Disclaimer: Victorious is not mine, much to my displeasure.

It's never been easy with her. Every little thing sets her off. She's become so defensive, perceiving everything as an attack against her. No one can understand why I love her, why I've stayed as long as I have. Even worse, no one understands why she is the way she is, why she loads her every word with blades and malice. But then again, they wouldn't, would they? Because no one can see what I see. And no one ever will.

I'm outside

Tori opened the door for me, glowing with a radiant energy that I've come to love, but in a sisterly way.

"You're late," she said angrily, but still with a smile on her face. She gave me a quick hug, and I could've sworn I heard a slight sigh as my arms reciprocated. I knew she had a crush on me since her first day, since she spilt coffee on me. I'll admit, the glow her eyes had when they first met mine as she tried to wipe the coffee off me, was electrifying. It made my heart skip a little. Then, we I had turned to see Jade, my entire body had sunk. There was a flicker of pain, deep in her eyes, deep in her soul. More apparent was the anger. But the worst part was the deadpan look she hid it all behind, that glassy wall she would always place between her and the world. To think of the time and energy it had taken to get between her and that wall, to see her surrender her defenses, just to see that wall put up again because of Tori… It was a feeling I couldn't handle.

I tore myself away form those thoughts and back to reality.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry! I had to pick up some medicine for my mom," I said slinging my backpack on the couch in her living room. Her house always smelt sweet, almost sickly so. It made my head spin, so I headed to the kitchen where the smell was masked by the lingering scents of cooking and the breeze sweeping in through the window.

"Aw, what's wrong with her?" said Tori, pouring out glasses of lemonade. She always made lemonade when she knew I was coming.

"Nothing serious, just a little cold. You'd think she had the plague the way she complains though," I said sighing and draining half my glass of the cool, tart liquid. "Where are the others?"

"Oh Andre's in the bathroom and Cat…" she said, stopping suddenly. "Uh…"

"You don't know?" I asked, and started to chuckle.

"She… I… she was here a second before you got here!" Tori said, bursting into laughter.

"Triiiiiii-NNNAAAAA! AHHHHHH!" Suddenly, Cat came dashing down the stairs, cheeks flushed, and panting.

"She's… ahh… Trina… TORI! Your sister's trying to KILL me!" Cat squeaked out, pushing me and Tori together and cowering behind us both. Tori and I fell into laughing fits as Trina stormed down the stairs, electricity flying out of her.

"Trina! Please stop trying to kill my friends!" Tori said, her laughter subsiding. Her arm brushed against mine, and lingered. I focused straight ahead, scared to find out if it was on purpose or not.

"That little red rat called me fat!" Trina roared, a shoe in her hand, ready to strike poor little Cat. Another squeak escaped from behind me and Tori.

"Hey Trina… that rhymed," Tori said with a smile. She looked at me, and I laughed too, with nothing else to say. I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I ignored it at first, but when it persisted, I realized it was a call and quickly fished it out. I looked at the screen.

"Jade," I said quickly. I pressed to answer it, expecting her to scream, to accuse me of not wanting to be with her, anything other then what happened. The first sound I heard was sobbing and then strangled sounds; she was trying to talk but she was crying too hard. I felt my body go numb; that sound was a rare one but it broke me nonetheless.

"Jade, what's wrong?" I said, trying to stay calm, but already running towards where my backpack lay slumped on the couch. The sounds of laughter and arguing behind me heavily veiled the air, making hearing hard. I slipped into my leather jacket as I listened to my Jade try to string together coherence through her grief.

"Beck… please… just… over… please… please… need yooooou!" she said, wailing the final word. My heart raced faster as my adrenaline began to pump. I grabbed my car keys as I hung up the phone.

The girls were still arguing and I was in a hurry, so I decided they'd be fine with me not saying goodbye. I could always text Tori later, tell her what had happened. The door was about to click closed behind me when I heard Tori's voice.

Sorry Tori but please not right now.

"Beck. Wait."

Author's Note: Yeah, I know not so exciting so far but hey, fanfictions, much like a fine wine, improve with age. Or so I'm telling myself. Annnnyway, I know the way it starts off seems very Beck/Tori but NO! It is very much Bade. You know why? Because FUCK Tori, that's why. So, yeah. Review, and tell me whatcha think and give me ideas if you feel so inclined to do so. Cause I'm really just running blindly into this.