you come crashing in like the realest thing
They make out against the pillows, and he murmurs into her mouth- you, always. Tori/Andre.
A/N: okay, i'm usually really, really critical of my stuff. But this- I'm proud of. i worked hard on it, and it's one of my fav couples, and i just hope you guys like it. :) reviews make me love you! also, ava: there's a tuesday ref in here, just for you, homegirl! ooh. that was dorky. :P oh well.
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It starts like this: happy, sweet, simple.
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He kisses her on her birthday. After she blows out her candles, and people have started dancing, he pulls her towards him.
Hi, she whispers.
Hey. His hand is on her hip, and she tries not to focus on it. She counts the plastic stars on the ceiling.
One. Two. Three. Four-
Andre kisses her. His mouth is hot and slanted against hers.
Tori pulls back. When she opens her eyes, Andre is looking at her.
What did you wish for? He asks, grinning.
This, she says, you. I wished for you.
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(It's not a lie.)
(Andre walks away and the back of his t-shirt says liberation and Tori puts her hand on the counter like she's off balance.)
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She reads him love poems and they lay out in the sun. The grass is green, and the sky is bright blue. It's a Tuesday.
She writes on his t-shirt, in a bright purple pen. It stains, and the ink sinks into his skin, her skin, it mingles in between them. Her fingers drift on his stomach, and they leave light lilac marks there.
(She writes,
remember me.)
Her breath is hot on his neck. He grips her wrists.
(I will, he promises her later, her legs wrapped around his. I will, I will, I will.)
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He comes to her house in the mornings more often than he did before.
He waves hello to her parents, and nods as her dad mentions he's a cop about five times in one sentence. Her mom makes him coffee, and he drinks it.
He tries not to run into Trina on the stairs to her room. Sometimes he's successful.
Andre turns on the music to wake her up. He laughs when she starts out of her bed, her hair a mess and her cheeks flushed. She yells and throws pillows at him and kicks a lot, but he doesn't really care, because after she brushes her teeth, she kisses him.
She tastes like mint, strong and sweet in his mouth.
They dance in his car on the way to school, belting out words to songs they won't remember in a few months. Trina always rolls her eyes, but neither of them pay a lot of attention.
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Once, they're lying on his couch. He turns on the T.V, and they watch Jersey Shore.
She makes fun of their constant tanning, and he laughs at her and tells her she doesn't have to worry her little half Latina ass about getting tan.
She giggles, and he thinks she's the most beautiful girl he's ever known.
(They make out against the pillows, his hands pressing against her shoulders, and he murmurs into her mouth-
you, always.)
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He takes her to church with him and his grandmother.
Afterwards, when they're walking back to his house, his arm around her, Tori says-
I don't think I believe in miracles. She pauses. I don't know if I believe in anything.
He takes her hand, tangles their fingers.
What about you? She asks. Her hand is soft, and her eyelashes are long. The sunlight hits her, and his breath catches in his throat.
I believe in you, he replies.
Tori doesn't answer.
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(This is the best part, Andre says, that I get to kiss you whenever I want.)
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I don't know if I know what love is, Tori sighs.
(I do, he thinks. I do.)
Yeah, he replies, me neither.
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It ends like this: slowly, trembling. It crashes down on him and surrounds him at the same time. It is slow and soft and fast and hard.
They break up on a Friday.
He tells her he loves her; or maybe he just thinks it, over and over and over.
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I'm sorry, Tori tells him. They are standing a notable distance apart, and it feels like miles. The air around them is heavy.
Don't be, he replies. His hands clench.
She does not turn to look at him when she walks away.
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He writes her a million notes and letters that he never gives her.
(Except- Andre slips one into her locker. He doesn't sign his name.)
(i'll do anything.)
She knows who it's from.
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They don't talk. For exactly two weeks, they don't talk.
He counts. Days, minutes, hours.
And then, she waves to him in the hallway. It feels different, somehow. Like moving on, even though he's not.
He can walk towards her without feeling awkward, which he takes as a good thing.
Andre still wants to kiss her. But.
(The next day, he writes a song full of too soft melodies and sweet notes. He plays it once, and then tears up the sheet music.)
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Three months pass. She dates someone else and he punches the guy in the hallway when he cheats on her.
(It's not out of jealousy.) (Not really.)
Tori comes up to him after the fight. He's leaning on the stairs. Cat went to get him a bag of ice, but it's been thirty minutes, and he's kind of worried she's gotten lost.
She walks up.
Thank you, she says, and wraps her arms around him, very, very, slowly.
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They all go to the beach. Jade and Beck stay in the RV to "avoid sunburn". Trina and Robbie look for more feet-smoothing fish in the ocean. Cat eats ice cream and flirts with the vendor.
He sits beside Tori on the sand. It burns his toes, but he doesn't move. Her hand is next to his.
Hi, he says. She's wearing flip flops, and one strap is broken.
Hey. Her voice is different. Softer. He doesn't like that he notices.
Five, six, seven seconds. Andre lets the sand fall through his fingers.
I miss you, he tells her. He says it almost desperately. As if he can't hold it in.
There's another pause. It's longer.
Then, so quietly he can barely hear it, she says- Me too.
Their hands don't move any closer together.
(She lays her head on his shoulder.)
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He steals a bite of her piece of pizza at lunch.
Get your own food, she glares.
He doesn't.
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Andre draws a heart on her hand. They're in Sikowitz's class, and he's bored, he whispers, pulling a marker out of his pocket.
It is two days and thirteen hours before it washes off completely, and once it's gone, she wishes it was still there.
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Robbie comes up to him at his locker.
Dude, he tells him. You guys sang a song together. A song about love.
Robbie, he asks, what the fuck are you talking about?
Rex pipes up. About love, bro. You can't just erase that kind of musical magic.
Andre frowns at the creepy puppet. You know I hate that thing, he says.
Robbie gasps, and covers Rex's ears.
He shakes his head, and goes to walk away, when Robbie pulls him back.
I'm just saying, man. It's not ever a bad thing to be loved.
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They're at a party at Cat's house, and they get stuck in the closet together.
He kind of hates Beck for suggesting Spin the Bottle, he kind of hates the bottle for landing on Tori, and he kind of hates Tori for grabbing his hand and pulling him after her.
(Except. No. Andre can't ever really hate her.)
They sit in the dark, too close, not close. (It's not enough, it's never enough.)
When I was with you, Tori says, I felt like I was a better person. Less alone. Less… lonely.
Why are you telling me this? He asks.
I- I don't know, she says. Her voice is shaky. I guess I just… wanted to.
Andre grins at her in the dark. She lifts her legs and puts them in his lap.
Can we just sit here? She questions.
Sure, he replies. For a bit.
For a bit, she echoes.
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Sometimes, they hold hands underneath their desks, even now.
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On the last day of senior year, Jade buys them all bars of chocolate and a bottle of champagne. They sit in the RV and toast to lots of things, silly things that don't matter. Jade and Beck kiss a lot. Trina has her hand on Robbie's leg, and Cat's fingers are curled around Trina's.
Tori and him walk outside around midnight. She says she wants some air, and he comes with her.
They're standing next to each other. Her eyes are looking up at the star filled sky, and his eyes are on her.
There's a beat. Then she breaks off a piece of her chocolate, and gives it to him. She eats the last bite.
He is still looking at her.
Well, she says through a mouthful of chocolate, aren't you going to kiss me? Just like in the movies?
Andre moves to her. He wraps his arms around her waist.
Tori, he says, I'm not going to kiss you right now.
He leans close.
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fin.