We just walked. And we walked. And we walked some more. I did not realize how far we had gone until she finally wanted to turn around and walk back. I did not even recognize the strip of beach that we had ventured to. I could walk any distance with her hand in mine. It felt good, natural. It wasn't forced. It was easy. Comfortable. Familiar.

I was not surprised that Letty wanted to have a chill out period after something turbulent had happened at school. With her, there wasn't a 'calm before the storm', so to speak. Quite the contrary, actually. There was always a calm after a storm. But Letty defied nature in so many ways. It was no surprise that this was just one more to add to the list. The exception makes the rule. I guess that's how God viewed it anyway. She was an exceptional exception.

We were much less than a quarter of a mile (always a distance I could eyeball) from where we had started when she stopped. She just sat in the sand. A word had still not been uttered between the two of us since we started on this beach journey. The sun was starting to go down. We had missed work completely. Dad would be mad. I didn't care. There was no place in the world I'd rather be. I sat down beside her.

It just felt right. Being there, in that time, in that place, everything was right. It made everything in my life start to unfold and suddenly make sense. Everything we had gone through together, she and I, over these past seven years, was building up to this moment.

"I got suspended," she started. "For two weeks."

What an anticlimactic let down. Well, that wasn't nearly as bad as I would have guessed from her solemn, fuck-the-world attitude. I thought she'd gotten expelled. Of course, to Letty, expulsion would be more of a blessing than a curse. I guessed maybe she was so pissed because she knew she'd have to go back to school eventually.

I didn't respond. I didn't want to bombard her with all the 'who/what/why' questions that were racing through my head.

"I didn't know why you were getting so pissed the other night about Zack. I thought you were just being an asshole," she elaborated.

"Thanks for all the credit," I sarcastically stated.

"I realize now what he was trying to do."

"And what do you think he was trying to do?" I couldn't wait to hear her take on all this.

"He told me what he said to you. That he was trying to make it seem like we'd had sex. And then he had the balls to actually start flirtin' with me in class today. Like flirting pretty hardcore. He wanted me to say that I'd hook up with him. Like for real. I told him to back off. But, some guys just don't listen. And then that was when I hit him with the chair…He backed off after that."

Wow, that came out of left field. Maybe it should not have caught me quite so off guard. Considering who was telling the story. But, I still did not see that one coming. A chair?

"Look at you," I said, smiling down at her.

She hit Zack with a chair. That was my girl. I am not surprised that she got in trouble. But if you have got to go down, damn, what an awesome way to go.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothin'," I said. I was proud of her. I am glad that she stood up for herself. I felt like there was something deeper that she wasn't telling me about why she'd done it all. But, I didn't press her.

"Anyway, so then they called the police liaison officer and he…" she stopped, clearing her throat. "Escorted me out."

"Alright, so let me get this straight," I started, smiling and making an attempt to hold off my laughter. "You got hauled off by a rent-a-cop for beatin' Zack's ass?"

"Hey! He was a big ass rent-a-cop. You know Mac. You don't wanna fuck around with him. He's got that pepper spray and he ain't afraid to use it," she joked.

I laughed. She was cute. "You're slipping, Let. I got to admit, I'm a little disappointed. You let 'the man' take you down."

"You need to shut the fuck up," she said, pretending to get upset.

"Look on the bright side, now you don't have to worry about going to school for a few weeks, right? I mean, suspended. So, that is one problem solved temporarily."

"Well, I guess that's one way to look at it."

"My dad is going to be pissed off at you."

"Not if he doesn't know."

"I'm sorry. That's just too good to keep secret."

I knew that I would, though. I would do anything for her. Even if it meant not telling an outrageously good story. Which, in high school, was one of the hardest things to do.

"You're an asshole."

"Nah."

"Oh, okay," she said, indignation dripping from each word.

"So why'd you do it?" I asked. I finally wanted to get down to the jist of it. There had to be more to it. It didn't sound like she was really provoked that much. Maybe it was in my head. Letty did always like to fight. It certainly wouldn't have been her first indiscretion at school. I guess I would find out if I was making up the whole thing or if this was actually something real. Please be real…

"I don't know."

That was certainly the opposite of beneficial. She did not know. I had a hard time believing that. I was going to have to call her on it…

"Bullshit. Come on," I urged.

"I mean, I guess I was just really angry."

"Why were you so mad? I'd think you'd like somebody like Zack," I said. The words were so hard to actually get out. God, I hoped she didn't say yes.

"Why? Why would you think I'd like someone like Zack?" she asked surprised.

"I dunno. He's into cars. He's a senior. I mean I'm not a girl. I can't imagine why anyone'd like Zack. But some girls seem to."

"I'm not that kinda girl."

"Letty, you're not any kinda girl."

"Thanks?" she questioned sarcastically.

"That was supposed to be a compliment."

"Coulda fooled me," she replied.

I shook my head. Sometimes I couldn't win for losing with her. She was the only one I would be willing to lose to.

"So?" I asked. I wanted to hear her say it. Say something. Anything to know that she was feeling the same thing I was feeling.

"So what? I mean he was just trying to get back at you. Separate us. Why did you get so mad when Zack said it to you?"

Well now we were just dancing around the issue. Dancing was never a skill of mine.

"I dunno." I did not want to be the one to go first. I was starting to feel really nervous.

"Dom."

"Letty."

"Come on. Why were you so mad?"

I shrugged. I knew exactly why I was. But I didn't want to say it.

"Well I'll wait till you figure it out."

Son of a bitch.

"Well he was lying, talkin' shit. Course I'm gonna be pissed at that. What did you mean when you said that he was trying to separate us?"

"Well you know he was trying to come between us," she said and stopped. She looked very pensive. But then she started again, "so the only reason you got pissed was because he was talking shit? Really?"

"Yeah, I mean…well, maybe more." I realized I was smiling. God, I probably had the dumbest grin on my face. Are smiles reflexes? This one must have been.

"More, huh? What 'more'?"

"Maybe…maybe we should talk about…this."

"This? Like with Zack? God, I kinda thought we'd just covered that?" she asked completely confused.

"No," I started. "This…with us."

Had I been able to feel any part of my body after saying that, I may have realized that I was shaking from being so nervous. Luckily, I was totally numb. I may have been blushing. And the fact that I may have been blushing, embarrassed me even more. She needed to hurry up and respond.

"Okay," she replied.

Okay? Well, guess she was going to let me do the talking. I decided to just come on out with it then. It was about time.

"Alright, well, as much as I don't really want to get into talkin' about all this, we've got something going on here, with us, that we need to, you know, recognize," I said.

"I recognize it," she replied. She had a hell of a way of expressing it.

"Well, I guess we need to do more than just recognize it then," I said, trying to get a handle on things.

"Okay," she said.

"So, what? You want to go on a date or something?" I asked, extremely awkward. I did not think that I had ever taken a girl out on a date. I guess it would depend on what constituted a date. If sex was the criteria, I had been on a lot of dates.

"No, not really. That just sounds uncomfortable," she replied. Thank God. It did sound uncomfortable. But, I would have been willing to endure it for Letty.

"Okay, well don't say I never asked!" I replied. I didn't want to get into this and get shit for not starting it off correctly later on down the road. Wow, 'later on down the road'. Never before had I hoped and anticipated that my relationship with a girl would have a future.

"Okay," she shrugged. "I got to tell you, it was hard to resist, though, with such a romantic offer."

"Shut up," I said smiling. I guess that wasn't the sweetest way to ask. But, hell, leave it to Letty to be a smart ass in this situation. This was how I knew we should be together. "I don't know where that leaves us," I said.

She was not a racer chaser, she wasn't one of the slutty girls that I usually just picked up after having a few beers. I didn't want our relationship to be as superficial as all those quasi relationships had been. I knew it went so much deeper than that. And, if I broke her trust, I knew that I would break her. I couldn't bare that.

"Where do you want that to leave us?" she asked.

I wanted it to leave me not having to answer that question. But, it was Letty, she wasn't going to give more than she had to. I knew this much about her. She never had. It was awesome how the universe had put two of the worst talkers together.

So that meant that I was going to have to answer. "Well, I don't know. I just…like you." God, I felt like I was about four-years-old. At that moment, I was so relieved that we were on a beach, alone. If anyone else heard this conversation I would probably have to die.

"Thanks, Dom. I sort of picked up on that. But, it didn't really answer the question," she said. Shit, she was ruthless. She was killing me.

"Jesus, Letty," I said laughing, not because it was funny, because I was getting flustered. I didn't know what to do. I was completely out of my element. I wanted to tell her. But, I was still scared. Why?

"Dom, listen. It's just us here. It doesn't matter. I just want to know how you feel," she said looking up at me. This was very un-Letty-like. But, it helped. 'It didn't matter', she just needed to hear me say it.

"I want to be with you, Letty. No one else. If you want to, let's do this," I said, honestly.

"Alright, but you'll have to understand that I'll be sixteen soon. After I get my wheels and get on the road, I can't make you any promises, man," she joked.

Not funny. I just perked my eyebrows up and looked at her. I loved and appreciated Letty for her inability to be serious most of the time. This was not one of those times. We would have to work on differentiating between serious conversations, and non-serious conversations.

"I'm just kidding. I won't be sixteen for a couple of months," she said, attempting a straight face.

"Letty," I said. I wasn't annoyed. However, I did feel like I was putting myself out there. I was looking for a real answer.

"Dominic, I got mad at Zack because I was afraid that he killed my chances of actually being with you. I don't want you to think I like him, or have ever liked him. And I was scared that you believed him. I haven't been able to tell you how I feel and it's been frustrating. So, I guess I just took it out on him. I was afraid that what happened with Zack, well, it killed my chances of ever being able to tell you. I mean I've cared about you for so many years. And to think that one person could ruin all of that. It really upset me. Of course I want to be with you. I've never wanted to be with anyone else. It's always been you," she admitted.

Wow! Sweet. Had she told me that about, oh, three years ago, it could have saved me a lot of grief. I felt a gigantic weight completely lifted off my shoulders.

"And, also, most of that time I been spending with Hector, well let's just say it ain't all been about drivin' and droppin' out."

Well then that really made me wonder what they had been doing. I hoped this extension to her monologue was headed in a direction I would like.

"Most of it…we been talkin' about you."

I could live with that.

"Me, huh?"

"Yeah. That was one of the reasons I wanted to go somewhere with you, away from everyone, after all that shit that happened today. I needed to clear my head and talk to you. Besides, Hector's been telling me for a while that he thinks you like me." She smiled, almost embarrassed to say it. I knew how she felt. Everyone pretending like they know more about your life than you do. Welcome to my world Letty.

"Shit that ain't nearly as bad as what I been going through. I've had my Dad, Mia, Vince, fuck even Zack and Jesse calling me out on you."

"What'd they say?"

"They think you like me," I said mocking her, attempting to imitate her tone but doing a pretty piss poor job of it.

"Eh, yeah, I guess you're alright." I don't think I'd ever seen her with such a big smile on her face.

I smiled. Just what I'd always dreamed of- the girl I loved saying that she thought I was 'alright'. But, with Letty, I knew. I knew that it meant so much more than that. I knew that she felt the same way I did. Finally, I could confidently believe that.

It was impossible to hold back my excitement. I didn't want to. There was no reason to hide anything anymore. It was out there, all on the table. And, it was official. I looked down at her, directly inter her eyes. She was still smiling.

I must admit that I was in a state of shock for a few moments. I leaned over and kissed her.

I realized, now, that she had chosen me. There were a lot of people in Letty's life that really cared about her- despite what she wanted to believe. And she could have run to any of them. But, every time and throughout everything, she ran to me. And, I stood by her.

Despite all of my stupid antics and ridiculous games, she stood by me as well. Nothing I seemed to ever do was too immature, or mean, or cocky. She was always there. She would always be there. And I would always be there for her. I loved her. And a love like this last an eternity. No one would ever look at me so honestly, so genuinely as Letty looked at me. And I didn't think that anyone would ever be able to look at Letty and see all of her strength, sensitivity, and passion the way that I saw it. We were two closed off people that decided to let love in. And, despite all better judgment, it had worked. I realized that it had made us both better people. Maybe not to the world, but to each other. And for each other.

After that, all rational thinking was thrown out the window. I felt her hair locked between my fingers as we continued to kiss. Our kisses became much more passionate. Fast and furious. My tongue explored every area of her mouth. I pulled her towards me, closer. She edged up until she was essentially sitting in my lap, almost straddling me. This could get dangerous. I moved my hand from behind her head and slid it down her back. I could feel the warmth of her skin radiating out of her shirt. Her shirt was skin tight and my hand braised her spine and it trailed down even lower. As the top of her waistband met my fingertips, I stopped my search. We were still deeply engrained in kisses. I felt her hands exploring my back as well, though not quite taking the measures that I was. I allowed my fingertips to sink into her waistband, feeling the tops of her panties. Using the palm of my hands, I pressed against the small of her back, bringing her body completely against my own. I felt her hips dig deep into mine, which only caused to heighten my arousal, literally.

My hand snaked up underneath her shirt. My other hand followed closely behind. I could not get over how soft her skin was. She pulled back ever so briefly and pulled her shirt over her head, tossing it somewhere. It was started to get dark, the sun almost completely set. But, I could see her. The way her skin radiated in the pale moonlight. The way her boobs looked in that awesome, hot black bra. I didn't get to look for too long before we were engorged in kissing once again. I lowered my kisses to now include her collarbone and her chest. I assumed, by the brief moans that she was making, it was a good thing. I pulled my shirt off quickly and tossed it aside. God I wanted to take her bra off. But I knew I couldn't let it get that far. I had to take it slow. That idea went against everything I, as a seventeen-year-old guy, wanted to do. But it was the right thing to do. I had to do the right thing by Letty. But, damn, I wanted her. And I didn't think it was going to get any easier the more we did this. It was going to be difficult. Self-control was never my forte. Maybe it would be hers. If not, well, at least I could say that we tried.

"Hey kids, I said you aren't allowed to be here at night," someone said, pointing a flashlight directly on me.

Shit I hadn't even realized that anyone else was out here.

"What the fuck?" Letty said quietly. I felt her scramble off me, searching for her shirt.

I turned around and looked at the cock block that had just put me in the spotlight. But I couldn't see anything but a bright light in my eyes. I tried to look around to, to make out the figure. And, I saw him. Some beach cop. Damn.

"You have about 30 seconds to get out of here before I call your parents," he said, still blabbing.

"Alright," I yelled back. I did not figure having him call my dad and say that he caught us making out on the beach would lead anywhere good.

I saw Letty slip her shirt back on. We looked at each other and just laughed.

"Busted," she whispered.

I nodded. I turned around and grabbed my shirt. I slipped it on before standing up. I led her off of the beach. As I passed by the cop, I didn't make eye contact.

We got back into the car and I slipped my shoes back on. They were full of sand but I had a feeling we should probably just get out of there.

I started the ignition and pulled out of the parking space slowly.

"Well you just attract cops don't you? What was that? Your second run in with the cops today?" I joked with her.

"Yeah, just wait, I'm going to be on 'America's Most Wanted' before you know it. You sure you wanna get hooked up with somebody like me?" she joked back.

I stopped reversing. Before switching it into drive, I looked over at her.

"Yeah. I think I can handle it," I said leaning over and kissing her.

That was not the first time that Letty and I had gotten caught. Lord knows it wouldn't be the last time either. But it was a blessing in disguise. We needed to take things slow. Maybe not quite as slow as I had made my dad believe. But, slow-er. And I was pretty confident that one day we would not get interrupted. And it would be awesome. But for now we just laughed, enjoying not knowing but looking forward to what the future would hold. Together, we could feel invincible.

--

Of course, I didn't really know how to be in a 'relationship'. This was definitely something I was going to have to learn. But, it would be interesting to learn with Letty. I figured I would do a lot of pissing her off in the process. It should be fun.

In a few years people would not even remember how we got together, or why. They wouldn't remember how old we were or exactly where it happened. We would be old news. No one would know what I went through to get her. Or what she went through to be with me. Her side of the story, I would come to find that out later. People would just know us as Dom and Letty. But we would always remember exactly how it happened.

And I knew that, though this was the end of the guessing game I had been playing with Letty the past couple of months, or years for that matter. It wasn't really the end for us. It wasn't the end at all. In fact, I realized that right there on the beach, by the crashing waves and the setting sun, that was when it really started. That was where we became a couple. That was how the journey of what would become our lives together was initiated. Where Dom and Letty really begin.

The End

---

AJ

Thus concludes my very first chapter fanfic. Hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I appreciate everyone who has stuck with it over these past couple of months.

So, now that it's over, what did you think?