Some old Volkwagen*Fast and Furious*

Chapter 6 - Going Crazy, Part 2

"I don't know what you're worrying about," Betty laughed. "I mean, you will have gotten into bed somehow or you wouldn't have woken up in it." - Nelly nodded and added - when she realised Betty couldn't have seen the nod at the other end of the line: "I know, but usually, I remember. I can't really have blacked out, I didn't drink much." - For a few seconds, Betty didn't say anything. Then she slowly began: "You know - I'm just trying to figure out why this is bothering you so much. So let me have a guess... You can't remember getting into bed, and normally you know where you've fallen asleep when you wake up. Today, though, you can only remember being in the armchair. So perhaps... you've fallen asleep in the armchair. Mia can't have you carried up to your room, and now you're wondering who it might have been, am I right?" - Nelly said yes, even though she knew who it was, if she indeed had fallen asleep in the living room. - "You said Mia's brother had thrown the house party? - So my best guess is it must have been him, after all the other guests had departed." - Well yes, of course it had been Dom. - "And now tell me: why is that so terrible? Is he good looking?" - Nelly sighed. "He is. And that's about the whole problem. I just wish he'd woken me, now I feel... kinda stupid." She bit her lip, trying to find the right words to explain it to Betty. "You know, I don't want him to see me like a baby-girl who fell asleep before the end of the party and that had to be brought to bed." - "Well, what do you want him to see you as?" - Nelly tried to figure out whether Betty's tone was mocking, but she didn't think so. "I don't know. Nothing." - "I see," Betty said after a while, even though Nelly didn't know what there was to see. - "Let's talk about nicer things. When are you coming over to stay?" - Nelly screwed up her forehead. "After I've handed in my assignment? Meaning in about two weeks' time?" - "Sounds good! - But you won't be sitting at your desk all day long till then, will you? - Promise!" - Nelly smiled. "I won't. The day after tomorrow, for example, we'll be going down to the coast." - "Oh wow, I'm jealous! Where are you going?" - "To Long Beach. They said the weather will be really good there." - "Oh yeah. We're having one hell of a summer, right? - Even for LA-standards."

Nelly agreed - she was sitting at the desk in her room, wearing nothing but her bra and panties. It was late afternoon and Nelly was proud to say she'd made huge progress with her assignment in the morning, despite her lack of sleep. She was actually really looking forward to staying with her sister because she was planning to tell her everything then: about the races and all. She didn't really feel like explaining it on the phone - Betty wouldn't like it when she found out Nelly had done something almost-illegal. And she'd want to know all about Dom and how he'd suddenly reappeared and was now sleeping on the couch... Probably, her sister would be sulky as well for not being told sooner, since up to now all Betty knew was that Mia did have a brother and that last night, he'd thrown a house-party in their house with Mia's and Nelly's permission.

When Nelly had finished talking to her sister and put something light on to wear, Mia knocked and came in to plan what they wanted to take with them to the coast: they both agreed that planning a trip was almost as much fun as finally going on it. After only a few minutes, though, Mia yawned. "Man, I wish Dom would've let me sleep on the couch," she grumbled. "But no, he had to wake me to go upstairs. He could've used my bed, I wouldn't have minded." - "You fell asleep too?!" - Mia chuckled. "Yes, I almost always do on racing-parties. They're just so long. Usually, it's only Vince and Dom who are awake till the end and doing all the cleaning up. It's really useful, actually, to not have to deal with the mess in the morning. But then I always let Dom sleep in as long as he wants and prepare him something to eat when he's awake, so to my mind, we're even." She smirked. "By the way, I asked Dom when you went to bed last night - you seemed to be so shocked this morning when you didn't remember." - Nelly grinned and tried to laugh it off while listening intently. - "He said when you went to bed exactly when I did. He said when he woke me, you woke up, too, and that you went to bed then." - "Alright, thanks." Nelly felt the relief flooding through her. Relief and... perhaps a tiny, tiny bit of disappointment. In her mind, Nelly slapped herself. First she spent the whole morning and early afternoon fretting and whining because Dom had carried her into her bed, and now she felt sort of disappointed he hadn't?! Great, now she was going crazy.

The rumbling of the tractor's motor felt as if someone was constantly hammering on Nelly's head. For some reason, the after-party headache had come one day late and now she was trying to cope with the nagging pain and a trailer full of bales of hay. Suddenly, a fair-haired head appeared in front of her vehicle and Nelly managed to brake just in time. Forgetting her headache for a moment, she jumped off the tractor, already shouting: "Tanner, are you out of your mind?" - He put both his hand into the air. "I'm sorry, I didn't watch out." - Nelly crossed her arms. "I sure noticed you didn't." She wiped her forehead. "Don't get yourself killed, please, I can't handle that today," she added with a grin. He grinned back, then frowned. "You okay?" - "Yeah, just a headache." - Tanner laughed at her. "You should know better than to go out before a day of work!" - Nelly stuck out her tongue at him. "I didn't go out. The party was the day before yesterday; I shouldn't have a headache today. I don't know what caused it." - Tanner lifted his chin. "The races-party was the day before yesterday?" - Nelly nodded, unable to suppress a smile. - "I suppose it was good, then?" - "It was. My flatmate's brother did even win; it was a great night. And tomorrow, we'll be going to Long Beach." - "Glad for you," he said with a somewhat faded grin. Now it was Nelly's turn to frown. "What have you been doing all week?" she tried to somewhat lighten the mood again. It seemed to have the contrary effect, though, since Tanner merely shrugged. "I... Natasha and I have decided to put our relationship on halt for a bit." - "Oh." Nelly couldn't think of anything more clever to say. "I'm sorry... But I'm sure the two of you will work it out eventually," she added cheerfully. Tanner had brought Natasha to work once, and even though Nelly hadn't really liked her at the time, looking back she now realised the girl hadn't been too bad. She deserved a second chance with Tanner. - "Do you think so?" Tanner sounded doubtful. She nodded. "Sure." - "You know, the problem is - at the moment I'm not even sure I want to put any more effort in it. I'm not sure I still want to work it out. Sometimes one just... gets the feeling that a thing is over. You know?" - Nelly sighed sadly. "This is your decision. I think I know what you mean - but just wait until the end of your relationship-break. By then you'll have noticed whether you miss her or not."

"Have a drink." Dom put a glass of water into Nelly's hand. "Thanks." She took a zip and swallowed a headache pill, hoping it would make her migraine go away: during her day of work the headache had just been getting worse and in the end, Nelly had decided to finish early. This was also the reason why Mia wasn't at home yet, she'd gone out shopping. When Nelly had parked her little Volkswagen in front of the house, Mia's car had still been gone, but Dom had been standing in the driveway, giving his car an after-race check-up. "How's your head?" he'd asked as soon as Nelly had come into earshot. Her pulling a face when stepping into the bright sunlight seemed to be serving as an answer and Dom had gone inside to fetch Nelly a glass of water and a pill.

She sat down on the steps of the front porch and held the cool glass at her pounding head. Nelly felt that Dom was watching her, but she just closed her eyes and enjoyed the coolness on her forehead. - "You could go inside, you know. It's cooler in there," Dom stated after a while. Nelly just shook her head; she didn't want to move right now. "I'm fine here. I'm sure the pill will start working soon." Nelly sighed. "I hate migraine." - Suddenly, Dom chuckled. Nelly's eyes flew open and she scowled at him. "It's not funny." - He continued grinning. "I know, I don't like it either." He offered her his hand to help her getting up. "I'll get your mind off it. Usually, distraction helps to forget the pain." - Nelly hesitantly took his hand and Dom pulled her up with so much force she was doing a little jump afterwards. When the world had stopped spinning, Nelly found herself closer to him than she'd ever been: she could smell his aftershave mixed with sweat and summer air, his body seemed to be radiating heat from working in the sun all afternoon. Mia would be back in about half an hour and Nelly wasn't wrong when she suspected that just watching Dom would probably be enough to take her mind off her migraine. Breaking the awkward silence, Nelly asked: "What are we going to do?" - Dom grinned. "Follow me. I'll show you."