Disclaimer; sadly not me

Chapter 3; Even the strong can't forget the pain.

The sight of the young Vega in front of Jade made her feel slightly uncomfortable. She quickly moved her arm away and smoothly moved out of the bed. Not to wake Vega.

First thing on the goths mind, coffee, not a day passes by without the start of coffee. It's a regular thing, so why change it.

The soft padding of Jade's feet were hearable in the hall way, the stairs and living room. The wooden floors creaked. Before Jade entered the kitchen, her eyes fell on the liquid cabinet. She moved for coffee.

After the sounds of pluttering from the coffee machine, grabbing a cup and taking the first sip. A loud, satisfied sigh escaped the goths lips, boy did she love coffee.

Her eyes again found the liquid cabinet, only this time it lingered. She wanted to feel nothing for a while, but with her younger brother coming back from introduction camp... And seeing as he didn't know yet. She had to be strong. Stronger than she was. For him, his sake.

After finishing the coffee, Jade placed the cup rather hard in the sink. She took a few deep breaths to steady herself. I need to be strong, Jade kept repeating to herself.

The words never reasured her. In fact, somewhere in the back of her dark and twisted mind a voice softly said,

'No one will see, just do it.' It couldn't be right. Surely she'd lose her grip on the toxic. It was tempting, but too obvious if she did so.

The doorbell rang and Jade was pulled out of her thoughts. A quick glance at the clock, she realized they were half an hour early. Why?

The big wooden, detail decorated, black door revealed a young boy standing there with large bags. A goofy grin on his face and his brown hair messed. The blue/green eyes, they all had earned from their, never to be seen father, looked expectantly at Jade.

"Well? Let me in? This stuff is heavy." The young boy said, now an annoyed and impatient look on his face, which they also earned from their father.

"Nickolas West. Give your sister a break. I told you, things will not be as good as they normally were." A voice of an older woman was heard. The woman, late 60's, smiled at Jade and her face dimpled. The dark hair with few strands of grey out stood the woman's appearance.

"Jadelyn Egan, how do you feel doll?" Jade smiled, the only person that was allowed to use her full name was her grandmother. "I'm alright I guess, hanging on."

Nickolas had dumped all the bags and other camp-like things on the floor near the stairs, probably forgetting to bring them up later but Jade smiled at the antics of her little brother.

Even though she felt like there was a hole in her heart. The mere minutes passed as the grandmother, Julie and herself explained, while sitting in the living room, to Nickolas what had happend. The boy himself cried and said he missed Thommy.

"Why would one kill Thomas?" He managed between sobs. He might have watched to many tragic and horror stories. The grandmother spoke up.

"My boy, that is not a question to be answered by the two of you. Your brother was a good young man and he raised two beautiful siblings. Though, not all people might have seen it that way and eventually gotten jealous of whatever other reason. One thing is clear they will justify the person who did this and the two of you, after some time, will be alright."

"But without Thom." The goth muttered, burying her head into her hands. The grandmother looked at her. "Without Thomas, but by that time you found yourself a steady grip on life and you'll have giving the dead of your brother a place in your heart." The older woman sighed. "And I know it all feels empty on the inside, the empty space will disappear. Good will come in return."

A silence enveloped the family and the clock struck 11. It wasn't uncomfortable, but the jokes and teases of Thomas were missing.

"We'll all have to put on our happy masks and figure everything out behind that barrier. Even letting some people slip through the cracks." The grandmother said, the sadness edged around her voice.

"Well, I better get going. I have to go and clean my katana's, it's that time of the month." The grandmother said. Empty chuckles were heard as the woman stood and grabbed her purse.

"At least you still have it in you to laugh. The two of you will be alright"
The next thing heard was a loud thud, coming from the stairs.

While rubbing her backside, the young Latina entered the living room.

"Guess she's a bit butthurt. Hello dear" Julie smiled and reached out a hand. A soft chuckle was audible by Jade when the Latina glared at her. "Hello madame, Tori Vega, Pleased to meet you.'' Tori politely took the hand and introduced herself. ''What a lovely young lady Jade, I hope to see more often. Well, I better get going. Bye darlings.'' With a wink towards Jade, Julie made her way out, closing the door behind her.

Jade frowned, see more of her? What? Her grandma doesn't decide who she's hanging out with. Scoffing, Jade made her way to the kitchen. ''Hey, Nickolas right? How are you doing?'' The voice of Tori rang through the living room, Nickolas had planned on following Jade but smiled sadly at the Latina. "Hey,'' Came the small reply. Looking back and ford to Tori and the kitchen, Nickolas made up his mind. ''Will she be okay?''

Tori frowned, but realized what the young boy meant. ''Some things must go down before they go up again. She's be okay.'' Tori said looking at the kitchen opening. Nickolas nodded and gave a hopeful smile. Then turned on his heel for the kitchen. ''HEYY JADEY!'' He yelled, making the goth flinch. She turned to glare at the little boy. Almost forgetting to hide the steel bottle which she had just taking a sip of.

Tori followed the brown haired boy not soon after he yelled, seeing Jade glare at him. ''What?'' Jade asked him half annoyed, half questioning. Nickolas blue/green eyes grew big, ''Uhm, well, nothing exactly, I uh, Tori is fun to hang out with. Why won't she come more often?'' Jade rolled her eyes, but looked at the slender brunette briefly. Who was leaning against the kitchen island with a half smiling frown on her face. ''We've had some rough turns… I don't know. Maybe you'll see her more often.'' Jade said, looking at Tori from the corners of her eye and seeing a smile spread over her face.

Nickolas gave a toothy smile at both Jade and Tori and left. After disappearing to the living room, small thuds were heard. ''Weird ass punk'' Jade mumbled. Tori smiled unsure, ''Uhm, I'm gonna head home I think… We still have homework… When are we going to do the assignment Sikowitz gave us? I mean it's due next week, soo.'' Jade smirked, ''Vega, you are rambling'' Looking confused for a second, the brunette smiled sheepishly. ''Right, I'm gonna go.''

A few minutes later both girls stood near the front door. ''Thanks, I guess.'' Tori said, frowning at her goth frenemy. She held her duffle bag close to her side and decided she should leave. The goth nodded and opened the door for the youngest Vega. ''I'll see you at school Monday. And we'll figure out the assignment."

Waiting until Tori left the driveway, Jade retreated into the house. Moving to the counter, she grabbed the iron bottle of vodka she had held just minutes ago. Enough to forget some stuff, only just for the night.

/

Tori reached home in just 30 minutes of walking. Jade and her lived pretty close. She's been so strong. I wonder if she's gonna be like that. That she's survive this just as easy. She is Jade West after all, Tori thought reaching for keys and unlocking the front door.

"Tooorrriiiii, come play tennis with me!" Trina greeted her in sport clothes. "No thanks, I always end up on the floor. I have homework to do anyway." The young Latina said, moving to the stairs. "Why don't you ask Danielle?"

Trina's grunt of annoyance was all Tori needed. "Ok, Nevermind. Bye"

/

Later in the night, several bottles of Vodka and other liquids lay in the room of Jade. She, herself, lay on the bed. Oddly enough thinking of Tori, cuz that's what her brain allowed. The other problems somewhat forgotten.

Even the imaginary Tori was annoying and nosy. Jade what are you doing? Jade this isn't good for you. You know that this isn't the way. Though, before Jade lost herself into sleep she thought how adorable Tori looked when she scolded at Jade. Odd...

AN; okay so I've been gone a little while. I'm truly deeply sorry. Don't be mad. I share them cookies! But serious, though. I've been going through some rough patches; flailing a couple classes, extra homework for those classes and pws( profile study thingy) so I've been kept busy, and life was just tough, but here's a, maybe or maybe not, long awaited chapter. So yeah. Hope you enjoyed reading it. Reviews could be nice.

Oh and next Chapt will be more about the cause of death and stuff. Just the normal CSI stuff. And then I'll go back to Jade&Tori. I mean, I do need to let you guys know what happens with our lovely Thomas. Would be odd if I never told you by whom and how he was killed. haha kay bye.