, Disclaimer; Nope, I still don't own Victorious , just enjoy playing around at Hollywood Arts.
" I'm so glad that you wanted to hang out tonight , Andre " declared Tori as she dumped her backpack on the floor beside the door and headed to the kitchen for drinks .
Andre plopped down on the couch." Yeah, it's been a while "
Tori poured lemonade into two glasses and laughed at him." What are you talking about , Andre ? We hang out together all of the time "
Andre tried to ignore the niggling feeling of hurt mingled with some anger and managed a wry smile instead ." We hang out together with the rest of the guys , not so much you and me . Not like we used to anyhow …."
She handed him the lemonade and considered this ." Well, it's just been so crazy lately , Andre with school and things ."
Andre bit the inside of his jaw and set the glass on the coffee table ." Beck's been spending lots of time over here hanging out last month or so. I wasn't going to ask but think I changed my mind ..you got something going on with him?"
Tori spewed her lemonade and shoved the glass on the table as she wiped her chin.
" You think I have something with Beck? That's crazy , like really crazy, Andre . Think you've been hanging out way too much with Jade lately "
" We're all friends and we've all wondered so you and Beck been seeing each other or what ? Cause if you haven't been then I don't know why you got so bent out of shape this morning when Beck and Jade got back together "
" Beck and I are pals ! We haven't been dating behind anyone's back ! I wasn't bent out of shape either -I'm glad that Beck is back with Jade . Happy even " She paused and screwed her face up with contemplation ," though you have to admit it was kind of strange what with the whole Moose thing . Don't you think ?"
Andre grabbed a pillow off of the couch, squeezing it tightly and trying not to give into his own feelings here . It wasn't easy , that's for sure .
" I think I'm awfully sick about hearing about Moose this week . Still don't see how you lost control for a too bit hockey jock from Canada in a couple of days"
" I didn't lose control ," protested Tori ," why are you asking me crazy things , Andre ? This is crazy talk …"
" I could bring up that you seem to be awfully chummy with Jade lately ' brought up Tori, wishing she could withdraw the statement now that she had blurted it out .
She hoped that she didn't come across as jealous because she so wasn't jealous .
Even though Tori knew at the back of her mind that Andre had once had a thing for Jade but that had been a long time ago . He wouldn't ..couldn't still feel that way about her now ? Could he ?
" Jade and I are friends ," replied Andre , matter of fact ," same as you and Beck. Jade loves Beck. it's a fact . I just brought up beck because you seem to be trying all kind of new things lately , Tori, so I was curious "
" I know I am sooo a risk taker " enthused Tori, pumping a fist into the air .
" I was thinking more of you spending alone time with Beck, lying about you liking hockey when you hate the game , blowing off me and the rest of the guys all this week for Moose , and wait for it , throwing yourself at a dude who wasn't into you . Not the Tor I Vega that I know unless she got body snatched by aliens or something "
Tori gaped at him. " I never lied exactly ! I fudged a bit and I don't think Moose believed me about being a big hockey fan even though I googled everything I could find on the stupid game "
" Whatever you say, Tori " allowed Andre , a sharp tone in his voice now that he couldn't disguise ," but you know I'm right about this . You hate hockey . I tried to explain it to you that one time and you wanted to know why the dudes were wearing freaky Jason masks instead of hockey masks "
" They looked evil in those masks ! "
Before they could continue their argument , their pear phones went off alerting them of text messages which they both stopped to read immediately .
" Oh my God ! Cat what are you doing ?" muttered a dumbfounded Tori to the phone .
Andre looked up from his own message and couldn't help the happy smile wreathing his handsome face .
" My boy Robbie finally grabbed him some courage and kissed Cat tonight "
" Gross ," Tori typed quickly ," why would Robbie do that ? I don't understand this and Cat just sent me a text saying that Robbie swept her off her feet with dreamy kiss and now they are a couple . Has she lost her mind ?"
Andre typed a quick congrats to his friend and Cat , pocketed his own phone and found the anger surge forward for his friend and for himself .
He understood where Robbie was coming from and was happy he'd finally won Cat over but it drove him mad to think that Tori still hadn't a single freaking clue about anything ,apparently .
He went on the defense ." What's so gross about it ? Robbie's been crazy about Cat for as long as I can remember and she's been flirty with him for just as long . I think its great and I'm happy for them !"
" Robbie's kissed me for a drive by acting exercise before , Andre , and trust me , nothing is dreamy about it . I am just surprised that Cat is sending me sappy texts about her and Robbie ..its insane . Its like with Beck and jade today ! Did they slip something in the Wahoo punch this morning or the coffee ? "
" Robbie knocked Cat off of her Keds ! I'm proud of the dude ! Bout freaking time too ! Jade hasn't ever fell out of love with Beck in the first place and he's been deluding himself trying to act like a player so that he falls out of love with her !
When did you become so blind , Tori ?" He paced around the living room , a low growl in his throat, and all the pent up emotions he had for her dying to escape and clutched at his hair, and tried to breathe and work through the wonky .
" Why are you yelling at me about this ? Don't yell at me, Andre ! Maybe I'm just a little cynical because all these new romantic thingies just happened and I couldn't even get Moose to give me the time of the day ! " said an exasperated Tori , the truth of the matter slipping out .
She was lonely .
Not desperate like Trina but it had been a while since she actually felt any excitement about going out with a new guy or just even having a new flirtation .
" I'm not yelling ! " Andre stopped and took a moment to admire how hot she looked in the skintight black jeans and the sparkly red tee shirt ," and what are you texting lil Red ? Don't you even think about putting second or third thoughts in the girls head about Robbie . They deserve a shot to be together and find out what happens themselves …"
" I'm not saying anything ," Tori shoved her phone in his face , ticked now ," Cat and Robbie are my friends too, you know . Okay so its strange and weird but look what Cat sent me …three smiley faces and a bunch of hearts around Robbie's name . I would totally hurt her feelings if I said anything but happy thoughts to her right now "
" Good " Andre pocketed his own phone ," a little support never hurt "
Why was he trying to pick a fight with Tori ? He was going out of his mind with this craziness and he wasn't supposed to be driving her away from him , he didn't want them to drift apart anymore than they had .
Andre had been so relieved when he had gotten to school and discovered that Beck and Jade had finally gotten back together . He'd been holding out for it since they had broken up and it was good seeing Jade more like herself and actually smiling now .
All was good .
He really did believe that Beck truly loved Jade and not Tori .
One part of him though was always mocking him and whispering that the attraction between Beck and Tori had always been kind of hanging in the air , not doing anything much till these last couple of months . He'd wanted to confront Beck about her more than a dozen times but he hadn't because he didn't want to screw up his friendships and then had hurt too much during her big break performing at the Platinum Music awards to do anything about it .
Tori had gotten her first real chance to shine on national TV and she spent the week confiding in his best friend , Beck, and not him.
It had stung more than he would ever admit and now on top of all the stupid chizz with Moose , it made everything that more messed up in his head .
Now he really got a clearer picture of what Robbie had been feeling about Cat .
" Why are we fighting over Cat and Robbie ? I think maybe it's a Belgium cocoa kind of night after all ….we must be stressed " laughed Tori, nervously .
" I was just stopping you from doing something you might regret later and might hurt our friends ," retorted Andre , matter of fact ," you're the one who's all worked up, crazy face "
Tori stared at him, shocked and excited by the dark gleam in Andre 's eyes and the heated look that had her palms suddenly sweaty and tried to focus .
This was Andre !
" I'm not crazy ! You're the one who's accusing me of wanting Beck, of all people ! "
" Take a freaking poll, Tori, cause if you went around school and asked people we were all wondering the same thing about it but were too afraid to ask "
" I'm not the one sharing soup with Jade ! You didn't think I didn't see you or that Cat wouldn't mention it cause the girl cant keep a secret and you were wearing my favorite sweater ! " Tori covered her mouth with her hand, quickly, and wanted to crawl up into some hole and not come out for days and now Andre knew she had favorites of his .
He let out a slow , sexy laugh that sort of rumbled and gave him more courage and confidence to step closer so that they were eye to eye .
" It wasn't a secret and it defiantly wasn't a date " Andre brushed lazily at the feathers in her long brown hair and saw the hitch in her breath ," we were poor and bored so we shared a soup and some iced water at Nozu . Now what's this about you having a favorite of my sweaters ?"
Tori gulped and got caught up in his warm gaze and felt a flick of something sizzling between them and causing sparks .
" It's nothing ….those nice V-neck sweaters you have that you bought at the outlet ..they ..you look handsome in them. I mean, I'm sure Elise or Hope or Sherry or any of the other 20 girls you have dated would have told you the same thing "
Andre cupped her face and watched in fascination as she bit her bottom lip .
" None of them are you, Tori "
" Gulp "
Why was it so hot in the house ? Why was she thinking about Andre in a different way and why, oh why, was she wondering about kissing him all of the sudden ?
" We , um, I think we should order a pizza "
" I wasn't going to say anything ,' admitted Andre, quietly ," I'm cool at keeping my feelings to myself . Told myself it didn't matter , didn't want to rock the boat with our friendship but its been pretty rough couple of months and I don't know how strong I am "
Tori reached out and placed a soft hand on his arm, meaning to soothe ." Andre , what are you talking about ? Has something been going on that I don't know about ?"
" Yes " Andre declared and put his heart on the line and prayed she didn't stomp on it ," I have feelings for you, Tori. Strong feelings and they are in every freaking song that I write for you ! Maybe you felt it somehow and have been putting on the brakes with me , I don't know , but I just cant do this anymore without getting it out there ."
Tori felt as if the rug had just been pulled out from under her at this announcement all the while there was that zing buzzing alive between them ." Andre , I..I don't even know what to say to you … "
Before Tori could further register the shock and the truth between them, the sparks that had always been building between them snapped and ignited as Andre swept in capturing her mouth with his, testing, tasting, delving deeper until All she could do was hold on tight and meet the passion and the heat with her own .
She reached for his shoulders afraid to let go while the need and the emotions whirled and sizzled between them and any coherent thought that Tori had fled consumed by Andre .
Her heart was screaming that this was what she had always wanted but was too afraid to admit it to herself or to him and risk their friendship .
" Oh chizz , about time ! " announced Trina , glancing with an amused expression at her sister and Andre as she headed downstairs ," Get a room !"
Grabbing her bag, Trina left the Vega house just as they separated, both breathing heavily between them and stared at each other through the haze of unspent passion .
" Andre '
" You kissed me back " Andre still had a few lingering doubts but her reaction to him hadn't been what he expected and gave him the conviction to follow this thing all the way through ," you cant tell me you didn't feel anything now, Tori "
" I wasn't going to but Andre what about our friendship ? You're my best friend and so important to me and yes , I felt something between us ! I felt it that very first day when you walked in my house to perform with Trina …..but we have to think about these things "
Andre wasn't to be deterred not anymore ." Seems to me like we have thought them through . Maybe even over thought over thought on it if you recognized this same day that I did , Tori , but we had just met and things were still new with us so I never made a move to ask you to go on a date with me "
" Every time I was going to mention it -I changed my mind because you were always dating your girl of the month, Andre ! I didn't completely forget about finding a date for the prome either but thought maybe you'd get tired of Sherry and we could go together "
Admitted Tori, shaking her brown hair off of her shoulders and trying to steady her heart .
" Gah ! Do you know how much I hated Sherry ! Cause I really , really hated her ! "
" I did kind of pick up on that ," Andre cupped her elbow in his hand to stop her , his voice low and full of meaning ," and you've been pushing me away since Beck and jade broke up. Think we need to clear the air the rest of the way here , Tor "
" Alright , fine , but you wont like it ! Beck tried to kiss me before but I couldn't let him do it ! I couldn't do that to Jade ! She's my friend and it would have been wrong and even though she never said anything to me, I knew since she hadn't even attempted dating other guys that she still had feelings for Beck "
Andre expected to be angry but found that he understood ." Think we can take Beck and Jade out of this now . This is about you and me, Tori "
He cupped her chin lightly in the palm of his hand and gazed soulfully at her .
" I love you , Tori " breathed Andre , quietly ," Song To You, Tell Me that you love me , Countdown , all of those songs are about how I feel about you . You inspire me , you believe in me, and you're my best friend "
She bit her lip and sighed ," Andre , what if this ruins our friendship ? What if one day we fight and just throw everything good about our friendship right out a window because I get mad at you for flirting with another pretty girl ! "
Andre took her hands into his and saw the fear shadowed in her eyes .
" I don't see that happening with us , Tori . You know what I think ? I think us becoming an us is only going to make us better than we already are and that's pretty special ."
Tori found herself walking into his arms ." It complicates things "
" I don't see that unless you don't want to tell me that you love me back " Andre tried to lighten the tension and sent her a gorgeous bone melting smile .
Tori couldn't lie to save her life and didn't think she wanted to .
" Andre , I do love you ! I'm just trying to be practical ! "
" Nothing is practical about being in love , Tori , and since we love each other , can we please take that next leap and be in love together ? " It came out a soft plea .
" The situation turned around , no where to hide " muttered Tori, under her breath and encircled her arms around his neck ," as long as you say it "
" Really, Tori ?" teased Andre , taking a moment to enjoy holding her ," look I don't care how cheesy it is that I'm using my own song words to you but I have faith in us . I know that we can make it and I think we ought to grab it and give us a chance to see what happens for the better . Its all on you , Tori "
There had to be hundreds of reasons why they shouldn't change anything in their relationship but right now in his arms, Tori could only think of the reasons why they were perfect for each other . She was quaking in her boots at the thought of trying something new , letting go of her heart fully and giving it the rest of the way to him, but when it came down to the matter , she had always known the truth but hid it well.
" Yes ! Yes ! Yes, I want to be with you but we are not texting everybody about it " declared Tori ," though I think it couldn't hurt to change our relationship status on the Slap , Andre . We don't have to be all Catherine Obvious about us , should be natural that we're together now "
Andre chuckled ," You're the crazy text girl , baby , but whatever "
" You're my number one too " Grinning wickedly at him, Tori pressed her lips to his and found that home had been with Andre all along .
