Coffee, Cigarettes and Apologies

By Jet-Indigo

Chapter Five – You're the Storm

Leon sat in the chair beside Vince's bed, watching Letty sleep. He had placed a cold flannel upon her head with shaking hands, unable to rid the image of the white stick he had found in the bathroom. On the bedside table it sat now, on top of the box that had revealed what he had least expected that morning – Letty was pregnant.

He was restless and hadn't been able to sit still for longer than five minutes, wondering what he, no, they were going to do. It was like Dominic had cut her by leaving her and now, he had come back to pour a tub full of salt all over the wound. Obviously he couldn't have known if Letty had only just found out herself but that didn't mean he was right in leaving them. Negative and negative didn't make positive. It was his responsibility to them all to at least make sure they were safe – Alive.

He hadn't believed Dom to be that selfish but this was just the cold truth that he only gave a shit about himself. It angered Leon so much to have the realization that the man they had trusted for so many years had just left them at such a crucial time. Part of him wanted to believe that there had to be a rational explanation as to why he had left. But the other part of him, the angry part, wanted to find him and beat him to a bloody pulp.

Maybe it was the protective side of him. The side that missed his brother and cared for Letty and Vince in a way he thought was impossible. Out of the Team he had always been the level-headed one, the one who could be relied upon to be calm and collected in any situation. He felt like it was his role of sorts, that he had to keep up the character all of the time in fear of actually showing how scared or angry he was.

He was good at hiding those emotions, he had to when it came to Jesse. He was the older brother and it had been rough on them both when their father had been sent to prison but Jesse struggled with handling such things so Leon had had to be the strong, reassuring one. Eventually, Jesse had come to realise that they would be okay, they had Dominic and the rest of the Team and their father would be out in a year, nine months, six months…

In comforting Jesse, he had been comforting himself. Things were going to work out alright. They could do the heists and that way they would have money to do whatever they wanted, as long as their father didn't find out the real reason why they had all that cash. Jesse could get his own car and everyone would be happy.

Look where they were now.

"Leon?" Letty was blinking away the light and trying to focus on the man beside her. Leon moved out of his seat and knelt beside the bed, taking her hand.

"Yeah, it's me girl. How you feeling?"

She lifted a hand to her forehead, pulling away the cold flannel and sitting up to rest on her elbows. "Got a killer headache. And I'm really thirsty," she replied, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"I'll get you a glass of water," he said softly, standing up and leaving her to recollect her self.

When he walked back in, glass of water in hand, she was sat on the edge of the bed, clutching the pregnancy test in her hand. He watched her for a moment, trying to work out how she was feeling when she sensed him and looked up.

"I guess you saw this, huh?" He nodded his head silently and sat on the bed beside her, placing the glass of water on the floor. She sighed, and with a mixture of bitterness and sadness in her voice muttered, "Kinda puts a new spin on things. My child's never going to see their father."

"Letty, don't say that. We don't know what's happened to him yet, he could be looking for us right now." The words spilled out of Leon's mouth but he couldn't help but think 'yeah, right'.

"Come off it Leon! You know as well as I do that Dominic Toretto is perfectly capable of leaving us when we need him." She looked as if she were about to say more but decided against it. Leon knew she was talking about when he slept with Mika Tran and all the other times he had cheated on her. He knew she was talking about the fact he had sent him back to get her from the car and not gone himself. Though, on the other hand he had been trying to get Vince but it had still stung her. She was talking about so many times he had been selfish and she had been left in a cold, empty bed to wonder why the hell she hadn't just packed up her bags and left him.

But the fact remained, no matter how much he fucked her over, gave her the cold shoulder, whatever – she was still in love with him. Sometimes she asked herself why and came up with so many reasons. It was the way he looked at her when he woke up next to her, the sweet nothings he whispered in her ear when he gave her a massage or when they made love. The way he could express so much by taking her hand in his, kissing her jaw line, running his calloused hands through her hair. To love someone so much it hurt, that was what got her so much.

Before she could stop them, tears were spilling out of her eyes. Tears that she had fought so hard to keep from spilling over the years because of so many times he hadn't been there to kiss her goodnight. Tears she hadn't spilt when she found out he had slept with the Tran girl. The night Letty had also found out that she was pregnant.

She had told one person – Leon. She hadn't even told Mia, her best friend, because she didn't think she could. Leon had known straight away that something was wrong, worse than him cheating on her for the countless time. He had a way of seeing more in people, sometimes a blessing, sometimes a curse.

But she had spilled to him and he had been the kind, caring, understanding person he always was. The genuine Leon. He had been there for her, stood by her when she had made the decision to have an abortion. He had been the one who held her hand and comforted her without saying a word throughout the whole thing. And nobody else had found out. She never spoke of it, so he didn't either. But it had still happened and it had made them strangely closer than ever. A silent bond.

As soon as he noticed the tears spilling down her olive face, he pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms tightly around her body. He hated to see her cry, and this was another one of those times when he had the sudden urge to protect. He felt like a big brother to her and he knew, without her saying anything, why she was crying. Sobbing.

'He left me,' she stuttered, breathlessly. "I miss him so much." Leon clenched his fist against her back, stroking her hair with the other. He could feel himself getting so much angrier with Dominic, but he still wanted to give his all to Letty in her time of need. It pained him to see her so distraught over the man that had screwed her over time and time again. The tough Letty so many people saw was someone who you wouldn't expect to put up with so much shit from a guy but he guessed that's what love did to you. He could only empathise with her since he'd never been in love, but surely it didn't have to hurt as much as it clearly did.

Not many people got to see the real Letty but when you did, you saw how truly amazing she really was. She was a passionate person, everything in her life she loved or loathed, be it music, movies, actors, her job – anything. She was strong and opinionated, but she knew when to shut up and when to comfort. Leon always loved the times when him, Jesse, Vince and Letty would sit around and joke. She was one of the guys, but when Mia needed girl talk she would indulge.

She was different around Dominic. When they were alone, they were a perfect couple. When Dom was around she was more subdued, she seemed to hold back from making the inappropriate jokes that would always make him crack up because she knew they were inappropriate. She was herself but in a lesser form, he thought. Heck, that probably didn't make sense but he could think of no other way to explain it.

After ten minutes of silence, aside from a couple of sobs, she pulled away from him. She closed her eyes, turning away from him to wipe them on the hem of her shirt. She turned back to him, her tearstained face straining into a smile. He didn't say anything, he just looked at her, non-judging and caring.

"Leon -"

"You don't need to say anything," he said, in almost a whisper. She sighed, looking at her hands. He wiped a strand of hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. Placing his fingers under her jaw, he lifted her face up to look at him. He stared intently into her eyes for a long moment, before she let her eyes stray away.

"You know I'll always, always be here for you Letty. You don't need to explain yourself to me. Ever. That's what I'm here for – I'm your friend, it's what I do." She looked back up at him and he placed a soft kiss on her forehead. "I can't stand what he's done to you, but I know how much you love him so…Whatever you decide. I'm here."

He got up, seeing it a good time to leave her to get some rest. "Leon?" She said, timidly. He turned back to her. "I, uh – thanks.'"

'Don't mention it. I'll be in the living room if you need anything.'

…

She woke up with a start, the faint sound of a late night movie the only thing she could hear. She got up and stumbled to the bathroom, suddenly feeling desperate for the toilet. Washing her hands, she looked up at the mirror in front of her, appalled at the sight before her. She straightened out her hair a little, before venturing into the living room.

Some B-movie from the fifties was playing quietly and she found Leon asleep on the couch. She half-smiled at the sight of the full grown man looking so…naïve and grabbed a blanket to cover him up. He snored lightly and woke himself up, looking confused for a moment before cocking his head at Letty.

"I was gonna wake you but you looked so cute," she said, holding the blanket to her chest.

"Ha, thanks, I think." She looked about to say something but thought against it and backed away, replacing the blanket in its original position.

"Night."

"Night," he called after her.

He turned the TV off and headed into the other bedroom, too tired to even brush his teeth. He stripped off his jeans and shirt and fell into bed. He was just drifting off when he heard his door open. He sat up on his elbows, seeing Letty standing in the doorway, her wavy hair falling around her face. "You okay? You need something?" He asked, genuinely concerned.

"No…Um, I just – can I stay with you?" She stuttered, looking at her feet.

He pulled back the covers and watched her slip in beside him. "You don't mind?" She asked, not lying down.

"Not at all," he replied, stretching out his arms so that she could sleep beside him. The warmth of her body against his was refreshing and he wrapped his arm around her back, as she placed her head on his chest. He breathed in the scent of her hair before drifting off into a deep sleep.