Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN VICTORIOUS.
Chapter 14
It seemed like as soon as he closed his eyes and drifted off, he was rudely startled awake. He had been in that in-between consciousness state and was having a very pleasant daydream until a dull thudding shot him back into reality. It took him a minute to realize that it was the pounding of someone's impatient fist on his trailer door. It took another minute for him to summon the energy to get up from the couch where he had collapsed and over to open the door.
"What-?" He snaps. After dropping Cat off at her house, he had come home to nap for a few. I guess emotional tell-alls really wear you down, he thinks. His snarky reply is cut short by the sight of Tori standing with her fist raised in the air. "Oh, hey Tori." He gets a fuzzy feeling when he sees her that he'd rather not dwell on.
He steps aside to let her pass through, and she hesitantly steps into his make-shift home. The door clangs shut behind her and she moves more into the room.
"What brings you to my humble abode?" He asks, moving to sit back on the couch.
"You have neon signs. It's hardly humble," She says and smiles faintly.
"Very true." He says, pretending to mull it over. "So, what's up?"
She doesn't answer, and she seems to be looking everywhere but at him. "Are you okay?" He asks.
She still says nothing, her eyes fixated on a point above his head. "Did something happen?" He's genuinely worried now. She's not being herself.
Her eyes finally rest on his face, looking but not really seeing. "Is it Andre?" He grits out through his teeth. The Asshole, he thinks, but then has to scold himself. No. Andre's my friend. He internally rolls his eyes. Right.
"You weren't in class today." She says, drawing his attention.
"Oh, yeah, I uh, ditched after first period today." She nods. "Yeah, we just kind of chilled at the beach all day."
"We?" She asks. The way she looks almost makes him not want to answer. Her face is blank, yet there's an unnamed feeling brewing beneath the surface. It's kind of creepy, he decides.
"Cat and I. She skipped with me." He says, finally.
The raising of her eyebrows was so quick that he would've passed it off as a twitch or something, had he been less observant. "Oh, I see." She says, and moves to sit next to him on the couch. As she does so, he catches a whiff of her perfume and it goes straight to his head.
They sit in comfortable silence for a bit, watching the muted TV that he forgot he had switched on earlier.
"Are we going to talk about it?" She says, breaking the silence.
"About what?" He asks, still watching the screen.
"About what happened. About you and I. What does it mean?" She asks, almost embarrassed. All of the giddiness from earlier seemed to have vanished, and now she kept giving him shy glances- in a bad way. He didn't like it.
"What do you want it to mean?"
"Don't do that!" She laughs quietly.
"Don't do what?"
"Answer a question with a question. It bothers me," She answers truthfully.
He chuckles. "Sorry."
"S'ok, I guess. You didn't know." She says. "But, seriously. What does this mean for us, Beck?" She asks.
He doesn't answer right away because he really honestly doesn't quite know. He tells her as much.
There's a lull in the conversation and he can feel the tension between them. He can't decipher if it's good or bad.
She turns to him suddenly. She gathers her wits and asks her next question. "Do you want to date me or not?" She sounds almost exasperated.
YES. His brain screams, but his mouth is frozen in action. "I-" He falters, and so does her face, if it could get anymore expressionless.
"So... I guess that's a no..." She trails off, feeling the head flood her face.
"No. Wait, yes? What? I'm confusing myself..." He says.
"Stop dancing around it." She says in a sharp tone.
He feels like facepalming.
"I'm just going to go, then." She shuffles her feet, but doesn't stand up yet.
"Wait..." He tries.
She swivels around and looks him dead in the eye.
It takes him about .0001 seconds to realize what she's doing before her lips descend hungrily down on his own.
It takes even less time for him to react; it's automatic for him. She all but jumps on him, but he's not complaining.
He registers her fingers in his hair, and his own tighten on her waist, holding her in what is probably too-tight of a hold, but he can't bring himself to stop.
It's like they can't get close enough, she shifts and he reacts; all an unrehearsed yet flawless dance. It's like sensory overload; she's everywhere.
Before he can even realize, she's off of him and in a standing position three feet away from the couch.
"Wha-?" He tries, but nothing coherent comes out of his mouth. If it were even possible, he's almost brutally confused now. All his racing thoughts were bouncing around in his head like a hive of angry wasps. The only legitimate thing at the forefront of his mind; TORI. He positively loses himself in her sometimes. That can't be good for my health, he thinks absently. She'll be the death of me, I swear.
He runs a hand over his face and looks at her own stone-faced expression. "Tori?" He asks, as she backs away from him towards the door.
"What are you- wait!" He says as she makes a beeline for the trailer door. "Where are you going! Wait!" He exclaims and breathes a sigh of relief when she stops right before the door and turns on her heel to face him.
"Wait? You want me to wait? I've done nothing but wait this whole time!" She sighs angrily and he almost shrinks away as she stomps back over to stand in front of his position, still on the couch.
"Tori-" He says again but she cuts him off.
"No, Beck. Let me speak. I think you owe me that much." She takes a breath and begins. "Look, I'm going to be honest with you. I... I like you, Beck, I really like you, which I'm sure you've already figured that out by now. But, point is, you've always been this kind of unattainable thing I could never have. The second I saw you I was in too deep. But I never acted upon anything, because I'm not the type to ruin relationships for fun. You were with Jade, and I accepted that. But them when you broke up... I thought... It doesn't matter what I thought. But, I got you back together. Why? Because that's what friends do for other friends. I wasn't thrilled to play Dr. Love, but I did it, for you." She swallows. "You run hot and cold; I never know what to expect. One minute you're into me and the next you're distant, like today. I just don't know... And then there are all these rumors that you're sneaking around with Cat and here you tell me that you just ditched to go 'hang out' at the beach all day alone... It's just... stressful, you know? I'm not an trophy, or a game. I don't like to be won, and I especially hate to be played. And that's kind of what I feel like you're doing, right now. Playing me. And I'd totally walk away and say, 'See ya, have a nice life'. But I could never do that. I care way too much. On the one hand I know this is bad to want you. And I have Andre in my ear, confirming all my fears... but then you go and be like you were yesterday and it's just... so great. And by great I mean confusing as hell." She blows out a breath. "You just said no to dating me, but then I practically throw myself at you and you accept with no hesitation. You can't just use me like that!" She stops her voice from yelling. "Look, I understand if you don't want to be with me. But... but that's where it ends. We'd be friends; nothing more, nothing less. No friends-with-benefits, no off and on flirt-ationships. Say the word, and I'll back off." She concludes.
He takes a second.
She's putting herself on the line right now for him, and he has the potential to make or break this situation. It could go either way. Of what he is certain: He wants Tori. He loves Tori. He ha-he strongly dislikes Andre's subliminal shit. Cat is his best friend, who needs him despite something weird occurring today between them. Tori is the one who he's wanted, always wanted. Tori loves him, he heard her tell Andre herself. Jade would pretend to be put out if they got together...but considering what he learned today, (which he has yet to even process) she'd probably not care all that much right now. Tori is it... and he's really freaking stupid for waiting this long.
He gets up and stands in front of her.
"I don't..." He trails off he sees her face fall. "Want..." He keeps her in suspense. She's sure he's about to let her down easy. "You..." Her face positively crumbles. "...To back off." He finishes and she confusedly looks up at him. He continues while he has the balls. "That is the opposite of what I want. I want people to mind their own business, I want my dad to get the fuck over himself, I want friends to act like they give a shit... and I want you. I want you all to myself." He says simply as if it's the easiest thing in the world.
Her mouth opens and closes and he takes the opportunity to kiss her again, and hard. Before he can get carried away, he pulls back, hands on her elbows. He nods at her. "Yes. That's a yes, for clarification." Her face splits into a grin. "I really-" But he never gets to finish his thought because all of his words are swallowed up by her.
"I think we should keep it quiet for now-"
"Maybe we shouldn't tell people yet-"
They both laugh as they speak in unison.
"My thoughts exactly." She says.
"Yeah, I don't think Andre would approve." He replies sarcastically, rolling his eyes at the thought.
"Hey, Beck?" She says, and takes a step away from him.
He cocks his head at her actions and answers. "Yeah?"
"Talking about Andre..." She says, and reverses in her steps until the back of her knees hit something; the bed. "Is the last thing I wanna do right now," She gets a gleam in her eye that's less then sweet. He loves it.
He narrows his eyes playfully. "Vega... are you propositioning me?" He asks and advances on her. "Because, I kind of like it."
She smirks and pulls him roughly forward by the front of his shirt.
"Stop talking," She commands and he responds in the only way he knows how; kissing her senseless, and pushing her down on the mattress.
They both feel the loss of gravity for a second, and the impact of the bed makes them both bounce a little.
Consider the subject changed, she thinks.
Author's Note:
-Sorry for the wait.
-First draft of this chapter got deleted, and I didn't save it. So I wrote some of this from memory, and I changed the rest. I don't know how I feel about it. Sorry for errors. I was desperate to replace it.
-Reviews appreciated.
Stay happy.