An End and a Beginning
Summary: They didn't work out the first time around, but they have something tangible between them that forces them to be in each other's lives forever. They are getting a second chance, but with Dominic and Letty, nothing comes easy.
Rating: M - eventually
Chapter 12
Letty spent nearly two weeks putting up with Vince's shenanigans. Leon and Jesse had wisely selected to stay out of it, but watched from the sidelines with amusement.
They weren't the only ones watching. She had noticed Dominic in the background eyeing them curiously on more than one occasion. Those interactions usually ended with her swatting Vince upside the head and walking away. The fact that it took him twelve days before he pushed her too far was a miracle in itself.
Growing up with these guys through her teen years had been a nightmare and a half. Most of the female population resented her for the place she had with them, and most guys didn't understand that she wasn't there just to suck dicks. Letty had paid her dues. They were her boys, but that didn't mean they hadn't given her hell on more than one occasion – or that they still didn't.
They razzed her because she was a girl, even though she had never put up with any misogynistic bullshit and could dish it out just as good as they did. They were good guys. Tony had never put up with them being disrespectful towards women; it was one lesson they had learned quickly.
Most of them had become family by choice, and sometimes decisions like that could be stronger than blood. They didn't have the luxury of being able to B.S. each other most of the time, and had become accustomed to giving out the hard truths when needed, not putting up with the crap that came from the baggage they all had for any extended period of time. That wasn't to say they were always super direct in the approach.
It was early Sunday afternoon and they were hanging out at the store when a blue Honda parked on the street. Tony had gone to church with Mia, and then they had taken Aiden with them to the park. Letty was behind the counter filling in Mia's shift.
She watched as a man unfolded himself from the confines of the car. Dark brown hair, green eyes, lightly muscled, and over six feet tall... He wasn't her type, but she had to admit he was easy on the eyes. He paused to pull his cell phone from his pocket to answer it and leaned against the hood of his car.
Letty found Vince smirking at her once she pulled her focus back to her task. "Don't start", she warned seriously. "Someone else will have to drive you to the hospital when I shoot you in the foot."
He grinned at her. "I just wanna talk to him."
"Oh, yeah?" she glared. "What are you going to say exactly? 'My friend Letty over there just needs a quick fuck. Would you mind banging her?'" she hissed sarcastically.
He shrugged thoughtfully. "That's a little more direct than I planned, but it could work."
Letty nearly jumped over the counter to lunge for him when he stood up. She went around instead, almost tackling him to get his ear in her grip and then twisted. The answering yelp was more than satisfying as she dragged him back. "Don't even think about it", she warned harshly.
He got a good look at her glare and immediately started backtracking. "Now, Let, remember you love me-"
"Who says?" she growled roughly through clenched teeth. Leon and Jesse were howling with laughter from behind her.
"Let go of my ear!" Vince slapped at her hand, but it didn't loosen her grip.
"Stop acting like a jackass!" she threatened, kicking his shin in retaliation. "Stay out of my love life."
"Ow- Dom! Would you get out here and get her off me?" he finally yelled as her arm wrapped around his neck.
Letty froze. "You play dirty", she complained.
"I'm not her keeper", Dominic's voice rumbled across the store from the office. "You both can quit dicking around though."
"I can't speak for V, but I'm dick-less", Letty retorted sarcastically, shoving Vince out of her personal space.
"You say that like I could forget", he muttered dryly. "Vince! Where the hell is the paperwork you were supposed to file Friday?"
"I put it on top of the file cabinet."
Dominic walked out of the office and pointed a thumb behind him. "On the file cabinet", he repeated. "Why didn't you just file it? If you don't find it, Mrs. Sanchez is going to eat your face off, and I'm not going to stop her."
Vince groaned. "I'm on it." He passed Dom into the office and cursed at the large pile that was now on top of the file cabinet that had been clear except for his file cabinet two days ago. He knew he should have taken it back to the garage before he went home that night. Someone would have put it in the system by now.
Letty looked up to find Dominic in front of her. "What?"
"What was that about?" he asked seriously.
She cocked an eyebrow. "Where did you hide Vince's file?" she asked knowingly.
He smirked. "I found it yesterday and took it back to the garage."
"Nice", Letty rolled her eyes.
"Are you going to answer my question?"
Letty's memory was brought back to something her father had said to her when she was sixteen.
"If the saying is 'let sleeping dogs lie', you need to leave a sleeping bear the fuck alone", Luis told her.
She had laughed, mostly at her father's cursing, then asked, "What if you can't tell if the bear is asleep or dead?"
"Don't poke the bear, Leticia", he'd replied seriously.
She knew their relationship was a bear. She just wasn't sure if it was asleep or dead. Letty shrugged and went for broke, deciding she should at least find out. "Vince is trying to get me laid."
"Don't tell me you ran out of batteries", he said dryly.
She let out a surprised laugh. "Shut up."
He studied her with a raised eyebrow, apparently deciding to be serious about her original statement. "Yeah, well… I think you know how I feel about that", Dom said quietly.
"Jealous?" she teased mildly.
"Always", he murmured, squeezing her shoulder gently before walking away, stopping to leave her with one last parting comment. "If he comes over, try not to be too nice."
She internally face-palmed, "Had to poke the bear, didn't you?" Letty grumbled to herself once he was back in the office and out of hearing range.
"You know talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity", Vince laughed, having watched the exchange, apparently having decided the file was less important than watching their live-action soap opera.
"This is all your fault", she complained.
"I'm pretty sure you stepped in that one pretty hard all by yourself", he refuted.
"I know it", she admitted roughly.
Vince reached over and messed up her hair just as the guy near the blue Honda crossed the street.
00
The Fourth of July had become quite the ordeal over the years. They had all taken turns running to the liquor store to pick up things throughout the week. This year it was on a Friday, so they went into hardcore party mode for the long weekend.
Buying the alcohol really was the least of the preparations. Mia had spent all her free time that week making chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, and covering them in red, white, and blue frosting. She had left the Jell-o shots to Letty – red, blue, and clear – which meant that there was a very unbalanced ratio of liquor and water, and they really burned going down.
They were at the Toretto's just after eleven the next morning finishing last minute items. Mia had made two giant bowls of pasta salad the night before, and it just switched fridges. She forced Letty to help her with the artichoke dip. That had gotten some speculative looks from the others, but after Letty sprayed Dom with the hose from the kitchen sink, those who weren't helping elected to stay out of the kitchen.
"Kelly is bringing the Jell-o salad, right?" Mia asked as she started boiling potatoes.
Letty nodded. "I talked to her last night. They're going to bring some camping chairs, a few coolers, more hot dogs, hamburger meat and buns, and stop to get more ice."
"Awesome", Mia murmured.
"Yeah, Kyle fixed that deep freezer in the garage when he got here yesterday, so we're just going to fill it. It should be plenty."
Mia blinked. "Kyle!" she shouted towards the living room where the guys were watching some sports run on TV.
"Yo!" he hollered back.
Letty grinned.
Kyle was Vince's cousin. Their moms were half-sisters. He was a year younger than her, and whenever he came up from Vegas to visit, they all had a blast. He wasn't as scruffy as Vince. His hair was blonde, and he had stubble on his face, but never the 'Wilderness Man' beard that Vince let go wild sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas. But when they stood together, you could tell they were related. Their eyes were the same.
He was crashing at Vince's apartment on the pull-out sofa while he was in town.
"You fixed our freezer?" Mia asked.
"Sure did, sweetheart. Do I get a kiss?"
"You do if you come in here to get it", she smirked. "I'm busy with devilled eggs."
Letty heard the clatter as he probably jumped over the furniture in his haste. She dodged out of the way as he dipped Mia dramatically and planted one on her.
"Dammit, Kyle, I didn't say you could use tongue!" she laughed, swiping her mouth after he set her upright again.
Dominic groaned good-naturedly from the archway between the family room and kitchen. "Man, when are you going to stop macking on my sister?"
"As soon as she stops letting me", Kyle chuckled, dropping a kiss on Letty's cheek as he passed.
Letty waited until Kyle was gone before she practically doubled over laughing. "Damn, I love when he's here."
0
The O'Neil's showed up at two-thirty. Letty and Dominic had met them last year at an open house for Aiden's school. Their son Ryan was in Aiden's class; the two had been fast friends. They had gotten along so well with Ryan's parents that they stayed friends even if their kids were in different classes this year. They had kept up with play-dates on weekends and some sleepovers during the summers.
Kelly worked part-time from home as a medical transcriptionist because they also had a two year-old, Sarah, and David was a personal trainer who was also fairly decent under the hood of a car.
Their silver SUV backed into the Toretto's driveway, and Letty shooed Dom away from the grill he was heating up to go help them unload the car. She was kind of amused that he let her, and she didn't bother to bury her laughter when he came back with Casey, the O'Neil's three year-old golden retriever bouncing at the end of her leash, and carrying Sarah who was raring to go after her afternoon nap.
And then he ordered Vince to go help David get their stuff from the car.
"Nice delegating", Letty teased.
"Priorities", he smirked as Sarah babbled at him while she cuddled her stuffed, blue bunny. "I never say no to a kid carrying a stuffed bunny."
"Yes, I know", she grinned. "The last few years have turned you into a muscle-y, child and puppy cuddler."
He glanced down at his biceps with a raised eyebrow. "Don't objectify me."
The retort startled her, and she laughed until her stomach hurt. Dominic walked away, shaking his head and went to go supervise. Once everyone had everything where it was supposed to be and the gate was closed, he unhooked Casey's leash and let her run through the enclosed backyard. It didn't take long for her to coerce Jesse and Leon into throwing her Frisbee around for her.
"They never could say no to a cute blonde", Mia laughed as she set a pile of things on the picnic table.
Letty nodded. "Good point."
"Mom!"
Letty looked down to find to monkeys attached to her thighs. Aiden had been so excited for his friend to come over and play. She had already doused the kid with sun block, and he was running around in his swimming trunks.
"What's up, kiddos? Are you guys getting taller?" she wondered, eyebrows scrunched curiously, trying to decide if her son was going through another growth spurt.
The boys traded looks that reminded her of Dom and Vince when they were younger, and they both shrugged.
"Mom, can we go in the pool now?" Aiden asked.
Letty looked around the yard to find her friend, "Hey, Kelly? Did you already put sun block on Ryan?"
"Before we left", she nodded.
Letty sighed, and looked down. "I suppose you can't wait fifteen minutes so I can go change?" she asked wryly.
"Nope."
"Uh-uh."
She grinned. "Uncle Kyle looks like he's ready for a swim. Go see if he'll watch you guys for a few minutes."
They ran off to go beg Kyle to play with them in the pool, and Letty laughed at the dirty look he directed at her. "Just for fifteen minutes", she promised. "I have to change… maybe twenty."
"Can they both swim without floats?" he asked exasperatedly.
She nodded. "They're fine. Just toss them in over the side. They swim like fish."
He raised both eyebrows and swooped down to pick up Aiden and dangled him over the water while he shrieked. "What? Like this? Can I just drop him?" he laughed.
Letty nodded, uncontrollable laughter spilling past her lips. "Make sure they hold their noses, and you're good", she advised.
Aiden held his nose, and Kyle tossed him lightly into the water. Letty watched as her son popped up seconds later. She hollered for Tony to come watch the grill and headed back into the house to change and grab some beach towels. David fell into step beside her.
"You could have made them wait", he chuckled. "I was going to get in with them."
She laughed. "Why? Aiden loves when Kyle comes to play. Might as well get started wearing them out early."
"Good point", he mused.
"Are you changing?" she asked when they headed for the stairs. He nodded. "Take the bathroom; I'll use Mia's room."
When Letty came back outside fifteen minutes later, she managed to run straight into Vince while she was occupied with rubbing tanning oil over her arms. He smirked down at her, amused. "Nice little outfit you've got on", he teased.
"You know I rarely back down from a challenge", she smirked.
"How very patriotic of you", Vince shook his head.
She feinted a jab at his ribs and ducked around him to cross the yard to the pool. She nearly groaned aloud when Dom stopped her too. "What?"
"What are you wearing?" he laughed.
She rolled her eyes. "Not one word, Toretto. This is Vince's fault."
"Vince?"
"And now that I think about it, it's also your fault", she frowned.
"What did I do?"
"You sent me to that Fourth of July, firecracker-fest warehouse with the Three Stooges, you asshole", she grumbled. "And Vince tricked me into buying this bikini."
He grinned, eyeing her cleavage briefly before reminding himself that he wasn't supposed to be thinking about burying his face there anymore. "I like your stripes", he teased.
"I'm going in the pool to play with the kids", she rolled her eyes. "Stop looking at my rack."
"I'll try", he called after her. "But I can't exactly miss it."
"I bet you miss it", Letty smirked over her shoulder.
0
Several hours later:
Aiden and Ryan were playing catch with David on the other side of the pool. Leon, Vince, Jesse, and Kyle were sitting lawn chairs holding up point cards and debating points, averaging between throws and catches. Mia had thrown them all out of the kitchen twice already and said they couldn't play beer pong at the kitchen table.
"I'm going to make more margaritas", Letty called over the music.
"Go easy on the tequila this time!" Dom shouted back. "My brain is starting to pickle."
"Are you sure that's from the liquor?" she teased.
"That's cute, Let."
"Stop drinking out of my cup", she complained.
"Kelly, go watch her", he said with a laugh. "Make sure she behaves."
"Dominic, are you sure you're alright with Sarah? I can take her-"
"Go on", he made a shooing motion. "You've got your hands full with Letty", Dom joked, laughing when the woman in question to stick her tongue out at him.
Letty shook her head and hooked Kelly's arm in hers, leading them back into the house. "Come on", she grinned. "He'll be fine. Just make sure you get her back at the end of the night."
"Every time we come over, I swear I never even hold her", Kelly chuckled as they prepared the drinks in the blender, adding some fruit into the mix. "She freaked when we got here. I think she fell in love with his voice."
"Oh, he has that affect on most of the female population", Letty smirked. "I'll admit it worked for me too."
"I don't know how you two manage it", she shook her head.
"What's that?" Letty asked absently, digging into the freezer for ice.
"Maybe it's just the outside view", Kelly shrugged. "I don't know your life story. But you and Dominic seem to be in each other's space a lot. Somehow it always at least looks like you get along fairly well."
Letty dumped her large cup of ice into the mixer. "We grew up together, we work together, and we have a kid… nothing comes easy", she sighed. "The fights we have, we try to handle privately. Sometimes we'd really like to kill each other. He was my best friend besides Mia growing up. When I got pregnant, everything changed." She stopped to take a breath, realizing she was rambling. "I think right now we're both just trying not to screw up our kid."
Kelly squeezed her arm reassuringly. "From one parent to another, I think you're doing just fine."
"Is that going to get me an extra shot of tequila in that mix?" Letty cocked an eyebrow.
"I won't tell if you don't."
0
It was after six, the dinner meal had been cleaned up, but there was still dessert and snack food lying around. Dominic wasn't sure how many blender-fulls of margaritas Letty, Mia, and Kelly had gone through, but Letty had definitely gone over her tolerance.
If he hadn't noticed earlier, he would have become very aware when she toppled into his lap – wearing a pair of jean cut-offs over the bottoms of her bikini – and he got a mouthful of her hair.
"Um, hi?" he laughed.
She peered up at him in confusion, swatting her hair out of her face. "Are you in my chair?"
"No", he grinned. "You're in my lap."
Letty blinked, and then swung her legs over the canvas arm of the chair. "Can I stay?" she asked softly.
Dom fluffed her long hair playfully. "Make yourself comfortable", he murmured.
"Why the hell is Kyle's truck in the middle of the yard?"
"We're putting the blow-up mattress in it so we can sit back there with the kids", he answered with a laugh.
"Did we have this conversation already?"
"Maybe."
"Awesome", she muttered.
"I told you to go easy with the tequila", he teased.
"Ugh, I think my party animal days are over", she groaned. "When did that happen?"
"You want a specific date?"
"Oh, shut up and let me take a nap. And I'd better not get a face full of dog's ass while we're watching fireworks."
He snorted; amused that she could be both cuddly and belligerent when she was drunk. "Hey, Vince, grab me a water bottle from the cooler behind you."
Vince passed the plastic bottle to his friend, grinning outright at the scene playing out in front of him, knowing exactly how this was about to go.
If Letty hadn't had her eyes closed, Dom wouldn't have gotten away with it. But as it was, he set the icy, wet bottle against her bare stomach and braced for a hit.
"Shit, that's cold!" she yelped, nearly falling to the ground before he righted her.
He smirked. "Drink some water. You'll thank me later when you don't have a headache that feels like angry badgers are gnawing on your brain."
Letty laughed despite herself, but made sure to elbow him in the ribs. "Jackass", she muttered.
0
Finally it was dark enough to set off their copious amounts of fireworks. Tony looked at the large cardboard box the stash had been dumped into incredulously. "Letty, I thought you were going to keep them from going overboard?"
She snorted. "Whose fool idea was that anyway? I kept them from getting bottle rockets. My job ended there."
"And I'm very grateful", Tony muttered dryly.
"Somehow, I don't think you mean that", she teased.
"Where is your mother? She was here earlier, and then she left."
Letty shrugged. "I don't know. Something about some paperwork for a client that she needed to look over, I think."
"Nah, she was talkin' to a guy", Vince argued.
Letty made a face. "I didn't need to know that. I'm going inside for a minute. Aiden, Ryan, do you want ice pops?"
They hollered affirmatively at her from where they were piled in the back of Kyle's pick-up with Dom, Kelly, David, and Casey, who was fighting the kids for blanket space. She got the pretzel salad from the fridge and filled a Styrofoam bowl with enough for Dominic to eat half of it, wondering absently when it had become okay for him to be eating off her plate again, grabbed the two ice pops – a blue and a green – from the freezer and cut the tops off before going back outside. She grabbed a beer from the cooler before heading to take her spot.
David took the ice pops for the kids and gave her a hand up into the bed of the truck. She stepped over the kids and dog to go sit against the window where Dom had piled their pillows. David and Kelly sat opposite each other near the end of the truck, Casey laying over both their laps, and the kids played between them.
Dominic eyed her bowl with interest. "Are you planning to eat all of that?"
She raised an eyebrow, "Maybe." When he didn't stop looking at her, she rolled her eyes. "Half of it's for you – since you keep eating my stuff", Letty admitted grudgingly.
"You only brought one spoon", he mused.
"Do I really need to remind you what of yours used to go in my mouth?" she muttered wryly, keeping her voice low. "I think we can share a damn spoon."
"Whatever you say", he said mildly.
The fireworks were underway shortly, and the booming drowned out most of the talking except the exaggerated 'oohs and ahhs' that came from Vince and Leon who were teasing Mia – she had never really grown up about seeing fireworks and was still enamored.
When they were about halfway done, Letty nudged Dominic. "I like those ones – with the tails", she smirked.
"Why's that?"
"They remind me of the cartoon sperm from that health class video in high school."
He choked on his beer laughing.
00
A/N: Oh, wow, this is long. Lol. I'm sure you're all thrilled. It's probably going to be the longest chapter of this story; I just didn't see the point of dividing this in half. Thanks for reading and all the reviews so far. Let me know what you think about this one. No plot really, just some family fun. (Formatting had an oopsie that looks fine on my page, but I fixed a line – hopefully it shows up right online.)