A/N: This is the first story I've written about the show and I hope you all like it. I have only watched a few episodes of the show and got the idea for this story after watching "The Worst Couple." I would love to hear feedback from those of you who are regulars to the fandom so please review and leave any constructive criticism you may have. Thanks in advance for reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own Victorious nor the characters of the show.

It's been nearly two hours since Jade left and the other members of the group were getting reading to go home. Andre is helping Cat find her purse which she is convinced was abducted by Rex while they were all playing poker. Trina and Robbie are over by the staircase debating a hand Trina had during a game. Robbie is positive Trina cheated and she is acting adamant and insulted at the accusation even though she actually did cheat. Tori is clearing a few dishes from the table while Beck is sitting on the sofa, staring at his pear phone.

Tori glances over at him and can't help but feel sad for the guy. Not only did his relationship just end, it ended in front of all his friends which must have been a blow to his self-esteem. She herself couldn't believe that after two years, his relationship with Jade ended so abruptly. She thought that he would certainly follow her outside and they would work out their problems like they always did. She is curious as to what made this time different but could not bring herself to ask him.

"It's getting late, we should get going" says Andre and the others nod in agreement. As he, Cat and Robbie start heading towards the door, Beck stands up and walks towards Tori. "Is it okay if I stay a little longer?" he whispers, "I don't feel up to having to answer questions about Jade right now" he continues subtly motioning towards the group. Tori nods. As much as she loves her friends, she knows they can be a little aggressive when they want answers and is almost certain they will hound Beck along the way to figure out why he made the decision he did.

"I'm just going to stay a few more minutes, need a little more time to think" Beck says to his other friends. All three nod, unable to hide their disappointment.

"See you guys tomorrow" waves Tori from the kitchen where she is still cleaning up.

"See ya"

"Bye"

"Later" they all said in near unison.

As they close the door behind them, Trina can not contain her excitement that Beck stayed behind. She has never been able to hide her crush for him, although chances are that is not her intention. She sits on the couch where he is and inches herself closer and closer until she is face to face with him.

"Sooo..." she starts, "I know you're single now and, well...I'm also single so if you ever want to...you know." Her eyebrows wiggle up and down and her smile broadens. Tori watches in amazement a few feet away. As crazy as her sister is, she had not expected her to make a move this fast or this aggressively.

"Trina, not now okay?" responds Beck standing up from the edge of the couch.

Trina's smile falters a bit but she is clearly not defeated. "If you change your mind, you know where to find me" she replies with a wink. Creepily, she ascends up the stairs, never breaking eye contact with him.

Tori can't help but laugh. Trina's crush on Beck is one of those things that always confuses her. Beck isn't the kind of guy she would peg Trina to like. She is a little looney and loud. She is also materialistic and likes to have all the attention to herself, all the time. From what Tori has seen of Beck during his relationship with Jade, he is the exact opposite. He isn't afraid to put things in perspective when his significant other gets too out of hand. Tori can attest to this first hand having seen the numerous times he has stopped Jade from hurting her in the past. Also, unlike Trina, he was more mysterious and reserved. The only time he craved attention was when he was acting onstage.

Beck looks curiously over at Tori who has been starting at him for a few seconds now.

"Tori?" he says curiously.

"Huh?" she responds, her trance interrupted.

"You're staring" he replies firmly. He is back on the couch still glancing over at his phone. Tori guesses he is either waiting for Jade to call or deciding if he should call her to reconcile.

"Right, sorry."

He nods.

A few minutes of silence go bye in which Tori has cleared the table and placed dishes in the dishwasher. She looks over at the kitchen clock and notices that it's a few minutes past 10 and begins to wonder how much longer Beck would need before heading home. She didn't mind keeping him company, but she also hasn't spend much time with him alone.

Whenever they hung out, it was always with the rest of the group or Jade was around. Come to think about it, as long as she has known Beck, this is the first time they have been alone longer than twenty minutes. She smiles a bit at the realization. Once she sees him still sulking, however, she acknowledges that the circumstances aren't the best. She isn't very good at comforting people who just got out of a relationship, mostly because it isn't something she has had much experience in. Sure she's had her share of boyfriends throughout the years, but none have amounted to serious relationships like Beck and Jade's. It saddens her a bit that she hasn't had a serious relationship yet, but she was young. She was sure it would happen sooner or later, preferably sooner.

"I never noticed how ofter you tend to zone out" says Beck while still looking at this phone.

"I never noticed how often you just stare at the blank screen of your phone" she replies sarcastically.

He shoots her a small smile and places his phone on the coffee table.

"Sorry" he says.

"No need to apologize." Tori walks over to the single couch nearest to the door, sits down and takes her shoes off.

"I don't know how girls do it, walk around in those things all day. Your feet must hurt all the time" says Beck referring to Tori's heels.

"You get used to them after a while."

They both sit in silence for a few minutes. Tori yawns a few times. Her head is leaning on the back of the couch and her eyes are closed which makes Beck smile.

"If you're tired I can go" he tells her.

"No it's alright, stay as long as you need to. I'm just resting my eyes, see" she says while opening her eyes as wide as possible, "wide awake."

"Convincing" he says. Suddenly his phone vibrates and he reaches over towards the coffee table to get it. As he begins to read a message, Tori closes her eyes again. She figures the message is from Jade and does not want him to think she is being nosey. After about a minute, however, she hears him groaning in frustration and opens her eyes.

Beck is holding his phone in his right hand and runs his fingers through his hair. He is still reading the message but this time Tori can't seem to look away. Whatever it is, it must not be good if he is getting this upset about it. About a minute later, she sees him turn the phone off and place it back on the table.

"Is...is everything alright?" she asks with hesitation.

He quickly shakes his head and lifts his head to look at her. "She's frustrating."

"Was it Jade?"

He simply nods.

"I'm really sorry. I know you don't want to talk about it but I think it sucks that you guys broke up."

He furrows his brows and looks away from her. "Don't be sorry, it was bound to happen."

"Oh" is all she can manage to reply. While Jade is not exactly her friend, Tori did not want to speak badly of her, especially to someone who she was in a relationship with for such a long time.

"Who the hell does she think she is anyway? Giving me an ultimatum like that? The whole thing just got too out of hand."

"Your relationship you mean?" Tori asks. She knows she shouldn't ask, knows it's not her place to be curious but she can't help herself. Something about his vulnerability makes her want to make him feel better.

Once again he nods. Turning to look at her again, he adds "Jade is not as bad as you think she is. I know it's hard to believe but under that mean girl facade she is pretty nice."

Tori's brows rise and she nods unconvincingly.

He laughs. "I know you of all people don't believe it, but it's true."

"So why didn't you go outside before she finished counting? I'm sure you guys could work everything out."

"I just can't take it anymore. I love her and she's been my best friend for over a year but she's too damn insecure for it to work out. No matter how much I reassure her, we always end up having the same argument. There's only so much someone can take before counting their losses you know?"

"Jade? Insecure? Sorry but I can't picture that." Tori says trying hard to visualize it. Since she entered Hollywood Arts, Jade has gone out of her way to be mean to Tori. The few times they managed to be civil to each other were far in between for Tori to even believe that Jade can be insecure about anything.

"It's true."

"What does she possibly have to be insecure about? She pretty much has everything she's wanted."

Beck looks over at Tori with a slight smile. He likes how unaware she can be sometimes. That endearing quality is one he remembers Jade having when he first met her years before. He isn't sure when she stopped being that girl, but somewhere along the line she became someone he didn't recognize.

"It's not so much a what but rather a who" he says hoping she understands.

"Who would she need to be insecure about? Isn't everyone afraid of her?" Tori asks even more incredulous.

Beck suddenly gets up from the couch, drags the coffee table closer to the couch where Tori is seated and sits at the edge of the table.

"You mean me?" she asks finally beginning to understand. "Why would Jade be insecure about me?"

"Ever since you came to Hollywood Arts, everyone has paid attention to you. You're smart, funny, talented...beautiful. Jade has been threatened by you since the moment she saw you wiping coffee from my shirt your first day there. She's afraid you'll take away everything she's wanted."

"I wouldn't do that. We might not be the best of friends, but I'm not like that."

"I know." Beck is inching closer to Tori and their knees are touching. He takes her hands and begins to caress them gently. "That's what scares her the most, that you're doing everything without trying to."

Tori's eyes start to glaze over and her heart beat increases. She looks down at her hands in his and her breath intensifies. Unsure of where this is heading, she does not know how to react. Part of her knows she should not be doing this and yet the other part is too intrigued to stop. She would be lying if she says she's never considered thinking about being with Beck. Actually, since the day she kissed him during the alphabet improv class, she has occasionally thought about kissing him again, just to see if he was still as a good a kisser as she remembered.

Without saying a word, Beck begins to move his face closer to hers and stops just a few centimeters away. "If you don't want me to, I won't" he says waiting to see if she will close the distance and kiss him.

"I don't think we should" she whispers. The warmth of his breath and the faint scent of his cologne are tempting her to close the gap and take a risk, but the bit of rational thinking she has left warns her against this. He just broke up with his girlfriend it says. Don't be the rebound girl.

She gently pulls her hand away from his and shakes her head slowly. "I can't, sorry."

Beck leans back and nods his head in understanding. "It's alright, I get it. I'm sorry for putting you in this position."

"No, no it's not that I don't want to. I really do, but, well...I don't want to be someone you kiss just because you're feeling down. I don't want to be your rebound."

"You wouldn't be" he replies firmly.

"I would feel like it. I think you just need to figure out what's going to happen with you and Jade before we can figure out a next step."

"That sounds fair" he says. He gets off the table, puts it back in its original place and starts putting his jacket on. Tori stands up from the couch and takes a deep breath. She is frustrated and disappointed that she didn't take this risk, but she knows it is for the best. In the event that Jade and Beck decided to get back together, she won't feel used.

Once his jacket is on, Beck walks over to Tori and cups her face with his hands. The gaze into each others' eyes and smile. He kisses her on the forehead before letting go. She walks towards the door and opens it for him.

"Thanks for letting me stay" he says.

"You're welcome."

He quickly places another kiss on her forehead and leaves. As she closes the door, she smiles widely. Even though she wanted to kiss him, she is happy with the closeness, the intimacy, they just shared. She can only hope that she didn't just blow her chances with him.

As she is about to turn the lights, Trina comes running down the stairs wearing her pajamas and Fazzini boots. "Guess who's back?" she says loudly.

"Beck just left" says Tori looking at her sister incredulously.

"Dang it" yelled Trina and goes back upstairs.

Tori shakes her head in disbelief and turns the light off.

Fin