Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious.

I am so happy that I've gotten good responses for this fic! It makes me so happy that people like this fic. I hope that y'all enjoy the second chapter. Oh, just a random little note, chapter titles are song titles. Not original, but they have a purpose. Haha.


Tear Down the Veil
Chapter Two: Always and Never


Her reaction is ludicrous.

She doesn't know why, but her hands are shaking. Every nerve ending in her body feels exposed. Tori shifts in her seat, opting to try to take her pencil in hand, but she finds that more difficult than it should be. The writing utensil falls out of her fingers and lands on the paper with a barely audible sound.

At first, she thinks that she is having some kind of attack. A panic attack, perhaps? No, no, that can't be it. Why would that be happening? She breathes slowly through her nose and out through her mouth. Someone told her once that doing that helps calm nerves. But what…what is she having this reaction for?

She wrinkles her nose and tries to persevere.

Persevere from what is a whole other story.

Professor Shapiro sets up the powerpoint slides and starts in on chapter one, attacking it vigorously. He stutters a bit, and makes a few jokes. Funny ones, in fact. That's a rarity in itself. A teacher that doesn't take himself too seriously and makes a few self-deprecating jokes. It makes her smile brighter than she ever remembered doing before.

Tori finds that she is tapping her foot. The rhythmic sound, frantic and uncontrollable, serves to aggravate Danny, who places a hand over hers.

"What?" she asks, breathless. Startled.

"Stop," he replies. "You're freaking me out."

Tori furrows her brow. "How would that freak you out?"

Danny doesn't reply, only gives her a look that should prevent any further movements, but she finds that she just doesn't care. She needs to move, needs to do something to unleash the current excitation of her body.

She ignores him.

Tori finds herself fascinated with the teacher's voice. Which is odd. She finds herself easily taking notes, easily following along with what he has to say. Despite his spastic, scattered entrance, he really is a good teacher, one that doesn't speak in monotone or stumble over his words once he gets going with what he is saying.

That still doesn't explain her body's reaction to him.

The class ends far too early for Tori's tastes. She actually feels a longing for the next class meeting when Professor Shapiro dismisses them.

And that is beyond odd.

She shifts her backpack on her arm and rises from her chair. Ignoring the fleeting look Danny gives her, she walks out the door at the back of the room.

She has so much homework, her head is spinning. She has to read chapters for various classes, work on Statistics, and other various things. Tori isn't sure she even has them straightened out in her head. She might have written them down on a piece of paper or something…

"Tori."

A hand grasps her wrist.

She turns around, her eyes widening, and sees Danny. He's looking slightly angry, and she wonders why. It makes no sense for him to be angry at her, why is he looking this way now? She can't recall anything that she did…

"I was trying to talk to you after the teacher dismissed us," he says, nostrils flaring. "But you ignored me."

"Er," she stutters at first. "I - ah - I'm really sorry, Danny. I didn't realize that you were saying anything…"

His eyes are hard.

"H-Hey, now, don't be mad. I was kind of dazed. Overwhelmed by the class." She raises her hands in front of her as if warding off a gun. "I didn't mean to ignore you. It was…unintentional! Really!"

Danny closes his eyes - good, they were making me feel uncomfortable - and then opens them. The hardness displayed before is gone, and he places a hand on her stick-thin shoulder.

"Okay, okay," and it's like he's another person. "You're fine. I'm not mad. You wanna go get Starbucks or something now?"

"Um…I…"

"Come on," he says, grinning. "It couldn't hurt anything."

"I don't know…"

Danny grasps her wrist again, lighter this time, not as forceful, and looks at her with those eyes that seem too intense for a moment as mundane as this. It is almost enough to make Tori want to push him from her.

"To make up for ignoring me?"

She knits her eyebrows together. "But you said you weren't worried about that!"

"I lied."


There is a Starbucks on campus, nestled just adjacent to the college bookstore, and Tori accompanies her boyfriend to the coffee institution without much complaint. She had ignored him, and he didn't deserve that. She figured that she should at least go to Starbucks with him.

A strange inkling settles into her stomach the moment she realizes that she felt like she was forced to go, that she didn't want to go in the first place.

What kind of girlfriend doesn't want to go places with her boyfriend?

She sighs as they wait in line, one hand twined with Danny's, the other fiddling with her small purse for cash. She looks at Danny, who moves up to the counter to take his order. She already knows his order as well as she knows her own; she can almost recite it with him as he says, "Viente iced caramel macchiato."

Somehow, this rubs her the wrong way.

Tori waits in line and then places her order. A tall skinny vanilla latte. Cheap. She needs to save her money, anyway. She's a college student after all. Even if her parents are supplying her with money at the moment, she needs to save as much as she can to make that last longer.

Danny shoves his hands into his pockets, searching for money. He comes up empty. "Hey, Tor. Can you get this for me?"

Tori looks at him, a feeling of annoyance settling in her chest like a lead weight. She nods, though. What else can she do?

"Eight seventy two," the girl at the counter says.

Tori hands her exactly that, down to the nickel.

There goes breakfast tomorrow morning… she thinks despondently.

They walk over to wait at the counter for their beverages. The whole thing has a very familiar feel to it, though she has never been inside this Starbucks before. She takes her hand from Danny's and fiddles around with her purse yet again. She doesn't want to look at him in the eye, and she doesn't know why.

And that's when she hears it.

"Ah, yes. Today… Can I get a grande iced white mocha, please?"

"Of course, Professor."

Tori pauses for a moment, and then turns.

The sight of him is like an intravenous injection of adrenaline. She swallows, not sure how she can keep staring at him like this without him noticing.

As if jinxing herself, Professor Shapiro turns and catches her glance. She tenses up, a cat with its tail being stepped on. He gives her a friendly, familiar smile and turns back to pay the cashier.

And she feels as if her chest will explode.

She hadn't noticed him standing behind her. In fact, they were last in line for a while. How long had he been standing there? What had he seen? Something embarrassing, no doubt…

But why does she care?

"Tor." A tug at her hand. "Tori. Our drinks are ready."

She starts. Danny's hand is far too tight around her fingers. She stares at him, offended.

"Okay." She glares at him, but he doesn't budge. "Okay, Danny. You can let go."

He pauses for a moment and then lets her hand drop. Her fingers throb, and she rubs at them with her other hand as if to bring life back into them.

Danny looks angrier than she's seen him look in a long time. It is almost enough to frighten her. "Let's go."

"Okay," she says meekly.

She knows that he has probably realized what has been holding her attention so much lately. She knows that it is her fault that he is so angry. Frankly, she's surprised that Danny has noticed her unexpected reaction, since he's usually so nonchalant about her most of the time.

Despite his anger, as Tori leaves with Danny she forces her gaze back into the coffee shop and tries desperately to fix her eyes on Professor Shapiro.

She succeeds and finds that he is staring back.


End Chapter Two.