Disclaimer: I still don't own Victorious.
A/N: I wrote the majority of this at school, but I couldn't finish the ending because of class. So...you're getting it now. This chapter is...well...It's somewhat of a teaser, I guess? I should say pay attention to some detail, but technically y'all should be doing that...
Enjoy ^_^
Chapter 21
"I'm going to kill him."
"Calm down…"
I turn on my heel and glare at Cat. "Don't you dare tell me to calm down, Cat, you weren't there. He hit her. She could have a concussion and it's because of that bastard. I couldn't stop it because I didn't want to give him any lingering reasons to believe that Tori and I didn't break up."
Cat frowns and tilts her head. "But you guys didn't…" I clamp my hand over her mouth and shake my head. "Okay, so you broke up. What does it matter to Andre if you're together or not? Why is he being such an asshole about this?" I shrug and lean against the wall of the janitor's closet. This is usually mine and Tori's spot, but that won't happen anymore, not for a while.
I check my phone out of habit and frown when I notice a text message that I wasn't expecting…and I didn't hear my phone beep when I received it. I open it and glance at Cat. "I'm going to miss the rest of classes. See you at home?" She nods and I open the door, stepping into the hall and heading for the parking lot. Beck grabs my arms before I can leave the hallway and I shake my head, pulling my arm out of his grasp. "I'm not going after Andre, Beck, I promise."
"I don't trust that you'll leave him alone, Jade. I know how you feel right now, and it won't be good for anyone if you don't just leave it alone."
I glare at him. "For your information, I'm going straight home. Would you like to follow me to make sure?" He sighs and I roll my eyes, heading for my car. Opening the driver's side door, I slide into the seat and back out of the parking spot, driving home. Once I'm parked in the driveway, I glance around as inconspicuously as possible before leaving my car. Cat's brother is sitting on the couch in the living room when I enter through the front door, and he glances up at me, smiling. I notice his hand is wrapped in gauze and wonder what the hell he did this time, but knowing him, it was just something stupid. "What do you want?"
He shrugs. "I'm bored and I figured you wouldn't be opposed to skipping school to hang out…"
"Any other day, I would have been happy to, but Andre picked a fight with Tori today, and I'm worrying about her. He hit her in the head pretty hard and she didn't seem entirely alright when I left her with the nurse."
He frowns. "Yeah, I heard about that. She, uh…She called me." I raise my brow and someone clears their throat from the kitchen. My head snaps around to look in that direction and I find Tori leaning against the wall, staring at me. Cat's brother smiles and stands, clapping my shoulder as he passes me for the stairs. "Try to keep it quiet and civil." I watch him climb the stairs and disappear on the second flight before turning my gaze to Tori, and she crosses the room, sitting on the couch.
I sit beside her, examining her face as she flips through channels on the TV, and she rolls her eyes. "You don't have to worry about me, Jade. I'm alright now, thanks to some ice and aspirin." Doesn't she realize that I'm never going to stop worrying about her, especially after she goes and fights with Andre?
"He could have seriously hurt you, Tori." She stares at me and nods, assuring me that she's well aware of that fact. Why is she being so damn stubborn about this, acting as though she could care less if she gets hurt? She takes my hand in both of hers and plays with my rings, her eyes still locked with mine. "This isn't over," I whisper, and she shrugs.
"I'm doing this so that you don't get hurt, Jade. They have problems with you, and I'm trying to keep you out of their grasp for as long as I can. As for Andre…He's never going to win, now that I know what he's done and what he keeps doing. He's doing the same thing to us that you told me he did to that boy, and I'm going to make sure that was the end of it. I'm handling this on my own. I can't let you be hurt."
I pull my hand from hers and shake my head. "This is my problem, Tori. I dragged you into it and I need to fix it myself. And I'll be damned if I let Andre touch you again." She takes my hand again, this time wrapping my arm around her waist and cuddling into my side. It's as though we never broke up, but I know we're pretending. What we have…it can't end. And I'll fight to the bitter end to make sure we don't fall apart.
She kisses my cheek and rests her head against my shoulder, and we finally turn our attention to the TV to watch some lame movie that I'm glad they play while we're in school so we don't have to suffer through it when we can't find anything else to watch.
Whatever comes our way…We're going to have to be ready for it.
BREAK
I wake up to someone shaking my shoulder and groan, trying to roll over. I find it impossible to, realizing I'm lying in someone's arms, and I open my eyes slowly, glancing up at Cat, who's kneeling next to the couch, shaking my shoulder. "Did they get the scissors out of the fire?" I ask drowsily, and Cat raises her brow, confused. I shake my head and glance over my shoulder, noticing Tori directly behind me, her arm wrapped tight around my waist. I remember that we fell asleep on the couch and search for the clock about the TV. We've been lying here for four hours, comfortable together.
"Jade…what is Tori doing here? I thought the point of trying to keep Andre in the dark was that you guys weren't going to be together at all."
"Relax, Cat. Andre isn't going to find out about this. Besides, it seriously is none of his business what goes on between Tori and me." I pry Tori's arm from around my waist, but the girl has me in a death grip. God, when she wants to hold me, she means it. "Obviously Tori isn't going anywhere right now, so call her parents and tell them that Tori's over here for the night. I'd call them, but then they'd think that we're back together and I can't have Trina thinking that, otherwise Andre will find out." Technically Tori and I aren't really together, but if we can do this, if we can be together, then I'm fine with being broken up. But we can never go back to being just friends.
Cat shrugs and goes upstairs to her room, leaving Tori and me alone on the couch. "Is she gone?" a voice mutters close to my ear, sending shivers shooting down my spine. I nod and turn to face Tori, kissing her. "You know we can't do this all the time, Jade. They'll get suspicious."
I frown and sigh. "You think I don't know that? I just…I don't want to deal with reality right now, Tori." I don't want to do this right now, argue with her, make her feel like she's better off anywhere else than here with me. I don't know why we can't just have a normal relationship, why something has to stand in the way. If it isn't Andre, it's the gang, or it's something else. There's always going to be something. And yeah, I know it's normal or whatever, but it's overwhelming sometimes when we have to protect our relationship more than actually have one.
I seriously hate thinking.