I roll over in bed, stretching out as I yawn, and my hand collides with the wall. A stream of curse words fall out of my mouth and I can hear someone laughing, but I ignore it, opening my eyes and trying to work out where I am. The room is small and familiar to me and I soon identify it as Beck's RV. It's unusual for me to wake up here after a night out so I am already uneasy, but I am even more uncomfortable to realise that I am in Beck's bed, rather than on his couch. I sit up, pulling my greasy hair up into a ponytail and my eyes fall on Beck himself. His face comes into focus first – he is laughing at me – and then I groan as I take in the rest of him. He is only wearing a pair of tight black boxers and an open dressing gown, so I can see everything.
"Beck, will you cover up?" I say, looking away, and he laughs again.
"Take a look at yourself," he teases and I glance down, groaning again. I am naked as the day I was born, and I pull the sheets around me, looking apologetically at Beck. "Exactly," he says, "I didn't think we had boundaries anymore."
"Fair enough," I agree, "Beck, I wonder if you could enlighten me on a few things."
"I'll do my best," he says neutrally, sitting down on the couch opposite me.
"So…we had sex?" I ask and he nods, trying to hide a smug grin.
"Three times," he replies.
"Three times?" I repeat, "I think I only remember doing it twice."
"Yeah, you passed out straight away after the third time," he says awkwardly, "Not during or anything, I swear I wouldn't-"
"No, no, I wasn't thinking that," I interrupt, "I know you would never do that. So what happened to Jade?"
"Jade?" he says, frowning.
"Yeah, your girlfriend," I groan, "Why am I waking up in your bed instead of her? God, she is gonna kill me when she finds out."
"Jade and I broke up," he explains, "Last night before the party. She wasn't even there."
"I don't…I don't remember that," I say, rubbing my face, "What happened exactly?"
"So I rocked up about half 10," he says, "I came straight from my fight with Jade and I was ready to get really drunk. I had one beer before I found you, and you were already steaming. You gave me and André lap dances and then you were grinding with Cat for about half an hour. I mean, I've seen you drunk before and you don't normally act like that, so I was worried your drink had been spiked. We left the party about half 11 and I was going to just drive you home, but I reckon my drink was spiked too and it kicked in about then, so I brought you back here instead."
"And?" I say and he grimaces.
"We were tearing each other's clothes off before we even got through the door," he admits, "I woke up this morning and found my shirt, your shoes and your panties outside."
"No!" I gasp and he frowns, "Oh my God, my parents!"
"Somehow I had the wherewithal to text them from your phone after you passed out last night," Beck shrugs, "I told them you were at Cat's and Cat's gonna back you up if they ask."
"Thank you," I say gratefully and then another thought hits me. "Oh God, Beck, did we use something? Were we safe?"
"You said last night that you were on the pill," he says awkwardly, "Please tell me you're on the pill."
"Yeah, yeah, that's right." I heave a sigh of relief. "Okay, everything's okay, we just…even though you two weren't together, Jade is totally gonna kill me if she ever finds out about this."
"I won't tell if you won't," he promises, "Not that I would let her do that anyways."
"Okay, so we're agreed?" I need certainty now and so I spell it out. "Nobody finds out about this. Last night was really fun but a mistake."
"Agreed," he nods, "Do you want your clothes back now or…?"
"Yes please," I smile, "So what did you and Jade fight about?"
"Oh, the usual," he shrugs, "Apparently I was checking out other girls while we were out together. You know what she's like."
"To be fair, Beck," I laugh, "You did sleep with me the same night you broke up with her."
"Three times," he says smugly, "Yeah, I know, but that's different. My drink was spiked and besides it's you!"
"What does that mean?" I pull a face and he smiles soothingly.
"I only meant that I know you," he explains, "I'm hardly gonna have sex with some random girl from Northridge."
I put my underwear on quickly and then pull my dress back on. When I look round, Beck has changed as well, and he's now wearing a black t-shirt and ripped jeans. "I really should get going," I say, "I was supposed to be meeting André." I check my phone for the time and groan. "Half an hour ago. I'm gonna have to call him."
"Do you want a lift?" Beck asks and I nod gratefully, already dialling. "Come on then, get in the car."
"André?" I say as he picks up.
"Please tell me you're running late too," he pleads, and I heave a sigh of relief.
"Yeah, I am," I laugh, "Can we meet in an hour?"
"Course course," he grins, "Why are you running late?"
"I overslept, that's all," I shrug and I can practically see the face he's pulling.
"Uh uh uh, I call bull," he says, "You can tell me all about it later."
"There's nothing to tell," I swear, glancing uneasily at Beck, "What about you, why are you running late?"
"I got lucky with Lisa last night," he says and I cheer for him, "I'm just leaving hers now, I'll see you soon okay?"
"Sure thing," I grin, "See you in a bit." I hang up and put my phone back in my bag, turning to look at Beck, who shoots me an easy grin.
"So André's running late too?" he asks and I smile.
"Yes, thank God," I reply, "He stayed at Lisa's last night; he's only just leaving now."
"Just ask him all about that," he suggests, "Hopefully, he'll forget that you were running late too."
"Maybe we should tell people I stayed on your couch," I say, and he glances significantly at me, "We could say that I passed out and you didn't want to take me home so you took me back to yours. I'm a terrible drunk and you're a good friend?"
"Why?" he asks, "Why do we have to tell them anything?"
"Because Cat knows I didn't go back to mine and she's not gonna keep that quiet," I say, "I have to tell them something and if I tell another lie, that just involves another person."
"Okay," he nods, "Tell them you stayed at mine. I'll try and present that to Jade in a way that doesn't make her want to kill you."
"Are you going to see her today?" I ask, trying to hide any feelings I might have about that.
"Maybe," he shrugs, "She'll probably come over. I do need to sort things with her anyway; we left things really badly yesterday. Even if it's just to break up with her properly, I'm gonna have to speak to her at some point."
"Do you think you will break up officially?" I ask, "I mean, you guys break up and get back together all the time, it's part of what makes you guys 'you'."
"One time has to be the last time," he says wisely, smiling down at me, "Anyway, why are you meeting with André?"
"We've got an assignment for song-writing class," I reply, "We're only half done and it's due tomorrow so we really need to bash it out today."
"You sure you're not too hungover to work?" he teases, pulling up outside my house, "I guess this is you."
"Yeah, I guess," I smile, "Listen, thank you for the lift and for…for last night. Even if we didn't mean for it to happen, I really enjoyed myself."
"Me too," he grins, "Come here." He pulls me into a hug, his arms closing around me and I hug him back happily. "This doesn't change anything," he promises, "You're still my best friend."
"And you're mine," I say calmly, "Thanks Beck. Love you."
"Love you too," he says, squeezing me once and then letting me go. I get out of the car and run up to my front door, turning and waving until he is out of sight. I brace myself and walk through the door, ready for the onslaught.
"Hey Tor," Mom says, looking up from her laptop, "How you doing?"
"Yeah, good thanks," I say, throwing myself down on the couch.
"Cat give you a lift back?" she asks.
"No, Beck did," I say honestly, certain that she was watching through the curtains, "We got coffee this morning after I left Cat's house."
"So he picked you up from Cat's?" Mom says suspiciously, "You sure about that, Tori?"
"Yes, Mom," I nod calmly, "Now come on, say what you wanna say. What have you heard?"
"Trina said she saw you leaving with Beck last night," Mom says, "Did you stay at Beck's?"
"No," I lie smoothly, "I did leave the party with Beck, but we just sat outside until Cat was ready to leave. He broke up with Jade again and he needed someone to talk to."
"And that's why you were with him this morning?" she asks and I smile.
"Yeah," I reply, "His head's all over the place at the moment and he just needed a friend."
"So how was the party?" she asks, "Did you have a good time?"
"Yeah, yeah it was good," I nod, "Listen, Mom, I really need to have a shower and get changed before I meet André to do some homework, so can I talk to you later?"
"Of course darling," Mom smiles, "I'll see you later."
I run up the stairs, and straight into the bathroom. I start my music and get into the shower. As I wash my hair, all the events of last night really sink in and I spend about fifteen minutes just standing in the warm water, letting it wash over me. When I went out last night, the last thing I thought I was going to do was have sex with anyone, let alone with Beck, and now… I know he said that nothing's changed between us and I hope he's right but I already feel different. And if he were to get back together with Jade, I just don't know what I'd do.
"Tor!" Mom shouts, banging on the bathroom door, "Get out of the shower, you're supposed to be meeting André in like five minutes."
I gasp, finish washing my hair quickly and jump out of the shower. I blow dry it as fast as I can, letting the waves fall loose around my shoulders, and then get dressed, pulling on a pair of skinny jeans and black vest top with an open checked red shirt. Beck has a shirt just like this, a thought I shake off as I pull on my brown boots and run down the stairs. "I'll see you later!" I shout but I don't look back, already running down to the car I share with Trina.
"André!" I shout as I pull up outside the coffee shop ten minutes later, "André, I am so sorry I'm late! God, I'm even late for being late."
"You're fine," he laughs, "I only just got here myself. Come on, shall we get a smoothie and we can finish this up?"
"Sounds good," I smile, "Now tell me, how was your night with Lisa?"
"It was sick, babe," he grins, "I had an awesome time. What about you? What time did you even leave the party?"
"Seriously, André, I literally don't remember a thing," I groan, putting my head in my hands, "Although apparently I gave you and Beck lap dances?"
"Yes," he chuckles, "Thank you very much for that by the way. So what do you remember?"
"God, I don't even know," I lie smoothly, "I remember getting to the party; I remember drinking a lot and I remember waking up on Beck's couch."
"Whoa, you crashed at Beck's last night?" André gapes, "Are you kidding?"
"No," I say, "Apparently, my drink got spiked, so he didn't think it was a good idea to take me home. He took me back to hers and I crashed on his couch. You know he broke up with Jade again?"
"Again," he groans, "Oh man, why do they even bother?"
"Well, I spoke to him about it this morning and he said that he doesn't think they're going to get back together this time," I reply, "I think he's done with her crap."
"Wait, wait," André says, "Does Jade know you stayed at his last night?"
"No," I reply, running my hands through my hair, "Beck said he'd talk to her today. Do you think she'll believe that it was totally innocent?"
"Not at all," he laughs, "She's gonna crush you like a grape."
"Oh don't," I groan, "I'm so screwed right now."
"Don't think about it, don't think about it," André says, hugging me tightly, "Come on, let's write this song and then you can go home and catch up on some sleep."
"Okay, thank you," I say, dropping into a seat in the corner, "Okay, so we'd just finished the second verse, right?"