Chapter Fifty: What matters most
Letty woke late and lazy on Sunday morning. A smile lit her face, Dom had text her since she left his room the day before. Nonsense messages about nothing of importance, trivial matters, no world value, but they had come again and again until she told him she was too tired to stay up and longer.
Despite it being Sunday and Letty's working days flipped 180 during the holidays, she was still heading into the garage. Everything was back to working order and Mr T wanted some sort of family re-opening pep talk. To re-affirm the values that might have been overseen, potentially lost. Not to mention the CCTV was now fitted and Vince was pitching a fit about not being able to scratch his ass privately anymore.
Letty and Mia came side by side into a tense atmosphere they had not expected.
Ella was glaring daggers at the boys.
Dangerous daggers.
Ones that threatened to stab if they came any closer.
And then there was Jesse, stepping nervously side to side, itching to pass Ella to get to the organiser, from the state of him Letty was guessing he was after the oil he kept eyeing.
"Wow, talk about tension," Mia dropped all tact and dove straight into the bright headlights of drama. "What happened last night?"
"You are kidding, right?!" Ella snapped straight to her, before recalling herself and taking a breath. "Sorry." she apologised with another deep breath. "I figured you would know by now."
"Ummm, nothing worth this. Though I hear Vince wrecked his relationship with Tessa and then drown himself in vodka."
Letty rolled her eyes in solidarity. Dom had said as much last night. Vince had called Tessa, demanding this and that, ending up with her blocking his number, which led to chasing empty skirts only to turn his sorrows and failure to the bartender. Explained why Vince wasn't anywhere to be seen. Probably sobering up with a greasy burger next door, only having come in because Mr T asked.
"That, no kidding, was the best part of that night." Ella hissed.
Letty stepped around her and grabbed the oil. Jesse looked like he was about to burst from tension warring with need. "Every single idiot that invited themselves last night has tested my patience to the max." Ella snapped around to Jesse with her sharp eyes, then back to Leon who quickly hid himself in work.
Surprisingly, it was Letty who was the voice of reason, passing Jesse the oil and letting him scarper away.
"You know what they're like, can't have been that bad." Letty justified, kicking out an old tool box to sit on. Sensing the long conversation, Mia hiked herself up onto the bonnet of the closest car, readjusting the skirt for dignity as she settled in.
Ella, exhausted and less caring, dropped herself onto the dirty floor and stretched her legs out long, fingers rubbing the bridge of her nose.
"All of them?" Mia asked, eyeing where Jesse had been stood. Jesse rarely got into trouble.
"No." Ella sighed. "Hilariously, the only one who behaved, was your man." A nod went to Letty.
Mia bolted out a short laugh.
"My brother?" she clarified, earning a nod. "My brother behaved when all of the rest of this lot failed?" Mia wriggled her hips into comfort. "Oh, this I have to hear, start at the beginning."
"Not much to say, he was polite to my girlfriends, told the skanks that came near he was in a committed relationship and not looking." Ella's tired eyes turned to Letty. "Congrats, by the way." Letty felt her pulse kick out again, a beam of pride swelled in her chest. "And then came Vince."
"What did Vince do?" Mia demanded, already starting a list to yell at him about.
"Let me tell you what Vince didn't do." Ella began, temper rising with the memories as they fled out. "He didn't puke on one out of five of my friends." Mia winced sympathetically. "He didn't insult all of them with a rant about women." Letty felt clarity bless her about the true extent of Dom's text stating Vince was digging a hole. It was gunna be a deep hole at this rate. "He didn't try to sleep with three of my besties." No wonder he wasn't front and present today. "Oh, and he absolutely didn't retain any chance of ever getting back together with Tessa, you should have heard what he said to her over the phone."
"Drunk?" Mia asked, piecing the information together.
"He arrived there smashed out of his mind. I have to bribe the bouncer just to get him in!" Ella huffed. "Leon promised he'd keep an eye on how much he drank and force water on him. Did he balls?!" Ella aimed the words loudly down the garage. "Instead, he played chase the skirt with Shannon." The girls heard a tool dropping loudly, a bang and soft grumble of pain. "And when Shannon said no, he decided he would hit on every single one of my friends, by staring directly at their chests."
"Men." Mia scoffed.
"Jesse?" Letty asked. He was usually so reliable.
"Jesse." Ella repeated, taking a long slow breath to calm back down. "Leon told me Jesse liked Laura, and I really liked Laura at the races, she was super cool so I brought her along, and I spent half the night trying to do a good deed, talking Jesse up to her. And she was sold, totally game for some Jesse lovin'." Ella hands moved with every articulation. "So I encourage her to go over and talk to him, because he's not even making a move at all. And when she goes up to him, he says he wasn't even looking at her, he was looking at Shannon. So Laura comes back, upset that I said he liked her."
"Oh." Letty vocalised. That explained Jesse behaving like a kicked dog. Jesse's version of flirting was a long and steady shy approach that included denying its existence if confronted. Especially if confronted by the one girl he actually did like.
"Yeah, so I'm uninviting them all from my actual birthday party. Well, except Dom." Ella flicked her hair over her shoulder, moving on.
"Poor Jesse." Mia whispered, just loud enough for the girls to hear.
"Excuse me?" Ella asked, wide eyed.
"He's kinda super shy." Letty offered.
"Ummm, I've seen him at the races, he's not shy." Ella countered.
"Not with one nights that Leon directs to him. But with someone he really likes… yeah, he is." Mia expanded.
"So he does like Laura?" Ella clarified.
"A lot." Mia concluded. "Li-"
"Ladies." Mr T's voice greeted them, stepping into their pow-wow with a knowing grin. "I do hope we're having a good morning."
"Vince needs punishing for his crimes against women." Mia offered with a smile to her father.
"I think the hangover will be punishment enough." Her father's soft tones advised, a fatherly hand to her shoulder. "And if not, I'm sure you three are more than capable of restoring the balance." he chuckled. "Just don't damage him, I need him at work."
"He doesn't need both kneecaps." Ella muttered under her breath, eyes on the wrench she'd been using.
"And if he didn't have a tongue, he could still work." Letty provided with a laugh.
"We c-"
"Don't." Mr T stopped his daughter's addition to the witch's cauldron of male hate. "I swear I should get a punching bag installed in here for all of you." he sighed. "Why can't I have employee's without anger management issues?" he joked. "Com'on, time for a quick catch up." He nodded out back and started heading that way, his hand patting on the cars the boys worked on in turn.
Sat out in the forecourt, away from the destruction, with burgers in hands and Sonja sipping on sweet tea, the gang gathered. Mr T addressed them like a king would address troops before an incoming battle. He rallied their spirits, forged their bonds and mended their wounds. He had them all laughing, ready to face whatever demons would come their way.
"Challenges will always be there." He was rounding off after the update about the CCTV, the repair progress and finishing the building work. "We will always have our fair share and it will always seem like it is a bigger mountain than we are capable of climbing, but all I am asking you to do, is keep on going."
"Keep on trucking." Vince grunted out his own interpretation of the message.
"Trucking." Mia repeated, rolling her eyes with humour. "Like anyone here has a problem with keeping their foot on the gas pedal." Another dramatic eye roll. "They'll always keep going until it kills them."
"Ride or die, Mia." Dom once again piped up, echoing words that had been spoken in the garage before.
"Ride or die." Letty echoed quietly, adding an elbow to her pseudo-sisters ribs where they sharing a chair.
"Ride or die!" Vince hollered, making Sonja jump with the suddenness.
"Yes, well." Mr Toretto called a peace over the new motto that was no doubt going to haunt him. "Enjoy our current disaster, and pray the next one takes it's sweet time arriving." he concluded.
Mia grabbed Letty the second everyone started to scatter back to work.
"You gunna help me paint?"
"Now?" Letty asked, eyes going to the new build, where the walls sat bared and ready.
"Yeah, com'on. Ella finishes actual work at 2 and says she'll help out then."
Letty looked down at Mia's pink summer dress pointedly. "Yes, well, I'm sure Dom's overalls will look better covered in blue paint anyway."
Letty grinned wide in her best friend's conspiracy and found herself agreeing to spending the afternoon with shades of blue and Mia's strict instructions.
An hour later, Ella and her long legs were stretching up to the height of the ceiling, Mia stood underneath passing up the paint can between gossip updates. Letty had tape on her arms from Mia's 'neat edges' and splashing of blue pain that had dried up her legs. But, the biggest pain was that she could see the boys doing actual work on cars, and she was stuck with a paintbrush.
Ella had shoved her banana at her after the fourth complaint as such, insisting something about endorphins and sat her on the sealed paint can outside.
But that meant she could see Dom and Vince (strictly eyes only) working on the transporter van that was on its last miles.
She watched as Dom swept the back of his hand over his forehead, stretching up above his head as Vince offered another suggestion to shoot down.
Letty wanted to be there, she wanted to join the guys as they fought over right and possible, inventing a way around the latest 'fix' that didn't work.
But, she was trying to balance the realisation she made the night before.
She'd always loved Dom.
Being in love with him was staring down a future that was fuzzy at the edges.
And, as much as she wanted to dive into it, there was hesitance haunting her.
And she didn't know why.
Why shouldn't she able to confess the way she felt?
"Letty, don't just stare at it." Ella's voice jostled her. Letty met a meaningful eye jab at the untouched banana in her hands she had until recently been thinking into. "The endorphins need to be ingested to make you less grumpy. And we've got more walls to paint. So eat."
Letty peeled back the skin of the banana and ripped the top off in a big bite, making a point of eye contact with Ella as she chewed.
The smell of paint clung to her and she errantly scratched at the dry blobs on her bare legs.
The summer heat and sun were drying the colour as quickly as it was dragged across the walls. It was breathing life into the place though. The tones of blue greatly changed the white wash from before.
Mia went back into her enthused news about a new air-con company she read about that was planting trees for every unit bought. Mia was going full swing environmental protector for some reason, insisting upon plants on every window space.
Letty went to take another bite of banana, attention back to the van.
Instead, she found big eyes drilling into her across the courtyard, a smirk curving lips, focus pinpointed to the banana.
Not thinking clearly, it took Letty a few seconds to realise why Dom was giving her banana bedroom eyes.
Letty dropped her bottom jaw, she wasn't purposefully performing fellatio to the banana, it was just absent thoughts bouncing in her head.
Not that Dom's eye contact was helping. All the cheerleaders inside her mind, in the palace of Dom, had finished their slow song contemplation and were changing into something less comfortable and more befitting the sexy mood he was laying down.
A mobile rang and Dom broke their connection to lift his out of his pocket, it went to his ear the next second.
Letty took the bite of the banana whilst he was talking to the caller.
And then he was back, body turned her way, finger outstretched to her, beckoning and hanging up the phone with 'we're on our way'.
"Com'on painter, we got a job." Dom called.
Letty ditched the banana without a second thought, chasing Dom out through the garage. But he didn't head down to the recovery truck.
"Where we going?" she asked, following his feet onto the pavement and down the road.
"Jesse's got a dead car about half a block away." Dom began, a grin wide. "He got it fixed roadside to drive back, but it's died mid junction."
"What is it?"
"Ford."
"Electrics?"
"Probably, we'll need to get it back, and I don't fancy pushing anybody else's weight in that car." He threw a smile over his shoulder. "And I think someone needed a pick-me-up." he offered.
"Yeah."
"Just tell my sister she's a maniacal overlord when it comes to painting and you don't want to help."
"It's Mia." Letty kept up easily, admitting to herself her lips were twisted in a big smile now. "She'd never get it finished if she was by herself."
"Then that would be her problem." Dom insisted, picking up the pace as the sound of horns beeping became more frequent and louder.
Jesse was stressing, turning a car over and over that just didn't want to start.
Angry drivers weren't offering a hand, just a grumble and a swear word selection to make sailors blush.
"I meant a tow truck!" Jesse cried upon seeing their arrival.
"Don't need it." Dom answered, hiking a thumb and swapping the drivers around.
Letty settled for the 2 man power that was replacing the 120 horses she should have.
But the car rocked then started rolling.
She tried it with a running start but the engine wasn't playing with her, all she could do was turn the wheel to follow the junctions back to the garage.
Parked onto the lift, Letty stepped out of her break and back to reality, and that was blue paint.
Sweaty arms met her on her exit, wrapping around her.
"You coming over tonight?"
His embrace felt casual, simple, easy… yet it filled her with warmth.
"Yeah."
"Good." He smiled, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as he pulled her in for a second. "Try get some paint on the walls, huh?" he teased, pushing her out of his hold and back to the new building, where Ella and Mia could be heard discussing the perfect tanning secrets.
Letty's 'later' turned out to be closer to midnight than daylight, she crossed the streets in the darkness and headed straight for the house with the lonely bedroom light left on for her. "Little late for a social call, Letty." Mr Toretto's deep chords made her jump, flail and grab out at the wall. "Isn't it?" he continued, a smile twisted into the question surely. "I believe Mia will be asleep." The kitchen light flipped on and Letty was illuminated to the knowing fatherly gaze as Mr T cradled a cup of cocoa. "Although, somehow, I get the idea you're not here for my youngest child. Are you?"
Pinpointed in the startling gaze of the father figure she never had, Letty backpedalled.
"Sorry. I'll just…" but her intent to flee was met with a shrug.
"Since you've made the effort to sneak out of your own house at this hour, it would be awfully rude for me to turn you back to the dark streets and your own bed." Mr T opened the fridge and pulled out the milk, tipping a bit more into his drink. "I could ring your mother to collect you." he mused. "But, this could all just be a figment of my imagination. I do have very vivid dreams." His eyes turned to Letty with mirth sparkling. "So I'll be heading back to bed." He returned the milk to the fridge. "I'd appreciate if you would remind my son he's got the opening shift tomorrow. So it would be advisable for him to sleep at some point." Mr T took a sip of his drink, confirmed the milk ratio was correct and then turned off the kitchen light. "Goodnight Letty." he spoke, heading up the stairs in the moonlight.
Letty thawed from the surprise. She wasn't quite sure if that was permission for her to be there, caught by her boyfriend's father, or if that was encouragement to go home. But, Letty didn't feel like it was the latter. She turned her eyes to the stairs, following the path to Dom's bedroom.
Letty woke in Dom's bed, hot and tight. She stretched out her limbs and felt the horny dream she'd awoken from was far from her imagination. Dom was pressed against her back, arm draped over her waist, fingers inside her panties. His groin was rocking a hard erection against the curve of her ass.
"Morning." His voice was like a gravel road straight to her sex drive.
Her reply was a pivot of her hips that gave him full access to slip his fingers inside her. "Gotta be quiet, Let." he hushed, rubbing his nose against her ear, kisses quickly following.
Her head nodded but the understanding of his words went straight back out of her head when he pumped his single digit into her. "Yeah?" he prompted, lips chasing her neck to shoulder, feeling the way she floated further away with each breath. "You been dreamy dirty dreams?" he withdrew the fingers for a trail to her clit. "You were so wet already." he purred the words like a prayer against her skin. She rolled her hips hard against his fingers, needing him back, inside her. "Thinking about what you wanted me to do?" he teased, two fingers parting her outer lips, diving back in, curling and finding what she needed to steal a sharp gasp.
Her digits had found their way backwards and between their bodies to shove boxers down and take hold of the erection she was rubbing against.
She broke his rhythm with her first stroke, faltered him with every pass of her thumb over his head until he took action, hiking her leg over his hips and sliding her underwear aside to guide his length through the wet glide of her slit.
"I love waking up with you." Dom vowed.
Letty felt the words dance inside her again, drowning her in emotion. It was just like he'd touched her heart electrifying her with the passion of his love.
She felt it from toes to lips, her body heating up in ways that had nothing to do with the lust swimming in her.
"There's a condom under the bed." he whispered, nudging her with a shoulder touch.
His fingers toyed with her until she reached the foil packet with blind patting and shoved it back against him.
Letty managed three deep, controlling breaths before she was losing herself in a gasp again, his covered tip sliding against her sex.
With a moan bit back between her lips, he smoothly guided himself inside her.
Fuck.
Letty felt filled with him, physically and emotionally.
Was this what it would be like to love someone so deeply they invaded your mind as easily as they touched your body? Would it always feel like lightning caressing the sea?
She felt swallowed with her emotions to Dom, engulfed by the idea she could love someone so much.
She turned her face into the pillow, sealing away the words that might tumble out and hiding the features that would give her away. She easily pushed back against his groin though, meeting his glide with enthusiasm.
It wasn't a half bad way to wake up.
It was damn good.
Dom's arm banded around her.
She felt him encase her in his wishes, the way she felt so safe, strong and supported.
Loved.
She had him, all hers, nobody else's.
He loved her.
His fingers strummed her clit as they rose together, their breath loud in the quiet of the early morning.
She felt him guide her, turning to steal her moans with a kiss as she climaxed.
Still half dressed, barely awake, she toyed with the idea of saying the words back, the words he wanted to hear.
That god damn it, she loved him too.
"Fuck, Letty." Dom groaned against her lips as he met her. "Love you." he whispered, words brushing over her cheeks.
"What about Selene?" Mia countered, her voice carrying as Letty had obviously stepped into something. "She lasted what? A week?" It was the dreaded meal where Alex formally met the Toretto family, and Letty had ran late. Late as in she had missed most of the dinner and was expecting to walk into a bloodbath.
"A month." Dom corrected.
Letty followed the arguing voices to the dining room table where Dom and Mia faced off in a competition. Alex was looking nervous as hell, picking at peas with a fork. Mr T was smugly sat, watching his children show up his family's manners once more.
"Oh Letty!" Mia turned to her quickly. "Back me up here!" she demanded. "Dom has never lasted more than a month with the same girl, has he?"
"Ummmm." Letty glanced at Dom.
"Even his very very first girlfriend lasted only three weeks." Mia continued her assault. "So he has no right what so ever to judge my relationship, which has already, lapped him about 3 times over."
"Ummmmmmmm." Letty didn't know what to say. It wasn't cool to admit she had stalked all of Dom's relationships since she met him, but, truth was, she had, and Mia was right.
"So, what?" Dom challenged. "If I've had a relationship over a month then I get the right to judge?"
"Partly." Mia conceded.
Dom turned pointedly to Letty.
"Good news darling, we're celebrating our tiny anniversaries now." he mocked with a grin, enjoying the way Letty's eyes went wide and she froze her feet where she stood.
"Oh Letty does not count!" Mia protested.
"Why not?"
"Because she is always my best friend before she is ever your girlfriend and since she's backing me up here, you can't use her as a girlfriend witness."
"What?" Dom laughed. "This is about your fling with grand theft auto here." He jabbed a thumb out to Alex. The thumb that belonged to the still slightly swollen hand. The ones that matched the litany of fading bruises he still sported. Alex shrank even further in his chair.
"Letty, back me up." Mia demanded.
"I, uhhh. I'm sorry I'm late. Dom said something about going to a movie…" she admitted softly.
"Seriously?!" Mia huffed. "Wait, no, this works. Go see a movie and leave us to dessert in peace!" Mia commanded, arms flung across her chest.
"I'm done anyway." Dom grinned, standing tall and taking pleasure in how Alex retreated physically from him. It would do him good to be frightened of him. Maybe he ought to show him how he got the swollen fist. "Unless you ne-"
"Dominic, let's not keep Letty waiting." Mr T suggested, knowing full well what crossed his son's mind from the sparkle in his eye.
"Fine. I'll be back later. And he'll be gone by nine." Dom commanded, grabbing his jacket from the back of the chair and steering Letty out of the dining room while he hunted for keys in his pockets. "Everything alright?" he asked quietly, eyes filled with concern when her footsteps followed slowly and silently.
"My ummm, my gran had a stroke. She's in the hospital."
"Shit, sorry Let. We can re-arrange." he offered.
"It's okay, my mums with her. I just need the distraction, if that's okay." She looked up at him with her big eyes, the ones that pulled him in whole heartedly.
He lifted her chin, pressing a kiss to her lips.
"Whatever you need." he swore.
She accepted the embrace easily, meeting his kiss with one sole purpose, distraction. And Dom was the most beautiful form of it. He responded as she needed, his body covering hers with his protective circle, stealing all her worries and troubles with each second of the kiss.
Someone cleared their throat in the room and the couple stepped apart, eyes open.
Mr Toretto stood against the doorway, the same all-knowing smug expression Dom sometimes wore.
He kept eye contact as he grabbed the photo album from the side and returned to the kitchen.
Letty felt her face flush red.
Caught by Mr T.
Twice now.
"Com'on." Dom chuckled. "Time to split." He went to the old hoodie on the back of a chair, fingers taking the keys out of the pocket.
"So Alex, what kind of car do you want to drive?" Mr T could be heard from the kitchen.
Letty winced in sympathy; this wasn't going to be easy.
"Oh, ummm, I uhh, I'm not that into cars really." Alex responded shyly.
Thank god Dom was too focussed on his keys to hear the response.
Mr T, however, put all the disappointment possible into the single syllable he spoke.
"Oh."
That was the photo album of Toretto cars put to bed quickly.
Mia's uproar of defence burst free as Dom stole Letty's hand and guided her out the door.
"We going for a movie?" Letty asked.
"Figured we might change plans. You wanna go Cresseda Park?"
"The one with the ice-cream hut?"
"That all you think about?" he nudged an elbow to her in tease but paused before the car. "Wanna race there?"
Dom saw the answer light up her face in the way she dove in her rucksack for her keys.
