Disclaimer: I do not own anyone or anything from Victorious. Also, the title of the story was inspired by Avril Lavigne's song Things I'll Never Say.
I'd like to thank everyone again for all the thoughtful reviews. I find them very helpful.
Chapter Three
"Why didn't you just tell Beck how you feel?"
Startled by the booming sound of Andre's voice, Tori hastily reached over and pressed the volume button on her laptop.
"Shh! Andre!" Tori exclaimed, frowning at the brightly lit screen. "Trina's in the other room, and she's got a mouth as big as her ego. Keep it down."
"Sorry," Andre said, leaning back in his chair. "So what's stopping you from telling Beck? He already admitted that he likes you."
"Even if I did tell him," argued Tori. "What difference would it make? It's not like we could go out on secret dates behind Jade's back."
"Or could you?" he said with a sly smile.
"Andre…" Tori warned.
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
For a moment, Andre was thoughtful as he deftly tapped his fingers on the table in a rhythmic manner. Tori was lying on her stomach atop her bed, watching her friend on the laptop screen while her mind wandered in and out of their conversation. The car ride home had become painfully long when doubts about her decision not to tell Beck how she truly felt began to gnaw at her. Needing to vent off her frustration, Tori had gone online and was relieved to find Andre available to video chat.
"So I guess you're not planning on talking to Jade anymore, huh?" Andre raised an eyebrow at her, curious.
Tori sighed and admitted, "I don't think I can. I wouldn't even know where to start…"
"Are you going to be okay?"
"I'll be fine," Tori said, laughing to hide the uncertainty in her voice. "Beck and I are going to stay friends. How hard can that be?"
Unconvinced, Andre shot Tori a doubtful look.
Tori rolled her eyes in response and reassured, "Don't worry, Andre. I've got it all under control."
The next couple of days breezed by and left Tori and Beck in a state of good humor and friendly spirits. The awkward unease between them seemed to have dissipated overnight, and they were back to sharing laughs and jokes like casual friends. Once in a while, though, a tender moment would pass between them, briefly knocking them out of kilter. But they quickly learned to recover from those moments, brushing them away with a pat on the back or a gentle punch on the arm.
It was Saturday and Tori had taken the liberty to plan a poker night with her friends. She was setting out some drinks and snacks in the kitchen when she suddenly heard knocking on the front door. Beck greeted her at the door with a smile that nearly made her heart skip a beat.
"Beck," she said, her eyebrows wrinkling in confusion. "You're early."
"Yeah, I hope that's okay. I just got done watching the cheerleader's dog and had nothing else to do."
Knowing who he was referring to, Tori grinned at their inside joke.
"You didn't go to Nozu with everyone?" Beck asked as he took a seat on the couch.
"Nah," Tori replied, walking to the kitchen. "I had to stay home and help Trina scrape the dead skin off her face."
Beck grimaced slightly in disgust, and watched as Tori came back with a tray of food in her hands.
She took a seat next to Beck. "And yes, it was a lot worse than it sounds."
"Yeah…kind of takes you out of that sushi mood."
Tori laughed, then checked the time on her phone.
"Well, they're probably finishing up dinner now."
"That's okay. We can just watch some TV while we wait."
Beck shifted around until he found a comfortable position and leaned back on the couch. He glanced at Tori as she turned on the TV and flipped through the channels. Her long dark hair cascaded down her back in soft waves, and Beck fought the urge to place a kiss on the part of her shoulder that was exposed by her oversized sweater.
"Ah, here we go," said Tori, finally finding a channel she was satisfied with. "The episode's just starting."
Tori leaned back and nestled into the couch beside Beck. Despite the space that sat between them, both teenagers were astutely aware of their close proximity. Beck had his arms spread out along the back of the couch, and though Tori kept her eyes glued on the TV, all she could focus on was the feather-like touch of Beck's fingers which draped onto her bare shoulder.
Almost half an hour passed and the episode was coming to a close. The tension that was initially present in beginning had waned, as Tori and Beck laughed at a joke that one of the characters made. As soon as the credits appeared on the screen, Tori turned to Beck and smiled.
"Trina and I used to watch this show all the time when we were kids."
"Me too. I used to try to memorize the all lines from my favorite episodes, word for word. It drove my parents crazy."
Tori raised an eyebrow and laughed. "I never pictured you as the obsessing type."
Beck shrugged and gave a sheepish grin. "I have my guilty pleasures."
Suddenly, they heard knocking and the front door burst open as Andre strode into the living room.
"Hey," he deliberately greeted. "Hope we're not disturbing anything."
He shot Tori a knowing glance and bobbed his head to the side, motioning towards the door. Tori was unable to interpret Andre's cryptic gesture until Robbie (and Rex), Cat and Jade entered the room. Then it hit her: Jade. Her mind raced as she shot up from her seat on the couch.
"Hey guys!" Tori could hear the pitch in her voice rise the way it did when she got nervous. "How was dinner?"
"Horrible," Jade replied, crossing her arms over her chest. She narrowed her eyes at Robbie. "Tell her why, Robbie."
Robbie shrank under Jade's spiteful gaze.
He sighed and said, "Rex insulted the chef…who got mad and stuffed wasabi into our sushi without us knowing."
"Yes," said Jade in a sarcastic tone. "We spent the whole dinner with our mouths on fire because the dummy wouldn't shut up."
"It was a legitimate question," Rex jumped in. "If I had all that facial hair, I'd make sure to wear a hairnet on my face to work everyday."
"Well thanks to you, I'm all bloated from chugging down so much water," argued Robbie.
"Oh phooey!" Cat's eyes suddenly grew wide with realization. "That's what I had to do!"
Cat promptly threw her purse on the couch and made a dash for the bathroom. Frustrated, Jade rolled her eyes at the absurdity of her so-called friends. Then she turned to Robbie and Rex and shot them a pointed look.
"Next time, leave your doll at home."
"Only if you leave your face at home," said Rex in a mocking tone.
"What did you say?" hissed Jade.
Robbie squealed and cupped his hand over Rex's mouth. Without another word, he retreated to the other side of the room and took a seat at the far end of the poker table, out of Jade's reach.
"Okay!" Andre interrupted, attempting to diffuse the situation. "How about we just go play some poker?"
"Fine by me," Beck replied, following Andre to the table.
Jade frowned, suddenly realizing that Beck had been in the room the whole time. As she watched Beck move from his place on the couch, her eyes darted suspiciously from him to Tori and back. Tori saw this and flashed Jade an innocent smile.
"What were you two up to?" Jade asked warily.
"Nothing," stammered Tori. "We were just watching TV, waiting for you guys."
Jade eyed Tori while she considered this. She recalled the moment over a week ago when she witnessed Tori and Beck almost kissing. Though she would never admit how much she appreciated Tori for putting a stop to the kiss, Jade still remembered the moment with contempt. In the days that followed the award show, she was actually glad to see the pair keeping a healthy distance away from each other. But something had undoubtedly changed in Tori and Beck's interaction in the last few days. Needless to say, it made Jade's blood boil with jealousy.
Trying to keep her emotions in check, Jade smirked and said, "You two have been awfully chummy lately."
Tori's brow knitted from a mixture of guilt and confusion; but before she could ask Jade what she meant, Cat came up behind them and laughed airily.
"Chummy rhymes with yummy!" she exclaimed, hugging her stomach in a fit of giggles.
Jade shook her head in exasperation and grudgingly followed Cat to the table.
"Let's just play already," she said curtly, cutting past Tori.
Tori let out a quiet sigh of relief and took a seat at the table, in between Cat and Robbie. As she did so, she felt her pear phone vibrate in her pocket. Tori pulled out her phone and saw that it was a text message from Andre. After reading it, she glanced across the table at Andre and pursed her lips, unamused. Andre simply chuckled in return as he grabbed the deck of cards and started shuffling it. The message read: Lucky for you, Jade forgot her scissors at home :-P.
I realize that the plot is slow to develop right now. I just want to make sure the stage is set before we get to the real meat of the story. Things will start picking up by the next chapter! Please review!