Author's note: All I can say is that I'm so sorry. I tried. I really did try to upload within a reasonable time, but every time I tried to edit this chapter, it just got longer and longer. Can you believe it started as 6,000 words? But then I had to add stuff, and rework stuff, and delete stuff just to put in even longer stuff, and then I kept finding mistakes…it was a hot mess. Probably still is; but I just can't read this stupid chapter again. Not one more damn time. I'll just die of boredom. I guess I could leave it alone, take a week's break from it and then come back with fresh eyes, but I just feel like you've waited long enough, you know? So please forgive me and all the mistakes you'll undoubtedly find.
Also, I'm thinking this fic will end up being m-rated. Just a fair warning.
{~~~JADE~~~}
My phone buzzes. I don't know what time it is, but I know it's entirely too fucking early for someone to be texting me.
Language! Tori scolds me.
"I can curse in my mind if I want to." I mumble. I've long since stopped questioning my sanity when I verbally answer Tori back. Especially because I only seem to do it when I'm either drifting off, or just waking up.
I pat my nightstand until I find the stupid thing and nearly turn it off without checking who the message was from; but curiosity gets the best of me.
I have to squint my eyes a little because the screen's entirely too bright and I can't read what the stupid little words say. Not until after nearly a minute of straining anyway.
Vega: Good morning! Wanna go to the beach with me?
That's what the stupid little words on my phone say.
Seriously?
I blink in disbelief a few times at the text, then at the time.
Seven o'clock.
It's Saturday, the sun's barely up, and my girlfriend just texted me wanting to know if I wanted to go to the beach with her….at seven o'clock in the fuckin' morning!
Honestly, going to the beach today is not an entirely bad idea, but getting up now to do it…?
I turn my phone off and roll over after texting her back a quick "hell no!"
When I wake up again, my phone says it's eleven. I wipe the morning buggers out of my eyes and double check it. It just has to be wrong. Not that I would never sleep in that late, but because Thing One and Thing Two have made it a habit to come into my room no later than nine in the morning on days that are school free, just to bother the crap out of me. Yet, I haven't heard so much as a peep from either one of them.
I get up slowly, yawning and stretching out my kinks before telling myself not to be stupid; to just to take advantage of the peace and go back to sleep.
And I try to do just that; but no more than a full minute of me lying in my bed passes before I realize it's not gonna work. I can't go back to sleep. I feel like something's wrong…or missing.
Dammit! It's the brats. I can't just go back to sleep. There is a certain way my mornings have been going for the last couple of years, and it's as follows:
One of those brats, usually Riley, comes into my room to pester me awake.
Then I yell at it.
Then it goes downstairs to tell on me.
Then Joy comes up and asks me to be nice to it.
I mutter under my breath about where she can shove it.
She huffs and calls me "un-freaking believable."
And then I groan and go back to sleep.
That's how it's always been. And that's how I need it to be. I don't take to change very well.
God, I seriously sound like one of those OCD freaks with the fucking…routines.
With a loud and very frustrated groan, I get up and head out into the hallway to take my morning wazz. I barely register something's off until I actually make it to the bathroom. Then it hits me. The silence. It's never this quiet when the brats are here unless…
I frown. Those little shits are up to something; and I'm willing to bet that whatever it is was Riley's idea. God, that kid works my nerves like no other…
I go into their bedroom, not even bothering to knock. I just wanna spoil their plans and get this bull chiz over with.
But they're not here.
That's…odd, but certainly not too strange. There are other places the little pre-terds can be.
So, I start checking. I check the bathroom, then Joy's room, even the empty room that none of us are allowed to go into. It's been a rule for four years; but Riley's brave enough to break that rule, and Amber's spineless enough to get coaxed into breaking the rule with her sister.
I come up with nothing. They're not up here.
No big deal, there's still all of downstairs to check.
So I head that way next, opting to check the kitchen first. Unfortunately for me, I come face-to-butt with Joy rummaging through the fridge.
"Gross." I mutter.
She turns to me and gives me a nervous smile. "Morning, sweetheart." She says before pulling out eggs and milk; then shutting the fridge with her hip.
She drops an egg. And when she bends over to pick up the pieces of shell, she drops another.
"Crap." She mutters. Then she quickly cleans up the mess and gets more eggs out of the fridge.
I narrow my eyes at her. What the hell is she so nervous about?
"Why are you so jumpy?" I ask her. I try to sound as nonchalant and bored as possible, but I'm not so sure I pulled it off. When Joy's jumpy, Jade gets jumpy.
"I'm not," she claims while simultaneously spilling a bit of milk on the counter. "You ready for breakfast?" she asks me. As if that'll cover up what she just did.
"Where're the brats?" I reply, strategically changing the subject so that the next time I ask her why she's so jittery maybe she'll be caught off guard and answer me. Trust me, it sounds like people should be way too smart to fall for that shit, but it works more often than it doesn't.
Only I forget my plans when Joy's answer throws me through a loop.
"They went to the beach with Tori. Do you want eggs and toast or are you gonna just do cereal today?"
"W-what?" I splutter as I choke on absolutely nothing. Did she just…there's no way she said the brats are with my girlfriend.
Joy frowns. "I thought you knew. Tori said she texted you this morning and you texted back that you didn't want to"-
"I know what I texted her back!" I interrupt.
"So…" she makes this gesture with her hands, silently asking me what the problem is.
"So you just let the brats go with some girl you barely even know?!" is the only thing I can come up with that doesn't make me sound like I'm having a temper tantrum because everybody went somewhere fun without me.
"They have names, Jade." She sighs exasperatedly with a huge show of rolling her eyes. She's not buying it for a second, because let's face it; I wouldn't care if she sent the brats off with Freddie Krueger. "And your girlfriend seems to be a very responsible young lady. Besides, I thought you'd be glad to have them out of your hair for a day. Lord knows I could use the break." She winks at me. "Now hurry up and make up your mind before I put this stuff away. Will it be a hot or cold breakfast for you?"
"Neither!" I snap.
"What's with the sour mood?"
"When am I not in a sour mood?" I growl at her. She smiles back at me, like she thinks I'm adorable. I fucking hate it when she does that.
I stomp my way back up the stairs and into my room before dialing my soon-to-be-dead girlfriend.
"Hello?" A small voice that definitely doesn't belong to Vega greets me.
I scowl down at my phone before pressing it to my ear once again.
"Put Vega on the phone." I demand, not even bothering to ask which one of the little pre-terds answered. I'd say Riley's bold enough to do it; but then again, Vega could've easily asked Amber to do it.
"She's busy."
Must be Thing One.
"Riley…" I warn.
"I'm Amber. And Tori really is busy, Jade. She's talking to Beck so she told me to answer her phone and tell whoever it is that she's busy. I'm sorry."
My eyes widen as I feel the rage coming. What…the fuck…are they doing together…at the fucking-
Calm down, Jade. You don't even know what's going on. Tori coaches me. And usually I'd tell her to fuck off, but I find myself hoping she's right. That maybe the idea that Vega and Beck are on some kind of traditional family-looking outing, just smiling lovingly into each other's eyes and making sandcastles with the brats is a ridiculous notion.
Vega wouldn't cheat on me. She likes breathing.
"What the hell is Beck doing there?" I ask calmly. Well, more calmly than I thought I was capable of doing right now.
"Um, they're arguing."
Good. Arguing's good.
"About what?" I press.
"Um…"
This kid and her goddamn ums.
"Put Riley on the phone." I snap, losing my patience.
I hear Amber give the phone over and tell Riley who it is.
"Jade." Riley greets.
"Talk to me." I demand. I know she'll know what I mean and that she won't pussy foot around.
"Beck thinks you guys only came to the beach because he put it on TheSlap that he was coming to the beach today, and he says that you guys are trying too hard to always make sure he sees you guys together, but he"-
"Whoa, whoa. Stop it right there. I'm not even at the beach." I interrupt; both so that I can point that crucial piece of information out, and so that Riley can take a freakin' breath. Maybe even a couple of 'em.
"Tori said you'll be here later." She says conversationally. And I can just imagine she ended that with shrug of her shoulders.
"Why would Vega say I'll be there later? I told her I didn't want to go to the beach."
"I don't know. She just said that once you realize everyone's here without you, you'll come just to argue with her."
Shit. She's right. She's absolutely right. And I don't like that. I don't like that I'm so predictable. Better yet, I don't like how Vega was able to predict what I'll do. In fact, I really don't like it, so much to the point where I might just stay home, teach her that she can't manipulate me into doing what she wants.
"But I think you should stay home." Riley continues. "It's more fun without you. I get to have Tori all to myself." She proclaims.
I grind my teeth together.
I'm not jealous. I swear it. Riley's eight. She doesn't have a chance with my girlfriend. Still, it bugs me when the little brat does and says the things she does concerning Vega. I don't know why, but I know it's not jealousy.
"Put Vega on the phone now."
"But she said"-
"Now!"
"Fine! But if she yells at me again..."
I roll my eyes. What would she possibly do to me if Vega yelled at her again? In fact, I would love to see her get yelled at again.
I'm not gonna lie, I was a bit shocked at first; but after that wore off, I realized just how hot my girlfriend can be when she's mad. The way her mouth set into that thin little line and she tried her best to keep all that rage in check; the way her eyes widened in unquenchable fury, like there was an inferno blazing behind those darkened irises…
Wait, what the hell am I thinking?
You were thinking-
Shut the fuck up, Tori, I interrupt my conscience before she can say, or make me think, something incredibly stupid. Besides, I can hear Beck now. He's saying something about how unnecessary it is for us to try and prove ourselves to him by always throwing our relationship in his face. And there's a huge emphasis on the word "relationship;" which means he still doesn't believe us. He's still in denial.
"Phone, Tori."
"Riley, I'm busy." Vega answers. She sounds a bit agitated, but not as pissed as I'd seen her Thursday.
Pity.
"You do know you told Amber to answer your phone, right?" Beck cuts in; obviously suggesting Vega just called Amber by Riley's name.
I roll my eyes. The terds must be wearing the same suit or something. Beck can't tell them apart to save his life. Well, he can, but only by personalities. He knows that Riley's rowdy and Amber's an angel. If Riley pretends to be Amber, then that's who he thinks she is, and vice versa.
"It's Jade. Want me to tell her you're busy?" Riley interrupts them again.
I don't hear Vega's response to that. But I do hear Beck say something and then Vega laughs at whatever it was.
If that's the way they argue, I don't like it one bit.
"Hey, Mami." My girlfriend says after a bit. I'm guessing she walked away from Beck so she can talk to me.
"Don't you "Hey Mami" me!" I snap back.
"What's wrong with you?"
Seriously?
"What's wrong me? What the hell are you doing at the beach?"
"I told you I was going." She sighs like she's already told me three hundred times that the sky is blue, not green.
"You didn't say anything about taking the brats!" I growl.
"Oh, I had to bring Riley. I owed her a favor for yelling at her Thursday; and why not bring Amber too. You're the one who said you didn't want to come." She accuses.
I narrow my eyes. "So that means go without me?"
"You don't like ultimatums."
"Yeah, well I don't like being tricked and manipulated either!"
"No one's tricking or manipulating you, Jade." She sighs calmly.
I hate it when she does that. Stays all calm while I'm yelling at her. It makes me feel like I'm a kindergartener having a tantrum while she's trying to be the calm rational adult.
I take a deep breath and answer her the way she's been answering me. Calmly and rationally. We'll both be the fuckin' adult. "Oh? So you didn't tell Riley that once I realized everyone went without me that I would make my way over there?"
"Yeah. But I meant it more like you'd come on your own time; and not when I was telling you to."
"Of course you did." I answer sarcastically.
"Well here's an easy solution for you then, Jade. Just don't come at all."
My rebuttal gets cut off by the all too familiar sound of a call being ended. She hung up on me.
Nobody hangs up on me.
I call her back. One ring, two rings, three rings, four and more…. No answer. I'm gonna kill this girl!
"Hello?" the phone finally gets answered. But it's a deep voice. One that doesn't belong to Vega, and it definitely doesn't belong to one of the brats.
"Who is this?"
"Don't tell me you don't recognize my voice, Jade."
"Maybe I don't recognize why you're answering my girlfriend's phone, Beck." I spit back.
"Maybe Riley grabbed her hand when she saw her looking oh so sad and dragged her in the water to play, Jade."
God he's immature.
Explain to me why you want him back…
Shut the fuck up, Tori.
Language!
Ugh! Okay, Jade focus. What'd Beck say? Something about Riley dragging Vega off to the water to play, right?
Sounds like something Riley would do. Hopefully it was Riley. You can never take Beck's word when it comes to who's who with the brats, and I really need to talk to Amber.
I hang up on Beck and call Thing Two up. Thankfully she answers.
"Jade?"
"Where are you guys? And I mean the exact location."
Amber's not so good with directions as she's only eight, but she gives me very specific landmarks and I quickly figure it out.
"Don't tell anyone I'm coming. Okay, Bugger."
"Okay, Jade." She promises.
I run down the hallway and nearly run straight into Joy. Thankfully, I skid to a stop just seconds before impact…but she doesn't seem to notice. Which I would think is weird if I hadn't noticed where her attention is focused.
It's the room. The one we're not supposed to go in. The one I went into when I was looking for the girls earlier. The door's wide open…because I didn't shut it behind me.
Shit.
Joy reaches out tentatively and grabs the handle. I thought she was jittery in the kitchen before; that was nothing. The way her hand is shaking now…
She swallows several times, but obviously that does nothing for her because she clears her throat next. "Jade, did you?" She asks softly. She doesn't have to finish the rest. I don't even think she can finish the rest; but I know what she's asking.
"I'm sorry." I swallow nervously. I don't tell her that I was looking for her daughters because I already know no excuse would be good enough.
She shuts the door firmly before taking a deep breath and locking eyes with me. "You need a ride to the beach, sweetie?" she asks so quietly that I have to resort to a little lip reading just to catch the full sentence.
What? That's it? I fully expected her to kill me. Literally.
"But we have to go now because I made plans." She continues with a brief glance to her watch-less wrist.
She's trying to tease me.
"Like a date." I accuse, teasing her back just a little. I carefully watch her as she answers, trying to figure out why the fuck I'm still standing here, unscathed and still breathing, after Joy's learned I'd been in that room.
"No I'm going to the spa…alone…unless, you wanna come with me." She smiles.
I frown back at her. There's no way I'd go to the spa with Joy right now. She only goes to the spa when she's extremely stressed.
"I'll take that as a no then."
I nod my head. "I'll go get my swim suit and stuff."
"I thought so."
I just stand there, still frozen and too freaked out to move.
"Well, hurry up, Jade. I don't have all day!" She claps her hands together for emphasis.
"But"- I shake my head and stop right there. Maybe it would be smart of me to leave it alone.
I get ready in record time. Not because Joy's rushing me, but because I want to. I want to get to the beach as soon as possible and wring Riley's, Vega's, and Beck's necks. Not necessarily in that order.
I fly down the stairs and into Joy's car. She meets me there about a minute later as she actually took the time to lock up and stuff.
I start setting up my music, plugging my earphones in to my phone and selecting the first song I wanna listen to. All rides with Joy are much more endurable when there's music in my ears; but before I can put my buds in Joy speaks.
"Jade, honey." She starts off.
"What?"
"Um...I was speaking with Grayson this morning; then um Ellen got on the line with me for a bit."
Ah. Now everything makes sense. The way Joy was all jumpy earlier while making breakfast. The way she let me get away with going into the room…it all makes sense now.
I keep my mouth shut and my eyes forward. I don't have anything to say. I never have anything to say when my parents are brought up. I hate them more than I dislike Joy.
"She wants you to call her."
Well that's a first.
"Why?"
Joy keeps her eyes on the road; the only indication that she's heard me is the whitening of her knuckles as she grips the steering wheel tighter.
"She wants to talk to you I guess." And if my stepmother wasn't looking so nervous right now, I would've taken her response for sarcasm as it's only obvious that when someone wants you to call them, it's so that they can talk to you.
I don't have an answer for that, so I don't give one. I don't even feel like shrugging.
"So…"
I roll my eyes. Of course Joy doesn't recognize my way of showing I'm not interested in talking about this.
"Jade?" She tries again.
"What does she want to talk to me about?" I ask. I can feel the fear beginning to worm its way into my chest. And I hate it. I absolutely hate that just one mention of Ellen and I start to get all claustrophobic-like. I get the malfunctioning heart, the cotton mouth, the shortage of breath….That woman… what could she possibly want? What? Certainly not me. Please God, don't let it be me, I pray silently.
"I don't know, honey. She just wants you to call." Joy answers, seemingly oblivious, as she always seems to be, of the negative reaction I have at the mention of Ellen's name. Then again, I do make sure to guard my expression pretty damn well.
"And if I don't call her?" I keep my tone light, flippant.
Joy relaxes just a little, but I barely notice. I'm too busy worrying about myself, about my fears.
"Please don't tell me you're gonna try and make me?" I challenge, crossing my arms over my chest.
Joy smiles.
I frown back at her. What's she smiling about? Does she know something I don't? What'd she and Ellen talk about anyway? Did they make "arrangements" or something?
"If I call her, do you think she's gonna ask me move to New York with her…and him?" I ask, deciding not to play the mental 'what if' game and see if I can actually get some freaking answers.
"She might." Joy answers, her smile dropping into a small frown. "Which way am I going again, sweetie?"
I roll my eyes and direct her before putting my music back in.
I feel sick. There's this sinking feeling in my gut and I know it'll be there for a while. I hate it when Joy mentions Ellen. I always feel like it'll give her ideas. Like the fact that I already have a mother. She doesn't have to deal with me; she can send me away. She can make me live with Ellen and him, my father.
I've been keeping my distance from Joy, preparing for the day that she does send me away. That way I can trick my mind into thinking that I didn't like her anyway. That I practically hate her in fact; but I don't. I don't hate her at all. Even if she is annoying as hell.
In fact, sometimes, and only sometimes, I actually wish I was hers…biologically. That way she can't send me away. That way I don't have to be nervous every time she mentions my father, or Ellen.
I pull my ear bud out and stare at her. She still looks pretty wound up. And I can't help but wonder why. Is it me? Is she nervous I'll do something to her when I learn she's trying to send me away again? Because she tried once. She fed me some bullshit line about how she thought I might be happier with my parents.
I wasn't.
I made Ellen and my father's life hell. It didn't take them too long to send me back. I wasn't even gone for a month.
I've been giving Joy hell too. I've never entirely forgiven her for sending me away in the first place.
"Do you want me to go?" I suddenly blurt out before I even realize I'd been wondering about it.
"I want you to do what's right for you." She answers, not even bothering to pretend she doesn't know what I'm talking about in order to buy herself a little time until she can find the right words to say to me. Still, the answer that was given was a cop-out answer.
Not what I wanted. I really wanna know. I want to know just how bad she wants me gone. So, I try again.
"I said do you want me to go, not what do you think I should do."
"It doesn't matter what I want, this is your life. It's about you. Whatever you want. I shouldn't try to influence your decision." She answers.
Another fuckin' cop-out answer.
"You wanna know what I want, Joy? What I really want? A straight answer to my fucking question."
"Watch your language!" She snaps back at me.
I nearly tell her not to fucking tell me what to do because she's not my fucking mother, but I keep it between myself…and Tori. I let her yell at me for my impure thoughts the rest of the way to the beach because I absolutely refuse to say another word to Joy.
We finally make it and Joy parks to let me out; but before I can slam the door shut she says, "No, Jade."
"No Jade, what?" I scowl back.
"I don't want you to go." She looks me in my eyes as she tells me this so that I can see just how sincere she is. And with the look she's giving me right now, she can tell me the Easter Bunny's real and I'd believe her.
But it's not enough.
"Why?" I just have to ask.
"If you don't already know why, then you probably wouldn't believe me if I told you."
What the hell is that supposed to mean?
"Shut the door, I'm gonna be late."
I do as I'm told. And she drives off.
I stare after the car for a bit before shrugging it off. That woman…
It takes maybe five minutes of scouring the beach before I spot Vega, the girls, Beck and… Meredith.
Nobody told me she was here.
And no one seems to notice my arrival either. They're all sitting on beach towels, eating and merrily talking about god knows what.
I was right though, Riley and Amber are wearing the same swim suit. Vega's wearing a t-shirt and I find myself wondering what kind of suit she's wearing underneath. One or two pieces?
I hope it's two.
Wait, what?
I shake my head and refuse to think about anything else as I make my way toward the group. My brain's being stupid.
Riley is the first one to notice me when I get a little closer, and as soon as she spots me, she gets up and plops down into Vega's lap.
God, that girl…
"What?" Vega asks, completely unaware of my presence and focusing all of her attention on the brat in her lap.
As an answer, Riley shows her the chewed up food in her mouth.
Gross.
I expect Vega to gag and push Riley away, instead she \opens her mouth and shows Riley all the chewed up contents of her lunch as well.
"Gross!" Riley gags before scooting out of my girlfriend's lap. But she doesn't go far. She sits right next to Vega.
"You started it, Monstrito." Vega laughs.
"I'm glad you guys are having so much fun without me." I say, meaning for my announcement to be addressed to everyone, but my gaze settles on Vega's face and stops there. Her eyes almost literally light up at the sight of me. A reaction too quickly made to be considered acting…unless she knew I was here the whole time. But I know she didn't.
Vega's genuinely glad to see me.
And what's even weirder is that I…don't feel an absolute sense of dread at the sight of her.
"Jade, you remember Meredith, don't you?" Beck cuts in, motioning toward the girl sitting next to him.
"Girl with the cupcakes." I deadpan while squeezing in between Riley and Vega. I don't fully make it because the little terd is being a bit stubborn, not wanting to give up her seat; but I fix that. "Move over," I grunt as I push Riley out of the way.
"Don't hit me, you stupid gank!" She smacks my arm pretty damn hard before scampering to the other side of Vega.
My girlfriend puts a protective arm around Riley. "You hit her first, Jade" She tells me, obviously thinking I'm about to kill the little twerp. And I should…I really, really should, but I just don't really feel like it right now.
I shrug my shoulders and look down at my arm, exploring the little red handprint that's already starting to form. Well, it's not a whole handprint, more like some deformed alien-looking fingers. I smirk a little at the sight. I always knew that kid wasn't human.
"Hi Jade!" Meredith greets.
Technically, I didn't forget she's here, but I had planned on ignoring her. So I don't answer. I continue to inspect my arm, though it's now boring me.
That's so rude, Jade!
Bite me.
No, you like that.
Yes. Why yes I do.
Then Vega nudges me in the rib.
Ugh! I swear I'm getting so tired of being double-teamed by them!
"Hello Meredith." I say politely, looking up to meet her eyes.
"Hi Jade!" she repeats excitedly. I think it's my first time calling her something other than bi-
Jade!
Fine. I think it's my first time calling her something other than the b-word.
"Want one?" Meredith asks while pulling a cupcake out of thin air.
"They're really good." Beck taunts.
I roll my eyes, but otherwise take it from her. It does look really good. And I'm hungry.
"Not bad." I tell her after taking a huge bite.
"Thank you!" She gushes.
Everyone else is staring at me. And I know why. There's something wrong with me. I can feel it. I should've threatened Beck with my shiniest and sharpest pair of scissors for bringing Meredith out here. I should've taken the cupcake Meredith offered to me and thrown it down; stomped it into the sand even; not eat it. But I didn't do any of those things. I don't even feel like doing any of those things.
I know I should at least pretend to be jealous, but I…
Wait, pretend?
I'm not jealous? Beck brought another girl to the beach, she's in my fucking face, but I'm not jealous. Why the heck aren't I jealous?
"Jade, are you okay?" Vega asks beside me.
I nearly snap at her, but the sincerity in those big brown eyes…I don't feel like it.
Fuck. Now I know something's wrong with me.
I shrug my shoulders; hopefully I can shrug the weirdness away too. "I'm just having a weird morning." I answer her. "I'm feeling a little off."
She brings a hand to my forehead, then feels my cheeks and the sides of my neck while wearing an adorably serious frown on her face.
Crap, I just called Vega a-fucking-dorable!
Language!
Fuck off, Tori! Damn.
"You feel fine, Mami." Vega announces.
"I said I feel off, not sick." I snap back at her.
"You're grumpy." She states, eyes furrowed as she studies me with her head tilted to the side.
I blink at her. She's so fucking weird.
"Did you have coffee this morning?"
Coffee? …
My eyes widen. COFFEE!
I shake my head. I didn't. I didn't have a freakin' coffee. No wonder my brain's all foggy and I'm all out of sorts. I didn't have coffee!
"That's what I thought. Maybe I can help." She says. "Mamita, will you pass me my beach bag?"
Amber's within reaching distance, but she has to actually get up to get it because it's a big ass bag, probably heavy as hell too. She hauls it over and drops it into Vega's lap. Afterward, she plops down right next to me.
I suddenly realize she was sitting next to Meredith before and my jaw twitches. For some reason, that bugs me.
"Now, where the heck are you?" Vega mutters while going through the bag.
My eyebrows furrow into a confused frown while Vega continues to dig through her enormous beach bag. There's no way she has coffee in there. But then she pulls out a slender tube of lip gloss and applies a generous amount to her lips, and I start to get it.
"Oh God, please tell me that's what I think it is…" I moan desperately. Because now that I've realized I haven't had coffee, I'm feeling the strain.
"It is." She whispers just before pressing her lips to mine.
"Mmm." I moan, low in my throat. I don't know where the hell she got coffee flavored lip gloss, but I'll be forever grateful to the genius who thought it up.
I grab Vega's face in my hands to steady her as I latch on to her top lip first. I'm a save the best for last kind of girl and her bottom lip is fuller, which means it's carrying more of the gloss.
It's funny, I don't think of this as "kissing." Not at all…at least, not until she opens her mouth, just a little, slowly takes in my bottom lip and makes it a kiss.
Whoa daddy. I can't believe I've forgotten how good she is at this!
Mind you, she hasn't kissed me this way since our double date weeks ago. She's just been nipping me here and biting me there. Now, I'm not complaining. I love the biting thing; I just forgot how good she is at the kissing thing,
And I have every intention of reminding myself.
I take my time, savoring her lips. The top. The bottom. The corners…
It's gone. The taste of coffee is all gone, but Vega's kisses are just as intoxicating. She really knows how to use those lips of hers, and I find myself wondering if it can get any better. If maybe, just maybe…
I slip my tongue into her slightly parted mouth.
She pulls back immediately.
"What?" I practically whine.
"I think it's all gone." She pants. Face beginning to go pink.
"Well, I want more." I demand.
Vega shakes her head and I glare at her. I really hate it when she tells me no.
"Not in front of the kiddies." She says, motioning toward the audience I've completely forgotten about.
Crap!
"We're fine Tori." Riley shrugs. "At least you guys have clothes on this time."
"Riley!" Vega's blush gets even darker and I decide right then and there that she looks good with 'em. Blushes I mean.
"What?" Riley frowns. "What'd I do?"
"Whatever happens in Casa de West, stays there." I tell the brat, coming to my girlfriend's rescue.
"So, you've seen them without clothes on, with each other?" Beck cuts in skeptically.
I narrow my eyes at him. That was so inappropriate. And I hope for his sake that he wasn't actually expecting an answer from the kid.
"Don't answer that!" Vega squeals, obviously on the same page as me.
"I already answered that." Riley frowns.
I snort. She's totally right. She answered Beck's question before he even asked it.
Vega glares at me. She doesn't find anything funny about it.
"What? She's got a point." I shrug, taking Riley's side for maybe the third time in her entire life, because as much as the brat gets on my nerves, I find my girlfriend's discomfort highly amusing. Plus, it serves her right for not giving me more Vega coffee gloss when I asked for it.
"Can we please just change the subject?" Vega begs me.
Well I do like to be begged…
I tilt my head, almost as if I'm thinking about it, and she scowls at me before pulling Riley up to her side and covering her ears firmly.
"Hey!" Riley exclaims, but makes no move to get away.
Vega motions with her head for me to do the same with Thing Two.
I groan and roll my eyes before beckoning Amber to me. She gives me a confused look as she's already sitting next to me. So I point to my lap.
"Sit." I command.
Hesitantly, she gets up and plops her nonexistent butt onto my thighs. She's lucky she only weighs a quarter of a pound, otherwise that would've hurt and then I would've had to hurt her in return.
With the brat in my lap, I swivel around until me and Vega are face to face rather than sitting next to each other. Then I cover Amber's ears.
"What?" I hiss.
"Aw, that's adorable, the way they've worked that out. It's like they've been together for ages. Aren't they cute?" Meredith swoons.
Beck shrugs at her and I ignore the fact that she called me cute because it will only make me want to rip all her hair out of her scalp.
"Do you mind?" I glare at Beck. It's obvious me and my girlfriend are about to have a moment. The polite thing to do would be to excuse himself and take his girlfriend with him.
"Not at all, go right ahead." He gestures between me and Vega, motioning for us to continue with our conversation as he pops some potato chips in his mouth.
God he's such a jerk.
Again I say, why do you even want him back?
Shut up, Tori.
"Are you guys done yet?" Riley whines.
I roll my eyes. We haven't even started.
Vega sighs deeply before pulling Riley into her lap with a huge grunt. Before the kid can protest, she is turned to the side and the whole left half of her face is pressed into Vega's chest.
"Jade. We need rules." Vega starts off.
"The hell we do." I scowl back, not liking the new position she and the brat are in, at all. But before I can say anything on the matter, Vega grabs two paper plates and asks me to pass her the chips.
Oh…I get it now; the face against the chest thing. Now that I've been asked to do something that requires the use of my hands, I realize just how impossible that task would've been with both hands against Amber's ears.
"If the girls are with us"-
"Maybe the girls shouldn't be with us all the time." I interrupt. Mimicking her position, I turn Amber to the side and press the side of her face into my chest. My left hand I keep pressed tightly against her ear, and with my right, I reach behind myself to snatch the bag of chips out of Beck's hands.
"Hey!" He exclaims.
"They're not with us all the time." She defends herself as I hand the bag over.
I pointedly look down at the brat currently sitting in my lap.
With a roll of her eyes, she pours some chips on a plate.
"The point I'm trying to make is that I'm not comfortable with saying, or doing, certain things in front of them."
She hands Amber the plate and then starts one for Riley. I have to admit, that was good thinking on Vega's part. When the brats whine, give them something to put in their mouth.
It's genius.
"So what exactly are you uncomfortable with? And be specific." I order.
I'm interrupted by Amber's very loud "thank you" to Vega. Why is it that when people can't hear, they fucking shout?
"Maybe we should start with the language." She announces while turning Riley back around to the front. She's using two hands to cover the kid's ears again.
"What's wrong with my language?" I would do that too, turn Amber back around, but it'd make it harder to steal chips off of her plate if I did. The kid's just gonna have to suffer with these jugs a little while longer.
"You called Riley a little s-word the other day." Vega deadpans.
"She is a little…" I trail off when her eyes widen. "Fine, but I won't make any promises."
"But you'll try, right?"
"Yeah, whatever."
She smiles at me before moving on to her next point. "Anything that has to do with splunking's a no-go."
I roll my eyes and steal another chip from Amber. Not talking about fucking in front of the kiddies is a given.
"And kissing"-
Whoa. Wait a minute. Just back the fuck up.
"What about kissing?" I interject.
"We should have a time limit or something."
"What?"
"And maybe no tongue either."
She can't be serious.
"Vega! They've seen tonging on Nickelodeon. Don't be a prude!"
"I'm not a prude. I just…they're kids. I don't want to give them any ideas."
"Ideas like what?" I scoff.
"I don't know, what if they get curious and start wanting to practice or something. I mean, I did; but I was twelve. They're only eight"-
"Practicing in what way?" I cough on my stolen chip. Just the image of a little Vega practicing kissing in front of the mirror…hilarious.
"I never told you about Josephina?"
For some unknown reason, I stiffen, and my eyes narrow, and I glare at my girlfriend. Josephina? "No, you never told me about her." I say through clenched teeth.
"Really, I could've sworn I did. We were the best of friends until her parents got a divorce and she moved away. I was devastated. I really loved that girl." she finishes wistfully.
I literally have to make a conscious effort not to ball my hands into tight fists right now. I'm still holding onto Amber's ear and it's not the kid I want to hurt.
It's Josephina, and I don't even know why.
You're so jealous.
Fuck off, Tori
She said she was twelve, it was probably nothing.
I'd believe that if it weren't for the fact that my girlfriend was so "devastated" by Josephina moving out of state with her mother. It just makes me wonder where I would be in Vega's life if Josephina hadn't moved away. Would they be dating right now?
Wait, what am I thinking? I'm not even interested in Vega for myself. She's just a means to an end. I'm just using her to get Beck back.
I take a breath and encourage myself to focus. Just get through this stupid day, and the next and the next….
Vega's still blabbering about fucking Josephina.
"The first time we "experimented" was during truth or dare"-
"Whatever." I interrupt. "What else are you uncomfortable with?" I ask, getting her back on subject.
She tilts her head to the side and thinks about it for a second before saying, "the touching."
I roll my eyes. "Vega, that makes absolutely no sense."
"I'm not saying we can't touch at all, I'm just saying nothing too… erotic."
"My God, we might as well tell them we're just friends."
"Jade."
"I'm serious!" I hiss. "They're not stupid. They know what girlfriends do with each other!"
"Do they? They're not confused at all about the girlfriend thing? They don't think it's weird?" Beck cuts in out of fucking nowhere.
"Go away!" I snap. Then I set my eyes back on Vega. "We done?"
"No. there should be more rules."
"No. There shouldn't be any rules at all. This is a waste of time. I don't see the problem with them seeing or hearing some intimacy between us. Not after they've walked in on us so many times. Maybe our only rule should be to teach them how to knock."
Vega turns her face up to the sky and closes her. "Maybe you're right." She sighs.
"Damn right I am."
"But I don't know, just how many times do you think it will take for them to learn to knock? I mean, even Joy's walked in on us…"
I snort. "It's probably Joy sending them in there. Damn cockblocker."
"Here's an idea." Vega's eyes light up, like she's had a major epiphany. "Why can't we just ask Joy to let us lock the door just for a few minutes every time we want to…you know?"
"Just a few minutes?" I tease.
"Jade!"
I roll my eyes. She's such a party pooper. "Because I don't think Joy likes it when we "you know" in the house to begin with. Hence the sending in of the mini cockblockers."
"Well then maybe we shouldn't"-
"Shouldn't what?" I cut her off, because if she's thinking about cutting me off, (even though I do realize that I haven't actually been getting any), then we're gonna have a huge problem.
"Maybe not in the house." She tries.
"Then where? Your place is a no go as your dad's a cop… with a gun. We're banned from the janitor's closet, all of them…."
Vega blushes deeply. "There are other places, Jade."
"Like?"
She bites her lip and turns to look at the water before turning back to me. "I'm sure we can figure out something." She grins at me once my eyes widen, signaling that I understand what she means. And she means public places. Like the Ocean.
Oh, my girlfriend's a freak.
And with that, she lifts her hands from Riley's ear, ending our inappropriate-for-children conversation.
I nearly pout. It was just getting good too. I wanna hear about all these places were hypothetically gonna do it.
"Finally!" Riley exclaims. "I wanna get in the water now, come on Amber."
Amber doesn't move. I realize I've still got my hands pressed against the kid's ear and I let go.
She still doesn't move.
I look down and see that her eyes are closed, but it doesn't dawn on me that she's asleep until Vega says, "Wake her gently Jade."
I scowl back at her, 'cause I had absolutely no plans on doing that. But then she leans in and kisses me, and I'm suddenly okay with it. Don't ask me why.
You know why.
Fuck you, Tori.
"Aw, they'll be great mothers one day." Meredith croons. "Don't you think so Beck?"
"Jade doesn't want kids." Is Beck's sour reply. "Do you want kids Tori? Or do you think you two will even last that long?"
"Don't drop her, Mami!" Vega panics before I can respond to him. It's crazy weird how she can predict my actions. It's almost like she knew that Beck pissed me off so bad that I nearly lounged at him with the brat still in my arms. She wouldn't have had a big fall, but I probably would've trampled over her trying to get at him.
And the weirdest part is, I have no idea why I'm so mad. So what if he implied that me and Vega aren't going to marry each other? It's the truth. I don't even like her. Not really. Just the kissing. She's good at that. And when she's angry, she's kinda hot then; but that's about it.
Maybe I just didn't like the way he said it.
Yeah, that's what it was.
"What? It was a legit question." Beck defends himself. "I mean, I thought we'd be together forever, but look at us now." Then he turns to Vega. "And judging by the way you are with Jade's sisters, I'd say you want kids; but like I said, Jade doesn't want"-
"I wouldn't mind having kids with Vega." I butt in with a shrug.
"Really?" Vega gasps. She's got the I-just-got-down-on-one- knee-and-pulled-out-a-small-jewelry-box look on her face.
Crap. I was just trying to piss off Beck. I forgot she'd have to react to my declaration.
Time to play it off.
"Really," I nod. "Beck's right. You're good at this kind of stuff. You can stay home with the kiddies and I'll bring home the bacon." I wink at her.
"That's what you think will happen?" she scoffs.
"That's what I know will happen."
"Well, you're wrong. You can't just bring home the bacon. You've got to learn how to interact with the kids too or they'll have severe Daddy issues."
"Daddy issues?"
This chick does know that I'm a chick too, right?
"Yeah, so you might as well start practicing now." She inclines her head toward the sleeping brat in my arms.
"Wake her up. Nicely."
I sigh heavily. This girl…
But I do as she says.
"Bugger, wake up." I say as I pry her away from my chest gently. I look to Vega. She smiles and gives me the thumbs up. I roll my eyes back at her.
Amber starts rubbing her eyes, and when they're fully opened my face is the first thing she sees.
She screams and scrambles out of my lap. "I'm sorry, Jade!" she cries.
What the fuck?
"Ugh, we got a long way to go." Vega groans with a slap to her forehead.
"What are you talking about? I didn't even do anything to her!"
"Obviously, you've done enough. She's afraid of you!"
"She is not."
"So you're just that ugly then, huh? One look at you and everyone starts screaming and running for the hills?"
I narrow my eyes at her. Did she just…
"Can we go play in the water, now?" Riley whines.
"NO!" I stand to my feet, towering over the little brat. Can't she see we're busy?
"I WASN'T TALKING TO YOU, STUPID!"
"WHO THE FU"- I cut myself off when I catch the look on Vega's face. She's got both hands pressed against Amber's ears and she's shaking her head at me. She looks….disappointed.
Ugh, it's making me feel…dare I say, guilty?
UGGGHHH!
I take a deep breath and sit down. "Go play, Riley."
"W-what?" Riley stares at me, like she can't believe I just stopped, just like that. I didn't call her any names; I didn't even hit her.
"I said, go play. And take your sister with you."
"You gonna yell at Tori, or something?"
"Or something." I shrug.
She doesn't have to be told again after that. She grabs Amber's hand and they both head out. They nearly get away, but then…
"Wait!" Vega yells.
"Why?" Riley whines.
"Sunblock."
"But we already did that!" Riley calls back with a childish stomp.
It doesn't deter Vega in the least. "That was before, you need more."
"Ugh!" Riley groans before heading back reluctantly. Amber is much more cooperative, offering her body for Vega to lotion down first. Then it's Riley's turn. She pouts a little but otherwise doesn't resist.
"Now?" Riley raises her eyebrows hopefully.
"Not yet, hold out your hands." Vega commands, before putting some in both the girls' hands. Then she takes off her t-shirt.
Two piece. Navy blue two piece.
Nice.
"Now do my back real quick for me and then you can go."
Instead of more pouting, Riley grins. And I have this urge to strangle both my girlfriend and the brat. Vega had to know just how I'd feel about that; that I would not like it. And Riley doesn't hide the fact that she's aware of my discomfort. She sticks her tongue at me.
I flip her off.
She does it back.
"And none of that!" Vega yells at me.
I scowl back at her. She didn't say anything to Riley.
"Have fun you guys!" Vega says, her way of dismissing them once they're finally done rubbing her down.
Riley takes off, not wanting to get delayed for another second. "Come on slow poke," She calls over her shoulder.
"Wait for me, Riley!" Amber chases after her.
"And stay where I can see you!" Vega calls after them.
"We will," they both shout back.
"I find it strange that the twins did your girlfriend's back and not you." Beck says, voicing my thoughts in their entirety.
I look over at him and note that he's doing Meredith's for her. I'm pretty sure that's what he wanted, to get me to see it, but I'm a little busy wholeheartedly agreeing with what he said. I should have been the one rubbing sunblock on my girlfriend's back, not the two little monsters.
What was Vega thinking?
"I'd let Jade do it, but I can't right here in front of everyone. I'm too sensitive. It's embarrassing." Vega explains.
And just like that, I perk up, 'cause I get it now. God, my girlfriend's a freakin' genius.
"Too sensitive?" Beck frowns
"Yeah, too sensitive." I repeat, putting an emphasis on "sensitive." I wonder if he's playing dumb so that we'll have to explain, or if he really doesn't get it. "She gets horny when I touch her." I bluntly blurt out, just in case.
"Jade!"
"What? You do."
"Oh God." She groans while burying her face in her hands. "Jade, please. Stop saying stuff like that." She whines into her palms.
I smile wickedly at Beck. The look of discomfort on his face. Priceless.
"Come on, let's go get wet." I give her a suggestive smile and nod my head toward the water. Her face turns even redder, and I can't help but to roll my eyes at her display of embarrassment. I mean, it was her idea after all.
I quickly get rid of my shorts and tank top. Then I tug on her hands. "Come on, babe. Let's go." I grunt as I pull her up
"Wait!"
I give her a questioning look.
"You have to put on sunblock first." She bends down to pick the block up, and two guys just so happen to walk by. And their gazes just happen to settle on my girlfriend's ass.
"What the fuck are you looking at?" I yell at them.
They quickly avert their eyes and practically jog away.
"I thought you were working on your language?" Vega scolds me.
"The brats didn't hear me."
"That's not the point."
I really don't care about what the point is. I only care about one thing…
"Can't you put some damn clothes on?" I snap at her.
"Huh?"
"They were staring at your ass!"
She looks behind herself. As if she forgot it was there. Then she looks back at me with complete and utter confusion written all over her face. "So?"
"So?" What the fuck does she mean by "So?"?
"Yeah, we're at the beach. I'm not wearing much. They're guys. What did you expect?" She explains.
She's making a little sense, but she's not making me happy. I don't want anyone staring at my girlfriend's ass. It's mine. I don't share.
"We're never coming to the beach again." I decide. Then I pick up a towel and wrap it around her waist.
"really?" she rolls her eyes.
"Really" I confirm before plopping down onto the beach blanket, and pulling her down into my lap.
"Jade." She sighs, bracing her hands against my shoulders.
"What?" I ask while simultaneously ignoring her in favor of situating her so that she's straddling me and my arms are wrapped tightly around her. She's not going anywhere until her clothes are back on.
"You can't keep me here all day!" she protests, trying her best to push away from me.
"Yes I can." I grunt. It's not easy to keep hold of her, but I'm absolutely determined.
"Jade!" she gasps once she realizes she's stuck, 'cause I'm oh so serious about not letting her go.
"I don't share." I answer simply.
"Well, what about you?" she snaps, while folding her arms over her chest and pouting like a big baby. "Why can't you put on a towel? They're gonna stare at you more than me."
"Because I still didn't get sunblock rubbed all over me yet."
Her faces changes from pout to grin in a matter of milliseconds. "Well I'll just have to fix that now won't I, 'cause I don't wanna share you either." She smiles before nipping at my bottom lip playfully.
"You wanna go get in the water?" I suddenly hear Beck ask. I guess he's finally tired of watching the two of us, which I could care less about as I forgot he was there.
"Do you wanna go get in the water?" Meredith answers his question with not just a question, but with his question.
That's annoying. And I know Beck can't really be into this chick. He obviously tried to get some kind of reaction from me to prove that me and Vega aren't really into each other. He wanted to rattle me.
Jerk.
"Close your eyes." Vega says.
I notice she's got a dab of sunscreen in her hands and I remember she's supposed to be rubbing me down. So, I do as I'm told…even though I don't like being told what to do. I close my eyes.
I feel gentle fingers run across my face; rubbing in at my cheeks, my forehead, my nose…everywhere.
I open my eyes once I feel the coast is clear; once I feel her move downward, towards my ears and neck.
She's staring right back at me.
But not for long. She quickly averts her eyes and reaches down to pick the sunscreen back up.
Now would be the time to say something rude and sarcastic. Maybe even tease her because I caught her staring at me; but I keep my mouth shut. I don't want to embarrass her. If I do, she might stop. And I really don't want her to stop.
It's almost…erotic, the way she's touching me. I don't think she means to be, it's just what's happening. Vega's just extremely good with her hands…just like she is with her lips.
Naturally, since I'm thinking about them, my eyes are drawn to 'em. Poor thing, Vega's gnawing that bottom one raw as she applies a good amount of sunscreen into her palm.
Without looking at me, she starts on my shoulders. Her eyes are kept on her hands as they rub slow circles into my skin. Then she starts to move downward, working on my arms. She's taking her time, touching every inch.
When she gets to my hands, she does them one by one. Gently rubbing the moisture in between my fingers and suddenly I get this … urge. I want to kiss her so freakin' bad. And not just kiss her either. I want to touch her as well.
Especially now that she's doing my back. I wouldn't let her up, so she's resting her chin on my shoulder so she can see what she's doing back there. "I can't reach," she mutters." And I know she's referring to my lower back. That's where I felt her stop.
"Lemme help you." I whisper before lowering my hands to her ass and pulling her into me and holding her there.
She whimpers, actually whimpers, in my ear and the sound of it makes me wet. She clears her throat. "Yeah, it's um…much better." She answers; but it's too late. I heard it, the affect our position had on her. At least hers was a verbal reaction.
I fucking wet my bottoms.
"Got it." She says cheerfully before pulling back.
I panic a little. Subconsciously, I realize she's taking more time than necessary with the sunblock thing, but at the same time, I feel like she's going too fast. I want her to slow down, touch me longer. I don't want this to be over.
"Don't forget my legs." I tell her, buying myself more time.
"Patience, Mami. I'm still doing your top." Vega replies absently as she squeezes more block into her palm.
Then she presses a hand against my chest. "Down." She whispers simply. She means for me to lie on my back.
And I do it. Like I said, I usually don't like being told what to do, but I really don't mind it right now.
I rest my hands behind my head, just so that I won't have to struggle with what to do with them when she starts touching me again.
"Is the sun in your face?" She asks because my eyes are squeezed shut. That happened the second she put her hands on my bare stomach and I fucking wet again.
I nod my head.
It's better for her to think that's my problem.
Next thing I know my face is covered up by a straw hat. And the only reason I don't get pissed off is because I know it's Vega's. It's smells just like her hair.
And I fucking wet again! Just great. Vega's about to do my legs, per my request and I'm soaked.
Fuck!
I squeeze my legs shut, hoping she won't notice the very embarrassing thing that happened to me.
"Jade?"
"What?"
"You're wet."
Fuck.
"It's sweat." I answer.
"No it's not."
"Yes it is."
"It doesn't smell like sweat.." she mutters, but she's a bad mutterer. I heard every word
"What does it smell like?" I'm half curious, half embarrassed but I make sure to look and sound a hundred percent pissed.
She lowers her eyes. Refusing to look at me. "Nothing" she mumbles, face going red for the billionth time today.
And I get this weird thought in my head.
I want to fuck my girlfriend.
I never understood the thought behind that. How can a girl find another girl fuckable. It's not like I have a dick. What kind of pleasure could I possibly get from sticking my fingers in her?
But the mere fact that I just wet my bottoms because of the smell of her hair, ensures me that I'll get something out of her writhing beneath me, lips parted, eyes squeezed shut due to the intense pleasure she's receiving-whoa.
Whoa daddy
What the fuck was that.
"Jade?"
"What?" I snap.
"I'm done. let's get in the water." She stands, then helps me to my feet.
Yes, the water. I think the water is just what the doctor ordered. I seriously need to cool my ass down.
She links pinkies with me and we walk to the shoreline, passing Beck, Meredith and the twins on our way.
I touch my toes in the water and change my mind immediately. It's too cold.
"I think I'm gonna go sit on a towel for a while." I say while backing up.
Vega steps in front of me. "And think about Beck some more?"
I frown. Beck? Some more? When did I…Oh. She thinks I was wetting myself over Beck. And maybe that's a good thing. Way less embarrassing anyway. So I let her keep thinking that.
"Maybe." I shrug.
"I don't think so."
She picks me up.
Literally. She bends her knees, places her arms under my pits and hoists me up like she would do a kid.
My eyes widen and I wrap my legs around her waist instinctively and grip her shoulders super tight.
"Don't drop me." Is the first thing that comes out of my mouth; not "what the fuck are you doing?" or "put me the fuck down!"
Weird
"I won't, Mami." She smiles at me as she begins to walk forward.
"You're strong." I observe as casually as I can, but I'm seriously confused. She doesn't look like much.
"Sometimes I have to carry Trina up the stairs when she's in her diva mood…which is a lot." she shrugs.
That makes sense; absolute sense. You know what doesn't make any sense. How turned on I just got when she lifted me.
And now, she's got her hands on my butt, absently patting it as she walks further and further into the water, but I'm not alarmed. Not yet. The water hasn't made it past her knees yet. I do expect to snap out of my weird little trance in a few seconds.
"Jade, you're "sweating" on me. You sure you don't wanna cool down in the water?" Vega grins.
I look down and fuck, there it is…all over her stomach. I wet her.
I heard the emphasis she put on sweating and I'm not gonna let her have the upper hand. So, I do what I always do. I say something shocking enough to make her shut up.
"It's not sweat, you're just making me wet." I answer.
She gasps; but not before she drops me…into the cold water….where a wave, sensing my current position, decides to overrun me.
"Oh my God, Jade. I'm so sorry!" Vega exclaims once she realizes what she's done.
I'm gonna kill her.
She sees the look on my face and runs from me. And I immediately give chase.
It's not long before she trips and falls, and I'm right there, on top of her.
Now, whaddo I do? I can't really kill her. She's my girlfriend.
I drop my hands to her ribs and tickle her. It's lame; not a very good punishment at all, but I'm out of options.
"Stop!" She screams.
She wiggles from side to side and damn it the cold water did absolutely nothing by means of cooling me down. The friction of Vega's constant movements is absolute murder. The smart thing to do would be to stop and get off.
No, not get off, but get off of her.
But I don't want to.
I tickle her some more. She's still screaming for me to get off and let her go, but I… can't. I need some kind of relief and it's all her fault I'm all frustrated to begin with.
"I can't breathe! Jade, get off!" she continues to laugh, back arching as she tries to buck me off and oh. My. God…stimulation.
"No!" I shake my head vehemently and continue to tickle her. She panics a little, trying to gasp for a large lungful of air, only to have that interrupted by her fits of laughter.
"Please!" she begs pitifully.
God I love it when she begs.
Man, what the hell is wrong with me? I don't even like Vega like that.
Seems like you do to me.
I can't! there's just no way. I just need to seriously, seriously get laid. That's my problem. It's got nothing to do with Vega. It's just these stupid teenage hormones.
Suddenly I'm knocked to the side. "Leave her alone!"
Riley.
Now that is what you call a mood killer. She just knocks the horny right out of ya, that one. All's fine down there now. And I'm able to come to my senses.
I yank her by the arm and pull her down on top of Vega. "You want some too?" I yell, giving her the same treatment I just gave my girlfriend.
I tickle her until she can't breathe, and the best part is that Vega's too pooped to help her.
"Help us!" Vega says suddenly, eyeing someone over my shoulder.
I look up.
Amber.
Not a challenge at all. I smile wickedly.
"What about you?" I ask. "If you walk away now, I'll spare you."
Amber smiles and tries to help them, she really does, but she's a lot easier to overcome than Riley.
She goes down no more than five seconds later.
"All of you say you're sorry to me." I command while three ladies breathlessly beg me to stop torturing them.
"Sorry!" Amber says immediately.
"Never!" Riley says.
Vega just laughs.
The rest of our time is spent this way, laughing, running, chasing, even Beck and Meredith join in and I actually don't mind it.
By the time we decide to call it a day, I'm beat. It should be illegal to run after Vegas and eight year olds all day.
I'm too tired to help clean up, and no one tries to make me, so I lay down on the blanket while everyone else works to throw away paper plates and pack uneaten food away. Well everyone except Amber is helping, which is actually pretty weird because out of the two brats it's Riley that I'd expect not to help…oh, they've switched. They used to do it with Beck a lot and I let 'em. It didn't matter to me if he could tell them apart.
But I suddenly find myself wondering if Vega can. I have a feeling I'm about to find out when Amber walks up to Vega and announces that her hair is gross and asks if she can fix it for her.
I sit up and watch Vega gets a bottle of water. Then she turns Amber around and starts pouring it in her hair.
"Hay, it's cold!" Amber scowls and snatches her away from Vega.
I roll my eyes. Hay? Really? The brats have been spending too much time with my girlfriend.
Just then, Riley measles her way to my side and sits next to me, much like Amber does whenever someone's arguing.
"Well, I'm sorry Amber but I gotta get the saltwater out. That's what's making it yucky." Vega says while reaching for her.
Amber ducks out of her reach. "Can't you get some warmer water or something?"
"This is all the water I have. Now, hold still."
"Don't be so bossy!"
"Why are you so grumpy right now, hm?" Vega puts her hands on her hips as she reprimands the brat. "You were completely fine a minute ago!"
"I'm not grumpy. That's too cold, stupid!"
"Amber!"
"Tori!"
"That's not nice! What's the matter with you?"
"I just told you!"
I swear Vega mumbles a few swear words under her breath as she checks the water.
"It's not even cold!" she exclaims.
"Well it is to me!"
I see Beck make his way over to the pair of shouters and I just know this is gonna get even better. Damn, where's the popcorn when you need it.
Riley hands me a bag of chips and I'm reminded that sometimes, sometimes, she's not a complete pain in the ass.
"Riley, it's just water. It'll be over before you know it," Beck winks. He thinks he's coming to the rescue, but he's just making a fool of himself. Especially because I see it click for Vega. She realizes what's going on now.
"Seriously Amber, this again?" She sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. When she's done with that, she manually turns Amber around so that she can finish rinsing out her hair. "I thought there was something seriously wrong with you. I was worried! Find a way to warn me next time."
Amber rolls her eyes and Vega makes it a point not to care. Now that she knows what's going on she's stopped freaking out.
But Beck doesn't leave it alone. He steps in front of amber and places a hand on her shoulder. "You know, just because your sister's new girlfriend called you Amber doesn't mean that's who you have to be. You can tell her you're Riley." Beck smiles encouragingly at Amber.
Dear God this is embarrassing…for him, because he's just so damn wrong.
Still, I pop more chips into my mouth and continue to watch the show. I'm even feeling generous enough to share with Riley.
Amber just stares at Beck, a confused frown on her face. There's no doubt in my mind that she knew Beck would think she's Riley, but now she's realizing she has to choose. If she admits to being Amber, she'll hurt Becks feelings. If she says she's Riley, she'll hurt Vega's feelings; and she doesn't know what to do. She likes them both. Now it's a question of who she likes more.
This is gonna be good.
She looks to me, but I just shrug and eat more chips. If she can't speak up for herself…
She turns up her face, leaning her head all the way back so that it's resting on Vega's stomach. Vega looks down at her and gently brushes her hair from her face.
"You can tell him you're Riley if you want to, Mamita. You won't hurt my feelings."
Amber nods her head and looks back at Beck.
"I'm Amber." She says firmly.
Holy chiz on a saltine!
Beck turns to me for confirmation, and I give it to him..
"What? She is Amber" I shrug.
I won't ever tell anyone, but I can honestly say that I'm a bit proud of her. I've never seen her stand her ground that way. And just seeing the embarrassed look on Beck's face… Ha! That was just great. I was not expecting that!
Beck marches over to where I'm sitting and tells me we need to talk.
I drop my head back and groan. I don't feel like fucking talking.
But I get up anyway and walk a little ways away with him.
"You shouldn't have done this." He hisses as soon as we're out of hearing distance.
"Done what?"
"This thing you're doing with Tori. Look at how attached they are to her."
I glance behind me at the girls. They're laughing and playing while helping Vega clean up. Well, Amber's helping Vega clean up; Riley's making messes and getting chased by Vega.
"You're confusing them." He continues. "One day, when you decide to stop playing girlfriends with Tori, those girls are gonna miss her. You're not only affecting yourself, you know."
His words are stemming from anything other than concern for the brats, but they're true nonetheless. Instantly I'm reminded of Wazzbag Jr., the little four year old kid that ran up to Vega and wrapped his little arms around her leg.
He was so happy to see her, and so sad when it was time to go. She promised she'd see him again. In fact, she promised to go to his soccer game today. Yet here she is, at the beach with me and the twins.
But do I really care if the little pre-terds get attached to her and then get all sad when we inevitably "break up?"
No. I don't.
"That being said, I've got a word of advice for you, Jade." He adds.
I raise an eyebrow. "Give it to me."
"You're trying too hard"
"That's more than one word."
He gives me this look, like he wants me to be serious because he's serious and I indulge him.
"Care to elaborate?" I ask. The faster he says what's on his mind, the sooner I can leave.
"Yeah. When a girl sees their ex with another person, she gets jealous. You were trying too hard not to be jealous of Meredith."
"Is that right?"
"Yeah." He says with a little too much confidence.
So I hit him back with, "So that means you're jealous when you see me with Vega?"
"No." he scoffs.
"So guys don't get jealous when they see their ex with another person?" I scoff back.
"They do, but Tori's not your real girlfriend."
"So Meredith's your real girlfriend?"
He falters. He's got nothing to say to that. I got him.
So I move in for the kill. "Maybe I'm not jealous because I can clearly see that you're just using Meredith to try and make me jealous. Go get a real girlfriend. Maybe I'll be jealous then."
I walk away from him and toward my Vega.
"You okay, Mami?" she asks the second I reach her.
I get a little irritated with her. She's supposed to be jealous, asking me what we were talking about, not asking me how I feel!
"You just saw me talking with my ex, why aren't you jealous?" I hiss at her.
"I"-
"Aren't you serious about us?"
"Of course I am."
"But?"
"There's no but, Jade." Vega slowly reaches out and cups my cheek. "I'm trying to be understanding. It's really hard and sometimes I may not like it, but I'll always give you a chance to explain. And I'll always try to understand." She whispers the last part, just before placing her lips on mine. She's kissing me; not biting, not offering me coffee flavored gloss; she's really kissing me and I feel it again. The damn hormones.
I wet my bottoms.
"Come on guys! You can do that when we get home."
Riley. I can't stand that little cockblocker!
No, on second thought. I should probably thank her. I was two seconds away from trying to jump my girlfriend's bones on a public beach.
"Fine you wanna go so bad…" Vega says before lifting Riley up, putting her over her shoulder and jogging away.
"Slow down, you'll drop me!" Riley squeals and asks Amber for help. Of course Amber does no such thing. She runs to catch up with them but only to hold Vega's free hand.
Watching the sight before me, I realize Beck's right about one thing. The girls are not gonna be happy when me and Vega break up.
Hell, I'm not even gonna be happy when me and Vega break up.
Shit, this is getting messy.
Says who you have to break up?
Shut. Up. Tori!