I don't own Victorious or any of the characters! Some characters are my own, but ya know. The usual crew. I got nothing to do with them. Enjoy =)
Life can be pretty strange sometimes. I never thought I'd see Tori Vega again after we graduated from high school. Then again, I never thought I'd find myself missing her either. And yet, there I was. Missing her. The last time I spoke to Beck, he said Tori was still in New York going to school.
It had been three years since graduation, and I kept catching my mind wandering to old memories of her, and wondering what she's up to. Or if she's thinking about me too.
I was bar tending, if there was any concern about what I had been doing. I took a semester off of school to work more and save up a bit of money. I live alone, but that's okay. It suits me better. Sure, it gets lonely at times, but I don't really mind. At least, I never use to. Now I just keep getting this lingering feeling that I'm missing out on something very important. But whenever that happens, I just pick up a few extra shifts at work. And maybe a girl at the bar. Only if she's the designated driver of her group. I'd give her my address and she'd come by once she did her good duty of carting around her drunk friends. There was never a repeat performance. The most interaction that any girl got after a night like that would be a smile and some light conversation the next time she came back to the bar with her friends.
The rest of the group kept in contact over time, considering the fact that we all stayed in L.A. with the exception of Tori. She was always so determined to get what she wanted and New York was what she wanted. I guess a part of me had been jealous. I wanted to be that thing. That's why I never bothered to see her before she left. Jealousy makes me bitter. I'm sure that came as no surprise.
What did come as a surprise was what happened one day while I was at work.
"Jade." My boss called to me, breaking me from my daydreaming.
I shook my head as I tried to rid my thoughts of that brown eyed girl, "Sorry Clint."
"Daydreaming about that girl again? Why don't you just fly out to New York and tell her? You've kept this bottled up for years. You're not going to be able to move on unless you get some kind of closure." He lectured as he wiped down the bar. We were prepping for opening, and I was doing a shit job. I looked at him through sad eyes. He was in his mid thirties, and he was actually a pretty attractive guy. I had the idea to set him and Cat up together, but I changed my mind when I realized he would probably feel like he was babysitting and that's just creepy.
"The fact that you know that shows that you know it isn't that simple." I said as I rolled my eyes, continuing to wipe down the glasses in the crate in front of me.
"It really shouldn't be much more difficult than that. Beck and Cat say the same thing."
"Oh my God. I cannot tell you how much I regret bringing those two in here." I droned dramatically.
Clint laughed as he stopped his cleaning and looked at me, "We all know you, Jade. We know how you can be. And we just want what's best for you. It's been three years and you are still pining over this girl. The only thing that makes sense is for you to get out there and get your girl, or close the door." He said with a shrug.
"Why do you care so much?" I asked as I picked up the crate of glasses and set them on the stack.
"Because when you mope like this, customers don't wanna bother you. So then I'm not making any money. And because let's face it, you've grown on me." He said playfully.
"Wow, thanks for making me sound like some kind of parasitic leech." I said. He looked at me with hard eyes before he realized that I wasn't being sarcastic.
"You're a weird kid, Jade." Clint said with a laugh.
And that was the end of it. A few minutes later, the bar opened up and patrons came pouring in. It was only a Thursday, but being so close to a couple college campuses, it would be expected to get pretty busy. I was thankful for it. It was one of those days that I just wanted to push away this thought of how badly I missed Vega so it wouldn't consume me.
Speaking of the devil, around midnight I noticed a relatively large group of girls come into the building. I rolled my eyes, already irritated with them and they hadn't even made it to the bar yet. I moved to the other end to tend to the group of three guys that were now viciously eyeing up the girls as they congregated around the other end.
"Jade?" A familiar voice froze my blood and damn near stopped my heart. I stopped what I was doing and turned slowly to look at the owner of the voice that had just shouted my name.
"Vega." I whispered before composing myself. I put on my typical smirk as I stood a little taller and slowly strutted over to her.
"Oh my God. I can't believe it's you!" She shrieked as she giggled.
"Live and in the flesh." I said simply as I shrugged. "What brings you here? I thought you were in New York?" I asked, trying to sound as disinterested as possible.
"It's my birthday!" She shouted as she starting dancing on her stool.
"Oh Christ." I said as I shook my head. "Well, here." I pulled out a shot glass and poured her one of our house shots. "Happy birthday, Vega." I said, giving her a wink. If I was lucky, she wouldn't remember this encounter at all in the morning.
"Do one with me!" She shouted as she slapped her hands on the counter. She looked at me with those big doe eyes and there was absolutely no way that I could say no. I pulled out another glass and mimicked my same motions. I had one in front of myself and one in front of her. We made eye contact before grabbing the glasses and downing them. I shuddered and shook my head as the liquid burned my throat.
"I'll be back later." I said as I moved down over to where Clint stood.
"Who's the girl?" He asked, nodding to where I just left.
"Fucking shit. Fucking, fucking shit." I said, slightly panicked.
"Wait. That's her?" Clint asked in disbelief.
"The one and only." I said, shaking my head.
The rest of the night went by as I poured her and her friends shots. Vega convinced me to take a few more with her, and around midnight, she had tried roping me into something else.
"Come dance with me, Jade. This is my favorite song." Vega whined as she pouted.
"I can't, Vega."
"But it's my birthday." She said, throwing a small fit. It was actually pretty adorable.
"Yeah, that excuse got me to take four shots with you, baby girl." I said as I shook my head.
"Puh-lease?"
"I can't leave the bar." I said, grasping at straws. Let's be honest, if I got on the floor with her, something stupid would most definitely happen.
"Sure you can. I've got this under control." Clint said as he stood next to me, arms crossed and a smug smile on his face. I looked at him, silently pleading for him to not make me do this.
"Yeah! He's got it under control!" Vega chimed excitedly.
"Have fun, Jade." Clint said, laughing as I gave him the dirtiest look I could muster as I walked around the bar. Vega jumped from her stood and grabbed my wrist, dragging me into the thick crowd of people dancing. Oh my God. Her body was so close to mine. Her hands slid up my sides and into my hair as she moved fluidly to the music. I definitely should have said no to those last three shots that I took with her, because I was feeling it. I allowed myself to relax as my hands slid into the back pockets of her jeans, pulling her body a little closer to mine.
Two songs passed by and the heat between us was driving me crazy. As the song faded into another, I took a step back as I tried to think of a way to excuse myself from the situation. Her hands didn't leave my body, preventing me from moving too far away, and suddenly I felt her warm breath on my neck and her moist lips pressed against my skin.
Oh God.
I grabbed her wrist and dragged her through the crowd until we reached the back hall where the restrooms were located. I couldn't believe I was going to do this. I opened the single-toilet bathroom, locking the door behind me once we were both in the room. She turned to face me, threading her fingers in my hair as her lips glued to mine.
This was actually happening. I had been waiting years for this to happen, far too scared to ever orchestrate it when we were in high school. My anger at myself got the best of me and I took it out on her. And yet, here we were. Three years later in the bathroom where I work, and her tongue is in my mouth.
This is the last thing I imagined happening when I woke up this morning.
She pulled her lips from mine as she breathed heavily, "I'm not straight, Jade."
"Okay." I answered simply, leaning back in for another kiss.
She complied, though she pulled back again shortly after, "I mean, I'm not completely gay, but I'm definitely not straight."
"Stop talking." I said, silencing her again with another heated kiss.
Her hands moved from my hair down to my waist and when I felt her cold fingertips against my flesh, I realized what was happening. I pushed her away and looked at her with wide eyes.
"Oh God." She said, and the next thing that happened was her spinning around and throwing up violently in the toilet.
"Happy birthday, Vega." I said with a chuckle. I held her hair back as she continued to wretch out her entire stomach contents.
"I think I'm done." She said finally, taking a square of toilet paper and wiping her mouth before throwing it into the bowl.
"Good." I said as I stood and turned on the faucet. She walked over to me and splashed cold water onto her face.
"That's an embarrassing way to reunite with an old friend." She said as she cupped her hands under the running water and drinking from it. She stood up and looked at me through the reflection in the mirror.
I smirked, "I'm not your friend, Vega."
A similar smile was on her face as I exited the bathroom and made my way out to the nearly empty bar. Christ, how long were we in there for?
"Jade." Clint said, giving me a knowing grin.
"Don't say a word." I said to him, giving him a warning glare. The group of girls that Tori came in with were standing by the edge of the bar, chatting with each other until I walked up to them, "You guys came with Tori, right?" I asked.
One of the girls, a brunette with bright green eyes, nodded, "Yeah."
"She, uh, she got sick. I'm just gonna take her home, okay?"
"Um, I mean, we don't know you." The girl said, looking uncomfortable.
"I went to high school with Tori." I said, rolling my eyes. As if I really needed to explain my credentials when it came to taking care of Vega. A slim arm suddenly appeared around my waist and I turned to see Vega standing there, smiling. She was still drunk.
"Jaaaaaaade." She said cheerfully, despite the fact that she sounded like she was going to die only ten minutes before.
"Oh, you're the Jade?" The brunette said, giving me a once-over. What the hell was that?
"Guilty." I said simply, giving her a skeptical expression.
"Okay. Take care of her." She said, surrendering her argument.
I walked Vega over to where Clint was, "Clint, I gotta go." I said, nodding to the drunken mess clinging onto me.
Clint laughed, "Get outta here. Ashlynn can take care of clean up tonight. She owes you one, anyway."
"Thank you." I said as he handed me my jacket and purse from underneath the bar. I lead Vega out to my car and buckled her in the passenger seat. I got into the car, started the ignition, and drove back to my apartment. It was going to be a trip getting her up the flight of stairs to the second level where my place was.
We pulled into the parking lot and I looked over to see Vega practically passed out. I poked her in the arm, "Wake up, Vega. We're home." I said softly.
"No." She grumbled into her arm as she tried to wave me off.
"You are not sleeping in my car." I ordered as I got out of car and walked over to the passenger side.
I opened the door and hoisted her out of the seat. She hadn't gained a pound since we graduated. Go figure. So I practically carried her from my car, up the stairs and into my apartment. She stumbled into the threshold, making a beeline to the hallway that lead to my bedroom. I laughed as I tossed my keys in the bowl I kept on the table next to the door.
I went into the kitchen and got a large glass of ice water for the drunk girl in my bedroom. Never would have thought this would be the first time Tori Vega crawled into bed with me.
A loud thud caused me to hurry from the kitchen into my room to see Vega lying on the floor, her shirt off and her pants stuck around her knees.
"What are you doing?" I asked with a laugh.
"My pants." She grumbled as she rolled around on the ground.
"Oh my God. Get up. Get up." I said, motioning for her to stand, which she did just to drop back onto my bed, her legs dangling off the side. I pulled the skin-tight denim down the long expanse of those tan legs and tossed them behind me. She crawled under the comforter of my queen sized bed and buried her face in my pillows.
I shook my head and laughed as I walked through my apartment, making sure all of my lights were off and the doors and windows were locked. Once I was certain that everything was secure, I went back into my bedroom, stripping down to my underwear and pulling an oversized T-shirt over my head. I placed the glass of ice water on the nightstand on Vega's side of the bed. I crawled into my usual side and the second my body hit the mattress, Vega was on me like an imprinted puppy. I allowed the cuddling, because let's face it, it was amazing.
"Jade?" Tori asked quietly, her voice slightly muffled by my shoulder.
"Hm?" I said with closed eyes.
"Did you really hate me in high school?" Her voice was soft and timid, as if she didn't want to ask but the desire for the answer was too strong.
"I think you always knew that I didn't."
"I always wanted to be with you. Back in high school." She slurred.
A soft chuckle escaped my lips. I pressed a kiss on her forehead before saying, "Go to sleep, Tori."
The next sound I heard was her soft snoring.
Yeah, life can be really strange sometimes.