Chapter 1 – Come a Little Closer
"So, Vega… What's the craziest thing you have ever done?" Jade asked as they sat quietly enjoying their mini victory celebration after winning the singing competition against the two Northridge girls.
Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and turned to face Tori, eagerly awaiting her answer.
"Um… I've … uh… OH! There was this one time that I stole a bottle of shampoo from a hotel… I was only six… but that still counts… right?"
Jade gave her a disbelieving look, shaking her head at the innocence of the brunette.
"Wow… Tori… that's uh…" Beck eventually gave up trying to find the words to describe the girls statement and the table resumed their original conversations, not noticing the small glint in emerald eyes or the customary smirk that accompanied them.
OOOOOOOO
Tori was desperately trying to focus on her homework when her phone vibrated on the table. Not thinking it to be important, Tori left it alone, deciding that her school work would be more important than Andre telling her about a hot chick he had met or Cat telling her random stories about her brother. However, minutes later and the phone vibrated again. Sighing in defeat, she picked it up and saw that she had two new messages… from Jade.
She opened the last one to have come through.
Jade West 9:14pm
God damn it, answer me right this second otherwise I will come in there and drag you outside myself!
Slightly startled at the violent response, Tori hesitantly opened the first message from Jade.
Jade West 9:04pm
Hey, Vega. Get outside now. I thought of something crazy that you could do that would break your whole innocent girl act.
Tori stood up and went to her window, opening it wide and peering into the darkness below.
Just discernable in the darkness was Jade West, waiting just below her window and peering up at her expectantly, bright eyes shimmering in the moonlight.
She gestured impatiently when Tori just stood there. Deciding not to tempt Jade with her threat, Tori quickly dressed and noiselessly headed down the stairs and out of the door.
Jade was scowling at her when she finally made it outside… 20 minutes after the first text Jade sent. Oh well. Tori silently followed Jade as she led her down the road and into a dirt path that cut right through the woods.
They walked silently for a long time, Tori becoming colder and colder as the night drew on. She didn't want to admit that she was a teeny bit afraid of the dark and eerie shadows that the trees created, as Jade didn't seem to have the same problem.
They took a number of twists and turns through the woods, straying off of the path on more than one occasion and Tori found herself having a hard time remembering the route that they were taking and finally decided to break the silence.
"Hey, Jade? Do you know where we're going?"
"I know of where we are going… but I don't know how to get there so we're guessing for now." It was only then that Tori noticed the slight slur in Jade's voice. Great… Jade had been drinking. That was all she needed.
"And where is it that we're going?"
"A lake… that I've heard is somewhere around here… "
Tori went silent once more, allowing the tipsy girl before her to lead them to this so called lake.
She couldn't tell how long they had been walking before they finally reached it. The lake was a fairly small size and was almost completely hidden by the surrounding trees and shrubbery, but there was a small clearing where the lake resided. Tori imagined it must have been a beautiful place in the day time. But right now, in the darkness, late into the night with a intoxicated Jade West, she couldn't see the beauty in it.
"Jade…" Tori immediately stopped talking when she noticed the other girl pulling her shirt over her head. "JADE! What are you doing?!" She asked incredulously.
Jade finally discarded the item and gave Tori her famous eye brow quirk, piercing glinting in the small amount of moonlight that was available in the clearing, before gesturing to the lake as though it were obvious.
"WE are going swimming. Now strip!" Jade commanded. Tori started to protest but Jade silenced her by coming over to her and unbuttoning the shirt she was wearing. Tori could only gape as Jade essentially undressed her. She let the shirt fall to the floor near her own and gave Tori a once over before winking and proceeding to undress herself. There goes the trousers… Oh.. the bra too… that was now gone. Jade stood facing the Lake with only one article of clothing covering her body.
Tori's throat suddenly felt extremely dry and raw so she swallowed to try and ease the uncomfortable twinge. The action seemed to have caught Jade's attention however, as she gave Tori a coy look over her shoulder.
"You're still not undressed. Hurry, otherwise I will finish undressing you myself." Jade threatened. Tori had no doubt that Jade would follow through with her threat which would undoubtedly make this whole thing even more uncomfortable than it already was.
Swallowing her pride, Tori rid herself of her jeans and stood there in her underwear.
"And the rest." Jade prompted still facing away from her.
She could feel herself blushing. This was insane! She was very nearly naked in front of Jade West. Naked. And Jade West herself was already very much naked, having removed the final piece of her clothing a moment ago. Deciding that it was easier to just get it over with, Tori rid herself of her underwear. She stood there for a few moments, not one hundred per cent sure what to do next.
Apparently, Jade had already made that decision for her as she grabbed Tori's wrist, glancing quickly at Tori's nude body (that Tori, in vain, tried to hide) and pulled them both into the water.
Goosebumps spread all over Tori's skin as soon as she touched the cold water. Jade, however, seemed completely unaffected by the freezing temperature and settled into the water as if it were a hot tub.
"W-why exactly a-are w-we d-doing t-this a-again?" Tori shivered.
"You said you never did anything crazy and this is a pretty crazy thing for innocent Tori Vega to be doing. Suck it up."
Tori merely glared at her and swam around a little bit, attempting to warm her still shivering body up. Jade joined her moments later and soon enough, the sound of their laughter echoed around the clearing as they raced each other from one end of the lake to the other.
It was for this very reason that they didn't notice two girls sneak into the clearing, glance warily at where they were swimming happily, and pick up their discarded clothes. The unknown duo smiled triumphantly as they walked away with the girls clothing, going completely unnoticed by the swimming duo.
About half an hour later, Tori let her giggles subside as she let her body rest against the side of the lake. Her body had quickly warmed up when they started to swim. Jade joined her, leaving an unusually happy smile on her lips.
Tori had to admit… It was nice to see Jade so open and carefree… the fact that this was caused by alcohol was irrelevant. If this was how Jade was every time she had a drink, maybe she should start drinking more often… or just be a little nicer when she's sober.
"I can't believe we're sitting in a lake, late at night, naked." Tori felt hysterical giggles brew up in her chest again. It only took one look from Jade for the two of them to burst out into hysterical giggles, finding it increasingly difficult to stop now that they had started.
When their giggles died down again, Tori looked over to Jade and gave her the most sincere smile she could.
"Thanks for dragging me out of my house tonight. This isn't as bad as I thought it would be… Although I do think that you should have some coffee to sober up a little bit. Come on." Tori commanded, pulling herself out of the water, all previous insecurities about her body forgotten as she held out a hand to help Jade out.
The two walked out of the clearing and into the woods, where they had left their clothes. Tori looked around in confusion at the empty space on the ground where their clothes had been.
"Very funny Jade, did you call someone to make them take our clothes?"
Jade looked up at that, appearing more sober than she had the whole night.
"What?! No! You're joking right?"
That was when Tori started to panic. They were in the middle of nowhere, water dripping from their bodies, making them shiver and their clothes were nowhere to be seen.
"Maybe … maybe I put them in a different spot than I thought I had." Jade watched as Tori strolled around all the edges of the clearing, coming back in a rage and very much still empty handed. "FUCK!"
Jade was startled at the curse that came from the innocent Vega's mouth… and a tiny bit aroused… Not that she would admit that though.
"Calm down. We'll just walk back the way we came and see if they are anywhere up the path…" Jade knew it was pointless… Whoever had taken their clothes was unlikely to have just left them in the pathway.
"Which way did we come in?" Tori sighed, letting her eyes roam the clearing once more, searching for any tiny reflection from a watchful eye. Nothing. It was not like she expected the culprits to stick around anyhow but… one could never be too sure about these things.
Jade was silent for a few moments, spinning in a circle trying to find anything that looked vaguely familiar. Although she tried not to let on the fact that she didn't have a clue which way to go to get out of these woods, Tori seemed to catch the confusion etched upon her face.
Tori upon seeing this, cursed loudly again. "FUCK! God fucking damnit! Wait until I get hold of the bastards that did this!"
Jade could not deny how turned on she was right now. Mad and Cursing Tori was incredibly hot … Whatever… she'd just blame this on the alcohol. Blame it on the vodka, blame it on the henny, blame it on the blue tap, got ya feelin' dizzy. Oh wow… she really needed to stop drinking.
Tori continued to spew death threats and curses as she spun in a circle and ran her hands frustrated through her wet hair. She did this for a few more moments before spinning towards Jade.
"We can't stay here all night… we need to try and find a way out of here… hopefully before the sun comes up… I don't feel like being seen running through the street naked.
Jade nodded her head in silent agreement and followed as Tori picked a route, seemingly at random and started walking. She made a silent promise to herself to not look at Tori's ass but it soon went out of the window when she noticed the little swing that had been added into Tori's step as she stomped off angrily.
They couldn't be sure how long they had walked for, but by now, the two of them were freezing and their feet were sore from various twigs and rocks that they had stood on. Tori stopped suddenly and looked dejectedly into Jade's eyes.
"I think we're lost." Jade only just managed to push down the urge to reply with 'no shit Sherlock' but since mad Tori was so hot, she really didn't want to rile the other girl up and cause herself great discomfort from how turned on she would surely be.
Jade just sighed and sat herself on a fairly clean part of the ground, patting the spot next to her, indicating the brunette to join her. Tori submitted and collapsed in a heap on the ground beside Jade, who took in the other girls stature.
Tori was shivering fiercely against the bitter wind that stung at their damp and naked bodies. Rather than say anything about it, Jade simply pulled the other girl into her, wrapping an arm around her midriff, hoping to help the brunette regain her lost temperature.
"W-What a-are y-you d-d-doing?" Tori stuttered, unconsciously snuggling into the warmth that Jade's body provided.
"Making sure we don't freeze to death, now come a little closer."
Tori did as requested as moved herself so that she was practically in Jade's lap. After finally finding a comfortable position for the both of them, they settled into silence once more.
"Why don't you ever show anyone this side of you?"
The silence was broken by Tori's inquisitive voice, startling Jade out of the musings she had plunged herself into to avoid thinking about the situation they were both in.
"Hmm… Oh. I do… sometimes… It's just… I don't want… or rather I don't enjoy… uh… look, Tori. I don't know why okay? Defence mechanism maybe? I just don't know. I've always been a cold and bitter person for as long as I can remember… it's easier to be that person than this one."
"But you're being that person now… in the world's most awkward and weird situations and here you are being considerate."
"Don't get used to it." Jade snapped back. She didn't want to be discussing feelings right now when she was feeling vulnerable and tipsy enough to give them. She had already shared more than she cared to.
The silence returned once more, no sound to be heard but the distant calls of wildlife and their combined breathing.
The temperature was steadily dropping once more and they both knew that body heat would no longer cover it… they needed to come up with a better plan. Good job Jade had already thought that far ahead.