Three Months Later

Tori Vega stood at her locker, rummaging through her bag for that one pink pen she just knew was hidden somewhere within its leather clutches. Kids passed by her both laughing and groaning about how hard this or that assignment was but she ignored them all, so intent was she on finding this stupid pen.

She was so absorbed in fact that she completely ignored her name being shouted over the noise of the hallway. The person that had called out to her didn't like this one bit, so with a slight narrowing of the eyes they began to thread their way through the hall. "Thread" being used loosely here, because in all honesty there's really no grace needed for walking in a straight line.

Students only had to take one look at who was approaching before they jumped (literally jumped, or tripped in some cases) out of the way.

But poor Tori, with her head practically halfway in her purse, was still oblivious.

"Tori?"

Geez, I knew I had it this morning! I remember! Trina tried to steal it and when I took it back she almost judo-kicked my head clean off. If Mom hadn't walked in we'd probably still be trying to tear each other to pieces right about now…

"Tori, did Trina's singing finally kill your hearing?"

Oh. My. GOD. WHERE. IS. IT.

"TORI!"

"AH!"

Tori's heart kick started in her chest and she whipped around, back slamming against the lockers. Her bag, along with all thoughts of finding her little pink pen, dropped to the ground, forgotten. One hand came up to press flat against her rapidly beating heart, chest heaving as she tried to recover from the little miniature heart attack someone had been kind enough to give her.

But just who was this someone?

"Jade!" Obviously. "Are you trying to kill me?"

Jade West rolled her eyes, arms crossing. "Maybe if you'd paid attention the first time I called your name, you wouldn't be having this problem." Mint green eyes regarded the flustered Latina coolly for a moment before her lips curled up in a grin and she stepped closer, reaching down to pick up the other girl's bag. "But then again, we both know how cute I think you are when you're terrified."

Before Tori had time to retort Jade's body was flush against hers, the other girl's free arm wrapping around her waist and her head tucking itself cutely under Tori's chin. The half-Latina couldn't help but smile and wrap her own arms around her girlfriend's shoulders and nuzzling raven-black hair with her cheek.

Yes, people. The "G" word. Girlfriend.

See, after the Beck Date-astrophe, the confession and the heavy make-out session that had followed, it wasn't long before Tori Vega and Jade West were seen being friendly with each other at school. The two were constantly together, vicious arguing melting into adorable banter, fiery glares softening into affectionate smiles. This doesn't mean that Jade West was any less vicious to anyone else at Hollywood Arts; the rest of the student population still gave her a wide berth.

Sometimes though, if people were lucky enough to watch from afar, they saw Jade grin and laugh like any other normal girl at Hollywood Arts. If they paid close enough attention, they'd see Tori Vega smiling softly, warmth shining in mocha-colored eyes, and they'd realize exactly what it was that made Jade West so happy.

It happened gradually, but even so it still left quite a few people surprised when the two walked into school together one day, fingers intertwined, grinning like fools.

And if that hadn't been strange enough, the very first time Jade had ever grabbed a fistful of Tori's shirt and brought their faces together for a kiss sent three people swooning straight to the guidance counselors office.

(Which Jade had still yet to apologize for.)

Their relationship just passed its official two-month mark last week. Jade had picked Tori up, never once teasing her about her lack of a driver's license, and they'd gone back to Jade's favorite restaurant: the old hibachi joint whose exterior just screamed "crackhouse," but where the chicken teriyaki was to die for. This time Jade showed her girl off proudly, and the little old Asian man who owned the establishment gave a celebratory round of mochi to the entire restaurant. After dinner they'd found the nearest beach and started walking, enjoying the smell of the ocean and each other.

Tori had never been happier.

Admittedly, things had been mad awkward at school for a while.

Beck gave them both a wide berth, though this was to be expected because the very first day back at school Tori had found herself trying to hold back a furious Jade West who was still rather miffed about the kiss he'd stolen. Any hopes of staying friendly with the two were immediately shelved, and for what Tori could only assume would be a long time. He'd stopped sitting at their lunch table, refused to go out with the whole group if either Tori or Jade was going to be there, and whenever he passed by them in the hallway they'd either receive a strained smile or nothing at all.

It wasn't easy with André, Cat or Robbie at first, either. Rex had loved it from the start, and thoroughly enjoyed making crass comments whenever he could. And since, no matter how much he denied it, Rex was really just some dark, sick corner of Robbie's mind brought to life it was safe to say that he was okay with it after the idea had time to marinate. Cat accepted it fairly quickly too because, in her eyes, all she saw were her two best friends, happier than they'd been in a long time. What could be wrong with that?

André on the other hand took a long time to warm up to Jade. If he'd been cautious about Beck dating Tori, he was downright suspicious of Jade's motives. The fact that she terrified him was forgotten for the sake of his best friend, whose happiness came before any totally un-manly yet still very much real and not totally unfounded fear. Jade had surprised him though, and did everything in her power to prove that she was serious about her feelings.

And by everything in her power, we mean that the scissor-lover brought out her dreaded scissors maybe a fraction less, snarled a tad bit softer, and tried to refrain from throwing food halfway across the Asphalt Café.

For Jade West, it was a valiant effort.

And it had paid off. Slowly but surely, as he saw Tori smile and laugh because of Jade's childish (in Tori's own words, "adorable") antics, his suspicions dwindled down to nothing.

And the funny thing was, André soon realized that Tori was just as good for Jade as Jade was for Tori. When the ebony-haired singer had been dating Beck, she was always glaring or growling at something, more often than not it was aimed at her boyfriend himself. She never seemed to be satisfied with anything, and was constantly complaining or ragging on some unfortunate passerby.

But she never did any of that around Tori. In fact, other than the frequent play-fighting the two engaged in (usually followed by a quick trip to the janitor's closet), André had yet to see the two argue.

So he approved of their relationship, and continued to support it, as did the rest of their friends.

Tori hoped that one day, Beck could come back into their lives. She really did miss having him as a friend, and she knew that Cat, André and Robbie missed him too.

The half-Latina sighed, eyes closing as her sadness caused her grip to loosen slightly. Jade's eyes did the opposite, blinking open the moment she felt tan arms go slack.

Only a moment passed before Tori let out an audible yelp at the feeling of warm lips pressing against the base of her neck.

"I don't remember saying you were cute when you sighed like someone with chronic depression."

Tori rolled her eyes at the melodramatic statement, grip tightening back to full strength as she felt the gentle scrape of teeth against her pulse point. "I thought everything I did was cute?"

Jade snorted and pulled back slightly. "Hate to tell you this Vega, but I might have been wrong. Because you almost wearing your purse as a hat? Definitely not cute."

Tori groaned, letting her head fall back against the lockers once again. "Ugh, I know okay? I was looking for my stupid pen!"

Green eyes blinked once. "What pen?"

"The pink one."

A moment of silence passed before the half-Latina heard a groan and felt Jade's arm retract. She mewled in protest and reached her arms out in a half-assed gesture for Jade to come back, but her hands were softly swatted away.

Jade turned her attention to Tori's purse, which was still gripped tight in her other hand.

She only rummaged in it for a few brief seconds before grinning. Their gazes met again as Jade retrieved a pink pen from Tori's purse. Tori gasped in surprise, hands darting forward to snatch the pen from her girlfriend's hands.

"Oh my God, you found it! How'd you know where it was?!"

The lightest of blushes bloomed in pale cheeks as Jade let her gaze fall away to the side, suddenly nervous as she shifted her weight to her other foot. "It's your favorite pen. You always keep it tucked in the inner pocket and… you know, you never remember to look there."

Tori felt a gentle heat rise in her own cheeks.

Well that was only the most adorable thing like, ever.

"Vega! How many times to I have to say it, I am not adorable!"

Oops. I said that out loud.

Grinning, Tori leaned in swiftly, catching Jade off guard as their lips met. In what felt like an instant Tori was pressed back up against the lockers, Jade's hands tangling in her hair. Tori tilted her head slightly, allowing Jade to deepen the kiss as the fact that they were still in the hallway completely slipped her mind. All that mattered were the wonderful things Jade could do with her tongue and-

"Ladies."

The two girls turned their attention to Sikowitz, who stood before them with arms crossed and feet bare. Tori's right hand came up in a confused half-wave, her head still dizzy from their impromptu make out session. Jade just glared, hands now resting lightly on Tori's cheeks, holding her in place just in case Sikowitz decided to walk away and leave them to continue.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen. "As much fun as I'm sure you were just having, I feel that as your teacher it is my duty to inform you that you are both late for my class."

Tori blinked. "Wait, then doesn't that make you late too?"

"Indeed it does. Now hurry along, wouldn't want you to miss anything important, now would we?"

"But, if you're here… then what exactly are we missing?"

"I'm afraid I don't understand what you're saying."

Tori just blinked, mouth half-open as she tried to formulate an appropriate response. Jade just rolled her eyes, pecking her girlfriend's lips just once more before releasing her cheeks and stepping back to an appropriate distance. "We get it Sikowitz, we're going."

The balding man grinned. "Excellent." He then proceeded to walk away, in a direction opposite his classroom.

Tori was still extremely confused, as per usual after any interaction with Sikowitz, but she shook her head and straightened back up. "I'll never understand that man." She shouldered her purse and turned to Jade just as mint green eyes crinkled in a smile.

"I think that's how he likes it." Jade bit at her bottom lip and slipped her hand into Tori's. "Walk me to class?"

Tori smiled right back.

"Always."

You guys didn't think I'd leave this story without an adorably fluffy serving of Jori, now did you?

Sorry for the wait guys. Hope it was worth it ;)

A big thank you to everyone who favorited, followed and reviewed this story. It's the first story I've ever completed, so it means a lot t me! Peace ya'll, it's been a fun ride.

-Celery Sticks