The smell of fresh eggs, toast, meat, and coffee made its way to Jade's bedroom, dragging her out of sleep and toward the kitchen. Her eyes open to the sight of Tori with a large apron wrapped around her bed clothes as she attempted to slide a newly fried egg from the pan to an empty plate. Even half-awake, Jade managed to sneak behind her girlfriend and lightly pinch her sides, causing Tori to yelp and almost miss the plate with her egg.

Tori carefully set the pan back on the stove before glaring back at Jade, who was biting her lip to hold back her laughter. "You know you were this close to eating that egg off the floor!" Tori fumed.

Jade scoffed, "You wouldn't make me do that; not if you don't want me to rub your avocado toast on my foot…again~"

Crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes, Tori simply replied with a curt, "Oh."

Jade gasped dramatically and reached to pinch Tori's cheek, "Aww, look at you trying to sound passive-aggressive like me~"

Tori swatted Jade's hand away then reached behind her to untie her apron, "Well, you know what they say. 'Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.'" She winked as her voice pitched to the familiar accent Jade used, "Isn't that why you always tease me talking like this?"

"Oh, but I thought you don't talk like that," Jade smirked back, "So am I really flattering you if I'm not imitating you?"

Seeing that she was losing this battle of wits, Tori grabbed the plate with Jade's egg and started to tip it toward the floor, "Oh…don't look now! I think you're about to get some floor to go with your—"

Before the egg could slide off the plate, Jade suddenly closed in, grabbed the plate out of Tori's hand, and set it back on the counter before pressing a sweet kiss on Tori's lips. She caught Tori's back with her other hand before it could make contact with the hot stove, but it didn't stop Tori's face from heating up from the surprise contact. They may have promised Tori's parents that they'd be roommates before girlfriends in the apartment, but Jade was taking any little chance she could see.

Jade slowly broke away and whispered sweetly to Tori, "Thanks for making breakfast, babe~"

Tori's hands went up to cup Jade's face and return the kiss, "Anything for my…roommate~"

Jade was exchanging glances between her laptop and Tori eating her toast across the table as the latter was catching her gaze and blowing a kiss toward her. "Careful, Tori," she chuckled, "Don't accidentally blow your crumbs at me, now."

With a slight blush, Tori swallowed her food and washed it down with her coffee. "What are you looking at there?"

"Nearby shopping centers," Jade made differing expressions with each search result, ranging from interested to disgusted, "I need new clothes and we need to decorate this space, don't we?"

Tori raised an eyebrow, wishing she could see what stores Jade was browsing through, "We're not gonna do a 'half-normal, half-goth' split of furniture right down the middle of this room, are we?"

"Oh, Tori," Jade scoffed and looked back at her with a smile, "This is our apartment! You know I wouldn't make such important living decisions without consulting you, right?"

Tori couldn't take the chance and walked over to Jade's side of the table, peering at numerous browser tabs of malls and shopping centers, catering to college-age students and pop-culture enthusiasts. A few bookmarked products made Tori nod with approval while others made her roll her eyes knowing they were clearly for Jade's benefit and not hers. Sighing, she went back to take her plates to the sink and said back to Jade, "Alright, just make a list and we'll head out after we shower—separately, not together!" She quickly pointed back and emphasized the last word, knowing Jade would make a playful quip.

Jade was caught with her mouth open, clearly about to do what Tori expected, and shrugged instead, "It would save on our water bill, but whatever you say…roommate~"

Tori groaned to herself, both at Jade's substitute quip and at how hard it was proving for them to keep the promise to her parents.

With Jade taking her turn in the shower, Tori sat on one of the lounge chairs, scrolling through the latest updates of their group chat. Before going to bed last night, she shared a selfie taken with Jade captioned: "Tori + Jade: Postgrad Partners making it in Miami!"

The post was met with hearts, thumbs-up, smiling emojis from their friends, followed by their comments and well-wishes.

CAT: YAAAAAYYYY! So happy for you both! :3 :3 :3

ANDRE: Congrats! Make it shine, you two! ;D

ROBBIE: Love the photo, love the caption even more! xD

BECK: Good luck to you both! Don't forget us when you're famous! :)

JADE: Way to turn our relationship into a sitcom, dork. (-_-)

TORI: Love U 2, Jade. :{D

Smiling contently, Tori stowed her phone into her purse and took out her key ring. She took a long look at the newest addition to that ring, the key to the SUV parked outside. With a deep breath, Tori silently prayed her first time driving it without her parents would go smoothly, to which a sudden voice cut into her thoughts.

"We going, or are you still playing with the shiny keys like Cat?" Jade slung her messenger bag over her shoulder and smiled. With a silent smile back, Tori nodded and started toward the door, keys and purse in hand.

The two took their first steps outside, the Miami morning sun shining over them and the small parking lot. As Tori locked the front door, Jade put on her sunglasses while looking for their ride. She quickly spotted the red SUV they left the airport in and looked to Tori to unlock it. Not missing a beat, Tori clicked the key fob, the car unlocked with a quick chirp, and they climbed into the front seats together. Jade stopped for a moment before realizing she was climbing into the passenger's seat and Tori was in the driver's seat.

"Did I miss something or did Miss Sally Peaches finally get her driver's license?" Jade shut her door with a sly smirk toward Tori.

Tori flashed a quick, yet reluctant smile in reply, "Well, graduation and a job offer in Miami are big motivators to start growing past old fears; like accidentally bumping into geriatric pedestrians who I totally didn't see and I checked dozens of—" Her answer would have quickly descended into a rant if not for Jade giving her a surprise kiss on the cheek.

As the kiss ended as quickly as it came, Jade smiled sincerely and gave her cheek a playful pat, "Congrats, Tori. Now buckle up, and try not to get us killed, okay?" Tori could only smile back, pull her seatbelt on, and turn the ignition.

15 minutes and a surprisingly smooth ride later, Tori and Jade arrived at a bustling shopping mall. After collecting their things and locking the car, Jade took a quick glance at all the student-age teens chatting and taking selfies of their numerous shopping bags, making her silently cringe in disgust.

Tori noticed her cringe with a chuckle and prodded her shoulder, "Hey, a few months ago, we were just like that. Heck, we probably still are."

Jade shook her head and answered, "Whatever. Let's just get going before this lot crowds up any more." Grabbing her girlfriend's hand, she started briskly walked toward the department store next to the mall.

They entered the cool, air-conditioned store, greeted by more crowds of back-to-school shoppers and pop music that Tori loved and Jade loathed. Taking out their phones, they pulled up the shopping list Jade wrote and shared between the two of them. Tori committed half the list to memory and nudged to Jade, "So I'll take care of the furniture and you'll take care of your clothes?" Jade nodded quickly and broke away to grab her own cart, leaving Tori to grab one and scan the aisles for home goods.

Tori's cart was quickly filled with various snacks, produce to prepare healthier meals, extra bedsheets, bathroom needs, some discounted classic movies she liked, and a few dark-colored clothes she thought Jade would like. After parking her cart in front of the checkout registers, she texted Jade to see if she was finished with her end of the list. While waiting for her reply, Tori heard a shaky voice next to her, to which she turned and saw a pair of young girls looking at her with their eyes almost glowing.

"Hi there," Tori greeted them nervously, waving her hand to them.

The two girls were clearly too shy to greet her back until one of them poked the other into saying something. In an almost hurried voice, the first girl asked, "H-Hi! Are you Tori Vega?"

Now Tori was the one hesitant to reply as she wondered how someone already knew her name from across the country. "Um…yeah. I'm Tori Vega, how do you…?"

"See?! I told you!" One of the girls interjected, pulling out her phone and showing the lock screen to Tori. She recognized the picture right away from her performance at the Platinum Music Awards, "You sang at the awards show last year! You were so amazing!"

Feeling a bit flattered, Tori blushed and smiled to the two girls, "Aw, thank you! I'm so glad you two enjoyed it!"

"A-And didn't you sing the national anthem at some game and then get dragged by the school's mascot?!"

The flattery was quickly replaced by cringing discomfort as Tori tried to keep her composure, "Y-Yeah…that…that happened, too."

"But you still sounded so good until then!" they persisted in praising her, to which she could only smile back in relief.

"So what are you doing here in Miami?"

"Are you going to college here or working or…?"

"Do you have a boyfriend now?!"

Overwhelmed, Tori stammered to answer any of those questions until she felt a familiar arm wrap around her waist and pull her against a familiar warm voice that answered, "Boyfriend? First I'm hearing about it. Do you have something to tell me, Tori~?"

Tori turned her head to see Jade raising an eyebrow at her, and she could only sigh and instinctively peck her on the cheek, as if to thank her savior from embarrassing herself. Then she realized what she'd just done, in public, in front of two young, possibly impressionable, girls. She didn't have to look hard to see the surprise plastered on both of their faces. Bracing for the worst, she cringed away into Jade's side until she heard them both exclaiming wildly again.

"Omigod! Is she your girlfriend?!"

"I had no idea! She's so pretty!"

"And you two are sooo cute together!"

"Wait, isn't she the girl you sang with in that karaoke video we saw?!"

They pulled up another video on their phones, apparently made by someone who had watched them tell two stubborn boys to get lost in musical form on their sushi date years ago.

Tori and Jade looked at the video in complete shock, wondering how they'd never seen their performance recorded like that, but going off the girls' excited expressions, they smiled at how well-received their singing was and nodded along with their continued exclamations.

Tori was so caught up in indulging her two little fans that she didn't notice Jade checking out and paying for both their carts full of clothes and home furnishings. After taking a quick picture with them, Tori waved goodbye to the two girls and joined Jade by the store's exit.

Jade caught Tori looking at her own copy of the photo she'd just taken and smiled to her, "So, you've already got fans out here and you haven't even started your music career yet! Should we start charging for meet and greets now?"

Tori made a face and playfully slapped Jade's shoulder, "Oh, come on, let me just enjoy this. I was so worried they'd only seen that embarrassing dog video with me…"

"Well, I'm happy for you, Tori; really I am," Jade slammed down the back door of their car after loading the last of the shopping bags, "Now can you please drive us back home so we can actually furnish our apartment already?" With a dismissing shake of her head, Tori smiled as they climbed into the car and prepared to head back home.

Halfway through the drive, Tori suddenly realized she didn't remember paying for the goods they had. She turned to Jade to mention it, but saw her reading through the long receipt in her hands. "Oh my god, Jade! Did you pay for everything!? Why didn't you tell me?!"

Jade looked at her nonchalantly, like it was no big deal, and stowed the receipt back in her bag. "Well, I could see you were busy with your fangirls, and I didn't want to hold up the line. You're welcome, by the way." When she saw Tori's expression was unchanged, she rolled her eyes and shrugged, "If it bothers you that much, just transfer me half the total and we'll call it even, okay?"

"I-I mean, of course I will, but we got a lot of stuff! How much did your family give you for graduation?"

"Well, it's not like I'm an heiress to a huge energy company or something. If I was, would I even be here looking for work with…." Jade stopped herself before finishing that quip and instead opted to pat Tori on the cheek again, "It was plenty, Tori. Again, you're welcome."

Tori nodded, letting the thought pass as the traffic lights turned green again and her focus went back to the road.

…Until Jade interjected, "You know…"

Tori groaned loudly, having to split her focus again.

"Your mom was worried people here wouldn't be as accepting of us as a couple," Jade mused, "But those two girls seemed to take it alright, huh?"

"Well, they're young like us," Tori frowned, "Our generation's grown up with being more accepting of different sexualities and choices in life partner. I think my mom was more worried about older generations, since I hear Miami is a popular retirement spot for people, too."

Jade frowned, thinking a bit more and taking a look at the various places of interest in Miami around them. As Tori said, many bars and dives were populated with a wide range of people, though most of them seemed to be of the older crowd. "Are you worried about Mason Thornesmith or anyone at the record company?" Jade asked as soon as the thought came to mind, which she then bit her lip, wishing it didn't come out so quickly.

Tori didn't respond for a while, but answered with a non-answer, "Are you worried about the community theater you're gonna be working at?"

Jade's eyes darted here and there as she searched for her answer, "I mean…they had Sikowitz working there for a long time, and we know how nutty he is, so maybe they'll be fine with a bisexual goth…" Even she said knew there was little confidence in that answer.

"I guess we'll find out when we start next week," Tori shrugged, stopping at another red light and leaning back in her seat. "We already knew this wouldn't be easy…so why is it already stressing me out before we've begun?"

Jade's hand reached across the center to meet Tori's and she tugged it a bit in assurance, "Hey. Don't give up so soon. It's because we haven't begun that we can't stress out yet. Whatever anyone says, Tori, I'm with you; ride or die. Got that?"

Tori met Jade's eyes and nodded with a smile, "Got that." She smiled wider at that line, "Ride or die, huh? Sounds…kinda edgy, don't you think?"

Jade grinned and settled back in her seat as the light turned green, "Means I've still got it, then~"

Tori sighed and drove on, "Just don't start humming like a horror movie and make me want to jump out like last time, Lady Edge."

Jade rested contently in her seat, wearing a familiar wicked grin, "Oh, of course not. Not while you're driving, anyway…"

Tori let the thought pass again, hoping she wouldn't have to hear that haunting melody anytime soon. One quick glance at Jade's face next to her did not seem to support that hope one bit.