Chapter 11

Tori's P.O.V

Jade had been texting me all night and into the morning until she and Cat finally made it to where I am. I must admit, I am so surprised that Jade actually came looking for me. But its not a bad surprise. Now here I am, wrapped in a tight embrace with the girl I have been in love with since the beginning. Everything seemed to melt away, I forgot where I was, I was only focused on the form in front of me.

"You have no idea how long I've waited for this Jade…" I sob into the nape of her neck. I hear her sniffle a little bit and realize that she truly does feel bad for how she treated me. Then I hear voice come from behind us.

"So, you're Jade West" Alex bellows.

I blush into her neck, and I can feel her let in a deep breath and stiffen.

"Don't worry, he's harmless. I actually think you two will get along" I whisper to her.

Jade relaxes a bit with that, and we split apart for her to face him.

"That's me" She says sarcastically. I chuckle.

Its good to see she hasn't lost her attitude

I can tell she's nervous, as she's clenching her jaw. I reach down and grab her hand.

"C'mon don't be scared" I murmur. "He's just acting tough" Alex glares at me playfully.

I grab Cats hand too and we proceed to walk into Alex's apartment.

We are all seated in the living room, Jade is staring intently at me. I can feel her eyes following every move I make. But it's not a mean stare, it's more of a "I'm not going to let you out of my sight again" kind of stare. It's oddly comforting. I give her one of my warm Tori smiles, already starting to feel more like my real self, and not the depressed sad sack I was a week ago. After a while I decide to break the silence.

"Sooooo, Alex, this is Jade and Cat" I say with my usual cheery tone. He gives me a fake quizzical look. Deep down I can see that he's actually relieved that I'm actually acting like myself again.

"I can see that" He replies trying to continue to be serious. He is like a big brother to me after all, and I can see that a part of him is still acting with caution.

He studies Jade, not paying too much mind to Cat. She's not the problem causer here. Jade doesn't even flinch, and stares right back. It's as if they're communicating telepathically.

"So, Jade…. why did you suddenly decide to make the trip out here?" Alex starts, not taking his eyes off hers. I can tell it's making her feel on edge.

She starts "I realized what I've done to Tori over the years is terrible and I need to make it right. I also realized some other things…." She trails off with a slight blush tinging her pale cheeks.

"And how did you come to that realization?" Alex is starting to interrogate her now. She turns to me with pleading eyes, as if she's not ready for me to hear this yet, or she wants me to hear it when it's just us. I realize that this may just have to be a talk between them. I nod and grab Cat.

"Uh…. I'm gonna show Cat around." I mumble holding Cat's hand and walking out of the room, toward the deck out back.

"Tori, you have no idea how glad we are to see you, everybody was so worried!" Cat is tearing up. I frown and pull her into a big hug.

"I'm sorry Cat, I'm sorry I scared you guys that much. I guess I just let my depression get the best of me and I made a really dumb decision because of it." I sigh.

Cat pulls away and looks me in the eyes.

"It's okay Tori, I understand. But don't do it again, Okay!?" She huffs. I laugh.

"Oh Cat, don't worry I won't. I promise!" I say in confidence.

"Jade was really, really, freaking out. You get that right?" she says. My eyebrows shoot up. I'm still not quite used to the fact that Jade really cares. In fact, some part of me still doubts it, but that's going to take time to get used to.

"She was?" I question still taken aback by her statement.

"Yes, are you kidding me!? I haven't even seen her get that worried about Beck, not even when he broke his arm in a stunt when we were sophomores!" Again, I'm shook. Cat continues.

"She was so nervous she even went to talk to Trina, even the guys noticed she wasn't okay! She was really messed up over it. Especially because she thought she was the sole reason you left! She feels so guilty." Cat exclaims.

I think back to what she said to me when we hugged. I realized that I had never heard her voice take such a gentle tone towards me. Sure, there were times when I would help her, or Beck would break up with her, the tone was there. But it was always because she wanted something. Almost a manipulation that I always wrote off, insisting to myself that if I help her this once, maybe, just maybe she would continue to speak to me with the same tone.

It was a foolish way of thinking that always got me hurt. Cat notices that I'm lost in thought and decides to fill the silence.

She continues.

"She really cares about you Tori. I don't know if Beck has ever told you, but she treated him like shit when they first met too. It took him from 6th grade to freshman year for him to get her to stop treating him like shit and notice that he wasn't trying to hurt her. She was just scared of her feelings for him, just like she's scared of what she feels for you."

I sigh again, remembering that is what Alex told me too.

"I don't know Cat, its all just so weird. Like I'm dreaming, like this is all going to go away and I'm going to wake up and everything will be what it was before. I hope you understand why I'm so hesitant to believe this is real." Cat nods.

"It is Tori, trust me. I know Jade better than anyone. She'll tell you; I think she just feels like she has to prove herself to your friend in there" She laughs.

I laugh too, because well, it is funny. Jade feeling like she has to prove herself to somebody for me.

"He is quite intimidating" I giggle. "He's like my big brother after all" Cats eyes go wide.

"Ohhhhhh no wonder he was staring at her like that." Cat says, and I nod.

"Yep, I'm sure it's fine though"

I hope it's fine, I wonder what they're talking about in there…

Okay guys, I'm back and I'm going to try to update some of my other stories. I'm going to work mainly on this one and You're my Insomnia. But anyway sorry this chapter is filler and it kinda sucks but it'll get better.

Enjoy!

-Satan