Jade popped another piece of candy in her mouth and hummed thoughtfully, rewriting a sentence on her open laptop. She read it through again and nodded, moving on. The library was her safe haven when she wanted to get away from everyone or just wanted somewhere quiet to relax. It wasn't crowded until finals since it wasn't an appreciated space until then. But for Jade, it had always been useful. But right now, it was a good place to work on an important play. When it came to editing, Jade liked to take her time. And for that she needed concentration. And for that, she needed as much silence as she could get.
"I thought I would find you here," Tori's voice suddenly cut through the peace. Jade frowned and sighed, reaching for another piece of candy. So much for quiet. Tori was undaunted by Jade's lack of response and carried on.
"You usually work in the library," she chirped knowingly, sitting down in the seat next to Jade and plopping her bag on the floor at her feet.
"What made you possibly think that I would need a library to work?" Jade finally replied, sarcasm heavy in her words.
"Well, not many students come here, especially after school, and so it's- oh…" Tori began to recite proudly, only to skid to a stop in realization.
"Yeah. Oh," Jade repeated, heaving a large sigh and pushing her laptop away after saving what she had done so far. There was no way she was finishing now. Tori frowned sadly, and a bit guiltily, and looked over to see what Jade was working on. She brightened and gasped so suddenly she startled Jade a bit. She scowled at Tori's exuberance, ignoring the grip of Tori's hand on her own.
"You're editing my play? Really? I thought you said it wasn't worth your time?" she questioned. They both knew she had been joking at the time just to get under Tori's skin a little. Jade rolled her eyes and looked away, eyes on the fiction section to avoid Tori's grateful gaze. She always tended to blush when Tori looked at her like that. She still hadn't pushed off Tori's hand. She shrugged.
"Well, I had nothing else to do and I didn't feel like sitting at home so I thought I would take another look at it. It isn't too bad," she allowed. If it was possible to be any happier, Tori was.
"With your help, I'm going to ace this project for sure!" she cheered, fist pumping. Jade shook her head at the action and moved to pull away. Once again, Tori changed gears so fast Jade was left behind. Tori had grabbed her hand to hold it gently between them, her thumbs running over the back of it. A subtle chill raced down Jade's back, not at all unpleasant.
"Thank you," Tori said, smiling. It was small but it was meaningful, and Jade could feel her face warm at the affection in it. She scoffed and met Tori's gaze, unable to look away now.
"Vega, you-" she started to say, but the words were stolen from her when Tori's hands came up to hold her face, pulling her into a sweet kiss. Jade's hands automatically responded to grab at Tori's shirt and pull her closer, deepening the kiss. When they parted, Jade was left with the same fluttering feeling she got every time they kissed. Tori giggled and licked her lips.
"Mmm, what were you eating? It's kind of sweet but hot," she pointed out, eyeing Jade with a playful wiggle of her brows. Jade knew without her saying it that it was a comparison to herself. She retrieved the small box from the other side of her laptop to show Tori.
"Hot Tamales," she revealed, offering them. Tori held out a hand and Jade shook out two into her palm. She ate them and sat quietly, analyzing the flavor. After a while of silence, Jade sighed.
"It's just cinnamon," she said with a shrug. Tori held out a hand to quiet her and pretended to further her analysis, making a thoughtful face while she chewed. Jade lightly shoved her, and Tori choked through a laugh.
"You're going to make me choke!" she accused.
"Then stop acting like you never had them before," Jade retorted with a chuckle.
"It wasn't only that," Tori refuted.
"Well, then what had you thinking so hard?" Jade asked, moving to eat another piece of candy. Tori followed it to her mouth with her eyes, flicking up to meet Jade's once it passed her lips and she was chewing. However, she slowed when Tori stared at her seriously, all humor gone.
"I was playing around, but I was also trying decide whether I liked the flavor on its own or from your lips," she confessed. Jade swallowed the candy, if only to give herself something to do other than stare. She was also blushing again.
"And?" she finally husked out.
"What do you think?" Tori replied, smirking. The sight of the expression on Tori did nothing to calm her and Tori knew it. Jade stood from her chair and grabbed Tori by the wrist, dragging her further into the library. She passed the couch in the back and turned down a side aisle where they were more hidden, stopping abruptly to press Tori to the side of a tall shelf. Her body followed and their lips met again, heated. For Jade, the library had so many great uses.