Urgh, my mom drives me insane. If I didn't love her, and if I didn't need her to drive the van back to Seattle, I'd have kicked her out of the van before we got to Oregon.
"Slow down, Freddie. Careful, Freddie. Watch that truck (which happens to be half a mile away) Freddie." Arrgh.
But eventually we reached LA. Tori had given me the address of Beck's parents. I think it's weird that I'll be living in their house while their son lives in an RV in their driveway but, as I explained to his folks over dinner, having lived with the queen of crazy for all these years, their rules won't be a problem.
It was a nice reunion – Tori was there when we arrived and pulled me into a big hug. Cat did likewise and I shook hands with Beck before it turned into a man-hug, the same happened with André. When I turned to Jade, however, and opened my arms she simply folded hers over her chest and observed
"I have Mace. I will use it" before relenting with a small smile and a quick hug.
At least I know who to talk to if I'm ever missing Sam.
Mom stayed over and we said a teary goodbye (she shed more tears than I did) the following morning, shortly before Tori arrived again to show me some of the sights of my new home town. After we'd left the Central Library we were headed for Grand Central Market when we found ourselves in the middle of a bit of a crowd of people close to a crossing, which was on "walk" but with the timer fast expiring so I quickly grabbed her hand and we briskly crossed the street. Half a block later I realised that neither of us had let go. I slackened my grip slightly, though without letting go, so that if she wanted to she could – she didn't and we continued to walk and talk. After leaving the market she took my hand again. I smiled at her, she smiled back. Without speaking we'd moved beyond 'just friends' and it felt great.
Neither of us were in the mood, or dressed, for a fancy restaurant so we picked up a burger on the way back to Tori's (I'd told the Olivers that I'd not be back until after dinner). I said goodnight and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek then headed back to my new home.
Tori continued to show me the sights of the city, Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Hollywood itself over the next few days and I was enjoying every minute that I spent with her. Sometimes Cat would tag along but it was mostly just the two of us. We already knew each other fairly well from our video chats but talked more and more about our pasts and backgrounds. Saturday night saw us finally having what I guess could count as a proper "date", we went to Wok Star and shared an excellent Chinese meal. This time when I dropped her off at her house I decided to lean in to kiss her on the lips. Thankfully she leaned in as well and we shared a very sweet first kiss together before I said goodnight.
The rest of the summer passed quickly. Tori and I hung out a lot with her friends, I spoke to mom most evenings but the best times were when Tori and I were by ourselves. Our relationship was progressing slowly but surely, although we spent as little time as possible at her place – partly because whenever Trina was there she would hit on me right in front of her sister every chance she got, but mostly because Tori was afraid that if her dad walked in on us making out then he'd set half of his buddies from LAPD on me – and I wasn't brave enough to see if she was kidding or not. But we were having fun, seeing movies and enjoying every bit of time we had together before classes started for us both. Tori would have big productions, lines and songs to learn and I had no idea how busy my Freshman year was going to be, or what the social side of college life would be like – but I was determined to find out. While Tori and her friends were great, she was the first to say that I needed my own circle of friends at college as well, particularly if she was busy with her rehearsals and performances.
Carly and I had called each other a few times over the summer and talked about how our holidays were going. She sounded genuinely happy for Tori and me. Sam, however, I hadn't heard from at all – Carly hinted that she was rather less happy about Tori and me as a couple.
Finally the day came for me to move into my UCLA accommodation. I thanked Mr and Mrs Oliver for their kind hospitality over the summer, promised them that I wouldn't be a stranger then Beck and I loaded up his RV with my stuff and headed for campus.