AN: Hello everyone and welcome to my latest chapter of this little story; I hope you are all well and had a good weekend. Thanks as always go to those of you who read, and particularly reviewed, the last chapter –

Challenge King, yes Tori and Jade coexisting without killing one another could be tough but I think the girls may just manage it with a bit of luck.

Agent-M – I'm glad you're enjoying it and its direction.

Jevin Watkins – I'm glad you find it realistic and that you love it – and here is that update you wanted.

With Spring Break over it was back to school for us all. I had left the Vegas' home yesterday evening, Tori driving me back to campus and staying with me until fairly late, much to my dorm-mates' delight; they were tactful enough not to make any overly vulgar comments to us, or to me once she had left, but it was obvious that they appreciated the "eye candy", urging her to "come along any time" as she was leaving.

"Sorry about them," I said as I walked her to her car.

"Ah, it's ok," she shrugged, "it's a nice little ego boost to know that so many college guys will find me hot when I get there," she added teasingly.

"Just remember which one loves you the most," I reminded her, leaning in for a kiss.

"You might need to keep reminding me just how much you love me," her tone was deliciously flirtatious and playful.

"I don't think that will be a problem when we're sharing a house next year, do you?" I smirked. "Good night," I whispered, kissing her tenderly.

"Good night Freddie," she gave me one last kiss before getting in her vehicle and heading for home.

I was sad to be parted from her again after we had spent just over a week together; in a way I felt that it was good preparation for next year, being together almost 24/7 for the past week. Granted it hadn't been a typical week, with Carly and Sam down here (they had left on the Saturday afternoon) and of course the on-going troubles between the Vega parents with the consequential issues between Mrs Vega and her two daughters. Trina's mood had lifted considerably after her own evening spent in her father's company but the girls still clearly missed their dad and were upset that he was no longer home. Tori was continuing to chat to him on the phone most evenings and had arranged to see him after school one night this week but it obviously wasn't the same. Unlike me, the occasional phone call to my mother was ample contact really; I had hoped that she would calm down eventually but even though she had to accept that I was growing up she still told me, every call, that she worried – particularly in the aftermath of coming down after my little meeting with that pack of goons.

"Things still good between you guys then?" Tom asked brightly later that night as we prepared for the following morning.

"I hope so; we signed up for a place together for next year," I laughed. He seemed a little surprised at the news.

"Moving in with your girlfriend – quite a step, dude," he observed.

"It is," I commented thoughtfully, "but we both want to do it. We'll be living with two of her school friends, who are also a couple. She didn't really want to be in campus accommodation so we figured we'd look for something and, with there being four of us, we've been able to afford somewhere pretty good."

"Well good luck bud," he smiled sincerely. I nodded my thanks.

The next morning was passing in a fairly typical way; we had classes, I chatted to my friends and we caught up on each other's Spring Break weeks and got back into the routine of the course. The serene nature of the day was to be shattered, however, by an exuberant phone call as we were leaving Cooperage after some quick lunch-time pool.

"Hey Tori, is everything ok?" I asked in mild concern; it was unusual to get a call from my girl during the day as we usually video-chatted on a night.

"Yes but Mason Thornesmith is going to find a brand new act to headline the Platinum Music Awards and he's looking for audition tapes," she cried excitedly.

"Ok, take a breath," I laughed softly.

"Sorry, it's just an awesome opportunity and I want to win it," she declared, "and I need your help."

"Of course, anything I can do," I offered, knowing how much it would mean to my girl to get the opportunity of a lifetime like this; it could catapult her overnight into the stratosphere of the industry.

She made plans to come over after school and we'd talk about ideas and eventually I'd shoot the video for her, drawing on my skills from iCarly to see what we could get. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for my girl and we were both determined not to blow it.

I was a little distracted during the afternoon; my friends understood after I relayed the conversation to them. Fortunately they were willing to pick up the slack and to make sure I didn't miss anything while my mind wandered to what I'd need to do to make my girl's audition tape as perfect as it could be.

Soon enough the afternoon was done; I left my last lecture just after 4 and Tori was sat outside the building, leaning against her car. As she knew my classmates she greeted them happily before treating me to a hug and a couple of little kisses, causing Andy to urge us to "get a room".

"Sounds like good advice," Tori smiled, "your place is fairly close," she told me with a wicked smirk and we got in her car to head back there, waving to the guys as we did. I received a text a few moments later and laughed as I read it.

"What's the joke?" my girl asked. I handed her the phone as we approached my dorm; she took it as she parked and read Andy's message – How did you get so lucky?

I took her hand as she locked the vehicle and led her inside my dorm and through to my room. "So, work or make out?" I asked in a half-joking voice, knowing how big a deal this was to her.

"I think we've time for both," she whispered seductively, turning aggressor in the blink of an eye and giving me a surprisingly firm shove to the chest, knocking me backwards onto my bed; she towered over me with a predatory grin before swooping down and capturing my lips with her own.

Her hands reached for the hem of my T-shirt so I matched her move and pretty soon I felt we had shown one another, once again, just how much we do love one another.

We lay there quietly afterwards, cuddling and trading soft kisses under the covers of my bed before hearing the outside door of the dorm open.

"I guess that's our cue to think about starting working," I said in a disappointed tone. Tori groaned as well; as much as she wanted and needed to work on her video she obviously did enjoy it when we shared our little moments of intimacy.

My room door opened and Tom walked in, tossing his bag casually to the floor near his bed. "Oh, sorry bro," he commented as he saw us, "I'll uh…" he gestured with his thumb to the living area and, as redness crept up his face, he turned and left the room. We tries to stifle our laughs so as to not make the poor guy feel any worse and got dressed again before looking in on him.

"Sorry Tom," I apologised, "we need a warning system," I added with a chuckle as Tori wrapped her arms around my waist; I slipped my left around her middle and she kissed my cheek affectionately. "Anyway, we need to work on a project for her so we'll be brainstorming in there for a while if that's ok."

"Yeah sure," he waved us off, "I'll just grab my bag and a couple of books so I can get some work and some reading done then it's all yours."

"Thanks dude." And with that we headed back inside my room. After Tom grabbed his things we spent the rest of the evening deciding on the song my girl would sing and what sort of video we wanted to shoot; it would take two more evenings to get it done, the final recording of the song had to take place at her home so that she could play the piano to accompany her song. We then put together a video while she sang without backing and I cut the video of that together with the audio from her place to make, if I do say so myself, a pretty impressive video for her audition; it was one she was delighted to submit.

The video seemed to have done the trick because she called me on the Friday morning; I was just about to go into the lecture theatre when my phone went and, after answering, my girl almost screamed down the line to me.

"He picked me. He picked me!" she declared ecstatically.

"Thornesmith?" I hazarded a guess.

"Yeah, he wants me to meet him at the Neutronium Records HQ tonight after school and arrange everything for the show."

"Wow, Tori, that's… fantastic just isn't strong enough." I was delighted for my girl. "So what time do you need to be there?" I wondered if I would be able to go along as I needed to be at work this evening.

"It's right after school; they're sending a car for us."

"Us?" I was surprised.

"Yeah. Me, André and Cat are going to go down there after school; he said I could bring a couple of friends. I want you there but the meeting's too soon for you to come along this time and the car is just going from school to Neutronium…"

"I understand," I cut her off in what was supposed to be a reassuring voice. "Have a great time there and I'll see you later."

"Yes, I'll be there for when you finish work; we could catch a movie after?"

"Sounds good," I agreed and our plan was set.

It was a great weekend for us; we spent nearly all of it together (I had worked Friday instead of Saturday this week in addition to my midweek shift so we would have more time together). I didn't think that we had any plans made so it was a surprise when Tori hauled me out of bed unusually early on a Saturday morning (Tom hadn't made it home; I assumed he had a new girlfriend – at least for that night anyway).

"What's with the early start?" I grumbled, taking a seat at the table while my girl bustled around the kitchen area preparing us some breakfast.

"You'll see," she smiled, sliding a plate in front of me and planting a quick kiss on my lips. "Come on, eat up," she encouraged as she sat with her own plate. We ate in silence, mine thoughtful and slightly suspicious as I eyed my grinning girlfriend.

Twenty minutes later we were on the road. "I still don't know where we're going," I lamented.

"You'll see," was her cryptic, enigmatic reply.

"No way," I said, about forty minutes later as we left the I-5.

"Uh huh," she smiled teasingly. "You said you wanted to go, so here we are."

A few minutes later we were parking up at Dingoland. I felt like a little kid again as we entered the park; from the stroll down Main Street, hand-in-hand with the girl I loved to Fantasyland and Adventureland I had an amazing time. Perhaps inevitably my favourite part of the day (other than the fact that I was spending it with Tori) was the trip to Tomorrowland; I felt at home there and was able to give my girl a little description of some of the technologies that they brought to life in that part of the park and, of course, try my hand at Nug-nug's Training Academy. I knew just how jealous Spencer would be when I told him about that.

We took a little break for lunch at one of the many over-priced cafeterias in the park before finishing our trip with a look around New Orleans Square, Critter Country and Frontierland (we gave Toontown a miss, though I was told Carly and Sam loved it – cartoons are far more their thing than mine).

"Are you a happy boy now?" Tori teased as we left the park hours later. I ignored the jibe and gave my girl a grateful kiss instead.

"I sure am," I told her. "It was an amazing day, thank you."

The rest of the weekend was spent in one another's company, a lot of it around campus or at a local mall; we just hung out together and enjoyed the time we could spend with one another.

The next week, though, was an unusual one; Jade called me in concern on the Wednesday night as I was leaving work informing me of a bizarre change that had overcome my girl. I knew that she had seen Thornesmith again on Monday after school and she had seemed a little… off when we spoke after that meeting, though she had insisted that it was nothing. My gothic friend told me about how she had changed her appearance and started acting like a diva, completely unlike Tori. Her wardrobe and hairstyle had also changed (the pictures Jade sent me were not flattering in my opinion). I was unable to speak to my girl that night as she and André, for some reason, gone out for dinner together. I wasn't jealous, I trusted my girl completely, but it was an odd occurrence, particularly when André also called me later that night complaining about how she had made a scene in the restaurant.

"Thornesmith," I told him, "it has to be. I don't know what he said to her but he has to be the one behind all of this chizz." The question is what can I do about it…

I wouldn't get a chance to see her before Friday night but we spoke on Thursday. I asked how she was and about her preparation for the show that Sunday; she sounded a little evasive and uncomfortable as she assured me that everything was fine and that she was looking forward to it but I didn't press or reveal what the others had said as I wanted to confront her with that in person and have a chance to talk about it with her before she next saw them, lest she see them calling me as some sort of betrayal on their part.

As was becoming our "new tradition" Tori met me outside work as I left the campus store on Friday night; I saw that she was still wearing her new look (horrible but I wasn't going to say that the second I saw her). Instead I greeted her with a hug and a kiss.

"Tori?" I began as we walked, voicing something that I had thought of when I first got to thinking about the potential knock-on effects of her being catapulted to mega-stardom. "Are you still planning on going to college or will you be away touring and making albums?"

She sighed and turned to me; tears were shimmering in her eyes. She opened her mouth but there were no words to be found.

"Hey, hey," I whispered softly, cupping her cheek as tenderly as I could, "what's the matter?"

She shook her head and gestured towards my dorm; we walked in silence and made our way instead. Thankfully as it was Friday night the living area was deserted; we sat on the couch and I took her hands in my own, facing her and encouraging her to meet my eyes.

"What's the matter?" I asked in a low voice.

"Mason…" she said through rasping sobs. "Freddie, look at me. I'm not me anymore and not just my clothes, I've been acting like a… well like Trina," she snarled her sister's name a little; despite the fact that they got on better now she could still recognise behaviour more befitting of the elder Vega than of her. "I was at a restaurant the other night and made a scene, all part of raising my 'profile'," she air-quoted the last word. "But the last straw was today; he told me that I'd need to leave behind the people who would hold me back," and she looked me dead in the eye, clearly conveying Thornesmith's meaning, "and I can't do that. I love you too much," she lost all control and wept hysterically against my chest.

I took her in my arms and held her tight and close as I attempted to comfort her.

"You need to say no to him then," I whispered when my girl, still my girl, had calmed sufficiently.

"I can't," she sniffled, wiping her eyes, "if I don't do things exactly as he says, he said he'd fire me. I don't want to give up this chance, but I won't give you up for it Freddie," she wailed afresh.

"Let's sleep on it," I urged her, "and see if we can come up with a plan." She nodded and we made our way, earlier than normal, to my room. I held her as she struggled to fall asleep, my mind racing over how we could get her the best of both worlds.

I awoke the next morning to the feeling of soft lips gently kissing my cheek and neck, a sweet, tickling sensation. I assumed (and hoped!) that it was Tori, which of course it was and I kissed her enthusiastically as I opened my eyes and saw her beautiful, smiling face shining back at me.

"Hey, how are you this morning?"

"I'm better thanks," she reassured me, "I just wish there was a way out of this for me, other than quitting the gig."

"How about being yourself?" I suggested. She looked confused so I elaborated, "Thornesmith won't be in your dressing room beforehand… I could be if you want," I offered with a sly smile. "You go, you dress as Tori Vega, you go out there and wow the world as you and you see what happens from there."

"Mason would be furious," she gasped.

"It's a fait accompli at that time," I noted, "he can't drop you once you're on stage so he'll have to let you perform."

"That's brilliant!" she enthused, kissing me again.

The plan worked exactly as we hoped; she headlined the show and received rapturous applause for a song called "Make It In America"; I'd heard her practice it a few times that weekend; my girl nailed it up there as I watched from backstage. She left the stage after taking her bow and leapt into my waiting embrace.

"You!" a furious voice called to us. "We had a deal," the old dude snarled at Tori, "and you went back on it." He glared at me for a moment, doubtless assuming that 'the guy who would hold her back' was responsible for it. "This is what I warned you about, hanging about with people that will stop you from being a success," he told her, "you won't be getting signed." He stormed off radiating his ire.

Tori bowed her head; she expected it but it was still a crushing blow to lose the opportunity of a lifetime like this. I pressed my right index finger gently under her chin and guided her to meet my eyes.

"I'm proud of you," I told her. "You wouldn't compromise who you are for your shot at the big time, you performed in front of millions tonight so you've got the profile from it, you still have all your talent and…" she looked expectantly at me as I smiled, "I love you Tori Vega."

She threw her arms around me and kissed me passionately before looking at me and wearing a huge smile.

"I love you too Freddie," she told me and we kissed again.

AN: Ok so that was my little interpretation of Tori Goes Platinum. Cat's still off eating bibble somewhere but that wasn't really needed for this chapter so she's enjoying that in secret behind a dumpster somewhere in Hollywood. I hope you enjoyed it, please let me know one way or the other via a review and I'll see you all back here for the next chapter. PD.