Dom's thick arms kept her close. He kept kissing her, he needed this. It was high time he let go of Lety. This was a good place to start.
Andie was melting, turning into mush, but the adrenaline made her heart race and her body tremble. Dom broke away, but kept his eyes on her.

"You're trembling." He said softly.

" You, you kissed me." Her body was still trembling and her lips were swollen from his crashing against them.

"Yeah, I did." He grinned, his eyelids were hooded with wanting."I didn't plan this when I suggested we go for a drive. When you spilled your guts you kind of opened my eyes."

"I don't even know what to say..." She looked up at him with wide eyes.

"You don't have to say anything."

As her heart slowed down she felt something happening, she hadn't touched another man since her husband had died. She was not sure what to call what she was feeling but she felt tears pricking at her eyes. She suddenly buried her face in his warm thick muscled chest. His black T-shirt was soft on her cheek. He reached up and held her head to him. He was feeling it too, even taking a couple deep breaths himself. They both were overwhelmed. Andie clung to him and like that they stayed for awhile. He had maneuvered them so that his back was now against the railing and he just cradled her against himself as the railing supported them both.

"I'm a mess. I'm sorry Dom." She said quietly.

"So am I." He chuckled. His fingers played in her long mahogany hair. It was soft on his rough fingers. His chuckle rumbled in her ear, it was very comforting."You wanna go sit for a bit?" He asked softly.

"Sure."She sniffed, wiping quickly at her eyes, completely embarrassed that her emotions shifted that way.

They separated and walked to a bench. Taking a seat, Dom wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she leaned in and rested her head on him.

"So what is this? A meeting of the lonely widowers club?" Andie asked.

Dom responded with a soft laugh," Sure."he was thinking for a moment then asked." Your husband,what was he like?"

Both of them watched the lighthouse straight ahead. Andie flinched a little at the unexpected question. It took her a moment to answer. Swallowing hard, she summoned the courage to speak of her husband.

"He was great." She fiddled with her hands nervously. "He was smart and funny. God, he was so into his work. Helping people was I think, his most favorite thing. He was not afraid of fire." She smiled," He was so fucking brave." Dom watched a tear run down her cheek. "He was a charmer too. I think I fell for him on our first date. " she laughed lightly."We'd been fixed up by mutual friends and had just clicked right from the beginning." She brushed away the tear, but it was replaced by another. Dom's arm tightened around her. He didn't say a word, but his thumb absently rubbed along her shoulder."Uh. He went on a call, he had messaged me like he always did. Just a quick, love you, message. Told me the details of the call. I was working too, but we touched base a lot. We knew that both our jobs were dangerous, but we couldn't help it. We were in love." She shuddered as her thoughts gathered." My partner and I got a call from dispatch, and my heart sank, it was the scene of the fire, of course. But I think I knew as the call came in that it was going to be him. And I would never wish it be anyone at all, but that night I had hoped it was anyone else. Not him." Her voice cracked. Dom still listened quietly."Of course, I'm sure you can imagine how that went...another bus pulled up from our station, my Chief wouldn't let me go into the field once he'd heard who one of the victims was. He had to hold me back. My partner was allowed in, he worked on him. Did all the right things. The damage had just been too bad. They pronounced him at the scene. And my Chief took me there to his side. I lost it. Completely. I mean, really, who wouldn't? They gave me a little bit of time, but my Chief had to scrape me up off the ground. The rest was a blur. Things happened, but I was so disconnected I had no idea what was going on. My Chief got in touch with my family and stayed with me until they arrived. He was worried that I might hurt myself.
I had to take a leave of absence. They also made me go to a psychologist before I was cleared to go back to work." She realized that she'd just completely spilled her crazy story. Leaning forward, her head in her hands, as if trying to hide."I'm sorry. That was...you only asked what he was like, not how did it happen.. TMI. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's your truth. It shaped who you are now. I'm sorry it happened to you though."

"We knew we were potentially playing with fire. But we were willing to risk it." She sat back up." I heard about Letty and having known her the little that I did, I'm not going to ask."

They sat in silence for another hour. The wind on the water had picked up and cooled down. Andie only had a T-shirt and jeans on and she shivered a little.

"You cold?" Dom asked.

"A little."

"We should go then."

"I just, I hate going home. At the end of the night. I hate it."

"I do too. Since Mia and Brian got their own place it's very empty."

She nodded as if she completely got it. " Empty is definitely the word. I almost got a dog, but with my schedule it just wasn't practical."

"You work tomorrow?" Dom asked.

"No. I'm off."

"Come home with me." Dom said quietly.

Her head snapped up and she locked eyes with his.

"Easy. We don't have to do anything. I just like your company. I don't always sleep so well. I feel like this is one of those nights."

"I don't know..."

"We'll head back to get your car. You can decide on the way."

"Oh, I didn't drive. I took an Uber because I knew I was going to be drinking."

"Oh."

"Guess I need to decide quick."

"Take your time. At least for now, let's get back in the car. I have a hoody you can put on."

"Ok." She followed and he opened the door yet again. She slid inside. Dom went back to his side. Reaching behind his seat before getting in he grabbed the hoody and handed it to her." Thanks!" She said as she put it on. Her senses were overwhelmed by his scent again. It was all over the hoody and it was divine.

" Sure."Dom started the car and made sure the heat was on.

"All right." She took a nervous breath."I'll go with you." Truth was, she was tired of being lonely and this was Dom. And she didn't want to be left alone with her thoughts.

"All right." Dom laid the pedal down once again and they flew back to his house back in the old neighborhood. When they pulled up the driveway a moment of pure nostalgia hit Andie.

She sucked in a breath, " God, I haven't been here in such a long time!"

"How long have you been gone?"

"Shit, has to be, maybe just going on ten years I think?"

"That is a long time." Dom said as he turned off the engine."Come on in, I'll show you the work I've been doing."

"Sounds good." She got out of the car. Pulling the huge hoody down to cover her ass, it hung almost to her knees but it was so comfortable.

Dom walked beside her and rested his hand on the small of her back as he guided her up the front steps. It was clear that he'd already taken care of the outside of the house. Freshly stained wood was beneath their feet. The siding was pristine.

"Come on in." He opened the door and followed her inside. Flicking a switch the room was illuminated in a soft glow.

Andie looked around them taking a trip back in time again.

"Wow." Her eyes swept the room.

"I started with the outside. This was the first room I started on inside and been working my way through the ground floor. Upstairs is pretty much gutted right now. Here, I'll show you." He moved in front of her and led the way. Of course all the crew had helped out with the work but when he couldn't sleep he worked alone late into the night on things that didn't require others. The whole downstairs was beautiful. All the wood work had been sanded and re-stained, walls had needed drywall and paint. He bought all new appliances and updated the kitchen. The living room had gorgeous chocolate colored suede furniture and a big screen TV mounted on the wall. The house was being modernized and it suited it.

"This looks great!" Andie smiled.

" Thank you. I've had a lot of help. Here, let's go upstairs, just be careful where you step. There's tools and shit everywhere."

"Ok."

He wasn't kidding, there were bare bulbs hanging from light fixtures. Most of the drywall had been removed so the skeleton of the house was exposed. At the end of the hall was one room that had not been ripped apart yet. Dom's room. She knew it was his room. It had been his when they were younger, apparently some things don't change.

"We just rewired everything. It was so out of code it's amazing the place didn't catch on fire." Dom said with a laugh.

He stopped at the door. He hadn't had anyone in there since Lety. Andie felt his hesitation.

"It's OK Dom. You don't have to show me your room." Andie said softly.

He didn't look at her. He was just stuck in place for a minute. Getting his shit together he silently took the door knob and turned it. The door was still old and in need of grease, it creaked so loud.

"I haven't decided yet how I want it. So I'm saving this room for last."

" I can understand that." Andie nodded. Still neither of them moved. They both were feeling weird again. Lots of heaviness between them. This time Andie reached out to Dom. Resting her hand on his elbow. Dom didn't flinch at her touch. He liked it in fact. Her fingers were warm and her touch was soft. Comforting even. No words could be spoken, they were both stuck.

"I can't breathe." Andie broke the silence.

"That makes two of us."