Some old Volkwagen*Fast and Furious*

Chapter 8 - Not a Real Car, Part 2

By the time Nelly'd had a shower and was going back downstairs with her hair still damp, Vince had departed. Dom and Mia were talking in the kitchen and Nelly couldn't help overhearing them - well, she could've helped it, but as soon as the name "Tanner" fell, she stayed where she was and listened shamelessly. It would be interesting to find out what they were really thinking of her colleague. Mia was talking. "Come on, Dom. The type of car one is driving does not determine one's personality." - Well, hopefully not , Nelly thought with her old VW in mind. - "No, but I still don't think I could be friends with him. What are you scowling at me? Do you like him?" - Nelly could almost see Mia in front of her, with arms crossed and frowning angrily. - "Yes I did. I asked Nelly whether she could ask him to stay. No - I can meet with whoever I want, remember that, don't... Besides, I don't think you have to be scared, he talked to Nelly just as much as he talked to me. And if he did talk to me more, that's because he doesn't know me as well as Nelly." - Dom grunted. "I know one thing, and that is that Tanner didn't sit with us because of Vince and me, and neither because he wanted to have a sophisticated chat."

Nelly decided it was time to disturb the oncoming argument, so she stepped back a few metres and started walking in a determined manner, bursting through the door into the kitchen. She feigned surprise when seeing the startled looks of her housemates and looked from one to the other. "I'm sorry - am I interrupting something?" - Mia shook her head wildly, glaring at Dom. "Oh no, come inside, we were just thinking about what to have for dinner."

In the end they decided to only make a few sandwiches, but they weren't talking much all night. As soon as they had cleaned the dishes, Nelly announced she was tired and wanted to go to bed. She was tired, but she couldn't go to bed yet, her assignment was still waiting. Yet Nelly wanted to give Mia and Dom some more room to talk if they wanted to - but she wasn't too keen on listening in this time. She didn't even know whom to side with: of course Dom was only being protective over Mia, but then Mia was indeed a grown-up and she could choose her own friends. Dom had left her on her own for a whole year where Mia had been doing exactly this: choosing for herself. Also, Nelly didn't quite see while Tanner was such a bad choice in Dom's eyes. But then he was probably just being the big brother in whose eyes no one could ever be good enough for his little sister.

When Nelly finally realised she was doing more harm than good to her assignment, she grabbed one of her favourite books and snuggled into bed, trying to get her mind off Dom and Tanner and everyone. It was about time she visited Betty. It was about time she had someone to talk to - things were definitely getting far more complicated than she'd bargained for.

Dom was sitting on the couch that had been his bed for quite a while now. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but usually he was tired enough to not really mind where he was sleeping - besides, he'd slept in way worse places. It wasn't the couch that was keeping him awake. The argument with Mia circled in his head, he was restless. He hadn't minded Tanner while they'd been at the beach, he seemed simple-minded enough, and he had been good for him and Vince to have a laugh. But now it seemed with every minute Dom found he liked him less. He didn't want Mia to make another experience similar to the Brian-affair-thing. Mia had said Tanner had talked to Nelly just as much - which wasn't true, since half of the time, Nelly hadn't even sat near Tanner. But then, he'd looked at her alright. For some reason, Dom didn't like that, either. Nelly wasn't his sister, so it really wasn't his business... but in a way it was. He felt it was. Somehow. Well, she was part of the family now. Dom really felt like punching someone - straight into the face so he could hear their nose crunch. Dom tried to get his mind off it by remembering the good parts of the day. The ice-cream. He sighed. He didn't even remember what flavour he'd chosen. There must've been more important things on his mind.