Just Checkin It Out (open)

[Dominic]

Dominic had time to kill and figured he ought to go and check out the new school he would be attending. He slowly swung his Audii R8 into the lot and found a parking spot. He got out and locked his little bambino twice and headed across the parking lot.

"Il area scolastica es molto... bello," said Dom.

He was beginning to see the differences between European schools and American schools. This school was not built to be appealing to the eyes, straight up function was its goal. Granted most European schools were built in the 1800s or earlier so everything was art.

"Sgorgare," he said to himself, "qui andare nada!" Dominic stepped onto the campus and began to walk. He figured he would just wander.

[Tash]

So today was turning out to be a pretty good day. She'd gotten back an essay in British Literature and gotten an A- on it, and her Pre Calc class had ended half an hour early because the teacher had to pick his wife up from the airport or some such. Tash meandered down the hall with a bounce in her step, her big messenger bag slung over her shoulder and her iPod injecting the blessed sounds of Red Hot Chili Peppers into her ears while on the way to the parking lot. About halfway there she noticed the lace on one of her converse had come loose and was peeking out from beneath the dragging hem of her baggy black cargo pants with their low slung waistband.

She wrinkled her nose and dipped down to tie the renegade lace, only to notice that she had a lovely wad of mint green gum fixed to the bottom of her shoe. Tash wrinkled her button nose and concentrated all her energy on scraping the lump of yuck from the sole of her shoe. It was just about as stubborn as she was and it was a good four minutes before she managed to vanquish the foul lump of xylitol and gum base and flung it far down the hall. Thank God for small miracles - it didn't stick to her finger. She bounced up onto the balls of her feet, whirling around and coming face to face - well face to chest - with a tall guy who definitely hadn't been there when she left her math class and who had probably entered the hall while she was focused on her anti gum crusade.

"Merda!"

She yelped and spun out of the way, narrowly missing colliding with the stranger's lanky frame. That was a close one. So close in fact she could smell his cologne. The familiar scent of Pino Silvestre.....

Her eyes flew wide open and she snapped her head around. It took a second before her eyes registered the tall young man fully. He was dressed in dark jeans and a black shirt. Long arms, long legs, strong wide shoulders, olive skin and a head of messy Mediterranean curls. A white gold ring on a chain around his neck, hazel eyes with thick lashes and a bit of a Sly Stallone tilt to them. Italian leather dress shoes. The smell of summer. Italian sun. Horses and the scent of crushed grapes. And Pino Silvestre.


"Domino?" Her husky voice is sweet and tumbling with incredulity as her big green eyes scan over the boy again and again. Wondering. Remembering. Home made penne, sun flowers, sparring sessions, Palermo harbor by dingy, pranks on the family, horseback riding, the barn. And Pino Silvestre.

[Dominic]

He had finally found a door leading indoors. The school was way more complex than it looked from the outside. He was making his way down the hall when he noticed a young woman attempting to remove something gooey from her shoes. He figured he would be a gentleman and help her.

"Hello miss," he said to the young woman's back. No response.

Then he noticed the tattoos and the earbuds. He knew this girl. She was the real reason he came to the states and there she was getting gum off her shoe.

Suddenly she was up and turning around, literally into him.

"oop! Mi rincrese," blurted Dom.

At first she turned and started to walk away. Dom knew how she worked though, so he waited for it to click. Seconds later she was back facing him with wide eyes calling him by the name only she used for him, Domino.

"Salve bambina! Long time no see mi ameci," Dom said with a wink and a smile.

[Tash]

That smile. God, she'd missed that smile! And his rough voice with its softly rolling Italian accent. She'd missed his voice, too. It always surprised her, every summer how much she missed him. Her family too, but Dominic in particular. He was her best friend, her confidante, her.....well. Never mind that. Neither of them were really sure what to call what they had but it didn't bother them all that much. Suffice it to say they were important to each other. She had thought it would be months before she got to see him again, and now here he was.

It wasn't as though his visit was a complete surprise. He had sent her a letter, but she hadn't expected him to show up so soon or so unannounced. And at Moral Crest of all places! What was he doing here? Sure there were some good people at 42, but overall it was a pretty sketchy place. She felt a sudden and unexpected surge of protectiveness and almost laughed aloud. Dominic could take care of himself. But still....she was going all mama bear for no reason.


"Domino! Che cosa state facendo qui così presto? I didn't think you'd be here for another few weeks, not gonna lie. This is a pretty awesome surprise visit big guy. Got anything else up your sleeve?"

[Dominic]

"You always were a perceptive you woman Tash. Si, I do have something up my sleeve," Dom said as he pulled some Italian grown weed from inside his pants pocket.

He hated the smell and habit of weed but he knew how much she liked it so he was willing turn a blind eye. This he knew she would love.

"Straight vaso, straight from Italia, quiamo Tash," he said with another wink.

[Tash]

She laughed. He was too much. This was why she missed him. Not the free pot necessarily, but the little things. He was a guy who cared about the little things. He held it out to her and her eyes darted around the hall and she stepped nonchalantly to his side.

"Angelo. Siete un angelo assoluto. But they even put angels in jail in America. Put that away. I'll get my paws on it later." Tash tucks the little bag discreetly into his waistband as she stretches herself up to give him a hug, loving the familiar way she knew he'd hold her back. It was sad, come to think of it, she hadn't had a decent hug since she had arrived. There was just no one she was that close to.

"I missed you!" She said, her face buried in the side of his neck. Add in an extra squeeze for good measure. "Where are you staying, Domino? You need a ride. You'll finally get to meet Bambino." A little smile lights up her face and she glances at him expectantly. This is Christmas come early for her.

[Dominic]

"I have my own bambino amo, but thank you. Want to come back to my shack and retrieve your present?", Dom said sticking out his tongue.

He knew she would probably laugh, it was who she was, but he was serious. In the past few months he had realized something, he loved her. He would leave the pursuit of that till later however.

"I bet my bambino has the better engine madame," he said grabbing her knee right where she was ticklish.

[Tash]

"You have your....."She smacks him lightly on the shoulder, squinting one eye at him. How could he have his car here, have a place of his own unless.... "Dominic Andretti, what haven't you told me about this little visit?"

Tash gives a little chuckle, shaking her head and then yelping as he manages to grab a hold of her knee. "Stopit stopit! You're trying to distract me. What's going on here?! What's with the car and the place, which, yes, I'd like to go see."

He makes a remark about her car and she gasps exaggeratedly, giving him a little shove. No one insulted her Bambino and got away with it.

"V8 Quad Turbo, Domino. I'm allowed to be proud, my baby's a classic!"

She turns to head back to the parking lot, throwing him a glance over her shoulder and pulling a little self consciously at the thin white wife beater she wore, which was stubbornly refusing to cover her belly button. Tash gives him a little smile, one that reached her luminous green eyes. She noticed the pet names, the ones he never called her in front of family - ones he used to toss out once in a blue moon. That was new. That was very new, and she wondered what was up. But she wasn't going to complain, she had to admit, she kind of liked it.

"So lead me to this remarkable bachelor pad and tell me what's really going on here, handsome. Mmkay? If you're nice I might make you dinner."

[Dominic]

"Speaking of dinner, you are going to love the kitchen," Dom said to the still astonished Tash as he followed her out to the parking lot.

Dom had never seen Tash so nervous. He knew that she had noticed the pet names he could now throw out to her openly. The parents back home would not approve of that type of intimacy without a reason. Well, he had held them in long enough and ready to use them every time he opened his mouth.

"Okay bud lets see this auto del bellisimo of yours," as he reached for her hand.

He had gone over this in his head a billion times how he would do it. This was not one of those billion he had rehearsed. He had no idea how she would react. To be honest he was nervous and a little scared. He figured that the positive response to seeing his place had given him this new found strength.

"I'm not telling you my secret till he have a bottle of wine and two glasses between us m'dear," he said with a wink.

[Tash]

"Okay bud lets see this auto del bellisimo of yours,"

Then he reached out and caught her hand. She was no stranger to the feel of his skin. They had grown up together, played together, grappled together, ridden horses, pressed grapes, gotten their tattoos together. She knew the feel of his skin, she was used to it. But this, this was different.

"You brought some of your merlot?" She managed before his fingers twined themselves about hers.

He was being so forward - for years there had been the suggestion of this, from both of them, but he had never acted on it. They had been content with it. Really, she thought, she should have expected this. But for some reason it hadn't occurred to her and now she was floored. He'd taken her hand, reached out and covered her hand in his like he'd been doing it all his life. She felt a little tongue of fire light in the pit of her stomach, and she stopped in her tracks her eyes meeting his for a good half a minute. Why him holding her hand was making her lose sensation in her legs, she didn't know. Why that hand was giving her trouble breathing she didn't know either. And that smile, good God that smart ass smile. It set a flock of little firebirds free in her guts that flew up and battered at her heart with their warm warm wings.

Faintly as if from a distance, she remembers that they have two cars here. It occurs to her that she should respond... "Which - which car? And do you want to drive?"

[Dominic]

Dom could tell that Tash felt the same thing he was. That warm sensation in his stomach. He couldn't believe he had finally grown the balls to hold her hand. He figured he had better let he know how he felt over the glass of wine as well. He was happier than ever.

"Bambina I had better drive you don't look like you have it in you," he said jokingly.

He knew that Tash knew he felt it too, she always knew. However, he figured it would be better if he drove, this was sort of their first date, although he knew neither of them would call it that, ever. In all honesty though thats what this was.

"Dios mio! If our brothers knew... or our mothers," Dom said this laughing, which wasnt typically his manner.

He suddenly remember she had asked him something but he, of course couldn't remember what it was... oh the wine dealy.

"Yes compare, I can get your pot into the country do you honestly think i didn't bring some of the family stock with me?", he said smiling.

Still holding Tash's small and beautiful hand in his he gave it a gentle tug. He was hoping to get her to the car before he had to carry her.

"Come on you," he said to her.

[Tash]

Ordinarily, she'd have argued. Said something snarky. Made a quick and witty come back. But the look in his eyes mirrored hers - she knew it - and so she didn't fight back.

She's still looking at him, marveling at the fact that it seems he cares about her the way she's finally starting to admit to herself that she cares about him. An absentminded little smile crosses her face when he mentions the wine. Her mind is still whirling from the seemingly small but very significant development and as she's trying to wrap her mind around it, she hears him laugh. It's not something he does in public that often and she loves hearing it.

It's the laughter that compels her to move, that wakes her back up and gets her moving towards the cars again. She doesn't think about it consciously, but she doesn't let go of his hand as he walks, playing with his fingers. Then she looks up at him, green eyes luminous and a little smile hovering about her full lips.


"Domino, you've got a lot of explaining to do."

[Dominic]

"Yes I do bambina, I have quite a lot to explain, but we will get to that back at my place. How are you? I hear nothing from you except merry christmas," he said.

He was fishing. He finally got the courage to hold her hand like this and now he had no idea what to say. She was his oldest friend, he could say anything, but nothing came to him. He went for the generic and the mundane. He knew Tash would notice, hopefully she wouldn't call him on it.

Dom was glad he had grabbed her hand, but now he was at a loss for what to say. He was stammering for words. God she looked good was all he could keep thinking to himself, and then it slipped out...

"Jesus Cristo you look malto bellisimo Natasha".

[Tash]

"Mi scuso, Domino. I've just been so goddamn busy. I work at a little tea shop a few minutes away when I'm not at school, most times. Pays for mio Bambino."
She laughed and tugged at his hand, giving him a crooked little smile from the corner of her mouth and blushing a little. Guys never made her blush. And here she was, barely able to meet the eyes of a boy she'd known her whole life, her cheeks tickling and hot.
"Oh, silenzio, voi! Non sono dea, quit looking at me como sono un certo Atena, hm?
That look was too much for her, it was so different than anything she'd ever experienced. She'd been looked at by guys before. Tash supposed in an off hand sort of way that she was pretty. It wasn't as though she didn't know what a guy was thinking when he gave her a certain kind of look. Oh, she knew well enough but Dominic had always been there in the back of her head so the looks and the come on's from other guys had just bounced right off. But with Dom...there was something about this guy she'd known her whole life that was somehow making her feel things no one else she'd ever met had managed to evoke in her.

She stopped him, pulling gently on his hand and turning to face him, giving him a second gentle hug, their bodies aligning. Through his shirt, she could feel his chest rise and fall and the warmth of his skin. Her face close to his, cheeks pressed softly together, she murmurs in his ear.

"Oh, my Domino, we have a lot to talk about."

[Dominic]

"Yes we do, and to answer your question my car," Dom said with a smile.

Finally, this is happening. After all these years finally this was happening. He had felt it but had never acted on it. He had no idea why they were so nervous about saying it. It was a mystery even they didnt have the answer for. Dom was happy with the way things were turning out.

"So Tash, mi amore, what do you want for dinner?"