Tori listened to the words crying even harder as the girl broke down crying in front of her. 'I hate you!' those three words hurt the most and she felt the pain and anger tear at her like a ravenous animal. She got up at the words and she shook her head,"You hate me so much!? Then why the fuck did you bring me here!? If all I do is make you sick...then I should just leave!"She screamed. She ran up the stairs quickly disappearing and she didn't know where she was, or cared where she was goig she just had to leave. She ran outside and into the surrounding woods quietly, it was dark at night, and Tori suddenly felt scared as she was away from the safety of Jade's arms. She glanced back at the house as she held herself and felt the tears of sadness turn into tears of hatred,"All I ever wanted to do was love you...to show you how good it feels to be treated the way you deserve to be treated. Like the beautiful goddess you are,"she whimpered quietly to herself in the darkness. She looked ahead at the woods and took off quickly disappearing into the shrubbery. She didn't know where she was going nor did she care those three words echoing in her head. 'I hate you!' She cringed as she heard the girls shrill voice cracking, but she couldn't tell if it was in disbelief, or anger. Tori just wanted to go hide herself away, in a dark cave, or at the bottom of a lake, maybe over the edge of a cliff. She had wanted so long to tell Jade how she felt, and she finally had the chance. She can't believe she left that place, she was finally alone with Jade, telling the girl her feelings. She pulled out a pocket knife and stared at her wrist for a moment before stabbing the knife into a tree. She let her hand slowly pry away from the knife one finger at a time as she made her way deeper into the woods, shivering badly as she continued to run. Between the cold, her fatigue, and her high anxiety she was slowly blacking out. Getting deeper and deeper into the woods, anything to get away from Jade. She wasn't running because she didn't love Jade, because she did, she was running to keep from hurting Jade. If taking a chance on Tori and allowing her to treat her right hurt Jade then Tori couldn't have it. She never wanted to hurt the girl, she only wanted to make her feel better, to put her on a pedestal and try to heal her broken mangled heart. She felt her body hit the ground finally as the cold took over, and she finally blacked out, slipping away from the conscious world. Her light brown eyes glazed over with a dull pain and she slowly closed them, gripping at the dirt as if it was the only thing keeping her from simply drifting off the face of the planet.
Jade looked up when Tori spoke, her heart burning inside of her chest when the girl left. It took her a few moments to gain her energy back, to finally be able to get up from that diry floor and follow Tori upstairs. She saw the front door cracked open and her eyes widened, the realization that Tori was alone in that dark place invading her. She ran outside, looking around frantically, the ache never leaving her chest as her eyes searched, searched and never found Tori. "TORI!" She screamed into the night, the sound losing itself into the darkness and echoing back in her ears. She breathed heavily, running into the forest, stumbling and falling on her knees endless times, her body not even able to register the pain as she got up once again, running and running after the girl, screaming her name over and over again.
After a time that felt like hours, Jade couldn't take that anymore. She felt completely exausted, physically and emotionally, her lungs burning from the lack of breathing, chest hurting as the ache only got worse. She fell on her knees, tears falling down the dirt lawn as her body shivered strongly, trying to keep herself still. She felt a single drop of water down her hands, and looked up at the sky through those trees, the light rain starting to fall from above, making everything even darker. She looked down again, only for her heart to stop, breaking into endless tiny pieces as she saw the figure in front of her, only a few meters away. She crawled up to Tori, her knees burning from scratching down those roots, finally getting to the girl. "Tori! Tori!" She called, desperate, holding the girl tightly in her arms, sitting down and wrapping her whole body around her, hiding her face in her hair. "Tori, please.. w-wake up.." Jade cried, arms squeezing the girl even more, afraid of ever letting go, breathing her scent in deeply, as if that would, somehow, make all of that pain go away. "I'm.. I'm sorry, I'm sorry.. I don't.." She shut her eyes tightly, shaking her head. "I could never hate you, I.. I love you. And that's what I'm so afraid of.." She let out a shaky breath, rocking the girl in her arms. "..please, look at me."
Tori was so far gone she didn't think she could ever come back. She was ready to just give up and not even come back to that world when she heard a voice. She felt her limp body being lifted, the girls warm tears burning on her face and she lay in the girl's lap. Tori just stayed there in the girls arms for a minute before she slowly let her brown eyes open, the dull pain still there. She opened her mouth to talk and coughed quietly, rolling away from the girl and doubling over as she coughed up the blood in her tired throat. She fell over holding her stomach, a look of pure fear and pain on her face,"I...,"she whimpered as she strained to talk,"I love you too." Talking only made it worse but she had to tell Jade how she felt once and for all,"I always have...and I always will..." She turned away as she coughed up more blood, leaning against a tree with her bloody palms against the trunk. Every inch of her was either cut or bruised, there was so much blood you couldn't pinpoint where she was bleeding from exactly. "Jade...It's so cold,"She managed to strain out as she weakly reached for the girl her hand falling in the dirt and only managing to twitch slightly. She opened her eyes slightly and looked at Jade,"Make it stop hurting...please." She slowly let her eyes close as she finally took Jade's hand. She let a soft, pain-filled smile cross her lips as she put her head in the girls lap and began to black out again. "Take me home Jade...it hurts so bad...,"She whimpered quietly feeling herself phase in and out of consciousness.
Jade's heart almost came out of her lips when the girl wake up, seeming so weak.. Tori's words warming her inside. It was hurting her too.. so, so much.. to see Tori suffering that way. Not matter how weak Jade felt in that moment, she had to take care of Tori. She needed to see the girl smile at her again, she just needed to make sure Tori felt safe. She carefully took the girl in her arms, groaning quietly when she got up, her knees shaking slightly at the effort. It took her a few minutes to find the way out of those woods, but she managed to do it. She took Tori to her car, gently laying the girl on the passenger sit and putting on her seatbelt, before running to her side and starting the car, driving as fast as she could back to Tori's house. She considered taking Tori to a hospital, but it looked like the girl's weakness were more emotional than physical, and the cold weather was only making it worse.. so she figured out it would be better to take her home. Around fifteen minutes later, they got to the Vega's residence. Jade parked in front of the house and ran up to Tori's side again, taking the girl in her arms and walking up to her front door. She reached on Tori's pocket for her keys, unlocking the door and walking in, kicking it close behind her. It didn't look like Trina was home, and for the first time in her life, Jade wished the girl was there. She could have been helpful. Jade slowly took Tori upstairs to her room, carefully laying the girl down her bed. Trying not to wake her up, she managed to get rid of Tori's wet clothes, searching on the girl's closet for some pajamas and putting it on her. She took a rag and ran to the bathroom, watering it and walking back to Tori, lightly cleaning her bloody hands and her sweaty forehead with it. Then she took a blanket and covered the smaller girl. Jade sighed, taking off her shoes and jacket and getting into the covers with Tori, slowly wrapping her arms around the girl, trying to make her feel warm. "I'm sorry, baby girl.." She whispered, closing her eyes, a few tears rolling down her cheeks as she placed a soft kiss on Tori's forehead. "I'll take care of you.. I promise."
Tori was fighting passing out the entire time, too weak to help Jade no matter how hard she tried, and as she got home and changed she felt a smile cross her face. She tried to speak as Jade's words hit her, making her so happy. She coughed quietly unable to speak and she kissed the girls cheek before she finally let herself slip off into a rest and relax. She curled up in the girls' arms, closing her eyes. She slept more peacefully that night, there in Jade's arms than she had since for as long as she could remember. She slowly woke the next day, around noon, and there wasn't a single part of her body that wasn't throbbing or screaming in pain. She opened her eyes slowly to look at Jade, watching her sleep. She had an inch but she refused to move, scared she would wake the sleeping girl next to her, and she just sat there, admiring the girl as she slept. She looked so sweet, and peaceful now, and Tori gently pushed some hair out of her face. She slowly and carefully got up putting a warm pillow where she had been and walking into the bathroom. Tori looked like she had been caught in an explosion and she sighed as she washed herself quickly, and brushed her teeth. She looked a bit like herself but with cuts that would definitely be there for a long time. She walked back into the bedroom and looked at Jade lovingly, just content in watching the girl sleep, watching her be content.
Jade fell asleep quickly that night. Every single part of her body hurt, inside and out, but she couldn't allow herself to be awake anymore. She simply held Tori firmly in her arms, breathing slowly into the girl's sweet scent, and fell into a deep slumber. The next morning, she heard a few noises, but was too deep in her sleep to actually wake up. However, when she felt a light touch on her face, she opened her eyes slowly, a soft smile forming on her lips at the sight of Tori, smiling sweetly at her, watching her sleep. "Hey, there.." Jade said lazily, her voice a little hoarse from the sleep. She moved in closer, wrapping her arms around Tori's waist and resting her head on the girl's shoulder, taking a deep breath, the memories of the night before hitting her like a truck. "I'm sorry, Tori.. for.. all the bad things I ever made you feel.." She sighed, closing her eyes again. "I know.. that no matter what I do, it'll never be enough to show you how /sorry/ I am.. but I want you to know that, from now on.. I'll try, every single day, to make up for that." She said, looking up into the girl's eyes, getting lost into the chocolate color for a moment. She moved her hand to touch the girl's cheek gently, fingertips brushing softly her tan skin. "I love you.." Jade whispered, leaning up to place a light and soft peck on Tori's lips, smiling widely in satisfaction.
Tori leaned down and returned the kiss sweetly as she closed her eyes,"I love you too Jade, and you already have made up for it. You came out into the dark cold woods to find me, you carried me to the car when you couldn't even walk, brought me home, cleaned me up, and you even stayed here to make sure I was okay. I just want to put yesterday behind, whatever happened it doesn't matter because now we're here together, and we love each other, that's all that matters. I'm not letting you go, ever Jade West, you are my girlfriend now, you'll just have to deal with it,"She giggled and kissed Jade's cheek softly. She got up quietly and held out her hand for Jade,"So my dear, how does breakfast sound?"