"Vega! I'm here to rehearse for that play for Sikowitz's class! Vega! You here!? Vega!?" I yell as I open the door to the Vega's house. I groan. It's Friday night! I'm only here because Sikowitz made me go. Apparently our on-stage kiss doesn't look real enough.

I hate that he's making me do this. It's my fault that it doesn't look real enough. I keep holding back. I sigh. I'm only holding back because I'm scared of what I'll do if I just let go. I've always had a slight crush on Tori, and now I'm single, so it's not like there's something holding me back. Except, y'know, the ever so tiny problem of Tori being very obvious about being into guys.

I look around the TV room, the kitchen, and the outside. I slowly climb up the stairs. I see a door with a hand painted extremely detailed sign on it.

Tori's room

Did she paint that? It's gorgeous. And I hate bright colors, so that's a major compliment coming from me. I open the door and see Tori. Oh my god, Tori. Her eyes are red from crying, she's got a towel draped over her otherwise naked form and the skin that I can see has clearly been scrubbed raw or... bruised. I rush over to her and before I can stop myself, I hug her. She tenses up, before relaxing into me. Cue butterflies, which I ignore. After what I judge to be the worst of the sobbing is over, I realize that the towel slipped off and she's naked. I go through her drawers and grab her a t-shirt, some underwear and a pair of pants and hand them to her. She silently puts them on. I so badly want to know what's wrong, so I can help her, if nothing else. But I don't ask. I wrap my arms around her and lay her down on her bed. When she's just about to fall asleep, I untangle myself from the mass of limbs we've become. I walk to the door and am about to leave when I hear her whisper.

"Stay."

So I do. She lifts up the sheets and I take off my boots and jacket and slide in next to her. She hugs me and I wrap my arms around her again. I kiss her on top of her head and soon her breathing becomes more regular, so I know she's fallen asleep. This feels so right. Not the whole Tori crying thing, just me holding her. I grimace at how corny that sounds. But why was she crying in the first place? The thought nags at me. After a lot of thinking, only to come to the conclusion that I can't come to a conclusion until she actually talks to me, I eventually fall asleep.

The next morning I wake up. I look down at Tori and see she's looking up at me, with her bright brown eyes wide open. I look back down at her, "sorry, did I wake you?" I ask.

She shakes her head no. Some hair falls over her eyes. I brush it away and she flinches.

"Tori, why did you do this to yourself?" I ask.

She shakes her head, quietly sobbing. "I di-di-didn't d-do it." No, Tori, I didn't mean to make you cry.

"Who did do this, then?"

"N-no. He'll kill me. And Cat." She says.

"Wait, what does Cat have to do with this?"

Tori looks down.

"Was it Robbie?" I ask.

"What? No!" She exclaims.

Who was that boyfriend they both had?

"Daniel?"

She hesitates, then nods. "That was why I kissed him. He... he'd already tried to do it on me. I ended it. I left school. Went to HA. Then I found out Cat was dating him. I couldn't... She's so naive. So... Pure. She's like a little kid. He couldn't do it to her. I had to make sure she stayed away from him. I could see her coming. Her reflection was in someone's locker. And I could hear her heels. I had to. But, last night... Trina and mom and dad are out of town. I had to walk. I had just got home. Daniel saw me. He said... he said that... Since I got Cat to dump him, he didn't get what he... what he deserved... He unlocked the door and pushed me inside and threw me over his shoulder." She gulped before continuing. "He threw me on my bed and held my hands down and he- he said, it's you or Cat, and I couldn't let him..." She bursts into tears.

Tori, no. Not her. She's so brave. So damn selfless. I can't believe I ever teased her about it.

"Where is he? I'm gonna kill him." I say, getting up. A hand pulls me back. Tori holds my hand and pushes herself up.

"No, Jade. Please. I need you here. And if you do, he'll go after Cat, and all that would be pointless. Besides, I technically consented. I couldn't save myself. I had to save Cat. Or he would've raped us both." She cries harder.

I sit back down next to her. "Shh, Tor. You've been brave. I don't need to hear anything else. I'll stay." I lay down, with her head on my chest, stroking her hair.

"Promise?" She whispers, and I know she's about to fall asleep.

"I promise." I whisper back. Steady breathing. I sigh and lie back, but I can't sleep, not with all the fantasies of murdering Danny boy in various cruel and unusual ways worthy of Tawny Walker Black when she was in the scissoring. They range from skinning him alive to mental torture to seeing if Sam and Cat's friend Dice still has those razorback tuna.

Tori wakes up. "Hey, Jade. Thanks for... staying."

"No problem, Tor. Hey, why don't you go take a shower and I'll make us some breakfast?" I ask, smiling slightly.

"That sounds great." She smiles and gets up and stretches, her shirt riding up. I don't mean to, but I notice the curve of her neck, the subtle swell of her chest, the toned stomach. My eyes travel further down, but stop at her hips.

"Tori, what are those?" I ask, voice shaking. Because on her hips are several very faint but definitely there scars.

She sees where I'm pointing, and hurriedly pulls her shirt lower down.

"Tori, covering them doesn't make them not there. Trust me, I know." Don't cry. Not here. Not now. I roll up my sleeves. She gasps. "Look, Tori, I get it. All my life, I've never felt like I was good enough. And I needed to vent. Whenever my dad yelled at me, or Beck cheated, or I failed a test. It was an outlet. Now you."

"It just... The first time was an accident. I was angry with Trina and I was shaving and accidentally cut myself and... I wasn't that angry anymore. It felt amazing. And, like you said, it was an outlet. Especially with Steven, and Ryder, but mainly... Daniel." Daniel was the first. Cause and effect, much? "Those guys all made me feel like I wasn't good enough in one way or another and that was how I dealt with it." She shrugs.

"Oh, Tor, of course you're good enough. Please promise me you won't do it again." I plead.

"I can't promise that, but I'll try if you try." She responds. How did she know that I needed to try? "Some of those cuts look fresh. A few days, maybe?" I nod meekly. God, I'm such a hypocrite. "So, I repeat, I'll try if you try. We'll get through it together." I nod, and hug her. After a few minutes she pulls away. "I'm gonna go shower."

"I'm gonna go make breakfast." I say. I don't consciously decide to do this, but I lean forward and kiss her on the cheek. I freeze. Did I just do that? She smiles at me and walks out of the room. She smiled.

About thirty seconds later I hear the shower running. I grab Tori's phone from her desk and scroll through her contacts. When I get to the P's, I find the number I need. Then I put the phone back to exactly how I found it.

Then I go downstairs and put some bread in the toaster and some microwaveable pancakes in the microwave. I also grab some bacon from the fridge and turn on the grill. I boil water and then add a few eggs.

When everything's going I call the number from my phone. After a few rings, they pick up.

"Hey, Jade. How're things?"

"I'm good. But I kinda need your help."

"Why?"

"It's Tori."

"That chick who was dating Carly's boyfriend?"

"Yup. As it turns out she doesn't have... the best taste in men. Look, I really shouldn't be telling you this, but... Tori was raped last night. By her and Cat's ex boyfriend, Danny."

"Both their exes? He dated both of them?"

"Yeah."

"And you want me to warn Cat?"

"No. Tori doesn't want to confront him or tell the cops cause he said he'd go after Cat if she did."

"That son of a-"

"Anyway... I need your help. We can't just let him get away with it."

"No. Freaking. Way. Doing that to Tori was bad enough but threatening Cat... No. He has to pay."

"I agree, but... I'm better with threatening and self defense, and psychological torture, plus he recognizes me. I need someone good a physical violence who he's never seen. You in?"

"You bet your ass I'm in. Try and stop me."

"Wasn't planning on it. Look, Tori could come in any minute. We need to get through this quick. So here's what we're going to do..." I say as I explain the plan. Just as I finish my explanation Tori comes downstairs, I quickly change what I'm saying, "no, mom, I stayed at Tori's house. Me and Beck are over. Why would I stay at his? Mom! Look, Tori's here. I swear." I say, as I hang up. Hopefully they understood.

A/N~ I think I've made it pretty obvious, but the first person to ID the person Jade called gets the next chapter dedicated to them!