May 30th 2013

Freddie looked out the van window and sighed, "We have to drive?" he asked curiously

"Yup! Well, we'll fly if we go outta country, but I doubt it'll happen this tour." his brunette friend, and the reason he was here, told him cheerfully.

Their second semester at UCLA had just ended and before Freddie could blink it was time for Tori's tour, which he had promised he'd go with her on, and now they were on their way to Austin Texas for her first show. He looked down at his laptop which was still showing the movie he'd been watching and closed it, "Nervous?"

"Kinda..." she admitted, "I mean... There's a gonna be a HUGE crowd, what if I don't live up to expectations?"

"You, will be perfect." he said.

She looked at him with uncertainty in his eyes, "Promise?" she asked.

"One hundred percent promise." he told her, "You will be fantastic."

She smiled and kissed his cheek, causing him to blush slightly, "Thanks."

"What're friends for?" he asked. "We've got about another ten hours, why don't you try to get some sleep and maybe you'll think of a new song to blow them out of the water?"

She nodded, "I wish Andre was here, he was a fantastic song writer."

"So are you." he told her, "Trust me, get some sleep."

Ten minutes later she was asleep and the Seattle native went back to his movie until her manager, a young woman named Trish, walked in, "How's our future star?" she asked in a cheerful voice he often suspected was fake.

Trish, short for Trisha, was a woman in her mid 30's with long blonde hair and hazel eyes . She wore a black business dress and had her hair tied up in a pony tail. She seemed nice enough, but Freddie could tell she wasn't always as cheerful as she pretended to be.

"She's asleep." he whispered, "But she's working on a song now." he lied.

The blonde nodded and walked to the front of the bus with the driver and he went back to his movie before falling asleep.

He was awoken three hours later by Tori who showed him a notepad with a hastily scribbled song. "This is about...?"

She nodded, "What do you think?"

"I like it." He nodded, "You should dedicate it to Beck."

"I plan to." she said with a smirk.

"Good deal." he said with a grin.

When they finally arrived at Austin Freddie was the first one off the bus as they hadn't stopped since the Texas/New Mexico Border hours ago. "Gotta pee!" he shouted as he raced off the bus and headed for the gas station across the street. Tori giggled and watched him go while she stretched by walking around the bus a few times.

She looked at her watch and sighed, it was almost 4 AM and they had a show that night "Time to get some food and then go back to sleep." she muttered as Freddie came back with a doughnut and handed it to her.

"Try this." he said, "It's amazing."

She looked at the pastry wearily before taking it in her hand and biting into it. "Oh my god.." she muttered between mouthfuls, "This is delicious."

"Told ya."

\She giggled a little and shook her head,"Quiet Benson."

"Or what Vega?"

"Or uh..." she paused and threw a bit of the doughnut at him.

"Hey! That's just not fair!" he said with a grin.

"All's fair in love and war."

"So you're in love with me?"

Tori blushed softly, "N-No.." But even to her the words sounded hollow, like she was lying.

He looked at her curiously, and she wondered if he'd noticed how hollow the words sound, but he didn't say anything "Come on, you need some rest if you're gonna sing tonight."

She just sighed and walked back onto the bus as she finished up the doughnut he'd brought her and tried not to let her nerves take over as she tried to sleep.

She was shaken awake at 11:30 by Freddie, "C'mon, we've got the entire day to ourselves, we can do whatever we want"

"Oh yeah? I bet you've got a big ol day planned?"

"Nah, I was just gonna buy you lunch."

"Oh yeah? This a date?" she teased.

His expression was unreadable for a moment, "If you want it to be." he finally said with a smile.

"An unofficial first date?" she teased.

"Sure" He laughed.

"I need to get dressed first."

"I'll wait outside."

As soon as he walked outside she took a deep breath, why was she so nervous? They were friends... Best friends, You couldn't do much better than him Tori a voice in her head said.

"Oh shut up." She growled, her face turning slightly red. She got dressed in a simple light blue t-shirt and a jean shorts with a pair of black sandals. She hopped off the bus and smiled "Ready?"

Freddie had dressed in a simple black t-shirt and blue jeans with his normal sneakers, "Ready." he replied with a soft smile.

They walked through the city, mostly sight seeing, while looking for a place to eat. They finally reached a BF Wangs (Tori was happy, she loved this place) and decided to eat there. "I kinda miss Nozu's." Tori said with a smirk as they got a seat in the back.

"We're gonna have wings and all you can think about is sushi?" he asked, "Weirdo."

"I am not weird!" she protested with a giggle, "I just like sushi."

"You're weird!" he said with a grin, "But that's okay... I like weird."

She felt heat rising in her cheeks again, what was wrong with her? She never blushed at corny stuff like that before.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah I'm... fine." she said with a soft sigh, "Um, would you like to just split a meal?"

"Sure, I'm not that hungry, I just wanted to go somewhere with you."

She let out a nervous giggle, "Thanks, but surely I'm not that interesting."

"You're my best friend." he said, "Of course you are."

"Thanks...that's sweet."

"It's the truth."

"It's still sweet."

Silence consumed the conversation as a waitress came up, her name tag read Anna, and placed menu's on the table. The two college students ordered coffee to drink and decided to split a basket of wings. The waitress nodded and walked off with their orders.

"So, are you gonna be working with the audio guys?"

"Definitely." he said with a grin, "I'll make you sound amazing, an easy job really."

"Oh yeah? Why's that?"

"Because you already sound amazing."

"Thanks Freddie, that's really sweet..."

"Hey, I wouldn't lie to you, I promise."

"I know."

"It doesn't seem real... I mean we've barely started college and I'm on a tour of the United States."

"You're just that good."

"I guess.."

His hand slid forward to cover hers, "There isn't anyone I've ever met more talented and beautiful than you."

"What about Carly?" she asked.

He froze, he hadn't thought about Seattle, iCarly, or Carly for months, "She was an actress, a good one, but you're better."

She wanted to believe him, but part of her nagged that he was just saying that because he was bitter, "Thanks." she finally said.

He just shrugged as the food arrived, "You're gonna be great, and I'll be first in line to buy your first album."

"Well at least it'll sell one album."

"It'll sell more than that surely."

"We'll see."

"Well, We'll see."

The food arrived before he could reply and they focused on the wings in the basket, letting the conversation die.

They spent the rest of the day walking around Austin sightseeing while waiting for the performance to start. "Got your play list ready for tonight?"

She nodded, "Yep, I think so anyway..."

"Think so?"

"I just, it's hard to know if you're really prepared.."

"Make sense."

She nodded, "Come on, time to head back to the bus."

"Alright, it'll only take us a few minutes, twenty at the max.

"Lead the way then."

He smiled and they walked back to the bus.

Fifteen minutes before the performance Tori approached Freddie and tapped him on the shoulder, "I don't think I can do this.." she said nervously. She was wearing a black dress and black high heels and her brunette hair flowed down past her shoulders and her make up made her eyes shine.

"W-Wow..."

She glared at him, a smile on her face, "Thanks... But seriously, have you seen the people out there?"

"Yup, they promoted the hell out of this."

"So I've noticed..." She muttered, "There's too many!"

"You can do this." he assured her.

"What if I fail?"

"You won't."

"But.."

"You won't." he said firmly, "Trust me."

She nodded, "Alright..." she said with a soft sigh, "Here we go.." she muttered as she was ushered on stage.

The concert was a hit, she came alive on stage as if she were born to be on it, and Freddie found her backstage, "You did amazing!"

She grinned and kissed his cheek, "Thanks." she said breathlessly, "It was... incredible.." She trailed off as she noticed two very familiar faces approaching: Jade and Andre.

"Yo." The dark haired musician said, "Wicked show."

"It was horrible." Jade commented dryly.

"Andre! Jade!" The brunette said happily and hugged her old friend and smiled at the goth girl beside him, "I forgot you two were going to school here."

"Back off." Jade growled.

Tori looked at her oddly, then a look of disbelief hit her, "No way..."

"That obvious?" Andre asked.

The young tech expert spoke up, "Did I miss something?" he asked.

"Jade is dating Andre." his brunette friend explained.

"Yeah well, after you stole Beck from me it opened my eyes that there were other, better, options out there."

"Okay I didn't steal anyone from anyone. Besides, Beck's an ass... He dumped me at the beginning of the year for some other girl."

Jade smirked, "GOOD" she said.

"Have you guys seen Cat or Robbie since graduation?"

"Nah... Cat went to New York I think, and Robbie well... he's Robbie."

Freddie remembered the ventriloquist and nodded, he'd definitely been weird. "So um, how about we all grab dinner?" he asked suddenly.

Everyone seemed agreeable so they let the gothic girl and her boyfriend lead them through Austin to a sushi restaurant (Tori was ecstatic).

"So Andre, going to school here in Austin?" Freddie asked.

"Yeah, I'm majoring in music, I want to be able to record and produce my own stuff."

"What about you Jade?"

"Same." Was the only answer he got out of her.

"Okay... Um." he muttered, trying to find a new topic, "Tori and I go to school in L.A" he said, "She's gonna be a singer and actress and I'm studying to be a producer."

"That's cool." Andre said, "You gonna help her out on her shows?"

"I hadn't thought about it but, if she want's me too yeah."

"I'd like that." The brunette spoke up. She glanced over at her old friend when he gave her a knowing smile and he just shook his head and went back to focusing on his food.

The rest of the dinner went by slowly and awkwardly, once they were finished Andre excused himself and Jade and wished Tori the best while Jade just glared at her the entire time.

"That was... Intense.." Freddie finally said.

"You have no idea." His friend replied as they exited the place, "I suppose we should head back to the bus."

"Yeah, we're heading to Atlanta I believe, then up north."

"You sure you wanna stick around? The tour will probably take all summer."

"I'm in it for the long run." He said, "Promise."

She smiled, "Well then, let's head back to the bus and get some sleep."

They walked back to the bus, the streets were mostly empty at this time of night, and Freddie found himself eager for the next city I could get used to this... He thought as they walked through the city. Finally they got to the bus and he collapsed on his bed, "Night Tori."

"Night Freddie." Came a mumbled reply.

Soon sleep over took the two college students and the bus headed out of Austin to Atlanta.