Warning: Contains some sexual content. You have been warned.

Final Project

XXXVIII.

Tori was certain she would never forget the looks on people's faces when Andre's and Cat's names were called to receive their diplomas, yet there was no such person to take that stupid piece of paper that was then simply put to the side. She was also certain she would never forget the feeling of death breathing down her neck as she stood in line to receive her stupid piece of paper. She wished Jade's last name didn't come right after hers in the line. She wished Cat was there so she would at least have the bubbly redhead in front of her. Robbie was slightly too far ahead of her in line to consider (though it seemed like Robbie was done with her as well), and Beck was even further ahead.

She thought about these feelings as she sat on the far end of her couch. In the comfort of her own home. With Beck sitting at the other end, staring blankly as the TV that featured a weird show about celebrities breathing underwater.

They were both still wearing their graduation clothes, but neither felt very glamorous. Tori had kicked off her heels and had her knees pulled up to her chest. She was busy taking off the golden nail polish that decorated her toe nails. The color just didn't feel right.

The acetone smell filled the entire room and it was giving Beck a headache. He had his elbow resting on the armrest and his forehead cradled in his hand. Tori had the show turned down too low to hear anything, though it didn't seem like there was anything worth listening to.

They were both upset by the way graduation turned out, but haven't said a word to each other about it. What was there to say, really? Should they talk about how they ruined every friendship they had? How they made their friends stop being friends?

Nothing seemed like a healthy conversation starter.

Tori blew gently down on her toes to dry the polish remover, her mind trying to settle on a color that would work better. Blue? Red? Black?

Too Jade…

"I want to go back to my place…"

This was the only thing Tori said to him since they left the "party." He didn't respond, nor did he ask if he could join her; he just did. Because the thought of going back to his empty RV without her seemed like too much for him to handle.

Thankfully, Tori didn't care about this arrangement, and Beck even speculated that she simply assumed he would stay with her.

Maybe they just needed the bigger space. After all, they had just as much privacy at Tori's house as they did at his place. Trina was still off at college, her dad was working, and her mom was…well, not home.

Was this bigger space why they felt so distant? Ever since they got together, they've either been in a hotel room or Back's RV. Was there more to their relationship than just one room?

"I'm gonna make hot cocoa," Tori said suddenly, breaking the silence in such a loud way that Beck almost jumped, "You want some?"

Beck glanced over at her without removing his hand from his forehead, "Uh…no thanks, it's too hot in here for that." He watched as she gave a single nod before stretching her long, bare legs down to the floor and taking quiet steps into the kitchen.

"I'll take some lemonade if you have any, though," he chimed, in case she felt like she needed to get him something…anything.

"I can make some for you," Tori replied generously, reaching in the cabinet to grab the items she needed.

Beck called his thanks before turning back to the TV. Tori got out the canister of sugar and tub of pink lemonade. She then stood on her bare tiptoes to reach for a hot cocoa pack. She ended up grabbing two that were stuck together by a dotted line. She couldn't believe these two packs were still in the cupboard. It was the exact same packets her and Andre decided, before they left to their respective countries, to save for when they got back.

"Why can't we just drink them now? I'm sure my mom will buy more for when we get back," Tori asked as she stared longingly at the hot cocoa.

Andre shook his head, "What if she forgets 'cause we're not here bugging her to get more? Then we came back all excited for a nice cup of hot cocoa for nothing."

"We could always go out for some…?" Tori suggested, truly craving a cup right then.

Andre smiled sympathetically and wrapped an arm around her, "It just wouldn't be the same, Baby Girl. It just wouldn't be the same…"

Tori got snapped from her memories when she heard the doorknob on the front door jiggle. She looked up from the packets of cocoa and saw Beck's eyes turn towards the door as well. Tori couldn't quite place her thoughts from the moment she heard her mother giggling flirtatiously to the moment she saw Holly stumbling in with Gary, her father's coworker, directly behind her.

The two adults both wore huge smiles, but as soon as Holly's eyes fell on Beck, her lips turned upside down.

"Beck…?"

Beck gave a short, half wave, "Hello…"

Holly's eyes then scanned the room quickly before falling on Tori's. Tori's facial expression didn't give away anything of what she might have been thinking, but Holly could feel Gary shifting uncomfortably from behind her and hear him quietly clearing his throat.

"Tori, I…I wasn't expecting to see you. How was graduation?" Holly asked, grasping onto her purse strap so tight that her knuckled paled. She walked further into her house, glad that Gary stayed in the doorway.

"It was fine," Tori said shortly with tight lips. Her hands were squeezing the packets of cocoa, "Didn't you see Beck's car parked on the street?"

"I…I didn't even…" Holly didn't finish, but it was obvious that the reason she didn't notice Beck's car was because her attention was focused elsewhere.

Tori broke her stare with her mother. She couldn't bear to look into her guilty eyes any longer. She instead focused on the brown packs held in her manicured fingers, "You forgot to buy more hot cocoa. These are our last two packs."

Holly narrowed her eyebrows, confused about her daughter's words, "I'll…umm…add that to my grocery list."

Beck stood up from the couch, wondering if he should get Tori out of this awkward situation or if she should stay and talk to her mother about this. He looked over to the older man who was clearly embarrassed. And Beck felt like shit when he felt nothing but empathy for the man. After all, it wasn't that long ago when Beck was the other man caught with a taken girl.

"Tori and I were about to go out and have a late night dinner," Beck announced, glancing back toward Tori to see if she would follow along.

Tori's mind was still racing. Or was it blank? What was going on anyway? Was she seeing something different than what it was? Was it "not what it looks like"? Her mother didn't give her that line, but she wasn't sure if it was because it would make Holly look too guilty, or if it was because it was exactly what it looked like.

Why didn't anything make sense anymore?

"Tori?" Beck called, hoping she would do something besides stand there.

"Right," Tori said hastily, throwing the packs on the counter, "Dinner. Gotta go."

Holly's shoulders slumped as Tori hurried her way around the counter. The older woman threw her arms in the air before letting them fall loudly against her sides, "Tori, maybe you should stay so we can talk about—."

Tori held her hand up as she reached down to grab her shoes, "Mm-mm, no, I don't think so, Mom. I think maybe you and him"—she couldn't bring herself to say Gary's name—"should talk, but not us."

Beck and Tori headed for the door with Gary, despite his usual suave, graceful self, stumbling to get out of their way to avoid any collisions (like that usually happened when someone was leaving).

Tori left ahead of Beck, but he didn't bother to shut the door behind him. Still, even before they got all the way down the walkway, he heard the door close.

Tori was walking so briskly in front of him that Beck had to do a few jogs just to try to keep up.

"Tori, are you—."

"FUCK!" She yelled at the top of her lungs before throwing her heels straight at Gary's car.

Now it's very hard to scare Beck. This was proven around the time his gang met up with the iCarly crew at Kenan Thompson's house. But this time…his body and heart actually jumped and his hand reached over his heart to feel the hard, frightened thumping of his usually strong organ.

His eyes widened when he saw Tori actually pick up a rock, not really a large one, but big enough to do damage, and pull back her arm to aim it at Gary's window.

"Tori! Tori, stop!" Beck grabbed her wrist to stop her from doing something she'd regret.

"Let me go!" Tori screamed with such conviction and power that she was able to pull herself way quite easily from his grasp. Still, she didn't throw the rock. She instead squeezed the solid object tightly in her fist, feeling like it was the only solid thing in her life and she'd be damned if she let it go.

Beck didn't know what to say, nor do. He'd never seen Tori lose it like this, not even when Ponnie was around.

Tori spun away from Beck, feeling somewhat ashamed of how she was acting, but too angry to stop herself, "So this is what karma is?! This?! All of this?!"

Her voice screeched from the pressure she was putting on it to keep herself from crying.

Wanting more than anything to wrap his arms around her to make her pain go away, Beck instead shoved his hands in his pockets to allow her to vent some of her pent up resentment.

Tori swallowed hard, her breathing became uneven, then she began speaking as though she had to verify everything in her life was real, "First, I can't get the guy of my dreams, then when I do, I lose my four best friends, destroy the trust of an awesome guy, and now my parents could get a divorce?!" Tori threw the rock at the ground, which caused Beck to jump again because it honestly looked like it was going to collide right with Tori's left foot.

Tori spun back around to face him, "This explains everything! Like mother, like daughter, right? I'm a cheater, just like her!"

"Tori…" Beck said gently, not wishing to rile her up anymore, "Don't say that…"

"But it's true!" She crossed her arms to hug herself like she was cold, despite the muggy night air, "You shouldn't be with me Beck…I'm only going to end up cheating on you, too."

Sighing silently, Beck took his hands from his pockets and took a step towards her, "Don't say that, Sweetie, you—."

Tori shook her head and hugged herself tighter, taking a step away from him, "It's true. We should have never started anything."

"Tori!" Beck didn't care if she didn't want to be touched. Her grasped her shoulders and shook her none-so-gently, "I know it seems like everything is going to hell, but we—."

"'We still have each other.' Right? Is that what you're going to say? Because who knows how long—," Beck shut her up by kissing her. Hard. Their faces smashed together and he gripped onto the back of her head for dear life. When he pulled away, he kept their forehead together, their heavy breathing mixing collectively.

"We're going to New York together soon, right? We'll start over. A new, fresh start," He realized he sounded more frantic than usual, almost as frantic as Tori, and he wondered if they were both losing their minds, "We'll get our own place, make new friends…start a family…"

Tori's eyes closed in bliss at this last part, a soft moan actually escaping her lips, "That sounds…"

Knowing Tori would never be able to find a human word to describe how that sounded to both of them, Beck just nodded, "We can do this…"

Tori swallowed and licked her overly dry lips, "Can we leave tomorrow? Just…get outta here?"

Her eyes slowly opened and searched his, both of their orbs dancing around the others. Beck wanted nothing more than to proclaim an excited YES at this suggestion, but that small voice in the back of his mind kept telling him that maybe he should wait for that acceptance letter from the college first. But who knows how long that could take? If Tori wanted to leave tomorrow, he couldn't keep putting it off.

"Yes…" Beck heard himself saying, "We can leave tomorrow…"

Tori finally unfolded her arms from between them and tangled her fingers in his hair, "You're the best."

Beck chuckled lowly and kissed her softly, "I know." They kissed again and Beck was just happy he was able to promise her something positive, "Now how about that dinner?"

"Something like that…" she said, but broke away from Beck before he could question what she meant. He watched her as she ran over and grabbed her heels from beside Gary's car. Beck took out his keys and clicked the button to unlock the doors.

He opened the driver's door and slipped into the seat, surprised when Tori hopped quickly into the passenger seat and slammed the door shut. Before he could process anything else, Tori was leaning across the seat and kissing him with a fierceness he wasn't quite used to seeing in her yet.

Tori threw her shoes in the backseat before climbing up to her knees to crawl closer to Beck. She had yet to break lip contact, but she was somehow managing the multitasking as she ended up in his lap.

Beck's hands landed on top of her bare thighs, just then remembering how short her dress was. Her own hands were placed on each side of his face, keeping him in place as she kissed and licked his lips.

His thumbs pressed into the inside of her thighs making her body jerk in response. Though her frame was tiny, the cramped space made her butt hit the horn. The loud beeeep echoed on the empty street, causing both of them to laugh at their incident.

"You think we should head out?" Beck asked despite staring lustfully up into her gorgeous chocolate eyes.

"Your windows are tinted," Tori said bluntly as her right foot reached down to beneath the seat. She found the bar she was looking for, pressing it up to make the seat slide as far back as it could go, "That's better."

Beck couldn't help but smirk, "Wow, that takes talent," he said before Tori pressed their lips together once again. They both groaned and Beck pressed his thumbs into her thighs again, massaging them closer and closer to her center.

She began to grind on top of him, breaking away enough to say, "I love you so much, Beck," before reach down between them to unbutton and unzip his trousers. It was a lot easier to do with him in a suit than if he was wearing jeans.

"Mm…" Beck reached for her hand with his right one, stopping her momentarily, "Tori, maybe we should—," he got cut off when she kissed him deeply, "—wait 'til we get back. I don't have any—," more kissing, "—protection…"

She brought her hand up, thus bringing his up, as well. She raised them up to eye level before smoothing her lips over the sensitive part of his wrist, right below his palm.

As far as Beck remembered, no one had ever kissed him there, but it was very surprising to realize how sensitive the area was. His mouth dropped open in a silent moan as he watched her kiss and suckle on his wrist.

This shouldn't be this tormenting…

When she finally took a small piece of skin between her teeth, it was all over. He pressed his thumb from his other hand right into core. His hand that had been holding onto hers lost its grip as her hand once again found its way to his pants.

The next few seconds were a rushed blur, for before either of them knew it, Tori was sinking down onto him, their gasps mingled together.

She began moving on him before he could regain any of his sense, and with the position he was in, he had very little say in the movement and speed that she was in control of.

"Oh, damn, Tori…" he groaned out, his hand closest to the door going from her hip to smashing against the cool window. About time Tori had her lips on the side of his neck, his hand was scrambling for the oh-shit-handle. Once he found that, he was able to do something like mock pull ups to get his hips to meet hers half way.

Beck was truly amazed at the transformation in Tori. She may still be that sweet girl that the whole world sees, but behind closed doors, she was something else. And he couldn't believe that he was the only one that ever got to see this side of her. The only one that ever will. He swore that.

He recognized her change in breathing, the kind of short, sporadic intakes she begins doing when she's close to an amazing orgasm. He rubbed his thumb in just the area he knew would send her flying, and sure enough, she rocked hard against him, pressing down onto him in a way that made him twitch continuously with excitement.

Hearing her moan like that in his ear caused his body to go into auto-mode. He began thrusting his hips intensely, and he was only a teeny bit aware that he should do something before he did anything that could potentially get her pregnant, and there was a part of him that knew he should be worried, but before he could think of anything, Tori was unlatching herself from him and then moving to a position that had her mouth in the place she was not two seconds before.

"Tori, what are you—!" She had never done this before, nor had he expected her to (not for awhile anyway), and the sheer surprise of it all made him lose it in a quick second.

The heat in the car had them both sweating, their wet hair matting to their faces. It was hard to breathe, and Beck was still trying to wrap his head around what had just transpired. Through half-lidded eyes, he watched her sit back in the passenger seat and wipe at the sides of her mouth with her thumb.

She grinned at him, "Let's go home and get cleaned up."

He swallowed roughly at the purity in her voice. How could someone who just did that sound so innocent? It was mind boggling. And very erotic.

About time they pulled up next to Beck's RV, Tori seemed ready to go again. There was just some sort of healing power when it came to making love to Beck, and she just wanted to make the power work, over and over and over and over.

"Race ya," she said playfully as she jumped out of the car and ran to his RV, barefoot, wrinkled dress, messy hair, and all. Beck grinned as he watched his gorgeous girlfriend run ahead of him. He didn't mind if she won…he was enjoying the view way too much.

She jumped up the steps and unlocked the door (he had made her a spare key earlier in the week). Once she was in the doorway, she turned around to see where he was. When she saw him still standing by his car, she smirked suggestively and did the come-hither finger gesture before disappearing inside.

Seeing her do that made his body come to life once again. He walked towards his RV, slowing down when he noticed an envelope sitting on his steps. His mom must have left it there.

Once he got close enough, he realized it was a letter from NYCDA. He had only sent in his application a few days ago…certainly he couldn't have gotten a response this quick? And though he had promised Tori they would leave tomorrow, seeing that letter there concerned him. No news was good news, right? So what was early news?

Sighing, he reached down for it and ripped it open. No use in delaying seeing what was in the envelope; it wasn't going to change from now to later.

Pulling out the folded piece of paper, he only noticed the schools name and address and his name and address on the first fold. But upon opening it further, when he read the opening line:

Dear Beck,

We regret to inform you

Beck didn't have to read anymore. No acceptance letter started out that way. Whatever the school's reasons were, it didn't change the circumstance that he was not accepted into Tori's college.

He flung the paper down to his side and raked his hand through his hair, scratching his scalp as he went.

Shit…now what am I going to do? Put off college for at least a year?

He knew that would be a horrible idea. Statistics show that if high school students don't go to college right away, they won't be going for quite a long time. In a year, he may have already found a good paying job that he isn't willing to leave to attend classes. Or if he didn't find a job, how would he pay for college then, anyway?

Did either of them even have a plan on how they intended to live comfortably in New York? New York is one of the most expensive places to live…would they manage? Because even if Tori had planned on living in one of the school's dorms, she certainly couldn't be thinking that way now that she planned on living with Beck. They would have to find an apartment.

"Beck?"

He turned around to see her standing in the doorway. She now had a concerned look in her soft eyes, "What's wrong?"

Sighing, he dropped his head. Great…have to give her more bad news…

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

I'm baaaa-aaaack! School started again, but I'm finding time when I can! So to start off this AN, I wanted to thank all my reviews, alerters, and favoriters for reviewing, alerting, and favoriting this story. Yay to all of you!

Okay...so I know I've been saying (for quite awhile now) that this story is getting close to ending. Well...that's still true. But with the way things are going, it doesn't look like it, does it? I know. And I suppose now is as good a time as any to let you guys know:

I hate happy endings.

Well, let me reword that. I hate endings. Like, endings that suggest that everything you just read is all that will ever happen in these characters' lives. As in, yay, they lived happily ever after (nothing exciting will ever happen to them again!)! I hate those kind of endings. I love realistic endings. Endings that show not just character development, but continuous character progression and strength. So things didn't turn out how they expected 40 chapters ago? What a shame. Because life is fair? HA! ...HAHAHA don't make me laugh (though I suppose I just did). Life is not a fairytale and people are not fairytale characters, and I don't intend to write a fairytale with fairytale characters.

Those of you who have stuck with me these last few years (and even the newcomers) know that I never settle for anything easy with plot and character outcomes.

This is not to say that you guys will not like the "ending" I have in store. Some of the very best stories left the last word as an open ending. And you know what? Those are the stories you remember most. Because your brain continuously thinks about all the what ifs. And I love stories that haunt my dreams and daily life.

With all this being said, I hope I didn't scare anyone away. Oh, and some of you still seem concerned that this could potentially turn into a pregnancy story. No, this is still not the case. They're not being as careful as they could be, but they're not being completely careless (which, I suppose, doesn't necessarily matter when it comes to pregnancy, but for the sake of this story, they're safe).

Hmm...anything else? Oh! So some of you were asking for Bori love moments again, so...here it is! I guess. I wonder if that's why I lost some reviewers the last few chapters? Because there was "no" Bori? Well...I never intended this story to be a fluff story. This is a story about so much more, as I'm sure many of you know, so I won't go too far into that.

Anyway, I'll try my best to get the next chapter out soon. Thanks once again to everyone!

~Enula