Beck slowly pulls up into the church's narrow driveway and a sense of dread instantly washes over him. Tori is already questioning the progress they've made and now there's a possibility that Andre will make it worse. Who knows what Andre will tell Tori, but Beck knows it can't possibly be anything good. He's just afraid that Tori will end up believing her best friend over him, not that he could blame her, he hasn't been the most trustworthy person in the past.
"You sure you don't want to come in with me? We can both talk to him and work it all out" Tori suggests, hopeful that he will say yes and she can actually enjoy the day.
"I'm sure Tori, I don't want to cause any problems on his wedding day. Just go have fun, don't worry about it" Beck replies. He smiles at her to show that he is okay with things.
"You know I can't not worry about it" she says causing him to laugh. For as long as he's known her, Beck knows Tori can't relax and have a good time unless things around her are at ease. Whenever any trouble arose within their group, she tried to find ways to fix them. Even if she ended up making things worse, which was most of the time, her willingness to help is endearing.
"Just try and enjoy it okay?" He asks.
Hesitantly, Tori nods her head. "Thanks for the ride" she says and shoots him a small smile.
"Anytime" he replies returning the smile.
Tori turns to open the door and as her hands reach the door handle, she turns back to look at him. He is still smiling and for whatever reason, she leans over and kisses him. As their lips touch for the first time in over a year, she feels exhilarated and light headed at the same time. The sensation is similar to how she felt during their first kiss all those years ago. It feels innocent and intense...amazing.
A few seconds later she pulls away and smiles when she sees his eyes are still closed. Slowly, he opens them.
"I'll call you later" she says quickly, not wanting to give him the opportunity to talk. She wants the kiss to just stand as it is, no questions about it or intentional jokes to lighten the mood. She definitely does not want to explain what made her do it, because she's not completely sure herself. All she knows is that it's something she's been wanting to do for some time now and finally got the courage to do.
"Okay" he says. Simple, just the way she wants it.
Tori turns her back to him and opens the car door. She steps out of the car and closes it behind her, taking one last look at him. She gives him a small wave goodbye and starts walking towards the church, making sure to put an extra pep in her step just for him. She hears the car drive off when she opens the front doors of the church and sighs.
'Now to find Andre' she thinks making her way around in search of someone who can tell her where he is.
It doesn't take very long for Tori to find someone. Near the church pews she spots Michael, Andre's college roommate and best man. Tori smiles when she sees that he is just finishing up a prayer. Unlike most people, Michael found spirituality at a very early age. His parents took him to church every Sunday morning and he eventually became part of the choir. Whenever Tori is feeling down and can't find Andre, she goes to Michael. He is amazingly nonjudgmental and always provides good advice.
Once he rises from the pew, Tori starts walking towards him. "Hey, hey" she says happily, the anxiety from a few minutes before diminishing.
"Hey yourself" he replies turning to look at her, his tone equally happy.
"Wow look at you" she says admiring her friend's spiffy gray suit and contrasting purple pocket square. His white shirt is crisply ironed and a bow tie pulls the look together. He raises his brows and playfully turns around so she can admire the entire package. Tori laughs and whistles. "Very nice" she says.
Michael laughs once he's finally facing her again and bows slightly. "Why thank you Ms. Vega. I would say the same about you but frankly, you're not dressed the part for this wedding yet."
Tori decides to do her own little twirl to show him just how under dressed she is. "My car wouldn't start so I had to catch a ride here. I'm on my way to see Rachel but I need to speak to Andre first, do you happen to know where he is?" Tori asks.
Michael nods his head. "Make a left outside the doors and it's the fourth door down. He's in there with Robbie and Rachel's brother, you should be able to hear them" he replies.
"Great, I'm going to go find him. I'll see you soon" she says turning to leave.
"Hopefully you're actually dressed for this thing then" he says jokingly. Tori turns around, sticks her tongue out and quickly turns back.
In the hallway she can hear loud noises and assumes it must be the guy's room. As she walks towards the room, she exhales deeply. Hopefully Andre will tell her what happened between him and Beck the night before. Maybe she can convince him to forgive Beck for whatever happened and invite him to the wedding again.
She stands in front of the door and the noise gets increasingly louder. Tori presses her ears to the door and can hear the guys swearing and slamming their hands on something. Confused, Tori knocks on the door and when she doesn't hear a response, slowly turns the knob. Inside the small room, she sees Andre, Robbie and Parker, Rachel's brother, sitting around a circular table, a deck of cards in the middle of it and each man is holding a few in their hands. There is a small amount of money on the table as well as three shot glasses, filled with what she assumes is tequila.
"Are you guys seriously gambling and drinking in a church?" she asks incredulously finally getting the guys' attention. One by one they look up from their hands and give her an innocent look.
"Hey Tori" says Parker while Robbie only waves and looks back down to his deck.
"Hey Tor" Andre replies, "we're just having a little fun before the big moment."
"In a church though? Classy guys" she responds walking over to grab an empty chair and place it next to Andre.
"It's a tradition guys do. No big deal" Robbie says without looking up from his cards. Tori scrunches her face in disbelief and decides to drop the subject. For a few moments she watches as the guys pick up or drop down cards. Several times they add a few bills on the table. Tori tries to count the bills and gets to twenty-three when Parker suddenly slams his cards on the table.
"Full house" he yells, joyfully hopping out of his seat. "Drink up suckers" he says while gathering up the money from the table. Groaning, Andre picks up a shot glass and quickly downs the liquid. Robbie takes a little longer to drink it but eventually joins his friend.
"Okay, no more," starts Andre. "Rachel will kill me if I show up drunk to this thing."
"How many have you had?" Tori speaks up.
"This would be number four" Andre answers. He takes his shot glass and tips it upside down. Robbie does the same and puts his on top of Andre's.
Laughing, Parker shakes his head and begins counting the money he's just won. "You guys should just stick to go fish or something" he exclaims as he takes his seat once again.
Andre rolls his eyes and turns to look at Tori. "Did you need help with anything Tor?" he asks finally addressing the reason for her being there.
"Oh, I just came because I need to speak to you about something but if you're busy I guess it can wait" she says, hoping that he will bite and talk to her.
"No, I'm just killing time. What's up?" he asks.
"Actually, I was hoping we could talk privately" she says trying to be as discreet as possible. From the curious looks she's getting from Robbie and Parker, however, she knows she wasn't so subtle.
"Um, okay sure. Want to step out for a bit guys?" Andre asks Robbie and Parker who hesitantly nod. Tori waits until both men stand up and leave the room to begin talking to Andre. Even after the door closes she takes a few seconds to figure out the right way to ask him.
"This is about last night right?" he asks beating her to the punch.
Tori can't help but smirk. Of course he knows what this is about, he has been her best friend for almost a decade now. She nods her head and watches him stand up from his chair and walk to the opposite side of the room. She observes him carefully, trying to see if there are any signs that he might be upset that she's brought it up.
"I should have known he'd tell you about it" he says bitterly. Tori arches her eyebrow and remains silent, waiting for his next move.
"Son of a bitch" he hisses which catches her off guard. She gets off her chair and walks over to him. Not wanting to give him any further opportunities to bad mouth Beck, she jumps. "What the hell happened Andre? You guys were fine and then this morning he tells me you uninvited him to your wedding?"
"I just don't trust him Tori, and I don't think you should either" Andre says.
"W-why? Did he do something?" she questions. An array of Beck hooking up with strippers flood her head and she's instantly unsure whether or not he told her the truth.
"Of course he did, when he cheated on you. I don't understand why you haven't kicked him to the curb already. He's just walking around getting a chance he doesn't deserve."
Tori stares at her best friend, shocked at his outburst. What the hell happened the night before to suddenly turn two great friends into enemies? Didn't Beck say Andre was drunk? He can't possibly remember everything that happened last night, can he?
She sighs before speaking up. "Andre, that's between him and I. I want to know what happened between you two last night."
"We just disagreed on a few things, that's all" he replies coolly.
Tori shakes her head from side to side. She's going to need more than that. "Andre, you and Beck have been friends for years, longer than I've known you. There's no way a few disagreements is going to mess up your friendship. What happened?"
"Tori, in case you haven't noticed, Beck and I haven't been that close the last couple of years. Ever since college when he went to New York, we've been butting heads. The only reason I even stayed in touch with him is because of you."
"What are you talking about? You invited him to our graduation, that's how we got back together" she responds confused.
"Yeah, because I knew you missed him and it would mean a lot to you. My friendship with Beck would have ended much earlier if it hadn't been for you" Andre says and walks to stand closer to her.
"I just don't get it, you guys always seemed okay around each other."
Andre reaches to put a hand on Tori's shoulder. "It's what you wanted to see Tor. Your relationship with both of us was fine so you didn't see anything wrong with ours. We haven't been cool for a long time now."
Tori brings her hands to her face and rubs her eyes. Is he right? Could she really have been so oblivious to the tensions between them because she wanted everything to be perfect in her life?
"Andre, you're my best friend, why didn't you tell me then?"
"Because I wouldn't stand in the way of your happiness. It was easy to suck it up and be around him because he was good for you at first. Then after the cheating and the lies... it became harder but I made the effort for you."
"Then what changed? What happened last night that made you change your mind?" she asks bringing her hands down and looking at him.
Andre takes a deep breath. There's no way he can tell her about Beck's accusation without making things awkward between them. There's no way he's going to bring them up on his wedding day. The main reason he uninvited Beck was to avoid any drama that might come up. He's not about to create it himself, Rachel would not let him live it down. "He just said some things he had no business saying."
"Like what? Come on Andre, you're not giving me anything. I'm here stuck in the middle between my best friend and my boyfriend and it's-" Tori says before being interrupted by Andre.
"Boyfriend?" he asks, shock evident in his voice.
"I didn't mean that, it just slipped out" she quickly corrects herself.
"Oh you can't be serious? You're really thinking of giving him another chance? After everything that happened and all the nights you cried over what he did, you've got to be kidding me" Andre says angrily. He moves away from her and starts walking towards the table with the cards. He takes a clean shot glass and opens the tequila bottle. Slowly, he pours the clear liquid into the small glass and chugs it down.
"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" Tori asks strutting over to where he is. She takes a hold of the bottle and pulls it away from him.
"No, what the hell are you doing? I really didn't peg you for one of those stupid girls Tori" he says angrily.
Tori's eyes widen and she takes a step back. No matter how angry he gets at her, Andre has never been one to insult her. He could pick on her music, her clothes but never her decisions. He's never judged her until now. "I'm not stupid" she says defensively.
"Yeah, well you're sure acting it right now. Can't you see how bad this guy is for you and you take him back time after time. No wonder he thinks it's okay to cheat on you."
Tori's eyes begin to water at the harshness of his words. Maybe it's his animosity towards Beck or the five tequila shots he's now had, but this bitter and cruel Andre is not one she cares to be around. She steps closer to him and shoves the bottle of tequila into his chest. He quickly brings his hands to grab it. Tori spins on her heel and starts towards the door.
"You're uninvited too. Now you can go be together" Andre yells forcing her to turn around and stare at him in disbelief.
"Andre-" she starts.
"I want you to leave" he says firmly.
Tori shakes her head and wipes her eye before the first tear rolls down her cheek. She turns back towards the door, opens it and slams it shut.
Having just kicked his best friend out of his wedding, Andre sighs and plops down on a chair. He places the tequila bottle on the table and begins twisting the cap open.
Lucky number six he thinks as he begins pouring the liquor into the glass.
Author's Note: I want to apologize to any Tandre shippers who might be reading this. I know I'm making him a little crazy but it's all for the sake of the story. Stay tuned to see if he can repair his friendships with Tori and Beck (that is if Rachel doesn't kill him for getting drunk). Until next time.