And we're done! This was a fun ride; thank you to everyone who took it with me. I might even add some one-shot to this series in the future, who knows?

7.

"We have three nominations!" Almost two weeks later, Robbie bursts into Sikowitz's class waving a paper in the hand that's not holding Rex. The teacher stops what he was saying – nothing important, just some crazy story involving a llama and a whole lot of tequila shots during his visit to Machu Pichu – and turns his attention to the boy. "We have three- OOF!"

Robbie trips on the leg of a chair and falls face first into the floor. Jade stands immediately, crosses the classroom in two steps. "Give me that," she says, snatching the paper from him.

"Ow," he moans, his nose still touching the dirty floor.

Jade's eyes quickly scan over the printed email. Her heart hammers in her chest like a drum. Tori peeks over her shoulder, catching the words "best actor", "best short film" and "best director".

"Oh, my God!" Tori exclaims excited. "Jade, Jade!" She puts her arm over Jade's shoulder, reaching for the paper and tapping it repeatedly. "Jade look!"

Jade captures Tori's crazy hand, laughing as she says: "I see it, I see it."

Everyone joins Tori in her excitement. Cat hugs Andre, who's congratulating Beck on his nomination, who's already calling Adriana to tell her the good news. Sikowitz helps Robbie up, singing praises about his students and how he always knew they had it in them. And Tori, Tori throws her arms around Jade, laughing into her neck like a maniac.

"We did it," Tori says, leaning back to look at her.

"We haven't done it yet," Jade replies.

Tori shrugs. "I don't care. This feels pretty good."

"Mh," Jade agrees, "validation is delicious."

"You're delicious." In the middle of the classroom, with their friends celebrating and the rest of the class staring in admiration and some jealousy, Tori kisses her. And it's not a chaste kiss either; it's a full, open-mouthed, tongue teasing, I might do you right here if it weren't for the fact that we're in class-kind of kiss.

"Okay, okay!" Sikowitz scolds, pulling them apart by the shoulder. "Tori, you can kiss your girlfriend after the bell rings. I have a class to teach."

"Right," she says a little embarrassed. They take a seat at the back, her hand still holding Jade's as she plays with her fingers. God, she can't wait to get to Jade's later.

"Now, can we please get back to the matter at foot?" Sikowitz kicks his leg out, points at his bare foot. The class quiets down, turning their attention towards him. "Right, so, as I was saying, I had six shots of tequila in my system and the llama had stolen my pants…"

…

With the short finally filmed, their schedules go back to normal. Andre writes two new songs, Beck finally fixes his neighbor's car and Tori performs with Jun in front of Anthony. He gives them an A. Everyone in Hollywood Arts seems to have heard about their nominations and they become somewhat of a celebrity. Even Trina seems to be enjoying their little taste of fame: "Yes, that's my sister's movie that got nominated for three NOVA Awards. I taught her all she knows."

The day of the Festival sneaks up on them. Jade is getting ready at Tori's, reapplying lip-gloss and fluffing her hair. "Do you think this blazer says 'professional aspiring director' or 'coffee-making secretary'?"

Tori looks up from her purse. "First one, definitely."

"Are you sure? I don't want to look out of place."

It's strange and honestly, quite adorable to see Jade being so nervous. Tori comes up behind her, wraps her arms around her to pull the blazer closed. "You look hot." She drops her chin on Jade's shoulder. "You could be wearing a trash bag and still look hot."

"Wow," Jade teases. She turns around in Tori's arms and looks at her unimpressed. "That's your line. Really."

Tori can't help but press a chaste peck on her lips.

"I know I look hot. I want to know if I look 'Short Film Festival' hot."

Another kiss. "You do. Stop worrying."

"I'm not worried."

"Uh, huh." Tori leans back in, kissing her slower this time. Jade tastes like bubblegum.

"Okay, Vega," Jade says, pulling back from the kiss. "Contain your horny self. Now I have to reapply my lip-gloss."

Tori lets her, licking the sticky substance from her lips. She pats down the front of her dark gray dress, something simple and elegant, tight and down to the middle of her thighs. She pulls Jade's leather jacket on, flips her hair out of the collar. A whiff of lilacs invades her senses. She resists the urge to bury her nose into the collar and sniff; Jade wouldn't let her live that down. There's a knock on her open door. Her mom stands at the threshold, glances at the two of them, then at her phone.

"Girls, we should get going. We can't be late for your big day."

"Just a minute." Tori picks up her purse and throws the rest of her things inside. "You ready?"

Jade gives herself one last look in the mirror. Takes a deep breath and nods. "Yeah, ready."

…

All their friends and family are already at the entrance when they arrive. Beck's parents, Andre's grandma, Robbie's Mamaw, even Cat's uncle and uncle from San Francisco have come down to visit. But Tori immediately notices there's no one there for Jade.

"Isn't your mom coming?" She asks quietly.

Jade sighs. "That's what she said."

"What about…"

"No." Jade replies with finality.

The day of their fight, tangled up in Tori's sheets long after they made-up – twice – Jade had told Tori everything that happened at her Dad's apartment, why she'd been so upset with him. It might've been because they'd overcome their first real fight or maybe because Jade had taken a risk confessing how she felt and it didn't come back to bite her in the ass; because Tori, sweet, beautiful, dorky Tori, returned her feelings. Whatever the reason, Jade opened up to her like she'd never done with anyone before. She talked about her Dad, about her Mom, about the divorce, about being a bitch just so everyone could feel an ounce of the anger she felt everyday. She also talked about how their group of misfits had helped her learn to enjoy things, to not hate everything so much, and about how Tori, surprisingly (or unsurprisingly, if you looked at their track record) was the one that had unconciously helped her get in touch with her emotions.

Tori had felt terrible; knowing what she now knew, what Mr. West had said, made her blood boil. How could that man not see what an amazing person her daughter was? And even if they didn't get along, even if he was a cold-hearted machine that couldn't show affection, he had to see that Jade was incredibly talented. That she had a bright future ahead of her. That she was, simply put, exceptional. And that's what she had told her that night, whispered it with her lips tickling the shell of her ear, murmured it against her cheek like she wanted the words to permeate her skin and stay with her forever. And on the inside, Jade kept healing, because that's what Tori did to her.

Tori intertwines her fingers through Jade's and the girl's eyes snap to hers. "One day he'll regret missing his daughter's first award," Tori says. "He'll have to watch it on YouTube while you're off filming movies in Europe."

Jade forces a smile, "yeah, maybe."

Tori pulls at her hand until Jade steps closer to her. She tries to catch her eyes. "Have I told you lately how amazing you are?" she whispers, her forehead coming to rest against Jade's.

Jade smirks a little. "You might've mentioned it."

"Damn, I should stop then. Wouldn't want it to get to your head." Tori gives her a small peck to let her know she's joking.

Jade shakes her head, like she can't quite believe this girl. But the truth is, she appreciates it so much. She never opened up like that to anyone, not even Beck, and she was so sure she would regret it if she ever did. But Tori hasn't been any different with her, she hasn't treated her like she's weak or like she pities her for having such a fucked up fatherly figure. Tori's been just Tori; supportive, bad-joke telling, fiercely protective Tori. And it made Jade fall in love with her all over again.

"Let's just go in, Vega," Jade says, pulling her towards the entrance doors.

The place looks like an auditorium turned into a movie theatre. There are posters and signs all over the place, announcing the festival and the shorts that will be playing. Tori squeaks in excitement when she sees the name of their short listed with the rest. She takes a picture and uploads it to her Slap page with the caption: 'It's happening!'

The usher shows them to their seats, the ones reserved for contestants, while their friends and family find other seats at the back. Jade glances at her phone for the hundredth time; still no sign of her mom.

Tori puts a hand on her knee, squeezes gently. "There's still time."

The place starts filling up fast. At the first rows, everyone looks around critically, sizing up the competition. Tori reads the pamphlet with the list of shorts, but the titles don't really tell her anything. She knows they did a good job, but being here now, surrounded by all these people who're probably just as talented as they are, if not more, she suddenly feels panicky and insecure. What if it's terrible? What if everyone laughs at them?

Thankfully, her internal debate is cut short by a familiar voice calling Jade's name.

"Mom?" Jade stands immediately, relief flooding her body. And then she squints. "Elliot?"

"Hi, Jade!" The boy waves at her, looking dapper in a shirt and a bowtie.

"Wha- what're you doing here?" Jade walks towards her family and the boy engulfs her in a hug. Jade taps his head awkwardly. "Did you finally scape that prison?"

"I wanted to see your movie." The kid pulls back from his sister and scans the crowd with wide eyes. "Have you met any famous person yet?"

"Uh, no," Jade answers distracted. She's still trying to absorb the fact that her mom kept her promise and now there's the little squirt to think about. Jade can't remember the last time she saw him.

"I'm sorry we're late, honey. I had to go pick him up." Valerie puts a hand on her cheek, looks at her with an adoring grin. "I'm so proud of you."

Jade feels her eyes prickle and her cheeks burn, so she looks away. "Yeah, uhm. Thanks." She's happy. God, she's so glad her Mom is here, that she came to see what they worked so hard for. But she's never been good with expressing her feelings and opening up to people. Well, apart from Tori, who's lately proved to be the exception to almost every rule Jade ever had about herself. "Hey kid, wanna meet someone?" She asks her brother.

He looks doubtful, knowing all too well of his sister's knack for pulling pranks on him. "Who?"

"Come on, you'll see." Jade pushes him towards their seats, but not before glancing back at her mom. "I'll see you after the ceremony, Mom. Thanks for coming."

Her mom crosses her fingers and waves them at her with a smile.

Tori sees Jade approach with a kid and she recognizes him immediately. She stands with a start, hands winding through her hair and down the front of her dress. Elliot looks up at her with suspicion.

"Elliot, this is Tori," Jade says. "She's my girlfriend."

"Hey, hi." Tori holds her hand out to him. Elliot takes it, still looking at her like with critical eyes.

"Girlfriend?" He asks.

"Yeah," Tori explains. "Your sister and I are dating."

He pulls a face. "You mean you kiss and stuff?"

Tori gapes at him. "Well, we do other things too. We- uhm, we go to the same school. And we… we worked in the short film together."

He perks up at that. "Oh, cool. Are you in it?"

"She's one of the main characters," Jade interjects.

"Awesome." He turns to look at Jade. "Hey, do you think they sell snacks in this place?"

"Uh," Jade shakes her head. "I doubt it."

Elliot grumbles, his lips pursing just like Jade's do when she's annoyed.

"Oh, hey." Tori picks up her purse and pokes through it. "I swear I put it- ah, here." Triumphantly, she hands Elliot a Snickers bar, something she had thrown in her there at the last moment, in case she got hungry.

The kid shakes his head. "I'm allergic to peanuts." Tori's face falls and he seems to notice. "Thank you anyway, Tori." He pulls at the collar of his shirt. "I'm gonna go find Mom."

"Yeah, okay." Jade walks him to the end of the row. "I'll see you later, squirt."

He waves back at her.

"He's so cute," Tori gushes when Jade comes back. "Do you think he likes me?"

Jade scoffs a laugh, rolling her eyes at her girlfriend. "He likes everyone."

"Uh," Tori grunts. "He definitely didn't get that from you."

Jade doesn't comment on that.

Not five minutes later, the lights of the auditorium dim, followed by a series of murmurs and shushing sounds. A young man walks into the stage and introduces the ceremony, talking about NOVAFest, the motivation and the people behind it. She talks briefly about the Jury, the Award Categories and then introduces the first short film. Tori checks the pamphlet; still five shorts to go. She can't wait.

And when the moment comes, she's shaking like a leaf.

"Next we have another of the nominations for this year's NOVA Grand Jury Prize for Best Short Film." Tori clutches Jade's hand tightly. "The short titled "Lips Sealed" written and directed by Jade West, has also been nominated for a Best Director Award and a Best Actor Award for Beck Oliver's role as Ethan. Let's watch it."

As the opening scene plays on the big screen, Tori swears she can feel the whole row hold their breath. Her eyes don't blink in the next seventeen and a half minutes. She's introduced to Ethan first, watches his therapist – one of Sikowitz's actor friends – record himself as he explains the situation of little Ethan, the kid that went mute after a terrible tragedy. Andre and Robbie did an amazing job with the cameras, following Ethan around, the image clear but shaky, as if you're walking right behind him. Like a kaleidoscope of dark and violent colors, fragments of his life are revealed on the screen, sometimes confusing what is real and what is part of Ethan's fantasies.

Around six minutes in, Ethan meets Lauren for the first time, and it's Tori and Beck, but to her, it feels like she's seeing strangers. The music Andre composed flows in and out of the whole short, setting a sad and sometimes tense mood. When the argument scene comes, Tori covers her face, unable to watch herself break down in such an intimate manner. Ethan tears his heart out of his chest in his fantasy and it's gory and strange and just that touch of Jade's unique style. She has to applaud Robbie and Sinjin's work with the after effects, because it looks real enough that she can feel the discomfort and morbid curiosity of the audience around her. After that, images of Ethan trashing Mr. West's apartment flash on the screen and then Lauren leaves, the sound of the door shutting echoing like a thunder.

Tori had no idea what the scream scene ended up looking like, but what she sees exceeds all her expectations. The real pain of Beck's scream shakes the walls of the auditorium and she even hears some small gasps from the audience. And then the flock of birds comes into view.

"Oh, my God," Tori whispers, her hand coming up to cover her mouth.

The last image shows Ethan's vacant face, his broken spirit, and it zooms out and out, until most of the screen is gray cement. The screen fades to black and the ending credits start rolling. There's a roaring applause, Tori clapping harder than anyone else.

"I don't even care if we win or not," Tori comments loudly, for the whole row to hear. "That was amazing."

There's excited chatter among their friends until the host starts presenting the next short film. Tori tries to pay attention to their competition, but her mind's already wandering, impatient for the winners to be announced. When the last short finally ends, she can barely stay still in her seat.

"Would you calm down?" Jade mutters between clenched teeth. "You're making me nervous."

"Sorry, I'm just-" Suddenly Tori gets an idea. "What are you gonna say if we win? Oh, my God, do I have to say something?"

"We're not gonna win."

"What?!" Tori asks a little too loudly. Jade shoots her a warning look. "Why would you say that?"

"Tori, have you been watching the other nominees?" Tori doesn't answer because she hasn't really been paying that much attention to anything but their short. "I mean, we're good. But they are better."

"Jade-"

"It's fine," Jade says sincerely. "Three nominations is a pretty big deal."

Tori soon realizes that Jade knows what she's talking about. The first of their nominations, the Best Actor Award, goes to a young boy, not a lot older than Jade's brother. Tori recalls that he played a kid from a bad neighborhood that was being used to traffic drugs inside of a worn Dora the Explorer backpack. Okay, she can admit that he did a pretty good job, considering his age. She glances at Beck, flashing him a sympathetic smile. He just shrugs like its no big deal.

The next Award they're nominated for is for the Best Director. Tori prays to whoever is listening that they call out Jade's name. But they don't. The Award goes to a tall, lanky boy with glasses. Tori doesn't even remember his short. Jade claps unenthusiastically.

"You should've won that," Tori tells her. Jade just shrugs a shoulder.

The moment finally comes for the Grand Jury Prize to be announced. Tori holds her breath as the host opens the envelope. Come on, one thousand dollars, Tori thinks. She can already taste them.

"Of Dust and Rubble, by Amadi Williams!"

She drops back against the cushion of the seat, her whole body deflating. The same kid that won the Best Actor Award approaches the stage with a group of older people. They take the award and do a little speech that Tori ignores completely.

"Well," Tori grumbles. "This is bullshit."

Jade looks at her amused. "Who's being a brat now?"

"I don't know how you're so calm about this." It's true, Tori would've expected Jade to be raging about it, maybe pull her scissors out on someone. "You should be pissed."

"Oh, I'm pissed," she says. "I'm pissed that we weren't good enough. That I didn't do better."

Jade blames herself; of course she does. Tori's not surprised to realize that; after all, her Dad has always discouraged her, told her that what she aspired to be was not real. He's taught Jade to take failure as a sign of not being good enough, a sign of weakness. And now she's being robbed of that recognition she so craves, the recognition she deserves. Tori's about to argue, to tell her that it's absolutely not her fault, that what they did was beautiful and it was all thanks to her, but the cracking of a microphone interrupts her.

"And now, we have a last Award tonight," the host says. "The Special Jury Prize is given by the Jury at their discretion to a short film that deserves special recognition for their unique vision or excellence. This year, the Jury has come to the unanimous decision that one of the shorts deserved this extraordinary award. And this short is…"

The host takes the envelope and opens it slowly.

"Wait, who's nominated?" Tori asks confused.

Jade's eyes are fixated on the stage when she replies: "everyone."

"Lips Sealed by Jade West!"

Jade lets out a breathy laugh, shock and relief written all over her face. Tori grabs her arm so tight she almost cuts off her blood flow. "Jade! Oh, my God!"

Everyone's standing, following Jade up into the stage. Tori looks into the crowd, her Mom and Dad are on their feet clapping and Trina seems to be annoying the man in the seat in front of her, telling him something that looks suspiciously like "that's my sister!" and then pointing at her. Two rows up, Jade's mom and brother are doing the same as her parents. Tori waves at them as they stop next to the host.

Jade takes the statuette, what seems to be a metallic abstract dove. The host gestures towards the microphone and Jade hesitates. But the rest of the gang looks like a bunch of nervous, newborn deer caught in headlights– and thank God Robbie left Rex in the audience or they would look like total weirdos– and she doubts they will be able to form any coherent sentence at the moment.

"Right," she stammers into the mic. "Well, I guess I should say thanks to these crazy people standing behind me." The audience laughs. "I was a bit of a- uh- witch to them during the filming and they didn't kill me so," she raises the statuette in their honor. "Obviously, thanks to the Jury for recognizing our amazing talent," the audience laughs again. "I'm just kidding. Thanks to my mom and my brother and all our friends and family for being here tonight, we really appreciate it. And, uhm," she glances back at Tori, who has all her attention on her, "thanks to my girlfriend for being the only thing keeping me sane this last month."

The lights of the stage are bright and hot, but everything pales in comparison to the blinding smile that grows on Tori's face at those words.

"And last, but not least, I just want to send a message to those people that try to put us down, try to tell us that what we do doesn't matter, that we are wasting our time." Jade pauses dramatically, the audience sits at the edge of their seats.

A huge weight drops from her shoulders when she finally says: "Screw you."

…

"Oh, my Gaaaaaah!" Cat screeches as they step into the street half an hour later. The sun's already set and the street is buzzing with people leaving the auditorium. After being properly congratulated and hugged by every member of their families, the group of friends plus Adriana decided to go get some fast food to celebrate.

"Hey, Cat. How come you didn't invite Dylan?" Robbie asks, like he's just noticed. Cat starts spinning in circles and then grabs his hand to dance with him.

"We broke up," she says like it's no big deal.

"Why?"

Cat shrugs. "He was cute, you know. But a bit too…" she taps her temple softly "slow, if you know what I mean. He couldn't keep up with me."

Robbie snorts a laugh. Then spins her around again.

"Okay, lemme see that." Andre takes the Award from Jade's hand – not easily, she clutches it like it's her lifeline – and raises it up to the light of a streetlight. "What is this supposed to be?"

"I think it's a dove," Adriana comments with a surprised tone.

"Yep, that's the logo of the NOVAFest," Beck confirms.

Andre continues to inspect it as they walk down the street. "Yeah, I don't see it."

Beck sighs. "Look, there's the beak…"

Tori tunes them out. She and Jade fall behind a few steps, walking hand in hand as the excitement of the night settles into a nice feeling of content. This moment, right here, right now, she thinks is worth all the hard work, all the heartache, all the fights of the last few weeks. She finally gets it, when Jade says she's not worried about them, about their future together. Because in a sea of uncertainty and doubt, Tori's the rock that Jade holds onto not to drown. Tori's what keeps her sane, what keeps her in line. And that is the truth; no magnets or chemical reactions. Just two people holding onto each other, being each other's safe place. They might be opposites, but they're also complementary.

Soulmates.

"Jade?"

Jade's staring at the night sky. It's impossible to see the stars, but there're a couple of blinking red and green lights moving in a straight line. An airplane. Coming or going, Tori doesn't know. "Mh?" Jade hums.

"I really love you, you know?"

Jade doesn't look away from the sky. "You've mentioned that."

Tori knocks her shoulder against Jade's. "And I know you really love me, too," Tori says, eyes squinted in challenge.

"You are correct." She finally looks at Tori, her sharp blue eyes soft and affectionate.

"Good," Tori decides. "'Cause it would be really awkward otherwise."

"So awkward," Jade agrees.

"And boring!"

"So boring."

"Like, think about all the fun we would not have!"

Jade hums. "Terrible."

Tori chuckles giddily, wrapping her whole arm around Jade's. "Thankfully, you couldn't resist my adorableness and my charming personality."

"Uhm, wrong," Jade interjects. "You couldn't resist my hotness and my charming personality."

Tori snorts a laugh, pulling away from Jade but keeping their hands attached. "Charming? You?"

"Excuse you, Vega." Jade pulls on Tori's hand, making her stumble into her arms. They stop in the middle of the sidewalk, Jade's arms wrapping around Tori's waist. "I'll have you know that I have my very own and unique brand of charm."

Tori throws her arms around Jade's neck. "Oh, yeah?" Her nose bumps against Jade's teasingly.

Jade nods. "Yeah," she says cockily before kissing Tori, slowly, tenderly but with barely contained passion sizzling underneath the surface. It flows through Tori's veins like lava, settles in the pit of her stomach and makes her toes curl. The kiss doesn't last more than a few seconds but to Tori, everything else fades away to the background.

"Hey, you two lovebirds!" Andre's voice calls at them. "We gonna get tacos! You coming or what?"

Jade pulls her delicious lips away from Tori and she stares at them hungrily.

"You hungry?"

Tori nods. "Yeah," she rasps out, obviously referring to something different.

And Jade seems to get it, because she smirks knowingly. But then she's pulling her towards the rest of the group and saying: "Let's go get tacos, then."

Part of Tori wants to just say: 'screw tacos!' and have Jade drive her home so she can show her just how hungry she is. But she considers it for a moment, finally giving up and letting herself be dragged to the Mexican restaurant.

But only because Tori really likes tacos.

Fin.