Hi. I wanted to thank everyone who followed/faved my story or who left a review. Thanks so much for letting me know what you think.

Chapter 14

Letty stood in front of the window in her room. The sun was going down and she found the sky beautiful. She liked the way the orange and purple melted into each other making the perfect color. The sight calmed her. She needed that.

She had stepped away from the others for a while. It had been a long day and she wanted to be alone. She needed to think.

Letty had embraced that she was home. And she had liked spending time with everyone.

Roman had talked about his trips in his private jet. Letty had found his stories hilarious. Although, she hoped he had made up many of the craziest parts he shared.

Tej had outlined how easily he could override the ATM access codes at the Spanish banks to put into place what he liked to call his "Robin Hood but with more style" moments. And Mia had added to Tej's story by sharing her own success at having figured out which banks around the world were best suited for international banking, wire transfers, and holding private accounts for people in their line of work.

Han, having had his own adventures overseas, had listed his favorite spots in Hong Kong to hang out if any of them thought to visit.

And Dom had mostly stayed quiet, only adding his comments where he saw fit. He voiced his particular doubt about Roman's claim that he had talked his way past customs agents on his way back to Spain from his trip to Macau after having lost his passport.

Their time together had been fun but Letty had not calculated that even after hours, the family would not have any desire to go their separate ways. And as the day wore on, everyone just seemed to stick around.

Letty should have expected this really. They had all fought so hard to be free. Of course they wanted to enjoy their freedom together.

But after a while, Letty realized she was not going to get Dom alone anytime soon. She accepted this and decided to take a breather for herself.

On the one hand, everyone's never-ending presence gave Letty an out. This way she wouldn't have to confront Dom or deal with herself for that matter. She could just continue to float along as she had been like nothing had changed.

It looked like a good choice. They had already been through enough drama for one day hadn't they? And did Letty really want to bombard Dom with more stuff about her feelings and whatnot?

Letty wanted to laugh at her own dumb attempt to talk away what she needed to do. Who was she kidding? Even she couldn't buy this line of thinking. It was nonsense.

She really doubted that Dom would mind hearing from her. Dom never minded hearing from her. And she imagined the only words she could speak that would upset him were that she was unhappy and she planned to leave. He would be ready to listen to anything else.

Letty shook her head. She wasn't going to be able to talk this fact away. She just had to deal.

What she needed was a plan, something that would make this whole thing easier for her.

She took in a deep breath and pulled the curtain on her window.

Letty pulled on her jacket. She had an idea. She would ask Dom to take her for a drive. Letty liked their drives together and Dom knew that. She had told him as much. And she had started to make it a habit to let Dom take her wherever he wanted them to go.

He seemed to find the entire set-up entertaining. Dom had a tendency not to tell Letty where they were going. And Letty had formed a tendency not to ask. But sometimes she could guess. Dom's choices for places he liked to show Letty tended to be scenic.

He seemed to like beautiful sights the same way she did, sunsets, skylines, stars, things like that. It was an attribute that Letty would not have necessarily guessed about Dom. But one he had shown her over and over again.

Her instincts told her this plan made a lot of sense. For one, it would get both of them out of the house. A change of scenery couldn't possibly hurt. And two, it would make it easier for Letty to talk to Dom. This was something he had taught her; although, she wasn't sure if he had done it on purpose. It could've just been something that happened because of how he was with her. But it seemed like one way or another their drives inspired Letty to talk when she might have otherwise kept quiet.

Dom didn't corner Letty. That wasn't his style. But somehow, he had a way of taking her to places that made her forget to worry long enough to unburden her mind to him. And even then, he had never really been trying to get her to spill her guts, she didn't think, it had always just sort of happened.

Looking back, Letty could blame her insomnia, at least in part, on her willingness to talk to Dom about things she might normally keep to herself. This had proven true as early as last week. The whole thing had happened on yet another sleepless night when Dom had run into Letty as she restlessly roamed around the house.

She was sure Dom had been asleep when she'd gotten up from her bed, and she thought her idle walking around had been quiet. But somehow he still showed up downstairs while she mindlessly surfed channels through stupid late night TV shows with the volume turned down so low she had to guess at what the actors were saying.

"Letty?" Dom had called her from the stairs.

"Yeah..." she answered.

She was surprised to hear Dom awake, but more surprised when she saw him appear in the living room fully dressed with his keys in his hand.

Letty met Dom's eyes. He stared at her for a moment. He seemed to be taking in the scene, the glow of the TV and Letty sitting bored on the couch with her legs tucked beneath her.

"Get dressed," he said. His words were half command, half question and Letty tightened her eyes.

Dom had confused her. Why would she change from a tank top and sweatpants to a tank top and jeans? It was the middle of the night.

"Why?" asked Letty.

"Let's go for a little ride," he said. Letty eyed Dom a minute longer before answering.

She considered saying no. She didn't like that her restlessness had been keeping Dom awake at night too. It seemed unfair to have him driving her around town just because she had woken him up.

Plus, Letty didn't want to risk Dom asking her about why she had trouble sleeping. She had no plans to tell him that she had been thinking about her life now...about him. And she did not intend to tell him that he sat on her mind most hours of the day, and that everything about their situation felt both right and wrong at the same time. That what was right was that being with him brought her peace, and what was wrong was that not remembering her life before sometimes drove her crazy.

"I think you'll like it," Dom said quickly. And Letty wondered if he could tell she was seconds away from turning him down.

But she was curious as to why he wanted this. It seemed like an odd request. And it wasn't exactly like she was busy. Also, Dom was already awake. Her refusal wasn't going to undo whatever damage she had already caused.

"Alright," she said reluctantly. She dragged herself up from the couch and searched for something to throw on.

Letty rode in the passenger seat of Dom's car with the window down. The night air soothed her. And she found the L.A. skyline fun to watch. The blinking lights seemed to dance. And it was a cool sight to see.

She and Dom rode in silence for most of the drive. Letty hadn't felt the need to speak and neither had Dom it seemed. But Letty wondered if he was growing tired of her restlessness waking him up. What were the chances he would tell her the truth if she asked him? Probably not high. And how did he even hear her when she walked around? she wondered. She had thought she was usually so quiet.

But before she could think of a good way to ask these questions, the car stopped and Letty realized Dom had driven her to the beach. He pulled up close to the sand and cut the engine.

"You brought me to the ocean?" Letty asked.

"You used to like it here," said Dom. "It's quiet. Thought you might want to come here later...on nights you don't sleep."

She looked out at the beach. It seemed fitting that Dom would bring her here. She liked the water. She enjoyed to listen to the waves crash against the surf. She had often found herself near water whenever she could get there when she had been traveling with Shaw. She must have always found it calming. Letty relaxed into her seat.

"What about you?" she asked.

"What?"

"Do you like it here?" she said. Dom seemed to think about her question.

"I like the beaches in Mexico or the DR better," he said. Letty nodded.

The sound of the ocean hitting the surf seemed to be working. She felt calmer than she had earlier in the night and she leaned out of the window to take in the ocean air before turning back to Dom.

"So where's your favorite spot in L.A. if not here?" Letty asked. The shift in her mood had made her want to find out something new about Dom.

"There's a spot I like not too far out. But you gotta climb a bit. It's sorta on a hill," he said.

"What's so special about that place?" she said. "You lose your virginity up there or something?" Letty's tone was joking and Dom laughed. It was a low sound. Letty smiled and leaned back into her seat.

"No, not there," he answered after a few seconds. His voice was sincere and Letty decided to keep going. Now was as good a time as any to ask about their past.

"So me then?" she said. She kept her voice calm. She was curious. Dom looked over at Letty confused. He didn't seem to know what she meant.

"Did I lose my virginity there?" she said.

Dom laughed again. But the sound was quiet, like Letty had almost made Dom nervous. Had she embarrassed him? She found the idea that she could jokingly embarrass the always confident Dom too fun to let go of and she decided to press forward.

Dom pushed back against the seat, but he turned his head toward Letty.

"I wouldn't know," he said.

"No?" Letty asked. She wasn't sure if she should feel surprised. Sure, she had started dating Dom as a teenager, but it wasn't hard for her to imagine that she had dated other people before him.

"No," Dom said.

Letty sat up in her seat and turned her whole body to Dom. She wasn't quite finished with this line of questioning. But Letty wondered if Dom would become agitated if she asked more questions. Still, this was something she really wanted to know.

"So are you going to tell me or what?" she asked.

Dom looked back at her. Dom's possible embarrassment seemed to shift to amusement. He looked like he found her curiosity endearing and like everything else she asked him, Dom seemed to have inwardly agreed with himself to answer her questions.

Dom opened his mouth and paused before speaking. "I don't know where," he finally said, "only with who."

"Well?" said Letty. She was sitting on the edge of her seat. Learning about the first person she had slept with suddenly became fascinating to her.

Dom sighed. Letty couldn't tell if the sound was laced with real or fake annoyance. She wondered if she should stop. "Does this bother you?" she asked sincerely.

Dom leaned back into his seat. He looked over at her. "No, it doesn't bother me," he said. "You're not asking anything you didn't tell me about yourself."

The notion that she trusted Dom with literally anything made Letty strangely happy.

But Dom sighed before going on. "When I met you, you were dating this guy, Marvin…"

"Was he a racer like you?" Letty asked.

"Like me?" Dom scoffed. "No, not like me." His tone was appalled, like he couldn't believe Letty had thought to compare any other racer to him.

Letty held in a laugh. Dom's arrogance when it came to driving really entertained her.

"He was more like Brian when he was still a buster. Could've mistaken the guy for a surfer if you want me to be honest," he said.

Letty couldn't remember Brian before. She had only seen him being as tough as the rest of the family, but she could imagine, judging from his clean-cut good looks that Dom might have mistaken Brian for something other than what he was when they met.

"A surfer?" Letty said. "Yeah right, Dom. I doubt I went out with a surfer look alike. And I really doubt I had sex with anybody like that." Letty shook her head. She didn't buy this story.

"Well, you did. Even if he was a wannabe driver and a buster," said Dom.

Letty laughed out loud. Dom, who had been completely calm before, could not hide the jealousy in his voice.

Letty felt her face turn warm. She had almost completely forgotten her earlier worry and she decided she was having fun, even if it was at Dom's expense.

"Alright, fine," said Letty. She crossed her arms across her chest. "But if I was feeling this Marvin guy so strong, then why did I dump him?"

Dom shifted and Letty saw a smirk form on his face. "You found somebody better," he said.

Letty shook her head. Of course Dom was talking about himself. Letty smiled at this revelation and nodded. She liked this part of the story and Letty could tell that Dom had gotten to the part that he liked too. She leaned back in her seat and fell silent as she listened to the waves.

"I like it here," she said after a few minutes.

"Good," said Dom.

"Dom..." said Letty.

"Yeah?"

"I guess you're pretty sick of me waking you up all the time," said Letty.

Letty wanted to roll her eyes at herself. There were probably a million better ways to say that, but at least it was out now and she might find out what she wanted to know.

Dom was quiet for a long time before answering. "I'll never be sick of you, Letty. It's just…"

"What?" she asked.

"...seems like a lot has been bothering you. But I figured if you wanted me to know about it, you'd tell me…at least that's what used to happen," he said.

Letty wasn't sure what to say. She couldn't tell if Dom was just telling her what he had been thinking about or if he was trying to convince her to open up to him about what kept her up at night.

What did it matter either way? Dom was just letting her know he knew there was definitely a reason she roamed around the house at all hours in the dark.

Letty tilted her head to the side. She was about to speak, but Dom wasn't finished.

"I guess I thought you felt safe at the house with me...thought you knew you were safe," he said. "But seems like you're scared something's gonna happen to you."

Letty felt her mouth open. She would never have guessed that this was how Dom had interpreted her insomnia.

"I know I'm safe with you," she said quickly. "That's not why I can't sleep. It's just…"

Dom turned to Letty. He met her eyes and waited for her to finish. But Letty didn't want to finish. She didn't know how to put into words everything that swirled around in her head about him, about them, about how she felt about him helping her put herself back together.

She lowered her eyes. "I don't really want to talk about what keeps me up. But I trust you, Dom," she said. "Isn't that enough?"

Letty's voice was soft and her question was sincere. She felt her heart speed up and she realized that she hoped the answer was yes. Letty was doing the best she could. She didn't have anything else to offer Dom in the moment, and she wasn't sure what would happen if her response wasn't good enough.

Dom blinked. He studied Letty's face. He looked like he was trying to find the right words.

He smiled and nodded his head a little. "Yeah...course, it's enough," he said.

Dom reached for Letty's hand and held it into his own before leaning his head back onto his head rest. Letty relaxed too. She was almost giddy with relief that she hadn't screwed everything up beyond repair.

"That's all I want," he said. She believed him.

That had been last week and Letty wasn't sure if going for a drive with Dom today would get her talking, but at this point it seemed a lot more promising than sitting in her room. She straightened her back and stood tall before heading downstairs.

Letty walked to the bottom of the stairs and heard voices in the living room. She found Tej walking with Han toward the front door.

"Letty, we're headed out to some races. You wanna come with?" asked Tej.

"Nah, I'm good, thanks. You driving?" asked Letty.

"Well, he's driving. I'm placing bets," said Tej. He gestured toward Han. Han laughed a small laugh and shook his head.

"Yeah, we'll see who's dumb enough to go up against me tonight," said Han.

"Don't do too much damage," said Letty.

"I'm not making any promises," said Tej laughing. "Catch you later, girl."

"Later," said Letty as she watched Tej and Han head out of the door.

Letty walked through what was now a completely quiet house. Roman had likely left to meet up with one or possibly two dates. Letty shook her head at the thought. She wondered if he would ever learn.

She kept walking. She had a good guess as to where she might find Dom.

She moved toward the garage and heard Brian's voice before she saw him. His words were muffled. She couldn't make all of them out. But she thought she heard him say something like "screw that" and "cause he's an asshole."

He must've been talking to Dom and not Mia. Direct words. No fluff.

Should she interrupt or let them be?

No more stalling. Letty took in a deep breath and walked into the garage.

She entered just as Brian was standing up. He had been sitting on a metal stool near the garage door.

Dom stood across the room near the Charger. He seemed to be sifting through a box of parts. His eyes found hers when she walked in and a small smile crossed his face. Letty tried, but she couldn't help but smile back.

"Um, you busy in here?" she said.

"Nope," said Brian. "I have to head home. Jack will probably be up at midnight. Gotta be ready for him."

Brian's words meant hard work for him. But his tone was downright joyful. He sounded like waking up in the middle of the night to take care of Jack brought him the same happiness as crossing the finish line in first place would. Everything about Jack made Brian happy, it seemed. Letty admired that.

"Catch you guys in the morning," said Brian.

"Night," said Letty.

Letty moved further into the garage but stayed near the door. Dom looked at her. She felt nervous.

"I was thinking…" she said.

Dom put down his box of parts. He leaned against the Charger and tightened his eyes at her. It looked like he hadn't come up with any good guesses as to what she came to tell him.

"What?" he said.

"Umm, do you wanna go for a drive?"

Dom sat up. "You wanna go for a drive?" Letty's invitation seemed to surprise Dom and make him happy at the same time.

"Where you wanna go?" he asked.

Letty shrugged. "Wherever," she said.

Dom seemed to think about this for a second. And Letty could almost see an idea pop into his mind. "Okay," he said. "There's something I want to show you."

Letty felt her eyebrows raise. That was easy, she thought. And the idea that Dom already had something in particular to show her made her curious.

Letty turned and headed toward Dom's car that sat parked in the driveway. She climbed into the passenger side.

"So where you taking me?" said Letty. She had no idea where they were headed.

"Wait til you see," he said.

Letty gave him a small laugh. She shrugged. She had figured he wouldn't tell her.

She looked out of the window as they rode. She saw the city pass by and she watched the sun completely disappear on the horizon. She sat back and took in a breath. She wanted to relax the best she could. Here was her opportunity to talk to Dom...tell him the truth of how she felt, even if she didn't know how it would turn out. She would make herself crazy if she didn't. (Not to mention miserable.)

But then again, there was still time to chicken out. She could just take this drive for what it was, time to hang out with Dom doing something she was about ninety-five percent sure she would like, even though she didn't have any idea where they were headed. That card was still in play, she realized.

No. Letty sighed to herself. She had had enough cowardice for one day. She had already started down this path. She had might as well see it through.

"Dom?" she said.

"Yeah?"

"There's something I want to talk about…" she said.

"Okay."

Letty was used to riding for a while and she was surprised when Dom stopped the car. They had only been riding for about fifteen minutes. Letty looked at Dom. She was sure she wore a question on her face. But he didn't offer up any information.

"Can we talk about it inside?" he asked.

"Inside where?" Letty asked. She looked around. All she saw was an alleyway. This definitely wasn't one of Dom's scenic spots.

"There's something I want you to see," he said.

Dom got out of the car and headed to the trunk. He pulled out a crowbar. Letty felt her mouth pull down into a frown but she got out of the car too.

Letty watched as Dom climbed up onto a dumpster. "We're headed in here," he said pointing to small window on the side of a building. He stood on the metal container and pushed against the window that seemed to be unlatched.

Briefly, Letty questioned whether she should follow him. This definitely wasn't anything she had been expecting.

"What? We gotta break in?" she asked.

"Are you scared?" Dom said. She could hear the amusement in his voice.

Letty scoffed. Of course she wasn't scared. She had done a million things more dangerous than this. Dom knew that. His taunt was probably just to make sure she followed him. And he seemed to enjoy teasing her in the moment.

She hesitated for a second longer. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. It was now completely dark out, and she was pretty sure no one would see them. But she did wonder how Dom would react if he didn't get his way?

But who was she kidding? She found it damn near impossible to turn down a challenge. And her curiosity was at an all-time high. Where exactly had he brought her? And whether she wanted to admit it or not, she couldn't help but like the prospect of doing something that clearly counted as trespass.

Letty took in a deep breath and hoisted herself up onto the dumpster. Dom opened the window with a hard shove of his crowbar. He listened for a second, and then climbed through the space.

Letty followed.

She shook her head to herself. She planned to get back to talking about her feelings in just a minute, she decided, as soon as she figured out what was going on.

If nothing else, this was going to be interesting.