A/N: Hi! I'm back! Did ya miss me?(:

It's been I while I know. My apologies for my absence. I've been pretty busy lately. [x

I'm not sure if I like this at all. xP

Enjoy!

I do not own Victorious

Tori bit the end of the pencil. She stared at the menacing equation concentrating and trying to figure out what she had done wrong to get three different numbers each time she double checked. The circulating numbers were creating a throbbing headache. It was almost five. She had decided to stay a few hours after school so she could get some work done in the library. The last couple of days Trina had been a straight down pain in the neck. She would rant on about anything and bicker on about nonsense for hours endlessly. She'd been arguing with her a lot lately. Tori didn't blame her though; she hadn't exactly been the friendliest person around lately. Everything seemed to upset her easily. She couldn't be in the same room with another person without feeling like she was going to break down.

Finally catching her mistake, Tori finished up the final problems and gathered her assignments. Tori yawned as she walked to her locker to put away her books. Trina wasn't the only reason she had been staying late hours after school. The brunette had been desperately trying to keep her mind focused and away from any thoughts concerning a certain dark haired girl. It had been almost a month since she and the pale girl had worked on the play Sikowitz had written. They had spent quite some time together and though the brunette was more than aware of her feelings for the Goth, working together had only served to spur them on further.

Jade and Tori hadn't exactly started off on the right hand. That was more of an understatement. They had definitely started off bad. For crying out loud, the Goth had poured a cup of iced coffee over the brunette's head in front of the entire class. It took all of Tori's strength to return to school the next day to face her classmates again, to face Jade. As time progressed the young Vega grew used to the pale girl's cruel and unusual mistreatment and for some strange and unexplainable reason she grew fonder of the Goth each day. It got harder as time passed to keep her feeling to herself when she was around the girl. She knew she couldn't do anything about it. Jade had Beck why would she want her? Why would anyone?

That was what angered the older Vega. Tori had begun to think so low of herself lately and it had begun to show in her behavior. Her school was going more than great, but she had grown quieter by the days. In the beginning the gang questioned her odd behavior but as days passed and the silence remained, they eventually stopped asking questions and stopped trying to include her in their conversations all together. It didn't bother the half Latina as much as she wished it would have. The only part that bothered her from it all was the lack of insults from Jade. She missed them. At that point anything would have been welcoming. She didn't want to push her friends away, she wanted them to question her endlessly and interrogate her. She wanted to talk to someone about how she felt.

In the end she was always on her with consuming thoughts of the dark haired girl. Tori didn't like thinking about Jade too much. It pained her to know that despite the recent break up between the Canadian and the pale girl, nothing could ever possibly happen between them. How could it? Jade was oblivious to Tori's feelings. She hated her, right?

Normally during the week the hallways were crowded even after school hours. Being Friday Tori wasn't too surprised to find the hallway dead. She made her way to the lit up locker and opened it, placing her books in it for the weekend. Tori's desperation to remove the Goth from her thoughts had severed well in her grades. She always finished her assignments early and had just about more than enough time to study for upcoming quizzes. She leered at the colorful locker. What was she going to do with all the pictures? She thought as she looked at the decorated locker.

"What's your poison, Vega?"

The sound of the sweetly tortuous voice caused a shiver to rise in the brunette's back. This had to be a dream. She hadn't spoken to her the entire week, not willingly at least. Why out of all days did she choose that day to break the ongoing record? Tori closed her locker and hesitantly turned to face the mesmerizing green eyes that always left her breathless. "Jade I-I..."

Jade smiled in amusement. "Out with it, Vega. I'm pretty sure even Ms. Goodie-too-shoes would never spend a Friday evening at school by choice. Were you in detention or something?" She arched a brow in question.

Tori opened her mouth to speak but closed it once more when she found she had no answer. "You were in detention?" she asked as what the raven haired woman said dawned on her.

Jade's smirk faded. She crossed her arms and glared at Tori. "That's none of your business, Vega," she snapped.

Tori tried to bite back the smile as she nodded. "Well that's a waste of a Friday," she simply replied. She didn't mind Jade snapping at her. She'd grown used to it, but she'd be lying if she said it didn't hurt. Tori glanced at the time on her phone and sighed. She'd finished her homework earlier than expected and that only meant she had to face Trina sooner.

Jade noticed the slight frustration cross the brown eyes and stared at the girl in curiosity. "Something the matter, Vega?"

Tori ignored the question and tried her best to keep her composure. The entire week she had managed to make it through because Jade had been ignoring her. It hurt, that it did, but it helped Tori make her final decision. As much as she knew it was going to be hard, she knew it was the only way she could go on with her life. The gang probably wouldn't notice the first couple of days, at least that was the plan. But seeing Jade now only seemed to throw off the plan. She didn't want to be the girl on the sideline who watched while the girl she loved blossomed without once noticing her. That's what had driven Tori to her decision. She just couldn't live like that anymore. She'd met her breaking point and she didn't think she could take anymore. It was only going to hurt her in the end and.

"Vega, hey are you in there?" Jade waved her hand in front of the brunette's face.

Tori swallowed and met the green eyes once more. "Yeah, sorry. Just got a lot on my mind," she answered brushing back the auburn locks from her face.

Jade stared at her unsatisfied with the response. Tori hadn't been herself the last couple of weeks. It hadn't gone unnoticed by the Goth she simply chose to brush it aside with the idea that it must have had something to do with school. "I don't need your life story, Vega. You just seemed out of it." Jade hated that she was too prideful. She wouldn't allow anyone to see her as caring or sweet. The only other person aside from Beck that had managed to see her true colors had been Cat, of course being her best friend. She quickly regretted her response when a hurt look crossed the brown eyes.

Tori nodded as she felt a lump rose in her throat. It's now or never Tori, she told herself. "Right, well... I should go." Tori leaned over to hug the pale girl quickly. She clenched her jaw tightly to refrain from crying as she broke the embrace. She took a moment to record the event in her mind. Her hand shyly curled around the handles of the hand bag. "Take care of yourself, Jade," she softly spoke with a small smile before practically running out of the hallway.

Jade could have sworn she saw tears in the brown eyes as they met with hers a final time.

"Take...care...of...myself?" Jade furrowed her brows in confusion still struck with pure astonishment at the encounter that had just taken place. She shook her head and began to walk out of the school toward her truck. Vega must have been out of it, but why did she hug me, she thought as she threw her bag into the passenger seat. A well-worn envelope slipped from the handbag catching the pale girl's attention. Whoever the original owner of it was had kept it close by the looks of the wrinkled corners. Jade stared at it for a moment before taking in her hands. The writing on the envelope was unfamiliar as she examined it. Her name was neatly written in cursive across the paper. Jade pursed her lips in thought before placing the envelope back down and pulling out of the school parking lot. She turned on the radio to divert her attention away from the bantering object.

The mysterious envelope had been eating at the Goth the entire drive. She finally decided to give in to her curiosity and pulled off to the side of the road to park, shutting the engine to the truck. She grabbed the envelope, her hands trembling, as her fingers reached to gently tear the seal. She braced herself as she began to read over the neatly written letter.

"Dear Jade,

I've never written one of these letters so I'm not too sure where to begin. Well I suppose I can begin by telling you that it's been over a year since I first laid my eyes on you. From that moment I knew I was crazy about you. It probably sounds insane, trust me I know. How can I be in love with my best friend's girlfriend, right? I've asked myself that question hundreds of time and I've never really managed to get an answer. As time passed I became used to your constant banter and finally stopped fighting my feelings for you. I learned to accept them but you never once noticed me. Not really. You saw me every day but not the way I wished you would see me. I slowly faded into the background in your life as time went on. The day things ended between you and Beck my heart ached. I was troubled you see. I wanted so much to tell you how I felt, but I just couldn't do it. I was too afraid. I was afraid you'd reject me. We didn't exactly get off on the right hand in the start and I figured that despite my strong feelings for you, I'd rather keep them to myself then risk the chance of having you break my heart. That also meant I could keep you in my life a little longer without scaring you away.

I've come to realize now that I'm such a coward for not telling you how I feel in person. Jade, I love you. I have from the beginning and I don't think I'll ever truly stop. You're beautiful in every way possible. You have such an amazing voice and a stunning talent for acting. You drive me crazy and challenge me and it's absolutely divine. Your eyes are breathtaking and your smile leaves me speechless.As much as it hurts me to leave, I've decided that it's the best for the both of us. I can't live any longer with my feelings in secrecy, Jade and I don't want to risk pushing you away with the truth. I'd rather keep the small moments we shared in my memories then have them replaced with you loathing me. These feelings, they've grown you see and it hurts me to know that I can't have you. You always seem happier when I'm not around anyway. All I want is for you to be happy and if that means I must to depart from my home, then so be it.

I am not telling you all of this to burden you with guilt, Jade. I just thought and hoped that perhaps you'd want an explanation as to why come Monday morning I won't be in my usual seat in Sikowitz's class or why I won't ever walk through the Hollywood Arts doors again. I need to move on for both our sakes. I don't expect you to make much of this letter. Honestly it wouldn't hit me by surprise if you chose not to read this at all. I just wanted you to know the truth. I love you, Jade and believe me when I say that this is the hardest decision I've ever had to make. I'm sorry about the tear stains; I'm trying desperately not to think about how my life will be when you're no longer in it.

Don't ever change Jade. You're perfect just the way you are. Please take care of yourself.

Her breath hitched as she read the final line. She felt a panging ache in her chest when her eyes caught the signature of the anonymous author. It wasn't possible.

Forever yours,
Tori Vega"

Jade wiped away the deceiving tears from her face and looked over at the signed name again. How could she have been so blind? The signs had been there all along. Was that what the encounter in the hallway had been all about? What did she mean by leaving? The young Vega's abnormal behavior from the previous weeks suddenly made sense. Tori was distancing herself from everyone on purpose. Of course she was. It wasn't like her to suddenly stop caring for her friends. Why hadn't Jade realized that sooner? "Damn it!" Jade growled slamming her fist on the steering wheel. She tried to image the broken girl writing the letter. She scoffed at the girl's apology for the tear stains. Even when she was heartbroken, Tori cared about others. Jade cried as she looked over the letter. Some of the words had been smudged, clearly by the brunette's tears. She'd made her cry. After everything the two girl's had endured together and despite the Goth's mistreatment, Tori cared for her, loved her. She grew furious with herself. Why did she have to be such a gank?

Jade had to stop her. Whatever Tori had in store, she had to stop her before it was too late. Had she been more aware of the brunette's feelings she would have built up the courage herself ages ago and told her how she felt, too. Jade folded the letter carefully and placed it back on the seat before starting the engine up once more. She made a quick U-turn and changed her destination. It was time to stop being so prideful and selfish.

…

Jade pounded on the door furiously. "Come on, Tori! Open up!" she called. It had taken less than ten minutes for the Goth to arrive at the Vega's residence. She hadn't been far from her home and Tori's home wasn't too far along the road. Jade could feel her heart hammering in her chest as she waited anxiously the door to open. Please be here, she chanted in her mind.

A clearly annoyed older Vega swung the door open and glared at the pale girl. "What do you want?" she snapped.

"Where's Tori?" Jade demanded. The rude response of the younger Vega's sibling had only served to infuriate her.

Trina's expression quickly softened. "Tori's gone," she replied.

Jade's mouth gapped open. She was too late? "What do you mean she's gone? When will she be back?" Jade pressed.

"She's gone Jade. She's not coming back," Trina spoke in a low voice

Take care of yourself, Jade. The departing words of the young Vega echoed in the Goth's head. No. It couldn't be true. Jade fought the urge to breakdown then as she grabbed the older Vega by the collar of her shirt pulling her to meet her eye level. "What the hell, Trina! She's your little sister and you just let her go like that?" Jade asked in disbelief with a menacing glare.

"It wasn't my place to tell her to stay," Trina defended.

"The hell it wasn't. She's your sister! You had every right to hold her back!" Jade growled angrily.

Jade had to use every fiber in her being to maintain from hitting the girl. "Where did she go?" she growled tightening the hold.

Trina gulped nervously. "She took a bus to the train station down town. She wouldn't let me drive her." Trina dropped her gaze with a hurt expression. "She said something about not wanting to make it hard on me. God I'm so stupid." She shook her head at the last statement, feeling guilty.

"Yeah you are," Jade said releasing the girl. She almost felt bad for the older Vega. Almost. "What time does her train leave?" she asked glancing at the time on her phone.

"Six thirty." Trina mumbled, maintaining her gaze down.

Jade nodded and took off running to her truck. As threatening as the gray clouds looked she had fifteen minutes to make it across town and down to the station and no time to waste.

…

Jade was worried her legs were about to give out. As she ran through the station she couldn't decide if her chest was hurting from all the forced running or the fear of being too late. She wondered how she managed to make to the station in one piece in the first place. She had driven like a maniac, crossing every yellow light that had presented itself in the unforgiving weather. The station was surprisingly empty as she ran down the silent platform of the station. Her heart nearly stopped as she reached the terminal and watched as the train took off.

"No!" she cried. "No, wait!" she called out trying to chase after the train but failing as she collapsed on her knees.

"Tori," she whispered to herself. "I love you, too." Jade had been oblivious to the rain drenching her as she forced herself to stand. She was too late. Tori was gone. She'd left. Her entire body felt numb as she stood and stared at the empty railroad tracks. Managing to drag her heavy feet away from the tracks, Jade turned to walk back inside the station. If Jade didn't know any better, she could have sworn she had officially lost her mind. There was no way the young brunette was sitting by herself on a bench soaking wet on her own with her head facing down. That wasn't possible. Was it? Hesitantly Jade approached the tan skinned girl, unsure if she should trust her swindle eyes.

"Tori?" her voice cracked.

Distant brown eyes looked up in bewilderment. The look in the Goth's eyes struck fear in her. She quickly stood trying to conjure an explanation as to why Jade was there. She was certain as she watched the pale girl approach her, that she was just about ready to hit her.

"Jade? What are you-" she began.

She was taken by surprise when not one but two hands took hold of her face and a pair of lips claimed her own. It was a moment before Tori understood what was happening and she began to kiss back with the same amount of force. She was caught off guard when she felt her back connect with the wall as they continued their frenzy act.

Jade finally pulled back to look down at the speechless brunette who was attempting to catch her breath.

"Jade listen," Tori began.

"No you listen, Tori. You can't just confess all of your feelings to me in a letter and expect everything to be okay." Tori tried to speak but was silenced by the Goth's serious stare. "You can't just tell me you love me and leave. What about my feelings? Don't they matter?" By now Jade had completely given up trying to fight back the tears as she spoke. The rain made it difficult for Tori to see the tears but the familiar broken voice was enough for her to know Jade was crying.

"Jade. I'm…" she tried again.

Jade shook her head. "I thought you'd left, Tori. I thought my one chance to make things right was gone," she cried. "I need you in my life, Tori. I don't know what I would have done with you out of my life. The entire way here I just prayed I wasn't too late and now..." she paused reaching up to caress the tan cheek. "You're here," she whispered, mostly to herself still in disbelief. "You're here," she repeated, searching in the chocolate brown eyes. "Why?" she weakly asked.

"I couldn't do it," Tori whispered, finally managing to speak. She rested her hand over the pale one. "Despite how much I knew it was going to hurt to have you ridicule me, I just couldn't leave." Tori stared at the Goth. "I thought you were going to hate me after you read the note."

A sad smile appeared across the dark haired girl's lips. "I don't hate you, Tori. On the contrary actually."

Tori bit her lip. Was she dreaming? Had she heard correctly? "I don't understand," she softly spoke.

Jade chuckled halfheartedly. "You're going to make me say it aren't you?"

Tori slowly nodded in a timid manner.

Jade smiled gently and leaned over to kiss the brunette softly. "I love you, Tori." Her expression grew serious as she gazed at the girl. "I don't know what I would have done if you had left. I would have..."

Tori shook her head. "Don't go there Jade."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jade asked stroking Tori's cheek gently.

Tori dropped her gaze "I didn't think I could handle losing you, Jade. What if you had denied me? You would have never had let me live it down. The idea of you repudiating me broke my heart. The actual rejection would have been the end of me." Tears settled in the brown eyes. "I was such a coward for trying to run away. I was much bigger coward because I couldn't even go through with the plan."

Jade stared at the girl in disbelief. Anger rose in her as she realized all the girl's insecurities were of her fault. Had she not been such a gank, they could have avoided the entire situation. "Quit talking nonsense, Tori. You're anything but a coward. I'm so sorry for making you feel like this. You shouldn't love me. You should hate me. I'm so sorry, baby." She cradled the girl's face in her hands. "So sorry," she cried burying her face in the nape of the brunette's neck.

Tori closed her eyes. She tried to process what was happening. Jade hadn't denied her. She'd actually chased after her in hope of catching up to her before the train left. Tan fingers slowly rose to stroke the dark locks. Tori was afraid she'd open her eyes any given moment and realize it was all just another dream.

Jade lifted her head at the sound of a low cry. Tori had her face down as she cried. "Tori…"

"I don't want to wake up, Jade. I don't think I can handle one more dream. If this is just some game…It's too much... I just…I can't…" she trailed off.

Jade could tell it was going to take time to heal the young Vega's wounds. She took Tori's face once more in her hands before pressing her lips to her in a hard and deep kiss. "You're so" kiss "stupid" kiss "Tori," she whispered. "I love you. It's not a game. It's not a dream. I mean it." She smiled gently. "I'm sorry it had to come down to this for me to tell you."

Tori stared silently. "You love me?" Hearing the words once again make her feel dizzy.

Jade nodded with a grin. "You're not the only one who keeps secrets, Tori."

"But…"

Jade sighed searching in the vulnerable brown eyes. "I'll do whatever it takes to prove to you this isn't a lie. I'm not trying to trick you, Tori. You're not dreaming." She sniffled. "What do I have to do to prove it to you?" she pleaded. It broke her heart to know Tori felt so unsure of herself. As if she couldn't hate herself anymore.

Tori grabbed Jade's wrist and looked into the sincere green eyes. "Don't leave me alone, Jade" she whispered.

Jade shook her head furiously before capturing the girl's lips once more. "Never," she murmured. "I promise." Her hands moved down to the girl's waist. "I love you," she repeated.

Tori smiled into the kiss, her arms hugging the girl closer. "I love you, Jade," she finally said out loud. After months of keeping it inside, it felt good to let it out. It felt amazing knowing the girl she was absolutely and profoundly in love with loved her too. She gave a genuine smile for the first time in months when Jade intertwined their hands and led through the platform and into her truck. It was all too good to be a dream, Tori knew it was. Jade loved her. Needed her. She closed her eyes and drifted into a heavy sleep as Jade drove them home. For once in a long time she knew it wasn't a dream. "I love you," were the last words she heard before she fell asleep.

Well?

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The end?

I'll update Serendipity and All Kinds of Wrongs in the next few days (:

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