Hours passed by as Tori enjoyed the subtle high that came from the low-grade weed she smoked earlier that day while getting lost in the tale of some adventurer in a distant made-up land. She closed the book and set it off to the side as she stretched her arms and legs before standing up, prompting her pack of dogs to get up and follow her inside for a late lunch or an early dinner. It was around five or six in the afternoon as she started working on her dishes that she heard a car pull up the dirt driveway and stopped outside the front porch in a makeshift spot. With a glance out the front window, she saw the outline of the car and knew it was Cat since she always parked in the same spot closest to the stairs of the porch. Cat waved as she spotted Tori glancing through the front windows of the cabin and strolled up to the door and opened it up just as Zippy and Kona came zipping around to greet her. The two hyperactive dogs always had an attachment with the redhead and they were always eager for her visits.

"Hello! Hello! Oh yes, I missed you both too!" she said as she opened up the front door and knelt and started to pet the two dogs. "Hey, Tori!"

"Hey Cat," Tori said as she offered her a soft smile and leaned against the archway connecting the living room and the kitchen. "What's going on?"

"Hmm?" Cat said as she lifted Zippy and showered his head in kisses. The two always had a special bond. He was the second dog that Tori had rescued and Cat went with her to the shelter for moral support and out of curiosity but when she saw that small and scared Bull Terrier puppy zip across the room into Tori's arms as soon as she came into view, she knew the name that would perfectly fit him. Tori on the other hand wasn't exactly a fan of it at first but after many, many hours of persuading…. more so begging from Cat she agreed and the name stuck and eventually grew on her. Cat walked past Tori and sat down on the couch and played a little bit with Kona and Zippy by tossing a toy across the room for them to chase and play fetch with. Tori just chuckled and went back into the other room and started on her dishes again leaving Cat to her own devices. It wasn't the first time that Cat had invited herself over, but it was always for some reason. Some days it was to escape the stresses of work or the stress and toxic environment of her family, while other days she needed to be close to someone who knew the struggles of mental health and used Tori's home as an escape to rebalance herself. From the other room, she could hear Cat talking with each of her pets and playing with them while pausing to respond to a chime that she assumed came from Cat's phone. "Oh! Oh! Tori!"

"Oh! Oh! Cat!" Tori said with a laugh as she flicked some water off of her hands and grabbed a hand towel as the bubbly redhead came rushing around the corner with her furry friends in tow. "What's up?"

"I remembered why I came over! It's about my studio friends!" Cat said eagerly as she took Tori's hands and squeezed them a little and said, "My friends have a couple of jobs they need female vocals!"

"Okay?" Tori asked as she led Cat over to the dining table and took a seat and offered one to Cat. "I thought you only had one job available at the studio."

"Yeah, me too! I heard from my friends in the music department that they need someone to narrate and sing some stuff for kid films that are going straight to DVD. I thought you'd have fun with that!"

Tori looked at her skeptically and said, "Alright…tempting. What about the other one?"

Cat said, "Yeah, yeah so this one I just heard about today! I don't know much but it's supposed to be for some new spooky movie. I don't know much beyond that but I can get you an audition for them both if you want!"

"Umm okay, and it's just vocal stuff, right? I don't have to worry about headshots or anything like that?" Tori said as she crossed her leg and thought over the options.

"Yeah, just like you asked! Only vocal stuff, nothing else!" Cat said proudly for having remembered Tori's conditions.

Tori thought it over and said, "So when's the audition going to happen? Do you have some stuff I need to learn for it?"

Cat nodded and said, "I got an email from that I can send you!" With that, she picked up her phone and forwarded the information to Tori and glanced over another message that came through, and smiled. "So, what do you want to do? Is it cool if I stay the night?"

Tori patted Axel on his side as he came over and rested his head on Tori's thigh and licked her hand a couple of times. "I mean you're already here so why not. Did you want to watch a movie or something? Or we could bust out the fire pit for the first time this summer?"

Cat paused and thought it over and was about to speak but as she opened her mouth, Axel lifted his head and his ears perked up and he dashed towards the living room window with all the other dogs following him as they all heard a car approaching. Tori and Cat stood up and followed as the car that was approaching honked their horn a couple of times. As Tori rounded the corner with a confused expression, she recognized the blue BMW car and looked back at Cat, and said, "Oh you are so sneaky! What did you do?"

Cat giggled and led her out the front door as the car parked next to hers and hugged Tori from the side and said, "Happy birthday!"

"Happy birthday Tori!" Andre, Beck, and Robbie all shouted out as they climbed out of Robbie's car. Beck carried a couple of brightly wrapped boxes with ribbons on them while Robbie went over to another door and grabbed a small cake that was in a box with a clear top. Andre rushed over and ignored all of the dogs that were now rushing around and trying to greet the familiar visitors in favor of scooping Tori up in a big bear hug. Andre had changed a bit over the years just like all of them, but the most notable change was his size. He had bulked up a fair bit and now had a fair bit of muscle that complimented him well and added to his appeal. His hair was a little longer but still braided and tied back in a knot while the sides were shaved and had small lines shaved into the shading of the hair. The musician was doing well for himself as he wore higher-end clothes and an expensive watch on his wrist. "I missed you so much, Chica! How you been?"

"Andre! What are you doing here?! You're supposed to be in Seattle for your tour!" Tori said as she hugged him tightly in her arms as he spun her around in the air before he finally set her down and they swayed a little longer in their embrace before finally breaking apart. "You guys! You didn't have to do all of this for me!"

"Well, I guess we can cancel the surprise and I can head back to Ireland for a while longer, there were a few things I didn't get to check out," Beck said in a sarcastic tone as he slowly turned around back to the car only for Tori to rush over and almost knock him over as she hugged him.

"Don't you dare! I've missed you guys all so much!" Tori said as she started to tear up a bit and wiped her eyes.

"Hey, hey, none of that, this is a happy occasion," Beck said as he shifted the gifts to one hand and used his free arm to wrap around Tori and leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the top of the head as he led her back to the door.

"I swear, I am happy! These are happy tears!" Tori said as she walked inside and held the door open for the rest of them to enter her home. One by one they all came inside and started to break out the cake and set the gifts aside on the couch as Tori laughed and called out to her dogs that were playing and running around the yard, "De acuerdo, es hora de entrar! Vamos!"

As she called out, all of them stopped what they were doing, for some of them, their ears perked up and they all rushed towards the door and scampered across the floorboards of the porch and through the threshold. She smiled and closed the door behind her as she walked into the kitchen where her friends were lighting the candles on the cake and started to sing happy birthday to her. They all had bright smiles on their faces as they sang and carried the cake close and encircled her a little as Tori closed her eyes and thought of a wish before blowing out the candles, in her mind the wish was clear: I wish to be happy again.

Tori took a breath and blew out the candles as they all clapped and cheered, causing the dogs to bark and join in the small festive event. The remainder of the evening was spent talking and catching up until the early hours of the morning as they swapped stories and reminisced about the days of old. For the four guests in the Vega cabin, the looming storm clouds drew closer and closer in their minds as they tried to think of a way to break the news of what Beck had uncovered. Eventually, all of them ended up spending the night in the cabin like they had done so many times before once they realized how late it had become. Each of them taking a room that they had stayed in before and going to turning in for the evening.

"Thanks again Mary, I'll see you tomorrow. Have the car swing by around nine to pick me up," Jade said as she hung up the phone and set it aside on the kitchen counter. Her manager had gone above and beyond as usual and booked her an extended stay in a lavish hotel with a great view over the busy downtown nightlife of L.A. The room was decorated with expensive, lavish furniture adorning the living room with a large flatscreen over a small electric fireplace. To the left of that was a series of full glass pane windows and a sliding glass door that led to a balcony patio that wrapped around the corner of the penthouse suite with a full set of patio furniture and another automated firepit around some of the furniture. Jade didn't care much for the details of the room, to her, it was just another overpriced stay in a lavish building. She had to stay in so many of these rooms while traveling for interviews and work that they all just seemed to blend together. The one thing that was consistent that she genuinely cared about was the fully stocked bar that each of these hotel rooms came with. The award-winning author strolled around the island of the kitchen and opened one of the cabinets and found the stash of top-tier liquor and grabbed the first one that caught her eye.

Not even bothering with a glass, Jade grabbed the bottle opener and took the cork out, and tossed it in the trash as she took a sip of the rich red wine. She loosely carried the bottle in her hand as she strolled outside to the balcony and took in the city for the first time since she had returned. The lights and sounds that danced below her seemed so familiar yet foreign and distant at the same time. She could hear the laughter and shouts from people out on the town echoing up to her as she watched from her vantage point as she took another drink. The nighttime air chilled her but she didn't mind it as her hair was blown back and tossed around. She paced along the perimeter of the balcony as she had done so many times before back home, drinking and thinking as she watched the world around her go by in a blur of flashing lights and color. From her lonely perch, she longed to be a part of something, anything, and to have a bit of fun with those that mattered. In New York, she had some friends and acquaintances but none that she considered to be true or loyal, they all gravitated towards her for her wealth and fame. At the first sign of trouble, they would all run and scatter into the night whenever Jade would get into trouble over a fight or some stupid drunken argument. "Fucking assholes…useless," Jade grumbled to herself as she took another drink and looked back down to the busy sidewalks and spotted several groups of people strolling around just talking and laughing amongst themselves. She wasn't sure how long she watched them for but she pushed off of the banister of the siding on the patio and went back inside and scooped up the phone and dialed Cat's number and waited.

Back at the Vega cabin, the surprise party for Tori was in full swing as they finished opening the gifts and they were all laughing and chatting about their jobs. Beck was holding Nyx who seemed to be rather smitten with him while Andre and Cat were laughing, on the verge of tears as Robbie begged for them to help since he was pinned under both Duke and Axel, the two biggest dogs in Tori's little pack. As they were helping him, Cat's phone went off in the other room and Cat turned and said, "Hey Tori? Can you answer that for me, that might be my music friend with the audition deets!"

Tori wiped the tears from her eyes as she caught her breath and said, "Yeah, sure, sure! Duke! Axel! Aléjate de él!" Her two larger dogs immediately obeyed and hopped off of Robbie after Andre tried and failed multiple times to get them to move. Cat hopped up and took the seat next to Robbie and hugged him as he caught his breath as Tori smiled at them while she glancing over her shoulder. In the small makeshift dining room next to the empty dirty plates and empty cake box, Cat's phone was buzzing, partially hidden under a napkin and facedown. Tori scooped up the phone and instinctively hit the accept button and brought the phone to her ear and heard, "Hey Kitty Cat, are you busy?"

Her voice was just as recognizable as last time and still had the same effect, causing Tori to freeze momentarily. She felt a slight chill run down her spine and her heart started to race as Jade spoke again after not hearing anything aside from some quick, shallow breaths. "Cat? You alright?"

Tori brought the phone away from her ear and snuck a peek into the other room to see all of her guests sitting around and talking while the dogs played or sat close by, enjoying the attention and extra scratches. With a few quick steps of her long legs, Tori made it out to the back porch overlooking the woods and quietly slid the door closed and brought the phone back up as Jade said, "Cat, are you okay? What's going—"

"Cat's busy right now…want me to relay a message for you?" Tori said. Internally she was screaming at herself, questioning what she was even doing but tried to power through it and just see what would happen. Her curiosity getting the better of her.

Back in downtown L.A., Jade was just as surprised and almost dropped the wine bottle in her hand as she heard Tori's voice come through instead of Cat's. "Tori…hey, I-I was trying to reach out to you but you never responded to my message."

"Yeah, I got it…I was surprised you bothered. Especially after so many years." Tori said as she paced and leaned against one of the railings and picked at some loose paint chips. "After you left, you never bothered to return any of my calls so I assumed you were finished with me."

"Tori, please," Jade said quickly, knowing that this conversation was headed straight for an argument. "Let's not do this. Not now…not over the phone. I want to see you."

"You made that clear the last time you reached out," Tori said. "I don't know though. I…I want to see you too but it's been seven freaking years Jade. Seven years! Not once in all that time did you bother to try and visit or reach out! Do you know how badly I needed you here?! Do you know the ordeals I've had to go through without you here to help me through it?!"

Jade ran her free hand through her hair as she started to get frustrated and said, "No…I mean yes but not all of it. I flew over with Beck from New York and he and I talked a bit and he gave me a little insight but no details. Just enough to clear up a few things."

Tori straightened up a little at the mention of Beck's name and said, "Beck told you?"

She was genuinely surprised and frustrated that Beck had left out such important details about his surprise trip as she started to walk towards the sliding door only for Jade's voice to stop her as the gothic beauty said, "Please, wait. Don't blame him, I kind of twisted his arm a bit. He didn't say much at all and…and I don't blame him. Tori please, I fucked up. I royally fucked up! I never should have hurt you and just left like that!"

Her words were genuine as she started to tear up a little while Tori listened in a strange stupor, recognizing how honest Jade was being but part of her still doubting the authenticity. "I never wanted to hurt you like that and you have every right in the world to just be done with me! And I would deserve it but I have been punishing myself for it ever since I walked out that apartment door! Please, Tori, all I want is just to see you and talk! Let me explain, I should have told you everything and I should have stayed and apologized for harming you!"
"What do you mean, tell me everything? What else was going on? I thought this was just about the slap," Tori asked, confused and a little frightened that there were even more demons plaguing their relationship that she didn't know about.

"Beck didn't tell you then…" Jade said.

"No, he didn't even tell me you were on his flight. Jade, what's going on?" Tori asked.

"I-I…Vega I don't want to do this over the phone," Jade pleaded. "Just, come to my hotel room. Or I'll come to you! Or anywhere, just meet me so we can talk about all this shit!"

"Tell me what's going on Jade!" Tori quickly retorted. "Tell me now and I'll consider seeing you! If you don't tell me then that's it!"

Through the speaker on the phone, Tori could hear Jade set the phone down and sigh and take a deep breath as she let out a series of small curses before saying, "Fine! Fine! I fucked up Tori! I fucked up and I'm sorry! My dad was pushing me to break up with you and while we were fighting, I slept with someone!"

There was a long, long silence following those words. Jade kept trying to get Tori to talk and tell her what was going through her mind, to get her to say anything at all but all she heard on her end was the soft sounds of breathing. Tori was running the words through her mind over and over again, trying to decipher some hidden meaning, some alternative interpretation that she was simply overlooking but she knew what she heard. With the passing of a couple more minutes, Tori cut off Jade and said, "I need time."

"How much time?" Jade asked.

"I don't know," Tori said. She started to bring the phone away from her ear to hang up but stopped as she thought of one last thing to say that would make Jade understand just a fragment of how hurt she was feeling. "But it'll be sooner than seven fucking years. That I can promise."

Author's Notes:

One last surprise update for you all! Thanks again for all the reviews so far, they have been a lot of fun to read! I meant for this chapter to be far shorter but I liked having all of this condensed down into one and thought it flowed a bit better this way.

Things will soon become clearer, both parties have many things that were left unsaid, Tori especially, but if you look back there have been a few clues that have been sprinkled in that might reveal what's happened in the last seven years. I've been having a blast workshopping these mini mysteries and character arcs behind the scenes and I can't wait to share them with you all!

Spanish Translations: (I apologize if these are incorrect, I tried to double and triple check that they were accurate)

De acuerdo, es hora de entrar! Vamos! = Alright, time to come inside! Let's go!

Alejate de el = Get off of him

Songs Used for Inspiration:

1. ?

2. "She Got the Best of Me" by Luke Combs

3. "Miss Missing You" by Fall Out Boy

4. ?