You and me we made a vow
For better or for worse
I can't believe you let me down
But the proof is in the way it hurts
For months on end I've had my doubts
Denying every tear
I wish this would be over now
But I know that I still need you here
You say I'm crazy
'Cause you don't think I know what you've done
But when you call me baby
I know I'm not the only one
Sam Smith- I'm Not The Only One
A week after Gabriella's death at Robbie's hands...
Trina's POV:
"Thanks for taking me out tonight." I told my fluffy-haired boyfriend.
"It's my pleasure." Beck flashed me a dazzling smile and planted a kiss on my cheek. "Anything for my soulmate."
Last week was a crazy one- Robbie finally got rid of Gabriella for good, Rex is human again, and Beck is officially my soulmate!
Now we're sitting in Beck's car after going on a date at Nozu. It was magical, as always.
"Have you taken a test yet?" Beck asked me.
"Yesterday." I answered, opening my door to get out of the car. "Negative."
"Okay." Beck followed my lead, leaving his car and jogging around the front of the car to catch up to me.
Since there's a high chance for pregnancy following the ritual, we've been waiting in excitement (and nervousness) to find out if we're going to have a kid... I want kids with Beck, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to have them right now.
"Did Sinjin tell you about him and Burf?" Beck asked as we walked up the front porch steps.
"Yeah he did." I confirmed, taking my house key out of my purse. "I didn't know he liked guys, but at least he'll leave Jade and I alone now." I slid the key into the lock as Beck and I laughed.
"Speaking of Jade..." Beck piped up.
"Is this about her and my sister?" I questioned him, clasping the doorknob in my hand and opening the door. "Because if it is then-" I stopped myself once I entered the house.
Laying on the couch, making out with my mother was none other than my dad's co-worker, Gary Malone.
"What the hell is this?!" I shrieked, causing Gary and my mother to break apart.
"Trina?" Gary said.
"Trina, sweetie, I can explain." Mom said, scrambling out of Gary's grasp and getting up from the couch.
I shook my head and backed up. "What. The. Fuck. Are you doing?" I demanded.
"Trina, please." Mom's voice softened. I saw her give Beck a pleading look, but he just looked away awkwardly.
"Mom, you're married! To dad! Your soulmate!" I chastised her. "With his partner no less!"
"Trina, not everyone's first soulmate is the one they'll end up with forever." Mom pointed out, her tone changing into an irritated one. "In fact, I haven't thought of your father as my soulmate for a while."
"Then tell him that!" I yelled. "Why cheat on him?"
"Sometimes the best thing for you isn't always the right thing." Mom asserted, crossing her arms.
"Cheating doesn't fall into the category." I told her, spinning back around to face Beck, who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. "Can I crash at your place for tonight?"
"Uh, sure, babe." Beck nodded, the question catching him off guard for a second.
"Trina, it's a school night." Mom butted in.
"I don't care!" I snapped at her. She stared at me with a shocked look, and I glared back. I didn't care if I hurt her feelings.
"And you!" I pointed at Gary. "You're a horrible friend and partner!" With those words, I stomped out of the house, and back to Beck's car.
"Trina!" Beck called after me. He caught me at his car, and took my hands in his. "Are you okay?"
I didn't say anything for a second, then I felt my anger be replaced by something else- sorrow.
I collapsed into Beck's arms, sobbing.
"Why?" I bawled. "Why would she do this? To dad? To our family?"
"I don't know, Trina." Beck cooed, stroking my hair. "I don't know why anyone would cheat."
We stood there, holding each other for a minute before I retrieved my phone from my purse and dialed an all too familiar number.
"Who are you calling?" Beck asked.
"My dad." I replied, putting the phone to my ear. "He needs to know."
Tori's POV:
I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing.
"Vega... turn off your phone." Jade whispered, pushing me over on my side.
"Shut up, West." I shot back, stretching out over the bed.
I was over at Jade's place. We had originally just gone to the movies, but she invited me back over to 'study' and I ended up spending the night.
I missed whoever was calling me, but not even a second after my phone went to voicemail, it began to ring again.
"Who is calling me?" I whined, sitting up and snatching my phone off Jade's nightstand. I glanced at the screen and saw Trina was calling.
"It's Trina." I told my girlfriend before answering. "Hello?"
"Tori, where are you?" My sister demanded. "It's six thirty and you're not here. Did you forget about school?"
"No." I told her truthfully, standing up off the bed. I heard a shuffling noise behind me, and in the next second, Jade was dashing across her room towards her closet. "Jade and I are going to get ready at her place."
"Okay, but you need to come home ASAP after school." Trina stated. "It's extremely important."
"Okay Trina."
"Promise me."
I sighed, but complied. "I promise."
"Good. See you later, Tori. Love you."
"Love you too, Trina." I said before hanging up.
"What did she want?" Jade asked, pulling on a black tank top.
"She told me to come home directly after school." I informed the goth. "Sounded pretty important."
"Well get dressed." Jade commanded, tossing me a dark purple off-the-shoulder shirt and a pair of black jeans. "You can borrow these since you didn't bring anything to change into."
"Thanks, babe."
After school...
As Trina requested, I went straight to the parking lot to look for her. Luckily I didn't have to look far since I saw her waving frantically at me from the driver's seat window.
I mimicked her waving, and dashed over to her car, nearly throwing myself inside.
"Hey Trina." I greeted her. "What's up? What's so important that you wanted me to come straight home?"
Trina let out a long exhale. "Please just wait until we get home." She told me somberly as she started her car.
"O-kay?" I complied, confused and a little worried.
The car ride was almost silent. A few buzzes from my phone and Trina sniffling softly were the only sounds.
Why is she sniffling? Did something bad happen?
When we arrived at the house, I saw a car that didn't belong to any of us parked in the driveway. Hold on...
"That's Gary's car." I thought out loud.
"I know." Trina mumbled, turning off the car and getting out of the car. "Come on."
I followed suit, exiting her car and trailing behind her to the front porch. I heard yelling inside, and my arm shot out, taking hold of Trina's wrist.
"Trina, what's going on?" I inquired, recognizing the antagonized voice to be our dad's.
Trina didn't respond. She just reached in front of her and opened the front door.
Inside the house, Mom and Gary were sitting on the couch, and Dad was pacing around, clearly agitated.
Once they noticed we were here, Mom's eyes widened.
"David!" She squeaked out.
Dad stopped pacing and turned his attention towards us.
"Oh girls. You're home." He addressed us with a calmer voice.
"What's happening?" I asked. "What is Gary doing here? Why are you yelling, dad?"
The three adults exchanged worried glances. Dad opened his mouth, but Mom cut him off.
"Tori, please sit down." She said, walking towards the front door. "It's a long story."
"It's not really." Dad snapped, back to sounding angry.
"David please, you're making this worse." Gary piped up from the couch.
"Quiet!" Dad shouted at him.
"I didn't get an answer!" I yelled. "What the hell is going on?"
"Mom is cheating on dad with Gary." Trina clarified.
At first, what she said didn't click in my head. Then a switch was flipped and I heard myself scream.
"WHAT?!"
"Tori, I can explain!" Mom cried out. "Your father and I aren't bonded anymore and-"
"That doesn't make it okay to cheat!" I interrupted her. "What the hell, mom?"
"That's what I told her." Trina told me.
"Please, girls. I never meant to hurt you." Mom tried to appeal to us again, but Dad was quick to shoot her down.
"Save it, Holly." He snapped. "You told me last time this wouldn't happen again."
"Again?!" Trina and I yelled in unison.
"Yes... This has happened before." Mom confessed, her cheeks turning pink. "I had an affair with Gary over a year ago, and your father and I decided to work past it."
"But she couldn't help herself." Dad snarled. "She just had to go back to Gary."
"David." Gary tried to reason with Dad. "Please calm down. You're only going to make this worse."
"How can it get any worse?" David demanded. He shook his head. "You disgust me." He then turned his attention to Mom. "You remember what I said last time?"
"That if I did this again..." Mom swallowed hard. "You'd leave."
"You're right." Dad nodded. "Leave you at least. There's not a chance in hell I'm giving up my girls."
My heart felt warm for a second after Dad said that.
Mom nodded and held out her hand to Gary. He took it, and they left the house, passing by Trina and I with solemn looks on their faces.
I immediately sprinted to my dad, enveloping him in a hug. Trina soon joined us.
"I'm so sorry girls." Dad whispered, his voice breaking. "I didn't want you to see me like this. I didn't want you to witness this."
"I'm sorry too, daddy." I told him. "She hurt you."
A tear slid down Dad's cheek and he told us, "No matter what happens between me and your mom, just know that I will always love you two. And I will fight for full custody- even if you're almost adults."
"I love you too, Dad." Trina told him.
"Me too." I said, beginning to cry myself. "We're here for you."
Later that night...
I was sitting on my bed, doing homework, when I heard a tap on my window. It was no surprise to me that my half-vampire girlfriend was perched on the tree branch outside, wanting to be let in.
"Hey Jade." I greeted her, trying horribly to mask my sadness.
"Woah, you don't sound happy." She remarked, giving me a quick kiss. "What's got your panties in a bunch?"
"It's not funny." I told her, throwing my notebook aside. "It's really serious."
Jade flopped onto my bed. "I'm all ears."
"My parents are getting divorced."
Jade's perfect eyebrows shot up. "Seriously?"
"Yeah." I laid down next to her on my bed. "They're not bonded anymore... and my mom's been cheating on my dad with his partner at work."
Jade winced, and a rare look of concern crossed her features.
"I'm sorry Tori." She whispered, stroking my face with her beautiful hands. "Being cheated on is... hard." She looked away for a second before meeting my eyes again. "I know from experience... on both ends."
"What do you mean?"
"Well... do you remember when you fixed Beck and I's relationship for the third time?"
"How could I forget?" I laughed. "I tried so hard to get you guys to make up, only for you to date me, and Beck to bond with my sister."
Jade chuckled as well before continuing. "Well, we found out we were soulmates... we did the ritual, and I found out I was pregnant."
"Woah." I said. "What happened to the baby?"
"I... miscarried." Jade struggled to say the words. "I was actually kind of relieved because I didn't want kids yet, but Beck was devastated. He's always wanted to be a dad, and me not being torn up about the miscarriage made me mad. We fought again, and this was the last straw for both of us. He left my house that night and ended up sleeping with someone else."
"What? Really?" I yelled.
Jade put a finger to her lips, telling me to shush. "Be quiet. Yes, he cheated on me with some Northridge skank, and then I retaliated by cheating on him with one of his ex-girlfriends." Her face turned pink. "That's when I knew I liked women as well as men... anyways, that resulted in another big blow-out arguement. The next day, our soul necklaces were gone, and we decided to break up for good... remember when I didn't speak to him for a month after we broke up? That was why. We reconciled, and now he's one of my best friends, but the pain of our volatile relationship will never leave." Her voice began to break.
"Don't cry." I said to her, kissing away the tears beginning to form. "I'm really glad you told me this."
"Really?" Jade asked.
"Yes. Maybe you lost your first soulmate, but..." I clasped her half-heart necklace in my hand. "Maybe your next one will be forever."
Jade smiled at me. "I hope so." She brought our lips together, and I returned the kiss, moving closer until our bodies had also met.
"I love you, Jade." I said.
"I love you too... Tori." She breathed, genuine happiness in her voice.
I reached for her shirt and took it off gently.
"Are you sure?" She inquired.
I nodded. "Absolutely."
And with that, I knew I found my forever.
