Kaykay, so this is kind of long and I know some people don't like long stories, but I PROMISE this story will be worth it if you stick to it. If you like Tandré anyways(: I also included very minor Bade and Cabbie for anyone who wants some of that. The song I used for this was One Day by Trading Yesterday.
Title: One Thousand Four Hundred Sixty One Days
Rating: T For slight alcohol use
Pairing(s): Tandré (TorixAndré). Minor Bade (BeckxJade) and Cabbie (CatxRobbie)
Summery: "I'll wait for you Tori. I promise. In four years we'll pick up right where we left off." SongFic One Day by Trading Yesterday; For minilikescoffee's SongFic contest.
Disclaimer: I do not own Victorious, the Taurus car, One Day by Trading Yesterday, or Julliard
If I could change the currents of our lives
To make the river flow where its run dry
To be a prodigal of father time
Then I would see you tonight
"Ma'am the plane is taking off in 5 minutes. You need to get on the plane now if your going to make your flight. Tori Vega gave a sigh of defeat, clutching her crimson carry-on suitcase handle tightly. As much as it pained her to admit, the woman standing behind the ivory desk waiting to take her ticket to board was right. 'But he promised!' Her mind seemed to voice in defense.
The 18 year old latina stared down at her black and white converse with a defeated look before turning to face the blond middle-aged women who tapped her fingers on the desk in irritation, "Alright." Tori sighed as she handed her flight ticket women snatched the ticket from Tori and slipped it through the scanner before quickly marking it with a blue pen.
"Enjoy your flight." She said somewhat coldly. Slightly offended, Tori took back her now marked ticket and started for the dreary gray hallway leading to her plane.
"Tori!"
At the sound of her name she froze with her chocolate brown eyes wide open.
"Tori! Wait!"
Whirling around, she couldn't believe her eyes.
Andre Harris.
Running through the crowded Los Angeles airport and jumping over luggage toward her gate -flight 143 to New York City. As if her long, tan legs had a mind of their own, they sprinted off in his direction; She chose to ignore the stone-woman behind the ticket desk yelling after her. Keeping up her speed, Tori pushed her way through the crowd of people, muttering 'excuse me' and ignoring any glares or sarcastic remarks. Once they were mere feet apart, Tori jumped into Andre's arms and wrapped her legs around his waist while he spun her. 'He came!' Tori's mind cheered as salty tears glistened in her eyes and traveled down her cheeks, ending their journey by soaking into Andre's purple plaid shirt that fit his form very well. Reluctantly, Andre set Tori down but, left his hands lingering at her waist as they stared at each other.
Brown eyes met brown eyes.
There was a brief silence that filled the atmosphere around them as busy people of the L.A Airport stopped to glance at the two young people. Finally Andre spoke, ignoring the burning in his eyes as he forced a smile, "It's only four years."
Tori shook her head slightly, not buying his optimism, "One thousand four hundred sixty one days."
Andre's face fell and he replied sheepishly, "Yea, Well looking at it that way...it's a long time."
Tori let her forehead fall to his chest as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into an embrace. Tori looked up and opened her mouth to speak, but Andre shook his head and spoke instead, "If you even suggest not going to Julliard...Tori this is what you've wanted! You deserve this. And you won't be alone, you'll have Jade..."
Tori made a face that made Andre chuckle slightly. "Okay, maybe not the best comfort words." He pulled her closer with his hands that were rested on her hips and their lips met with equal love and passion. It hurt them both that this would be their last moments together for the next four years. At first glance they would seem like any other young couple who thought they were in love and were over-emotional and driven by hormones.
Never judge a book by its cover.
Because their story was much more complex than it should be for two people who were considered the essence of perfection by many.
Their lips parted but Tori kept her arms draped over his shoulder. Andre kissed her forehead and looked at her with a serious expression, "Tor, I know four years sounds like a long time, but it'll fly by! And you'll be glad you went to Julliard. You and I both know this is your dream school." He paused, glancing at Tori's gate to see a woman looking over with a slightly sympathetic expression and a security guard walking up the hall from the plane. He knew that the gate was about to be locked and returned his eyes to Tori quickly, "I'll wait for you Tori. I promise. In four years we'll pick up right where we left off."
Tori looked about ready to let more tears out, but held them back in her eyes now filled with determination and love. She pressed her lips to his quickly and hugged him again, "I love you, Andre."
"I love you too, Tori." Andre replied with a smile, "Now hurry! Or you'll miss your flight." He said quickly as they saw the security guard begin to close the door. Tori nodded and made a dash to her gate, calling after the security guard not to close the door. She grabbed her carry on and made her way down the hall, thanking the security guard for waiting. Taking one last glance behind her, she locked eyes with Andre and the pair smiled to each other before the security guard shut the thick, metal door.
If I could find the years that went away
Destroying all the cruelty of fate
I must believe that love will find a way tonight
Forty Two Days
(One Month. One Week. Three Days.)
"Alright grandma, I'm leavin'. Try not to throw oranges at the mailman tomorrow."
"He takes my mail!"
Andre Harris sighed irritably at his wide-eyed relative, "No grandma. He delivers- You know..." He paused in thought and continued in a defeated voice, "Fine, but throw something softer? Like the blueberries?"
"Okay Andre!" The elderly woman replied loudly as Andre closed the pastel wooden door behind him. While walking to his white 2002 Taurus to drive home to his apartment a few miles away, his metallic gray watch started to beep. Andre cursed as he jumped in and quickly shoved the key in the ignition. As he sped down the neighborhood street toward the busy four lane street of Schnieder Blvd, Andre glanced up at the photo hanging from his rear view mirror. Perhaps his favorite photograph of all. Just looking at the 4inx3in picture brought back happy memories. It was taken during his last week of Hollywood Arts. Senior Year. Of course, it didn't look like much to someone who knew nothing of any of the six teenagers in the photo. To those six, Andre included, it triggered flashbacks of good times, bad times, a Ke$ha concert, Prome, Prison, and lots of performances.
On the picture, taken by the gangs favorite teacher Sikowitz, from left to right, was a pale woman with two metal piercings and wavy charcoal black hair with electric blue highlights, being held close by the waist from behind by a tall, tan-skinned man with black hair ending at his shoulders. Both held bright smiles as they looked at the camera. The former who rarely smiled, had seemed more willing that day, most likely - Andre assumed- because of the diamond engagement ring that wrapped around her left hand's ring finger. To the right of them was a lanky man with glasses framing his brown eyes who had his right arm around a tiny, pale woman with red velvet colored hair who smiled eagerly as usual. In the left hand of the jew-fro, glasses man was a ventriloquist puppet. Finally, to the right of those two was himself and a beautiful, tan latina on his back with her arms wrapped around his neck.
Tori Vega.
Who was now thousands of miles away on the opposite coast.
Tearing his eyes away from the photo to keep from lingering on memories, he returned his eyes to the road and pulled into the drive way of the apartment complex he was residing in. He glanced at his watch that read 5:15 and let out another curse before racing up the staircase and to his apartment door. The inside wasn't much, but it was enough for him and was close to the record company he was signed to. The small entrance hall opened up to a living room with maroon carpet and chalky-white walls. The living room displayed a simple cream sofa, a smooth dark wood living room table, and a flat television hanging on the opposite wall. The kitchen that connected to the living room was white tiled with granite counter tops and a small table with two chairs. Andre ran over to his sleek black laptop- courtesy of the record company- and flipped it open.
Within a few moments, he had opened up a chat and thankfully saw the beautiful face of Tori take up his screen. He saw a smile light up her face that he knew mirrored his. "I thought you forgot." She said smugly.
"Like I could forget you." He chuckled, "Sorry for being- " he glanced at his watch, "20 minutes late."
Tori laughed and he found himself missing the melodic voice. "It's cool."
This was how the two decided to keep in touch. Every night at five o'clock in L.A - eight o'clock in NYC. Luckily, for the past month, it seemed to be working. They kept each other updated on their lives on opposite coasts through the screen. Andre informed her of how things were moving along in the record company while Tori explained what she was learning in her classes.
'Maybe this won't be as hard as I thought'
Lonely, Finds Me
One day, you will come
But I'll wait, for love sake
One day to me, love
Two Hundred Ten Days
( Seven Months.)
Andre sat at the computer desk in his master bedroom, glancing every few minutes or so at the silver digital clock with red numbers that read the time.
7:03
About ten o'clock in New York.
The screen was still black where a beautiful face once appeared. Sighing in defeat, Andre shut the laptop and buried his face in his hands. This had not been the first time that she didn't appear on the chat. And he knew better than to place the blame solely on her because, he too had missed his fair share of their video chat 'dates'. The fault mainly rested with the busy schedules both of them had. The record company had booked Andre to play in various places around L.A to get his name out and Tori had told him of the many projects and assignments that were thrown at her every which way. It had occurred recently to Andre that the idea that they could really keep this up and that it would make everything work out was really just a shot in the dark. A shot in the dark that was turning out to be futile with every video chat starting to last only minutes at best. About two hours later Andre got a text from the one and only Tori Vega.
From: Tori
To: Andre
Sorry I'm late. Can you get on chat?
Andre lay his guitar down gently and grabbed his laptop off of the computer desk. He flipped it open and typed in the password instantly making a box with Tori's face appear onscreen. Even with her chestnut brown hair up in a messy bun and dark shadows under her eyes from sleepless nights, she was still beautiful. She gave a small wave and a sleepy smile while her eyes betrayed her with hints of exhaustion, "Hey."
Andre forced a small smile, "Hey."
A short silence followed before both let out a heavy sigh. "This isn't going to work is it?" Andre asked, almost choking it out.
Tori hung her head and shook it slightly, "I don't think so. I mean we're both so busy and -"
"It's just not the same on chat." They said in unison.
Suddenly a blond woman walked through the door of Tori's dorm room and appeared on screen. "Tori, your still up? You need to get some sleep for the vocal exams in the morning."
"I know." Tori croaked, not the least bit interested in anything except what was going on in front of her on the computer. "So...This is it?"
Andre nodded, pain clearly filling his eyes, "For now."
"I love you, Andre."
"I love you too, Tori. And I'll keep waiting. I promised."
Tears spilled over Tori's eyes and she finally whispered, "Goodbye Andre."
"Goodbye Tor." And with that the screen went blank.
If I could see beyond the here and now
If you could hear me calling you some how
If I could know that love is reaching out to find you with me tonight
But who could make these promises come true
Beyond what I could say what love can do
With every moment leading me to you tonight
Eight Hundred Eighty Eight Days
(Two Years. Five Months. Eight Days.)
Andre took one more, finishing sip of the amber-brown bottle. He stuck out like a sore thumb sharply dressed in his classy tuxedo inside a rundown bar filled with rugged bums in blue jeans. Of all places, why would he be here? Well, after sneaking out of his own 21st Birthday Party thrown by the record company with hundreds of well dressed socialites in the music business, he found himself at The Ace bar, thinking over his life. And how alone he felt now that everyone important in his life had slipped away one by one.
Beck had left a few months back after finishing filming his movie in L.A, to NYC to be with Jade until she graduated. His own grandmother was in the hospital. Robbie was traveling around the world with his ventriloquist act while Cat was touring America for her pop concert tour. He would be traveling as well but he had told the record company he refused to leave L.A. And that was for yet another important person in his life that had left long before the others. Tori Vega.
Just as the name popped into his head, his own voice brought him out of thought and into reality. One of his more famous songs, Waiting, was playing from the stereo system in the corner of the bar. The song he had written immediately after his heartbreaking chat with Tori. Andre slammed the empty bottle on the counter and stormed out of the bar and down the dimly light street toward his new jet black car. Thrusting the key in the ignition, Andre sped down the road. He reached for his new cellphone- given by one of the fellow bands signed to the record company-, and he began dialing the one number he knew by heart. The other line rang. And rang. And rang. And rang.
"Hello-"
"Tori!"
"The number you have dialed has been-"
Andre dropped the phone onto the car floor causing the battery to fly out from the back. Never had he felt so alone. Everyone he cared about and had cared about him was gone. Miles and miles away. Andre gripped the ebony steering wheel as he slammed on the accelerator watching the rapid increase display on speedometer.
Lonely, Finds Me
One Day, You will come
But I'll wait, For loves sake
One day to me, love
I will stay forever here until that one day comes
Praying time will bring you near, I'll wait for your love
One Thousand Two Hundred Nine Days
(Three Years. Three Months. Twenty Four Days.)
"Andre, people want you! They want to see you perform! You've gained so much popularity and fan support over these few years. Touring would make us even more money! And give you super-stardom! Why won't you just leave L.A?"
Andre gave a frustrated sigh to the head man of the record company. Carter Henderson was a great guy, and Andre had become good friends with him over the past few months, but when he wanted something he never shut up about it, "I told you Carter, it's complicated."
"Complicated? You always tell me that! What is it that is so 'complicated'? I know for a few years it was because of your grandmother, God bless her and may she rest in peace, but what do you have here that is so important that's keeping you here?" Carter asked, his voice filled with pure curiosity.
"I just can't." He replied and whispered to himself, "I promised."
Carter gave a long, heavy sigh. "Fine. But we're not done with this. You'll go on tour eventually. It's in your contract. And if we weren't such good friends I would make you. But you will one of these days. I swear it." Carter blinked and paused before continuing, "Are we still up for Jay-Z's party?"
Andre nodded as he stood up, "Yeah man. I'll see you then." Andre stepped out of the large, spacious office and started down the hall. One thing on his mind.
'Please God, let me just see her one more time. All this waiting...Has it all been in vain?'
Lonely, Finds me
One day, you will come
But I'll wait, For loves sake
One day to me, love
Lonely, finds me
One day, you will come
But I'll wait for love sake
One day to me, love
One day to me, love
One day to me, love
/I will stay forever here, I'll wait for your love/
One Thousand Four Hundred Sixty One Days
(.Four Years.)
"Ma'am. The plane has landed."
Tori's eyes fluttered open as she glanced to the elderly, wrinkly woman sitting in the seat to her right. "Oh! Thank you. Sorry." She rushed, noticing the plane was almost empty and the woman must have been waiting for her to wake up for a few minutes. She stood up and grabbed her carry-on out of the top compartment and quickly exited the plane. As she walked down the long, gray hallway, she rubbed her eyes with her free hand in an attempt to wake up. Once she entered the L.A airport from the hallway someone- a security guard she assumed- stood next to the door.
"Did you enjoy your flight?" He asked, his voice was oddly familiar that it made her stop for a second.
She yawned to get rid of the sleep still in her system and nodded, "Yeah, it was fine. Thank-" Her eyes shot open and she whirled around to look at the man and tears instantly filled her eyes. Standing in front of her with a big, bright smile was the one an only Andre Harris. She was instantly at him, her lips melting into his and arms wrapped around him tightly.
Once the kiss broke, she cried happily into his shirt in his embrace. He held her as close as he could without breaking her. "I promised I would wait." He whispered.
She nodded and looked up at him with the most beautiful and real smile he had seen in four long years.
And just that alone had made his long wait totally worth it.
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. Please review with any compliments or criticism...I take criticism really well(;
Let's go TSG! (Tandré Support Group)