Tori closed her eyes as she brought the white styrofoam cup to her lips. Tilting her head back, she winced slightly as the bitter, cheap black coffee rushed into her moth, burning her throat in the process. But she had already gotten used to the bitter taste after her fourth cup of the horrible coffee in the hour and a half she had been in the hospital.
When the last drops left the cup, she groaned in frustration. As much as she needed the caffeine, she knew she wasn't going to get it from drinking coffee from a hospital. In a fit of anger, she threw th cup to the floor, where it skidded a few feet away from her. Dropping her head into her hands, she clenched her jaw in an effort to remain calm.

"Tori! Guys, she's over here!"

Surprised, she looked up to see a flash of familiar brown dread locks, and she sighed, relieved to finally see someone familiar.
Andre approached her quickly, worry clear on his face. Besides him was Jade, who wore a similar look of concern and worry. Cat and Robbie were trailing behind them.

Their questions came at her like fireballs, quick and endless.

"Is Beck okay?"

"What happened?"

"Where's Mrs. Oliver?"

"Are you okay?"

Tori held her hands up, palms facing them, effectively ending their questions. Taking a deep breath, she started answering them one by one.

"Beck is fine. Or, at least he will be. The doctor says he has two broken ribs, a sprained ankle, a broken nose and he has deep muscle bruising in his left leg. And he needed stitches for a gash on his stomach. They gave him some pain medication, so now he's sleeping it off. Mrs. Oliver went to pick up a prescription for some pain killers for Beck. She'll be back soon. And before you ask, I have no idea what happened. He simply came into the RV this morning looking like he was run over or something."

Each and every single one of their faces relaxed a bit, and Tori knew the feeling. She had spent and hour waiting to hear what the doctors had to say. Although she knew Beck was seriously hurt, she thanked God he wasn't hurt worse.

Suddenly, Andre's eyes narrowed, and he raised an eyebrow at Tori.

"Wait a minute...why were you in Beck's RV so early? Is there something I missed?"

Jade raised an eyebrow towards Tori, a smirk playing on her features.

Tori sighed, running her hand through her limp hair. She hadn't realized how long it had been since she had talked to her friends, and she missed them. A lot.

"I kinda...ran...away..."

"WHAT!"

Jade and Andre exchanged a look, then looked at Tori for an explanation. Robbie and Cat looked shocked and very confused.
Tori sighed, sinking down to sit on one of the hard blue plastic chairs. With eyes closed, she explained the whole story to her friends, omitting the part about Beck and her having sex. Her friends definitely did NOT need to know that.

By the time she was finished, Andre had sat down on the chair next to her and had wrapped his arm around her. He wiped away a stray tear that she didn't realize had fallen from her eye.

Jade was uncharacteristically quiet, and she seemed to be at war with herself. Several times, Tori looked up as she was telling her story to find Jade's icy blue eyes staring down at her intently.

Tori was not the only one to notice, however. Andre seemed to throw Jade many confused glances. When Tori finally finished her story, Jade decided to say something.

"Andre, I think you should go take Cat and Robbie to the cafeteria downstairs."
Andre's brow furrowed in confusion, but he got up and did as he was asked.

When he finally left with Cat and Robbie, Jade sat down next to Tori, her intense blue eyes probing.

"Tori...you and Beck are going out now, right?"

Tori's eyes widened in surprise, and all she could do was nod truthfully.

"And he told you he loved you...right?"

Again, shock made Tori answer truthfully. A bad feeling began growing in the pit of her stomach, and she took a deep breath.

"Beck seems to care about you a lot...and if you ever repeat what I'm about to tell you I will destroy that pretty little face of yours...I think that you would be good for Beck. He needs someone like you in his life. But I promise you...ifyou EVER hurt him, I will inflict double the pain on your ass. Are you clear?"

Jade glared at Tori until she nodded, indicating she had understood what she was just told. Satisfied, Jade gave Tori a small smile before frowning once more.

"I think there's something you should know about Beck."

Tori stood outside Beck's door, a wave of conflicting emotions washing over her. Her conversation with Jade was still fresh in her mind, and she had no idea what to do with the new information she had just acquired. But she knew one thing: she had to see Beck. And so, taking a deep, shaky breath, she opened the door to his room.

The sight before her made her want to cry. Beck was laying on the uncomfortable looking hospital bed, a white sheet thrown over his legs. His usually tan skin looked slightly pale under the painfully bright white light, and she could see every scrape and cut on his skin. Dark purple bags hung under his eyes, and he winced slightly as he adjusted himself on his bed. However, despite all that, he was still Beck, so when she smiled at him, her heart fluttered in her chest.

"Tori!" he croaked, his previously dull eyes brightening at her arrival. Tori's heart clenched as she remembered her conversation with Jade. Shooting him a weak smile, she walked up to his bed and stood besides him, staring down helplessly at him. He reached out and took her hand in his, giving her a gently squeeze.

"Are you mad that we brought you here?" She asked anxiously, pushing her hair back behind her ear. Beck frowned, bringing her hand up to his mouth and kissing it gently.

"No...not anymore. I get why you did it."

They stood there in silence until Tori finally spoke.

"Beck, we need to talk."

Beck's eyes widened, and the heart monitor he was hooked up to began beeping loudly.
"Are you...rethinking things? rethinking us?" Beck's warm brown eyes clouded with misery, and Tori rushed to reassure him.

"No! No, of course not! I do love you!"

Beck's heartbeat monitor immediately slowed, and he sighed a breath of relief.

"I love you Tori," he whispered, clinging to her hand. It was almost enough to make Tori want to forget what a Jade had told her and just sit by Beck, waiting until he was better so she could melt into his arms and stay there forever.

But she knew that she had to know the truth. Otherwise, the fear of not knowing would drive her insane. She needed to know.

"The gang is here," she said, opting to go with the less confrontational approach. Beck groaned, throwing his head back against the pillow.

"Ugh, why did they come! I'm fine! Just a little banged up, nothing life threatening!"

Tori rolled her eyes, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Beck, you are NOT fine. And they were worried about you! You can't blame them for wanting to be here for you!"
Beck glared back at her, releasing his hold on her hand to cross his arms across his chest.

"I told you I didn't want to come here! I would've been fine at home!"
They both glared at each other, neither one backing down.

"I had a nice conversation with Jade today...I learned a lot from her."

Beck's glare melted into a look of confusion. She could almost see the gears turning in his head as he thought about the meaning of her words. Finally, understanding dawned on his features.

"She told you..." he said, the horror in hi voice confirming her worst fears.

"So it's true," she whispered, more to herself than to Beck. Beck swallowed, his eyes pleading with her.

"Tori, listen-"

"Why didn't you tell me? So what, it's okay for me to pour my heart out to you, to tell you my biggest secrets, but you get to choose what you tell me?"

Beck stayed silent, staring down at his hands. A mixture of fear and anger coursed through her, and she glared at him.

"Do you know you could've gotten yourself killed out there?! And for what, so you can sell some freaking drugs?" She whispered that last part, wanting no one to overhear her. "Is that why you left last night? Are your precious drug dealers more important than me?"

Beck's eyes flashed with anger, and he lifted his gaze to stare at her intently.

"Is that what you think?" He asked, his voice calm despite his clenched fists. Tori glared back at him refusing to back down.

"What else can I think Beck! I had to learn about this from someone else! You are so selfish that you are willing to risk your life to get some cash after I told you I loved you! Do you have ANY idea what I would have done if you would've died tonight?" The tears were flowing freely, and she couldn't hold back the sob that escaped her lips. Covering her face with her hands, she sank down into one of the green vinyl chairs in the corner of the room. She waited for Beck to yell back at her, but instead, he stayed silent.

"I'm sorry," he finally whispered, and Tori looked up in surprise. Beck was staring at her, his eyes filled with misery. Tori swallowed, giving him a confused look.

"Tori...you are the most important thing in my life, along with my mom. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry. When I left this morning, it was to let my boss know I was leaving the business for good. That's why he ordered his goons to jump me. I'm so sorry I hurt you. I'm sorry."

Tori just sat there, shocked, until his words finally sunk in. Finally, she git up from her chair and walked towards Beck. Sitting next to him on his bed, she looked into his chocolate eyes for a moment before leaning over and kissing him.

It was just like she remembered it and more. However, unlike their kisses from the previous night, this one was soft, gentle. Beck placed his hands on either side of her face, cradling her face gently She deepened the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck.
Finally, she fulled back, and she noticed his heart monitor went back to a slow, steady beeping. Smiling gently, she grabbed his hand and laced her fingers through his.

"Beck, I love you. With all my heart I love you. You keep me going when I just want to fall apart. You give me a reason to keep on fighting. I'll always love you, even if you didn't love ne. Just promise me you'll never go back to sellng drugs again."

Beck nodded, reaching over to wrap Tori in his arms, despite their uncomortable position and despite the searing pain that shot through his abdomen.

"Tori, I promise I won't go back there. And I pomise you I'll never leave you. You're the best that's ever been mine," he joked, quoting the popular country singer's song. Tori laughed, pulling back from the hug.

Beck layed back down, his the pain in his abdomn finally receeding. Smiling softly, he suddenly smirked as a thought ran through his head.

"And to think it all started off as a project. One we'll probably fail."

He laughed at Tori's confused look.

"The deadline was two days ago."

Fin!

Wooooow! I did not expect that to be the last chapter! I was going to do maybe two or three more chapters before ending it. But this happened. Wow...well this is fine anyways. I left some questions unanswered because I decided to do a sequel. And while this story had only minor fluff, I can PROMISE you that the sequel will have five times the fluff, and five times the drama. I was thinking about bringing in some old characters, like Sammy (Tori's jerk of an ex boyfriend) and Tori's dad, as well as some new characters, like Beck's dad. I will also be including the rest of the gang much more next time.

I just wanted to thank all of you guys for reading this story, and my loyal fans for sticking with this story till the end. It was you guys who motivated me to keep going when I just wanted to call it quits. Thank you for you amazing reviews! Don't forget to review this chapter as well!

In case anyone is interested, I started an account on wattpad where I'll start posting a brand new story with characters of my own. It will be about an arrogant, self centered guy who is used to having every girl fall for his good looks. But then he meets his beautiful new psychology partner, who just happens to be blind! The story will have much humor and drama and loooooveeee. Check it out. I'll post my account on my profile pretty soon.

Thanks again you guys.

-Pineapplebuddy19