Tori drove the rest of the way to her childhood home with a face so red, it was bordering on purple. She explained to Andre that she'd been secretly seeing Jade for a couple of months, but had been too afraid to tell anyone until recently. He seemed to believe her, but he reacted a little too nonchalantly for Tori's taste. It worried her a little when he said he wasn't all that surprised. Jade laughed at that comment but kept staring out the window, and Tori's eyes remained on the road, as she tried to convince herself that he'd meant he wasn't surprised because he knew how easy it was to fall for Jade - not that it wasn't a comment about his misreadings of Tori's real relationship with the girl, prior to their scheming.
When the car stopped in the driveway, Tori had calmed herself down considerably, only to grow nauseous at the thought of her parents questioning her about her little lifestyle change, or worse - questioning Jade about it. Telling herself with each step that Jade wasn't stupid enough to embarrass her again, Tori led the group to the front door, opening it only to be surprised by an empty living room. She stepped inside anyway, looking around the deserted room in confusion. Andre immediately made his way to the kitchen, where an assortment of snacks were spread across the counter top. He helped himself to a handful of trail mix, shoving half of it into his mouth before he even looked at Tori.
"What?" He asked, "This stuff is good!" Andre had managed, yet again, to cheer Tori up without even trying. She laughed at him and her heart rate finally slowed down, just as her mother walked into the room.
"Oh! You're here!" She grinned at her daughter and then called over her shoulder, "Honey! They're here!" Seconds later, Mr. Vega appeared through the same door his wife had come from, with a rather serious expression on his face in comparison to hers.
Tori's mother invited the three visitors to help themselves to the snack food, noticing, of course, that Andre already had. She followed that offer with another, to take a seat on the couch. Meanwhile, her husband stood near the counter, staring at Jade. Glancing back and forth between the two of them, Tori's stomach bubbled.
"You remember what I do for a living, right?" He tried to look threatening as he questioned his daughter's girlfriend, much to Tori's mortification.
"Dad!"
"Yes, sir, I do." Jade answered very sweetly, especially for her. Tori could tell when Jade reached for her hand that he'd actually managed to scare her a little. Her fingers were slightly clammy -bordering on sweaty, even - and her skin was starting to turn red.
"Good. Remember that while you take some trail mix. My wife made too much."
"No she didn't!" Andre called, helping himself to an overflowing bowl of it, just as the door opened again and Trina stalked in. All the voices flying around her started getting to Tori, and that, combined with the nervousness she'd brought with her, were quickly becoming a little too much. She wanted to lie down on the floor and cry.
Instead, Jade pulled her into the kitchen, pressing herself up against Tori's back as the girl stood up near the countertop, shakily helping herself to some chips before reaching for the spoon sticking out of the french onion dip.
"What exactly have you told your parents about me?" Resting her chin on Tori's shoulder, Jade whispered into Tori's hair, with her arms wrapped tightly around the girl's torso in order to disguise their conversation. "Do they think I'm some kind of demon or should I just ignore the fact that your dad kind of threatened me?"
"Believe it or not," Tori answered, twisting around so she could face the usually fearless, though strangely frightened woman behind her, "I never really told them that much."
"You're not lying?" Tori glanced at her family and Andre, already seated around the TV, and snapped her head back to Jade when she noticed they were all staring. They surely thought that the two of them were being inappropriately flirty, when that was far from the truth.
"No. Just be nice and you'll be fine, scaredy cat. He's just messing with you." Jade's face flushed pink as she pulled away from Tori.
"I'm not scared." She was obviously embarrassed, but Tori let an opportunity to get her back for all the teasing she'd been doing lately slide, in favor of retrieving her chips from the countertop behind her. "I'm just a little worried he'll see right through us...with his job and all..."
"Act like you love me and he'll have no reason to." Tori whispered happily before she led the way back to the living room, feeling in charge for the first time in weeks.
Falling into the corner of the sofa, Tori curled up with her chips in her lap, and Jade uncomfortably sat down between her and Andre with a handful of trail mix she'd stolen from the poor guy's bowl upon passing him. She placed a salty m&m on her tongue and leaned against Tori, trying to look like she actually cared for the girl as Mr. Vega studied her from the other section of the sofa, across from them. He seemed to be in an unusually malicious mood, and Jade began to wonder if he treated all of Tori's boyfriends this way, or if it was her that he disapproved of.
As Trina yapped incessantly about how badly her date the previous Saturday had gone, everyone ignored her. Mrs. Vega, at least, kept mumbling in agreement, though it was obvious she was watching her other daughter more, as was her husband, obviously. Andre sat with his bowl of trail mix heavily guarded, now that he knew Jade was a threat to the homemade snack he'd loved ever since he'd first started coming to Tori's house as a little sixteen year old. Now, the twenty-one year old man loved the snack food even more, but his relationship with Tori hadn't changed. They were still the best of friends, and probably always would be, but as adults, they'd found that they had less time to spend with each other. Tori had only seen him in person twice over the past month, with her job taking up so much of her time. She worried sometimes that her apparent success was getting to him. He'd wanted something like what she was now receiving for so much longer than she had, and he was a million times more talented, she thought. Tori feared that it made him feel inferior, to still be unsigned after all this time while she had gotten there so much more quickly. She didn't quite know how to talk to him about it though, so she never mentioned it and pretended that it wasn't an issue.
Andre's trouble getting what he'd wanted so badly convinced Tori that she was doing the right thing for herself. She wanted it too, and if she backed out now, it was highly likely that she'd never get it again. It was only one little part of herself that she was changing. It really wasn't that big a deal. Forcing herself into a homosexual relationship with a girl who had hated her from the very day she'd met her seemed like a small price to pay when she looked at Andre. If - when - she made it big, she would help him get what he deserved.
"It's starting!" Tori was jolted from her thoughts by the sound of her mother's excited voice, as the America Sings host's voice came onto the TV. She had never really gotten into the show - not for lack of trying - and had no idea how it worked, but Jade, to some degree of surprise, was a big fan of the program, and started explaining it to Tori as the host introduced the judges and went over what had happened in the previous week. Tori snuggled up against Jade, who put her arm around Tori as she told her about the contestants, making sure to add which ones she hated and thought were talentless idiots, which ones she hated but thought had a small chance of making it after the show ended, and which two she sort of liked and knew would be the finalists. Mrs. Vega agreed with her completely, and Tori fell into a conscious dream state as her mother and her temporary girlfriend started discussing the show in front of her. They were getting along well - Jade was actually getting along with another human being. Tori couldn't quite tell if it was genuine, or if the actress was only following her advice, but it seemed very strange to her either way, even more so than the way that Tori felt so comfortable in Jade's arms. She was so much softer than all the boys Tori had cuddled with on this very couch. There were no bulky muscles or prickly facial hair, and Jade did not smell of sweat or horrible cologne, which was a major plus side. She'd noticed earlier that the actress had taken her advice from the dressing room weeks before, as her lips were now much softer than all of those boys' had been. Her mouth had even tasted like cherries. That was something she'd never experienced with a boy. Almost all of them had tasted like bad steak or something equally unappetizing.
The first segment of the show ended and it faded into a commercial, prompting the whole room to go quiet. A Taco Bell one played, followed by a Best Buy ad, a cheesy Kay Jewelers commercial, and then one for Nationwide insurance. The show then came back, but everyone remained completely silent, until Jade's least favorite contestant performed and they all vocally agreed that the woman was awful and talentless. Following a few awkward glances at Trina, they grew silent once again, while the judges all ripped into the contestant and she started getting defensive, yelling at them and making herself look like a crazy fool.
After this, the program parted for another commercial break. This time, adverts for Purina Puppy Chow, Target, and the latest Bradley Cooper movie played, but still no LG. By this point in the show, everyone was already getting impatient. Jade got up to use the bathroom and missed over five minutes, leaving Tori in the living room with her family. The show was all that kept them from asking about Jade, as it obviously still didn't quite make sense to them that their daughter could possibly be in love with a girl who had poured coffee on her head and made her want to quit school on her very first day.
Andre made a couple comments about the third performer's eccentric outfit, causing everyone to laugh, but even his jokes didn't prevent it from being incredibly awkward. Tori found herself thinking about how thankful she was that Jade had come with her, or else the entire visit would have turned out this way.
When her missing half returned and squeezed back into the space beside her, it put Tori at ease almost immediately, much to her surprise. She blamed her exhaustion, but she knew it was a combination of Jade's toned down portrayal of herself and the fact that the two of them really had grown closer over the past couple weeks.
Just over halfway through the program, another commercial break came, this time opening with a Hoarders promo, followed by the LG ad they'd all been waiting for so patiently. The second it started the room went completely silent. Tori wasn't breathing, and it seemed like everyone else was holding their breath too. Three or four seconds of the instrumental part of the song played, and then Tori's distinctive voice echoed from the flat screen television's speakers. She sat with wide eyes, leaning forward in her seat as a montage of people using the latest smartphone played under the sound of her song. It lasted just barely thirty seconds, but when it ended and moved on seamlessly into a Frontline pet medication commercial, she felt like the queen of the world.
"Oh my god." She muttered under her breath, as her family cheered and Jade and Andre both crushed her in a giant hug. Jade was squeezing her a little too hard, but something about the feeling of the girl purposely digging her sharp fingernails into Tori's back was relaxing - it was very her.
"Pretty sure you're the most famous person in this room now." Andre said with a laugh as he returned to his now empty bowl of trail mix.
"But only until my movie comes out. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna win an Oscar for that part." Jade joked as she gave Tori another -more gentle - hug, surprising both the accomplished songstress and her best friend, who was obviously taking note of Jade's unusually happy attitude.
The show came back on, but nobody was paying attention anymore. Jade told Tori's curious parents about both her bartender role and her upcoming one, while Trina spoke over everyone and thought out loud about how she might consider auditioning for the next season of America Sings. Everyone stopped what they were doing for a moment to talk her out of that, but it didn't phase her. She simply stood up and went off to the restroom, singing loudly - and terribly - as she went.
Andre told a couple funny stories about some patrons in the coffee shops he'd been singing in the last couple weeks, and Tori suggested that he talk to Beck, to see if he would be willing to use him as live entertainment in his restaurant. Jade went quiet at the sound of her ex's name, but her awkward silence was soon ended by her anger, when the show finished with the judges voting off one of the contestants she liked, rather than the obnoxious and untalented Trina-esque woman. She couldn't contain her disappointment over their decision and was still mad about it when she left with Tori and Andre half an hour later.
While Jade sat pouting in the car, the other two sang along to the radio, both of them in better moods than they had been on the car ride in the opposite direction. The song ended and faded into an overplayed Enrique Iglesias song that the two friends hated, so Tori turned the radio down, giving Andre the chance to ask something he'd been wondering ever since he'd got in the car.
"So you guys really are together? Like...for real?"
"Of course." Tori answered right away. "Why would we lie about that?" Andre was silent for a second and Tori cringed at the thought of how awkward she'd just sounded.
"I guess you wouldn't. Just kind of a surprise, I guess. You guys never did get along, but hey, why question a little lady lovin'? If you two want to make out in public, be my guest." Tori quickly peered over her shoulder to give Andre a disapproving look, managing to cross the center line by a couple of inches before Jade reached over and grabbed the wheel, straightening it out before Tori could even react.
"Eyes on the road, babe. You're a terrible driver as it is." She gave Tori an obnoxious smile as she took in the sight of the girl's embarrassed face. They were both quiet for a few seconds, until Tori resumed her conversation with Andre as if it had never been interrupted.
"She's...hot. What can I say?" Andre gave her a knowing smile in the rearview mirror, and Jade smirked at her from the passenger seat, choosing not to comment. Before anyone had a chance to say anything else, Tori stopped the car in front of Andre's house once again. He reached for the door handle, but paused, leaning toward the front seat to say one last thing,
"If you guys wanted to resume making out in here now, nobody would complain."
"Andre." Tori smiled and reached back to push her best friend out of the car. He shut the door behind him and started back up the sidewalk, pausing to turn around and throw one arm into the air, cheering for Tori, who did the same thing inside the car.
"...You really think I'm hot?" Jade questioned with a smile after an awkward moment of silence, once they were back on the road.
"Doesn't everybody?" Tori turned red for the millionth time that day, but Jade only took it as a compliment. The color of her face mimicked Tori's almost perfectly though, which was reason enough to avoid teasing the girl any more than she already had.
"What was that with my parents?" Tori apprehensively brought up what had just happened as she merged onto the interstate.
"What do you mean?" Jade asked, pretending she had no idea. Tori glanced at her with narrowed eyes and turned back to the road, silent for another moment.
"You had an actual conversation with my mom. You made her like you."
"I had to." Her smile returned as Jade tried to defend herself against an accusation that wasn't meant to offend her. "I was just trying to be believable." Tori didn't question Jade's dedication any further, and simply drove her home, checking her phone once she put the car in park alongside the curb. She had one text message from Andre, and she pressed her thumb to the screen of her pear phone while she watched Jade disappear through her front door.
"Seriously Tori?" Was all the message read. She read it four times, confused about what he meant with those two words. She started to ask him, but then another message popped up onto her screen.
"I'm not gonna talk you out of it because I know she's kinda changed, but remember you're a hypocrite." He ended his text message with a winking smiley face, changing the whole tone of the message.
"I know," She texted back, "but you can't blame me."
"I can't. I support this relationship 100%." Tori rolled her eyes and texted back one more thing before shifting the car back into drive.
"Get those dirty thoughts out of your head, boy."
...
The rest of the week - and the weekend - went by rather quickly. Tori didn't have a whole lot to do, as her album was officially completely recorded and many of the business aspects were worked out. On Wednesday, she and Andre saw the Bradley Cooper movie they'd just seen advertised, and he made sure to question her some more about her relationship with Jade - he found the idea of Jade willingly entering into a relationship with Tori just a little too weird to fully believe it quite yet. She bullshitted her way through the entire conversation, and was happy when the previews ended and Andre went quiet.
On Thursday, Tori had a photoshoot, which was both exciting and nerve-wracking. Jade declined an invitation to go with, but they video chatted during Tori's lunch break. The contemptuous performer took that opportunity to make sure Tori knew that she didn't approve of her hairstyle, but she otherwise had relatively nice - for Jade, at least - things to say about her appearance.
She explained to Tori that she'd booked her plane ticket and in less than two weeks, would be leaving for Chicago to start production of her movie. She was beyond excited, but something about the way she smiled made Tori sense a little apprehension, like Jade wasn't quite ready to leave her home for something like this.
"I know we'll be done by the time it comes out," She told her, "and I know that you'll probably wet your pants and run out crying two minutes into the movie, but you're definitely going to see it with me. You have no choice."
"If you hold my hand and let me cover my eyes, I might survive." Tori responded, only realizing that she was genuinely flirting once the words were out of her mouth. Jade didn't seem to mind, and only nodded, before her phone rang and she disconnected without saying goodbye. Tori then went back to work, finishing the photoshoot in less than an hour before going home to her empty apartment.
The following Tuesday, Tori's manager invited her to lunch, insisting that Jade tag along. She didn't want to come, but Tori finally managed to convince her by offering to pay for the meal. Once they found out what restaurant James was taking them to, however, they both wished they would have stayed home. Tori tried to talk her altruistic manager into taking them anywhere other than Beck's restaurant, insisting that it was too expensive - he assured her that money was not a problem, and he'd be paying for both of them - and trying to convince him that there was an even better restaurant down the street. He disagreed with her and absolutely refused to go anywhere else. Eventually, Tori gave in and dragged her pseudo-significant other, who had gone stiff as a board at the sound of the restaurant's name, into the building. They found a table near the door and prayed that Beck wasn't working that day.
James was completely oblivious to their discomfort, but was very adamant that Tori pick out the photo for her album cover before they left the restaurant, and she was having trouble deciding. Jade put in her two cents, but of course, the one she liked the most was Tori's least favorite. They compromised and chose the only one that they could agree on, but the finality of picking the album cover made Tori feel sick to her stomach. She couldn't bring herself to finish her food, and sat at the table in silence while James and Jade finished their own lunches.
"So you're coming this weekend?" James tried to start up a conversation with Jade when Tori stopped talking. She was watching her oddly silent girlfriend with a slight amount of sincere concern on her face, and almost didn't notice that he was talking to her.
"Yeah," Jade answered absentmindedly. Tori finally looked up at her and she snapped back to reality. "I'm leaving for Chicago next Wednesday. This Thursday's my last shift at work, and I think we're leaving for Santa Barbara after I get off. Right?" She smiled and tightly squeezed Tori's hand, pulling it up onto the table between them. Tori looked confused for a moment, but agreed anyway.
"Uhh, yeah."
"Wonderful." James exclaimed. "I look forward to hearing all about this movie. Maybe we can get Tori on the soundtrack." He winked as his businessman side came out, and Jade laughed uncomfortably, wondering, as she watched Tori eat her lunch, just what the singer had told her manager about this movie.
"I don't know if she'd really fit with the whole, umm...theme of the movie...but I'll put in a good word for her." She took a sip of her water and returned her attention to James a moment later. When she looked up, however, her heart skipped a beat and she came close to spitting out her drink all over the table. Not even three tables away she saw a familiar head of shaggy dark hair on a man dressed in a green button-up, talking to a customer.
"Oh my god he's right there." She hissed at Tori, whose eyes grew to twice their size when Jade grabbed her shoulder and pulled her closer. "What if he comes over here?"
Just then, James' phone rang, surprising all three of them. He silently excused himself from the table, ducking into a quiet corner a few yards away just as Beck laughed loudly at something the old man seated in the booth in front of him had said.
"If he talks to James he's going to find out." Tori whispered, keeping her eyes on him while he moved to the next table.
"And he won't- he's not going to believe us, especially after last- after that night." Jade's voice was getting higher and higher as she grew more and more panicked. Tori looked back and forth between the actress and her ex-boyfriend a few times, as Jade rambled on. "He knows I would never cheat on anyone, not even you. He's not going to believe us. He'll make your manager suspicious, and he's...he's just gonna blow it. Tori, what do-"Thinking back to the previous week when they'd told Andre, Tori took a deep breath, and without another thought, she went for it, pulling Jade in by a fistful of her stiff dark blue shirt. Jade's first instinct was to push her off, but Tori held her close, faking a long and passionate kiss and hoping that Beck was watching.
A man at the table behind them cleared his throat loudly and Tori let go, her face burning crimson red with both embarrassment and shame. Jade's face was pure white, and all emotion was gone. She stared at Tori for a moment, and when she finally chanced a glance at Beck, she saw his face and her own quickly mirrored the same expression. Her head soon hit the table, and she wrapped her arms around it, trying not to cry. She wasn't completely sure why she was so upset. She wanted to believe that it was only because he'd looked so heartbroken, but that didn't seem to be the complete story.
Beck stalked away without ever having looked Tori in the eyes, and she suddenly had no idea what to do. With a great amount of discomfort, she reached over to pat Jade on the back, just as confused about why she was suddenly so upset as Jade herself was.
"Jade, I..." No more words came out, but the distressed woman sat up, adjusting her shirt, clearing her throat, and taking a drink from her glass of water as if nothing had happened.
"It's okay." She assured Tori, though it wasn't very convincing. "He had to find out eventually."
"But I probably could have-"
"No." Jade spit out robotically, "I'm mad at myself, not you. I messed up, and I made him think that our night together meant more than it did, and now I hurt him. It's all my fault, not yours. So if you'll excuse me, I'll see you on Thursday." Without another word, she stood up and left, leaving Tori alone at the table with only a slight idea as to what had just happened.