A/N: Thanks for all the feedback, it's always appreciated! In this chapter, Dom reflects. Sorry it took so long, had a busy week but the next chapter is already written so it won't take as long for the next one.
Toretto House, 1:34pm. Saturday, Mid-October
Dom was nervous about seeing Letty. For the last couple of weeks he had spent his time hanging out with Mia and the guys, deciding to avoid Letty for a little while. She had definitely not forgiven him yet like the others. It was best to let the idea of him being back sink in fully before he approached her again.
But today was Mia's birthday, and they would have to see each other. Letty was her best friend, after all. The thought of her being someone else's best friend, even Mia's, made him frown. Sure, his sister and her had always been pretty close, but he used to be Letty's favorite Toretto.
Flashback – Eight Years Ago
Dom watched his best friend sleep. Sprawled out on her stomach, legs and arms stretched out, he barely had any room on his side. He didn't mind though. He was used to it. After Leon moved in and staked claim to the second bed in the basement and Jesse moved into the spare room upstairs, Letty would crash in with Mia after race parties. But his sister had a habit of kicking in her sleep. Plus, Mia usually went up to her room early to study before bed and Letty's drunken stumbling when she followed hours later had woken Mia up more than a few times.
Now, if Dom didn't have a girl at the party, Letty would bunk in with him. The truth was, Dom preferred waking up with his her these days. The guys had commented on his lack of action lately but he had shrugged it off. If he was getting 'action', he preferred to keep it to the girl's place. Somehow, it felt wrong for him to take girls to his bed when Letty slept there too sometimes, even if he always changed his sheets.
He pulled himself to sit up, careful not to wake her. Rubbing his hands over his face, he sighed. How was he going to tell Letty, Mia and the guys about his decision to join the marines? He had kept his enlistment application to himself, not sure if it was something he was one hundred per cent sure about. When he had received the confirmation letter that he was eligible, Dom's stomach had churned.
Could he really leave his sister and his friends? It felt wrong. But it also felt wrong not to. He wanted to honor his father in the best way he knew how, with service. He had always respected his father's choice to enlist when he was just a baby. The number one priority for his father was to be able to provide for his family.
When his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, Dom was only ten. Mia was seven. His father suspended his service to be with them through the treatments. Amelia Toretto battled for over a year before coming down with pneumonia, which ultimately lead to her passing. During her fight with cancer, his dad had worked as a recruitment officer for the Army and Dom remembered spending a lot of time after school at the office. At nights, after visiting Amelia, he would help restore an old Charger his father had bought at a junk yard. He figured it helped his dad stay distracted.
It was six months after his mother's death that his dad had announced they were moving. They all struggled with the constant reminders of his mother in the house but Dom was sad to leave the only home he had ever known. Mia had cried for weeks at the new house and Dom had run out of ways trying to console his sister. He'd even invited her to play with him and Vince a few times but she had just sat silently whilst they played with cars.
Nothing worked.
Until one day when Dom had been struggling with his homework in the living room and he heard Mia giggling out front. Curiously, he got up and peered out the window outside. His sister was talking to another girl, maybe a little older than Mia but not as old as him. Mia was shaking her head at the other girl, who wore dungarees and had her hair in a messy ponytail.
The girl was holding something in her hand but Dom couldn't make out from his position what it was. He moved from the window and opened the front door, stepping out onto the porch. At ten years old he was tall for his age, nearly 5'5 but scrawny. He had shaved off his hair angrily after his mom had died, using his dad's clippers. She had always ruffled his afro affectionately and it reminded him of her.
Mia looked up at her brother when she heard the door open. She smiled the brightest smile Dom had seen from her since he could remember. "Hey Dom, come meet Letty! She lives down the street from us."
"Mia, you shouldn't talk to strangers." He said, cautiously stepping down onto the grass in front of the house.
"Duh, she's not a stranger now. She's Letty." Mia rolled her eyes at her brother before turning her attention back to Letty. Dom saw the thing in her hands twitch and he furrowed his brows curiously.
"It's a hamster, he won't bite." Letty said. Dom looked at her, surprised by her almost annoyed tone. Normally girls were nice to him. Vince said they had crushes on him, especially since he shaved his hair. It seemed this girl already didn't like him.
Mia reached over and stroked the little hamster's fur, giggling again when it twitched against her touch. The giggle from his sister made him smile, he'd missed hearing it. Dom shuffled closer and looked into Letty's hands, nodding at the hamster.
"Should you have him outside?" He asked her, touching the hamster's head when Mia dropped her hand.
Letty laughed and Dom looked at her again in surprise. It wasn't like his sister's, sweet and girly. It was loud and deep for a girl. It made Dom smile. "His name is Houdini, he's an escape artist. My dad left the door open and I was taking him out to feed him. He got all the way to the porch before I grabbed him."
"I saw Letty catching him and called over to ask if she was okay. She came over so I could see him." Mia explained. "She lives at 1342."
"That's cool." He nodded, glancing down the street at the pale yellow house. "Well, I'm Dom, Mia's brother."
"Cool, I'm Letty, like she said. I should probably get this little guy back in his cage before my dad comes looking for us both. It was nice meeting both you guys. I guess I'll see you around."
Dom watched Letty head back down the street, his eyes following her until he felt Mia's elbow in his side, seeing her grinning at him. He glared at her before he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her back inside so he could finish his homework. Letty had made his sister happy, he liked her already.
Present
Cars filed into the street and he grinned. He'd missed this. Mia sprung out of Brian's car, waiting for her fiancé before heading up to her brother, embracing him tightly.
"Thanks for throwing this for me here. Our place is a bit small." Mia said.
"Of course, anything for my little sister."
"I'm not that little anymore Dom, I'm twenty five today." She said with a look.
Dom shook Brian's hand firmly when the other man extended his. He wasn't sure what to make of him yet. His sister was very obviously in love with him but they had only been together a year before Brian had proposed. Mia wrote about him all the time in letters but Dom hadn't been home during the time they had been dating.
He walked into the back yard with them, helping set up all the food. He laughed when hearing the guys arrive and bear hug Mia until she was squealing mercy. His eyes scanned the yard as more people arrived.
"She's on her way." Leon appeared next to him, handing him a Corona.
"Oh. I thought maybe you would all come together." Dom nodded.
"She said she wasn't going to drink so she might as well take her car."
Five minutes later, Letty rounded the side of the house, holding what Dom could only describe as a mountain of presents. He rushed over to help as the present at the top wobbled off the carefully stacked pile. He held it up with a smile, holding it as he followed her to the gift table.
"Thanks." Letty set the presents down, rearranging them neatly before she gave him a small smile. "I guess I went a little overboard huh?"
Dom laughed. "Nah, not really, that's my pile." He nodded over to the large group of presents wrapped in matching striped green paper. "Can I get you something to drink?"
"Just water please. I'm driving."
He nodded, grabbing a bottle from the cooler and handed it over. Dom took a second to take in her appearance. She wasn't wearing a pantsuit this time. She looked more like the Letty he had known when they were teenagers. Her jeans were more fitted than they used to be but had rips at the knees. Her black shirt was loose, hanging on one shoulder. The bare skin there told him she wasn't wearing a bra and he resisted the urge to glance down at her chest. Her hair was swept up in a low ponytail that flowed over one shoulder.
Just as Dom opened his mouth to say something, Vince called on him. He turned to tell his friend to hold on but Letty was already slipping away to talk to Leon and Jesse. He sighed, shaking his head. He needed to talk to Letty alone sometime soon. He refused to let things be weird with them.
Next: Dom gets Letty alone.
Please review and if you have any requests/suggestions for scenes, I'll be happy to take them on board and write them if they fit into the overall story.
