As soon as Jade followed inside the house, Tori shut the door and locked it with a deep breath. Jade took out her key fob and locked her car before breaking the silence, "Tori…are you…"
Tori cut her off like Jade had before with a sudden kiss on her lips and hands cupping her face. Jade wanted to stop it, but overwhelmed by the feeling, her hands instead went up to weave through Tori's hair. As she felt Tori lead her to the couch and start to pull down her jacket, an alarm in Jade's mind went off and she broke the kiss immediately, hands going back down to Tori's shoulders to push her off. "Tori, stop! Think for a second, okay?! What do you want? To start making out here on the couch and have a one night stand while some sappy love song plays in the background? Well, I don't want that! Just…just take a minute to breathe first!"
Tori's head was too wracked to respond. She started muttering, then bordering on hyperventilating until Jade pulled her into a quiet, gentle hug. Thrown off by Jade's unusual display of affection, Tori's breathing slowed back to normal as she returned the hug and rested her head against Jade. "I…I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me." Tori breathed into Jade's shoulder.
"It's…okay," Jade nervously rubbed Tori's back, mirroring a time she did the same years ago. "Let's just get something to calm down. You have tea or something?"
"I have Belgian cocoa! I made that the last time when Andre had a crush on yuhhhh…" Tori started toward the kitchen, but her mind caught up with her mouth as she tripped on her words.
"Okay, first, you know that cocoa will keep us awake, right? And second, Andre had a what?" Jade raised her eyebrow curiously.
"Cocoa, coming right up!" Tori's face lit back up as she yanked open the cupboard.
A few minutes of brewing hot water later, Tori and Jade sat next to each other at the dining table, each holding a mug of fresh cocoa while nervously searching for the right words to start conversation again.
"So…" Jade knew her next words were on brand for her, but she hesitated nonetheless before deciding to say, "Are you that frisky with every person who kisses you or just me?"
Tori's face lit up again as she knew she had to explain herself, "I…I'm not always like that! I was just caught by surprise when you kissed me like that. I mean, it was a nice kiss! I just…didn't expect it, you know?"
"That was kind of the idea," Jade blushed this time, already thinking back to that magical moment, "But I meant it, you know? All of it; everything I said in the car. I have feelings for you, Ve…Tori."
Jade had often called Tori by her first and last name interchangeably to the point that she responded to either one, but the way she said her first name now felt different; like the sound of her name was a kiss in itself. Taking a quick sip of her cocoa, Tori looked at Jade's reddened cheeks, then her piercing blue-green eyes to reply, "You really do? But…why? I mean, I know with everything we talked about, we're certainly friends now! I just didn't know you liked…"
"Do you mean liking other girls?" Jade bit her lip a bit nervously, "Or you, specifically? Either way, you're the first girl I've really liked like this. And yeah, I do see you as a friend now. Like I said before, you're incredibly hard-working, you don't ever stop caring about your friends and your family, and I admire that about you. It's just…not all I admire about you."
"Oh," Tori took a long sip, unable to take her eyes off of Jade and her continually blushing face, "Well…why now? I know you said it's because tonight might be the last chance you have, but we've known each other for so long. When did you start feeling this way?"
Jade took a long sip of her mug, staring down at the dining table like it was a screen relaying her memories, "I think I've felt this way about you for a long time. Since the music awards, that 'date' we were forced on, when I was writing that song for the Full Moon Jam; but it wasn't really until this past summer and Cat's dumb song that I put it together myself.
"Graduation really took me out of the day-to-day routine I was so used to with you guys, but it's given me a lot of time to think about myself, like how I've been to everyone; to my family, our friends, you especially. I wanted to try making things better with my family first, but my dad decided to move to Europe with his new skank wife…"
"Don't you mean 'gank'?"
"I know what I said. Anyway, that left my mother, and surprising even me, she wanted to make amends, too. We're closer now than we've been in years. It's…nice." Jade showed a faint smile as she stared down at her cocoa, which quickly froze into a startled frown when Tori crashed into her with a big hug.
"Aww," Tori grinned into Jade's side, "That's so sweet! I'm happy for you, Jade!"
Jade fought the instinct to shove Tori back and instead opted for a more verbal response, "I can tell you're happy, Vega, especially with where that hand of yours is reaching…" That immediately drove Tori back to her seat, her face crimson red as Jade laughed out loud. "Just because I regret my past self doesn't mean I don't want to still dish it out now and again~"
Tori sighed with a smile and returned to rub Jade's back gently, "And I don't mind that one bit, Jade. I know you said you're still figuring yourself out, but for what it's worth, I really do admire how determined you are when your mind is set on something. I just wish I could be there to see what you do next."
Jade gripped her mug a little harder, trying not to fixate on that last sentence. "What about you, Tori? Do you feel the same way about me, or should I just take that kiss as an answer?"
Tori gulped down her cocoa, staring down at the drink before putting her answer together, "I do like you, Jade. Like I just said, there's a lot that I admire about you, too. It's just…I wish we had more time to really talk about this. I wish I wasn't leaving tomorrow morning before this could be something…"
Jade frowned, but got up to face Tori, taking her hand from her mug and holding it tight. "Well, for tonight at least, why don't we finish what we've started?"
Tori's eyes widened, trying to piece together what she meant, "You mean me inviting into my house…alone…after we kissed?"
Jade only nodded, a wicked grin growing on her face.
"Well…what did you have in mind?"
A shrill scream filled the living room, accompanied by another scream from Tori's mouth as she buried herself in Jade's side again. Jade simply laughed and took another sip of her cocoa, her eyes focused on the visceral display of scissor-related gore in front of them on the TV.
Tori poked her head up toward Jade with an annoyed, yet adorable, pout on her face, "I thought you said there wasn't a special showing of The Scissoring tonight!"
"I never said that," Jade grinned, not taking her eyes off the TV, "You just assumed that was the reason I wanted to get home so early, remember?"
"You said you wanted to talk to me one last time!"
"Oh. Well there was that, too." Jade sipped her cocoa again with a knowing wink in Tori's direction.
With a huff, Tori plopped back against the couch, grabbing the popcorn bowl next to her. "Fine, you win. But I'm choosing the next movie!"
As the ending credits to the next movie were beginning to roll to a feel-good pop song, Jade stared at the screen with a confused eyebrow raised while Tori sat smiling brightly with satisfaction.
"What the hell was that?!" Jade exclaimed.
"What? I thought you'd like it because the main character dies in the beginning!"
"Well, duh! But you didn't say she'd still be in the movie as a ghost or whatever!"
"That's what you didn't like? There are lots of movies that do that!"
"I know that! My problem is…why does she end up with the celebrity crush who never even knew her?! She and her roommate had more chemistry and time spent together! They were childhood friends!"
Tori laughed, wishing she could snap a picture of Jade's confused face, "Wow…Horror Queen Jade West, a romantic? If our friends could see you now…"
"Shut up! I took screenwriting classes, I'm allowed to call out janky endings when I see them!"
Tori giggled as she started humming the song with the movie, getting up to stretch and put away the mugs and popcorn bowl. Jade turned off the TV and picked up her phone, seeing the time had flown by to 2:00 AM.
"Ah, chiz. When did it get so late?"
"Well, you can crash on the couch if you want…or Trina's bed, since it's empty for now," Tori suggested as she finished washing and drying her hands over the kitchen sink.
"First, there's no way I'm sleeping in your sister's bed; I'll probably have my talent drained away just by being around it. And second…" Jade got up and walked toward Tori in the kitchen, matching the same swagger and charm she showed during their mock date's duet. "You weren't planning on me sleeping on the couch tonight—much less all by myself—when you invited me in, were you?" Stopping only inches from Tori's face, Jade grinned like she had before, her eyes falling on Tori's.
Tori couldn't hide her blushing in front of Jade's wicked grin, "Well…I mean..."
The door to the bedroom swung open as Tori's back crashed into it and she went stumbling onto her bed, with Jade almost tripping over and landing on top of her. Taking in their precarious position for only a moment, their lips crashed together again with a slight whimper on Tori's end and Jade pulling her jacket off and tossing it aside. As her hands found Tori's shoulders to push down, she broke the kiss and looked over her companion for the night, smiling wide and brushing Tori's hair from her face.
Tori tried to steady her breathing again as she looked up at Jade, "W-Wait! I thought you didn't want to do this!"
"Oh, I don't," Jade laughed and booped Tori's nose, "But I bet you never entered your room while making out like that before, am I right~?"
Tori pouted, then smiled as she lifted her head up, "I haven't, if you must know. That was...something~"
With a huff, Jade climbed off of Tori to stand and turn to shut the door. She then proceeded to shimmy out of her jeans, dropping them on the floor and tossing her shirt next to her jacket, leaving her in a thin tank top and her underwear. Jade turned around to a very, very red-faced Tori, who was still only pulling on a clean shirt to sleep in. She winked to Tori and slid under the covers, "Enjoy the show~?"
Tori could only pout through her blushing and slip under the covers with her. The moonlight beaming through the bedroom window made Jade's eyes shine like a scene from one of the movies they'd just seen, making Tori reach out and cup her cheek in her right hand. Jade simply closed her eyes and smiled at the touch, to Tori's surprise.
"You always threatened anyone who even brushed against you before; just about everyone except for me. Why is that?"
Biting her lip, Jade kept her eyes fixed on Tori's, "If you're really asking that, then the last several hours have been wasted, don't you think?"
Tori nodded, accepting the non-answer and lightly rubbed Jade's cheek with her thumb, "I know I said this before. I meant it then, but I really mean it now. You are pretty—no. You're beautiful, Jade West."
The last time Tori called her pretty, Jade looked at her with barely downplayed surprise. This time, however, she smiled with the utmost sincerity and replied, "Is that from every angle? Not just certain ones?"
Tori nodded again with a lovestruck smile. In a low, near inaudible whisper, Tori said, "Good night…babe," and closed her eyes to sleep.
It was Jade's turn to be lovestruck, staring in surprise and struggling to say anything back. When she saw Tori was fast asleep, she gently massaged her cheekbones and sighed, "You dork…" Jade's hand fell from Tori's face to wrap around her side as she closed her eyes and entered a peaceful sleep.