Title: After The Moving Party

Author: John O'Connor

Tori opened her eyes to see Jade lying beside her, gazing at her. "G'mornin'."

"Hey lover," Jade replied. She leaned over and kissed Tori. Tori responded and rolled onto Jade, their naked bodies flowing together.

"Shouldn't you be in your room by now?" Tori asked. "Not that I'm complaining…"

Stifling a yawn, Jade looked up at the brunette, "Nah. I like it here." She glanced at the door to the bathroom their rooms shared, "Besides, I laid down in there last night and messed up the sheets so, if your parents' check, the bed looks slept in…"

"Smart girl," Tori said before kissing Jade again. "Good party last night, huh?"

"Yeah, gotta give Andre credit. When he hosts a party, the music's always good." Jade lightly kissed Tori, "Especially when I have a dance partner who knows her stuff."

"Thank you, sweetie," Tori replied as she kissed Jade, her tongue slipping into the raven-haired girl's mouth.

The feel of her lover's body pressing to hers was causing Tori to moan into Jade's mouth. She broke the kiss to say, "I could stay here all day with you. Again."

"Mmm…so could…"

A distance beeping sound interrupted Jade's response. It was the alarm app on her PearPhone coming from her room beyond the shared bath.

"Shit! It's almost 10 o'clock!" she yelled as she shoved Tori off her and jumped up. Tori landed on the floor with a thump and a look of fearful surprise.

"Kick off's in a couple of minutes!" Jade said hurriedly as her nude body sprinted through the shared bathroom to her bedroom. A minute later, her hall door was thrown open and her footsteps hurried down the stairs.

Still sitting on her floor, naked and frustrated, Tori muttered, "Wha… What the…?"

The day before, the gang got together to help Jade move into the Vega house. Jade remembered her father was going to be out of town on some work-related trip. She figured she could deal with her mother if she had to.

Jade and Tori got an early start and grabbed some breakfast at a diner near the school. They then met the gang at Beck's. Jade's ex had borrowed his neighbor's pickup and they headed out in two vehicles, the pickup, with Beck and Andre, and Jade's Mustang with Jade, Tori, Cat and Robbie. For a pleasant change, Robbie left Rex at home.

No one was at home in the West house and the six of them make short work of the packing. Tori organized the teams – the girls in charge of the clothes and the guys in charge of the rest.

"Tori… Girl, isn't that a little chauvinistic?" Andre asked.

"Not at all. We'll be more gentle with Jade's clothes and…"

"And?" Beck prompted.

"Jade doesn't want Robbie pawing at her…um…underwear," Tori explained.

"Hey!" Robbie interjected. "I wouldn't… I… Yeah, I would…"

In a few hours, Jade was settled in her new room at the Vega house. Most of her clothes were put away but her other stuff was still in boxes for the most part. There was so much, due in part to her extensive DVD collection of TV and movie horror.

To celebrate, Andre offered to host an impromptu party at his place that night. His grandmother was visiting her sister in San Bernardino. Andre explained, "She's not quite as nutty."

Many of their classmates were there. Robbie brought Rex since there would be some Northridge girls there and he thought that his 'companion' would help him hook up.

It quite didn't work out for Robbie. But Rex got lucky…

Tori and Jade headed home around 1:30. Both were exhausted and curled up in Tori's bed together. With only a soft kiss, they were dead to the world. Until the next morning.

A couple of minutes later, she came downstairs to find her parents in the kitchen and Jade one of the matching couches in front of the wide-screen TV. "Jade, what the hell?"

Jade waved her hand over her shoulder in a shushing motion. "Ssh, the game's about to start!"

"What? What game? What are you talking about?"

Jade turned and glared at Tori, repeating, "The game. Is about. To start!"

The girl turned back to the TV and Tori finally looked up to see a graphic appear on the screen for the Minnesota Vikings - Green Bay Packers game.

Over the speaker system, the announcer's voice said, "Welcome to beautiful Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, for today's divisional matchup between the Minnesota Vikings and the hometown Green Bay Packers. I'm…"

Tori turned to her parents. "What is happening?"

Tori's father smiled, "Seems your girlfriend is a football fan. A Cheesehead to be precise."

"A what? A what-head?" By now, Tori was in the kitchen area with her parents. "What's a cheesehead?"

"Cheeseheads are Packer fans. Cuz, you know, cheese comes from Wisconsin and…" David Vega explained.

"Jade's a football fan? How did you know that? And how did I not know that?"

David said, "Tori, baby, it's alright. She told me yesterday when she asked if she could take over the TV this morning."

"Well, she didn't exactly ask, dear."

David smiled at his wife. "Okay Holly, not exactly asked. But didn't demand it either…" He glanced towards the TV. "Oh, it's kick off."

As he sprinted to the empty couch, the announcer said, "Here's the kick …"

Tori turned to her mother, a pleading look in her eyes, "Mom?"

Holly leaned over and whispered in Tori's ear, "Don't worry dear. You'll learn to live with it. You're now a football widow."

A few minutes later, the Packers scored on their first possession, as James Jones caught Aaron Rodgers' touchdown pass before executing the traditional Lambeau Leap into the welcoming arms of Packer fans in the end zone seats.

Seeing this, Jade jumped up and actually squealed, "Yes! Jones! Aaron Rodgers rules!"

"That's the end of the first quarter with the Green Bay Packers on top of the Jacksonville Jaguars with a score of 10 to 0. We'll be back for the second quarter after these messages."

"Tori, speak," Jade said. "You have about two minutes…"

"When did you become a football fan?" Tori asked. She had already settled on the couch next to Jade. She wanted to know this undiscovered aspect of her girlfriend.

"Since I was little. Dad's from Minnesota somewhere and a Vikings fan. When I was little we used to watch games together all the time. Then he… Well, the whole thing with Aunt Michelle… So, since he loved the Vikings, I became a Packer fan.

"One of the arch-rivals of the Vikings," David added.

"Then, last year, Beck got me a share of the Packers stock so also I'm a part owner of the team."

David Vega sat forward, asking "You got some of the stock?"

Jade smiled proudly, "Yep. I'm a stockholder in the best football franchise ever."

David said, "Sweet."

"Jade, why didn't you ever mention this before?" Tori asked.

"Tori, before we…got together, when did I ever share my personal life with you?"

"Never. Well, almost never…"

"Right."

"But afterwards?"

In a snide voice, Jade asked, "Didn't Beck fill you in?"

"I never went to Beck for…advice or…anything. I want to learn about you from…"

"Ssh… The game's starting again."

Before long, an angry Jade is yelling at the TV as the Vikings quarterback, Christian Ponder, throws a touchdown pass to Rudolph. Her yells are louder when the Viking scorer, Rudolph, jumps into a small group of Vikings fans in the end zone seats. A near-perfect Lambeau Leap.

"NO! No Lambeau Leap! That's so wrong. It should be illegal for any non-Packer to leap at the end of a score like that! Fu…" She pauses to see if the curse jar was still out. Even though the jar was not in evidence, Jade ends up muttering, "If I was sitting in the end zone, he'd get a special welcome…"

Near the five minute mark, she's up and screaming at the TV again. As Adrian Peterson ran eighty-two yards for a Viking touchdown, Jade was in classic form, yelling, "Stop him! STOP HIM! SOMEONE HURT HIM!" When Peterson crossed the goal line for another Viking score, she cried, "Goddamnit!"

Suddenly, remembering where she was, she meekly asked, "Um, where's the curse jar?"

"And that's the first half with the Vikings leading the Packers by a score of 14 to 10. Stayed tuned for the Ford Truck Halftime Report…"

"Two touchdowns!? They gave up two! To the freakin' Vikings!" Jade was up and roaming the living room muttering to herself.

"Yeah, but Jade, Ponder's good," David said. "And Adrian Peterson is a helluva running back. Look at that eighty-two yard run…"

"The Packers should've stopped him!" Jade declared.

Undeterred, David went on, "Well, anyway, have faith. Rodgers can turn it around. He's always best in a crunch…"

"Best in the NFL." Jade acknowledged with a nod. Then she turned to Tori. "Y'know, Vega, if I knew your dad had the total NFL package, I'd've made nice with you a long time ago…"

"Yeah, I guess… Dad got it when the Rams moved from Los Angeles to St. Louis and he couldn't always watch them on regular TV…

"Jade, can we talk now? More than just a couple of commercials?"

"Sure. We can talk."

"So you're a football fan?"

"Not just football – the Pack, baby!"

"What else don't I know about you?"

"Oh, Tori…if you only knew…" Jade said with an evil twinkle in her eye.

"Okay, girls. Go clean your rooms…"

"Ah Mom…"

"You promised you'd do it at half-time."

On the way up to their rooms, Tori, in a quiet voice, asked, "But what about last week? When we… You know…"

"Getting shy again? Anyway, the Pack played on Sunday night. You were zonked out while I watched the game."

"So it was over when I woke up and…"

"They won. Winning turns me on…"

Jade threw Tori against the wall as soon as her door closed. "Let's see how quickly I can make up for this morning…"

Tori forgot about straightening her room as the combination of fingers and tongues overwhelmed both girls.

Just before the second half, Holly made sandwiches and got out chips and soda for everyone. Tori and Jade managed to get themselves together and came down, grabbing food before plopping back onto the couch to see the second half kickoff.

As they settled on the couch, Holly asked, "So, did you get your rooms cleaned up?"

"Uh, well Mom, we got to talking about football and Jade was explaining about the Packers and the game and their history in Green Bay and we were just talking so much that…"

"Tori, shush!" Jade said, mercifully cutting off Tori as her fib-induced ramble threatened to go on and on.

Tori was slowly catching onto the game. She had never really cared about the games when her dad watched but now her girlfriend was a football fan and that made all the difference. Having been a junior varsity cheerleader at her old school, she did know a little about football too.

"Damn it! Stop him" Jade yelled at the TV as the Vikings' Peterson ran the ball for forty-eight yards. Then, two plays later, Ponder threw an interception to the Green Bay defensive back, Morgan Burnett in the end zone, killing the Vikings' scoring drive.

"Wooo!" Jade jumped up and did a little hip-swivel with her fists up in the air. By this point, her lunch was long-forgotten and Tori swiped her chips.

A few minutes later, the same enthusiastic Goth yelled wordlessly in anger as Rodgers threw an interception. Followed by the Vikings losing possession, a very short time later. The Packers were again on offense when they regained the lead with a rare running touchdown.

Then, with only seconds left in the third quarter, Ponder threw another interception to Burnette. Jade was beside herself.

"At the end of the third quarter, the score remains Green Bay 20 and Minnesota 14. We'll be back for the fourth quarter in…"

"So, this isn't so bad…" Tori admitted.

Calming somewhat as commercials ran, Jade asked, "What happened to my chips?"

"Uh, I think you, uh, ate them in all the excitement," Tori mumbled. Jade's green-blue eyes narrowed as she gazed at Tori.

But, before anything ensued, the fourth quarter started and Jade was again entranced by the television.

Truth was, once she got to know which team was which – "Green and Gold, Vega. Jeez…" – she found it easier to follow and, surprisingly, found it kinda fun to watch.

The fourth quarter was all Green Bay and they managed to use up a lot of the time on the clock as well as get another three points on a field goal.

Jade had been on her feet, pacing back and forth behind the twin couches, for the entire quarter.

"The final is Green Bay 23 and Minnesota 14. Back with totals and highlights in a minute…"

That brought a loud roar from Jade as she did her own little victory dance in front of the fireplace.

Shortly after that, Jade whooped again when she saw that Chicago had lost to Seattle in overtime.

"The Pack is back, baby!" she yelled as she danced around the couch. Then, remembering what the announcers said about the upcoming schedule, she settled on the couch with a moan. "Oh god, what about next week?"

Unaware of the standings and the history of the game, Tori simply said, "Huh?"

Her dad spoke up, "Next week, the Bears plays Minnesota in Minneapolis. Chicago and Green Bay are tied now for first place in the NFC North. If the Vikings beat the Bears next week, the Pack will have first place all to themselves and are a step closer to the division title."

Tori half-smiled as she tried to draw out more, "Aaannnddd…?"

"But Chicago and Green Bay have one of the oldest rivalries in the NFL. Goes back to the beginning of professional football in the early '20s," David said.

Jade broke in, "Soooo, next week I either root for Green Bay's biggest nemesis to maintain the divisional tie by beating dear old Dad's team – which gives me a pain - or I root for his team…"

Tori noted the near-growl as Jade faded off, "Tooo… give Green Bay…the…title?"

"Correct!" Jade smiled at her girlfriend, "You're catching on, Vega." She stood up and nodded to David, "Thanks for the TV, Mr. V."

"No problem, kiddo," he replied.

"C'mon Vega, we have the end of season one of "The Walking Dead" to watch…" Jade stated, tugging Tori towards the stairs. "Followed by season two and then season three…"

"Do we have to?" Tori whined. "That show scares the pee out of me!"

"Then don't drink anything before the show starts. And ya gotta admit, you're getting hooked, aren't you?"

"Yeah… I guess so… I mean I do want to know what happens at that lab…"

"The CDC. Well, we'll see, won't we? If 'we' don't cover 'our' eyes.

"C'mon."

In a resigned voice, Tori said, "Okay…"

At the base of the stairs, trying to postpone the upcoming fearfest, Tori asked, "Hey Dad, when're the Rams playing?"

"They just finished. Beat San Francisco 16-13."

"Dad, you gave up the Rams game for Jade? Awww… You're so sweet…"

"Uh…yeah…well…"

Tori sprinted to where her father was sitting on the couch and leaned over, kissing him on the cheek, "Thank you."

A while later, Tori's screams are heard by the Vegas. David looks at his wife knowingly. Holly shakes her head. "No dear, that's Tori's scared screech."

"Oh, okay…"