Tori
Tori was still sat at the counter, chin resting in her palm, skimming through the music Andre had already chosen ready for tonight. She liked his choices, but felt the need to sneak in a few of her favourite songs and fiddle with the track order here and there. She never really told anyone, but she enjoyed making little playlists for her music, her laptop at home was full of them; playlists for happy days, playlists for sad days, playlists just for dancing around her room when she was getting dressed in the morning… it was something the Latina did when she was bored just to pass the time.
She was busy trying to space out all of the Katy Perry songs she'd added in, so it didn't seem like there were too many, when the sound of hurried footsteps caught her ears and she looked up just in time to see Jade burst into the room.
"Hey." Tori said, returning her attention to the computer screen. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to act around the paler girl right now, especially with Andre in the house, so she tried to stay as nonchalant as possible.
Jade
"We need to talk." Jade said straightforwardly, capturing the girl's attention. "Did Andre wonder why you were here?" Jade asked, paranoia and suspicion plastered on her face. She walked closer to the girl, yet kept no eye contact whatsoever. Her hands kept fumbling with the hem of her shirt or the necklace around her neck. She was confused and her heart kept leaping during the wrong times. It was a wreck, but Jade was trying to keep it together.
She watched Tori bite her lip and face her with a sad look in her eyes. It was obvious she was upset with Jade's sudden shift in mood.
Tori
It was obvious just from looking that Jade was bothered by the fact that Tori was here. The Latina tried to bite back the annoyance she felt at this, after all, it was Jade who had invited her round in the first place, before anyone else. She shrugged, still looking at the music selection on the screen instead of the tattooed girl who stood beside her, fiddling with anything she could find in discomfort.
"He looked confused, but didn't ask." Tori said. "I was going to say that Trina had dropped me off early if anyone wanted to know."
Jade
"Is that what you want?" Jade's breath hitched when Tori figured out what she was trying to say. "I mean, if you…" Jade was rambling and she never did that. She sighed, a hand running through her hair.
"Wait." Jade put both hands in front of her and asked Tori to look at her. She wanted to see those eyes even though she knew it would just cause her harm. She walked towards her and grabbed her forearm gently, as if she was going to kiss her but she just looked at her. "Tori," She said her name with a sigh.
Tori
Tori tried to avoid looking at Jade, she didn't want to see what was behind those eyes, but it was near impossible not to look. She turned from the computer screen, glancing down at Jades hand on her arm before slowly looking up to the Goth's face. It took all her strength to catch her eye, and Tori felt her heart jump as she did so; Jade looked worried and paranoid, as if just the Latina's presence was a giveaway to what they had been doing. Tori sighed, her jaw set in stubborn defiance. She was still upset over what happened earlier.
"No, it's not what I want." Tori admitted quietly at first, but found her voice again when she continued. "But, I figured you'd want an excuse for me being here before everyone else, and it's the first thing I thought of, so…"
She trailed off and turned to face the screen again, not wanting to look at Jade for too long out of fear she'd lose control of herself and capture her lips in a soft kiss, just to wipe the look of near fear from her face. It hurt Tori to do so, but if she was going to have to spend the night pretending they still didn't get along, then it was best to start now or it would never happen.
Jade
"Tori, I…" Jade wanted to touch her again. She wanted to feel her skin against hers even if it was only a part of her arm. Tori didn't even look back. She was focused on the screen even though Jade knew she wasn't looking at it. She just didn't want to face her.
"What do you want?" Jade whispered, moving in closer but still at a distance so they wouldn't touch. Which was the exact opposite of what Jade wanted, if she were really honest with herself.
Tori
The tan girl huffed and swallowed the lump in her throat. Jade sounded almost vulnerable, it was washing away Tori's anger, making her want to hold the tattooed girl in her arms again, but she couldn't, no matter how much she wanted to. She took a sharp breath in when she realized how close Jade was getting, but did her best to ignore it, keeping her eyes fixed unseeing at the screen.
"You know what I want." She muttered. "But it's selfish and I'm not going to get it, so there's no point-"
Tori didn't mean her words to sound as bitter as they did and she cut herself in hope of stopping the hurt in her voice. With a sigh, she turned to face Jade again, her hands in her lap so she wouldn't reach out to the pale girl; she'd have to learn to control herself for tonight.
"I suppose we're just going to play things out as normal tonight." She said slowly, emphasizing the word 'normal' with air quotes. "Just act as everyone usually sees us? It's fine, I can cope with that."
That was a lie, Tori knew she couldn't cope with it, even if she avoided Jade for the whole party, which wouldn't exactly be easy. She only hoped she could put her acting skills to use so no one would figure out there was something wrong.
Jade
Jade retracted all forms of advancement and nodded. She sighed as she walked away from her den back to the room only to be stopped by some unknown force that drew her back to the girl whose eyes never moved away from her.
Jade forgot how to breathe when Tori sighed and looked away from her. No, it wasn't supposed to be this way. She wasn't supposed to suffer. This wasn't supposed to be the scenario.
Jade thought that if she hadn't kissed Tori in the park that time, she'd probably be doing it with Beck right about now. The thought disgusted her though, and she tried to distract herself with something else. She moved past the latina and got out three mugs. For Andre, Tori and herself. She made coffee and handed Tori a cup without even asking and considered asking Andre to join them now that their score was settled.
"So, umm.." Jade asked awkwardly, "What you working on?" She huffed. Pathetic, Jade.
Tori
Tori took a sip of her coffee, hiding the small smile on her face at Jade's lame attempt at conversation. She sighed again as she put the mug down and went back to rearranging tracks in the playlist, mainly so she wouldn't have to look at Jade. It hurt a little how Jade had just agreed to their act tonight, but she should've expected it, they couldn't exactly be a couple in front of everyone. Is that what we are? A couple? Or should that be a triple, as Beck is still in the picture? Tori fought not to roll her eyes are her own terrible joke in her head. Whatever they were, they couldn't be it tonight, Tori knew that.
"Sorting out the music for tonight." She answered in a muttered, concentrating on five songs she didn't know what order to put in. "And waiting for Andre to come back so I can see what he thinks of my changes. I hope he's not mad that I messed with his music."
Tori chanced a glance at the pale girl to see her leaning against the counter, nodding her head a little to indicate that she had heard the Latina even though she wouldn't look at her. The brunette found herself wishing that Andre would hurry up and come back from the bathroom so this awkwardness would end.
Jade
"All right then." Jade sighed. She wanted more for sure and the last time she almost got in the girl's pants was less than an hour ago. Ay caramba. She debated on moving back to her room to find Andre or sitting down next to the girl. She didn't know, but Andre's coffee would get cold. Whatever. She could always heat it anyway.
She moved closer to Tori, looking at what she was messing around with on Andre's laptop. Peering over her shoulder, she rested her chin lightly on it with Tori not seeming to mind. Soon, Jade's fingers played with Tori's hair and her eyes were glued to her skin instead of the screen. She was letting her gut take over this one.
Tori
"Jade." Tori muttered in protest as the paler girl wrapped a strand of Tori's hair around her finger then let it uncurl, continuing to do the same again with other strands. She should have moved away to stop it, but Tori found herself shifting slightly closer to Jade, her stomach tightening in knots when their knees accidentally brushed together.
"You're not making this easy." She mumbled, choosing to pick up her coffee cup in both her hands to stop herself for reaching out for Jade's hand, as she so desperately wanted to. Tori took an extra big gulp of the hot liquid just as Jades finger grazed her ear, resulting in the Latina taking a sharp breath in and almost choking. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the tattooed girl smirk at her reaction.
"Don't." Tori said in a quiet voice. This was torture. She wanted nothing more than to take Jade and carry on from where they'd left off, before the tears, but she couldn't, especially not with Andre in the house. Jade could probably sense this, which was why she was happily torturing Tori right now.
The brunette reached up to where Jades hand was playing with her hair and pulled it away, linking their fingers together briefly, feeling her heart fluttered at the gesture, before reluctantly letting go and turning her attention back to the screen in front of her.
Jade
Jade's hand sparked at the touch. It hurt her, yes, not physically but emotionally. It was painful but the pain in Tori's voice tripled hers. It was definitely harder for her, Jade had to understand. But she needed one more. One more piece of their dream state before setting foot in reality permanently.
Jade persistently grabbed Tori's chin with two fingers, a hand on her waist as the hand closer to her face tucked a strand of hair away from her face. She tugged Tori closer, taking in her scent and pulled her own face up, noses touching as she played with the waistband of Tori's pants.
"I know," Jade breathed. "I'm sorry." She whispered and pulled away. Tori's scent making her dizzy and disoriented.
Tori
Tori saw the hurt behind Jade's eyes as they very briefly made eye contact when their noses touched; Tori's heart leaped to her throat at the contact then dropped to her stomach when Jade moved away. It couldn't be easy for her either, but the stubborn part of Tori's mind reminded her that it was Jade's choice to do this, to stay with both her and Beck at the same time and act like there was nothing happening between the two of them. Tori wanted to be happy with the situation, she really did, but her heart wouldn't let her be.
"It's okay," the shorter girl murmured, turning away and running a hand through her hair. She couldn't concentrate on the music now, not with Jade so close that just a slight turn of the head and she could be kissing away her troubles.
Tori clenched a fist on the table at the thought, trying to squash it down and stop herself from acting on it She cleared her throat a little, her heart beating rapidly where it came to rest in the pit of her stomach. God, why did this have to be so difficult?
"So, uh, do you want to add anything in here?" She asked, waving a hand at the computer screen to indicate the music playlist.
Jade
"I'm sure he'd be okay with it." That's when Jade had an idea. She knew that one of her favorite—yet kept a secret—songs was stored in Andre's iTunes somewhere. She clicked some buttons and the song started playing.
You're in my arms
And all the world is calm
The music playing on for only two
So close together
And when I'm with you
So close to feeling the love
"Tori?" Jade offered her hand in one brave move and hoped Tori would take it. Just one dance then she'd leave. Besides, who would see them? No one. It's just one little dance that wouldn't matter to anyone else but them. "Just one." Jade pleaded, extremely desperate.
Tori
` "A-are you sure this is a good idea?" Tori whispered, gulping back her nerves and glancing over in the direction Andre had walked in, but, as she turned back to Jade, she just couldn't say no to the look in her eyes.
The Latina took Jade's hand, allowing the taller girl to pull her to her feet. She linked their fingers again then let her left hand rest on Jade's shoulder as the other girl took her by the waist, pulling her in close. Jade smiled down at her with a genuine, happy smile, that made the tan girls heart skip a beat; she was evidently pleased that Tori had agreed to dance, and Tori smiled back, forgetting all her worries about Andre walking in, and the night ahead, in an instant.
"I meant what I said earlier." She said quietly for only Jade to hear, placing her head on Jade's shoulder to join her hand. She was struggling to find her voice, still feeling the conflicting emotions from their conversation in the bedroom before. She couldn't lie, it was hurting her to not be able to do something as simple as hold Jade's hand without the fear of someone seeing, even silly little things like not being able to put a status on their 'relationship' were getting to her.
Tori shook her head when Jade looked down at her curiously, swallowing back a lump in her throat. "I meant it." She murmured, hoping Jade wouldn't actually hear her. "I love you. I shouldn't, but I do, and - I don't know."
Tori pulled back, trying to get away, but Jade kept a firm grip on her waist, not allowing her to escape.
Jade
"Tori," Jade said her name softly again and closed the gap between them. Her lips on Tori's. She knew she had to stop but she couldn't help herself. She knew she promised them one dance more before really breaking it off, but what was there to break?, but she couldn't keep her hands to herself.
Jade's hand on Tori's waist slipped behind her while the other touched Tori's cheek lightly. There was a tear rolling down her cheek. She pressed forward, hand pulling Tori closer. There was a subtle sign of resistance Jade tried to ignore but deep inside, she knew she had to listen to it.
She pulled away quick, her thumb brushing over her lower lip, savoring the last taste of Tori she'd ever get.
Tori
Tori sighed as Jade drew away from her, as cheesy as it sounded, she wanted this dance and that kiss to last forever, like in all the silly romantic movies she loved to watch when growing up, and still did. She'd forgotten, for that very brief moment when they kissed, that they were doing anything wrong. She'd forgotten about Beck, about the others, about everything; it was just her and Jade. Tori didn't know when the paler girl started to mean so much to her, but part of her wished she didn't so that this wouldn't be so hard and her heart wouldn't ache this much as she pulled away completely, taking a couple of steps back to sit down on the stool in front of the laptop again.
"We-we should probably get started on organizing the party stuff." The Latina said quietly, eyes back on the screen, unable to look up at Jade in fear her heart would break completely.
Jade
Jade nodded in understanding and pulled away from her slowly. "It didn't just slip out." She whispered. "I-" Jade hesitated at the last minute, and looked up to Tori for the strength to continue.
"I meant it too." Jade said and sighed afterwards. The song was closing around them and she could feel the sting behind her eyes and at the back of her throat. She walked to the kitchen and grabbed Andre's mug. "It… It isn't something I just say." She reasoned out even though she knew she had nothing to prove because Tori believed her.
"I really mean it… too." She uttered and left to go back to her room.
Tori
Tori could only turn to look once Jade had left the room, staring at the spot the paler girl just vacated, her parting words still ringing around her head. She wished she hadn't walked away from their dance, just so it could last a little longer and she could be close to Jade for one last time. Tori spun back around in the seat and picked up her coffee, swirling the dregs around in the bottom of the mug, not really feeling like drinking it; she felt she needed something stronger, but that could wait for the party.
The tan girl placed the coffee cup down again, putting her elbow on the table, chin resting in her palm, and breathed out a heavy sigh. If they were going to act, then she needed to get into character. She'd still be Tori Vega, of course, but she'd be Tori Vega from before all of this started, from before the carnival and the kiss, hell, even from before her chance meeting with Jade at the Freezie Queen, where it all really began. It wasn't going to be easy, but it needed to be done.
"Keep cool, Tori." The Latina muttered to herself under her breath, raking a hand through her hair once again.
In the back of her mind she wondered what would happen if they didn't have to act tonight. How would their friends react to Tori Vega and Jade West being… together, when they were so used to seeing the two girls 'hate' each other? She thought back to Trina's reaction when she'd told her, the absolute shock and surprise… Tori didn't want another reaction like that. Maybe it was best they kept it quiet for a little while, even if it hurt her to do so, she didn't want to ruin the friendships she'd built up with the others, especially Beck, as it affected him the most.
Tori sighed for what felt like the billionth time and went back to browsing the music, not really paying attention.