A/N: Thanks to Lovercraft22, 2furious4u, Sparkles2004 and Vinces-girl for their reviews!
First off, I'm so sorry how long this took, I've been in a serious writing funk since I came back, and I've been working on this chapter for A-G-E-S! It doesn't help that a couple days ago I stood on the power plug of my hairdryer, tearing a couple holes in my foot. Yes, I'm a klutz. But seriously, have you seen British plugs? Not little thin prongs like in the US, but big, blunt fuckers!
Ahem. I know I promised that you would find out why Rae left soon, and you will...just not this chapter. Sorry, but I didn't want to rush things, and skip over important parts. Next past-chapter, I promise. Good news though! Some more Dom/Letty action for all you fans out there, real sex too. Not the best sex scene I've ever written, but at least I avioded making and jokes about it being 'fast and furious', huh?
Review and Enjoy!
Damn! Look away, look away!
That was close. Vince had already caught her staring at him once. If he caught her again, she was busted. She had to stop.
Except she couldn't. Every waking second since she'd seen him in the shower had been filled with him, and her sleep wasn't much different. She was obsessed, she knew it. She couldn't help it. He was big, and loud, and rude, and sweaty, and gruff and she was obsessed.
She watched him, how he moved with masculine confidence, how he barked a laugh when he was amused, how his brow furrowed in concentration when he was working. He was intense about everything he did. Anger, laughter, passion (with other girls), they were all dealt with the same intense focus. The only time it was ever focus at her, it was always intense annoyance.
She knew there would never be anything between them, for so many reasons. He was three years older than her, he didn't even like her, and he would have absolutely no reason to want her, with her skinny, scarred body, and hair in desperate need of a cut. She had no appeal, no experience, nothing. Plus, she may have a huge crush on him, but she wasn't sure if she actually liked him.
A week or so had passed since her little peepasode with Vince. She hadn't told anyone, no Mia and not Letty. She couldn't. They'd laugh, tell her she was crazy, and eventually Vince would find out, then he'd laugh, and that would be more than she could take.
She tried to push him from her mind, but it was impossible, so here she was, pretending to read the fashion magazines Mia and Letty had been throwing at her, and instead peering over the top and watching him work.
She tried desperately not to blush and focused on the page in front of her 'Get this seasons look for under 100'. Apparently this year's look was too much hairspray, too much eyeliner and not enough clothes.
Letty had decided that it was time for Rae to get new clothes, and a new haircut, and Mia had jumped on the chance to play doll. So Rae had been tasked to dig through the magazines and find a look she was comfortable with. She'd pointed out that she was comfortable with the look she had, although Letty was right about getting her a bra. Much more comfortable. 'Late Bloomer' the saleslady had called her. Said she would be a real looker when she was finished. Rae thought maybe the woman needed to cut down on the perfume. The fumes seemed to be getting to her.
She'd been putting them off as long as she could, but Letty had finally snapped and gone to Tony, telling him Rae needed a haircut. Traitor. He seemed to have forgotten, he hadn't mentioned it in a few days, and Letty was distracted with Dom.
After flicking through, trying to find something that caught her eye, she glance up at the clock, doing a double take when she realised the time. She was supposed to be working at the café in a couple minutes; she was going to be late. Again.
She jumped up, but before she could get far, Tony came out of his office.
"Hold up a minute girl, I need to talk to you." She frowned, but waited as he turned to Vince. "Ain't you s'posed to be leavin' now, boy?"
Vince's head snapped up to the clock. "Shit," he muttered, quickly clearing up, but stopping at Tony's next words.
"Take Rae with ya, would ya? She needs her hair cut, and there's a place right next to the parlour."
"What?! I mean…" Vince was thrown, making Tony laugh.
"She can handle it, can't you?" he asked with a firm look. She nodded, eyes wide. "She just needs a ride. And make sure she comes back with shorter hair."
Vince didn't look happy, but he nodded, willing to do as Tony asked.
"Come on."
Soon, they were in his car, speeding towards the dreaded hair cut.
"Where're we going?" she asked, looking curiously out the window.
"Tattoo parlour 'cross town," was his gruff reply.
Not put off, she pushed on. "Are you getting another tattoo?" He already had some kind of bird-logo-crest-thing on his left arm.
"Nah, I just like their coffee," he replied sarcastically, gripping the steering wheel tightly.
"What are you getting?" she asked, intrigued.
"I was thinking an African blend, no milk or sugar," he continued, looking straight ahead.
She huffed, crossing her arms and staring out the window.
He let out a gusty sigh. "A dragon. Japanese-style. On my other arm."
"Cool." She had not idea what Japanese-style was, but she liked dragons.
"Whatever," he huffed. "Look. When we get there, you go straight to the salon. You get your hair done like Tony said. You come back and wait; I'll probably be a while. You sit, read magazines. Don't touch anything. Don't bug anyone. Just sit and shut up. Got it?"
"Yes sir, Mr. Bossman!" she mockingly saluted, a little pissed at how he was treating her. It's not like she always got in the way.
"Whatever," he repeated driving them into a small strip mall. "There's that salon," he said, pointing at a small, faded shop front with pictures of outdated hairstyles in the window. The parlour is two doors down. Don't go anywhere else. As much as I'd love it if you just disappeared, Tony would kill me."
Rae wasn't sure if he was joking or not.
Vince was flicking through the latest edition of Skin & Ink, waiting for Berto to finish so they could get started. The parlour was open-plan, with a room at the back for more intimate piercings and tattoos. Flash art and photos were scattered around with tattoo-style art pieces.
Vince glanced up to see how much Berto had left to do on the portrait he was doing; it wouldn't be long. Just as he was turning back to the magazine, the bell above the door jangled, and he looked up in idle curiosity.
"What the hell are you doing back here?!" he hissed trying not to disturb the people working. "You're hair ain't cut yet! Get your ass back in there!"
"Shut up man," she said flopping down. "We're s'posed to be quiet, remember," she said snidely, pissing him off even more. "I've got an appointment in twenty minutes, and the only seat left was next to this old lady who kept trying to pinch my cheeks. Hey, this place is cool!" she exclaimed, looking around wide-eyed.
Before he could reply, the buzzing of Berto's machine switched off, and he was quickly finishing with his current client.
"Vince, good to see you again! I'll be with you in just minute," Berto said, smiling. He was a big guy, bigger than Vince, with a shaved head and a long goatee, tattoos covering him from his neck to his hands. He was the owner of the Pin-up Parlour, and his specialty was, obviously, pin-ups, but he was talented in other styles too, otherwise Vince wouldn't come to him.
They sat down to wait, and Vince caught Rae staring at the only other artist currently working. She was about thirty-five, tattoos completely covering her arms and hands, completely rocker chick. A thought struck him.
"You get a pair of those," he said, referring to the arm-warmers the woman was wearing. "Y'know, to cover your arms."
She looked at him a moment, and he worried she'd taken offense. He tried on a regular basis to piss her off, but he never bought up anything to do with her parents. He was honestly trying to be nice. He had no clue why. After a moment, she nodded.
"That's a good idea, Vince."
He shrugged. "Don't sound to surprised. I'm not an idiot, y'know." She surprised him completely by giving him one of her rare, full-voltage smiles. He'd seen them before, usually directed towards Mia or Jesse, but it was the first time he had been on the receiving end. It was kind of freaking him out, being almost friendly with Rae.
Before he could freak out too much, Berto came over, ready to get started. "Who's your friend?" he asked, giving Rae a smile.
"Rae, she lives with the Toretto's too. I got stuck babysitting."
Berto gave him a strange look, as though he was crazy, but turned back to Rae. Vince felt her move closer to him and felt her grip the back of his vest. He looked down to see her staring at Berto, her eyes wide. Before he could ask her what was wrong, Berto took a step back and smiled at her reassuringly.
"Do you want to watch me work? I don't mind."
Vince looked down at Rae, bewildered, watching as she struggled against her curiosity. She moved with him as he walked over to the chair, her hand still holding his clothes. Berto was still talking.
"I'm gonna transfer the design to his arm, like a fake tattoo, y'know? Then I'll use this machine," he said, tapping the gun with his finger, "to draw the outline on Vince's arm. That'll be all today, but the next time he comes in I'll do shading, then after that, the color."
Vince had no clue what he was doing, but Rae was slowly moving forward, peering at the transfer Berto had in his hand.
"Wow," she whispered, "that's beautiful!"
"Thanks," Berto said, grinning. Rae gave him a shy smile. He pulled up one of the spare stools. "Here, you can sit here, get a good view."
She sat down obediently; watching in fascination as Berto applied the design, then jumped a little as he started the machine. She leaned close as he felt the needle bite into his skin. He breathed through the pain, watching her face as she stared in wonder, he had no fucking clue what was going on with her today.
After a few minutes he turned to her. "Ain't you s'posed to be getting your hair done?"
She shot a pained look at the clock, looking almost panicked. "Don't worry," Berto said, stopping for a moment, "We'll still be at it when you get back."
She gave him a grateful smile before rushing out. As he turned back to Vince's arm, he remarked, "She's a skittish one, ain't she? I wonder what all that's about."
Rae swiped self-consciously at the hair that kept falling in her face, not sure about her look. She had just wanted it shorter, so it didn't take hours to wash and comb through, but the hairdresser had insisted that she needed some shape around the face, so now she had some annoyingly short bits that kept falling out of her ponytail.
Vince was going to laugh, she just knewit. She made her way back into Berto's shop, once again hit by the variety of shapes and colors that graced the walls. True to his word, Berto was still hard at work on Vince's arm, the tattoo gun still buzzing away.
She had been painfully frightened of Berto the first time she had seen him. He was bigger even that Tony, and was fairly intimidating with the biker look and the many tattoos, but he'd turned out to be a nice guy. She knew inside that Tony, hell even Vince would never let her near a guy they though would hurt her. But when she encountered someone like him, someone that any normal person would find a little intimidating, she freaked out.
Before moving back to watch them, she took a moment to look closer at the photos on the walls. Intricate Japanese designs were next to grinning Mexican skulls; scantily clad pin-ups (which made Rae blush) were posed next to amazingly life-like portraits. Bright colors contrasted with beautiful greyscale. She was mesmerised.
"Ah, Rapunzel is back!" Berto said, raising his head momentarily to grin at her before bending back to work on Vince's arm.
"Is it shorter?" Vince asked, craning his neck to see.
"Yes," she sighed, and sat down next to Berto.
"What's this?" Vince asked, grabbing at a chuck of hair that kept falling in her face.
"Hold still!" Berto muttered as Rae jerked out of Vince's hold.
"Shorter hair, as ordered," she replied caustically. "What, you think it should be shorter? Maybe I should just get it shaved off, then at least I'd blend in with Tony and Dom."
Berto snorted, half at what she said, and half at Vince's face as he obviously tried to avoid the mental picture.
"Fine," Vince grumbled settling back into the chair, his arm seriously throbbing.
"Fine," Rae mimicked, folding her arms over her chest with a similar surly look.
Neither of them noticed the small smile playing on Berto's face.
"Letty, slow down!"
"What?" she mumbled, not hearing.
"Slow down!" he repeated, his voice desperate.
They had been dating for months and while she appreciated Dom's chivalry in not pushing her, she wanted to have sex with him now. She'd even brought condoms.
"I don't want to," she replied clearly, still trying to get his shirt off over his head.
"Baby, we've got a couple hours yet, we don't need to go this fast," he soothed between kisses, his hands on her hips as she straddled him, bending low to avoid hitting her head on the roof of his car.
"Maybe I don't want to do what we always do," she said softly, pulling back to look in his eyes.
They had danced around the issue, Dom giving up his normal player ways to stay with her, much to the jealousy and disappointment of the local female population. She tried to keep him happy by using her hands and her mouth to get him off, and he was more than happy to repay the favour, but neither of them was expecting her to be the first one to break.
But there was no mistaking her intention. "Letty, I don't think that's a good idea."
"Why? We've been going out for three months. On our first date, I dry-humped you at the cinema. If you were anyone else, you'd have been pushing for it months ago. Hell, you ain't exactly Mr. Chastity. Why is this so different?"
"You're sixteen, for one thing," he replied, grinning at her description of him.
"And what, you want to wait a year and a half? Fuck that! I'm finding me a guy who wants it now!" she joked, pretending to leave.
He pulled her back before she could reach the handle of the back door. "You're a virgin," he added quietly, wrapping his arms around her.
"Yeah, and I want you to be my first," she countered, willing him to see that it wasn't some spur-of-the-moment decision.
He groaned at the look in her eyes and pulled her close, placing a passion-filled kiss on her lips. He pulled a breath and pulled out in last card. "Your first time shouldn't be in the back of a car."
Who was he kidding? This was Letty. It probably turned her on.
She gasped as she lowered herself onto him, feeling her hymen break with sharp pain before it was replaced by an overwhelming burning feeling. He held her steady, his ragged breathing matching her own as they both got used to the feel of each other.
"So tight," Dom rumbled, send shocks through her.
"That's good, right?" Letty asked, her hands gripping his bare shoulders as the burning gradually faded, leaving her feeling deliciously full.
He could only groan his reply as she slowly lifted herself up, watching his face closely before dropping back down, her eyes fluttering shut at the feel of him moving inside.
She began to move above him, her hips rolling against him, his hands guiding her before he lost control and gripped her waist as he thrust up into her, harder, faster. Soon, she was gasping in his ear, feeling the now-familiar pleasure building in her, only a thousand times better now that he was actually inside her.
"Dom…" she cried, the world shattering around her. He pulled her close and groaned loudly, his climax brought on by the feel of her body clenching rhythmically around him.
They sat like that, catching their breath, scattering distracted kisses on whatever bare skin they could reach. He wrapped his big arms around her, making her feel so loved, even if they'd never said the words.
"You okay, baby?"
"Mmmm," she mumbled, feeling his body rumble with laughter a second later.
For once, Letty didn't resent his vast experience with women, grateful for having such a thoroughly enjoyable first time. She sighed, knowing that soon she'd have to get back to her bitter Abulea, happy to enjoy her stolen hours with her forbidden boyfriend.
Rae became a regular at the parlour, bugging Vince into taking her back for the rest of his work. He still complained constantly, but somehow found himself taking her with him every time. Berto certainly didn't mind, he proclaimed that her visits were the highlight of his day.
It felt weird at first, having her stare at him so intently, but he soon got used to it, and by the end, he didn't mind at all, though he wouldn't admit it to anyone. He noticed that she'd taken his advice, buying a pair of long gloves with cut-off fingers that went half-way up her upper arms, covering her scars. She'd taken to wearing tank tops in the heat, and had gotten hold of some black cargo pants, and while she was still not dressing to impress, she had a certain style now. One that said 'look at me too long and I'll kick your ass'.
She sulked for a week when his ink was finished. She tried to find out none-too-subtly if he was planning on getting more done. She'd sulked for another week when he'd said that he wasn't soon, and even if he were, he wouldn't bring her along.
But as much as she irritated him, he had to admit she was devious. She slowly convinced Mia that it was time they both go their ears pierced, and Mia had, in turn, convinced Tony. Letty had convinced Dom to drive them all, but much to Rae's disappointment, they had to leave almost immediately after, when Mia took one look at the machine and nearly passed out.
After that, she usually went there about once a month, either talking someone into giving her a ride or by taking three buses to get to the other side of town. Tony didn't get any angry calls from Berto, so it would seem she was welcome.
Honestly, he didn't know how the guy put up with her. He certainly couldn't, she followed him around all the time. If it had been anyone else he would have suspected that she had a crush on him, but he knew that since it was Rae, it was just her latest plan to drive him crazy.
