Smoke and Fire

Part I

He's laying on his side—the one facing toward the wall—wearing nothing but his boxers. His tongue protrudes to lick the thin, white paper, sealing its contents shut inside. Rolling back over, he sees that she already has clothes on again and is reapplying her make-up.

Though it might not seem like it, Beck can think of a lot of reasons for him to be sleeping with Trina Vega. Like, maybe it's because she's the next best thing to Tori, and he's pretty sure that Tori wouldn't have sex with him even if it weren't for the whole 'loyalty of friendship' situation. But he doesn't really think about Tori that way, anymore. And Trina is great in bed, anyway—loud, but great.

If anyone knew, they would probably think he was with Trina because he still wasn't over Jade. That might be a good excuse to sleep with any girl, but Trina, specifically? Not so much.

Beck's favorite rationalization is that he is sleeping with Trina because she has the coolest bedroom. It seems weird, but he's never met anyone with a living quarters that comes close to matching his trailer. Of course, a trailer isn't all that impressive, but a seventeen year old kid even kinda-sorta living on his own is. And that's why if ever he planned on hooking up with a girl, he imagined they would always end up at his place. But again, Trina has a really cool bedroom.

She has the attic entirely to herself, so it's huge. The ceilings are low and laced with strung lights and she has a lot of bean-bag furniture. Plus, the fact that her family usually avoids her gives them plenty of privacy.

Flicking his lighter, he watches as one end of the joint starts to crackle beneath the dull orange flame. "Here," he says, moving to the edge of the bed and extending his arm. "You can take the first hit."

Trina turns around with that same look she always gives him when she's afraid she'll say something that might cause her to lose his interest and approval. "Oh, um—I don't smoke. I mean, I am a singer, after all," she insists while running a brush through her hair.

Beck rolls his eyes, but keeps his cool. He always keeps his cool. "It's not a cigarette. It won't damage your voice." 'As if it could possibly get any worse…' is what he wants to add. Trina really is as stupid as everyone thinks she is. But she has a lot of other…positive qualities that people don't know about, as well.

"Promise?" she asks, pouting her freshly glossed lips.

"Pinky promise," he says lamely, holding out the small finger and waiting as she latches her pinky with his. Her other hand takes the joint, but when she tries to move away, he uses his pinky to pull her back in for a quick peck.

She's wearing a grin when she brings it to her lips and takes a long drag. Typical. It's her first time with pot and she's good at smoking it. This is the kind of stupid shit Trina can do right, but Beck kind of likes it.

Once he takes the joint back from her, he's already anticipating the slightly bitter sting against his throat. But he doesn't expect to receive a mouthful of sticky sweetness along with it. "Eugh!" He makes a face as he finishes the hit. Pulling back, he gets a good look at the joint, and sure enough, there's a pink ring around it. "You ruined my weed with that cotton candy goop!" he says, chuckling.

"Oh?" Her eyebrows raise in that way that makes her look extra sexy. Then she's practically crawling toward him on the bed, which is a little creepy, but he knows where that animalistic side of hers really comes out. "You don't seem to mind it when I'm kissing you…" she mutters, leaning in slowly.

"Well, that's different. I'm getting something good out of it." He smirks and reaches out to cup her chin when they hear Trina's door open.

"Trina! Are you trying to cook something again?" Tori calls up the stairs, prompting Beck to quickly extinguish the joint and put it away.

"Shit! Tori's gonna kill me if she finds out about us," he says, quickly standing up and pulling on his pants.

"No, Tori will give you a stern talking to and a few looks of disappointment. Jade will literally kill me," Trina says, frantically pulling on his arm. "Forget your clothes, would you!" she hisses, pushing him down. "Get under the bed—quick!"

"Trina?" Tori walks in just as Beck gets himself out of sight. He can hear her start sniffing and imagines her crinkled nose. Tori's cute, but she's not hot like her sister. "What's that smell—Trina, is that marijuana?"

Fuck… Beck sure hopes Trina can talk her way out of this, because he isn't just going to let her take the fall for him. But he can only fathom what Tori's reaction would be if she found out he smoked pot and was having sex with her sister on the same day.

"Um, noooo…" Trina tells her, sounding unfortunately suspicious.

"Yes it is, Trina! And don't think I won't tell mom and dad if you have a drug problem, because I will!"

"Oh, puh-lease, Tori. It's pot, not crystal-meth!"

They bicker like that for a while longer before Tori finally gives in and agrees not to say anything. Beck rolls out from underneath the bed as soon as he hears her leave.

"So…is she really not going to rat you out, because now I could really go for the rest of that joint," he says in all seriousness, while still lying down on his back on the floor.

She gives him a look of disbelief before they both erupt into laughter.

xx

"Jade West is such a slut."

He swears if he hears that one more time, there is going to be a fight. And Beck Oliver is always the one trying to prevent them from happening.

It shouldn't even bother him. He and Jade broke up months ago. He isn't sure if it's just about his pride—does he really want people thinking he would date that type of girl for three years?—or because he does still care about Jade. Either way, it isn't worth getting suspended over.

"Beck!"

"What?" he snaps, in response to hearing his name. He feels like he's wired on coffee again, but really, he's on edge because whenever he walks through the halls, it seems all people are doing is talking shit.

"Whoa…" Andre hisses, his arms up on either side of his head in surrender. "Somebody sounds like they need to get laid."

Beck narrows his eyes. "What would you know about that?"

Andre chuckles awkwardly for a few moments before he fades off and his expression becomes rather glum. Everyone thinks of his best friend as such a big player, but Beck knows otherwise. "Whatever, bro," Andre says, with his typical, nonchalant shrug. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just…hungry," Beck says, clasping his hands together. "You wanna go grab a muffin or something?"

Andre nods and they head outside, making their way toward the usual table. He's relieved to find that Jade isn't at the table with the rest of their group, yet. Even though she doesn't like half the people in their group, she's always around, anyway. They've managed to get along since the Platinum Music Awards, but it's still pretty awkward and he always feels like he has to hold back a bit.

"Hey guys!" Tori says, in a chipper voice, as they sit down. He still feels a little bit uncomfortable around her, too. And not just because he's been hooking up with her sister for a while now, but also because he's not exactly sure where they stand. Well, he knows he's over it, at least, but she had wanted to make out with him, which might mean that she likes him. He's not too concerned, though, because Tori's pretty fickle and would probably change her mind soon, regardless. "Beck, why weren't you at auditions last night?" she asks.

He shrugs a bit. "I'm not really as into singing, and Les Mis is pretty much all music," he tells her. It's the truth. That's where Trina had been headed after they hung out, even though he had tried to convince her to stay with him instead. He's not in love with her or anything, but he hates to see her continuously embarrass herself.

Right on cue, Cat and Robbie come rushing over with expressions of excitement on their faces. "The cast list is up!" Robbie exclaims, frantically scrolling on his Pear Pad. Robbie had decided to redirect his ambition and was serving as assistant director, while Cat had auditioned.

"Oh my gosh!" Tori shrieks slightly and stands up. "Did I get Eponine? I really, really want Eponine…"

"I got Cossette!" Cat declares, dragging out her vowels as she flings her arms to each side, effectively knocking Robbie's Pear Pad out of his hands and causing it to shut off. "Sorry…" she says in the same, though more somber, sing-song voice.

Tori is still looking expectant, if not even more sure of herself after Cat's declaration. But Robbie gulps. "Well?" she questions, with wide eyes.

"Um…" he starts, wincing heavily. "Actually, Jade got the part."

Beck almost chokes on his own breath, bringing a fist to his mouth to quietly stifle it. Jade is one of the most talented people he knows, but she often seems to get passed up on account of her more…alternative look. Even though he shouldn't care, he can't help but be happy for her.

"Oh… Wow," Tori mutters, slowly lowering herself back into her seat. "That's…great!" she says, even though her smile is clearly very forced.

Cat lets out a small whimper, getting everyone's attention, and they all see her pouting and staring at the ground, shifting from side to side.

"What's wrong, Little Red?" Andre asks, giving her an empathetic look. "Jade's your friend—and you got Cosette!"

"No, it's not that…" She sits down next to Andre, slumping in her chair. "Jade is my friend. And I feel really bad because people keep talking about why she got the part," she sighs, looking completely distraught for someone who just landed a lead role in a musical at Hollywood Arts.

"Well, what are they saying?" Andre asks. But Beck already has an idea of what it is, and he has a feeling he isn't going to be happy about it.

"I don't want to say…" Cat murmurs. "I know Jade can be kind of mean, but this is really mean, and it could get people in trouble, and—."

"Just spit it out, Cat!" Beck says, though his tone is more impatient than rude or angry. Besides, everyone knows that Cat will tell them eventually, and he just doesn't want to sit there while she hims and haws over it.

"They're saying that Jade got the part because she gave the director…a blow job," she whispers the last two words as her cheeks flush.

Beck groans and looks away. He doesn't want them to think he that he wants anything to do with the conversation. Well, he doesn't, but not because he doesn't want to hear about Jade, or that he's jealous, but rather, because he's sick to death of hearing this shit every day.

They all sit there for a moment, silently contemplating, when Andre finally speaks up. "Wait—Robbie?" he says, his face ridden with disgust.

"No!" Robbie shrieks. "The main director, Mr. Chacksfield!"

"Wow…" Tori says slowly, shaking her head. "That's low, even for Jade."

"It's obviously not true, Tori!" Beck snaps, accidentally dragging himself into the conversation he was just trying to avoid. Cat immediately looks relieved, however, which he knows is because she always trusts his or Jade's word.

"I'm sure you're right," Tori says, but it's clear that she's not finished. "But…Jade hasn't gotten a lead role in a long time. It is a little suspicious…"

Cat looks to him with sad, hopeful eyes, as if she's waiting for him to simply say that it's not true, again. Everyone else but Tori glances down at the table, avoiding his glare. It's because they hate getting involved in anything that has to do with him and Jade.

But this has nothing to do with him, period. He's not a part of the musical, and he's no longer Jade's boyfriend.

"I'm going to get a muffin…" he mutters lowly, slowly getting up and walking away.

xx

That weekend, he ends up at a party at Alyssa Vaughn's house. They haven't spoken in probably over a year, so it's not that special or anything. She pretty much invites any high school or college aged student in the Los Angeles area. That's what he's heard, at least. The only big name Hollywood party he has ever been to before was Kenan Thompson's, and he and Jade were permanently banned from his house after he found them fucking right in his hot tub at the end of the party.

Now, he finds himself flirting with some tall, lanky red-haired girl who is so obviously not his type. But there are far too many Hollywood Arts kids for him to be hanging around Trina. He finds it a bit unnerving how often he catches himself wanting to spend more time around Trina. Usually it's just for the sex, but not always. And even though it shouldn't be that big of a deal, he wishes that it could be just about the sex, and the sex only. But Beck's never been very good at that.

Sighing to himself (not that the girl could hear or see it in the dark room blasting loud music), he glances around for any excuse to get out of the conversation and sneak off with Trina. He has always been the brooding type, and consequently, not a big partier. He would always look for the most chill area, but at this particular party, there doesn't seem to be one.

Finally, he sees Andre smirking and nodding at him, giving him the thumbs up. Beck knows it's far from a signal to allow him an escape, but he is going to take it anyway.

Excusing himself from the conversation, he casually walks over to Andre, leaning against a table as he cracks open another can of beer. He takes a long sip, loving the feeling of the cool liquid crashing its way down his throat.

"Beck?" Andre says, with his arms outstretched and a dumbfounded look on his face. "What gives?"

"What do you mean?" Beck responds, his shoulders shrugging as he takes another sip from the moist can.

"Why aren't you trying to get with that girl? Isn't it about time you get back in the game?" Andre never made a very big deal out his newly single status until his fluke with Tori. He imagines that he just doesn't want him going after her again, but he knows his best friend wouldn't even admit it to him—just like he wouldn't tell Andre about his situation with the other Vega.

Beck shrugs again and finishes the beer in no time, crushing it in his hand. It wasn't his first that night, but he's only just starting to feel the effects. "I'm just not interested," he says shortly, still peering out into the crowd of people, instead of looking at Andre.

Across the room, he notices Trina sucking down a beer bong, and he can't help but smile and chuckle to himself. She has the same sort of crude and intense manner as Jade. Frowning, he pushes both girls out of his mind and turns to Andre. "I'm not in any big rush, anyway."

"Why not, bro?" Andre pushes. "You could get any girl you wanted!"

His eyebrows form a scowl and with his lowered inhibitions, his mouth opens before he has a chance to bite his tongue like he normally would. "Because I don't want that. I'm not like you and Tori. I can't just bounce from girlfriend to girlfriend every week!"

Andre is about to get in his face when someone else does a better job of it, even from behind his back. "No, but your ex-girlfriend can sure go through that many guys."

"Dude!" Beck spins around, glaring at the punk—Ryder, of course. Even Andre looks pissed off, seeming to have forgotten his annoyance with Beck.

"It's okay, man. Everyone knows who wore the pants in that relationship. Why start acting more like the man, now?" Ryder continues taunting, while his neanderthal friends chuckle in the background.

Quite frankly, Beck doesn't give a shit what people say about him. He stays out of all the gossip and drama at Hollywood Arts—at least the non-theatrical kind, anyway. He would rather stay under the radar and he isn't about to give in to Ryder's instigating. "Go fuck yourself, Ryder," he says, simply, starting to walk away.

"Nah, I'm good. I already plan on doing that to Jade tonight."

Maybe it's the alcohol, or maybe it is just rage, but he turns around and swings at the same time, feeling his knuckles crack against Ryder's teeth.

And that's the last thing he remembers before blacking out.

xx

At first, he thinks he's dead—because Jade would have to take the form of an angel to be taking care of him, right now.

But then he realizes that as traumatizing as his first fist fight was, that might be a bit dramatic. And once his eyes come back into focus, he sees that it really is Jade, in plain form, dabbing a cool cloth on his forehead.

Then she applies a cotton ball to the apparent scrape on his head and he hoarsely screeches, "Ouch!"

"Stop whining," she mutters, pouring more peroxide onto the swab. "And stop falling asleep, in case you have a concussion, or something." Jade always took care of him—even when he didn't need or want it.

Beck just gulps and nods, silently, not sure what to say or do in this situation. In fact, he's not sure he could move if he wanted to, for a number of reasons.

"I don't know what you were thinking…" she continues, when he doesn't say anything. And he knows what she means. He already knows that he's never been a fighter. "But I heard why you did it," she adds.

"Ryder never stops talking shit," he mutters finally—and quickly. He doesn't want her to be under the impression that he was defending her honor, even if it was the comment Ryder had made about Jade that had finally set him off. But that had been going on for weeks, and he had already come up with plenty of other reasons why he was sick and tired of hearing it.

"Shit-talking has never made you punch someone before, Beck," she says, rolling her eyes as she sits down on the bed. "Look, I'm not saying you're still in love with me or anything. Just…thanks."

Neither one of them needs to say anything else. After a few minutes, he props himself up on his elbows. "Is what everyone's saying about you true?" he asks quietly, not quite looking at her.

"Of course not," she says, almost sounding offended, but she doesn't push it.

"Then why not stop it? All you'd have to do is give someone a look, and they'd never utter another word about you." His face turns flush, because he didn't mean it in a bad way. And she did just take care of him. And he does want them to be friends again.

"Because I don't really care," she said, flat of expression. "But…I do appreciate you not believing it."

"I knew better," he whispers, smiling softly.

There's a locking of the eyes; a tucking of hair; licking of lips; a slight tilt of the face. And then suddenly, they're both leaning in. His mouth is on her mouth. Her hands are on his body. They reach to unbuckle his pants, and before he knows it, he's got her shirt off.

Everything but Jade is telling him to stop.

xx

By the time they're back in school on Monday, Beck is fully prepared to pretend that the events of the weekend never happened—all of them. And that's easy for Beck, because he has a flawless pokerface. His face is almost always expressionless—unless he's acting—and he likes it that way. As lame as it sounds, he likes to keep up an aura of mystery. But most of all, people can't tell what he's thinking or how he's feeling. He only tells the people who deserve to know, at the time.

And there aren't many of them.

Teenage whispers fill the halls, as usual. Only this time, he knows they are focused on him. But he keeps up the façade of nonchalance and apathy as he drops off his belongings at his locker and heads to Sikowitz's class.

Jade is already there, which he's partially grateful for, because he can sit on the opposite side. But at the same time, he's not, because he can feel her eyes on him, which only means she noticed him deliberately sitting away from her. They had left the party pretty quietly, so he didn't think he left her with any expectations. But Beck is smart enough to know that you can't have no-strings-attached sex with your ex-girlfriend of two years. Not that it was that, for him. It had just…happened—for all the right reasons, but at the wrong time.

Luckily, Andre and Tori surround him and Sikowitz starts class. Cat and Robbie are called up for an acting exercise that is taking way too long, because Robbie keeps overanalyzing everything and Cat doesn't know what's going on. Beck tries his hardest to just zone out, but all the extra time does is make it that much more noticeable that he and Jade are in the same room.

"Beck!"

At first, he thinks the hissing is just in his head—himself telling himself to stop thinking about Jade…or something like that. But then Sikowitz is stopping Cat and Robbie and looking to the back of the room and he mutters, "Yes..?" with eyebrows raised and in his usual drawn out tone.

All at once, everyone turns, including Beck, and he sees a suddenly very self-conscious looking Trina standing there in the doorway. And she had said 'Beck'… He groans to himself and sits back in his chair.

"Um—hi, Mr. Sikowitz," she says, with a charming grin. "I was just wondering if I could steal Beck for a tiny second."

His eyes widen, but he immediately acts confused—as if to say, "what could Trina possibly want with me?" as if they haven't been sleeping together for the past month.

"As opposed to a normal length one? Well, sure!" Sikowitz declares, quickly shooing Beck out of the room.

Closing the door behind him, he moves a few feet away from the classroom. Their deal included minimal contact at school, so he figures it must be something important for her to come and interrupt him during first period. Then again, Trina's idea of 'important' is far different that most people's.

"Are you getting back together with Jade?" she asks, the moment he stops and turns to face her.

Her face is ridden with worry, rather than anger, and her tone is unusually soft with no hint of accusation. He can feel his own expression turn bleak as he gulps and opens his mouth to answer her. "You pulled me out of class to ask me that?" he says, trying to act as if it's not a big deal. Because again, he just wants to forget that any of it happened.

He loved Jade. In fact, he imagines that he always will. And he values everything that their relationship gave him. But and Jade, together…they're just so…toxic. And that's something he doesn't need in his life.

"Beck, just tell me—are you? Because Cat said you are, and—."

"No," he says quickly. Great. Cat knows what happened, which means that soon enough, everyone at school will, as well. "Cat's wrong," he tells her.

"Is she?" Trina sighs. "Because Cat is my best friend, and even she thinks that you and Jade are meant to be together." Beck has always seen Trina as a person with excessively high self-esteem. But as he gets to know her as a real person, responding to real situations, he thinks she might possibly be the most insecure person he has ever met. And something in Beck is drawn to something in her that makes him want to change it.

"Jade and I are over," he assures her. "I know—I know it seems really complicated, and it kind of is, but…I don't want it to be, anymore. I don't want to be with her." Maybe in the dreamland that Cat lives in, Beck and Jade are meant to be. But this is real life.

"Then what's going on? What are we, Beck?" Trina asks. To be honest, he would have expected this kind of question from himself before hearing it from Trina.

"I-I, uh—." He puts his hands in his pockets and shrugs. "Friends?" he offers.

"Friends? I hardly want to admit this to myself, let alone out loud, but we're not even friends, let alone anything more!" Finally, she's starting to sound like herself, but that's hardly a good thing, at this point. "Friends don't completely ignore each other in any social situation. Friends don't plan to hang out only when sex is involved. Beck, I don't think this is about Jade or Tori finding out—I think this is about anyone finding out, because you're ashamed to be with me! Well, guess what, you're going to have to at least try to be my friend if you want anything that's been going on between us to continue."

She expects so little from him, which only confirms to him how little she thinks of herself.

Beck always knew that his arrangement with Trina couldn't last. But he always figured they would just go their separate ways and he would either work things out with Jade, or start dating someone else. He never imagined he would have a choice to make.

"I don't want to be friends, Trina," he says lowly, while moving closer to her. "I want to be with you." His arms wrap around her and he watches her lips curl upward into a smile right before he kisses them.

He definitely hadn't expected that to be his choice.

Mid-embrace, the bell rings and Jade is the first one at the door. He knows this because he hears that distinct "Oh." and then Trina shrieks quietly and clutches onto him, tightly.

But Jade storms right over and rips Trina away from him and shoves her against the lockers.

"Jade…" he sighs. Even though Trina had been right just a minute ago, about Beck being concerned about more than just Jade finding out, that didn't mean her reaction wouldn't cause the most damage.

"Now, Jade…" Trina starts, shaking a bit as she leans so far back against the lockers it looks as if she's about to crawl inside one of them. "Before you do anything that might land you in jail and me in a hospital—"

"Shut up!" Jade shouts at the lighter brunette before turning to face Beck. Her hand hits him hard against his cheekbone, striking the bruise she had just been tending to a few nights ago.

If ever he were to marry Trina Vega, he imagines this would be quite an interesting 'How They Got Together' story to tell their grandkids.

xx

After school, he ends up in the parking lot, sitting on the curb. He doesn't want to go home until later, when he can sneak into his RV without his dad seeing a worsened extension of his black eye. Now that everything is out in the open, he could just go to the Vega's, but he's sure Trina wouldn't be someplace so obvious, in case of Jade.

Maybe Beck is just drawn to crazy women, he figures—especially for such an easygoing guy. In fact, his lifestyle has never been as easygoing as he is, mostly on account of his relationships. But Jade and Trina are two different kinds of crazy. They are both loud and a bit…harsh, at times. But Jade is controlling and demanding, and they always end up arguing. Trina might be an attention-seeking, conceited drama queen, but when he's with her…Beck laughs.

And so with Trina, he thinks his life might get a whole lot easier, after all. At least once the events of today blow over…

So he sits there, silently and alone, until he hears footsteps behind him and prays that they aren't Jade's. But once he sees white boots step forward, with skinny jeans tucked inside them, he knows that, of course, it's not Jade.

"Hey, Tori," he mutters, looking up into the familiar, warm brown eyes.

"Whoa." She cringes. "Did Jade do that to you?"

"No, not…completely," he admits quietly. "I got into a fight at a party on Friday, and it was almost healed…"

"Oh yeah, I heard about that," she says, lowering herself to sit down on the curb, beside him. He wonders if—no, assumes she heard about everything else that had happened that night, from Cat. After a brief—and awkward—silence, she clasps her hands together and speaks up again. "So, it's true? You and Trina?"

"Yeah, but Tori…" he sighs. "I've put you through so much shit, lately, so I just wanna be honest. Trina and I have kinda been seeing each other for a while. We were just hooking up in secret, though. But today it's become an official thing, yeah." He chews on his lip a bit. Tori was never supposed to have found out, but now, everything was changing.

She smiles weakly and places a hand on his knee. "It's okay, Beck, you don't owe me an explanation. I wish you guys could have just trusted me. I might have encouraged you to tell Jade, but then maybe that whole scene this morning would have been avoided." She pauses and he can tell by her face that she's thinking, so he doesn't interrupt. "I should apologize, too, though. I'm sorry for the things I said about Jade, last week. Then maybe you wouldn't have gotten into that fight at the party, and—well, what happened between you and Jade at the party might not have happened, and then she might not have reacted the way she did, today."

She has made several good points. Typical Tori. But none of it matters, now. "Don't worry about it, Tori. We could play 'What If?' all day, but it's already happened. And besides, I think it'll be okay…eventually," he tells her.

"Yeah…" She cracks a smile, chuckling as she lightly punches his arm. "Seriously, you and Trina! I can't believe it." He swears he can detect a hint of jealousy in her voice. God, why, Tori…

"Me neither. But she's actually really awesome once you get to know her," he says. He remembers listening to Tori's song to her sister and thinks she might know the real Trina, as well—even given that she had sold the rights to the song. Despite how Tori acts about Trina around her friends, Beck suspects she might just understand where he's coming from, after all.

"Yeah, she is," Tori says, before pausing. "I'm not surprised, looking at it from her end, though. Trina is a lot bolder than me." She widens her eyes a bit, nodding her head.

"What are you saying, Tori?" he asks, burrowing his eyebrows, even though he was already pretty sure of what she was getting at.

"I'm saying—Trina may be terrified of Jade, but that wouldn't stop her from going after what she wanted. I was afraid of hurting Jade with you, and she and I are barely friends." Tori shrugs.

"So, if it weren't for that, you'd want to be with me?" he questions, his eyebrows now raised. Beck doesn't like to assume things about himself or other people. But if he is going to be dating Tori's sister, they should probably clear things up between them.

"No—No, that's not what I mean. Who knows what might have happened between us," she says, her face soft and kind, as if she isn't making his head spin. "But I learned my lesson when I hurt Cat, with Daniel. I'm not going to let some lingering feelings that might be there get in the way of something that could be great for my sister."

She smiles, and he smiles back, keeping his thoughts to himself. As kind and innocent as she is, Tori can be quite presumptuous at times. He's past his feelings for her, regardless of whether he is with Trina, or not.

"Good. Because I really do like Trina," is what he settles on telling her.

She grins widely. "And besides, you're one of my best friends. Why risk messing that up?" He breathes a sigh of relief, finally assured that they are on the same page, and he wraps his arm around her shoulder in a half-hug. "Are you heading home?" she asks.

"Nah, not yet…"

"Alright, I think I'm gonna walk home with Robbie, then, since I can find Trina." He releases her from his grasp and stands up with her.

"Bye, Tori," he says, with a small grin and a wave.

She waves back as she starts to walk off. But just as he crouches to sit back down, he hears her call out to him. "Hey, Beck?" She turns around. "Try not to hurt her, okay?" He smirks and gives her a nod, waiting until she is out of sight before sitting back down, this time.

Beck pulls out his lighter, flicking it, each time letting the wind extinguish the flame.

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed! This is my first Victorious fanfic and I definitely had a great time writing it. Please let me know what you think, as I love being able to respond to reviewers! This will probably be either a two or three-shot, so look-out for more. :)