A/N: It seems like all my first chapters are really short. HAHA, oh well. Anyways, I finally figured out the direction I want to go with this fic. I've been sitting on this chapter because I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with it. But I plan for it to be a multi-chapter before FF1. Basically another story on how Dom and Letty get together. Like I mentioned in 'Notch', this was inspired by the meeting between Dom and Letty after the race in FF6. He had mentioned a scar that sparked their first meeting.

Thanks again to mysteriesabound1 for beta-ing. Enjoy!

The Price of Showing Off

Letty gritted her teeth and cursed under her breath. The needle went through her skin adding in another stitch. The nurse that was sewing her arm gave the girl a quick glance before looking back down and finishing her work.

'Fucking bastard,' she thought to herself as she recalled the memories of what brought her there. Leticia Ortiz was new in town. She was originally from Texas, and relocated to her Aunt and cousins' home. The fifteen year old girl's family life had recently raised questions, and instead of going into foster care, she was sent to California to live with her mom's sister.

It was late September. The school year was just starting when Letty came from Texas, but she found a rhythm pretty quickly in the month since her arrival. Her cousins, Diego and Gwen, were a big help. Letty found herself gravitating more towards Diego. He was similar to her. He liked cars, scary movies, and didn't bullshit. So naturally, she chose to hang out with him and his crew more often than she would hang out with Gwen. She and Letty were complete opposites. Gwen worried about her looks and her clothes. If high-schools had majors, her's would be boys. But Letty couldn't ignore her completely, so she would go to parties with her, on occasion, to please her aunt.

The reason why she was in the hospital getting her arm stitched up, was because of a street race. Diego and his friends had invited her to go see one the first week she arrived and Leticia loved it. The whole thing was incredible and exhilarating. Everything was strictly about cars and showing the other person up. Fucking amazing.

Diego and some of his friends raced a few times when she was there and Letty always wanted to try her hand at a race. The problem, was that she didn't have a car or a license, she WAS just fifteen. So it took a few weeks of begging Diego to borrow his Nissan 240SX. Diego finally gave in once she proved that she could drive and handed her the keys to his baby.

So, at the next race she put in her wager with four other racers, ignored the many cat-calls and got into the car. The race had been going pretty well, until a driver in a red Mazda RX7 slammed into her car and pushed her into the cliff-face. Fiber glass from the right passenger-side mirror shattered on her face and she felt a burn along her arm, close to the underside of her wrist. From that point, everything had been a blur, she wasn't far from the finishing line and finished fourth place.

The Mazda was a little dented up, but Diego's Nissan looked like it lost a fight. Once Letty stopped, she dizzyingly got out of the car and would've collapsed if not for an unknown guy catching her. She tried to struggle in the strangers arms, but ended up taking them both to the ground. Her vision had been coming in and out, her head lolled back as her eyes rolled to the back of her head.

"Cool down Mami," she heard a voice say above her. "You did good. You're safe."

Letty remembered fighting not to pass out. She blinked rapidly as she tried to focus on what was happening around her. Letty saw Diego arguing with a taller, bigger guy, with short curly hair. Fuck, he was going to get beat up because of her. The Latina sat up with the help of the stranger, she turned to him to see his face.

"You're okay," he assured her.

Letty blinked rapidly as she focused on his face. The guy had slick back brown hair, hazel eyes and a goatee with a toothpick in his mouth.

"Who the hell are you?" She managed to get out.

The guy let out a small laugh. "My names Leon," he answered. "And you, you are one tough chick."

Letty just blinked at his comment before looking down at her burning arm. Her senses were becoming clearer, but she still felt sluggish.

"Fuck," she said gazing at the gash on her arm. "No wonder I'm about to pass out."

Leon seemed to suddenly realize that she was bleeding. Letty heard him yelling at Diego and the other guy as he held out her wounded arm. Her focus blurred, and suddenly Diego was in her face looking at Letty with concern. She could hear him talk but couldn't process the words. Her body was suddenly hauled up from Leon's arms. There was another voice from behind her yelling and suddenly she was grabbed and lifted into another person's arms.

Her head rested on a muscular chest. She smelled a hint of cologne and rolled her head back exposing her neck. She opened her eyes to see the guy that was arguing with Diego holding her. She saw him look down at her before blacking out.

Next time she woke up, Letty was sitting in a hospital bed with a woman sewing her arm closed. Diego had been in and out of her room ever since.

"Looks like we're all done," the nurse said wrapping the arm up with a bandage.

Letty nodded as the nurse secured the bandaged with a silver holder. "Thanks," she said quietly.

"Next time try to wear protection when you're riding your cousin's motorbike," the nurse continued. "The stitches should dissolve in a week, and try not to put any strain or weight on it. Make sure to change the dressing on your bandage every day."

Letty hid her surprised at the explanation on why she was injured, but nodded to not cause suspicion.

"Also, we need your parent or guardian to come and pick you up and sign the release papers." The woman added before going to a cabinet and getting out extra gauze and bandages. "Take these with you." The nurse left a few minutes later and Letty quickly hopped off the bed, grabbed the supplies and exited to the lobby. There was no way in hell that she was going to tell her Aunt about this.

Letty quickly passed the lobby and saw Diego waiting for her on the bench. He had the same idea as she, and they both walked quickly out the building to his wrecked Nissan. The younger girl couldn't help but bite her lip as she assessed the damage. The car's entire right side looked like it scraped against a rough surface. The passenger door was dented in with paint scraped deep enough to show the metal underneath. They both got in quickly and drove off into the night.

"Look, Diego, sorry about your car, man-"

"No, Let, it's cool. I know it wasn't your fault. I heard about what happened out there." He said cutting her off.

Letty rubbed her eyes, she was feeling exhausting from the night ordeal. "I'll help you pay for it."

Diego laughed as he slowed the speed of the car when they hit the residential area of their neighborhood. On the way, they drove past a white house with blasting music coming from it and loud laughter. Diego frowned as they passed.

"Cocky bastard," he murmured under his breath.

Letty glanced at the house. "Whoa, who?" She asked looking at him curiously.

Diego nudged his head to the house as they passed. "That asshole Dominic Toretto," he began, "He's the one that ran into you."

Letty frowned as the car turned the corner to their home. She couldn't really picture his face, but she heard things about him through the racing circuit. He was supposed to be one of the best up-coming racers and was making his way to being named 'King of the Streets'.

"He was the one that drove you to the hospital," said Diego as he parked the car.

Now that was a surprise. So he had to be the guy she had saw before blacking out. As they exited the car, Letty tried to recall his image again, but it was all a blur.

"He was showing off I heard," said Diego as they went inside the house. "The dick lost control and slammed into you."

Letty closed the door to the house behind her and locked the latch. Her Aunt, ironically, was a nurse, not at the hospital she was just at, but still in L.A. She worked grave-yard shifts usually and wasn't expected home until they got ready to go to school. They both climbed the stairs to their rooms.

Letty stopped Diego once she was in front of the bathroom. "Look D, I still think I should apologize-"

"No worries cuz," he interrupted again. "The Toretto's own a garage, so Dom said he'd fix it for free."

Letty gave her cousin a small smile before nodding in acceptance. The boy patted her shoulder before entering in his room and disappearing. She sighed before going into the bathroom, stripping her clothes and taking a warm shower. She let the warm sprays sooth her aching muscles and made sure to watch her stitched arm.

After ten minutes of just standing under the sprays, Letty washed herself and exited the shower. She wrapped a towel around her body and made a dash to her room at the end of the hall. She took the bandage off her wrist before she went into the shower and now began to wrap a new one securely around her arm. She applied lotion to her skin and put on a pair of short loose grey shorts with a black tank top.

As she went to lay in her bed, Letty paused to look outside of her window. Across the alley she could see a little bit of the party happening at the Toretto house. For some reason she wasn't very tired anymore, so she grabbed her CD player and went downstairs. She found herself stepping into the backyard and sat on a plastic lawn chair as she looked at the stars.

It was rare, but sometimes she missed home. It had more to do with the familiarity of the places and people. Being in LA left her out of her element, and even though she knew she would adapt, it was still difficult sometimes to accept. Letty's mother wasn't very good at being a mom and her dad was an abuser in jail, she knew that this was the right place for her.

Letty placed her headphones on her ears, pushed play on her CD, and zoned out. A few minutes later she heard people arguing and she stood up heading to the fence. As she came closer she made out two figures, a guy and a girl. The girl was yelling and getting into the guys face, while he listened and sipped a Corona. After a few seconds, he countered back in a booming deep voice that startled Letty and the angry girl.

The guy's voice suddenly became low as he whispered something to her. She gave an aggravated huff and stormed back to the party, leaving the guy alone in the alleyway. Letty watched him carefully as he swore under his breath and looked towards her house. He froze once he spotted her looking at him from the fence. After a pause he walked up to the fence where she stood, which caused her to shift her weight back automatically.

"Hey," he said simply.

She didn't respond right away as she eyed him in a defensive stance. "Hi."

The guy came closer and propped his arms over the fence. "How's the arm?"

Letty frowned as she glanced at her arm and back at the guy. He somehow seemed familiar to her, but she still couldn't put her finger on it. As they stood there in silence a subtle wind blew past them, giving Letty a whiff of his cologne. She registered it immediately.

"You're the cocky asshole that ruined my race," she blurted out.

Dominic eyes went wide at her comment and he suddenly let out a deep throated laugh. "Yea, baby, that's me."

Letty crossed her arms over her chest, still frowning. She didn't mean to, but she was suddenly starting to feel self-conscious. The Latina had never seen him up close before and hadn't realized how incredible hot he was. The guy was tall and muscular, with a boyish grin and a deep sexy voice. The fact that he referred to her as 'baby' sent an unwanted shiver down her spine.

"Don't call me that," she began, "My name is Letty."

"My mistake," he responded with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Letty."

She nodded her head as her eyes went back to the wild party behind him. This was definitely new, this feeling that she was having. Letty found herself slightly nervous to be in his presence and it frustrated her that he could make her so skittish. What the fuck did he have on her? Nothing, so why was she acting like some girl with a crush.

"You wanna come over?" She heard him ask.

Letty focused her gaze back to him. "Not interested."

She started to turn to walk back to the house but Dominic seemed to have other plans. He grabbed her good wrist to stop her. Letty froze at the contact. His grip on her was firm, yet gentle and she could feel a tingling at the spots where he touched. Slowly Dom retracted his arm, while pulling her closer to him.

Letty allowed herself to be pulled closer, she couldn't help but be intrigued by his attitude. But that didn't mean she wouldn't punch him if he made the wrong move. When her stomach touched the fence he let go of her wrist and placed his hand in the middle of her back.

"I wanted to say I'm sorry about you getting hurt," he apologized softly, from behind she could feel his thumb running circles along her lower back. "It wasn't my intention."

Letty could feel a deep burning in the pit of her stomach start to flare. It was new to her and it shot from her stomach down to her nether regions. Between the low baritone of his voice and the intimate motion of his thumb, she couldn't think straight.

She placed her good hand on his chest and slowly used it as leverage to push away from his hold. She met slight resistance, but he let her go as she stood back.

"As long as you fix my cousins Nissan, then we're good," she responded, slightly annoyed by his blutness.

Dom didn't say anything, all he was doing was staring at her, his gaze almost predatory. Letty turned on her heel and started walking back to the house. She snatched her CD player off the lawn chair as she entered. Behind her she could still feel his heavy gaze on her back.

Nice and short for now. Thanks everyone for reading and pls review!