Once in the elevator, Jade pulled out her phone and texted Mary to have her meet up in her room. Armed with the tidbits of information she gleaned from her talk with Tori, she had some ideas in mind and wanted Mary to handle the details while she focused on the movie and more importantly, her relationship with Vega. Within twenty minutes, Mary was knocking on the door and smiled as Jade let her in and said, "So? What happened?"

"Wipe that smile off your face. I'm pissed and we've got work to do," Jade said as she ushered her in and closed the door. Mary watched as Jade marched back into the kitchen and stopped in front of the collection of alcohol before changing course and going to the sink to fill a glass with water instead. "Get your phone out or a piece of paper. I have a list for you."

"So, I take it that your lunch date with your friend didn't go well?" Mary asked as she pulled out her phone and got ready to type. "What happened? Your friend seemed nice."

"She is nice. That's the problem. She's too nice and naïve," Jade said as she took a seat on the couch next to Mary and said, "She set me up with my ex. I guess she had plans to meet up with her anyway so she took me to this restaurant and then bailed, leaving us alone! I still want to wring her little neck for that stupid stunt!"

"I'm not hiring a hit squad if that's what you want me to do," Mary said but gave an apologetic nod as Jade glared at her. "Sorry, but isn't it a good thing you got to see her and talk a bit?"

"A little. We got some things out of the way but there's still a lot to unpack and she's really closed off. I found out her whole fucking family is dead! They died a little after I bailed on her! Mary, she fucking needed me and I ignored her calls!"

"Woah…that poor girl…b-but you couldn't have known what was going on. It's not all on you, you told me yourself there were issues from before that made you leave," Mary said as she rubbed Jade's back as the young author held her head in her hands.

"That's not the point," Jade said as she shook her head and looked over to Mary and said, "Look I want you to do some things for me. I talked with her a little and learned some stuff, but I couldn't ask her who hurt her. I wanted to but I asked about the tattoo and found out about her family."

"Why didn't you just ask her after that?" Mary asked.

"Because she looked ready to fall apart!" Jade said sternly. "You haven't met her but she's not the same person that I left! Before I even got her to talk, she looked ready to bolt or crumble to pieces! After she told me about her family's accident, I thought she would go into a panic attack or something! She stared at her water for like ten fucking minutes! If I asked about her abuse, she'd have just cried or changed the subject!"
"So…what do you want me to do about this?" Mary asked.

"Hire a private detective or someone who can find out who hurt her. I don't know when she'll tell me—if she'll ever tell me but I have to know! She probably didn't even report it and my moronic friends didn't either if I had to guess! She probably convinced them not to for some bullshit reason but I want to know and I want a report or something done on them!"

"Okay…" Mary said as she typed it out on a to-do list. She looked a little confused about Jade's course of action but couldn't question her on it as she continued and said, "Next, I want you to check any tabloids and have a statement or something ready to get rid of some bad press—more importantly to keep her out of any headlines. The paparazzi found out where I was somehow and my ex drove me here but if they saw me with her, I'm afraid they'll make up some story about us or try to figure out who she is and I want her to keep her privacy. Pay off anyone for their pictures if there are any, just make sure nothing gets published."

This time Mary rolled her eyes and said, "I wish I didn't have to keep doing this," As she typed out the reminder and said, "It would help if you stopped doing stupid things that got you in trouble. Now, most of those guys see you as an easy story. Seriously Jade! They've caught you on film so many times while you're out drinking and fighting and if you aren't fighting, you're fucking someone! If you didn't sleep around or drink so much then the press wouldn't be an issue!"

"Can we deal with this later?! I know! I've got a problem, Mary! It's a terrible coping method and it's a shitty excuse but now is not the time!" Jade yelled back.

"Fine," Mary said as she typed out the task and grumbled, "I've only been telling you this for a couple of years but whatever. Anything else?"

Jade chose to ignore the last statement as she sipped her water and said, "Just set up a flight for me to go home for a day or two so I can pack more clothes and things to keep here."

"Alright," Mary said as she got up and started to head for the door but Jade stopped her and pulled her into a hug. "What's this for?"

"Because I'm sorry for being such a bitch. I'm just really messed up and stressed about everything. You've had my back and I'm sorry for not listening to you, even before all this shit with my ex."

Mary shook her head and hugged her back before saying, "I know, I know. I love you girl but you need to stop and think through all of this before you do anything stupid. The trip back home will help clear your head. Do you want me to stay over tonight?"

Jade shook her head and released her from the hug and said, "No, no not this time. I want some time to think. I'll see you tomorrow."

For the rest of the evening, Jade stayed in her room, abstaining from any alcohol, and got to work on her laptop. She spent hours typing and reading through her stories and drafts, fixing the most minuscule details in a weak attempt to distract herself from everything going on with Tori Vega. But her heart and mind were not so kind and refused to let Tori drift too far. She replayed the conversation in her mind repeatedly, taking in every grizzly detail that Tori had shared with her. She could never imagine the amount of pain that Tori had to endure at that moment both physically and emotionally, being forced to watch the life leave the bodies of her family members while waiting to be rescued. Tears started to fall onto Jade's hands which stopped her halfway through the sentence she was typing. She reached up and realized that she was crying and tried to shake it off, letting the sadness and frustration drift away but it clung to her, her guilt not allowing her a moment of peace. As she looked back to her laptop, she found that she had typed out everything that Tori had told her, every word and detail expanded up upon through Jade's experience as an author, painting an even more vivid description of the Vega's end.

"That's enough writing for now," Jade said as she wiped her eyes, closing the laptop, and shoved it across the counter before going to the bedroom. It was still early in the evening but Jade no longer had the motivation to work and spent the rest of the night in her room watching television.

After Tori pulled away from the lavish hotel that Jade was staying at, she sped off down the street and began the long trek back home. Her head was spinning as she tried to process everything that had transpired today. Part of her was elated at seeing Jade again while another part was screaming in anguish from being deceived and having to share some of her past with her former love. Cat had no right to step in and orchestrate something like this but she knew that her friend's heart was in the right place, much like Beck's when he shared part of Tori's story with Jade on their flight. The torrent of emotions swirled inside of the young Vega as she drove faster and faster along the highway until she reached her exit and pulled off onto the smaller streets leading away from the sprawling city and back to her hidden paradise. In no time, she was pulling her beat-up van off of the dirt trails and along the makeshift driveway that led to her cabin. She parked in her usual spot and waved to Beck, who was staying over and working on installing new rain gutters and patching up the railing that lined the front porch. Her entire pack of furry rescues was laying about the porch and ran towards her when they saw their loving master return. He waved and set down his tools and approached as Tori got out of her van and said, "Hey, how was lunch with Cat?"

Tori playfully greeted each of her pets and walked with them as she walked up the stairs and said, "Lunch with Cat, didn't happen. Lunch with Jade, though, was tense and I was freaking out the whole time!"

"Wait, what?" Beck asked as he took a seat on the porch swing next to Tori.

The half-Latina set her bag to the side and let Lola and Zippy jump up to sit in her lap while Duke rubbed up against her legs then curled up next to her feet. She sat there for a moment before speaking again and said, "Cat met Jade at the studio and invited her to lunch. She took her to Angio's and then bailed before I got there and left us alone."

"Have you talked to Cat about it?" Beck asked.

"No. I'll worry about that later, I managed to stop Jade from going to kill her but the rest of the meal didn't go too well," Tori said. "We tried that question game you used with Jade and I told her about my family. I didn't tell her everything and I feel so terrible but I just couldn't—"

"It's fine," Beck said as he rubbed Tori's back a little, "You don't have to tell her everything right off the bat. Hell, you didn't have to tell her anything."

"No…but you seemed to have told her quite a bit," Tori said and watched as Beck hesitated for a moment as he reached down to pet Kona who had been begging for his attention, realizing what she was referring to "When were you gonna tell me about your flight with Jade?"

"In all honesty," Beck said as he glanced over at Tori, "I was going to tell you today after you got back from lunch with Cat. I didn't want it to ruin your surprise party so I thought I'd tell you today."

Tori let out a frustrated sigh and distracted herself for a moment as she ran her fingers along Zippy's hair. Ever since she had first met Beck, she knew that he was honest to a fault and would never lie but his abstention from sharing pivotal details like this irritated her. "You should have just told me."

"I know, but I wasn't going to ruin the party," Beck said. "This is the first time we've all been back together in a while and I knew you needed this time. I wasn't going to take that away from you."

Tori pouted a little and slapped his arm and said, "Stop talking and let me be frustrated with you! You're making it really hard by being all sweet and caring like that!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Beck said with a laugh as he leaned in and hugged Tori. "So are we good?"

"Yes…but I am still kind of mad you didn't tell me but I get why," Tori said as she leaned into his embrace. As they broke apart, Tori continued, "She told me about her family and the money problems and a little bit about how she cheated on me. But then she asked me…she asked me if there was even a chance of us being together and I didn't know what to say!"

"Really?" Beck asked.

"Well…we got interrupted so that bought me some time but I didn't know what to say at first!" She exclaimed.

"So…what did you tell her?"

"I-I told her that I didn't know. I said that there was a lot of damage and so much that has happened but then she said she'd be fine if we were just friends and I felt like I was about to lose it! Just like that, simple words and a gesture like that I felt myself falling for her all over again and I hate it!"

"Yeah…she has that effect, trust me, I know all about that," Beck said as he leaned back, "Do you want to know what she told me her end goal was?"

Tori groaned as she covered her face with her hands and said, "No, but tell me anyway. I have to know before I make any decisions. She still wants me to audition for her movie even if I tell her we can't try to patch things up."

"Well, I asked what her goal was and she said, that if this were a perfect world, then she'd get the chance to fight for you," Beck said and tapped her shoulder so that she was looking at him before continuing, "And in this perfect world, she'd marry you after proving herself."

"She said that?!" Tori said, stunned at Jade's declaration, "The great Jade West, said she wanted to marry me?! Agh! Why does she have to be so frustrating?!"

"Because that's just how she is," Beck said, "Might I make a suggestion?"

"What?"

"Honestly, I don't think it's a good idea…especially after she hit you, but you know I support your decisions no matter what they are," Beck said as he looked out over the tree line, "But…you said that you aren't sure. I think you should invite Jade up here for a hike."

"No way!" Tori said quickly. "I'm not letting her come here!"

"Just hear me out, okay?" Beck explained, "Look…that audition isn't until next Monday and I think you and Jade should meet up one time before then and just hang out. Away from everything. No outside pressure and just see how it feels to be around one another. That way it's on your terms, you have the home-field advantage, and if you don't want anything to do with her, you can just send her away. Plus there's no way Duke would let her do anything, right buddy?"

Duke lifted his head and let out a gruff bark in response before resting his head back on Tori's feet which made her laugh, "My faithful protector as always, thank you, Duke! So…you think I should ask her to come out here?"

"I think it could help. Just one afternoon where you two don't talk about anything. Nothing about the past or the future, just talk. Talk about everything or nothing. I just think that if you two can spend some time together, where the deck is in your favor, then you can truly figure out what you want."

"That…that kind of makes sense…but what would we even do?" Tori asked.

"Take a walk," Beck suggested. "Take her and the pack down the trail to the creek and just see what happens. If it goes well, then you might be strong enough to try performing again and do all the stuff you've been missing out on."

"You know I hate it when you use practical logic against me," Tori said. "I'll think about it…you're right…but I want to think about it. Thank you for the talk…this helped more than you know. Are you staying over again tonight?"

"Sadly, no," Beck said as he stood up, "After I patch up that last bit over there, I'm gonna have to get going and finish unpacking my bags. We'll hang out again soon though, maybe we can all go on a weekend trip sometime."

"Thank would be nice, I'll leave you to it, for now, I need to work on my summer coursework so I'll be in my office if you need me," Tori said as she hugged Beck one last time before slipping inside with Duke, Nyx, and Kona in tow. Once situated in her office, Tori dove into her work which mainly consisted of checking how many people have turned in the introductory assignments and awarding them the participation points. After that, she spent most of that time browsing online and reading, letting the time slip away until the sun dipped below the waves and gave the stars their chance to play. She glanced down at her phone as it sat on the desk and shook her head before picking it up and said, "Bite the bullet and get it over with. It's now or never."

Tori: Hey…I'm sorry it's so late and I know you're probably sleeping. But I wanted to ask if you would like to come out on a hike?

Jade: I'm not asleep, but there's no way in hell I'm hiking this late at night, Vega.

Tori: Haha, very funny. I meant in a couple of days. There's a trail by my house I usually go on. I promise there will be far fewer cameras.

Jade: Deal! Just say when and I'll be head over.

Tori: Great! I'll send the address later…goodnight Jade. It was nice to see you again.

Jade: Goodnight Vega…I missed talking with you.

Tori couldn't think of a way to respond to that last message and put the phone away while Jade looked at her phone screen with a shy smile and held it close to her chest as she tucked herself in for a night of peaceful slumber for the first time in forever.

Author's Notes:

Hello, hello! So sorry for the delay! I meant to try and get back to this story sooner but after my mini trip, I ended up getting a little ill and have pretty much lost my voice and have been coughing nonstop. I'm far better now than I was but I had no motivation to write so I focused a lot on editing and updating the existing chapters.

On a completely different note, two quick things. Apparently, Liz Gillies and Seth MacFarlane released an album earlier this year and I didn't hear about it but its supposedly full of classic and blues and jazz songs so I'm going to check it out! Secondly, while under the weather I ended up diving back into some albums, both new and old, that I haven't listen too and thought of a fun challenge that could be entertaining and wanted your input. If I were to write a series of one-shots, most likely of Jori romance and drama, each one based off a song from one album, would that be something you're interested in reading?

Let me know by direct message or feel free to write a review and let me know. Have a good day!

Songs Used for Inspiration: (Side note: I keep finding more songs that I'm using for inspiration so I may just make a playlist and add a link)

1. ?

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

3. "Miss Missing You" by Fall Out Boy

4. ?