A Special Kind of Crazy
Chapter Eighteen
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this fic!
Beck pulled up to Tori's house, choosing to park on the side of the road instead of in her driveway. The driveway was filled to the brim with both of her parents' cars, Trina's car, and Andre's car parked in it. He cut the engine and looked at the familiar pathway that would take him up to her house, letting his hands dangle from his steering wheel. He wasn't sure if he was in the mood to hang out with his friends and play cards but the only other option was to go back to his RV and hang out alone, with only his thoughts for company. Since his thoughts revolved more and more around Jade and what he was feeling for her, he decided hanging out with the others was worth a shot. At least it would be a distraction. After tonight, he had a lot more to think about. And a whole lot more to remember. It all had to do with Jade. A crooked grin touched his mouth when he remembered how she had looked while she napped peacefully in his lap, only a short time ago. A deep glint entered his eyes when he recalled how she'd felt when he'd held her in his arms during their conversation about his shirt and how close he'd come to initiating a kiss. Then the regret speared through him again, the regret that seemed to be dogging his steps right now. His upper lip curled up as he dropped his head against the headrest of his seat. Should he have taken the chance and kissed her? Or would that have ruined everything between them? As of right now, there was no clear answer for him. Yeah, he was definitely in need of a distraction. He slammed his car door and walked up to the front door, knocking forcefully instead of using the doorbell.
Tori opened the door a few seconds later, a questioning expression on her face. "Beck!" she exclaimed loudly, clearly surprised to see him standing on her doorstep. She hadn't expected him to show up at her house. He hadn't responded to anyone's calls or texts throughout the entirety of the evening. "You're here!?" Her voice came out high-pitched, sounding more like a question than a statement.
"Yeah. You're all playing cards, right? Game night?" He looked past her, noting that the card table was set up on her kitchen table but that the seats around it were all empty. He glanced around the room, his eyebrows lifting in astonishment when he noticed that only Tori and Andre were inside.
Andre glanced up from his position on one of the curved red sofas in her living room. "Not anymore," he answered for Tori, laughing lightly at the mess that game night had turned into. "Game night's over. Robbie and Cat left about half an hour ago."
"Oh." Beck closed the door behind him and came into the living room. He plopped down on the sofa opposite Andre and sprawled, taking up most of the room. He dropped his phone and his car keys on the dark purple pillow next to him and draped an arm across the back of the sofa, getting as comfortable as possible. "Sorry I missed the game."
"You didn't miss much." Tori flipped back a strand of her long hair before huffing out an annoyed breath. The evening had not been a pleasant one. It had not gone how she had planned it out at all, frustrating her to no end. Taking a deep breath, she regaled him with the tale of the evening, "Robbie kept trying to play canasta instead of poker. Cat wouldn't stop talking about her brother. I swear his behavior seems to be getting odder and odder. Rex wouldn't shut up with his insults. Then there was Trina, who wasn't even playing cards with us. She kept interrupting our game to complain about the script she had to write for one of her classes and asking us our opinions on what it should be about. Apparently, it is due on Monday and she hasn't even started it yet." She gave an exaggerated shudder before declaring, "Trust me. It was not a very successful game."
"Unfortunately, that's all true." Andre picked up his bottle of water and took a long sip, shuddering at the memory of the evening. "Honestly, it was pretty exhausting. We finally called it a night after Cat accidentally tipped over a huge bowl of popcorn. You know, right after Robbie spilled a whole bottle of soda. Trina, of course, slipped in the soda and fell to the floor, knocking Rex off of his chair and sending a deck of cards into the big puddle of soda. We just finished cleaning the mess up a few minutes ago." He hooked a thumb in the direction of the kitchen, where a mop was leaning against the counter. The freshly cleaned floor sparkled underneath the bright fluorescent light of the kitchen.
Beck let out an amused chuckle, grateful he hadn't been there. It sounded like a train wreck of an evening. His evening, he knew, had been much better. Trying to put a positive spin on it, he offered his take on what they had gone through, "Sounds like it was pretty…ah…eventful."
Tori flopped down next to Andre and rested her feet on the wooden coffee table, crossing one ankle over the other. "Eventful," she repeated with a loud groan. "That's one way to describe it." Her lips curved downward in a little pout. The night hadn't gone the way she had planned at all. First of all, Beck hadn't shown up for the card game. Second, Jade hadn't come either, despite Cat's many attempts to invite her via text. And third, every other person but Andre got on her nerves. Yeah, it hadn't worked out the way she had visualized it, not by a long shot. It had been a horrible way to spend a Friday evening. She was pathetically grateful the game was over.
"Hey, each of us sent you like a bunch of texts and phone calls this evening," Andre broke the comfortable silence surrounding the three of them, wondering why Beck hadn't responded to anyone. It was very uncharacteristic of Beck not to respond to his friends. No one had been able to figure out why. "You know, inviting you to come and join the card game from hell. Obviously, you made the right decision not to come over and play with us but why didn't you respond to any of us?"
Beck scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck, choosing his words carefully. His friends were notorious busy-bodies. He did not want them prying in his personal business, if he could help it. They were as tenacious as a dog with a bone when it came to ferreting out information. Taking his time, his words came out slowly and were well-thought out. "I was busy. I didn't see any of the texts or calls until it was too late."
Busy? What could he possibly have been doing that he couldn't have at least viewed one of their texts? Tori tilted her head to the side. A curious light entered her eyes. Something was up, she could just tell. Seeing as how he'd been at rehearsal, she knew it most likely involved Jade. The inquisition was about to begin. She started out cautiously, not wanting him to suspect anything. He would clam up if he realized he was being questioned. She had to be very, very careful. "Why were you so busy? Did rehearsal run late?"
"Rehearsal? No, it didn't run late. If anything, it ended early. Like, really early," he explained, causing both of them to stare at him in puzzlement. Rehearsals rarely ended early. Sucking in a deep breath, he reluctantly admitted, hoping his friends didn't blow what he was about to tell them out of proportion, "I was with Jade, at her house."
Tori and Andre gasped loudly in perfect unison. Their eyebrows shot up. They shared an incredulous look with each other before turning back to stare at Beck, open-mouthed and in complete shock. Tori was the first one to recover. Her voice came out an octave higher than normal. "Jade's? You were at Jade's house? What were you doing there?"
"I had to take her home," he explained carefully, wondering why they found it so surprising that he had been at her house. He braced himself, waiting for the million and one questions he was sure to be coming his way about her house, where she lived, and why he was there. He didn't mind telling them about the accident at rehearsal; that was public knowledge, but he wasn't going to tell them anything about her house or meeting her mother or anything Jade had told him about her home life. That was private and only for Jade to share, if she wanted to. Judging from the fact that she wasn't very close to either Tori or Andre, he thought chances were pretty good that she wouldn't want either of them to know.
"You had to take her home?" Tori parroted his words back at him, taking her feet off the coffee table. Suddenly, the annoyance of the game night dissipated, to be replaced with an insane amount of curiosity. She was practically vibrating with her desire to know what had happened between Beck and Jade. Andre must have felt her because he put a hand on her knee, his presence trying to calm her down. They wouldn't get much out of Beck if they were too insistent. "To her house?"
He gave them a curt nod, thinking before he spoke. "Yeah. Something happened during our rehearsal. There was an accident. She got hurt. That's why we left early." He ran a hand through his hair before adding, "I had to drive her home, you know, after the accident. She was elbowed in the eye at rehearsal."
"What did you say? She got hurt?" Andre exclaimed loudly.
"You elbowed her in the eye?" Tori questioned him at the same time Andre spoke. Their words mixed together, creating a loud, chaotic moment. They both leaned forward, their eyes trained in shock and disbelief on Beck, unable to comprehend what he had just said.
"What? No!" Beck was adamant in his refusal. Taken aback, he rubbed his temples, feeling the beginning of a headache coming on and attempted to soothe it away. "That's not what I said, Tori," he tried to explain, speaking slowly and carefully, and holding his hands out in supplication, wanting to be as clear as possible.
"Yeah. It is. It's exactly what you said," Andre said, immediately jumping to Tori's defense. She nodded vigorously, agreeing with Andre. They were both staring at Beck with rapt attention.
"No! It's not what I said at all!" he practically yelled, starting to regret his decision to come over to Tori's house. He ignored the twin incredulous expressions on Tori's and Andre's faces at his unusual and uncharacteristic outburst and took a deep, hopefully calming, breath, before continuing in a quieter manner, although his words became more insistent at the end, "What I said was that Jade got elbowed in the eye. I never said I was the one who elbowed her. Because I didn't. I wouldn't hurt her. Ever!"
Tori opened her mouth, snapped it shut, and then opened it one more time. She blew out a small breath before sinking down onto the curved sofa next to Andre, sharing a sheepish look with him. "Well, okay, then. We might have jumped to conclusions there. Sorry about that, Beck. So…if it wasn't you, who elbowed Jade in the eye?"
"One of the other actors." Beck leaned back against back of the sofa, suddenly feeling exhausted. Damn, sometimes talking to his friends took all of his energy. This was obviously one of those times. "It was during the stage fighting scene. He got out of control with his movements, like he'd been doing all week, and must have forgotten that Jade was supposed to come up behind him. He moved into her space and hit her right underneath her eye. She fell to the floor and that was the end of rehearsal."
"Ouch," Andre said in sympathy. He'd been accidentally punched in the stomach before during a stage fighting exercise once. It hadn't been fun. And it had hurt. He could only imagine how it had made Jade feel.
"Is the other actor still whole and in one piece?" Tori wondered aloud, trying not to think about what Jade could do in retaliation to him.
Beck actually laughed, finding her question humorous. Even though she was still known as the new girl at school, Jade had already earned quite the reputation around Hollywood Arts, although he'd never actually seen her attack someone before. In all honesty, she seemed to be more bark than bite. At least, that's what he thought. He wouldn't have her any other way. "Yeah. He's fine. Jade didn't attack him or threaten him or anything. I don't think she's mad at him at all. It was an accident. I drove her home since her eye was too swollen for her to drive."
"Ah. That's why you were at her house." Andre nodded sagely as the pieces of the puzzle finally started to fall into place. They also knew why he didn't check his phone. He was too busy because he'd been with Jade. He shared another pointed look with Tori, both of them wondering how exactly the two had spent their time together.
"Yup. That's pretty much it." Beck picked up his phone and held it up. "With all that happened, I forgot to un-silence my phone and I didn't check it until I was eating dinner with Jade. That's why I didn't get in touch with any of you." He didn't add that he had chosen to stay with Jade instead of coming over earlier once he remembered to check his phone and saw their texts and missed phone calls. The way he figured it, they didn't need to know every single thing about his evening.
"Oh? Did you go to that taco place?" Tori wondered aloud, forgetting that Beck didn't know they'd eavesdropped on them earlier at school.
"No, we didn't go there because of her eye. We're going to go there sometime next week, after rehearsal. We ate at her…wait." Beck interrupted himself, looking at her in genuine puzzlement. A small frown settled on his face. Only he and Jade knew about their plans to eat at the taco place. His words carried a suspicious edge to them. "How did you know we planned to do that?"
Her face took on a bright pink hue as she blushed furiously. No way out of this one, she realized with an inward sigh. Glancing apologetically at Andre, she threw him under the bus with her without much of a regret. Gesturing between herself and Andre, she admitted with what she hoped was an innocent tone to her voice, "We were in the hallway earlier today after school ended and we…ah…overheard you and Jade talking about going there before you went into rehearsal today."
"You eavesdropped on us?" Beck's frown deepened into a glare, feeling a mixture of irritation and confusion. Why would anyone want to listen in on them?
"No!" Tori shouted in a heated denial, hoping that if she spoke loud and fast, he'd believe her. It was her only possible defense; after all, they had eavesdropped on them but she didn't want him to know that. Her words poured out in a torrent, "We didn't eavesdrop on you! I mean, not intentionally! We just happened to be passing by the corridor and overheard you two talking about tacos, burritos, and dinner. That was all we heard. Right, Andre?" She nudged him and breathed a sigh of relief when he immediately nodded along with her, backing her story up. Neither one of them wanted to admit that they'd listened in on their entire conversation. Or that they'd watched them before. And they really didn't want to tell Beck that they, and a good portion of the school, was heavily invested in their budding relationship. The many participants in the betting pool was proof of that.
"O…kay," he finally said after studying both of them. They aimed twin smiles of innocence at him, making him silently wonder if that was really all they had overheard. Thinking back, he realized that the entire conversation had been very innocent, nothing much worth of noting to anyone else but him and Jade, so he didn't press the issue, although he realized that they weren't being completely honest with him. They'd definitely heard more than they were letting on. Why they would want to listen in on him and Jade was beyond him, though. They couldn't be that interesting to others.
Tori sucked in a quick breath and hastily changed the subject, not wanting him to ask anymore about their eavesdropping, "I know Cat texted Jade. She never responded. I'm guessing her phone was still silenced, too."
"Most likely. It was in her bag. I don't know if she even looked at it." Beck started drumming his fingers along the edge of the curved sofa. He recalled how she had looked before he left, framed in her doorway with the golden light from the foyer spilling over her as he departed from her house. Even the memory of her had the power to steal his breath. Damn, she was beautiful. A small smile played across his lips at the memory.
"So, is Jade okay? You know, from being elbowed in the eye?" Although she was genuinely concerned for Jade, Tori was just as interested in her friend sitting in front of her. He didn't seem to be as cool, calm or collected as he normally was. She watched him much closer than he realized.
"She's got a black eye but she'll be okay. She's not a good patient, though." He smiled fondly at the memory. Now that she was okay, he could see the humor in the scene that had occurred in the nurse's office. Jade sure was something. He chuckled before sharing, "She was pretty uncooperative. I think the school nurse was about to toss her out of the office when she was trying to examine her."
Tori exchanged yet another pointed look with Andre. Certain they were on the same wavelength, she made her eyes look intentionally wide and innocent before she asked, wanting to get as clear of a picture of Beck's evening as possible, "Oh? You brought her to see the nurse?" That was unusual in itself. If someone got hurt during a rehearsal, a teacher was usually the one to escort them to the nurse.
Beck continued to drum his fingers along the edge of the sofa. "Yeah, I volunteered to take her." More like insisted, but he didn't add that. He had wanted to be the one to take care of her. For some reason, no one at the rehearsal had disagreed with him, not even the teachers. They probably wanted to talk to the guy who'd elbowed Jade. Or maybe they'd been in shock that Beck had been so firm about taking her. He didn't really care why they'd let him do it, only that he'd been able to bring her there.
"Then you drove her to her house, right?" Andre skillfully picked up the next line of questioning, earning a small nod of approval from Tori. It wasn't the first time they'd worked together to try to get information out of one of their friends. Usually, they were pretty smooth and seamless when they were worked together. They'd dodged a bullet a few moments ago when Tori dropped the ball about the taco restaurant. They were lucky Beck hadn't shut down on them then.
"Well, yeah. Her left eye was so swollen. I didn't think she could see out of it enough to drive. I'm going to bring her back to school tomorrow so that she can get her car." Beck stopped drumming his fingers and ran a hand through his hair again. "I helped her ice her eye and kept her company."
"She needed help icing her eye?" Tori repeated, slightly incredulous. How hard was it to ice one's eye? That didn't fit with her impression of Jade, either. She didn't know her all that well but one thing she was sure of was the fact that Jade was exceptionally independent.
"She didn't need help," Beck explained, stressing the word help. He tried to appear normal, he really did, but he couldn't stop the warm smile from spreading across his face or the pleased light from glinting in his eyes. Hell, he'd loved having her nap in his lap, how peaceful she'd looked. His fingers tingled with the memory of how soft her hair had felt. "It was more like…persuasion. She's really not a model patient."
"And you just had to help her," Andre murmured sarcastically under his breath, so quietly that only Tori heard him. His sarcasm earned him a swift kick to the shin from her, one which Beck didn't see because of the coffee table between them. Andre unsuccessfully tried to muffle his yelp.
"You okay, Andre?" Beck asked, looking at him in concern.
"Stubbed my toe on the table," he blatantly lied, ignoring the sharp pain in his shin. When Beck glanced down at his phone to check something, he aimed a quick glare of annoyance at Tori.
Ignoring Andre and his annoyance with her, Tori leaned forward again, trying to paint a normal smile on her face but it came off more giddy-looking than normal. "How did you…umm…persuade her?"
Not realizing that they were tag-teaming him, he put his phone back down on the pillow next to him and shrugged a shoulder. "You know, I got her a fresh ice pack, wrapped it in a towel, and convinced her to put it on her face. She really hates ice packs."
From what she knew about Jade, she really hated a lot of things. Tori released a little humming sound. The scene was coming together vibrantly in her mind but there was still something big missing from the story, she could tell from the way cautious way Beck was speaking. "That was really nice of you, Beck."
"Yeah," Andre agreed, although he had to swallow back a chuckle. Jade didn't seem like one who really appreciated help from others. "Was it hard, getting her to use the ice pack?"
"Not really." Beck's expression warmed when he remembered how had had gotten Jade to use the ice pack. "I held it on her face while she slept…ahh…" He cleared his throat, unwilling to admit to them that she'd fallen asleep in his lap. That was information they did not need to know. He did not want to deal with their response to that tidbit of information. "Next to me on her sofa," he finally tacked on, feeling his face redden.
Tori spit out the sip of water she'd just taken. "What?" she yelled out. "She fell asleep? Next to you?" She ignored Andre, who frowned in exasperation at her as he wiped off some of the water that she had just spewed over him.
Beck's eyes widened when he realized he'd let a little too much slip to his friends. While it was a big deal to him that she had fallen asleep with him there, he didn't want his friends to know how important he viewed it. Or how much he liked it. She had trusted him to fall asleep on him; that was a huge deal to him. Running his hand through his hair once again, he attempted to play it off, "Ah…yeah? It's really not a big deal, Tori. She just took a nap. I just happened to be right there with her on the sofa."
"Huh. Okay." Tori wasn't buying his explanation, not by a long shot, but she realized she wasn't going to get any more out of him. It was a big deal, much bigger than he was admitting to. She couldn't ever remember Beck keeping either her or Cat company while either of them fell asleep. "Sounds like you took good care of her."
Beck shrugged his shoulder yet again, trying to downplay everything. He really, really, really wasn't ready for his friends to find out how much he liked Jade. Hoping they'd stop asking questions, and soon, he said, skipping over the fact that Jade had kept his flannel shirt, "We ate dinner at her house after she woke up and then I left and came here. See? No big deal, just like I said earlier."
When he was on stage, his acting was superb. But, when it concerned his real life, he wasn't nearly as good. To put it plainly, he couldn't lie worth shit. Tori had seen him flub a line when it pertained to himself many, many times since they'd become friends. And he'd just flubbed, big time. It was a big deal, she was sure of it. "Cool," she replied, keeping a smile plastered on her face while she studied him with the same amount of intensity a scientist gave to a specimen underneath their microscope. "I'm sure Jade appreciated all your help."
Inwardly, he sighed with relief. He felt like he was home free. Wanting to change the subject, and quickly, he hooked a thumb towards the kitchen table, "Are you guys up for cards? Just the three of us? I promise I won't spill any soda or popcorn."
"Oh, hell, no!" Andre immediately exclaimed, grimacing in disgust. He threw his hands up. "I've had enough of cards for one night, thank you very much. Plus, we can't play. The cards need to dry out from landing in the soda earlier."
"It sounds like you had a pretty nice time with Jade." Tori wasn't about to let it go yet. She batted her eyelashes innocently, trying not to appear too interested in what his response was.
"She's…you know…pretty cool," Beck replied, trying hard to give too much away and starting to regret not going to his RV. At least there he wouldn't have to face his friends' incessant questions.
"Hey, aren't you missing a shirt?" Andre finally noticed he wasn't wearing his normal flannel shirt. "What happened to your red and black one?"
"Huh. Yeah," Beck mumbled, glancing down and suddenly finding a few loose threads of his worn jeans interesting. He started picking at them. Damn it. He'd been so close. Lying wouldn't work; he was a notoriously bad liar. They would see through any half-assed story he tried to come up with.
Tori nodded in approval at Andre, finally feeling like they were getting somewhere with Beck. She rested back against the sofa and arched an eyebrow. "So, Beck, where's your shirt?"
Borrowing a move from Jade, he rolled his eyes. He even let out a loud groan. "Jade has it," he admitted, staring at his jeans, not wanting to see their reaction to it. He could only imagine what it would be like. After all, they'd eavesdropped on them at school and were currently playing a round of twenty questions about their evening together. Obviously, they wanted to know every little detail they possibly could about him and Jade. Primarily a private person when it came to personal matters; this did not sit all that well with Beck. "I offered it to her to help her feel better. She was cold and upset before we left the school. And then, she decided to keep it."
"Dude! You gave her your shirt?" Tori's mouth once again dropped open in surprise.
"Seriously? Your shirt?" Andre chimed in, once again in perfect harmony with Tori. He was well aware of the fact that Beck loved his flannel shirts. He wouldn't give one away, not without a really good reason.
"Well, you know, it's not like I gave it to her. It's more like she kept it. You know I've taken a few things of hers," he defended himself, holding up the silver ring on his finger to his friends. Andre had been there the day Jade had found out he was wearing it. It wasn't too far of a stretch to realize that he would probably have told Tori about it, seeming as how they seemed to be incredibly invested in his friendship….relationship…whatever term could be applied to him and Jade. They'd both seen him take her pen in class. "She just decided to even the score. She told me a few days ago that she was going to keep something of mine sometime. It turned out to be my shirt. Plus she looked good in it. So I let her keep it." He didn't add in the intense moment they'd had together when she'd challenged him to try to get the shirt back. That was for them, and them alone. But his chest clenched tightly in remembrance. He blew out a slow breath. Damn, he finally had his answer. He should have kissed her.
"That's something that a boyfriend does," Tori announced vehemently, thinking back on a few of her dates where the guy she'd been out with had let her borrow his jacket. Then she let out a sharp squeal of delight and practically started bounding up and down in excitement, acting more like Cat Valentine than Tori Vega, "Oh my God, Beck! Oh my God! Are you her boyfriend? Is she your girlfriend? Are you two dating?"
He couldn't prevent the bright red flush from spreading across his face and dropped his eyes from her face to stare at his hands. He couldn't look at her; not right now. She would know it was what he wanted to happen if he did. "What? No! Tori!"
He didn't need to look at her. Tori could tell what he wanted by his demeanor. She couldn't help the next words that came out of her mouth. She stared at him in wonderment, her mouth once again open and her brown eyes the widest they could possibly be. It was all so suddenly clear. "But you want to be."
He opened his mouth and tried to speak but no words would come out. He couldn't bring himself to make an attempt at a lie. What she said was true. And he couldn't deny it. Releasing a deep sigh, he ran both hands through his hair, mussing it up messily.
"You like her," Tori leaned forward, excited to finally have reached a point in the conversation where she could get to the truth of his feelings. She pointed at him to emphasize her words, inwardly cheering because it was finally out in the open. "You really like her. Like, seriously like her. More than you've liked any other girl you've dated."
Fascinated with the sudden turn of the conversation, Andre nodded along, in complete agreement with Tori. It wasn't often that they saw Beck look so disconcerted. When Beck didn't say anything, only returned their stare with a fierce one of his own, Andre added, his smile growing bigger and bigger with each passing second, "Come on. Just admit it, bro. It's pretty obvious. You like her."
Beck glanced first at Tori and then back at Andre. They were his friends; his best friends. They'd always been there for him, anytime he'd needed them, just like he had always been there for them. Maybe it would be a good idea to finally admit it out loud, for someone else to finally know what was going on in his mind. But he had to keep a little something back from them. It wasn't simply like he was feeling for her; it was something much more than that. The events of this evening had finally helped him figure out what it was. Jade should be the first person to know how deep his feelings ran for her. "Okay, fine," he gave in, finally saying the words aloud for the first time. Since he was back to looking at his jeans again, he missed the satisfied smiles Tori and Andre shared with each other. Taking a deep breath, he brought his head up and stared at them. There was no hesitation as he forcefully declared, "I like Jade West."
Author's Note:
I'm celebrating my first day back in school since last March with a new chapter! It was a great day back, if a little different than normal. Fingers crossed that we can stay in school this year and not get closed again! Remote learning is okay but I'd much rather be in school!
Once again, thank you so much for all of you wonderful readers and reviewers out there! I always appreciate it! You all make my day better!
Thank you!