This one shot is for Azkadellio, who has been awesome with their comments on my longer fic and their patience for this story. I apologize profusely for how long it took for me to write, but I have a very hard time keeping things light [my brain is hardwired to come up with problems, apparently] and wanted this to be fluffy, not angsty and all super serious, so I had to keep going back and rewriting stuff, and rewriting, and rewriting, and...yeah. Anyway, hope you like it!
"Aaand, action!" Sikowitz waited for Cat to appear onstage and quirked an eyebrow when the redhead remained noticeably absent. "Action!"
"Coming, I'm coming!" Cat slid onto stage with her eyes glued to her phone and tapped the screen furiously.
"Ahem." Cat ignored Sikowitz, giggling and twirling a piece of hair around her finger as her phone chimed. "Ahm, excuse me!"
"Whatie?"
"The scene?" Sikowitz gestured impatiently at the stage.
"Oh, sorry! I'm the captain of this ship, and I know what you did!" Cat giggled and leaned against the table set at center stage. "You won't get away with this!"
"Oh yeah?" Jade arched her brow and smirked darkly when Cat took a fearful half step back, and even Sikowitz looked faintly afraid.
"Y-yeah! 'Cause I know where the murderer is!"
"No, you don't." Jade's smirk grew into a sinister smile and she glanced out to Sikowitz, who gave her an approving smile even as he leaned slightly away.
"Yes, I do! He's in the-"
"He's right behind you."
They waited a beat and, when nobody came out from behind the curtain, Jade turned impatiently to Sikowitz. The teacher rolled his eyes and stood. "Robbie? This is where you enter and-" Laughter cut him off, and Sikowitz looked at the seats behind him at Tori, Beck, and Andre. They were all gathered around Robbie and his PearPad and laughing at something on the screen. Tori glanced down at her phone to type something before returning her attention to the device.
"Excuse me." All four looked up at Sikowitz and the man raised his brows and glanced derisively at the PearPad. "This is a rehearsal, where people rehearse. Please put your electronics away, and-" Beck's phone vibrated and he looked at it, chuckling before typing a message.
Sikowitz huffed and threw his hands up when Andre's sang out next and the young man answered the call. "Grandma, no-hey, no, there isn't a stranger in your house, it's just your TV. Grandma!-Ah, damn it." Andre scowled and ended the call, and Sikowitz opened his mouth to start speaking again.
Tori's phone chimed and she looked down at the screen, laughing musically and covering her mouth to quiet it when Sikowitz glared at her. She flushed and looked over his shoulder, turning redder as she noticed the amused tilt to Jade's mouth and how her eyes twinkled merrily. She ducked her eyes to the floor and jumped when Sikowitz stomped his bare foot against the wooden boards on stage.
"That is enough! I have had it with you kids and your...your devices!" The teacher strode agitatedly across the stage and fixed the teens with a heated glare, pointing his finger at each of them in turn. "This is a school, a place of learning, and my class, also a place of learning, and we are in the middle of rehearsal!" He stopped abruptly and faced the room. "I challenge you all, to one week without using technology of any sort."
"No way, Sikowitz, you're off your rocker." Jade grouched from behind him and Sikowitz twirled to face her with a smirk in place.
"You didn't let me finish, Jadelyn." Ignoring her pissed off expression and growl, Sikowitz continued his thought with a finger held up for emphasis. "I challenge you all to not use technology of any sort, for one week. If, and only if, all of you haven't used any technology by the end of the week, I shall give you all...A's for the semester!" He smiled victoriously and approached Tori, hand held out. "So, what do you say?"
"I say, hec-"
"Wait a minute!" Beck broke in, stepping between Tori and Sikowitz before they could seal the deal. "I don't like this. We," he looked over at Robbie and Andre and gestured at them, "don't want to lose just because the girls can't live without their phones."
"Hey, I resent that! I can so live without my phone!" Tori broke in and stood opposite Beck and Sikowitz, forming an odd triage with the others gathering around them, the boys behind Beck and Cat and Jade standing behind Tori.
"Not really Vega, you can barely make it through class without going batshit crazy." Jade smirked at Tori when the brunette glared at her and watched her eyes narrow.
"Oh really, Jade? Well, who was it who couldn't stop texting long enough to grab my paper when it blew away?"
"It was an important message!"
"More important than my paper, which I had to retype after you let it get away?"
"Vega, the only thing that could make me put down my phone is-" Jade clamped her hand over her mouth and looked away, blushing bright red. Tori arched her brow and put a hand on her hip, facing the goth fully and watching blue-green eyes glance at her quickly and slide away.
"Is what, Jade?'
"Never mind, Vega."
"No, I'm curious now. What could be so important that you could, dare I say it, put down your phone?" Tori feigned fainting, missing the way Jade's eyes traced the curve of her neck before snapping over to Cat as the redhead giggled quietly. Cat squeaked and looked away quickly and Jade growled.
"You know what, Vega, how about I put my boot up your a-"
"Okay, children, enough!' Sikowitz broke in again and physically pushed the girls apart. "Beck, you make a good point, and I want this to be as fair as possible, so this is what I'll do. Boys versus girls, whoever holds out the longest without using any technology gets a free A for the semester, sound good?" Everyone looked at each other and smiled slowly, and Beck and Tori stuck their hands out for Sikowitz to shake.
"Deal."
Tori sat on her couch, unconsciously tapping her pencil against her leg and staring blankly at her homework on her lap. Someone knocked on her door and she gratefully rolled her shoulders. "Come in!"
Cat burst through the door and ran behind the couch. "Phone! I need a phone!"
"Cat, no, stop!" Tori ran around the couch and after Cat, grabbing her wrist in the kitchen and dragging her toward the living room.
"I need to find a phone! There's a funny video of a donkey on The Slap and I have to watch it!"
"Cat!" Tori grunted as Cat elbowed her in the side and wrestled her onto the couch. The redhead tried to get back up again and Tori sat on her back, leaning against the back of the couch until Cat laid quietly underneath her. "We have to last longer than the guys, Cat."
"But!-"
"They won't be too much longer, I saw Robbie drooling when a girl walked by with her PearPad this morning...or maybe he was just staring at her, I don't know. But, we have to last longer than them, Cat!"
"But, I ne-"
"No, we have to win this! We have to prove to the guys that we can be just as strong as they can! And if I have to sit on you until they give in, I will!"
"But Tori, I have to use the bathroom!"
Tori looked down at Cat and wavered under her wide, entreating eyes. "Really?"
"Yeah!" Cat nodded emphatically, or as much as she could under Tori's weight, and hummed quietly.
"Are you lying?"
Cat's face fell, and she cupped her chin in her hand and answered morosely. "...Yeah."
"That's what I thought. I'm not moving until Jade gets here." Tori crossed her arms and settled against the couch. Someone knocked on the door a couple minutes later and Tori called out from the couch. "It's open!"
"You know, Vega, for your dad being a cop, he never seems to-why are you sitting on Cat?" Jade stopped just inside the door and eyed the two on the couch. Her grip tightened on her bag and she lifted her lips in a sneer. "Getting cozy with Kitty?"
Tori flushed and dropped her eyes. "I'm worried she's going to make a run for it and I won't be able to stop her on my own!"
Jade dropped her bag by the door and crouched beside it to grab her scissors and hide the hurt in her eyes. "So, what, I'm only here to assist you?" She put as much venom into her voice as she could muster and felt simultaneously elated and guilty when Tori blanched and stuttered.
"You're here to help all three of us!" Tori hopped off the couch and her glasses slid down her nose. She pushed them back up and Jade stared, swallowing as curious brown eyes watched her. "Jade, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Vega." Jade snarled and invaded Tori's personal space, smirking as the brunette leaned away but held her ground. "What was the point of calling us over here, besides gracing us with your presence?"
"That wasn't the point!" Tori colored and Jade saw movement behind her.
Cat sat up on the couch and watched with inquisitive eyes, wiggling her eyebrows at Jade. She scowled and Cat giggled and before Jade could snap at her, Tori spoke again. "We've got to win this, and keep an eye on Cat until the guys break!"
Jade fixed a skeptical eye on Tori and scoffed. "Dude, we're going insane without our phones!"
"That's why we're all here, so we can stop each other from doing anything rash!"
"Yeah, well I say we should let the guys win. I'm sick of not having my phone, and Cat's whining is getting on my nerves!"
Before Tori could say anything, Cat piped up. "That sounds great, I miss my phone. I'd do anything to text someone right now, and I mean anything!" She held Jade's gaze and arched her brow in challenge. Jade's eyes widened and she shook her head subtly, and Tori looked between them.
"Yeah." Cat nodded and Jade shook her head frantically, panic evident in her wide blue-green eyes, and Tori tilted her head to one side.
"Guys? What's going on?" She took a small step toward the duo and Jade twirled on her heel, just to find that Tori was right behind her. Their limbs entangled and Cat took the opportunity to run toward the kitchen again.
"Where's a phone, I need a phone!"
Jade pushed Tori away and vaulted over the couch, gripping Cat's wrist tightly and struggling to keep the redhead away from the phone on the counter. "Help me, Vega!" Tori caught Cat's arms and they propelled her toward the couch and Jade sat on Cat's legs while Tori sat on her lower back. Jade laid her head against the back of the couch as she caught her breath, fingers twitching as Tori's hand fell limply onto her leg.
"Please let me up! I need to use a phone!" Cat squirmed underneath them and Tori's fingers flexed on Jade's leg as she fought to stay on top of the redhead.
"No, we have to win, Cat!"
Jade sat stiffly next to her, focused on the feeling of Tori's hand on her thigh, fingers digging lightly into the fabric of her jeans as she maintained her balance.
"But, my phone misses me! I haven't used it in five days, and it's so lonely!"
"There's nothing you can say to make us move, Cat, so be quiet and take it like a man!" Tori's grip loosened as Cat suddenly went limp underneath them, and Jade silently pouted as she removed her hand from her leg.
"But, I'm not a man," Cat said, sounding confused, "although, one time, my brother thought he was a girl and tried to wear one of my-"
"Cat!" The redhead squirmed underneath them again and Tori slapped the back of her thigh. Cat giggled and eventually laid still under them again, tossing a look over her shoulder at Jade and pointedly rolling her eyes between her and Tori. Jade narrowed her eyes in warning and was shocked when Cat just raised her brow in challenge.
"Cat..." Jade raised her voice and the redhead giggled, looking coyly up at Jade through her eyelashes.
"What?"
"I swear, if you say one word, I will kill you and bury your body in the middle of the desert."
"Guys? What's going on?" Tori looked between Cat and Jade. "Jade, you promised Lane that you wouldn't threaten anyone with bodily harm for a week, remember?"
"Stuff it, Vega." Jade reached across Tori's body, intent on putting her hand over Cat's mouth. "Cat, don't you dare-"
"Jade likes Tori!" Cat blurted out, arching her back to throw Tori into Jade and make her escape. She skirted Jade's grasping fingers and stopped at the door, throwing a half apologetic, half conniving expression to the duo tangled on the couch.
"Sorry, Jadie, but I need my phone, and you need to stop being such a...a scaredy cat!" Cat giggled at her words and waved and then disappeared through the door, and Jade glared at the portal as though she could make Cat reappear through sheer force of will.
"God...damn it, how did we even-" Jade grunted and pushed at Tori's shoulders and tried to get up, falling off the side of the couch when her boot caught around the brunette's leg. She cursed and scrambled to her feet and Tori caught her wrist before she got far, sitting up on the couch and tugging on her arm.
"Jade?" Tori was succinctly ignored and she scowled, tugging harder on Jade's arm. "Jade, don't ignore me." Tori narrowed her eyes when Jade tried to shrug off her grip and yanked hard, sending Jade stumbling back onto the couch. Before she could get up again, Tori had crawled onto her lap and was pinning her arms to the back of the couch. Tori ducked her head and met annoyed blue-green eyes. "What just happened?"
"What the hell do you think happened, Vega? I certainly didn't get you a puppy. Now, get off me so I can go and kick a certain redhead's skinny ass."
"Jade..."
Jade surged up and dislodged Tori, dumping the brunette unceremoniously on the floor. Tori blew hair out of her face and grabbed Jade's boot when she stood. She wrapped her arms around Jade's thigh and sat on her boot with her legs around her ankle, huddling against her leg and swatting at Jade's hand as it tried to dislodge her.
"Vega, what are you doing?"
"Keeping you from murdering Cat, and getting answers." There was an exasperated sigh from above and Tori could almost see the eye roll and subsequent grimace that accompanied it.
"Get. Off. Now."
"No. not until you tell me what's going on."
"Vega..."
Tori ignored the threat in Jade's voice and tightened her grip. "Talk to me, and then I'll let go." Silence met her demand and Tori prepared herself to have a new haircut, tensing her limbs and squeezing her eyes shut.
She opened one eye when she felt her weight shift so her cheek laid against Jade's leg and looked up to see Jade had flopped onto the couch again and was watching her with an annoyed grimace firmly on her face. Jade's eyes though, seemed to be more amused than anything. "What are you waiting for, Vega? I'm not getting any younger."
Jade gestured at the seat beside her and Tori slowly released her hold on her leg, sitting on the edge of the couch and staring at her hands. "Do you plan on speaking again in the next ten seconds? If not, I've got other things to attend to."
"Why'd Cat say that? You don't like me, you...you hate me." Jade watched Tori's amber eyes turn sad behind her glasses and almost reached out, fingers twitching as she caught herself. Tori's eyes flicked over to her hands and up to her face, searching for something in her blank expression. She looked into Jade's eyes and Jade averted them to study a rip in the knee of her jeans.
"I don't...dislike you." The words tumbled gracelessly from Jade's lips and landed heavily between them.
"Care to clarify?"
"Not particularly." Jade's snarky, defensive answer didn't faze Tori and Jade found herself at the wrong end of a very effective pout, its power amplified by the reading glasses sliding down Tori's nose. "Gah! Stop that!"
Tori only deepened her pout, sticking her lower lip out and setting it quivering just enough that Jade felt like she'd kicked someone's puppy and then left it on the side of the road. "Okay, okay! Put that thing away!" Jade waved her hand at Tori's face and planted her face in her palm, groaning and mumbling.
Tori resettled on the couch, crossing her legs and leaning into the corner. "So?"
"What?"
"Explain."
"Vega, I don't know if you understand this or not, but I cannot read minds. So, I do not know what you mean by 'explain,' and I need you to specify."
"Explain why you've been acting so weird today, and what Cat meant." Tori leaned forward and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "And that!"
"What?"
"That thing you just did, where you watch me and have this weird look in your eyes! What does it mean?" Tori was agitated and squirmed on the cushion while Jade studied her hands.
"You're smart, Vega. What do you think it means?" Tori studied Jade silently, her face furrowed in concentration, and Jade squirmed under her gaze. Tori's eyes lit up suddenly in understanding and her mouth dropped, and Jade panicked.
"You know what? Forget it, Vega, I've got to go." Jade ran for the door and Tori gave chase, sliding across the hardwood in her sock feet and running into Jade at the door.
Tori pinned Jade to the door and reached around her struggling body to draw the deadbolt before twisting them around so she stood between Jade and her escape. "You like me! Like, like me, like me!"
Jade rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Thank you for the fifth grade moment, Vega. Now, can I go or do you plan on-"
"No, you're not leaving until you tell me exactly what this is." She gestured sharply between them. "You can't just drop something like that on me and then leave! That's not how...how-you know what? No!" Jade jumped and Tori pointed her finger at her face accusingly.
"You can't just hate me for no reason the minute I set foot in Hollywood Arts, and continue to hate me, and then do this! Was all of the tripping, and dumping food on me, and kicking my chair out from under me, and making fun of my clothes and hair, just to-"
"Holy shit, Vega, if I tell you yes, will you stop yelling?"
Tori gaped at Jade, who covered her rising panic with irritation and her standard glare. "I...you...you like me?"
"Obviously, if you'd listened to Cat at all." Jade retorted, her replies coming easier since Tori was still standing in front of the door and hadn't run through it screaming. She deliberately dragged her eyes down Tori's body, enjoying the way she squirmed under her gaze. Pulling her eyes back up to meet Tori's, Jade's smirk widened when she saw the blush staining her cheeks. "Did I embarrass little miss perfect Tori Vega?"
"I-no, no, you-damn it, I don't talk like that..." Tori's cheeks darkened more and she turned her face away, hiding behind her hair.
Jade laughed and stepped into Tori's personal space. "I'll prove it to you."
"Prove whaa..." Tori's eyes rounded as Jade filled her vision, ducking her head to press her lips lightly against Tori's. She nibbled teasingly on her lower lip and pulled back after a moment, exhilaration warring with trepidation in her eyes. Tori stared at her blankly and her hand that had been bracing her against the door reached up to feel her lips.
Jade fidgeted and bit the inside of her cheek, falling back on her snark to get a reaction. "If you didn't like it, you could've just told me, Vega. No need to give me the silent treatment."
Tori met her eyes boldly, her warm amber gaze washing over Jade like a sun and warming her from the outside in. She ran her tongue over her lip and hummed happily, fighting back giggles when Jade stared unabashedly at her lips. "Sooooo...you do like me?"
Jade arched her brow and Tori smiled sunnily. She leaned in to kiss Jade and whined when she met air, opening her eyes to see Jade staring at her incredulously. "That's it? No big freak out, no screaming and throwing things and denying it? What the hell, Vega? Here I was all ready for you to spaz out and you're taking it...eerily calmly." Her eyes narrowed in suspicion when Tori merely smiled in response. "Are you hiding something?"
Tori's smile widened to cheshire proportions and she reached out to slip her fingers through Jade's belt loops and tug her toward her. "I have been in relationships before, Jade. And not all of them were with guys. Sooo..."
She looked up at Jade through her eyelashes and bit her lip slowly, giggling as Jade nearly drooled on her. "Can I kiss you?"
Jade thought for a moment and shrugged, tilting her head down to reach Tori's lips. She pulled back just before their lips met and smirked when Tori whined again. "Just to get this clear, you've dated girls before now?" Tori nodded impatiently.
"And you're attracted to me, right?" Another quick nod, accompanied by a frustrated tug on her belt loops. "So, to summarize, you like me, and you've got experience, so I can just sit back and let you go to town?" Tori squawked indignantly and opened her mouth to retort when Jade covered her mouth with her own.
She kissed Tori and laughed as her grumble turned into a sigh and she pulled Jade closer so she was comfortably wedged between her and the door. They broke apart a moment later and Jade set her head against Tori's shoulder, inhaling her vanilla scented lotion. She yelped when fingers pinched her hip and reared back. "What was that for?!"
"For making me sound like a hooker, you gank!" Tori pinched her once more and Jade captured her hand and pressed it to the door.
"Don't push your luck, Vega."
"But I'm allowed to now."
"How do you figure that?"
"Well, I'm your girlfriend now, so I get certain liberties." Tori looked certain, staring at Jade confidently, although she chewed her lip uncertainly after a moment. "I am your girlfriend, aren't I?"
Jade tapped her lip thoughtfully, staring at the ceiling as though it contained all the answers she needed. She glanced down at Tori briefly and took pity on the hangdog expression on her face. "Well, I don't usually just kiss random people for no reason. So, I guess so."
She sighed theatrically and smiled when Tori squealed and leapt at her, wrapping her arms around her shoulders and pressing her lips to her cheek and jaw.
"Alright, Vega, I get it, no need to slobber."
"I'm just really happy, Jade!" Tori laughed breathlessly and pecked Jade's lips, squeaking as her ass was cupped and pulling back.
Jade grinned lecherously as her hand kneaded firm skin. "So, can I make you even happier?" She waggled her eyebrows suggestively and pulled Tori flush against her stomach.
"You haven't even taken me on a date yet, West. Don't get ahead of yourself."
"Well, let's see just how far I can get."
The gang stayed after Sikowitz's class the next day and gathered around him on the stage. The boys looked smugly triumphant and Cat hopped excitedly in place while staring at Sikowitz imploringly. Jade and Tori stood closer than normal to each other and watched Sikowitz as the man looked between them.
"So, obviously the boys won, good job, here's your phones back, get out." He dumped a small box on the floor and turned to the window.
"Hey, what about our grades?"
"Ah, yes, well you see, there was a small matter of conflict about that. Apparently, I cannot give you A's simply for beating the girls in a challenge, so you will get the grades you deserve at the end of the semester." With that, Sikowitz disappeared out the window, his scarf draping over the sill as he clambered through the opening.
The boys yelled after him and grumbled as they picked their phones out of the box, and Cat squealed as she turned hers on and began texting. Tori leaned over to grab hers and Jade's and squealed when a hand lightly smacked her ass. She pivoted and glared at Jade. "Really?"
"Why, Tori, I thought you were okay with PDA?" Jade mocked Tori in her southern voice and watched Tori fumble her words in satisfaction.
She couldn't help the worried furrow that appeared between her brows when a sly smirk appeared on Tori's face. "Vega, what are you-" Jade gasped as Tori leaned in suddenly and kissed her, drawing it out until Jade broke away for air.
Tori smiled smugly and patted Jade's cheek. "I am." Flouncing to her seat, Tori grabbed her bag and swayed her hips as she left the room, feeling four sets of eyes burning into her ass.
Jade swallowed hard and tore her eyes away from the door, narrowing them when she saw the guys' eyes bouncing between her and the open portal. "What." Andre smirked, Beck gave her a discreet thumbs up, and Rex dangled limply in front of Robbie's pants while the boy drooled.
Jade took a threatening step toward them, reaching for the scissors hidden under the waist of her jeans, when Tori reappeared in the doorway. "Are you coming with me?" She held her hand out in invitation and Jade shot a deadly glare at the guys before taking it.
Leading her out the door, Tori's voice floated back into the room for a moment. "Thank you, Cat!"
"You're welcome, Tori!" Cat laughed and returned her eyes to the face of her phone, and the guys shared a confused glance.
"What's Cat got to do with them?"
They all thought and shrugged, none wanting to interrupt the redhead who was frantically scrolling through her Slap page. She gasped dramatically and bounced in place. "Yay, yay, yay! You're welcome, Tori and Jade!" She shoved her phone in Beck's face and her reared back to read the words.
Tori Vega is in a relationship with Jade West.
Tori Vega: Thank you Cat, for not being able to keep a secret! :{D
Jade West: Do it again, Cat, and your hair will be shorter than it is. And, you know, thanks, or whatever, I guess.
Cat's smile widened and she laughed happily, running out of the room singing at the top of her lungs. When her voice faded into the distance, the guys shook their heads and grabbed their bags as they walked toward the door and Andre raised his hand when they entered the hallway.
"I vote that we record them kissing next time."
There ya go, Azkadellio, I hope you enjoyed it and I made up for taking so long. Peace, guys, and stay cool in this heat!