Everyone had chilled out considerably when Dom finally came downstairs. Niema nodded at Pris and began to rise. "We should get going," she told Mia, "I've got to be at work early and Pris has class first thing in the morning." "Are you sure?" She and Pris both nodded. "It was nice meeting you, Mia. Maybe I'll see you again," Pris joked with a smile. Mia laughed softly. "You'd better come by again. This is the most well-behaved Leon's ever been," she replied teasingly. Leon gave her a disgruntled look. "I resent that remark," he objected. Mia stuck her tongue out at him. "You mean you resemble that remark," she quipped, drawing laughter from everyone else.

As she and Pris neared the door, Dom stopped her. "Thanks. For everything," he murmured, smiling at her. Niema smiled slightly. "I didn't really do anything. But you're welcome," she replied, lightly hugging him. He laughed softly. "Don't be a stranger, all right? You too, Pris." Pris gave him a surprised look. "No hard feelings over the hubcap incident?" she asked, catching Leon's smirk. "Do I want to know?" Vince called out from the couch. "I'll tell you later," Dom answered with a laugh as he walked them out to Pris's car.

Dom watched as Pris backed out into the street and drove away. As the taillights faded, he wondered what he was going to tell his team. He knew that the first thing he had to do was apologize to them. Sometimes, that was the hardest thing for him to do, period. Dom sighed heavily. The best thing to do was to just get it over with.

When he walked back into the house, he saw four worried faces staring at him. A smile curved his lips. "I think I'm gonna be okay," he began, sitting down across from Leon, Vince and Jesse, "But I've got a lot to make up for. Especially to all of you. I am so sorry for the way I've acted. It was wrong of me. Jesse, I appreciate you calling me on it the other night. And all of you are right. I haven't been fair when it came to Letty's memory. I've been selfish and hateful. We all loved her and we all lost her. You were right, V. I can't erase that, no matter how much I wanted to. Letty was too much a part of us for me to do that. If I could take back every word that I said to her that day, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But I can't and I have to live with that. All I can do is hope that you'll forgive me. And I'll understand if you don't." By the time, he finished, tears misted his dark eyes.

Mia reacted first by throwing her arm's around her older brother's neck, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I was so scared that I wouldn't get my brother back," she murmured, sniffling slightly. Dom's big arms closed around her. "I'm sorry, Mia," he whispered, hugging her tightly and stroking her long, black hair. He sat still for a little while, simply rocking her like he'd done when she was little.

It took a while but Leon finally made up his mind to forgive Dom. The older man had been right on all counts. Letty had been such a big part of their lives that she couldn't be erased from it. Not by Dom or anyone else. "I'm cool with you, man. Just remember that we lost her too. You ain't the only one who's been hurting," he said softly, raising his eyes and looking directly at his friend. Dom simply nodded and gave him a small smile.

Jesse wrung his hands as he considered what the last year had been like. He could understand that Dom had been hurting, but hadn't they all? Hadn't he cried himself sick when no one was around because he felt like a piece of his heart was gone? He straightened his hands out and flexed his fingers. "You hurt us real bad, Dom. You hurt me real bad," he whispered into the silence that filled the room. "I know I did, Jess, and I don't expect you to forgive me," came Dom's reply. Jesse raised his eyes. "See, that's the thing. I do forgive you but I can't forget it, y'know?" "I know." The young man heaved a sigh of relief. He was glad that Dom understood.

Vince listened to what Leon and Jesse said to Dom. Part of him wanted to forgive his best friend while the other part didn't know where to start. There was a lot of hurt and anger in him that had never been let out. He wasn't sure if he could just shove it away. Finally, he spoke. "I don't know, brother. I just don't know," he told his friend honestly, hoping that Dom could see his point of view. "I'm not expecting it, V, I'm just asking for it. That's all I have the right to do," Dom told him calmly though Vince could see hurt in his eyes. Vince nodded. "We'll see how things go, Dom. Take it a day at a time. That's all I know to do." Silently, Dom inclined his head in agreement.

In Pris's car

"How do you think things are going?" Pris asked, glancing at Niema. "I don't know," she sighed, "He's burnt some bridges so he's gotta rebuild them." The younger woman nodded in agreement.

A few minutes later, Niema spoke again. "So, is he any good?" she inquired with a smile. "Who?" Laughter bubbled up out of her. "Leon, ya dork. Who did you think I meant?" she giggled. Pris rolled her eyes, swatted at her best friend's shoulder and muttered, "Smartass." "You know you love me," Niema teased, ducking the playful swat. Snorting, Pris grinned and answered, "He's reaaaaal good. He doesn't kiss like I thought he would, though." "Should I ask or remain blissfully unaware?" "I'm serious. I expected him to be a rough kind of kisser but he wasn't. He kisses kinda like those romance novel guys. You know, slow, sweet and hot," Pris explained. "Ahhh. Curled your toes, huh?" "And a few other things," her friend replied with a smirk. "Pris, you bad girl," Niema laughed, though she was glad that Pris liked Leon. Her friend had been alone too long. "He likes me this way so deal with it," Pris giggled as she turned the corner onto Drayton. Her giggle faded as she saw someone on the porch of their house.

The girl on the porch watched the car squeal to a stop after pulling into the driveway. "Hi, Pris," she called out cheerfully, waving as the two women got out of the car. Her spirits fell slightly as she saw the look on Pris's face, though she felt a little better about the smile that Niema gave her.

"Becca Jane, what the hell are you doing here?" Pris demanded, hurrying up the stairs, "Does Mom know about this or did you just wander out of the house again?" Becca's bottom lip trembled at the anger in her older sister's voice. "She knows. It was her idea," the girl replied in a near whisper. Pris stared at her.

"Bec, what's going on?" She looked up at her sister. "She's getting married and doesn't want me to get in the way," she answered, biting her lip. The older woman slumped against the porch rail. "Tell me she's not marrying that asshole Pauly. Please tell me it's not him," she said, giving her little sister a weary look. With a small, rueful smile, Becca nodded. Pris groaned and closed her eyes. "Man, that sucks." Niema came up the steps and put a hand on Becca's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, kid. We've got plenty of room and you're always welcome," she told the girl and nudged Pris with her foot. Pris opened her eyes and smiled. "That's right. Screw Mom and the moron. I'm glad you're here," she said, hugging her tightly. "You mean it?" Pris nodded and so did Niema. "Hell yeah, we mean it. Besides, I need a good mechanic. Ni here ain't got her mind on the game anymore," she said, giving Becca a conspiratorial wink.

Becca looked at Niema wide-eyed. "Did you finally meet Toretto? What's he like? Is his car beautiful? Does he really win every race?" she asked, the questions coming out in a rapid fire manner. Niema laughed softly. "Yes. He's not too bad. His car is absolutely gorgeous and no." "Geez, Ni, how 'bout some details? You never give details," she groaned as Niema unlocked the front door and the three of them went into the house. "Relax, Blinker, there's plenty of time to give you the details," Niema laughed as she closed the door behind them.