Taking a Hint
Part II

(alert: incredibly long chapter warning)

"It's twelve, and we're closing soon. You two are the only ones still here. Feel free to leave any minute now."

The exasperated voice of the sushi chef snapped Jade and Tori out of their sullen reveries. It had been an hour since Chad and Alan had left the restaurant, goading the girls into exchanging numbers and expecting to attend a wedding this very Saturday at Hollywood Arts. The boys left with satisfied smirks, expecting the wedding to be an elaborate hoax to play "hard to get" and expecting a new girlfriend on each arm by the time Saturday rolled around. Staring off at the wall behind Jade, Tori sat in silence. She knew she sometimes allowed her emotions and sense of wrong and right get the best of her, and she knew Jade far too often let her anger control the words that rolled out of her mouth. A combination of the two never lead to anything good; this was a prime example of it. Far too often she found herself in ridiculous situations with the sadistic girl and could not help but let out a tired groan.

"This would happen to us." Tori muttered, talking to herself, "How did I not see this coming? "No mom, I don't want to go to a normal school," I said. "I want to go to Hollywood Arts," I said. "Yeah, I'll have so much fun at Hollywood Arts," I said."

"Are you talking to yourself out of stress or is this an everyday thing for you?" Jade snarled, lifting her head off the table.

"Whatever, it's twelve. Drive me home, please?" sighed Tori, not in any mood to begin arguing with her long time nemesis.

"I was thinking we drop by Sikowitz's house first. Maybe he'll have a solution for us," Jade's voice softened, knowing the situation they were currently stuck in was partially her fault.

"Yeah, alright, no problem," Tori slowly replied, a bit shocked at Jade's change of tone, "That sounds like a good idea, actually."

Grabbing their individual wallets and throwing a few twenties down on the tab, the two girls made their way to the parking lot of Nozu and to Jade's car. Tori awkwardly waited for Jade's approval before opening the door to the passenger's seat. Her mom had dropped her off at Nozu since she had no driver's license, partially due to her own procrastination and partially because she felt as if she'd be a reckless and potentially murderous driver, and this was one of the only times she ever got into the car with Jade alone. To be completely honest, she was a bit scared. At least, that's what the pounding feeling in the pit of her stomach felt like. A bit of fear and a bit of something else she couldn't quite put a name on.

"Well, hurry up and get inside the car," Jade ordered, turning on the car's engine and impatiently tapping her fingers against the steering wheel of the car.

"Yeah, sorry, dazed off a bit," Tori quickly said, sitting down and slamming the door closed.

"Hey, be gentle to my baby," Jade said, almost angrily.

Before Tori could respond or apologize, Jade broke out into a half-smile and turned towards the road again, "Can't take a joke, can you, Vega?"

"I- I can so take a joke!" Tori exclaimed, raising her arms in mock-indignation, eliciting an entertained laugh from Jade.

"Yeah, you can't lie either, can you?" Jade laughed before mocking Tori, "Oh, it's just so unladylike to lie or joke, you know!"

"I don't sound like that!" Tori complained before mocking Jade herself, "Look at me! I'm Jade and I'm too tough and mean to be nice and stuff."

"You're terrible at imitation, you know that Vega?" smiled Jade despite herself, "Lowering your voice two octaves and saying lame lines hardly constitutes as an imitation of me."

"Oh, I thought my imitation was spot on though. After all, everything you say is usually lame," Joked Tori, sticking her tongue out at the amused Jade.

"Gee Tori, thanks. I'll pretend I didn't hear that." Jade feigned hurt before breaking out into another smile at the sound of Tori's laughter.

Tori couldn't stop the silly grin on her face at Jade's words; her first name rarely slipped out of the taller girl's mouth and hearing it said in a pleasant way made that same part of her tummy feel all fantastic and warm.

As the two fell into a comfortable silence, Tori slipped into her thoughts. This was the first time that she and Jade were able to exchange light and friendly banter so easily without any cold feelings or underlying bitterness behind the words. Although it was hard for her to process, she actually had a little fun joking around with the other girl. She didn't want to push it too far because for as long as she knew the other girl, Jade was prone to acting out of character towards her for a few, brief moments before slipping back to that old Jade self so flawlessly that Tori was often left to wonder if any of the tender or gentle moments between them had been just the cruel vexation of some miraculous daydream.

"Alright, we're here. Get out." Jade said, voice cold and showing no traces of the former warmth it had just minutes before.

"Wow, it's been forever since we've been here last." Tori wouldn't let Jade's bipolar attitude bring her even more down than she already was, "Last time was that acting challenge. Remember that?'

"What kind of question is that, Vega? Of course I do. That was only a couple of months back." Jade rolled her eyes, ringing the doorbell multiple times despite Tori's best efforts to pull back her hand.

"Jade! Stop that! It's 1 in the morning! Hands down, Jade. Hands down! My God, you're strong. Bad Jade!" Tried Tori, still struggling to keep Jade's finger off the orange-lit doorbell.

"I'm not a dog, Vega. And I'm not as forgetful as you think. In fact, I could vividly paint the image of your uniform if I wanted to. Like perfectly. Down to the very last thread of if I wanted to." Jade brusquely stated, continuing her tirade against the doorbell.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" the muffled and irritated voice of Sikowitz called out before muttering, "Why do the elves always insist on visiting so late at night?"

"Elves?" Tori asked quietly, raising an eyebrow.

"It's Sikowitz. You get used to it." Jade stated nonchalantly.

"Oh, it's you two." Quickly hiding the disappointment in his tone, Sikowitz opened the door all the way and allowed his two students to enter his room, "Would you two like some warm coconut milk?"

"No, we really wouldn't." growled Jade, leaning back on his old, rugged couch.

"Mr. Sikowitz, this is no time for coconut milk!" Tori exclaimed, grabbing the eccentric teacher's arm before he left for the kitchen.

"Ha! Ha! Anytime is time for coconut milk, Tori!" Sikowitz grinned, trying to escape Tori's grip.

"No, I'm serious! Jade and I are in a lot of chiz right now, and it's all… it's all… your fault!" exclaimed Tori.

"I'm confused." Sikowitz said, taking a seat.

"I agree! You got us into this mess and you'll get us out!" Jade growled, standing by Tori's side.

"I'm still confused." Sikowitz reiterated, "Can I get my coconut milk now please?"

"You may not get your dang coconut milk!" shouted Jade.

"What is going on?" Scratching his head, Sikowitz lied down on the couch, "Leave me alone!"

"It's your fault because if you didn't have this stupid assignment and if you didn't make us go on that stupid date, then none of this would have happened!" Tori shouted indignantly.

"Is this all because of the play? Well, okay, then the play's canceled. Oh! I think one of my coconuts rolled under the couch last week."

Smiling, Sikowitz reached under the couch and pulled out a slightly dusty coconut, gleefully clapping before pulling out a straw and screwdriver from his pocket. The two girls looked on in disgust as he stabbed a hole in the old and possibly rotten coconut with the screwdriver before poking his straw through it and taking a long, luxurious sip.

"That's it? Play's canceled?" Jade said, repeating his words.

"Well, of course. I only made the play so that two of my top acting students could somehow form a relationship that wasn't all yelly yelly angry rah rah but if you two are going to be such Debbie Downers about it, I might as well cancel it."

"But that still doesn't solve our problem!" Tori shouted, snatching the coconut from his hands.

"You seem to forget that you never mentioned the problem to me." Replied Sikowitz.

"These two guys wouldn't leave us alone at the restaurant so Jade and I pretended to be a couple so they'd leave us alone and I know you're thinking maybe that's a bit far but seriously, they were harassing us! They're lucky my dad doesn't let me carry around that Swiss army knife my grandma gave me for Christmas last year because seriously, it would have been justified. That's how bad they were. Anyway, we pretended to be a couple but they still wouldn't get the picture and I know-"

"Tori."

"- we should have just left but they said some homophobic things and I just had to show them that they were wrong and that the things spewing out of their mouths were wrong, you know? I mean, how can I just let them say things like that? That's just janked up! So Jade "proposed" and then we said we were engaged and that we'd have a wedding on Saturday because "we couldn't wait to get married" and we ended up inviting them to our "wedding" and now we can't even back out even though you canceled the play because those guys are going to get away with thinking all those terrible th-"

"Tori! Seriously! This ranting thing is getting old! Look Sikowitz. Long story short; two nubs were hitting on us, we said we were dating, they said janked up chiz, we said some impulsive things in a misguided attempt to prove them wrong, and now we're engaged. We need you to somehow get us out of this mess."

The two girls frowned when the thoughtful grimace on Sikowitz's face turned into a bright smile.

"I don't like that look, Sikowitz. What's with that look."

"This is perfect! Just perfect! Better than the play by far!" Sikowitz began exclaiming, more to himself than to the girls, "This is perfect!"

"What are you going on about?" Jade demanded.

"You two have to go through with the wedding." His voice suddenly became serious.

"What?" Shouted Tori and Jade in unison.

"I mean, since I am cancelling the play and all, that leaves you two with a zero for the marking period…"

"Ugh, Sikowitz."

"It'll be fun! Think of it as one big acting exercise in lieu of the play! A much better replacement in my opinion. We'll get all the theater in on this. It'll be like a huge improvisational play. That's set then. Your wedding will be on Saturday!" Declared Sikowitz, filled with total conviction.

"This is what we get for letting him drink old coconut milk." Groaned Jade before glancing at the clock.

"Vega! It's already 2 A.M."

Leaving Sikowitz to his thoughts (and coconut milk), the two girls left his place, quickly entering the car as Tori looked through her purse.

"Jade? There's a problem." Tori nervously chuckled as Jade looked over at her with a tired expression.

"What is it?"

"I didn't bring my keys and if I ring the doorbell or call the house and wake my sister up from her "beauty sleep," we'll get noise complaints because of her screaming at me like last time. And we're already on our fourth warning and another warning could mean a community fine."

"So?" Jade said.

"So I was wondering if I could stay at your place tonight." Tori asked, flinching when Jade turned back towards her, expecting her to shout.

"Alright."

Glancing away from the road one more time, Jade raised an amused eyebrow at the currently shocked girl.

"You don't have to make it so obvious that me doing something nice is revolutionary or something." She joked, eyes back on the road before her.

"Sorry, I thought you were going to yell or something," Tori sheepishly confessed.

"To be honest, I was. But then I remembered it was my idea we come to Sikowitz's instead of driving you home, so I guess it's a little bit of my fault that we're out here this late." Shrugged Jade, "And I'm pretty sure if you woke up Trina, the whole city would end up getting a very unfortunate wakeup call."

"Aw, how sweet of you." Tori remarked, rolling her eyes with a smile.

"You know me. Always trying to help out the community." Laughed Jade as she pulled in to her driveway.

The house was a lot more cheery than Tori had ever imagined, not that she frequently imagined Jade's house or anything Jade related. The walls were a bright yellow and colorful rugs were spread systematically along the wooden floor. There were long, thin poles shaped like something out of Ancient Rome lined up against the walls and picture frames adorning the walls filled with Polaroid pictures. Still, the lights were dimmed considerably compared to the lights at her own house and the couch looked barely used. In fact, Tori could make out the beginnings of dust beginning to gather on the couch's surface.

"You don't use the living room often, do you?" Tori stated.

"There's no reason to use it." Replied Jade, voice distant as they made their way to her room.

Tori was already familiar with the taller girl's room; the occasional videos Jade uploaded about the things she hated featured her room primarily. Still, she never expected to ever go to her house, nevertheless the date and faux engagement. Today was too strange a day. By the time she snapped out of her thoughts, Jade was already dressed in a black tank top and soccer shorts. Jade handed Tori a white v-neck and blue shorts before heading to the bathroom connected directly to her room.

"You can use the bathroom after me." She called out, leaving Tori back to her thoughts and her new pajamas.

Taking her time to change into the clothes Jade gave her, Tori took a second to process the day's events. It almost felt like too much to handle, but if her time at Hollywood Arts taught her one thing, it would be that the unexpected should be expected. That tidbit of advice didn't stop her from not expecting how comfortable the v-neck and shorts were once she put them on. Jade's scent immediately surrounded her, a combination of coffee and light vanilla perfume. The aroma she'd recognize anywhere.

"Vega, stop standing there dazed out and go get cleaned off." Jade tiredly said, walking out of the bathroom with a tired stagger, "I'm not letting you on my bed all dirty."

"Your bed?" Tori squeaked.

Jade didn't seem to hear her and jumped on the bed with a content sigh. Even with her makeup washed out and hair tied back, Jade looked as stunning as ever. Hiding a small blush, Tori rushed to the bathroom closing the door behind her as Jade sat up and leaned against the headboard. She heard the shower turn on again and Jade couldn't help but laugh when Tori began singing. Of course she would sing in the shower.

Noticing Tori's clothes folded up on the corner of the bed, Jade picked them up and carefully placed them on the nightstand. Recognizing the melody Tori was singing, Jade hummed along under her breath, chuckling at how perfectly they harmonized. Not many people could sound good singing with her; usually, she would overpower anyone who tried. The only exceptions seemed to be Cat and Tori. Lost in her daydream, Jade didn't hear the shower turn off or the bathroom door opening.

"Finally. You took forever." Jade complained, glancing at the girl before quickly turning away.

She internally cursed herself for giving the girl a v-neck and shorts. It was normal, of course, for Jade to feel envious of others although she knew she didn't need to feel so. Still, she always felt this strange feeling whenever she looked at Tori. Since the feeling was foreign to her, she assumed it was some heightened form of jealousy, but weirdly enough, it felt a bit wrong to call it that. Shaking the feeling off, she looked back at the other girl who was currently preoccupied with drying her hair.

"Thanks for the shower and the clothes." Tori smiled, hanging the towel on a hook on the bathroom door and walking towards the bed.

"Yeah, yeah." Jade said, turning off the lamp on the nightstand before rolling over to the other side of the bed to make room for Tori.

Tori stood on the side of the bed, unsure if Jade was joking about sleeping next to her or whether it would be a better idea to use that dusty old couch since the thought of sharing a bed with Jade was giving her weird prickles in the side of her stomach.

"You planning on getting on the bed and sleeping anytime soon or not?" Questioned Jade without turning around.

"Oh, yeah, I will." Replied Tori.

After slowly lowering herself onto the bed as to not bother the half-asleep Jade, Tori let out a soft sigh. Even though a lot of strange happenings occurred in the span of twenty-four hours, the day wasn't a complete disaster after all. Jade shuffled around until she was also on her back before she sat up and reached for the blanket at the foot of the bed. Pulling the covers up, she made sure to cover both Tori and herself before settling back onto the bed.

"It gets colder here." She simply explained, closing her eyes.

"Thanks." Tori whispered a few minutes afterwards to nobody in particular.

"Yeah, no problem."

"Oh, you're still awake?" Tori wondered aloud.

"No, Vega. I'm sleeping, which is why I'm replying to your question."

"I wonder how you're capable of being so sarcastic this late at night."

"Go to sleep."

"What if I decide to bother you instead?" said Tori while turning her head towards the half-awake girl.

"Vega, I'm tired and you'll regret not going to sleep right this second." Jade threatened.

"What if I decide to start singing at the top of my lungs?" Tori grinned.

"And wake up my little brother? You won't, Vega. You haven't got the balls." Sleepily, Jade turned her head as well.

"Oh, don't test me, West," Tori said, "I-"

Immediately after the first word of the song, Jade's hand shot up and covered Tori's mouth gently.

"Seriously, Vega?" Jade sighed, removing her hand and grabbing the back of Tori's right hand.

"Pull that chiz again and I'll slap you with your own hand." said Jade, still fighting the urge to sleep.

"Do it and-"Tori began to say, "-and you're sleeping now. You must have been really tired. Now that I think about it, so am I."

Tori attempted to roll on her other side but stopped when she noticed Jade had failed to let go of her hand before she fell into the enticing, warm embrace of slumber. Unwilling to wake up the girl and feeling safer with her hand in Jade's, Tori closed her eyes and fell deeply as well.

Tori was the first one up.

Known for being a morning person, she was surprised to find herself leaning on one side with Jade pressed close behind her, her hand over her waist and still holding her hand. Jade's warm breath hit the back of her head and Tori couldn't help but feel the same weird tingles in her tummy. To be fair, she always felt that strange sensation whenever she was with the other girl; of course, those encounters usually consisted of Jade throwing an insensitive comment her way, so she associated that feeling with bitterness and cruelty, but she decided this feeling couldn't be those things, because she felt it even when Jade was being so kind and friendly to her.

She felt the other girl come to her senses and quickly closed her eyes. Feeling Jade stiffen and hearing a sharp intake of breath, Tori knew she was fully awake. Surprisingly, the other girl did not pull away suddenly. Instead, she seemed to take her time, slowly releasing Tori's hand and carefully lifting her arm off of Tori's side. Using this change in position as an excuse, Tori pretended to wake up. Jade was already in the bathroom by the time Tori got off the bed.

"We have school. Get ready." Jade's voice sounded detached but Tori accounted it to her being not much of a morning person, "Do you want breakfast?"

"No thanks. My stomach feels a little weird." It wasn't a complete lie.

Arriving a few minutes late to class, Tori and Jade entered the classroom slowly, ignoring the looks on the students' faces at the sight of the two entering the room together without fighting. They ended up taking a seat next to each other, much to the shock of their closer friends, especially because Tori sat down on Jade's favorite seat without serious repercussions.

"We have an important announcement today!" Sikowitz jumped onto the small stage in the front of the classroom holding a banana.

"Is it the fact that you have a banana?" Robbie called out.

"Why would that be important, you nuthead." Rex asked.

"No, it is not the fact that I have a banana, Robbie." Sikowitz said with an annoyed tone, "Would anyone else like to guess?"

"Have you kicked your coconut addiction?" Rex asked with a snicker.

"It is not an addiction!" Sikowitz said, peeling the banana and taking a bite of it, "It has to do with two students of this class. Two students who, to put it simply, have issues with getting along."

Tori and Jade rolled their eyes as the entire class glanced at their direction.

"I love how they assume it's us." Jade mumbled under her breath, "We haven't fought in forever."

"It's actually only been a day, Jade." corrected Tori with an amused smile.

"It's felt like forever, alright?" Whispered Jade before Sikowitz called for attention again.

"Don't look so suspicious, class!" Sikowitz shouted, jumping on a chair that rested on the top of the stage, "We're canceling the play-"

"Aw! Can I at least keep the wig then?" Andre complained.

"We're canceling the play for the sake of two of said friends." Sikowitz continued, glaring at Andre.

"Canceling the play because those two can't handle being married? Not surprised." joked Robbie.

"Actually, we're canceling the play because those two are going to be married. " Sikowitz relished in the silence that followed, "Not a real wedding, of course. But it'll be good to think of it as such. We need it as realistic as possible! Think of it as a big play. It'll be fun!"

"Real fun." Grumbled Jade.

Three days had passed. Three days of having to meet up with Jade every afternoon in an attempt to learn more of each other to "enhance" the couple image, according to Sikowitz. Three days of stressing out and feeling that same weird flutter in her stomach grow more and more distinct. Three days and Saturday was already here.

Tori was staring at herself in the mirror with her mother and father smiling besides her; they were let in on what was going on and were currently having a grand time participating. Her sister was ecstatic about the fake wedding, taking the event as an opportunity to buy herself wonderful dresses and shoes. Her father in particular had grown fond of Jade and would frequently display displeasure at the wedding being fake. "Why," he'd often whine, "Why can't you marry her for real?" Both Mr. Vega and Jade had a similar sense of humor, a fact that both entertained and frightened Tori, and the two would often express their love of coffee every evening of those three days. It was hard to believe the two had grown so close in only a few days.

"You look absolutely gorgeous." Mrs. Vega smiled at her daughter, smoothing out the sides of Tori's dress.

"Hey! How about me?" shouted Trina.

"Yeah, you too." Mr. Vega sighed, "But today is Tori's special day, not yours."

"You make it sound like it's real." Tori laughed, a bit hesitantly.

"Well, that's the mindset you have to go into this with, right?" Mr. Vega winked, giving Tori a pat on the back.

An hour later, Tori found herself at the parking lot of Hollywood Arts, shocked at how it had been transformed into a beautiful piece of work. White chairs lined up alongside a red aisle, flowers between each chair and leading up to a small platform. Wonderful and intricate statues and sculptures littered the gazebo and a full orchestra sat on the perch above the cafeteria area, playing calming melodies. Everything was a blend of white and black; flowers covered in white contrasted heavily against the black ribbons that hung between the branches.

"There's the bride!"

Andre came forward and threw an arm around Tori, smiling as he adjusted his tie.

"I'll be the wedding pianist, of course. Alongside the lovely Cat Valentine." He stated.

Cat grabbed Tori in a hug, the flow of her silken dress reminding Tori of petals fallen from the white trees.

"I'm so excited!" She exclaimed, "My two best friends getting married! I'm so thrilled!"

Tori was surprised at how real all this felt; she was also scared at how much she herself looked forward to this.

"Hey there, sexy."

Tori looked back to see two boys standing with silly grins on their faces. They were wearing colorful suits that didn't quite match with the white and black theme that was clearly stated on their invitational cards. Gritting her teeth, Tori gave the two a smile, trying to ignore the way their eyes were looking her up and down. Andre and Cat were too busy preparing at the piano to notice the boys.

"Eyes off my fiancé."

Jade appeared behind them and knocked their heads together in an almost comical way. She was wearing a intricately beaded white blouse over tight white slacks; the decision between this and a dress had been a hard one, but they settled on the first, only because Jade had really wanted to wear the black bowtie that came with the blouse.

"It's considered bad luck to see your future wife before the wedding." Tori smiled, grabbing Jade's hand.

"Mm, but I wanted to see you, babe." Jade replied, giving a dirty look at the boys who were currently rubbing their heads.

"Aw, how sweet of you. That's why I love you." Tori said, playing up her part for the boys to hear. Still, a part of her felt like this character she was playing was much too easy to slip into. Usually, she had to think a bit before talking or she had to change a bit of her behavior slightly to fit and stay in character, but playing this "Jade's fiancé Tori" was much too easy of a character to slip into. It made her wonder if it was a character at all.

"No! Jade!" Mr. Vega appeared out of nowhere, covering Jade's eyes with his hands and turning her around before letting go, "You can't do that until the wedding ceremony starts!"

"What the chiz! I'm going to be a wife too. Why does the "husband-can't-see-future-wife" rule only apply to me?" complained Jade.

"You're pretty much a husband." Beck laughed, appearing besides them.

"That could be taken in the worst way possible had I been more sensitive." Jade replied, smacking the boy in the arm.

"Jade!"

Holding Beck's hand was Jade's little brother, smiling cheek to cheek in a dapper, little suit tailored specifically for him.

"HI Tori. Thank you for making Jade nicer and stuff." He said, and Tori was about to laugh at what she assumed Sikowitz told him to say, but the slightly petrified look on Jade's face told her he was speaking his mind.

"Well, you're welcome little one." Tori said while giving him a high-five.

"This is a weird wedding." Alan, one of the two boys said as people filled into the yard, taking seats on the white chairs.

"This is Hollywood Arts, young man. We don't do "normal" here." Sikowitz said from behind them.

Walking to the front of the yard and onto the small platform, Sikowitz called for quiet and waited until all the guests settled down.

"This won't be like any wedding you've been to before. This is a wedding Sikowitz style. I'm a pastor, by the way. See? I have one of those funny robe things on. " Sikowitz stated, "Now if the two lovers would come to the front please?"

"No walking down the aisle slow-motion?" Tori asked with a grin.

"Nope! That's way too boring." Sikowitz said, waiting until Tori and Jade made their way to the platform.

"We're going to have people speak before the two are married. Because who needs receptions, right? Our first speaker will be Cat Valentine, who had been providing that wonderful singing you were hearing while you all were settling down. Beautiful voice, no? If you will, Cat?"

Cat stepped up the platform in glee, grabbing the wireless microphone from Sikowitz's hand.

"Hey hey! I'm so pumped for this wedding! Aren't you guys?" She began, soaking in the crowd's enthusiastic replies, "Well, these two have been my friends for years and seriously, I was beginning to wonder when they'd get married or something. I mean the sexual tension between them was incredibly suffocating. I mean, you'd have to be as blind as a bat not to notice it, you know? Some of my friends and I even made bets on how long it'd take for those two to get together.I knew something was bound to happen. I mean, seriously, half the time they'd be fighting and the other time they'd look so close to pouncing each other and do-"

"Okay, that's enough Cat." Sikowitz said through gritted teeth.

In a hushed whisper heard only by Cat, Tori, and Jade, Cat grabbed her mouth in shock and said, "Oh my gosh! I totally forgot this was a fake wedding for a second! I'm so sorry!"

Ushering Cat offstage, Sikowitz called Beck to the stage, ignoring the red blush that spread across both girls' faces at Cat's admittance that her speech had not been part of the "scene".

"Hey there," Beck waved to the crowd, "Name's Beck. I used to date Jade back in the days, but I still love her. No, not like that. I meant I still love her as a best friend. We knew each other for the longest time and although she constantly hates on me for being Canadian, I know she loves me too. I'm so happy this wedding is going on, and I promise I'm not jealous. Okay, maybe a little."

Everyone laughed except Jade, feeling Beck's stare burning into her.

"And I really think I've never seen Jade as happy as I've seen her these past few day- I mean, years. You guys have been, uh, dating for a few years, right? Yeah, yeah. Years. Years. Totally meant that," Beck nervously scratched the back of his head, "But seriously, I only want you to be happy and I'm glad that you found it in someone as amazingly kind and beautiful inside and out as Tori."

Hurriedly leaving the platform, Andre stepped up next.

"I'm also very happy for you two, but mostly for Tori."

Tori felt the smile fade from her face as Andre looked at her square in the face, his expression changing to something more of conviction.

"I thought this whole wedding thing was a bit stupid at first, not going to lie. But I think I've never seen you this happy. I know Beck said that about Jade, but you… you're usually happy. But you seem on clouds, and it's great. It's really great. I think you two would do great together. I would completely support you two if you date- I mean, uh, I completely support that you two are marrying. Because marriage is… marriage and you two are… getting… married…"

Sikowitz ushered the stuttering boy off the platform, making way for Robbie.

"I'm really happy because ever since those three days… I mean months. Did I say days? I meant months. Ever since three months ago, Jade's been nicer to me and Tori's been having less mood swings and-"

"-and you two are hot so this marriage is hot!"

"Rex! That's inappropriate!"

Reprimanding Rex, Robbie left the stage, tossing the microphone to Sikowitz.

By now, Tori was frozen in place. All the things her friends had been saying were slowly processing in her mind and the weird feeling in her stomach was only increasing in intensity.

"Can I say something?"

Sikowitz looked confused as the boy named Alan jumped up and walked towards the front. Chad was looking confused at the sight of his friend stepping up and walking to the front. Taking the microphone before Sikowitz could say anything, he faced the guests and began speaking.

"Lesbians just need the right man."

Before anyone could protest, he continued speaking.

"I mean, that's what my dad always said. And my friends. To be honest, I kind of believed you two back at the restaurant when you said you loved each other. I could kind of see it in your eyes. It was the look my mom used to share with my dad before she passed away. And yeah, seeing you guys today and hearing your friends only solidified it. So I guess I wanted to apologize on behalf of my friend and me. If Chad disagrees, just remember he's not that smart to begin with. Uh, so, yeah, I'm sorry. I didn't want to ruin your wedding by reminding you of the stuff we said, but yeah. I can see it."

Looking directly into Tori's eyes, he said it again, loud enough for only Tori to hear, "Yeah, it's definitely there. Love."

Completely petrified at this point, Tori could only stare straight ahead as Alan walked back to his seat next to a fuming Chad, the guests drowning out anything Sikowitz could say with loud clapping.

She looked at Jade to see a warm expression on her face, her mind running on twice it's normal speed trying to process everything, and she could barely hear herself repeat Sikowitz as he recited the vows.

"I do." Jade said.

"I do." Tori repeated in a haze.

"You may now kiss the bride!"

As Jade leaned forward, Tori felt her breath hitch in her throat and a feeling of fear overcome her senses. Before she could rationally think things out, she picked up the sides of her dress, running through the aisles and into the school, ignoring the cries of the guests and ignoring how much she hated herself for being a runaway bride cliché. Sitting down on the staircase inside the school, Tori allowed herself to cry into her arms, finally realizing the feeling in her stomach that she had always been to scared to put a name on.

Love.

How did she miss it? How did she miss it, if her friends could all see it? If even strangers could see it?

But this was all a lie, a play, a little skit that ultimately succeeded in proving the targets wrong. Still, she felt very much a failure, knowing that in a few hours, this would all pass and she and Jade would have to continue life the way they did before, except this time, the flutter in her stomach would have a name.

"Tori."

The girl's soft voice made her cry a bit more, facing away as the girl held her in an embrace. Didn't she understand this was the exact opposite of what would help her?

"Don't touch me." begged Tori, hiding her head in her hands.

"What?" Jade stiffened and pulled away, her voice cracking at the ends, enough to make Tori look up, although timidly.

"Can't we just finish this?" Jade said through her teeth, looking away from Tori, "It's clear that you're completely repulsed at this marriage thing and I get that and all but can we just… just get this over with? You can go on with your life and I'll get on with mine then."

"You don't get how hard this is to do!" Tori said, surprised when Jade angrily met her stare, the beginnings of tears forming at the edge of her eyes.

"Yeah? What don't I get? I get that you're grossed out by this marriage thing and I could care less. Actually, I could care less. Because I have no freaking clue why but every time I'm near you I get this feeling and I thought it was jealousy but jealousy doesn't make you want to kiss someone, does it? I know you'll be more freaked out now but what can I say? Maybe I like you! Let's just get this over with and I can ignore all of this and get on with my life and you can too! I know you hate me and after we finish this, we can go back to that, alright? Okay?"

Tears were falling out of Jade's eyes as well, and a little smile formed at the edge of Tori's mouth at Jade's confession, but the happiness she felt inside was more than just a little. In fact, the feeling in her stomach had spread to her heart, and Tori felt her heart skip.

"No. And okay."

"What?" Jade sniffed through her tears.

"Okay to the "let's finish up this fake marriage" thing. And no to everything else."

"What?" Jade repeated, confused.

"Take a hint, Jade." Laughed Tori, grabbing Jade and walking back to the ceremony.

Hands held, the two walked back down the aisle and to the front of the audience, she soft clapping gaining momentum as Tori leaned up to catch the taller girl by the lips. Only pulling away once breathing became a bit too difficult, a grin spread across Jade's face as she held Tori's cheek in one hand. Ignoring the loud applause of the guests, Jade leaned forward and whispered in Tori's ear before stealing another kiss from the smiling girl.

"Hint taken."

A.N. Thank you for all your wonderful reviews! They definitely pumped me up and helped me produce what I hope is a decent part two for this story. Sorry about the time it took. I was trying to finish the piece in one chapter instead of teasing you all and making multiple chapters. Also explains the few time skips I did.

I might post some oneshots/stories relating to this storyline because I have a few plots running about in my head. I'll post them up when I get the chance to write them! Wrote this mostly in one sitting, so I think I'll go take a nap now. Will reread and fix tomorrow/sometime later. Thank you for reading and please don't hesitate to leave me some reviews!