4.

Tori acts the scene in front of Jade, Andre, Cat and Sikowitz on Friday after class. This time no one laughs. Andre looks impressed, Cat is a little affected by the heaviness of the scene, Jade is regarding her with her chin on her hand, a serious expression on her face and Sikowitz is simply ecstatic.

"Good Ghandi, Tori. Wherever did that come from?" He stands and starts a small round of applause to which Tori responds with a beam and a curtsy. He's laughing as he continues. "I don't know what you did to get that- that badass girl out of you- and, don't tell me, because I really can't afford to be involved in another law-breaking deal, but congratulations. I look at you acting just now… it's like I'm looking at a different person."

"Well, I had some help," she says awkwardly as she glances at Jade at the back of the room, who's staring intently at the floor.

"Well, it was great. If you act like that, I have no doubt you'll get it."

Andre and Cat stand up to congratulate her. Jade doesn't say anything.

"When is your audition anyways?" Jade asks as they make their way to the parking lot.

"Saturday." Tori is distractedly checking her phone and looking around for Trina, because the girl is supposed to drive her home but Tori has a feeling she has forgotten about her. Again.

"Saturday," Jade repeats, her step slowing a little. "That's tomorrow."

"Uh huh," she replies as she listens to Trina's voicemail for the third time. "I swear to God, Trina, pick up your damn phone or I- I'll burn every poster of Zac Efron you have in your room!" Tori cries into the device, then turns to Jade with a miserable pout. "Why is she my sister? Am I that bad of a person? Is this a punishment?"

Jade rolls her eyes and pulls her towards her car. "I think you're both punishment to each other."

Tori glares at her.

"Just get in, Vega," Jade says with finality and Tori perks up when she realizes Jade is driving her.

...

"Uh, my house is this way." Tori points through the window as they drive pass her street.

"I know where you live."

"So, where are we going?" Tori wonders if this is the part where Jade finally shows her true intentions, murders her and hides her body in the woods.

"My place."

"Really?" Tori asks surprised. She's never been to the West residence.

"Do you have something to do at home?"

"No, not really."

And with that, Jade decides the conversation is over.

...

"Your room is… peculiar," Tori says, choosing her words carefully. She doesn't know where to look, the skull collection, the shelves filled with stuff in chloroform vials, the posters of bands she has never heard about covering the dark walls, the soft looking, king-sized, four-poster bed. Entering Jade's room is like falling down the bizarre rabbit hole.

"Thanks," Jade replies dryly.

Tori watches as she takes off her jacket, then her boots, walks to her laptop and puts on some music.

"What is this?" Tori asks as the somehow hypnotizing music starts. She kicks off her Converse and makes her way to Jade's bed. She just has to sit on it and test if it's as soft as it looks.

"The XX," Jade replies stepping in front of her.

Having to look up at Jade seems fitting; Tori feels a little intimidated and a lot excited. And she has to avoid the urge to pinch herself when Jade reaches out and touches her face; a slow, gentle, feather-like touch with the pads of her fingers.

Jade tilts her head a little, like Tori is a question she hasn't found an answer for yet and brushes her fingers through Tori's long hair. The brunette gulps embarrassingly loud as Jade pushes her farther up her bed, following her on her hands and knees and Tori has the fleeting certainty that Jade West was a panther in another life.

Jade hovers over her, grasping her waist and rubbing her thumb over the sliver of skin she finds there, almost lazily. Tori gasps, Jade smirks, the steps are almost choreographed. But somehow, Tori can't pinpoint it, this time seems different.

Jade leans in and Tori closes her eyes, ready for the taste and the feel of those rosy lips upon hers, but instead, they snap open as well as her mouth as she feels Jade leaving wet kisses up her neck. Jade drags the hand on her waist slightly north and attaches her mouth to Tori's pulse point.

The brunette moans, then blushes at the embarrassing sound. Her hands grip Jade's back and their breasts press together. Tori's mind is reeling. They're in Jade's bed, with the door closed, she's not drunk and neither is Jade, and Jade is sucking on her neck with her stupid, perfect, round breasts pressed against hers. This could get dirty really fast and Tori doesn't know if she minds one bit. But she can't. She can't because-

"Jade," Tori says, just to say something. Just because she likes her name on her tongue or because she doesn't know how to say the other million things running through her mind.

"Tori," Jade replies with a roguish grin.

"C-can I ask you something?" And why on Earth is her mouth talking at this moment in time when it should be doing other, better things, Tori will never know.

Her permission comes as a cocked eyebrow and Tori squirms a bit as she battles with herself over whether she should ask or not.

"Why are you doing this?" She asks finally.

Jade gives her a once-over. "I thought it was obvious."

"No, I don't mean this, this. I mean," Tori sighs and Jade leans back slightly annoyed. "I mean, why did you agree to this? To date me?"

"I thought we went over this already," Jade replies dryly.

"No, we just- you just said that it 'would be fun', but, I think…" Tori frowns, "I don't know, I guess I don't understand why you'd kiss me or do… couple-y stuff with me if you- if you don't-"

Jade sits up abruptly and crosses her arms. She's straddling Tori's lap now, which would be much more exciting if the conversation wasn't so serious. Her whole body tenses and she looks away, pursing her lips. She looks like she's fighting her own internal battle, until she turns to Tori, the mask of indifference already back in place.

"Look, Vega, I told you: I like making you squirm. And yeah, I was bored and thought this would be fun," she shrugs. "As far as the kissing goes, well, I'm single. I just wanted someone to make out with and you're not half bad."

Tori takes a deep breath, the words hitting her like a ton of bricks. She shouldn't be this disappointed. She shouldn't have let herself believe in foolish dreams to begin with. But she reigns it in, like a good actress and nods at Jade. "Okay."

Jade raises both her eyebrows questioningly, "so, do you want to do something else?"

Despite herself, Tori shakes her head.

Jade leans down, her mouth seeking Tori's this time, instead of her neck. She kisses her hard, fervently, aggressively, with no build up. Lips glide over the lips again and again, smacking a bit when Jade pulls back an inch and licks them, tasting Tori's lipgloss. She's pulled back in by Tori's hand on the back of her neck, the other is quickly travelling down her back. There's an urgency, a sense of desperation, that wasn't there before. They both know, this might be the last time.

Tori opens her mouth, letting Jade's tongue connect with hers. It's so damn skilled, that tongue of hers. Tori squeezes her legs together as Jade traces it around her mouth and then it's flicking at hers, calling her out to play. Tori feels a need, a raw instinct blossoming inside her and she pushes Jade on her back, biting her lower lip roughly then sucking it inside her mouth.

Jade moans and Tori feels herself get wet; it might be the first time she's made Jade make that sound. She wants to hear it again. She kisses down Jade's chin, her jaw, nibbling at the skin. Jade's hands shamelessly relocate themselves on Tori's ass and Tori puts her knee in between Jade's legs so they're in a tighter fit. But oh, she doesn't think, the moment Jade pushes her down the tiniest bit, her thigh makes contact with Jade's centre and the girl moans again.

Tori leans back to look at Jade, to make sure this is not going too far. Jade stares back at her through half-lidded eyes, and Tori wonders if her face is conveying as much desire as Jade's. With her flushing skin, messed hair and hungry stare, Jade is a real sex goddess.

She attaches her mouth to Jade's again, and her hand moves on its own accord to those stupid, perfect, round breasts she likes so much. But soon it gets tired of the rough texture of Jade's shirt so she bunches it up and some point, Tori's brain says fuck it and puts her hand under Jade's bra too.

She squeezes the soft mound in her hand, feeling and hearing Jade's hard intake of breath against her own lips. Her thumb swipes over Jade's nipple and Jade whimpers.

"Jesus."

"Okay?" Is all Tori manages to say through the hormone-induced fog in her brain.

"Yeah."

Jade lifts her leg and her thigh mirrors Tori's. There's a moment of doubt, a second in which Tori asks herself if she's sure she wants this to happen. This is not sex. They are not having sex. She doesn't want her first time to be with someone who claims not to have feelings for her. But, the sweet relief…. the answer is yes, yes God, yes she wants it so bad.

Tori rocks her hips down once experimentally. And she's a goner.

"F-fuck." She doesn't believe she's cursing. Actually, yes, as Jade squeezes her ass and rocks her hips again, pleasuring both Tori and herself, she can believe. Her head drops against Jade's shoulder.

"Do you want to stop?" Jade's voice is so husky, so ridiculously sexy. If melted dark chocolate was a sound, it would be Jade's voice right now.

Tori shakes her head no. She doesn't want to, doesn't think she can right now.

The music sets the rhythm of their rocking hips. Tori attaches her mouth to Jade's pulse point, and starts sucking, much like the girl was doing before. She's going to leave a mark, a Tori-was-here kind of mark, something so the girl never forgets that, even if she claimed to not feel anything for her, this still happened. Jade's too focused on her escalating pleasure to complain.

The pace of their hips is frantic now. The rough denim of Tori's jeans is rubbing deliciously against her clit and Jade's black tights offer little obstacle for her to feel Tori's strong thigh against her center.

Jade whimpers and Tori tumbles over the edge at the sound, so intimate and vulnerable, coming from her. She bites down on Jade's neck, to muffle her moans as her body goes rigid, before trembling and shaking through her powerful orgasm. As soon as Jade feels Tori's teeth sinking into her skin, she feels her orgasm hitting her like a train. Biting has always been a big turn on for her.

A couple of minutes pass. Tori lays limply on top of Jade, her face buried on her neck. Jade removes her hands from Tori's ass and puts them at a safer place, the small of her back, and tries to catch her breath. Her heart is beating like a drum, Tori can feel it. It's not calming down and neither is Tori's, because what they just did, what they shared, is much more that what they agreed to. This means something, at least that's what Tori hopes.

Eventually, Tori moves off of Jade. She doesn't go too far though. She lays next to her and stares at the ceiling, her hands at her sides. Should she say something? Does Jade want to hear it? She licks her lips, tasting Jade on them; Jade's lip-gloss, Jade's skin. She shuts her eyes tight.

A hand brushes over hers, then hesitantly, almost timidly, Jade intertwines their fingers together. Tori rolls her head to the side. Jade is still staring at the ceiling, but her hand is warm and reassuring in hers, so she squeezes and hopes Jade gets her message.

...

Jade's mom is who saves them from the awkward conversation. She calls Jade downstairs and with a muttered "be right back" Jade excuses herself. Tori takes the opportunity to clear her mind. She stands in front of the mirror, fixes her JBF hair– thank you, Trina– and reapplies her lip-gloss. She puts on her shoes just in case she has to leave quickly, even though the idea of Jade asking her to leave makes her want to be sick.

"So, my mom knows you're here." Jade comes into the room and stays a good 5 feet from her. "She wants to meet you."

Tori does a double take. "S-she wants to meet me?"

"Yeah. I don't have a lot of people over." Jade rolls her eyes. "Anyway, she wants to know if you can stay for dinner."

"Uh," Tori mumbles. Dinner with your not-really-girlfriend's mom just after a dry-humping session on said not-really-girlfriend's bed; whatever could go wrong?

"You don't have to," Jade says dismissively. And it's that slight, almost imperceptible sign of insecurity in Jade's posture that makes her say yes.

...

"Oh yes, she loved baths. She would stay in the bath for hours. She would get all of her toys, even those that weren't water-toys, and make up incredible adventures. Pirates, aliens, scary sea creatures, you name it," Valerie, Jade's mom, recalls.

Ms. West is a young woman, about the age of Tori's mom, and looks very much like an older, more mature version of Jade. Her eyes are a bit darker and her hair much lighter (which makes Tori wonder if Jade dyes it) but apart from that, Tori believes she's staring at Jade 25 years from now. Much nicer, though, but maybe that just comes with age.

"Mom," Jade warns.

"What? Did you or did you not?"

Jade doesn't answer, fixing her gaze on her plate instead, her lips pursed in frustration.

"She's good at making up stories," Tori adds after a bite of her food.

"Mh, true. I wish I could go see more of her plays at school. But my work schedule is not… very flexible."

Jade sighs but says nothing. Tori's not sure what's Valerie's job, all she's gathered is that she works crazy hours, is a bit of a workaholic and has a very thick paycheck. But even if she's mostly absent from Jade's day to day life, she seems warm and caring, but also witty and with a teasing quirk in her smile.

"Oh, I think I've got some pictures of Jade and her brother when they were little around here somewhere."

"No!" Jade snaps. Tori jumps a little in her chair, but Valerie doesn't even flinch.

...

Jade is cleaning the dishes because it's her turn and Valerie and Tori are sitting on the couch, a photo album on Valerie's lap.

"That's Elliot, Jade's younger brother," Ms. West points a young boy with dark hair and eyebrows. In the picture, a pre-teen Jade is pinching his cheeks and the boy is scowling. His grumpy face rivals Jade's.

"Where is he now?" Tori asks, confused by the fact that she has never seen him.

"Boarding school."

"Ah."

Valerie flips to the next page. "She was eleven here; wouldn't keep still for the picture. She was such a wild kid, a bit weird too; liked to collect bugs and watch shows like Goosebumps." Valerie tilts her head and adds as an afterthought, "although she still does."

Tori looks at the picture with a soft smile. "She looks really happy."

Valerie sighs. "She was. That," she points at a tall man just right behind Jade, "is her father. She idolized him. But after he left…" Valerie looks at Tori and waves her hand around. "She rebelled against the world. So bitter, so indifferent. But she's a sweet girl, under all that anger. She's just a hard nut to crack, that one."

"I know," Tori agrees softly.

Valerie squints her eyes at her.

"You're the one, aren't you? The one who's been making her smile so much these past days."

"Uh," Tori stammers.

"She doesn't smile, per say. She just- she has this twinkle in her eyes, this bounce in her step. She's happier."

"That's- that- I- I don't think. She says… she says that-"

"Oh, honey." Valerie scoffs. "You must've learned by know that one thing is what my daughter says and the other is what she really feels. She got that from her dad; they love being an enigma."

Tori listens eagerly, fascinated by this little glimpse of the real Jade that Valerie is offering.

"She can be upfront when she wants, true. But when it comes to matters of the heart…" Valerie tsks and shakes her head. "She's good at making up stories, it's… her defense mechanism, I guess. You just have to learn to see through them."

Tori gulps hard and nods. "Okay."

"Hey… what's going on?" Jade asks as she enters the room, a suspicious look on her face.

"I'm just showing Tori your childhood pictures," Valerie exclaims innocently. Jade glares at her murderously.

"Tori has to leave now, right Tori?"

"Right." Tori agrees immediately. "It was really nice meeting you, Ms. West."

"Oh honey please, call me Val. I can tell I'll be seeing you a lot around here."

Jade mutters something under her breath and Tori goes to gather her things that she carried downstairs when they came down to dinner.

"Bye, Val and thank you for dinner."

"Bye honey! Jade, drive safely!"

"Yes, mother," Jade calls back.

The drive to Tori's is silent apart from soft murmur of the radio. Tori fidgets with her fingers, debating whether to say something or not and what exactly should it be. She finally decides on the most pressing matter.

"Do you think you could drive me to the audition tomorrow? I don't want to ask Trina."

Jade glances at her and sighs. "Fine."

Tori knows Jade thinks she's taking advantage of her, using her as a chauffeur. But that's not why this is so important to her. She just wants more time with Jade, more time until their fake-dating is not necessary anymore. More time to gather her courage and say something.

"Thank you," she mutters.

"Yeah, no problem."

They arrive at Tori's driveway and Jade parks. She stops the car. That's a good sign right? Tori has to say something.

"Look, Jade. I just wanted to tell you that, whatever your motives, I am really grateful for what you've done for me. And I don't mean the dating in itself, I mean everything that came from it. You invited me to your room, you introduced me to your mom, and you've shown me a part of you that I didn't know." Tori takes a breath. "You- you've changed me; I'm a different person, because of you. We've done things I would've never done on my own. We've shared things, I've never shared with anyone."

She can see Jade swallowing.

"And I'm glad it was you; I just wanted to say that. That I'm glad you said yes when I asked you that day in the janitor's closet."

Jade doesn't answer, she just nods, her gaze fixed on the steering wheel. Tori leans over the console and presses a kiss to Jade's warm cheek.

"Goodnight Jade."

Tori's hands are shaking as she closes the car door and makes her way to her house. That kiss, that simple kiss on the cheek, is their first good night kiss and somehow it feels like the last.

...

"Morning, Tori. Today's the big audition, right?" Holly asks when Tori walks down the stairs on Saturday morning. Tori grunts her answer as she rubs the sleep off her eyes. Holly shakes her head amusedly at her daughter, who looks much younger than she is as she sits at the kitchen table, with her owls with moustaches pajamas all wrinkled and a serious case of bed hair.

"Excited?" Holly drops a kiss on Tori's head and puts a plate of pancakes in front of her.

Tori shrugs, not a person of many words in the morning.

"I'm sure you'll get it, honey." Mrs. Vega glances at her watch, wondering if it's going to be one of those weekend mornings where she has to drag Trina out of bed and make her do something productive. She swears that girl could sleep all day if she let her. "Is Trina taking you?"

Tori gulps down half a glass of juice before answering. "No, Jade is."

Holly takes a seat next to her daughter with her own plate of pancakes. "Jade West? I thought you weren't really friends?" She asks, remembering that Jade was also the one that invited her to dinner last night and the one that helped her study the other day.

Tori shifts her eyes to her plate, her mom, and back to her plate. She thinks about her relationship with Jade, their evolution and the way they interact. "No… we aren't exactly friends, Mom."

"Oh." Holly stops eating for a second before resuming her task. "Is there… something you need to tell me?"

Tori ponders for a second if it's really worth it.

"You know you can tell me anything, honey." Holly reaches out and grabs her arm. "Me, and your father and Trina, will love you no matter what." Tori gives her a look. "Okay, maybe Trina will be a drama queen about it, but that's neither here nor there."

Tori sighs. "There's nothing to tell, Mom."

"Really? Because as much of a modern mom as I am, I still need to know if we need an open door policy when she's around," Tori's eyes widen, "and you know Trina will complain about it, if you don't get the same treatment she does."

"Oh my God, Mom," Tori chuckles embarrassedly. "Really, there's nothing to tell. I promise I would talk to you if there was, but there really isn't. Not after today," she adds the last part quietly.

Holly frowns worriedly at the sadness in her daughter's voice, but she has always trusted her and she's not going to start questioning her now. She knows whatever it is that's bothering Tori, she will fix it or come to her for help in her own time.

...

As promised, Jade's car is waiting for her on her driveway hours later. Tori climbs in with the wrinkled script clutched in her hand, and greets Jade softly.

"Hey," Jade replies. "So, where is this audition?"

"Oh." Tori fumbles with her purse and hands her a piece of paper. "This is the address."

With a frown, Jade takes it and nods once, before putting the car in gear. Tori thumbs the papers in her hands nervously, a lip trapped between her teeth.

Jade sighs. "Stop. You're fine," she says quietly.

Tori manages a small smile.

The drive to the audition is silent apart from the sound of paper rustling and Tori's nervous intakes of breath. Jade parks the car and turns it off, surprising Tori when she steps out of the car with her, but she doesn't say anything.

They walk into the building and follow the indications of a woman behind a desk. There's a waiting room, with only a couple of girls, one blonde and one brunette. The brunette stands as the other door to the audition room opens and a guy peeks out his head to call for the next.

Tori barely has time to see inside, before the door is closed again and her and Jade are left alone with the blonde girl and the elevator music that echoes softly from the ceiling.

The girl glances at them and Tori, always the sweetheart, smiles friendly at her. She sneers and slaps her phone to her ear.

"What is this Barbie doing here?" Jade snaps not so quietly.

Tori has to admit, the girl looks like a real Hollywood bimbo. At first glance, she can already tell at least four different parts of her body that are not naturally hers. When the girl utters the first words into her phone, Jade grasps at her arm and shuts her eyes firmly, like she's trying to physically restrain herself from shutting her up.

"You didn't say this was such a low class audition!" Her voice is whiny and nasal and Tori can see Jade's eye twitching. "No. Nuh uh. I don't know, you're my manager, this is your job!"

"Manager," Jade mouths at her mockingly.

"Well," the blonde gives them a dirty look, "if they let anything audition…"

"Bitch," Jade mutters.

"Fine. I don't care. No one can ruin my focus. But next time, make sure what kind of auditions you find me, or you can start looking for another job." Barbie snaps her phone shut and sends them the fakest smile. Jade steps closer to Tori.

"Wanna ruin her focus?"

"Wha-" but before Tori can finish her question, Jade has pushed her by the hips and is pinning her against the wall and swallowing her yelp with her mouth. A rush of blood settles in Tori's lower stomach and her script flutters to the floor as she snakes her arms around Jade's neck. She faintly registers a far away indignant, nasal cry, but she's too immersed in the way Jade's tongue is dancing around hers, warm and wet and strong, to notice the other occupant of the room gaping at them with an angry looking vein about to pop on her forehead.

Jade smirks against her lips though, satisfied with the reaction and Tori smiles dumbly, not really realizing why Jade looks so smug. Lean hips press against hers, and Jade rolls her head to the side, regarding the blonde girl with a cocked eyebrow. Tori watches them both, not really following the silent catfight taking place in the room, as she loses herself in the feel of Jade's hipbones against hers and the adrenaline shot that is Jade's kiss. She cherishes it; cherishes the bonus kiss she's received after thinking yesterday's would be the last.

The door opens and Jade quickly steps away from her. Tori misses the warmth immediately. The brunette girl comes out, followed by the same guy as before, who calls for the next in line. Barbie's still staring at them wide-eyed, a disgusted grimace on her face.

"Hey, Ms. I-have-a-manager-and-a-fake-nose," Jade mock-whispers, "it's your turn."

The girl squeaks offended, but nothing coherent comes out of her mouth as she stands clumsily and makes a bee-line towards the door; the exit one.

"Or not," Jade drawls with fake innocence.

"Uh, well, who's next then?" The guy asks.

"She is." Jade bends down to pick Tori's script and pushes it into her hands. "Go get'em, tiger."

Tori gulps and nods, squaring her shoulders with a deep breath. Jade is still there when she glances back one last time, but she's not when she comes out minutes later.

...

Tori feels the pain of the rejection weighing even more when Jade is not waiting for her as she comes out. She squeezes her eyes hard, willing the tears away, reminding herself it's not her fault. Turns out she looks exactly like the lead actress of the movie - which, God, again? does she really have such a generic face? - and as charmed and impressed as they were with her audition, they couldn't give her the role.

At least she knows she did well. Had she looked differently, they would've given it to her. It's somewhat comforting to know all her hard work paid off. And somehow, wasn't this incredible experience with Jade worth it all?

But Jade is not in the waiting room and Tori can't deny it anymore: it's over. It's all over. The kisses, the looks and the touches, that spark she could swear they both felt everytime they looked at each other, apparently, it all meant nothing. And now it's time for everything to get back to normal, for her and Jade to go back to being two people who tolerated each other, with the occasional dash of dislike from Jade's part. Her feet drag as she makes her way out of the building. She just wants to go home, get a big bowl of chocolate ice-cream and play terrible rom-coms on her TV all night. Maybe she'll even call Andre and ask him to come over, cry on his shoulder for a while and tell him all about what a fool she's been. About how this one bad girl managed to make her fall so hard and then broke her heart completely.

She pushes the entrance doors with her shoulder, already fishing her phone from her purse to call Trina to pick her up when she sees it. Her hand freezes halfway to her ear as she takes in the sight right in front of her.

Jade is leaning back on the hood of her car, her arms crossed and her eyes squinted towards the sky. Tori splutters as she approaches.

"What are you doing here?"

Jade turns to her and shrugs. "It's a sunny day." She tilts her head, inspecting Tori's face. "How did it go?"

Tori sighs, "I didn't get it."

Jade scoffs, "bastards."

"They loved my audition, but I looked too much like the lead actress."

Jade's eyes widen. "Wow, I stand corrected: idiots."

A small smile blossoms on Tori's face. "Jade, what are you doing here?"

"Is something wrong with your hearing, Vega? I told you, it's sunny outside."

Tori crosses her arms and tilts her head, her brown hair falling over her shoulder and she gives Jade a disbelieving stare.

Jade groans, throwing her head back. "Ugh, I don't know, alright?" She walks around her car to stand before Tori and mirrors her position. "I was gonna leave, but…"

"You stayed."

"Well, duh."

Tori rolls her eyes, slightly annoyed and impatient. "Why?" Jade looks away, her boot-clad foot tapping incessantly on the ground. "Stop making up stories. Just tell me, Jade, dammit!"

"I don't know what you want me to tell you."

"Oh, I think you do," Tori says airily.

"Fine!" Jade snaps, "I'm confused, Tori. I'm confused as hell. I didn't sign up for these- these things that I'm feeling. We weren't dating, it was just a means to an end to you and I was okay with that; at the beginning. Somewhere along the way you messed me up! This is all your fault!"

"What? You are the one who messed me up! I like you, you ass!"

"Well- okay!" Jade stammers. "Then I guess we should keep dating!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

They both look at each other, chests rising and falling with each deep intake of breath. Jade's usually pale face is flushed and her eyes sparkle with the thrill she always gets when she fights with Tori. But this time there's a different feeling swirling under the surface. Tori's lips quirk the tiniest bit and Jade's eyes zero in on them. Tori blushes, averting her gaze.

"So," the brunette coughs.

Jade rolls her eyes before stepping into Tori and grabbing her hips, much like in the waiting room. She kisses her, pouring out all the feelings she's been locking inside these past weeks and Tori smiles against it, a cheeky, goofy smile, so relaxed and free that Jade has to kiss it off her face before she blurts out something stupid.

Epilogue.

"What are you doing?" Jade whispers as Sikowitz talks about giving bad news in a happy manner.

"Drawing," Tori replies.

Jade watches the hand that Tori just captured and is holding on her lap, a red pen positioned against her skin.

"Does it have to be on my hand?"

"Yes."

She rolls her eyes, feigning annoyance, when in reality, she loves the way Tori tickles her wrist as she thinks of what she's going to draw and the warmth of Tori's thigh under her palm.

The kid with the go-kart leaves the room and Sikowitz turns back to the class. "Alright, now let's talk about the new play I'm directing."

"Do I get to star in it?" Jade asks without taking her eyes of the red pen moving over her skin.

"Ah, I think it's my turn to star in one of Sikowitz's plays," Andre interjects.

"What are you talking about?"

The class erupts in argument, everyone trying to defend why it's their turn to be the star in his play.

Sikowitz silences them. "You see? Every time I cast a new play, you all get your panties in a pretzel. So this time, you people will choose your own roles. Andre, pick a role."

Andre picks Tommy, Beck picks Carter, and Jade picks Nancy.

"Uh, Nancy, loving wife of astronaut Walter Swain," Jade reads.

"That sounds important." Tori peers at her piece of paper from her seat. Her girlfriend shrugs.

"Tori!" Sikowitz calls.

The girl picks a green paper and reads, "Astronaut Walter Swain, husband of Nancy-hey! I don't want to be the husband!"

Jade actually laughs at her outrage. "Tough luck, Vega."

Tori frowns at her adorably and Jade has to bite back a smile. "Why do you get to be the wife?"

"Because I'm more feminine."

Tori gasps. "I am feminine!" She looks up at Sikowitz resolutely. "I'll just pick another role…"

"No! My box has spoken!" He cries as he prances towards the front of the class again. Tori falls back on her chair defeated and Jade leans into her.

"I still like you, even if you're a manly astronaut."

"Jerk," Tori mutters with her arms crossed firmly.

"You'd think they'd stop arguin' after they started datin'," Andre tells Beck confidently, who just nods, a little confused. It took them all a bit to digest this new development, and some were still trying to figure out their dynamic.

They fought a lot and they teased each other mercilessly. Mostly Jade teased Tori and she pretended she was annoyed by it. It was usual to see them fight over something stupid at Jade's locker, to have them passionately making out at Tori's moments later. Their friends were, for the most part, delighted with this new affiliation of forces. Cat just liked to fawn over them and Tori still caught Andre watching at them with a mixture of confusion and curiosity.

Jade was a tiny bit less bitchy and Tori seemed to have matured and relaxed in the little less than a month they've been dating. They each knew how to handle the other, calm each other down when they were stressed or what exactly to say or not to say at times. Tori's friendliness complimented Jade's mean streak, fixing some of the problems the girl created for herself and Jade's bluntness was teaching Tori how to be stronger outside in the cruel world and not take any crap from anyone. They bickered and called each other names, but when it really mattered, they were always there to defend and protect each other. They were two sides of the same coin.

Tori's parents accepted their relationship easily. Trina, on the other hand, wasn't too happy with the idea. She expressed her indignation for days, claiming that she couldn't care less if Tori dated girls (more boys for her) but "please, not Jade, that girl is a psycho". Trina was warming up to her though, slowly but surely, the same way Jade had slipped into Tori's heart while she wasn't watching.

"Are you done with my hand? What is this anyways?" Jade twists her hand to look at Tori's drawing. "A heart? Really, Vega?" Jade glances at her girlfriend, enjoying her pretty blush. "What- are these a pair of scissors? And a microphone? Jeez, you are corny."

Fin.

Thank you for reading and feel free to leave your thoughts and reviews. If you want more, be tuned for the sequel, it's almost finished!