A/N Um... So this isn't a threesome story. Or a lovey-dovey story, for that matter. It breaks my heart to write this stuff sometimes, but break-ups happen.
"Jade? Jade, wake up."
"Hm...?"
"There's a movie to direct." Jack. Oh. Oh, god. How long have I been sleeping?
I rub my forehead without opening my eyes just yet. "Okay, whose idea was it to let me go to sleep?"
"I dunno. Just found you sleeping here, boss. We've got one more scene to do, and we finally got everyone in all that crazy make-up you wanted."
Definitely not caring too much about the movie right now, I sit up suddenly. "Andre!"
"No, Jack. I'm Jack."
I shake my head. Groaning, I correct myself: "Ahh, no. Andre. My friend. He came here and- Cat!"
"Slow down, Jade. Did you guys break up or something?"
"No, there wasn't anything to begin with. But... yes... I pushed her away. She's not even going to be my friend anymore," I say glumly. "And we still have to- Oh, she's in this scene, isn't she?"
"Yes'm. Come on before everyone starts yelling at you for once," Jack says calmly, reaching out a hand to help me up.
I am perfectly capable of getting up myself and I'm also a little peeved, so I slap his hand away and stand up. Goodness, can't people just understand when I don't want to be touched? My irritability is pretty prominent, y'know? Anyway, I do have to direct this scene, so I shuffle unhappily to set. Fortunately, I at least know where I'm going. I would be a lot more embarrassed if I had to ask Jack for more help.
"All right, everyone! Everything's under control," I say loudly as I enter the room we're using for set. And there's always chaos, so I know I have to be loud.
Okay, everyone's in a mild state of confusion right now, but nothing major. All good. Someone I don't recognize seems to be having trouble rigging some lights, but we'll be good to go soon enough. Lights aren't my area of expertise, so I find one of what's-his-name-newbie's superiors and wait it out. It's not a good idea to rush the techs too much, lest I have a resentful crew armed with electrical equipment.
I've managed to half asleep in my chair within a minute. That is, until I feel a tap on my shoulder which makes me jolt up. "What?"
"I- uh, Jade..." It's Cat. Great.
"Hi, Cat. Go... not here." I turn my head away from her and sulk. She's still next to me, I can tell. "Now. We're not friends or anything, so there is absolutely no reason for you to be talking to me right now."
She sighs and I can hear her walk away slowly. I feel horrible for treating my best friend- erm, former best friend- like shit. But we have to break this off or I'm going to feel even more guilty.
Another bad date. I think I'm destined for a life of loneliness forevermore. Oh, no. I'm becoming Edgar Allen Poe. Uck. He's kind of whiny, and I don't even know why I liked him so much as a kid. Okay, yeah, I do. He was dark and I wanted to like everything dark. There's something so appealing when you're a teenager about resenting the world, misinterpreting everything, and being angry. Anyway, forgiving my former literary taste, I really am just that screwed out of relationship happiness.
I haven't seen or heard from Cat nor Tori in months. Well, no, that's a lie. I can't even pick up a magazine anymore without finding some mention of how happy Tori and Cat are together, or about how successful their careers are. Sleep has abandoned me, and I'm moodier than ever. The only thing that can distract me from my unhappiness is my job. Right now, I'm helping a friend out with her screenplay, and prepping for my own next projects. I've tried everything else besides work to keep at least satisfactorily chipper, but one night stands with pretty girls with big brown eyes mostly just make me want to cry.
The dates might be better, though. I tend to get set up on those by people who either don't know or don't know about Cat. Guys with charming smiles and the occasional girls with all of their shit together make me feel like a mess. It's not them that's messing up the dates; all of this is my fault, pushing everyone away who might stand a chance at making me feel happier. It would probably do me some good to make somebody else happy too. Yeah, I know that I'm a shitty lay.
As soon as my date (his name is Tom) uncomfortably ushers me to my doorstep, my mind is directed towards work. With an eager look in my eyes not present before, I kiss him good night and mumble something about another time. After I finally get some time to myself, I'm preparing myself for work, work, and more work. My comfiest pajamas, enough caffeinated tea cans to make a pyramid, and a heaping bowl of tortilla chips are all I need right now to work steadily for six and a half hours. I probably would have gone seven and a half or eight hours if the phone hadn't rang.
I didn't even hear the ringtone the first time it sounded, but the flashing lights out of the corner of my eye brought me out of a work-induced trance. Groggily, I retrieve the phone and answer unsteadily: "Hello?"
"Jadey? I- err... Jade?"
"Cat?"
"Yeah."
"...Okay."
"Hi."
"H-hi, Cat."
"I'm sorry."
"What for?" I know that I want her to apologize, because I'm hurt. But I don't deserve that.
"Ruining our friendship, for one thing. I mean, you've always been my best friend. Well, not always. Because, you know, that would be really weird. We'd have to be born friends, and I wasn't even friends with my mom right off the bat. Huh... And I-"
I shouldn't be letting her ramble. "Don't apologize. This is my fault."
"Um..."
"You know it is. I can't even believe that you called me. I hurt you so badly. And- and I said we weren't friends."
"But you didn't mean it-"
"I didn't mean it, but not in the way you think."
There's only some fuzzy static on her end of the line. All right, I've got to say all of this myself. Okay. I can do this. Jade Freaking West doesn't back down when the going gets tough. Okay, now I'm sounding like a tough guy, and I'm no John Wayne. I'm just, well, me, and I've got to deal with my own shit.
"Right. So, Cat, I do care about you, but cheating makes me feel awful inside. If things had been different. If things- I- I don't know." So much for getting through this.
A sigh can be heard from her end. "What are you saying?"
"It wasn't meant to be. See, I think we both fucked up. Tori makes you so happy. And maybe I could have made you happy too, but this not-so-linear sexuality thing is new to me. Don't judge me, Cat. I'm not as accepting of change as you are." I have no idea what I'm talking about right now. There's way too much that I want to tell her, and I'm not lingering for nearly long enough on any topic. Rubbing frustrated circles over my temples, I continue. "If I'd realized how attractive and wonderful you were earlier, maybe we'd be married now. But 'what if's are nigh-useless... You still love Tori, right?"
"Yes."
"Oh. Okay." I suppose that response was only to be expected. "I forgot to ask, but are you still, you know, into me like that?"
"Yes."
"So you're not over me?"
She giggles for just a moment, and I'm having a hard time picking up any traces of bitterness in her tone. "I guess I never really got over you, Jadey. Not all the way. Right now, though, I need you as a friend more than I want you as the beautiful girl who's been in my dreams since high school."
"So you're saying...?"
"God, Jade, all I need right now is my best friend back. Do you know how much fun movie nights are with Tori?"
"How fun are they?" I respond, humoring her.
"...Well, they're actually really fun, but we never actually end up finishing the movie, which totally sucks."
"What, you don't have someone else to force your romcoms and who-the-fuck-knows-where-you-found-these-B-movies on?"
"No, and it's awful! Please, please, please come up here the next time you get the chance? I need someone to hold me during a scary movie that's not going to try to get in my pants and won't be too mean to me about it."
How the hell did I go so long without her in my life? "I'll be in London within the week, airplane booking convenience permitting. That means you have seven days to get a hold of Bridget Jones's Diary and the wacky horror movie of your choice. Got it?"
I'm worried something awful has happened to her after she doesn't respond for at least twenty seconds. I hear some weird clunking noises through the phone, leading me to be quite suspicious. I'm just about to abandon my patience and start freaking out when she starts laughing hysterically. She says between chuckles, "I'm sorry! I fell out of my chair, I was so happy!"
"Y'know what? Make that six days. You need me too much. How did you survive without me?"
"Ah ha. No, no, no. How did you survive without me?"
Honestly? I have no idea. It doesn't matter anymore, though, since I am never letting myself lose my best friend again.
ENDENDEND
Okay, so it took me over half of a year to finish this last chapter, but it's done. I'm not completely pleased with everything, but I couldn't leave this story without something resembling a conclusion. Yeah, I intended to end this story on a much sadder note, but I think Jade and Cat need each other in their lives, no matter what roles they play. That's not necessarily true for canon Cade, but I've come to realize that it's not very fun to write for these characters completely IC. Right now, the characters are just way too shallow to write without betraying some of canon, and my fic's story predates a lot of character development. -shrugs- Who knows if I'll write for Victorious again? I don't.
