Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tori Vega has a… complicated relationship with her parents. Her friends know that much. But after their relatively recent divorce things got even more complicated. 

Tori’s dad moved out, and while he settled in his new apartment, her mother had wasted no time settling on her new single life, mostly neglecting Tori and Trina until it was convenient. 

And convenience came not long after, in the form of a fundraising event her mother had been putting together for work, a lavish event at some Los Angeles hotel, which her mother had made very clear to the girls that they would attend and be on their best behavior. Although the sisters knew their presence there was merely another scheme from her mother to play the card of the “recently broken up but stronger than ever family”, Trina rejoiced in the opportunity as soon as she heard important directors and household names of the industry would be in attendance. 

Tori, on the other hand, had had enough. 

“Thanks again for letting me crash here tonight, Andre.” Tori said as she entered her best friend’s house, her bag in one hand and a change of clothes in the other. 

“It’s no problem. My grandma’s in Fresno for the weekend, so you’ll sleep like a baby.” He assured. 

He was always so supportive, so when Tori called him after yet another heated discussion with her mother, he didn’t doubt for a second to offer the girl an understanding ear and a sofa to crash at. 

“What’s your grandma doing in Fresno?” Tori asked, just to lighten the mood slightly and because her curiosity was killing her. 

“See for yourself.” Andre said with a smile, pulling out his phone to show Tori a few pictures of her grandma, a couple of ladies around the same age wearing matching bowling shirts, a couple of bingo cartons, and what looked like a fat stack of dollars. 

“Wow.” Was all Tori was able to say. 

“I know, right? Go, grandma. She’s getting me the new Jordan’s while she’s there”  

The two shared a laugh as Andre recounted some of the stories his grandma had filled him in last time they talked, and Tori appreciated the change in atmosphere. Being at home was mostly bearable, especially if Trina was around, but holding her tongue around her mother had become more and more difficult over time, especially when she criticized Tori over the smallest things and diminished her opinions as “teenage rebellion”. 

“And… have you thought about what are you going to do about your mom?” Andre asked once the laughter had died down.

Tori let out a big sigh.

“Well, there’s not much I can do. Besides waiting until college and when I’m far, far away from there. Or at least until my dad settles into his new apartment and Trina and I can come by.” 

Andre smiled at the occurrence. He was also somehow relieved Tori’s dad was still in the picture after that nasty divorce. 

“Does that mean we get a new place for partying?” He said, just to lighten the mood again. 

“The apartment of an LA cop?” Troi matched his tone with a raised eyebrow.

“Yep, never mind.”

Tori let out a laugh, and how Andre´s jokes made her feel better. 

“What was the fight about this time?” He said. Tori shifted on her seat, recalling the events for a second and feeling that burning anger bubble up again in her chest.

“If you’re up to talk about it.” Andre quickly added, noticing her reaction.

“No, it’s okay, she’s just… agh!” Was all Tori could say, and it did sum up her feelings pretty well but she wasn’t sure she had gotten her point across. 

“”Agh” hm? I know that feeling.”

“She has this stupid fundraising coming up and she wants us to keep her act of “sugar, spice and everything nice” for the press at the event.” 

“That doesn’t sound so bad. Just a night of twirling on a fluffy dress, maybe sneaking a few drinks and you’re out.” Andre reasoned.

“And…” Tori added.

“Oh, there’s more.”

“She made it very clear that Trina and I have to bring dates, so she and agh, Gary-” Tori said the name of her mother’s boyfriend (and her father’s former best friend) with all the disgust it diserved.

“Damn, Gary.” Andre added. He didn’t know most of the story, but he was being supportive.

“-don’t stand out too much.” 

“Still sounds like a good excuse to get a cute girl as your date.” Andre added with a little wiggle of his eyebrows. 

Tori rolled her eyes.

“A male date.” 

“Ooooh.” Now he understood better. 

Ever since Tori came out a few months back, following some weeks of self-reflection and some help from her friends, her mom had not been thrilled at all. In fact, she was still somehow in denial, condescendingly assuring Tori it was “just a phase” and that she’ll “grow out of it.”

“On this day and age?!” Andre said, honestly offended at the nerve this woman had. If anything, they lived in LA, for god’s sake, one trip to West Hollywood could assure you that being gay isn’t “Just a phase” anymore. 

“I know!” Tori said, flopping down onto the couch again and grabbing a pillow to her chest.

“You can always fake a broken leg. Or your death.” Andre offered. “Cat’s great with prosthetics and fake documents.”

“I’m not risking that again, thank you.” 

The two talked for a while, sharing bits of gossip from school and ideas for assignments, but by now it was getting late, and when Tori let out a huge yawn, Andre took it as his cue to bring her some sheets and a pillow. 

“I’m sure everything will work itself out.” Andre assured her with a sweet smile.

“Thanks.” Tori said, matching the gesture.

That night Tori felt tired but she couldn’t bring herself to sleep, she repeated the latest fights with her mother and it annoyed her out of her mind, bringing her closer and closer to a literal tantrum and farther away from a night of sleep. 

She sat up on the couch with a groan and immediately started scrolling through her phone.

“She wants me to bring a date, I’ll bring her a date.” She said, under her breath, hoping Andre hadn’t heard her talking to herself. 

Monday morning at school everything was normal. People rushed from their lockers to classrooms, the group exchanged quick hello’s before class and Rex said something sexist. Except, there was something different. Tori was nowhere to be seen.

“Maybe she’s stuck behind the line of coffee drinkers by the quad.” Robbie supplied. 

“Or maybe she stopped to get us all cookies!” Cat said, excitedly. 

“Maybe Trina finally crashed on the I-10.” Jade said with a wicked grin. 

“Or maybe she’s just late.” And Beck, ever the voice of reason, was right. 

The bell rang not long after and the group, like the rest of the students, dispersed to go to their respective classrooms. Only Jade was left behind, getting some books from her locker with the speed of somehow who does not care one bit about getting to class late.

Then Tori came bursting through the school doors, disheveled, book bag hanging precariously from her shoulder and sporting a coffee stain on her shirt the size of her head. Jade, of course, had the delight to greet her. 

“Hey, Vega. You’re late.” Jade said, closing her locker as a wicked grin spread across her face. “And you look terrible.”

Tori only groaned in response, not feeling up to entertaining Jade with a witty response today.

“Not today, Jade. First Trina almost crashed on our way here, then the bakery was closed and finaly those damn coffee addicts by the quad.” She said, making her way to her locker. The other girl followed with a calm strut. 

“And you’re late too!” Tori added, exasperated. So much for not entertaining her with an answer. 

“I know. First period is Mr. Maddon.”

“So?”

“So, he doesn’t give me tardies ‘cause he’s afraid I might curse him.”

Tori had to stop her struggle with her books for a second, just to process what Jade had just said. At first, she looked at the goth girl like she had just told her a bad joke, but then Tori’s eyes shifted to a mixture of curiosity and fear. You never knew with Jade. 

“Did you…”

Jade rolled her eyes at the insinuation.

“I didn’t, we were pranking Sinjin with special effects for my short film and he was collateral. Useful collateral, though. He screams exactly like a 55-year-old provincial woman.” Jade quickly became uninterested in the conversation, choosing instead to inspect her nails as she left Tori even more confused than before. 

The singer groaned one more time, finally able to get her books and dreading the lecture that followed due to her tardiness.

“Either way, you shouldn’t skip class.” Tori said. They were sort of, maybe friends, she could care about Jade.

“I do what I want.” Jade said without skipping a beat. That was one of her favorite answer to most things, Tori had come to realize. 

She dismissed her with a movement of her hand.

“Yeah, yeah, the bad girl act. We all know it.” 

And just like that Tori went from turning away from her locker to being pinned against it by a perfectly manicured, pale hand. 

Tori barely had any time to register whatever was happening, and how forceful yet delicate the entire movement was, or how her senses quickly filled with the scent of roses and pinecones, or how a pair of piercing blue eyes were staring straight at hers, sending a chill running down her spine.   

“Not an act, Vega.” Was all Jade had to say, and that was enough to get Tori’s breath stuck in her throat.

Jade looked down for a second, her hand coming down from Tori’s shoulder where it once pressed firmly to lay back at her side, the incidental brush of said hand against Tori’s arm sending yet another chill down her spine. God, why was she such a mess? She knew better than to let Jade scare her. Although none of this felt like being scared. 

“You should get to class.” Jade mocked, turning on her heels to walk away and down the hallway. “Or people are going to start believing I’m a bad influence on you.”

As Jade disappeared around a corner, presumably still sporting that cocky grin of hers, it was safe to say Tori wasn’t going anywhere soon. She wanted to, her brain had just suddenly stopped working thus making it hard to move her legs or breathe for that matter. 

She was left feeling angry, frustrated and a whole other array of emotions she couldn’t quite place. 

Why was Jade getting so much more on her nerves than before? Nothing had changed, they still had this sort of rivalry/friendship between them, although Jade wouldn’t admit it. The goth girl still made the same jokes and jabs at her and they could still spend hours bickering over the smallest things. But despite it all, Tori felt comfortable in their newfound routine. 

So why, pray tell, were her cheeks flushed and a cocktail of frustration had begun boiling at the pit of her stomach?

“Stupid Jade.” Tori mumbled as she angrily shouldered her bag. 

“ It’s not an act .” She childishly mocked. “Who does she think she is? She is so annoying and bitter and bitchy…”

And just then, as she listed less than flattering adjectives about her so-called friend, a moment of genius struck the singer. 

“I need a favor.” Tori said, rushing to the group’s usual table, where there was currently only Jade enjoying her lunch and a trailer for an upcoming scary movie. 

“Hello to you too.” The other girl replied sarcastically, keeping her eyes glued to the phone screen.

“Sorry, hi.” Tori said, still in a rush. “Will you help me?”

“You know, an important part of asking for a favor is stating whatever it is you want.”

“Right, I-” But before Tori could explain further, Jade interrupted her.

“Another important part of asking for a favor is telling someone who actually cares.” And with that Jade turned her attention back to her screen, where a woman was being brutally murdered by what seemed like mutant penguins. Jade laughed like it was a comedy. 

Tori groaned, frustrated yet again, and took the phone away from Jade’s hands, locking it. The glare the other girl threw at her, cold as ice, was enough to make Tori regret her decision. 

“Just, please, hear me out.” Tori said, almost begged. 

Jade seemed to weigh her words for a moment. Or she just liked to see her so desperate.

“Go on.”

Then, for the first time since arriving at the table, Tori took a long breath. 

“My mom’s work is hosting a fundraising-”

“I know about that.” Jade immediately interrupted.

“How do you know about that?!”

“Because my dad is going.”

Jade kept eating her lunch ever so casually and Tori knew her patience, like Jade’s, couldn't last long.

“I need you to pretend to be my date for the fundraising to piss off my mom!” She finally said, practically blurting out the words.

At least that had been enough to get Jade’s attention away from her lunch and her eyes on Tori. The chill that went down Tori’s spine told her, however, that that might not be an improvement. 

She was ready for Jade to scream at her, maybe make fun of her and ridicule her. Tori even closed her eyes, readying for the blow or for a fork stab to the hand. But it never hit her. 

“Alright.” 

A single word. That was all she heard, and for a second she thought she might be imagining things.

“What?” She asked, dumbfounded.

“You heard me.” Jade said, back to her casual demeanor once more. 

“Really?!” Tori said, excitement taking over.

“But you should know that plan is not going to work.” 

And there it was. The staple Jade West criticism. 

“Why not?”

“First of all, I look like this.” Jade said, gesturing at herself, then she pointed a finger at Tori. “And you look like that.”

Tori fumbled, trying to insult her back, but Jade didn’t give her any time to answer. 

“And second, your mom won’t believe this whole fake dating shit, or she won’t even care. She barely knows me.”  

“So what do you suggest?” Tori said, rolling her eyes. 

“Did your acting get better?”

“Jade, I swear to God-”

“We fake date for the entire month.”

“What?”

“You heard me.”

“But- why?!”

“It gives your mom enough time to get to know me, therefore hate me, therefore probably lay off your back until the event. Maybe even after, if we play our cards right.”

Tori didn’t say anything. She merely let Jade’s words sink in, because, and she wouldn’t admit it right away, the plan was actually genius. But she was still suspicious.

“What do you get out of this?” Tori asked her, eyeing the girl cautiously. 

Jade only rolled her eyes at her.

“An upfront payment of watching you beg me for help.” Jade said with a wicked grin. Now Tori rolled her eyes.

“And I also get to piss off my dad for some time.” Jade said as she poked her lunch with a plastic fork, looking down at her plate, almost avoiding Tori’s eyes.

“Why do you want to piss off your dad?” She asked. 

“None of your business.” Jade said, looking up from her plate to glare daggers at Tori yet again. The singer only lifted her hands as a sign of surrender. “Either way, he deserves it.”

As if Jade couldn’t get even more cryptical.

Either way, Tori couldn’t get another word in, or even process what had just happened, because Jade was already putting her lunch away and shouldering her bag.

“So, do we have a deal?” She said, icy blue eyes looking down at Tori and making her feel like she was about to make a deal with the devil. 

Still, she took the small, pale hand in hers and shook it. This was her idea after all, with only a few minor tweaks. What could go wrong?

“Deal.” She said, decisively. 

Jade merely smiled at her, leaving her at the table confused and a bit scared, but somewhat satisfied. Her plan was officially rolling. 

And nothing could go wrong!

Chapter Text

In retrospect, Tori should've negotiated the terms of such a deal when she had the chance. But to be fair, Tori was desperate. She had walked up to Jade with half a plan at most and she had walked out with a whole scheme, one she believed she knew too little about.

By last period it was like Jade had read her mind, when a text from the girl caught her attention mid class.

Jade: Meet me at Nozu tonight. We have planning to do.

Ok, Tori thought, this was good. A better chance to negotiate her terms on a neutral place, where Jade couldn’t murder her.

Jade: Don't let anyone follow you.

Maybe she could still murder her, but it was worth the shot.

At exactly 8 pm Tori entered the sushi place to be greeted by a large bouncer, apron on and a large kitchen knife on one hand.

"Name." He said with a deep, menacing voice.

Tori fumbled with her words for a second. Nozu did not have a bouncer, unless the owner had finally come through with her promise of ruining her life.

"Tori Vega…?" Tori said, almost like a question.

The bouncer stared at her for a second before pulling out a small notepad and nodding.

"Over here, please."

He opened the door to the restaurant to find it was dimly lit, with the same usual bursting clientele, but mostly couples. 

The large men guided Tori towards the back of the restaurant, were a table for two was waiting and there sat Jade, dressed head to toe in black and looking gorgeous, if Tori did say so herself.

"Hey." Tori greeted, cheery as usual as she sat across from the other girl.

"You're late." Was the reply she got.

Tori checked her phone. 8:10 pm.

"No, i'm not! You said eight!" Tori protested.

"And it's now-" Hade pulled her own phone out. "8:11!" She said, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

Tori only rolled her eyes at her.

"Seriously, Vega. If we're going to date you could at least put a little effort into this."

Just in time Jade’s plate arrived, and Tori took the chance to give her a piece of her mind. Or at least tried. 

“Yeah, about that.” She said, angry. Jade only acknowledged her with a raised eyebrow. “We should establish some ground rules.”

“That’s why we’re here.” Jade said, matter-of-factly.

“So, what exactly is your plan.”

“Same as yours.” Jade said, taking a bite of her sushi and not elaborating further.

“Yeah, you’re gonna have to be more specific than that.”

The girl took her time to chew, swallow and wipe her mouth, and Tori knew he was just doing it to get a rise out of her. She also hated how it was somewhat working.

“Look, Vega, it’s simple. We go on a few dates, put a bit of a show around our parents and boom, they either back off or pop a vein.”

“I don’t really want my mom to pop a vein… I don’t think.” She did muse it over for a second, before getting back on track. “Still, who do we tell?”

“About the fake dating? No one. Not even Andre, Beck, Cat or Robbie. And especially not Trina.” Jade said sternly.  

“But why? It doesn’t affect them.”

“Do I have to remind you about the Robberazzi fiasco? Or about Tina and Cat’s blabbermouths?” Tori went silent for a second. Jade did have a point.

“If you want to tell Andre or Beck be my guest, but a secret is best kept between the least amount of people. And you’re already too many.”

Tori wasn’t sure if that had just been an insult. It felt like one, but she did trust Jade’s calculating tone, even if it meant lying to her friends and her sister.

“Alright, we won’t tell anyone.” She concluded. Jade didn’t say anything.

“What about girlfriend stuff?” Tori asked, and for a second she swore she saw Jade almost choke on her water.

“Girlfriend stuff?” Jade repeated, in great part to make sure she had heard her correctly.

“Yeah, like hugging and kissing and going on dates.” Tori explained innocently.

And it was important stuff to discuss beforehand, but she still caught how Jade almost choked again, this time on her sushi.

“Look, it’ll be nothing and it’s important if we want people to believe this. It’s just like a play for class.” Tori said immediately, sensing the girl’s discomfort. 

And all things considered, even if Jade got her own bit of revenge out of this, she was still doing this to help Tori. She didn’t want Jade to feel uncomfortable in the slightest.

“Yeah, obviously.” Jade said, back to her sarcastic self. “We have to sell this, it’s only logical.” 

“Yeah, completely logical.” Tori agreed, feeling like she was also trying to convince herself a little.

Could they really be able to pull this off? Sure, Tori was a good actress and she would say the same about Jade in a heartbeat, but the two girls were like oil and water. They had about as much in common as… yes, she was definitely less witty than usual, because she couldn’t even think of a good enough metaphor for how much different she was from Jade.

“We should start by at least knowing things about the other.” Tori said, immediately after, and Jade didn’t argue.

“Alright, like what?”

Then Tori called for a waiter. 

“Like our favorite sushi order.” Tori said as the waiter neared the table. “One super duper Sugoi roll, please.”  

The waiter took the order and left the table with a smile, but Jade only scoffed.

“What?” Tori asked, confused.

“I’d never order that.”

“Why? You like salmon.” Tori said, pointing at the girl’s own plate.

“I hate ridiculous names like super sugoi whatever. I’m not saying that to a waiter.” Jade rolled her eyes, but Tori only pulled out her note app, eagerly typing the new info.

“See? We’re getting somewhere already.”

Jade rolled her eyes yet again, but she couldn’t help the smile that tugged at her lips then. Tori swore it was just a trick of the light.

“Wait.” Tori said, putting her phone down. She had just realized something. “Is this our first date, then?”

Jade seemed caught off guard again, and had the lights in the restaurant not been as dim as they were, Tori would have probably caught the faint blush that took over her face then.

“I guess it is.” She said, taking another sip of her water. Then she seemed to regain her composure, because she was staring at Tori with those icy blue eyes again, almost like a challenge. “Better make it count, Vega.”

And, as always, Tori took that challenge.

“Oh, I will.”

How, exactly, she wasn’t sure. But she had time to figure it out.

The next day at school was interesting.

Both of them had agreed that since they had exactly a month until the fundraiser, the scheme (as Tori called it, annoying Jade) should begin immediately. And so, the morning after at school Tori showed up with a cup of Chai tea, Jade’s favorite, so proud of herself for having her notes be so useful and for playing the part of such a thoughtful girlfriend.

She knew well that had she had a girlfriend, a real one and not pretend that is, she would bring her coffee and tea every morning. She was just that thoughtful.

For now Jade was nowhere to be seen, but it was still early, so Tori made a quick stop by her locker to get some books for class.

She would admit she was nervous about the new day, about actually pulling this whole girlfriends act and, for the time being, explaining this… thing to her friends, and maybe eventually explain the real thing to them again, but she would cross that bridge when she gets to it. For now, she had to get into the mindset of being Jade’s girlfriend.

Was it wrong that the thought didn’t repulse her as much as she thought she would? To be frank, it did scare her and mostly made her nervous, but Jade was by no means hard on the eyes, and even with their fights, she was really fun to hang out with.

Tori was beginning to spiral in her thoughts again, something that was happening much too frequently recently, but before she could force herself to stop, the feeling of a pair of lanky arms wrapping around her waist made her mind go blank.

There was again that familiar scent of roses and pinecones, this time accompanied by a gentle pressure against her back. If the enchanting smell or the black nail polish hadn’t given it away, Tori would’ve recognized the owner of that voice anywhere. What puzzled her were the words that came out of her mouth.

“Good morning, girlfriend.” Jade said, weirdly sweetly and with a sultry voice that instantly sent a raging blush to Tori’s face.

“Good morning.” Tori said, or rather mumbled, because she wasn’t sure she had the ability to talk right now.

Jade put some distance between them then, not much, just enough for Tori to turn around and face her, which she did immediately.

“Uhm…” Tori stuttered again. She was about to say something but she just, forgot.

Jade seemed to be enjoying the whole thing, making Tori look like a fool had always been a favorite of hers. While Tori fumbled some more she looked down at the girl’s hands, and at the very obvious extra cup of coffee that read “Jade” on it.

“Is that for me?” She asked, grinning wider this time.

“Uhm, yes!” Tori said, forcing herself to please make a coherent sentence. “Coffee! I mean, tea.” That’ll have to do.

Jade let out a little laugh while grabbing the cup.

“Thank you.” Jade said, leaning forward slightly to place a kiss on Tori’s cheek and rest her arms on her shoulders. Yeah, her brain wasn’t going to be much use now.

Jade lingered there for a second, and Tori couldn’t see her, but she knew she had that devilish grin on her face.

“You’re gonna have to do more than coffee and stuttering like a fool to sell this, Vega.” And she was back to reality.

It wasn’t just a weird dream like Tori initially thought. Jade really was being this flirty and touchy with her, but just for the act. They were acting.

“So, how’s your morning?” Tori asked, laying a hand on Jade’s waist to keep her just as close.

Jade looked down at the hand for a second, grin still in place, and told Tori about her morning. At this point, the only unusual thing, besides the obvious, was the fact that Jade hadn’t threatened her yet, although sarcasm was still very much present.

“Uhm…” A very confused voice caught their attention, and Tori could feel Jade tense under her touch. Because there stood Andre and Cat, looking like they had just seen a ghost riding a unicycle.

“Am I still asleep? Did I miss first period?” Cat asked to no one in particular, panicking.

“Nah, you’re awake. We probably hit our heads or something.” Andre clarified, keeping his eyes on the couple in front of him.

“Oh, not the first time then.” Cat said, relaxing immediately. Andre would have been more concerned if it wasn’t for the scene in front of him.  

“Hey, guys.” Jade said casually, arms still resting lazily on top of Tori’s shoulders.

Tori only nodded and smiled. She had to play this cool.

“Hello!” Cat said, happy as ever once more.

“What’s going on?” Andre asked, still puzzled.

“You said we hit our heads.” Cat supplied, but Andre ignored her. He wanted answers from the two lovebirds in front of him.

“I guess we should tell them.” Tori said, looking back at Jade with a small smile, which she matched.

“We’re dating.” Jade simply said, loud enough to get a few heads to turn around and even a guy to spit out his drink.

Andre shared the sentiment.

“You’re what?!” He bellowed.

 “Yaaay, I’ve had this dream before!” Cat cheered, earning a few estranged looks from her friends. 

“What’s so hard to understand?” Jade said, somewhat menacingly and choosing to ignore Cat.

“Nothing, just…” Andre put his hands up defensively. “How did this happen? You were 2 sentences away from murdering each other last week.”

“Well, things change.” Jade said, leveling Andre and Cat with a look. Then she gave Tori a subtle shove, her cue to intervene in the conversation. 

“We simply… realized our feelings for each other and decide to give this a try.”

“When?” Cat asked happily, still believing this was one of her recurring more ship-y dreams.

“Last Saturday!” Tori blurted out and Andre gave her a suspicious look. 

“You were at my house on Saturday.” Shit.

“And after that I went to Jade’s house. She let me vent about my mom for a while and we got to talking and… yep! That was it.” Tori said, hoping her cheeriness was making up for the blatant lie. 

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Andre asked. 

“We wanted to wait until today. Or you would’ve thought ti t was a prank or something.” Tori had a point, this might as well all be a very elaborate prank, but Andre seemed to believe it.

“Welp, that checks out. Congrats you two.” He said. 

“Yaaaay, I hope this happens to real-life Jade and Tori.” Cat said again through a laugh. 

Before anyone could answer that, the bell rang, and the group rushed to their respective classes, including the incredulous lookers the couple had attracted. 

“C’mon, Cat. I’ll explain on our way to class.” Andre said, casually saying bye to his friends. “See you guys at lunch.” 

“Alright! Bye, Jori!”

Tori and Jade were left in stunned silence, even Jade looked surprised that that explanation had worked. Or maybe she was just weirded out about the ship name Cat had invested on them. 

“That was a success.” Tori said happily, still very close to Jade with her hand resting casually on her waist. 

Then Jade stepped away, crossing her arms and shouldering her bag to get to class. Tori tried to ignore the sudden pang in her chest when she did so.

“You know? It really was.” Jade said, the hint of that playful grin still in place. 

And Tori couldn’t help but smile back. 

Lunch came around soon enough and Tori was the first at their usual table. A rare occurrence, so she decided to enjoy the few minutes of peace before her friends joined, taking a big bite from her sandwich, or she would’ve, had Andre not rushed at her and slapped her sandwich back to her plate.

“Why?!” She yelled at her friend as he sat next to her. 

“What did Jade do to you? She’s still in class, you can tell me.” He said in a rush and somewhat scared. 

“She didn’t do anything!” Tori yelled again, doing her best to put her sandwich back together. 

“Wait, so you two are actually dating?” He asked, still indreculous. 

“Yes!”

“Huh.”

“That’s it? “Huh”?!” Tori couldn’t blame him for being incredulous, but to mess with her sandwich was a whole other level. 

“Well, you can’t blame me for thinking you were in a hostage situation! I thought you and Jade hated each other.” Andre said, relaxing by popping a fry into his mouth. “Although, I can actually see it now. Opposites attract and all that.”

“You can?” Tori asked, it sort of slipped out.

“Yeah, I mean all those threats and sarcasm and even jealousy sometimes was clearly masking something. I’m just glad you two seem to have talked it out.” Andre was pretty relaxed now, having pieced together this weird occurrence finally, Tori, however, was starting to freak out. 

“Wha- Wait, what jealousy?” 

“You know, when I had that crush on her and when she got back with Beck and when she flirted with that girl at that party-” Andre seemed to have endless examples of Tori’s unchecked jealousy, which wasn’t helping with her freaking out. 

 “But hey! She and Beck broke up for good months ago and you don’t talk with that guy anymore… You two even seem happier, it’s a good change not having you bicker over everything all the time.”

“Huh.” Was all Tori said, too busy having a teeny tiny panic attack. 

“Hey.” Again, the voice of the sort of object of her panic interrupted her thoughts. 

Jade took a sit next to Tori and greeted Andre with a subtle nod, like most days, except this time she planted a kiss on her cheek before taking her own lunch out. 

Not long after Beck, Robbie and Cat joined them. Or rather Robbie rushed to the table, almost spilling the contents of his tray onto the table, falling just between Jade and Tori.

"Someone tell Cat to stop pranking me." He said, no greetings needed.

"It's not a prank!" Cat said, a bit more chill but still offended. "Andre spent first period explaining it to me." 

"Yeah, who needs to take notes for the upcoming test anyway." Andre said, sarcastically.

Robbie only scoffed.

"She says you two are dating." He said, laughing and pointing between Tori and Jade.

The two girls only shared a quick look before Jade grabbed Robbie by his shoulder and made him fall back first from the stool and onto the hard concrete with a loud thud, followed by a high pitched "ouch".

"Yeah, she's not pranking you." Tori assured, draping an arm around Jade like it was the most casual thing ever.

Jade scooted closer, sticking her tongue out at Robbie, who laid on the floor, bruised and confused.

Robbie chose to stay there for a while, he felt dizzy, probably due to the confusion or maybe Jade had given him another concussion. Still, it was a lot to process.

At least Cat fed him fries from the table throughout lunch.

Otherwise, everything went on as usual. The group chatted and laughed like any other day, with the exception of when Jade and Tori sneaked little comments and giggles at the other.

Eventually the bell ringed, signaling the end of lunch, and everyone went their separate ways, except Jade and Beck, who still had Geography together.

"So…" He said, once they were alone in the hallway. Jade saw this one coming. "You and Tori, huh?"

"Yep, me and Tori. Why? Is there a problem?" Jade said, some edge to her words, but she kept walking towards the classroom.

Beck only lifted his hands defensively.

"Chill. I was just saying."

"Hm."

"I kind of saw it coming." 

And that was enough to get Jade to stop dead in her tracks.

"Elaborate." She said, and Beck knew that tone, it was either a trap or a test. Or both. Luckily, he did not care.

"Well, yeah." He said, casually, and therefore annoying Jade. "You've always had this really intense chemistry. I'm glad you two talked it through."

Jade wanted to say  many things. To wipe that smug look off his face and probably tell him how she was just doing Vega a favor because of how pathetic she looked and how she just wanted to give her dad some hell, and that was it. Lord knows she had been repeating those words like a mantra, and Beck, of all people, wasn’t gonna be the one to mess with her head further. But she couldn’t say that.

In order for this to work, Jade knew she had to stick to the lie. The rule she herself had set.

"Is that so?" Jade said, her voice almost straining, and she knew Beck had noticed. God dammit.

"Yeah." He said, simply. "You look happy."

Jade knew a lot about Beck, they had dated for two years after all, and so she knew when he was being genuine. This was one of those times.

Beck resumed his walk, opening the door to the classroom and sitting at his usual table. Jade, however, stood there for a while, staring at the door with a mixture of annoyance, offense and surprise.

Because what did Beck even know? She was just acting, who said anything about being happy.

Surely those butterflies in her stomach and the incessant blushing had a good explanation. And Jade would not entertain the thought any further.

The week went by fast and, thankfully, without further incidents. And even though the lingering stares and whispering from their classmates did not go unnoticed, Tori honestly thought it was going to be worse.

After the long day, and to celebrate such success with their little plan, Tori decided to order some pizza and catch up with some homework. Or at least, that was her plan until Trina came marching through the front door, giggling incessantly at her phone.

"Can you believe what people come up with sometimes?" She said through a nasal laugh.

"Hello to you too." Tori said, setting her book down and fixing her glasses. "Whose life are they gossiping about now?"

"Yours!" Trina said, showing Tori very forcefully her phone. 

There, displayed on the tiny screen of TheSlap, were pictures of her and Jade during lunch and in the hallways, except blurry as hell and barely discernible, like those bigfoot pictures with red circles all over.

Trina burst out laughing as Tori scrolled through the feed.

"They're saying you're dating Jade!" Trina cried, almost in tears from all the laughter. "They're calling you jori and everything."

Tori then locked the phone and glared at Trina for a solid minute, while she regained her composure.

"Can you believe it? Oh my god, I hadn’t laughed like that in a while." Trina wiped a tear from her eye.

"We are." And there Trina went, thrown into hysterical laughter again thanks to Tori's comment.

"Why is that so hard to believe?!" Tori asked, fairly angry.

"Not judging! It’s just hard to believe you'd go for Elvira, Mistress of the snark after dating wonder bread brand boys all your life" Trina defended.

"Yeah, definitely not feeling judged." Tori rolled her eyes, and a bit of bitterness escaped her tone 

Trina had at least managed to breathe again.

"And besides, you two hate each other." 

"Well, not anymore." Tori said, casually, but still a bit of anger slipped through.

And just as Trina was about to laugh uncontrollably for the next hour, Tori stopped her, placing a hand on top of her mouth. Trina stared back at her sister, who only raised an eyebrow at her. A bit of a secret language the two had developed through years of living together.

"Wait, are you serious!?" She yelled. Or Tori assumed she did, it was hard to understand her with her hand on her mouth.

"Yes, I am. Why does no one believe me?" 

Trina answered her question, but again, it was all mumbling against her hand. Then Tori removed it, wiping away the stray drool with disgust.

"I said, when did that happen?" 

Tori took a deep breath and avoided her sister's vigilant gaze for a second. She had to focus.

Don't fuck it up, Vega.

"It's… recent. Very. Since Saturday." Tori said, and Trina only eyed her for a second.

The silence became unbearable, and although Tori wouldn't give her sister much credit most of the time (like any normal younger sister) she knew Trina could catch her lies easily.

Trina gave her a weird, really intense stare and Tori had to make a herculean effort not to crack under her gaze. After a few long seconds, Trina finished her analisis.

"In retrospect. It actually makes sense." The older girl said, kicking her feet on the couch and pulling out her phone again like nothing had happened.

That almost made Tori snap. She was pretty sure Trina would’ve been able to hear her brain brraking down.

"Is that so?" Tori said, through a fake, sort of strained smile.

"Yeah, I mean you two hang out all the time. And you also have that weird tension going on between you. It was a matter of time before hormones did their work." 

"Please never say hormones in that context again." Tori groaned.

"Hormones, hormones, hormones." Trina mocked, real mature.

"But hey, if you’re happy that's what matters." Trina added, actually being mature this time. It even warmed Tori’s heart.

"Thank you, Trina. That's actually really nice of you to s-" 

"Besides, now that you have a girlfriend you'll probably won’t be sulking around on the weekends like usual." Trina quickly added, effectively ruining the moment.

"When have I sulked?" Tori shrieked.

Trina only stared her up and down, making a general point about her pajamas, fluffy slippers and the copious amounts of ice cream Tori could eat when feeling down or stressed, as she was doing now, by the looks of the empty bowl next to them.

Then, almost like magic, Tori’s screen lit up at the coffee table, displaying a new message from Jade. Trina only gave her sister a shit eating grin, as she liked to do.

Once her point had been made, Trina stood up again, shouldering her bag and retrieved upstairs to her room.

"Have fun! And careful with those hormones!" Trina yelled from the stairs.

"Stop that!" Tori yelled back.

How Trina managed to embarrass her so easily but be supportive at the same time she would never understand. She guessed that was just a sister thing.

Once Tori had calmed down she picked up her phone to check the message that had Trina grinning like an idiot.

Jade: Get ready. We're going on a date.

Tori stared at her phone with confusion. The two hadn’t planned anything and her pizza was on the way. Besides, a girl could do with being a bit more romanced.

Tori: Kinda busy tonight.

She wrote back, leaving her phone on the coffee table as she made her way to the kitchen. 

A mix of Trina's, Cat’s and Andre's words swirled her mind endlessly.

Why was everyone so okay with all this dating stuff? Sure, she wouldn’t expect her friends to be jerks about it, but to everyone it just seemed so… logical. Like she and Jade were bound to happen eventually.

Guess the only people who didn’t receive the memo were Jade and her.

 Then, as if on cue, she heard a knock on the front door. 

It puzzled Tori even more, since her pizza wouldn't be there for another 15 minutes, but it didn't really matter anymore, because there at the threshold stood Jade, wearing a beautiful and very revealing black blouse, makeup done and hair draping loosely to each side of her head. A single blood red rose on one hand and her car keys on the other.

Tori stood there, frozen and probably on the verge of drooling. 

"Why aren't you ready?" Jade only asked, walking past Tori to get inside. Tori, who was wearing her pajamas and fluffy bunny slippers.

"Jade, what are you doing here? You just texted me like 10 minutes ago." She protested while Jade made herself comfortable in her livingroom.

"It's Friday. Couples go out on Fridays." She stated, like it was the lost obvious thing in the world.

"You could've given me a heads up." Tori said.

Jade only rolled her eyes in response, pulling out her phone.

"I'll wait for you here, then."

Tori groaned in exhasperation. No amount of pretty clothes and eyeshadow could make her forget just how much Jade annoyed her sometimes. 

"I'm not going anywhere. I have tons of homework." She protested.

"You really want to stay here on a Friday night doing homework?"

Tori didn’t answer her, measuring her next words. Meanwhile, Jade just stood up from the couch and walked over to the kitchen table, where a vase filled with water stood, filled with eucalyptus and other greenery. She sticked the rose in the water, careful not to damage the delicate flower and Tori could feel herself staring, but unable to look away.

Jade walked back to her, vase forgotten once more on the kitchen table.

"For you." She said. "Keep it in water and indirect sunlight." 

Tori stood there for a second, looking between the girl in front of her and the vase, far away on the table, that now seemed more lively somehow.

"That's very thoughtful of you." Tori said, and she meant it. 

"I'm that thoughtful." Jade shrugged, but the playful smile on her face did not go unnoticed. It almost made Tori smile back, maybe even giggle? God, she was a mess.

"Well, go get ready, Vega. The movie starts in 20 minutes." Jade said, immediately after, effectively breaking whatever trance tori had been put under.

Tori rolled her eyes, walking past her to stand, literally, between Jade and her open books, spread around the coffee table, where her History of Theatre homework laid half done.

"What movie?" Tori asked. The temptation to just go out and worry about her homework later was too great to ignore.

"It's a surprise." Jade said, cryptical as always.

"It's not a scary movie, right?"

"No, it's not. I know how much of a wuss you are."

Tori would’ve taken offense in that, had it not been kind of true. Still, she measured out her options. And going out with Jade definitely won by a long shot.

"Alright, be down in ten." Tori said, dashid for the stairs.

"Hurry." Jade called, watching her go while she made herself comfortable on the sofa.

By then Jade had decided to scroll through her phone, just to kill a few minutes, when a certain voice interrupted her peace.

"Well, well, well. If it isn’t the girlfriend." Trina said, coming down the stairs.

"Hi, Trina." Jade said bitterly, estranged by the unusual greeting, if it could be called that.

Trina then breaked her fake relaxed demeanor to jump next to Jade, getting close and pointing an accusatory finger at her.

"What are your intentions with my sister?" She asked, while Jade only stared her down. Truth be told, Trina was terrified, but it was too late to think this through.

"Is this your way of giving me the shovel talk?" Jade raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe." 

Jade's stare got more intense then, that stare she gave out as a warning. Trina gulped loudly.

Then Jade immediately relaxed.

"We're only going to the movies. I'll bring her back by 10:30." She said, casually, catching Trina by surprise.

"That's… good." Trina cleared her throat, trying to regain her composure, but still surprised Jade hadn’t punched her when she got the chance. "Great. Have fun."

Trina stood up to retrieve back to her bedroom and appreciate the fact that she still had all her teeth. Then she heard a car park at the driveway.

"Oh, shit." She said.

"What is it?" Jade asked, turning to look at the sister.

"Unless you want to meet your new mother-in-law, I suggest you go out the terrace now." 

Jade froze then, many conflicting feelings hitting her all at once. This entire act was meant for them to mess with their parents, but she didn’t expect she would be meeting Tori’s mom now, or like this. 

Come to think of it, they all hung out at Tori’s frequently, so why had she never met her mother before?

Still, Jade West wasn’t afraid of some bigoted woman, be it Tori’s mom or not; god knows she had met enough of them while living in Los Angeles.

"Hey, lovebird. You have 5 minutes." Trina called, snapping her fingers.

But yeah, she could meet her mom later. They had time. Preferably once she chaned into a less revealing blouse and had at least rehearsed what she was going to say.

Without another word Jade stood from the couch and ran to the back terrace, where she hoped she could sneak around and back to her car in time.

Trina rushed after her, closing the terrace sliding door behind her, just in time for her mom to come marching in.

"Hey, honey." She said, checking her phone.

"Hey, mom!" Trina said, maybe a bit too loudly, but luckily her mom didn’t notice.

"Are going to the terrace?"

"No!" She yelled again. 

Jade, at the other side of the door and knees deep in some bushes, cringed. Why couldn’t she just have stayed? 

"I mean-" Trina quickly corrected when her mom gave her a estranged look. "These mosquitoes are so annoying, I'm just going to lock up here so they don’t come in."

Her mom shrugged, turning her attention back to her phone.

"Alright, honey. You have fun."

Trina took a deep breath to relax, but this wasn't over.

"Hey, do you happen to know whose car is that parked in front of our house?"

"I…" Trina trailed off, lookin for what to say.

And just to make matters worse. Tori came back down the stairs then, makeup done and wearing something much, much nicer than her pajamas.

"Alright, Jade. I'm ready." She announced loudly, hurrying down the stairs, only to see Jade was nowhere to be found, Trina was pressing against the terrace door breathing heavily and her mother was looking at her like she had just caught her sneaking out.

"Well, hello, honey. Going out somewhere?" Her mother asked.

Tori felt a bit of a knot in her throat. She wasn’t doing anything bad per se, she knew that, but she still felt like a deer in the headlights.

Things had already placated with her mom over the week, but that didn't mean they were okay, much less willing to pass up a fight.

"I am." She said, trying to sound casual.

"And who's Jade?" Her mom asked then, a hint of something laced in her voice that Tori couldn’t quite place.

"She's…" Tori began, measuring her next words very carefully. 

On one hand, this entire thing was crafted to get a rise out of her mom. On the other hand, a small part of Tori wished she could keep these little, newfound interactions with Jade secret for just a little longer, without her mother’s criticism to tarnish it in any way. 

Tori swallowed her fear, or at least tried to, deciding against taking the cowards way out.

"She's my girlfriend." She said decisively, and her mother’s eyebrows rose immediately.

Trina, on the other side of the living room, made a low hiss sound, like the words had been physically painful to her, which almost were.

"And she's waiting for me outside, so I'll get going." Tori said, making the most of her leftover courage.

"Oh, so you just do as you please now. Okay." Her mother commented, filling a cup of water, not even bothering to cover up her sour tone. "Going out with random girls."

That struck Tori. That goddamn tone that always made her feel so inadequate. 

Perhaps she did have a bit of courage left inside her.

"I can't go out on a Friday night anymore?" She challenged, turning around on her heels and crossing her arms to stare at her mom.

Her mother didn't move, leveling Tori with a look.

"That's not what I said."

"You kind of did."

Both their voices were rising already.

"It seems so silly, fighting over this." Trina said, trying to lighten the mood, but was blatantly ignored by both of them.

"I'm just saying. How long is this little phase of yours going to last?" Ms. Vega waved her hand, dismissing the topic yet again as "Tori’s rebellious phase".

That was it. Trina knew it and Tori knew it. 

"You know what mom? This isn't some random girl, but of course you don’t care enough to ask. This is my girlfriend, actually." And maybe she would add just a tinal jab. "Jade West, mhm, whose father is one of you precious investors."

"Victoria Vega, what are you talking about?" Her mother asked back, sounding furious.

And then there was a knock on the door.

"I'll go get it!" Trina said, running to the door, where hopefully stood a pizza delivery guy or a professional mediator.

But no, there stood none other than Jade, leaves sticking out her hair and boots, this time more covered up with her jacket on and shut tight up to her neck.

"What are you doing back here?" Trina said through gritted teeth.

"Shut up and help me get Tori out of here." She answered through a strained smile.

Jade looked beyond Trina and inside the house, where all eyes laid on her.

The reality of it all settled like a stone at the bottom of the sea for Tori. Sure, part of the plan meant her mother had to meet Jade, but why did it have to be like this? Maybe there was still time to take the cowards route.

"And there she is, so we'll get going." Tori said, going for the door as fast as she could without raising suspicion.

"Good evening, Ms. Vega." Jade said, focusing all her acting skills into a single, genuine smile.

"What's wrong with your face?" Trina whispered to her. Probably the smile hadn’t worked.

"Good evening, Jade." Ms. Vega said, wasting no effort on faking a smile. "Cute piercings."

Her stone cold expression told Jade everything she needed to know. This woman did not like her one bit.

But also, why did she care? But she could ask herself that later, once she was safely out of the Vega household.

Tori rushed for the door again, Trina following suit as they dragged Jade out of the front door and towards her car.

"Goodbye Ms. Vega." Jade called before being dragged away, less sweetly this time, almost matching the woman's defiant tone.

Ms. Vega did not answer, and if she did, the three girls did not catch what she said.

Once safely out in the driveway, and when Jade felt she could not grit her teeth any longer, the girls relaxed.

"I do not like your mother." Jade grumbled.

"Well, join the club." Tori answered. "Can we go now?"

"Yes, please." Trina added, earning a look from Tori and Jade.

"What? I'm not staying in that house! I'm going to Chrissy's. And you two are dropping me off because I didn’t grab my car keys."

"Oh, we are?" Jade asked challengingly.

"West, I helped you escape once. You are the one who came back to the homophobic lion's den."

"Say that again."

Trina flinched, immediately getting into a defensive martial arts position and hoping Jade did not have ger shovel within reach, and Jade was about to go on and describe the many different ways she could murder Trina right then and there, very graphically, but Tori stepped in.

"Let's just give her a ride. Chrissy's house is down the street." 

Normally, Jade would’ve easily argued back that this was in fact her car, and she wasn’t obligated to give anyone a ride, much less Trina. But the older Vega did have a point about helping her escape, and something in Tori's tone, so done and sombre all of a sudden, told her she wasn’t in the mood to argue with anyone else tonight. Jade could understand that.

"Alright." She said simply. "Let's get going before your mom tows my car."

Chapter Text

The ride after dropping Trina off was silent. Too much for anyone's comfort. And it stayed like that up until Jade and Tori were in line to enter the movie theatre.

"What did Trina mean by helping you escape?" Tori asked, catching Jade by surprise.

"What does Trina mean by anything?" She asked back, sarcastically.

"Jade." Tori said, like a warning. Which wasn’t rare between them, but this one sounded genuine.

Jade sighed before answering.

"I wasn’t expecting to meet your mom tonight, so Trina helped me sneak out your terrace." Jade explained, crossing her arms defensively.

"Is that why you’re covered in leaves?" Tori pulled another stray leaf out of Jade's hair.

"Maybe I'm into botany."

And then, just like that, the tension finally broke, thanks to Tori getting a fit of laughter she couldn’t hold in any longer.

"What's so funny, Vega?" Jade asked, running low on patience for the day.

Still, Tori kept laughing.

"You're scared of my mom." She said, once her laughter had died down. 

Jade regretted asking. She also regretted not running away when she had the chance 

"I'm not scared of your mom. I'm annoyed by your mom. Big difference." Jade said bitterly.

"Enough to run through a bunch of bushes?" Tori asked through a laugh.

"Your backyard, not a jungle. And I'm not sharing my popcorn." Jade said, making Tori smile wider.

Then Tori laid both hands on Jade’s shoulder, leaning on her slightly as they waited in line.

"I think it's sweet that you came back." 

Jade could feel her face heat up immediately, be it for her date's words or the sudden proximity, she didn’t know; she was too busy suppressing the annoying feeling in her stomach. 

"I had to. I already bought the tickets and Cat talks too much during movies." Jade said, trying to maintain her facade. 

Tori only smiled in response, and Jade could feel herself smiling too as they marched inside the theatre with their arms still linked.

Against what Tori thought could be an evening at the movies with Jade, she actually had a lot of fun.

The movie wasn’t some overly gory horror film like she initially believed, but a very interesting period drama about the Bauhaus, which had only that single night screening at a local theatre.

The pair came out of the movie walking animatedly, every occurrence prior to those two hours forgotten as they talked and talked about the different references and facts in the movie, laughing and playfully shoving each other every once in a while.

"I just don’t think he was that good of a designer." Jade had argued.

"Why not? They were all great!"

"History's age-old proverb: His wife was better."

"Ok, fair." Tori settled on that, then a small smile appeared on her face. "Who knew you could get so passionate over old furniture design."

"There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Vega." Jade said casually and Tori shoved her playfully with her shoulder.

Immediately after that, her hands were back in her jean pockets, and that's when Jade noticed she was shivering.

"Are you okay?" Jade asked.

"Yeah, the room was a bit chilly."

Jade said nothing but wasted no time taking off her own leather jacket to drape it over Tori’s shoulders, catching her by surprise.

Tori could feel her cheeks warm-up at the gesture, her shivering long forgotten. 

"You could've said something earlier." Jade said.

"Did not take you for the chivalrous type." Tori teased.

"Yet another item on the list of things you don’t know about me." Jade teased back. "Thank god no one quizzed us."

Once back inside Jade’s car, it dawned on her that it was getting late, and she should probably drop Tori off, the question was where.

"Should I drop you off at your house or…?" Jade let the question linger, trying not to intrude too much but still a bit worried about Tori.

Tori groaned, buckling her seatbelt.

"Yeah, it’s okay. It'll be worse if I don’t come home."

Jade didn’t say anything. No witty comeback, sarcastic comment or flirtatious jab, she just nodded and started her car, destination: the Vega household.

The car was once more filled with tense silence, and Tori felt like should say something.

"At least the plan is officially running. I think it's safe to say my mom doesn’t like you." 

"Yeah…" Jade trailed off. 

Why was she still so hung up about it? She didn’t even care when Beck's mom didn’t like her throughout two years of relationship, and worse of all, the entire plan was designed so Tori's mom hated her.

Tori looked like she wanted to ask something, and so Jade, not wanting to deal with any more complicated feelings for the night, beat her to the word.

"Do you think it was the piercings or the leaves?" She asked, making Tori laugh.

"Maybe both." Tori answered. "They suit you, though."

"The piercings or the leaves?"

"Both."

"Noted."

In no time the two were laughing again, just enjoying the conversation and each other's company, when Tori’s house came into view.

"I should probably meet your dad soon, then?" Tori asked, while Jade pulled up to the driveway, catching her by surprise yet again. She was getting tired of that.

"Yeah, probably. I don't think your mom will just casually mention me in a work email." She said, uncomfortable but not enough to not make a joke.

"You'd be surprised." Tori assured. "We can plan it this time. No sneaking around. And we'll both be ready."

Jade stayed silent for a second, before staring back at Tori. Her tone was so genuine and soft, Tori’s worry clear, despite Jade not mentioning her conflicting feelings of the night. She just hoped it wasn’t too obvious.

"Alright." Jade said simply, softly.

The two stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, and the car immediately filled with a new kind of tension, just as unbearable as the last and more confusing.

Maybe it was the dim light or the sleepiness taking over them, but when blue eyes met brown, Jade couldn’t help but lean forward slightly, Tori followed suit. 

Tori could feel her breath hitch ever so slightly, and she couldn’t help but lower her gaze to look at Jade’s lips. 

She would be lying if she said she hadn't wondered if they felt as soft as they looked, but friends don’t wonder that about each other. Fake dating or not.

"I should…" Tori said, pointing back at her house and snapping both of them out of their stupor.

"Uhm, yeah." Jade agreed, placing both hands back on the steering wheel for good measure.

"Good night, Jade." Tori said, grabbing her purse and opening the car door.

"Night."

Tori got off the car and made a bee line for her front door, fighting back whatever this strange feeling was. 

Before she made it out of the sidewalk a voice stopped her.

"I had a lot of fun tonight." Jade called from the car, window down and a small smile on her face.

Tori immediately lit up, almost letting out a full giggle.

"Me too." She called.

"Now get inside. There’s mosquitoes everywhere." Jade joked and Tori only rolled her eyes at her, her smile still present.

Once she was safely inside she saw Jade’s car drive away from her living room window. Luckily no one seemed to be around, so Tori left her keys at their usual place and flopped down on the sofa with a loud sigh.

Her dopey smile disappeared the next second.

"I'm fucked."

"I'm fucked." Jade said, plopping onto her bed.

And all things considered, she kind of was.

"You goddamn idiot. Just go and fake date the girl you probably, maybe have a small crush on, why don’t you?" She spoke again, to one in particular, as she resumed her anxious pacing around her room.

"What are you looking at?" She said menacingly at a stuffed bear that lay on her desk, empty button eyes staring at nothing in particular, but Jade still took offense at that.

She sighed. This was still salvageable, she only had to pretend for 3 more weeks. She could do it.

Tonight she had just had a little slip, that's it. Jade had just been thinking about Tori all afternoon, thinking about how she was probably not going to see her again until monday at school and of course the feeling in her stomach wasn’t disappointment or sadness, it was merely a worry that their cover would be blown by being the first couple in history that did not go out during the weekend.

She was only looking to maintain their little facade, because Jade was mature enough to not let a little crush get in the way of her life, but surely not mature enough to not be up to giving her dad some hell. 

"Bastard deserves it." Jade grumbled to herself, at the empty spot by her desk where once stood a picture of her, her mom and her dad on some vacation she could barely remember anymore.

Or mature enough to not try to kiss said girl first chance she got. Jade sighed again, hoping she hadn’t freaked Tori out or that she hadn’t over stepped. 

Her phone lit up them with a text from Cat, and Jade was even a bit thankful for the sudden interruption to her spiraling. Something about a karaoke night at their local coffee shop that week, immediately followed by a bunch of emojis.

Cat : There’s a price and everything!!!!

Cat : You can bring Tori! It'll be like a date except we will all be there :)

Jade : That's just hanging out, Cat. We do it every day.

Cat : yay! :))))

Jade decided that smiley faces did not need any answer, nor did the invitation to the karaoke night.

Then she got a text from Tori.

Tori : Sorry, I accidentally kept your jacket! I'll give it back to you on Monday.

Jade wanted to reply something along the lines of:

Keep it. It looks better on you.

Only return it if it smells like you.

Or,

Good, everyone will know you're mine.

But all those replies bordered dangerously close between flirtatious and a bit creepy, so Jade went with her fourth best option. Threats.

Jade : If you damage it, you’re buying me a new one.

Nothing remotely close to what she wanted to say, but it wasn’t like there was anyone around to have the excuse to keep up the girlfriends act. Tori’s response came back shortly after.

Tori : Where did all that chivalry go?

Jade couldn’t help but smile at her phone. She quite liked this side of Tori, and even if their bickering was constant, that flirtatious bit added a lot of fun to it.

Before Jade could type back a reply, her phone buzzed again with a new message from Tori. A selfie of her, standing in front of her mirror, showing off her leather jacket, while she covered part of her face with the collar.

Now, the following word she could use to describe the picture was one Jade did not use lightly. She probably had never used it to describe something that wasn’t a bunny or to say it in a mocking way, but she looked adorable.

But of course, she couldn’t say that to her; and once more, Tori beat her to the reply.

Tori : Should I post that picture? Show off my gf's jacket and all. 

Jade tried her best to not let those words get to her, to fight back that annoying pain that settled in her stomach. Because that was everything this was, just an act, ad she had to be strong.

Jade : You should. Looks believable.

But she could be a little weak. As a treat.

Jade : And it suits you.

Tori sent her a smiley face and Jade tried not to think too much into it. Minutes later, another notification showed up on her screen.

Tori Vega tagged you on a photo.

That same picture she had sent her, with the caption "Just call me the jacket thief".

"Dork." Jade said to herself, that dreaded dopey smile showing up again.

Monday rolled around, and with it yet another reminder to Jade that she was not a morning person. She strolled to her locker, black coffee in hand, just counting down the seconds until she could be back under the covers of her bed. 

“Goodmorning, starshine!” Cat said. No, yelled. 

Jade didn’t reply, she didn’t trust herself enough to not say something mean or overly violent to Cat, and it was too early in the day to make her cry. Instead, she settled for her staple glare. 

Andre, Robbie and Beck joined them soon after, making conversation about their respective weekends.

“Are we all going to that open mic this Saturday?” Robbie asked. “I was thinking of doing stand-up.”

“Maybe don’t.” Andre advised, laying a comforting hand on Robbie's shoulder, It was for the best. “But yeah, I’m up for it.”

Everyone agreed and Cat cheered again.

“Yaaaaay!” She squealed, as she turned to grab Jade’s arm, almost making her spill her coffee. “Are you and Tori coming, Jade?”

“Where are we going?” Tori asked, joining them just in time to catch Cat’s question. 

“To the open mic night!” 

“Oh, sounds cool. Where?” Tori asked, but Cat only gasped, turning to look at Jade with indignation. 

“You didn’t tell Tori?”

Jade took another sip of her coffee, feeling herself in a bit of a spotlight then. Her plans for that weekend were… conflicted, to say the least. And besides, it was only Monday.

“Must have slipped my mind.” She said nonchalantly.

Lucky for her, the bell ringed there and everyone dropped the topic, going to their respective classrooms. All of them except for Tori. 

“You don’t want to go to the open mic thing?” 

“It’s… complicated.” Jade said, feeling uncomfortable all of a sudden. “And don’t you have to get to class?”

“Don’t change the subject.” Tori said firmly, locking her arm with Jade’s. She knew their classrooms were near each other for their first class, and this way she also made sure Jade actually got to class.

“My dad’s probably coming to town on Saturday. It might be our best chance for you to meet him.” She said, again, much too casually for Tori’s liking.

"Wait, really? When were you going to tell me? I have to get ready, I should know stuff about him and-"

"Whoa, hold your horses, Sweet Sally Peaches." Jade said, stopping Tori’s crisis and her attempts at getting her into class early. "That's a big "probably" right there, I'm not sure he'll be back by then."

Tori managed to calm down at that. It wasn’t that she was intimidated by Jade’s dad but… yeah, he scared the crap out of her.

"But wait-" Tori said. "Then you've been all alone at home this entire time?"

"Yeah, why? Are you gonna call me a sitter?" Jade replied sarcastically.

"No, I mean, I could've kept you company or something." 

"Wow, Vega. I didn’t know you were so forward." Jade teased and Tori immediately reddened.

"You know what I meant!" She groaned and Jade only grinned wider.

"Anyway." Jade said, getting them back on subject. "I'll try to get the old man to tell me when he is planning to be back in California. And if he bails on me again, we can go make fun of Robbie and his stand-up."

Tori would have agreed and then tell Jade to stop being so mean to Robbie, even if his stand-up was a bit of a hazard to society, but her choice of words caught her by surprise.

"Does he bail on you often?" Tori asked, taking a more serious tone.

Jade immediately tensed. She had said too much, and she cursed yet again that weird ability Tori had to get people to talk about feelings and other gross stuff.

"Don't come fishing for a sob story." Jade warned. "He's away most of the time. I max out his credit cards. It's literally that simple."

Tori also knew that tone in Jade, the one that told her to really not press any further because it would be useless, so she decided to drop the subject for now.

"Alright." She said, reaching for Jade's hand this time, as she unfolded her arms.

"Let me know what we do then, I'll be ready." Tori added.

"Uhm, sure." Jade answered absentmindedly, eyes still focused on their joined hands.

"And…" Tori trailed off, giving their arms a little swing.

"Oh for god’s sake, okay! I'll go to class." Jade complained, but still wouldn’t let go of Tori’s hand.

"I wasn’t going to say that!" Tori defended. "But thank you."

Jade only scoffed back.

"I was going to say, if you ever want some company, I'm just a call away."

Tori’s tone was sincere, as usual. That was one of the things that Jade liked about Tori, how genuinely nice and sweet she could be, even if at first she thought that was all a facade.

"How old are you, Tori? We don't call, we text." Jade grumbled. Then she avoided Tori’s eyes for the next part, which she almost refused to say out loud. "But thank you."

Tori gave her a sweet smile in response, before letting go of her hand to march back to class.

"You're welcome." She said, disappearing around a corner. "And go to class!"

"And go to class!"" Jade childishly mocked back, sure enough that Tori heard her. Thankfully, Tori did not catch the smile that had crept on her face.

Chapter Text

Most of the week had been uneventful and weirdly boring. Once the novelty of "Jori" had died down around school things seemed to placate, and even Robbie had gotten a pretty good grasp of the concept of his friends dating each other.

For Tori and Jade was similar, sometimes they would forget this entire thing was an act, and soon enough sneaking glances at each other or whispering secrets between conversations just seemed normal.

Beck had teased Jade endlessly about how she "got it bad", especially when she started bringing coffee to Tori most mornings, and had it not been a little bit true and had he not been the best friend a newly out lesbian could ask for months ago, she would’ve kicked his perfect teeth in.

For Tori it was similar, although Cat and Andre did not stray too far from teasing her, it was now customary for them to ask her about Jade every now and then. Tori didn’t even have to fake an overly sweet reply or anything, words about how pretty well they were doing as a couple just flowed easily.

"So!" Tori caught Jade one day between classes, getting books out of her locker. "Your dad!"

"What a great way to start a conversation." Jade teased.

Tori rolled her eyes in response, more frustrated than anything. Because in just two days she was supposed to meet Jade’s dad over dinner, and she knew nothing about this man besides their less than ideal encounter at Jade’s play and what Jade had already told her, which basically summed up as "he sucks".

A few days ago Tori had asked Jade for a bit more of information regarding Mr. West, the first time she asked why she was doing all this, assuming Jade’s dad couldn’t be much worse than her mom.

"He's not the… daddest, of dads." Jade had told her.

"And that's a word, yes."

"C'mon Jade. I need to be ready to meet your dad. I don't think I even know his name. Does he have any siblings? Or allergies?" Tori complained.

"Name's Simon West. He's got two brothers, my uncle Theodore and my uncle Alvin. He's allergic to shellfish and school recitals." Jade said simply.

"Really?"

"No, Tori. Those are the chipmunks."

"Jade!"

"What? Don’t be so gullible." Jade defended. "Anyway, the shellfish part is true. And the recitals."

"How can anyone be allergic to school recitals?" Tori asked, confused.

"Dunno. He never went to any of them so I guess he was popping an EpiPen and some ibuprofen." Jade answered, bitterness dripping from her tone and avoiding Tori’s eyes as they made their way to their next class.

Tori walked in silence, searching for Jade’s eyes. Her staple glare was still in place, looking ahead as she clutched her textbooks, but otherwise, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but Tori noticed. The slight shift, the tension on her shoulders whenever Jade mentioned just another shitty thing her father had done. 

Although she had stopped looking for her father’s approval long ago, Tori couldn’t blame her for still getting a little hung up about it. This was her dad after all. 

"I'm not sad or anything, Vega. So stop looking at me with those big lamb eyes." Jade said, as if she had read her mind.

"I'm not- wait, lamb eyes?"

"Cartoon lamb, to be precise."

Tori was growing exasperated, but her time getting closer to Jade told her this was exactly what she did to avoid the topic, and she wouldn’t let her.

"Okay. So he's allergic to shellfish and he sucks." She said. "That's at least one new thing I didn’t know."

"Why are you so adamant about this? He's going to hate you either way." Jade said, turning to look at Tori finally.

"Thanks?" Tori half said, feeling depleted all of a sudden.

Now Jade rolled her eyes, but still reached for Tori’s hand as they walked down the corridor. The gesture had almost become second nature by now; that doesn’t mean it didn’t make Tori’s heart skip a beat every time. 

"You know what I mean." She waved her off. "Me dating a girl is already enough to piss him off. Relax."

"I guess…" Tori said, sounding unsure. Still, she pressed on. "I still want to be ready."

Jade groaned loudly, stopping their walk to fully turn to look at Tori.

"If we meet after school and I tell you about my stupid dad would you relax?" She said, and Tori immediately beamed.

"Yep!" She said, popping the "p" with a big smile.

"Thank you." Jade said sarcastically. "And you’re buying me coffee."

"Yeah, yeah, you grouch." Tori waved her off, smile still in place as she went to sit at her usual place, right next to Jade.

"So." Tori said. "Your dad."

"We really have got to stop starting our conversations like that." Jade said, taking a sip from her coffee. Today was worth breaking her caffeine cut.

It was a quiet, rainy evening, and after class, the pair decided to go to their local café to do some research, as Tori called it. Each sat at an antique-looking wing chair, setting their mugs on the coffee table between them. 

"I'll stay away from personal questions. Unless you want to tell me." Tori said, scribbling some things in her notebook.

"I don't."

"What's his first name?"

"Whoa there, that's just out of line."

"Do you have a clever response to everything?" Tori asked, and although her patience was running low due to nerves, her words lacked any bite. She did like how Jade had a clever response to everything, but they were on a mission. Or at least Tori was.

"What do you think? Jade asked, grinning from behind her coffee cup.

Tori then leveled her with a look.

"Okay, okay. His name is Charles, hates being called Chuck."

"Okay, that's good."  Tori wrote some more notes down. 

"He's a lawyer. Knows a shit ton of tax law. Which is pretty boring, like him, but earns him the big bucks."

Tori hummed, prompting Jade to go on. She set her coffee down.

"He likes going to Europe during the holidays. Skiing. Pretentious as fuck, I know."

"That sounds cool! Where have you gone to." Tori looked up from her notebook excitedly.

"Me? Nowhere. He never takes me, only his little girlfriends." Jade explained. "I spend the holidays with my mom in New York."

Now Tori set her notebook down.

"How have we been friends for two years and I only just now know about that?"

"Almost nobody knows. I thrive on the rumors people come up with." Jade said her devilish grin back in place.

"That's where the rumor of you getting into the church of Scientology came from?" Tori asked, bewildered as the day she heard those rumors after last winter break.

"Yup. Never met Tom Cruise but I did watch a bunch of Mission impossible movies with my mom."

"Awwwww." Tori swooned at the thought. 

The mental image of a tiny little Jade, or even present-time Jade, huddled up on a snowy Christmas evening with her mom was not something Tori would think could be possible, but she stood corrected, even if her mind exaggerated the scene a little bit.

"You never heard me say that." Jade added bitterly.

"Sure." Tori granted her that mercy, a playful smile still on her lips as she scribbled some more on her notebook.

"You never talk about your mom, though." Tori said after a few seconds and Jade took refuge behind her coffee cup yet again. 

"There’s not much to say." She shrugged. "Aren't we here to talk about my dad?"

"Right." Tori said, dreading that they had to get back on track when she was so close to knowing more about Jade. "So, you mentioned girlfriends?"

Jade let out a laugh. "Yup. And another ex-wife, Cathy. Nice woman."

"What did you do to her?" Tori asked sternly, shooting Jade an accusatory look.

"Nothing!" Jade cried. "Being with my dad was punishment enough."

"Okay, okay. Anything else I should know about?"

"That's mostly it. I think you have some good material to piss him off there." Jade said, pointing at Tori’s notebook.

Tori hummed in response scribbling some more absent-mindedly.

"What did you even write down?" Jade asked curiously.

"Just notes." Tori absent, eyes still on her notes.

Then, without a warning, Jade jumped from her seat across from Tori, the tiny coffee table that separated them being no obstacle for her as she plopped down, right next to Tori, or rather on top of.

"Jade, no!" Tori cried, clutching the notebook to her chest.

"Show me." Jade ordered, wrestling the notebook away from Tori.

"Never!"

And while Jade tugged at the little notebook, Tori tugged harder, wiggling and wrestling and doing whatever was necessary to keep whatever embarrassing notes she took unconsciously away from Jade’s prying eyes.

"Keeping secrets from your girlfriend, Vega?" Jade teased, still tugging at one of the notebook's corners. The smile on her face grew wider with every inch the book got closer to her.

"You're so nosy!" Tori cried. 

Eventually, and after a long struggle, Jade got the notebook out of Tori's grasp, keeping her in place with her body weight as she read through the pages, a safe distance away from Tori's grabby hands.

"Nope, wrong." Jade said simply as she skimmed through the text and doodles.

"What do you mean "wrong"!?" Tori yelled, still struggling to get the notebook back.

"Yeah, you suck at taking notes." 

Jade reached for the red pen that lay on the table, next to Tori’s pencil case, and began scratching and rewriting most of the info on the pages.

"Jade, give it back or I swear…" Tori warned.

"Oooh, you swear?" Jade teased back, still scribbling.

"Okay, that's it." And with that final warning Tori summoned her secret weapon. Tickles.

"Don't you dare!" Jade warned but it was too late, Tori was merciless.

Jade was quickly thrown into a fit of giggles, her eyes watering and her pale face reddening instantly, until she finally slipped away from Tori’s grasp to fall next to her on the small space available on the single-seat sofa.

"You bitch." Jade said, breathing heavily and hugging her own torso with her arms.

'You started it!" Tori answered, faking annoyance, but the smile on her face was much too apparent. 

"What did you even write?" Tori asked, retrieving the notebook from the floor to inspect it.

It wasn’t much, just snarky comments scribbled like notes around her own, a few words crossed out and corrected and a tiny drawing of a fire pit around Jade's dad's name. However, one scribble, in particular, caught Tori’s attention.

After Jade’s comment about those Mission Impossible movies she would watch with her mom, Tori had taken careful notes on that, mentally defending that any good girlfriend, fake or otherwise, should know her partner’s favorite movie.

Now, Jade hadn’t said per se that those were her favorite, but it was a good contending option, and it was certainly better than the very disturbing allegedly favorite movies Jade gave as examples during Sikowitz’s icebreakers.

But Tori did not need to wonder anymore, because there in front of her, scribbled in bright red ink, was the simple answer.

“Your favorite movie is Spirited Away?” Tori asked, while Jade still caught her breath.

“Yeah, so?” She said, bitterly, as she smoothed the wrinkles on her shirt. “It’s a visual masterpiece.”

“No, it’s a great movie, it’s just…” Tori trailed off, trying to think of her next words.

“Not Cannibal Holocaust?” Jade supplied.

“Yeah. Also, cute.”

Had Jade not been red as a tomato due to the adrenaline rush from a few seconds ago, her new blush would’ve been much more apparent. Thankfully, Tori didn’t notice.

“Yeah, well, it’s not just “cute”” Jade defended, going on a small and very passive-aggressive rant about animation as an underestimated medium and the narrative power of Miyazaki.

Tori of course listened attentively to everything Jade had to say, finding this new familiarity of Jade’s legs laying on top of hers and her tracing lazy circles on top of her knees, to be the most comfortable she had been with someone else, probably ever.  

“Uhm…” And of course, they had to be interrupted again, this time by a very tired and underpaid server. “We’re about to close. Who’s paying your bill?”

“So…” Andre said with a sing-song voice. The two of them and Robbie had been studying at Tori’s place for some time now, and a break was much needed. “You’re meeting Jade’s dad tomorrow, huh?”

“Ooooh, that sounds serious.” Robbie added with a similar grin.

Tori said her book down and rolled her eyes fondly at the boys.

“It’s no big deal.” She assured. She had been repeating that to herself for some time now.

“Meeting your girlfriend’s dad is no big deal?” Andre asked in disbelief.

“And said dad is Mr. West.” Robbie added, and Andre nodded along.

“He is not that bad.”

“You don’t remember Jade’s play, do you?”

“I do.” Tori said, standing up to go get some water and relieve some of her pent-up tension. “But it’s not like the guy has to like me.” She let slip up.

“What do you mean?” Andre asked, estranged by Tori’s words.

Tori immediately tensed. That wasn’t exactly a normal thing to say before meeting your partner’s dad, but now she could only hope the guys did not suspect anything.

“I agree.” Robbie said immediately. “Cat’s dad used to hate me. But that didn’t stop me!”

“Stop you from what? You two never dated.” Andre answered and Robbie took offense immediately.

“But we will!”

From her spot in the kitchen Tori took a long sip of water, thankful for the detour on the conversation. She would have to be more careful, if only her mind wasn¿t all over the place lately. 

She would be lying if she said this entire thing hadn’t started to make her nervous, and sadly not for precisely the right reasons. She was mostly okay with lying to her friends and family about Jade and her, to some extent it was easy, natural; she had gotten used to holding Jade close by her waist and to her good morning coffee’s, and how she sometimes scribbled little things into the cup like “Good morning, beautiful.” or “Good luck on that audition”, she even looked ofrward to it, and in some weird way, to do the same for Jade. 

Tori guessed she was only her form of commiting to the bit, or at least she hoped so.

Finally the dreaded night arrived, and Tori’s anxious pacing had only been stopped due to her need to get ready, since Jade would be there to pick her up in less than an hour.

"Ugh, I hate this." Tori complained as she tried yet another dress in front of the mirror, immediately discarding it to an ever growing pile.

She had been going at this for a while, cursing herself for not getting ready sooner. But she couldn’t really help it, the mere thought of walking up to Jade's dad tonight with the full intention of getting the man to dislike her made her nauseous, and she couldn’t even figure out why.

Her past interactions and everything Jade told her were enough to deem this man a grade-A jerk, and most importantly, this was their entire plan. This was the reason she and Jade had decided to fake date this whole time.

Tori decided to stop the thought there, since the nausea had gotten worse all of a sudden.

Tori clutched her stomach and laid on her bed, next to the piles of clothes.

"Why is this so difficult?" She complained to herself. "Why is this fake dating thing so complicated?"

"This what?!." The voice of Trina echoed from the other side of the door.

Tori jumped off her bed immediately, almost letting out a scream of a mixture of surprise, fear and anger at her sister. And there she was, one ear glued to her bedroom door; or, she was, a few seconds ago. Now Tori had opened her door and Trina wasted no time allowing herself in.

"Trina, what are you doing there?!" Tori yelled, crossing her arms.

"Spying on you. Duh." Trina said, like it was so obvious.

Tori knew she had to play her cards right. There was still a small chance she could convince Trina she heard her incorrectly.

"Well, whatever you heard it’s none of your business. And stop doing that!"

"And miss the pity party? Never." Her sister answered with a smile.

Tori rolled her eyes.

"It's not a pity party."

"No, it's better. It's gossip."

"Look, I don’t know what you think you heard but-"

"Tori, first of all, I'm your sister. Second of all, my gossip radar is amazing, so spill it." Trina said, looking very serious and somewhat smug.

Tori knew that look. That was basically how Trina knew everything there was to know about the people of Hollywood Arts, but she would not bulge. 

On the other hand… She would be lying if she said this secret hadn’t been eating away at her. Every doubt, insecurity, or fear she otherwise would go to her friends had to be drowned down, and it was getting hard to do so. A part of Tori wished that weight could be lifted off her shoulders, even if it meant confiding on Trina, of all people.

"Yeah, well, Jade and I are fake dating. So, what?" Tori said, averting her eyes and still defensive.

"That makes sense" Trina said simply, almost uninterested all of a sudden.

"What does that even mean?" Said Tori, offended. Yeah, maybe telling Trina wasn’t the best idea 

"I mean, look at Jade and look at you."

Tori groaned in exasperation. 

"Ok, look-"

"Who else knows? Who came up with the idea? When this fails can I sell the story as a drama?" Trina interrupted, shooting quick questions Tori barely registered.

"No one else knows. It was me. And why are you so sure this is going to fsil?"

"Oh, baby sister…" Trina said, condescendingly. "To quote a famous poet, "where there is a flame, someone's bound to get burned.""

"That's Pink." Tori deadpanned, crossing her srms. "And there’s no "flame""

"I'm just saying. These things don’t end well." Trina lifted her arms in surrender. Then she gasped, turning back to Tori."Is this all just to annoy mom?"

"I mean…" Tori shrugged. "Yeah, it is."

Trina gave her a look. "And Jade’s dad." Tori quickly added.

"A bit immature don’t you think?" Trina said, adding a ridiculous accent to the word "mature".

Tori sat next to her, letting herself fall onto the couch with an exasperated sigh.

"Trina, last month you threw a three day tantrum because somebody else got the part you wanted for the school production of Annie." 

"I look great as a ginger!" Trina yelled, then regained her composure. 

"And that's beside the point." She said, dewrinkling her blouse. "I'm your sister Tori, I'm just looking out for you."

"How so?" Tori said, rolling her eyes.

"By reminding you that playing with feelings never ends well. Someone else's or your own." Trina said. "I know you're not an idiot, neither is Jade, but stuff like that requieres a lot of honesty and trust."

Trina sounded serious but still gentle, weirdly genuine even. It was a side of her Tori, or anyone for that matter, rarely saw. Probably never; and Tori knew better than to ignore advice. This was her big sister after all.

"Alright. Thanks for looking after me, Trina." Tori said softly.

Trina smiled at her and pulled her into a side hug.

"Anytime." 

This entire thing had brought some good things, Tori thought. Despite all the secrets and sneaking around, she felt like she could trust Trina, entirely, no questions asked. A very alien feeling for Tori, but good nonetheless. They stayed like that in comfortable silence for two entire seconds, then Trina had to ruin it.

"And that dress is really not your color." She said, and Tori rolled her eyes so hard she thought she might have gotten a headache.

After much deliberation, Trina's unwanted and relentless criticism, and a very serious pinky promise not to say a word about the fake dating, Tori had finally been able to get ready. 

Nothing too racy nor too modest, nothing too formal nor too casual. It was perfect.

Then a new set of doubts started to brew.

This wasn't supposed to be perfect. This entire night was supposed to be a disaster, because that was the plan, so why couldn’t she follow it without feeling nauseous?

The ringing of the doorbell announced that Tori had officially ran out of time, and that her anxious spiraling would have to be done on the move, if she didn’t want to keep Jade waiting.

"Alright. That's it. Woman up, Vega." Tori steeled her nerves as she gave one last look at her mirror, fixing a few stray hairs away from her face.

"Everything will be alright. Jade's dad will hate me." Tori said under her breath.

She repeated the confusing mantra over and over again as she descended the stairs, and from the living room she could hear Trina chatting with her fake date.

Both sets of eyes landed on her, Trina sporting a shit-eating grin, and Jade looking … surprised, all of a sudden. Or so Tori thought, she wasn’t that good at reading the other girl's expressions.

"That's my cue to leave." Said Trina, joining Tori mid descent.

"Have fun. Not too much, though." She whispered at Tori as she passed her. Tori, in response, shoved her lightly.

Trina, as any good sister, shoved her back, but disappeared down the hall before they could get into a proper fist fight.

"Hey." Tori said, feeling uncharacteristically shy with Jade’s eyes on her.

“You look… amazing.” Jade said, unable to give a proper greeting as her brain was malfunctioning at the moment.

“Thank you.” Tori said with a sweet smile and a small blush. “Is it okay, though? I don’t exactly have an outfit that screams “hate me, I’m dating your daughter”.”

Jade cleared her throat to regain her composure but smiled at that.

“You have tons of outfits that scream “hate me”-“

“Ha ha, very funny.”

“But of course it’s okay. Too good for dinner with my dad if you ask me."

She said it all so casually, but it still sent a chill down Tori’s spine, and there was the nausea again.

"Are you ready to go?"

Jade’s question snapped Tori out of her spiraling, but she managed to nod yes, at which Jade offered her her arm to grab as Tori and her went out the door. 

If anything, the gesture and the beautiful black and green dress Jade had decided to wear for the night were a temporary cure to Tori's discomfort. She only hoped she could get through the night without puking her lunch.

Chapter Text

The place, which Jade informed had been picked by her dad, was a beautiful italian bistro, famous in town for serving the elite of LA, from successful producers to big time lawyers, actors, directors, and many, many clients of Mr. West.

"I officially feel out of place." Tori said as she looked around amazed. She was pretty sure Ewan McGregor was having a lasagna like 10 meters away from her.

"Don't" Jade said. "This place reeks of nepotism."

"Oh, C'mon. You can’t tell me you aren't at least a little bit nervous, at least… starstruck." Tori said, looking around the venue.

A waiter guided them to their table, and Jade politely dismissed him once they were seated. Her father was late. Shocker.

"I can't really respect anyone who has dinner at a place like this." Jade said, eyeing the very overpriced menu.

"Well, that's too bad.' Tori said, smacking Jade’s arm playfully. "I was going to buy you dinner here sometime."

Jade rolled her eyes at that, but couldn’t help the smile that crept on her face.

"Why? We can just cash on my dad."

"It's not the same! I'm telling you. Once I become a famous singer I'll invite you to dinner here."

"Oh, lucky me. Dinner with a side of pretension. And with you, no less!" Jade said with a fake cheery tone.

Tori ignored the teasing, smile still in place, and went on as she eyed the menu.

"If you have time in your busy producer/director life for me, at least."

"And now I'm being emotionally manipulated. That dinner invitation becomes more tempting by the minute."

The laughing and teasing went on for a while, and it was hard for both of them to ignore the butterflies that threatened to come out with every accidental touch and with each giggle the other elicited.

"Well, it looks like the fun started without us." A deep voice interrupted them. 

A tall, intimidating man stood next to the table, and if it weren't for the obvious family resemblance, Tori would have swore they were in trouble.

"Hey, dad." Jade said, losing every last bit of her smile and patience.

"Jade." The man said, still very serious, but with a polite nod.

"Hello, girls." A woman greeted them cheerily, and only then did they notice she had her arms around Jade's dad's arm.

A wild contrast to Mr. West, this woman was petite, blonde and her orange dress stood out even in the busy restaurant. More so against Mr. West's black suit.

"I haven't met this one." Jade said, casually jabbing a thumb in the woman's direction.

Her father looked angrily at her, and while Jade only ignored him, the woman extended her hand towards the teenager.

"We haven't formally met. I'm Cindy." She said sweetly, only to be reckoned with Jade’s staple cold shoulder. Her sweet smile faltered slowly.

A few uncomfortably silent seconds went by and Tori couldn’t bear it any longer. She stood up from her chair and grabbed the woman's hand.

"Tori Vega. Nice to meet you." She said, matching the woman's smile.

"Yes, well, Cindy and I were on our way to San Francisco so we thought this was the perfect chance to introduce you two." Mr. West sai.  "And you are Jade’s friend, I presume." And now Tori knew where Jade had gotten that menacing glare from.

Jade had her mother’s eyes, Tori concluded, because they were nothing like the dark brown of Mr. West’s eyes, almost black, like staring at a void.

Tori swallowed hard, fighting back a new kind of sick feeling in her stomach, perhaps fear.

"Girlfriend, actually." Jade corrected bitterly. "Like I said over the phone, assuming you were paying attention to me."

"Yes, that's me!" Tori interjected, the smile on her face becoming painful. "The girlfriend!" And then she made jazz hands. Freaking jazz hands.

Get it together, Vega.

Jade side eyed Tori then, a very subtle what the fuck are you doing for the girl doing jazz hands in the middle of a restaurant, to which Tori mouthed back a very honest I don’t know.

"So, how did you two meet?" Cindy asked as they took a seat at the table. Bless her soul.

Jade and her dad seemed to be locked on a momentary staring contest, West Glare vs. West Glare, but Jade still made time to answer bitterly.

"We're seventeen. We didn’t exactly meet at the company's Christmas party."

"Jade-" Mr. West said sternly, so Tori took it upon herself to answer again.

"We met at school!" She quickly said, catching the adult's attention. "Yep, on my very first day on Hollywood Arts. Like two years ago I think."

"That's so cute!" The woman said, trying to get the conversation going and to keep the West's from glaring at each other further. "Have you two been together since?"

"Oh no, just a few weeks."

"Would’ve been nice of you to tell me sooner." Mr. West told Jade.

"It's not exactly easy to tell you stuff when you’re in another time zone."

"See, this is what I was telling you." Mr West turned to Cindy, then back at Jade. "I try to reach out and you just have to give me that attitude. We used to go to the beach, eat pop corn at the broadwalk-"

“Oh yeah, popcorn, every child’s dream.” Jade said, dripping sarcasm. 

Mr. West sighed, turning again towards Cindy. 

“I don't know where she gets it from.”

"Hypocritical much."

And just before another bomb went off, a waiter showed up.

"Are you ready to order?"

"Yes, please!" Tori said, practically yelled and Cindy nodded enthusiastically.

Dinner went on as expected, some expensive wine, the best raviolis Tori had ever tasted and many, many futile attempts at diffusing the tension every time Jade and her dad exchanged words. 

Every bitter or sarcastic thing Mr. West had to say, Jade had an equally bitter or rude thing to answer, which left Cindy and Tori in the middle of the chaos most of the time, discussing how good the food was or how crazy the weather had been lately.

"So, what exactly do you guys do at your art school?" Cindy asked at one point.

"Oh, just normal school stuff. On the side we learn about performing, music theory, directing, producing-"

Mr. West scoffed loudly at Tori’s answer.

"Do you want to add something, dad?" Jade asked angrily.

"I do, actually."

"But first!" Tori interrupted him immediately. She knew how sensitive the topic was for Jade, even years after she stopped seeking her dad's validation regarding her art, but maybe she should've thought of what to say before she was waving her hands frantically over the table.

 "I have to go to the bathroom?" It came out almost as a question and Tori cringed.

"I'll go with you." Jade said, glaring at her dad against and laying her napkin violently over the table.

Once safe inside the bathroom Tori took the opportunity to wash her face, while Jade paxed the bathroom angrily.

"Ugh, can you believe him?! He always does this, he just sucks the fun and the joy out of everything."

Tori sighed loudly.

"Yeah, this isn't going exactly as planned."

"Yeah, no shit, you and Cindy just keep chatting it up about current events." Jade said with a groan before checking her makeup in the mirror.

Now, Tori considered herself a very patient person, but this night was testing her limits, as was the girl next to her.

"Well, sorry I don’t want to participate on the West Family Complain-a-ton."

That, coming from Tori, caught Jade by surprise. And tonight she wasn’t in the mood for surprises

"What is that supposed to mean?" She said, calmly but angry.

"Jade, you and your dad have been fighting all night. I don't think there’s a single thing left to complain about coming from you two." Tori felt her voice rising ever so slightly, but she couldn’t do much about it.

"So? You know how my dad is."

"Yes! But I didn’t know how you were!" She finally snapped. 

Jade’s face twisted then, from angry to surprised to livid, and Tori even caught a glimpse of sadness in a split second.

"Jade, I didn’t mean that-" Tori tried to explain, reaching towards Jade to lay a hand on her arm, but Jade shook her off immediately.

"No, don’t worry, you made yourself clear." The girl said, taking two steps back. "This is so like you, Vega."

"So like me?" Tori asked, anger sipping through her tone.

"Yes. You expect everyone to help you with your stupid plans and schemes but when it’s time to hold your end of the deal you just don't feel like it."

"Now, wait-"

"No, Vega, I'm right. We had a deal, this entire dating bullshit was just to get a rise out of our parents. And so what? You get revenge on your mom but come preaching at me the moment I do the same? Give me a fucking break!"

"Jade-"

"Do not say a word! I should've known this would happen. This is just typical Tori."

Jade crossed her arms and Tori couldn’t find it in herself to keep fighting. Mostly because she couldn’t find a single lie in Jade’s words. And oh, how it stung.

She was right. She hadn’t even tried tonight, and here she was, yelling at Jade over something she herself had done mere days ago.

A few seconds passed where they both just stared at each other, unsaid words and regret hanging in the air, until their own heartbeats became much too loud for the empty bathroom

Jade turned around, storming out of the bathroom, and only then did Tori feel a stray tear roll down her cheek.

Chapter Text

Jade’s vision was blurry, but not like the times she had been so angry she bent that locker door. Now she couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down her face, and a humiliating feeling sat at the back of her throat, growing worse every time she tried to stop crying. She hated feeling like this, but she hated more the fact that she had let out her anger on Tori, who had done nothing wrong.

She had run across the restaurant with the full intent of running away, storm out as usual, and to hell with whatever her father would have to say about it. 

But luck just didn’t seem to be on Jade’s side today, because that deep voice stopped her just short of the foyer.

"Jade. A word." 

Her father stood behind her, fixing his cufflinks carefully as he often did when he felt exasperated. Jade did her best effort to dry the tears before turning around, but judging by her father's disapproving expression, she assumed she hadn’t done a great job at it.

"What do you want?" She said angrily, but the tears took any bite her words might have left.

"I'm not going to mix myself up with whatever teenage drama you’re getting yourself through right now." Mr. West said simply, avoiding his daughter's eyes like daggers on him. God how she hated him.

"But when are you going to give this up?"

"Give what up?" Jade asked, fairly confused.

"This childish fascination with making this family look bad. I don’t know if it's some twisted vendetta your mother and you have against me-"

"No! Stop that. You don’t get to talk about mom." 

He did not. Jade wouldn’t allow it.

"Jade, this again…-" He said, rolling his eyes.

"Yes, this again! And how many times it takes. And it's not a vendetta, she wants nothing to do with you and neither do I." She yelled at him, no longer caring about making a scene.

Her father, however, did care. He grabbed her by the arm, guiding her to a side of the foyer to scold her, away from the eyes of curious passerby's. His voice was low but just as intimidating as ever.

"Well, tough luck, kiddo. You’re stuck with me if you want to go to your hippie art school. And that means obeying my rules and showing respect to my guests, since I apparently can't stop you from mixing yourself up with those bums from your school, much less date them."

Those words laid a heavy feeling on Jade’s chest, she felt her breath hitch pathetically and her mouth dry. 

She didn’t care about her father’s opinion about her life. About her school, or her friends or her… partners. Jade repeated to herself those words quite often. 

"Don't touch me." Jade snarled with what little energy she had left.

Her father let go of her arm, and without another word finished fixing his cufflinks.

"C'mon. We'll give you and your little girlfriend a ride home on our way to the airport."

"You're leaving already?" Jade asked, and immediately regretted asking. She did not care. 

She would not allow herself to care.

"I would’ve had time to tell you if you hadn’t been so rude the entire night." Mr. West said sternly. "Work came up, I'll be back in five days."

"How surprising." Jade let slip, avoiding his eyes.

"And since we're on that matter, I do not want you bringing that girl to any more dinners. I am done with your little liberal agenda to ruin our reputation."

Mr. West could have gone on and on, Jade knew so, because he looked pissed. And although she considered pissing off her dad a win, she was entirely not in the mood for a rant of his.

"We'll talk more in the car." He said finally, showing Jade towards the exit.

Jade stood there for a second, looking between the tall, imposing man in front of her and the main door, that now seemed so meaningless next to him. What was once her escape from the horrible situation this dinner had become, was now the omen of an equally horrible ride home with her dad and his girlfriend. 

But maybe it didn’t have to be that way.

"My sister is picking us up. Thank you, Chuck." At that moment Jade had never been more surprised or more glad to hear Tori’s voice.

And there she stood Tori Vega, one hand planted on her hip, standing between her and her dad, looking up at him with a stone-cold expression. Nothing like the Tori from earlier, who did jazz hands at any given chance.

This rare side of her sent a shiver down Jade's spine. 

Mr. West looked between the two, at this small, lanky teenager looking at him so decisively, and at how her own daughter's expression had changed. There wasn’t much he could do to convince Jade to do as she was told, there never was.

"Alright. Suit yourselves." Mr. West said, disappearing down the foyer and out the huge doors.

Once out of sight Tori wrapped an arm around Jade's figure, almost protectively, Jade thought. 

Jade knew how she looked. Small, mascara running down her face, pathetic, having a childish dispute with her dad in the middle of a crowded restaurant like some spoiled toddler. So pathetic, in fact, that Tori had to come to her rescue. 

She imagined many things Tori could say to her then. About how rude she had been and continued to be, about how after so much time she was still afraid of her father, about how stubborn and dumb she had been and how she never wanted to talk to her again. 

What Tori said instead, surprised her.

"That was probably the scariest thing I've ever done." Her tough exterior deflated immediately as she supported her weight onto Jade, making her waver. "And that's including fighting that gorilla."

Jade stood there for a second, steadying both of them with a blank expression as she stared at those brown eyes, Tori was breathing hard and she began to sweat like that exchange took every last bit of courage and energy she had left; and then Jade laughed. 

She laughed like she hadn't in a long time, a full-on chuckle, at the ridiculousness of it all, and at how lucky she was to have Tori in her life. 

The two almost fell to the ground as her weight shifted and Tori looked fairly confused at Jade, who was still laughing.

"Uhm Jade are you okay?" She said. "Did you drink something or…?"

Jade managed to recover her breath just enough to grab Tori’s free hand that rested on top of her shoulders.

"I'm fine." She assured, wiping a stray tear. "Everything's fine."

"Okay." Tori breathed out, matching Jade’s big smile.

What could she say, it was contagious.

"C'mon, Trina is on her way." Tori said, fixing Jade’s weight to guide her towards the exit.

"Tori, I drove us here." 

"And we'll get your car tomorrow. Today you are not driving." Tori said simply and Jade knew there was no fighting it.

"Alright."

The two exited the crowded restaurant not quite as they thought they would, but feeling happier and lighter than ever. 

They had much to talk about, they both knew it, but for now, it could wait.

Chapter Text

A short car ride later and the Vega sisters had dropped Jade off at her house, right after Tori incessantly asked if Jade would be okay there on her own, while Trina muttered something about installing a taximeter on her car. 

Jade insisted that she would be alright, that contrary to popular belief her house was not haunted, and that she didn’t mind spending time alone. She also omitted to say that she was used to it, just to not worry Tori, as they reluctantly left. 

But it was true; as Jade made her way from the enormous, dark foyer toward the kitchen, she couldn’t deny it. She had made that same trek several times, it was almost routine, and the clinking of her keys on the old wooden table to the slight flicker of her kitchen lights before turning on almost brought her some comfort. 

She guessed it had always been like that. Her dad traveled for work a lot and her mother used to spend long nights in her studio, so she was always with some nanny until she was old enough to come and go alone as she pleased. 

And she never really minded it. 

Jade had gotten used to it; the freedom, the quiet. So why was it bothering her all of a sudden?

The secluded neighborhood was often quiet at night, and Jade liked that, but now the buzzing of the lights and that tiny little drop of water by the sink felt like drums and cymbals to her ears the longer she stood by the kitchen island. 

Jade groaned, grabbing her glass of water from the counter to walk toward the family room. 

Just a customary name, of course, as it wasn’t built for a family. 

No, the most the giant tv room had been used for was for Jade’s marathons every time a new season of Bridgerton dropped on Netflix.  

Sadly, the past few weeks hadn’t brought any new seasons or show she would be interested in, and Jade’s prior exasperation only grew as she scrolled through the third description of some game show based on fake cakes or home renovation. 

She threw the controller to the other side of the couch and pulled out her phone. 

Some mindless scrolling could take her mind off of… whatever she was feeling right now. 

And even if Jade didn’t know what it was exactly, this feeling didn’t feel alien either. 

Her mind tended to race lately with thoughts of her date for the night. Often Jade found herself thinking about Tori. About what she might be doing, about whether to text her or not, about the last time she got to hear that beautiful laugh, and anticipating the next time she got to hear it like a kid on Christmas morning. 

It was also, humiliating. 

To be so caught up about some girl, like a regular schoolgirl with a crush. 

Gross. 

Besides, she had just seen Tori, they had just had their “date”, and it had been a disaster, as it was meant to be. 

It took a few minutes but Jade managed to be maybe, mildly entertained with whatever nonsense she found on TheSlap when her screen shone brighter, displaying a profile picture she hadn’t seen on her phone in a while.

A call from Beck. 

Beck didn’t normally call her, or anyone, and on the rare occasions he did call her, Jade would just let the phone ring, probably text Beck after to make sure he wasn’t dead or in trouble.

This time, however, her thumb moved almost involuntarily, as her brain was desperate to find a distraction. 

“Hello?” The voice on the other end sounded confused like Beck wasn’t really counting on having his call answered. 

“It’s almost 11 pm, Oliver.” Jade said, simply and somewhat bitterly.

“Then what are you doing up?” He asked. 

“Maybe I was sleeping and you just woke me up. So you better be in jail or something worse.” 

“You really think I would use my one jail call on you?” He sassed her back and it almost drew a smile to Jade’s face. 

Ever since they had broken up talking to Beck had felt different, lighter somehow, more comfortable, and most importantly: Platonic, with a capital P. Beck knew as much, but he still enjoyed poking fun at Jade and sassing her back, now that there were little to no consequences to it. 

“Knowing you, you'd probably order a pizza.”

“Of course. Pineapple and extra ham.”

“You deserve your jail time.” Jade said finally and she heard Beck laughing on the other end. “But seriously, why are you calling me?”  

Beck then explained that he had been stuck on a chemistry problem for a few hours now and that since Robbie and Andre had been no help, he had resulted in calling Jade, despite not expecting an answer from the girl. 

Jade, of course, did not take pity on him, and so, after bargaining the exchange of her chemistry answers for Beck’s Musical Theory essay, the two stayed on the phone for a while, just chatting while Beck shamelessly copied the answers onto his notebook. 

“So, how’re you and Tori doing?” He asked at some point, and Jade could him erasing and scratching onto the paper. 

The question caught her by surprise. What was she supposed to say? Well, that was dumb. She knew what she had to say. That they were good, great even. Just happy, and in love and all that nonsense. So why couldn’t she?

She stayed silent for a few seconds too long.

“Jade? You still there?” Beck asked on the other end, snapping Jade out of her spiraling. 

“Sorry, the signal’s weird. What did you say?” She almost stuttered, but she managed to play it off.

“I asked how’re you and Tori doing.” Beck repeated calmly as he resumed his writing. 

Jade bit her lip, analyzing her next words carefully. 

“We’re… good.”

“Good?”

“Yeah, good. Why?” Jade groaned. 

“Nothing. I’m just making conversation.” Beck said defensively.

The line stayed silent for a few more seconds, then the words just came out of Jade’s mouth. 

“We’re fine but… we kind of had a fight tonight.” She said, and she immediately regretted it. She hated talking about feelings, especially with Beck. Especially supposed fake feelings. 

“Oh… that sucks. What happened?” Beck sounded taken aback too. He wasn’t really expecting to chat with Jade about any serious stuff, they never did, but he was still supportive of his friend.

“She met my dad.” Jade said simply, flopping back onto her bed. 

“Oh.”

“Yeah. “Oh”” 

“Should I ask?” Beck said, letting the question linger. On the other end, Jade picked at her nails anxiously, trying to come up with an answer.

“It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t…good.” Not a good answer apparently. 

“I believe you, but you aren't really giving me anything to form a complete opinion here.”

Jade rolled her eyes at her friend’s answer.

“My dad kinda got on my nerves the entire night. And let’s just say I didn’t handle it too well.” Jade admitted. “Dinner was a bit of a back and forth. Or as Tori put it, the “West Family Complain-a-ton.” 

Immediately Beck started howling with laughter, so much so that Jade had to put some distance between her and her phone to protect her hearing. 

“God, why didn’t I think of that?” Beck breathed out once his laughter had resided. 

“You good?” Jade asked him bitterly, unamused at the rapturous laughter. 

 “Yeah, yeah…” Beck sighed, getting over his laughing fit. “Then what happened?”

“We kind of got into a fight. Then my dad was an asshole to me but…” Silence. Should she be talking about this? Well, it was too late now. 

“Hm?” Beck said, prompting Jade to go on.

“Tori defended me. She even got Trina to give me a lift home so I didn’t have to go with my dad.” Jade said, her voice suddenly turning softer.

“That’s pretty sweet of her.” Beck said, honesty filling his words as usual. 

“It was.” Jade said absentmindedly, she didn’t even catch her lovesick smile. 

The line stayed silent for a few seconds, although Jade didn’t notice. The scene at the restaurant just played on repeat inside her mind.

“Doesn’t seem as awful as you made it sound, if I do say so myself.” 

Jade pondered the words for a second. It really wasn’t, but she was smart enough to admit that she wasn’t on her best judgment lately. 

“Yeah…” She trailed off again. 

Silence fell between them once more, but in good Beck fashion, he had to break that tranquility off. 

“Just so you know, I’m counting this exchange as you saying I’m right.”

Jade groaned in exasperation, but she couldn’t fight the smile that spread across her face. 

“Goodbye, Oliver. And by the way, problems 3 through 7 are wrong.” 

“Wait, really-?” Beck asked, but it was too late, Jade had already hung up on him, her smile turning into a wicked grin instantly. 

Said chemistry problems weren’t actually wrong, but Jade guessed she would make him work for his homework AND get the last word all in one go. 

Now the enveloping silence of her house didn’t seem so overwhelming, but the thoughts of Tori came rushing again, stronger than ever, and so Jade did the only thing she found logical at the moment. 

She hit her face as hard as she could with a pillow and groaned again . 

“So, how was your date?” Trina asked the morning after, wiggling her eyebrows teasingly.

Last night Trina had gone straight back to bed, muttering something about her beauty sleep being constantly interrupted, but just like this morning, Tori didn’t really hear her, she just absent-mindedly played with the watery cereal in front of her.

“Hey!” Trina called for her attention, a mouthful of cereal and waving a hand in front of Tori’s face. “Earth to Tori."

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"Gosh, Tori. You are down baaad." Trina answered and Tori rolled her eyes at her. She wasn’t in the mood to fuel Trina’s love for gossip today.

“It was fine.” She replied dryly.

Trina sucked through her teeth like she had just been injured. “That bad? What did you do?”

“Why do you assume I did something?” Tori replied offended.

“You’re right. Sorry.” Trina said, standing up from the table to leave her plate in the sink. “So, who fucked up?”

Tori groaned in exasperation. “No one fucked up, okay?” Tori then stood up too. “And why are you so interested in that? You know this is all pretend.”

“Sure.” Replied said simply, smiling cheekily to herself as she washed her plate.

“It is!” Tori insisted, which only made Trina smile even bigger. 

“Of course it is.”

“Ugh, you’re the one who said this was a bad idea in the first place! So what? You want “the deets” all of a sudden? Well, truth is, maybe you were right!” 

As an older sister, one of Trina’s favorite hobbies consisted of getting a rise out of Tori. Now, that also meant she knew when Tori was not in the mood to be teased, suspicious as it was. 

“Alright, alright.” Trina said, splashing some water at her sister’s face, effectively ending her angry rant but making her fume even more. “Now, what actually happened that’s got your panties in a twist?”

“My panties are not in a twist!” Tori yelled again. 

“Well, that’s good to hear, dear.” Ms. Vega said, having just caught the last bit of the conversation as she descended the stairs. 

Trina had to stifle a laugh while Tori turned red like a tomato, effectively making her even angrier. 

“Good thing I caught you here, girls.” Their mother spoke up again, looking up something on her cell phone, barely making eye contact with them. 

“At our kitchen...” Trina said, to no one in particular. 

“I already ordered your dresses for the gala. We’ll have a fitting today at three. Hope you haven’t gained any weight since the last time we went there.”

Putting up with Trina’s teasing was one, perfectly manageable thing; but putting up with her mother’s not-so-subtle jabs and terrible actitude was another and too much for Tori to handle right now. She didn’t even bother to answer, she just groaned one last time and took off to her bedroom, while Trina gave the mandatory “okay, mom”. 

Once safe inside her bedroom Tori found herself pacing around, unable to pass her anger, and it was becoming annoying. She had been restless all day, since last night actually, as thoughts of Jade invaded her mind. Was she really okay? Where they okay? 

She had been staring hopelessly at her phone for the better part of the night, hoping for a text from the brunette, because maybe that would mean Jade was also thinking about her, and then maybe that would justify all those annoying thoughts. 

But no, her notifications were as empty as they were last night.

“Dammit.” Tori muttered to herself, frustrated.

This wasn’t her usual self, she didn’t remember feeling this anxious since her calc final last semester, and the fact that it was about Jade of all things made her feel worse. 

Not that Jade wasn’t especial to her.

As a friend. Tori reminded herself. 

But she was just harder to read. And even if they were now considered friends, that didn’t mean Tori really knew how to approach the girl with sensitive stuff like last night’s happenings. 

Because what was she supposed to say? “Hey, sorry your dad sucks. Are we still fake girlfriends?”

Hell, no. 

Tori finally gave in to the pent-up frustration, as she collapsed onto her bed to stare at the ceiling.

She could feel the sleep starting to take over her, and her eyes fluttered close not long after. She considered taking a nap before she would have to be dragged to that stupid dress fitting, but she could not catch a break. 

Her phone buzzed violently from under her pillow, snapping Tori awake immediately as she turned to unlock it, hoping for a text from Jade. 

Only to be disappointed when the only notification her phone displayed was some lame coupon for uber eats. 

“Get your shit together, Vega.” Tori said to herself, flopping back onto her pillow. 

Her phone buzzed again at her side, but this time Tori only closed her eyes, fighting back the urge to immediately check it again. She still had some dignity left. 

It buzzed once more and Tori shut her eyes harder. She would not check it. She could wait a few minutes. She had self-control. 

After a minute, said self-control left out the window, and Tori sat up to check her phone, staring at the black screen for a few seconds before unlocking it, afraid it was just another stupid add to further disappoint her.

Jade: Hey

Jade: Do you think we could talk? Today

And somehow that was worse. She had expected Jade to reach out all morning, but the fact that she was so vague about “wanting to talk” only made the knots on Tori’s stomach tight and twist evermore.

What would they even talk about that Jade just couldn’t tell her through a text? A breakup, that’s what. Or at least that was Tori’s first thought. 

Tori: My mom is making us go to a fitting today

Tori : Maybe tomorrow at school?

And sure, Tori knew she could not change the inevitable, but she could surely stall it.

The three dots appeared under Jade’s name once more, mocking her with every second Jade spent tapping her answer, while Tori stayed almost at the edge of her seat. They appeared and disappeared at least three times before an answer was delivered.

Jade: Sure

And that was it. 

Tori waited a few more seconds. Maybe Jade was writing something else, something much more meaningful than that half-assed answer, maybe even a little black heart, as she sometimes did when the two text. A small gesture that would have brought Tori such comfort, some sort of sign that might have given her hope that Jade wasn’t mad or set on the idea of breaking up their little charade.

But no, that was it. And Tori hated the fact that a text had such power over her, enough to make her eyes water, even. 

“Ugh, I normally love shopping but that was the worst.” Trina groaned as she plopped down on the couch dramatically.

The afternoon felt eternal, running around LA with their mother the get on time to the fitting and buying accessories to match afterward. Which, in any other circumstances would have been nice, if the girls had had any say on what they would be wearing. 

Because everything had to be perfect, as their mother had put it. That, apparently, meant she would be choosing every single aspect of her daughter’s looks for the evening, down to the color of the dresses and the accessories. Trina, as usual, complained the whole time, picking at every little thing she would do differently as her mother did her best to ignore her. 

That at least Tori would have enjoyed, watching as Trina made their mother increasingly frustrated at her whining, maybe even join in, but her mind had been somewhere else the entire afternoon. 

“Green is so not my color. What is that woman thinking?!” Trina complained again while Tori went to pour herself some water.

“Uh huh.” Tori hummed again, like she had done many times over the course of the day. 

Trina then stood up, walking quickly and silently towards the kitchen to corner Tori there, making her yelp in surprise. 

“And what’s gotten into you? You look like a zombie. You didn’t even complain one time. And your dress situation is much worse than mine.”

Tori stopped dead in her tracks, trying to think of a way to scurry away from Trina to finally go lay on her bed to continue her sulking in peace.  

“I’m just tired.” She answered. 

Tori then tried to go around Trina, but a weirdly strong arm stopped her. Curse Trina’s karate lessons.

“Bullshit.” Her sister said. “Is this about your girlfriend?”

“I don’t have a girlfriend.” Tori said calmly, and Trina finally let her through.

“Your fake girlfriend, then. However you wanna call it.”

“I don’t have one either.” Tori answered, bitterness slipping into her tone this time, catching Trina’s attention. 

Tori went for the stairs, ready to retrieve back to her room, hoping Trina’s silence meant that she had caught the hint to leave her alone. 

And it seemed like it did, Tori was finally able to go back to her room, change into her pajamas and begin a mindless scroll of TheSlap before the imminent breakup she had waiting for her tomorrow. It wasn’t before she heard a knock on her door.

“Not in the mood, Trina.” Tori replied, hoping her sister would be merciful enough today. Besides, her door was locked, and Tori had her earphones ready in case Trina decided to do her famous 3-hour knocking.

“I have a peace offering.” Her sister answered from the other side of the door, and Tori had no idea what that meant.

Tori contemplated just letting Trina be and continue her doom scroll, but curiosity got the best of her and she went to open her door, only to find Trina on the other side holding two hot mugs.

“Cocoa?” Her sister said, holding out one of the mugs for her sister to take.

Tori stared at the mug in front of her, surprise and confusion etched on her face.

“Relax, it’s not poisoned or anything.” Trina rolled her eyes. “Thought you might need it.”

The small but meaningful gesture hit Tori like a ton of bricks. Only twice had Trina brought her hot cocoa to cheer her up. Once, one Christmas years ago, when her mom and dad had spent the better half of the holiday fighting and again on the night their father left the house for good.

Tori’s eyes began to water, although a smile drew on her face immediately as she scooched over to allow Trina to sit next to her on the bed.

It was bound to be a long talk.

Chapter Text

Jade felt sick.

She felt the knots that had been ever-present in her stomach for weeks now twist and tighten with every passing second she spent staring at her phone screen.

She felt like a coward, like an idiot, like a fool who couldn’t bring herself to talk about her feelings to the most understanding and sweet girl she had ever met.

She was also racking up a fever.

On Monday morning she was stopped at the kitchen table by her nanny, Ms. Alstein, who took care of the house while her dad was gone, which was often. A sweet, old woman. And the only one strong enough to withstand Jade’s attempts at shooing her away since she was little. She was tough but fair and Jade liked her a lot.

She liked her a bit less when the woman insisted that she had to skip school today, considering she wouldn’t get too far with the fever she had.

Despite Jade insisting that today was very, very important, Ms. Alstein had already called the school, and Jade stood wobbling slightly by the door, wondering why there were two door knobs instead of one.

Okay, maybe it was best she didn’t drive like that. But she couldn’t get sick. Not today. Not when she needed to talk to Tori.

"There’s always tomorrow." Ms. Alstein said as she put Jade back to bed.

And Jade wondered if that was true, she certainly hoped so, because she was already drifting off to sleep due to the medication.

“Has anyone seen Jade today?” Tori asked the group while she sat down for lunch. 

“Nope.”

“Not really.”

“Nope, she skipped third period.”

Tori sighed at the similar responses and pulled her phone out for the nth time that day. Still, no sign of Jade since yesterday. 

“I texted her this morning, but she hasn’t seen it.” Cat added, moving her phone around as if looking for signal. 

That was good, Tori thought. It meant Jade wasn't specifically avoiding her, but then again, she could be avoiding them all. 

That morning Tori had waited by her locker with two large chai lattes for them, but Jade never arrived, even after Tori was late to their first class of the day hoping Jade would show up any minute now, only a few minutes fashionably late. She also texted Jade after their first class had ended, and at lunch she decided to text her again, all to no avail. Not even a blue check to reassure her that Jade had at least read her texts. She considered Jade might have turned off her read receipts, but, to quote the girl herself, "she kept them on so people would know when she was ignoring them." 

They were all walking back to class after lunch, making small talk while Tori kept a death grip on her phone in case it buzzed. The end of the day was nearing and she had lost faith in seeing Jade today, let alone talking about the other night. 

The group said their goodbyes before heading to their respective classrooms, while Tori hung back to get some books from her locker. She took her time with it too, not eager to get to her next class, and thank god she did, or she would’ve missed the conversation Cat was having on her phone inside the not-so-secret hiding spot inside the janitor's closet. 

“Why don’t you ask Tori to do it? You hate it when I drive your car.” Cat said in her usual sweet, naive tone.

Now that caught Tori’s attention, and despite every nerve in her body telling her that what she was doing was wrong, she couldn’t stop. Curiosity was killing her.

“Ooooh, you guys are fighting?” Cat said and Tori’s heart skipped a beat. 

She didn’t know exactly on what terms the two had left that night, but she certainly didn’t feel like they were fighting. Guess Jade thought differently. 

“Okay, okay. I get it. You want your space.” Cat said again and Tori’s stomach dropped. 

Well, if space was what Jade wanted, she would give it to her. Tori knew she was in no position of demanding things from Jade, they weren’t real girlfriends after all. 

That, however, did not mean it hurt less, no matter how much Tori knew she shouldn’t feel like this. It also did not stop her eyes from watering.

Chapter Text

“Jade! You poor thing!” Cat cooed at the sight of Jade, wrapped in a fluffy blanket, still in her pajamas, and holding a tissue to her runny nose. 

“Do not pity me.” Jade said, trying to sound menacing with what little energy she had left and half a stuffed nose. 

“Why didn’t you tell me you’re sick? I would’ve brought you some of my Nonna’s soup.” 

“That’s exactly why.” 

Cat dropped the keys to Jade’s car on the bowl by the door, making herself welcome instantly and pulling Jade by the arm back to the sofa by the foyer. Jade ignored the fact her car was double parked and her trash can seemed to have been run over mere seconds ago.

“You are so silly when you’re sick.” Cat said with a giggle. “Has anyone taken your temperature? Have you eaten? What medicine are you taking?” 

As Jade was bombarded with questions she felt her nausea come back, which was only made worse by the sickly sweet tone of Cat’s voice and her poor attempts at taking her temperature by holding her hand in front of her forehead. 

“Cat, I’m fine. Ms. Alstein is taking care of me.” Jade assured, trying to maintain her bitterness at bay since Cat was only trying to help. And because that way she knew the redhead would leave faster. 

“Oh, okay then.” She said, standing up, supposedly to leave. But Cat only stood there, hands behind her back and looking around the old house she had visited maybe a thousand times. 

“You don't want to leave, do you?” Jade muttered. 

“I trust you're in good hands.” Cat said, pinching one of Jade’s cheeks. What she gets for asking. 

“I’ll give Tori a call on my way home. She was worried sick. Haha! Get it? Sick.” Then she laughed, and it felt like a drill against Jade’s ears.

“No, don’t!” Jade said hurriedly, to which Cat gave her a strange look. 

“I mean…” Jade corrected. “She’ll just worry and she has a lot on her plate right now. I’ll talk to her.”

“Are you sure?” Cat asked. 

“Yes.” Jade said immediately, directing Cat to the front door. “Thank you for getting my car, you can go now.”

“Alrighty. Hope you feel better soon!” Cat stopped again just outside the door. 

"Cat-" Jade began to say something, probably something a bit mean about asking Cat to please leave already since her voice was drilling holes into her skull and worsening her headache, but Cat beat her to the word. 

"Are you alright, Jade?" She asked, genuine concern etched on her face. 

The question caught Jade off guard. She adjusted her blanket to cover her some more, feeling chills running down her spine, although she wasn't sure if they were due to the fever or to such a question. 

"Well, no. My head feels like a drum kit set on fire, my nose feels like a defective faucet and my stomach feels like a fish tank." She said, very matter-of-factly and sarcastic as usual; hoping to any god that would listen that Cat wouldn't enquire any further. No god listened. 

"That's not what I meant. Is everything alright with Tori? Are you guys fighting?"

Jade fell silent. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, but no logical sound came out. Once more, Cat beat her to the word. 

"I know it's none of my business, and you're probably going to tell me that yourself, but ever since you and Tori began dating you've seemed so happy, and now you're gloomy and grouchy again-" 

Jade glared at Cat at that last part, but that did not stop the smaller girl. 

"I don't like seeing you sad. And I know you don't like it when people worry about you, but Tori's your girlfriend and that's kind of the point of girlfriends." Jade felt silent again, caught by surprise by Cat's words and that unusual wisdom the girl could just randomly drop like a bomb. 

"And since you haven't yelled at me yet I want to remind you that I also worry about you. 'Cause that's also what friends are for, girl friends but with a space between the words. Or maybe a dash?" 

"Cat." Jade said, trying to get the girl to stay on track. 

"Oh, right. And that if you ever want to talk I'm right here." 

Jade let those words sink in, and taking a deep breath she thought back to the last few weeks. She invited Cat back in for some tea and to take her up on that offer of talking some stuff through. 

She didn't know if it was the meds or her intermittent fever, but something had been tugging at her chest ever since Saturday night, a feeling she couldn’t quite place. Guilt? Anger? Sadness? She knew all of those well, but not this strange sensation, like her heart, stomach, and other important organs were just being held by a thread, and at any moment they could just collapse. Like any wrong move or wrong word would finally be enough and make her entire world crash down, damaged as it was already. 

And so, Jade took what little relief she could by telling Cat the whole thing, tired of having to carry it all alone, as per usual. She felt guilty about it, considering she was the one who told Tori not to tell anyone, but by the end of it, she felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Cat was a great listener when she wanted to be.

Cat was also surprisingly understanding about it all, even when Jade came clean about the fake dating and that dreadful dinner with her dad. 

"It makes more sense this way, actually." Cat said after Jade had explained. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Well, for starters, you two are way too stubborn to just confess your feelings for each other just like that, and also stubborn enough to plan a rousse like that just to get back at your parents." The redhead said it so matter of factly it almost scared Jade, had she not been so mad. 

"Cat, I might be a minute away from puking my life out but I can still beat you up." Jade warned. 

"I won't apologize for being right!" She defended, hiding behind her cup of tea.  "And anyway, fake dating or not, it's obvious your feelings for each other are real!" 

"You don't know that." Jade answered, voice low while she played with the little spoon inside her mug. 

"Yeah I do!" Cat protested. "Jade, you look at Tori like she's the most beautiful girl in the world. And she looks at you like you're some sort of romantic cliches, like a summer sunset or fireworks." 

"Those are some cliches…" Jade muttered, trying not to focus on the heat that took over her face then. It was just her fever, it was just her fever… 

"And you look so happy too! You haven't even shoved Sinjin against the lockers in weeks. And you haven't threatened any teachers. Hell, you went to gym class the other day! Coach Andrews doesn't even know who you are." 

"Tori said I should stop skipping class…" Jade muttered to herself and Cat’s expression softened. 

"Robbie calls you whipped, but I think 'happy' is more like it. You two are huge softies." Cat said sweetly. 

"I might have to have a word with Robbie…" 

"In any case, it's pretty gross to watch sometimes. But, like, the good kind of gross.”

"Thank you?" Jade said, unsure of how to answer that. 

"You're welcome." Cat said, looking very proud of herself. 

Jade took a few minutes to think before she gave a long sigh. 

"I'll talk with Tori." She said decisively. Then her expression softened. "I promise." 

"Thank you." Cat said, barely containing the smile on her face, radiating a sort of anxious energy that Jade knew too well. 

"And yes, alright, we can hug. But quick 'cause I don't want you to get sick." Jade rolled her eyes, but her smile was too obvious to be taken seriously. 

"Awwww, see? You are a softy." Cat cooed. 

"Cat I will cough on your face before your recital." 

"Noted." Cat immediately moved out of the way, but the two still shared a small smile. 

The two talked some more and Jade made a point of checking up on Cat more often if only to share a good laugh with her friend. 

Maybe she was becoming a softy. 

Sadly, their talk was interrupted. Ms. Alstein knocked on the kitchen door before disturbing the teenagers, looking very solemn all of a sudden. 

"Jade, sorry to interrupt, but your father is here." 

Jade's grip on her mug tightened so much it almost hurt. Her father was supposed to be somewhere on the East Coast for business, or somewhere in San Francisco with Cindy, or God knows somewhere else, but miles away from her. 

Then, with the intensity of a hurricane, Mr. West barged into the kitchen. 

"Jade, tell your friend to go. We need to talk." 

"Hello, Mr. West!" Cat tried to greet him with his usual cheery self, but he only leveled her with a look. 

"Catherine." 

Cat immediately stood up and bolted to the door, sneaking a quick "call me if you need me" to Jade before leaving.

It was a heavy, awkward and loaded conversation, if such a screaming match could be called that. Thankfully it wasn’t very long.

When enquired about why the hell Mr. West was back in Los Angeles son early he said that Cindy had advised him that maybe it was best to go back home to talk to his daughter instead of leaving for the weekend before leaving again for work. And so he “moved some strings” as he liked to put it, to be able to stay in Los Angeles with Jade until Friday morning, so they could talk about the other night. 

Despite asking for a conversation, Jade could barely get a word in, except when the opportunity for a sarcastic comment arose. 

Not long after her father lost all patience and went straight to the scolding, repeating his opinion on Jade’s “phase” and including a stern judgment of her choices for partners, regarding Beck as a no-good hippie and Tori as a stupid girl that was messing with Jade’s gullible head. 

Jade wanted to say something, felt in every bone inside her body the need to say something and defend not only her friends but the girl that had made her feel like she was enough for the first time in her life. But she remained silent. She hated it.

Her father wrapped up the so-called conversation by grounding her; no phone, no car, and no laptop until he left on Friday (since he couldn’t really do much from the other side of the world), effective immediately, leaving Jade no chance to text any of her friends.

Jade stormed out of the kitchen, slamming every door in her path, followed by screams from her dad. Nothing new, but still very tiresome. 

She laid in bed for the rest of the evening, fighting a fever and her seething anger.

Feeling frustrated was a normal side effect of talking to her dad, but this was a whole new level. She was basically sentenced to house arrest, which she probably wouldn’t even mind if she didn’t have an important conversation pending. 

Jade could slam doors and break stuff all she liked to try and make herself feel better, and she had tried, but nothing she did made her feel better. She kept thinking about Tori, about the last time they talked, about how if she hadn’t been such a coward they might have been able to talk earlier, before this whole thing happened, a then maybe, just maybe she would still have her best friend and fake girlfriend by her side, to lay a sweet kiss to her temple and tell her that everything would be alright and that they could just go get some coffee or catch a movie by the end of the week. 

The seconds passed and Jade felt restless, which only made her flu even worse, and then she couldn’t take it anymore. 

It was a norm that whenever her father was at home he would spend most of his time inside his studio, and so, later that night, Jade took the opportunity to use the landline to dial the only number she knew by heart. 

The phone rang, and it rang, and just when Jade was about to lose hope, someone picked up.

“Jade? Hello?” A familiar voice called.

“Hi, mom.”

Chapter Text

Tori had been feeling nervous about tonight for weeks now. First, because she didn't want to be paraded around at a stupid gala like a dog for all her mom's associates to see, then because she wanted her plan of making a mess out of this night with her fake girlfriend a success, and then because she really, really did not feel like going out. 

Her talk with Trina had helped her cheer up a bit, but Cat's words still echoed inside her mind, and the unanswered texts she had sent Jade weighed more than a ton inside her purse. She didn't even know if Jade was going to be there, she certainly hoped she wouldn't, Tori already felt humiliated enough. 

No one knew much about Jade, only that someone had called the school to tell she would be absent due to catching the flu, and Cat had not-so-suspiciously claimed that she was fine, Ms. Alstein was taking care of her and that her delightful father was back in town. 

“Nothing more! No news! Definitely no deep emotional conversations that need to happen.” Cat assured, as she anxiously played with her hair. 

All things considered, the group took all that as a valid sign to give Jade some space. They knew very well she hated when people came by her house when her father was home, and when she wasn't feeling well, or just came by in general. And they trusted Cat’s judgment, she was Jade’s best friend for a reason, no matter how many times Jade denied it.     

The subject was dropped without much fuss, but Tori couldn’t fight that uneasy feeling in her stomach. She was done with Jade, she swore it, after everything that had happened and after Jade had showed Tori time and time again that she wasn’t anywhere near ready to change her worse habits and sit down to talk with her, and so, she was willing to give Jade all the space she wanted before they officially called it quits. 

It would give her some time to think, purge this ridiculous crush she had and they could go on with their lives. 

So why was she still so worried about her? Why was she still sending texts and calling, even when there was no answer from Jade?

Thursday night Tori sat on the living room couch, wearing a horrendous red dress her mother had picked, looking at the rows and rows of unanswered texts again.

Maybe she could swing by before the gala, it was still early after all… 

But no, Tori thought, locking her phone aggressively. She had to be strong. 

But maybe… 

Then the door rang, and the tiniest spark of hope lit up inside Tori's chest. 

"It's for me!" Trina called from upstairs, rushing down the stairs in record time. 

"That's my date!" She announced, as if Tori needed to feel even more pathetic. 

There at the door stood a tall and very handsome boy about their age, wearing a suit with a tie that matched Trina's dress. 

"Tori, this is Daniel, from my judo class." She said, dragging the boy inside the arm with a sickly sweet smile. 

"Nice to meet you, Tori." He said, and Tori concluded that he seemed nice, fairly decent and somewhat charismatic. So what was he doing with Trina? 

Her sister seemed to have read her mind. 

"I bet him that if I beat him on a sparring match he would be my date tonight." She said with a proud smile. 

"Your sister's a beast." The boy said, but instead of sounding afraid, like most boys Trina brought home, he sounded proud. 

The three of them made light conversation and Tori couldn’t help but feel content for her sister, who seemed genuinely happy. 

"Alright everyone, are we ready to go?" Their mother said loudly, coming down the stairs while fixing her hair yet again. 

Trina introduced her to her date and her mother gave a mixture of an approving smile and a shocked expression. Trina did her best to ignore that last part. 

But then the attention was turned towards Tori. 

"And who might be your date for tonight, Tori? I was very clear about our set of rules." She said, condescending as ever. 

Trina took this as a sign to get Daniel out of here, out of respect for her sister rather than saving the boy some more awkward moments. 

"I don't have a date for tonight, mom." She said, standing up from the couch to look at her mother in the eyes in silent defiance. 

Her mother matched her stare for a second, then she went through her purse, feigning uninterest. 

"Well, I guess that's better than having you around the arm of that West girl." 

Tori had been short on patience for days now, she usually was for her mom’s bullshit, but she was also very, very tired. She could have gone on an hour-long rant about how ridiculous and unfair her mother was being, but she dropped it. She simply grabbed her purse and headed outside, where a car was already waiting for them. Her mother followed suit without another word, and the tension during the car ride was palpable.

On the other side of town, a certain girl was sneaking out her window. Or trying to, at least. 

Jade never had any need to sneak out, not to mention having her bedroom on the last floor of the third-story building did not help her much. 

Her flu wasn't completely gone yet, but this was her only chance. Her father had left for the gala mere minutes ago, but yesterday he had set up their security system, which was usually only turned on when no one was in the house to ensure no one would break in. Now, it was ensuring no one could get out. 

A loud alarm would beep every time Jade got so much as a foot near any door or window on the first story, but she had found a way around the upper windows. Now, she only had to figure out the 36 feet fall. It was also a great moment to remember Jade was afraid of heights. 

"And where might you be going?" A stern voice asked her mid-scape. 

"Just taking some air." Jade said, trying to sound casual while half her body dangled out the window to figure out a good angle. 

"Mhm." Ms. Alstein grabbed her arm and helped Jade back into the room while she groaned in exasperation. 

"Ms. Alstein, please! I'll only be gone for a couple of hours. And you know damn well this punishment is ridiculous and unfair!" Jade argued, but Ms. Alstein maintained that decisive gaze on her, arms crossed and frown in place. 

"Language, Jade." She said. 

She felt as if she was a kid again, and she was begging her nanny to get some cookies from the jar before dinner. This entire thing with Tori somehow felt as important as cookies before dinner for a six-year-old. 

But just like many times before when Jade had argued with the woman and thrown temper tantrums or convincing arguments, she looked unmovable and inconvincible. 

Jade sighed and sat by her bed, looking defeated. 

"I know, It's useless." She surrendered, but Ms. Alstein wasn't sure she was only talking about her escape attempt. 

"She would probably hate to see me there anyway. I waited too long." Jade said, more to herself than anything. 

Ms. Alstein stood there looking at Jade, the girl who stood proud and tall most days but that she, and only a select few, knew had such a delicate core. 

She had never seen her so sad, not since her mother had left… 

Meanwhile, Jade's mind was going at thousands of miles per hour, as it had been doing for the past few days, thinking about the many ways she had failed Tori, not only as a fake girlfriend but as a friend. 

However, her spiraling was interrupted by the clank of tiny metal objects being thrown next to her on the bed. 

Her car keys. 

"But-" Jade began, looking dumbfounded between the keys and Ms. Alstein. 

Her nanny interrupted her, her expression softening. 

"I believe the little rebel I helped raise wouldn’t be too happy to see you moping around in your room on a Friday night due to an unfair punishment." She said with a soft smile, throwing a quick wink her way. 

Jade was speechless, and although she wanted to at least say something to thank the woman, Ms. Alstein only ushered her out of the room, "before she changed her mind". 

The Gala was in full throttle when Jade arrived. 

Her head was pounding, her leather jacket was doing little to nothing to fight the shivers running down her spine and she knew her face was red like a tomato. It’s also worth mentioning that her flu had been mostly gone since that morning and that those symptoms had nothing to do with it.

People dressed in black tie swarmed around her, and although it took some convincing and a considerable amount of name-dropping for security to let her in (And also an old screenshot of the invite Tori had sent her a while ago), Jade had managed to enter the venue.

As usual, stood out like a sore thumb amongst the elegantly dressed ladies, with the dark jeans and old combat boots she had managed to throw on in her rush.

Jade looked around the hall to no avail, feeling overwhelmed with each step along the sea of people, surrounded by loud conversation, the clinking of glasses and tiny plates, and the most mind-numbing background music Jade had ever heard. 

How many people did these guys invite anyway? She did not recognize anyone around. Maybe some associates of her dad, but that was mostly it. None of the Vega sisters on sight. 

Until one of the sisters found her first.

“Jade?!” Trina shrieked on her face, having come out seemingly out of nowhere with a glass of what was most likely apple juice in one hand and clutching her tiny purse in the other. 

“What are you doing here?” She asked her, pulling Jade away from the crowd and looking around in case her mother was nearby.

“You know what I’m doing here.” Jade answered, shaking Trina off of her.

Trina sighed in defeat before replying.

“I do. I was hoping I assumed wrong.” Trina downed the juice like she wished it was something else, leaving the glass on a nearby table. “But couldn’t you have done this at another time?! Not during our mom’s gala, for example?”

Something twisted inside Jade at those words, another reminder that her timing was just never right. How she loathed when even Trina was right. She settled on ignoring that last part. 

“Where’s Tori?”

“I don’t know, I lost her half an hour ago. She’s still here though, mom was very clear about ditching.”

Jade looked around for the nth time that night, frustration was beginning to get the best of her, and with each passing second she could feel her throat close up and regret poking it’s little ugly head out from the cracks on her plan. 

“Hey, are you okay?” Trina asked her suddenly, she must have zoned out, and judging by Trina’s worried expression Jade could only imagine the look in her eyes.

“Trina, listen to me.” Jade turned to face her decisively, catching the older girl by surprise. “I know I screwed it up with Tori, and I know she must have already told you everything, and I know I’m a coward and an idiot.”

“Yeah, you kind of are.”

“But I really, really want to make things right. So I need your…” Jade trailed off at the last part. 

If you were to tell Jade West three mere months ago that she would be crashing a fancy party and asking Trina Vega for help to try and confess her feelings to Tori she would’ve laughed in your face, and probably kick your shins too while she was at it. But here she was, scared and slightly feverish, ready to make a fool of herself. 

But first, she had to actually say the h-word to Trina.

“You need my…?” Trina asked, eyeing Jade like she had gone insane. She probably had, to be fair.

Jade groaned in exasperation.

“I need your help.”

And just like that Trina squealed, wrapping both arms around Jade, who felt simultaneously murderous, surprised, and relieved. 

“Of course I will! C’mon, I have a plan.” She said, dragging Jade along. 

Tori hated these things. 

Ever since they were little she and Trina had been forced to attend these stuffy networking parties, forced to wear the most uncomfortable dresses, smile, wave, say nothing, and repeat. Back then, when their dad would accompany them it was mostly bearable. Her dad would crack a lame joke and sneak sweets to her and Trina, even carrying them back to their rooms when they would inevitably fall asleep in the car, until they became too tall for him to actually lift them. 

Tori found herself reminiscing about those times in front of the bathroom mirror. She had been there for the past half an hour probably, running the faucet under her hands for the past fifteen, risking wrinkly fingers and dreading the mere thought of coming back out there to make small talk to some of her mom’s associates, who had no desire of actually having a conversation, but rather to wait for their turn to talk about their own accomplishments again.

But Tori also knew that if she wasn’t back out there soon her mom would notice. 

She steeled her nerves to check her phone (because even that felt difficult tonight) dreading any new notification that popped up. She checked a few encouraging texts from André from earlier, a few cat pictures from, well, Cat, and a few missed calls from Trina. 

She ignored the last one since it was probably her sister telling her to come back out before their mother popped a vein. 

Tori walked aimlessly around the party, searching for Trina and mostly avoiding her mother, both of whom were nowhere in sight. Not that playing third wheel to Trina and her date was a fun alternative to her evening, but it was more bearable than standing in a corner for the next 2 hours. 

It was funny, because mere weeks ago Tori had actually been looking forward to this night. Sure, it would’ve been hilarious to see her mom's reaction and consequently see her fuming all night as she spent the evening “clinging to Jade’s arm” as her mom had put it, but it was also because Jade made everything more fun. 

Whether it was witty comebacks and verbal stabs flying between them or just hushed conversations and little secrets for the other, Jade had the talent to make every single situation, difficult as it was, simply enjoyable. Tori blamed it on her free-spirited nature for most of their friendship, even as it contrasted with her infamously short temper. There was never a dull moment with Jade around.

"Hello everyone." A voice said over the microphone, a voice she would recognize anywhere, and Tori settled on the fact that her pining had finally led her to lose her mind.

The microphone resounded again with painful feedback, catching the attention of every attendee and a sea of murmurs erupted. That’s when Tori turned around towards the stage at the back of the venue, where a giant banner with the company’s logo and bullshit tagline sat next to a microphone stand. 

Her own mother had been standing there hours ago, next to the associates and owners to give an over-rehearsed speech, but now the microphone had been occupied by someone else. 

None other than Jade West.

Jade tested the microphone a couple of times, fidgeting with the cable and looking weirdly nervous. 

"Uhm- hi, everyone." 

“Are you sure this is going to work?” This question popped up inside Jade’s mind from the beginning of the night, but only now had she voiced it to Trina as she listened to her overly complicated, probably doomed-to-fail plan. 

“When have any of my plans gone wrong?” The older girl asked her with a defiant look. 

Daniel, Trina’s date, shook his head from behind the girl, telling Jade that it was best not to waste time listing the many, many times Trina’s plans had gone wrong. 

“Or do you have any other ideas?” 

Jade stayed silent. She really didn’t, because even if she found Tori amongst the crowd before Ms. Vega or God forbid, her dad, there was no guarantee she would allow her a moment of her time to explain, and Jade wouldn’t really blame her for it.

“All set.” Daniel said, having hijacked the microphone cables from the soundboard to turn on the microphone on stage. “Show time.”

His smile was supposed to be encouraging, and charming, and had Jade not been nervous out of her mind it might have even been, but right now it was only annoying. 

She rolled her eyes and adjusted her jacket, walking on stage to probably make a fool out of herself for the girl she was crazy about. 

“You can do it!” Trina cheered from behind her.

She took the microphone with both hands and that dreadful feedback sound caught the attention of everyone in front of her, just what she wanted, but also the opposite. 

"Uhm- hi, everyone." Jade said, her mind gone completely blank and her voice wavering embarrassingly. 

Jade's eyes scanned the room in search of Tori, allowing herself a moment to steel her nerves and maybe find some solace in familiar brown eyes, but to her demise, they landed first on her dad, Mr. West. Disappointed, mad, exasperated, and many other words that did not do justice to the way he was looking at her. It was almost painful, like his eyes alone could will Jade to step down and run all the way back home where she was supposed to be, but her rebellious streak came in handy just in time, and she willed herself to keep talking. 

"For those of you who don't know me, I'm Jade West. Most of you probably know my father, might have paid him at any given time to get a sweet tax break." 

That caused even more mumbling and whispers to erupt from the ground and from the back of the venue Jade could already see the poking heads of the security guards coming up. 

"Anyway, I'm not here to hijack your lovely evening. I just want to have a quick word with someone I hope is in attendance tonight."

"Jade, what the fuck." Tori whispered to herself. Only now she noticed her feet had begun moving practically on their own, like a magnetic force was pulling her towards the stage. Like one would confidently march towards a mirage in hopes it was real. 

It was too late to back down now, literally, because all judgy and suspenseful eyes were now on Jade. She dared a look back at Trina and Daniel, and the couple shot her a pair of reassuring thumbs up. They weren’t of much reassurance, but they did help her take a deep breath and swallow the lump in her throat.

"Tori Vega, I have to ask you something." Jade said, squinting beyond the bright lights to scan the crowd. 

"Jade, what…" Tori trailed off, voice barely above a whisper. Her hands were clammy and her throat was unbearably tight. 

And it was weird, how Tori felt so caught up between conflicting feelings. Wanting to strangle Jade after days without hearing anything from her, wanting to tackle her off that stage before her mother and security guards caught her, and wanting to hug her tight like never before just so they did not spend another minute apart. 

"I have to ask…" Jade took a deep breath. "Would you like to be my girlfriend? Seriously this time. Start over." 

"Tori what on Earth is this?!" Her mother hissed, grabbing Tori by the arm painfully and effectively snapping her from her trance. 

It was then that security reached the stage, surrounding Jade with a range from bored to exasperated expressions on their faces. 

"Alright, little lady. Please step away from the microphone."

Jade only ignored them and continued, keeping her eyes on Tori. 

"I'm really sorry I disappeared. I was a coward. But I'm here now because…" A pause, hands shaking and a quick breath. "Because I really like you, Tori. And I want to go on dates and hold hands in the hallways and annoy Trina together-" 

"Hey!" Trina yelled from the side of the stage. 

By now security had surrounded Jade, trying to separate her from the microphone and end this little scene. Luckily, Jade did not care about making a scene. 

She took the microphone from the stand, avoiding the exasperated guards to take a few steps forward

By now the guards were holding Jade to each side, trying desperately to separate her from the microphone, but Jade continued squirming around to try and get some more words in, besides the occasional swear. 

"Hey, leave her alone!" Daniel yelled. 

"Yeah! That's my sister's sort-of-girlfriend." 

By now both of them were in full view on stage, and a new set of whispers and gasps erupted as Trina tried (and failed) to drag a huge security guard away from Jade.

“What are you doing?!” Ms. Vega yelled from her spot in the whispering crowd, effectively forgetting about Tori but mostly unable to intervene.

Still, Tori ran after her, or rather towards Jade, who by now seemed to be in trouble and her speech was cut short.

Ms. Vega climbed the stairs towards the stage absolutely fuming, instructing the guards to escort Jade outside and call the police immediately. By now Trina and Daniel had also been removed from the stage, but it was too late to stop the whispering about the daughters of Ms. Vega and Mr. West causing a scandal on such an important night. 

For a second Tori’s eyes met Jade’s, as she was forcibly removed from the stage, and it felt like time had stood still. A brief moment of understanding between them, was inevitably cut short by her mother dashing next to her, practically knocking into her, most likely intentionally.

“You and your sister are in so much trouble.” She whispered, as to avoid any further gossip from the scandalized attendees. Somehow, that was much worse than getting yelled at. “I can’t believe you did this. You humiliated me. Are you happy?” 

And just like that her mother disappeared, phone in hand ready for the inevitable flurry of calls from investors, associates and whatnot to ask about that shit show. 

Tori knew she should’ve been mortified, merely thinking about the talking to and consequential grounding that awaited her and Trina, but she just… did not care. Not when her undivided attention was on the girl who had hijacked the entire evening just to get a message across to her. 

She saw then how Jade managed to shake the guards off, spitting any curse word and witty comeback under the sun to distract them, and essentially bolt for the door with three grown men and Tori’s own mother fumbling to catch the petit girl. Of course, in any good Jade fashion, she managed to flash a grin at Tori just before she disappeared behind the double doors that led to the kitchen and out the back of the hotel, and that's when Tori was convinced she had lost it because she actually started laughing. 

Laughing like a little school girl who had just been told the funniest joke ever, because that’s what this all felt like. 

To top it all off, and because Trina always refused to be less than the talk of the night, she connected a very-well-placed kick on the shin of the guard about to detain her and Daniel, to grab her date’s hand and bolted for the opposite side of the venue. 

Tori reacted in time to meet them behind the stage curtains, pushing through the crowd like she was swimming in the ocean. 

“C’mon, c'mon, c’mon!” Trina hurried her along, already clearly plotting something. “If he hurry we can get to Jade’s car.” And there it was. Tori couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. 

“Tonight sure was a night.” And that comment took the trophy for the understatement of the year. 

Because by now the four teenagers sat outside the greasiest fast food restaurant in L.A, leaning against Jade’s car, three of them in full black tie attire and the remaining one with a giant stain of tomato sauce (courtesy of Jade’s swift escape through the kitchen of the venue), all of them disheveled, tired, and still high on adrenaline. 

“Is this what every party is like with you three?” Daniel dared ask as he enjoyed his fries. 

By now he had gallantly surrendered his suit jacket to Trina, and probably his Jiu-jitsu black belt too.  

“Not at all!”

“God, no.”

Trina and Tori said in unison. 

Jade leaned forward to glance at Daniel and assure him that this sort of mishaps were, in fact, pretty recurrent for the Vega sisters. 

Tori playfully shoved her with her shoulder, in a way that was probably meant to shut her up but only spread a big smile on her face. It was weird for such a situation to feel comforting and familiar, but it did. 

Still, a heavy feeling still sat between them. 

After their little adventure after many, many missed calls from parents and authority figures the four of them considered it was time to turn in for the night, dropping Daniel off on the way to the Vega household.

“They look pretty cute together.” Jade mused as she and Tori waited for Trina to come back. 

They saw how she and Daniel shared a quick (and uncharacteristically bashful) hug goodnight, and how Trina made the walk back to the car with a dopey smile on her face. 

“They do.” Tori agreed, a sweet smile on her face. 

Finally, they reached their stop, and Trina, subtle as ever, informed them that she would be sneaking back into her room from the backyard while they resolved their unresolved gay feelings. Jade couldn’t even give a snarky remark in response, not after everything Trina had done for them. Tomorrow was a different story.  

Silence fell between them like a velvet curtain, pulled out for good, and leaving no room for secrets. Still, it wasn’t as easy as interrupting a private party and shouting your feelings in front of hundreds of strangers.

“So…” Jade trailed off, lamely, cursing herself for it.

“So…” Tori echoed, making the other girl laugh and at least ease her nerves a little. 

“I think your plan worked in the end.”

Tori couldn’t help but laugh at the memory of her mom absolutely losing it and bolting after Jade in high heels.

“I think it did.” Jade matched her smile.

“Would you have done anything differently?” Tori asked her eventually, and the question felt heavier than the words let on.

Jade stayed silent, measuring her words carefully. It was rare to catch Jade West speechless. 

“Probably wouldn’t listen to Trina’s plan of stealing the microphone from the stand. That seems to be her go-to plan for everything.” 

Tori burst out laughing at her response, it was nothing she was expecting, but she appreciated Jade’s ability to make her laugh.

“You know what I mean, West.” Tori said, slapping Jade’s arm playfully.

“I know.” 

Jade took a deep breath then. This wasn’t remotely the hardest thing she had done that day, but it kind of was. 

“I want you to know that I meant every word I said.” 

Tori stayed silent, allowing Jade to gather her thoughts patiently. 

"I am so, so sorry about the way I acted. It was immature and inconsiderate and I was a coward. But I want to do better. I swear I want to do all those things right this time,Tori… If you'll have me."

After their fleeting moment back at the venue Tori noticed that Jade had mostly avoided looking her in the eyes for more than a few seconds, so it was almost overwhelming having those icy blue eyes looking straight at hers. Decisiveness was etched all across them.

It was safe to say Tori was speechless, she knew her voice was hoarse with feeling and tiredness and emotion and she couldn’t trust it, and so she did the next best thing. 

She leaned forward, across her seat towards Jade to lay the most gentle hand on her cheek, to take a chance. When Jade leaned into the touch, warm hands against rosy cheeks, Tori took that chance. 

“I’m sorry too.” She said, voice barely above a whisper.

She leaned forward, pulled by some magnetic force greater than them and everything around them to press her forehead to Jade’s, their breaths hitching at the proximity, eyes closed in silent hope. 

It was as if they both knew they were about to cross a line they couldn’t come back from, but as if they had crossed too many already. 

Tori leaned forward first, still awaiting some other sort of confirmation, a sign that her choices and assumptions were finally correct this time.

When that sign did not arrive and she decided she had had enough of being so close, yet so far to the girl that drove her crazy in every sense of the word, she got closer, closing the space between them on a tender kiss. 

It was soft and careful, but somehow unafraid and raw in a way neither of them had ever experienced. 

And so they stayed like that, wrapped in each other in the culmination of everything they had both wanted for months on end. 

Until about five minutes later when Tori broke the kiss, having found her voice again.

"But you cant just pull something like this every time you mess up!" Tori’s voice tried to sound stern, fighting all the dizziness that followed after the kiss. 

"I don't think I could, your mom would have me arrested by the third time. Fourth if we’re lucky." 

"Jade…" 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, you're right." Jade held her hands up in surrender, smiling a dopey smile that matched Tori’s. "But I don't intend to mess it up either. I'm committed to this, 100%… I

I want to do things right and… communicate and stuff." 

"Ad stuff…" Tori echoed again. Would she ever get tired of teasing Jade back? Probably not.

"Don't mock me." Jade warned, but her words lacked their usual bite, feeling nothing but tenderness for this crazy, beautiful girl in front of her.

Tori’s smile turned softer, and she continued to trace circles over her knuckles with an absentminded smile.

"I believe you. And… I want to give this a try too. And stuff.” 

Jade beamed again, a true smile so rare on her but so, so wonderful. At least for Tori.

“Shut up and kiss me, Vega.” 

And in between giggles, Jade lunged forward to place tiny kisses along Tori’s cheeks and nose, and forehead and jaw to eventually meet Tori’s mouth once more. 

Tori would be happy to be shut up like this every time. 

“Do I look okay? I should probably take the jacket off, I’ll get hot. Or is that rude?” Tori rambled, because of course she did. And Jade smiled at her, because of course she did.

“Would you relax? You look beautiful.” 

Months after their little adventure Tori was still getting used to compliments being thrown around her away in such a truthful matter, not in the interest of sounding sarcastic or maintaining a facade. It was nice, so niche she didn’t even mind the blush that would spread on her face every time. 

Things at home were as usual. Not ideal, but also not worse, at least after a three-month-long grounding and the sternest talking to any teenager had had to endure. Especially now that Jade's mom was planning to make time for more trips to L.A. to stay with her daughter, today being only the first of many more. 

“Besides, you’re not meeting the queen of England. We’re just going to get coffee.” Jade said with a roll of her eyes, like it was the most casual thing ever. 

“Yes, with your mom!” Tori argued. 

“Yeah, she’s chill.” Jade assured. “I can attest. I’ve known her all my life.”

Tori rolled her eyes this time. 

“You can’t blame me for being nervous. So far meeting the parents hasn’t been our most successful operation.”

Jade stopped their walk, pulling Tori by the hand to stop by the sidewalk, allowing all the people around them to go on with their day while they took a small break.

“Because my dad’s an asshole. And your mom is… not nice.” Tori snorted at the effort Jade put into censoring herself when referring to her mom. Who was, in fact, also an asshole. 

“But my mom is cool, and I’ve talked about you to her so many times it’s practically like she already knows you.” 

Those words caught Tori by surprise, and a mischievous smile spread across her face. 

“You’ve talked to your mom about me?” She said, the sly smile spreading with Jade’s exasperated sigh.

“Yes, yes, I like you very much. I talk to my mom about you. I’m an infatuated idiot. Anything else you would like me to say?” 

Tori giggled this time, such a contagious laugh that Jade couldn’t help but smile too, as it was usually the case. 

“No, I’m good.” Tori assured, giving Jade’s hand a squeeze. 

“Great. Now let’s go before she gets mad. She hates it when people are late.”

“Really?!” Tori shrieked, and Jade smiled in sweet revenge. 

“You're too naive.” 

“I hate you.” 

Those words were often said between the two, at the moment in substitution of something stronger, more meaningful, that neither of them dared to utter just now. They were still getting used to being a couple after all, but that didn’t mean the feeling wasn’t there. 

“I hate you too, babe.” Jade replied, placing a quick kiss on Tori’s cheek, blush back in place. 

Yes, it was all still pretty new. 

But they would both be damned if it wasn’t everything they had wanted for so long.