The morning - or the afternoon - after the party, the kiss and Jade's ultimate heartbreak, Tori woke up next to Cat on the couch in Keenan Thompson's house. She looked around for a second and took in her surroundings before her eyes widened and she sat up straight, something she regretted doing because of the throbbing ache in her head.
She glanced at Cat next to her, sleeping face down on the couch and sighed. She rubbed her head and got up slowly so as not to wake the redhead. Tori found her shoes after nearly ten minutes of searching and picked up her purse. She stumbled to the front door and pushed it open, hissing at the sunlight.
She groaned when she realized she's not the one who drove here. She pulled her phone out to call an Uber when a car pulled up. It was Beck. All of a sudden, the memories of the night before hit Tori like a freight train. The drinking, the dancing, the kiss. She swallowed and stayed rooted to where she was when Beck got out of his car.
"Tori?"
"Beck."
He stopped about six feet away from her and put his hands in his pockets. The silence was deafening.
"I- I know you didn't leave here last night so I just wanted to uh, come and see if you needed a ride."
Tori nodded quietly.
"Yeah, I was just about to Uber home actually."
"I can send you home," he cut in, looking at her.
She smiled awkwardly and walked towards his car. She could tell that he clearly wanted to talk about the night before but she just couldn't find it in her to say anything about it then. Her head was killing her.
The car was silent as Tori shut her eyes and let Beck drive.
"So-," Beck began before Tori interrupted him.
"Can we put it off right now? My head is killing me and I know you wanna talk about what happened but everything sounds so loud and I'll cry if you keep going," she pleaded.
Beck chuckled.
"I wasn't going to talk about what happened. I just wanted to let you know that we don't have to talk about it now. Take your time to feel better and cure your hangover okay? Just call me when you're up for it."
These words were exactly what Tori needed to hear at that moment when she felt so overwhelmed by everything. She sighed and leaned her head back, glancing at Beck driving next to her. She smiled to herself as she took in how the sun lit up the olive tan of his face and made his eyes sparklier than they usually were.
Once he'd dropped her off at home, she unlocked the door and crept in as quietly as she could to find her mother fast asleep on the couch. She hadn't let her parents know that she wasn't going to be home that same night and just knew that she would be in for the yelling of a lifetime if her mother woke up.
Tori tiptoed past her mother and had just placed one foot on the staircase when she heard her mother's voice.
Shit.
After the half hour of yelling she received, Tori stomped up the stairs, grumbling to herself. She took a shower and drank a glass of water and felt her headache go down by 20%. She sat on her bed and pulled her phone out of her purse. There were dozens of texts from Andre and Cat, some from Beck. But alas, nothing from Jade.
Sighing, Tori lay back down. She had gone to the party to let herself forget about Jade and what happened there but to no avail. She couldn't get the girl with the stupid blue eyes out of her head. It was sickening. On top of that, she had Beck problems of her own to deal with so she was feeling overwhelmed and strung out at the moment.
Putting her ego aside, Tori took a deep breath and texted Jade. Nothing too over the top. She hit send and tossed her phone aside, hugging her knees to her chest and waiting. The silence was deafening. After two minutes, Tori sighed as she realized that Jade wasn't going to text her back right away. Her shoulders slumped as she stood up to walk away when her phone vibrated.
Tori's eyes widened. She scrambled to pick up her phone and saw a notification from Jade and her heart leapt.
Jade: Leave me alone. Go make out with Beck.
Tori's smile dropped off her face. Her excitement was replaced with rage. Without thinking, she pocketed her phone and bounded downstairs, mumbling something to her mother as she picked up the car keys from the coffee table and headed out the front door.
Tori had waited for a a stupid text from Jade for four days and THAT was the first thing she sends? Tori wouldn't have it. She drove with unbridled anger to Jade's house, squeezing the steering wheel til her knuckles whitened. When she got to Jade's house, she slammed her fist on the horn and left it there until Jade emerged.
Upon seeing the dark-haired girl, Tori exited the car and walked over to her.
"Why are you-"
"I waited for you to text me back for four days and that is the first thing you say to me? I said I was sorry about our stupid accident but you're being such a bitch about it!"
Jade's eyes widened. She'd never heard Tori swear before.
"Excuse me?"
"You read all my texts, listened to every single one of my voicemails and yet I hear nothing back from you but when I do, all I get is that?"
"What else did you want me to say? I walk into the party and you're kissing Beck, what am I supposed to do?"
"What are you- Talk to me, Jade! That's what friends do, they talk!"
"I'm not your fucking friend, Tori Vega," and that was true, because what Jade wanted to be was so much more.
Jade made to walk away but Tori grabbed her by the wrist, her grip firm but not too hard. Jade stopped in her tracks and turned around to face Tori, her eyes questioning.
"What the hell do you want from me?"
"You don't get to say we're not friends. I know how I felt all those moments alone with you, Jade. I- I know all the connections we've made over the last few weeks. You're just shutting people out again because you think that if people see your ugly side they'll leave. I'm not going anywhere."
And Jade swore as she stared right into Tori's eyes, all she wanted to do was kiss her. But alas, the way in which Tori pressed down on the fact that their friendship was important, their friendship and nothing more, it gave Jade clarity. She walked a little closer to Tori, her eyes softening.
"You- you're right."
"Don't you- wait, what?," Tori answered, baffled.
"I do push people away when I fight with them. But no one I've ever fought with has kept coming back like this, now. And I'm sorry for not texting or calling."
Tori was in complete shock at the turn of events. Jade was on a rampage earlier, being dramatic and closed off. Now she was apologizing? Admitting to her mistakes? Tori could hardly believe it. She dropped Jade's wrist and took her hand instead and felt her own heart swell.
"I'm not going anywhere, Jade. You've grown too important to me over too short a time for me to just... walk away."
Jade smiled softly and squeezed Tori's hand.
"Just... give me some time, okay? I need a little space now. Sure, I was a little upset that you went to the party despite saying how sad you were, but I get it now. I'll see you in school, okay?"
Jade made to walk away once more but Tori didn't let go of her. For a split second, Jade turned around and Tori looked as if she was on the edge of her words, wondering if she should say whatever it was that she was thinking. Jade stopped and waited, hoping Tori would say the words she'd hoped to hear from the brunette's mouth ever since.
"Okay then. I'll see you in school."
Jade nodded and smiled slightly, her heart sinking. She walked into her house and watched Tori's car drive away, taking a piece of her with it.
_____________________________________________________
Tori headed home after she had spoke with Jade. Even though her heart felt considerably lighter, it also felt like it was sinking to the deepest pits of her chest. But what could she do? Jade seemed clear about their relationship after Tori had screamed the word friendship in her face for what felt like fifty times.
Tori sighed. She made a pit stop at a diner upon realizing how much the yelling had taken out of her. She ordered some food and waited, scrolling through all the texts she'd sent to Jade. She was lost in thought, her head resting on her fist at her booth when she heard a familiar voice.
"Tori?"
She turned around and who else was there but Beck. He was wearing a plaid shirt with his sleeves rolled up, a little sweaty. Tori assumed he was working on his car. She smiled and beckoned for him to sit. He manoeuvred himself into the booth beside her and ordered a milkshake.
"I thought you were going to be resting today."
"Yeah, I had to clear some stuff up with Jade."
He nodded silently and they sat there in the quiet for a few seconds before Tori turned to look at him.
"Do you wanna talk now?"
"Not if you don't want to."
She shrugged. What was the use of waiting at this point?
"Go ahead. Say what you want to say."
Beck's cheeks flushed a little and he cleared his throat.
"When you kissed me last night, I was in over my head. I was confused and - and asking myself what it all meant because I was a little drunk but as the time passed, I realized it wasn't so hard because it was you. It was you and that's all that mattered to me."
Tori could feel her heart flutter. It must have shown how touched she was on her face because Beck grinned back at her, reaching closer to put his hand on hers.
"I know it wasn't the most perfect timing but I think this is... right."
Tori looked up at him, the smile gradually leaving her face.
"What's right?"
"This. Us. We're right. I can feel it."
He moved closer to her, whispering, "What do we have to lose?"
It felt like so many things were against Tori at that point, so many factors that were telling her to say no. But Beck put a hand on her cheek and turned her face to look at him slowly, her chin between his thumb and forefinger, and all Tori could comprehend was the look of him, the feel of him, the taste-
And he was saying all the right things, all with that hopeful sparkle in his deep brown eyes. Maybe Tori was resenting Jade the slightest, maybe she was just so caught up in the moment or she was so tired of spending so long having her feelings toyed with that she began to smile.
"We have nothing to lose."
Beck smiled and moved closer, resting his forehead on hers.
"So... you said I looked pretty when you were drunk and that I would look even prettier when you were sober."
Tori grinned.
"I can't believe you remember that."
"Of course I remember. I'm never gonna forget the day Tori Vega called me pretty."
Tori reached forward and stroked his cheek.
"So, am I even prettier now?"
She chuckled.
"You know, maybe it was just the alcohol."
"You little-"
But Beck was cut off by Tori laughing because Beck was tickling her. Lucky for them, the whole diner was empty so they weren't getting any weird stares. Tori was trying her best to take charge of the situation by grabbing Beck's wrists but to no avail. When she finally got them, the pulled them down and laid his hands on her lap, panting.
They stared at each other, grinning and panting when Tori leaned in and kissed him. And it was a kiss like no other; Beck felt so gentle against her, his lips moving softly against hers with an undeniable tenderness. For a moment, Tori actually forgot about Jade. All she knew was him and for a while, the pair of them felt like the only two people who existed.
And it was enough.