Chapter 11

She gently closed the door behind them as they left. Bleary eyed, Leon unlocked the car and they all bailed in.

"Glad to be home, Dominic?" Vince asked as he turned on the stereo. Dom was looking out of the window, up towards the house they had just left. He mused quietly as Leon backed the car out of the driveway.

Within fifteen short minutes they were back at their house. Leon strolled into the house, discarded his keys to one side and headed straight up into his room. Dom looked at Vince, sighing as he did so.

"Is he all right?"

"Yeah, fine. Why you ask?" Vince questioned as he wandered into the kitchen.

"Something about him. He's never been the most talkative of people but he hardly said two words tonight, and then he falls asleep. This is the guy who can go 48 hours without even thinking of hitting the sack." Sipping back a nightcap.

"He could. He's getting old these days. We're not teenagers any more Dom. Things have changed." Dom scoffed lightly, knowing a truer statement could not have been said, "You sure you're not coming to the garage tomorrow?" He shook his head. Vince slapped him on the back and proceeded to go up to his room.

Dom looked in the fridge and laughed. It was full of beers, some mouldy looking cheese and a half empty jar of mayo. Closing it, he strolled into the living room, his mind too frenzied to even contemplate sleeping. As he sat in the darkness, he could pick up each individual noise coming from the world outside him. The random cries of a restless baby, a police siren wailing in pursuit of a car, an all too familiar sound in his ears, the general hustle bustle of a city that refused to be still.

Yet, he was calm, happy to be back with his family. His self imposed exile over. He'd come back to a changed environment, but he knew things would work out all right. His mind flipped to Letty. How happy she was with her life, her daughter, the other man. He tried to scratch his face from the mental image he had conjured, but nothing would remove that smug look. John had the one thing that had kept him going over the years, and he doubted she would come back to him any time soon. They were a family. A cherished commodity for a girl who had lost her own so early on in life. He ran his hand across his bald head and sighed. He would have always come back, but knowing she was no longer his, he might have delayed it further still. Why hadn't Leon mentioned anything? She was right though. She had to move on. He wouldn't have wanted her to spend her days pining for his return, he knew that wasn't the person she was. He loved her, but he knew the moment he fucked up, she would be off without a shadow of a doubt. She wasn't the girl that was cheated on. Reclining on the sofa further, he closed his eyes and slowly drifted off.

The bounding of Leon down the stairs awoke him from his slumber. He cricked his neck back into a more comfortable place, noting that sitting with it lying back on the top of the sofa was not the most ideal position to fall asleep in. Leon threw him a friendly smile.

"Thanks for taking care of her, bro." Dom smiled at him as he went to pour a glass of water, "She doesn't need to know that you knew where I was all along though."

"No worries man. Sorry about John. He just kind of slipped in. How could I say to her though that you would be coming back eventually? The number of problems that would cause." Dom shrugged. He had phoned Leon three months into his hiatus, just to check everyone was safe and well. It was before Letty had met John, but he knew he was still not going to be coming back any time soon. Dom wandered into the kitchen, before turning to his friend with a look of concern, "What?"

"Le, you're bleeding. Your nose. Here," He said before handing him a kitchen towel, "You all right?" With his head leaning forward, Leon grunted a noise that indicated he was. Dom was not entirely convinced by his protestations, "What time you going to the garage?" With one hand still pinching his nose, he looked up and said that it would be within ten minutes. Smiling, he left the room to be greeted by Vince.

"Morning." He growled, still not the best person to talk to before lunch time, "You definitely not coming down today?"

"Yeah, wisest choice ever showing up at the garage when John wants my balls for dinner." Vince stared at his friend, before giving a quick shrug, "I stay away from Letty, things will be easier for all of us."

"You can't avoid her all your life. And John's a decent guy. He knows you have a history. He'll get over it." Leon glanced at Vince, unconvinced.

"That's why he spent most of last night boring holes into my skull every time I so much as looked at her."

"Yo dawg, ain't nothing he can do about it. Its not like you want to jump her every time you see her." He stated as he looked at Dom. Even Vince couldn't believe the absurdity of the statement Leon had just made.

"Le, move it." he said, shoving his friend out of the door.

"And they call me thick as pig shit." Vince stated as he got into the car, "I think its pretty obvious they both want each other. He spent the whole goddamn night mentally undressing her." Leon scoffed, seemingly refusing to believe the statement.

"He knows she is with John, he knows she would never cheat on him, especially not when they have Maddie. He isn't likely to want to get in the way."

"When did you become a chick? Since when did any guy think with his brain? Dom's been in love with Let since she was 16. He still loves her. Even I can see that and I didn't even realise they were sleeping together until they'd been at it for three months." Leon laughed as he remembered the moment Vince found out.

They had been at the races the night before. Letty had raced and won, naturally, and like all good traditions they had brought the party back to the Toretto's. Vince had got nicely hammered, with Leon and Jesse proving to be capable drinking partners. He had woken up with the mother of all hangovers, stumbled upstairs to the bathroom and became intrigued by the noises emerging from Dom's room. They were not the normal noises associated with one of the skanks, who sought the approval of which ever guy they were fucking. Plus, it was far too late for them to still be hanging around. Love 'em and kick 'em out, the unofficial motto for the guys. No, these were mutual noises, couple-y noises. Stalking the door a while longer, his curiosity got the better of him and he gently pushed it open.

"Fuck Letty!" He bawled as he saw his friends naked bar a duvet covering their lower halves.

"He did." Letty couldn't help but laugh as she drew the duvet up further.

"Vince, close your eyes, turn around and come back in an hour," Dom said before looking at Letty, "Maybe two."

Turning to leave the room, he came face to face with Leon.

"When?"

"About three months ago. You been walking around with ear muffs on?"

"But, its Letty?" Leon laughed and strolled off towards the bathroom, leaving Vince to ponder all he had seen. All he had seen, "You could have told me. I didn't need to see THAT much of her."

"Vince, piss off." He heard Letty call from the room he had just vacated. Taking heed of her, he wandered back into the living room. Jesse emerged from the back yard and stared at Vince's bewildered face.

"You knew too?" He questioned

"Knew what?" Vince rolled his eyes up towards the ceiling. Jesse started laughing, "Yeah, how did you find out? Dare I ask?"

"There are some things a guy doesn't need to see. Like a girl he considers his baby sister ass naked in bed with his best friend."

"Ouch. Oh well, breakfast?" Jesse questioned as he went to wake Mia. Vince pondered for a while before conceding that at least Letty was with someone he trusted.

Leon pulled into the forecourt and parked,
"So how can I see something that is so blindingly obvious, and you don't?"

"Who knows. Stranger things have happened." Leon surmised as he climbed out and walked into the garage. Vince stared at his friends back as he left the car, Dom's question resonating through his brain. There was definitely something up with him.

"You coming in or you just gonna stand staring at Leon's ass all day?" Letty chirpily interrupted, "I see Dom didn't change his mind."
"You surprised?" Vince replied before leaving.