Author's Note: Letty's mom has a problem and it's not going away. Who does she turn to?
Chapter 17
It was 3 am on a Sunday night/Monday morning when Letty was awoken from her sleep by a loud crash. She startled out of bed, kicking the sheets and covers to the floor as she got to her feet.
Ignoring the fact that all she was wearing to bed was one oversized t-shirt she'd stolen from Dom's closet, Letty grabbed an old baseball bat from her closet and crept down the stairs into the darkened house.
She could make out the shape of the open front door and tensed up. Someone had come in. She could run down the block and get Dom or Mr. Toretto, or she could call them to come over. She looked around for any signs of the intruder, making her way carefully through the living room, where she almost tripped over the sprawled form of her mother. Just inside the door, face down, smelling like tequila.
Sighing, Letty set down the bat and went to close the door. She almost wished it had been an intruder rather than her mother stumbling in after a particularly bad bender. There would be less vomit at least.
She got the other woman up to her room, stripped her out of her club clothes and put her into her pajamas, then she rolled her onto her side and pulled over a garbage pail. Marina murmured something but remained asleep.
Grimacing, Letty went out of the room and rubbed a hand across her face. She went downstairs, picking up the things her mother had knocked over in her fall, sweeping up the glass. Then she went into the kitchen, picked up the phone and dialed Dom's cell phone.
He answered on the third ring, sounding like she'd woken him up out of a deep sleep.
"Letty?" he asked. "It's after 3."
"I know," she said. "But I don't want to stay here. Can I come over?"
He paused, sighing. "I'll come down and meet you at the back door."
She hung up. Dom didn't ask what was wrong. He wouldn't because he knew well enough that when Letty wanted to talk, she would talk. But not before then.
She pulled on a pair of faded cotton shorts and slipped on some flip flops to walk down the block to the Torettos' house. When she got there Dom was waiting on the back step. He looked tired and wore only his boxers. He greeted her with a kiss that was mostly yawn and ushered her back inside and up to his room.
Letty sometimes stayed the night, but only when she slept in Mia's room did Mr. Toretto allow it. He knew the kids were dating, but he said he wasn't condoning them "messing around under his roof". Of course, they all knew that he knew they probably did what they wanted and snuck around, but everyone was happier pretending he didn't know.
Dom climbed back into bed and Letty stepped over the clothes that were strewn on the floor to join him, snuggling her back up against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and sighed. She listened to him breathing, knowing he was still awake and waiting for her to decide if she wanted to talk.
"Mom came home trashed again…" she muttered after a bit. He squeezed her gently in response, but didn't comment. "She fell on her face passed out the second she got in the door, broke and knocked over a whole table-full of shit. I thought someone was breaking in."
"Sounds like you might have preferred that," he murmured, his breath against the back of her neck making her shiver.
"At least then I'd have someone to punch," she complained and he laughed, pulling her close against him.
"You wanna punch me?" he asked, offering up an arm.
"No," she pressed a kiss there instead and sighed, relaxing. "I just get so mad at her when she does this. Why can't she just be… be normal?"
"I dunno, Let," he said. "We all got our vices, I guess."
"I just wish hers didn't affect me too," she said softly. "I wish my dad was still here." Things hadn't been perfect when he'd been alive but they'd been better. At least she hadn't been so alone.
"I know baby," he said and she believed he really did. His dad was wonderful, but he'd lost a parent too. And she knew it had forced him and Mia to grow up a lot faster.
Moments like this were rare. They were the only time Letty really let her guard down. She talked about this kind of stuff with Mia, but she let herself be vulnerable with Dom. She knew it was the same for him. In a world where both of them had to be tough it was like a sanctuary to have someone who could see the softer side.
He smoothed his hand down her arm idly. "You should sleep."
She closed her eyes, even though her mind was still running circles. She felt guilty for leaving her mother alone. Maybe she should have stayed and watched over her. But Marina Ortiz had made it through worse benders. And Letty liked to be scarce when she woke up with a hangover because she was nasty to anyone in her path.
"I forgot a change of clothes," she murmured.
"We'll stop and get it on the way tomorrow morning," he said, squeezing her again. "Stop worrying and go to sleep."
She settled into silence, listening as Dom's breaths evened out behind her. She listened to the steady sound, the whirring of the ceiling fan overhead, the faint sounds of Los Angeles outside the closed window. Dom was warm and steady beside her. She felt more at home here than she did at her own place. Maybe it was more the people than the walls or address.
As she finally drifted off to sleep it was with the thought that the family she really wanted was the one that she chose. Right here.