Epilogue

"Holy shit, DT. Is that what I think it is?" Brian asked. Dom slammed the jewelry box closed and turned to face his frat brother.

"Depends on what you think it is."

"Is that a lavalier?" The blond replied. "For Letty?"

"Bro, a little louder. They didn't hear you in Brooklyn." He scolded sarcastically.

A lavalier was a gift, usually a necklace, that held a charm bearing the letters of a fraternity or sorority. It was given, and accepted, to indicate a romantic commitment that may develop into a long-term engagement, and sometimes marriage.

"It's not a secret anymore. Are you going to give it to her for Christmas?"

"I'm thinking about it."

"Holy shit, DT." He repeated.

It had been three months since Letty's confession. For the first month, she'd been clueless that he'd been awake. But after he asked her to dinner, she knew something was up.

They sat on a large patch of grass not far from the quad going over the final list of bids for the prospective.

"When this stress is finally over we should go for drinks or dinner or something."

"I'm sorry, did you just ask me out on a date?" She asked, laughter in her voice. Her eyes narrowed. Letty thought back to the last couple of weeks. Dom had been extremely helpful with planning formal rush and getting her budget approved with the board. "You've been super nice lately. What's up with you?"

"Must be all the stress." He said, shrugging and turning back to the list.

She watched him, suspicious. "Fuck."

He didn't look up. He couldn't risk his face betraying him. "What?"

"Look at me."

He cleared his throat, stilled his features and did as he was told.

Amusement washed over her. "You like me."

"If I didn't, I would be fucking you and only you, now would I?.

"There's the douche I've come to know and lo—." She stopped herself; partly before she said love and partly because she wasn't sure if she heard him correctly. "Wait, what did you just say?"

"Fuck that. What were you going to say?"

She took the list of names from his hands. They were silent for a few heartbeats. "The house is empty. Everyone has class."

Dom looked at her. "We don't."

"No," she replied, staring into his eyes. "We don't."

"Let's go." He stood to his feet and held out a hand to help her up. She grabbed the blanket they'd been sitting on and they headed towards the Sigma Phi Alpha House.

They clearly weren't going to talk about this.

A week later, Mia approached Letty. "I know your secret, Letty." She'd singsonged and held up a t-shirt. It was the colors of Dom's fraternity and Letty didn't even have to read the Greek letters to know it was his. She snatched it out of Mia's hand and pointed at her.

"Mia, I swear to god if you tell anyone."

"Oh, please. I've suspected since last school year. And I haven't told anyone. This was just the proof I needed." She admitted, plopping onto Letty's bed. "Why don't you two just date already? He's not sleeping with anyone else, he focuses all his attention on the the frat and his studies. Open your eyes, Let. I don't know what you did to him but, Dom's a completely different guy than he was last year. Plus, from what Brian tells me all he does is talk about you."

"What?"

"Yeah. He's always so concerned about what you think."

"And what you and Brian just bring up Dom and me in regular conversation?"

Mia shrugged, smiling. Letty had an epiphany.

"You're sleeping with him!"

"Well, duh. Except everyone knows we're dating. You'd know that too if you weren't so wrapped up in Toretto."

"I'm not wrapped up. I'm just… confused."

"Do you like him?"

"Well, yeah, but—."

"So then what's there to be confused about?"

Mia had been right. Little by little, Dom and Letty started showing more and more affection in public. Dom would lean against Letty's shorter stature, link fingers when they walked to the dining commons for dinner, he'd even put her on his shoulders at the big Homecoming Game against their rival, UCLA. There were dinners and movie nights and friendly competition that was always settled with them in bed.

They had made it clear that they were now together. It was inevitable. The harder they tried to fight the pull, the closer they were magnetized to one another. And Letty was done fighting.

"Well," Brian slapped his brother on the back, "congrats, bro. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, Bri."

A week before winter break, Dom knew what he wanted to do to show Letty that he was truly in this.

"Yo! She's pulling up! Let's go!" Six pairs of feet ran up the stairs.

"Good luck, Big Bro." Mia said, picking nonexistent lint off of his sweater. He nodded.

"Thanks, Mia. Keep the girls quiet?"

"You got it." She dimmed the lights and headed upstairs after the girls.

Letty entered a dark house. A soft flow came from the dining room. There was soft music playing, and she prayed she didn't forget that a sister had a date night that she was interrupting.

"Hello? Anybody home?"

Someone to her right cleared their throat. She turned to see Dom standing against the archway that separated the foyer and the dining room.

A hesitant smile crossed her face.

"Hey, you." He walked towards her, pulling her into his arms.

"Hey yourself." She replied. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, finals are done. So, this is your de-stress party."

"Hmm. I like the way that sounds." She grinned, wrapping her arms around his neck. Leaning up, she pressed her lips against his.

The little sisters had prepared an amazing dinner, tortellini and shrimp, one of Letty's favorite dishes. There were candles and flowers and bourbon whiskey.

"You remember the last time we had this." Letty tapped the unopened bottle.

"Hopefully, there will be a repeat."

An uncharacteristically she smile crossed the brunette's lips. She cleared her throat and turned her attention to the food.

"This looks amazing."

"Yeah it does." The inflection in his tone told Letty that he wasn't talking about the food. When she looked up, he was staring directly at her.

"Stop that."

"Stop what?"

"Laying on the charm. Trying to make me feel all girly and shit."

Dom laughed. "Is it working?"

She shrugged a shoulder and ate a forkful of her dinner.

They laughed. They drank. They ate. They tried to talk about the future. It was a wonderful time but Dom's nerves were getting the best of him, and it was now or never.

"Letty. I have something for you."

"We said we weren't going to give Christmas gifts."

"Well, consider it a just because gift."

He shifted from his end of table, pushing his chair out to stand. Dom pulled her chair out too and took her hand to stand near the archway again. He got down on one knee. Letty laugher nervously. They'd talked about their views on marriage, and while Letty wasn't opposed, he knew it was far down the line for her.

"What are you doing?"

"Stopping all the bullshit." He pulled the jewelry box from his pocket and held up, opening it as he spoke. "Letty Ortiz, will you accept this lavalier as a token of my commitment to you and only you? Be my ride or die?"

She rolled her eyes. "You're so stupid. Of course, I will."

He grinned and stood to his feet, taking the necklace out and securing it around her neck.

"She said yes." He called. Letty's confusion was replaced with amusement when she heard footsteps. Peeking around the corner, three of her sisters and three of Dom's brothers had been standing along the staircase. They catcalled and cheered, applauding the event. Letty covered her face.

"You guys are insane. What if I'd said no?" She asked Dom.

He shrugged. "There's never a no when it comes to us. We're inevitable. Ride or die, remember?"

Letty grinned and allowed her to kiss him.

"Ride or die." She responded against his lips.

"Alright, this is a celebration! Let's go get fucked up!"

FIN.