So here we go, the final chapter of our little tale…
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A few drinks and half a movie later, Tori was losing concentration. She'd thrown caution to the wind and abandoned the soda, and now the heat of the wine mingled with the warmth of Jade's pyjama'd thigh pressing against her bare skin was making her dizzy. Jade had never been tactile, at least not with her, and her sudden willingness to snuggle up was doing funny things to her stomach. "Jade?" she said, to distract herself.
"Yeah?"
"Can I ask you something?"
Jade paused, popcorn in hand. "Is it stupid?"
"Um... no, I don't think so."
"Fire away."
"Did you..." she hesitated. "Did you set this up?"
Jade didn't take her eyes off the screen. "What do you mean?"
"With Andre. Did you two arrange all this? The game, and everything."
"No."
"Are you sure?"
Jade turned to look at her. "I swear to God, Vega, I didn't arrange it with Andre," she said, truthfully. "You just walked up and insisted on going to bed with me, so I thought-"
"It was a joke."
"Whatever. Anyway, I just thought it might be a good opportunity for us to hang out, spend a bit of time together."
"But why? Why would you want us to spend time together?"
"You know that thing I said earlier about asking questions? That's all over now."
"Oh, come on."
"I'm sick of us fighting, Tori. And before you say it, I know it was all me, okay? I know I started it. You tried to be nice, and I shut you down." She sighed. "And that was stupid," she said. "I don't hate you. I kind of like you." I just got caught up in my own... I don't know." She stared at the popcorn. "Jealously, I guess."
"Awww," Tori said. "That's kind of sweet." She frowned. "But why couldn't you just ask?"
"Ask?"
"Yeah. Why couldn't you just come up and say, 'Hey, Tori, I've been kind of a gank, so how about you come over and we patch things up?' You know, like a normal human being."
"Because that wouldn't have been any fun."
"Fun?"
"Yeah, you know, fun. That thing you have when you're enjoying yourself."
"You hate fun. Beck said so."
"No, he said I hate being happy," Jade said. "And he's wrong. I don't hate it. It's just... whenever I try to be happy it just leads to disappointment."
Tori patted Jade's knee. "Well," she said firmly, "I'll try my best not to disappoint you."
Jade paused for a moment, and smiled. "You never do."
Tori laughed, and laid her head on Jade's shoulder. After a few seconds she felt Jade tilt her head to rest gently on top.
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"Plus I got to see what kind of underwear you'd wear if you were trying to seduce me."
"I wasn't trying to seduce you!"
"Oh."
"So now you are disappointed?"
"No."
"Oh."
"You want me to be disappointed?"
"No!"
"Oh."
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"Well, maybe."
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"So what do you think?"
"About what?"
"The underwear."
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"It's beautiful."
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"Hey!" said Jade. She looked down the front of her pyjama top, where a single piece of popcorn nestled in her cleavage. She glared at Tori, who had her eyes on the TV, radiating innocence. "You want me to make you get that?" she said, as though she was talking about a ball that had landed in next-door's garden.
"Do you want me to get it?" Tori slurred slightly, her face shining with the glow of the wine.
Jade's eyes widened slightly. "You wouldn't dare," she said.
"Watch me." And before Jade could protest, she leaned forward and flicked out a long tongue, delicately pressing the tip to the sticky kernel, and withdrew it without touching. She rolled it back into her mouth. "Taa-daa!" she said, with a grin. "Not such a lightweight now, am I?"
Jade's face flushed bright red. "Well, I guess-"
"Right, your turn."
"What?"
Tori picked up another piece of popcorn and dropped it down the front of her T-shirt. "Go get it, tiger."
Jade's jaw worked soundlessly for a second. "Well that's hardly fair," she said. "How am I supposed to get that?"
Tori giggled and lay back, pulling up the edge of the T-shirt to reveal the popcorn resting in her bellybutton. "I don't have quite so much to catch it in," she offered by way of explanation, poking Jade playfully in the boob.
"Hey!"
"Oh, come on, Jade. It won't bite."
Jade hesitated, but not to be outdone, leaned forward.
"No touching," Tori warned.
Jade licked her lips, and refocused on the popcorn. She bent slowly and carefully plucked it from its resting place with her mouth. Almost but not quite - just the briefest brush of lips against tan skin. She heard Tori's sharp intake of breath and looked up. Their eyes locked, heavy and hooded with the weight of anticipation.
"You touched," Tori murmured.
Jade nodded.
"Do you want another try?"
Jade nodded again. Tori pulled her T-shirt further up and took another piece of popcorn, placing it carefully, not in her bellybutton, but in her own modest cleavage, an escalation of the challenge. Jade paused, then wordlessly moved up the bed, never taking her eyes from Tori's, and slowly ducked her head.
She retrieved the popcorn but with less finesse - her lips making definite contact, a prickle of electricity passing between them. She leaned back, questioningly.
There was only a smile and a slight shake of the head, before Tori took a third piece of popcorn, holding it up before Jade's eyes, and then placed it carefully between her lips. The two of them stayed motionless for five beats of the heart.
Then Jade moved up with intent, as Tori lay down in surrender.
And this time there was touching.
Lots and lots of touching.
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Nothing was said, but everyone could tell that something had changed. There was still the bickering, and the rivalry, the smug grins and the furious glares, but in between...
In between there was the nudging of knees under the table, the brush of a hand against a thigh, the chin resting on the shoulder while they watched a video on Tori's phone. Coffees were bought, fries were shared without thinking. And when two weeks later they finally walked in through the gate hand-in-hand, the whole school breathed a collective sigh of relief, as though a gathering storm had finally broken, or some ancient prophecy had finally come to pass.
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"So, you and Tori, huh?"
Jade turned from her locker, and smiled at the figure, shyly. "Yeah."
"Good for you."
"Thanks."
"Happy?"
"Very."
"And how's that working out for you?"
She laughed. "It's a weird feeling, but I'll get used to it."
Her confidant leaned against the locker. "So was this all part of the plan?"
She shrugged. "No," she said. "I honestly never expected... I just wanted to spend a little time with her, that's all."
"And you couldn't just ask her to come over?"
"No."
"Why not?"
Jade hadn't been able to tell Tori the truth when she'd asked, but somehow she owed it this time.
"Because what if she'd said no?"
It was his turn to laugh. "She would never have said no to you," he said. "Not in a million years."
"Why not?"
"For the same reason she's the only person you've ever been afraid to ask. For the same reason you're where you are now."
"I don't get it."
"Look it up."
"Look what up?"
"Four letter word. Starts with 'L'."
"I'm not in love!"
"Two things - firstly, don't say that out loud around your brand-new girlfriend, and secondly, you clearly are."
"I am not."
"Then you want to have a word with your face, because it says otherwise."
Jade rolled her eyes. "Okay, so what if I am?"
"Nothing. That's the point. There's nothing wrong with being in love, it's not a weakness. Just go with it."
Jade relaxed. "I guess. I just… I'm not sure I know how to be in love."
"I'll try not to be deeply wounded by that."
"I'm sorry, I didn't-"
"Don't sweat it. I know what you meant."
"Look, I know I should have said something before, but... thanks. Really. I know it took a lot for you to do that."
"No problem. I want you to be happy. And I reckon you two have got a pretty good chance."
"Yeah."
"If you treat her right."
"I will."
"Good."
Jade paused, curious. "Was it your idea?"
"What?"
"The whole 'song lyric' thing."
"Nah, that was pure Andre. I just told him where and when and figured he'd find a way. Plus, you know, plausible deniability."
"Well, thanks, anyway. I owe you one."
"No."
"No?"
"No." Beck said, with a grin. "You owe me fifty."
Jade sighed, and reached into her bag. "If Tori ever finds out about this, you are so dead."
"My lips are sealed." He took the money, and turned to leave. "You guys watch a movie last night?" he said.
"No, why?"
"It's just..."
"What?"
"You have popcorn in your hair."
"What? Where?"
"Just there."
"Damn it."
He grinned. "Catch you later."
Jade waited until he'd gone, and gently teased the little yellow blob from its resting place. She popped it into her mouth and chewed, thoughtfully.
They hadn't watched a movie. Not last night. They'd been way too busy.
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But they'd still had the popcorn.
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She grinned and headed off to class.
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Well, look at that, I finally finished something. Tea and medals all round. If you want, you can imagine that the story 'Does It Count?' (or something very like it) takes place somewhere between the popcorn and heading back to school...
Anyway, let me know what you think. Right, fun time's over, it's back to the existential angst. Do not adjust your set.
