Hi, many thanks for your reviews, I thought maybe we'd go a little further with this and see how it turns out. These will probably be short chapters, hopefully updated more often. Let me know what you think.

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Jade sat on the edge of the sofa, feeling like a substandard prom date, left alone to wallow in silent disapproval while their shortcomings were discussed elsewhere. The apartment was tidy, but the tang of air-freshener failed to mask the smell of stale beer and pot-smoke. She couldn't imagine Tori living in a dump like this after her parents place in L.A. But then Tori wasn't the only one who lived here. She fidgeted with her phone. She hadn't seen the other occupant, but her presence was apparent - from the bedroom a conversation was being had, although she could only make out the occasional word of Tori's side.

...my only friend, Carla...it's not like that...

Carla, it seemed, was not keen.

...when? When do I ever... not fair, and you know it...

She wondered if she should say something. Actually, she wondered if she should just march in there and stab Carla in the face, but it was hard to say how that would go down with Tori. Maybe she should give it up and go back to the hotel. It was costing her quite a lot, especially now that her plan to crash at Tori's was probably - scratch that, definitely - not on the cards. But she could picture the look on Tori's face if she came out and found her gone, and even worse she could imagine the smugness on Carla's when she found out. So it looked like she was just going to have to sit it out.

... one time... last night, and I had to...

She wondered if she was being unfair to Carla. For all she knew, Carla was a lovely girl, and Tori was a selfish layabout who was forever deserting her to go off with strange women out of the blue.

...please, Carla...

Or possibly not. She'd just resolved to give it another thirty seconds before she went in there, when she heard the bedroom door opening. She quickly pushed her earphones in, rearranging her features into an expression of innocent ignorance. "Everything okay?" she said, pulling them out again.

She could see Tori turn, the smile on her face applied a fraction too slowly. "Yes!" she said, brightly. "I'm ready."

"Great," Jade said, relieved. "You look..." She struggled for the kind of compliment you might give a friend. "Nice."

"Thank you," Tori said, slightly more coquettishly than Jade felt comfortable with. "So do you."

Jade felt an unaccustomed blush rising. "Thanks."

"Shall we go?"

"Let's."

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"I thought we'd drop the car at the hotel and take a cab," Jade said. "Then we can have a couple of drinks."

"Um, sure," Tori said. She fiddled with her handbag.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It's just..."

"What?"

Tori sighed. "I know I said I'd pay for everything, but..."

Jade glanced at her, and the look on her face was so tragic that she had to laugh. "That was a joke, Vega," she said. "I don't expect you to do that."

Tori's relief was palpable. "Thanks," she said. "So, where are we going?"

"I don't know, this is your town. I've never been here before. Where do all the cool kids hang out?"

"I... don't know."

"There's a surprise."

"Hey! You're not allowed to be mean to me now we're friends."

"You said you didn't want me to change."

"What? When?"

"When we did all the 'let's be friends' stuff," Jade said. "You were pretty specific about it. Don't change, you said. So here I am. Not changing."

"You can change a bit."

"I dunno, Vega. It feels like the thin end of the wedge. If I start being nice to you, I'll end up being nice to everyone."

Tori rolled her eyes. "And we can't have that, can we?"

"Damn right."

They drove on for a minute, until Jade felt she was being watched.

"What?"

"You have changed," Tori said, softly.

"What do you mean?"

"The Jade I knew would have driven eight hours just to avoid me. And she certainly wouldn't have helped me with my homework."

"I didn't help you with your homework, Tori. I did your homework. Anyway, I used to help you out all the time."

"Like when?"

"Like... lots of times. There was the Ryder thing."

"Setting fire to stuff doesn't count."

"I painted your book."

"It didn't need painting!"

"I let you hang out with me. Sometimes."

"Pffft."

"I let you hang out with Beck."

"That wasn't really up to you!"

"Um… I pushed you off a balcony?"

"How was that supposed to help?"

"Well it... helped you conquer your irrational fear of being pushed off balconies."

"That's not an irrational fear! That's a perfectly justified fear. Especially with you around."

"I skipped an audition to help you violate ice-cream cartons, that's gotta count."

""You..? I didn't realize that."

"Well, when I say skipped, I mean postponed. I didn't get it, anyway. Apparently they were looking for someone more... jolly."

"Can you do 'jolly'?"

"I'm an actress, not a miracle-worker. What about that time I saved you from that huge, scary woman in prison?"

"That was me!"

"Really?" Jade said. "Wow. Orange is not your color."

"I mean, I saved you," Tori said. "As you well know."

"Well, whatever," Jade said, with a trace of a smirk. "Oh, here we go." She pulled the car into a hotel parking lot.

Tori looked out of the window. "You're staying here?"

"It was the only room I could get at short notice."

"Your dad must be giving you a heck of an allowance."

"This is on my credit card." Jade said. "To be honest I kind of thought I'd be able to stay with you. I didn't realize you'd have... company."

"Company?"

"Well I'm pretty certain Carla's not going to be stoked at the thought of you having your hot schoolmate running round the apartment, no matter how much you claim we're 'just friends'."

"We are just friends!"

"She's not going to think so."

"Why?"

"Well, look at me," Jade said. "I'm irresistible."

Tori scoffed. "I'm pretty sure I can resist."

"I'm deeply wounded."

"I didn't know you wanted me to find you irresistible."

"I don't. It's the principle of the thing."

"Really." Tori looked skeptical. "Anyway, it's not really my apartment. It's Carla's."

"No kidding."

"What?"

"It reeks of weed, Tori. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't put up with that if it was your place."

There was a guilty silence in the place where Tori's agreement should have been. Jade looked at her, eyes widening in amazement, as Tori practically bit her lip off in embarrassment. "Tori Vega!" she said. "You little degenerate!"

"I-"

"And you a police officer's daughter, as well. Shame on you. What would your mother think?"

"It's not mine, it's Carla's, okay?" Tori said, defensively. "I only had a few puffs. There's no law against it."

"I'm pretty sure there is."

"Well, yeah, there is, but-"

"I'm shocked, Tori," Jade said. "Deeply shocked."

"No you're not."

"Saddened, even."

"Stop it."

"But more than that, I'm disappointed." She shook her head, sadly. "Very disappointed."

"What? Why?"

"Because I wasn't there to see it!" Jade said, turning to her, wide-eyed. "Damn it, Tori, how could you let that happen?"

"How could I... what?"

"There's a gaping hole in my life, now, that has to be filled by the sight of Tori Vega ripped off her tits."

"I was not 'ripped off my tits', thank you very much!" Tori said. "If you must know, I was... pleasantly mellow."

"Yeah, right. Pleasantly, hilariously, mellow."

"I was!"

"And then?"

Tori sniffed. "And then I ate six bags of potato chips and fell asleep."

"Stoner."

"Shut up!"

"Maybe I should score before I come over next time, see it for myself."

"I..." Tori's reply was hijacked by the middle of Jade's sentence. "Next time?"

"Yeah." There was a pause. "You don't want me to come over again?" Jade said, with a trace of uncertainty.

"No!" said Tori. "I mean, Yes! Yes I do. I just... haven't quite gotten used to you being here this time, yet. A couple of days ago I thought I'd never see you again, now we're sat in your car, arguing…"

"We're not arguing!"

"... just like old times."

"Just like…?" Jade was speechless for a moment. "Man, you have a deeply masochistic sense of nostalgia, Tori."

"Me? You're the one who drove a whole day to get here because you couldn't live without me."

"Who says I couldn't live without you?"

"Admit it, you missed me."

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"I admit nothing."

"Yeah, right."

"Okay, that's it. Get out of the car."

"What?"

"Go on. Scoot."

"Jade! I didn't…"

"Out!"

"But why?"

"Because, Tori," Jade turned to her, "the night is young, and I'm hungry. We need dinner and dancing. And drinking. And none of those things," she said, "are going to happen in the front seat of my car." She poked Tori in the thigh. "So get your ass off it, and go hail us a cab."

Tori pouted. "That was mean."

"It serves you right for belittling my irresistibility."

"You know, I'm beginning to rethink this whole 'friendship' thing."

"Cab, Tori. Cab."