Author's Note: This is the first story in a collection of Tori/Beck one-shots. Each story will be independent and have nothing to do with another. I do welcome ideas for stories and anything that can serve as inspiration.
Tori sits on her bed, her back pressed hard against the wall behind her. She stares at the bright screen of her laptop but is only half-listening to the sounds coming from the small device. Every couple of seconds she looks over at her cell phone just a few inches away and each time she looks at it, she is overcome with disappointment as the screen is still black. She takes a deep breath and tries to concentrate on the show she is watching, but to no avail. Every minute or so she looks back at her phone and the process is repeated over again.
Frustrated at the lack of light emanating from her phone, she leans over and presses the power button just to make sure she did not miss any messages while she was watching the show. The device turns on and as she presses the buttons that will unlock it, a sense of hope arises that perhaps there will be a message waiting for her. She holds her breath as she presses the last button and, much to her dismay, there are no new notifications awaiting. All she sees are the apps taking up memory and the time which tells her it's probably too late for her to receive a message anyway.
She presses the "messages" button and checks the time she sent him the last text message. It reads "9:13pm" and the simple words "hey" mock her. Surely, he would have read the message within the three hours that have passed and, if he really wanted to he would have replied with an equally simple message.
Thirty seconds, that is all it took to answer. Just thirty seconds in which he could eliminate all the doubts and feelings of rejection now invading every part of her being. She can not stop herself from staring at the screen and trying to come up with every possible reason for his lack of response. Perhaps he didn't receive it, or maybe he fell asleep early. It could also be that he's just busy doing something and has truly not seen the message.
Put the phone down. Stop she thinks to herself and reluctantly places the phone out of arms reach with the screen facing down. If she can not see the screen, then perhaps she can stop obsessing over whether or not it turns on. She can focus on her show and not worry so much about a text message that may not come.
Several minutes pass and while she is able to concentrate more, she suddenly starts thinking about the day before, to their first date.
Previous afternoon
Beck pulls into the restaurant's parking lot and finds a spot fairly close to the entrance. As he turns the engine off, Beck looks over to Tori in the passenger's seat and smiles at her. Nervously, she returns the smile and quickly breaks eye contact. She would be lying if she didn't say she was a bit nervous going on a date with him. Since she's known him, Beck has only been her friend and she never would have imagined that anything would happen between them.
Sensing her apprehension, Beck reaches over and takes her hand in his. "I don't want this to be weird and if feel like it's getting weird, I want you to tell me okay Tor?"
Tori looks at him and nods her head, offering him another smile for extra reassurance.
Shortly, they are inside the restaurant ordering and trying to keep the conversation casual.
"Are you auditioning for Sikowitz's new play?" he asks her.
"I might. There's a lot more singing than I want to do so I'm not sure yet" she replies.
"I know what you mean. I wanted to audition but singing isn't really my thing so I asked Sikowitz if I can work with the stage crew and he said I could."
"So you'll be hanging out with Sinjin and Burk" Tori says teasingly.
Beck's eyes widen at the realization. "I didn't even think about that" he exclaims which causes Tori to laugh loudly.
"I might need to reconsider this" he continues.
They spend the next hour talking about things they already knew about each other but wanted to rediscover on a new level.
Once their bill was settled and they exited the restaurant, Beck drives Tori home. The ride is silent as they let the music from the radio fill the air. Halfway through the drive, Beck reaches over and takes Tori's hand. She interlocks her fingers with his and an unsuspected feeling of fulfillment fills her. She couldn't have imagined that she missed this sort of closeness as much as she did. Something as simple as holding hands with someone she likes is enough to make her content. It is a nice feeling, specially after all the times she has dated guys who turned out to be less than she expected.
A few minutes later he pulls up into her street and parks outside of her house.
"Thank you" she says to him.
"Do you want me to walk me to the door?" Beck asks.
Tori smiles and shakes her head from side to side. "No, let's not make this one of those very formal dates."
"Okay" Beck answers with a smirk.
"I had a really good time" she tells him and then looks down to their hands, still laced together.
"I did too Tor" Beck says. Both remain silent for a bit and just as she had hoped, he leans in and kisses her. Her heart beats with excitement as his lips press against hers and she feels him pressing harder against hers to deepen the kiss. She retaliates and both are engulfed in a passionate kiss.
She feels him pull back a minute later and though she instantly misses the sensation of his lips on hers, she is elated.
"I'll see you around" he tells her, a smile on his face.
Tori simply nods her head and turns to exit the car.
Present time
Accepting defeat, Tori turns off her laptop and places if on the table beside her bed. She grabs her phone and presses the power button once more to make sure there are no new messages. She is disappointed yet again when there are no notifications. She places the phone on top of her laptop and lays down on her bed, pulling the comforters over her head.
For what feels like an eternity, she lays there unable to understand why he has not made the effort to speak to her. Even when they were just friends, he would reply almost immediately when she sent him a text. Suddenly, she is concerned that perhaps this date can ruin their friendship and he may not be sure where they stand.
Maybe, she does not know where they stand either.
Author's Note: So I think I'm probably not the only person who has waited, in vain, for a text message from someone and perhaps feeling really down about it. I was inspired to write this from a conversation I had with a friend and thought it would be something people could relate to. Hope it was enjoyable as a first chapter for my little collection of one-shots and feel free to comment about what you would have hoped to see or what you see happening between Beck and Tori.