Tori is sitting in her car, frantically turning the key trying to get the engine to start. "Come on, come on" she says in frustration. She turns the key a few more times and groans when the engine simply gives out rather than start. Tori throws her head back against the headrest, a decision she quickly regrets as the bobby pins holding her rollers in place press against her scalp.
"Damn it" she continues as she rubs the back of her head.
She reaches over to the passenger seat next to her and begins digging through her purse for her cell phone. Within seconds she feels it towards the bottom and fishes it out. She presses a button and reads the time, 2:16 pm. She has exactly fourteen minutes to get to the church and tend to her maid of honor duties.
All morning she has been running around doing last minute errands for Rachel. She's had to confirm times with the band and caterer. She spent nearly an hour on the phone with Rachel's parents, going over last minute details and the appropriateness of her father's speech. Also, much to her displeasure, she had to turn her apartment upside down in order to find Rachel's vows, which she'd carelessly misplaced. Somehow they had ended up in a box in the back of her closet and Tori, being so good at hiding things, had forgotten about it.
Tori takes the car keys and attempts to turn it one last time in hopes that luck is on her side, just this once. Her effort, however, is in vain as the engine simply makes a sad sound and goes off. She rolls her eyes in annoyance and begins scrolling through the contact book on her phone. She quickly goes down the list of names until reaching O. Oliver, Beck.
She highlights the name and presses the "call" button. "Please pick up" she mutters under her breath as she takes the car keys out of the ignition and stuffs them into her purse.
She waits impatiently as the dial tone starts up on the other line. "Come on" she urges on while tapping her fingers on the steering wheel. After a few more rings, she hears a "hello?" and sighs in relief.
"Oh thank God" she says instantly.
Beck laughs and says "nice to talk to you as well."
Tori blushes slightly. Even though he can't see her, she's embarrassed at how desperate her greeting must have sounded. Although they have been making progress and have come a long way since their relationship ended, she constantly needs to remind herself to play it cool so as to not give him hopes of a sudden reconciliation.
"I know you're probably busy getting ready for this thing but is there anyway you can stop by and give me a ride?" Tori continues, ignoring his laugh. "My car won't start and I'm already running late."
"Oh, um...sure I can be there in fifteen minutes" Beck responds hesitantly.
"Thank you so much. I'll wait for you here. Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Tori exclaims before hanging up.
She grabs her purse and opens the car door. She rolls her eyes at the silver automobile and makes a mental note to have someone check out what the problem might be. Being car-less in California is not an option, especially when she's trying to book jobs. She turns her back on the car and starts heading out of the building's garage to wait for Beck out in front.
A little under fifteen minutes later, Tori spots the black truck pulling up and sighs in relief. She hops off the bench she has been sitting on and quickly walks to his car.
"Nice hair" Beck says before she even gets in the car.
"Ha ha" Tori replies as she opens the passenger door and gets in. "I didn't have time to finish because I was looking for the Rachel's vows" she says while closing the door and fastening her seat belt.
"You lost the vows?" Beck asked.
"No, do you think I would be going if I did? Rachel would kill me. I misplaced them, but I have the paper now so it's alright."
Beck smiles and starts driving towards the church where the wedding is taking place. He listens intently as Tori goes on about her hectic day making last minute preparations and seeking for the vows. "Luckily Rachel has my dress at the church so it's one less thing I had to worry about" she continues. Beck looks over at his ex-girlfriend, her pink valor pants and white shirt remind him of the days they used to spend at their home together, watching movies and enjoying each others company. He has always appreciated that she doesn't feel the need to dress up for every occasion and doesn't mind dressing down. The few girls he's dated before (and stupidly, while with her), always dressed up around him. Probably because he's "Beck Oliver, the actor," and it secretly annoyed him when their heels clicked and lipstick gleamed when all they were doing was watching a movie.
"Speaking of dressing," she says interrupting his thoughts, "aren't you a bit under-dressed for a wedding?" His gray shirt, torn black pants and combat boots definitely do not scream wedding guest. His hair is messily half up in a bun and his round sunglasses complete the casualness of his outfit. Beck smiles and doesn't answer right away. Tori looks behind her to the back seat of the truck to see if his suit is there but doesn't find one.
"Are you getting dressed at the church too?" she asks.
Beck quickly glances at her and then turns his attention back to the road. "No" he says.
"So where's your suit? Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with what you're wearing but Rachel...Well, she's gone full bridezilla and might actually kill you."
"You wouldn't like that very much, would you?" Beck says jokingly.
"Shut up" Tori laughs. Surely he would love to hear her say how much it would in fact bother her, but she isn't going to. She can't give into her feelings, no matter how much she might want to. She still doesn't trust him completely and isn't going give him mixed signals. "So a suit, do you have one?" she presses on.
"I'm not invited to the wedding" he finally says without looking at her.
"What are you talking about? I helped Rachel send out the invitations, of course you're invited" she replies, the words coming out quicker than she wanted them too.
"Yeah well, not anymore" he replies. He turns to quickly look at her and sees her confused expression. He knows he should clarify, but then he'll have to tell her all about the strip club and perhaps about Andre's feelings for her and frankly, it's not a conversation he wants to have while he's moving at fifty miles an hour.
"What happened?" Tori asks. She's already becoming frustrated that she has to pull the information from him. She wants to know why he's no longer invited to the wedding but at the same time doesn't want it to seem as though she cares more than she should. So what if her ex-boyfriend, somewhat friend is uninvited? Why would that make a difference to her? She could easily say it didn't and that she didn't care. Truth be told though, it does and she does.
She was looking forward to having a good time with the people closest to her and celebrating the love of her two best friends. She wanted to share the day with Beck and had hopes that seeing the happiness around them might help their relationship. She wants to talk to him, laugh with him...Damn it, she wants to dance with him. So what the hell could have happened that is now standing in the way of her perfect day?
Beck sighs. He's known her long enough to know she's not going to let up and he'll eventually end up telling her. It might also be a good idea to tell her before she sees Andre and he tells her a different version of what happened.
"Andre's party was last night. We went to this club and he got drunk. We were talking and he started bringing up things I didn't like so the whole thing just escalated. He uninvited me and that's that. Seriously, it's no big deal" he says nonchalantly, his eyes focusing on the road.
"What kind of club?" she asks, her voice almost a whisper.
Taken aback by that being the one thing she took away from what he said, he turns quickly to look at her. "Seriously?" he says before turning back to look at the road.
"Yes, what kind of club was it?"
"Why does that matter?" he questions in disbelief.
"Was it a strip club?" she presses on, her voice gaining volume. Her body is now turned to face him and he can feel her eyes burning a hole on his skin. There's that feeling again, the one that tells him things are not going to end well.
"Yes" he says after a few seconds of silence.
"You went to a strip club? Seriously?" she says and he can sense the anger in her voice.
"Tori, nothing happened, it's not a big deal" he replies.
"You keep asking me to trust you and you go to a strip club! Does that make any sense?" she continues, her voice louder than before, her hands flailing with every word
"For Andre's bachelor party, it's not like I went by myself and all I did was sit at the table and have a few drinks."
"Oh bull shit, I don't believe you" she says and turns her body away from him. She turns her head and is now looking out the window. Beck groans and drives a bit farther until he finds a parking space. He slows the car down and quickly pulls it into the spot.
"What are you doing?" she asks turning to look at him.
Beck turns the key and pulls it out of the ignition. The engine's vibration seizes and he clicks his seat belt open. He turns his body to face hers and pulls his sunglasses off his face. "I swear to you nothing happened. You can ask Andre if you don't believe me."
"Oh, Andre who was drunk? Yeah, I'm sure that will convince me" she replies sarcastically and rolls her eyes.
"Robbie, Michael, whoever. I wouldn't lie to you Tori, not again."
"I just don't understand Beck. We've been making all this progress and now it's like taking three steps back. You know I'm having a hard time trusting you, you thought it was a good idea to go to a place where women take their clothes off?"
"I see why you're upset and I understand why you can't trust me, but I promise you that nothing happened. If there's ever a time where you should believe me, it's now. I wouldn't jeopardize you and our relationship for anyone."
Tori stays quiet for a few minutes and then finally exhales. She brings the pads of her fingers to her forehead and rubs it from side to side. "What did you two argue about?" she finally asks.
"Tori, I don't want to talk about that right now" Beck states, quickly remembering the exchange with his friend the night before.
"Was it about the wedding?" she asks.
"Tori, please. It's between me and Andre. I don't want you in the middle of it."
"I'm already in the middle if it's between you two" she exclaims. She looks into his eyes, the first time she has really looked into them since before their breakup. Her heartbeat suddenly increases and she immediately has to look away. Even eye contact is too much for her to handle without giving into his demand of being together.
"You're not. He's your best friend and I wouldn't dream of saying something that might hurt your friendship with him" Beck says, deciding that he isn't going to badmouth Andre, not to Tori. If Andre chooses to speak badly of him, he'll have to deal with that and hope it doesn't affect the way she thinks of him. He will just have to be the bigger person (as hard as that is in this situation) and keep Tori out of his problems.
"Was it about me then?" she concludes.
"If you want to know so badly, ask Andre okay?" he says. Beck takes the car keys and puts them back into the ignition. He turns them and the engine immediately starts up again. Beck checks his mirrors and slowly pulls out of the parking space.
"Trust me, I will" she says firmly and reaches for the radio.
As they continue the drive to the church in a rather uncomfortable silence, the sounds of Pat Benatar's Invincible resonates around them.
'I'll get to the bottom of this' Tori thinks.
Author's Note: Obviously this chapter is Bori-centered. As you go through the story you'll see that not all of them are like that. While the story is definitely Bori, there are a few relationships I've already mentioned so you'll also see those as the story moves forward. I would appreciate your input on the story so far and will see you next time!
