For being a fast-casual, street-side establishment, the Double Dutch Donut Parlor was rather charming. The large panels of glass that comprised the front of the store revealed a very eclectic, brightly colored interior with a peculiar blend of patterned, contemporary walls and retro furnishings. This place definitely screamed 'family-owned, but looking to expand.'

When the duo entered the almost vacant shop, the scent of freshly fried dough and coffee grinds immediately welcomed them. Some generic pop song sounded in the speakers, which caused Jade to recoil. She could definitely see why Tori came here so frequently.

As soon as the teenager in question caught sight of the cashier, she all but trotted up to the counter, leaving Jade to lag behind.

"Hey, Janice!" Tori greeted. The cashier—who couldn't be older than twenty-two— took her earbuds out and offered the pair a warm (albeit somewhat perplexed) smile.

"Well hey there. Surely you and Officer Vega didn't go through all those donuts already, did you?" Janice observed with the raise of a brow. The singer merely heaved a tired sigh.

"No, those were mostly for my friends at school. They actually enjoyed them so much that one of my friends dragged me here to get some donut holes," she answered while gesturing to a disgruntled Jade, who had taken up residence at one of the pedestal tables. When she noticed the lingering gazes of the girls at the register, her attention darted to the nearby napkin dispenser.

Jade lunged for a napkin and studied the gritty texture of the material against her fingertips as she attempted to occupy her hands. She unfolded the paper-thin, translucent square and established newer creases in the napkin.

This would be so much easier with her scissors.

"Crud, I forgot to ask her what she wanted," Jade heard Tori groan before glancing in her direction again. "Hey Jade, did you have any flavor in mind?"

"Got any cookie dough?" she requested blankly.

"You're in luck. We just started selling pumpkin snickerdoodle donut holes as part of our fall selection. It's sort of a three-desserts-in-one kind of deal," Janice commented, her elbow coming to rest on the counter expectantly. "Would you like that?"

"Sure, guess that works."

Jade tuned out the rest of the exchange and set to work on her napkin until Tori eventually swooped in with the boxed goods in tow. The brunette was also equipped with a black coffee in a to-go cup, which she handed over to her companion, as well as a pink card with a lonely hole in the outer edge.

"I turned in the token and they gave me this card. We get thirty-one hole punches' worth of donut holes, each for every day of the month. I figured that since we used the first one for this little session, I'd allow everyone in the gang six hole punches," she explained.

"Or," Jade took an indulgent sip of her coffee and only slightly winced when the hot liquid burned her tongue. "You could just say you lost it and we can enjoy those thirty boxes of donut holes all by ourselves," she postulated.

"You realize that if we followed through with that plan, you'd have to tolerate thirty separate outings with me, right?" Tori pointed out as she tore apart the spiced donut hole to reveal its doughy filling.

"Believe me, as much as I'd love to avoid hearing your sickly sweet voice outside of school, I recognize that it's a necessary evil that I must endure for the sake of free coffee and donuts," Jade acknowledged while licking the filling off of her thumb.

"For your information, I paid full price for your coffee!"

"I'm sorry to hear that my two-dollar coffee wounded your wallet, Vega," she rebuked teasingly. "How can I ever make it up to you?"

"Well, now that you mention it…" Tori began, the mischievous grin tugging on the crevices of her mouth only widening as Jade let out audible noises of frustration. "You can start by telling me a fact about you."

"You're at the very top of my hit list," the raven-head stated flatly.

"How about something I don't already know. If it helps, I can reveal something about myself, too," she proposed. An indiscernible, yet vaguely curious, look clouded over Jade's face.

"I guess," she grumbled after some reluctance. "I like to collect butterflies and display them in my room."

"See? That wasn't so bad. That's really cool actually," Tori remarked with a certain fondness. "I would have figured it'd be… I don't know, skeletons of small animals or something."

Jade attempted to conceal the smile that crept up onto her lips by sipping on her beverage.

"I used to own the skeleton of my brother's dead hamster, but my stepmom wouldn't let me keep it in the house when she moved in," she mentioned nonchalantly. "Just the idea of it being in my room was too 'feral' for her. Apparently, she was fine with the dead butterflies though."

"She really sounds like a Negative Nancy," the singer commented, but then rushed to retract the statement. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't say that about your stepmom-"

"No, no, it's cool. I've called her waayy worse things to her face," Jade expressed with a surprising coolness. Tori nodded, hitched between concern for her friend and respect for her privacy.

A silent stream of air blew out of Jade's nose. "So I get to ask you a question now."

"Woah now, I never said anything about this being an interview. I thought that this was just us telling each other random things about ourselves!" Tori appeared to visibly shift in her seat, coaxing a snicker from the goth.

"What, are you afraid that I'd make you confess to something really embarrassing?" Jade taunted. "Look, I'll try not to be too brutal."

"Emphasis on try," Tori noted with a faint eye roll. "Okay, if we're going to do this question system, then I should be able to ask you a question too."

"I suppose that's fair," she agreed. There was a pregnant silence that followed as the pair each stuffed a donut hole in their mouths.

"So this morning, when we were talking about the whole Oregon fiasco, you didn't seem all too thrilled about our friends tagging along. Why was that?" Jade prompted as she wiped crumbs from the corners of her mouth.

"What do you mean? Of course I'd want my friends around. Why do you think I wouldn't?" Tori responded with the tilt of her head.

"Tori, you may be decent at acting, but you cannot disguise your emotions to save your life," the rebellious teenager deadpanned. "You're doing that thing where your nose wrinkles and your body looks like it's about to implode."

"My body is not about to implode!" Tori let out an indignant scoff and glossed over the slight tremor in her right leg. "Believe me, I don't have any problems with the gang coming. What kind of friend would that make me if I did?"

"The kind that looks out for herself too?" she supplied. "Listen, I'm saying this because I know our friends. They get in over their heads and set themselves up for disappointment. They can sense if you're not having a good time, and they have this annoying habit of thinking that it's their fault. So if you don't want them to come, just say so. Don't lead them on and insist that it's perfectly fine."

"I want them to come. If anything, I think them being there would make the trip easier in a lot of ways." Tori reiterated softly, prying her own eyes away from Jade's ocean orbs and inspecting the table with subdued interest. At Jade's puzzled expression, she elaborated with a chuckle. "I mean, being alone in an empty cabin doesn't seem like the most ideal way to spend my fall break."

"But then why the hesitance?" Jade probed but quickly realized that the topic could be sensitive to the brunette. "Wait, never mind, you don't have to answer if you're not comfortable talking about it."

"No, it's okay," she maintained. "I just have a… Well, I've had a lot of strange experiences at my Aunt Sonya's place. I wouldn't want you guys to be weirded out or anything."

"You're forgetting that our wacko group has gone viral for food-based performances, escaped from prison in a war-torn country, and went to a death trap that's operated by a man in a gorilla suit. You think that anything that could happen in Oregon will faze them?"

"When you put it that way," she admitted. "I guess the odds are slightly in my favor."

"Of course they are. I can't say the same for when we meet your rugged mountain man boyfriend, though…"

"What?"

Jade almost choked on her donut as she watched her frenemy's face contort in mortification. She laughed, an elusive sound that honestly would have made Tori's heart swell if it weren't because it came from her embarrassment. (Or, maybe that's why it swelled.)

"I'm sorry, I have to know. What about me makes you think that I'm even remotely attracted to rugged mountain men?" she asked, having finally regained her composure.

"The better question is, what about you doesn't scream that you're attracted to rugged mountain men?" Jade asserted. "You're a walking, talking Hallmark movie. Like one of those peppy female leads who travels to a small town to get away from the glamor of the city and falls in love with a burly guy who wears plaid and practices bird calls."

"Okay, first of all-"

"Ca-caw! Ca-caw!" the goth squawked facetiously.

"Alright! You made your point!" a frazzled Tori proclaimed as her throat closed in exasperation. "It's my turn to ask you a question."

"Technically, you already did. But since I'm feeling generous, I'll let you have another one," Jade responded off-handedly. The brunette's lips compressed in thought.

"On the topic of the trip," she began slowly. "Will you… will you be coming too?"

The hope that appeared to flicker across Tori's features caught Jade off-guard, like a candle whose flame could be quenched if she breathed out a no. She had lapsed into a tone that was vaguely reminiscent of the one she'd used when they were complimenting each other at their playdate. It held that same admiration, that same genuineness, and that same charisma that intimidated Jade to no end, that made her feel emotions that she couldn't identify…

"Yeah," she admitted after a few moments. "I think I will."

She received an appreciative yet equally awkward smile from the singer.

They finished the rest of their donuts in a contemplative silence.


"Yeah, we're just about to pack up right now."

"The drive will probably take up most of the day. You'll be fine staying there until around noon, right? We should be there in time to get the dogs' dinner and then settle down."

"There's enough room. I'm going to be taking the couch and a few of my friends will crash in the RV if there isn't enough space. I'm not worried about it though."

"Don't worry, Aunt Sonya. We'll be okay. Enjoy the art exhibition! Congratulations again on getting your pieces shown."

"I love you too. Bye."

Tori pocketed her cell phone and fiddled with her luggage, hauling it over towards the RV as she observed her friends grappling with their own equipment. It was early, really early, and she had to will herself not to yawn as the sun teased the arrival of the weekend.

"But why can't we listen to the Diddly-Bops on our way there?" Cat pouted while Jade organized the road trip playlist on her device.

"Cat, if you play even a verse from the Diddly-Bops, I won't hesitate to chuck your phone out the window," the goth bit out with caution.

"Okay, I got the GPS set up! If we get on the road in two minutes, then we can make it to Oregon in exactly twelve hours," Robbie announced when he exited the RV, nearly colliding with André as he was carrying his baggage into the vehicle. "Eek! Sorry 'Dre!"

"No worries Robs. Are we almost set?" André inquired. The group each provided responses that oozed with sleepy enthusiasm.

Tori shuddered slightly as the morning wind nipped at her exposed arms.

"Tori, are you ready to go? We've got nearly everything packed up," she heard Beck ask her as he shouldered spare tires into the cargo slide.

"Yeah, I think so," she replied evenly. She gazed out at the expanse of road ahead of them and briefly reflected on how much more grounded she felt with her friends by her side. Everything will be okay.

"Alright, let's go take Oregon by storm!"