Chapter 10

After Jade got out of Beck's car, he sat there for awhile, waiting to make sure she got in alright, and slightly stunned by she had said. If she still loved him, why wasn't she willing to at least try and fix everything?

After a few minutes, he decided he should probably leave. If Jade caught him outside her apartment, she'd be pissed. He made his way back to set, trying desperately not to think anymore about what Jade had said. Once he got to set, he made his way back to hair and makeup. He had wiped most of his makeup off by rubbing his face, and messed up his hair by running his hands through it. After getting his hair and makeup touched up, he went to wardrobe and got another outfit. Luckily for him, the stylist didn't ask any questions about why his outfit was crumpled and why his shirt had a dried stain on it. Once he looked presentable again, he made his way to the actual studio, but was stopped by an all too familiar face.

"Where were you, Beck, and why were you with Jade?" The familiar face, aka Tori, asked.

"Why do you care, Tori? Last time I checked, we were broken up. What I do with other people no longer concerns you." Beck responded, already frustrated with the conversation.

"The 48 hours aren't over, Beck. I said if you didn't call me in 48 hours then we were over, meaning in those 48 hours, technically we're still together."

"Well, if I were you, I wouldn't be holding my breath that I'll call. I'm done with you, Tori. Getting together with you was a mistake. You were just a rebound. I thought dating you would be good for me. Everyone was always telling me that a girl like you would be good for me. Even my own parents told me that I should be, and I quote, 'dating a good girl like Tori'. I was just trying to make people happy. You were happy, my parents were happy, everyone was happy except me. I realized today that the only person I've been truly happy with was Jade. Jade made me happy. She made me so happy. I can't have her. She doesn't want me anymore. I'm sorry Tori, but I can't be with you anymore. You deserve someone who makes you happy and who you make happy. That person is not me."

"I love you, Beck. I want you. I've wanted since the minute we first met. The only reason I didn't make more advancements on you was because you were dating Jade. And even when you weren't, I was still scared she'd kill me if I asked you out or got you to ask me out. Now that you two have been broken up for nearly a year, and I'm not scared of Jade anymore, I thought we'd finally be able to be happy together. I thought you were happy with me." Tori's confidence started to falter by the end.

"I really am sorry, Tori, but I tried, but I can't try any harder, and quite frankly, I don't want to. There's only one girl I want, and she's not you." Beck didn't bother to wait for Tori's response. He simply turned around and walked into the studio.

The rest of the day went fairly smoothly. Beck and Tori had some scenes together, and it was awkward at first, but after the director started getting frustrated, they sucked up their feelings and did what they do best: acted. Some of the cast and crew, including Tori, decided to go out to dinner after filming for the day was over. Beck decided against going. He simply wanted to go home, take a hot shower, and then go to Willow's for some mind-blowing sex.

Can I come over tonight?-Beck

Beck texted Willow, and much to his delight, she texted back within a few minutes.

You can, but I'm on my period. No sex. Maybe, if you wanted to, we could order some take out and get to know each other a little bit.-Willow

Beck thought about it for a few moments. Technically, he was single. He had no real reason to say no to Willow, right? It's not like he had anything to lose if he said yes. He'd only been with 4 girls in his entire life. Maybe a little more dating experience would help him get over Jade.

Ok. I'll meet you around 8. How do burgers and fries sound?-Beck

If you bring me a shake, too, then that sounds great. See you then. :)-Willow

Beck went home to his apartment, took a long, hot shower, dressed in some casual, yet nice clothes, and then left again. He picked up food at Inside-Out Burger and then made his way to Willow's apartment.

"Hi." Beck said simply, as Willow opened the door.

"Hi." Willow greeted back, taking the bag of food from Beck.

Beck entered Willow's apartment and followed her into the kitchen. They each retrieved their food, and then went to the living room to sit on the couch and eat.

"I know this might seem childish, but I really like playing it, and it's a great way to get to know people. Let's playing 20 questions." Willow said, after finishing her first few bites of food.

"Ok, I'm down to play. You go first." Beck said, wiping his mouth with a flimsy fast food restaurant napkin.

"Ok. Um, let's start off with an easy one. What's your middle name. Mine's Charlotte."

"My middle name is James. Beck James Oliver. Um, if you could have any job, what would it be?"

"Well, I'm actually going to school to eventually get my dream job. I'm in culinary school. I want to be a chef."

"Oh, fancy."

"Ok, what high school did you go to? Did you even go to high school in LA."

"I did. I've lived in LA since I was 10. I went to Hollywood Arts."

"You've known you wanted to be an actor for that long? When I was a freshman, I was still convinced that I was going to be a teacher. That doesn't seem so bad except for the fact that I hate little children, and I'm not a fan of having to teach other people."

"I've known I wanted to be an actor since I was 5. I saw a movie with a pirate in it. I wanted to be a pirate, but my mom told me I couldn't be. I decided I'd be an actor instead." Beck took another bite of his burger, chewed and swallowed, before asking the next question. "So you said you hate children. Does mean you never want children of your own?"

Willow took a deep breath before answering.

"I actually have a daughter. She's two. My ex and I were together until she was about 6 months old. Around graduation, we realized we both wanted different things in life, and staying together, even for Carolina's sake, just wasn't worth it. He decided to move back to his home city of SanFran for college. I let him take Lina with him. Since they've moved, I've only seen her 5 times. I miss her, but she's getting the best life with him. She's about to have a step-mom. She has two great grandparents and three amazing aunts. I've made my peace with it. I guess to answer your question, even though I already have a daughter, I don't want kids. Right now, I don't see myself being a real mom to tiny humans. Now that I've spilled my guts, I want to know your answer to that question. Do you want kids?"

"Well, you see, I also have a kid. A son. His name is Weston and he's 9 months old. My ex gave birth to him 9 months ago after finding out she was pregnant an hour earlier. She went through a whole pregnancy without either of us knowing she was pregnant. The birth was kind of complicated, and she ended up having to have surgery right after he was born. After she woke up, she told me she didn't want to keep him. We had a kind of short conversation, but ultimately decided we were way too young to be parents. We ended up giving him to my cousin and her husband, who had been trying to have a baby for years."

"Do you know where he is now?"

"He's with my cousins Lori and Ethan in Maine. Lori said she and Ethan are thinking about moving back to Canada."

"You never really answered the question. Do you want kids?"

"Yes, eventually, when I'm older, I want kids."

"Good to know."

"Turning things around a little, what's your favorite dish to make?"

"I know it seems kind of simple, but my favorite dish to make is spaghetti and meatballs. It's my favorite food and it always has been. My mother's spaghetti and meatballs is the best I've ever had. Since I started showing an interest in cooking, I've been trying to recreate it, but I've been unsuccessful so far. When my mom died, she left a few recipes, but not one for spaghetti and meatballs."

"When did your mom die?"

"Isn't it my turn to ask a question?"

"I guess. Ask me a question."

"No, it's ok. I'll answer your question." She took a deep breath. "My mom died when I was 15. When I was 11, she was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. She did chemo and radiation, and even had a double mastectomy. It went away for a couple years. A week after my 13th birthday, we found out the cancer was back and worse than before. Apparently, the cancer had metastasized and moved from her breasts to her liver and stomach. They hadn't caught it when they did the surgery. At that point, she was already in stage 4. She was given 6 months to live without chemo and radiation. Of course, she decided she wanted to do chemo and radiation. We tried every treatment, but nothing really seemed to work. The tumors spread. Eventually, she had tumors all over her abdominal cavity, from her lungs to her large intestine. After a while, nothing was working, and she was dying. She decided that things were just meant to be that way. She signed a DNR and stopped doing treatments. She died about a month after her last chemo treatment."

"Wow. I'm so sorry." Beck didn't know what he was supposed to say.

"It's ok. It's been over 4 years. I've made my peace with it. My dad was great. He raised me after she died. My sister and I love him. He's a great dad."

"That's good, at least."

"Ok, my turn to ask you a question. How many relationships have you been in."

"Um, well, when I was in 7th grade, I dated this one girl for about a month and a half. Then, by 8th grade, I started dating my ex. We dated for almost all of 8th grade and all of high school. We broke up 9 months ago. I left her alone in the hospital a day after she gave birth to a baby we had no idea existed until an hour before he was born. Then, 4 months ago, I started dating a high school friend. As you already know, I was cheating on her with you. She broke up with me yesterday, and my ex of 5 years told me she didn't want to try again."

"Well, as much as that sucks, I hope that means you'll give us a chance."

"I will. I like you. You're nice, and pretty, and a lot deeper than the girl I was cheating on. And the sex is great, which is always a plus."

Willow, not knowing what else to say, and finding the moment to be the right one, leaned over to Beck and placed a passionate kiss on his lips. Beck was slightly shocked, at first, but then reciprocated and deepened it. After a few minutes, they had pushed everything aside and were having a hot make out session right there on Willow's couch. It only ended when Beck tried to take off Willow's shirt, but then she reminded him that they couldn't. They continued to make out, and then once they realized it couldn't go any farther without getting more serious, they went back to asking each other questions. They spent a few hours going back and forth. Around 1am, they both fell asleep on the couch.