A/N: I must say this is my favorite chapter. Writing this was an absolute blast. Once again, thank you for the reviews and faves and alerts. Enjoy, :D

Can't Fight This Feeling.

So the next morning I arrive perfectly on time. Hell, I am even smiling today. And because it's still early and I'm still in a good mood, I am just gonna say it. Yes. I am happy because I will see Tori again today. Yes, I lay awake all night again, but I thought and I questioned and I questioned my thinking. And I think that I shouldn't deny it, I think I'm in love with her. And that has been enough admitting for the week.

"Jade. Jade." Oh great, I am not even in for five minutes or there's a problem. I hate panting people in my office, I especially hate a panting Kent in my office because that either means there's a snowstorm hitting Los Angeles – which I think is quite impossible – or something's wrong with my production.

"Kent, really? Bad news already?" I groan as I sit down.

"Yeah, well, it's not my fault. The guy who would do the music for Walking Past?" I nod. "He's got a call from Beyoncé. She wants him to do the music for her last album." I bang my head on the desk. Stupid Beyoncé and her stupid last album.

"But that guy is the best!"

"Yeah, that's why Beyoncé wants him." I sigh, fold my hands together and let my chin rest on them.

"I'll figure something out before the end of the day. Now go before I start throwing things around." He briefly smiles and then leaves. Great. So now I have to find someone who's willing to do the music for a movie that begins production next week. Nowadays everyone wants to get the call at least one month prior, where I am gonna find someone who's willing to start right away? Someone with experience. The door to my office opens again and I swear if it's Kent I am going to throw things around. I am going to throw things out my window and I don't even care we're on the 23rd floor and there's a busy road right in front of me – or behind me, depends on where you stand. I turn my chair around and there's the reason why I haven't been sleeping for two nights.

"Vega, you're early?" It is really more a question than a statement.

"I know." And that's as far as her explanation goes. Good one.

"Okay? Sit down." I am not quite sure what to say or do, because when I say she's early, I mean she's four hours early. That's not normal early. And why I am even thinking about that, I have much bigger issues going on.

"You look so tense, what's up?" Oh right, five minutes and I completely forgot she is here too.

"Nah, nothing. It's just that the guy who was gonna do our music has another job now. And now we're without a guy."

"For the music?" I nod, slamming my head on the table again.

"I might know a guy." I instantly look up, a little too fast because I am seeing stars in a sea of black.

"You know a guy?" She nods proudly, Tori Vega trademark smile on her face.

"A guy I'm sure is willing to do you a favor."

"How can you possibly know a guy that's willing to do me a favor?" Yes, I realize my voice is skeptic. No, I don't care.

"C'mon, Jade. A music guy that's willing to do you a favor. No one ring a bell?" I shake my head.

"Our good friend Andre Harris?" My eyes light up at the saying of his first name. I totally forgot about him.

"You have his phone number? Could you call him?" I add after she nods to the first question.

"Sure. But I want something in return." Is that a smirk I see? No, is that a sneaky grin I see? Has Tori Vega become a sneaky girl?

"No, Vega, I am not going to hug you again." She laughs.

"I want something bigger than that." She's got this all planned. I bet she even called my music guy. I dread what's coming next, nevertheless I am curious as to see what she could possibly want from me. What, besides a hug, I could offer her. I have money, I could offer her money.

"Tell me." I give in, curiosity and the need for a guy getting the better of me.

"I want to have dinner with you." Oh, wait, hold on, need to pick my jaw up from the first floor. What's that she said? Dinner? Why would she want to have dinner with me?

"You want to have dinner with me?" She nods. That's all, she nods. She's not bursting into laughter, she's just nodding. She's asking, or rather sort of, in a way, demanding to have dinner with me. With me. And she's serious.

"Fine. Yeah, sure, I'll have dinner with you." She smiles as she grabs her phone to, I presume, call Andre. I bet she's thinking something like 'I'm Victorious! ' now. And even though I was done admitting for the week, I have to admit that I am actually looking forward to having dinner with her. Because, no matter how you twist or turn it, and now we're at the admitting anyways, I think I love this woman sitting in front of me. Just really love her. With her cheekbones and her cheeriness and that little 'I'm Victorious' slogan of hers. I love it all. And frankly, how crazy as this may sound, how much as this may freak me out, right now there's nothing I want to do more than kiss her lips and hold her in my arms. I have never thought of her like that. Never thought of a woman like that. But then again, Tori Vega's not just a woman. She's the woman that made me break my favorite pair of scissors over a mini-skirt. She's the woman that wouldn't take no for an answer as far as our friendship was concerned. Little things. And somewhere inside they frustrate the hell out of me.

The most annoying thing is when you're having dinner with someone and there's this question on your mind you just can't verbalize. So you talk about things you've already talked about, you dig deep in your mind and try to tell some interesting something and you just wish that you didn't have to be so damn stubborn and used to saying whatever's on your mind. So here I am, watching as Tori places her fork and knife besides her now empty plate, watching as she grabs the napkin and deftly, patiently, wipes the corner of her mouth – I need handcuffs to stop myself from placing my thumb on that corner to wipe at a spot she missed – and then she looks at me intently. She holds my gaze for a moment as if she's trying to read my mind. Yeah, I just seriously asked her why of all people she's having dinner with me. But in all honesty, that's a pretty normal question, right? I mean, yeah, I have been seeing too much into it, but I'm sure there's a very logical explanation, so why did she tense up when I asked her?

"Why can't I have dinner with you?" Yes, Jade, why can't she?

"C'mon Tori." I plead with her to give me a real answer, but she just shrugs her shoulders. Looks like I'm not getting an answer until she gets one.

"I made your time at Hollywood Arts as miserable as I could, I am very well aware of that. Of all things, you should hate me right now, not have friendly conversations over dinner." Sometimes I really wish she hates me, because that would make what I'm feeling right now a lot easier.

"Yet, I do not hate you. What happened is in the past. Why won't you let me be your friend?" I have no answer to that question. And even if I had, I don't think I would able to tell her; she speaks again as soon as her question ends.

"For as long as I have known you, you've been pushing me away. Whenever I got close, whenever I tried to be your friend, you would just throw me a nasty comment and run off. But we were sixteen, seventeen then. We're twenty-three now. I am not hitting on your boyfriend and I'm not taking your role in school plays. I just want to be your friend, I just want you to let me in." Damn, she thought this through. I knew I shouldn't have asked her that question. I should have known I would get an answer like this. I shouldn't be so surprised right now. Especially because I don't even know why I am surprised. Because she answered so fierce, so genuine? Or because she wants to be my friend, wants to know me, wants to be let in? A part of me really wants to let her in, but won't, because I have learned that when you let people come close they hurt you. Especially when you like them. Hell, I'm not even supposed to like her the way I do. And she is not supposed to like me, because I know that in this scenario, if I let her in, it won't be her hurting me. It will be me hurting her. I can see it in her eyes, she has great expectations of me. Expectations I can't live up to.

And then there's another part of me. That part I have been suppressing since the mini-skirt – man, that thing seems to be hunting me. The part that doesn't want her as a friend, because deep inside I want more than that. The part that watches too much romantic movies; the part that's looking for the key to my heart only to find she's holding it. Does she know? When she looks down at her hands, does she know where that key leads to, what it opens? Or does she shrug and throw it away, considering it useless. I don't know what to think anymore, what to answer anymore. It's just, it's getting too much. Never has anything become too much for me. There was always a way out, but not this time.

I can run away, shut her off again and in doing so throw away the second chance I apparently got. Or I can stay, let her in and in doing so risk that one day I will throw it all away again because I can never get rid of these feelings.

"Jade?" I feel soft fingertips brush the back of my hand and I involuntarily shudder. I feel goosebumps settle all over my body and I realize. No matter how fast or how far I'll run, she's already in too deep. All I can do now is take the plunge; fall and hope she'll be there to catch me. All I can do now is let go of all I have ever believed in, voluntarily let my walls down and show her around. It's all I can do, but I don't. I can't. As much as I have changed, some things always stay the same. And I, Jade West, do not let my walls down, I, Jade West, do not let people in. And especially not Tori Vega.

"I'm sorry." I stand up, looking down at her. I can practically see her heart break in her eyes and it makes me doubt. It makes me doubt briefly, because as soon as I close my eyes I turn around and walk away.

Please let me know what you think, its more important to me now than ever.