What Is Normal Anymore?
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Victorious or have any affiliation with it or any other fan fics!
It had been a few days since Andre found the knife. School was back in session and Andre was eating lunch with Beck and Robbie at their usual table at the Asphalt Cafe. Beck and Robbie were exchanging stories of what they did with their girlfriends over Memorial Day weekend as Andre glumly listened, taking a bite out of his pizza every now and then. Beck and Jade had gone camping in Yosemite and even though Jade complained a lot, they had a genuinely good time hiking, biking, picnicking and cutting up flowers from the park when no one was looking. Robbie and Cat had gone out a couple of times over the weekend, mainly just eating dinner or watching a movie. Even though Robbie was telling stories that were exciting prospects for him, Andre just couldn't bring himself to care. He couldn't get his mind off the fact that Tori could be a Blood Viper.
"How about you, Andre? How did Tori react to your ring?" asked Beck. "Huh?" Andre snapped back to reality now that the conversation Beck and Robbie were having had turned to him. "Earth to Andre? I asked how Tori liked the ring?" repeated Beck. Andre turned around just in case Tori was approaching and then turned back to the table. "I never gave her the ring," he confessed. "What? Why not? You were so excited about giving it to her the other day," said Robbie. Andre paused. Should he tell Beck and Robbie about the knife? Both Beck and Robbie knew about Maria's murder and that a gang called the Blood Vipers was involved. Maybe telling someone else would make this all easier? But then what would they do? Would they tell Tori that he knew about the knife? Would they confront her themselves? Andre decided that if he wasn't going to bring up the dagger to Tori, he'd be better off not bringing it up to anyone. "I just couldn't find the right moment to do it. I'm starting to think maybe I got a little overexcited about the ring and may have been rushing our relationship. But we did have a great time that night," said Andre, forcing a weak smile. Beck seemed content with that answer while Robbie looked down at the ground, appearing very disappointed. Beck shot a look at Robbie, which Andre didn't notice. They returned to eating their lunches.
Tori, Cat and Jade approached the table where Andre, Beck and Robbie were sitting. Tori looked at Andre with concern. She hadn't seen him since he left her house the morning after their date. The two had only communicated through text message over the past couple of days. Even through Andre's texts, Tori sensed that something was wrong. Gone was the cheerful and super-friendly pianist and here was a boyfriend who was down and distant. Was it something that she had done? Then again, it had only been a few days since the date. Perhaps she was over-analyzing and in a few days, things would be back to normal. Tori tried to shrug off her worries and the three girls sat down at the table, Tori sitting next to Andre of course, who still looked kind of bummed. "Hi honey, how have you been?" Tori asked Andre, putting on her brightest smile to see if she could cheer Andre up. "I'm OK," Andre said to her, trying to smile. "How about you?" Tori could sense a significant difference in Andre's bearing. Something was definitely wrong. "I'm doing fine," she replied and looked to the rest of the group. Beck, Robbie, Cat and Jade all exchanged glances at each other. It seemed as if Tori wasn't the only one who could sense that there was tension. Tori tried to ignore it, gave Andre a smile and a kiss on the cheek and proceeded to eat her lunch. The group returned to talking as they usually did.
This was pretty much how it went for another week and a half. Andre continued to date Tori, regardless of his emotions and suspicions. He tried so hard to convince himself that he and Tori could still be a happy couple. He wanted to forget about Maria, the Blood Vipers and the fact that Tori could be one of them. He just wanted things to go back to normal. But what was normal anymore? Was it normal to pretend that everything was all hunky-dunky? That everything was right with the world when it wasn't? Was it normal to deny everything to the point of emotional insanity? Tori too could sense that things weren't normal. She could tell that, even though Andre was still willing to date her and spend time with her, something was causing him to pull away. He seemed to be a lot less enthusiastic and a bit more insensitive whenever they went out. Andre was also becoming more distant; he took longer to respond to her calls and texts than he used to and he often acted as if he were distracted when they were together. They didn't have any big fights or disputes or anything like that, but the comfort they shared was beginning to diminish. Could things ever be the same?
Sorry it's been a while since I updated. No replies this time, sorry. I've been busy and now I'm tired XD