Note: Happens right after iParty with Victorious.

"Thanks for the ride home, Jade." Tori said as she unbuckled her seatbelt uncomfortably at the sight of the Goth in red flannel. It surprised her that Jade wore something other than black, to a party nonetheless.

"Whatever, Vega." Jade rolled her eyes but never looked at Tori. Her hands also gripped the steering wheel harder than normal. Tori thought the girl should just relax. It had been a rough, yet awesome night. They met the cast of iCarly and Kenan Thompson for crying out loud! It was all too much to take in. "Are you getting out or not?" Jade snapped and Tori reached for her bag.

"You need to chill, Jade." Tori said just as her hand connected to the car door. It was locked and fear washed over Tori with the endless possibilities of Jade's possible murder right on the spot. "Maybe," Tori thought about what she was going to say next and she was pretty sure it was going bite her ass in some way but she said it anyway, "you should come inside first?" Tori's grip on Jade's car door tightened subconsciously and she held her breath.

Jade's face was a stretch of cynical and just plain weirded out. Like she wanted to laugh and scream in Tori's face at the same time. Tori let down a lump that formed in her throat and raised an eyebrow at her companion who was now shaking her head with a wide grin plastered on her lips.

"What?" Tori breathed out barely audible. "What's so funny?" She asked louder now that Jade let loose a few chuckles to calm the tension down.

"You're an idiot, Vega." Jade said as she unlocked the car doors. "Good night." Jade followed out of context. Tori's quick and heavy pulse began to slow down a notch and she turned her head with the intention of leaving.

Only to have the door locked again.

"Umm, Jade?" Tori slowly looked at her pale companion. "What are you doing?"

"What would you, inviting me inside, do, exactly?"

/

Jade finally agreed to come inside after a few marketable explanations from Tori. Not that the Goth listened, she was just tired and could use a break before driving all the way back home again.

Well, technically, they weren't inside but they were still in Tori's home. They sat in white lawn chairs just in Tori's backyard in front of the tiled pool. Also, Jade had found about six bottles of Vodka cruisers in a variety of colors and thought it wouldn't be missed since the expiry date would be a week from now. Tori insisted that Jade put them back but she ended up opening one for herself just as Jade was halfway done with her first.

What was the harm? She could always say that they were expired and she threw them out already.

To be completely honest, it was Tori's first time to have alcohol unsupervised. She knew it was lame, but she could never bring herself to drink alcoholic beverages during parties because she was scared. But right now, with Jade expertly bringing the rim of the bottle to her lips, she didn't want to be upstaged.

Tori watched the paler girl ease into comfort on the family's lawn chair. Arms and legs outstretched to the maximum and the lower part of her back reaching the actual seating pad. It was strange to see Jade like this, so cool and relaxed without any ulterior motives or hidden weapons—no, scratch that—Tori didn't really know what was up. She didn't even remember why she asked Jade inside in the first place since she immediately assumed that Jade would laugh in her face and drive off.

Tori bit her lip as she brought the bottle to her lips. "Well it's about time." Jade said with a melodic ring in her voice. It was like she was Betty Sue Goldenheart again and take it from me, Tori did not want to go down that road.

"What?" Tori asked for the third time tonight. She removed the bottle from her lips and licked them, tasting the sweet fiery flavor of the blue alcoholic beverage. Tori swore that Jade's eyes flickered from her lips back to her eyes in one single heartbeat, but she could never ask Jade that. Tori brought the bottle to her lips once more and downed another sip of the alcohol. It was bittersweet and tangy and it hurt her throat but it didn't matter because after a few minutes it started to kick in and she felt just a little better about how things turned out tonight.

"You know I hated that scumbag boyfriend of yours from the beginning." This gets Tori back to Earth and staring at her companion.

She'll never be able to call her a friend, huh? Even after that piggyback ride.

Tori watched Jade bring the bottle to her lips expertly and suddenly she knew how Jade felt when the latter stared into her own lips. Tori cleared her throat and tried to speak, but she was interrupted by Jade who continued on her rant about Steven.

"The boy was just too perfect for the likes of you." Jade smiled dryly. Tori raised a brow at the paler girl and Jade retorted with a smile that was so menacing it almost made Tori smack her with the bottle. "Fine, realistically speaking, you knew nothing about him." Jade said, downing another sip of Vodka. She was running out and Tori still had 3/4s of hers left.

"I knew Steven." Tori shot back, attempting to cut the beverage in half. "I mean,"

"You knew about him dating internet sensation iCarly?" Jade mocked and shook her head.

"First of all, iCarly's the web show." Tori began as she settled the bottle down beside her lawn chair and gripped the arm rest to face Jade. She found her world spinning only to stop when Jade sat up straight like she did, mimicking her actions. "Carly's the other girl." Tori said inaudibly and breathlessly. She couldn't breathe properly, but she shrugged it off, not wanting to show a moment of weakness to Jade.

"Yeah, sure. Like I care." Jade rested her arm on the rest and took in the last of the liquid content. She smiled to herself and even plopped and 'Ahh' after, as if alcohol were really refreshing as she made it to be.

"Another?" Tori offered the Goth another bottle, holding its neck in the wrong place and almost dropping it. Let's just say Jade's quick on her hands and was able to catch it before it broke and all the precious alcohol was wasted.

It was weird, however, because their hands brushed—fingers meeting fingers—skin on skin. Tori pulled away first as she segued and grabbed her own bottle, just so she wouldn't think about what just happened.

Jade on the other hand kept her hand in the air just a little bit longer; her eyes flickered from the ground to her arms and then pulled back. She only hoped that Tori didn't notice the sudden change in mood.

"Thanks," Jade finally said after that moment of pure nothingness. She twisted the cap off with a screw just like a while ago and proceeded to down the beverage like there was no tomorrow.

Tori sat back and relaxed. She closed her eyes for a few tender moments and let all her exhaustion flow out into the universe—as it should—but she wasn't complaining about anything that was happening now. Her eyelids were getting heavier and heavier by the minute and for a second there, she thought she heard Jade say something.

"Did you love him, Vega?" The question took Tori back. Why was Jade suddenly interested in her personal life? Did she even care or was she just asking questions to keep a conversation alive so she could drink all the booze she wanted? Tori didn't know. She also should stop over analyzing because she kind of liked this Jade, the Jade when no one else was around to see them.

"I thought I did." Tori said as she gathered herself to sit straight. She brought the bottle to her lips once again and finally finished it. She saw Jade's lips twitch into a smile from the corner of her eye but she'd never tell her she was looking, it was her personal achievement and she kept those things to herself.

"But?" Jade supplied, Tori was taking too long to answer in her opinion.

"But—" Tori began, but she was interrupted by thunder—a very large and loud one at that—that meant it was close.

Before anyone else said anything, Jade grabbed the four bottles of Vodka left and ran inside with every intention of locking Tori out for kicks, but the Vega girl wasn't stupid so she ran inside directly after Jade did, a little too close if observed by anyone else.

/

They continued their little gathering in the balcony of the second floor. It was quaint but it had two chairs, a table and a roof so the rain didn't get to them. They resumed their positions and as Jade grabbed her bottle—which Tori thought was her bottle since Jade grabbed them all at once—their fingertips brushed once again and this time, none of them left the contact out.

Tori turned her head first. She saw Jade staring right at her and if she were completely honest, she saw hidden lust and desire which she could easily mistake for drunken stupor. When Tori finally let go, she flexed her fingers up and down before settling it back to the arm rest.

"Vega," Jade called out softly, almost pleadingly if you squinted. Tori didn't look at her until she summoned the courage, but when she did; Jade stood up and was leaning on the steel railings.

Tori didn't know what just happened—in fact, she thought it happened too fast for her own good. She grabbed the other open bottle which she assumed was hers and walked to the railing right beside Jade.

She reached the steel bars and grabbed on it for dear life. Boy, was she stoned. It just dawned on her that her parents could get home any second and find that she and Jade were invading the alcohol cabinet and downing it all in less than thirty minutes.

She pursed her lips in a flat line and brought the bottle to her lips again and after that, she nudged Jade's elbow playfully with hers. The Goth shook her head and rolled her eyes in disapproval as she threw her head back to drink some more of the alcohol. But after the second bottle was done, she smiled and looked at Tori.

"What?" There was a playful tune hidden in the crevices of her hollow and demeaning voice sometimes. Jade raised her brow and turned around so her elbows leaned across the railings.

"Thank you," Tori mumbled, "for this." Jade looked down and shook her head with a Joker's smile plastered on her face. Like she couldn't accept Tori's gratitude or rather, she didn't want it.

"I did nothing, Vega." Jade looked straight into Tori's eyes and saw a whole new reality. Something far from what she knew and something that she would never step into. For now, at least. "In fact you should be throwing me out right now." It came out more like a whisper as Jade used the momentum to generate force from her elbows and scoot up to grab two more bottles. Her last and Tori's second. The latter wasn't even finished with her first.

Jade handed Tori the bottle and unscrewed the cap of her third. She had to admit that she was feeling less tired, but her vision and her confidence lessened and grew in degree respectively. She had to calm down and think of one stable thought—that's what Beck had taught her anyways when dealing with alcohol—and she'd usually think about them, herself or him. Anything between those three.

Jade settled her arms on the railings again as her left foot crossed the right one, thus forming an arch shape with her back. She felt like kind of manly today, with the flannel and the booze and all but in a totally different sense as well. A sense she didn't want to tackle at the moment.

"What?" Tori dared her, "You think you're being some sort of bad influence on me or something?" She animatedly expressed her words with her hands forming fireworks right in front of her and Jade stifled a laugh at how childish Tori got. The paler girl nodded her head for the first time and smiled at Tori who was noticeably closer than she was minutes before. "Well let me tell you something here, Miss West." Tori leaned in closer to Jade's face, "I'm not that innocent." The Latina lied, Jade saw right through it, but that didn't mean she wasn't uncomfortable with their current state with faces inches apart.

"Vega, you're drunk." Jade said, just so she could relieve all of the awkward tension hanging in the air with concern. "Sit down," She demanded as her hand reached for the bottle within Tori's possession. This time, Tori held on to Jade's fingers on purpose. She wanted to see if that spark wasn't a mere fallacy in her mind. She wanted to know if Jade felt it too, that spark.

Jade locked her eyes with the drunken Vega, or so she thought. Every inch of Tori knew she was sober. It was only a bottle and she was barely even done with it. Jade just wanted to convince herself otherwise, because this was happening. "I'm not." Tori finally whispered, a breath hitched in her throat.

The paler girl couldn't keep her gaze but she also couldn't bring herself to disconnect her hand from Tori's. It was a moment of weakness, really, and Jade almost lost herself.

So what Jade did next brought back who she was in the picture.

She brought her fingers around Tori's and gripped the bottle tightly. She then proceeded to slam the bottle in Tori's chest. Hard.

"Jade!" Tori screamed. "What was that for?"

The girl in question laughed a maniacal laugh before downing another of her own. She was already halfway. Talk about needing to meet with AA.

"Do you always drink this much?" Tori asked out of the blue with utmost concern. She genuinely did want to know. "I mean, it's like your treating it like water or something." She said this because it was sickening to her throat to take in so much as Jade did.

"No, Vega." Jade answered simply as she returned to her hunched position with an arrogant flare. "You're just probably being a baby. I mean, don't you drink at parties?" Jade wondered, facing Tori with her eyes squinted. "Then again, you didn't have it in you to spike the drinks during your stupid Prome."

Tori laughed, "Then maybe you should've spiked the drinks then, I mean you did have a lot of time on your hands." She took another sip—that was bottle #1's end. Jade proceeded to open #2 with a smirk.

"You sure I haven't thought of that then?" Jade said, leaving Tori clueless. If Jade thought of spiking the drinks, why didn't she push through with it? It would've made Tori's job more difficult with teenagers with alcohol in their veins. Wasn't that the goal all along?

Jade saw her little question play a thousand more in Tori's mind. She smiled to herself, always getting into Vega's head. It was maddening, the thrill. She handed the bottle to Tori and the Latina downed another too quickly.

They stood there awkwardly as Tori rationalized Jade's actions during the Prome. If she had spiked the punch, her tasks would've been worse and more miserable than they already were. The Latina looked at Jade again and she noticed a darkness in her eyes that was never there before. It was like she was plotting the murder of someone and even though Tori had been a victim of one of Jade's many homicide plots; this seemed to be a whole different level of staring.

"Jade?" Tori tried and Jade snapped out of her trance. There was a look in both of their eyes. It conveyed the same thing, apparently. Well, to Tori. It was utterly enticing and she felt like her instincts were set ablaze. "Jade?" Tori whispered again, deciding she loved the name of the girl on her lips—then again it could only be the alcohol.

Jade stared into Tori's eyes. She desperately tried to make her façade last. Make it strong and solid, but with Tori it was never like that, she guessed. Tori's lips parted as her hold on the neck of the liquor loosened. It was an open invitation and Jade was first in line—the only one in line. In one slow yet fluid motion Jade moved her head up to meet Tori's face.

Well, until someone opened the sliding glass door.

"Tori! Your stupid phone keeps ringing!" Trina said uneventfully. She looked like a mess after the party—having to babysit two kids—which she lost, by the way and now she probably had to apologize to Lane which was why she couldn't take Tori home herself.

Jade pulled away quickly and awkwardly but God, Tori wanted to throw the bottle at Trina at that moment. Good God, she was so close.

"Yeah, Trin. I'll just…" Tori looked at Jade who was now in her hunched position with the bottle in her hand. Tori gathered Jade wanted to do so much more to the older Vega than she did but she trusted her enough to leave alone. She went inside, giving Trina the 'don't look at me like that' look and searched for her phone.

Trina slid the glass door shut, glancing over her shoulder to see if Tori was out of reach.

"Were you about to kiss her, Jade?" Jade didn't respond. As if Trina wasn't there at all. Jade pressed the bottle to her lips firmly and finished the drink since she couldn't comprehend what just happened there with Tori. "Jade?" Trina asked again.

"Mind your own business." Jade said, placing her lips on the rim of the bottle.

"Just listen, Jade…" Trina began as she stepped closer to the goth. "I don't want to be on your bad side but… Tori's…" Trina tried to reach a hand to Jade, but the latter swirled and Trina retreated a few steps.

"God, Trina." Jade took a step towards the older Vega with her hands leveled with her head and wanting to squeeze her head shut. "Just, shut up!" She yelled and brought her bottle—now empty—to the table she set the other bottles and grabbed the glass door.

/

Jade walked past Tori's room as the younger Vega was just about to step out and head back to the balcony.

"Hey, where are you going?" Tori said in a slur as she attempted to grab Jade's wrist. The goth knew better and avoided the move though.

"Home." Jade replied in a rush. She headed down the steps and Tori followed her not before she saw Trina was in the background and she gave her a 'what did you do/say?' stare.

"Jade, wait." Tori rushed to see Jade's hand was already at the metal knob. Much to Tori's surprise, Jade did stop, but she kept a straight face without even looking at Tori. "Jade," Tori began again, speeding down the steps to meet her. "You shouldn't drive."

"I'm not drunk, Vega." That meant she wanted to kiss her. Jade wanted to kiss Tori while she was sober and it wasn't the alcohol that was speaking.

"Then-" Tori walked closer to Jade, a hand reaching out but she retracted it when Jade pushed the latch, threatening to leave. "—drive home safe then." Tori said. She was a coward. She wanted to ask her what it was about. What that almost-kiss meant, but she let it slide because… she didn't want things to change.

"Don't tell me what to do." Jade said and opened the door.

"Jade," Tori said again. "I'll see you." She whispered, because Jade didn't stop the second time.

A/N: This goes with my theory that Daniella Monet/Trina Vega is a Victoria/Liz slash Jade/Tori cockblock.