Keep it Real

AN/Summary: After all the reviews from "No Bonnie" that talked about how surprised people were at Dom, I decided to write something else Pre-FF1, that in my mind, is waaaaaaaaaaaaay early in the Dotty timeline. Here's the way I always saw Dom in FF1: Arrogant and Sexy…because he knew he was all of these things…BUT…I also felt like behind closed doors, Letty saw a diff Dom…ie she seemed like she ran their shit…ex: when she gives him the look when Vince/Brian fight, when she makes him go upstairs for the massage, when she punks him at the races for talking to whores, and DEF when he says I love you at the end, like it's a secret, or a phrase that is private and only between the two. So I got to thinking….how do they live with this dynamic? If they are this way during FF1, and in "No Bonnie", right before FF1….what was the dynamic of Dotty like in the beginning?

Well, let's read and find my interpretation….

4 Years Before 'No Bonnie'

Dom and Letty orbited each other in the space of the garage, mostly speaking in grunts and terse commands. The AC wasn't broken but it was shitty in the summer LA heat. Letty had been irritated ever since a leggy brunette who's paperwork read 'Tonya' had sauntered into the shop to pick up her Honda from its routine oil change.

She watched as Dom leaned over the register as he spoke with her, casually flirting with her as she handed him her credit card to pay for her services.

She and Dom hadn't been dating that long, and at this point, she wasn't even sure she could call it that, but it seemed the closest title she could come to besides admitting possession.

Sighing, she stood from her crouched position grabbing a towel as she stared at a rotor, walking past Dom rubbing the fluid from it.

She was surprised when Dom grabbed her arm turning her to face him, halting her trek to the other side of the garage.

"What?" she snapped, looking up at him as he steadied her.

"What's your problem?" he asked leaning in to her, his face near hers.

"Nothing." She answered, wrenching her arm away as she made a move to go around him.

He grabbed her again, and looked at her sternly.

"What?" she hissed, looking at him in irritation.

"What I do?" He pressed, watching the emotions flash in her eyes.

"Dom, you're pissing me off."

"I can see that." He brought his fingers to her chin, tilting her head to the side as he admired her jawline.

"Why are you always disrespecting me?" she began, causing a smirk to mar his face.

"Disrespect you?" he repeated, slightly confused, but realizing he knew where this was going.

"Disrespect! Do you see me letting men paw at me? Do you see me flirting in your face?"

He let her face go, and backed away a few steps, knowing from past experience it wasn't good to be in her swinging range.

"No, because that's not you." He admitted, looking at her squarely.

"So if I want what we have, I have to be ok with you making me feel irrelevant in a room full of big breasted women? Is that what I'll have to accept?" She asked, her eyes lighting as anger filled her, her chest bubbling with steamed breath.

He didn't answer. Instead he looked away , taking a deep breath.

"This is who I am, Letty. I don't fuck around on you. Everyone who has eyes knows I'm unavailable. What do you want me to do?"

"I don't want you to do anything."

"You want me to hold your hand? You want me to grope you in public and smile in your face like a good boyfriend? You want me to tell other men how you are in bed? You want me to stare at your breast when you talk instead of in your eyes? You want me to sugar coat myself so that you don't see the real me? Huh? Because that's what I did with all the other women who were nothing to me! That's what I did with women who could never cut it!" He fumed, his voice sifting into a growl as he challenged her.

She snorted before pushing him.

"This is me! Take it or leave it." He shouted, extending his arms to his sides to show her who he was.

"Maybe I'll leave it." She leveled, making her way around him again, before he grabbed her arm. This time, she retaliated on instinct, immediately pulling her hand around and slapping him.

He growled at her anger, pulling her roughly against him, pressing his mouth to hers.

Pulling back, he glared down at her as he hid his thoughts, not wanting to show his worry.

"What are we saying?" He asked, looking into her eyes as he inquired, desperately searching for what he knew he'd find. "You want out of this? You wanna be free of me?"

She took long minutes just looking at him and couldn't place the emotion she saw.

Part of her was angry that he could be so flippant about something that bothered her, but the other part of her understood what he was trying to say.

He treated her differently.

He didn't pretend with her.

He was an asshole and he was flirtatious and often times undeserving. She knew the only reason he'd allowed himself to be with her was because he knew that deep down, she could handle him. She could accept all the things that he was too stubborn or too arrogant to change, and she knew deep down those facts would make him fall ridiculously in love with her.

Dom stared into her eyes as his breath came harsher and he became more nervous.

He'd known since he'd met her that she was the one.

Part of him had tried to refrain from a relationship with her because he knew it'd be his undoing. In his mind, no matter how much of a cad he was, he was enamored beyond reproach.

He wasn't ready to tell her these things.

He wasn't ready to be soft and in love, however he was ready to take her off the market.

He wasn't prepared to relinquish control to her, so he kept his façade.

He hoped it'd get him the girl.

He backed her into the desk in the office, lifting her effortlessly onto it. He smoothed hair from her face as she pulled away from his touch, causing him to remove his hands from her.

"Talk to me. I need to know if you can deal with this Letty. I'm not a perfect man. But I made you a promise."

She rolled her eyes, her hands going to the hem of his shirt as her fingers rubbed the cotton between the digits. She didn't feel like talking about this and she decided she wasn't going to.

She didn't flinch when his fingers under her chin lifted her face until their eyes met and she made sure to keep her stare nonchalant and unreadable.

She knew what he wanted to hear, knew that he needed it, but she would deny him just like he denied her.

"I need you to move out of the way. I need to finish this car before Mr Lopez comes back." She replied, avoiding his question as she forced him back as she hopped down.

He was cautious as he remained in her personal space, bending down slowly to place a kiss to her lips, testing the waters.

He was surprised when she returned it enthusiastically, kissing him with passionate ardor as she accepted his form of apology. He almost groaned when she ended it abruptly, stepping around him and walking back into the garage.

He heard her mutter 'Asshole', as his fingers went to his lips, before curving into a smile.

He turned to watch her walk, making a mental note to become more conscious of the respect he paid to her and their intimacy as man and woman.

Fin…short and sweet...

A/N- so I'm assuming in FF1 Dom is around 24ish...I think...and we'll say he went to Lompoc when he was 18 till 20. So He gets out and claims Letty. There's my timeline!