Challenge Accepted…

Okay so I've had this idea in my mind for a couple of months now. Just playing with it really. It's a bit different but give it a chance.

Disclaimer: I don't own victorious or any of their characters

Chapter 1

With gritted teeth and furrowed brows, Tori Vega opened the oven door when she heard the timer go off. Satisfied that the bubbling lasagna was perfect, she slipped on her oven-mitts and proceeded to put it on the counter to cool for a bit. Tossing her mitts back on the counter, she turned back to the kitchen island and the half chopped tomato. She wiped her clammy palms on her floral apron before she picked up her knife and continued cutting up the tomato for the salad.

Her luscious brunette hair was tied up in a loose bun and her black-framed glasses rode low on her nose shielding intense chocolate eyes. The frown lines on her forehead deepening with each stroke of the blade.

Cooking was an art that held many contradicting virtues to her. It taught patience, precision and creativeness. But mostly, she enjoyed it because it gave her time to reel in on all her emotions and think things through. And if she really let herself admit, it gave her time to stew. Which wasn't what she was doing now. No, she definitely was not stewing.

So lost in her own mind and the activity at hand, Tori didn't hear the front door open.

Jade West stepped into the apartment she shared with her girlfriend, her nose immediately going to the air. The wondrous scent of Tori's famous lasagna coated their entire home, her mouth watering and stomach growling in response.

About to follow the glorious smells helplessly like a rat to the pied piper, her stride faltered. Lasagna? Either it was a special occasion or Tori was pissed. And it wasn't either of their birthdays, she thought wryly.

Great, she had been hoping to avoid this. She was just lucky she had to leave early this morning to the studio to finish up some last minute changes to the scripts, she'd been working on. Otherwise, she would have surely gone to work concussed.

With a long suffering sigh, the writer unbuttoned her coat and hung it on the rack deciding on playing it cool. She tucked a stray strand of raven hair behind her ear as she reached the entrance to the kitchen. Leaning against the doorframe, her ocean blue eyes scanned the spacious area. They locked on the gorgeous brunette in the center of the room focused on the makings of her salad.

A faint smile ghosted around Jade's lips. "You know, I was thinking," she murmured, startling the brunette.

Tori jolted briefly, before she resumed her task, impassively. Her brown eyes not drifting away from the knife in her hand. "I'm sorry, are you talking to me?" she asked curtly, trying and failing to hide her annoyance.

Okay, Jade thought, she was definitely pissed. "Who else would I be talking to?" She raised a brow at the only other occupant in the room, crossing her arms over chest.

"I don't know… Certainly, not me because I'm not talking to you."

"God, are you still mad at me?" Jade let out, exasperated, watching her girlfriend blatantly ignore her presence as she tossed the lettuce into a glass bowl.

Tori turned to retrieve the balsamic vinegar and selected a decent Chianti from the wine-rack in the process. "You're so smart, you figure it out."

Jade sighed, stepping further into the room as Tori sprinkled a little of the vinegar over the salad. "How many times must I tell you, I'm sorry?"

This time brown eyes shot up, regarding her girlfriend, incredulously. "Once…" She slammed the bottle on the surface. "You didn't even say it once!"

Despite being happy to see those chocolate eyes finally meet hers, Jade turned her gaze away and scoffed. "You know I'm no good at apologies…"

Tori let out a cynical laugh. "Of course, the great Jade West doesn't apologize… It's too beneath her," she said, pulling out the long stemmed wine glasses from the cupboard.

"Jesus, Vega, what do you want me to say?" Jade groaned, feeling like a schmuck. At the hard glare she earned, she held up a hand. "Okay, fine, I'm sorry… There, I said it." She looked away, then back.

Tori stopped what she was doing and arched a suspicious brow, listening carefully. "For?"

"For calling your boss's daughter a bitch." The raven haired woman rolled her eyes, knowing that her lover wouldn't make it easy on her.

"And?"

Jade sulked, feeling icky inside. Apologizing sucked. It was no wonder she didn't do it often. "And for throwing my drink in her face," she grumbled.

"And?"

"And… And…" Jade frowned, pinching the bridge of her nose. God, she couldn't do this. "And I'm sorry your boss's daughter is a bitch that deserved to have my wine thrown in her face!" The writer tilted her nose, adamantly, arms crossed. "She is and you know it."

Tori blew out an exasperated breath. That was actually more than she thought she would get out of the raven haired woman in terms of an apology. But she was not nearly ready to dismiss her girlfriend's embarrassing behavior. "Yeah, sure, baby, she was a bitch…" She rolled her eyes. "Was it the way, she greeted you… politely asked what you do for a living? Or was it in the way, she generally seemed interested in your responses? Which is it, Jade? All seems perfectly bitchy behavior to me," she patronized, opening the drawers in search of the corkscrew.

Jade grabbed the wine and corkscrew from the brunette, both tussling for the bottle, heated glares battling. "It was the way; she blatantly flirted with my girlfriend while I was sitting right next to her!"

That stopped Tori's struggle dead, the bottle yanked from her pliant hands. "Flirted?"

"Yes." Jade gave a sadistic chuckle. "Don't tell me, you didn't realize she was flirting with you during the entire party."

"Anna Fischer was being charming and a suitable host. Plus, she is not gay…."

"How do you know?"

"I…" Tori stopped and thought about it. Truth was she didn't know…She frowned slightly. "It wasn't flirting."

"Like hell it wasn't! She was practically leering at you with her wolfish face."

Tori rolled her eyes taking the bottle from the writer and set it on the counter to breathe. "Honestly, Jade, I don't know what you're talking about. What about the rest of the women in the company? Did she flirt with them too? I seem to recall she spent as much time with everyone else as she did with us."

"Like that makes it right." The raven haired woman snorted. "And I don't give a damn about all the other women in the company, they are not mine."

"Yours?" The brunette's voice went dangerously low, her eyes narrowing causing Jade to wince and immediately regret her wording. "I'm not your possession, Jade," she stated snippily, picking up the lasagna and exited into the dining room, hastily.

Jade cringed at the slam of the door in her face. She swung the door open. "Shit, Vega, you know that's not what I meant."

Tori's placed the main course dead center between the two places she set and whirled around. "Oh, so your excuse for being an insanely, jealous girlfriend is because you were an insanely, jealous girlfriend?"

"I was not jealous." Jade scoffed.

"Could have fooled me." The brunette pushed past her back into the kitchen.

"I was not jealous!" Jade protested, pushing on the door and stormed back into the kitchen. "I just can't stand the woman! She is a pompous ass that thinks just because her daddy is rich and she has a pretty face, she can have whatever the hell she wants."

Anna Fischer just made her uneasy and got under her skin, immensely. She was a gorgeous woman with proper etiquette and was vaguely cunning if you looked hard enough. She had both men and women swarming around her ready and willing to do her bidding and she knew it too, which made it all too easy for her to take advantage of them. But behind all that proper exterior, she was the mother of all bitches and deserved more than a drink in her pretty face, if it was up to Jade. She was exactly why she hated going to Tori's work functions. Anna just took it too far last night and maybe she was a little jealous. A little… Not that she would admit though.

"What?" Tori laughed, pouring the wine and handing one glass to her lover. "Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds? Your father is rich and you have a pretty face."

"Yes, but I'm not a pompous ass…" Tori simply gave her a dry look and she rolled her eyes taking a small taste of the smooth crimson liquid, letting it coat her tongue, blissfully. "I don't know why you're so upset about it, anyway."

Tori's own glass froze at her lips. She slowly lowered it to the counter. "Why I'm so upset?" Her brows drew sharply. "Why I'm so upset?" she repeated as the fury bubbled steadily through her, her other hand squeezing into a fist. "I'll tell you why the hell I'm so upset! You embarrassed our gracious and undeserving host in her own home. My boss's fucking daughter! Not a stranger on the fucking street. Not to mention it was at a work function where hundreds of colleagues were watching on! "She pressed a palm to her forehead. "And to make it worse my boss was there! I'm surprised I still have job! He knows exactly who I am now."

"So, you are always complaining how he doesn't notice you, anyway." The raven haired woman sipped her wine, shrugging.

"Gaaaah!" Tori tossed the first dishrag she could grab at her girlfriend, who ducked. "I want him to notice me for my endless effort. Not for a subordinate's girlfriend dowsing expensive alcohol in his daughter's face!" She took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly, trying to drain the excess blood that rushed to her face. "Did you think of the implications? Did you even once think about how your dumb actions might affect me?" She looked into Jade's eyes, her tone low and firm.

Jade sighed, turning her face away. She couldn't stand the 'you only think about yourself' look. "I spoke to Charles this morning…"

"You spoke to Charles this morning?" Brown eyes widened. "Charles Fischer, my boss?"

"Yes, he has always been one of my father's acquaintances, so I know him. We cleared it all up."

Tori pursed her lips in disbelief. This would explain why she still had her job. "Wait… you apologized?"

"Well, not exactly." Jade's lips quirked astutely. "I said we cleared up the unfortunate accident."

"Accident?" Tori blinked twice, opened her mouth and then shut it again. Her pupils doubled in size. "You lied to him!" She gasped.

"I prefer to think of it as manipulating the truth." Jade explained placidly and waved the brunette off. "I did not lie nor did I tell him anything that wasn't true. I just reframed from mentioning intent on my part."

Tori had to shake her head at that. It was just typical Jade. She always could get herself in and out of trouble like there was nothing to it. The brunette chuckled, wryly. "Tell me again, why you didn't become a lawyer?"

"Too boring."

"Of course…" The brunette rolled her eyes. "You still don't think you did anything wrong, do you?"

The raven haired woman merely shrugged. "Not really."

"Well, that's the last time I take you to any company functions. Provided, I still get invited to any, thank you very much."

Jade pretended to sulk. "So, you're embarrassed of me now. Is that it?"

"What do you think?" Tori cast an annoyed glance from above the rim of her glass, savoring her wine.

Jade considered her tense twenty-four year old lover as she leaned her hip against one side of the island. The onyx mid-thigh skirt and white cotton blouse, folded up high on the sleeves concealed by the impractical multi-colored floral apron. Luscious, brunette locks swept up, devastating brown eyes seething beneath dark framed glasses and those edible pink lips folded thinly. She smirked at the familiar liquid tug in the deep of her gut. "I think you get this sexy little vein twitching on your neck when you're angry," she murmured, indicating its position on her own neck. "It drives me absolutely crazy. I just want to lick at it."

The brunette's gaze held her lover's sapphire eyes. The naked desire in them so unbelievably potent, it caused her breath to hitch. It always did. "Do you always have sex on your brain?" she asked, snapping out of it.

Jade impish smirk widened gradually. "What do you think?"

Tori's eyes narrowed. "You're insufferable, you know."

The writer laughed lightly. "Well, I really do try."

"Why!" Tori groaned, her head tilted to the white ceiling beckoning the Gods. "Why do I put up with you?"

"Because you're foolish enough to love me," she said, simply.

"I hate you." The brunette dropped her face and returned in a grumble.

"You love me." Jade affirmed smugly.

"No…" Tori pouted, arms folded firmly over her chest. "No, I don't… not anymore," she rebuked, sounding little more than a petulant child.

"Oh really?" Jade asked, laughing. Those puckered lips looking mighty appealing after a hard day's work.

"Yes, I refuse to."

"You refuse to?" Jade placed her glass on the on the surface, the edges of her lips curling slowly.

"Yes…" Tori replied warily, gauging her girlfriend's unhurried and calculated movement. God, she hated that the teasing glint in her lover's eyes that immobilized her. Feeling herself slip into the trap of those challenging ocean eyes, carefully grazing her from head to toe. She turned around opening the faucet pretending to wash her hands.

"So you don't love me?" The raven haired woman sounded amused, drawing nearer. Tori tensed when she felt Jade's slightly taller presence hover behind her, as close as they could be without touching. "Not even a little bit?" the writer whispered into Tori's ear, her warm breath washing over her lover's skin.

Tori shivered but shook her head. "Not even a little bi –ohhh..." Her voice trailed off into a tiny gasp when she felt the soft wet kiss on the back of her exposed neck. "Jade…" Her eyes fell closed as Jade's tongue slithered against her skin, lingering on the spot the raven haired pointed out before trailing up behind her ear. "You know you are not allowed to touch me when I'm mad at you…"

"Who says?" asked Jade, as she nipped behind her ear, tugging on the ties of Tori's apron with her teeth. The material fell and was left hanging at the brunette's midriff by the waist tie.

Both of Tori's hands gripped the counter, the slam of arousal taking her by surprise. "I, I say…"

"Why?"

"Because,"

"Because?"

"It distracts me…" the brunette panted out, squirming under the sturdy hands that trailed up her sides.

"Is that all?"

"Yesssss…" Tori moaned languidly as her breasts were cupped. "No, I mean no."

The writer chuckled softly against her skin. "No?"

"No… It distracts me and…" Tori got a hold of Jade's wrists trying to pry it away but the raven hair woman just squeezed. "Oh sweet Jesus!" Her head lolled back against the writer's shoulder.

Jade mouth kissed down the side of Tori's face. "And?"

"And I always…"

"Always?"

"End up forgetting…" The brunette trailed off as the amorous sensation breathed fire inside her body.

The writer smiled, turning her girlfriend's pliant body to face her. "C'mon baby, stay with me." She bent her head and lowered her mouth to the crook of the brunette's neck. "Forgetting what?" Her hands untying the rest of the apron letting it pool at their feet.

"Forgetting what I'm mad at you for..." She hissed, her hands tangling tightly into raven hair as her lover's hot tongue trailed deeper to the swells of her cleavage.

"And?" Jade voice was muffled, biting the succulent flesh at her disposal.

"And…" Tori's whimpered pitifully, her mind starting to get blotchy again… She tugged the writer up sharply until they faces were inches apart. Her chest heaving heavily. "And then you just get away with it," she breathed.

The writer smirked, brushing their lips together, briefly. "And that's bad, how exactly?" she whispered.

"I… I don't know." Tori cupped the raven haired woman's face pulling her back into a drugging kiss. Jade opened her mouth, inviting the exploring tongue, her hands pulling Tori's hips more into her. Their bodies vibrating together as their lips battled fervently. Finally the kiss broke, both of them sucking in air to their starved lungs. "What are we talking about?" Tori finally asked when she was able.

"Beats me…" Jade's grin was carnal as she heaved the brunette up to straddle her hips slamming her into the fridge. Tori's skirt riding high on her thighs, invitingly.

"Oh fuck…" Was all the brunette could manage as the writer ravaged her mouth again.

"That's right…" Jade murmured, chewing on Tori's bottom lip. Her fingers flittering dangerously between her lover's thighs, over the scorching heat covered by a thin material. "I'm going to fuck you now." She moved aside the barrier and entered the brunette in one swift motion…

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

They didn't make it to the bed. Two naked forms were sprawled on the couch in their living room that was littered with items of clothing.

"So, do you love me again?"

Tori muffled a laugh into Jade's damp neck, nuzzling. "You suck…"

Jade's grin turned predatory, her hand grazing up and down the thigh of body above her. "I think we've established how much I suck and that I do it very well."

"Sleazeball." Tori rolled her eyes, pinching a very delicate part of her lover's body.

"Ow!" The raven haired woman clasped the brunette's hand to prevent her from targeting other parts of her flesh. "Cut that out."

An easy silence fell upon them. Familiar, comfortable, loving. It was typically them. One violent storm overlapping into the next one leaving them to relish in the aftermath.

Tori began tracing circles on her lover's warm skin and sighed heavily.

Jade's brows creased, stilling her hands. "Okay, I know that sigh… What's wrong?"

Tori sighed again and looked up at Jade. "You know we can't solve all the world's problems with sex, right?"

"Wanna bet?"

"Oh fuck," the brunette squeaked and squirmed out of reach of Jade's dangerous hands that almost slipped between her legs. "Baby, I'm serious…"

The writer let out a short laugh, relenting. "I know… But it sure is fun to try."

"I'm not disputing that…" Tori smiled, pecking the raven haired woman's lips. "I just think…"

"Think?"

"I just think there's more to us, than this endless cycle of fighting and sex."

"We don't fight and have sex all the time…" Jade's protest died at Tori's questioning brow. "Okay, we do but that's just what we do."

"Sometimes, I think we fight just so we can end up here afterwards."

"Well, you have to admit the sex is hotter when we do."

"Jade." Tori voice was stretched in annoyed exasperation. "Maybe we need to stop this for a while just to gain some perspective." She let hang.

Jade could sense that the brunette was really fazed by this issue. "Okay, fine, we'll stop fighting." She humored in a sigh, knowing it was a lie. There was no way in hell they could do that. It was just in their nature due to their personality clashes.

"No, baby… not the fighting."

"Then stop what?" Jade frowned, nonplussed at the odd wriggled Tori's eyebrows. She sat up so fast the room started to spin. "Are you fucking insane! No sex? As in more than right now. As in more than a day?"

The brunette sighed sitting on the opposite end of the couch. "I really think we need this, Jade. We never really solve our issues, we just bury them in sex."

"In fucking unbelievable sex!"

"God, Jade, is that all we are anymore?" Tori scowled turning away. "Just a good lay?"

The writer blinked, shocked at what she was hearing. "What are you talking about? I love you, Vega."

"I know that… I love you too." Tori ran a shaky hand through her hair. "But if we're not at odds with each other, we are having sex." She turned back. "We never really talk things through. We never even just talk about frivolous stuff anymore."

"Oh, I'm sorry dear, how was your day?" Jade asked flatly.

"You know, this is exactly what I'm talking about. You never want to listen to what I have to say, anymore."

"Shit." Jade grabbed Tori's arm keeping her from storming off. "I'm sorry." She apologized sincerely knowing it was a bonehead thing to say. Tori relaxed back into the seat, both of them looking straight ahead. "You really want this?" She asked after a moment of sorting through her thoughts. The brunette seemed uncertain for a moment and then nodded. "What … what are you hoping to accomplish with this? No sex, Vega?" This was a concept that was foreign to her from the age of sixteen.

"Just want to see how if we're more than what we've become."

The raven haired woman slanted her an inquiring stare. "So basically, you're testing me?"

"I'm testing us…" Tori corrected.

Jade groaned leaning back into the cushions. It was futile whenever Tori got a silly idea in her head. She never got it out until it failed. And this one was definitely going to fail. Them -no sex. It was like living without water.

She peered back at her girlfriend that had that broken look in her eyes. She could never say no to that. Well, she could but she just end up paying up tenfold. "Okay fine... I'll go along with your little experiment…" She finally said, defeated.

"Thank you." The brunette smiled.

"Don't thank me… It's not like you'll last." Jade responded absently, still wondering how Tori conned her from going to sex to no sex in a matter of minutes.

"What?"

"You won't even last a week, Vega." Jade snickered, waving her off. "This whole thing is going to backfire in your face."

"I'll never last?" The brunette reiterated, incredulously.

"You can't stand it when I don't touch you." The writer's smile was a touch smug. "When either of us is away on business and come home, you jump me on the first available surface."

"So, you think I'll be the first one to crack?" Tori stood and let out a shaky half laugh in disbelief. She pointed at her girlfriend. "You, who would have sex twenty-four hours straight if you could?"

"Hey! Who says I can't? I've never tried…"

"See!" Tori's laugh was full-blown now. "Oh, no… I bet you will be the first one to crack. You'd lose this one on your naked ass, baby."

The raven haired woman snorted. "Not a chance, I don't do losing."

"Want to bet on it?" Tori's eyebrows narrowed.

"What?"

"It's simple. No sex. First one to initialize it, loses." The brunette shrugged.

Jade chuckled loudly. Perceiving the gleam in the brunette's eyes, she straightened, her growing laughter nipped in the bud. "Wait…You're serious?"

"And if you lose, you have to apologize to Anna."

Gathering that her girlfriend was impeccably serious, she gave her a wry look. "Fine… piece of cake."

"Wait, I'm not finished." Tori held up a hand, the glint in her eye turning evil. "You have to apologize to Anna on your knees in front of all the staff members." If one thing Tori knew about her girlfriend was that she was full of pride.

"That… That's madness."

The brunette shrugged. "You embarrassed her, Jade. It's only fair you get the same treatment. Unless, you're chicken."

"Chicken? What are we in high school?" The raven haired woman sniggered.

"That's what I asked myself when my girlfriend tossed her drink in someone's face."

"Yeah, yeah, okay." Jade rolled her eyes. Good thing she didn't plan on losing. "But if you lose and you will, you…" Her lips curled in an edged smirk of her own. "You have to throw a drink in her face." If Vega could play on her weaknesses, she would as well, knowing how much of a goody two-shoes Tori was.

"What! I'm not throwing a drink in an innocent woman's face."

"Ah, ah, ah." The writer raised a halting hand of her own. "If you can make terms, I can. It's my sex life too."

"But Jade –"

"Those are my terms, Vega… Unless of course, you don't even think you can win."

"Deal!" Tori glared back.

Jade laughed, folding her arms behind her head. "I can't wait to see Anna's face when it's dripping in a good wine again."

Tori stood, naked as she headed towards the stairs not even bothering to gather any of her clothes. Jade's laughing died off, as she followed the curves of Tori's beautiful form. The brunette halted, shooting the raven haired woman a sultry look over her shoulder. "I can't wait to see yours when you apologize…" she retorted, walking away with extra sway in her hips and a pleased smile on her face...

I dunno, you guys:

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Let me know… ;)