As the rest of the in-house band was busy packing up their instruments and sharing passing remarks on the last few rehearsals, Tara was sitting against the wall; eyes closed as she lip-synced to their latest cover on her music player. Once the song ended, she opened her eyes to the sight of Tori handing her a water bottle. She took the bottle with a smile and opened it as Tori sat down next to her.
"That went a lot better than I'd hoped," Tori beamed, stretching her legs in front of her, "How are you feeling?"
Tara took a long sip of her water before answering, "A little more light-headed than I thought. I'm used to singing the main parts of songs, you know? So, harmonies—especially the high ones—are a bit of new territory for me."
Tori chuckled, bumping her shoulder against Tara, who laughed in return, "I totally get that. I hope the songs aren't catching you too off guard, though. Any chance they're all on that little player of yours?"
"Mm…a few might not be," Tara scrolled through her list of songs on the tiny screen, "Is that one called 'Some Nights' a recent hit, because that's not here; but a bunch of the oldies like 'Dream a Little Dream' are surprisingly here. Don't worry, though. I'm getting used to the whole 'sight-reading' thing, like you showed me at karaoke."
Tori blushed a little at the mention of karaoke, as did Tara when she noticed the color in her pronounced cheeks. The two looked away from each other and took another long, awkward sip to cool themselves down.
"So…" Tori swallowed, extending the 'o' as she gathered the words, "Do you…want to talk about last night?"
"I do," Tara nodded, twisting the cap back on her bottle, "But not here. Could you give me a ride home—I mean, to the hotel?"
"Me? I thought Ms. West drives you back with her. Didn't you two come here together?"
"Yeah, we did! But she told me at lunch that she was leaving early to spend to pick up Jade. Doesn't she have the day off from the theater today?"
"Oh, right! She does have the day off! That explains why she was passed out on the couch this morning instead of getting ready for work…"
"So…" Tara extended the 'o' just as Tori did, "Can I get a ride from you, or…"
"O-Of course!" Tori quickly got up, "Not a problem at all! In fact, let's go right now!"
Tara got up with her, wrapping her earphones around the player before stowing it in her pocket, "Any chance I could try asking for burgers on the way there?"
Tori chuckled as she held the door open for her, "Do you want to find out?"
Tara's breath hitched as she approached the door, and Tori's hand almost slipped as she realized what she'd just said. One look at each other proved that they were thinking the same exact thing upon hearing that phrase.
The previous night…
"But what about other girls? I mean…do you find me attractive?"
"What about you? Do you find me attractive?
"…Do you want to find out?"
Tara opened her eyes to see Tori handing her a microphone, which she took after a moment of hesitation.
With a smile, Tori picked out a song on the karaoke room's tablet and the speakers started blaring the music right away. The two of them stood up in front of the TV screen preparing the lyrics for a duet arrangement, and Tori confidently held her mic to her lips, ready for the cue.
Hey baby, won't you look my way
I can be your new addiction
She pointed her mic toward Tara, who gasped a bit before grabbing her mic and almost belting her lyrics.
Hey baby, what you gotta say?
All you're giving me is frict—fiction!
Tori laughed out loud and half-sang, half-laughed her next lines as Tara covered her face at the embarrassing slip. With an encouraging hand on her shoulder, Tara looked up at Tori, who led her through the chorus and some light dancing in place to ease her tension. Tara tuned her ear to the video's backing vocals and matched the harmony as Tori sang the melody.
Tara started smiling wider as she read the lyrics, looking over to Tori's own smiling face as they continued through the song, sprinkling some extra belt to their parts and playful dancing as Tara's confidence grew throughout the next verse and chorus. As the song wound down, Tara's nerves had dissipated and Tori was happily clapping her mic to the beat, their voices were totally harmonized with each line toward the end.
As the last chord played, Tara sighed and was about to set her microphone down when she felt a hand on her chin pulling her in Tori's direction.
"Hey baby, won't you look my way…" Tori improvised her last line, looking at Tara's surprised face with an almost hypnotic gaze.
Tara's eyes widened to the sudden proximity of her face to Tori's, and Tori followed suit as the song fully ended and the room filled again with bass echoes from adjacent rooms. The two stepped back from each other, catching their breath and fanning themselves to little avail.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" Tori placed her hand on Tara's shoulder, "I-I was caught up in the moment, I didn't mean to…"
"It's okay! It's okay!" Tara exhaled heavily, taking a quick drink from their table, "It was…it was a nice song—fun song, even!"
Tori groaned, holding her head as they both sat back down. "I don't know what came over me. The last time I felt this was…when Jade surprised me with a karaoke duet on our first date. We had so much fun, it was like we were the only ones in the entire restaurant. When the song ended, I wanted was to give her a huge kiss to show her how I felt, but then I remembered how full the room actually was…and I didn't."
"So you're feeling that again…right now?" Tara frowned, looking at Tori's nerves settling back in, "And now there's no audience like before…"
"Y-Yes," Tori admitted, "But it's…not right! I mean, what about Jade? What about you? What about how you feel about Jade, and what—"
Tori's stammering was stopped by Tara's lips pressed against hers. She felt her heart racing at first, but settled a few seconds later, her hands resting on either side of Tara's face to return the kiss. Hearing a tiny sigh escape her, Tara broke away, looking at Tori with a somewhat guilty face. "Feel better?"
"Tara?" Tori instinctively touched her lips, "Why did you…I mean…"
"You looked like you were about to hyperventilate," Tara shrugged, "I was thinking that would stop it…did it?"
Tori only nodded, but still wore a very confused look on her face. "But you...you kissed me."
Tara sighed and shook her head, "I-It was a 'no-strings-attached' kiss, okay? I was just trying to calm you down and…help you with that thing you couldn't do before with Jade, and I guess it also answers the question of finding each other attractive?"
Tori settled back into the soft back of the bench, sighing as well, "Tara, you are too sweet. I appreciate that…and not splashing water in my face to calm me down, instead."
"No problem," Tara smiled back, still visibly flushed, "Besides, this'll be a hell of a first kiss to remember."
Tori's heart leapt and sank at the same time as she heard that, "I was your…oh, Tara!"
Shaking her head, Tara dismissed the pitying gaze, "Relax! Don't make such a big deal of it! I'm just glad I could help you out, in a weird, unusual way. And…to answer your question, you're very attractive. Jade is a lucky woman."
"I'm lucky to have her," Tori smiled, then frowned again, "Oh my god, Jade! She can't find out about this! I mean, she knows about this—the date was all her idea, but the kiss! I made a whole big deal about this before, and I'm so worried she'll…"
"Hey, hey! Don't make me use my second kiss so soon!" Tara grabbed her shoulders, "You really think you'll be able to hide anything from Jade with the way you're acting now? Look, I don't know how she'll react, and you don't either. We can tell her together next time we meet up, okay?"
"Okay…okay," Tori took a deep breath and nodded to her, "It'll be fine…It'll be fine! And like you said, it was just a 'no-strings-attached' kiss, right?"
"Absolutely," Tara nodded. "And hey, for what it's worth…this has been an awesome 'not-date', and we're certainly friends now, right?"
"Absolutely," Tori smiled, giving Tara a light hug in return.
Present Day
Tori and Tara arrived at Nora's hotel room, finding it empty as the latter unlocked the door. With the setting sun shining through the curtains, Tara walked to the sliding door and opened it, inviting Tori to join her. The two stepped out onto the balcony, greeted by the soft breeze and the wide view of the coastal beach. Tori closed her eyes and rested her hands on the railing, letting the breeze blow over her, as Tara smiled at her and the view down below.
"Wow…look at all these people just enjoying their lives," Tara chuckled a bit, "You know, I've lived here my whole life, but I've never gotten to appreciate it like this before." She started gripping the rails tighter, to which Tori noticed. "Do I deserve this?"
"Of course you do!" Tori gently placed her hand over Tara's fist, "You've been dealt a really bad hand in life, but you haven't let it get you down! You're working your butt off to make your life better, and we're with you every step of the way."
Tara's fist softened as she looked up at Tori with a smile, "Thanks, Tori." Their smiles beamed to each other as their hands remained connected…until a sudden voice broke between them.
"What are you doing?!"
Tori broke away, covering her ear and holding her other hand over her heart, and Tara planted her feet firmly to the ground, almost leaning over the railing. They both turned behind them to see Jade standing with her hands on her hips, smiling at her little shriek like an angel they both knew she wasn't.
"Hey, babe, Short Stack," Jade greeted with that familiar wicked grin, "You two have a good time last night~?"
Tori was still collecting herself from Jade's sudden appearance, not prepared at all for Jade's equally sudden inquiry into their "not-date". She held onto the balcony railing for support as she took a deep breath before replying. Just as she was about to speak, Tara's voice cut in from next to her.
"It was fun! We ate dinner, got a private karaoke booth at Nichijou, and we got to learn a bit more about each other, right, Tori?" Tara shrugged in her direction, keeping up a confident smile while Tori was biting her lip nervously.
"Y-Yeah! We sang a few of the songs on my cover album, so she could get used to them before we actually record them at the studio!"
"That's great to hear!" Jade smiled sweetly, almost uncharacteristically, which made Tori slightly more anxious, "What songs did you sing?"
"Um…we sang 'Shambala', but that ended up not making the cut on the album."
"We also sang 'Everybody Talks', I think it was called? My first time hearing it, but it was really fun!"
"Great! Did you sing 'I Kissed a Girl'?"
"N-No…I didn't consider that one for the album, actually. I like it, of course, but I thought it might have been a little too on the nose," Tori swallowed a bit, noticing Jade's eyebrow arching up a bit at that response.
"'On the nose', you say? Oh, I guess that's true, but it would have been so fitting of the moment; wouldn't you say, Short Stack~?"
Now it was Tara's turn to gulp her nerves down, grabbing the balcony railing even tighter. "I, uh, don't know what you mean, Jade…"
"Oh, I'm sure you do!" Jade chuckled, deciding to go for the jugular, "Tell me; did you like the taste of Tori's cherry chapstick?"
Tara's stomach flipped and her face flushed fully red in an instant. Tori almost choked on her own spit trying to clear her throat and string words together, "W-Wha—How did you know?!"
"You told me, you dork~" Jade flashed her trademark wicked grin, pointing toward Tori's pocket, "Or rather, your butt did when it called me by mistake."
Tori immediately reached into her pocket and checked her Phone app, which showed a lengthy call to Jade around the same time as their karaoke session. She slapped her forehead with embarrassment, stowing her phone back in her front pocket, "Oh, god! The one time I put this dumb thing in my back pocket!"
"O-Okay!" Tara stammered, "If you heard that, then you also heard that it was no-strings-attached, right?! I would never move in on your girlfriend like that, Jade! You're my best friend!"
Jade watched both of their faces losing color before she started howling with laughter, backing against the glass of the sliding door to contain herself. "Holy chiz, you actually think I'm mad at you two for kissing each other?! Tori, I told you that very night that I'm not the same gank I was when you and Beck had that 'not-date', and I know you'd sooner jump off this balcony than cheat on me, because I know I would, too.
"And Tara, I did hear when you said that kiss was 'no-strings-attached', and frankly, I'm proud of you for calming Tori down and settling your own dilemma about which way you swing~ Honestly, I am just happy for both of you helping each other out in your own ways." She smiled genuinely to the two of them, who smiled back as they relaxed and suddenly smothered Jade in a group hug.
"You have such a great girlfriend, Tori~" Tara laughed as she hugged Jade's waist.
"I know, isn't she the best~?" Tori teasingly added, resting her head on Jade's shoulder, knowing it would likely wazz her off.
"Okay, unless this is you two telling me you wanna have a hot, messy threesome, give me some space!" Jade kept her tone even as the other two girls backed away, eyes widened at her brazen mention of shenanigans.
"My god, Jade!" Tori lightly slapped Jade on the shoulder, to which she only laughed and shrugged it off.
"Oh please!" Jade sneered, "Just try and tell me you weren't picturing it, even for a second!" Tori just bit her lip and looked away, proving her point precisely as Jade winked at her. "Come on, you two dorks. It's getting dark, so let's get inside." She slid open the door behind her and stepped inside, Tori and Tara filing in soon after.
"So..." Tara hopped onto her bed, scanning the room quickly as she laid down on her stomach, "Where's Nora—I mean, your mom? She told me she was spending the day with you."
"She did," Jade nodded as she plopped on Nora's bed, "Then she got a call from Piper, saying she needed her for 'something'. Wouldn't say what it was, but part of me didn't really wanna ask, so she dropped me off here in case you came back…which you did!"
"Well," Tori sat in the chair by the room's sole business desk and took a quick sip of her water bottle, "I hope you and your mom had a nice time by yourselves! You haven't really had that since either of you came here, after all."
"Yeah…it was nice," Jade flashed a smile before laying back and staring at the ceiling. "Anyway, you two up for a girls' night…in? My mom said we could order whatever we wanted tonight and she'd cover anything—or, I guess Thornesmith would, since this whole room is being covered by him for as long as she's here."
Tara's face lit up at the idea, "You know, we didn't get those burgers on the way like I wanted…guess we were still kinda thinking about the whole 'not-date' thing?"
Tori, biting her lip again, nodded in agreement, "I did sorta promise that, didn't I? You down for burgers, Jade?"
Jade had already pulled up the nearest restaurant's delivery menu on her phone and skimmed through it as she tossed the TV remote toward Tara. "I'm on food duty. Short Stack, find us something to watch that's not too cheesy."
Tara fumbled the remote in her hands and pointed it toward the TV, scrolling through a few dozen choices while Tori joined Jade on the bed, taking a peek at the menus with her.
Three hours passed by in a flash as the three girls were glued to the large TV in front of them. Tori leaned back into Jade's arms as she took another bite of her burger. Jade took a handful of fries from the small pile in Tori's lap and chewed softly while keeping her eyes focused on the screen. Tara was sitting up straight, her back against the headboard of her bed, and took one last bite of her burger before crushing the wrapper into a ball and tossing it toward the trash bin.
When the ending credits began to the cue of the movie's famous theme song, the girls all blinked simultaneously, as if they were taken out of a trance, and started to stretch or gather the remains of their fast-food dinner all around the room.
"Mm, good choice, Short Stack!" Jade smiled as she stretched her arms and legs out, "Action's not my usual flick, but something about a modern classic still does it for me."
"And man, can that guy run!" Tori got up to throw her and Jade's wrappers in the garbage can, "I can't believe he still did all that even after breaking his foot!"
"My question is…was this movie the reason that other guy had to keep his moustache, even when he was filming that other big movie?" Tara tapped her chin as she passed her empty drink cup to Tori, "Because I didn't see any reason he needed to keep it. It's not like anyone mentioned it or it had to be ripped off his face or something…" With a shrug, she leaned back against the headboard and smiled with satisfaction over the dinner and show.
Jade took out her phone to check the time and any messages that came to her during the movie. "Aw chiz, it's almost 9 already? And my mom says she's staying over at Piper's…ugh. I don't wanna think about it. Tori, you ready to head back?"
"Oh," Tori blinked as she tossed the last of the food containers, "I mean, are you okay staying here alone for the night, Tara?" Tori looked at her with a bit of worry in her eyes, but the shorter girl just shrugged in response.
"I appreciate the concern, but I'll be okay. It's not like this is the green room at the theater! Certainly comfier, by a mile!"
Jade sighed, briefly glancing at Tara, before shaking her head, "You know what, forget it. We're staying over; that cool, Tori?"
"Wh-I mean, I didn't exactly bring a change of clothes!"
"Neither did I, but it's not like I wear PJ's, remember?"
"J-Jade! Come on!"
"Don't worry, Tori! I'm sure Nora won't mind you borrowing some of hers! You're about the same size, right?"
"You sure she won't mind? Oh, okay."
"If she does, we can tell her it's her own fault for leaving little Short Stack here by herself."
As everyone had gotten changed into their respective bedwear, Tara sent a quick text to Nora about Tori and Jade staying over and a well-wish to her staying over at Piper's. After sending the text, Tara looked over at the other bed, where the couple was already cozying up in a comfortable, chaste proximity to each other. With a sigh, Tara smiled and closed her eyes, "I really don't deserve you two."
Jade's eyes snapped over to her and Tori's brows furrowed as she heard that.
"Hey, what do you mean by that?"
"Tara, I told you already! You do deserve all this! You're working hard, just like…"
"No, no, that's not what I'm talking about!" Tara shook her hands and her head to deny any of what they were assuming, "I mean, the two of you. You've both done more for me than any foster home or any social worker ever did since I was little. If I hadn't met you two, I'd probably still be sleeping on that moldy couch in the theater, singing to an audience of bugs and rats in between Sikowitz's classes. I don't know how I could ever make it up to you two and Nora."
Jade smiled, passing a nonchalant shrug to her, "You already are, Short Stack. If not for you, I'd be slamming my head against that office desk pushing those damn legal papers in the theater office instead of actually helping Sikowitz teach you guys."
"And I'd be a lot less comfortable recording at the studio with a bunch of—albeit talented—but still strangers to me," Tori chimed in, smiling toward Tara as well, "Having you there makes me feel a lot more confident, like a fellow classmate or just a kindred spirit trying to make it here, too."
"We haven't known each other long, sure," Jade continued, "But I meant everything I told you before, Tara. We're friends, and that means we'll have each other's backs here, no matter what, right?"
Tara could feel tears forming in her eyes, which made her look away and try to wipe them away from Tori and Jade's view, which was unsuccessful based on their quiet laughs in her direction. "God, you guys…thanks. Thank you both so much. But hey, I don't know if you were serious before, Jade…but you know I would never want to get in the way of what you two have."
Tori blushed madly as she was reminded of what Tara meant. Jade just laughed and held Tori close to keep her from squirming away. "I know, I was just joking, of course!"
"Still, the two of you have a great thing going together," Tara grinned at the sight of them subtly hugging as Tori tried hiding her blush and Jade's smile was beaming to her, "I just hope I ever have that kind of chemistry with the person I find someday…"
Now Jade was blushing, looking down at her covered lap, while Tori laughed and pecked her on the cheek.
"Thanks, Tara," Tori gave Jade a quick squeeze before laying under the covers, "Good night, you two~"
Jade sighed and followed suit, pulling the covers over her and Tori before returning the quick kiss on her cheek, "Good night."
Tara slipped under her blanket and comforter, taking one more look at the couple before turning her gaze to the barely-lit ceiling, "…good night."
As they all closed their eyes, the switch for the lights was flipped, and the three girls went to sleep happier than any time they could remember in a long while.