Disclaimer: I own nothing. Also thank you to AJ Kenobi who planted this idea in my head, a fine idea and it just wouldn't leave my thoughts until I finally wrote all of this out.

Innocence didn't mean we're immune to these things
Let's blame the passage of time
Love and loss
Truth
It costs more than I can spare right now
Maybe it's simpler to lie

No one had believed her when she told them the truth. Everyone just poked fun at her. She hated that, she disliked being called crazy and delusional just because an ill-minded crazy person wanted to play games. Ponnie's constant disappearing acts had everyone believing that she was the deranged one. It was a tiring feat to try to prove the existence of someone who seemed to not want to be found.

She understood though why they hadn't believed her, they thought she was just tired and overworked. Yet what hurt the most is that he didn't believe her. Over anyone else she would have thought he would have been the one to actually listen and believe her. To trust her words but he didn't. He made jokes at her expense, he called her crazyface and that bothered her.

Though all of them were a tight very close group of friends, her connection with Andre is the strongest. He easily became her best friend back in sophomore year when they first met because of the showcase.

Yet for the past couple of weeks she noticed the difference. She noticed the subtle changes in the way he was around her.

Before they could easily just talk about anything and now all they had were forced conversations that started because she wanted to ask him something or her commenting about something. She missed singing with him, hearing his voice as he tried to come up with some new lyrics. Honestly really she just missed hearing his voice and the conversations that they used to have. He gave her a comfort that she didn't know she needed until the moment he slowly began to pull away.

Their friendship was effortless, well it use to be effortless. She didn't get it though, she didn't know why he was acting this way towards her. Countless times she has tried to recall the moment she could have accidentally said something or done something that would have him acting weirdly with her but she couldn't come up with anything.

Throughout the car ride home from school, she thought of how badly this whole Ponnie situation could have escalated to and she truly was thankful it hadn't.

The moment she had walked into her home, she was greeted by an overwhelming hug from her mother. Her mother was neglectful at times but moments like this she knew she was loved. After she gave her mom a detailed play by play about everything that had occurred at the school, her mom was satisfied and went back into her own little world. She watched her mom who was on her phone typing away with a smile on her face. She didn't like that smile, it just confirmed a nagging feeling in her chest.

After giving her mother a reassuring smile and bidding her a goodnight she finally got to escape up to her room. She really just wanted to be alone or maybe just to be faraway from her mom who was just concentrating on her phone and Trina complaining about her aching throat and sniffles.

As soon as she closed her bedroom door behind her, she broke down. Though she wanted to reach her bed, she didn't make it as her knees buckled as soon as her tears began to fall. She didn't want to cry and yet she couldn't stop it. Everything was hurting, she wondered how she could be safe but still feel like the world around her was collapsing. Nothing was right, nothing felt right.

She wondered if her mother or sister could hear her loud sobbing and hysterical crying but if they did, they did nothing about it. No one came to comfort her, no one ever did. No one in this house ever paid attention to the broken girl crying on her bedroom floor.

She reached into her pocket, pulling out her phone. Her finger hovered over the phone, contemplating if calling would be the right choice, she didn't know if he would respond. But she needed him. She quickly touched his name on the screen and waited with baited breath to see if he would pick up the call.

"Tori," Hearing him say her name, seemed to help ease the tightness in her chest but the pressure was still there.

She cleared her throat. "A-Andre," her voice was shaky. She shook her head, hating that she sounded so broken.

She could hear the rustling in the background, a muffled girl's voice in the background. Did she interrupt something? She had no idea if he was seeing someone. The anger she felt at that thought surprised her, she shouldn't be jealous of some random girl.

"Tori, are you okay?" He was concerned, she could hear it in his voice.

Maybe a few weeks back the answer to that question would have been the truth and he would have talked to her but today it felt that maybe he just wouldn't be there for her. He just wasn't there anymore. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have called. Bye." She hung up the phone before he could even respond.

She watched as her phone lit up as he kept trying to call time after time and her uncontrollable sobbing increased as he kept texting her after realizing she wouldn't pick up.

After a few minutes her tears had subsided and she just stared at the ceiling. Her eyes welled up with tears but she didn't want to cry anymore. The knock on her bedroom door surprised her. "Tori, are you alright in there?" Her mother questioned.

She cleared her throat, "Yeah, I'm good mom."

"Good, well I'm going out." Nowadays her mom was always going out. "I'm going to meet up with a friend." She noticed the happiness that was alluded as soon as the word friend escaped from her mother's mouth.

All she really wanted to do right now was to pick herself up from that floor and open her door. She wanted to yell at her mother and call her out on all her crap but she didn't. She just laid on the floor and softly responded, "Alright."

"Okay, so though Trina is sick she went out as well. She said something about a boy asking her out for coffee. I tried to tell her not to go, that she should be resting but we all know how boy crazy she is. She ran out that door before I can even get her to stop. So you'll be home alone most of the night." Her mother let out a sigh and she wanted to question her but said nothing. "Are you sure you are okay?"

She let out a small chuckle at this, her mother feigning concern. Though okay her mom might be a bit worried she just didn't want to feel guilty about leaving her alone if she was definitely hurting. "I'm good mom, you can leave."

"Alright, at least let me see you before I leave." She rolled her eyes at her mother's request but got up anyways. She swiped her palms across her eyes and face, making sure there aren't any visible tears present. She knew she probably didn't look good with red puffy eyes but her mom would just want to make sure she left the house without a crying teenager inside.

"Okay," She opened the door for her mother to see her. "I'm okay." A small smile appeared on her face as her mother studied her for a few seconds.

Her mother smiled, nodding. "Good, now behave. I'll be back late. Don't do anything I wouldn't do actually scratch that, don't do anything that you know would get you grounded if your dad or I knew about it." Her dad, she wondered what he would be think of his wife going out with a friend and coming home late.

She nodded. "Yes mom." Her mother smiled before walking away towards the stairs.

After hearing the front door close, she closed her own bedroom door. As the silence sank in, tears welled up in her eyes but she willed herself not to cry. She reached into her dresser for a pair of shorts and a tank top she could change to. And halfway through lifting her shirt over her head, she broke into sobs. She hated losing control over her emotions.

In between sobs and gasping for much needed air she finished changing.

"You are not okay," She let out a small gasp as soon as she heard his voice. She turned towards him, surprised to actually see him standing there.

"Andre." She had been so lost in her thoughts, that she didn't see him standing there.

"You had me worried about you. Don't you ever do that to me again." He walked further into the room, moving closer to her but she took a few steps back until her back hit her dresser. "Tori, you can't just call a brother up sounding so broken and then hang up without giving an explanation. I was going crazy on my way over here thinking about what could possibly be wrong with you."

She just shook her head and snorted in disbelief, "How did you get in?"

He gave her a puzzled look. "Your mom let me in, she saw me pull up as she left the driveway so she let me in before she left."

"Oh," She responded before walking towards her bed and taking a seat. "I'm sorry to have bothered you. You were probably busy."

He didn't move from his spot, unsure of her response. "I'm never too busy for you."

Of course he wouldn't have a issue lying to her. "Don't lie to me."

He looked at her in disbelief. "Tor, I'm not lying. You're my best girl of course I'll always have time for you."

She just shook her head, everyone in her life was just a bunch of actors. "Andre, you do realize how broken this friendship has been lately right? It wasn't my fault though. You've been pulling away from me and I don't get it. You're my best friend but you'll only be around me if someone else is with us. I'm surprised your even in this room right now."

He sat down on the bed next to her."What are you talking about? I've been here. I've been here for you, I'm always here."

"Oh my god, seriously? You're gonna deny the fact that you don't really act like my best friend anymore."

"What!" He exclaimed, turning to look at her.

"A few weeks back when I won that contest to be on the Platinum Awards you didn't even question me changing into a person that wasn't the real me. You went along with it, you didn't even question it. Tell me how Beck figured it out and you didn't, my best friend didn't figure out there was something going on and that I was being changed by a label."

He sighed. "I noticed it. I figured you were just having fun with it. So yeah you had a little attitude but I figured you were just acting like that because you wanted to create a character for the media. Didn't think it was cool but who was I to stop you from doing you. Until someone got truly hurt I didn't think I should say anything, who was I to stop you from achieving what you wanted."

Maybe she was giving too much thought into the simplest of things. "Well thank you, I suppose. But no, how about this whole Ponnie thing you didn't believe me at all. That hurt Andre. You didn't believe me at all."

He grabbed her hand and gave it a slight squeeze noticing the tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you but really you were the only one that actually saw her all this time. I didn't want to believe you were crazy, I just thought the lack of sleep was getting to you. But really I already have a crazy lady in my life, you know my grandma is a handful, so thankfully your whole seeing Ponnie thing was real."

"So glad that's over too," She sighed. "But Andre really, this friendship is just not the same. We don't even spend time together anymore."

"I know we haven't spent some time alone in a while but hey we are now."

"Yeah cause I was crying a river, that's why you came. If I hadn't called you wouldn't have came over at all."

"Why were you crying? Well more like why are you still crying?" He asked wiping the tears that were running down her face. "I hate seeing you like this."

He studies her wondering what was running her mind and she just stares into his eyes wondering if he truly cared. This made her wonder when did she begin to question everyone's intentions towards her. "I just hurt." She admitted before she could stop herself.

"Hurt?" He repeated the word, he looked concern as his eyes wandered around her body looking for any signs of a bruise or cut.

The way he looked at broke her heart, he look worried. "I just feel like there is a lot going on and I just didn't have anyone to talk to."

He held her face with his hands, staring into her eyes. "I'm here. You can talk to me."

She pulled away from his hold, getting up from the bed. "Well I already told you what I feeling about what's been going on between the two of us. This friendship needs some serious repair. I honestly don't get it cause I didn't just think it. You have been distance lately. So tell me, why have you been pulling away from me?"

He didn't respond, he didn't even look at her. His gaze was fixed on her posters on her wall.

"Andre look at me!" She placed a hand on his cheek, turning him towards her. "Why are you pulling away from me? What did I do that you can't even stand being near me anymore?"

"Maybe I can't be friends with you!" There it was, those words that she dreaded to hear. Those words teared through her heart. She hugged herself as the words sank into the silence and he watched her as he realized what he just said.

As he reached out to her, she pulled away. "No!" She cried out. "Don't touch me!"

"Tori, I didn't mean it like that." He said grabbing her and pulling her towards him sitting them both on the bed. She tried to squirm her way off his lap but he just held her tighter. "Now listen to me, I didn't mean it like that."

The way he held her made her feel at ease. She stopped trying to escape his hold and leaned back onto his chest. "Then what did you mean?"

He sighed then kissed her cheek. "You remember back when I had a crush on Jade?"

Oh she remembered it clearly, she was thankful when he got over that crush. She turned in his lap so that she was sideways and had her arms around his neck. "Yeah."

"Well I have these wonky feelings for you and I tried to distance myself from you. I wanted to see if I spent less time with you that maybe those feelings would go away. They didn't though. I just missed you more and more." She smiled and he gave her a slight squeeze with his arms. "I tried dating other girls to get you out of my mind but you were still there in my mind, you are still in my mind at all times and in my heart."

"In your heart," She tried to get up but he wouldn't let go of her."You mean that you have a crush on me."

He nodded, "I've fallen for you Tori Vega. I have it bad for you."

She just smiled at his response. "Well I'm free on Saturday so you can take me out on our first official date."

He gripped her hips and gently removes her off his lap, placing her on the bed next to him. "Who says I want to date you?"

"So you don't, alright, I'll just see if Beck is free this weekend maybe I can do something with him." She went to reach for her phone baiting him to react.

"Oh no you don't," he said reaching out to her grabbing her hand pulling her down to her bed. "No Beck, no other boys. Just me. Only me. You're mine now Tori Vega."

She grinned at his response, she enjoyed this possessive Andre. "All yours. Now kiss me before I change my mind."

"Gladly," He responded before capturing her lips with his.

A/N: So what did you guys think? Please leave a review they make me happy. :)