The amount of work that it took to just clean up the mess the storm made took longer than the group anticipated, and yet by 2 pm, all the tiles were of the ground and the ones that stayed on the roof were removed by Andre and Simon. What was left were four large pallets of new tiles and at least another six hours of placing them.
The amount of work wasn't what worried Tori, tough. What worried her was Beck, who didn't stop working since the conversation Jade and her had with him. He didn't talk to anyone, didn't look at anyone and didn't seem to be overly concerned with his safety the way he rushed up the ladder that lead to the roof.
"So let me guess. The conversation between the three of you didn't go well." Tori heard Andre say as he stopped next to her.
"It…He said we have his blessing. But look at him." Tori said as she looked back on Beck, who was waiting for Robbie and Simon to start handing him tiles.
"What did you expect? You're dating his ex. Of course he isn't happy." Andre said.
"I know. But I didn't know that he wanted to get back together with Jade. That surprised me the most." Tori admitted.
"He what?"
"He said he wanted to get back together with her. He thinks that what happened with his parents got to him and that it had a lot to do with why their relationship failed." Tori explained.
"Oh you dumb son of a…" Andre almost cursed, but stopped once he remembered who he was thinking about.
"Huh?"
"I get it." Andre said, shaking his head before he looked back at Tori. "I don't think Jade and you have to worry about anything." Andre said as he took of the gloves he was wearing. "Come, let's go talk to him."
"Andre…shouldn't we give him time?" Tori asked, remembering what happened the last time she pushed a topic with him before he was ready.
"And let his dumb idea sink in even deeper? Hell no."
"What idea? What are you talking about?" Tori asked.
"Look, I really don't want to repeat myself." Andre said. "Hey, Beck!" Andre yelled, looking up at his friend who was standing on the roof.
"What?" Beck yelled back.
"I need to talk to you. Get your ass down here." Andre yelled.
"Can it wait? I'm kinda working here." Beck called back.
Tori saw Simon tell Beck something and after a moment, Beck sighed and made his way down the ladder while Simon took his place on the roof. He walked towards where Andre and Tori were standing.
"What?" Beck asked, looking at Andre and then at Tori.
"Can you explain to me why you've been acting this way all morning?" Andre asked.
"Really? You too now? Why is it so difficult for people to leave me alone?" Beck asked.
"Because you're a moron and I don't want to see you screw yourself over because of that."
"Well, since everyone has the need to insult my intelligence, why do you even bother asking?"
"Just tell me already." Andre said.
"What do you want me to say? How would you react if your ex started dating your friend?" Beck asked, frustrated to have this conversation again.
"No, don't give me that crap. You went after Tori at one point and you didn't care that she was a friend of your ex. Not to mention, when that rumor about Moose and Jade started going around school, you didn't mind either, and he's been your friend for a very long time. So what is the real issue here?" Andre asked.
Tori looked at Beck, who surprisingly to her, looked down, avoiding Andre's stare. She had completely forgotten about the whole rumor with Jade and Moose, which most likely was true since Jade never even tried denying it.
"I wanted to get back together with Jade." Beck said, looking up at Andre. "I wanted to ask her out, apologize for the way I behaved. All this shit that happened to me… I'm not sure how much that had to do with our relationship ending. And since I do want to start over, I wanted to do it with her." Beck explained.
"Beck…getting back together with Jade would not meant that things would go back to be the way they used to be. It does not work that way." Andre said.
"But…what if it does? I was the happiest with her, until those last few weeks. You know that." Beck explained.
"Look, what Tori and Jade did was wrong, I won't deny it. At least they could have told you in advance before just kissing in front of you and announcing their relationship without warning. But what you are doing is wrong too. Are you really still in love with Jade? Or is she someone you feel you need to get your life back together? That's all I want to know, Beck." Andre asked.
"It worked for Robbie." Beck said, giving Andre the answer he needed.
"No. Robbie got his life together, but he did it before he got together with Cat. He dropped Rex before, got some confidence in the mean time and only then, when he was happy on his own did he decide to ask Cat out. I know, I watched him carefully. Cat was not his answer to how bad he felt. If anything, she was the reason for him to get his life together. So don't compare your desire with his. It's only similar on the surface level." Andre explained.
"Look, I just want my life to get back on track. I've been a mess lately, but after I…after what happened between me and Tori, I knew that something had to change. And… with Jade I was in control, Andre. I wasn't a mess as I am now. What if she is the solution to all this?" Beck asked, looking right at his friend.
"Are you still in love with her?" Andre asked.
"Andre, I love her." Beck answered.
"So do I. But are you still in love with her?" Andre repeated.
Beck stopped. Tori saw his shoulders dropping. She saw his gaze shift towards her. She looked back at him. She knew that expression. She knew that look. She had seen it way too many times recently. She has had that same look on her face too often recently. He was looking for an answer. He was looking for a way for his mess to end.
"Tori, are you in love with Jade?" Andre asked, looking at her.
"Yes. Yes, I am." Tori said immediately.
"That was quick." Andre said with a smirk as he looked at her. Tori blushed lightly.
"Because I know the answer." Tori said.
"Why did you hesitate now, Beck?" Andre asked. Beck didn't answer. "Okay. Why did it take you two years to finally want her again?" Andre asked. Beck sighed.
"I don't know, Andre." Beck said.
"You do know. But you don't want to say it because it would derail that idea you have about how your perfect life would look right now. Now I know you hate right now for doing this, but I have a good fucking reason for this. Tori and Jade are in love, and there is no denying it. I don't question how or why. That's not my business. The only thing I know is when they are together, everyone can see what's going on. Then you jump in out of nowhere and claim that you want her back, but you can't even answer one, easy question. And we both know that, because she's an idiot at times too, Tori would not stay with Jade if she saw that it hurt you." Andre said, turning to Tori "And you better not try to deny that, Tori. Not to me."
Silence surrounded them as both Tori and Beck refused to raise their gaze from the ground.
"Is that true, Tori?" Beck asked. Tori felt a knot form in her throat as she tried to hold back her tears.
"I don't want to hurt you, Beck. I never wanted to. And I wouldn't do it now." Tori said, finally looking at him.
"Andre, I often wonder what I would do without you." Beck said, shaking his head. "I'm not in love with her. Every word you said is true. And I knew it, but I thought I got nothing to lose anyway." Beck sighed. Tori saw his expression relax. "I'm sorry, Tori. I'm sorry for complicating an already difficult situation with my bullshit. I know you love her. I see how you look at each other, and I should know best. I used to look at her exactly the same. Just take care of her, please. She's way more delicate that everyone thinks." Beck said.
"I know she is." Tori said. Beck nodded.
"Andre, thank you again for helping me figure my own stupid mind out." Beck said.
"Always here for you, man." Andre said.
"Let's get back to work." Beck said with a small smile as he walked past Andre and patted him on the shoulder.
"Yeah. I'll be right there." Andre said. Tori watched Beck walk away as Andre sighed in relief. She stepped right towards him and hugged him around the neck, as tightly as she could.
"Thank you so much." Tori said. She felt Andre hug her back.
"You know I'm here for you, girl."
"I know. I don't know what I would do without you." Tori said as she moved back a bit to look at him, her arms still around his neck.
"Yeah, I hear that often." Andre smirked. She pulled back into the hug.
"Idiot." She chuckled.
"I hear that often, too." Andre said, faking a pout, earning another chuckle from Tori. "Now let's go back to work. We still have a roof to fix." Andre said. Tori pulled away.
"I hope we didn't leave them waiting for too long." Tori said.
As Andre and her were walking towards the house, she saw Beck and Jade talk. She saw Jade nod with a smile on her face before she hugged him. She saw Beck hug her back before pulling away and gently patting her on the head, before she swatted his hand away and both shared a laugh. Beck turned around and walked towards Simon and Robbie, who both were visibly exhausted, while Tori walked towards Jade.
"Andre just helped us figure this out." Tori said as she looked at the Goth.
"I know. Beck just told me." Jade said, a smile still present on the edge of her lips. "We owe Andre, big time."
"Yeah, we do." Tori said. She felt two arms hug her around the waist and felt Jade's forehead lean against hers. "Can things go better now, please?" Tori asked.
"Now you jinxed it, so no." Jade smirked.
Tori's phone ringed that moment. She took it out of her pocket and saw the message. Her face dropped immediately.
"What's wrong?" Jade asked.
"My dad just sent me a message." Tori said in disbelief. She opened the message and read it:
"Your mother, Trina and I are at home. We want to talk. Where are you?"
"Fucking great." Tori said. She turned her phone around to Jade, who quickly read the message.
"Wow, looks like someone wants to take responsibility now." Jade said.
"I can't handle them now too." Tori said as she started typing the response:
"I'm helping a friend out. I'll call you later." and pressed send.
"I'll go with you, if you want me to." Jade suggested.
"You don't have to, Jade." Tori said.
"I know I don't. But I want to. We're in this together, I already told you." Jade said.
"Thank you." Tori said.
"No problem." Jade said before gently kissing her girlfriend. "Now let's get back to work. Robbie's arms look like they want to fall off." Jade said.
"And Cat hasn't even broken a sweat." Tori chuckled as she looked at them.
"She's too strong for her size." Jade said.
"Thank you." Cat yelled, smiling at both of her friends.
A/N: Long time no see. To get the obvious things out: busy summer, shitty few months and zero desire to write. But as you can see, I'm back now, and the story is slowly reaching its conclusion. Thank you all for waiting and not giving up on this story.