Disclaimer: If Victorious was mine, that "I ship Jori" trend wouldn't have been ignored...

A/N: So for the past 3 nights, I have barely slept. So I figured a one-shot might help me sleep tonight, but I doubt it. Eh, so much for hoping. Enjoy.

If eyes had lasers, there would be a hole in the wall by now. Jade had been lying on her side, staring at the same spot on the far wall by the door for the past three hours. She just couldn't sleep, and she didn't know why. Or maybe she did, but she didn't want to think that that could be the only reason. Maybe she was just stressed out, or maybe she was just so exhausted she couldn't sleep. Of course there were a few other possibilities; sleeping only an hour or so a night was nothing new to her. She had learned a long time ago that things in the dark meant trouble and her subconscious had sketched that idea into the back of her mind.

But this…this was something else entirely. She just couldn't sleep at all. When she closed her eyes, she wasn't at all tired, but something else took over her thoughts. She had been like this for two nights straight now, ever since Friday night, and it was bothering her. Friday was what was on her mind, and deep down she wondered if that was why she was so restless.

For the past five months, her life had been different than before. No, this isn't one of those "I met someone and I feel completely different" sorts of situations. Okay, so maybe it's kind of like that, but this isn't some lovey-dovey mushy-gushy story of how the girl fell in love with someone and everything changed. This goes much deeper than that, more angst than anything, of how she did fall in love with someone…but nothing changed. No, scratch that. Maybe something did change.

Jade rolled her eyes. What the hell was this inner monologue about her life going on about anyway? The beginning of the story would be the best place to begin. Let's do a flashback.

Mrs. West, it's a healthy baby girl…Wait, too far back. Okay, let's just forget the flashback, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. As I was saying before, for the past five months, her life had been different than before. She'd met a girl, denying that she was actually interested in girls, even though she was completely in love with her best friend. And on top of that, she had a boyfriend that she "loved". She was a very messed up individual…

Jade groaned and rolled onto her back to stare at the ceiling. If the wall was going to start talking her, she'd ignore it. There's a point to this story, I promise you. Jade was messed up, having a boyfriend when she was in love with her best friend and then falling for someone else. But what was she supposed to do? She couldn't help how she felt.

Eventually the feelings changed. She no longer wanted to be with her boyfriend and her feelings for her best friend turned into much less. But she couldn't bring herself to break up with him, instead feeling as though she was cheating on him when she was, in fact, doing no such thing. Because she cared about someone so much more, she wasn't allowed to be happy? That's all she wanted, and he wasn't it. No, that someone was a girl, someone she'd never think she'd ever fall for. And that said girl knew it. Her boyfriend broke up with her later, but that didn't matter to her.

Jade glanced at her cell phone. It was three in the morning on Monday morning and she was becoming frustrated. She knew what she needed to sleep, but she couldn't have it. For some reason, she was being denied the one thing that made her happy.

See, Jade loved Tori Vega. She didn't always, but lately it had become something other than hate or contempt, and she had no idea what to do about it. She didn't know how to act or what to say most of the time, and she was surprised Tori even stayed around long after Jade had admitted to having feelings. Then again, Tori was the one who spoke first, but Jade had had the feelings first. Or she was sure she had. That part doesn't matter. Well, it does, but it's irrelevant to the story, and we won't dwell on that.

Jade had become used to Tori, talking to her every day, usually into the night until it was late and they needed sleep. In a way, that helped Jade sleep; she had Tori directly on her mind and she could dream about her. But for the past two days, Tori had been less than present. She and Jade spoke for maybe an hour or two a day and far before night, and Jade wondered if that was why she couldn't sleep. She missed Tori more than anything this weekend, so much that she was going insane from her absence.

Of course, the West girl knew that it wasn't anything she should be worried about, and she wasn't worried, but the feeling of being empty and alone was still there. Jade slid out of bed and put on random articles of clothing before heading downstairs. If she couldn't sleep, she would preoccupy her mind with something else. Although, I'm not sure what she had in mind at this moment, but…

Jade slammed her fist against the wall, hoping the voice would shut up. Unfortunately, it didn't because I'm still narrating this story. She rolled her eyes and left the house, walking toward the street and in the direction of Tori's house. A sad soundtrack played in the distance as she thought to herself and Jade huffed, clearly annoyed. She just wanted to walk to the Vega home without any overplayed clichés. So I won't narrate what happened along the way, including the car window she decided to throw a rock through or the dog that she got in a barking war with until it ran away with its tail between its legs. None of that's important.

Walking up the drive of the Vega residence, Jade headed for the back of the house. She climbed the wall up to a window and peeked in. The moonlight gave away Tori's covered body in her bed, and the corners of Jade's mouth twitched. She opened the window, rolling her eyes at Tori's lack of security, and threw one leg over the window sill, pushing herself into the room. Closing the window behind her, she crossed the dark bedroom and kicked off her shoes before slipping into the bed behind the girl.

Tori rolled onto her back to find out who was in her bed. Her eyes were wide when she realized it was Jade, the paler girl smiling slightly. "Jade, what…what are you doing here at four in the morning?"

Jade shrugged. "I missed you. I can't sleep, and I wanted to see you." Tori nodded and turned away from Jade, who moved closer to Tori and wrapped her arm around her waist. She wasn't here for anything other than to be close to the girl. Jade was asleep in minutes, content.

The next morning, Jade woke up on her back, Tori lying next to her with her head on Jade's chest, her arm wrapped around Jade's waist. Jade could get used to this, but there was still the matter of whether Tori actually wanted to be with her or not. She couldn't help but feel that this was right, that this was how it was meant to be. She wanted Tori in every possible way, and she made sure to tell Tori how she felt when she could. She didn't know how else to go about it.

She glanced down at the sleeping girl and brushed a stray hair from her face. Why was it so hard for them to be together? This wasn't fair, the fact that she loved the girl and was faced with uncertainty and possible consequences. Jade hated it, but she wasn't going to give up on Tori. She wanted this more than anything.

Tori opened her eyes and smiled upon noticing Jade. Caught up in the moment, Jade tilted her head and kissed Tori and it felt right to do so. Plus it helped that Tori didn't pull away at first, even kissing back. When she finally did pull away, she smiled. "So how'd you sleep?"