A/N: Thank you AJ Kenobi and Sammy for such sweet reviews! I really enjoyed reading it and it really reassured me, so thanks! To answer your question, I had Beck refer to Tori as "Vic" instead of "Tori" simply because everyone calls her Tori. I used this as a way to highlight how their relationship is different closer than Tori and Ryder's. For me, by him calling her Vic, it showed she was more open and comfortable with Beck. The flashbacks at the beginning of the chapters are third person, so Tori is referred to as Tori in those, even if it's Beck's POV for the rest of the chapter. He refers to her as Tori during their fight so as to appear more stern and serious than usual and to emphasize that he is angry. When he calls her "Tor" in chapter six, that was probably me being inattentive and not noticing my mistake there, but thank you for pointing that out! It really does hurt the consistency of the story. And he refers to her as Tori to other people because his nickname of "Vic" is special and reserved only for her.

I hope I answered your questions! Thank you for all the reviews! I hope to see more as I keep writing :) Enjoy and review!

It was a sweltering June night, during the summer of Beck and Tori's junior year. Considering there was no air conditioning in Beck's RV, they had ventured into the main house for a movie night inside Beck's actual bedroom. The couple cuddled close as cool air flooded the room and Captain America played on the TV screen.

"This is weird," Tori said in a whisper, cuddling closer into Beck's side. "I'm in your bedroom. I don't think I've ever been in a guy's bedroom before."

"Does my RV mean nothing?"

"That's an RV, this is a bedroom. I feel like I should be five feet away from you, I mean, your parents could walk in!" Tori said. "I never had to worry about that in your RV."

"Well it was either this or die of heat stroke in that microwave of a vehicle," Beck said in yawn. "And I haven't actually lived in this bedroom since freshman year, pretty sure my parents are used to it being empty. I doubt they even know I'm in here."

"I don't know how your mom does it," she said, looking up at him. "I'd miss you too much, even if you were just in my driveway."

"Okay, that's my cue to go get some more popcorn," he stood and stretched out his arms before picking up the bowl at the foot of the bed. "I know it's about to get weird when you start comparing yourself to my mother."

"Not like that! Fine, leave, I'll just stay here with the Captain," Tori said, sticking her tongue out and fixing her eyes on the screen.

"You do that, Vic," he laughed as he shut the door. Tori readjusted her position, stretching out on indentation Beck had left behind, when she heard a bang on the wall adjacent to the bed. She scrambled to cling to the opposite edge of the bed as the window swung open, letting the hot air into the room. A young girl with flowing black hair and glowing green eyes jumped from the windowsill onto the floor while holding on to the bed frame for balance. She paused for a moment, then breathed a sigh of relief before lifting her head to see a shaken Tori.

"Uh... hey," the girl said. "Are you supposed to be here or are you some homeless chick hiding out?"

"I'm supposed to be here..."

The girl looked around her surroundings. "You sure? Not that you're giving me a bum vibe, it's just that this room is always empty, that's why I tend to come in through here and I'm pretty sure I've never seen you around."

"I'm Tori Vega, I'm Beck's girlfriend," Tori laughed nervously.

The girl's eyes widened. "Oh! You're the girlfriend! Wow, your pictures on The Slap really don't do you justice, you're hot!" she laughed. "Sorry, I'm Alexis, I'm Beck's little sister."

Tori's muscles relaxed. "Thank God, I was about to resort to using my pepper spray and who knows how that would've worked out," she laughed. "Wait... aren't you supposed in boarding school still?"

Alexis' lips curled into her mouth. "Right, about that... school ended around mid-May, but I just told my parents that so I'd have a few weeks of actual freedom to myself. No one in my family really knows I'm back, I've really just been coming and going to crash here or pick up some clothes," she explained. "But that's all about to go to shit because I'm pretty sure I hear my brother coming up the stairs and my room is across the house."

Tori glanced at the door. "Shh, get down," she ordered. Alexis obeyed and crouched behind the large bed as Beck opened the door, smiling as his eyes fell on Tori. "Baby, would you mind getting me a Sprite? My stomach's a little unsettled." Beck's lips sank into a frown as he nodded and shut the door.

Alexis rose from her hiding place, fixing her leather jacket as she came up. Tori got another look at her and was overwhelmed by how much similar she and Beck were; same majestic hair, bright smile, and olive skin. "Thanks for that, Old Man Beckly would have thrown a fit if he'd seen me. We don't exactly have a Donnie-and-Marie sibling relationship, if you didn't already know," she smiled as she approached the door. "Well, he'll be back soon so I should probably get out of here. Thanks again for covering for me, Tori! I can't wait to meet you again!"

"Anytime, it was nice meeting you," Tori said, returning the sentiment in a hushed tone as Alexis scurried out the door. Beck returned shortly holding both the bowl of popcorn as well as a glass of sprite for Tori. She smiled graciously and made space for him on the bed.

"You okay?" he asked as he stuffed his mouth with popcorn. "You seem a little off."

"I'm perfect," she said, leaning up to give Beck a kiss on the cheek.

"Wow, you and the Captain must have had a good time while I was gone."

The rest of the day went by quickly. Alexis and Tori spent the whole afternoon giggling and gossiping, just like they did in high school, while Nat and I sat back and had a movie marathon. For a while, it felt as if everything went back to normal- as if we were a family again. Tori and I were completely civil, even amicable to each other, and spoke nothing of the night before. But I wasn't going to let go of it that easily. I was determined to confront her. It was 10 by the time Natalie had fallen asleep, her head resting snugly on my chest under a hill of blankets. She had survived through Ironman 1, 2, and The Avengers. Her passion for superheroes as well as her stamina during movie-watching undoubtedly came for me. If my memory is correct, Tori couldn't make it through half a movie without nodding off.

Tori looked at Natalie, biting her lip before Alexis jumped in. "Aw, come on, Tor, look at her! She's beat! Do you really want to wake her up just to drive her home and put her back to sleep? Just sleep over, it'll be fun!" Tori eyed Natalie hesitantly. She never was very good at putting her to sleep. At least, not as good as I was. I guess that said more about me than her, but whatever gets the job done, right?

"I don't know..."

"Well, it is up to you, but I think she's really enjoying being here with all of us, you know? I mean, when was the last time we were all together?" Alexis pleaded. If she wasn't such a good actress, she would be a damn good lawyer. Tori raised her eyebrows, still watching Natalie, before nodding.

"One more night wouldn't hurt," she said. Alexis smiled and clapped in satisfaction, excusing herself to set Tori up in a guest room. I began to slowly shift Natalie off me as Tori went into the next room to make a call. By the time I had Natalie lying safely on the inside of the large couch, I tiptoed over to where Tori was.

"...you know, I don't think I'll be home for a while if that's how you're going to treat me," I overheard her say, her back turned to me. "Fine. I'll call the movers tomorrow morning and be out by the end of the week if that's how you feel!" She shouted into the phone and turned around, her eyes landing directly on me. "Oh. Hi. Sorry. Did I wake Nat?"

I opened my mouth, but no words came. "Uh, no. You weren't being loud or anything, I just wanted to check up on you," I explained. "Is everything okay?"

She hesitated before continuing. "Um, yeah. It's just Ryder. He's been a jerk lately and... I don't think the wedding is going to happen anyway so I wouldn't worry about what happened last night," she said, fixing her eyes on the ground, and taking a seat.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked quietly.

She looked up at me before glancing back at the living room, where Natalie lay asleep. "Yeah, actually, that would be great. Just not here, is that okay?" I nodded and led her to my study, shutting the door behind us. Immediately after the door shut, Tori burst out into tears, catching me off guard as I turned around. "It's just been so hard. I feel like I'm wasting my potential. I don't want this whole divorce to affect Natalie but I know it will. Ryder's cheating on me and he's been so violent and sensitive lately. I didn't even go home last night because he accused me of cheating on him and he was just screaming and screaming in my face. I was so scared, Beck!"

I walked over to where she leaned against the desk and my heart tightened as I collected her in my arms, trying to soothe her. "I don't know what to do, Beck. I don't know how I feel about him anymore, he's not who he used to be. I feel like I rushed into this whole thing and only agreed to it because I was trying to prove that I was over you!" she said, sobbing into my chest. I ceased the motions of rubbing her back upon hearing this.

"And are you?" I said, my voice almost inaudible. She wiped her eyes and looked up at me, still sniffling, and slowly shook her head. Her eyes were red around the rims and she crinkled her nose as she sniffed. I nodded. "I know this is probably a bad time to say this," I brushed her hair back and helped wipe loose tears falling from her face, "You're beautiful and caring and loving and talented and an amazing mother. I can say with absolute confidence that you don't deserve that. I'm not saying to dump him, I'm not saying don't marry him, just that... you deserve the world and I'm sorry I couldn't give it to you, but I know he can't. I'm saying don't settle until you find someone who loves you and supports you and treats you like a queen."

Tori buried her face in my chest, muttering into my tear-soaked shirt, "I missed this." She tightened her arms around my midsection. "You're making it so much harder to figure my feelings out." She said this almost laughingly.

I lowered my voice into some sort of a whisper and spoke slowly, careful in Tori's sensitive state. "Do you want me to go?"

Tori shook her head again and wiped her eyes. "Could you take me to where I'm staying?" I looked her hard in the eye before nodding and offering my hand to her. She took it and led her down the hall to the room adjacent to mine. I closed the door behind us and sat on the bed as she prodded the clothes Alexis laid out for her. "Cover your eyes," she muttered as if I hadn't already seen anything. I heard shifting and rustling and though I was curious, I dare not open my eyes. After a few moments, Tori whispered, "Open."

My eyes opened and she stood directly in front of me, between my legs. Her eyes were level with mine and our noses almost touching. She eyed my lips and I could feel her breath on my skin. I knew this routine better than the back of my hand. "Vic," I said, trying to get her attention. "You know I've thought about kissing you one last time for the past two years and you know it's taking all my willpower not to kiss the crap out of you, but I don't want you to do something you regret."

She looked at me tentatively, silently reassessing her actions. "You're right, I'm sorry," she said. She turned away from me and ran her hand through her hair. "I'm just kind of all over the place right now."

"Don't worry about it. You should go to sleep. I'm sure you have a lot to deal with tomorrow morning and you'll need your energy," I said, standing from the bed. She rounded the bed and got under the covers, huddling and bunching them as she did so. I approached the door, opening it slightly, and said, "Goodnight, Vic."

"Wait, Beck-," she said, before I could shut the door. I paused before ducking my head back in. "Could you stay with me? Just for a little?" I looked into her pleading eyes as my heart told me one thing and my mind told me another. Taking a deep breath, I walked back into the room, shutting the door, and settling under the covers next to Tori Vega as she flipped through vintage horror movies and inched closer to me. And it was at that moment, for the first time in two years, that I breathed easy, knowing she was beside me.