Chapter 4
A/N Hey guys I finally updated God Bless That Black Eye and it is a rather long chapter. Over THREE THOUSAND WORDS! I hope you have a lot of time on your hands. This explains a bit of why the story is called God Bless That Black Eye. I realize that it has been a while since i updated and i will try and update again tomorrow with there being no school due to election day. This is when i hope to have the marathon. I will say in an author's note if it is a part of the marathon or not. Anyways ONTO THE CHAPTER! Read and Write on!
- BeckandToriBeriForeverxoxo
"I Won't Let Anyone Hurt You Ever Again."
Beck and I have been working on our project for a week and we have been getting closer and closer. He's an awesome guy. He's insanely sweet and funny. This week had been one of the best because I have a boyfriend! His name is Eli. Yep, Beck's best friend. Beck looked a little shocked but he quickly said that he was happy for us and that he was cool with it, but there was something in his eyes that worried me.
Anyway our project is almost complete. We just need to finish the song and then we are done! Cat already made all of the costumes and Beck and I already found all the shapes. He was coming over today to help us write the final verse of the song. André always arrived first because well he's my best friend. Cat is still her ditsy self but that's what I love about her. She's so random and funny. Robbie still has Rex but is FINALLY standing up to him. Robbie let Rex insult him too much without punishment.
Beck and André should be here in about an hour I had already showered so I just walked into my living room and plopped down on the couch and started to scroll through the channels. I find old re runs of "Drake and Josh" and leave that on. I watch two episodes until I hear the doorbell ring. I ran to the doorbell and saw André. I gave him a hug and led him in.
"Hey muchacha. How's it going?"
"It's going good I guess."
"How's Eli?" André asked me while hitting my elbow with his.
I giggled involuntarily and I could feel a blush coming so I lowered my head. "He's good."
"I'm glad you finally found a good guy Tor." André hugged me.
"I know me too. I didn't know how much more heartache I can take."
"Well he seems like a good guy. Where's Beck?"
"He said he's on his way. He started walking like five minutes ago so he should be here soon."
"Ok so let's just chat for a little."
André and I talked about school and the new play it's called "You Drive Me Crazy". André's taking care of the music, as usual. He isn't much of an Actor though. He's more of a musician. Don't get me wrong André is a great actor but his main focus is on being a musician. He wanted me to audition and I told him I would.
Ten minutes passed
Beck would be here soon. We talked for a while and started to watch Drake and Josh. We were quoting almost every single line.
Twenty minutes passed
Maybe he had to do something before he left or maybe his mom needed him for something. Maybe he's been held up by some flirtatious girls.
Thirty minutes passed
I checked my phone no calls, no messages. If you are going to be this late at least let me know. I'm a little worried this isn't very Beck at all.
Forty-Five minutes passed
Now I'm starting to get mad, André and I have been waiting for Beck for almost an hour. He sent me a text at 1 saying he was on his way. What's taking him so long?
One Hour passed
Not one call, not one text message from Beck. Where is he? I'm not waiting around for him all day. I sent André home because it's pretty clear that Beck isn't coming. I sent him a text.
To: Beck Oliver
From: Tori Vega
So much for showing up today. Why didn't you show up? You know what I honestly don't care at least tell me if you can't come. I was waiting for you for an HOUR receiving absolutely nothing from you. Not one call, not even a simple text message. At least I know now.
I felt a little bad after sending that text. For all I know something serious could have come up, but he didn't even text me that we was held up or that something came up and he couldn't come. I went up to my room and started listening to my music trying to calm myself down form Beck blowing me… and André off.
Beck's POV
Dark clouds are all I see besides the branches of trees. Everything hurts. Everything's throbbing except for my nose. I'm covered in my own dried blood. I've been lying here for almost an hour. I finally have enough strength to stand up. While clenching my side I'm slowly standing up. I then very slowly start to walk. How could they do that to me? I was walking over to Tori's when… ow maybe now's not the time to relive what happened. I have absolutely no idea where I'm going. I slowly make my way to my phone that was thrown to the corner. Luckily it was still there and undamaged. I saw that I had one new message. My heart stopped when I read the name.
Tori.
I very painfully opened the message. My arm hurts the most but I don't think it's broken. While I read the message I felt so bad, but honestly it wasn't my fault. I tried to respond but it hurt too much. I was hoping that she would see me tomorrow and understand because of my physical state. I have no sense of direction but these roads seem familiar. Maybe I'm getting closer to my RV. I keep walking until I can't walk anymore. It's just started to rain now, very hard as well. Great, now I can barely see a thing and I'm still in a lot of pain. I can't walk anymore I decide that the next house I see I will stop there. I go to one that seems very familiar. I'm still holding my side and I ring the doorbell. I wait a few seconds before someone very familiar answers the door.
Mrs. Vega.
"Oh my gosh Beck! What happened to you?" She asked while pulling me inside her house and getting me a blanket.
"Nothing too bad."
"You go sit down on the couch. I'll make you some soup to warm you up and get Tori."
Before I could protest Mrs. Vega went into the kitchen and pulled out a can of soup and started to cook it and ran up the stairs. Oh boy, this is going to be hard to explain.
Tori's POV
I'm now calm on the whole Beck not coming thing. I realized that I over reacted a little bit. Maybe I should call him and see if everything's ok. Then my ringtone starts going off and I notice that it's Eli.
"Hey Eli!"
"Hey Babe, what's up?"
"Nothing just a little aggravated."
"Why?"
"Well Beck and I were supposed to work on our project today at one o' clock and he texted me around that time saying he was on his way. André and I waited an hour for him and he didn't show up. He didn't even call me or text me telling me he wasn't coming."
"Man what a jerk. That doesn't sound like Beck at all."
"I know right?"
"Do you want me to knock some sense into him?"
I laughed. "Nah I'm fine now. Maybe something came up and he couldn't come or maybe his phone died and that's why he didn't text me or call me. I feel really bad that I sent him that text now."
"Wait what text?"
"I just texted him telling him off for not showing up without telling me. That's all. I just thought it was a little harsh thinking of all the possibilities of why he didn't come and why he didn't text me or call me and-"
"Babe you did nothing wrong. You were simply standing up for yourself." He then mumbled something that I couldn't hear.
"What did you say?"
"Huh oh sorry Babe that was my mom I gotta go talk to you later."
"Ok bye."
I hung up. Then my mom started pounding on my door. I opened it to see her looking very worried.
"Mom what's wrong?"
"I think you might want to come downstairs into the living room and see it for yourself."
"Mom why can't you just tell me?"
"Just come downstairs with me now."
"Alright, alright."
I follow my mom down the stairs and I recognized the now straight non-fluffy hair matted against his skull due to the rain outside with a blanket around him.
"Mom what's he doing here?" I whispered to her.
"Just go and talk to him." She responded still very worried.
"Mom is everything al-"
"Just go and see for yourself."
I was suddenly very nervous about the situation at hand. I don't know what to expect.
"Mom I really don't want to talk to him right now."
Then my Mom pushed me towards the couch and we struggled.
"Mom! Mom! Stop! Alright alright alright! I'll talk to him!" I yelled making my presence known.
I saw Beck sitting on the couch with his hands wrapped around a cup of hot chocolate and a blanket draped over his shoulders and the hood of his jacket was up. I very awkwardly walked over to the other couch. I sat with my legs bent behind me and my elbow resting on the back of the couch and my head in my hand. He continued to stare at either the TV or his hands. I couldn't see his face but he looked uncomfortable. I doubted he wanted to talk to me so I figured I'd start.
"Hey. How are you?" I asked a little shy thinking he was mad at me because of the text.
He swallowed hard and kept his gaze away from me. "Fine." His voice sounded strained and raspy. Probably because of the rain and how he was only in his hoodie. Every inch of his body is covered and I can barely see his skin as if he's hiding something from me. Probably trying to get warm I think.
"That's good."
Then we sat in an awkward silence. I had to get something off my chest. I felt terrible for how I acted earlier in the day and he deserves an apology, in person.
"Look Beck I'm sorry for how I acted earlier in the text I sent you. I overreacted when I should have called and asked you if everything was alright. I feel completely embarrassed for how I acted."
"No your right. I should've called and told you why I wasn't coming at that specific time. I was just too caught up in what I was doing to text you or anything. I feel awful." His voice was still strained.
"Beck, its fine I guess I was just caught off guard by that sudden change in behavior that I overreacted a bit."
"Don't worry its cool." He still refused to look at me. He was still covering every inch of his skin, not even letting his hands show. They were inside his jacket. Something just snapped in me and my mouth moved faster than my brain.
"Then why can't you look at me?"
Right after I said it I expected to feel regret and stupidity but surprisingly I didn't feel that at all. There was obviously a reason why he wasn't looking at me.
He let out a big sigh as I started to move closer to his couch. When I sat down right beside him I felt him tense up a bit and let out another sigh. He turned his head away from me a bit.
"Promise not to freak out?" He asked me quietly and worry spread through me.
"I promise." I said just barely above a whisper.
He let out another depressing sigh, put his hot chocolate on the table, and turned his head so I saw the back of it. He removed his hood and slowly turned to face me. I was now sitting there with my jaw almost hitting the floor. His once handsome face is now covered in bruises and has swollen cheekbones. The worst part of it was his purple -going on black- black eye. I jumped up and kneeled in front of him.
"Oh my god Beck! Who did this to you?"
"No one did it to me Tor."
"Then what happened?"
"I had an allergic reaction to some perfume."
"Beck I'm not an idiot allergic reactions don't cause black eyes." I then reached out and I very gently put my hand on his right cheek and he leaned into the warmth that my palm possessed and put his cold hand over it.
"I know you're not." He whispered.
"Then why lie to me?" I asked.
He sighed again he knew he lost this one but he still leaned into my hand and held onto it and tightened his grip and he relived what had happened. "I really was on my way over when I texted you that. I was actually just two blocks away when it happened. I was casually walking and looking at my phone and it was suddenly ripped out of my hands and I was pushed to the ground. The person who stole my phone threw it to the corner and I was getting punched and kicked everywhere. I tried to fight them off but they were all around me. Once they had their fun beating the crap out of me I just kinda passed out. When I woke up the road seemed familiar so I just kept walking until I couldn't walk anymore and this was the house that was closet."
"And no one realized that there was a bleeding teenage boy out on the sidewalk?!" I kind of yelled.
"Nope."
"You still didn't answer my first question. Who did this to you? And don't you dare tell me another lie." I warned.
He let out another sigh. "It was Michael, James, Devin, Mark, and-" he cut himself off.
"Who else was it Beck?"
He squeezed my hand even tighter "Eli. Eli was a part of it."
My jaw dropped to the floor again and the look in his eye said he wasn't lying. All of his closest friends just beat the crap out of him. Why would they do that? Eli was Beck's best friend! How could he do that to him?! They were always so close! They were practically the best duo anyone has ever seen! Then out of nowhere Eli just attacks him without having any argument? None of this made any sense to me. Then I realized there is only one person who could have influenced this. Me. Why else would Eli do this to his best friend unless if he felt threatened? Beck and Eli tended to be the leaders of their group of friends and they just suddenly attack him when I've only been dating Eli for a week.
"Beck, did they tell you why they did this?"
"They kept saying-" he paused and started trembling with all of their voices coming back into his head. "They kept saying that I was trying to steal Eli's girl away."
I closed my eyes and closed my mouth very tight. I had done this to Beck. I had caused him this physical harm. I have caused Beck to lose his friends. All of this was officially my fault.
"I'm so sorry Beck. This is all my fault! I did this to you! I caused this! I cause all of this pain and-"
"Shhhhh. Tori this is not your fault. You didn't know he would do this to me. You like him and he likes you."
"Try liked." I said
"What do you mean Tor?"
"I'm not going to date a guy who feels threatened by my guy friends and does this to them." My hand brushed up against his leg and he winced, shutting his eyes tightly. "This isn't all the damage is it?" I asked. Beck just simply nodded his head while biting his lower lip trying to contain his scream of agony.
He then slowly unzipped the hoodie and started to pull up his shirt showing me his now tainted abs. I saw cuts, bruises and dried blood all over it. I gasped and traced a large cut going from his ribcage down to under his belly button with my finger very gently. He still let out a grunt of pain. The whole time I'm trying not to break down into tears. I had indirectly done this to him. I didn't realize it but he had slowly started to roll up his jeans legs. I just saw some developing bruises but no cuts and just a tiny bit of dried blood. They left his arms alone probably because they were holding them down. Then he rolled his shirt up a little higher to show me his ribs and I just burst into tears. There was a huge green bruise on the side of his right ribs. He encircled his arms around me and pulled me close to his very injured and tainted body.
"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" I kept repeating as I sobbed uncontrollably into his chest. "This is my fault! Why did I think dating a friend's best friend was a good idea!"
"Shhhh Tor it's ok-"
"No! It's not ok! I did this to you Beck! I did this! I caused it!" My voice cracked at the end. He just held me close and whispered soothing words while I calmed myself down. When I finally felt calm I decided to sit next to him. He kept his arm around my waist though and I leaned my head on his shoulder where he felt no pain at all. "I feel so embarrassed for crying when I should be the one taking care of you." I said as I rose from my seat and went to the freezer to get Beck an Ice Pack and Band-Aids and disinfectant. I started to treat his wounds as he held the ice pack to his black eye. He would wince a lot and I would apologize. When I was done tending to his wounds I sat next to him my head on his shoulder as I said. "I won't let anyone hurt you ever again." He wrapped his arm around my waist when my mom came downstairs and she saw Beck still holding the ice.
"Beck I think your soup is done." Which meant to me "Beck your suffering is over. Eli and I are done."
