I'm back with chapter four! Thank you to anyone who reviewed the last chapter, I love hearing from you guys and hearing your opinions on my ideas and writing. I hope you enjoy this next chapter and as always I would to hear from ya'll again so please review and tell me your thoughts! x
For the first time in the three days Letty had been back at 1327, she slept. Her mind had seemed partially at ease for the first time after she had spoken to Dom. They weren't perfect, they hadn't discussed what had happened in the Dominican Republic when he left, but they had talked about how Letty was feeling about her memory and being back. But he had said the simplest things that sent such a strong sense of comfort to her and she fell asleep in one of his t-shirts in the bed they had shared.
She had been vaguely aware that she had begun dropping off to sleep in her ball-like position at the head of the bed while Dom had practically copied her position, his legs pressed against his chest, at the opposite end of the bed. Her eyes had fallen shut with her head resting on her knees halfway through one of his sentences; she just couldn't stop sleep from finally consuming her.
Dom had moved her gently, getting her to a more comfortable position on the bed and moving the sheets over her, before he silently left the room for the spare bedroom instead.
When Letty finally woke up the next morning, her memory was slightly foggy on the night previous but she was still aware of the main parts of that conversation she had had with Dom.
The room was silent and it seemed as though the entire house was, but when Letty rolled over in bed and found the alarm clock with her eyes as it told her it was 11:20am. She groaned lightly at the fact she had slept in later than she usually would, but she definitely needed it after going over twenty-four hours without.
She tracked down stairs and was clarified that the house was empty. Every bedroom door upstairs had been wide open to reveal there was no one inside, and the living room was completely empty. The silence overtook her until she slowly took the last step at the bottom of the staircase, that's when she heard a chair scrape the floor from behind the closed kitchen door. She was partially relieved that she wasn't alone because after confessing her continuous feeling of being alone last night, it was definitely too soon for her to be it physically. Even though she had forced herself into that situation multiple times since she had been back, but for some reason, it felt like that was over now.
"Oh good, you're alive," Dom's teasing tone pushed Letty to match his smirk with one of her own as she opened the kitchen door. She pulled on the hem of her over-sized hoodie that she had carelessly thrown on along with a pair of jeans.
"I look like the walking dead," Letty smiled, brushing a hand over her un-brushed hair that tangled around her shoulders.
"I wasn't gonna say anything," Dom teased but calculated it wrong because as soon as he had spoken, Letty had begun walking towards the table to sit opposite him and as she did, he was in arms-length and she reached across to punch his arm lightly before taking her seat.
"Where is everyone?" she asked, leaning across the table and taking the cup of coffee from in front of him and taking a sip of it without him showing any sign of protesting; she clearly needed it more than he did.
"Mia's at the store and Brian took Jack out with the guys," Dom spoke; a permanent soft smile had taken residence on his face and was still there, making her completely unable to hide her own.
Letty chucked lightly, "Taking the kid to hang with those guys; brave move."
Dom matched her soft chuckle and nodded softly, "Yeah."
Letty took another sip from Dom's half-drunken coffee; her eyes breaking the contact with his but his never left her for a second. He watched her carefully, that small smile still on his lips even when she looked back at him.
"…What?" she asked cautiously despite her own smirk.
Dom leaned back from his position where his elbows rested on the kitchen table between them, so that his back was pressed against the back rest of the chair. He breathed in deeply through his nose. "Let's go for a drive," he said without any indication that he meant it as a question, more of a request.
Letty's eyebrow quirked up but she didn't say yes, she didn't say no either because her silence was a clear enough response for Dom to make the move towards the door.
The beach was calming, it always had been for Letty whether she remembered the feeling or not. But once she was there, she recognised it and fell in love with the scenery all over again.
Dom and Letty had taken a seat on the warm sand next to each other as they looked out on the water. The journey there had been almost completely silent, and even now they were both quiet still. Letty wasn't even aware of Dom's eyes on her, he watched the way her hair tangled around her shoulders as it whipped in the wind. Her gaze was focused on the beauty in the sea and her mind seemed as far away as her eyes and Dom couldn't help but feel drawn to the beauty. The fact that he was living in this situation was so surreal to him after everything; watching his girl, having her by his side after he was convinced he'd lost her forever. He still couldn't quite believe it.
Letty finally caught on that he was watching her, and slowly turned her head to him with a soft smirk falling onto her lips. She held his gaze boldly before he chuckled lightly and shook his head.
"I remember this place," Letty spoke softly and Dom's heart leaped into his throat.
"Really?" She nodded once in response.
"I don't really remember moments here, but I remember the place. I know my way around here; like that bar across the street. I've been there before, haven't I?"
Dom nodded softly, his satisfied grin giving his joy away completely. "Yeah, we have," he confirmed. Letty smiled softly at the fact that she had been there with him and that she actually remembered something. Even if it wasn't anything big, or anything indicating that she could ever remember it all, she could see the ecstatic emotion in Dom on his face and she couldn't help but finally feel her guilt lessen slightly. "You've always loved beaches though, whether it's this one or a random one around the world."
"Like the Dominican Republic?" She asked and practically felt him tense next to her at the thought of the memory and her reaction to his confession.
Dom didn't show any sign of agreeing with her question but a thoughtful expression did grace his features and Letty's didn't deny herself to pause and admire it before her gaze looked down at the sand by her feet. "You know," Dom spoke softly. "I've known you for fifteen years of my life, and there hasn't been a single moment where I have seen you happier than when we were in the DR."
The Latina slowly moved her head to face him, the faintest of smiles on her lips. "Really?" she asked, slightly disbelievingly. "Why?"
Dom hesitated and if Letty didn't know any better, and for all she knew she didn't, her questioning had sent a bullet through his fond memory in a way she didn't know.
He breathed in deeply as though he was preparing for his story. "I don't know," he muttered but not as convincingly as he should have, but it seemed to be enough to convince Letty nonetheless. "You just…seemed brighter. Your smile lit up your whole face a lot more than I was used to, you laughed more, there was nothing to worry about; it was as perfect as it could get." Dom's shoulders lifted and fell in a soft shrug. "Nothing – " he broke off, the memory hitting him a lot harder than he expected as he remembered just where they were as of now and that she didn't remember anything; it was killing him.
"Nothing else mattered," Letty finished quietly and Dom glanced at her. He gave a faint nod, realising that she still didn't remember and that she was only guessing that was what he had wanted to say and it was exactly dead on.
Dom ran a hand over his face as though he was tired and it was evident on his features, yet it wasn't. The situation was just dragging on him; the knowledge that Letty was still mad at him for his confession was dragging on him.
"I'm sorry," Dom's voice was soft and immensely sincere. He didn't need to explain what he was apologising for, they both knew what he meant and that it was the first time he was apologising to her for leaving her behind; at least to her face and not a grave or old photo.
Letty's eyes traced over the man for a few moments, she breathed in through her nose and finally spoke up quietly. "I'm sorry too."
Dom scoffed light-heartedly, shaking his head, he turned to her slightly and raised an eyebrow. "What you got to be sorry about?"
Two pairs of dark eyes met each other, both projecting completely different looks. One was full of guilt that was over-shadowed by pure adoration and longing. And the other spoke of questioning and a sense of being lost, but right there at the back was the same longing that his showed.
"It's not easy for you, I know that." The sound of Letty's voice broke through Dom's haze he had fallen into when he had fallen into reading her eyes. He flashed a sloppily reassuring smile and she didn't buy it for a single second. "You thought I was dead," the words were harsh on Dom's heart but he hid it well. "And I turn up out of the blue but don't remember anything; I don't remember you or the family or us, I've got nothing. I may be pretty lost but you, it's like dangling candy in front of a five year old but they can't have it." Letty sighed and broke the eye-contact. "I'm dangling in front of you, but you can't touch, we can't touch those memories. They aren't even there even though I am. You have to watch something you can't have the way that you used to have."
Dom reached for her in reflex but stopped himself, his arms out-stretched slightly. The actions cut off everything, Letty's words and her own actions or want to pull away and they both froze. He wanted to pull her to him, like he would have under normal circumstances. But he knew he shouldn't. He considered still reaching for her hands at least, but he couldn't, it was too little and she was right; he couldn't dangle the option of holding her in front of himself when he knew he shouldn't. And that's when it all clicked for her and before he had the time to process the moment, Letty had sensed everything in his head and read him like an open book and she was crawling into his lap anyway. The Latina settled on the sand between his legs, her back pressed against his chest and her head titled back slightly to rest of his shoulder, she wiggled her arms so they fell under his and he slowly moved them to settle around her and hold her close.
Letty read Dom so many times, she always had been able to, but under the circumstances he was stunned silent at her action. But he didn't protest, he just sat silently with her in his arms where she should be; like hell he was going to protest against that.