27th November- Los Angeles, United States
Toretto House
Dom's POV
Dinner was the usual celebration affair; Chinese take-out followed by Mia's home-made apple pie that was mum's old recipe and of course a corona. After dinner dad made Vince and I promise not to be out past one, to not to drink too much and if we were too drunk to get ourselves home then we had to ring dad. It was a fair enough deal, plus we weren't stupid so we agreed.
I was on my way out the door with Vince when I passed Letty in the hallway picking up her bag. Thinking back to the earlier conversation I had had with dad I paused in front of her making her look up at me questioningly.
"Are you heading home?" I asked and she nodded.
"Yeah, my dad wants me home." She spoke quietly while I felt anger well up inside me but I managed to keep a calm face.
"I'll walk you home." I said giving her a small smile.
"Walk me home." She said slowly giving me a weird look.
"Yeah, that okay with you?" I asked smiling down at her. She looked at me suspiciously through narrowed eyes.
"Why are you being nice all of a sudden?" She demanded.
"I'm nice." I defended, not really sure what to say otherwise.
"Rarely Dom." She pointed out quietly and I sighed.
"Yeah okay not all the time but I do feel bad about it. I realized I may have been too harsh on you all these years, you never deserved that." I said honestly and she stared at me silently. It made me uneasy. I felt like she could see straight through me.
"For a second there I almost believed you." She sassed as she turned making her way to the door.
"Hey, I'm serious. I'm going to try to be nicer." I said as I caught her arm bringing her back to me.
"Why? Why start now after so many years Dom?" She asked quietly and I sighed not knowing what to say.
"Maybe because I want to." I said but she shook her head.
"Or maybe because your dad asked you to?" She asked knowingly and I gave her a small smile.
"I'm not gunna lie he pointed out a few things but he's not the only reason." I spoke.
"Now why don't I believe that?" She said shaking her head.
"Let considering we're going to be working together I figured we should probably start by being nice to each other, maybe even become friends." I hinted and she gave me a disbelieving look.
"Right, we'll see how long you can last with being nice." She spoke quietly turning away from me again. Grabbing her arm yet again I realized that all the years of treating her the way I had, had hurt her more than I had realized.
"Letty come on, you're like a little sister to me. I may not have always treated you that way but you are. I was wrong to treat you the way I did. You know you can always come to me right, if you need help or if you ever need to talk." She was silent for a moment, her head tilting to the side as she looked at me.
I wanted to curse myself for putting my foot in it. She was smart she would catch on that I know. Narrowing her eyes at me as she thought, I held my breath and waited for her to call me out but she said nothing just looked me up and down once.
"Fine whatever, we can be friends. All I want Dom is for you to stop treating me like a little kid."
"But you are just a kid, at least to me." She glared and I held my hands up in defense.
"I know you have a crush on me okay." I confided.
"Dom that's not even the issue here. I don't even like you like that anymore." She defended trying to leave for the third time but I blocked her path.
"Okay, okay I'm sorry. Just listen, please?" I asked as she stopped waiting for me to speak.
"If you do that's fine, I'm not rubbing it in your face okay? I'm just making sure you understand if that still is the case." I trailed off.
"I understand perfectly okay? I always have. You're not interested that's fine, as I said neither am I." I sighed not sure I believed her but she did look convincing so I took her word. I didn't want to upset her too much so I decided to let it go.
"So we can be friends, yeah?" I said softly.
"Yeah." She spoke looking straight at me.
"Come on Let its late, let me walk you home." I begged while she laughed a little, shaking her head.
"Don't you have a party to be getting to?" She reminded but I shrugged.
"A couple of minutes isn't going to matter much." I said honestly. All I wanted was to make sure she got home okay.
"Look whatever, I just have to go now." She sighed when she realized I wasn't about to back down.
"Okay, come on then." I said as I nudged her out the door. Vince was waiting by my car and he looked up as I came out.
"Give me two minutes, I'm just walking Letty home." I called. I noted the weird look he gave me but he said nothing, just nodding as he leant back against the car.
Letty and I walked in silence but she stopped when we reached the start of her driveway. I raised an eyebrow at her in question as she shifted nervously.
"I'm good from here. You should go." I noted the worried look she sent to the house. I shook my head letting her know I wasn't backing down. Wrapping an arm around her shoulder I led her up to the front door despite her resistance.
"Dom really I'm fine, you need to go." She said quickly as I raised my hand to knock. Lowering my hand I sighed, turning towards Letty as I got ready to say something. Before I was able to speak the door flew open. Shocked by its force I stumbled back taking Letty with me to avoid being hit.
"Letty where the fuck have you been? I told you to get your sorry arse home ten minutes ago, do I need to teach you a lesson for disobeying?" Mr Ortiz yell startling us both as he suddenly appeared in the doorway; his gaze directed straight at Letty as he yelled.
'What the fuck did that mean?' I wondered as anger rose within me. I watched as his eyes suddenly flickered to me, shock registering on his face as he cleared his throat and put on a fake smile.
"Oh Dominic… I hear congratulations are in order, for finishing high school." He finished lamely. I couldn't help the frown that appeared on my face as I took in Letty's father. I had never been a fan of him, even when we were younger. He always came across as domineering when it came to Letty or Maria but back then I just put it down to protectiveness.
'How wrong I was.' I thought sadly as I looked him over. I hadn't seen Adrian Ortiz in quite a while, I remembered Letty mentioning he'd been away on business; clearly that was not the case.
Adrian was a tall man, not much taller than me. He was practically skin and bones though, drawn looking in the face and his red, bloodshot eyes seemed to pop out of his head. He was not the man I had grown up with.
"Thank you sir, I was just walking Letty home before Vince and I went out to a party. Sorry she's late; she had to wait for me." I lied aware that he wasn't paying me any attention as he looked to Letty.
"Oh well that's quite alright, no harm done. Letty say thank you to Dominic and go upstairs and do your homework. I'll be up soon to help you out." I could feel Letty tense under my arm and all I wanted to do was drag her back down the path and back to the safety of my house. I looked down at her as she moved out of my hold, barely looking at me as she spoke.
"Thanks Dom." She said quietly.
"That's okay, I'll see you tomorrow." I said softly and she nodded before heading inside quickly. The silence that fell once she was gone was tense and awkward so I took that as my cue to leave.
"Well I should get going, Vince and I have somewhere to be." I said trying to seem happy but I was far from it. How could a father treat his daughter like that?
"Uh just a word before you go." He demanded so I nodded wondering what on earth he had to say to me.
"Sure." I said trying to be patient.
"You're a handsome man Dominic, no doubt you have a few ladies after you." I was a little confused as to where this was going but I played along and shrugged.
"Yeah I guess." I shrugged confused.
"Girls more your own age right." He hinted more forcefully. Suddenly I got where this was going and I didn't like it.
"Right." I agreed just as forcefully back.
"Right. Well just to make things perfectly clear so there isn't any future mix up's, my fifteen year old daughter is off limits. Is that understood?" He asked coldly and I frowned.
"Mr Ortiz I have no intention of getting with your daughter. I think of her a little sister like I do with Mia, nothing more." I clarified and he made a noise in the back of his throat before looking me over.
"Right well just in case your opinion ever changes, let me make this clear. If I find out you've been with my daughter in any other means but friendly I will kill you." I glared at the man who had been my neighbor pretty much my whole life.
"Are you threatening me?" I asked angrily.
"Oh no Dominic it's not a threat, it's a promise. Have a good night." I stared in shock as he turned and walked back into the house as if nothing had happened. The slam of the door brought me back to my senses as I stood still on the porch. I could hear his footsteps on the stairs and I had the uncontrollable urge to knock again to prevent him from going after Letty but I didn't, instead I raced back down the street.
"Finally." Vince muttered as he saw me approach but I shook my head.
"Where's dad?" I asked in a hurry and he frowned.
"Inside, dude what's going on? You're acting really weird and we really need to get going."
"Yeah I just need to speak to dad first." I spoke urgently as I raced inside finding dad in the kitchen with Mia doing her homework.
"I thought you'd gone already." He said looking up.
"Yeah I just walked Letty home. Dad can I speak to you for a minute? Alone." I hinted and he stood quickly all but pushing me into the other room.
"What's wrong? Did something happen?" He asked worriedly and I relayed what had happened to him.
"He said what?" He roared loudly and I sighed.
"Dad…" I said nodding to the kitchen and he sighed rubbing his face as he lowered his voice.
"Sorry but that's crossing the line. Was Maria there?" I shrugged.
"I didn't see her and I couldn't hear anything." I said truthfully.
"Alright thanks, now you better head off to your party." I frowned.
"But dad what about Letty?" I asked worried and he smiled.
"For someone who claims she's annoying almost every day, you've suddenly had a change of tune."
"She's family and after what I just saw I can't help it." I stated and he nodded.
"Let me take care of it, now off you go. Go and enjoy yourself tonight." Knowing there was no point in arguing I nodded and said goodbye again before heading out to my car.
"Ready?" I asked Vince and he rolled his eyes.
"Oh now you're ready." He sneered.
"V shut it." I snapped angrily as he turned to look at me in surprise.
"Whoa I was just kidding." I sighed as I spared him a glance.
"Yeah I know sorry, I have a lot on my mind." I said as I started the engine.
"What's up bro?" I hesitated but then shook my head.
"Nothing for you to worry about man, you ready to party?" I asked faking my enthusiasm.
"Yeah man let's party." He hollered while I smiled slightly but truth be told I was no longer in the mood for a party. My mind was back with a certain fifteen year old wondering if she was going to be okay.
Toretto House
Dom's POV
Dinner was the usual celebration affair; Chinese take-out followed by Mia's home-made apple pie that was mum's old recipe and of course a corona. After dinner dad made Vince and I promise not to be out past one, to not to drink too much and if we were too drunk to get ourselves home then we had to ring dad. It was a fair enough deal, plus we weren't stupid so we agreed.
I was on my way out the door with Vince when I passed Letty in the hallway picking up her bag. Thinking back to the earlier conversation I had had with dad I paused in front of her making her look up at me questioningly.
"Are you heading home?" I asked and she nodded.
"Yeah, my dad wants me home." She spoke quietly while I felt anger well up inside me but I managed to keep a calm face.
"I'll walk you home." I said giving her a small smile.
"Walk me home." She said slowly giving me a weird look.
"Yeah, that okay with you?" I asked smiling down at her. She looked at me suspiciously through narrowed eyes.
"Why are you being nice all of a sudden?" She demanded.
"I'm nice." I defended, not really sure what to say otherwise.
"Rarely Dom." She pointed out quietly and I sighed.
"Yeah okay not all the time but I do feel bad about it. I realized I may have been too harsh on you all these years, you never deserved that." I said honestly and she stared at me silently. It made me uneasy. I felt like she could see straight through me.
"For a second there I almost believed you." She sassed as she turned making her way to the door.
"Hey, I'm serious. I'm going to try to be nicer." I said as I caught her arm bringing her back to me.
"Why? Why start now after so many years Dom?" She asked quietly and I sighed not knowing what to say.
"Maybe because I want to." I said but she shook her head.
"Or maybe because your dad asked you to?" She asked knowingly and I gave her a small smile.
"I'm not gunna lie he pointed out a few things but he's not the only reason." I spoke.
"Now why don't I believe that?" She said shaking her head.
"Let considering we're going to be working together I figured we should probably start by being nice to each other, maybe even become friends." I hinted and she gave me a disbelieving look.
"Right, we'll see how long you can last with being nice." She spoke quietly turning away from me again. Grabbing her arm yet again I realized that all the years of treating her the way I had, had hurt her more than I had realized.
"Letty come on, you're like a little sister to me. I may not have always treated you that way but you are. I was wrong to treat you the way I did. You know you can always come to me right, if you need help or if you ever need to talk." She was silent for a moment, her head tilting to the side as she looked at me.
I wanted to curse myself for putting my foot in it. She was smart she would catch on that I know. Narrowing her eyes at me as she thought, I held my breath and waited for her to call me out but she said nothing just looked me up and down once.
"Fine whatever, we can be friends. All I want Dom is for you to stop treating me like a little kid."
"But you are just a kid, at least to me." She glared and I held my hands up in defense.
"I know you have a crush on me okay." I confided.
"Dom that's not even the issue here. I don't even like you like that anymore." She defended trying to leave for the third time but I blocked her path.
"Okay, okay I'm sorry. Just listen, please?" I asked as she stopped waiting for me to speak.
"If you do that's fine, I'm not rubbing it in your face okay? I'm just making sure you understand if that still is the case." I trailed off.
"I understand perfectly okay? I always have. You're not interested that's fine, as I said neither am I." I sighed not sure I believed her but she did look convincing so I took her word. I didn't want to upset her too much so I decided to let it go.
"So we can be friends, yeah?" I said softly.
"Yeah." She spoke looking straight at me.
"Come on Let its late, let me walk you home." I begged while she laughed a little, shaking her head.
"Don't you have a party to be getting to?" She reminded but I shrugged.
"A couple of minutes isn't going to matter much." I said honestly. All I wanted was to make sure she got home okay.
"Look whatever, I just have to go now." She sighed when she realized I wasn't about to back down.
"Okay, come on then." I said as I nudged her out the door. Vince was waiting by my car and he looked up as I came out.
"Give me two minutes, I'm just walking Letty home." I called. I noted the weird look he gave me but he said nothing, just nodding as he leant back against the car.
Letty and I walked in silence but she stopped when we reached the start of her driveway. I raised an eyebrow at her in question as she shifted nervously.
"I'm good from here. You should go." I noted the worried look she sent to the house. I shook my head letting her know I wasn't backing down. Wrapping an arm around her shoulder I led her up to the front door despite her resistance.
"Dom really I'm fine, you need to go." She said quickly as I raised my hand to knock. Lowering my hand I sighed, turning towards Letty as I got ready to say something. Before I was able to speak the door flew open. Shocked by its force I stumbled back taking Letty with me to avoid being hit.
"Letty where the fuck have you been? I told you to get your sorry arse home ten minutes ago, do I need to teach you a lesson for disobeying?" Mr Ortiz yell startling us both as he suddenly appeared in the doorway; his gaze directed straight at Letty as he yelled.
'What the fuck did that mean?' I wondered as anger rose within me. I watched as his eyes suddenly flickered to me, shock registering on his face as he cleared his throat and put on a fake smile.
"Oh Dominic… I hear congratulations are in order, for finishing high school." He finished lamely. I couldn't help the frown that appeared on my face as I took in Letty's father. I had never been a fan of him, even when we were younger. He always came across as domineering when it came to Letty or Maria but back then I just put it down to protectiveness.
'How wrong I was.' I thought sadly as I looked him over. I hadn't seen Adrian Ortiz in quite a while, I remembered Letty mentioning he'd been away on business; clearly that was not the case.
Adrian was a tall man, not much taller than me. He was practically skin and bones though, drawn looking in the face and his red, bloodshot eyes seemed to pop out of his head. He was not the man I had grown up with.
"Thank you sir, I was just walking Letty home before Vince and I went out to a party. Sorry she's late; she had to wait for me." I lied aware that he wasn't paying me any attention as he looked to Letty.
"Oh well that's quite alright, no harm done. Letty say thank you to Dominic and go upstairs and do your homework. I'll be up soon to help you out." I could feel Letty tense under my arm and all I wanted to do was drag her back down the path and back to the safety of my house. I looked down at her as she moved out of my hold, barely looking at me as she spoke.
"Thanks Dom." She said quietly.
"That's okay, I'll see you tomorrow." I said softly and she nodded before heading inside quickly. The silence that fell once she was gone was tense and awkward so I took that as my cue to leave.
"Well I should get going, Vince and I have somewhere to be." I said trying to seem happy but I was far from it. How could a father treat his daughter like that?
"Uh just a word before you go." He demanded so I nodded wondering what on earth he had to say to me.
"Sure." I said trying to be patient.
"You're a handsome man Dominic, no doubt you have a few ladies after you." I was a little confused as to where this was going but I played along and shrugged.
"Yeah I guess." I shrugged confused.
"Girls more your own age right." He hinted more forcefully. Suddenly I got where this was going and I didn't like it.
"Right." I agreed just as forcefully back.
"Right. Well just to make things perfectly clear so there isn't any future mix up's, my fifteen year old daughter is off limits. Is that understood?" He asked coldly and I frowned.
"Mr Ortiz I have no intention of getting with your daughter. I think of her a little sister like I do with Mia, nothing more." I clarified and he made a noise in the back of his throat before looking me over.
"Right well just in case your opinion ever changes, let me make this clear. If I find out you've been with my daughter in any other means but friendly I will kill you." I glared at the man who had been my neighbor pretty much my whole life.
"Are you threatening me?" I asked angrily.
"Oh no Dominic it's not a threat, it's a promise. Have a good night." I stared in shock as he turned and walked back into the house as if nothing had happened. The slam of the door brought me back to my senses as I stood still on the porch. I could hear his footsteps on the stairs and I had the uncontrollable urge to knock again to prevent him from going after Letty but I didn't, instead I raced back down the street.
"Finally." Vince muttered as he saw me approach but I shook my head.
"Where's dad?" I asked in a hurry and he frowned.
"Inside, dude what's going on? You're acting really weird and we really need to get going."
"Yeah I just need to speak to dad first." I spoke urgently as I raced inside finding dad in the kitchen with Mia doing her homework.
"I thought you'd gone already." He said looking up.
"Yeah I just walked Letty home. Dad can I speak to you for a minute? Alone." I hinted and he stood quickly all but pushing me into the other room.
"What's wrong? Did something happen?" He asked worriedly and I relayed what had happened to him.
"He said what?" He roared loudly and I sighed.
"Dad…" I said nodding to the kitchen and he sighed rubbing his face as he lowered his voice.
"Sorry but that's crossing the line. Was Maria there?" I shrugged.
"I didn't see her and I couldn't hear anything." I said truthfully.
"Alright thanks, now you better head off to your party." I frowned.
"But dad what about Letty?" I asked worried and he smiled.
"For someone who claims she's annoying almost every day, you've suddenly had a change of tune."
"She's family and after what I just saw I can't help it." I stated and he nodded.
"Let me take care of it, now off you go. Go and enjoy yourself tonight." Knowing there was no point in arguing I nodded and said goodbye again before heading out to my car.
"Ready?" I asked Vince and he rolled his eyes.
"Oh now you're ready." He sneered.
"V shut it." I snapped angrily as he turned to look at me in surprise.
"Whoa I was just kidding." I sighed as I spared him a glance.
"Yeah I know sorry, I have a lot on my mind." I said as I started the engine.
"What's up bro?" I hesitated but then shook my head.
"Nothing for you to worry about man, you ready to party?" I asked faking my enthusiasm.
"Yeah man let's party." He hollered while I smiled slightly but truth be told I was no longer in the mood for a party. My mind was back with a certain fifteen year old wondering if she was going to be okay.