27th November- Los Angeles, United States
En route to the Toretto house
Dom's POV
As promised I went and picked V up after my little encounter with Tran's sister. I had to admit she was good, probably the best I had had in a long while and even though I wasn't fond of the girl herself, I could make an exception for more nights like that every once in a while.
"Man you changed you're tune quick." V said as I started the drive home throwing him a sideways look.
"What do you mean?" I asked playing dumb.
"Come on man don't play dumb, you were all keen for the party at school, even before dinner, then suddenly after taking Letty home you changed. What was the deal between you and her anyway dude? You suddenly got something for her?" I gave Vince a disbelieving look.
"No I was being nice, you should try it sometime." He scoffed.
"Oh yeah? Nice was after school today, you gave them a lift home. What about tonight though, since when do you walk her home?"
"It was late." I stated.
"She lives a couple of doors down." Vince cried not believing my words.
"Look she's going to be working at the garage after school man, I'm putting in the effort to be nice and you should too. She's not so bad." He looked at me shocked.
"What the fuck? Has your dad lost it?" He thundered.
"Hey don't say shit like that." I defended raising my voice to match his.
"Whatever man. Why's she any different, huh? We had to be sixteen before we got a job at the garage."
"I know man I was pissed at first too okay, but I understand why dad's done it. It's part of the reason I walked her home." I said quietly.
"Well wanna explain it to me, cos I ain't cool with this." I shook my head.
"It's not my place to say man."
"Don't give me that shit. Tell me what's going on Dom." He demanded.
"Dude I can't alright? Just drop it, it ain't my place to say." I bit back
"Fine then answer me this. Why were you sulking pretty much the whole night until Tran came along? I know why you got with her too by the way."
"I just wasn't in the mood anymore and Vince it ain't like that." I lied but he scoffed calling me out immediately.
"Oh please it's exactly like that. You're just waiting to be able to rub it into Johnny's face next time you and he get into a fight." I stayed silent knowing he was right.
"That's right, you can't bullshit me brother." He stated and silence fell upon us for a moment.
"In all seriousness though, how was she?" I smirked knowing he couldn't stay mad at me for long.
"She was better than Casey." I stated grinning and he laughed. Casey was a girl we had both been with and the girl had skills.
"Seriously? Shit maybe I might even have to have a go." I shook my head laughing.
"Yeah I don't like the girl or anything but I wouldn't mind a few more rounds with her occasionally." I stated as I pulled into the driveway. Chancing a look over at Letty's noting all the lights were off as I got out of the car. I waited for V before locking it up for the night making our way around to the back of the house to let ourselves in. We slowed when we saw my dad and Letty's mum sitting on the back porch talking. I noticed Maria was holding something to her face and my stomach dropped. Growing up Maria had been like a mother to all of us, Vince included, so to see her beaten up I felt pretty angry.
"Dominic, Vince how was the party?" Dad asked but I shrugged not really interested in it anymore. Something had obviously happened while we had been gone just like I had been afraid of. I felt bad now for taking a ride with Tran when we should have left the party early. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Vince was looking pretty confused between us all.
"It was alright…" He trailed off quietly as he answered dad.
"I haven't had a chance to congratulate either of you yet." Maria said as she got up and pulled Vince in for a hug as he hugged her back giving me a look over her head. I sighed a little turning to dad but he just sent me a grim smile.
"And you too Dominic. I'm sorry about Adrian, he had no right to say that to you." She said quietly as she hugged me tightly and I wrapped my arms around her carefully not sure if her injuries extended anywhere else apart from her face.
"Did someone hit you Maria?" Vince asked unsurely but she sent him a small smile.
"Dom can fill you in. Now you two boys better run along to bed." I smiled softly at her as her motherly instincts kicked in.
"I know I promised you some time off but do you think you could hold down the garage tomorrow for me? Maria and I have a few places to go." He said quietly.
"Yeah sure, V?" I asked and he too nodded.
"Thanks boys I owe you, I promise you once everything settles down you two can have some time off."
"It's no problem if we can't dad." I promised but he waved me off.
"Can you check in on Letty and your sister please when you go inside?" My dad asked and I nodded glad to hear Letty was here.
"Yeah of course." I said quietly giving Maria a kiss on her good cheek watching as Vince did the same. We both said a quiet goodnight to my dad and then headed inside.
"Okay man what was all that about?" Vince demanded once we were out of hearing range pointing to outside.
"Give me a few minutes and I'll explain what I know." I said walking up the stairs with Vince on my heels, flipping on the hallway light as we went. Giving Vince a look telling him to be quiet as I opened the door to Mia's room, the light from the hallway allowing me to see that Mia was fast asleep sprawled out in her bed.
Rolling my eyes at my little sister's sleeping antics I walked into the room, only stopping to bend down to pick up the stuffed bear that had fallen off the bed before placing it beside her carefully. Looking over at Letty; she was asleep but it looked anything but peaceful. Her covers were a mess and all over the place not to mention she was frowning and twitching in her sleep. Doing a quick scan of her face I was pleased to see there were no visible marks on her that I could see. Hesitating for a moment before I reached across and pulled the covers back over her glad she didn't wake at the movement. Turning back around I headed for the door where Vince was standing watching me intently. I closed the door behind me not looking at Vince as I continued down to my room, leaving the light on in the hallway for dad and Maria.
"Okay seriously brother what the fuck is going on?" I sighed and ran a hand over my face tiredly. Shrugging my jacket off I threw it to the back of my chair as Vince pulled out the spare mattress that was kept under my bed. Sitting on my bed I started to explain everything I knew watching as he got angry with every word I spoke.
"What the fuck man? Are you playing with me or is this legit?"
"It's legit man." I said miserably.
"So you being nice to Letty is because of…this?" I nodded.
"Yeah man she's got enough going on as it is she doesn't need us adding to it. I mean come on man, you know what it's like." I said softly and he nodded slowly.
"Yeah, you're right. So just to make this perfectly clear, you haven't got anything for Letty?" I shook my head almost frantically.
"Fuck no man, she's just a kid." He nodded accepting the answer.
"Just checking, with her crush on you I just wanted to make sure you weren't starting to return the feelings." I nodded.
"According to Letty she doesn't feel anything for me." I stated and he scoffed.
"Yeah, okay." He said sarcastically.
"Actually brother I kind of believe her. Dad pointed out that maybe the reason she hung around so much was because she feels safe around us." I spoke as he stopped to think about it.
"Yeah I guess I can see that. I still say she feels something for you though." He spoke looking right at me but I just shrugged not really bothered about it anymore as we both got changed.
"So you'll be nicer to Letty yeah?" I asked for confirmation as we got into our respective beds.
"Yeah brother, I'll also beat her father's arse if he lays a hand on her." I nodded silently.
"Better get in line V." I said as we both fell into silence. I lay awake staring at the ceiling deep in thought about Letty. Just knowing she was here and Maria had marks on her face told me things were really bad, worse then I first thought. Sighing I turned my face towards Vince as I heard his snoring start. Rolling my eyes I got comfortable on my back before I shut my own eyes and let sleep take me.
En route to the Toretto house
Dom's POV
As promised I went and picked V up after my little encounter with Tran's sister. I had to admit she was good, probably the best I had had in a long while and even though I wasn't fond of the girl herself, I could make an exception for more nights like that every once in a while.
"Man you changed you're tune quick." V said as I started the drive home throwing him a sideways look.
"What do you mean?" I asked playing dumb.
"Come on man don't play dumb, you were all keen for the party at school, even before dinner, then suddenly after taking Letty home you changed. What was the deal between you and her anyway dude? You suddenly got something for her?" I gave Vince a disbelieving look.
"No I was being nice, you should try it sometime." He scoffed.
"Oh yeah? Nice was after school today, you gave them a lift home. What about tonight though, since when do you walk her home?"
"It was late." I stated.
"She lives a couple of doors down." Vince cried not believing my words.
"Look she's going to be working at the garage after school man, I'm putting in the effort to be nice and you should too. She's not so bad." He looked at me shocked.
"What the fuck? Has your dad lost it?" He thundered.
"Hey don't say shit like that." I defended raising my voice to match his.
"Whatever man. Why's she any different, huh? We had to be sixteen before we got a job at the garage."
"I know man I was pissed at first too okay, but I understand why dad's done it. It's part of the reason I walked her home." I said quietly.
"Well wanna explain it to me, cos I ain't cool with this." I shook my head.
"It's not my place to say man."
"Don't give me that shit. Tell me what's going on Dom." He demanded.
"Dude I can't alright? Just drop it, it ain't my place to say." I bit back
"Fine then answer me this. Why were you sulking pretty much the whole night until Tran came along? I know why you got with her too by the way."
"I just wasn't in the mood anymore and Vince it ain't like that." I lied but he scoffed calling me out immediately.
"Oh please it's exactly like that. You're just waiting to be able to rub it into Johnny's face next time you and he get into a fight." I stayed silent knowing he was right.
"That's right, you can't bullshit me brother." He stated and silence fell upon us for a moment.
"In all seriousness though, how was she?" I smirked knowing he couldn't stay mad at me for long.
"She was better than Casey." I stated grinning and he laughed. Casey was a girl we had both been with and the girl had skills.
"Seriously? Shit maybe I might even have to have a go." I shook my head laughing.
"Yeah I don't like the girl or anything but I wouldn't mind a few more rounds with her occasionally." I stated as I pulled into the driveway. Chancing a look over at Letty's noting all the lights were off as I got out of the car. I waited for V before locking it up for the night making our way around to the back of the house to let ourselves in. We slowed when we saw my dad and Letty's mum sitting on the back porch talking. I noticed Maria was holding something to her face and my stomach dropped. Growing up Maria had been like a mother to all of us, Vince included, so to see her beaten up I felt pretty angry.
"Dominic, Vince how was the party?" Dad asked but I shrugged not really interested in it anymore. Something had obviously happened while we had been gone just like I had been afraid of. I felt bad now for taking a ride with Tran when we should have left the party early. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Vince was looking pretty confused between us all.
"It was alright…" He trailed off quietly as he answered dad.
"I haven't had a chance to congratulate either of you yet." Maria said as she got up and pulled Vince in for a hug as he hugged her back giving me a look over her head. I sighed a little turning to dad but he just sent me a grim smile.
"And you too Dominic. I'm sorry about Adrian, he had no right to say that to you." She said quietly as she hugged me tightly and I wrapped my arms around her carefully not sure if her injuries extended anywhere else apart from her face.
"Did someone hit you Maria?" Vince asked unsurely but she sent him a small smile.
"Dom can fill you in. Now you two boys better run along to bed." I smiled softly at her as her motherly instincts kicked in.
"I know I promised you some time off but do you think you could hold down the garage tomorrow for me? Maria and I have a few places to go." He said quietly.
"Yeah sure, V?" I asked and he too nodded.
"Thanks boys I owe you, I promise you once everything settles down you two can have some time off."
"It's no problem if we can't dad." I promised but he waved me off.
"Can you check in on Letty and your sister please when you go inside?" My dad asked and I nodded glad to hear Letty was here.
"Yeah of course." I said quietly giving Maria a kiss on her good cheek watching as Vince did the same. We both said a quiet goodnight to my dad and then headed inside.
"Okay man what was all that about?" Vince demanded once we were out of hearing range pointing to outside.
"Give me a few minutes and I'll explain what I know." I said walking up the stairs with Vince on my heels, flipping on the hallway light as we went. Giving Vince a look telling him to be quiet as I opened the door to Mia's room, the light from the hallway allowing me to see that Mia was fast asleep sprawled out in her bed.
Rolling my eyes at my little sister's sleeping antics I walked into the room, only stopping to bend down to pick up the stuffed bear that had fallen off the bed before placing it beside her carefully. Looking over at Letty; she was asleep but it looked anything but peaceful. Her covers were a mess and all over the place not to mention she was frowning and twitching in her sleep. Doing a quick scan of her face I was pleased to see there were no visible marks on her that I could see. Hesitating for a moment before I reached across and pulled the covers back over her glad she didn't wake at the movement. Turning back around I headed for the door where Vince was standing watching me intently. I closed the door behind me not looking at Vince as I continued down to my room, leaving the light on in the hallway for dad and Maria.
"Okay seriously brother what the fuck is going on?" I sighed and ran a hand over my face tiredly. Shrugging my jacket off I threw it to the back of my chair as Vince pulled out the spare mattress that was kept under my bed. Sitting on my bed I started to explain everything I knew watching as he got angry with every word I spoke.
"What the fuck man? Are you playing with me or is this legit?"
"It's legit man." I said miserably.
"So you being nice to Letty is because of…this?" I nodded.
"Yeah man she's got enough going on as it is she doesn't need us adding to it. I mean come on man, you know what it's like." I said softly and he nodded slowly.
"Yeah, you're right. So just to make this perfectly clear, you haven't got anything for Letty?" I shook my head almost frantically.
"Fuck no man, she's just a kid." He nodded accepting the answer.
"Just checking, with her crush on you I just wanted to make sure you weren't starting to return the feelings." I nodded.
"According to Letty she doesn't feel anything for me." I stated and he scoffed.
"Yeah, okay." He said sarcastically.
"Actually brother I kind of believe her. Dad pointed out that maybe the reason she hung around so much was because she feels safe around us." I spoke as he stopped to think about it.
"Yeah I guess I can see that. I still say she feels something for you though." He spoke looking right at me but I just shrugged not really bothered about it anymore as we both got changed.
"So you'll be nicer to Letty yeah?" I asked for confirmation as we got into our respective beds.
"Yeah brother, I'll also beat her father's arse if he lays a hand on her." I nodded silently.
"Better get in line V." I said as we both fell into silence. I lay awake staring at the ceiling deep in thought about Letty. Just knowing she was here and Maria had marks on her face told me things were really bad, worse then I first thought. Sighing I turned my face towards Vince as I heard his snoring start. Rolling my eyes I got comfortable on my back before I shut my own eyes and let sleep take me.