Authors Note: I own nothing. No ownership rights to Beverly Hills 90210.

Chapter Twenty

"You have to stop, I love you for wanting to champion me, but you and I both know nothing can take away what has been done. No words, insults, or guilt you pile on either one of them. If they don't know what they did was amoral by now they are never going to."

She turns around happy with her lipstick touch up, and leans against the makeup bench in the outer room of the female powder room. "They got off to easy."

I'm still fixing a slight eyeliner smudge underneath my left eye, obviously too much laughing; thankfully it was small and no one would be able to see it, well except me. "What punishment do you think could make me satisfied, that would stop it from hurting?"

"Well, I'd be happy with total humiliation, it would take the edge off."

Leaving my eye touch up I look at my childhood best friend my sister. "Humiliation gives me what exactly? I loved her, she was my best friend, and him, I still lov- what joy do I get from their misery? Because honestly I would probably just feel bad for them."

"That's because you are too moral, your Walsh character… it's annoying actually, revenge is lost on you."

"So you commenting on Kelly's outfit was revenge? Did it make you feel any joy to make fun of a girl who has been struggling with her body image?"

"Oh please, she struggles with her body image then four day's later wins most beautiful, and rather than be shocked because you know bad body image she wants to wear a tight glamourise outfit to show off the body she is seemingly ashamed of- she has as much self esteem issues as Jessica Rabbit. That was her attempt to make people feel sorry for her to distract from the crap she did to you."

Shaking my head I return my eyes back to the mirror, it wasn't the first time I had heard Val's interpretation of Kelly's recent hospitalisation. "You've met her now, do you think she is really capable of that level of manipulation?"

"Do I think she is smart enough to plan that out? No, as Grandpa Walsh use to say she doesn't seem like the sharpest axe in the woodshed. Though, do I think she has learnt to play victim, even if it's self inflicted? Hell, yeah. Need I remind you who had you so worried at the start of senior year that you included it in your letters to me. She was upset because you came home and he clearly wanted to stay with you, was in love with you, and she was upset about that. She let you take care of her. She's fucking sick, that's fucking sick. So no I wouldn't put it past her to strive for sympathy, play the I'm so damaged card to distract from the fact that she is a lying, backstabbing, immoral bitch."

Closing my clutch I turn around and lean against the bench, mirroring my unneeded champion. "That's why I won't forgive her, the sympathy making me comfort her. What she did was inexcusable, that was inexcusable. But Val it's my prom, it's everyone's prom. I just want the night to be about dancing, laughing and hanging with my actual friends, I want to have this be a night I remember for all the right reasons, not a night I remember as me being on edge because of your zinger's. Having to stare Steve down from laughing-"

"Because they are funny, my lines are funny. The spawn one-"

"We, he and I had a pregnancy scare, do you think I want to be reminded of that tonight? How she came with me, her and him for support?"

"Shit, Bre I wasn't thinking about that."

"That's the thing, there is a million moments that I don't want to remember tonight. I don't want to remember that on level 27 in room 1 that I had this most perfect first time. I don't want to remember that I felt so loved and cherished that night, that he had the most adorable goofy smile on his face. I don't want to remember we came down to this ballroom and I told her, well she knew from my smile. I don't want to remember any of that. Your funny lines bring it all back up though."

There's a flash of genuine remorse, "Okay, okay. I'll be good. I won't snap unless provoked, I'll be the perfect Walsh Triplet."

I bump her shoulder, "Thank you, I appreciate that."

"Just- just don't tell Brandon I agreed, if he knows I am capable of backing down he might thing he will actually get an apology for the transformer."

We push open the door of the bathroom, and begin to walk to the entrance of the ballroom. I'm laughing, "he knows you are never going to apologise for that, and honestly if he said Robots in disguise one more time I'd have been the one to nuke that thing. God he was so annoying with that song."

She walks in and it's like the room stops, not that she notices the eyes the appreciation, she is too busy laughing with her sister. They are still rolling their eyes and giggling when they approach our table.

Josh and Brandon stand to pull out their chairs, I feel my jaw start to ache. "My sister's what's got you two laughing so much?"

"Bre and I were just remembering how annoying you were as a kid. Like super annoying." As Brandon returns to his seat he squints at Val.

"Excuse me I was not, I was the favourite."

"Please you have always been the favourite, that was simply because you were born of the weaker gender; no the annoying thing was all you."

"Val need I remind you that you are supposed to be my date, doesn't that buy me a level of I don't know kindness?"

"The kindness was the fact I am your date, and have you seen the dress? Anyway we are talking about you at like seven, I think your ego can take the hit about you being an annoying seven year old."

Andrea is laughing, obviously she has become familiar with the abrasive triplet. "Why was Brandon so annoying?"

"Well, besides from you know being a smelly boy, and like every other male in Minnesota being obsessed with hockey. Oh and being a boy scout, Bre do you remember every time he earned a badge- it was like he had won the World Series we had to listen to his repeats."

Bren, or Bre as Val keeps referring to her, has glassy eyes from laughing. "No, no the re-enactments were my favourite. So I put the twig here and then I laid this twig here, then another an inch away, I laid this one-"

"Oh my god I forgot about those, do you still have the tapes, because you know Aunty Cindy and Uncle Jim taped them all? We have to find them tonight."

"Okay enough you two. I'm now remembering why we stopped encouraging Val to visit. You guy's always were ganging up on me."

"No, we weren't, that was you and your evil cousin Bobby." At that Brandon and Brenda share a look, and both roll their eyes. Obviously, neither believed Bobby evil. Picking up on being outnumbered she looks back at Andrea, "anyway the most annoying thing was his love for transformer's-"

"What transformers were the best, my favourite was Megatrom he was the coolest."

I look at Steve and shake my head, "nothing beats Optimus Prime."

Josh jumps in, "nope my favourite was Thundercracker."

"Guy's it was Grimlock." We all turn on Brandon in confusion, no way was Grimlock better that Optimus Prime.

"Man I used to love Saturday mornings. Running downstairs to watch that weeks episode, as soon as you'd here the theme song-"

"The Transformers! More than meets the eye!" Josh, Brandon and I all look at each other having said the same line as one in our best impression of the original theme song. We keep going with Steve joining in as well. It's only when we are finished and are praising the awesome cartoon, do I look over at Val and Brenda. I know that face Brenda is wearing, it's her less than impressed expression. It's Val though that speaks.

"God it's like a bloody illness, most annoying song ever you deserve all your transformers to meet their microwave melting deaths for that."

Steve looks at the girl in fear, considering how he was praising her humour when the girls were in the bathroom it's a hundred eighty degree change. "You killed Brando's transformer, that's cold."

"See I told you they used to gang up on me. It was Bumblebee, I had just got him for our birthday. She still won't even say sorry about it."

"You do not get an apology, you got your revenge. You told Aunt Cindy. Bre and I weren't allowed to have another sleepover for six months- that was cruel."

Andrea is looking at three of them, "you must have been handfuls as kids."

All three immediately answer over each other. "No." "They were." "Just Brandon."

Josh chuckles, "I can so see why you guys are the triplets."

The conversation remains light, we hear about the worst thing the three of them ever did together as kids. Brandon is nearly crying in laughter as Brenda explains it. Bren then asks us what was our worst kids prank were. We each go around the table, Steve finger clicks mine when he hears that I once snuck onto the private jet my dad was travelling on for business because I didn't want to be left behind. It was back when I use to ask to go to the airport to see him off; after finding me two hours into the flight I was banded from airport farewells after that.

Dinner passes and it's actually a lot of fun, we keep it focused on our childhood or junior high, it is like we know high school stirs up too many issues. When the band comes out Josh asks Bren to dance first, my jaw tightens, though I know it's unfair especially as he hasn't been overly physical with her at dinner. I ask Andrea and we make it through two songs before Tony asks to cut in, I dance with Kimberly. Before long most have had partner swaps, except for David and Donna who are the longest couple here but also Donna seems to be- well, tipsy.

It's when Andrea and I are in the middle of a discussion with Gil that I notice Josh take Bren back to the table, he then excuses himself.

I've wanted to have a dance with her all night, and I don't mind asking in front of Josh, but I also didn't want her to feel obligated to say yes by asking her around others; Bren wouldn't want to seem rude or make it an issue, she had always liked to respect my wishes and keep our relationship private.

Once I have excused myself, I make my way over to her, and sit in the seat next to her. "Hey."

"Hey."

"I wanted to ask, and no hard feelings if you don't think it's appropriate or you don't want to, but could I have this dance?"

The hesitation swims in her eyes, I'm steeling myself for the no, though she surprises me and gives a tentative nod.

It's the first deep breath I have taken since I found myself two weeks into her Paris trip looking at Kelly twice. It's the first time she has been in my arms in nearly ten months and there hasn't been lie's surrounding me, infecting me. "You really do looking stunning tonight, no one in this place can take their eyes off you. I've found myself a few times giving guys looks before realising I'm no longer allowed to do that."

"I'm not sure you were allowed to give guy's those looks even back then." My shock must be written on my face because she clarifies, "I heard that there were rules around me since sophomore."

Shit. "Not intentionally, well it didn't begin that way. I was changing in the gym change rooms before school in sophomore year, I had come straight to school from the beach. One of the juniors on the soccer team made an inappropriate comment about you or more specifically what they would like to do to the new sophomore; we had just met, you were Brandon's sister. I may have had him up against the wall before I knew what I was doing."

"Oh, I didn't know it started before we-"

"I think we started the moment we met."

She doesn't say anything but just gives me a sad smile. It's a few moments later she speaks again, "I'm sorry about Val. You didn't deserve that."

"Don't be, she loves you. She is defending you, it is a role I'm accustomed to being in myself."

"Though it's prom night, and I asked for a drama free night; she was not helpful of that."

"I think we have been pretty good, I think we have managed to keep the drama to a minimal considering you are wearing red."

Her face is one of utter confusion, "what's me wearing red got to do with anything?"

"I've started writing, journaling; at first I couldn't write about you, us. Since I've started though I've noticed a pattern. You were wearing red when you told me about the lump, I had red blue stripped shirt on when you broke up with me in the car, I was wearing red when you told me that if I didn't get sober Jim would make us stop seeing each other. The night of the violin concert, and Emily nearly lighting you both on fire, you were wearing red. The night I asked you to go to Baja you wore red. Red stripes and a red skirt was your outfit when Jim came to the border to collect you. Red was the dress you had on when we went to your parents for dinner, when I supported them sending you away; there is so much about that night and that day I wish I could take back, change. Us and red, well it's not a colour that has been great for us. It's a shame though because you look beautiful in it."

She is running through each of those times in her head, remembering her outfit, my outfit. "Wow, I never realised that had happened, though I can't believe you remember the checkered shirt."

"That one wasn't as hard as you think. I never wore it again and when I was cleaning out Iris' room-" her eyes looking up to the sky and her shake of the head has me smiling. "You can say- finally. I know it bugged your OCD energy that I let it get that far out of control."

"It is your house, it's not my place-"

"Bren, the sheets, the towels, the weird thing I have to smash potatoes to make mash potatoes that I'm never going to make, all of it was bought, chosen with you. You and I both know in junior year I never wanted you to leave there-"

"Until I moved in." Those words sound like they have been dipped in hurt, "sorry no drama I shouldn't have said that."

Throughout the song it hasn't passed my notice how many eye's have been watching us, you can feel them in every corner of the room though I haven't once looked at any of their faces. She is all I have eyes for. "Not tonight, but I'd love to meet and say a few things, discuss some of the things that therapy, talking to Ben, writing, hell even talking to Iris have brought to the surface." I see her look over my shoulder briefly, "not tonight. One day though I'd like to hear it."

Spinning her around I consider the one day; it's an indicator that it may not be soon, like it is not going to be next week with finals starting on Wednesday or graduation in a fortnight. Rather than raise my disappointment or push for a date I look over her shoulder and see Josh staring at us. I know I'm dancing with her, but so has all her guy friends; his look is strange.

"Why does Josh seem surprised? I would have thought angry or concerned, jealous even but he looks confused."

"You sure you want to know?" I nod, "our first date he took my ballroom dancing. When I asked why, well he mentioned that he noticed that I was alone for most of the night at The Pig Skin Prom. I think he got the idea from that that you and I didn't dance, he could tell that night I loved to but..."

"He thinks that I couldn't really dance, that I didn't do the things you loved, that I was a jerk who made it all about me. He isn't wrong, that's all he has seen of me, of how I treated us. He never got to see us before I tainted it, corrupted it."

I swing her out and bring her back in, she is smiling in surprise, even though we still move in a practice ease; we've been dancing with each other for year's. Parties, Baja beaches, Dances, kitchens, the Beach Club; we have danced in crowds that knew us, other's that didn't, but mainly we would dance alone.

Washing dishes listening to the radio, her hands sudsy me with a dish cloth over my shoulder; they were my favourite dance's.

We don't speak again, but for the seconds I have left with her I make sure to dance like it's us back in our kitchen in the Bungalow.

I had swayed with Andrea and Kimberley, I had done the traditional small box step that most guy's of my generation do; this wasn't that. This was us knowing each other's bodies better than anyone it was me doing my best to make her smile.

When the last chord rings out I dip her only lightly, I'm worried about the dress exposing something as I honestly haven't felt anything under the material.

When I look down into her eyes she gives me a knowing look, "you couldn't help yourself you had to bring the drama."

I give her that sexy smile she has always loved. "Don't blame me, Baby you are the one that wore red."