"Alright guys, take five and meet back here, and then we'll get the second set over and we can call it a night," Tal said as he scrolled through his phone and compiled the song list for the next portion of their show. Tori nodded and went over to the couch and pulled her phone out of her purse and opened a text from her mother, reminding her to water the flowers in the garden and on the front porch while she and David were away visiting her grandparents. She sent back a quick response as Harper sat beside her and handed her the drink she had ordered earlier and said, "So what are you doing after this? Wanna get some drinks at my apartment or watch a movie?"

"Can't," Tori said as she took a sip from the straw of her drink and continued, "I'm house-sitting for my parents and I just want to turn in and relax, you know?"

"Okay, that's cool! We'll hang out later this week, but what about what happened at work?" Harper inquired.

Tori sighed as she set her drink down and said, "You're not gonna believe this but Jade stopped in!"

"That bitch?!" Harper screamed. "What happened?!"

"Honestly, nothing much. Just a quick harsh comment and that was about it," Tori said. "I was helping this girl find some books and she turned out to be a friend of Jade. She told her that I wasn't anyone important and that they had to leave."

"That was it?" Harper asked to which Tori nodded. "Okay, that's not as bad as I was expecting but she's still a total bitch."

Tori could only nod as she said, "I shouldn't have let her get to me like that, it was stupid."

"It's not stupid," she glanced down at Tori's phone and said, "You're not gonna call her, are you?"

"Wha-?" Tori looked down and noticed her phone was still unlocked with the recent texts on full display and quickly hit the power button as she stowed her phone away in her back pocket and said, "Stop being so nosy, Harper. And no, I'm not going to call her."

The blonde drummer put her hands up in surrender as she finished off the rest of Tori's drink and said, "Sorry, sorry. Won't happen again. I'll find out who this Sile is though!"

She gave Tori a wink as the half-Latina crossed her arms and followed after her as they were expected back on stage. As Harper went through the door, Tori paused and looked at the message from Sile and felt her heart flutter and her anxiety rose. Without thinking, she quickly composed a text message and sent it before rejoining her bandmates on the stage.

Tori: I don't know what you mean but sorry, I'm busy house sitting. I'd rather if you not text me. Goodbye.

On the other end of the line, Sile looked at the message she received and glanced over to the stage as the band took their places again and started to play. She looked at Tori and rolled her eyes when she noticed that she was staying at the back of the stage now and almost hiding behind the twin giants and the lead singer. Knowing that it would be a while until Tori looked at her phone again, she went back to her table and sat next to Jade who had calmed down considerably since their arrival. "That's the last time I let any of you handle the booking process!"

Sile chuckled and said, "Relax, it was an honest mistake, right guys?"

They all nodded and tried to avoid Jade's gaze, allowing Sile to lean in a little closer and whisper, "So what's the deal with you and that girl from the book shop?"

"She's no one important," Jade grumbled as she sipped her beer. "Best to just forget about her."

"So, you wouldn't mind if I went out with her?" Sile asked and grinned when Jade choked and coughed on her drink. "I'll take that as a no."

"Why would you want to date her?" Jade asked with a critical eye analyzing her.

"Don't know, she's smart, shares some of my heritage," she looked over at the stage and spotted the girl in question switching over to her violin and continued, "insanely talented when it comes to music. Plus, she's pretty hot."

Jade rolled her eyes as she leaned back in her seat and folded her arms across her chest and said, "If you want to get in her pants then be my guest, but don't be surprised by how bored you get with her."

"Speaking from experience there?" Sile asked with a smug look on her face from getting Jade to at least acknowledge Tori. The dark-haired woman scowled at her and said,

"No, I just had a lot of classes with her and she was just an annoying waste of time."

Sile was going to press her for more information but she was cut off by Jade as she sat up on the back of the booth, spun around and snatched her bag from the seat, and said, "You idiots already cost me the afternoon, I'm not going let you waste my evening too. Don't call me unless it's something actually important!"

Beck was about to follow her out but she just glared at him and he shrugged his shoulders and sat back down as the young writer stormed out of the bar, brushing past several patrons and shoving a guy out of the way that tried to talk to her. Tori, who had been watching them the whole time from the stage, was relieved to see Jade leave the bar. Now she was able to focus on the show and departing as soon as it was over which thankfully came far quicker than she expected. With their closing number, the band assembled at the front of the stage and took a bow, and retreated to the back where jovial conversations were taking place about how well they did. Though for Tori, she retreated to the makeshift makeup stand and grabbed the wipes and quickly cleaned off her face, and packed up her cloak and shirt, returning to her usual clothes. "Heading home?"

She glanced over her shoulder as she finished packing up her bag and making sure the latches to the instrument cases were closed and nodded as Jamie walked over and sat on the floor next to her. "You did great tonight, here's your share," he extended his hand and held out a small stack of bills for Tori to take. She nodded and tucked them away as he offhandedly mentioned, "We're having a rehearsal later this week, are you going to make it?"

She nodded and said, "Yeah, I may be a little late with work, but I'll make it."

Before he could say anything else, she ruffled his hair and said her goodbyes, and was out the door heading towards her car. With a click of the keys, the trunk popped open and she walked around and stashed the instruments away and tucked her garment bag next to them, and closed it, revealing a figure leaning against the side of her car. Tori leaped back in surprise and grabbed the pepper spray that was attached to her keys and was prepared to squeeze and release it at her assailant until she realized that it was Sile. "So, what was that about house sitting?"

The beautiful Irish woman smirked as Tori's cheeks turned bright red as she struggled with her words and walked around to the front door of the car. Sile followed her and leaned against the hood and said, "I won't tell anyone if that's what you're worried about. I can see it's important to you that it's kept on the down-low. I guess that's what the get-up is all about."

Tori nodded and said, "How did you know it was me, anyway?"

"Well, it wasn't too hard, I've only ever met one girl that can play multiple instruments and has a mix of Spanish and Irish in her blood. At first, I thought it may just be a weird coincidence but based on your texts," she waved her phone in her hand, "I kind of pieced it together. So what's the deal with you and Jade?"

"I-oh, it's nothing, she's just…particular about things," Tori said which caused Sile to look at her with a confused expression. "We…we used to be friends but we kind of drifted apart. We met back up in high school but we didn't really click anymore, you know?"

"Right…" Sile said, suspecting there was more to the story than what Tori was letting on, "Well, my offer still stands. I don't give a rat's ass what Jade says about you, and I want a date. How about we meet back here in a few days? I'll buy."

Tori ran her finger along the ignition key as she nervously shifted on her feet and said, "I'll think about it. Is that okay?"

Sile just gave her a kind smile as she crossed her arms and said, "That's all I ask for. Now get out of here," she gave Tori a tap on the shoulder, "you and your band killed it tonight but you must be exhausted. Get some sleep, alright?"

Tori couldn't help but smile as she nodded and waved Sile off as she wandered back around to the bar with a goofy, confident grin on her face as she waved goodbye. Once out of sight, the musician got in her car and stored the cash from the gig in an envelope in the glove box labeled with the word "travels" and locked it before driving off to her family home. Along the way she left the windows down and let the cool night breeze ease her mind and help her to relax from the day's events and basked in the silence it was accompanied by. Luckily with most people still out at the bars and enjoying the L.A. nightlife, the roads were easy enough to navigate and soon enough she was unlocking the front door and closing it behind her, and tossing her purse to the couch. A note and some money was laying out on the kitchen counter but she chose to read it later as she went upstairs to take a shower, with Trina away for work she didn't have to worry about her product being used or being locked out and not having any hot water to use. Her door was ajar and she pushed it open with her hip as she started to take her top and hoodie off but as she did a voice greeted her, "Why didn't you call me?"

Tori froze and pulled her clothes back down and saw Jade leaning back on her desk with her feet crossed and an annoyed scowl adorning her face. She tapped her fingers awaiting an answer, "Well? What happened Vega?"

"Why are you here Jade?" Tori asked with a sigh as she walked into her bedroom and went over to the dresser to grab some clothes to change into.

"You didn't call me. You could have avoided this if you just listened to me," Jade said, raising her voice as she did when she bossed Tori around. "Now answer me."

Her hands rested on the drawer of her dresser as Tori lowered her head, not wanting to fight as she lied and said, "I was helping a friend with some prep work for the semester. I invited them to the store and we stayed late working and stayed back to lock everything up. Happy?"

Jade analyzed her for a moment and said, "That's all?"

"Yes," Tori said as she turned back to face her. "That's all. Can you go now?"

"What? Tired of me already Vega? I thought we were friends," She strolled forward and took one of Tori's hands in her own and squeezed it, and said, "It's been a while since we talked. Why don't we hang out? Watch some movies or maybe get a pizza?"

A shiver ran up Tori's spine as her fight or flight response triggered once again, alerting her to the trap Jade was laying out. It was just like every other time! A stern or harsh opening followed by a calming and soothing ploy to drag her in with the promise of friendship only to be burnt in the end. She felt sick as Jade gave her a venomous smile and eased herself around and behind Tori and wrapping her arms around her and whispered, "I have missed you; you know that, right?"

Tori's response was automatic and rehearsed as she nodded and said, "I know. You've been busy. It's okay."

Jade leaned in closer, her lips grazing Tori's ear but as she opened up to speak, her phone went off and she growled and stormed towards the desk, almost shoving Tori away as she snagged it and was prepared to tell whoever it was to leave them be, but she stopped as she looked at the message and her expression softened. She slouched a little and gave an annoyed huff as she typed out a reply and stashed it away in her pocket and said, "I've gotta go. Some stuff came up and I need to take care of it. We'll hang out soon though, won't we?"

Tori remained where she was previously standing and nodded and said, "Okay."

"That's my girl," Jade said with a smile. She beckoned Tori forward to which the shy woman obeyed and hugged her tightly. After a moment or two, she pulled away, her arms resting on Tori's shoulders and she met her eye and said, "You're still my masterpiece, you know that right?"

"And you're still my treasured porcelain doll," Tori said automatically. The words themselves felt like acid on her tongue as Jade smiled and took one hand and cupped her chin.

"Cross your heart?" Jade asked with a sweet and sickly innocent smile.

"C-cross my heart, hope to die," Tori said but Jade only frowned and tapped her nose and said, "We need to work on that stutter."

She leaned in and gave Tori one last hug and backed away towards the window and gathered her things and began to climb out onto the branches of the tree outside the window. As she sat on the windowsill with one leg dangling outside, she looked back to Tori and said, "Remember, I'll always be good to you. You should see this as a blessing," she gave a dry chuckle as she climbed out fully balancing on some of the branches, "you get to have me all to yourself."

Seeing Jade back away into the darkness and climb down the tree, the irony of the last statement was not lost on Tori. She watched as Jade climbed down the branches and the trunk just like she did when they were kids and ran off towards the road where her car was parked. Her eyes burned as she tried to hold back the tears but was trying to make one last stand as she choked on words and mockingly said, "You're always still right beside me. In sickness or in health," she couldn't help but offer up a dry laugh as she finished the old makeshift rhyme the two of them had come up with in their early years and slammed her fist on the desk.

She ignored the pain and watched as Jade pulled away in a hurry down the street and in that moment, Tori looked at her phone and back at the fading brake lights and made a decision. With one swift motion, she scooped up the phone and unlocked it and typed out a response, and hit send. Satisfied with herself, she set it down and started to remove her clothes to take that shower she planned to earlier, now she felt compelled to do it to clean herself of the sickly miasma Jade's presence brought about instead of just to relax from the show like she initially intended. There was a chime from her phone as she grabbed her pajamas and looked and smiled at the screen.

Tori: I've thought it over. When can we meet up?

Sile: Mo stór, anytime you want! How does tomorrow sound?

Author's Notes:

Hello once again! Sorry for the delay but I had some friends from out of town visiting me and we ended up doing a lot more than I initially thought we would. Anyway, I apologize for the delay and wanted to inform you all that this coming week I will be starting classes, I only have two and I've cut back my hours at work so it should all be fine, but currently I am thinking of implementing a new system where I post slower but in larger quantities. I'm thinking of maybe writing three chapters and then posting them all together for each story as I go in rotation, we'll see, it's a work in progress but I want you all to know I am not stopping.

On top of that, I have several one shots planned that I think you'll all enjoy and can't wait to finish and share with you all! I'll keep you posted if anything happens.

Anyway, it appears that the relationship between Tori and Jade is worse than what she initially let on. Hopefully Tori will be able to have some fun with her new friend and nothing bad will happen...no drama whatsoever...nothing at all. Feel free to leave a review or message me if you'd like, would love to hear your thoughts.

As one last final note, I've tucked some clues in some of these chapters that could tip you off to things that are coming in the future. *Cough, cough* newest song addition *Cough, cough*

Songs Used for Inspiration:

1. ?

2. ?

3. "Happier" by Marshmello ft. Bastille

4. "Dearly Departed" by Marianas Trench