Hello dear readers. This update is long overdue, but I finally got it done through extended sickness that lasted more than a week and went through Christmas (which it wasn't fun being sick over Christmas) trying to get the Muse going again after I recovered and get over a little burnout. I hope you enjoy this semi-conclusion to this story (there will be an epilogue).
PD31: Tori calling Carly is a Hail Mary play as she doesn't think a simple wait and see attitude will be beneficial. If she did that, perhaps he could think she's just writing him off even if she realizes how Sam and Carly used to operate with trying to force him to confront things on their timetable.
Cat isn't as blind or childish of a character as in S&C since this is the Victorious universe and you know my feelings that most of it is an act with her childlike innocence. There isn't enough story left to explore a longer subplot with them, but Cat's eyes have been opened and she won't be a doormat for Sam.
Thanks.
Seimika: I have no immediate plans for a sequel because I have other projects I'm working on, but that doesn't mean I'm ruling one out or there isn't anything to write about them and the other characters.
darck ben: Thanks.
Fanfic-Reader-88: Trina's primary concern is with her sister, something I think the show failed to show and/or cultivate in trying to turn her into a one-note diva character (though setting into Season 2, they were all starting to become stereotypes).
Trina just simply told the truth about Beck that Jade really did know in the series, but avoided actually confronting as Dan just didn't want to confront that elephant in the room that he placed there from episode one. Jade simply accepted the fact in the show that her boyfriend did like Tori romantically. I personally think it made her look bad accepting him back in the show when he clearly held those feelings as much as a week before accepting him back, but that was the canon I was working with and I had to make the best reasonable explanation for why Jade would do such a thing: she's in love with him and is willing to try to work out any problems they do have.
This is Victorious!Cat, not S&C!Cat that is basically has some form of mental retardation that actually requires her to be on a psychotic drug in that spinoff, so she's smarter than she lets on and willing to confront her friends.
Thanks and I hope this will be a solid ending and satisfy the audience.
Challenge King: Thank you. In writing Trina and Jade, I wanted to go against the grain of what the show may have portrayed by the end of its run: that the girls were basically heartless. I disagree with that notion and tried to show that in these circumstances they were facing. Sam and Freddie even after all these years is a sore spot for me and frankly hated having to write such a thing, but it is I believe true to the character by the end of the series. Heck, the very premise of S&C requires that she cares so little about her friendship with him that hopping on a motorcycle and touring the country with no immediate plans in ever returning to Seattle is a reasonable choice for her.
Twilight Warrior 627: I think I was more just having what made up Bade just come out in the open for the characters to actually openly acknowledge that was an open secret that they didn't talk about. I think right now Beck gets by with his feelings and choices because Jade just loves him so much. If they didn't have basically four years of history (~3.5 years around the time they broke up the second time), I frankly don't think she would have originally took him back if not for Status Quo is God for the show. As I mentioned to CK, I didn't enjoy writing Sam that way because it is beating a dead horse that frankly a lot of people don't actually believe regardless that it is that way staring the audience right in the face.
I know PD31 and Fanfic-Reader-88 have made updates since my last update, so you should check them out.
Other note, in case no one picked up on it, Freddie's place he's staying is the same hotel room that the alternate version of him from my Jade/Freddie series stayed in the first story of that series.
Rating: T Language
Chapter 19
Apartment 316
Venice/Barry Apartments
11811 Venice Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA
Tori sat anxiously at her desk and looking at the screen of her PearBook, waiting for the video chat request from one Carly Shay. Over the previous hour or so, catching up on her classes and sharing lunch with Cat had been a welcoming distraction from the last day of heartache, but now that Cat had left, the anxiety had returned.
She wasn't restless because she couldn't get a hold of Carly; she had no doubt that Jade would come through for her. She didn't have the energy or will to think about that turn of Fate on her onetime rival helping her when in the past she was have happily cheered on her misery. She didn't think that Jade may have her own agenda where it came to the roommates reconciling.
The brunette stared at her computer screen, trying to suppress the anxiety with something productive as coming up what to say to the 'other girl' of her relationship with Steven—really their relationship with Steven since they had both been played by the handsome guy—as she hadn't thought through what she was going to say other than she screwed up and could Carly help her. In relation with how things had ended between Freddie and Carly, she couldn't help but think on Cat's words that bringing Carly into the situation could just make things worse.
Internally debating whether or not to go through with her haphazard plan was ended once she received the video chat request from Carly blinking on the screen. She hesitated for several seconds before she moved the cursor over the acceptance button and clicked.
The video window popped open and Carly Shay appeared on the screen. She still looked the same as Tori remembered with her long straight dark hair that framed her cute pale face and fell over her shoulders. She vaguely reminded her of Jade for some reason except for the bright smile… which sometimes she caught Jade flashing.
"Hey Tori. My dad got a message from Jade's mom to… what's wrong?" Carly hurriedly asked when she saw the downcast expression on Tori's face. Despite Tori cleaning up for lunch and studying, the Seattleite noticed the faint darkness under Tori's eyes.
The fellow brunette answered with somber tone, "Hey, I need your help."
"Okay… about what?"
"It's about Freddie."
Carly's concerned expression deepened to reach her eyes. "Freddie? What about Freddie? Has something happened to him?"
"Yeah… I… I really hurt him and I don't know what to do about it to make it right. I was hoping that you could help me fix things between us."
Concern turned to confusion for the brunette half the world away. "Wait, you 'hurt' Freddie? How? Are you in Seattle?"
Tori parted her lips and gave a sideward glance. She couldn't comprehend for a moment why Carly wouldn't know Freddie was in L.A. after all the times he had met up with Sam and presumably Jade has passed along at least some of what was going on in Los Angeles with the bare minimum that Freddie had moved down to the 'City of Angels'. Apparently neither had taken place, which begged the question of why Sam was not in contact with Carly at all?
She patiently answered, "No. I'm still in L.A., but Freddie's down here in L.A. going to school and we're—we were roommates and something happened—"
The other brunette knotted her brow and asked with a slightly raised voice, "Wait, back up; Freddie's in L.A.? He's not going to UW? How were you roommates?"
"Yeah, he's here at UCLA. He's taking computer science."
Carly glanced down at the desk her computer was sitting, lost in thought and perhaps a little disappointed in finding out that information. She softly muttered, "He didn't say he was leaving Seattle."
"So I guess Sam didn't tell you?"
Carly looked up bashfully and answered in an embarrassing tone, "No, Sam and I have spoken to each other randomly over the last few months. She's been on a road trip around America."
"Actually she's in L.A. too. She's roommates with Cat," Tori informed with a tight smile.
The fellow brunette looked mildly dumbfounded at yet another revelation. Begin in another hemisphere certainly was hampering her ability to stay in the loop about what was going on with her friends. "She's in L.A.? When did this happen?"
"Yeah, she's here and rooming with Cat. It happened sometime just before school started a few weeks ago. Carly, I'll be more than happy to catch up you with what's been going on here, but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. I need your help with Freddie since… well you two were close for years—"
"We still are, we just haven't talked to each other recently. He was getting ready for college and I'm still adjusting living over here, but I guess we got too busy to let me know he decided to leave Seattle for another school."
Tori bit into her bottom lip, not wanting to throw figurative stones at the girl whose assistance she needed.
Carly took a few seconds to process that happenings with her friends since she was gone then politely smiled and stated, "Okay, so you're rooming with Freddie and you 'hurt' him? How did that happen?"
The Angeleno brunette wasn't sure which part Carly was questioning on the how, but she had to tell her about both, so she began, "We're roommates because of a housing mixup. I wrote Tori out of habit instead of Victoria, but my point is that we got into a… disagreement that was my fault and I was hoping you could talk to him for me. At least get him to hear my apology. Could you talk to him?"
Carly slightly frowned and glanced away. Tori could see the other girl struggling with an answer in mild embarrassment. "Our last conversation wasn't… it wasn't a pleasant one."
"I know. You really hurt him," Tori was quick to point out.
The lovely former webstar frowned, taking Tori's statement as an accusation, "I didn't mean to."
The Angeleno brunette quickly cut Carly off, not eager to hear her justify her actions or make excuses for her behavior towards Freddie, "I didn't either, but… I know he really cared about you and how things ended between of you really made him untrusting of people then I had to turn around lie and keep a secret from him—"
"What did you do?" Carly interrupted this time in a curt tone, not wanting to dwell on how things had ended between the pair.
Tori recognized the shift back to her, but let it go. "I lied to him."
"About what?"
"It started when we went to a welcoming party at one of the frat houses thrown by students that had graduated Hollywood Arts over the last few years since a lot of us ended up at UCLA. We went together with Jade and while we were there, a girl a year ahead of Jade and I at Hollywood Arts—the same girl that invited me and said that Freddie was welcome to come—spiked Freddie's drink. Jade and I caught her trying to… you can guess what she was planning on doing to him…" Tori seemed to blush in embarrassment at having to possibly go into detail of what happened.
Carly's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets and asked in a high pitched voice, "Oh my God, is he alright?"
"Yeah. Jade and I found him first before she could what she was planning. He bounced back the next morning. I told him that he took the spike drink that was meant for me. It satisfied him, though he wanted to go after the guy he suspected of trying to do it to me—an almost ex, but… he found out that truth yesterday and upset with me for lying to him about it."
"Why lie about it to him?"
"Because it was meant for us to have a good time, a way of celebrating starting over—"
Carly interrupted with a squint, "Starting over?"
Tori made a face of uncertainty, unsure whether or not to go down that emotionally booby-trapped road. On the other hand, she wasn't sure how she could avoid not dredging up Freddie's feelings about his life in Seattle. "Carly… Freddie has a lot of… things in Seattle he'd like to put in the past and wanted to just start over in college, a fresh start."
"What kind of 'things'?"
"Seattle in general. He wasn't particularly happy there—"
Carly was quick to interrupt, "Freddie wasn't unhappy with Seattle—"
Tori in turn stopped the former web-hostess with what she thought was a point to stake Carly's argument into the ground, "Then why did he move to another state to get away from it? Face it Carly, he wasn't happy with a lot of things in Seattle and you disregarding his feelings when you were supposed to be his friend was one of those things."
The girl half a world away stopped, clearly stunned and unable to answer the point right away. She fumbled for words until she finally uttered, "He told you that?"
"He didn't have to tell me that because just watching you disregard what he feels about Seattle is enough," Tori was quick to snap.
Carly frowned, not used to someone calling her out who wasn't clearly a 'bad guy'. "I'm not disregarding his feelings. Freddie was happy here. Okay, some things may not have gone his way here, but that happens to everyone."
Tori bit her tongue, not wanting to antagonize the girl with questioning whether she seriously believed such a thing or was she just that blind towards her ex's feelings of living in Seattle.
Carly hesitantly questioned, recalling what happened when she had kept a secret from Freddie… then remembered that she hadn't suffered one consequence from the short-lived fallout. Being able to bull—persuade him with the use of his feelings towards her to let things go had a great advantage of letting life run smoother at times between him and Sam. "You said you kept a secret from him, one I take he's not happy with you keeping."
"Yeah. It's about not being able to stay as roommates because the school only has co-ed rooms for married couples, so being roommates was only going to be temporary until they found me a room." She licked her lips and hesitantly continued, "They were starting to contact me that they had found me a room, but… I was ignoring them because I wanted to stay his roommate. I like being his roommate." She contemplated telling her the rest that it had started becoming more than that between them, but that wasn't necessarily a complication that she needed Carly to know. "He found out at about the same time as what really happened with Lindsey."
Carly looked down at the desk and gathered her thoughts then asked somewhat rhetorically, "So it all came out at once? He doesn't want you as a roommate?"
"That's not it. We've been getting along fine. It's his religious considerations. My parents raised me that way too, but… I really like him as my roommate and didn't want him to leave."
"I know how his mother is… wait, does she know that you were rooming with him?"
"No, and he didn't want to tell her. I guess he didn't want to freak her out as I take it she's keen on doing. He assumed that he would be out or me before he would have to tell her."
Carly held back needlessly commenting that was a very good idea when it came to the Benson Matriarch. "Why didn't you want him to leave? Why would you want to keep him as your roommate?"
"I have my reason," Tori muttered while looking down at her own desktop.
A corner of Carly's mouth tightened, her emotions mixed about the possible answer to her question, "Is something more going on between you two?"
Tori cracked an awkward smile, not wanting to reveal those feelings she had for Freddie and before the disagreement, she wasn't sure exactly what was going on behind friendship with the former tech-producer. She awkwardly laughed, "Why would anything be going on between us? We're just friends and I found out over the last couple of weeks that being his roommate is great. We get along and I trust him. I just wasn't eager to get another roommate that would be a total stranger and having to start over in getting use to them and figuring out if I could trust them or not."
Carly couldn't possibly miss the nervous laugh. She debated whether she should push for an answer out of curiosity verses just letting it go. However, Tori made the decision for her and asked, "Carly, do you have a problem if there was something going on between me and Freddie?"
"I'm not jealous," the other was quick to snap.
Tori looked her straight in the eyes, partly out of surprise at how quick she was to deny any feelings and another in trying to gage the fellow brunette's true motivations. She may have not known Carly all that well, but she could tell that the girl was not accustomed to lying. "You and Freddie aren't together. You had your chance, but you decided to stay in Italy."
Carly put on a face as if she was pouting, but there was clear anger in her dark eyes.
Tori continued to challenge, "Is it because you don't want him with anyone else but Sam or is it because of me?"
"Why would I have anything against you?"
"Did you forget about Steven? I was the other girl in your relationship with him. Maybe you're holding a grudge?"
Carly was quick to retort, "Tori, I never blamed you. I never thought of you as the 'other woman'. You didn't know what he was doing."
The brunette in Los Angeles bit her tongue surprised that Carly would be so adamant that she didn't see her in that way, but she did recall that Sam didn't have that same opinion and was willing to beat on her with a butter sock. She decided to point that fact out, "Sam certainly did. She wanted to beat me up with a 'butter sock' when she found out about me."
Carly attempted to wave it off as no big deal, "Sam was just being protective of me."
"Then why wasn't her first target Steven instead of me? He was the cheater. If anyone deserved to be at the ending of a beating it was him."
"I don't know. You were the other girl in Sam's eyes…" Carly hoped to placate Tori by quickly adding, "…but you're right. It wouldn't be so bad if Steven would have gotten one—even Freddie wanted to give him one."
That definitely sounded like Freddie to her with his reaction to Ryder. "Why didn't he? It would have saved us the trouble of humiliating him on your show."
"I didn't let him. Steven would have pounded Freddie silly."
Tori blinked, surprised at the odd and frankly incomprehensible statement. She timidly asked, not wanting to openly call into question Carly's judgment at the moment, "You really think that?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I? Freddie's not athletic, but all nerdy," Carly answered with making the point wiggling her fingers at the screen.
Tori's eyes narrowed on the former Seattleite, not sure if Carly was just messing with her or not. She slowly asked, "Have you seen Freddie?"
"What?"
"Have you seen his physical build?" the singer clarified and made comical flexing motions with her arms.
"Yeah."
"And you really think that is what would happen?"
"Yeah," Carly answered again with a deepening brow.
"Wow," Tori muttered, questioning once again her decision of talking to Carly for help, but instead for potential usefulness versus the damage her speaking with Freddie, it was due to her doubting Carly's grip on reality.
"What?"
"Are your blinders that bad when it comes to Freddie? Do not see him for what he is, but what you think he is?"
"What is that supposed to mean?" Carly answered in a surprisingly well imitation of Cat.
"Carly, Freddie is built near that of a body builder and I was with Steven for three months too; Freddie would have torn him apart."
"How would you know that?"
Tori rolled her eyes, becoming tired of the fellow brunette and replied, "We've worked out together and we've lived together for weeks; I've seen his build without a shirt."
The brunette in Italy made an unpleasant face as several images crossed her mind about how Tori exactly saw Freddie in that light including ways that weren't limited to TVG. She pushed those thoughts out of her mind just as Tori's voice became curt, her patience for the girl reaching its limit and not wanting to go into further detail about her feelings for Freddie with his long time affection, "Are you going to help me or not?"
Carly remained quiet for several seconds, appearing to be caught in a mental debate before finally answering in a calm voice, "I'll talk to him, he may not want to talk to me, but I will try because it means so much to you and… if Freddie really wants to be your friend."
The tension deflated between the pair and Tori gratefully answered, "I know, but I am grateful for you trying."
"Do you know what he's doing right now?"
Tori glanced at the time in the corner of her computer and answered, "He's just wrapping up one of his computer science classes."
"I'll send him a text and hope he'll answer me for a video chat. It's getting kind of late over and I need to be heading for bed soon."
"Thank you Carly. I really do appreciate it."
"You're welcome."
The video chat ended and Tori sat in silence, wondering if things would work out between them.
UCLA Computer Science Department
4732 Boelter Hall
Los Angeles, CA
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Freddie's Computer Science class had finished more than half an hour ago, but he remained in the computer room working on his homework. The room he was renting was necessarily quiet, but the surrounding wasn't as conducive in completing assignments as the lab or his old apartment with Tori.
He was wrapping up a last bit of code when his phone pinged to signal that he had received a text message. He didn't have the inclination to answer it, but then again Tori hadn't tried to contact him since he left. Trina of course had attempted to call him, but as soon as he heard her voice, he had hung up on her. He didn't want to think about either Vega sister, especially the younger one when he had noticed that she hadn't shown up for their shared classes that morning. Jade's words continued to worm though his head and heart from yesterday and seeing that lack of Tori's presence made the words more prominent. Carly wouldn't have missed shared classes over him.
He decided to look at the message and reached into his jacket pocket before he could debate further.
'Hey, can we talk now– Carly.'
Freddie cocked and eyebrow, astonished from reading such a text from his ex. He wondered for several moments if it was a joke as he knew of several ways for someone to fake a text message, but he didn't think anyone would go through the trouble of doing such a thing. He debated for a moment then fired off a quick message: 'Not in the mood for games Sam.'
He slipped his phone back into his pocket and turned back to his work. The phone buzzed again and he sighed. He reached his hand back into his pocket with the intention of just turning his phone off.
Before he could turn off the pear shaped, he saw the latest message: 'It's not Sam. It's really me. We need to talk. It's about Tori. Vid chat pls?'
He sucked in a quick breath through his lips, clearly not expecting such a message. If it was a trick by Sam, it was a very interesting one to taunt him about Tori while using Carly and figured it was best to see what was going on than to be constantly bugged for the rest of the afternoon for not seeing it. He'd get his number changed so she wouldn't be able to pull this stunt in the future.
He made sure the volume on his laptop was muted then clicked open a browser window and went to his video chat page. He quickly logged-in and saw the list of his contacts with Carly's username showing. He hesitated again at seeing the name. There was a significant time difference, so most of the time he didn't see her name, something he was quite grateful after their 'breakup'. If this was a trick from Sam, it was becoming more sophisticated.
He tapped her name and requested a video chat.
The familiar brunette appeared on screen with a bashful smiled to her ex and friend. "Hey."
He cautiously replied, keeping up a guarded expression as he was still a little stunned at seeing the face, "Hey."
They stared at one another, unsure how to proceed with the conversation. She broke the stalemate with an obvious statement in a breathy laugh, "It's been awhile."
He cautiously answered, "Yeah… it has."
Carly nervously glances around before asking, "How are you doing?"
He ignored her questioned and asked, "You just called to chat?"
The cute brunette slightly frowned and shifted her gaze back and forth again before softly admitting, "No."
His voice became colder. "Then why did you call?"
"Tori contacted me and filled me in on what was going on between you tw—"
Freddie cut her off with a click of a button. He took a deep breath, trying to swallow down his rage. Tori didn't seemed the type to give up either, seemingly willing to turn to the girl that he had confessed less than holding pleasant feelings. It smacked of desperation, but it also peaked his curiosity further of why she would try so much.
The chat request flashed on the screen and it stoked his irritation further. Carly just didn't know when to quite when she wanted something. He regretfully felt that she never seemed to have that motivation for him.
He focused on the flashing request, internally debating whether he should answer the request. If she was determined, she'd find a way of contacting him by either blowing up his voicemail inbox, text him endlessly or perhaps contact Sam and get her to bug him. He moved the curser back over Carly's screenname and hit the 'accept video chat' button.
Carly's brows were crossed and demanded with a soft huff, "Why did you cut me off?"
He snorted out, "Because I don't want to hear you plead Tori's case then browbeat me into accepting whatever apology she has for me. You did that once to me—just after you made it abundantly clear that you didn't want to play peacekeeper but then you butted your nose into it to save Sam. I'm not going to let you do that to me for a second time."
The girl-next-door brunette went nearly bug-eye from Freddie's response, but her expression quickly turned into one with a knotted brow and a frown. She clearly didn't appreciate his interpretation of those events. She answered with a curt tone, usually saved for ones she really thought were her enemy, "I'm not going to plead her case, just that you should talk to her. You've really upset her and I wasn't playing peacekeeper between you two and your mom. I was just correcting my mistake of letting your mother know what happened with what Sam did to your camp application and using it as an excuse to break you up."
Freddie set his jaw tight and the muscles around his eyes tightened.
"Why are you so upset? Okay, Tori did lie to you, but I don't understand why you're getting so upset with her that you're cutting her out of you life. You never got that mad with me and Sam or threatened to do that."
Freddie took a deep breath and patiently answered, "Maybe I should have."
Carly slightly leaned back in her seat, blinking several times.
The former tech-producer muttered in disgust, "Maybe if I had done that, my last couple of years would have been happier."
"Happier?"
"Yes… I tried to start over here so I could be happy, but I just got the same mess from people."
"Mess of people?"
"I didn't want to be around people like you and Sam."
"Like Sam and me?" Carly looked completely perplexed. She was starting to feel like she was dropped into a parallel world as Mitch had did to her one Christmas where everything was turned on its head. "Freddie—"
He raised and hand and tiredly interrupted, "Carly, I don't want to drag up the last five years with you. I want to put that in the past."
"What is there to drag up?"
"All the same stuff I'm mad at Tori about: my feelings being disregarded for someone else's and being lied to."
"I never disregarded your feelings!"
Freddie shook his head. He didn't want to do this. He was already upset enough. He had spent months trying to bury the past and the feelings associated with such memories, but it looked like he couldn't escape it.
He calmly asked, "Carly, name me one time you took my side over Sam's."
"What?"
He patiently repeated, "Name me one time you outright took my side over Sam on anything."
Carly cocked her head to the side, still baffled by his question, but humored him as she tried to recall all the arguments between him and the blonde. There were plenty from which to choose.
Freddie impatiently interrupted her train of thought, "You can't. There's not one time where you decided that I was right and Sam was wrong and you backed me over her. You know what she did to me about the camp and you kept your mouth shut about it. It was just one of countless times that my feelings meant so little to you that you discarded them whenever you felt like it. Hell Carly, you showed more compassion to Nevel when the world hated him than you ever did to me. I don't want a repeat of that with Tori."
"Oh come on, you're just exaggerating there!"
He was quick to fire back, "You bent over backwards to try to get him back in the good graces with his audience. Did you try to do that for me when I lost out on my camp that I could have used to write a ticket to any university I wanted?"
He shook his head in disgust and finished, "If that would have happened to you, we would have moved Heaven and Earth to fix that for you, but no, when it came to me… you covered for her and when it came out—because you could use it as a way to get what you wanted not about my feelings or wellbeing—you made some bullchizz excuses for Sam like you always do—and I just had to accept it happening and move on. To Hell with Freddie as long as Sam is happy."
"You accepted her apology—"
"Because you demanded it of me! You didn't even think I had the right to get mad over it. You even had Gibby throw my mother out because you didn't want anyone else disagreeing with you!"
"He was just trying to help me from undo trying to sabotage you two—"
"I don't give a damn about his wishy-washy motivations. He can go straight to Hell and if I find out he ever puts his hands on my mother again, I'll be the one sending him there."
Carly's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of their sockets for a second time and her mouth started gulping like a fish. She had to take several seconds to regain her composure and reply, "Freddie, that's a pretty extreme reaction."
Freddie was beginning to sheath with rage with what seemed like he was arguing with a brick wall. It wasn't that she wouldn't agree with his points, but that fact that she couldn't even acknowledge that they were at least sound.
His voice dropped to a near sinister tone, "You wouldn't have let him put his hands on your mother."
Carly clenched her jaw so tightly that he wondered if she would crack some of her own teeth and her face blushed red. It was a potential cheap shot due to the fact that her mother was deceased and she had never been subject to any discussion. She slowly replied in a steely voice, "Don't try to twist my trying to help you into some kind of…"
The computer science major interrupted with a snap, "You were helping yourself because Sam and my relationship started interfering with your precious show, but then when you realized that Sam would lose out, you jumped right in!"
A tense silence fell between the former couple, one that was unaccustomed in regards to one another. Carly broke the tension first to address her confusion, "Where is all this anger towards me coming from?"
Freddie took several breaths to calm down as he didn't want things to turn into a screaming match and perhaps attract the attention of a random student passing outside of the room. "When you kissed me and we talked about finally being together, I thought you turned a new leaf. That leaving to live with your dad was a wakeup call for you and I was just going to put it in the past, but that didn't happen. You led me on and I finally realize that we never had a chance and after three months alone to think on that… I realized that we didn't even have a chance of being friends after getting some distance to think about my life in Seattle without you there to distract me."
The brunette stared at him in such a way that she was perhaps seeing him for the very first time. She answered with a hint of sarcasm in her voice to Freddie's ears, "I'm sorry Freddie you feel that way."
He licked his lips and cracked an ironic smile, seeing she couldn't muster a real apology, only that she was sorry he had those feelings instead of the actually acts themselves. "Too little, too late."
The girl have a world away took a deep breath then directed a stern look, one she had only reserved for her enemies and answered, "Fine, if you want to be that way with me, you do that, but you shouldn't be that way with Tori. All she did was care about you and wanted you to stay."
She tapped a button on her laptop and the video feed was cut.
He shook his head, Carly making sure she got the last word. He quietly sat there, letting what happened sink into his head. He realized he had truly lost her as a friend and felt a minor sting in his heart as the reality set in, however the greater struggle he had felt since she had told him that she wasn't returning to the States in the near future and they weren't be together along with the gnawing feeling in his heart over the last few months that she had ever truly been his friend had been a far more excruciating a pain.
He truly felt alone.
Robbery/Homicide Department
Los Angeles Police Department
Los Angeles, CA
Thursday, October 11, 2012
The time was approaching noon when Tori casually made her way through her father's department wearing her visitor's badge, hoping to find him at his desk. She had pulled herself together enough to leave her apartment—actually Trina finally kicked her out on the promise that she wouldn't leave in case Freddie decided to show up and get his stuff while also promising that she would stall him enough for Tori to have time to come back. Trina wasn't entirely thrilled about being held to that particular part of the promise, but if it would get her younger sister out of bed and the apartment, she would keep it.
The younger one of the Vega sisters actually went to class that morning and the following one she shared with Freddie and the others. She had sat with Jade, Beck and Cat, but Freddie decided to sit across the other side of the stadium seated classroom. He wouldn't even pass her a glance and that broke her heart a little more, but she kept her brave face throughout the class period.
Tori's mind returned to the present when she saw her father sitting at his desk busily working at his computer. She put on the best smile she could manage and greeted her father, "Hey dad."
Detective Vega looked away from his computer screen and his downtrodden expression instantly vanished and was replaced with a beaming smile. "Hey sweetheart." He got up from his seat and pulled her into a hug. He pulled back and rested his hands on her shoulders. "What's with the visit, not that I don't mind it?"
Tori's smile slightly faltered and she hesitantly replied, "I wanted to see you, see how you're doing and—"
"Tori, you don't have to worry about me. You shouldn't have to worry about anything between you and your mother. That's between me and her."
The young brunette regretfully shrugged her shoulders and admitted, "Yeah, Trina and I figured that out when we talked to mom on Sunday."
"Trina? Trina's here?"
"I called her to let her know what happened then the next morning she showed up on my doorstep. She's staying with me right now."
"Oh?" He tightly smiled. "I guess I'll have to stop by and see her before she heads back to New York."
Tori suppressed a frown picking up from her father's eyes that he wasn't looking forward to such a visit.
Her father continued before she could make any comment, "Do you mind if we eat and talk? I was just going to grab some lunch."
She shook her head and answered, "That's fine. I haven't gotten a chance to eat lunch since I just left from class."
"Do you mind cafeteria food? It's surprisingly good. My treat."
She let a playful smile remain on her lips and answered, "It's fine."
Cafeteria
LAPD Headquarters
Los Angeles, CA
The father and daughter took a seat at one of the round tables after going through the line to grab some food. The police detective opted for a hamburger while the daughter grabbed a burrito.
Tori took a sip from her soft drink then forced a smile and asked, "Are you okay?"
Vega tightly smiled again before he could even pick up his hamburger to take a bite out of it. He disappointedly glanced to his food, apparently hoping against hope that his daughter wouldn't ask the question, then diplomatically answered, "I'm doing alright."
"Are you sure? You don't have to li—keep the truth from me to protect me. I'm not a child anymore."
The detective smiled, hearing from her that he didn't have to keep the solemn expression. "I'm getting some pity looks and they're going to assign me a new partner."
"I'm sorry," she whispered regretfully, feeling worse than she arrived at the police station.
The detective's smile brightened and reached over to pat her daughter's hand to reassure her. "It's okay."
"Have you talked to mom?"
He shook his head. "Not since Saturday. I've just been too angry at her and I don't want to say things out of anger that I may regret later. I don't know how things will resolve between your mother and me."
Tori couldn't tell if there was hope in his voice that things would be reconciled with his wife and she wasn't sure if she should be honest about her mother's hesitation to even try. She didn't want him to live under a false hope and she was already in a mess from keeping the truth from ones she cares about, so she hesitant informed, "Mom's not sure either."
"You talked to your mom?"
"Trina was insistent we do something to try to get our family back together, so we went over to see her. She's… she's not sure what she wants."
Vega leaned to his left and supported himself with his left elbow. "I'm sorry to have to—"
"It's alright Tori. It's not your fault. If your mother wants to move on then that is her choice. Maybe I should accept that it's really over and let her move on… I should try to go ahead and move on… and call a divorce lawyer. Maybe your mother will only take half?"
Tori was simultaneous angry and frightened, that her parents' marriage was over—and an omen that so was her friendship with Freddie—and angry that her mother could hurt her father so much by cheating on him and breaking their family up and still keep hurting him by taking a portion of his money for the considerable future. "Dad, don't do anything rash on my word. You should talk to mom again."
"I hate the idea of having to talk to your mom through a lawyer, but… I'll try to talk to her before I go see anyone."
"Okay, but… if things get to that point, I want you to know that we may want our family back together, but I'm on your side and I'll help anyway I can. Mason's finally gotten back his interest in my music career and I should be releasing my first album early next year, so you don't have to worry about money."
"I appreciate that honey and it's great that he's finally realized that he shouldn't waste your talent, but it's not about sides and you don't have to take them. I don't want you to resent your mother. I don't want your money either. It is not your responsibility to support me."
"We think it is. She's the one that cheated on you and broke us and we don't buy her justification for it."
He smiled and politely replied, "I appreciate the support, but is that the real reason you stopped by to see me? Just to check up on your old man?"
Tori looked down at her food and took a quick bite of her burrito, retreating for the moment in having to talk about why she had shown up in the first place.
Vega looked over his daughter again, assessing how she looked and her body language as if she was a suspect he was about to question to gage her emotional state. He cautiously commented, "You look kind of beat. Has what happened between me and your mother been bothering you that much?"
Tori chewed her morsel and took a swig from her drink to wash it down before answering, "Partially, but… it's about Freddie."
The detective interrupted with an authoritative fatherly tone, "What did he do?"
"Nothing, it's what I did. I screwed up dad."
Detective Vega's stern expression turned into one of confusion. "Pardon?"
"I lied to him and kept something secret from him. He found out then grabbed some of his things and left. He won't talk to me and he won't sit by me in our classes."
He slightly pursed his lips before asking, "What did you lie to him about that would make him just walk out?"
Tori glanced to her tray of food then gathered the courage to retell what happened without emotionally breaking down again as she had done over the last several days. "It started back at the first week of school. We went to a welcoming party for freshmen at one of the frat houses. We thought it was pretty safe since it was being hosted by mostly students that had graduated before us at Hollywood Arts to welcome us to campus. They weren't serving any alcohol and campus police would be outside to make sure nothing happened."
The police detective spoke in an ominous tone, "But something did happen?"
"Someone—Lindsey, an old 'friend' of Trina's from Hollywood Arts—spiked Freddie's drink. Jade and I found them in one of the frat house. She was trying to… he was passed out on the bed and she was trying to get his pants undone. We got her off of him then got him out of the house. We had to take him back to the apartment and he didn't wake up until the next morning. I told him that someone spiked my drink and that during the party that we switched drinks sometime during the night. It was easy story to believe since we were drinking the same thing and our cups were identical."
She had just described Detective Vega's worst fears of what could happen to either one of his daughters. He forced a calmness into his voice he really didn't feel, "You didn't report it?"
"Report what? That a girl tried to… tried to do that to Freddie? I didn't want him to know what happened. I didn't want him to think I set him up or him to blame me for what happened, so I told him that we switched drinks. I found out that if he does try to say anything, she'll lie and say he tried that on her and if she does…" Tori's mildly distraught expression turned cold and a colder fury could be seen in her eyes.
Vega was suddenly reminded of the old proverb, 'Hell have no fury like a woman scorn' and his daughter looked quite scorned. He finished for her in a calming voice, "And if she does, you and Jade will tell the truth and she would be arrested."
Daughter looked to father with a scrutinizing look. "You really believe that?"
He tightly smiled, signaling that it may have sounded a little far fetch, but he answered, "Two female witnesses help."
Tori looked to her food and muttered in embarrassment and shame, "Whatever happens with Lindsey still may be pointless. Now he thinks I betrayed him."
The detective answered with his mouth feeling sour, "I can understand that feeling."
Tori covered her mouth with her right hand and replied, "I'm sorry dad."
He waved her off and continued, "You're not here to talk about that. Okay, he's upset that you lied to him about what happened, so that was the secret?"
Tori regretfully shook her head. "No… Student Housing has been trying to contact me with saying they found me a room and I've been ignoring them. He found out that same afternoon and he's upset that I kept that from him too. He felt I betrayed him… that's why he left and doesn't want anything to do with me."
The word 'betray' struck another cord with him, but ignored it and softly began, "Tori…"
"I know, I know, I should have told him and just took the new room assignment, but… I liked rooming with him. I didn't want him to leave."
He raised an eyebrow and his face nearly morphed with fatherly concern. "Oh?"
"No, we have not been doing… that. We have our separate bedrooms and been using them. He has been a complete gentleman about the whole situation."
"So he doesn't want to room with you?" The detective's respect for the boy from Seattle grew as did his curiosity about the situation.
"I haven't asked him directly that, but like we told you when you and mom… came for your first visit, it's a moral reason for him."
He halfheartedly muttered before taking a sip from his drink, "I guess he's alright for a Protestant."
"Dad!"
He returned with the first genuine smile he had felt since Saturday and answered with a raised hand, "I'm kidding. I wasn't comfortable with the two of you sharing an apartment, but everything I've heard about him and his reaction tells me that he's a principled man."
"He's a good man."
"Is there something more to this than friendship?"
Tori took a slow breath, her lips pursed into a thin line and eye stared straight ahead as if a penetrating stare would prevent someone looking back into her inner thoughts and feelings. She hesitantly admitted, "I like him Dad, I really do and if there is something there more than friendship, I've blown that and I don't know what to do to fix this."
Vega squared his jaw and looked pensive to think on the situation. He reluctantly admitted, "You may not be able to do anything to fix this other than give him space."
"You think that will work for you and Mom?"
The question caused a sharp stab at his, but he recovered at answer, "That's a bit different… your mom… is your mom, my wife for more than twenty years and she betrayed me with my partner. Our situations are only comparable to a point."
Tori looked down at her food and felt a wave of depression ripple through her. It looked like she was going to lose her parents as the couple she looked to as her rock and the boy she had fallen into something.
The detective easily picked up on his girl's worsening demeanor and attempted to help, "I'm sure once Freddie calms down and gets a chance to really think through what happened, he'll understand and come around. He may not be your roommate anymore, but that doesn't mean you can't still be his friend… or more if you want that with him. Maybe you need to have just a little faith?"
If her life didn't become up heaved with her parents' separation, she probably would have enough faith to believe such a thing, but now…
She forced a smile to let him think that he was helping, to make him feel better. "I'll try."
However, the brunette felt her only chance now was Carly and that wasn't a promising prospect.
Somewhere in Los Angeles, CA
Freddie was behind the wheel of the beat up, but fine running vehicle all thanks to Jade and Beck, traveling the streets of Los Angeles. He hated to think about that not so obscure point as he wanted to keep his anger towards them for their complicity in Tori's betrayal. Helping him find a set of wheels and help make sure that it could actually get him from point A to point B was more than he really got from his so called friends in Seattle and didn't like the conflicting emotion.
A part of him thought to just say to Hell with them all and head back to Seattle. Ironically other than his mother that would welcome him with open arms, he'd be away from everyone to start fresh yet again. Washington University was large enough where, along with his major, he'd avoid most of his former classmates and Carly and Sam would be out of the city. Gibby would be left, but he could easily avoid the odd young man.
However, what stopped him from just going back to his apartment, packing his thing and renting a mini-trailer before hitting the road back to Seattle was Tori, his serendipitous roommate and friend not being able to leave his mind. He had of course many reasons that would be the case. He had several very… tantalizing memories about Tori during his stay with her choice of dress in the evenings and during their shared workouts.
Tori was physically attractive, no question about it, but that wasn't the primary reason that she was on his mind. She had been so welcoming and inclusive to him. They would laugh together and enjoy the simplest things in life. She wanted him around, which that alone made her standout from all the others in his life before coming to L.A.
She wanted him more than just a friend, but so did Carly at one point and so did Sam. Those were different though despite what had happened with the lies about what happened at the party and the room situation. She was about to be a famous musician because she had the talent, but she didn't need anything from him. He wasn't necessary to her career as he had been with the production of iCarly.
So why did she want him? What did she need him for? Why go through the trouble of bringing Carly into the situation?
The questions echoed in his head to the point that it was distracting him from driving.
He pulled into one of the street parking spot and took several calming breaths to get his bearings. The questions demanded answers if he wanted peace and to get those answers demanded one course of action from him. He pulled out his PearPhone and spoke into it, "How do I get to Venice and Barry Apartments on Venice Boulevard?"
The phone brought up a map and calculated several routes from his current position. The phone replied several seconds later, "Turn right in thirty feet."
He sat the phone on the passenger seat then looked at his review mirror to see if he could pull out into traffic. He saw it was clear then pulled out to head back home.
Apartment 316
Venice/Barry Apartments
11811 Venice Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA
Freddie took a deep breath as he stood in front of the door to what had been his apartment for the last several weeks. He still had his key of course, but under the circumstances he didn't feel right in just using it and entering unannounced, so he did the only logical thing to do: he knocked on the door.
He patiently waited for Tori or perhaps Trina to open the door. He wondered when he thought of Trina whether she would open the door for him with her attitude towards him or perhaps opening the door just enough to slam it in his face. It would be something Sam would do, but he couldn't blame her if she decided to do either. He admired the older sister's loyalty to Tori and felt mild envy that he didn't have someone that loyal to him, but then again the next few minutes could prove that he did have someone with that loyalty.
The door opened to reveal Trina, as lovely as ever but wearing an annoyed and impatient expression on her face. She spat out, "Here for your things?"
He held a steady gaze on the girl that was most likely resisting wanting to slap him. He answered honestly in an even tone, "I'm not sure."
Annoyance turned to surprise for the onetime comedic actress and she asked, "You're not sure?"
"No I'm not. I'm here to see Tori. Is she here?"
The light haired brunette studied him and debated whether to answer him or simply lie to him. The decision was taken out of her hands with Tori's voice called out from the hallway, "Trina?"
Trina closed her eyes and sighed loudly that her sister had to interrupt her.
Freddie looked past the dual sister/bodyguard and cleared his throat and greeted, "Hey."
Tori swallowed and forced a half smile. "Hey."
The strained roommates stared at one another for several seconds before Trina cleared her throat to not be ignored by her younger sister. Tori looked to her sister and asked, "Could you give us a few minutes?"
Trina's nostrils flared and gave Tori a questioning gaze.
"Please?"
The older sister huffed then answered in a sharp tone, "Fine. I'll borrow your car and get us some takeout."
Tori lightly smiled and whispered, "Thanks Trina."
Trina walked the short distance to the key rack and took Tori's set of keys then returned to the door. Freddie stepped aside to let her pass while she gave him a scathing look as if she was restraining herself from physically hurting him. He was used to the gaze from Sam and long past caring from his soul searching during the summer.
Once she was out the door and several yards down the hallway, Freddie looked to Tori and commented, "She's very protective of you."
Tori tightly smiled, her own nerves tingling with his presence for several reasons. "She is. I think she's taken it a little more seriously now that our parents… It's just us now."
Freddie looked away embarrassed and muttered, "Yeah… May I come in?"
The brunette cracked an unexpected smile and answered in a carefree tone, "It's still your apartment too. You don't need to ask permission to come inside."
He slightly bowed his head and cracked his own smile. "I guess so."
He took a step inside and closed the door behind him with a glance backwards. He turned his gaze back to Tori and the pair fell into silence, neither sure the next step.
Tori licked her bottom lip then tentatively took that step, "I'm sorry."
Freddie stared back at her, but his eyes weren't cold and detached as she expected, but looked almost like a sad puppy. She saw the hurt that Jade said she saw and what she had suspected.
Silence was the only thing connecting them for those few moments and neither was sure how much time passed before Freddie finally answered, "That's actually pretty different. I usually don't even get that—at least not a genuine one."
What tribulation Tori felt was suppressed by her self-confidence at hearing what she thought was his acknowledgment that her apology was genuine, "But you get that from me because I'm your friend. I wronged you when I thought I was helping you, protecting you… protecting myself and I'm sorry that it wasn't to you."
She wasn't sure if that came out right, but hoped he got her meaning.
He nodded then continued in an emotionally tired voice, "Tori… I'm tired of forgiving and forgetting… all it got me was more hurt and pain because people kept doing it to me over and over again and I let them. I don't want to let people keep doing that to me."
She took a step towards him and nervously swallowed then replied, "I understand and I'm sorry for hurting you and having you think I was just like them… for making you feel that I violated your trust. I was trying to protect myself and you. I'm not going to deny that I was being a little selfish."
Freddie studied those lovely brown eyes which looked back to him with such sorrow. He breathed out softly, "Why are you sorry?"
"What?"
"Why are you sorry? Why are you sorry for lying to me and keeping the housing thing a secret?"
Tori's cute little brow furled up to express that she genuinely couldn't understand the motivation behind his question. "I don't understand. Why am I sorry?"
He continued, perhaps to enlighten her confusion, "When I was apologized to—the few times that it actually happened—it was because I was needed for something or it was for someone else's benefit and I was forced to accept it, but while I was driving around, I couldn't figure out why you would do it. You don't need me. You're already a worldwide know musician that's going to be a number one musician in the next few months and have everything at her fingertips to be a success. So, why do you need me to forgive you… need me here?"
Tori took a risk and closed the final distance between them to pull him into a hug. She quietly answered into his left ear, "I'm sorry and I wanted to keep being your roommate for the same reason: because I feel remorse and I'm your friend and… I like to be more than that… If you think I want something out of your forgiveness, you're right. I want your friendship and… your love."
The future musician felt so warm and soft against him that it alone was nearly overwhelming to crash through his wall of anger and resentment. He muttered as the wall started crumbling, "Sam wanted the same thing… I thought she wanted the same thing… Carly thought she wanted the same thing."
"I'm not Sam and I'm not Carly. I'm real. My feelings are real."
The phrase turned and twisted in his mind, the part of him that was hurt and injured by the Hell he had been through in Seattle verses all that he had experienced in Los Angeles since he arrived battling for dominance. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered in return, "No you're not."
Freddie bowed his head and hid his face into the crook of her neck, trying to find refuge while inhaling her scent.
Tori shivered from his touch, warmed by his embrace. She brushed the back of his head and reassured him, "It's okay. Everything is okay. You just have to believe it. Just take the chance with me."
She wanted to believe those words. They certainly weren't true for her parents, but she needed them to be true between her and Freddie. She just wished she could do more for both of them to make them true in practice.
Freddie pulled his face away from her neck and locked eyes back with her.
She cupped his cheeks and placed the softest of pressure of her lips against his lips.
The brown eye teenager from Seattle closed his eyes and he hated to be reminded, but he flashed back to when he and Carly kissed before she left for Italy. He thought that kiss was real, that it meant something profound, but he had been wrong. This kiss felt different, perhaps because the girl giving him the kiss meant it for what it truly represented.
Tori pulled her mouth away from his lips, but held onto his cheeks. She licked her lips and attempted to reassure him, "This is real. Our friendship is real even if we're on the rocks right now."
Freddie felt he was back at the mental hospital Sam had checked herself into the previous year after their initial kiss in their high school lock-in and facing the choice of rejecting the blonde on the web-broadcast and humiliating her or accepting that she liked him and should give him a chance. However, he felt that his next decision would be far more profound and affect the rest of his life, regardless of what he chose, so he knew he had to make the right one or he would regret it for the rest of his life.
The former iCarly technical-producer placed his hands on Tori's hips and pulled her back so he could return the kiss.
Tori's eyes widened momentarily, but closed her eyes while melting into the kiss and wrapping her arms behind his neck.
Freddie deepened the kiss with a slight tilt of his head and with every passing second, he knew he was making the right choice.
They eventually broke apart for air, but then reconnected several times for some chaste kisses to remained connected and taste the other. After each of their last taste, their eyes met and each saw in the other a shift of things changing for the better. Tori pulled slightly out of his grip to take a step back and let out a giggle to take away the tension she felt, "Are we good now?"
She didn't want to come off as flippant with the sound of her voice, but she felt such relief in what his kiss had to mean and the change in the look in his expressive eyes.
He cocked his head to the side and flashed her a charming grin. "You're not planning to leave the country are you?"
His words were spoken in jest, but Tori knew there was a deeper meaning behind him and perhaps should have returned with a serious response, but she couldn't help but try to lighten the mood further by answering, "I haven't planned for my international tour yet, so… I can't honestly answer that at the moment."
Freddie snorted then let out the day's worth of tension he had held from all the chizz that had been dropped on him and confronted. It was a fresh and honest answer and frankly a little funny in light of the circumstances. "Then I guess we're good… unless you feel a little mad at me for my reaction…"
"I was hurt by it because I do care so much about you, but I understand with all the… baggage you have from Seattle and how things could look from your perspective."
The former Seattleite sighed in relief, glad to hear his actions wouldn't have any long term problem with her because despite how angry he had felt towards her, deep down he didn't want to hurt her. It reinforced the idea that things were different than they were in Seattle with her reaction being truly reflective of her feelings instead of the potential loss that his presence that could bring tangible benefits to her.
Tori's smile brightened further, but she still had a lingering feeling that things weren't completely resolved between them. "Okay, but… where do we go from here? We're friends, but… do you feel the same way about wanting more? What about our… living arrangement?"
Freddie glanced down at their feet and muttered, "You want to play house?"
The inflection of his voice indicated that he wasn't disgusted with the idea or making it sound like some accusation, but he was genuinely curious.
"I don't think we would be playing house. We're two friends that are room mating… that just happened to be of the opposite sex. I trust you here. I feel safe with you here… I want you to be here with me and share the apartment. At least finish out the semester with me if we can and if you don't feel comfortable by then, I will move out."
"We wouldn't just be two friends rooming together if I returned the feelings," he bashfully answered while avoiding her eyes.
"It wouldn't would it, but… I think it's a good compromise for both our feelings and beliefs," she replied with a hopeful grin.
She may have been still pushing for the idea for him to remain her roommate, but was acknowledging his continued uncomfortableness with the idea through her compromise. It actually reassured him that he had made the right decision in accepting her apology.
He softly nodded his head and answered, "Okay… I think that we can make that work—at least until the end of the semester if they haven't found you or me a place again."
She wrapped her arms behind his neck again and smiled, relishing in her victory in not only reestablishing their friendship but keeping him in the apartment. He may still move out in the winter, but he would be here for the time being.
Freddie returned the smile, liking the feeling of her pressed against him and her warmth. He wrapped his arms around her sides to rest on the small of her back. He may not be entirely comfortable in staying from his upbringing, but if he was going to break the rule, why not for her? He nervously chuckled, "I'm not sure if you realize this or not, but besides being with Sam for three weeks, I have zero experience in being in a relationship, so… I expect to screw up a lot if we're going to try being in one."
Tori cracked a big smile and replied, "Neither do I, so… we can screw up together? I think that's another compromise we can make."
Freddie thought on that for a moment then answered with an equally large smile, "That wouldn't be so bad."
The rising musician beamed a smile before crashing her lips against his lips.
Author's note: So they finally made peace with one another and happy. All it took was him to take the leap. I don't think it is too hard to guess that he made the right decision. There will be an epilogue to this that I hope to update this week to tie up any loose ends. Thank you for reading, OneHorseShay.