A/N: I just want to thank everyone who has been reviewing. You guys are really awesome. I appreciate you taking your time to give me that feedback. It's real motivation to keep it all going. Also, thanks to all the readers. It's really cool to know that people are reading my stuff. I appreciate you guys!

AJ

I did not focus much in school that day. I thought about fixing up the room for Letty. She ended up making to it school, which surprised me a little. But, when I saw her on my way to shop class, Diego was not there. I couldn't help but smile. The rest of the day was filled with me watching the seconds tick away on the clock. It took forever. Finally, the bell rang. I made my way out to the bus. I was stopped by Vince who was talking to the girl that he had wanted me to double date with. I tried to ignore her.

"So, didn't see that Diego guy here today," he smirked.

"Hi Dominic," the girl said.

"Hey," I replied curtly. She turned her back and started talking to one of her friends.

I looked at Vince and said, "Nope, me either." I was distracted. I was scanning the crowd of students that was forming waiting to get on the buses for Letty.

"Who you looking for?" he asked.

"Letty, it's her birthday. You want to come by the house tonight? I think we're going to have a party for her," I asked him.

"Sure. Guess we won't be in the garage this afternoon," he said disappointed.

"No, not for a while. That's the last time I listen to one of your ideas," I said.

"Yeah, I guess it wasn't the best idea. But, it was sure as hell fun," Vince smiled.

"It was fun," I agreed.

Letty came walking up from behind. I noticed her out of the corner of my eye.

"Happy Birthday!" I yelled turning around really quickly. I saw her jump.

"Jesus!" she yelled. But then she said, much more calmly, "thanks".

"So, Dominic, Vince said that you wouldn't be over to come out this weekend. That's too bad," that same girl from earlier, whose name was escaping me, said. I hadn't even realized that she turned back around.

"Um, yeah, not going to be able to make it," I told her, giving no further explanation.

"Well, maybe another time," she replied.

"Yeah, maybe," I said. "So I'm banned from the garage, as you know," I started to say to Letty.

"Yeah, because you make such awesome decisions," she interrupted.
"Hey, look at this guy over here. It was his genius plan," I said, pointing to Vince. He just shrugged.

"And you went along with it. You two were made for each other," she said, patting me on the back.

"Yeah, thanks," I replied. "Anyway, I was going to see if you wanted to come eat at the house tonight."

"Alright. That's cool. I'm still going to go to the garage though. You're Dad didn't ban me," she reminded me.

"That's cool. That will help Dad to notice how much he misses Vince and I," I joked.

"We'll see," she said, skipping in line in front of me and getting on the bus. Vince and I followed and took the seat directly beside her.

We all got out at the same place. After telling Vince and Letty that I would see them tonight. I made my way to the house. I walked up the stairs and into the extra room. I turned on the lights and looked around. There really was a lot of crap in the room. It was full of boxes, old clothes, holiday decorations, books, and all around random things. I had no clue what to do with all this stuff.

I heard the door close and footsteps coming up the stairs. I turned around and saw Mia examining the mess with me.

"Dad said you were going to clean out the room. What are you going to do with all this stuff?" she asked.

"I don't know. Throw it away?" I suggested.

"You can't just throw it all away. You have to go through it and sort it," she said in her very meticulous manner. That didn't really sound like what I wanted to do. That sounded like it would take a really long time.

"Yeah, I think I'll probably just throw it all away. So if you see anything you want you better grab it now," I said, taking an armful of stuff and putting it in one of the boxes.

"Dominic!" she yelled.

"What?" I said turning around and looking at her.

"You can't do that," she demanded.

"Okay, Mia, I'll go through all of it and only throw away the crap. But, if you aren't going to help, leave," I told her.

She gave me a suspicious look and then left the room.

Go through it. I looked at the stuff I'd just thrown in the box. It didn't look like anything important. We never went in the room. How could there be anything in here that we needed? I looked into the box that I had just made. It was full of Christmas decorations, most of which were broken and as old as I was. I figured that stuff was fine to toss out.

I made piles of old clothes and books. I separated them into boxes and started stacking the boxes in the hallway. I got some trash bags and threw stuff away so that the floor was finally visible. I set up some of the furniture that had fallen over to discover a bookcase. I decided to save the box I was going to use for the books. Instead I put all the old books on the bookcase. I had never even heard of most of the books. I assumed they probably belonged to my Mom. I wasn't much of a reader so I quickly skipped to a new task. I arranged the furniture in, what I believed to be, a pretty good-looking bedroom setup. After, what seemed like a really long time, I packed the last box up.

I carried all the boxes to the end of the street. I could smell the cake and lasagna that Mia was cooking. It smelled awesome. I got some sheets and one of my Mom's old quilts and put it on the bed. I found some pillows. I looked around. It looked like a regular bedroom. And then I thought, the days of Letty sneaking in my window were over. I was somewhat sad that I would no longer wake up to Letty sleeping on my floor. It was comforting to hear her sleeping, her deep breathing, with her face so content but I couldn't really pinpoint why. If nothing else, it made me feel important. But, though I couldn't put my finger on it, I knew there was another reason. I wondered if that meant that our talks would stop. But, I figured that Dad was right and this would be better for her. And, in the long run, that was what mattered, right?

I hopped in the shower and changed clothes. I went down to the kitchen. Mia was putting the finishing touches on the cake.

"So, Dad said that the room was for Letty?" Mia asked curiously.

"Yeah," I said, opening the refrigerator and grabbing a drink.

"Um, okay. Why?" she asked.

"Just so she'll have somewhere to stay when she doesn't want to be at her house," I replied.

"What's wrong with her house?" she asked curiously.

"None of your business," I said stoutly.

"If she's going to be staying in my house it is my business," Mia remarked.

"No not really. And don't ask her about it, okay?" I said. I didn't want Mia to try and open that can of worms with Letty. I knew that Letty wouldn't tell her and it would just make Mia mad. Plus, I enjoyed being the only one that Letty confided in. It gave us a secret but unique type of relationship that I didn't want to share with anyone else.

"Urgh, whatever. You are so infuriating sometimes," she said exasperated.

"That's what makes me so loveable," I said. She rolled her eyes. "The cake looks good."

"Thanks," she said. "I guess it will be nice to have another girl around."

"Yeah, I don't know if Letty's really the kind of girl that you're hoping for. But, good luck with that," I said turning and leaving the kitchen.

"Oh, people can change. Just look at you. You used to be nice," she mocked.

"Ha ha, that's funny," I called in from the next room.

I put the finishing touches on the room as Mia put the finishing touches on the cake. Vince strolled in and it took everything that Mia and I had just to keep him out of the cake. Mia and I had worked very hard to make the dinning room look nice. Mia had even put Vince in charge of blowing up some balloons that she found in the basement. I have no idea how she convinced him to do it, but she did. At quarter past five Dad and Letty made it back from the garage, which was good timing because Vince probably would have passed out if he had to blow up any more balloons.

We all sat down to eat. Dad talked about his day and asked all of us about ours.

"How was life in the 9th grade Dominic? Vincent?" he asked.

"Boring," I replied.

"Yeah, I'll go with that," Vince agreed.

"Letty how was school today?" he asked.

"Got an A on my Spanish project," she said, after thinking for a minute.

"Really?" I asked, shocked. I assumed after seeing her until the garage closed and then having her come up to my room that morning that she wouldn't have done it. I was really impressed with her. Of course, as soon as I made the remark, I realized how it sounded and wished I could have taken it back. That's the thing about words. After they come out, you can't get them back. I was pretty skilled at putting my foot in my mouth.

"Gee, Dominic, don't act so surprised. But, yeah, I did. It really wasn't a big deal," she said.

"You work with Diego?" Vince joked.

"No, he didn't make it in today," she smiled.

Dad just scowled at Vince and I. Then changed the subject by asking, "Mia how was school?"

"It was great. My class just started reading a new book today that I'm really excited about. But, Ms. Abernathy is going to be out sick tomorrow so that just means that we won't get anything done," she complained. Unlike Mia, I always enjoyed substitutes. I just rolled my eyes and looked at Vince. We had many exciting substitute stories.

After the small talk ended, we focused on the food.

"It's good," Letty remarked about the lasagna.

"Mia made it," Dad said smiling and patting Mia on the back.

"Good job," Letty said to Mia. I didn't know, but I was pretty sure that this was the first dialogue that Letty and Mia had shared.

"Thanks, it was no big deal," Mia said humbly. "So Letty, do you have anything else planned for tonight?"

"Nope," she replied, looking down at her plate.

"Why don't you stay? We can watch a movie or something," Mia offered. Mia, Vince, and I all loved watching movies.

"Okay, sure," Letty said. I could tell that she was excited by this invitation by the small smirk she was trying to hide. But, she tried to act casual.

Vince wasn't paying attention to the conversation. He was too busy consuming copious amounts of food.

"Do you want to do that Dominic?" Mia asked. I knew that it didn't really matter what I said because she would get Letty to do it regardless. I was glad, though, that this 'friendship' effort between Mia and Letty seemed to be successful, so far. It would have been a pain in the butt if either of them decided that they hated the other.

"Yeah, that's cool," I replied. "Vince, you down?" He didn't respond. He just kept on eating.

"Yo, Vince!" I said, louder.

"Huh?" he said, looking up from where he was shoving lasagna in his mouth.

"Want to watch a movie?" I asked.

"That's fine. As long as it's not Princess Bride," he said matter-of-factly.

"Vince! That's a great movie!" Mia exclaimed.
"Well, I'm not watching it again," Vince said, continuing to eat.

"Then maybe you can't come," she said.

"Or maybe we'll just watch something else," I intervened. Vince always picked on Mia. I thought it was funny but sometimes it got a little ridiculous. I didn't know exactly why they always fought. Sometimes I thought he might be flirting with Mia. But, she was way too young, and my sister, so I knew that couldn't be the case. Regardless, she was my sister, he was my best friend, their fights created an immense conflict of interest. There was really no safe side to take. So, it was best to nip the problem in the bud early on.

"Dom, go get the cake," Dad whispered.

I went into the kitchen. I saw the cake that Mia had prepared. She had put forth a lot of effort. It was decorated very nicely and she had even written 'Happy Birthday Letty' in frosting on top. After I put the thirteen candles that were sitting on the counter in the top, I picked it up and carried it to the table. Letty's face lit up when I brought the cake in.

My Dad, Mia, Vince, and I all started singing. Letty blushed. We ate the cake. With Vince's assistance, it did not take long to finish a great deal of the cake.

"Alright, guys, I'm going to bed. It's been a long day. Just leave the dishes, I'll get to them tomorrow. You all deserve a break. But, you are welcome to stay up. Happy birthday Letty," Dad said, giving Letty a small hug and excusing himself.

With little delay, the four of us stacked our dishes in the sink and made our way into the den. Mia put on a video, one other than the Princess Bride. She comfortably sat in the big armchair. Vince took the other one. This left the couch for Letty and I. I was fine with that. I was really glad that Letty had spent her birthday with us. I made myself a place on one end of the long couch. Letty sat down, but not on the other end. Instead, she sat down right beside me.

This was very odd and slightly uncomfortable. The reason that couches were so long, I supposed, was so that you didn't have to sit that close to people. But, it was her birthday. I didn't want to criticize her. So, I endured it. It wasn't as painful as I would have thought. I noticed, out of nowhere, that her skin was really smooth and soft. I could feel the warmth coming from her body. It was unusual. It wasn't hot, but warm, comforting. I thought about the fact she sat so closely to me for far too long and missed the better half of the movie.

When it ended, Vince said that he had to go home. Mia put in another movie. She and Letty talked about the movie and the actors in the movie for about thirty minutes.

"Hey, guys, why don't you be quiet. It's a movie. You're not supposed to talk. Mia, pretend you're in the library," I said.

Mia rolled her eyes at me, "how would you know how you are supposed to act in a library?"

"Sorry, Dominic. Do you want to be included in the conversation?" Letty asked. Was she serious? Did I? Or did I really just want them to be quiet? Did I feel like Mia was moving in on my friend? Surely not. This question did not deserve a response.

After about an hour in, though, Mia fell asleep. When the movie ended, I looked over. Letty was asleep also. I shook her arm gently.

"Letty, wake up," I said to her softly, not wanting to wake up Mia.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked at me.

"What?" she asked.

"Come here. I've got something to show you," I said. I was glad Mia was asleep and Vince was gone. This would make it much easier and less awkward.

"Okay," she said, pulling herself up from the couch. She was tired, it was obvious.

I was really excited. I couldn't wait to show her the room. I really hoped that she liked it. But, then I got scared. What if she thought I told my Dad? The last thing I ever wanted to do was to make Letty think that I had violated her trust.

We made our way up the stairs and down the hallway. I opened the door to the room and turned the light on. I smiled in anticipation. I didn't say anything, but waited for her response.

"It's a room," she said lackadaisically.

"Yeah. But, it's your room," I said, carefully picking my words.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean what I said. It's yours. You can sleep here," I stated.

I waited, and got nothing from her. I decided to explain a little further, "I was totally down with you sleeping on the floor. But, we had this extra room and I thought you would be more comfortable. I mean, the floor sucks. I slept on it once and that was enough. I thought you might like to have somewhere that was just yours."

I felt like I was rambling. I guess I should have given my Dad credit for the suggestion but I didn't. I wanted her to think that it was all me, all my idea. I felt selfish by taking all the credit. But, something inside me really wanted to provide for her and take care of her. I feared that if I had told her that it was my Dad's idea than she might have not seen it the same way.

She still didn't say anything. But, she wrapped her arms around me. Despite how tired she was, it did not seem to affect her grip. She hugged me so tight. She wrapped her arms around my neck and practically pulled herself off the ground. I assumed that this meant she was excited, or happy, or something good.

"So, you like it?" I asked.

"Dominic! This is the best birthday I've ever had. Thank you so much! This is awesome," she said, breathlessly. Her eyes were so wide at this point. It did not seem like she was tired any longer. Her words sounded happy. There was no despair in her voice at all, for once. "But, what does this mean? I mean I don't live here. I can stay here though, right?"

"Yeah, of course. Anytime you want. And, if you still want to climb through the window that is okay," I said, just as a suggestion. I didn't know what would make her feel the most comfortable but I wanted to offer whatever that was. And, I guess, I still wanted to hold on to what we had.

TBC

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AJ