((Last Chapter. I've been a bit busy and plus I had no idea what to write until now. But this is the final chapter of this story and I'm proud of it. Thanks go out to all the reviewers who took a look at this and the readers who took time out of their days to read it. This is a somewhat darker chapter.))

"-In other news today, convict Ryder Daniels was found to have escaped from his cell early this morning. Many of our viewers remember that Ryder was sentenced to life in prison for the attempted murder of local teen Tori Vega last year. If anyone has information on Daniel's whereabouts, please contact the police immediately."

A sudden gasp filled the Vega kitchen as Tori Vega stared at the TV screen with wide, horrified eyes. Jade West's eyes widened for a moment before she turned to look at Tori who was seemingly frozen with fear.

"Tori..."

"He's loose." Tori's voice was so quiet Jade had trouble hearing it. She began to shake violently as Jade placed what she hoped was a comforting hand on her shoulder but Tori didn't seem to notice. "He's loose," She whispered in a voice so filled with fear that Jade felt her heart break. Jade took a deep breath. "Tori...the police are looking for him. I know the rest of your family are out of town for the weekend but they'll come back when they find out. You won't be alone. I won't let him touch you."

Tori didn't seem to hear as her eyes tried to look everywhere at once. Jade grabbed her by the shoulders and finally managed to get through to her. "Tori, listen to me: I won't let him hurt you." Jade said in a determined voice as Tori finally seemed to realize she was there. "Jade...I...how did he get out?!" She whispered in a terrified tone.

"I intend to ask a few people that myself." Jade muttered darkly as Tori buried her head in Jade's shoulders. Jade could feel the tears flowing from Tori's eyes as Tori held onto her tightly enough that Jade was actually starting to feel some pain. "Tori, it's going to be okay. I'll go lock the doors and close the blinds. I know it's not much but it's all we can do at the moment, alright?" She could feel Tori nodding as she pulled her tear stained face away from Jade's shoulder.

Jade looked up sharply at the sound of a series of knocks at the door. She motioned for Tori to stay quiet as she grabbed a frying pan and slowly approached the door. "Who is it?" She asked sharply as she put her hand on the door handle and readied the arm holding the frying pan. "Police." came the clipped reply. Jade turned to look back at Tori who was staring nervously at the door. "Prove it." Jade challenged.

"Holly Vega's middle name is Jennifer."

"Could have heard that anywhere. What's the name of Tori's Aunt?"

"Sonya Vega."

Jade turned to look back at Tori once again and saw her nodding carefully. Jade turned to the door once again and carefully opened it and saw a police officer of medium height looking at her and his gaze turned to the frying pan in her hand. "I really hope you don't plan on using that on me." The officer said calmly.

"Depends on what your about to say." Jade said in a somewhat dangerous voice. The officer looked at her and saw Tori in the kitchen. "May I come in?"

Tori slowly left the kitchen and approached Jade. She was taking deep breaths to try and calm herself down. "I see that you already saw the news." The officer said quietly. "It looks like Mr. Daniels somehow managed to get the drop on one of the guards, knocked him out and took his uniform while leaving the guard in his cell wearing his clothes. He walked out when the rest of the guards changed shifts."

Tori tried to speak but found she couldn't. Jade placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as she looked back at the officer as she put down the frying pain in her other hand. "Do you think he's coming here?"

"We're almost a hundred percent sure. While he was still locked up, he made numerous comments that indicated he's holding a grudge. He made numerous other comments about how you ruined his life, how he wanted revenge...comments of that sort." The officer suddenly seemed to notice the absence of the parents. "Where are your mother and father?"

"Out of town for the weekend." Tori said quietly. "They might be on their way back but I'm not sure. My sister Trina went with them." The officer began taking down notes. "Do you have any family you can stay with until we find Daniels?" Tori shook her head.

The officer turned to look at Jade. "What is your relation to-?" Jade interrupted his statement with a death glare. "I'm Tori's girlfriend, I've been staying here since my dad kicked me out."

The officer took down a few more notes and thought for a moment. "It might be best if you two come to the station with me at least until we can get a hold of your family and we make sure they know what's going on, it might be even better if you stay at the station until they return."

Jade looked over at Tori and saw her nodding. "Agreed."

"Why don't you go upstairs and grab some clothes in case they aren't able to return today? I'll wait down here. If you need anything, just give me a holler."

The two girls ran upstairs and the officer could hear the sound of dressers being opened and the sound of rapid footsteps running across the upstairs floor.

Wait a second, what was that? He thought as he thought he heard movement behind him. Before the officer had a chance to move, something heavy hit him over the head from behind.

"Thanks. I was wondering how I'd get in." An unfamiliar voice said from above him. Dazed and almost out cold, the officer was barely able to see who had attacked him before saw the bottom part of a metal shovel hit him in the face. The officer's eyes closed as he lost consciousness.

Ryder Daniels smiled darkly as he quietly walked into the house an evil grin appeared on his face as he heard the sounds of footsteps coming down the stairs. Wow...they're coming right to me. This is my lucky day. He thought as he grabbed the gun off of the officer's belt and hid besides the stairs. He heard the footsteps stop and a horrified gasp was heard from Tori.

"H-He's here!"

"Tori, go outside and get in the police car and call 911. I swear I won't let him hurt you." Ryder heard Jade answer quietly. "Just let me grab his keys and go out to his car."

"Sorry, dyke. But that's not going to happen." Ryder said as he emerged from the side of the staircase and pointed the gun at the two girls. He saw Jade's eyes flicker towards the frying pan and he shook his head. "Don't even think about it, West. Either of you move and you die."

Ryder smiled an evil smile at Tori. "Been looking forward to seeing you again, Vega. I owe you big time. Same for you West. I think you broke something the last time you and I ended up fighting. I intend to return the favor."

Jade snarled at him as Ryder's free hand grabbed Tori's face. Jade could see the look of terror on her face as the tears streamed down her face. "You and I have a lot of catching up to do." He said with a smirk as he released her face and his free hand turned into a fist.

It was at that moment that Jade acted.

Before Ryder could react, Jade ducked to the floor and grabbed the frying pan and threw it at Ryder's face as Ryder whipped the pistol towards Jade. A single pop was heard and a loud scream of pain was heard as the pan collided with Ryder's face. The escaped convict hit the ground with a thud and didn't move despite the fact that his nose seemed to be broken and his face was already covered in blood.

Tori breathed a sigh of relief but that relief turned to horror as she saw Jade holding her side. "Jade? JADE?"

Jade closed her eyes and hit the ground as the pain overwhelmed her..

"JADE!"

Much Later
Hospital

Jade's eyes slowly opened and she noticed two things. One: She couldn't feel any pain despite knowing that she had been shot. And the second thing was that Tori and her family were looking down at her a mixture of grateful and joyful smiles. Tori had tears of joy in her eyes as she wrapped her arms around Jade. "Ow." Jade whispered as Tori hugged her as tightly as she could. Tori's father gently pulled her off of Jade.

"It looks like we owe you again, Jade." Holly Vega said as she handed Jade a cup of water. Tori's mother's face was red and Jade could instantly tell she had been crying. "You saved our daughter again. If you want anything, just name it."

Jade looked over at Tori's father and asked a single word question.

"Ryder?"

Detective Vega flashed a somewhat dark smile that even Jade had to admit freaked her out a little bit. "Back where he belongs. Between trying to kill the two of you and assaulting an officer, I doubt he'll be getting out anytime soon. They'll be watching him much more closely." Detective Vega gently placed a hand on Jade's shoulder. "We can't thank you enough for saving Tori, Like Holly said, if you ever want or need anything, just ask."

Trina didn't say anything. She simply walked up and hugged Jade and then sat down near the window. It seemed that she was speechless over what had happened. "Trina will be alright, she just needs time." Holly Vega said with a soft smile. She looked over at her husband and Trina and motioned for the two of them to follow her. "Why don't we give these two a few minutes alone?"

Detective Vega and Trina both followed Holly out of the room as Tori softly kissed Jade on the forehead. "I...I thought I lost you." She said quietly as tears filled her eyes. "I don't want that feeling ever again."

"How...When did I get here?" Jade asked carefully. Tori gently cupped Jade's hand and shook her head. "You've been out for a while, luckily the bullet missed pretty much anything important. You got here about five hours ago and you've been out until now."

"Tori..." Jade whispered. "I'm sorry. I couldn't let him hurt you. I didn't want to see you die."

Tori responded by softly kissing Jade. "You always seem to save me." She said quietly as she pulled away from Jade. Jade couldn't help but smile slightly. "And you've always been there to pick me up when I fall apart. Even when I treated you like dirt in school."

Tori simply smiled sadly. "Don't think about that...Don't focus on the past. We're past it. Just focus on getting better."

Jade smiled slightly. "Before everything that happened, I was going to ask you something. Something important."

"What is it?"

"We're both graduating this year and I was wondering what you were planning on doing after we graduate. I plan on trying to focus on my singing and I know you want to be a pop singer. We both want to sing."

Jade smiled hopefully as she reached for Tori's hand.

"Why don't we do it together? Once we're done with school?"

"Are you...?"

"Y-Yeah. I mean not right away. But I want to make sure that we both are on the same page. Maybe a few years down the road."

Tori smiled and tears of joy rolled down her face as she embraced Jade.

I can't believe I just asked Tori to be my wife one day. Jade thought as Tori kissed her again and again.