Chapter 7

"And this one?" he asked, holding up a 70's style wall decor thing which Letty had no clue what it even was or why the hell it was in her old room in the first place.

"Goodwill," she replied, "that box," she added, pointing to the box that had G.W. written on it.

Alex had come over to help her go through her aunts things. There was so much junk. Most of it her aunt had always complained about getting rid of in the past but never having the time. Letty hated the thought of giving away her stuff but knew that it's what she would have wanted. Besides, she was strapped for time. She had to get the house ready to put on the market by the end of the month. She'd thought about keeping it, but decided against it. Too many memories. Way too many memories...

She was tired. They'd been at it all day. Going through pretty much everything in the house, saving some stuff, but mostly either pitching stuff or giving it away. They had made their way into what was once Letty's bedroom and were almost done. Letty figured probably another hour or so of cleaning and she could finally get some sleep.

Alex was sitting on her bed, going through a box of candles that Letty had saved. She was a candle freak. She loved 'em. And Letty was sitting on the floor, legs crossed Indian style, going through her closet. She couldn't believe how much useless crap she had managed to save. Gone. All gone, she told herself as she threw one thing after another into the trash. The closet was coming along nicely, only a few more things to go through, most of which were shoved into the farthest possible part. She sat up a little, and reached into the back of the closet, feeling around for stuff. Her hand came across a rectangular box, and she pulled it out. Her breath caught in her throat as it came into view.

Pitch it, she told herself. There's a garbage can right over there. Just pick it up, and toss the fuckin thing into the trash. How hard could that be?

Ignoring the voice in her head, she reached for the lid and slowly pried it open. She did nothing at first, just stared at it's contents. Her whole life was in that box. Her life with him. She reached in slowly and wrapped her fingers around the necklace. It used to be silver but had obviously tarnished over time. The dog tags were now brownish grey, if that was even a color. She held them loosely in one hand, and reaching in with the other she pulled out the first picture that lay at the top of many. It was face down. She slowly flipped it over.

...

"Guys, c'mon. Vince seriously. Just get in the picture," Mia pleaded.

"Man, naw Mia. We're gonna be late. C'mon girl," Vince huffed as he grabbed his keys.

"No we're not!" Mia yelled, as she looked at her watch, "we're early tonight guys! This is why I want a picture! I think this is a moment. We're all downstairs at 9:00. When has that ever happened?" she laughed.

"Ugh," groaned Vince.

"God Vince, c'mon. Just let her take the picture man or were never gettin outta here," Letty grumbled from her place on the couch.

Dom was in some weird slouching sitting position and Letty was laying on the end of the couch, her legs sprawled over his. Dom wrapped a massive arm around her legs, while laughing at an obviously annoyed Vince.

"Okay. Jesse sit next to Dom. Leon, you can fit in next to Jesse. Vince, hurry up. You can sit next to Letty. Yeah, right there. No, Vince, on that side!" Mia hollered out as she played photographer. As annoying as it could get, it was cute because it was Mia.

"What's wrong Let?" Dom whispered, sensing an unusual amount of attitude coming from Letty.

"Huh?" she asked.

"What's wrong? You seem pissed. Or what, are you just nervous?" he asked concerned. She had no reason to be nervous. She'd raced a thousand times before.

"I'm fine Dom."

"Well, you look hot." he growled, gently grabbing her around the waist to tickle her a little.

"Dom, stop!" she laughed. She was beyond ticklish and he knew it. "Dom seriously!" she yelled.

"Guys! Dom! Letty! C'mon!" Mia interrupted.

Dom retracted his hand at the sound of his sisters voice long enough for her to take the picture and then went right back into tickling the hell out of Letty.

"Dom, I swear to god I'm gonna kill you," she laughed as she struggled to get his hands out from under the back of her shirt.

"Let's stay home tonight baby," he growled as he positioned himself on top of her.

"What?" she asked baffled, half out of breath from laughing.

"Seriously. Let them go. We can have the house to ourselves for once," he whispered as he kissed the side of her neck...

"Letty?... Letty, did you hear me?"

Letty's head shot up at the sound of her voice.

"What?" she asked, completely lost in another time and place.

"You didn't hear a word I said?" asked Alex, looking slightly annoyed.

"I'm sorry. I just...spaced out I guess." she replied, blowing him off.

"No Letty. You were completely out of it. I just talked to you for like five minutes when I realized you didn't hear a single thing I said. What are you looking at anyway?" he asked curiously.

"Nothing." she replied quickly as she shoved the picture into the box and closed the lid.

"What is that?" he asked.

"It's nothing. I already told you!" she half yelled, her temper getting the best of her.

"Alright, alright," he said. He knew better than to mess with Letty when she was in a mood. "Look, it's been a long day. Why don't we just wrap it up. You need sleep. And I gotta go. I gotta work early tomorrow."

"Yeah," she said as she stood up, kicking the box slightly with her foot, pushing it out of the way.

She walked him to the door and they said their goodbyes. She trudged slowly back up the stairs, completely worn out. She changed into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and let her hair free from it's ponytail. She needed sleep. She knew she needed sleep but she couldn't resist. She picked the box up from the floor and took it downstairs. She grabbed a glass of ice cold water from the fridge and sprawled out on the couch. Once again, she slowly opened the lid to the box. Their box...

She reached in to pull out the next picture when the doorbell rang.

"Shit," she muttered.

Alex must have forgotten something. She threw a pillow over the box and made her way over to the door.

But it wasn't Alex forgetting something because...it wasn't Alex.