Tori
Tori was still slumped in front of Andre's laptop, playing the game of solitaire that always came with computers just to pass the time until someone arrived to the party. She was busy trying to distract herself and not think about everything that had happened over the past few weeks so she could get on with the party as 'normal' as she could, but she was so lost in her own thoughts and focus on her card game that she almost jumped out of her seat at the sound of approaching footsteps. Tori put on a big smile and span around on the stool, expecting to see Andre come back from his bathroom break, but was surprised to see an upset looking Jade dragging said boy by the arm into the room she was in.
Tori's smile faltered; it looked like Jade had been crying, at least a little, and the look she was wearing wasn't one you'd usually associate with someone who was about to throw a party.
"Hey, um, what's up?" The Latina asked, as cheerful as she could manage.
Jade
Jade walked towards the Latina and watched as Tori slammed Andre's laptop shut. "Nothing, really." Jade answered. She smiled and Tori noticed the change in Jade's movements and decorum. Andre lagged behind Jade, phone in his hand as he had a smile on his face and pressed keys.
Jade slid next to Tori on her couch and whispered, "I told him." She said nervously, picking at stray threads on Tori's blouse.
Tori
Tori's eyebrows shot up at Jade's words, and she couldn't help her mouth dropping open a little in shock as she realized what they meant. She watched the tattooed girl play with her shirt anxiously, careful to avoid actually touching Tori, while the tan girl tried to find her voice and something to say in response.
"You… you told him about… us?" She hissed back, glancing over at Andre as she spoke. Jade nodded in reply, pulling at a long, loose thread on Tori's clothes until it came away completely.
"What exactly did you tell him? What did he say?" She asked. Tori did wonder if Andre already knew something about them before Jade had told him, judging by the questions he'd asked her at her house, not long after the carnival. And from his nonchalant attitude now, it seemed he either didn't mind or care about what the two girls were up to, so she could only conclude that his reaction was a positive one. For some reason, Tori found it a relief to know that somebody else knew about them… maybe they wouldn't have to keep it a secret forever.
Jade
"He didn't seem… surprised at all. If anything, I'm the one in shock." Jade said as she slid in closer, breath tickling Tori's cheek. She wasn't aware of the proximity and how Andre would see it when he looked at them (finally) but Jade knew she wanted to be close to her. Andre helped her realize that.
"So, umm.. I really can't talk to him about this alone." Jade grabbed the material of her shirt again, crumpling it out of nervous habit. "Tori.." Jade inched her hand closer to Tori's... just a little because of the confidence boost and she looked into the planes of Tori's face, hoping she'd look back.
Tori
Tori swallowed, her heart pounding in her chest as Jade drew closer and she thought the situation through. Someone else knew. Someone else knew and now everything seemed more real, like all of Tori's worries that this was just a figment of her imagination were gone just because Andre knew about them, and that was all she wanted, for this to seem normal, and right, and real.
"We'll talk to him." She said quietly, ghosting her fingers over Jades and feeling a small smile tug at the corners of her mouth. "Together."
The tan girl looked up to Jade's face, staring straight into her eyes to see the nerves and anxiety behind them. Tori smiled softly at her, hoping the gesture would make her feel a little better, less nervous and she let her hand rest on top of Jades, linking their fingers together. She fought back the mad urge to kiss the girl, thinking better of it as Andre had only just learnt about them, and she didn't want to push it.
Jade
Jade knew that Tori wanted to kiss her because she did too. She sure as hell did. She squeezed Tori's fingers and glanced at Andre who was still too busy smiling at his phone's screen to pay attention to them. So what Jade did was place her hand, along with Tori's, on her lap and graze her thumb above her tan skin. She grabbed Andre's laptop and began to fiddle with the applications and files she knew familiarly.
She opened his iTunes and accessed a video of Andre singing a ballad he wrote for Jade. It wasn't the romantic type of ballad, but more of the 'I appreciate you for putting up with my shit' type and she hummed along with it, directing her words to Tori because that's exactly how she felt.
Tori
With another fleeting look in Andre's direction, Tori scooted a little closer to Jade, enough so she could rest her head on the paler girls shoulder as she listened to her hum along to the song. The smile on her lips became a happy grin as she followed Jade's example and began to caress the palm above hers with her fingers, feeling so much better about everything now, their earlier confusing discussion forgotten.
"So, what are we going to say to him?" Tori asked quietly, moving her eyes from the screen to look up at Jade.
Jade
"I don't know," Jade huffed, fingers crawling on Tori's thigh, her obsession taking over her emotions once again. She felt her eyes strain and she closed them tightly. She shook her head and placed her fingers under Tori's chin absentmindedly as she skimmed through more things on Andre's Pearbook. She found a picture of him and Burke and decided to show Tori who he was.
Jade didn't realize that she moved her fingers slowly, tickling Tori's chin. This caused the Latina to giggle cutely and when Jade couldn't resist anymore, she grabbed Tori's chin and kissed her cheek.
Just a fast, light peck on Tori's cheek. Barely noticeable.
Tori
Tori smirked when she felt Jade's lips press to her cheek and she turned away quickly as if it didn't happen. The Latina rested her head back on the tattooed girls shoulder and planted a kiss on the side of her jaw in return, lingering just a little longer than Jade had, but still pulled back promptly, turning her attention to the computer screen and the picture of Andre and Burke.
"So, this is the boyfriend?" She said, leaning forward a little to play with the laptop and see if there were anymore photos of the two together. It made her happy that in every picture, both boys wore huge grins, looking very pleased to be together. She remembered the photos Jade had taken of herself and Tori, at the beach and in the forest. She hadn't seen them since they were taken and part of her wondered if Jade still had them, or if she had deleted them, maybe after an argument the two of them had, so there was no evidence of the two of them being… together.
"He looks like a nice guy." Tori added, facing Jade again, who was watching her almost anxiously. She placed her hand back on top of Jades and smiled again.
Jade
"Trust me," Jade said softly, "he is." She moved her fingers under her chin. Directly at the spot where Tori kissed her. It lingered there, Tori's lips and Jade felt the heat slowly rising to her cheeks. It felt magical, not that Jade knew what that was. But she knew whimsy as she experienced it after every cup of coffee done perfectly.
She put her hand under Tori's chin again, tickling soft skin lightly with her own. She smiled when she felt Tori squeeze her hand between her neck and kiss her wrist for no reason at all. The abstinence thing was a stupid idea. How could Jade not live without these simple touches in her life? "I'm guessing you'd get along fine. He's as stubborn as I am and as… persistent as you are." Jade stuck her tongue out playfully.
Tori
"You have to be persistent to get what you want." Tori said, sticking her tongue out at Jade too and giggled at the fingers still tickling her chin.
She closed her eyes briefly, just taking in the moment and wishing that everyone could be like this, because it just felt so right. But the dark corner of her mind reminded her that it wasn't that easy, just because Andre knew and was okay with it, didn't mean the whole world was suddenly so accepting. There was still Beck, as ever. Jade still needed to tell him and see if he was okay with the whole thing, and if he was, there would be the three of them. Jade, Tori and Beck. And if he wasn't… Tori didn't know what would happen.
She still wasn't a fan of the idea, in fact, it became less and less appealing by the second, but she stupidly realized that she'd do anything to make Jade happy and to keep her, including this.
The Latina sighed lightly; those thoughts again, they needed to stop creeping up on her whenever she was so happy with Jade by her side. She'd learnt not to voice them aloud, as it only ever made the paler girl angry, and they'd wind up having another argument, something Tori really didn't want.
She looked over at Andre again, just as he looked up from his phone, and smiled at him, suddenly feeling the butterflies back in her stomach. Not the same ones she felt whenever she was around Jade, but nervous ones, like she'd just been caught doing something she shouldn't. At the smile, Andre pushed himself away from the counter he was leaning against at sat down next to the two girls on the sofa, pulling his laptop towards him as he did so.