Author's Note: Here it is, the one you've been waiting for. Letty finally gets Dom's attention when she attends a street race. He becomes an idiot. The start of Dotty as we know it. I kind of used both the idea from the first movie (Dom never noticed Letty till she turned 16) and 6 (we met at a race when you were 15). Obviously Letty has lived down the street for years, but Dom never noticed his little sister's friend before now. Also, Letty's official wiki claims she nearly lost her arm and some other stuff but I really don't have a clue what they're referencing so I made up something else. Because ending up in the hospital is not romantic.

Chapter 10

Letty selected her outfit for the night at the races carefully, remembering what Maria had said. It was just about getting a boy's attention. In order to keep it she just had to be herself. Letty knew by now she was interesting to boys. What she had to say, what she knew about, what kind of things she liked.

Maybe she wouldn't get Dominic Toretto's attention tonight, but she was sure to get someone's, she thought as she selected a fitted black top. She dithered a moment over jeans or shorts, before finally settling on the one skirt she'd let Maria talk her into during one of their shopping trips. She'd agreed because it wasn't so short she'd be flashing anyone getting out of a car, and it was leather. That kind of made it a little bit more badass.

Her mother had actually helped her straighten her hair and she'd swept it back from her face. Though she stuck with her simple studs and the necklace her father had given her as her only jewelry.

A brief honk from the drive let her know when Hector arrived and she hurried out with a wave to her mom, only some cash and her fake ID tucked into the one slim pocket she possessed. When she slid into the passenger seat Hector stared, at first at her legs, and then at her breasts and she elbowed him hard.

"Cut it out," she complained.

"Holy shit what did they feed you in the DR girl?" he whistled, then held up his hands at the glare she gave him. "Just saying you look good."

"Yeah well… maybe I want to."

He chuckled. "You're going to get me in trouble tonight. My Daddy said I have to look out for you." He pulled out into the street and made for the highway.

"I don't need to be looked after," she said. "I'm not a little kid."

"Clearly," he said with a laugh. "The LA racing scene is not ready."

He let her pick the radio station as he drove out to the meeting place, asked about her vacation, tried to figure out who was dressing to impress - without success. When they arrived he found a spot between someone's green Supra and an old Camero that had been heavily modified. Letty got out, told him she'd find him again later and wandered off to check out the cars.

She was chatting with a guy about his '69 Mustang when she caught sight of Mia in the distance. She saw that the other girl was with Dom and Vince, the latter of whom was standing too close and talking to her. Letty couldn't help but notice how good Dom looked. He'd beefed up a little over the summer, like maybe he'd been working out. All the better to attract more racer sluts, two of whom were buzzing around him with their tiny tops and short skirts. Dom seemed a bit bored with them as he scanned the rows of cars.

The guy Letty was talking to was asking her something and she blinked, turning back to him.

"You know a lot about cars," he said. "What's your name, honey?"

She wrinkled her nose. "I'm not your honey, and I'm interested in the car, not you."

There was a deep chuckle behind her, and Letty glanced over her shoulder to see Dom had overheard her.

"She sure told you," he said to the guy, who was trying his best not to look embarrassed. A bit harder now that people were watching.

Dom looked her over when she turned and she could almost feel his eyes moving over her. He'd never looked at her like that before.

"You drive?" He asked her. "Or just know shit about cars?"

Mia was rolling her eyes hard over his shoulder. He really did have no idea who she was. Letty was at turns amused and annoyed about it. But she had his attention now.

"I drive. I'm not a groupie looking to get fucked by the fastest guy here," she told him. He laughed. The blondes with him gave her a dirty look. One of them tried to tug him away, but Dom waved them off, his eyes still on Letty.

"I haven't seen you around before." He said.

"You just haven't been looking in the right places." She told him. It wasn't like she hadn't been around.

"Guess not," he agreed, coming closer. "But now I am."

She arched a brow at him. Was that supposed to impress her? Send her insides all aflutter? Probably most of the girls around here would fall at his feet if he paid them the tiniest bit of attention. But there was a thin line between that and outright dismissal. She wasn't about to make it easy for him.

"And is that all you're gonna do?" she asked, flipping her long hair behind her shoulder.

He grinned at her, and it was just a little too cocky. It might be nice to take him down a peg. "I'm gonna race tonight," he told her. "You gonna be at the finish line?"

She bit down on her lower lip and raised her eyes to meet his, looked right at him, right through him. I see who you are, Dominic Toretto, she thought to herself, cut the bullshit.

"Maybe," she said, lifting one shoulder. "Depends how you do." She grinned. Everyone knew that Dom was likely to win. He had something of a reputation, but she wanted to get under his skin a little. She wasn't a groupie looking to get into his pants.

He looked back at her, and for a moment his expression was curious, interested. It wasn't that same egotistical smirk he had on his face when he came over. He wanted to know who she was. Not just what she looked like naked.

"I'll see you there," he said. "In first place, of course."

Then he turned and walked away, Vince trailing after him. Mia waved briefly at Letty and mouthed "find me at the finish line" before scurrying after them. Letty watched them go, letting out a small breath.

Hook, line….

00

When Letty got out of Hector's car at the designated race site she left him with some of his boys and went looking for Mia. She found the girl with Vince, sitting on the hood of the latter's car and looking annoyed. When she spotted Letty she hopped down and hurried over to her.

"I can't believe my brother," she laughed. "He had no idea who you were."

Vince looked over, then did a double-take. "Letty? Letty Ortiz?"

"That's me," Letty replied.

He gaped at her, then looked at Mia, then at Letty again, then off where Dom was lining up with a couple other racers.

"You," he almost sputtered, then looked her up and down again. "What?"

"Maybe if you boys spent more time looking at a girl's face you wouldn't be so shocked," Mia said, rolling her eyes.

"I look at your face!" Vince told her, insulted, and the two girls burst into laughter.

"Shut up," Vince muttered and turned away. "Race will be starting any minute."

Mia and Letty moved back in front of the car and since Vince had parked front and center, they had a good view of the finish line. Brief, straight races were the sort to do on nights in downtown LA. Anything too long and they wouldn't be able to clear out before the cops came.

"Who is Dom driving against?" Letty asked, glancing over at Vince.

"Morales and… Tran," he made a face at the second name and Letty cocked a questioning brow at Mia.

The other girl shrugged. "I dunno he's got some kind of beef with Dom over some dumb boy thing."

"Dom fucked his sister," Vince said. "She gave her brother some sob story cause she didn't want to admit she's a huge slut."

"Gross," Mia said. "Why does he waste his time with girls like that?"

"He's not spending any time with the girls," Vince said. "He's just fucking them."

"Classy," Mia snorted. "Do you do that too?"

Vince straightened up. "Hey, I'm a gentleman," he said, before spitting on the ground.

Mia made a gagging face at Letty when his back was turned.

"Race is starting," he said, looking back up the street. They could hear the rev and rumble of the engines. The tiny shape of some girl in barely any clothing lifted a white scrap for a flag, and when she dropped it they took off. The cars blasted off the starting line, hurtling down the street towards them.

Even though they all assumed that Dom would win, they were all still focused, poised watching to see what would happen. Johnny Tran was a local rich kid, and rarely did he participate in street races with people like them. But that meant he had a lot of money in that car.

It didn't matter, because Dom had built his car himself, alongside his father and Vince in their shop. And beside Dom had grown up living and breathing cars. No one was a better driver than he was. He blew across the finish line several seconds ahead of Tran and Morales, and when he looked to the side Letty found herself staring straight into his eyes. It was like for a moment, a heartbeat, a breath, time stood still.

Dom shot her a grin, turning the wheel of his car sharply, squeal of tires, burning rubber, and the vehicle was still going, but now backwards. She stared at him. What a crazy fucking idiot, she thought, despite the grin tugging at the corners of her mouth.

At least until he started to lose control of the car, shredded rubber ripped out from one of his wheels and the vehicle made a wide half-circle. Tran slammed on his brakes, trying to avoid the arcing car and pinged off the back bumper and spun out towards the crowds. People screamed and scattered. Vince was shouting something and yanking Mia out of the way. Letty dove to the side and found herself on the ground, pinned between Vince's car and someone's modified Subaru by the wrist.

She felt disoriented for a moment, but the pressure on her arm disappeared, someone had muscled the two cars apart. Her wrist was bloodied, but she could move it experimentally. It wasn't broken. Probably.

"Letty," Mia was in front of her, crouching. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she pushed herself to her feet slowly, dragging a hand through her hair as she scanned the chaos. "What happened to Dom?"

"Vince went to go check on him. It seemed like Tran knocked him into a light pole. But cops are on their way. We gotta get out of here."

"How?"

"Can you drive? Let's take Vince's car. It will be fine. He'll go with Dom and we'll meet them at home."

Letty flexed the fingers on her injured hand, wincing. "Yeah." She took the keys from Mia.

"You're hurt." Mia said, sliding into the passenger seat.

"You can bandage me all up at home," Letty told her, getting into the driver's side. She moved the seat and adjusted the mirrors and they buckled up. She eased out of the parking spot, following all the other racers away from the approaching sirens. Luckily Vince's car was nothing more than a little dented and still ran like a dream.

She tucked her tongue into her cheek, spotting red and blue lights in the rearview mirror. She shifted gears, taking a turn and then again, accelerating away from downtown. She drove down to the coast road and took the long way back to the Toretto house, just to be sure the cops weren't on their tails, and maybe a little bit because she was enjoying driving Vince's car.

By the time they pulled into the driveway her arm was throbbing and covered in blood.

"You might need stitches," Mia said, her voice worried as she dragged Letty into the house and up to the bathroom. She cleaned the wound and disinfected it with some stuff that made Letty cuss her out. Then she wrapped some bandages around the wound and taped it in place.

"It seems like the bleeding has stopped, but if you bleed through those then you need to go to a hospital or at least a clinic for stitches."

"Thank you Dr. Mia," Letty said. "How about a drink to numb the pain."

They went back downstairs just as Vince and Dom came through the front door, the latter looking a little banged up himself.

Mia dragged him upstairs to get the cuts and scrapes treated. He changed out of the white shirt that had been bloodied and into a black t-shirt. Then he grabbed a couple of beers and made for the back door.

"Letty," he beckoned with a nod of his head.

She arched her brows, but followed him outside. "You figure out who I am?"

"Well… Vince filled me in on the way home," he admitted, looking sheepish. "Said you're Mia's friend. Took me a minute to put it together. We've never really talked." He offered her one of the beers.

She took the corona and dropped down to sit on the back steps, her gaze wandering to the ruined bumper of his car. "She took a beating, huh?" she murmured, then looked at him. "What was up with that dumbass stunt anyway?"

"Well the idea was to do it without blowing a tire," he said, then smiled. "Admit it. You were impressed there for a minute."

She paused, sipped at the beer. "Maybe for a second or two."

"One day I'm gonna get it down."

"That all it takes to impress a girl? Some fancy moves?"

He shrugged. "Dunno. Never did that before, not to impress a girl. Or anyone."

She smiled at that. "So why now?"

He was quiet. "Feel like you're different," he set his corona aside. "You looked at me earlier like…" he furrowed his brows. "Like you knew me. And I don't even know myself."

She looked at her hands, the bandage on her wrist. "Maybe it's just that we're the same," she said.

He looked down at the bandage, lifted her arm, thumb brushing the soft skin along the edge of it. "Sorry you got hurt."

"It's no big deal," she said, shrugging, biting down on her lower lip to try and ignore the sensation of his calloused fingers on her skin.

"So," he said, letting go of her and taking a long drink of his beer. "You said you drive. What's your ride?"

"'69 Chevelle," she said. "I fixed up most of it myself. She still needs a new coat of paint."

"Oh yeah?" he asked, more than a little impressed. "You'll have to show me some time."

"Yeah, c'mon." She pushed herself to her feet. Surprised, Dom stood.

"Now?" he asked.

"Yeah. We can walk."

He stared at her but fell into step alongside her as they took the walk up the block towards her house. He looked around. "You live up the street.." he said dumbly.

"Yup," she agreed, amused. She passed him her beer so she could open the garage and flipped on the work lights. They buzzed faintly, illuminating the car's long hood and classic shape.

Dom set both of the beers on the work table and circled the car. He checked inside, and she popped the hood to show him the engine which had taken nearly as much wrench time as the rest of her.

He let out a low whistle, then grinned at her. "You ever looking for a job you come apply at our shop," he said.

She smirked. She could have had that job already, certainly. "What if that's not what I want?" she asked.

He turned his head, looking down at her. "I didn't think you were impressed by my antics."

"I wasn't," she agreed, then smiled. "Doesn't mean I'm not interested. In you."

"Oh yeah?" he stepped closer. Letty could feel the heat of his body, he was so close.

She wasn't going to fall into that trap. No matter how interested her body said she was. And she was. But Dom was used to girls falling into bed for him.

"Yeah. So I'm going to let you take me out," she told him, meeting his gaze. "I don't do fancy. I'd really prefer a race. Maybe the beach, just the two of us."

"Really," he said, grinning at her. She was sure no one had ever had the audacity. But she also thought he liked it.

"Really," she said. "When you've thought about it you can get my number from Mia," she told him, flipping off the lights in the garage and plunging them into brief darkness. She moved past him in the small space, her body brushing up against his as she retrieved their drinks.

They stepped out into the driveway and she passed him his beer. He took it and took a slow drink, looking at her with a gaze so intense she almost squirmed beneath it. He caught a lock of her hair between his fingertips, thoughtful.

"The beach, huh?" He murmured.

"I like the ocean," she told him, thinking of swimming in the water back in the DR. "Not more than cars though."

"We can drive there," he said. "Best of both worlds."

She smiled. "Are you asking me out?"

"I guess I am," he agreed. "How about tomorrow?"

She laughed. "How about Friday?" she suggested. "You need to hammer the dents out of your car."

He groaned, dropping his hand to her waist. "I'll borrow my Dad's car."

"No way," she shivered. "He won't let you after he sees what you did to your own."

She had a point, and he could be patient. Maybe… a little bit. He sighed. "Okay. Friday. Noon okay?"

She nodded, half of her not believing it had worked. Of course, it was only one date. But it was a start. A start of something more than she ever could have imagined.