Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Brian checked into a motel; happy to finally be out of Barstow. His foster family, the Walkers, had been great, but he had never been one of them. He had toyed with the idea of finding his real parents, but ultimately he knew that he was on his own.
He had gotten by so far relying on his blonde good looks and charming personality and he could very well keep doing so in the future.
After leaving his stiffs in his room, he headed out of the motel in his trusty skyline to find food and a job in that order. Just a couple of stores down the street he saw a deli store and decided to go in.
He bounded up to the counter and sat down.
There was a slim, dark haired young woman behind the counter.
“So,” Brian said, smiling, "What's good here?"
The long haired brunette smirked and replied, "The Tuna’s good. It’s fresh bread, our very own handmade mayo, chopped celery, black olives, cucumbers, and caramelized onions.”
"Sounds good. I'll have that with no crust and a coke," the smile never left his face as he watched the girl efficiently prepare his sandwich.
When she handed him his order, Brian introduced himself, and added “I'm new in town, and staying at the motel down the way."
“I’m Mia,” the girl said.
“Wow, this is really good,” Brian said after taking his first bite out of the sandwich.
Mia informed him smugly that it was her recipe and the very best seller in the deli.
As Brian finished his meal, they made small talk, about Brian’s recent arrival, the city and the best sight-seeing spots he should check out.
Mia took to Brian right away, and was happy to keep chatting while he ate, as the shop was empty except for them. Brian, having finished, started to stand up to leave, but Mia, with a disappointed look asked if he was leaving so soon.
"Oh, yeah, sorry, I love talking to you, Mia, but I need to hunt up a job."
"Well, I think I can solve that for you. We need someone here because I go back to school next week. It offers minimum wage pay plus food and tips; I just need to run it by my brother."
"Wow, that sounds good Mia," Brian rushed.
"He’ll be back in like half an hour, so just take a seat and we’ll wait for him."
They returned to the lighthearted they were having, Brian much more relaxed after basically solving his needs in one easy stop. Mia mentioned she lived with her brother since her parents passed away and Brian briefly spoke about being an orphan too and having just aged out of foster care.
A little before the thirty minutes were up, Brain heard cars pull up, and when he turned around he was super impressed, they were fucking awesome. Brian spots one car that stood out from the others, a muscle car. A tall bald guy with muscles popping everywhere got out. Brian had a funny tingly feeling in the pit of his stomach, and then their eyes locked.
***
Dom and his pack were there for a late lunch break, and in addition he still needed to go over applications to cover the store for when Mia went back to school. He noticed a used skyline parked by Mia's car. He looked up and locked eyes with a young surfer dude with blonde hair sitting opposite Mia at the counter. He felt a sharp clenching in his stomach.
He walked into the deli and turned to Mia with "I need the applications to look over."
"Well, hi to you too, Dom,” replied Mia rolling her eyes. “I think I solved that, Brian here needs a job, and I think he would work out well for the shop.”
Dom turned to look at Brian and proceeded to give him the third degree about his experience. Meanwhile Brian answered with a laid back smile. It was settled Brian would train the next week or so till Mia went back, and then he was on his own. They spoke about what his hours and payment would be.
After finishing up, Brian went to head out and accidentally bumped into Vince. Vince snarled, "Watch it."
Brian, being a smartass, rolled his eyes and replied with a shrug and a, "Whatever."
Vince went to grab him, but Dom stepped in and took control. He had Brian follow him around back and told him to sit. Brian didn’t really respond well to being bossed around and popped out "I'm good."
Doms face tightened with irritation, and made Brian realize it wasn't a request.
It took the kid long enough to actually sit as he was asked to. Still, Dom assumed Brian was a human because he couldn't find a scent on him, so he was willing to cut him some slack.
"I don't know how you did things where you're from, but here there is a pecking order. It's me, Vince, Letty, Leon, Mia, Jesse, and then you. All I ask from you is to show some respect, and I'll be fair."
"I'm sorry," rushed out Brian, already kicking himself for messing up what seemed like a good thing. "My smart mouth has gotten me in trouble before. I'll tone it down."
Dom just stares him down and nods. When he speaks he goes with "Mia is my sister so you break her heart I'll break your neck."
"Dom, I like Mia, but as a friend only," Brian said truthfully, his 100 watt smile making a reappearance.
As he went to leave Dom invited Brian to the following day’s cook out at their place. He still felt he needed to get a feel for him, because his wolf was slamming to get out. He'd get Jesse to run a check on him.
Brian passed by Vince and stopped to apologize for his smart mouth, and told him it wouldn't happen again. Vince gave just him once over and growled out "Ya better not, buster.”