Jade quickly shakes her head and clears her throat before walking quickly ahead of Tori and leading the way to the den. Neither said anything the walk there and when they entered the den, Tori loudly gasped and her eyes widened. From the parts of the house she'd seen in the morning, they felt cold and un-home like. But the den is warmly colored with reds, oranges, and yellows, the fireplace is lit, there's paintings of flowers and one of a family hanging around the walls. In the middle of the room, there are two sets of couches facing each other with a coffee table in between and several single seats around.

Tori noticed several bookcases on the other side of the room and she walked slowly toward them, her hand dragging across the back of a couch. She could feel Jade's eyes on her, watching her every move and it sent shocks of excitement and nervousness through her. She felt the spine of each book she came across and laughed at some of the titles, but she's mostly confused since she had never heard of most of them.

"This is quite the collection. Any of them yours?" Tori broke the silence and turned to look at Jade. There's a blank expression on her face but Tori can see emotions flicking through her eyes. She fakes a cough and it breaks Jade out of her mind.

"Do you want something to drink?" Tori's taken aback but she slowly nods her head.

"Uh, yeah. Some water, please." and Jade's quickly out of the room.

She really wished that it wouldn't be this awkward but she's not exactly sure why she thought it wouldn't be. They were never good and comfortable around each other, especially when it was just the both of them.

Tori lightly laughs and turns back to one of the bookcases. She scans through the books again, hoping one of them will catch her attention and then one does, Keeping You A Secret. She pulls the book out and stares at the cover, her brows furrow when she realizes that two girls graced the cover. She turns the book over to read what its about.

"First time I saw her was through the mirror on my locker door. I'd kicked my swim gear on to the bottom shelf and was reaching to the top for my calc book when she opened her locker across the hall. She has a streaked blond ponytail dangling out the back of her baseball cap...

We slammed our lockers in unison and turned. Her eyes met mine. "Hi," she said, smiling.

My stomach fluttered. "Hi," I answered automatically. She was new. Had to be. I would've noticed her.

She sauntered away, but not before I caught a glimpse of her T-shirt. It said: IMRU?

Am I what?"

Tori had read it aloud and when she finished, she was even more confused. "Am I what?" She asked herself aloud. Does this book belong to Jade? Should I ask if its hers? She thought to herself.

She hears someone clear their throat behind her and she jumps at the noise, startled. She turns around and sees Jade standing across from her smirking.

"Find something you like?" Jade asks, her eyes on the book in Tori's hand.

She looks down to her hand and laughs nervously, "Oh, uh, no. No, uhm, j- just looking." She clumsily puts the book back in its spot and makes a mental note to search the book online.

Jade watches her and though her mouth isn't smiling her eyes are, she stretches out her arm to Tori with a bottle of water in her hand.

"Here, your water."

Tori walks up to her and grabs the water bottle, she smiles, "Thanks."

She unscrews the cap and downs half the bottle of water yet her mouth still feels dry. They stand there awkwardly, both of them with their heads down and shifting from foot to foot.

"Uhm, so-"

"How about we-"

They both laugh, breaking some of the tension in the room and allowing them to breathe a little more freely.

"How about we sit?" Jade asks, pointing to the couches.

Tori nods and follows Jade, sitting on the couch across from Jade. Her hands are fidgeting in her lap knowing that they're going to start talking. Talking. Actually talking about their feelings.

She looks up from her lap and her eyes land on Jade. She's lying down, her legs up on the arm rest and her head resting against a pillow. Her eyes are closed and her chest is rising and falling steadily, her hands are intertwined on top of her stomach and she can see a slight smile on her lips. She looks so peaceful, but then her eyes slowly flutter open and that sight makes Tori's insides flutter insanely.

Jade's head falls to the side, her eyes meeting Tori's and she blinks slowly.

"Stop staring at me." Tori blushes and drops her head to hide her reddening cheeks. She hears Jade laugh and she pouts which causes Jade to laugh even harder. She finally catches her breath and closes her eyes again.

"Talk." Is all Jade says and it causes Tori to freeze.

"Oh, oh okay. Uh- uhm, I- I- I don't know where to begin..." Tori stutters.

Jade groans, she inhales deeply through her nose and exhales through her mouth. "Do you like me?"

The question throws Tori off and she chokes on the water that she was drinking. She swallows it down painfully before she did a spit-take all over the coffee table and Jade.

"I, uhm, I- I can't do this." Tori says, standing up and running a hand through her hair. Her chest is tightening, her head is spinning and it's getting hard for her to breathe. Her vision is blurring and it's all going dark but then she feels a hand on her lower back and a hand on her shoulder.

"Tori, breathe slowly." The hand on her lower back starts moving in circles, comforting her. "Breathe in through your nose and then out of your mouth. It's going to be okay."

Tori listens to Jade talking into her ear and she can feel her body relaxing. She leans her head against Jade's shoulder and she feels something quickly tap the top of her head and it calms her down more knowing what it was.

"We don't have to talk right now if you don't want to..." Jade softly says, her hand moving from Tori's lower back to her waist.

She leans more into Jade's hold and sighs, "No, no. I want to. We need to." She feels Jade nod and they walk together back to the couch where Jade was laying on.

"Ok, do you want to go first? Or should I...?" The heat radiating off of Jade is burning Tori so she pulls away so she can cool down... and breathe. She sees the slight hurt on Jade's face and she smiles comfortingly.

"I can start off but I can't do anything coherently with you holding me..." Tori says trailing off and blushing.

Jade scrunches up her nose to hide her smile but fails and she laughs, nodding her head. "Ok, ok. Well, whenever you're ready."

Tori closes her eyes, trying to physically and mentally prepare herself for what she's about to endure. She's never really put herself out like this before. Sure, she's had boyfriends before and she's told them how she felt and everything but she didn't really like them as much as she likes Jade. She didn't think she could like someone this much, someone like Jade, especially so early in her life but she's always been one to follow her heart. Right now, her heart is beating like crazy and telling her to either get on with it or to run. She chooses the former.

Her eyes still closed, she speaks, "I- I like you, Jade." And after she says that, it's like a weight is lifted off her shoulders, off her mind, and especially off her heart. She feels lighter. She opens her eyes and glances at Jade who is staring at her with soft, scared eyes.

"I like you so much, Jade. I- it's driving me insane." They both laugh softly and Tori places her hand over Jade's.

"Tell me about it." Jade replies, flipping her hand over so that their hands are palm to palm. "I like you too, Tori. I like you a lot and it scares me..."

Tori slips her fingers through the spaces between Jade's and she gives it a quick squeeze. "Why does it scare you?"

She tries to pull her hand away but Tori tightens her grip. Jade looks down at their intertwined hands and then back up at Tori, looking into also scared eyes.

"I don't know. I guess 'cause I like you. You! You,of all people."

Tori's taken aback by Jade's answer and she pulls her hand away, crossing her arms over her chest. "Well sorry! I didn't mean to gross you out or anything!" She's about to stand but Jade's hand on her shoulder stops her.

"Tori, stop. I didn't mean it like that. Let me explain, please?" Hearing Jade say please is like a fish out of water surviving, it doesn't happen. So Tori stays seated and looks at Jade expectantly.

"Tori, I've only ever really liked one person and that person being Beck. I've been with him for two years now, before him I didn't care for people and, well, that's still the case. But with you- you came out of nowhere and you came with a storm. A storm of talent a-and beauty, a voice and a gorgeous body and you made me feel things and I hadn't even met you yet." Jade stops to catch her breath and she glances at Tori whose mouth is wide open and it looks like she hasn't blinked since she started speaking.

Tori can't believe everything that came out of Jade. Her confession is what she always wanted to hear from someone and it's coming true and she's sure it made something in her brain short circuit. Before she can say anything, Jade continues.

"I don't even care that you're a girl, that's never been a problem with me. It's just the fact that you barged right into my life without any forewarning and took over my heart. So can you see why I'm scared? Can you see how it all happened so fast and now that this is happening, I-"

Jade's cut off by the lips on her cheek. They burn her skin and it's a glorious feeling. They weren't even on her lips but she felt more from that small contact than she has with any touch from Beck recently.

"Jade..." Tori whispers her name and it sends a shiver down Jade's spine. "I- I didn't know you felt this way. Never once, in the time that I've known you, would I have ever suspected for you to feel this way. It's kind of mind-boggling..."

They both laugh and Jade holds her hand out for Tori to hold, she does and Jade pulls their hands to her lap. "Mind-boggling, really?"

"Yes! Mind-boggling, okay? For lack of a better word." They both laugh again and then it's Tori's turn to speak.

"I wish I could say that I liked you since my first performance at Hollywood Arts but the only person I knew then was Andre... anyway!" Tori smirks at Jade slyly and Jade knocks her shoulder into Tori's. "I don't know, I guess you could say it all started with me trying to turn your hatred for me into like. I wanted you to like me so badly. You were always so mean to me and you shot me down whenever you could that it just spurred me on and made me try even harder. And it went from me just wanting your approval to wanting to be your friend to... wanting to be more."

They sit in silence, allowing what has been said to sink in and run it's way through their minds and hearts. After a few minutes, Tori breaks the silence.

"Oh and I don't care that you're a girl, either. I mean, feelings happen and well, I'm just scared because this is all so new to me and-"

This time she's cut off by Jade's lips, not on her cheek, but on her own. She's startled but she leans in a little, putting more pressure to the closed-mouth kiss.

Jade pulls back and smiles sheepishly at Tori. She grabs one of Tori's hands and brings it up to her mouth, placing a small kiss on each of her knuckles.

"We can't do more than that just yet, Tori."

Confused, she asks, "Why not?"

Jade laughs and kisses her hand again, "I'm still with Beck. I need to end it with him first. Even kissing your hand is making me feel guilty and I don't ever feel guilty."

Tori smiles and nods her head, understanding that Jade's right and she should do that before they decide to go any further. Plus, they just sorted out their feelings and it's too soon to do anything... other than kissing, kissing those soft, pink lips. She shakes her head to push those thoughts away and sighs contently.

"I feel so much better. Don't you?" Jade's eyes are closed but she nods her head in agreement.

"Yeah, I do. Thanks Tori."

"Thanks? Thanks for what?" Tori asks, confused.

"Eh, for being there and pushing me to talk. If you hadn't, we wouldn't be here right now."

Tori takes in what she says and she chuckles because it's true. If she wasn't so persistent, they wouldn't be here right now. They'd both be in their respective rooms wondering what the other was doing and drowning in their feelings.

"Well, you're welcome."

Jade leans her head against Tori's and they sit there, soaking each others presence in and reveling in the feel of the other. Their eyes slowly slide closed and everything around them and between them is calm and relaxed and they're heading into a comfortable sleep when Tori's ringing phone awakes them.

"Shoot, sorry!" She scrambles to her bag on the other couch and pulls out her phone.

"Hello? - Oh, is it that late? I'm sorry, I lost track of time. - Yes, I'll be home soon. - Sorry, ok. - Love you too, see you soon!"

She hangs up her phone and puts it in her pocket. She picks up her bag and smiles sheepishly at Jade. Jade joins her and stands up, "Gotta go home?"

"Yeah, apparently it's 9pm and that's too late to be out on a school night." Tori smiles sadly and Jade laughs.

"It's okay. Come on, I'll walk you out." Jade leads and Tori follows, her eyes roaming across the walls as they walk outside to Tori's car.

"See you at school tomorrow?" Tori asks, hope in her voice.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't get all clingy on me just yet, Vega."

Tori laughs as she gets into her car and buckles her seat belt. She lowers her window and smiles up at Jade. "Thanks, Jade. Thanks for opening up and talking."

Jade pushes on her shoulder and scowls, "Get out of here, Vega."

Tori sees the amusement and playfulness in Jade's eyes so she fakes hurt and pouts, "I see how it is, West. I pour out my heart and soul and you just kick me to the curb."

They both laugh at their fake seriousness. Jade grabs Tori's hand and kisses the back of it before sending her on her way. "Go on, get."

Tori turns on her car and drives off, waving bye to Jade.

On her drive home, Tori thought of what had transpired back at the West house and it made her smile so big that she thought she might break her jaw. Never in a million years would she have thought that things would work this way and she's so glad they did.

She can't help but think of the future, of what will happen between them and if anything were to, if their friends would accept them. She knew Andre would since she went to him first, which reminds her that she needs to talk to him as soon as possible. He's going to flip when he hears of this news!

She parks her car in the driveway and makes her way inside and up to her room, a huge smile on her face the whole time and confused expressions on her parents on sister.

A/N: I feel so proud of myself right now!

Jakari: Hey, thanks for listening to my last AN. ;-) She did seem to like it right? Haha, I mean, I would too.

Someone You Probably Dont Know: It definitely was the best ep! I like all the Jori, it was nice. :-) And hey, look! I got to typin' and this came out! lol

Allhallowsevebabe: Yeah! I heard on tumblr about that upcoming ep! I'm quite excited for it! I wonder what it's going to be about!

BrutalicTragedy: HEY THERE! I really like your reviews, you make me laugh! :-D I HOPE THIS FILLS YOUR HEART WITH WARMNESS!

OK, so I ate earlier in the day and now I feel like I'm dying. I'm going to go, like, sleep or something and hopefully dream of the next chapter!

I hope you guys like this chapter! I'm pretty sure I do. :-)

Sooo, you all know the ordeal. I write and ask you to review with whether you liked it or not, or tell me about your day. I don't care, just review. :-D