Final Project

IX.

Tori couldn't sleep for over half the night. Every little sound she heard made her think that it was Beck knocking on her door. It caused her to constantly get up from bed and walk over to stare out the little peephole…only to find an empty hallway.

She considered texting or calling him, but figured he was sleeping peacefully; exactly what she should be doing.

Finally, the last time she looked at the clock when it read 4:23, she fell asleep. Only for her eyes to snap open to see the clock reading 9:02. At first, she wondered what woke her up so abruptly, but the more her brain began to wake up, she could hear the soft sound of a kind of blooping ringtone going off from her computer. Someone wanted to video chat with her.

Reaching over for her computer that was beside her, she turned it to face her. The name she saw on the screen made her prop herself up quickly.

Call from: Jade

What does she want…? Oh man, did Beck break up with her already? No, no, no, no…this isn't good.

So she thought about ignoring it. But would that make whatever was going on worse?

Reluctantly, she slid her finger over the mouse and tapped down once to accept. Jade's face popped up on the screen.

"Vega!" She yelled with a scowl, but then looked at her in disgust, "God, you look like you just got hit by a truck."

Tori smacked herself in the front of the face before running her hand through her hair in an attempt to wake up and look more presentable, "I didn't get too much sleep…"

"Why?"

Tori paused and stared at her frenemy. How is it that it's so easy for her to ask that?

"Just…couldn't."

"Where's Beck?" Ah, so she was getting to the point of why she was video chatting with Tori.

Pushing her hair behind her ear, Tori shrugged, "I don't know…in his room? I just woke up, so I—."

"He's not answering any of my messages or calls."

Tori closed her eyes and flopped back on her pillow. So instead of breaking up with her, he just chooses to keep his computer off? Thanks, Beck…

"Well, what do you want me to do about it?"

"Tell me why he's ignoring me."

Tori sat up again and looked Jade right in her eyes, "Jade, I think he should be the one to—."

"Tell me!" Jade snapped, a wild look in her eyes. Tori couldn't have been happier that they had so much distance between them. Jade suddenly pointed her finger to the side as if she knew which direction Beck was from Tori's room, "Tell me or go get him. I need to talk to him."

Tori blinked a few times, wondering what to do. Should she go get Beck? Would he be mad at her for basically forcing him to talk to his girlfriend? Should she just hang up on Jade like Beck did the previous morning? But what would the consequences of that action be? Although they were in two different countries now, they would come face to face again in a few weeks. It's not like it could be avoided.

Rolling off her bed, Tori stood on wobbly legs, "I'll be right back."

Instead of telling her thank you, Jade yelled from behind her: "Hurry up!"

Tori rolled her eyes and propped the deadbolt out on her door so it didn't lock behind her. She was glad no one else was wandering the halls at the moment, because she was sure she looked as bad as Jade announced.

Which reminded her…she was about to knock on Beck's door looking like a mess.

Groaning, she mashed her hands in her hair as she tried to straighten it and poof it at the same time, wondering if it made her hair look any more natural. Whatever. She just wanted to tell Beck and get on with her life.

She knocked pretty loudly on his door. Jade told her to hurry up, and that's what she was trying to do. Luckily, Beck answered the door within a few seconds. He looked like he had only gotten a few hours of sleep as well.

"Tori?" He asked, rubbing his eyes, "Time to go already?"

"Your girlfriend's on my computer demanding you talk to her," Tori said bluntly.

Beck paused very quickly and lowered his hands, "You answered her call?"

"Yeah! I mean…she woke me up, I wasn't really thinking…but either way, are you avoiding her?"

Beck sighed and leaned against the doorway, "I'm just sick of it, Tori…"

Her eyes softened when she saw how defeated he looked, "Look, I know it probably seems easier to ignore it all right now, but sometimes…you really have to face what's standing in your way, you know?"

He now leaned his head again the doorway, staring at her from between his hairs that hung in front of his face, "That sounds way too deep for this early in the morning."

Tori offered a small smile, "Just talk to her, okay? She at least deserves that much."

Continuing to stare at her for a few more seconds as he considered it, he finally pushed himself to stand straight up, "I'll never understand how you can be so nice to someone that's so mean to you…but it's pretty amazing."

She looked down to the floor upon hearing the compliment, pushing her hair behind her ear, "So you'll do it?"

"Yeah…let me just turn on my computer."

"All right…just come and get me when you're ready, kay?" Tori was already walking back to her room.

"Sure," Beck replied before shutting his door.

Tori walked back into her room, undoing the deadbolt to close the door.

"Well?" Jade asked when she saw Tori again.

"He said he'll be on in a minute," Tori said, flopping back on her bed and running her finger over the mouse to close out the call.

"Wait!" Jade stopped her, "You're staying on here until he does. I don't want you pulling any fast ones on me."

Tori raised an eyebrow, "Whatever you say, Jade." And so they sat there staring at each other. It made Tori feel a bit awkward, so she asked: "So how are you liking England?"

"Shut up!" Jade snapped, and then: "There he is." And then the video chat ended.

Over in Beck's room, Beck propped his computer on the small desk that was beside his bedroom window and slumped in the seat.

"Have you been avoiding me?" Jade asked as soon as she answered his video request.

"Of course not," Beck half lied, not even moving from his slouched position, "Just been busy doing, you know, what we're supposed to do."

Jade knew he meant for school, but her initial reaction was still to snap questions at him. Instead, she bit her tongue and rubbed her forehead, "Look, Beck, I just wanted to apologize."

Beck's eyebrows raised up a bit, "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, I've been freaking out about something that you had no control over. Either way, I'm here, you're there…with Tori, but either way…we're stuck with where we are for the next few weeks and I don't want to fight with you the whole time."

Closing his eyes, Beck let his head fall back so he was facing the ceiling. Why did she always have to do this? She somehow just knew when Beck was at his last straw with her, and that would cause her to drop how she'd been acting and become a completely different person.

"Beck?"

He brought his head up again and looked at her.

"I know I've been a gank this last week…but do you forgive me?" She gave him a look that only he's had the pleasure of seeing: the soft look; the insecure look...the loving look.

Sighing, he forced a tired smile, "Yes, Jade. It's fine."

It was only about an hour later when Tori heard a knocking on her door. She had forced herself to shower and dress as soon as Jade hung up on her, but once that was all done, she only had her bed to relax on, thus, she fell asleep again.

Tori was only expecting Beck when she answered the door, so was surprised to see a cute Japanese girl in her doorway. She wore small, rectangular neon pink glasses that seemed to just barely cover her eyes, and her hair was pulled back into a bun with a huge pink flower-comb piece ornamenting the top. She wore a short, bright-pink kimono that stopped above her knees, and soft pink flats to top off the outfit.

"Um…hello?" Tori started.

"Good morning, Sunshine!" The girl exclaimed, and it was only then that Tori recognized her as Shiori.

Bouncing into Tori's room, Tori looked at her in astonishment, "Shiori? Wow…you look completely different…"

Giggling, Shiori leaned against the desk, "Yeah, I try to look different for different occasions. It's fun to be different but still be you, ya know? The more you get to know me, the more you'll see the many sides to me."

Tori smiled, being reminded of Cat more than ever, "That sounds like fun."

"It is! Maybe I'll do you over while you're here. Like I told you before, I am a fashion designer and make-up artist," Shiori sat down and spun around in the swivel chair, "Wow, Tori-chan, you got it made! This place is beautiful!"

Tori plopped down on her bed, "So did you have anything planned for us today? I didn't get much sleep, so I need to get out of here and do—."

"Perfect! I'll take you to Shi-chan's and you can try the best coffee ever! It'll wake you up, believe me!" Shiori spotted all the bags full of the things that Tori bought the previous day. Jumping up, Shiori grabbed a few and began rummaging through them, "Oh yeah, there's a night festival going on tomorrow night that you guys will want to see. You wanna get a feel for our culture," she looked over and shoulder and winked at Tori, "you'll definitely get it there."

Tori perked up upon hearing this, "Wow, that sounds awesome! What should I wear?"

"This!" Shiori pulled a long, slim, bright red kimono with brilliant golden flowers all of it from one of the bags.

Tori's eyes almost popped out of her head, "Where did that come from?"

"I got it for you," Shiori announced as if it were nothing, "I knew the festival was coming up and wanted to get you a gift. I thought you would have discovered it by now."

"No, I…" Tori was still in shock at how beautiful the outfit was, "I didn't really get a chance. Thank you so much though…"

Shiori giggled, "Not a problem! I'll come over here kinda early, too, to do your hair and make-up. You're gonna look stunning!"

Tori felt the firm fabric between her fingers, "You think?"

"Girl, you'll be leaving Beck breathless!"

Hearing this, Tori shot her eyes away and could feel her face heating up. Why did she have to bring Beck up? But then she wondered…how did it go for him…talking with Jade and all? Did he end up breaking up with her? Was he upset? Was he sad? Did he need someone to talk to?

As if on cue, there was another knock on her door.

"I'll get it!" Shiori yelled excitedly as she skipped to the door. She smiled widely when she saw it was indeed Beck at the door, "Ohayou gozaimasu, Beck! We were just talking about you!"

Beck raised an eyebrow, only knowing it was Shiori by her voice, also, "Oh yeah…?"

Tori quickly stood from the bed, "No we weren't!" She laughed nervously, "I mean, not really, no, we weren't…Shiori said she was going to take us to get coffee!"

"That. Sounds. Perfect." Beck said slowly, never being happier to get coffee than that moment.

Shi-chan's did, like Shiori said, have the best coffee ever. They somehow knew how to put in about six shots of espresso without making the coffee taste bitter. The flavors they got, Tori getting white mocha and Beck getting caramel, mixed in perfectly with the natural coffee beans that were freshly ground up; and the only reason they were disappointed was because they didn't have a Shi-chan's back in California.

The coffee successfully woke them up, then Shiori invited them back over to her house. She wanted to show them a natural home environment where her parents and two younger siblings lived. They were almost surprised to see that Shiori's mother was American, but then she explained to them that her real mother died when she was only an infant, but that Naomi took over as her mother for as long as she could remember. So even though her two siblings, Tama and Someya, were only half-siblings to Shiori, Shiori said she never felt left out.

All day long, Tori couldn't help but notice how…normal Beck was acting. It was like the normal that someone acts when things really shouldn't be normal. It was like she didn't know what subjects to bring up to him, because she had no idea what happened between him and Jade. He was letting on no clues. He didn't seem sad, he didn't seem regretful, he didn't seem happy…just normal.

Every now and then, Tori would try to start a conversation that would maybe help her know what happened without Beck actually having to tell her, but he seemed to be very careful to not let on anything. Finally, she just gave up on it. If he didn't want to discuss it with her, then she wasn't going to push it.

Tori and Beck were both really happy meeting Shiori's family, though. Her two younger sisters wanted to show them everything, from the pond out back, to the toys in their room, to the dojo their father, Shinichi, helped them practice their katana skills in. Naomi asked them to stay for dinner, where they experienced a homemade Japanese meal.

Shiori didn't end up dropping them off at the hotel until nearly nine o-clock. Tori hadn't even though about the time until then, and wondered if Andre missed her at seven. She didn't feel too terrible about it, however, since she was with someone besides Beck this time (and this somehow eased her conscious).

Tori and Beck reached the third floor, Tori, like usual, reaching her room first.

"Okay, well, I guess I'll see you tomo—," Beck started.

"Wanna watch a little TV before you go to bed?" Tori asked, so abruptly and randomly that she had to grind her teeth together and pull her mouth back, hoping it didn't come off sounding as pathetic and desperate as it sounded to her.

To her surprise, he answered like he didn't notice her abruptness, "Yeah, definitely. Maybe we'll find "Panty Mask 2" or something."

Tori rolled her eyes playfully but they both shared a laugh as she unlocked her door. She clicked on the lamp above her bed to light up the room a bit, "I'm gonna get changed into something more comfortable real quick. Is that okay?"

"No problem," Beck said, already going down to her living room area.

Grabbing her pajamas, Tori went into the bathroom to change. The bottoms were white pajama capris that had Japanese symbols down each side (Shiori told her they said "Shine" which Tori fell in love with, for obvious reasons) and the top was a white tank with the same symbols on the front.

When she came out, she saw that he was standing in front of the large windows in the living room that overlooked the city. Taking it a deep breath, she walked up beside him.

"Pretty amazing view, huh?" She asked, staring at all the lights that illuminated Tokyo, but still seeing his reflection in the glass.

"Yeah…kinda makes you wanna stay here forever, right?" Beck said, putting his left hand on the glass as he stared down at the street below.

Tori smiled, "I wouldn't mind."

Beck didn't respond this time, so they continued to stand there, contentedly, admiring all the bright advertisements on buildings and the large signs that they had no idea what they said.

Finally, though, curiosity got the better of her. Biting her bottom lip, she turned toward him slightly and leaned against the glass, "So what happened earlier?"

"Nothing," came his simple answer.

Tori blinked, not sure how to take that, "Well…how do you feel?"

"Numb," came his next answer. This one, however, wasn't so simple. He averted his eyes from outside to her. Then back out again.

Never before had such a small word have such an impact on her. It shattered her heart into a million pieces to hear him say that, and her nose stung something fierce from trying to hold back the tears that she wanted to spill for him.

Beck sighed when he realized how depressing he sounded, "I guess me and Jade are still together, but it's never felt quite like this before…this numb feeling. It's like I'm not mad at her insecurities and jealousy, and I'm not happy that she apologized for those earlier. It's…you know, nothing."

Tori bit her bottom lip, wishing she had an answer to give him. Anything. But what could anyone say to that? If a person feels nothing, how do you cheer them up? How do you take their mind off of…nothing?

Beck put his upper arm against the glass and pressed his forehead to his arm, still looking out at Tokyo, "Even the familiarity is gone. You know how sometimes the only reason you hang on to something is because of the memories? It's like having that one toy from childhood that you don't play with anymore, but you still can't find the will power to separate from it only because you remember all the fun you had with it before. …That feeling…that feeling's not even there anymore."

Tori swallowed hard and blinked her vision back, for his words seemed to be sending her into some sort of movie-like trance.

Beck continued: "And it's not even like—."

And then…Tori's computer, again, interrupted them. The blooping sound from the bedroom was telling her she was getting a video chat, and she was almost positive it was Andre, since she didn't talk to him earlier.

Beck looked at her, wondering if she was going to answer it.

And Tori knew that she should answer…especially if it was Andre. But Beck seemed to need her so he could spill out some of these nothing feelings so that he could go back to feeling something. And that was more important to her than talking on video chat right now.

When the blooping stopped and Tori was still standing in front of him, he continued as if he was never interrupted in the first place: "And it's not even like I want to feel nothing. I'm trying to hold on…but man, a relationship is hard work when your heart's not in it, ya know?"

Tori tried so hard to force a smile, but her muscles simply would not allow it and she ended up frowning deeply instead. Anyone who was anyone could tell that there was no hope for Beck and Jade now, and yet she said: "I bet it'll all go back to normal when you see her again."

Beck didn't really seem surprised by her statement. Just sarcastically remarked: "Yeah. Normal."

Tori looked down, embarrassed at the fact that that was all she had to say. What else was there? Sorry for all that time you wasted on her? Sorry it's over? Sorry, but you'll be happier without her anyway?

"Let's watch TV, kay?" was her next brilliant advice. Boy, was she one heck of a helper or what?

He continued to stare outside for a few more moments before nodding and relenting, "Sure."

Tori grabbed the remote and sat at one end of the couch, and actually felt her heart constrict when Beck sat way at the other end. She tried to ignore this feeling as she scrolled through the channels she couldn't even read anyway. Eventually, she did land on a movie that had subtitles, so they could at least at some idea of what was going on.

They didn't talk anymore, and Tori was almost scared to look over at him. Even thinking about looking at him made her mind and heart go crazy. Her whole body craved to comfort him; to show him that he was way too good of a guy to be feeling nothing. She was his only friend for miles and miles and miles…it was her duty to help a friend in need, right?

But when she finally got up the courage to take a peek at him, she saw that he was fast asleep. He was slumped in the corner of the couch with his head tilted against the back. His one arm was resting over the arm of the chair, but his other hand covered his eyes like he was trying to block everything out. But Tori could still tell that his eyes were closed and he was sleeping by the way he was breathing.

"Beck?" she whispered loudly, but got no response.

She noticed that he got about as much sleep as she did the night before, and she was starting to feel her eyelids droop, too. She didn't want to wake him up or disturb him, so she went and pulled the blanket off her bed and brought it over to the couch. She laid one end of the blanket over him, and she sat in the middle of the couch…actually debating one whether she should lay her head on the other arm of the couch…or on him.

Her cautiousness of the whole situation made her lay her head down on the couch, but she allowed her feet to touch the side of his leg…and that was enough intimacy to get her heart fluttering as she fell asleep.

()()()()()

I wanted to thank you all again for helping me reach 100 reviews! It's always a nice milestone to reach. Hope you enjoyed this slightly longer chapter! Next chapter should be about that festival. See you soon!