Author's Note: Bori chapter! Hope you all enjoy it and I want to thank those of you who have taken the time to review. I am absolutely appreciative of your comments.
It doesn't take very long for Beck to pull up in front of the church and Tori is relieved when she sees his truck pull up. In the minutes she's been sitting out in front, a million thoughts have gone through her head. She has been trying to figure out what the argument with Beck and Andre was about, how the wedding would go, if Andre is sober enough to go through with the ceremony. All the thoughts overwhelmed her and she's happy to have someone to talk to and vent. Once Beck brings the car to a stop, she walks towards it and hops into the front seat.
As she's adjusting her seat belt she can feel his gaze on her. She turns to look at him and notices the questioning look on his face. "What happened in there?" he asks, not wasting any time.
She leans back on the passenger seat and closes her eyes. "I'll tell you, but please drive. I need to get out of here."
"Did he do something to you?" Beck asks defensively.
Tori's eyes quickly shot opened and she sits forward. "No, of course not. He wouldn't do that Beck, we just got into a little argument. Please just go."
Beck narrows his eyes and continues looking at her, trying to figure out if she is telling him the truth. "You're sure?" he asks again.
Tori nods. "I promise." She watches as he slowly nods his head up and starts pulling out of the church's driveway. She stares at him for a few more seconds and a small smile forms on her face. It's great to know that he's still so protective of her. Even though she's been making him run around in circles just to get her back, his desire to look after her is flattering and feels great.
"So what happened?" he says, disrupting her private thoughts.
She turns her attention from him to the road ahead. She's still not entirely sure how her conversation with Andre escalated so quickly and to the degree in which it did. She can understand why he was upset when she slipped up and called Beck her boyfriend, but to kick her out of the wedding for it? It didn't make sense. The only reason she can think of that made him act that way is all the alcohol he's consumed.
"Tori?" Beck urges on as he shoots a quick glance in her direction.
Tori shrugs and shakes her head. "I should have just listened to you" she says.
"I didn't want you to get involved, I told you that " Beck says firmly.
"I know you said to leave it alone, but I couldn't. He's my best friend and you're...well you're you. I just wanted to try and fix things."
"So what happened?" Beck asks again, wanting to know what went down between his friend and the girl he's in love with.
"I just went in to find out what happened since you wouldn't tell me" she starts while turning to look at him. She rolls her eyes when she sees him smirk and continues. "Everything was fine at first...he's had a lot to drink and it just took a turn for the worse."
"He's still drinking?" Beck questions, shocked.
"Yeah. Beck, something's going on with him. You know Andre, he doesn't act like this and he certainly doesn't drink this much. I'm really concerned."
Beck tightens his jaw and keeps his eyes on the road. It upsets him that she cares this much about Andre. Of course she should be worried about her best friend, it is natural. However, the fact that he knows Andre's true feelings and has seen the bond between him and Tori makes Beck nervous. Their friendship has always made him nervous. It was easier to hide when he and Tori were together because she isn't the kind of girl who cheats, but there has always been a pit in his stomach as far as Andre is concerned.
"He got really mad at me and told me to leave" Tori continues, unaware of Beck's daze.
As a short silence falls upon then, Beck quickly asks, "what about Rachel, did you talk to her?"
"I did talk to her to explain what happened-" Tori starts before being interrupted.
"She knows he's drinking?"
"No, of course not. I couldn't tell her that. I just told her we got into an argument and we agreed that it would be best if I just left. I don't even know what the hell this is all about. Beck, what happened last night?" Tori asks, needing to know why this altercation with her friend even started.
"Tori, I really don't want to get into that. I told you not involved."
"How am I not supposed to get involved? This affects me because two of my closest friends are upset with each other and you won't even tell me what it's about" she says trying to contain her frustration.
Beck flinches as she refers to him as a friend. It's been years since she's called him a "friend" and frankly, it's not a term he's very fond of. "I'm sorry you're in this position, I am. I didn't think things would go this far."
"So you're really not going to tell me what happened?" she asks one last time, hoping he would cave and tell her. Unfortunately, he just shakes his head and keeps driving.
"Fine, whatever" she huffs and crosses her arms across her chest. This makes him laugh and she glares at him.
"If you want to vent, you can but I'm not going to tell you what happened. If you want to know, you're going to have to wait for Andre to tell you" Beck says, amused at how much interest she's showing.
"I don't want to talk about it, I just want to get my mind off it. No more Andre, no more strip club" she emphasizes and rolls her eyes which causes him to smirk once again.
"Okay, so I won't talk about it anymore. What do you want to do to get your mind off of it?" he asks as he switches lanes.
"I don't know, anything. I just need a distraction from this whole day."
Beck sits silently for a few minutes, giving her the opportunity to think of something she might want to do. He feels bad that she's now in the middle of a bad situation and if he can make her feel better in any way, he's willing to do anything she wants.
"I just realized I never asked you if you have any plans today. I'm having you drive me around, I'm probably keeping you from something" Tori says quickly, embarrassed that the thought never crossed her mind. Lately, she has allowed herself to fall back into a routine in which he is her go to person for everything. If she wants to go watch a movie, try out a new restaurant or even visit her sister, she immediately called him and asked him to go with her.
"No, I'm all yours for the day" he says flirtatiously, obviously trying to get a reaction out of her.
Tori playfully rolls her eyes and chooses to not address his comment. "Do you have anything you want to do today?"
Beck glances at his side mirror, trying to find the right way to word his suggestions. "I was actually thinking of just spending the day at home. Since we haven't had a chance to just hang out together, we can go there and just hang out, if you want. I mean, we can do something else if you're not comfortable with the idea" he adds, wanting to give her a way out if she's looking for it.
Nervously, Tori looks out the passenger window, trying to process his suggestion. As the cars whiz by them, she can't help but feel anxiety at the thought of returning to the home they shared together. It's been just over a year since she walked out of the house and she hasn't been back since. Whenever they spent time together, they met in neutral grounds. It was either in her home surrounded by their friends, or a random place that didn't hold any memories for them. Now, to go there and be alone with him...she's not sure she's ready for that.
Sensing her nerves, Beck reaches over and places his hand on her knee and gives it a little squeeze. "We don't have to do anything you're not comfortable with. You can choose the place" he says, his eyes fixed on the road ahead. Tori places her hand on top of his and smiles. She turns in time to see the curves of his lips turn upward and at that moment, she decides that it's okay to take him up on his offer. What better way to see if she's ready to move forward than to revisit the home they'd build together?
"Let's go" she says.
He turns for a second to look at her. "Are you sure?" he asks as he returns his attention to the road.
Tori simply nods her head yes and takes a deep breath. She knows Beck won't try anything she's uncomfortable with and she does feel safe and at ease around him. However, going back to the place that holds both the happiest and worse memories is overwhelming and she just hopes she can handle it.
It takes just over twenty minutes for them to reach the house and as it comes into view, Tori starts panicking a bit and questioning whether this is a good idea after all. Beck drives the remaining yards up his driveway and there, he turns the key turning off the engine. He glaces at Tori and sees that she is looking in every direction but at the structure in front of her.
"Tor, I'm serious, we can-" he starts before she interrupts him by unbuckling her seat belt and opening the door.
"Let's go" she says and slowly closes the door. It takes Beck a few seconds to follow suit. From the car, he watches as she starts walking up the front door and for a moment, it feels like old times again. It's almost as if they have just finished running an errand and are coming home to relax. He finally gets out of the car and meets her by the front door. As he inserts the key into the hole, he looks up at her and gives her a reassuring smile. She smiles in return and nods her head. Slowly, Beck turns the key and the door knob and pushes the door open.
Beck takes a step aside and allows Tori to go inside first. He watches as she takes a few steps in and then stops. He walks in after her and, standing a few feet behind her, gently closes the door behind him. Once he turns back to look at her, he smiles as she starts moving her side from side to side, taking in every detail of the house as though she's never been inside it.
"It's exactly the same" she exclaims after about a minute. She slowly turns to look at him, a confused expression on her face. Beck nods his head. "I couldn't change it" he replies firmly.
"Why not?" she asks, her voice barely audible.
He looks intently into her eyes and says "you know why." Not awaiting a response, he takes a steps forward and walks a few feet past her.
Tori nods her head and continues looking around the house. She sees that he really hasn't changed anything about the house. As she walks a few feet forward, she sees a long table holding numerous picture frames she's seen before. She walks towards it and picks up a silver frame. It holds a picture of them on a hill. She is standing in front of him, his arms wrapped around her and his eyes are focusing on her as she's laughing at something, though she can't remember what. She does remember that Andre had taken the picture and she had urged him to take it again because she hadn't been ready but Beck had liked it so they kept it. She had the picture framed for his birthday a few years ago. She smiles and silently admits to herself that it is actually a nice picture.
From his spot over by the wall, Beck exclaims "that's one my favorites," referring to the picture.
She looks up to him. "I know" she says and places the frame back on the table. She looks at him once again and smiles. He starts walking towards the living room and she eventually follows. Once there, she sees he has claimed a spot on the couch and she goes over to sit down. Rather than sit next to him like she secretly wants to, Tori decides it is best to sit on the opposite side of the long couch, just to be safe.
Beck can't help but laugh as she settles into her seat. "A bit cliché, isn't? Sitting this far away from each other" he says which makes her laugh. Slowly, Beck begins inching closer to her and she shakes her head, trying hard not to laugh. Unfortunately, she can't keep herself from smiling at his playfulness. Once he's mere inches away, he says "I met you more than halfway here miss, think you can meet me the rest of the way."
Tori turns to face him, squints her eyes and shrugs. "I guess I can" she says and starts moving towards him.
They spent the next hour catching up and enjoying each others company. Tori fills Beck in on Trina's wedding plans and her parent's post-divorce life. He listens intently, wanting to know everything that has been going on in her life since their breakup.
"So Holly and Gary are actually dating now?" Beck asks incredulously.
"Yeah. I'm not really surprised though. I always figured my mom had a thing for him. Remember how they were acting during Trina's engagement dinner?" she asks him.
Beck nods his head, remembering exactly what she is talking about. Soon after Trina's engagement, Mrs. Vega organized a dinner and suggested Gary be invited, because "he is your father's partner after all" she had said. The day of the dinner, she fought her way to the chair next to his and throughout the night, they kept shooting glances at each other and "accidentally" brushing hands. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was happening, but no one dared mention it.
"How's your dad taking it?" he asks, wondering how Mr. Vega dealt with the betrayal of his friend.
"He asked to be transferred to another station and his supervisor said he'll see what he can do. He's still pretty upset about it. Understandably so" Tori says.
"You're right" Beck says, his voice trailing off.
"Are you alright?" Tori asks, noticing the shift of energy.
"Yeah. I just feel bad about what happened with Andre. Tor, I really didn't want you in the middle of this. Now you're missing his wedding because of me" he says.
"Hey," she starts, bringing her hand to his shoulder, "this isn't your fault. You told me not to bring it up and I didn't listen. I'm sure it'll blow over and he'll want to talk about it soon."
"I hope so. I can't believe he got mad at you over something that happened with me" he continues.
"Well, it was actually something else that made him mad at me" she says. Seeing his confused expression, she elaborates. "We were talking and I was trying to figure out what happened between you guys and, well...I called you my boyfriend and he got mad at me" she finishes, looking away from him as the word boyfriend escapes her mouth.
Beck sits back on his spot, shocked at her confession. "You did?" he asks, a spark of hope building within him. Tori looks back at him, nods and then down at her hands. She twirls her thumb in an effort to ease the discomfort she's now feeling.
"Well...Am I?" he asks.
Still not looking up, Tori smirks. "My boyfriend?" she retorts.
"Yeah, am I your boyfriend?" he replies.
She takes a minute to ponder the question. It's been a few months since she agreed to try and mend their relationship. Surely he's done everything in his power to make things right between them and she can't deny that he's put a lot of effort into gaining her trust back. Also, it's not like she hasn't thought about getting back together with him. In fact, every time she sees him, a big part of her is screaming to just get over the past and move forward. And it's not like she didn't just kiss him a few hours ago. So why not just call him her boyfriend and move on?
"I don't know" she replies, rejecting the thoughts swimming around in her mind. "I have to admit, I'm still hurt about what you did and kissing you earlier...made it confusing for me. We've made so much progress, I just want to keep taking things slowly and see what happens then" she continues.
Clearly disappointed, Beck says "I understand. I'll go at whatever pace you set Tor, but I want you to know I'm going to do whatever it takes to be your boyfriend again."
She smiles and moves closer to him, closing the small gap separating them. Against her better judgment, she rests her head on his shoulders and inhales when he places a kiss on the top of her head. This definitely feels like old times...and she likes it.