Title: Through Another's Eyes

Rating: T

Ship: Dom/Letty

Description: A background, foreground and future fic surrounding Dom and Letty and the circumstances invloved in the movie. Answering a lot of questions the movie left open.

Disclaimer: I wish. The things I could do with Dominic. ;)

Chapter 3

Letty's POV

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Life went on without Joey. As we all knew it would. But I'm still suprised how connected we all managed to stay. Mama and Maria were still the best of friends, as were Papi and Tony. Mia and I were starting to grow apart a little though. Don't get me wrong, we were still great friends, like sisters, but we were becoming very different people. By the time I turned 13, Mia 12, we started talking less and I started hanging with Dom and Vince more. Mia didn't understand my desire to be under a car all the time, covered in grease. Of course, by then, part of the attraction had actually become Dom. He was 16 then, and he was really growing into himself. I think it surprised me more than anyone when I started to develop a crush on him. If anyone noticed they didn't say anything and Dom and I carried on like it didn't exist. As fas as I know, he didn't realise it did.

I remember the first time he brought a girl home from school. I was livid. That's when I realised I liked him. It was like I became terratorial. Just like I do now when those racer chasers fawn all over him. Yeah, I know I do it. I know how I get. But I make no apologies for it. And Dom has never asked for one. I was over working on the charger with my Papi and Tony that first time. Dom sauntered in late and with some girl under his arm. I looked up and saw red. I tried to hide by burying my head under the hood of the car. But I couldn't stand seeing him with her. I remember standing there, just staring at the engine, while my mind swirled with angry thoughts directed at the poor girl. Yes, poor girl. I knew even then that it wasn't her fault. She didn't know he belonged to me. And it was that thought that had me shocked and terrified all at once. I was falling for Dom.

After that, whenever he brought a girl home, a new one every time, I made myself scarce. I knew I was being stupid. But I couldn't stop the jealousy that reared its ugly head everytime I saw him with someone else. That's not to say that my relationship with Dom went sour. It didn't. We were fine. We talked and laughed as usual. We hung out together all the time. He was kind and considerate and everything your best friend should be.

That day may have been the first time I realised my feelings for him went beyond friendship. But I knew the moment I fell for him. It was months later. Just before my 14th birthday. It was a bad day. I had them back then. Days when I remembered Joey and missed him more than words could say. I was curled up in a ball in Joey's old bed. The room was pretty much the same as it had been when he was alive. Dom must have come looking for me when I didn't show up to work on the car. I heard him calling my name, but I didn't respond. I heard him checking every room, but I still didn't make sound. That was when the door creaked open slowly. Dom poked his head in shyly... almost as if he were afraid of being there. His eyes swept across the room, and landed on me. I was crying. I remember the warmth of the tears rolling down my cheeks. Dom walked towards me, and sat down on the bed beside him. He picked me up, like I weighed nothing, and held me against his chest.

Dom leant us against the headboard of the bed, and stroked my back. I remember him whispering to me. I don't know what. But it was comforting. And his grip on me never let up. He never moved to push me away. We must have stayed like that for over an hour. Cause I remember hearing the door open, and a few beats pass, before it closed again. I found out later it was mama coming to check on us. I finally pushed myself off his chest and looked at him wordlessly. He smiled softly at me and wiped the tear tracks off my cheeks. And he gave me my first kiss. It wasn't even a real one. It was just a gentle brush of his lips against my cheek. But it made my insides melt. A feeling I would become well acquainted with in the years to come. I fell in love with him then.

He asked me what was wrong, in the deep voice he was just beginning to develop. My eyes teared up again and he pulled me into his arms again.

"Bad day?" He asked and I just nodded against his chest. "I'm sorry honey."

"I just wish he could be here for my birthday. Just one more day Dom. Can't I have one more day?" I knew I wasn't being realistic. But I missed him so much.

"I know honey. I wish that too sometimes. That he could have been there when I drove for the first time. Or when I got my license. But it would only make things harder bella. We'd only miss him more. Wishing for one more day over and over again, wishing ourselves into eternity."

His voice was so soft. I could have sworn he was crying by his tone. But I never looked up to see for sure. I was too afraid. If Dom was crying, I'd have no strength. Cause on bad days like that one, he was my strength. He still is. He has this uncanny ability to envelop me in his arms, and make the pain of the world disappear. I didn't think I could be as strong as him. But I was going to be put to the test.

That year Maria got sick. We watched her fight as hard as she could. Harder than I thought it was possible for any one person to fight. But in the end we lost her.. and my strength was put to the test. Dom needed me now. Dom and Mia and Tony. They were our strength when we lost Joey. Now it was our turn to be theirs.

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Dom's POV

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The year I was seventeen was a really confusing year. It was one of the hardest of my life. You see, my mother got sick. Really sick. She had Cancer of the something... I don't really remember what. I just remember the fear that swelled inside me. I'd lost my best friend seven years earlier, but the images of his death never left me, and now my mother. One of the most important people in my life was going to be taken from me too. I remember the day my father told us. I didn't handle the news of her illness well. In fact, I ran. I ran from the house, down the street to the Rameiraz's. It was the only other place I was comfortable. It was home too. And my family was there. I ran into the house and Lucy and Eddie were in the living room. They jumped up as I burst into the house. They'd already known. Lucy ran towards me and gathered me in her arms as I started crying. She was such a tiny little thing, and I was already 6'1 by then. But she held me like I was still that 10 year old kid, on the street, watching his best friend's life be taken from him.

Eddie must have called home, because the next thing I know, my Ma was there pulling me towards her and wrapping her arms around me. I looked up for a moment and saw Letty sitting at the bottom of the stairs. She was leaning her head against the banister and crying silently. I know it was hard for her too. She hadn't just lost her best friend. She'd lost her brother and then she had to lose a mother figure too. Lucy sat down beside her and put her arm around her shoulders. Letty immediately leaned into her embrace and cried on her Mama's shoulder. I didn't stop looking at her though. With my head on my Ma's shoulder, wrapped in her arms, I watched Letty. I was amazed by her. I still am. She feels everything so deeply. And as tough as she is. She's never too tough to show you just how much she cares.

I knew then that even though there was a very real possiblity that I would lose my Ma. I would never lose Letty. She would always be there for me. I wasn't alone and the fear started to ease slightly. I pulled away from Ma and walked home with her. When we got home Pops was hugging Mia as she cried uncontrollably. She ran to us when we entered, wrapping her arms around Ma.

I still remember her distressed voice as she cried into Ma's neck.

"I don't want you to die Mama." She'd choked through sobs. The tears instantly rose in my Ma's eyes and dropped down her face. She took one arm from my sister and pulled me in to the embrace, before gesturing to my father with the other.

"I don't want to either baby. And I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that doesn't happen." She cried as she hugged us all.

Of course, in the end, she really didn't have much of a say in it at all. She fought. She fought with everything she had. But she died. She refused to die in a dingy hospital room, surrounded by machines and strangers. So we brought her home. And in her bedroom, surrounded by our family, she passed. It wasn't dramatic. Not like the movies. One minute she was breathing and the next she wasn't.

Mia cried for days. My Pops was beside himself. He was dealing with his own grief and trying to help Mia through hers. Lucy had been wonderful. She came over everyday and when she saw that Mia wasn't getting better, she didn't leave. She stayed with Mia all day, every day, holding her until she couldn't cry anymore. I often wondered if Mia would have made it through if it hadn't been for Lucy. But that's a question too terrifying to answer.

Eddie and Letty were amazing too. Eddie came over and helped Pops, while Letty would cook and clean and take care of the house. On top of that, she took care of me. We'd sit in my bedroom, just talking. She'd lean against me, her head on my shoulder and we'd talk about anything and everything. Cars. School. TV shows. Joey. And even my Ma. Those times we'd cry together and hold each other until the pain eased. She was my strength when I was lacking it. She still is. I don't think she realises it. But it was that year that I fell for her.

Twisted, I know. To fall for a girl the same year your mother dies. A girl that had been very much like a sister your entire life. A girl who was only 14. But I did. She was growing into such an amazing woman. She had always been an amazing, beautiful girl. But the woman was even more spectacular. My bella. I'd called her that since she was little. But the older she got, the more truth it held. She is beautiful.

Of course, I couldn't let on that I was falling for her. She was only fourteen and I had a reputation to uphold. I'll admit it. I wasn't the most 'innocent' person I knew. I went after every girl... and got her. And I told myself it was to keep up my image. That it was fun and I was enjoying myself. But I was hiding. I was hiding behind my reputation and girl after girl. I was hiding from Letty. I wasn't even discreet about it. I'd bring home a different girl every week and flaunt it in Letty's face. I don't know why. She didn't even have a thing for me then. I know that Mia says otherwise. But I don't think so. She never let on anyway.

I know why I did it. I did it to get her attention. I know that now. Of course, I probably shouldn't have done it with Johnny Tran's sister. But that was a mistake I guess I was destined to make.

TBC...