Feels Like Home

Part Four

Letty's POV

A few days passed uneventfully and Dom dragged me out to the garage with him. My eyes widened as I saw the enormous garage and the hundreds of tools. The place twisted my gut as I raked my eyes longingly over every surface. The oil spots on the floor made me grin as I looked at them. Parts of an engine were stacked up in the corner and I wanted to sit on the floor and examine it. See what kind of car it was from.

"You okay?" Dom murmured.

"It feels familiar," I murmured. My fingers were itching to fiddle beneath the hood of a car.

"That engine is for a Plymouth," Dom said as he followed my gaze. "I thought that if you wanted, you could rebuild it... Maybe that's a stupid idea."'

"I'd like that," I said gently as I touched his arm cautiously.

His smile was enough to make my heart flutter with happiness.

We settled in for a days work. I wrote a list of the parts I'd need and ordered them at Harry's. Then I stuck into the engine feeling happier than I'd felt in a long time.

"Let, I think we'd need to head home," Dom announced at half five. I'd been working since ten this morning.

"Yeh, lost track of time."

Dom shrugged. "We all do."

We returned to the house. Mia was cooking. Jack was sat in his walkie and was something of a health and safety hazard as he zoomed in the most uncoordinated fashion possible around the kitchen and into the hall.

"That's a boy!" Dom laughed as Jack raced around the kitchen giggling and dribbling.

"Let would you pick him up for me please," Mia asked as she started serving dinner.

Carefully I lifted Jack. His warm weight nestled into my side instantly. He wasn't overly heavy and I smiled as he babbled. Dom rested his hand on my back and stood with me for a second then sighed as if longing for something and moved on.

That night we headed up to bed and I was totally wiped out. It had been the most I'd done in a day since I came back to LA. I stripped down to my underwear and fell into my messily made bed. I fell asleep in seconds.

I woke with a start after three, cold sweat running down my neck and back. Raising my hand I felt the beads of sweat beneath my palm. Sticky. It wasn't even overly warm. I knew I hadn't been dreaming.

"Letty." The voice was pained as it whispered my name. I blinked a few times to wake up then I heard my name again. This time the voice was more pained and it sounded like a genuine cry of anguish that I was missing and they were seeking me out.

I hopped out of the bed and grabbed a t shirt out of one of the drawers. Tip toeing out of the room I followed the voice. It was coming from Dom's room. I rapped the door gently but received no answer. Carefully I pushed the door open. He was sprawled across the bed muttering and tossing and turning. His face was screwed up in pain. Hesitating I tried to decide what to do. Did I wake him or not? This time he cried my name out properly, "Letty!" His voice was hoarse. That made my mind up. I shook him gently awake.

He jumped and sat upright straight away. I leapt backwards so he didn't break my nose. Quite possibly one of the few bones I'd yet to break. I didn't fancy black eyes for a couple of days. Carefully watching my space from him I sat away from him but close enough so he'd hear me whose ring but not close enough to scare him when he woke properly.

"You okay man?" I whispered as I shuffled closer to him.

With one shaking hand, he reached out and cupped my cheek. His thumb ran itself across my lips. The gesture had a lingering feeling to it, a familiarity only born of years together.

"Letty," he murmured. His eyes were wide with panic and fear darkened them about three shades.

"Yeh it's me." I forced a smile but I wanted to ask him about his dream.

"Yeh it's you."

We sat in silence, him still cupping my cheek.

"You going to tell me what that dream was about man, or are we gonna sit here all damn night?" I asked him.

Dom shrugged and removed his hand from my cheek. In the slightly cooler air of the night I could feel the sweat from his palm on my cheek.

"I was dreaming about you. Your death haunts me." His voice softened in a way I'd only heard it when he'd been talking to Jack.

"Well, don't let it haunt you anymore, I'm still alive."

He chuckled. "That is the one miracle I'm ever going to get in life, isn't it?"

"Yeh it is. You best make the most of it." I flushed with colour in the safety of the darkness of the room. The one miracle he'd get in his life was getting me back. He was corny in his compliments. He considered getting a girl back who barely remembered him to be a miracle. It was sweet.

He shook his head and even in the darkness of the room I saw the smile which stretched across his face.

Without thinking and doing what felt natural to me, for no explainable reason, I leant in to kiss him on the forehead. As my lips touched his forehead I couldn't help but feel like I'd done something right. His hand reached out for my waist and curled around it, pulling me closer. Panic welled up inside me and I pulled away from him.

I slipped out of the room with my cheeks flushed with colour and my heart racing. Why did I do that? I had no reason to want to chase after him and be near him, but I did feel the need to want to be with him a lot. He was loveable in his own way with his real manners and beautiful smile.

Back in the safety of my room I closed the door and fell back into bed. Except this time I didn't sleep as soundly I dreamt.

"Hey Let!" Dom's voice rang through the hallway.

I was sat at the kitchen table surrounded by pages upon pages of bills. They were written on in my scrawling handwriting. It became apparent to me it was the garages paperwork. A calculator sat to my left and a pen rested between my second and third fingers.

"Yeh?"

Dom appeared beside me and sat down. "What's wrong?"

"It's not adding up," my reply was blunt. I could feel my forehead creasing as I flipped through pages upon pages of bills.

"I figured out why..." Dom sighed. He looked worried.

I tilted my head in interest and nodded for him to continue.

"Because we're not turning out enough cars. We need to do more hours..."

I groaned. We were already working back to back. Twelve hour days with no real breaks. There was little else we could do.

"Or we can go on a job that Tran has offered me..." Dom began. He hesitated as he chose his words with care.

"A job with Tran Dom? You've lost it completely," I snapped. Then I lowered my voice. I realised Mia was upstairs and didn't know the extent of the money problems Dom and I dealt with. We kept it behind closed doors. I sat at the table late at night after she went to bed. I hated not telling her but she didn't need to know. She'd only panic and worry.

Dom shrugged. "Let, at this point you and I are out of options... The Nissan nor the Mazda are ready for racing and you sold the Cobra two years ago...."

"I sold the Cobra to pay bills Dom. I'll sell the Nissan." My own stubbornness wouldn't let him drag us down the criminal path. He'd been to Lompoc once and as far as I was concerned he wasn't about to go back.

"Let, we try this once. It'll be well paid."

My resolve wavered. Once. He looked sure about this. I knew from the set of his jaw he was determined. More determined than I was to be entirely honest.

"Ride or die?"

"Ride or die," I repeated.

He kissed me and I melted. Soon I was pressed against the wall with my hands fumbling with his belt and his hands pulling at my jeans. It would be an adrenaline rush I conceded.