Epilogue

It was the last day of school before the summer vacation. Sikowitz's class had just finished and Beck was on his way to the Asphalt Café. His arm was resting around the waist of his beautiful girlfriend, Tori Vega. At the beginning of the school year he didn't even know her, and now he couldn't imagine his life without her. He pulled her to him, enjoying the closeness of her body and her enchanting scent. Once at the café he let go of her and turned to the grub truck.

"What would you like for lunch?" He asked her.

"Get me a pizza, please." She headed to the vending machine to get them something to drink.

"Okay, I'll be right back. Meet you at the table." He paid Festus for the food and went to their group's usual table. Robbie and Cat were already sitting there. They were sitting opposite to each other, arguing about something.

"Hi guys. What's the problem?" He greeted them. Beck sat next to Robbie, leaving the spot to his right free for Tori.

"I watched Pinocchio last night and was just telling Robbie that Rex should find a magical fairy to turn him from a puppet into a real boy." Cat explained to him excitedly. Her love for the fantastical and whimsical was as strong as ever.

"He is not a puppet, and anyway there are no fairies." Robbie objected vehemently. After hearing his words Cat's mouth and eyes became perfectly round.

"Even if there were I refuse to associate with them. I have enough problems being stuck with Girl Pants over here." Rex butted in sarcastically.

"There are fairies!" Cat indignantly shouted back at Robbie.

"You promised not to mention that incident again." Robbie whined to Rex. The latter just sniggered in return. The argument about the existence of the fairies continued interrupted from time to time by the snide comments of Rex. Beck couldn't help but be amused by his friend's odd and hilarious argument. His amusement was interrupted by a delicate hand resting on his right shoulder.

"What is going on?" Tori asked him quietly while giving him a bottle of iced tea. The skin on his neck shivered slightly at the sensation of her warm breath. Even after all these weeks together she still had that effect on him. He explained the argument to her and they started their lunch, enjoying the free entertainment provided by their bickering friends. After the first few bites André and Erica joined the group. Andre sat next to Robbie, with Erica next to him. Beck could see a slight tension between the two. Not that André had stopped loving Erica but the truth was that he was too busy with school, his music and at home with his grandma to devote enough time to his girlfriend. Beck had seen this before. Andre's hectic schedule had doomed most of his previous romantic relationships. His friend seemed to like having a girlfriend but lacked the required free time for it. Beck and Tori greeted the couple with a smile.

"Hey guys," André greeted his friends, "do you have any plans for the summer?"

"I've found a job as councilor in camp 'Unicorn Meadows'." Cat announced happily, forgetting about her argument with Robbie. "There I'll play with the kids and may be even try to find a real unicorn." The others looked at her with a mixture of puzzlement and shock but she just giggled. Beck was wondering whether to worry more about his redheaded friend or the kids who were going to be under her care.

"That's wonderful, Cat." Tori's voice was warm but Beck could tell that she too harbored some reserves about this arrangement.

"I don't have any plans." Robbie admitted with a sorrowful voice.

"I'm going to spend the summer with these two uncharacteristically cute Northridge girls. You can come with me Rob." Rex announced. How Robbie's puppet had a better social life than him was a mystery to Beck.

"Do I have to?" Robbie did not seem thrilled with the prospect of playing wingman to his puppet. "You end up with all the fun and I have to pay the bill." The two began an entertaining squabbling to which Beck had a front row seat. At this point the last two of their group showed up. Jade, whose attire consisted only in half of black, looked happy. At least much happier than she had been a couple of months ago. With her was the latest addition to their group, Brian Smith. They had met at a play in which they had both been leads. Although both of them had enjoyed the other's company from the beginning they didn't hit it off until much later, when Jade had finally gotten over the break up with Beck. Of course it was Jade so the relationship was not exactly lovey-dovey.

"How can you say that 'Chucky' is better than 'The Scissoring'? It is a film about a doll." Although her voice sounded indignant Beck could sense her amusement.

"Not all of us have a scissors fetish, Jade." Brian replied, not backing down. He greeted the rest at the table and sat next to Jade, who had taken the place next to Cat.

"Any movie with an evil doll is alright with me." Rex said supporting Brian's point.

"Nobody asked you puppet." Jade quickly retorted, but without a real bite in her voice. The argument about the merits of different horror movies continued for a while until they returned on the topic of their plans for the summer.

"Brian found a cinema that will show horror movie marathon for whole of July, but considering his attitude I don't know if I should go with him." Jade sounded nonchalant but Beck could see that she was pleased with the prospect of spending time with Brian doing one of her favorite things.

"Oh, you will, or else you'll be forced to spend all day with your pregnant stepmother at home." Obviously Brian was not fooled either.

"Beck's family is going to Cancun again, and this time he is going with them, and taking me with him." Tori announced with an exited smile.

"They were so pleased that I'm not with Jade anymore that they paid half of Tori's fare." Jade stuck her tongue out to him and burst in laughter.

After the lunch, the few remaining classes seemed to drag on forever until the last bell rang. Beck found Tori by her locker. He grabbed her hand and they both went running out of school. When they reached Beck's car he spun her around to face him.

"I've waited for hours to do this!" Beck said before locking lips with her. Tori was surprised by his sudden passion but soon returned the kiss. Beck tasted her strawberry chapstick and remembered that she wore the same one on her second day here, the day of their first kiss. May be that was why he always associated her kisses with that taste. All these thoughts flew out of his mind when he felt how her tongue sneaked past his lips and began gently exploring the inside of his mouth. He could just moan with desire and press her body tighter to his. Her hand moved lightly up his neck before she buried her fingers in his hair. His hand gently cupped her cheek, keeping her head in place. He took her bottom lip between his teeth, eliciting a low moan from her. They didn't even notice playful catcalls of the other students. Finally their lips separated leaving them panting for breath. They got in his car and Beck drove off the school parking lot. He spared a glance in her direction before merging in the LA traffic. Beck sighed with satisfaction. He was happy.

THE END

A.N. Thanks to all my readers and especially to all my reviewers, Merry Christmas to everybody.