Author's Notes: Well, this is my 10th fic, so let's do a celebration of the Jori kind. God, this idea wouldn't leave me alone. I've been bombarded with Victorious stuff ALL WEEK and it gives me these crazy ideas. I have to get this out of my system or I might blow up from Jori buildup.
Bon Anniversaire
"I am reading the poem by Williams, you love so very much. Classical music plays on the radio and it sounds so much like the end of the world that my heart falls out of my pocket on to the floor like ten thousand crimson marbles." Jade read as she ran through the script. Her thumb was rubbing her temple as she ran through her lines with Tori. She sighed and flipped through the already wrinkling pages of her script. She hated this play because it was in verse, and that was just not something she worked well with. To make things worse, she was pretty sure the director was going to cast someone else as the role she was auditioning for tomorrow.
"Teacher rants about the properties of zero. Eyelids drooping, un-enthralled by equations. What do I care that x is equal to y being multiplied by three subtracted from negative x to the second power minus four? Let x take care of its own problems!" Tori read. Her voice drifted through Jade's mind like a song she'd heard so many times, but never gets sick of. She was hearing, but not listening. The words slipped into nothingness and her mind hadn't absorbed the cue. Tori lightly nudged Jade, who clinked and shook her head.
"It's your line, Jade." Tori said, "You okay?" Jade sighed and put her lines down on the bed, fed up with running through them.
"It's no use. Jackie is going out for the same role. I have no chance against her." Jade groaned, putting her head back and spinning slightly left and right in the swivel chair. Tori sighed and put her copy of the script down on the bed before throwing herself on the bed too.
"You're twice as good as that girl. You can't give up, Jade." She encouraged. Jade had a tendency to underestimate herself. She constantly told herself that she wasn't good enough to do something and tried to give up. She only got this far on sheer acting-singing talent. If she wanted to get further in her career, she would need to get some self-esteem. Jade groaned again in response and Tori rolled her eyes.
"I just can't do the whole poem thing very well." Jade said to the ceiling, "Reminds me of that Shakespeare guy too much." Tori bit her lip in thought.
"Well, would you rather have to say your lines in French?" Tori asked.
"Oui, c'est plus facile." Jade responded in a fairly accurate French statement. Tori stared blankly at Jade for a second.
"I have no idea what you just said." Tori gave an uneasy smile and picked the script up, flipping through the pages.
"Can we just take a break?" Jade rolled her head forward to look at Tori. She was sick and tired of running these dumb lines over and over again. It obviously wasn't going to change anything. Tori looked up and pondered the suggestion briefly before nodding and tossing the pages behind her.
"I got you something." Tori exclaimed excitedly, dashing over to her desk next to Jade and pulling a wrapped package out from the drawer. Jade raised an eyebrow and examined the present as it was placed in her lap.
"Why?" Jade questioned as she picked up the box and turned it around. She carefully picked at the tape with her fingernail until the piece was off without a single tear on the wrapping paper.
"Because of what today is." Tori giggled. She was way too bubbly right now. In fact, Tori is a lot like those little hyper dogs that never sit down and bark constantly.
"Wednesday?" Jade picked at the other pieces of tape and pulled them all off until she could take the wrapping paper off of the box. She pulled the paper off and tossed it to the ground, examining the cardboard box before opening it and emptying the contents into her hand. She smiled as she saw the keychain. It had the loop where the keys go and was attached to a pair of plastic scissors. They didn't open or shut, and couldn't cut anything, but it was still cute.
"It's our anniversary." Tori said in an almost whine. Jade didn't forget about their anniversary, right? She had remembered about their first and second month. Why would she forget their third?
"Oh, so that's why I got this." Jade joked, pulling a box out of her bag. Tori felt relieved and laughed at Jade's anxiety-inducing antics. Jade held the box out, but when Tori reached for it, she pulled it back and hugged the box against her chest. "First, did you ever make a decision?"
Tori moaned loudly and threw herself down on her bed, "No…" She whined into the mattress. Jade chuckled lightly and put the keychain and box on the desk before standing up and walking over to Tori's bed.
"Your mom wants you to decide by tomorrow." Jade sat down next to Tori on the bed. Tori turned her head so she could talk to Jade.
"I don't want to decide." She protested, "They sent out the acceptance letters today, and I got one, which is great, but if I go, I have to leave you." Tori wasn't even half-way through her senior year, and she already had to decide what college she was going to attend. She had sent out to lots of performing arts schools, and one of the best in the country had just accepted her today. Unfortunately, the school is almost four hours away, and she'd have almost no chance of seeing Jade if she attended.
"You have to choose. This is an amazing opportunity. People would kill to get in there, don't throw it away." Jade put her hand on Tori's back, rubbing lightly. Tori sat up and looked over at Jade with a pout on her face. "Jade, but I want to be close to you."
Jade shook her head, "We can see each other on holidays, babe. This is your dream here."
Tori pondered over Jade's response. She did have the rest of the school year left with her, and she could always go see Jade during breaks. "But… it's so far."
"Vega, I will love you no matter where you are." Jade stated, giving a soft smile to Tori.
"Really?" Tori asked hopefully.
"No, not if you live in Canada." Jade replied sarcastically, "But, yes, really."
Tori felt touched by Jade's unusual warmness and smiled. She nodded in agreement.
"Good, now open this." Jade said, handing Tori the package. Tori opened it up and pulled out a season of CSI.
"Wow, cool. The mystery for me and the gore for you." Tori laughed.
"Yeah, yeah, open it up." Jade smirked, making Tori hesitate before she opened the case. Tori looked first at the disc with the lead investigator on it with his trademark sunglasses next to the title of the show and the words 'DISC ONE', then she looked next to it where the episode booklet usually was. In front of the booklet was a cream colored piece of piece with the words 'Jadelyn West' printed on it. Tori looked up at Jade who was putting her keys on her new keychain, paying absolutely no attention to her girlfriend. Tori pulled the letter out and put the box down on the bed next to her. She opened the letter and started to read it.
"Oh my god! Jade!" Tori exclaimed joyfully as she realized what she was reading. Jade's smirk curled and she put the keychain down.
"What is it?" Jade asked convincingly, as if she didn't know what she had put inside that DVD box set.
"You got accepted to the same school!" Tori's grin grew wider and she nearly tackled Jade off the bed trying to hug her. Jade's arms were trapped at her side, squeezed by Tori's embrace. She awkwardly patted Tori's back before pushing her back a bit to help with the breathing.
"This is so perfect! We can get a dorm room together and stay up late studying and go out partying and… wait-" Tori pulled back from Jade, who raised a questioning eyebrow in response. "Why did you make me decide if you knew you got accepted?"
Jade smirked again, "Because I wanted to make sure you were going to follow your dreams no matter what. You may not be as talented as me, but you do have talent."
Tori knew that was probably the most romantic thing Jade has ever said, so she was satisfied with it. It actually touched her more when Jade said something sweet because she doesn't do it that often. Most other couples tell each other sweet, cheesy things all the time, and after a while those things started to have less and less meaning. Maybe it was better that Jade reserved her love. Tori thought she was lucky to be in a relationship with the girl at all, and consequently will take whatever love she can get.
"Wow, I… I don't know what to say." Tori stuttered, thrown off balance by the sudden intimacy of the moment. Jade crawled closer to Tori, though there wasn't much distance to cover after Tori's attacking hug. Tori's eyes flickered back and forth between Jade's, still trying to decide what color they really were, blue or green.
"I do. Happy Anniversary, Tori Vega." Jade craned over even further to the point where she was saying the words directly into Tori's parted mouth. Tori's eyelids were half shut as she watched Jade speak, "And here's to many more." Jade captured Tori's mouth with her own.