An hour and many huffs of frustration and at least ten pieces of crumpled paper on the floor later, Tori is stuck and can't come up with any more ideas. Somewhere between the 5th or 6th crumpled piece of paper Tori decided to sit on the floor.

When Tori turns her head to the left she spots Jade with her pen between her pointer and index finger. She's gently tapping the pen on her notepad while biting her bottom lip.

Jade's blue streaks and dark clothes bring out the blue in her eyes and Tori finds herself staring at Jade for longer than she knows she should.

Jade doesn't seem to notice because of whatever it is she's thinking about. Without meaning to, Tori blurts "thank you."

Jade looks up from her piece of paper and over to Tori. Her eyebrows are furrowed and her pierced eyebrow is raised in question. "Thank you for what?" Jade questions in a tone deeper than her normal one. Jade hears her voice and knows it's deeper than normal because she hasn't spoken in awhile. Quickly Jade clears her throat and her voice is back to its normal pitch. "I didn't do anything."

"Yeah, you did. It means a lot to me that you didn't tell anyone about my feelings for you. After this morning, I knew you wouldn't but it's nice when people can match their words with their actions."

Jade stands up from the couch and stretches her arms and legs. After stretching, Jade walks around collecting the crumpled up pieces of paper that surround Tori on the floor where she's sitting. Jade is taken aback. "Uh, yeah. Of course. That's what friends do, right?"

Tori beams at Jade. She's glad she and Jade can find common ground again. "Yeah, that's what friends do."

Jade throws out the crumpled pieces of paper and stands in front of Tori. Jade extends her hand and helps Tori stand up when her area is cleaned up. Tori accepts Jade's helping hand and stands up. Tori doesn't mean to but she holds onto Jade's hand even after she's stood up. Jade doesn't comment on it and Tori blushes before letting go of Jade's hand.

When Jade's hand is released, Jade walks over to the kitchen to grab herself a drink. "Do you want a drink or anything?" Jade asks as she looks over to Tori.

Tori meets Jade's gaze. "I'll have some water, thank you."

Jade nods in acknowledgement of Tori's thanks. "You're welcome," she adds while she grabs herself and Tori some water.

When Jade is done filling the glasses she brings the cups of water over to the couch. Jade places the cups of water on the table in front of the couch Tori is sitting on and sits down next to her.

Tori takes a drink of her water and looks down. "When I first started to realize I liked you," Tori speaks softly as she meets Jade's questioning blue eyes. "I didn't know what I was going to do with myself. I'd never really felt that way about anyone before, guy or girl. It was a while before I could accept that I felt that way towards you. That what I felt was real and not a phase or something."

Jade gives Tori a comforting smile. Sort of like she's trying to encourage Tori to continue.

Tori takes a deep breath and plays with her fingers. "I read a lot of articles about people coming out. I related to a lot of them actually. I didn't know where to go from there though, but I started with just accepting myself and the fact that I'd learned something about myself that I didn't already know. Before that, I cried lots of nights wishing that I could just be normal. I cried because I thought I knew myself but I was experiencing new feelings that I never thought I'd be having. Especially when we didn't have that great of a relationship with each other during that time. Knowing that I'm bisexual is one thing but when you approached me about it, I reverted back into being in denial about it out of fear. I didn't tell anyone about it and I worried everyday about you finding out because I couldn't stand the thought that things between us would change when they were finally going in the right direction. I'd already been through so much change when it came to my sexuality and I didn't want any other part of my life to change. "

Tori is surprised when she hears Jade sniffle and wipe tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry" Jade whispers in a wobbly voice. "I forced you to talk to me about a seriously personal topic that you clearly weren't ready to talk about and that was wrong of me. I hope you can forgive me for that."

Tori is quick to jump in. "Hey," she calls when Jade turns away. "Look at me" she says softly as she puts her hand under Jade's chin and lift's Jade's head so Jade is looking into her eyes. "We've each done things to the other that we aren't proud of but we're both making an effort to right those wrongs and make things better between us."

"That's true," Jade answers quietly. She sits silently for a while.

Tori looks down for a minute then looks up at Jade. "I forgive you," Tori adds after a beat.

Jade's eyes narrow in disbelief. "What?" She looks at Tori for a long moment. "You do?" She asks in skepticism.

Tori nods her head. "I do. I know that even though you came on strong you had good intentions when you came over to talk to me about things. There were so many other ways and places you could have approached me about it but you came to me and tried to have a real conversation with me about it. You tried to let me know that my feelings for you weren't going to get in the way of the friendship we were creating. That means a lot to me."

Jade smiles at Tori in surprise. "Wow. I don't think I deserve it but I'm glad you can forgive me. I forgive you too. I can see where you came from and I'm sure if I were in a position like that, I wouldn't have handled it half as well as you did."

Tori smiles back at Jade, "I think it's time we put this last weekend past us and just move forward in a positive direction."

Jade nods her head with enthusiasm and agrees. "It would make me really happy if we could do that."

Tori beams and takes a drink of her water before responding. "Good. So it's settled then. We're putting the mistakes of the past behind us and we're going to do better moving forward in our friendship."

Jade mirrors Tori and takes a long drink of her own water. "Speaking of moving forward, I think we should probably get back to doing our writing project."

Tori smirks wildly at Jade. "Or we could just take the rest of the night off and get a start on it tomorrow. It's not due for another three weeks anyways. Besides after this conversation I don't know if I have any more useful ideas and I kind of just want to spend time with you. Hanging out and not working."

Jade considers the offer. She wants to hang out with Tori but she also wants to get a head start on their project. I might be due in three weeks but it's better if they even out the work so they aren't doing everything last minute. Jade sighs. "We can hang out, but we have to get a couple more hours of work in before I leave."

Tori's entire face lights up. "Yes! Thank you Jade. We'll put in a couple more hours of work after we take a well deserved break."

"That sounds great," Jade replies softly with a fond smile.

After forty five minutes of recording videos for the slap that they don't end up posting Jade and Tori are back to working on their project. It takes them about an hour and a half more to finish their assignment outline and by that time Jade and Tori are both ready to go to sleep. At 11pm Jade leaves Tori's house and heads home. While Tori goes upstairs to do her nightly routine then goes to her room to go to sleep.

The next three weeks pass by quickly. Jade and Tori make a plan to spend at least every Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday working on their assignment together. They grow closer while spending so much time together and Tori becomes less shy and more confident about her feelings because Jade makes her feel so at ease with herself. After the girls finish their project outline they combine their ideas and write a romantic scene which was Tori's idea with a mix of horror for Jade's taste. Jade and Tori mix the genres well and they have a great feeling about what their end result will get them in terms of a grade. They've also been working hard on repairing and setting down a new foundation for their friendship.

Three weeks later:

Tori is standing in front of Jade's locker at lunch with their shared project in her hand.

"I'm so glad that our writing project is over," Tori tells Jade while she eyeballs all of their work.

Jade closes her locker and turns to look at the paper in Tori's hand then back to Tori. "I'm even happier that we got an A+ on it."

"Me too," Tori agrees after putting the papers in her bag.

Jade leans against her locker and smirks in the smug way she does when she's right about something. "I told you it would be easier and we'd do better on our assignment if we spaced it out instead of doing it all last minute."

Tori groans and leans against the lockers beside Jade's. Hers and Jade's shoulders are almost touching. "Okay," Tori relents. "You were right. Are you happy now?"

Jade laughs and pushes off her locker. "I am. Mostly because you finally admitted that my way was better than yours."

"Hey!" Tori exclaims as she too pushes off the lockers. "We went with my idea for the project. That counts for something."

Jade starts to walk toward the asphalt café with Tori in tow. "That's true. I guess not all of your ideas suck. Just some of them," Jade winks to let Tori know she's only kidding.

Tori rolls her eyes fondly at Jade while taking a quick glance at Jade's ass in the jeans she's wearing. "I guess we're stuck in the same boat then. We do make a really great team though."

Jade smiles. "Yeah, we do." A beat goes by. "I know my ass looks great but you don't need to stare at it for that long," Jade adds teasingly.

Tori blushes and walks by Jade's side. "Why do you always do that?"

Jade shrugs. "Why do you always make it so obvious?"

Tori gently bumps her shoulder into Jade's. "I'll try harder not to look."

Jade laughs and smiles at Tori. "Like I said, I don't mind if you look. It's a free country and my assets are amazing. I just don't think Beck would like it very much if he saw. You weren't even being discreet."

Tori plays with her hair nervously. "I haven't been discreet about my feelings around you for a while."

Jade looks Tori up and down and smirks at her. "The way you flirt with me is shameful," Jade replies in a smoky voice.

Tori gasps in fake horror. "Jade West. I do not flirt."

Jade meets Tori's eyes. "The way your eyes check me out when I walk by you says otherwise to me. Not to mention, the fact that you pretty much told me I was the most attractive person you've met to date."

Tori stops in her tracks. She puts her hand on her heart and gives Jade a fake offended look. "In my defence, you're hot and I can't be blamed for looking at you when you look like that all the time. I'm human and everyone has their weaknesses." Tori looks around and quietly whispers, "you just so happen to be mine."

Jade smiles kindly. "I can't argue with logic when it's that flawless. Another point for the least annoying Vega sister."

Tori rolls her eyes playfully at Jade before she starts to walk again with Jade again. "What am I going to do with you?" She questions.

Jade gives Tori a devilish smirk and raises her eyebrows in quick succession. "Hopefully lots."

Tori tries really hard not to blush but she fails because Jade is beautiful and Tori likes it when Jade says things like that to her. "You're awfully flirty today."

"I'm just in a good mood," Jade replies as they reach the outside of the asphalt café and walk over to their lunch table where the rest of the gang is already seated.

"Hey ladies," Robbie greets with a smile.

Jade looks over to him and then back to Tori, "and now it's ruined."

Andre is sitting at the far end of the table with a space and Beck to his left. To Beck's left is Robbie, Cat and an empty space. Jade takes the empty seat beside Beck while Tori takes the empty seat beside Cat.

"Yay!" Cat squeals in excitement, "everyone is here now."

"Except for Rex," Robbie grumbles sadly.

Jade looks irritated. "No one cares. He's a puppet."

"It's okay," Cat says softly while patting Robbie on the back gently.

Beck places his hand on Jade's knee under the table to try and help her calm down but she shakes it off. He shoots her a concerned look but her eyes are downcast and she doesn't see it.

/

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