Chapter 17

It was just after nine o'clock by the time Beck and Tori arrived at the beach. It seemed like they didn't get the memo to arrive fashionably early that everyone else seemed to, as it was packed by the time they found a spot to park the car.

"Ready?" Beck asked as he shifted the car into park.

"Definitely!" Tori said, turning to face him with a bright smile. His chest fluttered.

He felt the corners of his own mouth turn up at the sight as he shoved the keys to the car in his jacket pocket. She was contagious.

The pair made their way further down the shoreline to where most people seemed to be gathering. Tori hesitantly weaved her fingers with his own and he squeezed her hand in response. She smiled and opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by the sight of their favorite red-head bouncing excitedly towards them.

"Becky! Tori! You made it!" She threw her arms around the two of them happily. She smelled vaguely of cotton candy and vodka. It was obvious she had gotten some drinks into her already. She pulled back and caught sight of their interlocked fingers with a sly smile.

"Hey Cat! You look amazing," Tori gushed over the smaller girl's outfit. They then proceeded to go off on a tangent about what the other girl was wearing, which Beck for the most part tuned out.

Beck glanced towards Tori and silently did his own appreciation of the clothes she was wearing. She donned a black leather jacket with a royal purple top underneath. His eyes traveled down her soft curves to the tight black pants she wore to which he took in in earnest down to her black boot clad feet. Damn. She looked amazing and once again Beck felt the weird fluttering sensation in his chest. She laughed at something Cat said and the light from the bonfire illuminated her beautiful features and he was in awe. He would never get tired of seeing her smile.

"Earth to Becky?" he was pulled back to reality by Cat's twinkling voice and her small hand playfully smacking his arm, effectively ending his daydream.

"Uh… what?" he stuttered out. Real smooth, Oliver. Cat giggled at his reaction and he silently cursed himself, knowing he had been caught. He saw a mysterious glint in Tori's eye and she had a coy smile to match. Before he could read too much into it, however, the music that had stopped temporarily blasted back on at a much higher volume. It jolted Beck to attention and his eyes found the back of a beat up van with a makeshift DJ booth consisting of a few stereos and someone's laptop hooked up haphazardly. He looked at the man in charge of the music and was unsurprised to find Andre standing there staring intensely at Beck and Tori. When he met Beck's eyes however, he smirked, letting him know that he purposely had blasted the music which effectively ended the moment between Tori and him.

Andre's eyes turned to Tori, who was still talking to Cat, and Beck felt a flash of annoyance at how closely he watched her. Beck rolled his eyes.

Beck felt the coldness of a beer can straight from the cooler passed into his hands by someone whom he couldn't quite remember the name of and he turned to look at Tori to find that she had gotten one too. Beck remembered vaguely from the few times when the group had partied, Tori usually refrained from any alcohol or drugs, maybe occasionally sipping a cup of whatever sweet drink concoction Cat had come up with, but never enough for it actually to affect her.

With this in mind, he raised one eyebrow at the sight of her popping the tab on the drink and taking a few large gulps. She caught his bewildered expression and gave him a smile. "Tonight is about having fun, Beck," She took another large sip to prove her point.

"You sure about that?" he asked and chuckled catching her slightly disgusted expression after she had downed most of it.

Cat giggled as she saw Tori's face. "Come on, let's get you some of the good stuff, Tor!" she pulled Tori's hand towards the trunk of one of the cars in which Beck assumed they were keeping the drinks. Tori turned to face him as Cat dragged her backwards.

"I'll be right back!" She called out over the music.

"Have fun," he responded with a grin as she disappeared with Cat through the crowds of people.

Beck scanned the scene once more, clutching his unopened beer. He caught the usual party sights. Kids grinding on one another, couples making out sloppily, people doing shots, and lots and lots of drinks flowing. He even saw some people building sandcastles. He made his way over to the bonfire and sat on a log that someone had strategically placed a few feet away from the fire and popped the tab on his beer and took a sip. He doubted he was going to get crazy tonight, especially if he was driving later on. He took a few minutes to himself to watch the fire, mesmerized for a bit. There were a few people gathered around the fire like himself, but most were paying him no mind, aside from greeting him when he sat.

He caught sight of Cat and Tori a ways away, Cat cheering excitedly as Tori drank something out of a red plastic cup hesitantly. He smiled. He took another sip of his own beer, feeling content for the moment. As the song changed, he saw Cat lead Tori into the sea of people and began dancing with her. He watched as Cat moved her body to the beat next to Tori who was slowly loosening up. He saw the two girls laugh and dance around freely. Tori began to really get into the music, closing her eyes, and moving her hips in a less than PG manner. Beck took another sip of beer and couldn't help but appreciate the sight. Cat began to grind against Tori in a playful manner, much to the satisfaction of most of the guys dancing around them as well as the ones watching from the sides like himself. He didn't know if it was the alcohol, the fire, the sight in front of him or what, but he suddenly felt too hot. He removed his jacket and placed it beside himself on the log and took another swig of his almost empty beer. Cat laughed and began dancing next to Tori again as Tori's body writhed to the pulsing beat in such an erotic way he couldn't help but imagine his own body writhing against hers.

He stood up to clear his thoughts and felt a rush to his head. He shook his empty can in surprise. He hadn't realized he had drank it so fast.

He realized most everyone in the immediate area was fixated on the two girls dancing. Including Andre. He watched the other boy focus on Tori with an unmistakable lust in his eyes, following her every move. He felt a sickness in his stomach that he was sure wasn't the alcohol. As Cat grabbed a boy and began to grind against him, he saw a movement from the corner of his eye coming from the DJ booth and Beck reacted before his brain could process anything that was happening. He found his feet traveling towards the makeshift dancefloor of their own accord. He glanced towards Andre to find him frozen in place, halfway around his little DJ station, watching Beck do what he had intended to do.

Beck grabbed Tori by the hips and pulled her close, the front of their bodies touching. Her eyes fluttered open at his touch and widened at the sight of him before relaxing into a blissful smile. Her cheeks were rosy from the alcohol and her movements had slowed from her fast gyrations moments before to match the sensuous pace he had set. Beck was never a huge dancer, and any other night he would have been content to just sit on the sidelines and balk at the thought of dancing, especially like this, in front of everybody, but not tonight. He remained focused on Tori and his head swam, all inhibitions being thrown out the window. He spun her body so that her back was to his front and he pulled her even closer, as if that were possible. His fingertips seemed melted to her hips, where he shirt had ridden up. His skin seared where it touched hers. He was on fire in every sense of the word, and for a minute he closed his eyes and everything seemed to fade away until it was only him and her that existed. He could feel other people bumping up against him occasionally but he ignored it. Even the music seemed to disappear into the background and as their bodies moved together, the charged atmosphere between them seemed to kick up a notch and everything kicked into overdrive.

He wanted more, needed more. He grabbed her face and turned it to face his own and crashed his lips onto hers with such desperation. He felt electricity. Fire. Explosions. The kiss scorched him but he needed more. She kissed him back in earnest, reaching around to grab his own face as best as she could with her body still faced the other way. He grabbed her and spun her around so that their bodies were once again facing each other. They both had stopped their movements and stood clutching at each other's bodies, not able to get enough. Both of her hands reached around to tangle in his hair, as his own cupped her face, trying to bring her closer. The kiss was white hot. They clashed teeth as their tongues fought for dominance. He felt a slow unraveling inside him as he felt more than heard her humming sounds of approval over the music. What felt like an eternity later, or maybe just five minutes, his body screamed at him for oxygen and he let her go, but not before taking her bottom lip in his teeth and tugging on it. He vaguely heard cheers from all directions directed at him but he ignored them. He looked into her eyes and at her mussed hair and swollen lips and could only imagine that he looked half as crazed as he felt. Her swollen lips were parted as she stared up at him with such admiration in her eyes, seeing only him. He looked past her head at the boy in the DJ booth with a half flabbergasted, half murderous look on his face still rooted to the same spot and Beck gave him a tight smile. He looked back at Tori to find her following his gaze with a confused expression and with a small turn of her head, she found what he had been staring at. She looked back at Beck and he saw her features transform as she seemingly connected the dots in her head. He saw her face harden as she took a small step back from him. She looked disgusted.

Whereas before it seemed his body had moved of its own accord, this time it seemed frozen in place, unable to cooperate with his brain. Move, dammit! Go after her! He screamed at himself internally, as he watched her back away from him once more and beeline out of the crowd and out of sight. He looked all around frantically, as various people clapped him on the shoulder and the girls threw themselves towards him to which he ignored, knowing time was of the essence and was unable to locate her right away. He then looked for Cat, hoping she was with her or at least knew where she went, but she was nowhere to be found either.

The music once again shuffled to an upbeat dance song and the crowd around him began to jump around crazily as he pushed his way away from the middle of it. He looked to the DJ booth expecting to find Andre standing their shooting daggers at him with his eyes but to his surprise, it was empty. The musician seemed to be just as missing as …Tori. He was overcome with frustration as he kicked an empty beer can as hard as he could away from him. He had a pretty good idea of where Andre would have gone. A few people seemed surprised by his outburst but most just ignored him. He caught the eyes of Jade who was sitting by the fire in the same spot he had previously been in and felt her judging gaze. He snapped his head away immediately.

He sank down into the sand with his elbows on his knees, trying to calm the pulsing anger inside of him.

I really fucked up this time.