Chapter 10: Jet Lag
Jade had pushed Tori to keep moving forward until she was sure that the bear had lost interest and was not following them. With the sun coming up they at least knew which way was east. Although they did not know which way the Lodge was. Jade knew that they should not have moved on because it lowered their chance of being found, but they had to put distance between them and the bear.
They finally stopped on a big flat rock in a small clearing. Tori lay back on the rock and closed her eyes. She was so tired she didn't think that she could go another step. Jade sat and watched the treeline in all directions. She didn't want to have anything sneak up on them again.
"Jade, thanks for saving my life again." Tori said without opening her eyes.
"Hey no problem Baby I am getting kind of good at it." Jade smirked.
"You know I was told that in Canada same sex couples can get married without any of the hassle." Tori continued.
"Ya I heard that somewhere too." Jade knew where this was going and she was trying not to encourage it.
"Jade?" Tori asked.
"Ya Babygirl?"
"Will you marry me?" Tori asked point blank.
Jade was quiet for a minute thinking about how to answer her. Then she thought the direct approach was the best. "No Tori."
Tori sat up like she had been hit with an electric shock. "What? Don't you love me Jade? Why don't you want to marry me?"
"I do love you Tori and that is why I won't marry you." Jade started to explain herself, but Tori cut her off before she could finish what she was going to say.
"Jade West that doesn't make any sense. You won't marry me because you love me?" Tori was almost ready to cry again.
"You didn't let me finish. I do love you more than anything in this world Tori, but that is why I won't marry you. Not right now. You have big plans for your future and so do I. We have spent years working hard to get there and I fear that if we get married then we will start making decisions that will affect our goals. We are still young Tori. We just got out of high school. Don't you see that if you didn't even try to become a singer because of me, I couldn't live with myself?" Jade was now looking at Tori hoping she was understanding what she was telling her.
"I guess you are right. I just love you so much and we are in this beautiful place that accepts us as we are and I just thought that we have now had two close calls and I don't want to lose you and….." Tori was rambling.
"Victoria you will never lose me. I am committed to this relationship. Even if we have to separate for a short time to pursue our goals I won't be going anywhere. I will always be there with you and waiting for you. I don't want any other person in my life than you. I know right now it seems like the right thing to do, but I know it isn't. I don't need a ring on your finger to tell the world that you are mine. I know it and you know it and that if fine for right now." Jade felt like she was starting to get her point of view across.
"I know you are right, but I am so scared of you getting tired of me and finding someone else. You are so beautiful and I see how guys and girls look at you. They all want to be with you. I couldn't go on alone. I fear that the most." Tori said looking at her shoes.
"Okay just give me a minute. I need to do something. Stay where you are. I am only going over there and I will be right back." Jade used her hands to punctuate what she was saying.
Jade got up and walked about twenty feet away into the knee high grass. She bent down and grabbed a couple of stems and pulled them from the ground. She pulled the leaves off the stems and started working them. When she was done she had braided together the grass stems and tied them into a small circle. She then returned to where Tori was sitting.
The search party followed Scotsman's Creek and at different intervals split off and started working to the west. Paul and Beck broke off and headed to the general area that Paul remembered the old shack to be located. They walked for about a half an hour when they reached the small clearing.
It was Paul who spotted the bear prints in the soft ground. "There has been a bear here in the last 24 hours. I hope they didn't meet up with it."
They then saw what was left of the little shack. The bear had done quite a number on the back wall. It no longer supported the roof at all. The door was crushed in and things were really dug up around it. Beck stuck his head in the shack and then said to Paul, "They were here last night. The stove is still smoking."
"I will call it in." Paul keyed his radio and told Lamont that they had found the shack and that the girls had been there. He gave there GPS coordinates so the search could be moved to their spot.
It was about another hour before all the teams assembled at the shack. They were looking for track and trying to figure out where to go next, when Beck told them he knew which direction they went.
"When did you become the Great Tracker?" Andre hacked on Beck a little.
"When I saw a pair of scissors sticking in that tree over there!" Beck pointed to a large green spruce on the edge of the clearing. The sun was glinting off the pair of chrome scissors stuck about five feet off the ground.
The searchers started fanning out in the general direction that the scissor indicated. About a hundred yards further they found another pair of scissors stuck in a tree through a page from Tori's novel. This was Jade's way of telling them she had run out of scissors and they should now be looking for pages.
They collected the pages about every twenty steps. It was no longer a search, it was now like following the proverbial bread crumbs. They knew they were getting close.
Jade made her way back to Tori. She got down on her knees in front of Tori and looked her in the eyes. "Tori, I love you more than anything on this planet. You are my moon and stars. You are the day to my night. I am not asking you to marry me, not today. I am making a pledge to you that one day I will ask you to marry me. Our love will last longer than this ring that I have made. I want you to accept it and put it on to show to me that you can wait until that day comes when things are in place and we are ready to be married. I was going to tell you when we got home, but this seems like the right time to tell you. I have used some of the money that my dad gave me at graduation to get an apartment. It is near U.C.L.A. Los Angeles. Victoria Melissa Vega will you marry me someday and until then live with me."
Tori took the little woven grass ring from Jade. She looked at it for what seemed like hours to Jade, then she put it on her finger on her left hand and kissed Jade. "Yes Jadelynn Ashley West I will marry you someday and live with you until then." They kissed again and held each other.
Jade jumped and reached for the scissors that weren't there when she heard a sound in the forest off to her left. She pushed Tori behind her and stood ready to face whatever was coming towards them.
The searchers broke out into a clearing and there in front of them were the two girls that they had been looking for. They were a little dirty and scratched up from their fight through the woods to get away from the bear, but other than that they were fine.
Paul instantly got on his radio, "Search Base 3 Bars this is Section Leader 2 we have found the girls, I repeat we have found the girls."
He then stuck out his hand and said, "Hi I am Paul I have been looking for you!" With that Andre threw his arms around Tori and lifted her off the ground. He turned to hug Jade but decided to hold out his hand to shake her hand instead. She looked at his outstretched hand and laughed and then gathered him into a hug and told him it was good to see him too.
Paul led the group to a point where they met up with other searchers and made their way down the mountain to the ranch. Tori wanted to break into a run when she saw the ranch buildings, but there was no way her tired legs would have responded. "So after we left the shack how did you find us?"
"We found these!" Andre said holding up the scissors and the pages from the romance novel.
Jade took the scissors back from him and wiped them on her jeans before putting them back in her pockets.
"Jade I was going to finish that novel!" Tori whined.
"Oh they are all the same Tori. Boy gets girl and they get married and all is well in the end. They suck so much I don't know how you can read them." Jade said disgusted.
"Would you like it more if girl got girl?" Tori asked with a devilish smile on her face.
"I don't need to read about it. Girl already got girl she said holding up Tori's hand with the little grass ring on her finger." Jade kissed the back of Tori's hand and then held it as they walked the last bit of distance to the lawn in front of the Big House where everyone was waiting for them.
The girls answered a lot of questions and Officer Lamont took notes for his report. They were given coffee and food and a comfortable place to sit in the shade. When Lamont was finished he told them that he had to get back to office and made the girls promise him that they were done hiking. To everyone's laughter and words of agreement.
When asked what they wanted to do the girls both agreed that maybe a shower and some sleep was in order so they headed to their cabin to the comforts of civilization. Jade joked that she would have never called this civilization a week ago, but now she had a different perspective.
The girls slept right through supper that night and woke up in time to join the guests at the campfire that night. They tried to convince Joan that they were not hungry, but she had saved them each a piece of cherry pie so they enjoyed that while staring at the fire.
Jade sat on a wooden lounge chair and Tori climbed in sitting between her legs. Tori leaned back against Jade while she wrapped her arms around her. Holly came over and kissed both girls on the head and covered them with a warm blanket. It was the first time that Jade felt completely accepted by Holly.
Cat was the first to notice Tori's hand. "Hey Tor what is that on your finger?"
"Cat that is a ring that Jade made for me. It was to help cheer me up." Tori said looking over her shoulder smiling at Jade.
"Does it mean that you are engaged?" Cat asked with that I told you so grin she gets.
"No it is not an engagement ring. It is an 'I love you ring'." Tori explained.
There was a look of relief on Holly's face. She was thinking the same thing, but didn't want to ask. There was no way she thought that Tori was old enough to get married. She wanted her daughter to be happy and loved, but she wanted her to follow her dreams too.
"It is all I had to work with at the time. I will get her a real ring later." Jade said as much to Tori as to Cat.
They all enjoyed there last couple of days in Canada and Tori and Jade stuck close to the ranch. No more adventures for them on this trip.
It wasn't long before it was time to leave. Swede drove them back to the airport and they checked in and waited for their flight. Some of the group were sleeping in the chairs at the gate. Everyone that is except for Tori and Jade.
"I think that we should tell them." Tori said in a low voice, but not as low as she thought.
"We will, but why does it have to be right now?" Jade asked.
"Well both of them are here and we have nothing but time. This way there is no distraction and they are both together. You know what my house is like. They are rarely at home and never at the same time." Tori said.
"Ya I have to admit you are the most loved neglected child in the world." Jade said with a smirk.
Tori took Jade's hand and dragged her out of her chair. Then she put her arm around her girlfriend's waist and dragged her over to where Holly and David were sitting with Sonya.
"Hi, ah Aunt Sonya could we have a minute with mom and dad?" Tori asked meekly.
"Ya sure girls. I want to hit the duty fee shop anyway." Sonya said grinning.
For a moment the girls just stood there trapped in the gaze of Tori's parents. "Mom, Dad well Jade and I have been doing some thinking. We are going to be going off to University in the fall and we are in love. I guess there is no easy way to say this other than Jade has asked me to move in with her when we get home." Tori felt like she had blurted out a national secret.
"You …. Ah… wan..t …. to live with Jade?" Holly asked for clarification.
"Yes Mrs. Vega I was left some money and I am going to be buying an apartment near U.C.L.A and I guess I thought why drive back and forth to your house all the time when we could just live together in my apartment. See we both decided…" Jade looked at Tori with a look that says we talked about this! "…we have goals and plans and we don't want to abandon those dreams. We want to be together, but we need time to grow up and see if this is a forever thing." With that Tori gave her a stern look and squeezed her waist with her hand.
Neither parent said anything at first they just looked at each other and at the girls. "Well." Holly started. "We were just discussing your situation last night in our cabin. I have to say Jade I judged you too quickly when I first met you. I must tell you that I thought that you were wrong for Tori and that you would just hurt her, but I was very wrong about you and I apologize. You have shown us that you have a very level head on your shoulders and that you really do love Tori. We know you can protect her you have shown that several times."
David joined in, "We were sure you were going to tell us that you wanted to get married. We were ready with the whole 'you are too young' and 'what about your goals?' speech, so I guess you are quite a bit ahead of us there. I think her mother and I agree with you Jade that you are too young. We also don't want to meddle in Tori's life. She is fully able to make her own decisions. We just want to have input sometimes." David laughed.
"How about we help you girls find a place that is safe and clean and in an good neighborhood. Then we would feel a lot better about you living there. It has taken us a little while to get used to you two dating, so I sure it will take a little more time to get used to you living together." Holly said smiling.
"Thanks Mr. and Mrs. Vega I do love Tori and I will look after her." Jade said grinning at Tori.
"That is good, because you might not have noticed, but she tends to trust too much and jump into things without thinking." David said.
"Dad!" Tori whined.
"It is true Tori and Jade if you are going to be a part of this family would you call us mom and dad. I feel so damn old when you call me Mrs. Vega it is so formal and besides I keep thinking David's mother is behind me and it scares the crap out of me everytime." Holly and Jade laughed.
"My mother is a wonderful woman…" David started up just like Tori would.
"Ok Mrs. I mean Mom. Thanks for trusting me with your daughter." Jade said.
"Jade, do you like sports…" David put his arm around Jade and led her away while discussing attending sports events.
"Thanks Mom." Tori hugged her mom.
"Well you are a grown woman whether I like it or not. Just don't get pregnant." She laughed.
"Okay mom I will do my best." Tori said laughing with her.
The End
AN: Once again I don't own the characters from the TV show Victorious. I just help keep them alive. The song Jet Lag is a great song by Simple Plan. Thanks for sticking with this story. I know it wasn't as wild as my first story was, but I think we all needed a rest from that wild ride. I hope you enjoyed this. I already have some other ideas. Please feel free to give me your opinions on my stories that feedback keeps an author writing. Until Next Time. SM