heard you right. What did you say?"

"Did I stutter? I know I was speaking English. I said, finishing up the booty call that seemed like a good idea last night while loaded does not give you permission to blow off your job and your family the next day."

Leon looked from Dom's angry face, to Vince's livid face, to the very pale, shocked face of the girl still sitting in the car beside him. He really didn't know where Dom got off talking about Tempest like she wasn't there and didn't have real feelings. And moreover, he didn't know what Vince was going to do about it now. Vince was clearly incensed. Not that Leon could fault him for it. He was pretty ticked off himself. He stood up and headed their way after a sympathetic glance at Tempest. He wanted to be ready to jump into the fray and prevent life threatening injuries. The two were still facing each other down when he reached their side.

"Dominic, that was totally uncalled for Dawg."

"Stay out of it. It's none of your concern."

"Dude, she's sitting right beside me. And Jesse, who considers her a sister, is right over there," Leon growled, pointing over to where Jesse was so immersed in an engine he was still oblivious to the whole drama. "Did you miss that or what? What would you do if someone said something like that to you about Letty? Let alone right in front of her?"

"I'm dating Letty. He's just fucking Tempest. And unless you are too, you better butt out."

Vince noted Leon's shocked, stricken look. He didn't want to take time to delve into it right now, but he was sure that look said something for the state of the sexual relationship between Tempest and Leon. "No, you better say you're sorry. That you're having a real bad day and you spoke without thinking on what was going to leave your mouth. Otherwise, I'll make you say sorry and you won't like it half as much, I promise you that."

"I'm not apologizing because the truth hurts."

"Ok, if you're that ok with how the truth hurts, see how this truth feels." Before Dom could figure what was about to go down, Vince threw a fist straight into his jaw. He was satisfied with the size of the 'twack' generated when his first two knuckles connected with the side of Dom's face. "I punch harder than you! How's that for truths that hurt?"

"Cocksucker!" Dom came at Vince in anger, attempting to punch him back. He aimed for Vince's eye and let go with a right hook.

Vince dodged the blow and stepped in to Dom's space, nailing him with an uppercut to the gut.

The impact forced the air out of Dom's lungs. He came at Vince with a snarl as soon as he had his bearings back.

"Guys, this is stupid!" Leon broke in, attempting to get the fight stopped before either could hurt the other badly. Dom landed a solid blow to Vince's ribs despite Leon's attempts to make them stop.

In the ensuing melee, Leon could only figure they hadn't seen her coming because they simply weren't expecting her. So when Tempest jumped into the middle of the fight and kicked Dom square in the junk, everything happened after the fact as if in slow motion. He watched as Dom fell to his knees with a shocked look on his face, groaning once his knees found solid purchase and his hands found his abused area, Vince turned to gap at Tempest like he was in a parallel dimension, and Letty rushed to Dom's side. Jesse finally looked up Dom's deep groan, a look of total shock on his face to see his cousin standing over a kneeling Dom Toretto. How she had humbled him wasn't hard to figure. Not with him opening and closing his mouth in pain while cupping his testes.

"How about another truth that hurts? I'm not the kind of girl to sit around and listen to you talk trash about me while I'm in the room and can hear everything you say. There, I helped you find your balls, since it seemed like you had misplaced them before. Only willing to talk about a little girl when you thought she'd just sit there and take it? Must make you feel like a real big man, huh? See how big you feel while your nuts are being retrieved from your abdominal cavity, caveman."

Vince watched Dom turn slowly more and more red. First her actions with her foot and then her words were winding him up fit to go right over the edge. Vince found he was both highly amused that she'd kicked Dom in the crotch, and slightly peeved that he hadn't gotten to finish beating him into the ground. Beating on him more now seemed cruel and unnecessary. Tempest had finished it nicely and anything more would just be overkill. It sort of finished things on the right note. And it wasn't like a guy could kick another guy in the balls. They just didn't do that to each other.

"Temp, let's go for a walk." Jesse finally broke into the situation, thinking it would be best to take his cousin out of the immediate area before Dom got his pain under enough control to pick himself up off the ground and go after her himself. What he hadn't counted on was Letty.

"No chick is gonna kick my man in the balls and just get away with it." Letty started to follow the pair across the shop. Maybe Dom had the fight with Vince coming, but she wasn't going to let Tempest get away with putting Dom on his knees. Not for anything. At least, not while she was around. She didn't manage to catch up with them before they'd managed to make it out of the shop. "I said hold up!" she called after them.

"Jesus Lett, hasn't this been bad enough? Do you have to start too?" Jesse snapped.

Letty was so taken aback she didn't know just what to say at first. Jesse had just snapped at her. "She kicked Dom in the nuts, Jesse!"

"He must have done something to deserve it." Jesse took in the tired, weary look on his cousin's face. "She wouldn't have just done it. He must have had it coming. What'd he say to her?"

"It doesn't matter," Tempest broke in, scowling fiercely at Letty with her arms crossed over her chest as she assured Jesse that Dom's words hadn't bothered her. They hadn't. Not really. It was more the truth they pointed out that got to her. So, she was still very angry with Dom. While she had nothing against Letty and never had, the other girl was stood right in front of her and claiming to want to defend the pig she dated, and Tempest was spoiling for a fight. Since everyone kept getting between her and the fights she really wanted to have, she'd take what she could get. "You don't scare me and if getting yourself beat up over that ignorant prick you date will make you feel better about it, so be it. I'll oblige you."

"You're either seriously pissed off or seriously stupid to make that threat." Letty sneered. She honestly liked Tempest. But there was a part of her that was very loyal and that part was telling her it was her duty to avenge Dom's honour, since technically Tempest was a female and Dom couldn't do it himself.

"No, not either. Just fed the fuck up. And totally less than scared of you. I've kicked the ass of guys the size of Dom before. Do you honestly think that you're going to be a huge challenge to me?"

Before Letty could answer to the question, much to the surprise of everyone, Vince had Tempest by the upper arm and was escorting her forcefully over toward their parked vehicles, leaving Jesse and Letty to gap after them. "Once wasn't enough? You were going to try and get him to kick your ass again?"

"No," she retorted, shrugging slightly and pulling a face. "I was trying to shut his big fat mouth. Mission accomplished. Besides, he didn't even really care that you didn't show up. It's not even busy in there right now. He cared that you didn't show up because you were with me. And he wasn't really taking anything out on you. He was taking it out on me in a roundabout way and I didn't appreciate it."

"I was taking care of it."

"Yeah, you were. But I'm not use to letting someone else fight my battles for me. I didn't want someone to make him say he was sorry like some three year old in daycare who took some other kid's toy without asking. I wanted him to shut the fuck up, and know that I wasn't some cowed, whimpering female who was going to bow down to the big bad Dom and let him say whatever he wanted about me."

Vince shook his head. She normally wouldn't have given two fucks what Dominic thought about her or said about her. Dominic just wasn't important enough in her world for his thoughts and feelings to make that much of an impact on her. So what was this really about? "What is wrong with you today?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tempest snapped back. What's wrong with me is that I love you and I couldn't stand to hear it thrown around in such a blasé manner that you don't love me back. That the state of things between us is just what Dom said, even if you won't admit it.

"It means, first you couldn't wait to get back here, then you couldn't stand to get back here, then when I wanted to get back here, I was an asshole for bringing it up, then you couldn't wait to get back here again, and couldn't wait to get rid of me. You couldn't get away from Bryce's fast enough. You could have come in and said hello. Let him know you were ok. But you couldn't wait to tear off back here. Then when I get here, you're hiding behind Leon and you don't even acknowledge my presence. Other than saying it was time to get back this morning I haven't done anything wrong today, for once. But you're still treating me like not only do I have the plague, I smacked you around too. So what is wrong with you today?"

His words forced her to acknowledge one thing. He really hadn't done anything to deserve her treatment today. He might have been running scared when he'd said he wanted to leave, but he'd also certainly been right about what lay in wait for them in the garage. Dom had been ignorant and mad, and Leon had been mad and upset. But if he was running scared from what was between them, she'd only been running terrified. So weren't they even? It wasn't like she could stand there in the parking lot of Dom's garage and yell at him at the top of her lungs that she found herself hopelessly in love with him, despite the fact he'd done nothing to deserve it, and hadn't asked for it either. That it certainly would be far smarter if she could bring herself to hate him instead, but she couldn't. "Nothing's wrong with me," she mumbled back, knowing he wasn't going away without some sort of answer.

He could practically hear the wheels spinning in her head. She was lying to him and there wasn't a thing he could do about it. The only thing he could do was the only thing he planned to do. Take her out of the situation before Dom came out of the shop and made things even worse. "You haven't eaten yet today. You'll feel better after you eat."

Her eyes snapped to his in shock. "Where'd that come from?"

"Your blood sugar is low and it's making you sad and cranky. You need to eat."

"How the fuck did you know that?" She was puzzled with his insight.

He started to steer her toward the passenger side door of his car. "My mom was the same way. Strangely, her lips also turned the same shade of blue yours currently are when she needed to eat something. So let's go get some," he wondered what time it was. He had no idea. "Some whatever the fuckin' meal we should eat at this time of day is." He heard her laugh as he closed the door behind her, shielding her behind the tinted glass. He waved at Jesse to let him know everything was ok before he got into the car himself. He backed the car out of the spot and turned the nose toward the entrance of the lot. He watched Dom walk out of the building and wasn't sure how to feel about his friend. Dom was his boy, but damn, they said he could be stupid with what left his mouth. So, because he hadn't decided if he was still pissed off with Dom, or amused that the small, troublesome woman in his car had brought him to his knees, he dodged around Dom rather than stopping as he was clearly expected to do, and squealed off down the street.

"He had something to say to you, or us," Tempest pointed out.

Vince shrugged. "Nothing I wanted to hear right now. He can say his piece later. Don't worry, he won't forget he had something to say in the meantime."

"He's got nothing to say that I wanna hear."

"Right now, that makes two of us. You goin' to races tonight, or bowing out so you don't have to be around him?"

"Oh, I'm goin'. I won't give him the satisfaction of thinking I'm not there only because I'm scared of him."

"You are one of the singly most defensive people I know."

"That's rich, coming from you."

Vince only smiled. She was right. He could be just as bad as her for getting his back up over simple things. He gave up the subject with a shrug. He just wanted to feed her and hopefully take the sad look off her face.

They were done eating by five and decided to just head home. Neither of them wanted to face Dominic again in the shop on his own turf. They both knew without saying that he'd be easier to deal with in the house, which was everyone's domain. When they got home no one was back from work yet. Without a word, Vince manoeuvred Tempest down the stairs ahead of himself and into his room. "Better if we're not right in his face the second he gets back."

"Yeah, but you don't have a TV in here or anything. So what are we gonna do until he comes home and comes looking for us?"

Much as he knew she had asked a serious question, and it hadn't dawned on her how he could chose to take what she'd said, he was still going to have some fun with her. "I'm sure I could entertain you without the benefit of TV. Save you the trouble of needing to get undressed to get dressed for races later."

She grinned in spite of herself. "You must think you're some slick."

"Well, someone tells me I am a couple times a day. Guess I just believe her."

"And what if he gets home and comes looking for you and finds you mid-act?"

"I hope he knows how to wait patiently."