Bless you all for reading this far. This is, and will forever be, the last chapter.

A few reviews have asked for this to be even longer and for this to continue. And yes, I could happily spend the next few years writing this story, I could add chapter after chapter, but, I wanted to make this story to cover what I felt was a bit of a plot gap in the fast and furious saga; they never covered how Dom (who is so family oriented and open) ends up in love with Letty (who is aggressive, closed off and emotionally stubborn). And I feel like i've done what I wanted to do with this now.

Yes, I could continue. But... I don't feel like it would be towards anything, it would just be writing for no purpose and I want to leave it here where I feel like I can tie things up nicely.

All good things must end.

For new good things to start.

And yes, I would love to consider another Fast and Furious story. I kinda have an idea brewing already, but, we'll see where it goes.

Another reviewer asked about why Letty and Dom weren't together in public despite having dates. Their dates have been very private to far and if you recall, Letty IS underaged. In the racing scene, when money comes onto the line, it's not unlikely someone will be willing to cause a lot of trouble for him. To make that easier; he doesn't publicise it at group events.

Lastly, I want to thank you for reading through this. You've covered more than 200,000 words of plot and stayed through 52 chapters. Hats off to you. You've reviewed over 400 times and you have made my day with each one. So I want to thank you.

Thank you :)

Chapter Fifty Two: Finish Line.

Letty peered through half open eyes to a dim room, a beeping noise rhythmic waking her. She turned and felt the painful pull across her back. It jarred her to being wide awake, making a grab for her lower back. Her motion was halted as she saw the cannula on the back of her left hand. She followed the tube from hand to a stand, where IV fluids hung.

She was in hospital?

Letty roamed her eyes over her body.

The itch in her right hand suddenly made sense, it was covered in a pot. From elbow to palm, a white cast hugged her tight.

There was a lipstick kiss printed to the inner wrist, pen scrawled with Mia's handwriting underneath wishing her to get well soon.

Panic flashed briefly through her mind.

How much more was broken?

Letty yanked the thin hospital covers off her body. Two legs stuck out from a gown, both seemed well coloured and whole.

She wished her toes to move and released a heavy breath of relief when both sets complied easily.

She was testing her legs to swing out of the bed when the door opened and caught her attention, deer in the headlights style.

"You're awake." The nurse whispered and Letty quickly pinpointed why; her mother was in the chair besides her bed, covered with another blanket and sleeping. "Your IV needs changing is all." she approached quickly, silencing the repeating beep.

"Can you take it out?" Letty asked, throat hoarser than expected, words barely making volume.

"You've got your pain meds coming in via it too." she explained softly, "You might want to keep it in."

"No. Can you… please?" Letty nodded at the left hand that was attached to the tubes.

"I can unhook you for a bit, but this is only coming out on discharge." She tapped the cannula softly.

"What time is it?" Then Letty's need for answers became forefront. "What happened? Is it broken?" she nodded to her arm.

"It's 5:45am, you were brought in at 1am after a car accident. Do you remember?"

"I uhhh… yeah." She remembered the car flipping, the dog on the road, the way she'd pulled herself out the hole where the windscreen should have been.

"Your right arm is quite badly fractured, you're bruised but the airbag prevented a lot more serious damage."

"Is my mum mad?" Letty dared to ask.

"Concerned." she corrected. "She's not left your side, just dropped off to sleep. You want me to wake her?"

"No." Letty was quick to answer. Her mother didn't sleep enough as it was. Not to mention she was a bit terrified about how that conversation was going to go down. "Can I get up?"

"If you feel you want to. We can take a walk up and back down the corridor if you like." There was something in the way she said the words that didn't make sense until the nurse had helped her to the toilet and back. Before her door could be opened ahead of her, Letty recognised the leather jacket on the floor outside. "He hasn't left." The nurse whispered softly, pushing the door open to reveal the man outside. "Despite being thrown out by security every half hour." Dom was slouched next to a plant pot, jacket over his legs, chin to chest as he slept. "And then your mother every time she saw him."

"Dom." Letty's voice barely made a sound. He was wearing what he went out in, smelled like the spilled beers that was marking his white t-shirt, cradling his mobile phone like it was a direct line to life.

"Com'on dear, let's just start with one foot in front of the other."

"He's been here since I was brought in?" Letty asked as they stepped further from him. Every step was a lance of pain shooting up her spine. Not the mention her neck was aching something mad, reluctant to turn even the slightest inch from neutral.

"He must love you something terrible." The nurse offered, keeping an assisting hand close by Letty with every slow step. "Even with your mother screaming murder at him. And I've been witness to your mother when she gets an incompetent intern, she doesn't mince words." Not at work, no; her mother could take charge of a hospital wing without batting an eyelid, being who she needed to be, cruel or caring. Family was a little more difficult and it seemed her mother had lapsed back to work mode for Dom's presence. Dealing with it how she knew best, where she knew best.

The pain was flaring up her back but she knew enough that saying as such wouldn't get her home. As was her new goal.

She stumbled on her feet under her own weight and caught herself on the hand rail, supported by the nurse. A weight touched against her chest and Letty paused, a hand flying to her body, concern raising again, was something else broken?!

Her fingers landed on something metal, pressing through gown and resting on her skin. She explored its shape before fishing it out from the chain around her neck.

A cross hung.

Not just any cross.

A silver cross belonging to a Toretto that was sat outside her hospital room.

"Can I go home?" Letty instantly asked the nurse. "I feel fine." The lie came out as easily as all the others before. The nurse rose a sceptical eyebrow but answered all the same.

"Doctor will be around in the morning rounds. Your mother has already bartered to play nursemaid, so as long as everything is fine, there's a good chance you'll be out by dinner."

School had started up again and it was the first Friday race escape since. Mr T had insisted Letty's arm heal up properly before she return to the shop. It also gave Ella the time to find a new job, not that she would have been held to her notice. Mr T knew the full story. Which was more than Letty's mother did. As far as she knew, a dog had ran out in front of her daughter. Her sober daughter; because her mother had demanded and authorised blood alcohol tests whilst she was unconscious in the hospital. Thank god she didn't drink too much or she'd never see car keys ever again.

"Stop it." Mia chastised, nudging Letty with a hard elbow. "You're thinking about it again."

"I'm fine." Letty bit out. But she was indeed thinking about that night.

"You're not." Mia huffed.

"Mi, leave off." Alex regained control of his girl's temper.

With Mr T's strict rules and blessing, he had condoned the dating of his daughter. Dom was a little less enthused and kept glaring daggers.

Even across the streets of the Friday night races.

Which was new territory for Alex, but his insistence had been strong enough to step foot in the new world, to stand side by side as Mia's guard dog.

Letty rolled her eyes at the way Mia sank back into Alex's hug, dropping her challenge to Letty.

She wasn't wrong, things had changed since the accident.

The cast was still on her arm, still wearing Mia's lipstick print, still tattooed from the boys.

The garage was finished and there was a new hire there, another one due to start to replace Ella the next week.

Things were moving in a positive direction.

Even Vince and Tessa were officially together. Not in any cutesy lovey-dovey way, more of an argument, fight, hate each other and then fuck it better kind of way. But it worked. They were both happy.

Mia had personally seen to it that Laura and Jesse kept seeing each other. She'd somehow got Laura's number and coached her through Jesse language to enrich their communication of feelings. It was all great.

Except for Letty and Dom.

The day after the accident, she was on the downstairs sofa listening to Dom verbally spar with her mother for a few moments with her daughter.

Her mother was insistent regardless of situations, the accident must be Dom's fault entirely. It came with a conspiracy theory, dark glares and grandiose mistrust.

It allowed them two minutes alone to talk, and two minutes set with the kitchen timer ticking in the doorway.

"Take it." Letty insisted, shoving the cross against Dom's hand. He physically stepped back from it.

"Letty..." he didn't accept it when she thrust it his way again.

"Just, take it." The pain and tiredness was making her cranky.

"I gave it t-"

"It doesn't help every time my mother sees it, okay. So take it back." Letty threw it and Dom caught it against his chest, looking every bit like a kicked puppy. Letty rubbed the bridge of her nose, she was too tired to deal with this and the pain killers weren't helping.

"What happened with Ella, I di-"

"I know." Letty began. "She kissed you, you didn't do anything wrong. I know."

"I didn't kn-"

"Time!" Her mother announced from the kitchen, way before the kitchen timer could buzz.

"We still hav-" Dom began to protest about said timer, but Letty just watched her mother turn the timer forward and the bell rang out.

"Time's up. She needs to sleep."

Dom wrapped his fingers tighter around the cross and with a nod, he left.

His grip was on that cross at the moment, across the street, he was leant against Hector's car, discussing wagers most probably, and he fiddled with it, stroking a thumb across the length.

And the girls were flocking again, closing in as he signed himself up for another race.

Between Dom finishing the garage and her mother's strict health observations, Letty hadn't so much as had a date with the man.

There had been texts, plenty of them.

Most where he asked repeatedly what he could do to fix things, why things couldn't go back to how they were and most commonly: 'what's wrong?'. He was insistent she wasn't the same; that her feelings had changed. He wanted to know how, and how to change them back.

"Be back later." Letty spoke, leaving the judgemental love birds to their car education lesson and taking her oldest jeans and comfiest hoodie across to the Civic she knew well, one-handedly sliding herself onto the hood.

It was warm from winning the first round of races, prepared for the last.

Dom was pulling in the money tonight. Lord knew what he was saving for.

One of the racer chasers was approaching Dom's car, shimmying her skirt to suit her hip flare better, making it pretty obvious she wasn't against showing off her thong to anyone who asked and re-aligning her breasts in the push-up bra.

"I wouldn't bother." Letty spoke as she came closer, big blue eyes hunting out Dom. "If I were you. You're wasting your time."

"Excuse me, what do you know?" she sneered.

"Considering I'm best friends with his sister, I'd guess I'm kind of an expert on Dom's tastes."

"And?" she asked, leaning in.

"It's not gunna work." Letty shook her head slowly, pausing as if to reconsider. "He's gone out of his blonde phase, and… he'll be able to tell those are fake." She nodded to her chest. "Your manicure is chipped and your lipstick is too pale to draw his attention. He likes girls like that." Letty pointed to the woman that was as close to the physical opposite of the woman stood before her.

Little did this one know Letty had had this exact conversation spun 180 with the woman she pointed to only 20 minutes ago.

"Oh." Letty watched the enthusiasm drain out of her recent target.

"But." Letty was never going to get the recognition she deserved, but she was Leon's best wingman for the line she used after these 'chats'. "See that guy." She pointed at Leon. "I swear, you are absolutely everything he said he wanted in a woman. I mean it's scary how close to dream girl you are."

"Really?"

And like that, Letty rolled her eyes at her retreating back as she made her way over to Leon to lay it on thick.

"Keeping my ride warm?" Dom's deep tones curled around her and she met his eyes. "She give you any trouble?"

"Who?" playing dumb, Letty accepted his hand off his hood.

"Playing nice, Letty?"

"She was asking about Leon." Letty smudged the truth, but Dom couldn't find fault as he watched the woman obviously flirting with his mechanic brother.

"You alright?" Stood toe to toe, he looked down her, examining every inch.

"Fine." She felt a lot better hitting the girl home-run out of the Dom-park, but things were still unsteady. Looking into his deep eyes didn't help. Not with the way he held her gaze like he could see straight into her heart. "I'm fine."

"You're not. Just tell me how I can fix it."

"You racing?" Letty noted the keys poised in his grip, ready for action.

"Yeah." But he caught her as she made to leave. "Ride with me?"

"Seriously?" Her smile lifted at the idea. Dom had never taken someone with him on these races, always said it was too dangerous.

"Yeah, ain't no real competition in this lot."

"Sure." She wasn't passing on this. No matter how she felt, this was riding side by side with glory, the buzz and adrenaline that was incomparable.

"Easy money." Dom grinned, striding easily around to take the driver's seat as she settled into shotgun. "It's yours… if we win." he offered.

"Yeah right." she scoffed, "Not like I'm doing anything."

"Letty." There was a calculating grin on his face as he started the ignition. "If we make it over the finish line in first, the pot's all yours. I swear it." He trawled the machine through the crowds and up to the start line. "You thought about your next car?"

"Got a few in mind." Letty answered mindlessly, eyes on the way Hector was blazing a giant smile at Dom and pointing one of his fangirls to get in place for a countdown. "What's with Hector?"

"Thinks he's smarter than everyone." Dom chuckled, rolling his shoulders and rubbing the silver cross hanging on his chest again. "Ready?"

"Yeah." Letty grabbed the harness with her good hand.

"Good, because I'm not leaving this start line until you tell me what's wrong."

"What?!" Letty flipped her head to him.

"I'm serious." And he appeared just that.

Letty felt a panic rise in her, the girl was already starting a count down. Dom was kidding, right?

"Dom, what are you doing?" she shoved a hand out at him.

"Is this about the kiss?"

"No. Oh my god, Dom, you can't be serious."

Letty watched the girl drop her arms, race started and other cars screeching to pounce straight to first place. "Jesus Dom, what the hell?"

"So what did I do?"

"Oh my god, Dom, drive." Picture of ease, he didn't even move an inch and the other cars were claiming a hell of a lot of distance, more with each second.

"What di-"

"You didn't. It was because you didn't do anything, okay. It's not what you did." Letty rushed out the words, was Dom losing a race for this?!

"What didn't I do?"

"Kiss her. You didn't kiss her back." Letty sped out and finally, Dom put his foot down and left the worrying crowds that were gathering around his car.

Letty finally took a breath as Dom started closing the gap between him and the other vehicles.

He came in pace with the last of the pack and then held it, not advancing as the machine should. Foot coming off the accelerator.

"And?" he asked, eyes meeting hers.

She clicked onto the game. She had to earn her win. Earn the prize money with his questions. Like it was all just a game.

Letty struck a punch out at his arm with her good hand.

"Seriously, you'll throw this race if I don't answer?"

"I'll stop the car right here." he offered.

"No." she bit out. "Fine." she agreed. "You didn't kiss her, and I thought you would, and it was… good, that you didn't."

Letty heard the gas depress as she spoke to the wing mirror and watched last place swap.

"Why the cold shoulder?" he probed.

"It's not cold shoulder. Its… look, okay, I didn't know if you were serious, and I guess it just kind of clicked that you were when you didn't kiss her."

"I told you I love you, Letty." Another car went into the rearview mirror.

"I know… I just… didn't know what that meant fully, until…"

"Explain this then." He moved his fingers between them, in the tension they held.

"I-"

"Finish line's getting closer, Let." And he was two car lengths behind the leader. And staying there with a purposeful nod to her.

The cars were eating up the distance, faster and faster. People were coming back into sight around their cars, around the finish line.

"Jesus Christ, I just didn't know how to say it back, alright." Letty spat out. Secret spilled, Letty felt 5 stone lighter. Her lips tingled from the words.

She searched what half of his face she could see for any reaction. There was a smile, a grin, a crooked victory painted across his face, one that tickled up into his eyes, lighting up his features.

Neck and neck with first place, he turned to her.

"Say it." he dared her.

"Fuck off." The noise of the engine lessened and she knew his foot was coming off the gas again, losing distance to the other driver. Purposeful. "Damn it, Dom." she raked her hand through her hair, the other cradled to her chest in its pot. "I love you, alright."

Letty could feel her heart pounding in her chest, thudding against her, pulse hammering in her skin, making her dizzy.

And then came the cheers, the loud slaps on the car as spectators came to greet the winner.

Winner?

Letty spun around to see their competition slamming his hands on the wheel in frustration.

Dom won.

A hand came to her head and she was locked in to the driver beside her, lips searching for her.

Letty froze, they were in public, surrounded by hundreds of people, and he was kissing her.

Fuck. He was kissing her.

And it wasn't a friendly kiss.

He melted her bones, pulled her as close as the belts would allow, dominating her mouth, tongue stroking with hers.

Damn, he was a God.

"Love you too." he whispered against her.