"Be careful, Tori."

Tori jerks away from her locker, narrowing her eyes in confusion at Beck, who appears out of nowhere and is casually leaning against the row of lockers. "Be careful of what, Beck?"

"Jade. Just be careful with Jade. She's...she's got stuff going on."

As if Tori could get any more confused than she already was. "Beck, what you trying to tell - "

"Yeah, Beck, what are you trying to tell Tori?" An icy voice cuts into their conversation, the tone dripping with disdain. Beck straightens up, glancing at Jade and then down at Tori, his eyes suggesting that she heed his warning. He nods to Jade before proceeding to class, and the dark haired girl scoffs at him.

Crossing her arms, Jade fixes her gaze on Tori, who is now trying to put her books in her bag and appear as inconspicuous as possible. "What was that about?"

"That? Oh, um, nothing. Beck was just talking about, uh, his, uh, his grandma's foot problem! Yeah, she's got a really serious problem. They might have to amputate it." For an actress, Tori is a terrible liar, she realizes, biting her lip. Jade clearly wasn't buying it, one thin eyebrow arched upwards.

"Vega..."

"Jade, come on, it was nothing. Just Beck being Beck. I think he's just being overprotective. You know how he is."

Jade uncrosses her arms and shoulders her Gears of War bag, a scowl on her face. "I'll kick him in the balls if he starts filling your head with trash about me. What, did he say that I was using you? Or that I'm going to throw you aside as soon as possible? Oh, no, let me guess: I'm here for the sex. Which we aren't even having, for Christ's sake."

It was Tori's turn to raise an eyebrow. "And which we won't be having for a long time if you keep it up," she retorts, slinging her backpack over her shoulder and heading towards Sikowitz's class. Jade opens her mouth, about to apologize to her sort-of girlfriend's back, but stops before she can. Apologizing isn't her style.

—

Beck's words wouldn't - couldn't - stop plaguing Tori throughout the day. She always knew that Jade had a dark side, but who didn't? She was constantly dressed in black, had an obsession with scissors, and enjoyed anything that was even remotely morbid. In a word, she was gothic. It was just a style that she had, and one that Tori found charming, even. If she didn't then they wouldn't be dating.

How they ended up where they were was still a bit of a mystery to Tori, one that involved Jade and Beck breaking up and Jade ending up at Tori's house at three in the morning without a hint of regret about the entire affair. One thing led to another and suddenly Trina was walking in on them making out on the couch. They weren't officially dating but everyone knew they were together because once Jade West wanted something, Jade West got something.

Still, what exactly did Beck mean? He would know her best, since he had dated her for so long, but it seemed like that was all the information that he was going to give her. He could be incredibly cryptic sometimes, and she was sure that if she tried to seek him out again Jade would find out ad the ensuing argument wouldn't be worth it.

Out of the corner of her eye, Tori catches a flash of red and grins. Cat. Cat was Jade's best friend; she would know something, right?

—

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Tori groans in frustration. "Cat! Seriously?"

Cat nods her head. "Seriously. Oh, but one time, my brother was eating this cereal, but he didn't like the flavor and so he - "

Tori snaps her fingers, trying to bring the redhead back into the conversation. "Cat, you're sure you don't know anything that might be going on with Jade?"

After cocking her head and blinking for a few seconds, Cat shakes her head and smiles cheerfully. "Nope. Bye!"

Tori watches her leave and frowns before scratching at her head and leaving herself.

—

The question of what Beck was talking about simply wouldn't get out of Tori's head to the point where she finally had to deal with it herself. She knew if she asked Jade herself the girl would never answer her because as much as their relationship had advanced from her dumping coffee on Tori's head, Jade wasn't all that forthcoming with her feelings.

"Mom? I'm going out for a little bit!" Tori calls out, not even waiting for her mother's affirmative answer before leaving the house and "borrowing" Trina's car. She'd get hell for it later, but Trina owed her so many favors that it didn't matter at this point.

—

"Hi, Mrs. West! I'm Tori, Jade's friend. I was wondering if Jade was here?"

The older woman in front of Tori looked exactly like Jade aged forty years. She rolls her eyes and opens the door further, gesturing up the stairs. "Probably in her room. Never leaves it. Third door on the left." She moves into the other room, holding a glass of what looked like brandy in her left hand.

Tori watches the woman walk away with a quizzical look on her face, not entirely sure how to deal with such an unfriendly parent, but eventually she ascendes the stairs. It wasn't hard to find Jade's door: it was painted completely black with red accents and skulls on it. Figuring that she'd surprise her, Tori turns the knob gently and slips into the room, but her line of "Hey, sexy," dies on her lips as soon as she sees what Jade is doing.

Jade had on a black tank top so that her arms were completely exposed, a somewhat rare sight for her. In one hand she holds a straight-edged razor blade, poised over the delicate white skin of her other arm. By the looks of it, she's already done it a few times before Tori had arrived.

Her head snaps up and her eyes meet with Tori's. Fear flashes through them and she drops the blade, her hand covering the bloody lines instinctively. Almost as quickly she snarls "What the fuck are you doing? Get out of here, Vega!"

"I - Jade - oh my God, Jade, what are you - "

"Tori, just get the fuck out!"

Her mind a complete blank, Tori turns on her heel and leaves the house, getting in her car and starting it up mechanically. She makes it a street or two away before she has to pull over because of the tears in her eyes.

—

Jade doesn't show up at school the next day, or the day after. Tori has a sick feeling in her gut and she goes from friend to friend, begging them for information about her. None of them know a single thing, and she finally corners Beck and forces him to give up everything he knows.

The two of them sit in his RV one night with mugs of hot chocolate and he relays what he knows from his three years of dating Jade. "She's always had a dark cloud, Tor. Even as a little kid. Her parents being, well, her parents didn't help. Her dad has, like, zero emotion and her mom's an alcoholic. They went through a really messy divorce when Jade was in eighth grade, and I know it's hard to believe but Jade was bullied a lot. She's struggled with depression for years. She's had major depressive episodes and, yeah, she tried to kill herself."

Tori actually gasps and covers her mouth with her hand, eyes filling with tears. Beck reaches out to put a hand on her shoulder, nodding in response. "I know. It was near the end of freshman year. I was so fucking scared when it happened, Tori. I found out when I went to call her one day and her mom picked up the phone and said Jade was in the hospital and I just...man, it almost killed me."

She can't even imagine how awful Beck must have felt when he found out. A part of her wonders if this is why he isn't as emotive as most people are, or if this is why he's been hesitant to break up with her when he clearly hasn't been as happy in his relationship as he has been. She knew that Jade was a volatile person, but she never thought that she was hiding a secret that big.

Tori sets down the mug of hot chocolate. "I walked in on her cutting herself the other day," she admits, and Beck lets out a breath.

"I thought she stopped. I mean, I know she has scars, but for a while she was wearing short sleeved shirts again and not so many bracelets and I just - dammit."

"Beck, what do I do? I care about her so, so much and I want to help, but you know Jade. She's going to push me away the second I try to do a thing."

Beck gives her a sad half-smile. "I can't help you there, kiddo. I know you want to be the hero and all, but there's no easy fix."

—

When Jade comes back to school she acts like nothing ever happened. She's wearing a long sleeved shirt and has her usual acerbic tone on whenever someone talks to her. She also doesn't make eye contact with Tori and manages to avoid her between classes. It's only as they're heading to Sikowitz's class that Tori manages to grab Jade by the waist and force her into the janitor's closet.

"Tori, what the hell? Let me out of here right now!"

Tori has her body placed firmly in front of the door, and she knows that if Jade really wanted to get out she would because, God, Jade could snap her like a twig. "No. Jade, we're going to talk."

Jade crosses her arms and glares, and Tori forgot how intimidating it was to be on the receiving end of a Jade West glare. "No."

"Jade - "

"Tori. We aren't going to talk. This never happened. None of this happened. I'm not your project. Leave me alone. Got it?"

Tori stares at Jade and Jade stares at Tori and finally Jade shoulders Tori aside from the door. Tori watches as she leaves, feeling completely and utterly helpless.

As much as she wanted to play Superman, some people just didn't want to be saved, and Jade West was one of them.