Final Project

XIII.

Beck and Tori made it back to the hotel, the receptionists shooting them a couple dirty looks from all the water they dragged in. They tried to keep their chuckling to themselves and avoid eye contact with anyone that might have had to clean the carpet. They half-jogged over to the elevator, pretty surprised to see an old man waiting for it, too. Out of all the times they didn't get the elevator to themselves, it had to be then, at 1:30 in the morning.

When they all got on, Beck and Tori stood back against the corner while the man stood at the other corner. He kept glancing at them, looking upset that they were getting the elevator so wet. Again, they tried to keep a straight face until they got off, glad that the man wasn't stopping on the third floor.

"I am so cold!" Tori exclaimed, hurrying over to her door. She was struggling with getting her room key out of her pocket, because her jeans were soaked which made it hard to create any room to reach in.

Beck stopped behind her, brushing all of her hair over her right shoulder. He leaned in close to her left ear, his wet hair brushing against the back of her neck, "I could warm you up…" He placed a soft kiss on the side of her neck, trailing his lips down to her bare shoulder.

Tori froze and closed her eyes, feeling herself become dizzy as she continued fighting for that dang key. Beck was driving her over the top, and what made it even more difficult to handle was that she was never in this situation before. Sure, she had her steamy moments with Andre, but it never got to the point where she felt like she wasn't in control. But she was having a hard time resisting the man behind her, and he seemed very aware of this…

"Beck, c'mon…" She tried to sound strict about getting his attention, but then he kissed a sensitive spot beside her ear and made her giggle involuntarily, "Beck, seriously!" She tried to duck away from him, but that only resulted in her spinning to face him and getting pressed against the door. He again kissed her on her lips, a soft moan escaping from her throat…also involuntary.

She shivered when he ran his hands down her arms. He placed them on her hips, thrusting her forward in a gentle motion. This is when he eyes widened and she put her hand on his chest to let him know to stop.

He finally did, looking at her in confusion, "What is it?"

"Umm…it's just…you know, maybe we should talk about this first…" she hated to be the one to break such an awesome moment, but one of them had to keep their head. And Beck…well, he was a guy. A guy she completely trusted, but an eighteen year old guy nonetheless.

Beck caught her drift and put some distance between the two of them, breathing in hard before releasing it, "I know, I'm sorry. It's just…dancing with you all night and everything…"

Tori smiled, not wanting him to suddenly feel awkward, "I know. Believe me…I know." She laughed shortly, pushing her hair behind her ear. She was happy when Beck returned her smile, glad there was no hard feelings. "I am freezing though, and I want to get out of these clothes and take a hot shower. And it's going on two o'clock, so…"

"Are you tired at all?"

She knew what he was getting at. He wasn't ready for the night to end. And truthfully, neither was she. It had been such a breathtaking night, who would want it to end? So with an even bigger smile, she shook her head.

"Can I come back over after you're done showering?" he asked, and felt his heart flutter when she looked at him shyly and nodded.

"Great…" He murmured before leaning in for another kiss. He broke it quickly, though, when he felt how bad she was shivering. "Okay, I'll see you in a few," he walked toward his room.

Tori finally managed to get her key out of her pocket, and unlocked the door. She shivered even more at the coolness in her room and hurried to turn on the hot water. It took her quite a bit of effort to undress herself, but her naked skin thanked her when she was free.

She stood underneath the spray of the water for some time, all the feeling coming back to her body. Closing her eyes, she thought about Beck and how…how he was truly irresistible, and no matter how corny that sounded, it was true. She had been by his side for less than a week, and already she felt herself falling under his spell that she was having a hard time digging out of.

And it was probably because she didn't want to. She didn't want to escape. Even though she knew what the right thing to do was—she was Tori, she always knew what was right and wrong—she didn't want to climb out. She wanted to be in this moment…hang in this moment…free-fall in this moment…forever.

And she knew she should probably be worried about these feelings. Whereas they might have been normal to most people, they were far from normal to her. Love was never that uncontrollable passion you see in romance movies, and kissing was certainly not the single best thing in the world like love songs tell about.

Done with her shower after about fifteen minutes, she got out and put on her comfy pajamas. She was rubbing her towel through her damp hair when she happened to see a blinking light on her computer. Curious, she moved the mouse over the screen to see a link that said:

Video Message From: Andre

Tori had told him that she would probably not be able to talk to him that night because she was going to see Shiori perform, so it looked like he just recorded a message and sent it to her inbox. She was almost scared to click on it, but had to know what he said.

As soon as she clicked on the link, a black screen came up as the video quickly buffered. Then his smiling face came on her screen, and he was holding his guitar.

"Hey, Baby Girl," he started, "I know you said you wouldn't be around tonight, but I'm missing you and couldn't get this song out of my head. I figured you could listen to it when you got back," he winked at her and got his guitar ready, "See if you remember this classic…"

Tori's heart dropped into her stomach when he began strumming a familiar tune…

"I don't wear designer clothes, I don't go to the finest schools, but I know…I ain't no fool baby…"

Tears came to her eyes as she witnessed the pure sincerity in his eyes and heard the same in his voice….

"I don't know what you been used to. Never been with a girl like you-ooo, but I can give you a love that is true to…your heart, not material things!"

As he began going into the chorus, Tori just couldn't take watching it anymore and quickly snapped her laptop closed. Angrily, she threw the towel on the floor and sat down heavily on her bed as she put her face in her hands and cried.

What am I doing…! I promised him that nothing would happen…I cheated on my best friend tonight…

When she heard a knock at the door, she jumped. She had become so lost in her thoughts that she momentarily forgot that Beck was coming back over. She got up quickly, needing to tell him that he couldn't come in and that he was just going to have to go to bed. She should have thought it through a bit more, however, and only told him this through the door, for it was pretty obvious to Beck that she had been crying.

"Beck, you ha—."

"Tori, what happened?" He asked instantly. His entrance didn't go as he had planned, for he only thought about taking her in her arms again when he came back. But now he was too worried to do that.

Tori shook her head and irritably wiped at her face before crossing her arms, "We just…we can't do this, Beck! We both knew better than to even give ourselves the opportunity to go as far as we did, but we need to stop…now."

Beck's heart and stomach clenched at her words, and he needed to know what happened to make her say all that, "Tori, talk to me. What happened between twenty minutes ago and now?"

Another tear slipped down her cheek but she brushed that one away, too, "It just really hit me how wrong this actually is," Beck looked like he wanted to continue asking questions, but she quickly interrupted, "Look, we're both dating other people. And the worst part about it is that we're all friends! And even if you don't feel that guilty about going behind Jade's back because of how she's been acting…that doesn't mean I don't feel guilty about going behind Andre's back. He's never done anything wrong to make me do this to him," she stopped to catch her breath and ran her hand through her hair in frustration, "And he's your best friend, Beck! I know for a fact that he would never kiss your girlfriend behind your back."

Ouch.

Though…she had a point. Many points, actually. And they were all so damn true that he had nothing to counteract any of it. He slumped against the door, his head slamming back against it as he looked up at the ceiling. How was it that he could feel so alive one minute and the next feel like he was buried six feet under?

The silence was suddenly deafening and Tori felt terrible about practically shouting all that at him. She was just as much to blame with everything that happened between them, so she shouldn't be trying to push it all on him, "Look…Beck, I'm sorry. I'm just so…confused, you know? I didn't mean to go off like that…"

"Don't be sorry," Beck said, very emotionless, his eyes still facing up, "You're right. We shouldn't have done anything."

And even though that was the response she knew she should have been looking for, her breath began to quicken with anxiety and agony. It was utterly terrible for her to feel this way, but…she was really hoping that he would argue with her. Come up with some reason of why they should continue what they started. But no…no, he was just giving up…he wasn't going to fight for her…

"But we did," he suddenly talked again, causing her to snap out of her thoughts and see him staring at her, "We did do something, and we can't just ignore it like it never happened. That's what we tried to do when we almost kissed two years ago, and look where that got us. I ended up with my ex just to try to forget about you and you hooked up with a guy to try to get over me." He pushed himself off the door and stepped toward her, and she looked down. She should have been backing away from him…but her feet wouldn't move. She watched his feet as he got closer.

"Tori…can you honestly look me in my eyes and tell me you don't want to be with me?"

She snapped her head up and looked him dead in his eyes, "I don't want to be with you."

But words are only words. Actions…now those are the things you gotta pay attention to. She uncrossed her arms and flew into his, gripping onto the back of his shirt like she was expecting him to disappear at any moment.

"I don't want to be with you!" She yelled a little louder, but her mouth was against his chest and it came out mumbled. She tightened her grip even more, feeling him do the same, "I don't want to be with you!"

Her voice finally cracked and Beck felt warmth on his shirt as she squeezed a few tears from her eyes. He ran a hand through her hair, knowing that she had to let out all of her frustration now before it really got the best of her. Quite truthfully, he wished he could cry along with her. But crying wasn't his thing, no matter how depressing things got.

He led her over to her bed, sitting down softly with her, but she still refused to show her face. Beck spotted her laptop and wondered if Andre happened to call her when she walked in. Is that what started this?

Her shoulders stopped shaking and she took in a long inhale, letting it out when she mumbled against him, "Sorry…I don't mean to be such a drama queen…"

"Don't be sorry," he told her again, glad when she finally lifted her head up and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, "But can you tell me what happened now?"

Tori sighed, "I just happened to see that Andre sent me a video message and…he was singing me one of the first songs we ever performed together…and it started to make me feel terrible."

"Ah…" Beck nodded, unwrapping his arm from around her, "So…" He desperately tried to search for something to say. But he had to admit to himself that he was terrified of asking the wrong thing and Tori telling him he had to leave, "I'm sorry, Tor…I'm not really sure what to say right now."

She began picking at her pajamas, her hands always needing something to do when she was in a difficult situation, "I don't think I can break up with him, Beck…"

And there she was…telling him stuff he didn't want to hear even without him coaxing her, "Why? I mean, you told me that he never helped you—."

"But that's not the whole picture," she cut him off, pushing her hair behind her ear, "I mean…he kinda helped me out. As long as you weren't around to remind me…but when you asked me if dating Andre made me get over you, I said no, because…well, he never fully did. But you never asked if I helped Andre get over Jade…"

Beck nodded slowly, knowing what the answer was before she even said it…

"And that answer is a definite yes. I can tell he loves me…that he wants to be with me and no one else. I can tell from the songs he writes, from the look in his eyes…and even from him just hanging around. Us dating started off sounding like a crazy idea to him, but it didn't take him long to look at me as his girlfriend."

"Yeah, but…" Beck raised his hands before dropping them back to his knees, "Don't you think it's a little unfair to him if you don't have the same feelings for him?"

Using as gentle a tone as possible, Tori glanced over at him, "You're not one to talk, Beck."

Beck groaned and stood up, sitting causing too much exasperation to build, "I see what you're saying, but I plan on breaking up with Jade. But…I need to know what your plans are."

"I already told you, I don't think I can…"

"And why not, Tor!" He stood in front of her before dropping to his knees, "Why can't we just make this easy and—."

"Because it's not easy, Beck!" she raised her voice, looking slightly ashamed at him, "And how can you even think it could be that easy? We'll both be hurting him if I do that. And…I can't even imagine telling him that we kissed, let alone…"

"Let alone what, Tori?" he instigated, grabbing tightly onto her hands, "Let alone telling him how you actually feel? You're only leading him on by doing that!"

"We've been together for two years and I never once felt like I was leading him on!" Tori countered, "I mean, how do I know that you aren't just leading me on?"

Beck looked shocked that she would even ask such a thing. When did he ever give her that impression? Did it seem like he was just trying to use her? But for what reason would he have for doing that anyway?

He grabbed his chin between his forefinger and thumb and made her look at him, "Tori, I would never lead you on. I liked you since the day you spilled coffee on my shirt. I always remembered how you tasted that day during your first Alphabet Improv. I wanted to help you when you came to me saying you were scared of doing that stunt. And I wanted my Tori back when you went all crazy before the music awards. Tori…I'm not leading you on in any way. You're the one I want to be with."

Tears were forming in her eyes again. She bit her bottom lip and looked away from him, "That's a pretty big confession considering we're not even dating…"

"Stop being difficult!" He yelled, leaning in closer to her and rested their foreheads together. He rubbed the back of his fingers down her cheek, "Tori, just…how about we just stay here?"

The question came out of left field and it actually got Tori to laugh gently, "So we're just gonna hide out in Japan the rest of our lives?

He smiled when he finally got her to laugh, "Sure, why not? We'll figure this place out eventually," they both chuckled softly, but then Tori rubbed her forehead softly against his and it got a bit somber again, "But seriously…how about we just stay here?"

Tori heard the emphasis he placed on his last two words, but looked confused, "I'm not really sure what you mean."

Beck sighed as he tried to think of the right words to describe what he meant in those two words, "We'll just, you know…stay where we're at. For now. Or whatever. I don't want to force you to make a decision, so we're just…not move. Until it's time to go back."

As Tori could tell, Beck was having a hard time unfolding what he was trying to get at. She tried to offer some help while trying to understand at the same time, "You mean like…hanging in a moment? Like…what happens here stays here?"

"Exac…well, pretty much, yeah. That way we don't have to worry about…stuff…and things," he grinned at his words.

She did as well, "Stuff and things, huh? Sounds pretty deep…"

He laughed, "It's actually a lot deeper than it sounds. I just don't think that…in the next two weeks of being next to you all the time…that I can just keep my hands off you without making things awkward between us."

Tori breathed in deeply and closed her eyes to try to figure things out mentally since they seemed to be facing a lack of real words for the situation. So he's saying that, basically, he wants to have an affair. We wouldn't tell anyone, and act like no one else even exists. We'll be in a continuous time loop these next few weeks…not going back to where we came from, but not going further, either. Does that seem…right? Normal? Sane? No, no, and no…

While her eyes were closed, she didn't notice that Beck had leaned closer to her until she felt his lips on hers. And again, his body, his breath, his touch, his lips…him…he was too intoxicating to deny.

She tangled her fingers through his hair and kissed him back, hating how much she loved him and the predicament they put themselves in. But he was right…there was no way the two of them could have made it the rest of the time abroad without kissing each other. If you do it once, you do it twice, you do it forever…

But whether their two weeks turned into forever, or their forever turned into two weeks, they were still very uncertain.

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

I am SO sorry that the wrong chapter uploaded! I guess that's what I get for staying up so late to post...

So again, I wanted to thank you all…this time for helping me reach over *200* reviews! Wow guys, you truly amaze me. And as you can see, we are now at the heart of the story. But don't worry! It's not gonna be as easy as it seems. They still gotta get through the rest of their time in Japan, and then head back to CA to meet up with everyone again. This story is far from over and I don't know about you guys, but I'm happy about that. I love writing this.