Chapter 6 - Forever couple?
When I woke up at 2pm I felt like crap. I was trying to make a good impression on these people and instead of getting up at a reasonable hour and hauling ass to that garage to try and get that mechanics job I slept till 2pm. Not a great first impression. But I guess it doesn't get better then winning a car on your first race out in a new place. Still, I wanted the job. I've gone without sleep before. I mean, for much more pleasurable reasons, but still, I could have gotten up at a decent hour and went to talk to Tej about the job. And being able to race didn't make me a good mechanic. I'd have to prove I was a good mechanic by showing my skills. Same as I'd proven I could drive on the blacktop.
The thought of winning the car made me smile. I raced someone for slips because I wanted to. I did it because I wanted to. I didn't have to ask for permission to race my own car. I didn't have to watch my back if I did it without permission. I didn't have to have a fight with anyone about either scenario. That felt good.
The sleeping in thing however felt like shit. I was so sure that that Tej guy was going to think I was a lazy good for nothing bitch who's only skill was racing and was scared of actually doing some work instead of just running a car fast down a straight road. I hauled my ass forcefully out of bed and got dressed quickly in combat pants and a singlet. I tied my hair up off my face and headed out into the main room of the boat. That was where I found Brian. He was sitting at the dining table with a cup of coffee. He looked like he'd borrowed Vince's morning style. He had on a pair of boxer shorts and a tank top that had seen better days.
"You been up long?" I asked him and my voice came out all scratchy and low. Probably because of all the crying I'd done last night. Brian looked startled at first.
"No. I just got up. Coffee's fresh if you want some." Brian told me with a smile.
"Gross. I don't drink that stuff. Only Dom and Vince drink coffee." I told him then frowned at the reminder of how mornings always work back at home. Home in L.A.
Back before everything changed every morning was the same. Well every weekday morning was the same. It would start when the alarm went off. Or rather it would start for Dom when the alarm went off. The alarm had no power to wake me. Ever. I could sleep through any alarm for any length of time. I didn't even stir when the alarm went off. We tried loud alarms. Alarms that played the radio. Alarms that buzzed, rang, screamed. None of it worked. When the alarm went off it would wake up Dom. Never me. I'd just keep right on sleeping. It was hell on the rest of the team when Dom wasn't around for whatever reason. Because if I was alone I kept sleeping. Then the alarm would wake Mia and she'd come wake me up. If no one was around I'd wake up on my own to the alarm going off. It was strange. But that was me, strange. When the alarm went off it would wake Dom right away.
Then Dom would wake me up. He did it the same almost every day. He'd lean in and kiss me while I slept. First softly, then harder. I'd start to kiss him back in my sleep. Then he'd move with his kisses down my throat and then back up. Normally by the time he kissed my mouth again I'd be awake and I'd really kiss him back. Sometimes I'd keep sleeping thinking it was just a really, really nice dream. Either way it almost always went all the way into exactly what you'd think. That was why Dom was always smart enough to give us 20 extra minutes every morning. If he didn't we'd have been late more times then I'd care to count.
Normally then we'd get up and take a shower together and then head down to the kitchen where Mia would have coffee on for the guys and orange juice for the rest of us normal people who didn't drink coffee. God I hate coffee. I always have.
I hate the way Brian drinks his coffee even more. It reminds me of Dom's skin. The amount of cream Brian uses makes the coffee the exact creamy shade of Dom's skin. Dom drinks his coffee with just a bit of milk in it. He always says it's like drinking my skin only I taste better then coffee ever will.
On the weekends at home it could be lunch time before we bothered to get up and then it was fend for yourself for breakfast. Dom and I would get up whenever Dom woke up, because I'll sleep till I feel like waking up, which would be the afternoon most of the time. Doesn't even matter when I go to bed. I can sleep like no one's business. I don't know why but it's always been that way. I almost can't get too much sleep. Dom sometimes would wake me and we'd go get brunch. Sometimes he'd wake me and we'd stay in bed for another hour or two. I loved those days most of all. I snapped out of my reminiscing and turned to the fridge.
I opened Brian's fridge without asking and took out his orange juice and poured a big glass.
"Where's my breakfast Chumpy?" I asked him with a grin. I felt like today was going to be a good day all of a sudden. Couldn't explain it but I just felt that things were looking up. If Brian had just gotten up then maybe it wasn't such a big deal that I'd slept in.
"I don't eat breakfast so there's nothing really you can eat here but toast. You want some toast?" Brian looked guilty at his lack of food in his house.
"Naw, it's all good. It's not like you knew I was coming Bri, don't worry about it. I'm good with the juice."
"We can go grocery shopping for stuff you like later." Brian said and stood up as he drained his mug. I did the same to my glass.
"So what now?" I asked him. I was nervous. Nervous of meeting his friends in the daylight and nervous of telling him about Dom and I. I knew he was going to come back to why I was in Miami sooner or later.
"Now, why don't you tell me why you're here Let? What brought you here?" Brian asked me as he paced around the small kitchen. I sat down at his little table.
"Well." I sighed. Where to start. So much had happened since Brian had disappeared and a lot of it was crucial to understanding what had happened between Dom and I. I just jumped into the story. "Ever since all the shit went down things haven't been the same at home. First Vince and Jesse were in the hospital then just Jesse. Everyone was sort of depressed while the team was all split up. Dom ran away to Mexico and he was gone for a week before we could call him back. So at first it was just me'n Mia and Leon at home. It was a pretty bleak time." Brian nodded and sat down opposite me at the table.
"Dom came home then Vince was released and things started to get better but things weren't going back to normal. They weren't even close. Vince was angry all the time about what happened to him. Mia was so sad about." I didn't know how to finish that sentence so I didn't. I just dropped it and continued on. "Leon was depressed about Jesse and he hardly ever spoke. And Dom mostly just sat in his room. It was like all the stuff that happened broke him. He wouldn't even talk to me. Keeping everyone and everything together fell on me. I wasn't ready for it. I was always a follower. Dom was always in control. I didn't like being trust into the leadership position but if it was up to Dom nothing would have gotten done over that whole time. So I was running the store, the garage, everything. " I sighed. I didn't know how personal to go with the story. I figured that I owed Brian the whole truth and to tell him the whole truth I'd have to go more into the details then poor Brian might want to know.
"He just never spoke to me. I didn't know what happened to change our relationship but something did. I can't be woken up by an alarm clock. It just doesn't happen. Pretty much to get up someone has to wake me. Dom use to do it every morning by kissing me awake. Even during the times we were having troubles. While he wasn't. Well. Faithful to me. But after the heists went bad he'd just shake me awake and then almost run away from me. I didn't know what I did. I still don't know for that matter. But anyway, he went from treating me like his girlfriend to just another one of the guys. Only at night he'd still.Well.Act like my boyfriend if you catch my drift. Plus then I had to drag him down to DT to work. I mean that garage is his baby. It's the one thing that means more to him then that RX-7." I think I blushed. This was Brian I was telling this stuff too. I didn't want to talk about it to anyone but it was hard to say it to Brian.
"Then one day while, ironically, I was writing down my feelings and wishing that if he didn't really want to be with me anymore he'd tell me so that we could move on he came in and did just that. He broke up with me. Told me he needed space and that he wanted to take a break."
"I fought with him about it but not as much as I wanted to. It's perverse I know. I mean I was there wishing we'd deal with the problems we were having even if it meant we broke up then he told me he wanted to take a break and I got so mad. But I wasn't taking a break. There was no way. I told him we were together or not. He gave me that typical male bullshit about how it wasn't me it was him and he had issues that he had to figure out before he'd make a good boyfriend for me or anyone. I said so we're broken up then and he nodded." Brian looked shocked out of his mind. I guess everyone figured that Dom and I were one of those forever couples. That if we'd made it through his cheating and my resulting full time bitch impression and not trusting him to as much as run to the store on his own then we were going to make it through everything. Too bad it didn't work out that way.
"So I stood up and started to pack my shit into my duffle. You should have seen the look on his face. He started going on about how he didn't want me to leave. After he'd just dumped me he told me he didn't think I'd leave. He honestly thought that we'd break up and I'd just keep living in his room and stuff while we were 'on a break.' Leaving was the hardest think I ever did but I did it. And I've been having nightmares ever since." I sighed and Brian stood up.
"I really can't believe that Letty. So you and Dom are broken up? Like forever time to move on broken up?"
"I don't know Brian. I fully plan on going back to L.A. I just realized on the way here that I'm not even sure who I am anymore. I've been living to be Dom's girlfriend for so long I don't know how to be Letty just to be Letty. He's so fucken selfish. He only thinks for himself." I sniffled but managed not to cry. "So that's why I'm here. I don't know when I'm going back. I hope that you can put up with me for a while if you have to."
"Of course girl. You can stay as long as you want."
"Ok. Oh, and I hope you know, when I go back, you're coming with me." Brian blanched then.
"I don't know Letty. I'm doing ok here. I don't know if me going back after all this time is a good idea."
"Brian. She never moved on. I don't think she can. For that matter I don't know if Dom can go on with his life without knowing all that you told me. Without knowing why you did what you did. When I go back you're coming with me." Brian just looked at me much in the way I imagine a deer looks into the headlights of an oncoming 18 wheeler.
When I woke up at 2pm I felt like crap. I was trying to make a good impression on these people and instead of getting up at a reasonable hour and hauling ass to that garage to try and get that mechanics job I slept till 2pm. Not a great first impression. But I guess it doesn't get better then winning a car on your first race out in a new place. Still, I wanted the job. I've gone without sleep before. I mean, for much more pleasurable reasons, but still, I could have gotten up at a decent hour and went to talk to Tej about the job. And being able to race didn't make me a good mechanic. I'd have to prove I was a good mechanic by showing my skills. Same as I'd proven I could drive on the blacktop.
The thought of winning the car made me smile. I raced someone for slips because I wanted to. I did it because I wanted to. I didn't have to ask for permission to race my own car. I didn't have to watch my back if I did it without permission. I didn't have to have a fight with anyone about either scenario. That felt good.
The sleeping in thing however felt like shit. I was so sure that that Tej guy was going to think I was a lazy good for nothing bitch who's only skill was racing and was scared of actually doing some work instead of just running a car fast down a straight road. I hauled my ass forcefully out of bed and got dressed quickly in combat pants and a singlet. I tied my hair up off my face and headed out into the main room of the boat. That was where I found Brian. He was sitting at the dining table with a cup of coffee. He looked like he'd borrowed Vince's morning style. He had on a pair of boxer shorts and a tank top that had seen better days.
"You been up long?" I asked him and my voice came out all scratchy and low. Probably because of all the crying I'd done last night. Brian looked startled at first.
"No. I just got up. Coffee's fresh if you want some." Brian told me with a smile.
"Gross. I don't drink that stuff. Only Dom and Vince drink coffee." I told him then frowned at the reminder of how mornings always work back at home. Home in L.A.
Back before everything changed every morning was the same. Well every weekday morning was the same. It would start when the alarm went off. Or rather it would start for Dom when the alarm went off. The alarm had no power to wake me. Ever. I could sleep through any alarm for any length of time. I didn't even stir when the alarm went off. We tried loud alarms. Alarms that played the radio. Alarms that buzzed, rang, screamed. None of it worked. When the alarm went off it would wake up Dom. Never me. I'd just keep right on sleeping. It was hell on the rest of the team when Dom wasn't around for whatever reason. Because if I was alone I kept sleeping. Then the alarm would wake Mia and she'd come wake me up. If no one was around I'd wake up on my own to the alarm going off. It was strange. But that was me, strange. When the alarm went off it would wake Dom right away.
Then Dom would wake me up. He did it the same almost every day. He'd lean in and kiss me while I slept. First softly, then harder. I'd start to kiss him back in my sleep. Then he'd move with his kisses down my throat and then back up. Normally by the time he kissed my mouth again I'd be awake and I'd really kiss him back. Sometimes I'd keep sleeping thinking it was just a really, really nice dream. Either way it almost always went all the way into exactly what you'd think. That was why Dom was always smart enough to give us 20 extra minutes every morning. If he didn't we'd have been late more times then I'd care to count.
Normally then we'd get up and take a shower together and then head down to the kitchen where Mia would have coffee on for the guys and orange juice for the rest of us normal people who didn't drink coffee. God I hate coffee. I always have.
I hate the way Brian drinks his coffee even more. It reminds me of Dom's skin. The amount of cream Brian uses makes the coffee the exact creamy shade of Dom's skin. Dom drinks his coffee with just a bit of milk in it. He always says it's like drinking my skin only I taste better then coffee ever will.
On the weekends at home it could be lunch time before we bothered to get up and then it was fend for yourself for breakfast. Dom and I would get up whenever Dom woke up, because I'll sleep till I feel like waking up, which would be the afternoon most of the time. Doesn't even matter when I go to bed. I can sleep like no one's business. I don't know why but it's always been that way. I almost can't get too much sleep. Dom sometimes would wake me and we'd go get brunch. Sometimes he'd wake me and we'd stay in bed for another hour or two. I loved those days most of all. I snapped out of my reminiscing and turned to the fridge.
I opened Brian's fridge without asking and took out his orange juice and poured a big glass.
"Where's my breakfast Chumpy?" I asked him with a grin. I felt like today was going to be a good day all of a sudden. Couldn't explain it but I just felt that things were looking up. If Brian had just gotten up then maybe it wasn't such a big deal that I'd slept in.
"I don't eat breakfast so there's nothing really you can eat here but toast. You want some toast?" Brian looked guilty at his lack of food in his house.
"Naw, it's all good. It's not like you knew I was coming Bri, don't worry about it. I'm good with the juice."
"We can go grocery shopping for stuff you like later." Brian said and stood up as he drained his mug. I did the same to my glass.
"So what now?" I asked him. I was nervous. Nervous of meeting his friends in the daylight and nervous of telling him about Dom and I. I knew he was going to come back to why I was in Miami sooner or later.
"Now, why don't you tell me why you're here Let? What brought you here?" Brian asked me as he paced around the small kitchen. I sat down at his little table.
"Well." I sighed. Where to start. So much had happened since Brian had disappeared and a lot of it was crucial to understanding what had happened between Dom and I. I just jumped into the story. "Ever since all the shit went down things haven't been the same at home. First Vince and Jesse were in the hospital then just Jesse. Everyone was sort of depressed while the team was all split up. Dom ran away to Mexico and he was gone for a week before we could call him back. So at first it was just me'n Mia and Leon at home. It was a pretty bleak time." Brian nodded and sat down opposite me at the table.
"Dom came home then Vince was released and things started to get better but things weren't going back to normal. They weren't even close. Vince was angry all the time about what happened to him. Mia was so sad about." I didn't know how to finish that sentence so I didn't. I just dropped it and continued on. "Leon was depressed about Jesse and he hardly ever spoke. And Dom mostly just sat in his room. It was like all the stuff that happened broke him. He wouldn't even talk to me. Keeping everyone and everything together fell on me. I wasn't ready for it. I was always a follower. Dom was always in control. I didn't like being trust into the leadership position but if it was up to Dom nothing would have gotten done over that whole time. So I was running the store, the garage, everything. " I sighed. I didn't know how personal to go with the story. I figured that I owed Brian the whole truth and to tell him the whole truth I'd have to go more into the details then poor Brian might want to know.
"He just never spoke to me. I didn't know what happened to change our relationship but something did. I can't be woken up by an alarm clock. It just doesn't happen. Pretty much to get up someone has to wake me. Dom use to do it every morning by kissing me awake. Even during the times we were having troubles. While he wasn't. Well. Faithful to me. But after the heists went bad he'd just shake me awake and then almost run away from me. I didn't know what I did. I still don't know for that matter. But anyway, he went from treating me like his girlfriend to just another one of the guys. Only at night he'd still.Well.Act like my boyfriend if you catch my drift. Plus then I had to drag him down to DT to work. I mean that garage is his baby. It's the one thing that means more to him then that RX-7." I think I blushed. This was Brian I was telling this stuff too. I didn't want to talk about it to anyone but it was hard to say it to Brian.
"Then one day while, ironically, I was writing down my feelings and wishing that if he didn't really want to be with me anymore he'd tell me so that we could move on he came in and did just that. He broke up with me. Told me he needed space and that he wanted to take a break."
"I fought with him about it but not as much as I wanted to. It's perverse I know. I mean I was there wishing we'd deal with the problems we were having even if it meant we broke up then he told me he wanted to take a break and I got so mad. But I wasn't taking a break. There was no way. I told him we were together or not. He gave me that typical male bullshit about how it wasn't me it was him and he had issues that he had to figure out before he'd make a good boyfriend for me or anyone. I said so we're broken up then and he nodded." Brian looked shocked out of his mind. I guess everyone figured that Dom and I were one of those forever couples. That if we'd made it through his cheating and my resulting full time bitch impression and not trusting him to as much as run to the store on his own then we were going to make it through everything. Too bad it didn't work out that way.
"So I stood up and started to pack my shit into my duffle. You should have seen the look on his face. He started going on about how he didn't want me to leave. After he'd just dumped me he told me he didn't think I'd leave. He honestly thought that we'd break up and I'd just keep living in his room and stuff while we were 'on a break.' Leaving was the hardest think I ever did but I did it. And I've been having nightmares ever since." I sighed and Brian stood up.
"I really can't believe that Letty. So you and Dom are broken up? Like forever time to move on broken up?"
"I don't know Brian. I fully plan on going back to L.A. I just realized on the way here that I'm not even sure who I am anymore. I've been living to be Dom's girlfriend for so long I don't know how to be Letty just to be Letty. He's so fucken selfish. He only thinks for himself." I sniffled but managed not to cry. "So that's why I'm here. I don't know when I'm going back. I hope that you can put up with me for a while if you have to."
"Of course girl. You can stay as long as you want."
"Ok. Oh, and I hope you know, when I go back, you're coming with me." Brian blanched then.
"I don't know Letty. I'm doing ok here. I don't know if me going back after all this time is a good idea."
"Brian. She never moved on. I don't think she can. For that matter I don't know if Dom can go on with his life without knowing all that you told me. Without knowing why you did what you did. When I go back you're coming with me." Brian just looked at me much in the way I imagine a deer looks into the headlights of an oncoming 18 wheeler.