AN: I meant to have this up sooner, but I've had no spare time to do so.
But here it is! The aftermath of the ball! I hope you like it.
All errors are mine, sorry.
Enjoy! (;
I do not own Victorious. ):
Trembling in the cold winter morning lay alone the brunette in the quiet of her bedroom. Brown eyes remained glued on a small silver mask. She'd fail to recognize she still had the object in possession as she quickly removed herself from the serene ball to get away from a certain dark haired woman. It had taken every fiber in the woman not to turn around and run back into the blue eyes woman's arms, every muscle to force herself to keep walking ahead.
Her entire being ached. She felt numb, not only from the freezing morning, but from the memory of those mesmerizing azure eyes and how they had looked at her moments before the closed just in time for their owner's lips to press against her own. They looked at her with such adoration, such love. Another silent sob shuddered through the brunette. She couldn't love Jade and Jade couldn't love her. She wasn't supposed to. She had Cat. Jade belonged to Cat.
Cat, Tori thought. Guilt fell on her. She'd known deep down the masked woman had been Jade. She'd recognized the husky voice, the smirk. Not once did the absence of the red headed woman cross her mind. She'd been too consumed in the raven haired woman's presence she'd forgotten she'd yet to see the woman in the dance. Tan knuckles clutched at her own chest tightly. It hurt, her chest hurt so much, Tori just couldn't bear it. Squeezing her eyes shut and trying desperately to will the tears away she buried her head in the comfort of her pillow.
When she'd arrived late after leaving the ball she'd unconsciously undressed herself and found some sweats lying around. It wasn't until after she was lying in her bed alone dressed ready for bed in a baggy hoodie did she begin to cry. Since she'd begun crying it had taken her hours into the night to manage to calm her sobs that eventually died down to quiet whimpers. Often through the night she'd awake when the image of the raven haired woman and the red headed woman walking away together leaving the collapsed brunette on her own haunted her dreams.
Tori had long given up trying to sleep after two in the morning rolled around. Though her cries had died down earlier in the night she once again found herself weeping. She couldn't conjure enough strength to check the time on the desk alarm clock. As much as she itched to check the countless missed calls and text messages she'd received earlier, she found it was best to leave them alone at the time.
Jade. It was the one word that kept echoing in her mind. She couldn't control herself when it came to the beautiful raven haired woman. Tori lost all her senses around her, she lost herself in her. As she buried her face in the pillow the light scent of the said woman still lingered on the cushion. Fresh tears formed in the exhausted auburn eyes. Tori chose not to fight them anymore as she recalled the moments she spent with the woman in her room. Closing the brown eyes, Tori cried herself to sleep with the memory of the beautiful kiss she shared with Jade just hours before. The memory of warmth of the woman's arms soothed the brunette as she finally managed to return to the dreamland.
…
"Tori! Tori open this door right now!" Cat was knocking at the door with such force it startled the brunette awake. Struggling to keep her balance, Tori rubbed her sore eyes as she opened the door. "What do you want, Cat?" she asked annoyed by the red head's uncalled for noise.
The small woman remained silent as she looked at the brunette before her. She awoken the woman many times before, but never had she found in such a mess. Her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail. Her brown eyes looked beyond tired and were boarded red and appeared to be almost puffy. "Tori are you okay?" Cat finally asked, her smile faltering.
Tori rubbed her temple gently. She sighed recognizing she had no reason to be upset with her friend. "Just have a bit of a headache, Cat," she answered. The small smile she gave the red head did not meet her eyes. "Did you need something?"
Cat hesitated for a moment. As she remembered why she'd gone to wake the brunette her grin returned once more. "Oh yeah! Get dressed, we're going to breakfast!" Cat announced.
"Cat, I'm pretty tired right now. How about we have lunch instead?" Tori tried. Before she could say anymore the red head grabbed her wrist and dragged her to the living room ignoring her disapproving groans. Tori felt her heart stop at the sight of the pale woman sitting on the edge of the couch. Her attention was phased down on her nails as she waited for the red head.
Tori tried to free herself from the surprisingly strong grasp the red head had on her. She wanted to run back to her room. Lock the door and throw away the key. She wanted nothing more than to avoid those blue eyes, the ones she knew she could not deny before they could look into hers
"Jade," Cat said catching the woman's attention. Jade stood up straight upon seeing the clearly uncomfortable brunette. She was avoiding her gaze and trying to free herself from Cat's hold. She looked upset. It took all her self-control not to take the woman in her arms. She could see the woman was unhappy, the way she stood in such exhaustion and avoided her gaze. She knew Tori needed to be comforted, but so did she. Tori had been the one to run off the night before. As much as it had hurt Jade she understood Tori. It was wrong for them to have done such a thing at the ball. Especially when they both knew the woman between them was completely oblivious as to what was going between both women.
"Could you please tell Tori she has to go to breakfast with us?" Cat looked up at the woman with a pleading pout, her brows drawn down in determination.
Jade remained silent and continued to try to get brown eyes to meet her own. The brunette was stubborn and maintained her gaze fixed on the ground.
Cat sighed and rolled her eyes when Jade said nothing. She turned her complete attention to the brunette pointing at her with an almost threatening finger. "I'm going downstairs to get the mail and when I return I expect you to be ready to go young lady," Cat smirked. Before Tori could protest Cat was out the door, leaving the two women with the company of just their silence.
Tori turned away to return to her room but was stopped when a hand caught her hand.
"Tori," Jade whispered. She tugged at the woman's hand forcing her to turn around so she could look at her. It was then that Jade noticed the dark marks beneath the auburn eyes. The rims of her eyes were red and slightly swollen. "You've been crying," she stated, her voice torn with both hurt and disappointment. "Tori," she began. Her thumb brushed gently over the tired marks and sent shivers down the brunette.
"Please let me go, Jade," Tori whispered trying to create some space between the two of them. Jade held her firmly in place and shook her head. Jade was making it difficult to breathe as she continued to move in closer causing Tori to step back until she had no more room and met with just the wall.
"No, Tori. You can't keep running. We need to talk about this," Jade said in a strong voice, but not harsh enough to frighten the brunette. Her voice almost sound desperate. Jade had felt like she was going mad when she could not find the woman before in the ball after their moment. She'd spent an hour searching for her and asking her committee mates if they'd had any ideas where Tori could have gone. It drove her insane when the brunette did not answer her calls nor her text messages.
Jade was most certain she had an idea where the woman was, but she need the assurance the prior night. She needed to hear her voice once more. Not with the broken tone she'd spoken with, but the one she'd so happily used to explain about the night. She just needed to hear her voice. She'd need Tori. Just Tori.
"We can't Jade. This is wrong…it's…" brown eyes remained down avoiding the woman's gaze.
Jade shook her head. "Tori please look at me," she pleaded. By now the brunette's back was leaning against the hallway wall. She struggled to keep her gaze down, but as much as she wanted to avoid the blue eyes she just couldn't find it in herself to ignore the woman's request. Slowly and with some hesitance the brown eyes met the azure irises. A breath hitched when their gazes finally met. Neither woman knew whose but they were both taken aback at what they found. It was what they both needed. The assurance. They wanted it. Whatever was happening between, they both wanted it, needed it.
A warm palm took the brunette's cheek and cradled it as blue eyes studied brown. "It didn't feel wrong," Jade whispered.
Tori could only nod in response. She found that they were both suddenly leaning toward each other. The taller woman's lips were only a breath away from the brunette's. Struggling to maintain any self-control, Tori whispered, "Jade please."
A small smile formed at the corner of Jade's lips. She looked deeply into the brown eyes before speaking. "I know you felt it, too." With the small nod the brunette gave in confirmation, Jade closed the remaining gap between them and captured the woman's lips in an earth shattering kiss. Long tan fingers soon found purchase in the dark locks as the taller woman's body moved in closer, closing any space between them. Lips soon moved down to pepper kiss around the brunette's jaw and down the bronze neck.
"Jade," Tori whispered as she tried to form a proper thought. She raised her hand to cup the woman's jaw and bring her back to eye level. Tori was about to speak but was cut off as Jade once again captured her lips in a kiss. Tori didn't try to fight it. She lost all self-control entirely and gave in entirely to the lips that were moving in sync with her own. She tugged at the dark locks, trying to pull the taller woman as close as possible.
Both women seemed to lose all control in that moment, forgetting everything around them. Pale arms moved down to the brunette's waist holding her in place as the kiss continued to grow heated. Jade couldn't remember why she was at the woman's apartment or what they had been talking about. All she think about was how impossibly soft the woman's lips were and how sweet they tasted. They were so addicting. Jade could honestly say in that moment that the woman's lips were like a drug to her. She needed them. She needed them so much.
The sound of the door creaking open broke the two breathless women apart. Before Jade had a chance to speak another word, Tori took off running into her room. She closed the door shut and leaned against it. She struggled to catch her breath as what she'd just done dawned on her. In frustration for losing her self-control she collapsed on her knees and slammed her fist with such force on the floor she was certain she'd fractured her hand again. Wiping away the angry tears and ignoring the throbbing pain of her hand she moved to her cabinet to grab some clothes. Cat was expecting her. She frowned at the thought. Cat and Jade were expecting her.
"Are you okay, Jade?" Cat asked the woman who seemed to be in a complete daze, her eyes still glued to the place where moments before she'd been kissing a certain brunette. "Jade?"
Jade broke from her thoughts and nodded with a small smile. "I'm fine, Cat. Just trying to remember what time I have to go in to work later," she lied.
Cat eyed the woman for moment. Not fully satisfied with her answer Cat nodded returning the smile. She leaned up on her tip toes and pressed her lips against the woman's just as Tori joined them once again in the living room.
Jade looked up, feeling like she'd been caught when she met the brunette's unreadable expression once the embrace with red head was done.
"Yay, Tori you're ready! Let's get going before breakfast turns into lunch!" Cat giggled with excitement. She didn't notice the torn look in Jade's eyes nor the tortured look in Tori's as she took Jade's hand and led them out of the apartment, with Tori trailing far behind them.
From the corner of her eye, Jade could see the brunette was cradling her own hand. She wasn't sure why, but as Tori continued to do so, following behind without a word, she glanced down to stare at own hand in the red head's. She'd been holding the woman's hand for nearly six months now, why did it suddenly feel so unnatural? Jade looked back once more and caught the brunette eyeing their hands with a frown. She met Jade's gaze for the briefest moment then looked away in shame.
Jade frowned. She felt so conflicted. She loved Tori. She knew she loved Tori, but what could she do about Cat? The red head giggled just in time for the elevator to arrive. She moved in close to the raven haired woman and rested her head on her shoulder. "We have six months together next week, Jade" Cat smiled. Jade's eyes widened in realization. Six months already.
Tori's whole body stiffened at the announcement. She looked over at both women with the best smile she could muster. "Six months? That's wonderful," she managed to congratulate her best friend. She returned her attention to her burning hand and gave it a gentle squeeze to divert her aching heart's attention. I can't love you, Jade, she reminded herself, I can't. Her gaze stayed glued to the door the rest of the way down. You have, Cat.
AN: We that went well, right? It could have gone worse.
What did you think? Will it get worse before it gets better?
How's Tori's mother. She'll be coming up again.
Let me know! Want to know pronto?
You know what to do! (;
P.S. I'm considering writing a Swan Queen Fic. Should I?
Please Review!