Author's Note: Hey, everyone! I hope you're all doing great :D I've spent many a day ignoring my active regiment of jogging and gorging myself on lots of 'comfort food'. Not that I need it exactly, I'm just hungry all the time :P Enough about my eating habits, this is a relatively short update. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed last week, it means the world to me. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Victorious or its characters. But I like eggs.

The clink of a metal bat and the exultant cheers of the crowd were the only sounds that could be heard on a sunny and breezy Saturday morning in Hale, Maryland.

Unless of course you could actually hear the sound of Tori Vega's brain on hyper-drive while she dissected the meaning behind Beck Oliver's interest in her personal life on an uncomfortable spot on the aluminium bleachers.

The townsfolk had gathered in full force for the annual baseball charity game hosted by Hale High where the locals competed against another team in the state. The proceeds from tickets sold to baseball enthusiasts went to raising funds for both the winning school and a charity of their own choosing.

And instead of thinking altruistic things, Tori found herself stewing incessantly over the latest stunt that Beck Oliver had pulled, featuring most of her former fiancés.

She couldn't believe that he had deliberately driven a rift between her and Andre – they'd been close before and after their break-up. Andre was one of the most passionate and forgiving people she knew, and he would barely look her in the eyes these days.

All because of a stupid tattoo!

Deep down, Tori knew that Andre was just hurt and would eventually get over what she'd done.

However, knowing that Beck Oliver had the power to come between her and the people who meant the most to her was still a bitter pill to swallow.

Tori had been so sure that ignoring Beck would make him finally leave both her and Hale alone. But all it seemed to have done instead was incite the New York columnist further in wanting to destroy both her and her reputation.

And worse of all was the fact that nearly all of her Hale compatriots were lapping up the attentions of the famous reporter like dogs trying to catch a Frisbee.

The whole business was utterly infuriating.

Beck had even managed to butter up the powers-that-be in her hometown.

"Well, would you look at that?" Carly asked, bemused.

Her car had broken down the day before and Tori had offered to give her friend a ride home after their respective work days. They were just driving along the Main Road in Tori's red pick-up truck when they spotted Beck Oliver across the intersection from them.

Looking perfectly at ease (like he did this all the time), he was seated between several middle-aged men, playing on a beautiful black guitar and a harmonica simultaneously.

"Beck Oliver's sitting with the mayor and the police chief respectively. He sure knows how to make friends easily," Carly noted with a raised eyebrow.

Tori rolled her eyes, silently wishing that the image of Beck Oliver playing a Spanish melody in a completely different setting altogether wasn't currently invading her cluttered thoughts.

"That's pretty cool," Carly murmured more to herself, hoping Tori hadn't heard.

But she needn't have worried. Tori's attention was completely riveted on the fact that she was watching Beck's brown eyes follow her car all around the bend in her rear-view mirror.

His concentration hadn't been broken once while he strummed away on the guitar, his long fingers dancing across the strings.

He certainly was able to multi-task…

Tori shook herself from her abstraction, shivering outwardly while crossing her arms over her chest.

Why did she care whether Beck Oliver could multi-task?

She didn't care about him, period.

It was a beautiful day and she didn't have to be at the hardware store till later in the afternoon.

She was determined to enjoy a good game of baseball.

And best of all, Beck was nowhere in sight to spoil her fun.

Carly sat beside Tori in the stands, smiling widely and completely oblivious to her friend's current dilemma. She only had eyes for her husband, Freddie, who was currently standing on second base on the field, trying to make a steal for third.

Despite being a charity event for Hale High, many of the town residents also participated. This year was no exception and Carly's favourite part was watching Freddie work up a sweat while playing baseball, his arm muscles tightening and expanding beneath his tight blue and purple baseball sweater.

She liked it even better when he didn't play with a shirt on at all.

But she'd settle for the next best thing.

"Go, honey!" Carly cheered enthusiastically, currently having the time of her life.

Beck drifted past a hot dog vendor, the purple Hale High peak cap that Danny had given him days ago planted firmly on top of his wavy brown hair. He enjoyed a good game baseball as much as the next person.

But he was on a mission: find Tori and make her squirm as much as possible and as many times as he could get away with.

He only felt moderately guilty about outing her to her former fiancé Andre about the tattoo she was supposed to have on her back.

Nevertheless, she'd brought it on herself; he was just doing everyone a favour by exposing her true nature.

Tori Vega may have had everyone fooled with her home-grown-good-girl image. But deep down, she was just as shallow and selfish as every woman Beck had encountered in his life.

He'd already gotten to her former loves.

Now it was time to put the squeeze on the people who knew her best.

Namely, her former bridesmaids.

Tommy, the school's star quarter back, was sitting on a bench occupied by the rest of his teammates. He recognised the New York columnist and immediately struck up a conversation with him.

"Hey, you're that reporter, right?"

"Indeed, I am." Beck affirmed, his eyes still focused on the crowd while he tried to locate Tori Vega.

Unfortunately for him, Tori spotted him first.

How did he keep finding her?

"There he is again!" Tori exclaimed, tapping Carly on the shoulder and pointing a lone finger through the crowd.

Carly followed Tori's gaze and landed on Beck Oliver, talking to a student at the bottom of the bleachers.

"Snoop Doggy Dogg!" Tori uttered, completely unimpressed with the reporter's uncanny way of following her all over the place.

"I'm going to marry Tori Vega." Tommy declared unabashedly.

"Is that a fact?" Beck queried, thoroughly amused with the teenage boy's obvious infatuation with the notorious 'Runaway Bride'.

"As soon as I'm legal." Tommy answered without blinking.

Beck chuckled appreciatively and put a paternal hand on the boy's shoulder. "A word of advice: rent a tuxedo. You won't need it for very long and you can always get your money back."

"He's a pretty attractive man," Carly mused, her eyes drifting admiringly over Beck's striking features.

Tori turned and frowned dramatically at her friend. "Oh really? You think the vicious reporter is attractive? You think viciousness is attractive?" she demanded facetiously.

"Of course I don't think viciousness is attractive!" Carly retorted in a defensive manner. "I was just thinking out loud!"

"Well maybe you should think it to yourself in case other people don't agree with you!"

"Oh, would you grow up, Tori?"

The two women continued their ridiculous bickering while Beck waved to Danny, who was playing catcher during the fame. Sam stood at the batter's plate in a purple and white T-shirt, blue denim pedal-pushers and Converse sneakers, getting ready to hit.

Kurt Vonnegut, who was the pitcher, threw her a meatball right down the middle. Sam took a gigantic swing and the ball connected with the chunky part of her aluminium bat.

Bang!

The ball was hoisted into the air and well over the heads of the fieldsman, who scrambled into position while Sam ran quickly to second base and Freddie sprinted to third.

"Shit, here he comes!" Tori hissed, forgetting all about hers and Carly's previous argument as she spotted Beck making his way towards her. "Distract him!" she begged of her friend.

"I'm not gonna distract him!" Carly hissed back.

"I can't deal with him right now!"

"Ok, fine!" Carly snapped impatiently. "I will handle this," she muttered through gritted teeth, barely moving her lips.

"You're the best," Tori murmured without moving her lips either.

"I won't say a word." Carly reiterated like a professional ventriloquist.

"You're the Godfather," Tori praised in a monotone.

She hastily got to her feet and skipped down the nearest steps before Beck could get to her.

The latter watched in fascination as Carly Shay attempted to cheer her husband on without moving her lips.

"Nice work. You would've made a great ventriloquist," Beck stated approvingly, sitting down next to the brunette.

"What? Oh, right." Carly replied with a blush on her cheeks, opening her mouth again. "I was trying to keep a bug from flying in my mouth." She offered lamely in her normal voice.

"I see. I hate when that happens," Beck remarked.

"That's Tori's seat," Carly declared in an effort to change the subject.

"It's a free country. I'll just keep it warm for her till she gets back," Beck said with a sly smile pasted on his handsome face.

Carly tried her best to ignore the New York reporter while watching her husband attempt to get to fourth base and hopefully a home-run.

"Come on, Freddie! You can do it!" she yelled sincerely.

"Freddie's your husband?" Beck asked curiously.

"Uh huh."

"He's the producer of Cory Fleming's show, 'Wake Up With Flem?' right?"

"The very same," Carly answered without looking at Beck.

"Wow, that's awesome. You must be really proud of him." Beck marvelled, his eyes focused on the game as well.

Carly felt intensely awkward and aware of Beck's presence next to her. She'd told Tori she could handle distracting the reporter – but what exactly did that entail?

And when Carly got nervous, she started rambling about nonsensical things.

"Freddie's always been pretty driven. He could've made it into the Major League after college if he hadn't busted his arm back in high school." She stated rapidly.

"The Major League? That's pretty impressive," Beck replied in awe. "Too bad about his arm though."

"Yeah, but Freddie's also really passionate about media and production, so I don't think he regrets not taking up baseball as a professional career. He and I and my best friend Sam used to host our own web show called 'iCarly' back in high school." Carly explained.

"No kidding," Beck mused, evidently impressed.

"Yeah, we had some pretty wild times together. That's how I met Tori, actually. She and Freddie used to date."

The words had already slipped out of her mouth before she could take it back.

Beck's ears pricked up like a hound catching the scent of its prey at this accidental piece of information.

Tori Vega was involved with Carly's husband?

"Oh crap," Carly moaned in mortification.

"Tori dated your husband in high school?" Beck demanded in astonishment.

The 'Runaway Bride' sure got around…

"Well, they weren't an item, not exactly. They only dated for a couple of weeks when Tori used to live in LA. They were never serious…" Carly backpedalled in an attempt to play it down.

"Of course," Beck agreed, trying very hard to now show his excitement.

"I mean, it's not like they were ever gonna get married or anything! It was a just a very brief high school romance. She broke up with this guy who was kind of cheating on her…with me. But I didn't know he was dating her when I started dating him and it was all really confusing. Anyway, Freddie was there for Tori as a friend and they hit it off I guess. It was more like a fling than an actual relationship per se!" Carly protested vehemently.

Beck felt sure that he had hit a nerve with this particular tit-bit of information about Tori's past.

And it seemed like her best friend wasn't too uncomfortable with her part in it, or that of her husband either.

"It was a really long time ago." Carly finished in a daze, trying to cool the sudden flash of heat which had crept across her cheeks with her fingers.

Beck nodded, understanding all too well how complicated things could get when friends ended up dating and falling in love with the same person.

Jade and Robbie were a case in point.

At that moment, the batsman at the plate hit a whopper, sending the ball rocketing into the air.

Sam made a run for third base while Freddie decided to go all the way for a home-run.

Just when the fieldsman caught the ball and was about to tag him, Freddie dove safely underneath him and landed squarely on the plate on his stomach with his arms stretched out on his sides, a jubilant grin on his face.

"He got a home-run!" Carly shrieked without thinking.

Like the rest of the crowd, she got to her feet and began cheering her husband on.

Tori stood at the bottom of the bleachers, jumping up and down and screaming her head off for Freddie. "That was awesome!"

In his state of celebration, Freddie ran right up to Tori and gave her a fierce bear hug. "Did you see that dive, Tor?" he asked in excitement.

Then the two of them proceeded to do a series of choreographed hand-shakes, which ended with the two of them jumping forward and giving each other a chest bump.

Even though the gesture was perfectly harmless and clearly between platonic friends, Beck wasn't slow in noticing how Carly's face fell beside him while staring at Tori's frivolity with her husband.

"It's nice that you can all still be friends," He stated seriously, forgetting for the moment that this was all just a game to him.

Why would he care about the fact that his pending article didn't just affect Tori Vega's life, but that of her close friends and family too?

Nevertheless, he was still disconcerted when he saw the look of pensive annoyance on Carly's face. "Yeah, it's in the past." She agreed in a clipped tone.

It was obvious to Beck that Freddie Benson was very much in love with his wife and that he and Tori were clearly just friends and nothing more in the present tense. But even he could guess that there were still a lot of unresolved issues between Tori and her friends, things that the vivacious brunette needed to be held accountable for.

Tori looked behind her at that moment and caught sight of Carly and Beck, looking like they were deep in conversation.

She couldn't help but notice that her friend didn't look like her normal bubbly self, and that unnerved her a great deal.

Worse still was when Carly got to her feet, nearly upsetting a stirofoam cup of beer at her feet.

Beck impulsively got to his feet as well, sensing that he may have crossed an invisible line somehow.

"I'm gonna go," Carly announced.

"Are you ok? Was it something I said?"

"No, I'm fine. I just…need some air."

Carly turned her back on Beck and pushed her way through the crowd. She could only muster a half-hearted wave in Tori's direction as she strolled behind the bleachers and back towards her car.

With a scowl on her face, Tori stalked towards the stairs and made her way to Beck.

Sensing that he was seconds away from confronting a very pissed-off Tori, Beck shook his head immediately as he prepared to defend himself.

"I left my seat for 3 minutes and you somehow managed to make Carly leave in the middle of the game. What did you do to her?" Tori demanded, pointing an accusing finger at Beck's chest.

"Do me a favour and point that finger back at yourself, ok?" Beck snapped, losing his cool for the first time all morning.

"What is that supposed to mean? What did I do?" Tori asked in confusion.

Beck arranged his face into that of a preppy cheerleader and began waving his arms all about him. "Oh, Freddie, that was like the awesomest dive in the history of baseball that I've ever seen! You wanna make out?" he mocked.

Tori rolled her eyes and huffed indignantly. "You are unbelievable. That was a perfectly platonic and harmless hug between two friends. Not that I'd expect you to ever understand, since you don't have any friends," she quipped maliciously.

"I'm not the only one who doesn't understand your friendship with Freddie either." Beck answered sternly. "Carly may be your friend. But do you ever stop to think about how uncomfortable it must be for her to watch you flirt shamelessly with her husband?"

"I was not flirting with him!" Tori raged, incensed at this point.

Beck laughed mirthlessly at this and shook his head again. "You really are a piece of work, Vega."

"How dare you-"

"I almost forgot, I'm sailing across 'The Gulf of the Runaway Bride' now. As far as lost sailors go, the U.S.S Tori leaves quite a wake."

And just like that, Beck got up from the bleachers too, leaving Tori to ponder on the number of people she was still planning on hurting unintentionally because of her past.

Author's Note: Oops, Tori - you got some 'plaining to do! Looks like her house of cards are finally falling down all around her :D I hope some of my iCarly peeps enjoyed the Creddie (Carly + Freddie) appreciation in this new chapter, I had loads of fun with that ;D I'm off to court a delicious cinnamon doughnut, please leave me reviews. Ciao!