Final Project

XII.

Beck woke up the next morning only holding onto the pillow that Tori had been clasping onto all night. He sat up and looked all around his room, even calling out her name, but she wasn't there. Worried, since he remembered that she couldn't get into her room because she locked herself out, he quickly snatched his phone to text her.

Beck: Where'd you go?

He waited for what felt like forever. And it kind of was—seven minutes—which is a long time when you expect someone to answer right away. He was just considering calling her when she finally sent a text back.

Tori: In my room. I got up early this morning and went to the front desk. Talking to Andre right now.

And that was all she wrote. He stared at it like he thought it would alter at any second. That's all she has to say? Does she even remember last night? He hit the respond button, but his fingers stopped over the keypad. He honestly had no idea how to respond to that, but he knew he wanted to. Nothing seemed appropriate to say through text, however, so he settled with:

Beck: Let me know when you're done.

He tossed the phone on his bed, not expecting another response for awhile, and looked down into the living room area. There was the huge window…the huge window that saw it all. He wanted to remember every detail of that moment he shared with her…because he truly was unsure if he'd ever get another one.

Getting out of bed, he went into the bathroom and turned on the faucet to shower. The whole time he was in there, he couldn't get the image of Tori out of his mind…everything about last night was…he had to stop himself. No, it wasn't perfect. They did something they weren't supposed to. Kissing is cheating. Even if it was only once like she said.

Once he got out of the shower, he got dressed and grabbed his phone to make sure he didn't miss a text. He didn't. He walked over to the living room window to see what Tokyo looked like during the day as compared to the night. It looked more…chaotic. Scrambled. Unruly. It just looked like a completely different place.

Tired of waiting for Tori to text back—even though it had only been about thirty minutes and he knew Andre would probably hold her up for a little longer—he decided to text Shiori.

Beck: Hey, you have anything planned today before your performance tonight?

Shiori: Good morning to you, too! I'm assuming you took care of Tori last night? ;)

Beck sighed and leaned against the glass. He really didn't want to discuss this with her.

Beck: Something like that. So…plans?

Shiori: I'm helping my dad at Shi-chan's right now, but bout time I get done, it'll be time to do me and Tori's hair and make-up again. You guys can come grab some coffee if you want!

Beck: Well, she's talking to Andre right now.

Shiori: …Who?

Beck looked at her short question in wonderment. Tori never told her about Andre? Granted, he never told her about Jade either, but he was sure with all the extra time Tori and Shiori spent with each other while getting ready that Andre would have at least come up once.

That's probably why Shiori still thinks Tori and I are going to hook up…or are hooking up…

Beck: Her boyfriend.

Shiori: Shut up! Really? I'm sorry. :(

He had to wonder what exactly she was sorry about. Sorry because she kept insinuating something between the two of them without knowing there was someone else? Sorry because she knew Beck liked Tori but couldn't do anything about it?

Beck: We'll see you in a little bit.

That was the only thing he could think of to say. What else was there to say? It's okay, I got a girlfriend myself. Tori and I kissed anyway, but whatever.

He momentarily wondered if he should call Jade. But then he thought about how he cut her off last night. She was no doubt pissed. Did he want to deal with that? Not particularly. All he wanted to do was see Tori.

He waited for another fifty damn minutes before Tori finally texted that she was ready. All too quickly, Beck left his room, only to discover that Tori was out in the hallway. She looked completely surprised that he burst out so soon, but greeted him with a smile, "Sorry that took so long again. He missed me because I didn't get to talk to him last night."

"No need to apologize," Beck let her know, already walking to the elevator with her. He kept glancing at her, wondering if she was going to apologize to him about last night. She looked like her normal self…no hangover, no drowsiness, no regret in her eyes…

"So how are you feeling?" He asked her anyway.

Tori nodded a few times, "Really good, actually. I think that alcohol finally allowed me to crash hard enough to get some good sleep." She laughed.

Beck grinned as they headed down to the first floor, "Or maybe my bed is just more comfortable."

Instantly, she stopped laughing and shot her eyes to the floor. She pushed a lot of her hair behind her ear, suddenly looking very fidgety. Her only response was: "So where are we going?"

So it was only a one time thing…

Beck didn't want to make her feel anymore awkward than she already looked, so went along with the change of subject, "Shiori said she's working at Shi-chan's so I figured we could grab some coffee."

"Sounds great!" She exclaimed, going back to her normal self again.

Beck sighed and remembered the last thing she said to him last night: "Don't talk about it, Beck…"

The whole time they were at Shi-chan's, Tori noticed that Shiori kept shooting them…or maybe just her… weird glances. Tori was pretty sure she remembered everything from last night and couldn't recall doing anything too foolish. It still made her wonder if she said something to Shiori that she wasn't supposed to…

Shi-chan's had a little karaoke section…well, it was more like an "artist unplugged" section. There was a microphone and microphone stand in front of a single wooden stool, a guitar propped up against it. Basically, they made it so only good singers would use their voices in the coffee shop, because bad singers would normally not just start singing with little or no music in front of a crowd.

"You should go sing a song," Beck told her, motioning toward the microphone.

Tori tried to smile, staring at her coffee that she pushed on the table from one hand to the next, "No, not really in the mood right now."

"Why?" he asked her, genuinely wanting to know her thoughts about everything right now.

Tori scratched the side of her head as she squashed her face up in a "I'm sorry I have to say this, but you kinda left me no choice" way, "Could you do me a favor and try not to ask me that question anymore?"

Beck slumped back against his seat, feeling more defeated than ever. His why didn't even have anything to do with the night before (or, at least he didn't think so), so he had no idea what to talk to her about. Would she just tell him not to ask her anything from now on?

Shiori came over and sat down with them, "Hey guys, just got on break. How you liking the coffees?"

"Awesome," Tori responded.

"Yeah…great," Beck said, not even being able to mask enthusiasm. He started tapping his fingers against the table as he watched a Japanese girl go up and take a seat on the wooden stool.

Shiori followed his glance and smiled when she saw the girl, "Oh, that's Ayumi. She sings here a lot because the same people usually always come in here, so she got comfortable finally. She's good."

When the girl started to sing, she had the softest voice they've ever heard. But there was a diligence about it. Her song was completely in Japanese, but the emotion behind the voice alone was enough to get anyone to feel what the song desired them to…and Beck sure was feeling it. But when he looked over at Tori, he could tell she was feeling it, too. Her eyes looked sad and far off. But then she glanced at him and their eyes met.

And they couldn't look away. They didn't understand the words, but they were living them. Tori's eyes showed sorrow and confusion, and Beck felt himself nodding slowly…maybe along with the beat or maybe answering an unspoken question.

As Ayumi's voice got a little more powerful when the song began coming to a close, Tori raised her head up a bit higher, trying to keep her confidence and willpower about her, but breathed in so hard, even Beck could hear it from across the table. But then the song ended and everyone in the coffee shop gave a soft applause.

"So, know what you're gonna wear tonight?" Shiori suddenly asked Tori.

Tori finally broke eye contact with Beck, "Um, no, not really. What should—."

"Great, I'll be over tonight again before we go. Club Dragon's only a few streets over so I'm not gonna drive. Too hard to find a parking spot." Shiori stood up from the table, glancing from Beck to Tori, knowing something was obviously going on, "Anyway, my break's done. I'll see you guys later."

Beck and Tori nodded before being left alone at the table again. The silence between them was hard and uncomfortable, and they both hated it.

This is why I didn't kiss him two years ago…Tori thought to herself, trying to take a really long sip of her coffee to give her a reason for not talking. I knew it would get awkward between us…

"Wanna go check out that ten-story anime store down the street?" he finally asked her.

She nodded, just happy to be doing something, "Let's go."

So they ended up staying at Anime Palace for the rest of the day until it was time to go back to the hotel. To their great relief, the tension between them lightened up dramatically while they looked at all the anime stuff. They made fun of some of the figures, they took pictures of each other by the huge statues of anime characters, and even spent some time in the mini arcade, going against each other in Dance, Dance Revolution and Dragon Ball Z fighter games.

They were almost sad to leave the place because of how much fun they were having, but reminded each other that they were probably going to have a blast at Club Dragon, too.

They split off into their separate rooms, as Tori was going to get herself as ready as possible before Shiori came over to finish her off. But Tori was not expecting the Shiori that came rushing into her room when she let her in…

"Why didn't you tell me about your boyfriend?" Shiori asked, walking to the middle of her room before turning around and putting her hands on her hips. Again, Tori hardly recognized her. She put extensions in her hair that made it look like she had hair down to her butt, and pink streaks were all throughout her pitch black hair. Her outfit was a two piece black suit. The top stopped above her bellybutton and definitely showed off some serious cleavage. It was long-sleeved, stopping perfectly at her wrists. The bottoms were mini black shorts that stopped right at the top of her thighs. Her ankle-length, high-heeled, pink boots made her look about five inches taller.

"Um…what?" Tori asked, confused at both the question and her outfit. Is she really gonna dress me like that?

"Your boyfriend? Why didn't you ever mention him? I feel kinda stupid now, because I've been saying all that stuff about you and Beck," Shiori sounded, and looked, hurt.

Tori sighed, figuring Beck mentioned Andre sometime this morning to her, "Don't feel stupid, Shiori, it's not that big a deal. Beck and I are really good friends, I can see where—."

"And did anything happen last night?" Shiori cut her off.

Tori's initial reaction of fear that someone else knew gave it all away. Shiori couldn't even hold back the huge smile that spread across her face as she pointed at Tori accusingly, "Something did happen! You so gotta tell me all about it as we get you ready!"

Tori saw that she would have no choice in the matter.

As it turned out, Shiori didn't go as dramatic on Tori as she did for herself. She didn't want to make Tori feel uncomfortable there, but wanted to help her get a slight feel of the style. She added blue clip-on streaks through her hair and told her to wear her skin-tight jeans and high-heeled boots that came up to her knees. Shiori had brought over a few shirts for her to try on, and they both decided they liked the black, pink, and white off-the-shoulder top. Looking in the mirror, Tori liked the way the shirt made her neck and shoulders look elegant, but still gave her an edgy feel.

Beck thought exactly the same thing when he walked in to see her again.

Shiori smirked when she saw Beck's reaction, which was even better than the night before, because she knew their little secret. Tori had told her everything. She had tried to pull it off like it was no big deal, but Shiori could tell that it was a huge deal to both of them. She could just tell by the way they looked at each other.

"Let's get this show on the road, shall we?" Shiori looped her arms through both of theirs, like she did the first day they met, and led them out the door.

It was a little after eight o-clock about time they reached Club Dragon, and it was completely packed. They saw the line of people that were waiting to get in, and three bouncers were standing at the entrance to begin letting people in.

"We have to wait in that huge line?" Tori asked, standing on her tiptoes to try to find the end of the line.

Shiori laughed, "Oh Tori, you're so silly! Why would they make the entertainment stand in line?" With that, she pulled Beck and Tori up to the bouncers. Shiori said something to the bouncers in Japanese, and the three guys instantly smiled at her. They stepped to the side to let the three of them in.

"Wow, that was easy," Beck commented. They all began to walk down a very long, dimly lit hallway that echoed their footsteps with every step they took, especially since the two girls were wearing heels.

"C'mon, guys!" Shiori yelled, picking up the pace a little bit, really excited to show her two new friends one of her favorite places.

Music started to become louder and louder as they reached the end of the hallway, and before they knew it, they were stepping onto a huge dance floor with strobe lights going every which way. The music was loud and upbeat, and all around they could see people dancing; and Tori couldn't help but notice that most of them were dressed similar to Shiori. She felt a bit overdressed, to say the least.

"Let's get this party started!" Shiori shouted with all her might at them, trying to make herself heard over the music. She grabbed both of their hands and pulled them more toward the center, which was easier said than done. The place was packed, and people were so lost in the music that they had no sense of where and how they moved, nor if they bumped into anyone else.

Neither Beck nor Tori had ever been to a place quite like this and felt a bit out of place at first. But they both noticed that Shiori got right into it, swinging her arms, swaying her hips, flipping her hair, and sometimes even jumping up and down and screaming. Her carefree spirit definitely had a positive effect on Beck and Tori's attitude, for they quickly began to follow her lead.

With every move Tori made, she began to feel a bit lighter and looser. Once you stop worrying about other people, and figuring out that no one else is going to judge you, the crazy, freestyle dancing can become very addictive. In fact, she was so lost within herself, that it took her awhile to realize that Beck was tapping her on the shoulder instead of her just running into someone.

"Tori!" He yelled through the crowd and music. She could barely hear him, so she leaned in close to him. When he grabbed her arm and put his mouth close to her ear so she would be able to hear everything, her sweaty skin stood on end and it took everything in her willpower not to lean into him.

"Let's go get some water!" He told her, and she nodded quickly. Water sounded awesome.

She scanned the area around them before this time putting her lips close to his ear, "Where's Shiori?"

Beck shrugged and yelled back: "Not sure! She disappeared awhile ago!"

He took her hand so they wouldn't lose each other as they made their way through the crowd to the bar area. The bar was set up in such a way where they had an awning type roof over it to block out some of the noise. The music was still pretty loud, but they didn't have to scream in each other's ears to be heard.

Beck leaned forward on the bar to talk to the female bartender, who was for some reason dressed up as a pirate: "Two waters."

"Eh?" She questioned back, obviously not understanding English very well.

Beck looked at Tori, wondering how they could get what they want without Shiori around. Tori leaned over the bar, too, waving her hand frantically by her face to indicate how hot she was. Then she wrapped her hand around her throat to show how parched she was, then said "Water" slowly, as if saying it slowly would help the bartender understand.

Winking at both of them, the pirate bartender gave them a piece sign before putting two shot glasses in front of them and filling them up with something that was definitely not water. Then she walked away to tend to other people.

Beck and Tori looked at each other before bursting out in laughter.

"Apparently you told her something pretty good in that scene of yours," Beck complimented. He then lifted himself further onto the bar so that he was lying on his stomach. He dropped his head behind the bar, spotting water bottles on the other side. Grabbing two, he pulled himself back and grinned while handing her one of them.

Tori returned the grin, "Ooo, what a bad boy!" She twisted the cap off and took a long, refreshing sip.

"You have no idea!" Beck teased, taking a swig himself. Both of their attentions suddenly got pulled toward the front of the club, as they heard someone start talking into a microphone. When they looked, they saw that it was Shiori. She looked so different up there, however, as confidence and exuberance flowed through her as she gave her short introduction, that Beck and Tori couldn't understand, to the crowd.

And then she began moving across the stage and singing. The beat off the music made their hearts pound fast, and neither of them thought twice about it when Beck grabbed Tori's hand and said, "Let's dance."

They left the nearly empty water bottles on the bar top before going to the middle of the floor again. Just like earlier at the coffee shop, they couldn't understand the words, but the rhythm flowed through them like a drug.

Beck kept an arm around her waist, placing his hand on her lower back, as Tori placed her hand on his shoulder. They were only slightly aware of some of the people around them shouting Shiori's name. For the most part, their eyes were shouting things to each other.

You're gorgeous…

This is how it should be…

Always…

Go…go to the rhythm with me…

I'd go anywhere with you….

And this continued on. Once Shiori's first song ended, she quickly began another one. The beat in this club was unrelenting…if you never wanted to take a break, you didn't have to. If you never wanted to lose this free-falling feeling, you didn't have to. If you didn't want to talk, you didn't have to.

By the beginning of Shiori's third song, Beck had turned Tori around to dance behind her. He had his right hand on her stomach and his left hand on her arm that she had wrapped around the back of his neck. Her head was tossed back against his shoulder and their bodies were as close as could be as they swayed to the pulsation of the music.

His lips were close to her skin between where her neck and shoulder met, and he could feel and taste the sweat that had formed on both of them. He was just about to let his lips touch her when the song ended and the music actually paused for a moment.

Shiori began talking again, and again, Beck and Tori didn't know what she was saying…that is, until she said, "…Tori Vega! Get your butt up here!"

Tori's eyes got wide as she heard her name being screamed, and turned to Beck in fear as she heard a familiar beat starting.

"Beck, what did she just—."

He was smiling hugely though, "Go! Get up on stage, Tori!"

She gripped onto him and looked seriously worried, "But I can't—."

The music began to get louder as it started to approach the part where she was to begin singing. Not wanting to argue with her any further, he grabbed her hand again and ran with her to the stage. People seemed to know what was going on so tried to their best to make way for them.

When they were standing at the bottom of the stage, Shiori grinned and reached down for her hand. Tori shot another scared glance at Beck, but once he said, "Show 'em what you got!" she finally grinned back and took Shiori's hand. With the help of Shiori and Beck, Tori made it to the stage and took the microphone from Shiori just in time.

"You're so hypnotizing! Could you be the devil, could you be an angel! Your touch magnetizing! Feels like I am floating, leaves my body glowing!"

And as she sang, she looked out into the crowd and saw everyone dancing like they had been all night. They were feeling the rhythm, even though most of them were on the opposite side now in not being able to understand the lyrics. Though, of course, Katy Perry is huge and they probably all knew the lyrics. She continued to sing, the pounding of the song striking her heart more than all the other times she ever listened to it.

"Kiss me! Ki-ki-kiss me! Infect me with your love and fill me with your poison! Take me! Ta-ta-take me! Wanna be a victim, ready for abduction!"

Tori moved across the stage much like how she saw Shiori do, feeling the rush of performing in front of a large crowd flowing through her veins. She looked down at one point and saw Beck still standing by the stage, whoooo-ing her as he clapped.

And before she knew it, she was singing the last verse; "Boy, you're an a-a-alien! Your touch so foreign! It's…supernatural! Extraterrestrial!" And the beat was still pounding hard in her heart, but then the crowd started to applause her and it added even more fuel to her fire. Shiori came up to her again and gave her a huge hug.

"Tori Vega!" Shiori yelled into her microphone and everyone screamed as loud as they could. Music started to play again as the DJ took over again.

Tori walked to the edge of the stage were Beck was, smiling largely when she jumped down into his arms. He spun her around a few times before setting her to the floor, his eyes just as wild with excitement as her own, "That was amazing, Tor!"

Grabbing his hand this time, she pulled him onto the dance floor again.

They stayed for another hour, and about time they left the club, it was almost one in the morning. They were both laughing hysterically, on a complete and total high over the whole night. But once they stepped outside the doors of Club Dragon, they realized that it was pouring rain. The rain was falling so hard that they could hardly see across the street. But Tori merely flashed a grin at him and pulled him out into it, screaming with delight and at how cold it was.

Beck was keeping up with her, keeping close to make sure she didn't slip in her high-heeled boots. She did a few times, which only made her laugh harder, and even dare to do a couple of random spins as they ran.

Finally, she spotted a store that had a little awning at its entrance that they could rest under for a moment. She pulled him under with her, placing a hand over her chest to try to catch her breath.

"Oh my God…" She said breathlessly, still wanting to laugh but hardly having the air to do it, "We're soaked!"

Soaked, they were. Water was dripping off every part of them, from their clothes to their hair to their eyebrows.

Beck was trying to slow his laughing, too, running his hand through his hair to try to push it out of his face, "And I still think we have two more streets before we reach the hotel."

Tori swallowed hard and leaned back against the door of the store. All the lights were off inside so it was safe to assume it was closed, "Oh man, that club was so amazing!"

Beck nodded, stepping closer to her, "You were amazing, Tor."

Tori looked at him, her chest still rising and falling heavily with each breath. She watched him take another step toward her, his hand coming up to her cheek, pushing some of her wet hair off her face. She saw the look of hunger and desire in his eyes, and knew just by how badly she wanted him that he saw it in hers, too.

But when he began to lean into her, she looked down and shook her head, "Beck, we ca—."

He tilted her chin up and captured her lips with his own. Tori pressed herself back against the door a little more, but pulled him closer as well as she met his kiss with as much vigor as he brought to her.

Having another wet body pressed against hers made her shiver as the chill started to set in, but his lips felt so warm against hers that she just didn't care. It wasn't long before she had to pull away, as she was still out of breath, but their lips remained mere millimeters apart as they held each other in place.

"Beck…we have to stop this…" she murmured against his lips, their foreheads touching and eyes only half-lidded.

"I know we have to…" he responded in a low voice, kissing her quickly again…and again…and again…before he pressed against her and gave her a real kiss.

We have to…They both thought. But we don't want to…

()()()()()()()()

Oh my gosh, everyone! Look how far we've come! You guys are so super awesome for giving me such supportive reviews! I love reading them SO much! And you have NO idea how happy it made me to write this chapter. Why? Because the whole ending scene in the chapter, from the time Tori started singing (I don't own Katy Perry's E.T. by the way) to the very end, has been the scene that has been playing in my head for almost a whole year now. Yep, this was the scene that inspired this WHOLE story for me. And to finally be able to write it instead of just think it…that's a huge accomplishment for me. This story is going far better than I ever hoped (it's even doing better than my iCarly story did), and I want to continue writing for all of you. See you on the next update!