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Disclaimer: once again I don't own any of the Fast and the Furious, or anything else that sounds familiar.
I was here I lived,
I loved I was here I did,
I've done, everything that I wanted
And it was more than I thought it would be
I will leave my mark so everyone will know I was here
~Los Angeles, 6 months later~
Letty had been home for 6 months and she still hadn't heard anything from Dom. After she had left the DR she had packed her things and gone straight home to LA. She was too damn tired to carry on chasing after someone who had obviously stopped loving her. She knew Mia spoke to him every now and then, but those occasions were rare and only ever seemed to involve Dom checking in on Mia. He never answered any questions about where he was or what he was doing. After the first contact, ensuring Letty had made it back safe to their home, she didn't think Dom had asked about her, and being as stubborn as she was, she refused to ask Mia about him.
It was strange working back at DT's without Dom. Mia had sublet it to some guys whilst Dom and Letty had been in Mexico, but now that Letty was back she had taken over. It was Mr T's baby and she'd be damned if she let somebody else run it now she was back.
Letty slowly opened her eyes, blinking her eyes blearily at the flashing alarm clock. 6 o'clock. How had that happened? She'd only closed her eyes 5 minutes ago. Slowly she rolled over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. She was still living in Dom's room. When she'd come back she'd moved back into the room she used to share with him, needing to be near him, emotionally, if it couldn't be physically.
Stretching, Letty swung her legs over the side of the bed and padded over to the ensuite bathroom. Turning on the water, she stripped off her shirt and let the water soothe her pounding head. Another night with hardly any sleep. She knew it was starting to show, the bags under her eyes were no longer hiding under the expensive concealer she'd invested in. She barely had any appetite, only eating to survive.
Turning off the shower, she wrapped a towel around herself and gently squeezed her hair out before tying it in a messy bun at the top of her head. Reaching for her coconut oil moisturiser she slathered it all over her body before brushing her teeth. Opening the cabinet in the mirror she pulled out her under eye concealer, lip gloss and mascara. As she opened her concealer she noticed she was running low. She'd have to pick up some more before she ran out. She quickly applied the make up before putting it back in the cabinet.
Walking back into their her bedroom, she pulled some underwear from her drawers and quickly slipped it on, grabbing a white wife beater from her cupboards as she passed. Finally, spying her whitewashed skinny jeans fallen at the back of the wardrobe and slipping on her low heeled knee-high leather boots she was ready.
"Morning." She smiled at Mia as she passed her in the kitchen. "What time's your exam today?"
"Two thirty" Mia responded, barely looking up from the text books she'd been pouring over for the past couple of weeks.
"Ah, that's what time my dentist appointment is!"
"Ha! You're so funny…" Mia deadpanned.
"Well, you know, I try." Letty grinned back reaching for her Lucky Charms cereal.
"You really do need to go to the dentist with all the sugar your teeth sees," Mia muttered.
"Yeah, yeah," Letty mumbled through a mouth full of cereal.
"I heard from Dom last night, he rang the house–" Mia started.
"Listen, I need to go. Good luck with your exam, text me when you're finished. I'll pick something up for dinner." Letty grabbed her keys and her bag and ran out the door.
"Happy Birthday Letty!" Mia shouted after her. She heard the bang of the front door and knew she hadn't heard her. She wasn't even sure Letty had remembered.
~Mexico~
"Listen Dom, you need to start keeping a low profile. This shit's going to get you hurt."
"Giselle, stop. You know I can take care of myself. Anyways, this is taking too long, we need to step it up. I need a meeting with Braga."
"You know I can't arrange that. I've never even met Braga myself." Giselle exclaimed.
"Yes you can. I need to finish this. You know I need to get home. I can't even risk speaking to her. If she had the slightest idea about what was really going on she would be over here before I could even hang up the phone. And then all of this would be for nothing!" Dom shouted, then quietly, "It's her birthday Giselle, and I can't even wish her a Happy Birthday. She's going to think I've forgotten, that I don't care."
"I'll see what I can do." Giselle murmured and turned and left the apartment.
Dom grabbed a Corona and walked over to the balcony. Leaning against the wooden railing he stared out at the beach. It was amazing, it didn't matter where he or Letty were in the world, they would always manage to ensure they were within spitting distance of the sea. It had always calmed them down. He had taken her there when her Grandma died, after a 5 year struggle with cancer. She hadn't eaten in days, wouldn't speak to anyone and he was terrified.
~Flashback, El Pescador beach, LA 2007~
"Come on Letty," Dom crossed round to her door and pretty much dragged her out the car. She'd eaten nothing for 5 days so her already slight frame practically floated into his arms.
They took the steep wooden steps that led the way from the top of the bluff to the white, sandy beach below, one arm cradling Letty the other holding the cooler and her blanket draped on top.
Throwing the blanket in the air, letting it settle on the ground, he gently pushed her down and sat down beside her.
"Here, drink this." Dom pushed a beer into her hands.
Letty absentmindedly sipped at the bottle, staring at the waves crashing down.
They sat there for hours, until the sun set and the moon was shining over them. Letty had emptied the cooler of the Corona, whilst Dom watched. She still hadn't eaten but Dom took it as progress that at least she was out of the house.
"She was more than my Grammi, you know?" Letty said quietly. Dom jumped at the sudden sound, then squeezed her leg, urging her to continue. "She was my best friend, she looked after me all those times Mom went off the rails. I never thought about the day she wouldn't be there. I know it's fucking stupid, but man, she was invincible! I remember this time, this guy came up and grabbed her purse when we were out shopping and ran off with it. I was only about 8 at the time and I was so scared, but my Grammi, she yells for this shop assistant. She goes "Look after my granddaughter!" and off she goes, racing after him. She caught up with him, uppercuts him to the jaw, then kicked him in the balls, and says "Don't you dare think about stealing another woman's handbag! I'll be keeping my eye out for you young man!" and strolls over to me, as if nothing had happened and said "Come on baby, let's go get some Natillas" and walked off leaving this giant thug whimpering on the floor. She was the person who taught me, it doesn't matter how big you are, what sex you are, or even how old you are, no one determines who you are. And no one can take advantage of you if you don't let them. That weekend she took me to my first boxing lesson."
Dom knew that Letty's Grammi had been a wonderful woman and that Letty had loved her very much. He always knew she was important but he never had any idea how much. Ana Lucia had moulded the beautiful woman that sat before him today. His only regret was that he would never be able to thank her for the wonderful gift she had given him.
"Come on, let's go home. I just want to cuddle up in bed and watch soppy movies." Letty sighed.
"But-" Dom started.
"No "But's" Dom."
"Okay, I'll even let you watch The Notebook, and I know Mia's hidden a carton of Chocolate Fudge Brownie Ben & Jerry's at the back of the freezer."
As the settled down to watch the marathon of films Letty had picked out, Dom ensured that they had all the food and drink they'd need for the next few hours. Settling back, Letty snuggled into the crook of Dom's arm, feeling safer than she had all week.
As the lion roared on the screen, Dom leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forward.
"Happy Birthday Letty."
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