A/N: I am SO sorry this took so long to get up! It's been almost a month I think since I last updated this? I'm so sorry. I was having major writer's block for this chapter, and between my work schedule more than doubling over the past couple weeks and getting a head and chest cold from hell, I was forced to take a short break from working on this. I'm better now though. :)

For anyone that doesn't know, I did published a couple new things over the past two weeks. Wrecking Ball is the one-shot that will happen in Victoriously Jade: Season Three, and I started a drabble series called Digital Conversations of the Bade Kind. I would love to know what you guys think of them.

A HUGE thank you to everyone who reads, follows, favorites, private messages, and reviews this crazy story of mine. You have no idea how much it means to me.

A special shout out to those who reviewed last chapter:

-MC ABEDFAN

-rosaandrews

-TheWhiteCrayon

-lovElavan

-Zilvelyn

-WritingWithLibby

-Artistard3

-unicorn of fire

-reviewer

-GothicRay

Enjoy?


Survival of the Hottest

Part Five

"You sure that you're up for this today?" Beck asks me as we pull into the parking lot by the beach.

"Well, it's too late for me to bail now," I answer, and watch his mouth drop open. "Kidding," I nudge him in the side with my elbow. "As much as it pains me to admit it , hanging out with people is probably exactly the distraction I need for today. Even if the fucking Vega sisters are involved."

"Tori's not so bad," Beck says as he parks his uncle's truck.

"Says you. Besides, did you forget that we have big sister along for the ride?"

"We're all going to have to put up with Trina. It's only for today. Just try not to kill her," Beck says, leaning over and kissing me.

"I can make it look like an accident," I say mischievously. Beck just stares at me. "Okay, okay. But hey, maybe we will all get lucky and she will run into an overly excited dolphin while she's swimming," I smirk, grabbing my version of a beach bag and getting out of the truck.

"One can only hope," Beck says as he gets out of the truck and grabs his annoyingly cheerful mesh tote bag from the back and smiles at me.

"Gotta pee, gotta pee, gotta pee!" Cat screeches bolting out of the RV the second Beck opens the door.

"Hurry back!" Beck calls after her.

"Kay kay!"

"She has the bladder of a squirrel," I say, shaking my head as Beck and I watch her weave her way in and out of different groups of people, making her way towards the public bathrooms.

"Who's ready for beach fun?" Beck asks as we climb into the RV. I can't help but smile at how dorky he sounds.

"Beck, this RV is so cool," Trina says, as she and Tori get up and walk towards us. The sight of the Vega sisters being in Beck's RV and near his bed wipes the smile off my face. Both of them are looking WAY too comfortable in here.

"Thanks."

"And you like, live in this?" Vega Senior asks.

"Yeah, well…..in my parent's driveway," he answers shrugging.

"At least you have parents," Rex says as Robbie walks up to us. I look down at my bag uncomfortably and pull out my beach towel.

"Hey, some things are private," Robbie says and then comforts the freaking puppet, making everyone in the RV feel awkward, and causing Beck to frown slightly. After the past twenty-four hours I've had, I honestly don't have the desire or energy to go off on Shapiro like I normally would, so I decide to let this little exchange between him and his fucking puppet pal pass without comment. I haven't forgotten that he goes to the same therapist's office my parents force me to go to either. Besides, once we get out on the beach I can put some much needed distance between me and anyone who I find annoying.

"How come all these windows are tinted so dark?" Tori asks.

"Cause my dad bought it from a rapper," Beck laughs. '

"All the windows are made of bulletproof glass," I inform everyone.

"What rapper?" Andre asks.

"Fat Biscuit," Beck answers, and everyone freaks out.

"Hey," Vega says, taking a step towards me.

"What?" I growl at her, annoyed with myself that the site of her in Beck's RV makes me so uncomfortable. What is it about her that makes me so damn uneasy?

"Does it worry you that you never sweat?"

"No," I answer flatly. Am I really going to have to deal with this whole subject again?

"But what if one day all your sweat just like builds up inside and you just explode?" she asks me.

I get lost in the mental image of that happening for a minute. "I would love that," I answer her and turn away.

As I am getting ready to follow Beck out of the RV I stop abruptly as I hear a banging sound while he is struggling to open the door.

"What's wrong?" I ask curiously.

"I dunno. The door won't open," he says, attempting to shove it open repeatedly.

What the fuck?


'Are you coming or not?" Tori asks me again.

I open my eyes and pull my sunglasses down my nose to look at Vega Junior's perky smile. "I'm good," I say before shoving my sunglasses back into their original position.

"Aw, come on! It'll be so much fun!" Cat says, plopping herself down next to me on my over sized beach towel.

"Yeah! I mean, you didn't step more than two feet into the ocean all day, you didn't want to play volleyball with all of us, and now you don't want to come get ice cream? Why did you even bother coming here today if you refuse to do any beachy things?" Tori asks.

"I did some beachy things," I say, as I sit up, realizing that they aren't just going to let me lay here in peace.

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Vega asks.

"I messed around in the sand for a bit," I answer.

"You buried Rex while I was swimming!" Robbie points out.

"No…..I started a game of hide and seek. You're welcome." I say sweetly.

"It took me over two hours to find him!" Robbie yells at me.

"It's not my fault you suck at it," I say.

"And now I have sand everywhere. EVERYWHERE!" Rex says and shudders.

"Yeah, and you have a LOT of crevices," I smirk, taking a sip from my water bottle.

"Come on, it's ice cream!" Andre says.

"Yeah, what kind of freak doesn't like ice cream?" Trina asks, reminding me of her existence.

"This kind of freak," I say, narrowing my eyes at her.

"Uhhh, alright, how about we all just go over here?" Tori says, grabbing her sister's arm and quickly steering her away from me. Andre and Robbie follow.

"You sure you don't want to go?" Beck asks me again.

"Ugh, no. Being trapped and slowly cooked alive with them for almost an hour was more than enough bonding time for one day, don't you think?" I ask him.

"Alright," he sighs, leans down, and gives me a kiss on the lips. "We won't be that long." He straightens up. "Cat, aren't you coming?" he asks once he notices she is still seated beside me and hasn't moved.

"No- you go ahead. I had WAY too much shaved ice already today," she giggles and waves him away. "So…." she says and trails off, looking at me expectantly.

"So..." I repeat, annoyed. She is the one that chose to stay here. I didn't ask her to.

"So…...what is the deal with you today?" she asks me. "You've been weird ever since you got out of the RV."

"You know I hate the ocean. I wouldn't have even put my big toe in it if I hadn't been covered head to foot in my own fucking sweat," I shudder at the memory.

"I thought you told me we were to never speak of it?" Cat asks, nudging me with her elbow.

"Shut up," I say, cracking a half smile.

"You have barely even yelled at me for getting caught up with those guys and forgetting about all of you. Normally you would be lecturing me for hours," Cat points out. "But they were pretty cute, huh?" she asks, grinning.

I can't help but roll my eyes. "Whatever you say Cat," I reply. "I've just been doing a lot of thinking."

"Thinking about what?"

"About the fact I ended up covered in sweat in front Beck. About the fact I broke down in front of everyone. About the fact that all of us could have fucking died in that tin can!" I shout, pulling my knees up to my chest and wrapping my arms around them. "About the fact that I thought I would never see you again, and the last thing I said to you was that you had the bladder of a squirrel," I confess.

"Hehe. Yay, a squirrel!" she giggles.

I take a deep breath and play with the necklace that Beck gave me. "About the fact I need to stop letting the past hold me back from living in the moment," I say quietly. I feel Cat put her arm around me and lean her head on my shoulder. For once I didn't push her away, and for once she remained silent. We sat there quietly, watching the waves ebb and flow, both of us lost in our own thoughts.


A/N: PLEASE, please let me know what you think. I already know exactly what is going to happen in the final chapter of this episode, and I hope to have it up by Monday night at the latest.