Tori chuckled much to my surprise. Her face was completely relaxed and unfazed by what I had just said to her. "I don't think so." Was her simple response; as she began to walk towards the house.

I followed a few steps behind her, stopping before we reached the door and tugging at her waist to turn her around to face me. "I'm serious."

"I know." She said with ease as she blocked my front door with her thin frame. She stretched her arms out and placed them on my warm shoulders, a smirk on her face as she squeezed at them gently. "Believe me."

"I don't get it."

She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, her mouth starting to open as a loud bang sounded from inside the house. "We'll talk about it later."

My mind immediately went to the worst case scenario. I pushed past Tori and threw the front door open quickly. Stood in the long hallway was my Mom, dressed in old denim overalls and a plain white shirt underneath accompanied by Jett who was covered in dust and paint.

"What are you doing?" I let out a sigh of relief. "That bang scared the shit out of me."

Mom frowned at me slightly. "Language, Jade." Her eyes darted over to Jett who was stifling a giggle. "We're redecorating." She threw her hands up with excitement. "Your Dad always decided on plain boring colors for the house and now that's he's gone I thought screw it, let's do whatever we want to the place! It is my house after all."

"Mom said we can paint the hallway green! My favorite color! Cool right!" Jett spoke at a hundred miles an hour.

I cocked my eyebrow up in approval. "Sure."

"Well, it's not going to be bright green like your brother suggested more of a pastel/forest green." Mom corrected. "Would you like to help? Both of you?" She asked with hesitance.

I turned to Tori who was smiling from ear to ear and nodding like a bobble head on a bumpy road at me. "Why the hell not. I need to get changed first though."

"Yay" Tori smiled. "Can I borrow an old shirt of yours please? If I had known we'd be painting I wouldn't have worn my new shirt."

"I'm not going to wear anything of mine. I actually like all my clothes." I rolled my eyes walking up the stairs even though she couldn't see me. "We can borrow some of the clothes my Dad left over. He doesn't want them anymore and I think I'd enjoy destroying them."

"Okay." She followed sheepishly into my Dad's old room. Even though Tori had been to my house several times over the past few months she had never really been around much of it at all.

"Yes, my parent's didn't share a room." I answered before she even had time to question it. "This used to be both of their room before-" I stopped myself quickly, hoping Tori wasn't really listening.

She stopped behind me, her expression full of empathy and a sweet smile on her face as she did ignore what I had just said.

The room itself was bare, a lot barer than it used to be. The walls were beige and empty apart from a small shadow on the wall above the bed where a photo of Dad, Jett and I used to hang. Mom had left the windows open and strong air fresheners in the room since Dad left so it didn't even smell like him anymore. The only bit of color in the room is his old blue print curtains that had been there for as long as I could remember. The clothes he left hung neatly in coordinating colors. Old work uniforms starched & ironed perfectly straight.

I ran my hands along the leftover clothes and pulled out two large t-shirts. "Here we can wear these."

"Thanks." She took the shirt from me, still looking around the empty room.

"My father never liked color much." I paused. "Or things."

"Is that why you like black so much?" She asked innocently, pulling the plain shirt over her head.

I shrugged. "I like black for so many different reasons, Tori."

"You're a very complex person, Miss West." She smiled.

I took a deep breath. "I want to show you something." I took her hand and led her out of my Dad's room towards my Mom's. Her room was vastly different to the rest of the house, she has lavender walls, with white furniture and a huge dresser with a mirror against the wall that she keeps most of her hair products and perfume on. She has a bulletin board where she keeps 'memories' on. Pictures of me and my brother when we were younger, photos of her family members, old concert tickets and cute drawings Jett had made her.

"You know I said my Mom and Dad almost divorced when I was five?"

I watched as she nodded slowly. "Yeah." She said confused.

I reached under my Mom's bed to her 'hidden' spot that she thinks Jett and I don't know about and pulled out an old shoebox. "My Mom lost a baby." I sat on the bed, pulling Tori down next to me and holding the box on my lap. "But not just a miscarriage I mean. She was twenty weeks along when she lost her. She had to give birth to her. It was awful."

Tori's eyes filled with tears. "Jade, I'm so sorry."

I opened the box and pulled out the scan photo. "My Mom took it really hard. Before she lost her she wanted loads of kids. She always wanted a huge family. So when she lost Jolie she kind of shut herself off from the world and from Dad and me. That's when she really started drinking."

Tori wrapped her arms around my waist and pressed her face against my shoulder. "What was her name?"

"Jolie Serafina West." I laughed slightly as I spoke. "Jolie, as in Angelina Jolie. My Mom is a massive fan." "I rolled my eyes.

"Such a pretty name."

I ran my fingers across the baby book with her name on it. "Dad like's proper names as he used to put it. He wanted Julie but when she died my Mom got her way. My Mom also wanted me to be called Jayda but her and my Dad settled on Jade, thank god. And by the time Jett arrived he had stopped caring about what my Mom named us."

"I like the name Jayda."

"Of course you do." I pulled out more scan photos and baby items for Tori to see. "Dad blamed Mom for what happened and it caused so much shit between them as you can imagine. She drank and cried and he was aggressive and angry at everyone. It wasn't until she fell pregnant with Jett that they tried to straighten things up again for his sake."

"It wasn't your Mom's fault at all!" Tori's voice sounded heated. "Sometimes these things just happen and it can't be helped."

"I know that but my Mom who was grieving did blame herself because of that ass."

"How awful."

"I know." I sighed. I ran my fingers over a photo of her tiny feet. "Mom said she looked just like me when I was a baby. She was just so tiny."

"It's nice your Mom has these photos of Jolie; such a beautiful memory to treasure forever."

"I was far too young to understand what happened. I just knew I was getting a baby sister and then one day I was told she was in heaven. No one explained it properly to me and I was mad. I can remember feeling her kick and Mom decorating the nursery and being so excited and then she was just sad for so long."

"It must have been so hard for you. It kind of explains so much."

I shook my head as I looked at the box, feeling only numbness. "It's fine. It happened a long time ago." I closed the lid on the box and slid it back under my Mom's bed. "Come on or else my Mom will send Jett up to come get us."

Tori cupped my face with her soft hands and locked her eyes on mine. I never tire from looking at her captivating brown eyes. Her eyes show so much passion and understanding for the world around her and it makes her so lovable and endearing. "I love you."

"I know." I mimicked her small smile.

She stroked her thumbs across my cheeks with complete delicacy. "You are such an incredible human being." She lent in and kissed me softly. "You are so intricate and deep and I love that about you so much."

"Wish I could say the same about you." I smirked, cocking my eyebrow at her.

"There's the Jade West I know and love."

"I never left."

…

My Mom turned to face us, wiping her forehead. "Okay girls, I guess I should have the talk with you both." We'd spent the last couple of hours painting and we were all equally covered in paint and looked a hot mess.

"Oh god." I groaned. "Do you have to?"

"It's my job as your mother. I'm sure Tori's parents will do the same too if they haven't already."

Tori scrunched her face up as her eyes shifted around the room anxiously.

"Just hear me out." She preached. "I am fine with this." She pointed at us both with her paint brush. "You can be bi, gay, lesbian, straight, whatever. It's fine with me and obviously with Jett too." She smiled at Jett who was engrossed in painting still. "You are more than welcome in our home Tori and since you've already slept over several times you can still do that too. But no funny business got it?"

My cheeks burned red as I slammed my palm into my head. "Got it. Now change the subject before Tori turns red all over."

"Sorry dear." She touched Tori's cheeks with her paintbrush, coating them in green paint. "There, all fixed." She chuckled.

Tori's mouth dropped open in pure surprise. Her eyes crossed to try and take a look at her new green cheeks. She smirked as she held her own brush back, flinging tiny droplets of paint towards my Mom only to miss and hit me square in the face.

"Vega!" My eyes widened as I wiped my face. "You are dead."

"Yay a paint fight!" Jett stood up; submerging his hands into the paint can until they were dripping in paint. "I'm gonna get you!" He raced towards Mom and planted two tiny hand prints on her stomach before turning to Tori and hitting her thigh and back with his hands.

Within seconds paint was flying across the room and landing not only on ourselves but the floors, the newly painted walls and the sheets covering the furniture. Innocent laughter filled the room around us like music to my ears. This house that for so long was full of negative energy was finally filled with love, light and laughter.

"Alright that's enough." My Mom was the first to break up the paint fight. Her smile was genuine and one of the first real smiles I had seen on her in a very long time. She turned Jett round in a circle, the young boy still giddy and full of giggles. "You need a bath young man."

"No, I want to stay multicolored forever!" He span around wildly after Mom let go. With his arms out and his head back he span and span until he collapsed on the floor in hysterics.

"Well I'd like my adorable, normal colored son back please."

"Do you know the gay pride flag is multi colored?" He looked up at me with big loving eyes.

I nodded. "How did you know that?"

"Google." He smirked.

"Go on, do as Mom says. Tori and I are going to go get cleaned up too."

"Can't I just go in the pool and wash it off?" He stood up full of excitement, heading towards to back yard.

"No way kiddo. That pool costs a lot of money to run and I'm not having you destroy the filters with paint!" She ruffled his newly colored hair with a grin on her face. "When you are clean you can go in the pool. Deal?"

"Deal." He held out his little finger and hooked it on our Mom's. "Tori will you come in the pool too?"

Tori nodded. "You bet. We can play shark attack again."

"Only as long as Jade doesn't cheat again!"

I smirked at him. "I didn't cheat. You both lost fair and square." I stuck my tongue out at him as he headed upstairs towards the bathroom.

"Come on, it's time we got clean too." Tori started following them upstairs.

"I don't know. You look kinda good with colored streaks in your hair."

"Oh do I now?" She twirled at the top of the stairs, her hair flowing around her body as she span.

"Although that is totally my thing."

"I think you'd look good with dark hair. Like dark brown or even black and with some vibrant colors."

I laughed. "When did you get so interested in hair?" I closed my bedroom door and started removing my dirty clothes.

I watched as she stumbled for words and instead of answering just mimicked my actions. By the time we reached my en-suite we were both down to our underwear. "I thought your Mom said no funny business?"

I didn't wait for a reply before placing my lips slowly onto hers and backing her into the steaming shower. "I'm not laughing."

...

"I think we did a good job you know. Your hallway looks great." A now clean and fresh Tori stood in the patio doorway looking down to the hall in front of her with a smug look on her face.

"It looks better than before that's for sure." I sat down on the edge of the pool. My feet just touching the water and creating ripples across the pool. "So do you want to explain what you meant early now?"

"About what?"

"Don't play dumb. That's not your thing."

"I spoke to your friend on the phone last night for like five seconds. I rang you and you didn't answer, no surprise there." She rolled her eyes before turning to face the water. "Someone answered which wasn't you and when she asked to take a message I literally just said this is Jade's friend can you get her to call me back." She stopped to look up at me. "She asked if I was a boy or a girl." She scoffed. "Obviously my middle of the night voice is deeper than I thought! Don't laugh!" She slapped at my arm. "So she just said okay I'll tell Jade to ring her girl friend back and the hung up."

I let out an exasperated sigh of relief. "She's a weird one, lovable and harmless though."

"Yeah she seemed nice." She pulled her arm around my shoulder and kissed my forehead. "Told you it wasn't anything to worry about."

"I'm kind of glad my Mom knows. Although that conversation was awful earlier. But it's nice to not have this massive secret over me anymore. I guess I'll tell my friends when we go back to school."

Tori let go of me, kicking her feet into the blue below. "I'm still not ready to tell anyone."

"I know."

She looked hesitant. "I'm glad you're feeling better though." She changed the subject easily. "And your Mom, she looks the happiest I've ever seen her."

"Yeah she does." I cocked my head to watch her and Jett in the shallow end of the pool playing together. "She's stopped drinking too."

"That's good." Tori smiled.

"It's because of you, you know. All this good shit that's happened to me and my family."

"Is not." Her cheeks blushed pink.

"I might never repeat this again so listen up. If it wasn't for you I'd have never come out to my family, my Dad would have never left us and my Mom wouldn't be this happy. I hate admitting this shit so just accept it. Okay?"

"Okay." She giggled. "I love being your happiness as you are always mine, mi amor."

"Urgh." I groaned, pushing her playfully. "Too far. Too much cheese."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh shut up. Like you've never been all soppy and gay with me?"

"Right that's it. You've crossed the line." I stood up, hooking my hands under Tori's arms and pulling her up to her feet. "Any last words, Vega?" I whispered as I moved my hands around her waist and locked them over her stomach as she stood on the edge of the pool.

"I like it when you're mean." Within seconds of saying the last word she was flying through the air and crashing into the calm pool.

"Treat them mean, keep them keen."

A/N - So this story is the 9th most followed story on ! How insane is that? Thank you so much! I'm so glad you all like it as much as I do!

So continute to comment, follow and fave and I will continute to write :)