5

"Tori Vega," a voice says and I spin round, gasping as I take in the impressive figure in front of me. Lance White is leaning on my door frame so casually it's elegant and he is just as beautiful as I expected.

"Hi," I say, trying desperately to stay calm, "It's such an honour to meet you!"

He tuts, stretching out a hand for me to shake, and replies, "Nonsense, the honour is mine. Max says your performances so far have been exemplary and I cannot wait for us to begin working together."

"Oh wow," I blush, "Thank you. Oh, I'm sorry, I'm being so rude, come in!"

He walks in and takes a seat on my sofa, asking, "So Juliet, where exactly is your Romeo? I dropped by his dressing room to introduce myself and it was unoccupied."

"He's at school," I explain regretfully, "He's not needed for any scenes today, and according to our education agreement, we have to be in school for a certain number of hours. He thought he'd get his done today."

"Fair enough," he replies, "What about you?"

"I've already done mine," I respond, "I only filmed one scene yesterday, and so I got them done then. We're both really busy tomorrow so we thought we'd get them done before then."

"You're behaving very responsibly," he observes, "I certainly wasn't this mature when I was your age."

"I guess I just don't wanna waste this opportunity," I shrug, "Because we go to Hollywood Arts, we've been preparing for stuff like this for years, and we know how rare it is to get a shot this big."

"Not for you though," he comments, "You've been very lucky this year."

"I don't think luck has much to do with it," I reply quietly, "Beck is insanely talented and I've been taken along for the ride."

"You are equally talented," Lance says firmly, "I've watched the work you've done so far and it really is very good. I look forward to working with you."

"Thank you," I say, feeling my cheeks burn again, "You too."

Once Kyle arrives on set, our cast is complete and I really start to settle in to the job. I get to know the other actors and become more comfortable around them. They all have their own personalities and they make my life on set so much more fun. Kyle has the best sense of humour – he keeps the laughs going right up until Max calls action, and John, Beck and I blow many takes because we're pissing ourselves laughing at something he's said. Henry and Lilian are both so experienced that they know how to make things fun without losing their cool and Lance always knows exactly how I'm feeling and has advice for every situation.

Darryl reminds me a lot of André – he is very passionate about music and we while away many hours on set singing or even writing songs. He, John and Beck spend hours in my dressing room just hanging out, and we become really fast friends. Filming becomes more fun than work, and I become even closer with Beck, who I spend most evenings with.

"Good work today, everyone!" Max says, "Beck, Tori, we're filming your bedroom scene tomorrow just so you're both aware."

"What?" I say, as John, Darryl and Kyle burst into fits of laughter behind us, "Wait, Max, are you kidding?"

"Nope," Max says, walking over to us, "Don't worry about it, you guys, it's gonna be a closed set. None of these idiots hanging around."

"Okay," I sigh, walking away without talking to Beck. He's driven me home from the shoot every night we've been filming together and I have no reason to suspect that won't be the same tonight. I rush up to my dressing room and Sally helps me get out of my costume. "What am I wearing tomorrow?" I ask, "For the… sex scene?"

"We have some nude underwear for you," Sally says reassuringly, "I don't know if Max wants you to go topless but you honestly don't need to worry, Tori, he's gonna make sure it's really classy."

"Yeah, I know," I say, "I just…I didn't even think about that scene when I signed up for this film. I mean, it's Beck, you know. It's so weird doing that sort of thing with him."

"You've slept with him," Lance says, appearing behind me, "Why is it weird?"

"It's not…I just…It's different," I say, dismissing Sally with a smile, "It's in front of people, you know?"

"Not many people," Lance replies, lounging on my couch, "Just forget they're there."

"Easier said than done," I frown, pulling on my hoodie.

"I think it'll get easier as the day wears on," he says, "I've seen what you two are like when you're alone together, you'll have a laugh."

"Hopefully," I groan, "Right, I better go, I've gotta go meet Beck."

"Uh huh," Lance agrees, "See you tomorrow, Victoria. Good luck on your scene."

I smile at him and run downstairs, waving goodbye to Darryl and John and jumping into the car with Beck. "Hello friend," he says, "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah fine," I agree, "I just didn't expect it, that's all."

"We'll be fine," he promises, "It's not like we haven't seen everything before, right?"

"Which we are not gonna publicise," I say, glaring at him, "It's bad enough that Jane and Lance know; if Darryl or John found out, they would never let it go."

"Okay, okay," Beck sticks his tongue out at me, "I just need to make sure Jade doesn't come down to the set, she would kill us both."

"Yeah, God," I groan, "This is just getting worse and worse."

"Really?" Beck teases, "Is the thought of lying in bed with me all day really that unbearable?"

"No," I reply fondly, "It's not that. It's just everything else, the nudity, the cameras, I just…"

"Nudity?" Beck says, "You're not going nude are you?"

"I hope not," I groan, putting my head in my hands, "Sally said she's got me some nude underwear and I'm hoping that's enough to be honest."

"Sounds good to me," Beck says, "I just don't want you to do anything too hardcore, you know? I know we're three months in now but this is still your first movie."

"I know," I say, regaining my composure, "Are you coming to mine tonight?"

"I don't think so," he replies, "We don't really have many lines to run, and I need to see Jade. It's been ages since we spent time together."

"Okay," I smile, "Have a good evening then!" I lean in, kissing him on the cheek and then jump out of the car and run into my house.

"Hiya darling," Dad says, hugging me as I walk through the door, "How are you?"

"Yeah, I'm okay thanks," I smile, "What about you?"

"We're just getting ready to go," Dad says, "You remember, we're taking Trina to fashion week in New York so you're gonna have the house to yourself for a few days."

"Okay," I nod, throwing my bag down on the couch.

"How's the movie going?" he asks, "It all okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, it's fine," I reply, not looking at him, "We're still going steady; I reckon we'll have it finished in time."

"Great," Dad says as Trina and Mom walk in, "Well, we'll see you soon darling. I love you."

"I love you too," I say, hugging them all goodbye and waving them off. I walk back in my house and sit on the couch. "And now I'm alone."

"Okay, Tori, if you could just take the dressing gown off and get into bed with Beck," Max says, "We just need to sort the lighting, but please get comfortable." I strip off and jump into bed beside Beck who sticks his tongue out at me. I am lying on my back and he is lying on his front, and we wait for about half an hour, chatting away while Max sorts everything out.

"So how did it go with Jade last night?" I ask, stretching out.

"Oh, she dumped me again," he says casually but I gasp, pushing up onto my elbows.

"What?!" I gape, "Oh, Beck, for God's sake! What happened?"

"Alright," he says defensively, "It's not my fault, she wouldn't let me explain. She said she wanted to come down to set today."

"No!" I gasp, "She cannot come here!"

"Well that's exactly what I said," he insists, "But she took it as I didn't want to see her and she walked out before I could say anything."

"It's fine," I reply, "You can go see her as soon as we wrap today and patch things up. Invite her down tomorrow – you're filming that big fight scene, she'd love to see that."

"Yeah, I guess," he shrugs, "She's just so hard to talk to! She never listens to me."

"Beck, you love her," I murmur, "I know it's hard but it'll get better, I swear."

"Okay guys," Max interrupts, "We're about ready to go. So all you're gonna do is make out until I say cut, and then we'll pick it up after you've done it, okay?"

"Sure," Beck nods, rolling off the bed and wriggling back in under the covers.

"God, Beck, you're freezing," I snap, "Get your hands off me, they're cold."

"Says you," he teases, "Your feet are like ice."

"Okay, you two, break it up," Max says, "Lights, Camera and…Action!"

Beck caresses my cheek and lets his hand glide down my face to rest on my chin. He pulls me towards him gently and his lips crush down on mine. Like our previous kiss in front of Max, it starts off chaste and innocent, and then as we get more into it, I open my mouth and he slips his tongue in. His hands move into my hair and mine move to his waist, tugging him closer to me. We roll over so he is on top of me and he starts to grind his hips into me.

Somewhere above us, someone is speaking but I ignore it, deepening the kiss. "CUT!" Max shouts and Beck pulls away, gasping. "Good take you guys," Max frowns, "Only had to call cut three or four times there. Maybe you should take time and cool off."

I push Beck off me and swing my legs over the edge of the bed, breathing heavily. "Tori," Beck says, putting a hand on my shoulder, but I shrug it off, insisting, "Just give me a minute."

"Okay," I say eventually, turning to him, "Sorry about that. We got carried away. It was a mistake."

"Agreed," he says, "Are you okay?"

"Fine," I reply, "I'm just gonna go and get some air." I walk out of the room and run up to my dressing room, pulling my phone out of my bag. "André," I say as soon as he answers, "Will you come down to the set for me?"

"What's wrong?" he asks, "Has something happened?"

"I need a lift home," I reply, "You don't mind waiting, do you? It's a closed set."

"As long as you tell me what's happened," he says.

"In the car," I promise, "I have to get back to filming. Please André."

"Sure," he says, "Don't worry, baby, I'll be there."

I hang up and lean over the chair, still breathless. "Tori," Sally says, appearing at the door, "Max wants you back on the set."

"Sure," I nod, shaking it off, "Sure, I'm coming." I walk back down and into the room and Beck raises an eyebrow at me, but I ignore him. "Sorry Max," I say quietly, "Do we need to do that again?"

"No," he says, "We got enough shots. We just need to film Beck's exit and then you're done for the day."

"Okay," I nod, crossing the room and getting back into bed, still without looking at Beck.

"Okay," Max says, "And action!"

We film our awakening, and then as someone pretends to hammer on the door, Beck whispers promises of love and eternity. I lean in, kissing him gently, tenderly, and then shoo him out of the room. We do the scene a bunch of times before Max is happy, but as soon as he gives us the thumbs up, I am out of the room, running back up to my dressing room. I change out of the underwear and into my normal clothes, rushing out of the room so fast that I bash straight into Beck. "Tor," he says, hurt all over his face, "Do you want a lift?"

"No, no, it's fine," I reply quickly, "You go and patch things up with your girlfriend, I've got a ride."

"Okay," he says doubtfully, raising his voice as I race away, "See you tomorrow then?"

I run down the stairs and out into the lobby where André is waiting. He opens his arms as soon as he sees me and I fly into his embrace, bursting into tears. "Baby," he croons, "Come on baby, don't cry. Let's get you outta here."

He helps me to the car and starts to drive, pulling into a lay-by a safe distance away from the studio and stopping. He stares at me until I can't fight his gaze anymore and I look up at him. "What happened?" he asks quietly.

"I think…I think I'm falling in love with Beck," I murmur, and his jaw drops open.

"Shut up," he says, "No, baby, you're just confused. You're spending too much time pretending to be in love with him; it's just getting to you."

"No!" I reply, backhanding tears from my cheeks, "You don't understand. This all started long before I got that job."

"Explain," he orders, "Because I am hella confused right now."

"You remember the party where you first slept with Lisa?" I ask and he nods smugly, "And how I stayed at Beck's that night?" He nods again, slightly more uncomfortable now, and I admit, "I had sex with Beck that night."

"WHAT?!" André gapes, "You did not have sex with him!"

"Three times," I confess, "We did it three times that night."

"Damn girl," he says, "Does Jade know?!"

"Are you kidding me?" I reply, "You think I'd be here if she knew? No, she doesn't know, and you can't tell her!"

"Okay, okay, I swear," he says, putting his hands up, "I won't tell anyone. Just keep going."

"So yeah, I had sex with Beck that night," I continue, "And we both agreed it was a massive mistake, like we never meant to do it, we'd never do it again and we'd never tell anyone. It was all fine, it went back to normal, and I was even giving him relationship advice for crying out loud. And then we got the audition, we started spending more time together, but still he was just my best friend, you know? And then you remember the day we got the parts, Max came to the school?"

"I recall," he nods, "You were gone for hours."

"Well, yeah, because he was asking us all these really personal questions," I explain, "And then when he was happy with us, he said that he had to see us kiss."

"No!" André gasps, "He made you kiss?"

"Yeah, and I mean, it's not that big a deal, I've kissed him before," I shrug, "but it was just different. It felt different. Beck's always a good kisser, but this was insane. It was electric."

"Tor, that was months ago," he says, "You have not felt this way for months, you wouldn't have been able to keep it inside."

"No, I haven't," I reply calmly, "I just brushed it off, you know; he was happy with Jade, I had no reason to interfere with that. But we've had all these kisses on set and they've been so sweet and chaste and innocent because that's who Juliet is, and then today…"

"What were you filming today?" he asks suspiciously.

"Our sex scene," I admit, and he gasps again, but I don't let him interrupt, continuing, "And it was all fine, like we were just in our underwear, but all we had to do was kiss until Max called cut."

"And?" André says, almost like he doesn't wanna hear the answer, "What did you do?"

"He had to call cut four times," I say significantly, and André groans, "Four!"

"God, Tor," André cries, "And what did Beck say?"

"Nothing, I left and called you!" I reply and he groans again, rubbing his face with his hand.

"So you didn't say anything to him at all?" he asks.

"No, I did," I admit, "He offered me a lift but obviously you were waiting for me so I said 'Go and patch things up with your girlfriend' and I ran away."

"No," André gasps, "Tori, you have to talk to him."

"I know, I know," I groan, "I just had to let it all out and I was worried that if I talked to Beck about it, I'd say something really dumb."

"Okay, you did the right thing," André says, "I'm going to take you home now and you're going to fix things with him, okay? You're going to call him straight away."

"Okay," I say obediently.

"So did you say Beck and Jade broke up again?" he asks and I roll my eyes.

"Yes," I reply, "She wanted to come down to the set today but obviously she couldn't, but in his eagerness to stop her coming, Beck obviously offended her and she dumped him."

"Of course she did, because that's her answer to everything," André says, rolling his eyes in agreement.

After that we drive in silence. It doesn't take long to get back to my house, and when we pull up outside, he leans over and gives me a hug. "Call me when you've spoken to Beck," he orders, "And don't do anything stupid."

"I promise," I laugh, kissing his cheek, "I love you, bro."

"Love you too, baby," he replies, "Now go, fix things."

I run inside, waving as I go and then sit down on my couch. I cry for a little while, overcome by everything that's going on, and then I shake it off, pull out my phone and dial Beck's number. "Tori?" he says and I can hear the self-doubt in his voice, "Are you okay?"

"I think so," I reply, "Listen, I'm so sorry I ran off earlier. You must have been confused as well and it was totally selfish of me. I really wanna talk if that's okay?"

"Of course," he says, "I think we should talk about what happened. We can't just keep writing these things off as mistakes, you know?"

"I realise that, Beck, but-" I am cut off by a sharp knock at the door, and I apologise, "Oh, sorry, Beck, just give me a minute. There's someone outside." I run over to the door and tug it open to reveal Beck standing there. He is red-eyed, like he's been crying, but before I can say anything, he pushes me into the house and kisses me deeply. It is a brief kiss and then he pulls away, looking at me for approval. For a split second, I fight my desires, thinking of André's advice, but the attraction is too strong and I pull him back to me, shoving my tongue inside his mouth as my hands move to the zip of his jeans.