Thank you for the follows, faves, and reviews. This chapter shows Tori, thanks to Trina and Cat, talking to the guys. I originally was going to have it with Andre and Robbie, followed by Beck and a bit of Jade, then the rest of Jade, and end with Shelby, but decided to do the guys together, followed by Jade, then Shelby. She's never had a problem with Trina, and Trina in the last chapter helped her get to this point, so she doesn't need to forgive Trina or anything.
Something I didn't know until recently. Earlier this year, Avan Jogia was on the Spike show 'Ink Master'. They did challenges with Egyptian based tattoos, and since he did 'Tut' on Spike, he was a guest judge. Random and has nothing to do with this chapter, but he was on 'VicTORious', and we see Beck in this chapter, so I decided to say it. If you're interested, the episode was named 'Tut For Tat'.
Disclaimer: I don't own 'VicTORious', 'iCarly', or their characters.
No POV
The day after Cat and Trina told Tori she needed to talk to her friends and twin in an attempt to get things behind her, Tori walks into school alone, Trina lagging behind to get a coffee from the coffee stand by the doors, and looks around. Seeing her friends by Andre's and Beck's lockers, Jade and Cat missing, and no Rex in sight, she builds up the courage and heads over to the guys, stopping a couple of feet away from them.
"Hey, Tori." Andre says, the first to speak after Tori got to them, as the four stand in silence.
"Hey." Tori says hesitantly, her thoughts on what Cat and Trina told her the day before as she tries not to back down and leave them where they stand. "I'm sorry I've been ignoring you guys lately." She says in one breath, not looking at them.
"Why were you?" Beck asks quietly, his shoulder resting beside Andre's locker.
"What all have you heard about things between me and Jade recently?" Tori asks, wanting to trust what Cat told her about her and Jade keeping the secret, but unable to.
"Nothing, really." Andre answers, the other two nodding in agreement.
"Just that, after something a while ago, you've been ignoring us, her mainly I think." Robbie says, speaking hesitantly. "What happened?" He asks.
"I think I over reacted to something she and another friend did." Tori admits, not willing to give away her twin. "I'm sorry I took it out on you guys." She says, finally looking at them.
"You didn't take anything out on us." Andre says, sharing confused looks with Beck and Robbie.
"I did." Tori says, locking eyes with her best friend. "I ignored you guys because I thought you heard what happened and I figured you would've sided with Jade because you've known her longer than me." She says softly, looking away.
"We don't know anything. We only knew Jade was involved because when we asked if anyone knew what happened, she told us to stay out of it. That's it." Beck says, staring at the half-Latina.
"And we wouldn't have sided with her without know the full story." Andre says, setting a hand on Tori's shoulder comfortingly.
"But I didn't know that at the time." Tori admits, looking down. "I didn't think, I just assumed."
"Look, we're not taking anyone's side. We don't know what happened, and if you feel comfortable enough telling us, then fine." Andre says, rubbing her shoulder. "If not, then that's fine. As long as you talk to Jade and the other friend and get this all sorted out. We're your friends, girl. Yeah, we're Jade's too." He clarifies, looking at me. "But we're not picking sides since we don't know the story." He says, patting her shoulder.
"I really am sorry for ignoring you though. I'm trying to get things behind me, but it won't be easy." Tori says, looking down.
"Just don't ignore us anymore, girl." Andre says, pulling Tori into a hug. "We're your friends. You know we won't pick sides." He says, patting her on the back.
"I might not like what Jade did, if it made you act how you did since it happened, but I think you should. She seemed to regret what she did, based on how she's acted since it happened." Beck says, patting Tori's shoulder after Andre releases Tori from the hug. "Not picking her side or anything, but at least talk to her. Okay?" He says, hugging her.
"Give it time, Toro." Robbie says, purposely using the nickname Sikowitz gave her when they were giving roles for his sleepover to lighten the mood a bit. "You two might not be friends, but at least it'll be in the past." He says, hugging her once Beck releases her.
"Not exactly the thing I bet she wanted to hear, but he's got a point." Andre says as Robbie releases her. "This seems kinda sudden, you talking to us." He notes, a small smile on his face. "Not complaining, but I don't want you to rush into it and possibly regret it or something down the line, talk before you're ready." He tells his best friend, a gentle smile on his face.
"It's long overdue. I just didn't want to risk it, but I had to. It would've been worse if I waited." Tori tells them. "I'm gonna go get my school before classes start. See you in Sikowitz's." She tells them, giving them a quick hug before heading for her locker.
"See ya in class." Andre says after her, watching her leave.
"What do you think could have happened between Tori and Jade?" Beck asks in a whisper as he grabs his books and closes his locker, neither of the boys noticing Jade and Cat walking in and heading for Jade's locker.
"You think she talked to them?" Cat asks as Jade opens her locker and grabs her books.
"Why do you ask?" Jade asks as she grabs her stuff.
"Well, when we walked in, she was heading for her locker, and she seemed like she was just with them before heading away. Now, they're talking and glancing at Tori." Cat says, watching Tori from the corner of her eye.
"I don't know. It's not like she'll ever forgive me, or talk to me ever again, so why should I be concerned?" Jade asks with a hint of a deadpan as she closes her locker. "Has she talked to you?" She asks, watching as Tori closes her locker and heads towards class.
"Not really. We talked, but I can't say we talked things through." Cat says, looking at Jade. "Besides, it's not me she needs to talk to. Yeah, she ignored me like she did the guys, but I don't mind that. She was hurt, no offense, and she didn't really know how to react. Now, she's trying to make amends." She tells the Goth.
"Doubt she'll make them with me." Jade says, heading away. "Tell Sikowitz I'll be late. I'm grabbing a coffee and bear claw." She says, leaving the school to head for the small coffee stand, ignoring the looks from the guys.
"So, what was Tori talking to you about?" Cat asks, walking up to the guys.
"What do you mean?" Robbie asks, staring at Cat.
"When I walked in, I saw her walking away from you guys." Cat answers.
"She was apologizing to us for ignoring us." Beck answers, watching Cat with curiosity.
"Did she give a reason why she was?" Cat asks, not looking at the guys.
"No, and we didn't ask." Andre says, staring at Cat the same way as Beck. "Why? Do you know?" He asks, raising an eyebrow at her.
"No. I have no idea." Cat says, walking away. "Bye!" She calls, heading for Sikowitz's. 'Glad we never need books for his class.' She thinks to herself as she heads down the hall, not able to stop by her locker since the bell rings as she nears his classroom.
Later that day, just before lunch, as Cat walks by the janitor's closet to get her lunch, the door opens and a tanned hand moves out and grabs Cat's forearm, pulling her into the closet. "Hey, just like when I punched you in the face for kissing Daniel." Cat says with a smile when she sees it was Tori who grabbed her.
"I'm sorry." Tori says, pulling Cat into a hug.
"For what?" Cat asks, returning the hug.
"For ignoring you, and thinking you'd side with Jade." Tori says, holding the petite redhead close. "Thank you for talking to me before. I needed to hear that." She says, releasing Cat from the hug.
"I understand why." Cat says, giving Tori a small smile. "I'm just glad you're trying." She says, patting Tori's shoulders. "I hate to cut this short, but I'm hungry, and Festus finally has fresh food for his burritos." She says, hugging Tori then leaving.
"That was interesting." Tori says, shocked a bit by how hectic Cat was acting before she rushed off.
Leaving the janitor's closet, Tori heads into the hallway with a small smile on her face, glad that Cat and Trina told her what she needed to hear. Glancing up, she sees someone she didn't think she'd see. "Shelby?" She asks, stunned to recognize her twin sister in her disguise of a pair of Tori's sweat pants, a loose t-shirt hiding her body, her hair in a ponytail, large sunglasses (a pair of Trina's) covering her face, and a hat with a brim pressed down, hiding her forehead and a bit of her eyes, the sunglasses slowly being lowered by Shelby's tanned hand.
That's it for this. I was originally thinking of having Tori talk to Jade first, but I thought it'd be better if she talked to Shelby first.
Thank you for reading, and I look forward to your reviews.
Blessed Be.