Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.
Cards on the table
Chapter 1 – A Case of the nerves
Jades's POV
Looking over at the 6 dresses on my bed, two of which were new, I grumbled in frustration that not one of them seemed right. And none of the ones in my closet seemed right either. Too much was riding on this to simply throw on any old black outfit. Stupid Tori, making me a nervous wreck. Someone's going to suffer for this. Normally It would be Tori, but that would be self-defeating. I think my ex, Beck has a hot date tomorrow. Mayble I'll ruin it or something. Not that I care that he's dating someone, he's simply a covenant target. Oooh, maybe I'll arrange for Rex Powers to disappear for a few days. That will unhinge Robbie rather nicely, well more than he is already.
I thought about that for another moment, before thoughts of tonight's big date pushed thoughts of random terror out of my mind. I spent almost 3 hours at the mall today in preparation for this. What is this you ask. I've been dating Tori, if you can believe that, for 6 weeks. Tonight is our six week anniversary and tonight I am going to ask Tori to officially be my girlfriend.
It started at party about 2 months ago. We were talking, both a little drunk, but we both ended up talking about our family life our ambitions. Perhaps it was the Kamikaze's we were drinking, but we really seemed be connecting so I kissed her. Oh, before I forget, in case you're wondering, a Kamikaze is equal parts, Vodka, Tiple Sec and Lime Juice.
Much to my complete shock, I discovered that kissing Tori was something I very much liked. The soft feel of her lips against mine, simply took my breath away. Judging by the fact that that she kissed me back, I gathered she liked kissing me as well. We kissed more and just as things got hot and heavy, Robbie, Andre and Rex power walked into the room. They saw us kissing, Robbie began screaming, Cat started to giggle, Andre merely said, "Groovy". Rex said nothing, which was odd, but that was probably because his owner was too busy screaming. But Tori promptly freaked out and ran out of the room. I think it was Robbie's scream that caused Tori to bolt.
I realized then, what exactly I needed to do. I got up, promptly kicked Robbie in the nuts and ran after Tori. I caught Tori as she left the house and on yet another whim asked her on a date. That kiss was a lot more than I expected and my curiosity had been aroused.
But now, in looking at the dresses, I wanted something that would knock her fucking socks off and was me at the same time. I then went for one of the ones I bought at the mall today. It was spaghetti strap, dark red, lace up, high low dress, with a black lace up corset. It had a black hem at the bottom of the dress. It also had lace patterns of roses all over the dress. I had changed my mind at least a dozen times already, so before I could change it again, shoved the rest in the closet and slammed the door shut.
I had already selected a pair of shoes, so as far as clothing went, I was all set. Tori knows we are going out to a nice restaurant, but that's all. With that done, I jumped in the shower and got ready. Still, I was nervous about the whole thing. Even the hot water, which I hoped would relax me, didn't work.
I'll admit, when we first started dating, it seemed more like a novelty. I liked being with her and it was fun holding hands and kissing, but I really didn't take it all that seriously. I still teased her a lot and did my best to press her buttons. I think on some level, I thought I'd get bored of her and move on to someone else.
About three weeks in, I actually got asked out by a Goth guy from another school. I met at my favorite independent record store and he seemed interesting. Tori and I were not dating exclusively, so I went out with him. The date was dinner and a movie. Ian, that was his name, and I were a lot alike and we had many common interests, but I actually found that rather boring. I think I was realizing that I liked girls a lot more than guys. We went out once, there was no chemistry what so ever and at the end of the night we both realized it was going nowhere. So, we said our goodbyes and parted.
I didn't tell Tori about it. There was nothing much to tell anyway, we didn't even kiss. Still, I felt bad about it. I went out with Tori the following week and despite our vast differences, I really enjoyed myself. It was after that date, I found that my rather cavalier attitude towards us dating started to dissipate. She became less of a person I liked kissing and more a person I actually cared about.
Stepping out of the shower, I toweled myself off and mused over the fact that, we've takin things very slow. We've made out, held hands and even let our hands wander a bit, but that's it. I didn't feel like pushing it that fast and Tori didn't all that eager to move further, physically at least.
As I put on my make up, I could really feel my anxieties rise to the surface. I'm a Goth and let's fact it, not very girlie. I yell a lot, I love all kinds of ghoulish things, randomly terrorizing people is a favorite hobby of mine and I don't own one single pink dress. Tori has 5 of them. I've recently begun to realize that I like being, soft, with her. It's a side of me, she's brough out. But even then, it's been a bit hard for me.
A bit later, I'm done with my make up it's time to get dressed. I think about her more and more. I want to not just date her but be her girlfriend. I'm not sure what that ultimately will come to, but it's a step I want to take. Of course, I'm terrified, that she'll say no or simply laugh in my face. Or what if she starts talking to that new ultra-beautiful, exchange student from Scotland. I can't compete with that red hair or that Scottish accent. I sound like I'm from New Jersey and I have no idea why.
Finally, I'm dressed and ready to go. The final touch is a small box on my nightstand. In order to show how much I'm starting to really care for her, I bought her a small gift. I looked at all kinds of things at the mall. I looked at a heart necklace, but that seemed a bit cheesy. Finally, I found a charm bracelet and got two charms for it. One is a musical note and the other a rainbow. I hope she likes it.
It's just after six now and I'm ready to go. Driving over, I got even more nervous. What if she thinks I'll just be mean to her all the time? That fear of not being girl enough for her came back with a vengeance. I know it's completely irrational, but that's what I'm feeling. What if I can't be affectionate enough?
Arriving at Tori's door at 6:30, I made sure Tori's gift was in her purse, checked my make up and walked to the door. A few moments after I ran the bell, the door opened and I could see it was Tori's dad.
At this moment, I'd actually rather it be Trina answering, because Trina doesn't own a gun that could put a rather large hole in my head. Trina I can just insult, but Tori's dad I have to be nice to. I'm too nervous to even want to be nice to anyone other than Tori.
I was quickly greeted with a broad but somewhat guarded smile. "Hello Jade. Tori will be down in a second. Please come in."
Coming in, I could see that Tori's mom was cooking in the kitchen and Trina was watching tv. Tori's mom, momentarily looked up and said Hello. Trina, sneered at me and yelled.
"Tori it's here, you can still sneak out the back!"
Mr. Vega quickly but lightly scolded Trina. "Be nice."
He then turned to me. "Where are you eating tonight?"
The question almost made me jump out of my skin, as I fully expected the next question to be about a body or something. "Ahhh…..New seafood place on Pico, La Mer. It's supposed to be good."
"Tell me what you think of it."
I was quickly saved by the appearance of Tori at the top of the stairs. She was wearing a pink, of course, a line, v next knee length cocktail dress. Her hair was done in broad waves and her makeup was simple perfection. She looked beautiful, so much so, I think my heart started to beat so fast, it felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. I was in awe.
She came down the stairs and gently kissed me on the cheek. "Ready?"
Temporally not able to speak, I simply nodded.
Tori took me by the hand and after telling her parents goodbye, ushered me out the door.
"Sorry Trina said that."
"I expected that. She's just jealous because you're about a thousand times prettier. 10,000 times prettier tonight."
Tori quickly smiled as we reached the car, but she quickly opened door for me. "Oh my, is that an actual complement from Jade."
"Yes it is. You look beautiful."
We got in the car and Tori smiled. "Thank you. Might I also say you look stunning."
"Thank you."
Not wanting to be late for our reservation, I started to drive. Things were going perfectly ok, but I was still real tense. We talked on the way there, mostly about school. But I found that my case of nerves was causing me to be somewhat of a gank. I started by cutting off another driver and when they honked their horn, I flipped them off and loudly calling them an asshole.
"Be careful Jade, we'll make it in time. It's not a race."
"What are you, my mother?"
Tori then remained quiet for a bit, then started talking about our friends. A few minutes later, she started to talk about Cat and Robbie.
"Robbie told me he thinks Cat may actually want to go out on a real date with him." Tori remarked, sounding somewhat excited about the prospect.
"I'm not sure what's worse" I quickly snapped. "Robbie being so deluded that he thinks he and that stupid doll stand a chance or Cat for endlessly leading him on. What the fuck, is she some sort of sadist."
Tori came back rather quickly and somewhat harshly. "No, that's your department. And you don't need to say that! She's just not sure of how she feels. She's Robbie's friend and the last thing she wants to do is make a sudden move that will ruin it."
"Aren't you worried about us?" I shot back.
This time her voice wasn't as harsh, but cooler with just a hint of tension in her voice. "I don't have to worry about our friendship because, we are not friends. Something you've reminded me of many times."
Now I felt like a complete shit. We normally do so well. We argue a bit, we banter back and forth, but this time things were really starting to go south. Not only, that Tori's last response caught me off guard. There was something that was very, matter of fact about it.
"Sorry about that."
She quickly put her hand on my leg. "It's ok. I know you didn't mean it. I'm sorry too. We're almost there, come on let's just enjoy a romantic dinner."
Tori has always been forgiving. I think that's one of the reasons that I like her. Her kind words seemed to help ease some of my tension, but not much. In way, this is even more an important question than asking someone to marry them. Sure, you've dated and you may even like them, but you're asking them to giving them a chance to develop something special or risk a complete crash and burn. By the point you're asking them to marry you, you have a very good chance they feel the same. We are not at that point. But I very much want to know, if we can get to that point.
We arrived at the restaurant, just in time for our reservation and were seated promptly. I ordered the Alaskan king crab and Tori ordered pan-seared scallops. Sitting across from her, looking at how beautiful she was, I knew I wanted to be in a relationship with her. While the food was great, the atmosphere of the restaurant was superb, but the conversation while, not as tense in the car, was a bit off. I was tense and Tori seemed a bit distracted.
She didn't give any indication that anything was wrong, but the fact that she looked like her mind was elsewhere didn't help my confidence. In fact, I got the feeling that I was going to get dumped. I noticed she just kept fiddling with her hands, something she normally didn't do.
Once the check arrived, I quickly snatched it up before Tori could even grab it.
"I wanted to pay!" Quipped Tori, with mock annoyance, but listening to her voice, I got the impression that she actually was.
"Too bad." I retorted. "Come on. The Santa Monica Pier is a 5-minute drive let's take a walk."
Tori nodded but said nothing. She took my hand as we left the restaurant, but again she seemed oddly quiet.
10 minutes later, we were walking along the pier, which was a major tourist attraction, with a small amusement park. The whole thing had a rather festive atmosphere and was lit up. It was generally a bit crowded and noisy, but safe place to walk at night.
It was here I was going to ask and by how I've feeling it's been going, is going to get shot down. As we walked along the pier, I made small talk.
As we walked past the building with the Merry-Go-Round, I said. "This building has been in a whole ton of movies. For example, it was prominently featured in the Columbo episode, Make me a perfect Murder. It's been in a ton of movies, including one of my favorite horror films, 1980's blood beach."
"Interesting, it does look familiar." Said Tori, sounding like anything but.
We walked the rest of the way, hand in hand, in what became an odd silence. Finally, we reached the end of the pier and quite possibly, the end of something else. We stood along the railing in what would normally be a very romantic setting, By the ocean with a crescent moon hanging low in the sky.
Looking at Tori, I suddenly realized that she now looked very apprehensive. Just seeing that look made my stomach fall into my feet.
"Jade, I think we need to talk."
I like her so much, and now she's going to dump me. Oh my god, I fucked up. Maybe I am not girl enough for her. My thoughts began to race and my heart began to pound. By this time, I was a complete nervous wreck.
"Ok" I said with a distinct and rather nervous squeak to my voice. "What about?"
"We've been dating for some 6 weeks now and when you first kissed me my heart skipped a beat. It has every time since, you've kissed me. We've played it slow and I appreciate that. We're both new to this…..this thing." By now Tori's voice began to shake slightly. "But I think we've gone as far as we can…."
"You're going to dump me!" I wailed as tears formed in my eyes.
As I said that, Tori's eyes, suddenly bulged out. "What?"
"I'm not girl enough for you. I'm too mean and not pretty. You think I'm weird. You're going to dump me and date that girl from Scotland" I cried as all my emotions and insecurities seemed to pour out at once."
"NO I'M NOT!"
"Yes you are, all that red hair you can't resist. She's prettier than me"
SLAP!
I suddenly stood there, realizing that Tori had just slapped me.
"You slapped me!, It's bad enough you're going to dump me, now you have to slap me"
"Jade" Tori said as she gently rubbed my face. "I slapped you to snap you out of it. It's hard enough to say what I want to say, because I'm a nervous wreck, without you freaking out on me!"
"Then just dump me then!" I said defiantly.
SLAP!
"Jade, shut up or I'm going to slap you again. NOW, IS NOT THE TIME TO FREAK THE FREAK OUT! I'M NOT DUMPING YOU. In fact, I was asking you to be my girlfriend."
All of a sudden, I felt like someone had just punched me in the head. So much so, I could almost see those little stars orbit my head like in the old cartoons. "Wha?"
"I was saying, I think we've gone as far as we can with the way things, they are now so I would like to move things to the next level. I like you. I mean really like you and I to officially be your girlfriend. I really think we have something here."
"OH!"
Tori reached into her purse and pulled out a small box. "I've been nervous all night. I even got this for you, but I was afraid you were going to say no. This is for you. To show you how I feel."
My hands trembling, I took the box and opened it. Inside was a small silver heart necklace, with the letters "T + J" engraved on it.
The sight of that heart, which at one point I thought was corny, completely reduced me to tears. "It's beautiful"
"Jade West. Will you be my girlfriend? I want to date you and only you. I know we're different, but that's half the fun."
Now I was crying and felt like a complete idiot. I then reached in my purse and pulled out the box. "I was a nervous wreck because I was going to ask you to be my girlfriend. But I freaked out and thought you were going to dump me."
Tori reached out and took the box from my hands and gently opened it. Her face immediately, lit up. "Oh my god Jade, it's so precious. A charm bracelet, I love it."
"Your heart is nicer than my bracelet." I whimpered.
Tori grumbled in frustration and kissed me.
"Jade, first of all, I love your bracelet. It's not a competition. Second, if I ever hear about you talking about, you're not girl enough for me, I'm going to take your favorite pair of scissors and toss them in the ocean. You are an absolutely beautiful woman, the most beautiful woman in the world, your sensitive, wonderful, funny ok, frequently morbid and frequently disagreeably and crabby, but it's all part of the package"
Tori then teared up, herself. "and I want that package. I want it for me and me only."
"I went out with someone else." I admitted somewhat shamefully.
"I know. You told Cat, which is the equivalent of putting it on billboard on Hollywood boulevard. I'm not angry, we were not dating exclusively and you have nothing to be ashamed of. I'll admit I flirted a bit with a guy I met at Nozu about a month ago. But he wasn't you and that made up my mind."
"He wasn't you either." I said as tears kept flowing down my face.
Tori took my hand and wiped my tears. "Sounds like you want to take a chance too. It is a chance of course, but what would life be without chances. And for the record, that Scottish girl, likes guys and I really mean likes guys. I hear she's dating both Brent Watts and Henry Mueller, so her social calendar is a bit filled up anyway. Besides, she doesn't have black hair, a pale complexion and I hear she hates horror movies."
"So do you."
"But it's more fun to hide my face in your chest, during the scary parts. So what do you say?"
"I feel stupid. But that said, Tori Vega, your super pretty, no beautiful, you're, caring and wonderful, I love being with you and ok, you're a dork sometimes and annoy the hell out of me. But…" I couldn't help but smile.
"It's all part of the package and one I really happen to like. I was thinking an exclusive rental agreement, with an option to buy at some later date. I'd love to take that chance."
Not able to control myself, I pulled Tori into my arms and hugged her as tight as I could. That was followed by a very slow and very tender kiss. Pulling back from the kiss, I looked into her beautiful brown eyes and couldn't look away or at least didn't want to.
I then looked down at the necklace in my hand and suddenly and rather excitedly said. "I want this on. Put it on me. Right now!"
Tori grinned. "Did I mention you're cute when you're being all girly."
"Vega, now you're just being insulting!"
Tori took the necklace and gently placed it around my neck. "Deal with it. Now get that bracelet around my wrist."
"I thought I was supposed to be the bitchy demanding one." Quipped I quipped while I put the bracelet around Tori's wrist. "Not to mention, you slapped me! You're violent."
Tori then pulled me into her arms and kissed me, our tongues quickly danced for dominance. Once the kiss was broken, Tori smirked. "I think a certain special someone is rubbing off on me."
I couldn't help but look at my beautiful silver heart and gush. "Likewise."
"Good" I said as I took Tori's hand. "How about we go someplace a bit more private. Perhaps a walk down a moonlit beach with my new girlfriend."
"You just want get off this pier because, your make up is ruined and someone will think you look like a weirdo."
"That too….sure you want to be seen with me?"
"You may be a weirdo, but you're my weirdo and don't you forget it."
Half an hour later, we were walking silently down the moonlit beach hand in hand. Every so often one of us would pause and innate a kiss. All the tension was gone, we were just two people, who were very much wanted to be with each other. She was as nervous as I was, just as nervous that I would reject her. But each of us wanted to take a chance with the other.
Come Monday, I'm gong to walk into that school, my silver heart around my neck, a huge smirk on my face and I'm going to proudly announce that I'm Tori's girl. And if that stupid puppet Rex, even looks at me or Tori cross eyed, I'm going to have to kick Robbie in the nuts again.
And as I walk with this beautiful, caring and annoying woman, I hope I always will be.
Tori again paused and put her arms around me, bringing me into yet another tender kiss.
"You make me feel special, the most special girl in the world." She softly whispers in my hear.
Pulling back, but still holding her, I give her my best smirk. "Vega you slapped me, twice!"
"I see you talking to another girl and I'll do more than that." Retorted Tori playfully.
Kissing her again, I took her hand and now feeling calm, content and perhaps even loved, I said without a doubt in my heart, "You'll never have to. How about we get some ice cream."
"Ohh, sounds great. I'm getting Mint chocolate chip."
"You always get that! Are your taste buds broken Vega?"
As we continued walking on the beach, bickering about the merits of any ice cream that wasn't Mint Chocolate chip, I realized, that I was the luckiest and perhaps softest girl in the world.
And I wouldn't have it any other way.
Just a one shot that I thought of, I hope you found it sufficiently fluffy and full of Jori goodness.
I would also like to dedicate this story to the Instagram user, "jori_for_the_win" Who's Jori devotion is inspiration and also to thank them for giving the shout out for three of my stories. I saw your page and loved it. My deepest thanks.
Thanks also to Invader Johnny.