Honest Explanations
Summary: Dom comes home from prison and finds things are a little different than when he left. One-shot.
Rated: T for cursing?
Disclaimer: Oh, yeah right. This is just getting sad.
"Letty! Get your ass up here!" Dom shouted, voice carrying through the entire house like thunder.
Letty raised her eyebrows incredulously from where she was drinking a beer in the kitchen. "I know he doesn't think I'm going to respond to that", she shook her head.
"Girl, you're in trouble", Vince teased quietly.
"I didn't do nothin'", she hissed tightly.
"Letty!" Dom called again.
The young woman in question tilted her head up to glare at the ceiling. She guessed he was probably in their room and found a few things he didn't like. The question would be what exactly, had he found?
"I'm gonna yell", she warned mildly just before letting loose a holler of her own. "I am not your goddamn dog! If you want something, get your ass down here and ask me!"
Mia winced. "He's only been home three days", she said worriedly. "Cut him a break."
"Do you want to tell him that he needs to work on his people skills?" Letty glared. "I'm way past my limit on being barked at."
"Yes, your restraint has been magnanimous", Mia said scathingly.
"Mia, I'm tired, okay", she sighed falling into a chair at the kitchen table. "I am so damn tired. I'm not the bad guy here."
"I know, Letty", Mia said brokenly. "But neither is he."
"Mia", Vince said quietly as they heard Dom's footsteps coming down the stairs. "Now isn't the time."
"Letty, can you come here, please", Dom said, voice strained with false calm, clearly at the end of his patience.
"Oh, sure, why not?" Letty murmured, tone tinged with sarcasm. She got up and followed him upstairs. She was shocked when she walked into their bedroom. "What the hell did you do in here?!" she snapped.
It looked like he had turned their entire bedroom upside down. Vince was right. She was in such deep shit.
"So?" he said tightly.
"Don't snarl at me", she warned seriously. "I can't believe you went through my stuff."
"What the hell are you doing with a fucking gun in your underwear drawer?"
"Stop looking at me like I'm stupid. I know how to shoot it."
"I want to know why you need it!"
Letty just stared up at him defiantly. "Clean this up", she ordered, turning to walk back out the door.
He caught her arm, tugging her back roughly and gestured to the closet. "What's in the safe?"
"Cash", she said flatly.
"Are tellin' me you've got so much cash that you can't put it in your bank account?"
"I'm sorry. Do I need you permission before I decide what to do with my own goddamn money?" she crossed her arms over her chest defensively.
He glared at her. "Would you stop that? I'm just trying to figure out what the hell's going on with you. Is it really too much to ask for you to talk to me right now?"
She felt a cold chill travel her spine. Letty had kept her mouth closed for two years, and she'd be damned if she opened it now. She shook him off almost violently. "I can't do this."
"Letty, wait a minute-"
But she left the bedroom in a hurry, and two minutes later he heard her car roar out of the driveway. He frowned, looking around the room. There had to be something in here that would give him a clue…
00
Four hours later, when Letty still hadn't come back, Dom grabbed his keys and went to find her. She was at the local park, swinging lightly on the swings. She looked annoyed to see him approaching her, and then a split second of horror crossed her features when she saw the small notebook in his hand.
"Do us both a favor and tell me you haven't opened that", she growled tightly.
"I could say that", he said with a shrug, sitting on the swing next to her. "But I'd be lying." He passed the journal to her without preamble, and it was immediately shoved into her hoodie pocket.
She was bordering on livid. "I can't believe you went through my stuff, broke into my safe, and-"
"Broke in?" he raised an eyebrow. "Letty, you use your mom's birthday as a code for everything."
"It doesn't mean you had the right to do it!"
"You aren't supposed to keep things from me, Let. What did you think I was gonna do?"
"So, I can't have anything that's just mine just because we share a room", she said flatly.
"Don't put words in my mouth. I didn't say that, or mean it like that. But there are things in there that you know you should have told me", he sighed. "And it bothers me that you felt like you couldn't."
She glared at him. "Yeah, well, you've read it now, so let's just be done with it."
"That's not how this is gonna work", he said seriously. "Let, we need to talk about this shit."
"Pass", she snorted.
"This isn't Scategories. You don't get a pass. Tell me why you bought the gun", he requested softly.
"You just-"
"Letty, tell me. Just because I know the answer doesn't make this okay for you. I'm here, okay? And I'm not going to leave you again. Protecting you is my job. You need to let me."
"I don't like feeling like I can't take care of myself", she muttered grudgingly. "It made me feel safe."
"Why couldn't you have just told me that? Come on. Of all the times to spare my feelings", he jostled her playfully, swinging in her direction and knocking them together. "I wouldn't have been against it, Letty. I know you can take care of yourself. You just scare the hell out of me sometimes."
She smirked. "Good."
"I'm not gonna come home one night and find myself at the business end of that thing am I?" he asked warily.
She raised both eyebrows. "I guess that depends on where you start pointing your business end."
"You even gotta ask?"
Letty shook her head. "Nah, even you're not that stupid."
"I see you've got your sassy pants on today", he said wryly.
She reached over and smacked his arm. "That's not okay when Vince says it either!"
He got up with an amused grin and walked behind her, grabbing the chains of the swing and tugging her backwards, making her yelp. Dom let her go and it seemed like the surprised laughter had tumbled past her lips without her permission. He was briefly dumbstruck because he hadn't realized just how much he had missed that sound, and how long it had been since he'd heard it.
Suddenly, he felt like the biggest moron for forgetting, even for a second, that her laughter was the best noise in his world. And he realized that the silence that had pervaded their home since he had returned probably wasn't out of consideration for him at all.
He hadn't known until now that Letty's mood dictated the tone in their house. Now that he knew though, he could fix the underlying tension and get them all back in working order.
Dominic pushed her lightly in silence for several minutes before stopping her mid-air, pulling her back against his chest and kissing her neck. "You ready to go home now?" he asked quietly.
"I dunno. Are you still mad at me?"
"I wasn't mad", he shook his head. "You just… blindsided me."
"Are we done now?" she sighed.
"For tonight", he answered, putting her down slowly so she could stand. She turned to face him and he took one of her hands in his, lacing their fingers together, tugging her closer. Letty smiled up at him curiously. "Unless you've got something else to tell me?" he tilted his head.
She reached up tentatively with her free hand and traced his cheekbone with her thumb. "I missed you like hell", she breathed.
He turned his head slightly to kiss the inside of her wrist. "Me too, Let."
"Whatcha gonna do about it?" she taunted playfully.
He stepped closer, pressing her against the metal pole of the swing set, dipping his head to steal kisses from her mouth, feeling her smile underneath his lips.
"Dom", she started.
"Shut up, Letty", he mumbled against her mouth.
A laugh vibrated in her throat. "Oh, sure. Now you tell me to shut up."
"Timing", he smirked, pausing to lick her neck, "is everything, baby."
Her hand fisted in his shirt and jerked him closer. "Race you home", she challenged hotly, rising on her toes to nip at his earlobe. It was enough of a distraction that she sidestepped him and took off running for her car.
He blinked. "Hey, that's cheating!" Dom laughed, chasing after her.
00
A/N: Well, I've always kind of wondered who owned the gun lying on the coffee table in TFATF. I can't imagine it was Leon or Jesse. And Vince is such a hot-head that the idea of him with a gun scares me a bit. It's not a stretch that it could be Dom's, but… this idea just works for me, although I really have an issue with it just lying there on the table during a party. Let me know what you think. Review, press the little button. You know you wanna…