This is written as a follow-up to my first Victorious fanfic: One Last Time.
If you've read this story before on this site, I had taken it down previously out of concern for the song lyrics I included with many of the chapters. I apologize for anyone who may have been reading this story when that happened.
At the moment, I'm working on bringing this story back, but with slight edits to improve the chapters' flow and pace and possibly exclude the lyrics altogether. Any helpful advice for this would be greatly appreciated! In any case, I hope you enjoy Postgrad Partners!
Disclaimer: I do not own Victorious or any properties or songs mentioned in this story for entertainment purposes only.
Postgrad Partners
Roughly 7 hours of flying and 1 brief layover in Atlanta later, Tori and Jade finally arrived in Miami, Florida very close to midnight. Having gotten moderate amounts of sleep during the flight, the young couple quickly disembarked from the plane and gathered Tori's suitcase from the baggage claim carousel. As she steadied her large, pink suitcase to her side, Tori looked over at Jade with a slightly guilty frown; noticing she only had her black Gears of War messenger bag as "luggage".
"Are you sure you'll be okay with just that bag for your stuff?" Tori asked her shyly, "I know we made this plan in the span of an hour, but we could have stopped by your house for some clothes at least."
Jade shrugged and looked off to the side, "I was growing out of most of my clothes anyway. My mother and Cat are welcome to them. Besides, my dad gave me quite a bit of money as a graduation gift, and I can find black clothes anywhere, right?" She looked back at Tori with a witty smirk.
Tori chuckled with a cute shrug, then her hand reached onto the sleeve of the one-piece pajalehoocho Jade had on since before the flight, "You know, I'm surprised you kept this on the whole time since we left. I know it's literally your only clothes right now, but you must be so hot in it…"
Her smirk growing wider, Jade pulled Tori in by her hand and leaned in close. As their noses brushed, she whispered, "Oh Tori, you should know by now that I'm hot in anything I wear. But if you mean temperature-wise, the plane actually kept me quite cold; so I'm looking forward to warming up soon, if you know what I mean…" She smiled wickedly and leaned closer, sensing Tori felt the same way.
"Oh…I think I do," Tori smiled back and tugged Jade closer for a kiss. Her hand was lost in Jade's messy hair as their lips brushed. They heard a few suggestive whistles and groans of disgust from people passing by, both of which they proudly let slide…until there boomed one voice that was too familiar to ignore.
"Victoria Cassandra Vega!"
Like a snap, Tori quietly yelped and her eyes shot open. The familiar tone of voice combined with her full name being called like many times in her childhood shot a chill down Tori's spine as she broke away from Jade and turned toward the source: her mother standing 10 feet away, arms crossed and eyes narrowed like a tiger's.
"H-hi, Mom…!" Even being discovered in bed with Jade by Trina that morning didn't compare to how terrified Tori was at that very moment. "I made it to Miami safely!"
"Oh, I can see that," Mrs. Vega nodded, shooting daggers at Tori and slowly turning to Jade, whose pale face was turning just as red and trying to look anywhere but directly at her girlfriend's mom. "I think everyone in the terminal can see that!"
Tori dashed over to her mother to explain herself, dropping her suitcase handle, which Jade swiftly caught. "Look, I wanted to explain before we left LA, but you and Dad weren't picking up, so I…figured I'd—we'd—tell you when we…arrived?"
"And what exactly is it you're going to tell me?" Mrs. Vega didn't look any bit relieved as she continued to stare at Tori's breaking composure.
"I…well, uhh…Jade and I…is…" Tori stammered, feeling her face get hotter and hotter until Jade stepped in, feeling a heavy arm wrapping around her shoulder.
"I like Tori, she likes me too, and we came here together…as frie—more than friends." The words left Jade's mouth as quickly as they popped together in her head. Without any regard for tact or safety, Jade braced herself for the inevitable.
Mrs. Vega's jaw dropped, but she quickly collected herself and turned her glare to Jade, "Jade…I don't think I've seen you since the graduation ceremony, but I still remember you using Tori's cap to hold your coffee…while she was still wearing it!"
Jade couldn't help but smile a tiny bit at that memory while Tori rolled her eyes to it.
"If this is another one of your jokes or schemes to hurt my daughter, so help me—"
"It's not a joke!" Tori interjected, cutting between her mother and Jade, "It's not a prank, it's not…anything like you think! Jade and I met up again with our friends and she drove me home after. We caught up, we said things, and…we confessed that we've had feelings for each other…for a long time now. We wanted to say more, but I was already preparing to move, so we came here together…so that we could…figure this out…together!" With a look back at Jade, she caught her hand and held it tightly, smiling sincerely and receiving a smile back. Turning back to her mom, she also braced for the worst.
"Well…" Mrs. Vega shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose, "I guess there are worse surprises I could be hit with, but at least one of those surprises is off the table." Both Tori and Jade blushed, feeling savvy to what that probably was. "We'd better get going. Your dad can't circle the parking lot forever, after all. But this discussion isn't over, you got that?"
The couple nodded more than necessary and quickly gathered their things to follow Mrs. Vega outside, where Tori's father met them in a large red SUV to take them to the new apartment.
Tori quickly tossed her suitcase into the back of the vehicle and slid next to Jade in the passenger row, quickly uttering, "Hi, Dad!"
Mr. Vega looked back at his daughter's hasty greeting and then to the surprise extra passenger next to her, "Hi, sweetie…and Jade? What's going—?"
Mrs. Vega climbed into the front passenger's seat, firmly shut her door, and buckled up without a glance back to the girls. "Let's go, dear. It's already late." Her husband merely shrugged and set the on-board navigation back to the apartment's address.
The 20-minute drive to Tori's new apartment somehow felt longer than the 7-hour flight from LA to Miami as no words were exchanged between anyone. Tori tried to distract herself with a preview of Miami at midnight through her window. Lights from several buildings, likely nightclubs and restaurants, were filling the darkness and faint live music could be heard in the distance. As much as she wanted to enjoy the limited sights, a look back at her parents' in front made her stomach drop. Sinking back in her seat, she then felt a warm hand cradling hers from the other side, where she saw Jade giving a small, hopeful smile to lift her spirits. It was hard for Tori to resist giving Jade even a quick kiss at that moment, but she settled for taking Jade's hand in hers, interweaving their fingers together and holding tight until they arrived at the apartment.
The four quickly filed into the apartment, and with a flick of the living room light switch, the modest furnishings and white-painted walls were revealed to Tori and Jade, whose eyes widened in surprise. Tori automatically walked toward the Hamilton Upright piano placed against one of the walls, her fingers gliding over the clean and glossy keys.
Jade's hands twitched in need of coffee, but she was certain they wouldn't get any based on the confused and irritable faces of Tori's dad and mom, respectively.
Mr. Vega continually switched glances between Tori and Jade while Mrs. Vega's gaze was fixed on the couple's hands connecting the two in between. She was the first to break the long silence by clearing her throat.
"Listen, I know there's a lot for us to discuss, but it's past midnight already, so let's all go right to bed and pick this up first thing in the morning, okay?" No one was in the mood to disagree as Tori's parents moved into one of the two bedrooms. Tori started toward the other bedroom, but turned to Jade, hesitantly holding out her arm like that fateful night before. However, Jade sighed and shook her head.
"I want to…really, I do," Jade whispered as she moved within earshot of Tori, "But let's not make this more awkward than it already is, okay?" With that, she dropped her messenger bag on the long sofa and gave Tori a gentle nudge toward the bedroom door.
With a disappointed nod in agreement, Tori quickly leaned in and kissed Jade softly on the cheek before walking inside the empty bedroom and closing the door behind her.
Now alone, Jade plopped down on the couch, taking a deep breath before laying down and stretching her legs along the length of the couch. Laying her head against the small throw pillow, Jade looked up at the pale-painted ceiling, trying to center her thoughts over the past day. Immediately, her mind drifted back to the previous night, spent in long, heartfelt conversations, drinking Belgian cocoa, and exchanging kisses with Tori as they let out their feelings for each other.
A part of Jade wished that night could have gone on forever; it would at least be less complicated than the night they were in now. She could hear a muffled, but frustrated conversation between the Vega parents in the other bedroom, which prompted her to grab her earbuds and try to drown it out with music.
She set her phone off of Airplane Mode and the screen suddenly filled with text messages from their friends; all ranging from questions about the video chat that was cut short to long streams of surprise and heart emojis that Jade quickly deduced to be from Cat. At the end of the long list of notifications was a single message from Jade's mother, reading, "Have you arrived in Miami yet?" Jade took a deep breath and tapped that notification to reply.
JADE: We arrived. Tori's parents picked us up and we're at her apartment now.
MOM: That's good. Were they surprised to see you?
JADE: They were. Not in a good way, but we're talking about it in the morning.
MOM: I expected as much. It's midnight there, right? But I'm guessing you slept a lot on the flight already?
JADE: Correct. I'm crashing on the couch bc I don't wanna make things weirder for them.
MOM: I'm sure that's for the better.
-Jade's train of thought was interrupted by a text notification from Tori-
JADE: I have to go. Good night.
MOM: Sure. Talk to you soon.
TORI: Hey. Sorry about my mom.
JADE: It's fine. We kinda expected it, right?
TORI: Well sure, but now that it's actually happening, I'm nervous.
JADE: Getting second thoughts about this? A little too late now.
TORI: I know, and I'm not. We just need to explain ourselves well enough so they can understand. And they will! I know it!
JADE: We'll see. Go to sleep before you stress out even more.
TORI: Ok. Do you need a blanket or a pillow?
JADE: You remember what I'm wearing?
TORI: Right. Goodnite. I love u.
JADE: U 2
Jade swiped away the messaging app, hoping Tori wouldn't think too hard about the situation, and turned to a shuffled playlist of favorite songs of hers. She closed her eyes and let herself drift off to the sounds of Evanescence.
Her sleep didn't last too long when she heard a door open and a hand tapping her shoulder. Instinctively, her eyes shot open and she almost raised her arm grab the tapping hand, but once she registered the face standing over her as Mr. Vega, she stopped herself and removed her earbuds.
Mr. Vega knelt down next to the couch as Jade sat up to look at him. "Jade, I know we're going to talk about this in the morning, but I'm sure you don't feel comfortable on that, do you?"
Jade shrugged, "It was my choice. I'm sure you and Mrs. Vega don't want me sleeping in the same bed as your daughter."
Mr. Vega let out a quiet chuckle, "That is true, but I also don't want to be a bad host to our…unexpected guest, especially one my daughter clearly likes." He nodded his head toward Tori's room. "Go. Be comfortable, at least for tonight."
Jade's eyes widened, but didn't argue as she stood up, grabbed her bag, and started toward Tori's room.
"But not too comfortable, okay?" Mr. Vega held his hand up, half-humorously, half-cautiously, to which Jade simply blushed and gave him a nervous thumbs-up.
Tori's bedroom door quietly opened as Jade stepped inside. A single lamp was providing light around Tori's bedside, which Jade moved toward to see that Tori was already fast asleep, hunched on one side of the bed, her back to where Jade was standing. Glancing back at the door to make sure it was shut, Jade quietly unzipped the pajelehoocho, peeling it off her until it collapsed at her feet. The breeze around the room cooled her even more now that she was only wearing her tank top and underwear, but her face felt even hotter as she hoped Tori didn't turn around and notice her. Jade lifted the covers of the bed and quietly slipped underneath them, keeping a healthy distance from Tori as her head settled on the second pillow.
On any other night, Jade might have been tempted to pull Tori in for a cuddle, but tonight she resisted the urge as she remembered the parents in the next room. With a sigh of resignation, she settled into the bed and closed her eyes to sleep, now in the more comfortable proximity of her girlfriend.