I Wish I could Fight you, but I can't

Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Tori's POV

I hardly think about my acting in the next few scenes, after the dance. I'm overcome with nerves about kissing Beck. I keep reminding myself that it's a stage kiss and it shouldn't mean anything. It's after my scene with Andre/Malba "the mafia lord" (Honestly I have no idea why Jade thought using the mafia would be a good plotline, it seems pretty far fetched to me). In our five minute break, I change into a pair of tight sweatpants and a police academy t-shirt (my costume for this next scene). I come back out of the dressing room to find that the set has once again changed. It's now my character Rebecca's living room. Robbie spots me and jogs over.

"Hey Tori, so you see that wall there?" He points to one of the fake plaster walls. I nod. "That middle section is made of breakaway plaster, so that's the one you punch" Let me get you up to speed on what's happening in our movie. I'm a young NYPD detective named Rebecca who gets to captain her first major assignment- busting a mafia-drug-lord guy. I'm assigned with a reckless junior named Brian (Beck) and we try to find major evidence against Malba (Andre) at his party. So my character dances with Malba at the party and pretends to be the daughter of one of his colleagues, Diovani, so he'll show me some top secret plans for his operation. Anyway, my character gets caught up in the lie and now has to meet up with Malba for some risky (and very illegal) operation. In the scene we're about to shoot, Rebecca is sort of having a mental breakdown, realising that's she's probably going to die tomorrow, and punches a hole through one of her walls. So we're using breakaway plaster that crumbles easier. (Although between you and me, I could definitely punch a hole through a real wall!)

"Alright, places everyone" Robbie calls out from his director's chair. I spot Beck lingering near the fake doorway and he shoots me a thumbs up. I smile at him. One of the makeup students runs over to me with a little dropper. She squirts some fake tears on my eyelids and cheeks; I can feel my mascara start to run. "And, action!" I begin hyperventilating and sink down onto the couch. I can feel all the cameras on me, capturing different angles of my "panic attack". I put my head in my hands and sob, my shoulders shaking. I get up and start pacing, then cry out in frustration "DAMNIT" I thrust my fist outward and straight into the wall. The fake plaster crumbles easily, making a large hole. I shrink down to my knees, crying and hugging my arms across my chest. Someone presses a button and a fake doorbell sounds. I raise my head slightly. "Becca?" Beck calls out, his voice slightly muffled by the door. "Becca I know you're in there" I wipe my eyes and get up off the floor to open the door.

Beck's dressed simply in jeans and a button-down, with a fake gun and police badge strapped to his belt. The camera zooms in as he examines my face, looking at the streaks of mascara. "What" I snap. "Why are you here Brian, I've got sh*t to do" I walk away from him, back into the fake living room. (Just so you know, we're allowed to swear in our dialogue!). "You're not going to the drop sight tomorrow" He says sternly, stepping inside my 'house'. "Of course I am" I say plainly, turning away from him. "Why are you doing this Becca?" He says, his voice breaking slightly.

"I don't have a choice, you know that better than anyone"

"But if meet up with Malba, you know that he'll realise you aren't Diovani's daughter and he'll kill you on the spot"

"You think I don't know that?" I reach up and turn his chin to me; just like we did in his trailer. "Listen to me Brian" I say, resting my hands just below his collar bone. The set is dead quiet. "I have gotten myself into this mess and I can get myself out of it. I know that I probably won't make it out alive, but if I don't show then he might come after you! He saw us dancing at the party and I can't risk you getting hurt!"

Beck scoffs, takes my hands of his chest and holds them. "When are you going to realise that I don't need protecting. I don't care what happens to me, because I know that if you were to leave me...I'd be better off buried six feet under" I pause so the camera can zoom, then softly say. "How can you be so sure?"

I get a bizarre sense of déjà vu as he pulls me by the waist towards him. He caresses the side of my face (which isn't in the script) and presses his lips against mine. I feel like my heart is exploding. I wrap my arms around the back of his neck and close my eyes. That's when I realise we aren't acting anymore. This isn't Brian and Rebecca, this is Beck and Tori. And I love that. I love love love that. He pulls away and looks into my eyes. He felt it too, the passion. He gives a small smile and we're both silent, just lost in each others eyes. "Beck" Robbie whispers. "You have the next line" Beck realises and snaps back into acting mode. "That enough proof?" He whispers. I give a little smile and nod back. "And cut!" Robbie yells. "Great job you guys" Becks arms linger around my waist for a second, before he pulls away. "Uh, yeah" He mumbles, eyeing me with a smile that's so sweet and innocent, I want to kiss him again. "Okay, let's move on to the final scene, Tori, Beck, Andre, head back and get changed into your costumes, Sinjin, Burf, Jade, help me set up the green screen" Robbie says, looking down at the clipboard in his hands. "Don't tell me what to do" Jade snaps. Andre, Beck and I head backstage to the dressing room; my heart still fluttering.