Chapter 9

Tori sat up in bed and stretched her arms out with a yawn, she looked down at Beck still asleep and nudged him with her leg. He stirred but didn't wake up. She nudged him again, still no reaction. Tori felt her stomach rumble and with a new determination she nudged Beck harder, when he didn't wake up she thought of a better tactic. With all the strength she could muster first thing in the morning, she pushed Beck straight of the edge of the bed.

Needless to say, the novelty of watching him sleep had worn off.

He fell to the wood floor with a muffled thud and groaned. "What the- Tori!" he shouted and rubbed his eyes, his dark hair was, in the simplest way: a mess. It brushed his shoulders as an unkempt bush, and gave him a blurry, black halo.

Beck stood up, the covers fell around him to the floor and revealed his body, clad only in a pair of boxers. As much as Tori enjoyed the view, her stomach wasn't satisfied. "Come on, Sleepy Head, I'm starved."

With a tired sigh, Beck threw the covers back on the bed and padded behind Tori to the kitchen. Tori stopped dead in the doorway and Beck felt the sweet smell of pancakes wafting around his head, along with the sound of someone singing A Day To Remember. Putting his hands on Tori's waist he pushed her further into the room, that's when he saw Jared's back at the stove.

"All I want is a place to call my own, and mend the hearts of everyone who feels alone, you knoooow, keep your hopes up high and your head down loooow."

Pan in hand, he was flipping pancakes in the air like a pro, singing badly as he went. Tori clapped when the pancake in the air had landed successfully back in the frying pan. Jared jumped slightly and spun around. "Morning." He turned back around again and transferred his pancake to a plate on top of a stack that was already on it.

"Sleep well?" Jared asked, he had a glass jug with a little bit of mixture left in it and was pouring it into the pan as he spoke. "Yeah, you?" Tori asked, taking a seat at the breakfast bar. Beck got three cups out of the cupboard and placed them on the counter. "I had a good sleep, the wake up, not so much." He glared at Tori across the room, who simply smiled innocently.

Jared finished the pancake he was making and slid on top of the pile, he then switched off the gas on the stove and brought the plate over to the breakfast bar. Beck brought over the coffees and three plates while Tori gathered all the fillings she could think of.

They sat down at the breakfast bar together and each grabbed a pancake. Tori spread chocolate sauce over hers and rolled it up into a neat little tube, while Beck sprinkled his with maple syrup and folded it in half. They watched in awe as Jared doused his in lemon juice, maple syrup and finished with a coating of sugar. He then folded it in half a few times to form a triangle shape and shovelled into his mouth.

Beck and Tori shared a repulsed look before eating their own pancakes. "Thanks for letting me crash here last night, guys." Jared said before taking a swig of his coffee. "It's fine man, really. Thanks for the pancakes" Beck replied.

Tori just smiled at them and helped herself to another one, you could never have just one pancake. Chad came into the kitchen and staggered over to them, running a hand through his messy hair, he yawned. "Ooh, do I smell pancakes?" he peered over to the breakfast bar and upon noticing the quickly depleting supply, went and got himself a plate. He placed it down next to Beck and grabbed a pancake for himself. He topped his with maple syrup and rolled it up, then unceremoniously fed it into his mouth. Over a mouthful of pancake he said, "Mmm, thede are dud." The three looked at him, confused.

Jared swallowed his mouthful and tried again, "These are good, who made 'em?" Jared put his hand up proudly and smirked. Trina came in then and wrapped her arms around Chad's neck from behind. "Pancakes? For us? Oh Beck, you shouldn't have." She exclaimed, sitting on the other side of Chad.

"I didn't," Beck replied, he sat back on his stool and pointed his elbow at Jared, "He did." Jared nodded with his still present smirk and then stood up. He took his cup and plate and loaded them into dishwasher. Trina watched him with confusion, "Jared, those dishes are dirty, why are you putting them in the dish warmer?"

He gave Trina a curious look and looked to Tori for help, who merely shrugged in response. Beck chucked quietly into his coffee cup. "So Trina," Tori began, "when are you thinking of going back to LA?" Trina shrugged and put an arm around Chad's shoulders, "What's the rush? I have plenty to stay here for, there's the shopping, the landmarks, Chaddy. Oh, and my baby sister of course."

Tori shuddered and forced a smile, "I guess you're right." Jared coughed and got their attention again, "Um, where's the bathroom?" Beck stood up and took his plate and cup to join Jared's in the dishwasher. "Go out the kitchen, first door on your left. Towels are in the closet next to the door in the hall." Jared nodded and followed his directions, they heard the shower a few minutes later.

"Well," Beck clapped his hands together, "I better go get dressed, places to go, people to see and all that." "You going to pick up Todd?" Tori asked, Beck nodded and bent down to kiss her cheek before walking out of the kitchen. Tori and Chad both pretended not to see Trina staring at his bum in his boxers as he went.

"So, checking out today, huh?" the nurse asked Todd. He was at up on his bed, wearing normal clothes again for the first time since his accident. "Yeah, I'm sure gonna miss the food here." He joked. The nurse smiled at him before slipping a piece of paper into his hand. She had red hair on top of her head in a neat bun, her eyes were a deep green and she had skin like porcelain.

He looked down to see the name Julie written above a phone number, "Could you give this to you friend? The long haired one?" she said with a smile before walking out of the room. A few seconds later Beck pushed the door open and came in.

"Hey, man! I am here to rescue you and take you home!" Todd smiled at him and stood up, they greeted each other with a typical-guy-one-armed hug, Beck patted Todd's back and he winced. With an apologetic smile, Beck helped Todd into the wheel chair and picked up his bag.

They made their way through the hospital, the corridor was long, with a grey floor and white wash walls, there were six doors along it in total, each with a number sign and a small, frosted window. "Hold on tight." He told Todd and they picked up speed, Beck ran down the corridor as fast as he could while pushing the chair and swerved around the corner to another deserted corridor.

He continued running till he heard the sound of heeled footsteps from around the next corner and he skidded to a halt. A nurse came around a few seconds later and gave him a disapproving raised eyebrow. Once she was far behind them, Todd turned to Beck and gave him a celebratory high-five.

They laughed until they reached the reception, where they acquired instead, earnest expressions and nodded curtly to members of staff. Doctors and nurses rushed around, many holding clipboards at which they stared and creased their foreheads in concentration.

Todd signed out at the front desk. Beck took him to his car and then returned the wheel chair. Once Beck came back, he started the car and turned on the radio. Over the music he asked Todd, "So, you looking forward to going back? I saved you a seat in class." Todd just looked down at his lap and fiddled with his fingers.

"Todd? Dude you okay?" Beck probed, Todd looked up at him with a grave smile, "Well, er, my mom is convinced that if I stay in New York I will just get hurt again," he ran a hand through his blonde hair nervously, "she wants me to go back to Florida with her."

Beck sighed, "Oh man, that sucks, you gonna go?" Todd nodded and looked out of the windshield, "I don't really have a choice, she's my mom, you know? I don't want her worrying about me all the time. She shouldn't have to get worry lines cause I like to live life on the edge."

Beck chucked inwardly, relying as sincerely as he could muster, "Yeah, I know what you mean." Todd smiled gratefully. "You and Tori and welcome to come visit sometime, my mom would love to meet you, she could cook up some pumpkin pie. She makes great pumpkin pie."

"I'm sure Tor would love that, she's a sucker for those pumpkin coffees at Starbucks, a trip to Florida is probably cheaper than funding that habit." He joked.

Beck pulled into the parking lot of Todd's dorm building, and got out to help Todd with his bag. "Let me know when you're leaving so we can come say goodbye." He told Todd, who nodded. "Sure thing Beck, let me know about that offer on Florida, I'll see you soon. Say hi to Tori for me, will ya?" he started walking away, but then turned around and came back, "A nurse at the hospital gave me this for you." He handed Beck the phone number before heading to the door again, with a last wave he went inside.

Beck got back in his truck, scrunched up the paper and dumped it in the glove compartment and he pulled out, with a sigh he turned the truck around and headed back to the apartment.

Beck opened the door, he discarded his keys in the bowl by the door and hung his jacket up on the hooks above it. Tori came out the bedroom, drying her hair with a towel, she came over and kissed him. "Hey babe, how was Todd?"

Beck followed her into the lounge, he joined her on the couch and switched on the tv. "Todd's okay, but he's moving back to Florida." Tori turned to face him, her mouth open in surprise. "Why?"

"His mom is worried about his life on the edge in the big city." He said with a chuckle, Tori smiled but said, "Aw, that's a shame. Jared's gone back to his apartment and Trina and Chad have gone to the Statue of Liberty." Beck nodded and wrapped his arm around Tori's shoulder, she laid her head in the crook of his neck. "I've still not forgiven you for waking me up this morning, you know." he said, Tori giggled and jumped out his reach.

She ran from the room and Beck followed her, "I'm gonna get you, Victoria!" he shouted after her.