Final Project

XXIII.

"I can't do it. I just…can't tell him."

"Well how you gonna do it then? By showing him?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, I don't know…maybe he'll just show up at your house one day and see us making out."

Tori looked appalled by Beck's words, "How can you even say that?!"

Beck held his arms out to the side, his body language beginning to show how upset he was getting, "Well how can you say you can't tell him? He has a right to know!"

Tori put her hands on her hips, "You make it sound like I'm pregnant with his baby or something and trying to hide it from him."

Beck dropped his hands to his sides and mumbled as he turned away, "We both know that can't be true…"

Tori stomped her foot like she was throwing a tantrum, "Beck, you are not helping!"

"What do you mean I'm not helping?! I'm telling you that you need to tell him!"

"It's not that simple!"

"I know it's not, but you're not helping make it any simpler by keeping it from him!" Beck yelled back, feeling like complete shit inside for arguing with Tori. But in all reality, he had enough with her indecisiveness. He couldn't take all the lying and sneaking around anymore…he never really could. It was bad enough he was cheating on his girlfriend with his best friend's girl, but keeping it from them? It was definitely turning into a tough job.

Tori raked her hands in her hair and growled as she paced for a few seconds, "I don't understand how you can be so…so…" she stopped and looked him right in the eye as she spat out: "insensitive!"

Beck shot his head back like she just slapped him right across the face and called him the worst word in the book, "Insensitive?! I've been anything but! You're the one that's being difficult!"

Now Tori shot her head back like she slapped her, "Difficult?! I'm not the one being difficult, this whole situation is difficult!"

"Don't you think I know that, Tori? That's why I came here, so we can try to talk this out," Beck said as calmly as he could, not wanting the situation to get even more out of hand, "Do you want me to be with you when you tell him?"

Tori looked mortified, "No! Don't you think that would be like a double punch in the face?"

He sighed, "Then how are you gonna do it?"

Tori closed her eyes and let her head fall back, her eyes only opening once she was staring at the ceiling, "Maybe I just won't."

"What are you talking about?"

She looked back at him, "Maybe I just won't tell him because there'll be no need to, you and I will just end it and—."

"Damn it, Tori, STOP!" Beck screamed, not even caring how loud or pissed off he sounded. Because he was that pissed off, "Didn't we already try that? And remember how you came knocking on my door? I just don't understand how you want me more and yet it's somehow so much easier for you to end things with me!"

Tori didn't say anything, just stared at him blankly.

So Beck continued, "I mean, I know the phrase 'you only hurt the ones you love' is popular and all, but really? Why you gotta be like this? Why is it so much easier for you to look me in the eyes and tell me it's over? That's only adding an extra lie on top of all the other ones!"

Tori stepped toward him, fire in her eyes as the passionate conversation grabbed hold of her heart, "Because you didn't come first!"

Beck stepped forward also, meeting her look and challenge, "Oh, I came first…and you know it! Things just got a little messed up along the way."

"SO messed up! God…how in the world did we get ourselves here?"

He grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her closer to him, "Because we were meant to be here."

She had to force herself not to smile. She went in to punch him on the shoulder, but by folding her arms, it only allowed him to bring her closer to him so their bodies touched. She shook her head, "Don't say romantic lines."

"Why? It's true," he said, and when she sighed, he grabbed the back of her head and pulled it toward his chest, laying his chin on top of her head, "Tori, I know you want to be with me as much as I want to be with you. And no matter how much it's going to hurt Andre, you need to tell him so that we can be happy…freely."

Moaning into his chest, she continued to hide her face, "I know…I know…"

They stood like that for some time, both of them not even wondering how they got into the argument in the first place…or how they ended it. Geez, even their fights as a couple flowed like a steady stream. It was almost way too good to be true.

Finally, Beck asked, "You still wanna go to that play tonight?"

"Meh…I don't care," came her response but it sounded to him like that was a no.

"We don't have to. We can just stay in…" he started swaying them, his head coming back a bit to place a kiss on her forehead, "do some of that homework we keep putting off…" he kissed the side of her eye, "maybe finally talk about all this before it drives us insane…" he kissed her cheek, massaging his lips on her skin, "possibly relieve some of this stress…"

Tori giggled softly and allowed him to kiss her lips softly, "Get your mind out of the gutter."

"Gutter?" He smiled that famous Beck smile, "Nah, my minds up a bit higher than that…like in an airplane."

She rolled her eyes playfully, "An airplane that can't take off."

"Oh no…it took off all right," they grinned at each other before kissing, feeling completely carefree for a moment in time.

But then Tori's laptop told her that she had an incoming call. They broke apart from each other and looked at her screen.

Call from: Jade

Tori sighed, "Oh man…maybe I should just shut off my—."

"I'll get it," Beck said decidedly before letting go of Tori and taking steps toward the laptop.

Tori's eyes widened, "Beck, you can't! It's not even your computer and…shit…" before she could say anymore, Beck clicked "accept." And Jade came up in the screen to see Beck near the front and Tori standing a few feet back.

The cheerless girl raised an eyebrow as she asked slowly, "Beck….? What are you doing answering Tori's computer…and why is she in your room…?

Beck stared right at her, "I'm in her room. And I answered because I heard you've been looking for me."

Jade instantly snapped out of her confusion, "Damn right, I have! You haven't tried contacting me in a week! And Vega just now talked to Andre! What the hell is going on?!"

Beck sighed and turned around to face Tori. He gave her a look that said I'm gonna tell her. And Tori looked frightened…she shook her head quickly, but she didn't say or do anything to stop him. Frankly, she kind of wanted him to tell her…that way it would be out in the open. She'll get to see how he breaks the news…how Jade reacts…what'll happen to them afterward…

Beck saw the uncertainty in her eyes, but could also tell that she wanted him to go through with it.

"Beck! Stop looking away and tell me what the hell has been—."

"Tori and I have been seeing each other."

And thus, the truth came out. Tori literally felt her heart stop as she waited for Jade to crawl through the screen and slash her throat with her favorite pair of scissors. Beck held his breath, almost surprised at how fast the words slipped from his mouth. And Jade…Jade just stared.

"Why did you lie to me?" Jade asked calmly…almost too calmly.

"I just told you the truth," Beck answered.

"No. Before. Before you left for Japan you said, and I quote, "Jade, nothing to going to happen between Tori and I. I've got you and she got Andre." So why'd you lie?" The fact that Jade was not flipping out really had Tori worried. Was this the calm before the storm?

"It…it sounds to me like you knew about this," Beck responded, purposely avoiding the question.

Jade continued to stare blankly. Her eyes then turned to Tori, "Get out."

Tori seemed shocked that she spoke to her, "Wh-what?"

"Get. Out."

"But…this is my room and—."

"And that's my boyfriend, now GET OUT!" Jade suddenly snapped, her true emotions bursting forth as she barked the demand at Tori. And without another thought, Tori turned on her heels and exited her room. And it wasn't just that Jade terrified her, but being in the position she was in, she felt she had no choice but to do as Jade wished. In all fairness, Beck was still her boyfriend and she needed to talk to him alone.

Tori slumped against the wall beside her door before sliding all the way down to the floor. She kept her knees up to her chest, unable to fully grasp what was going on this very second.

Beck told Jade…which means I need to tell Andre now…especially before Jade does. He doesn't need to find out from her…

She wished she could get on Beck's laptop and call Andre back. But he had it in her room with him. And she was not about to go back in there and ask for it.

"Care to elaborate?" Jade asked, venom in her voice.

Beck grabbed the laptop off of the bed and set it on the desk so he could sit in the chair.

"Don't sit on her things!" Jade yelled, revolted that he would even do that in front of her.

Ignoring her last command, Beck sighed and prepared to answer her question, "Okay, first off…I want you to know that this was not premeditated. I didn't leave California with the thought that I was going to fall in love with Tori again and I—."

Jade held up her hand, "Stop." Beck listened to her this time. He shut his mouth as he patiently waited for her to get a handle on the situation. She stuck her tongue against the inside of her bottom lip and slowly slid it over to her cheek. She continued to hold her hand up, but she wasn't granting him eye contact. And Beck was with Jade long enough to know that this is what she did when she tried to keep herself from crying.

His eyes softened as he watched her struggle to keep control, "Look, Jade…I'm really sorry about all this. But…two years ago…when we first got back together…you knew I still had feelings for Tori and—."

"Stop…!" Jade interrupted again, her voice cracking this time. Her fingers covered her mouth when she heard the weakness in her tone. She still refused to look straight at him, "stop…saying her name…"

Beck licked his lips as he tried to continue, trying to be more conscious of when he used Tori's name for Jade's sake, "You knew, Jade. And yet you wanted me back…and Tor—," he cut himself off, "and because she didn't want to date me…I…I felt like I had no choice…" He cringed when he made it sound like she wasn't even second best; not even an option at all.

Jade only shook her head. She didn't want Beck to see her so upset over this…but she was! What person wouldn't be!? But she could only think back to all the times she was nice to or depended on Tori…

Like the first time she and Beck broke up…she went to Tori's house to ask her to get Beck back for her. Why she did that…she thought she would never know, but the more she thought about it, the clearer it became: it was because she knew that Beck liked Tori, even at that time. So she figured that if Beck was going to listen to anybody, it would be her. She put her complete hope in Beck's feelings for Tori so that she could get him back. How messed up was that?

Or like the time that she wanted to put on a play but didn't have the money to do it. Tori was the only one that stepped up and offered to help. And Jade took advantage of that…all because she wanted her father to see her stupid play. She would have never accepted Tori's help otherwise.

Or like the time she was about to perform at the Platinum Music Awards…Tori refused to kiss Beck because he was Jade's ex-boyfriend. How completely, utterly absurd. And she felt bad for Beck…she really did, because she could obviously see how disappointed he was. She knew that if she didn't give Tori her spot back at the music awards, Beck would never forgive her for it. And she wanted Beck's approval…not Tori's friendship. And it must have worked somewhat…he took her back a week later…

"Jade?"

She came back to the current moment when she heard him say her name. He looked concerned.

"Don't look at me like that," she said steadily but then quickly changed her tone, "Don't you dare look at me like that! After all those promises you made me, after all this time sneaking behind my back…don't you dare look at me like you feel sorry for me! You don't give a shit and you never did! Not since that tramp came into our lives!"

"Don't call her that," Beck said softly, yet firmly.

Jade gave a sarcastic laugh, "Don't call her that he says…well what do you want me to call her?!" She suddenly put on the fake movie-star-from-the-1940s accent she used to mock Tori, "Oh, Tori Vega's such a sweetheart! I don't know what I'd ever do without her!"

"Look, Tori's not the only one at fault here."

"Well, no shit, Sherlock! What do you think I just said? Or are you not listening to me? Maybe you stopped listening to me three years ago when—."

"Jade, I've always listened to you, and that was probably worse than not listening! Ever since Tori came to Hollywood Arts, all you've been doing is complaining and getting jealous all the time."

Jade smirked evilly and waved her hand magically, "Obviously my actions have been justified."

Beck sighed, "It's what pushed me away from you though."

"Oh, so now you're saying I pushed you to cheat on me?" Jade asked disgracefully.

Beck closed his eyes slowly, almost hating how cliché his next line was going to be, "I didn't mean for it to happen like this…"

"Whatever, Beck," Jade spat, her nose stinging as she felt warm tears begin to form behind her eyes. Damn emotions. "No one cheats by chance…it's always by choice."

Beck looked one-hundred percent sure of himself when he told her: "It is my choice…I want to be with Tori."

Jade glared at him, but then her expression turned enormously forlorn, but then she gave a mocking smile that held no goodness to it, "You know it'll never work out. You think you two are a match made in heaven? Well you're not. It's not angels that cause people to cheat," She leaned closer to the screen to sneer at him, "It's the devil."

Of course, Beck was pretty used to her dark ways, but hearing her outright curse his and Tori's relationship shocked him, "Jade, we're trying to make things right by—."

Her laughter cut him off, "Trying to make things right…it'll never be right, Beck! Not with her! You belong with me and you know it!"

Beck blinked a few times at her words, "You sound delirious."

She ignored his remark, "We only have a few more days left of this stupid final project shit. Then we'll all be back in California and we can leave everything behind us." She picked up a pair of scissors and a rag that were sitting beside her laptop, beginning to clean the blades like she just got done using it for something dirty.

He kept his eyes on her scissors, wondering what was going through her mind, "I'm staying with Tori."

But Jade didn't respond, just kept cleaning her scissors. She spent a few more moments doing so before calmly placing them back down, gentle, almost as if they were made of glass. Then she looked at him again, and he became stunned when he saw a lone tear run down her cheek, black from her mascara.

"You think you can hurt me?" Jade asked, sitting up straight to try to remain strong and not show Beck her weakness…not now…not now… "You can't. Because you already know how much shit has gone on in my life. But I can hurt you, Beck….I know things about you that'll make Tori hate you."

Beck felt terrible…not just because she was crying and trying with all her might to not do so, but she was bluffing…very obviously bluffing. She wanted to believe that he was hiding something that could truly change the situation the around. But he wasn't…he was as transparent as his locker suggested. Especially now that he told Jade about him and Tori.

Another black streak stained her cheek, "You think I'll just let this end without a fight? You mean too much to me to not fight for!" Jade yelled as if this were an insult. But the only thing she had on her side was making him feel like shit. And it was kind of working.

Beck took in a sharp inhale, hating to see her like this. Granted, she put him through a lot and was often very unpleasant, but that didn't mean he hated her…they spent the majority of their high school years together and that would always mean something to him.

"I don't want to lead you on anymore, Jade. It's over."

Jade folded in her lips in to stop an exhale that may have resulted in a sob. Though she basically knew that something was going on between him and Tori, hearing it straight from his mouth was on a complete different level. She was really hoping that if he were to tell her, that he would wait until they were all back in California, so she would be face to face with him, to maybe be able to convince him out of his decision…

But there's only so much you can do over video chat when you're in two different countries. She could have told him she loved him…but that would be just so cliché that it sickened her. So she said the only other thing that came to mind, which was, sadly, just as cliché: "This is not over."

But then she ended the chat because she was only a mere second away from breaking down.

Beck sighed when she wasn't on the screen anymore, pushing the chair away from the computer. He stared at the ground for a long minute, waiting to see if he felt regret at all. But he didn't. Maybe sadness that he just ended a long term relationship…bad that he hurt Jade like that…but an overall relief that he did what was long overdue.

He stood up and went to the door, opening it to see Tori sitting on the floor outside. She lifted her head from her knees when she heard him, looking up into his face. He kneeled down next to her, and she could see the grief in his eyes. Still, he smiled and reached out to push her hair behind her ear, "It's over."

()()()()()

Hello! I just wanted to let you guys know that I'll be going out of town again for the next week! I'm bringing my computer and I'm gonna try to find time to write, but I'm not sure if I'm gonna have internet access wherever I go. I have to leave early in the morning, too, so I should probably not be up this late writing this. But I wanted to leave you guys with another chapter and let you know there might be a small delay in updates for a minute. But anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter...it took me by surprise! I wasn't planning on having them come out until they got back to CA. Oh well...