Chapter 4 – It ends for her, I hope.

BECK's POV

I was literally seeing red. I cannot believe he hit Tori like he does it a lot. I knew I would be angry but not this angry. Angry enough to pin him to the floor and still punch his sorry face. I just kept punching until I heard Tori's voice.

"Beck! Please, stop!"

I didn't. This jerk deserves far worse than this. Tory kept pulling on my arm and shoulders trying to lift me from Ryder.

"Beck, please, stop! Andre! Help me! Quick!"

"Man, enough. Come on!" I let Andre pull me up. Ryder sits up groggily.

"What's wrong with you, man?" Andre grabs my shoulder.

"He hit Tori." I pointed a finger at Ryder who was still trying to sit up.

"You what?! You hit Tori?!" Ryder doesn't answer. Andre looks over at Tori who's behind me and saw a bruise already forming on her cheek bone. Tori put her head down.

Ryder stands up and spits blood from his mouth. I grabbed him by the collar.

"If you ever lay another finger on Tori or even as much as look her way, you'll be getting worse than this. You hear me?" I shove him away and he turned and walked away. I take a deep breath, look at Andre and then turned to Tori. I touch her hair and tuck it behind her ear.

"Are you okay?" She just nods her head and I can tell she's about to cry. I pull her towards me and true enough, she breaks into tears.

"Shhh…it's okay baby." I pat her stroke her hair trying to calm her down. She's pretty shaken up. Who wouldn't be? Having someone you love hit you like that is pretty dumbfounding and emotionally wrecking. I've never been this angry at anyone not even when I found out that Jade faked the fight scene when Tori was fairly new here. I was angry then but there wasn't much I can do against Jade. Tori's tears soaked through my shirt and I didn't care. Her whole body was shuddering from her sobs. Andre come closer and rubs her back trying to calm her down. A few minutes passed and Tori slowly steps away from me, searches her bag for a tissue but was getting frustrated at not finding any. I take out my handkerchief from my pocket and hand it to her.

"Thanks, Beck. Sorry you guys had to see this."

"Tori, is this the first time he hit you?" I asked as I lift her shin up to examine the bruise on her cheek.

"This is the first time that it made contact but he has raised his hand at me before like he was going to hit me." Tori tried to wipe her dripping mascara from under her lashes. Dang, this girl is so beautiful that even if black mascara is running down her face I still am out of breath just looking at her. Since when have I looked at Tori like this?

"He better be staying outta you way, Tor or else Beck and I will be breaking bones." Andre had a serious face that we barely see plastered on. Tori smile at us but I can tell that her pain is still yet to subside.

"Thanks guys. Beck, can we call off the rehearsal for today? I don't feel like rehearsing anymore."

"Whatever you need, Tor."

"You wanna hang out tonight?" Andre asked Tori and she twists my hanky as she is deep in thought.

"Sure. I had plans with Ryder but guess it doesn't matter anymore." Tori forced a smile. I hate it when she does that. It's really not the heart melting smile that she always gives. Andre discussed with Tori what we're going to do tonight but I was too busy staring at Tori, controlling my anger and feeling warm around her all at the same time to even hear what the plan was until I felt Andre nudging my elbow.

"Earth to Beck!" I snapped out of my trance and found Tori's hazel brown eyes locked with mine. I must have been staring too much because her bruised cheek was now filled with red.

"Sorry, dud. What are we doing tonight?" I turned to Andre reluctantly breaking the stare.

"We're hanging out at your place."

"Cool. Let's pick up some snacks on the way there. I just got this killer movie you guys gotta watch."

We sauntered towards the parking lot and saw that there were only a few cars left. We got in my car and drove off.

We were already at the store when I remembered Jade. I checked my phone and there was a message from he sent half an hour ago. She's going to kill me.

Jade: Not hanging with you tonight. Have other plans so feel free to make some for you.

Me: Kay. Thanks for letting me know.

My phone beeped after 30 seconds.

Jade: Whatever. Don't text me tonight coz I won't be responding.

Me: May I know why?

Jade: Just because. Do I ask you why when you don't?

Me: Actually, you don't ask. You make conclusions and scream about it.

Jade: Just back off, Beck.

Beck: What's your problem? You talk to me like you don't have a boyfriend. I get that you're angry about Tori's aud but this isn't how immature I thought you'd act. You don't want to tell me? Fine! Won't be bothering you anymore.

I hit send and shut my phone off. If this is how she wants it then this is what she gets. I huffed a breath of frustration and found Tori looking at a jar of pickles. Tori turns to me with the jar in her hand.

"This is all I want. Oh! And a pint of ice cream." She sauntered towards the frozen goods section and I followed her. Andre was somewhere around the store.

"Pickles and ice cream?" I asked Tori as she looked at the variety of ice cream in the freezer.

"Yeah, this is what I eat when I'm upset."

We got to my trailer and we all looked for a comfortable spot. Andre flopped on my couch taking the entire space; Tori took off her jacket and sat on my bed and after taking my jacket off and putting the movie on, I sat beside Tori our arms at each other's length. Twenty minutes through the movie, Tori and I were already leaning against the wall and I had an arm around her. Tori was perfectly comfortable eating her pickles all the while leaning against me and of course, I was enjoying the moment of being so close to her without anyone nagging me about it. I looked over at Andre and found him asleep. I took the chance to talk to Tori about what happened.

"Tori?"

"Yeah?"

"Please tell me it's over between you and Ryder."

She was silent for a brief moment and let out a sigh.

"I guess we are. I never thought he would do something like that to me. It was partly my fault."

I sat up and she looked at me with bewilderment on her face.

"How is it your fault? No guy should ever lay a hand on a girl regardless of what she did."

"I provoked him, Beck. I mentioned his brother and he just snapped."

"Wait. Ryder has a brother?"

"Well, half-brother. He's never met him before neither has his dad but he keeps on bragging about this son of his. The mom sends him emails regularly and Ryder is very jealous of this unidentified brother."

"Still, he shouldn't have hit you. Promise me it's over between you two."

"I promise, Beck , and thanks for defending me. No one has ever done that for me."

"I'll always be ready to protect you from anyone."

"Even from Jade?"

"Even from Jade."

She smiles at me and wraps her arms around me. I hug her back and bury my face in her hair. She smells so good, so sweet, so Tori. I close my eyes and savor the moment. I was so engrossed with what was happening that I didn't feel her pushing me away. I turned around and saw Jade standing by the door.

Hey guys! Sorry if I took so long to update! Juggling graduation preparations and my internship is not easy at all but here's the 4th chapter. I will be able to upload regularly soon…thanks for following this story and for all your support. Get excited cause the following chapters will be filled with excitement!