Author's Note: Thanks for the faves and follows guys! I hope you are enjoying this so far. I plan to update this fic every Friday as long as possible. Stay tuned! In this chapter, Letty is invited to one of the Torettos' weekly barbeques.

Chapter 5

"I invited Letty to the barbeque," Mia told her father as they were chopping vegetables together in the kitchen. "I hope that's okay."

"You know it's always fine," Mr. Toretto responded. He liked to issue an open invitation to anyone in the neighborhood, and many of them came, for the food, for the beers, or just for the chance to be around people who came from the same place.

Mia and he would make a veritable spread of food of course, but lots of the neighbors would bring things too. There would be music and good cheer.

It was one of the constants in their life here in LA. Even after Luz had gotten sick and eventually died, he still had the neighborhood family around him.

"Dom brings Vince all the time so I thought it would be," Mia agreed. "But it's still nice to ask."

Jack Toretto chuckled and shook his head idly. It seemed at times that his children couldn't be more different. He loved his son, but he was grateful for Mia. She was his rock.

"It's very nice to ask," he nodded. "But she can come. Any of your friends are welcome."

She grinned over at him. "Okay. I'm going to go get her once we're done with this."

When she went out the back door a few minutes later she could see Dom and Vince in the garage hanging around near her father's Charger. Vince tried to hide the cigarette in his hand until he saw it was her. She rolled her eyes at them as she walked past.

Letty was sitting on the front stoop of her house when Mia walked up.

"Hey," she said, pushing herself to her feet. "I was hoping you were coming soon. My mom is in a mood today."

Mia knew that "in a mood" meant drunk. And when Letty's mom was drunk she vacillated between not giving a shit to batshit crazy. Letty seemed to deal with it by avoiding her. Mia didn't really know what else she could do. She was only 12. If they reported the woman to CPS then Letty would be sent away to live with her grandma in the DR.

So instead she didn't say anything about it, not even to her dad. She didn't want to lose her best friend, after all.

They walked back to the Toretto house together and Vince and Dom had disappeared somewhere - probably off making trouble, but Mr Toretto was out at the grill now, setting up the charcoal bricks.

"Hey Letty," he said with a smile. "How are things at home?"

"Fine," she lied. It was easier than explaining the truth.

Mia got them some sodas from the cooler and brought her over to the garage to show her the upgrades Dom and her dad had done on the Charger last week.

"What do you think?" Mr. Toretto asked, coming up behind them.

"It's really beautiful," Letty enthused, and Mia couldn't help but notice how her friend came alive when she was talking about cars.

"Your mom still keep that Chevelle your dad was working on?" he asked after a beat. "If you want to finish it up I'm happy to lend you a hand."

Letty fell silent, fiddling at the hem of her t-shirt. It was almost a year now since her father had died, but it still felt so raw. Her mom hadn't been able to sell the car, but Letty hadn't been able to work on it either.

"I…"

"You can think about it," he said. "Offer stands."

She was saved from having to respond by the arrival of Mrs. Romero and her rowdy 6 year old twins. Mr. Toretto went over to greet her and accept the massive pile of empanadas she'd brought along.

Soon more people from the neighborhood were arriving. There was the other mechanic at the garage, Manny and his son Jr. A few of the regular customers and Mr. Toretto's racing buddy Jeff. Old Ms. Gonzalez from down the block and Mr. and Mrs. Bailey from next door - they'd just moved here from Jamaica a year ago now.

Someone set up folding tables and people brought chairs, more beer and so much more food. The air smelled like smoke and meat and was filled with the sounds of laughter and music. Mr. Toretto sweet-talked Ms. Gonzalez into dancing with him and the old lady still had some moves.

Mia, Letty and Jr, who was a year or two younger than them, hung out on the back steps and talked their dream cars, from engine specs to rims and tires. Mia said she wanted hers to be baby blue, because that was the same color of Connor Dorsett's eyes. Letty made a gagging face at her and Jr laughed.

"Do you think we'll look back on these days and miss them some time?" Mia asked later, when the sun was setting, her and Letty sitting side-by-side on the curb with a bottle of pilfered beer between them (neither had been able to drink much but neither would admit it).

"Damn.. that's kind of deep, Mi," Letty said. 'Who knows." She shrugged. "I can't wait to grow up."

"Why?" Mia asked.

"So I can move out of my house and away from my mom," Letty snorted. "So I can drive a car and eat and drink whatever I want."

"I guess," Mia said. "But then you have to do stuff like have a job and pay bills."

"I'd work in a garage." Letty said easily. "I think I'd like that."

"Maybe my dad will give you a job when you're older," her friend suggested, falling silent for a moment in consideration. "You gonna let him help you work on the car?" she asked softly.

"I dunno. Maybe…. I have to think about it."