"So is there anything else you forgot to tell me about your friends?" I asked with a smirk while I watched Vincent sweat a little.

"Uhm, I don't think so?" He replied hesitantly. I rolled my eyes and glanced out at the unfamiliar scenery as we drove over to the café where I was officially meeting all his 'buddies' from back home.

"In other words, 'I'm not sure what's important so I am going to go with ignorance.'" I might have added a little bit of patronizing to my tone, but I softened it with a smile and a squeeze of his hand.

"Yeah, pretty much. They have been around here since I was little, so I guess I take a lot of what I know for granted. If you have any questions, you can ask or text me if you don't want to say it out loud." He replied with an understanding look. I nodded and took a bracing breath as we pulled into the café parking lot.

It was a small place, with a bigger parking lot than building and a bunch of tables outside. Some people were still surprisingly sitting out in the cold with their large cups of steaming coffee. Or tea, I mean I wouldn't want to be prejudiced here.

Vincent waited for me to meet him out in front of the car, and I took his hand gratefully with a nervous smile. This was one of the things about dating someone outside of your regular circle of acquaintance that was difficult. It was like meeting the parents, but worse somehow. These were the people that Vincent had chosen as his family.

"Don't be so nervous. If they can't see how amazing you are, then they are all blind losers." Vincent whispered to me as he opened the door and held it for me to go in first.

"Flattery will get you everywhere." I teased him with a flirtatious lick of my lips. I was grinning at the hot look that flashed across his face before I turned to see what the place offered.

"Vince! Long time no see bro." A rather short and voluptuous teenage girl waved from the window seat facing the counter as I glanced over. I turned back and made a choice from the long list of drinks offered on the chalkboard menu above the registers.

"One large Autumn London Fog with Whip." I ordered from the tall boy behind the counter.

"Will that be all?" The guy asked in a surprisingly deep voice.

"And one Double Dark Chocolate Dream." Vincent ordered over my shoulder, wrapping an arm about my waist and pulling out a card to tap the machine before I could so much as reach for my wallet.

"Thanks for that. I'll get you back next time." I kissed his cheek and he pulled me in the direction of the rowdy crowd by the window.

"Yo. Hooligans. This is my boyfriend, Alex. Pretend to be good, and be nice to him or I'll sic my brothers on you." He called out to the strange range of people gathered.

"Who you calling a hooligan? Dumbass." The perky looking brunette stuck his tongue out at him and then wrapped an arm around the blonde girl next to him. His hand waved to me and he nodded in my direction.

"That's Deck and Doll. Dekker and Dolores are their actual names, but nobody uses them unless they want a black eye." I got a hushed explanation in my ear as others shouted out their names for me.

"You know I am not going to remember all of their names after this, right." I looked at him wryly and he just chuckled.

"Oi, shove over so we can sit." He demanded of his best friend Jo. She scooted close to the girl from before and Vincent pulled me into the seat first so I was squished up against her.

"Sorry." I blushed as my whole side was pushed up against her. Flashes of the morning made me wince as I caught a whiff of that same perfume.

"What? You already slept together, so it's fine right?" The voluptuous girl grinned and chortled at our discomfort.

"You told them?" Vince asked over my head. I saw her shrug and nod.

"Not like anyone can keep anything from this pack. Your brother told Andy first though." She pointed to the tall brunette that was sitting on the chair backwards at the table next to us.

"Andy?" I glanced at Vince.

"She was in our debate class. Utterly ruthless woman. I think she'll either make a killing as a lawyer or need a lawyer for a killing." He commented as the waiter brought our drinks to the table. I saw the blonde eying my drink with an interested look.

"Is that a London?" She asked timidly. I cleared my throat as everyone waited to hear my answer.

"Ah, it's the Autumn London." I admitted. A whoop went up from the black girl seated next to Andy.

"I called it. Pay up mother-frickers." She held out her hand and the others all groaned.

"Don't mind them. They have nothing better to do than to bet on everything." Vincent drawled.

"Hey, I made a cool hundred last week. Don't knock it 'cause you never win." She retorted as she collected her money. My eyes were a little wide with the show going on.

"Can't lose if you don't play." He replied back. She flipped him the middle finger and went up to grab a drink. "That was Mo."

"Mo?" I watched her for a minute before focusing back on Vince.

"Yep. Mo. Monique. Money. More. Just call her Mo." He watched my reaction. I shrugged.

"Why not. Jo, Andy, and Mo. Is it any wonder I had no idea what to expect here?" I mumbled close to his ear. I saw his grin and then heard a hiss from the girl by the window.

"Who let that ass back in town?" She hid behind Jo while a rather cute looking black boy grabbed a coffee to go.

"Zoe used to date Jamie back in the beginning of high school." This time it was Jo who told me this, while glaring at the guy getting the coffee. As if he felt all the hostile gazes on him, he glanced at our tables and pressed his lips in a grimace.

"What happened?" I asked after the guy had left.

"She found him kissing his step-sister in their pool." Jo watched for my reaction. I wrinkled my nose.

"Oh. Nobody likes a cheater." I shook my head and... Mo? No, Zoe, looked at me thankfully.

"Yeah, I deserve better." She said with a flip of her hair. I nodded.

"Definitely." I replied firmly. I felt Vincent's hand snake around my waist and I glanced over to see a grimace on his face. "What's wrong?" I whispered to him.

"He's here." I heard Jo say with a rather cheery grin on her face. She jumped up onto the seat and went over the back to rush up to a guy that just came in. He was smaller than her by a bit, and had an obviously dyed shock of red hair. She hugged him, then they spoke, and she tried to pull him to the table.

When he refused and just grabbed a cup to go, she slunk back to the table. Everyone waved and called out greetings, but he stayed back towards the counter. I felt the tension in Vincent ebb when the boy left the café.

"Who was that?" I asked him quietly. He looked a bit down and replied too softly for the others to hear him.

"My ex."

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