My girls were home and I was finally where I belonged. We all gathered in Mercy's house and for a solid ten minutes, it was a collection of shouts, squeals, hugs, and tears. I wondered what the guys would think of this spectacle. I didn't care, Jon Ramirez could go straight to hell for all I cared. We were on the floor of Mercy's living room gushing over each other's changes.

Yara had a boyfriend, well it was a guy she was seeing, she claimed she lost her virginity to him. He was going through a divorce, he was thirty-one, and he was in the Coast Guard. Rosalind was staring at her wide-eyed.

"Thirty-one?" Rosalind gasped.

Yara nodded, quite proud of herself. Her hair was shorter, it was modern and stylish, and she was allowing her natural color to seep in. Rafael, apparently, like things more natural.

Mercy rolled her eyes. "If he claims he's getting a divorce this means he's still married."

Yara leveled her with a look. "He wouldn't lie to me. Of course, I know he's still married but he's going through a lot. I have to give him space."

I thought that was a ridiculous statement to begin with but didn't comment any further. Meanwhile, Rosalind had met a guy from Miami, he was twenty-five, and her Mom loved him. He'd come to visit her in Georgia already. They spoke often on the phone and he owned his own business.

"He looks forty." Mercy sipped her diet coke.

Rosalind let out a squeal. "He does not!"

I wasn't sure at what point to confess my adventures but listening to them now it seemed rather moot, not enough had happened, I was still pretty much as I always was. They had come back with wings and I was still trapped in my cocoon.

"How have things been around here?" Yara asked me.

I looked at each of them as I munched on my Doritos. "Oh, the same."

"Have you met any guys?" Mercy wagged her brows.

I blushed.

"You have!" Rosalind smiled.

"Well, I made a friend, Denis, he lives with a roommate. His roommate is a bartender at Club Test which is this gay club," I said. I told them about that night and how nice Case had been.

"But have you guys talked since then?" Mercy asked.

I shook my head. "I don't really have his number, I guess I can go back to Club Test."

Yara gasped, her eyes wide. "Let's ALL go!"

"Yes!" Mercy stood up and opened her arms wide. "I just want to dance and then we can all get dressed together like we used to!"

"I can't go!" Rosalind cried. "I promised my mom."

Mercy let out a frustrated groan.

"Rosalind, this is the final outing of the Patty Girls." Yara pointed at her. "And you're eighteen now."

"That doesn't matter to her." Rosalind shook her pretty head. "Plus, I don't think Wayne would like it if I went to a gay club."

"I already don't like Wayne," Yara let out a dramatic sigh and laid back on the bed.

"Oh, he's wonderful," Rosalind nodded.

"Whatever, Ros, we'll still go." Mercy looked at me. "What do you say?"

I chewed on my lip and thought why not. Case and I had ended in good terms, he'd been nice and I had tons of fun that night. I would stay away from the Jose Cuervo thing and I would simply dance. I nodded and Yara and Mercy let out excited yells while Rosalind pouted. Around eight, when we were in the depth of getting ready, and Rosalind had gone home, my phone rang. It was Victor. Huh.

"Why is Victor Manning calling you?" Yara held up my phone and looked at me curiously.

I took the phone from her and rolled my eyes. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's me," he said.

"Victor is calling you?" Mercy said loudly and I bid them quiet. This made them erupt in a fit of giggles.

"The girls are there," he surmised.

"Yes, we're getting ready to go out." I stepped out of the room and into the hallway peppered with elementary photos of me and my little brother. The photos that had been saved in Miami.

"You guys going out?"

"Yes," I said.

"Where?"

"Victor, what's the question?"

"Well, Ramirez is throwing a party," he said. "It's going to be big."

I glanced back at my room and thought how we had seen the same people over and over at these parties but by going to Club Test we saw actual adults from all over the place.

"Where are you guys going to?"

"Club Test," I said.

He was silent and I could almost hear his brain turning. "To see that guy?"

"To dance with guys that don't want to cop a feel," I said. Inside of my room, Yara started playing an Usher song.

"But to see that guy," he said.

I let out a sigh. "Victor."

"Well, either way, you guys should stop by before heading there," he said and I heard someone call his name. "Listen, I've got to go. See you later."

He hung up before I agreed to anything and I let out a groan. I didn't want to go hang out with the same crew, I wanted someone new, new people. When I re-entered the room Yara was flat-ironing Mercy's hair and they both looked up at me.

"Are you messing around with Victor Manning?" Mercy asked.

"No," I said definitively. "Through the complications of life, we've somehow become friends."

"Victor doesn't have girls who are friends." Yara pointed the iron at me.

"I know, trust me, I know," I said and sat before my vanity. "It's been a lesson after lesson."

"Why do you bother?" Mercy waved her hands to dry her nail polish.

I didn't have a reason; I didn't have a clue. Maybe I was lonely without them, but I would not admit to that, not when I'd gathered brownie points by having sex with a twenty-six-year-old bartender.

"He said the Ramirez were having a party." Behind me, Yara groaned. "He said we should stop by before going to the club."

"A bunch of high schoolers," Mercy said.

"Don't think so, mostly the people we hang out with now." I looked at them. "We can just stop for like ten minutes."

Yara glanced down at Mercy and then back at me. "Ten minutes."

With the aid of Mercy and Yara I looked nearly unrecognizable. They had stuffed me in a stretchy top that belonged to Yara and my boobs looked like a wrong move would hit someone in the eye and permanently blind them. I could not eat a raisin in this outfit. Mercy had lined my eyes in charcoal black until the brown of my eyes stood out starkly against my face.

"Super, super hot," Yara squealed. "Wait till Case sees you; he'd going to want round two!"

I could also scarcely walk with Mercy's shoes which she had let me borrow. They did make me feel very tall. As she got out of the car, a block away from the Ramirez's house I felt sexy in a way I had not felt while in High School. I'd walked this same path many times before with Mercy and Yara next to me but for the first time, I felt as pretty if not sexier than them. It was a strange feeling. I couldn't wait for Case to see me, maybe Yara was right, maybe he'd be open to round two. The music, as always, was blasting in the house and people had already been there for a while. This time, however, people seemed to be a lot more excited about seeing one another, most of them had left for college and everyone was here for Thanksgiving. We were instantly greeted by girls and guys we had not seen since May and by the time we entered the house I felt a lot better. The pressure was off and I didn't realize it was because I was not here to see Clem, I was just here to be seen and say hello. I was also stunned to get more attention than Mercy and Yara.

"Look at my Becky-girl!" Jon hoped off the counter where he had been lounging with Steven. "Holy shit, you look fucking hot."

He was attempting to make up for his little pretty but fat comment.

I raised a brow at him. "Jon."

He glanced at Yara and Mercy, the charming smile turned to fifty-watts. "Ladies, let me borrow my little friend here, I have a guy I want her to meet."

"No, I don't think so," I pulled my hand from his. "We're just here for a quick stop, we're going to a club."

"Oh, this will just take a minute." The Ramirez' dimples shone in the dark of the room and he was yanking me, making me stumble with my high heels.

"Wait –"

But as I said it we rounded into the family room and there stood Victor with none other than Alvin Delgado. Both of them turned to look at me and I froze. I felt Yara and Mercy come up next to me because Mercy put her hand on my back and I immediately felt her go into protective mode.

"Becka," Alvin said.

I couldn't even begin to comprehend what I was seeing. A whole year and a half had done wonders for Alvin. He looked taller, his brown hair was longer and combed back, his blue eyes still as eerie against his dark skin. But he had filled out, bulked up, he had left a cute skinny guy and now he was muscular, his jaw sharpened, his arms ripped. I felt all the air sucked out of me, not because I still cared for Alvin, but because he was back and hadn't even told me. Even worse that Victor knew he would be here and he hadn't said anything, he'd led me to a trap. I turned my eyes from Alvin's surprised face to Victor who, to his credit, looked stricken. All I could think was Alvin's girl, you're Alvin's girl. This entire fucking town would keep haunting me. I had to get out.

"Baby, you look great," Alvin looked at me up and down as if he knew what my body felt like because he was now one of two guys in the entire world who knew what my body felt like.

"Alvin," I said, and my voice was so tight and angry I scarcely recognized it. "You're back."

"Only for the Holidays." He stepped to me and I inched back, flush against Mercy. "I was going to call you."

I pressed a tight smile to my lips. "You don't need to call me."

I looked at Victor who met my eyes, but I saw anger in him which confused me and then I took in his stance. He was hovering over Alvin, his shoulders tight against his shirt.

"So, we stopped by as I promised," I said and looked at Yara.

"Yup, and now we're leaving," Yara grabbed my hand and pulled me.

"Becka, come here!" Alvin called out.

"Go to hell, Alvin," Mercy snarled. "Cabron."

Alvin's face twisted and he made the mistake of reaching out to yank my arm and what happened I cannot understand because out of the people Jon was suddenly stepping up and slamming him against the wall, making the family photos rattle and sway.

"You don't fucking touch a woman if she doesn't want it," Jon was snarling. Skinny as he was, Jon the jokester was suddenly flushed red with anger, his hands fisted at Alvin's shirt. Next to them, Victor pulled Jon away and then leveled Alvin with a look as he towered over him.

"Like I said before, you need to leave," his voice was deep and dark and it almost frightened me. His large hand was flattened against Alvin's shirt. "This party is invitation only. Becka was invited. You were not."

"Out," Steven was there, I had not even seen him come. All five-foot-five of him was there, his face angry and set and it hit me with a sudden realization that my boys had not set me up. My boys were defending me. And when exactly had they become my boys?

Alvin shoved Victor away, he looked ready to kill. He walked around them, leaving but then he turned to me, looking me up and down. "You look like a whore."

Chaos.

I'm not sure who attacked Alvin more, Victor, Jon, or Yara. Eventually, other people had to come and pull everyone apart. Alvin had taken quite a beating, Victor's first fist to his face had broken his nose, the two of them had grappled tumbling over furniture, people, and each other. When Alvin had run out with a few of his friends the party was certainly over. Jon had told everyone to leave and a few of us were left. Mercy was in the corner reconnecting with Steven, the happiest breakup I had ever seen. Yara and Jon were outside having a cigarette and laughing over Alvin's face when Jon had grabbed him. When had Yara even started to smoke?

And me? Well, I knocked on the bathroom door where I knew Victor was. He had been so angry I couldn't even talk to him, his entire body had changed, he looked like a porcupine whose needles bloomed. He sounded like a bull, his breath pounding against his chest, his face was bloody and his knuckles were raw.

"It's me," I said. "The damsel in distress."

I heard him let out a huge sigh and then opened the door to the small bathroom. He had a bloody towel on his mouth. I had grabbed a bowl of ice and some rubbing alcohol from under the sink.

"Sit down." I pointed to the toilet. My heels had long been lost and I came up to his shoulder. He did as I told him, and I pulled the towel from his lip with a sympathetic grimace.

I dabbed the alcohol on the towel and softly touched it to his lip making him pull back. I dug my hands into his hair and kept him there and without warning his hand came up and held my leg. I froze and stared at him.

"I fucked up your night," he whispered.

I smiled slightly. "A bit. But I think it was rather worth it to watch Alvin run off into the night, broken nose and all."

"You should've just gone to the club," he said.

"I should've," I nodded and took his hand, dabbing at a cut on his knuckle. "But a friend asked me to drop by. So, I did."

"Some shitty friend that is," he grimaced.

I inspected a long scratch by his neck, he was going to be alright. Minor bruises because of his pale skin but nothing more.

"One of the best friends I've ever had," I smiled. He looked me over, unsure.

"I swear, I didn't know he was going to be here, none of us did," he said. "Jon didn't realize what it would mean until it was too late."

"I figured," I nodded.

"I was wrong, you know," he said with sudden intensity. "What I told you before when we were in High School."

"Which part?" I teased.

He shook his head. "When I said you were his girl and no one would ever see you as anything else other than his girl."

His throat bobbed as he looked at me. "I was wrong. People don't belong to people like that. Like ownership."

I felt a soft warmth radiate in my chest towards him, this big hulking guy who admitted to being wrong, who had attacked my ex-boyfriend, who actively tried to be better.

"I was wrong too," I said. "You're not an asshole."

"I've been an asshole," he said.

"Yes," I smiled. "You're growing out of that nicely."

I reached down and kissed his cheek. He froze and looked at me, but I smiled.

"Thank you."

I pulled back and sighed. He still looked like shit but he was going to make it. I reached for his hand and he captured mine in his. "Why don't we all watch a movie?"

"Yeah," he chuckled. "Safer."

That's how we all ended up pilled in the large Ramirez's sofa, popcorn on laps, and Conair playing. Victor's long body was stretched out next to me and, every once in a while, he would reach over and steal my popcorn.

"How did you two become friends again?" Yara's pretty brows were knit.

We had no idea.

a/n: Are you guys enjoying the slow transition of Becka and Victor's relationship? I should also note that Yara, Mercy, and Becka's friendship is also important in this fiction. :)

Recommended 90s Playlist (will grow with each chapter)

1. Gettin' Jiggy With It - Will Smith

2. Kiss The Rain - Billie Myers

3. Come Baby Come - K7

4. Tubthumping - Chumbawamba

5. Bitch - Meredith Brooks

6. Something to Talk About - Bonnie Raitt

7. WannaBe - Spice Girls

8. Miami - Will Smith

9. Ghetto Supastar - Pras

10. All Cried Out - Allure

11. The Way - Fastball

12. Walkin' on the Sun - Smash Mouth

13. Can't Get Enough of You Baby - Smash Mouth

14. Stay (I missed you) - Lisa Loeb

15. Pretty Fly (For a White Guy) - The Offspring

16. Sex & Candy - Marcy Playground

17. Lullaby - Shawn Mullins

18. Inside Out - Eve 6

19. My Way - Usher

20. Last Kiss - Pearl Jam