A/N: Oh my gosh I'm so sorry this took so long! I know this was supposed to be up last week and I sorely apologize for that! I actually got off track by a week and so last week I had to do Burning Wings, and here I am with Break You Down! I have excuses if you want to hear them, and if you don't skip all this nonsense and get down there ;)

Okay, so. IB. The most rigorous program I've ever been in. It's so time consuming and stressful and I'm overwhelmed. But I'm loving every minute of it. It's hard, but what is life without a challenge right? But that is the reason I've been so behind on these and for that I really truly apologize, I do. Thank you for putting up with me. I love everyone who reviews and favorites and follows, I dont know what I'd do without you guys. Thank you for taking the time to do that, it means so much to an author you have no idea. But seriously, enough of me! There is a story that awaits you below the black bold, a story that will take you through the bitter cold. But in the end, you see it'll shine warmth and light, and carry you off to sleep with a smile in the night ;)

I have no idea what that was. I apologize. Anyway, please review! I love reading them and they make me happy! Please? Now get down, and get lost.

I can see the tears struggling to surface behind her eyes, attempting to relieve the internal lashings that must be constantly afflicting her heart. Her hands begin to tremble lightly and I see the pain reverberating through her soul, the muted green window wide open as the living guest tries weakly to close the shutters. Her heart beat is faster, painful as I see her flinch with every breath. I take in these observations as my mind tries to wrap around the lightning bolt that has just hit my life.

She is fighting to remain calm, evident in the set of her jaw as she clamps her windows closed and vacuums the tears as to be portrayed as a marble Greek Sculpture, chipped away but beautiful. I understand why the timbre of her voice has changed from jovial and caustic to soft and solemn. This change alone shows how much this has really affected her, going so far as to show physical and audible pieces of glass shaking within her vocal cords. She is broken but her hands have put her together in a way where she seems as strong as a mountain. What the unseeing eyes would miss is the spider web cracks tortuously veining their way through the sharp edges, fragile to the point in which the slightest breath would knock over the house of cards that holds no more tricks.

I know she is awaiting a response, be it audible or not, and I ponder what to do. Jade was never a touchy feely person, and I know at the moment I'm not. The old Tori would have tried to convince her there were better people, utter the infamous four words; "It will be okay." But the new Tori understands that that is a promise that cannot be made, a future no one can see. It may never be okay. They are only words holding an empty meaning, dictated as a soothing balm that releases no alleviation at all. So I do the only thing I have taught myself to do in the past three months; I remain silent.

Her eyes lift from the knots in the wood to meet my own, a fresh coat of strength freshly painted on. The quivering, the trembling, it has been hidden with the cloak of invisibility to quench the pity she expects from me, or even just to mollify her tears. Unsure of what she expects, I allow a small smile to crawl upon my face.

She seems surprised by my silence and raises an eyebrow, only for me to gaze reassuringly at her with no words reflected in my eyes. The only thing they say two words. I'm listening.

"The past six years…. They haven't been easy. I'm not going to lie about that." Her eyes are cautiously watching me, expecting something I know she won't receive. She pauses, awaiting my pity that we both know holds no meaning in those words. The only way I show her I care is through my eyes. She looks deep into them, probing for the old Tori Vega and instead only finds someone who knows the walls she has up and how to get through them.

Finding nothing, she continues.

"But… I always believed we'd make it you know? We'd grow old together with him being an amazing doctor, and me, his wife the beautiful starlet on Broadway… Ever since high school, that's all I wanted."

There are strains in her voice, the spider webs stretching to the point where they might shatter.

"The first four were amazing. I was at Julliard and he was at Columbia. Our apartment wasn't too far away from the city, but not in heart because obviously it was a lot then. Moving in the summer before was fantastic. We'd wake up together, make breakfast together, go out into the city, explore, get some coffee…. It was everything I wanted. Then school started and that definitely put a strain on us but it was nothing we couldn't handle. Those four years were just magical."

There is a light in her voice now, a smile as she relives her happiness and joy. I am envious, my memory of happy days tainted with regret as I barricade all happiness from entering my own life. For with happiness comes the inevitable pain of sorrow.

Then, I see her smile start to falter, and I know it is coming; the blow that changed her life just like the punch that had knocked mine off course.

"Julliard put me in some high positions. I remember, after performing on closing night in a musical I had the lead for, a man came up to me and proposed an offer. He had been writing a script to put on Broadway and he wanted me to be the lead. I was so happy. Beck and I went out to celebrate, downing champagne like it was water. And then, the rehearsals started. They were late nights, both on stage itself and outings with the cast. They became my family and we were so close knit. I would try to bring Beck in but his schoolwork had stepped up and whenever he had a bit of free time, I was gone and when I tried to spend time with him, he was busy. We had some pretty heated fights of course, and that's when it started to get off track. Whenever I was home, we were fighting. Eventually, I just stopped coming home, crashing at a castmate's every so often. When we saw each other, we wouldn't talk. He tried a couple times but he was so irritated eventually he stopped trying. I lived in that apartment only by name. The play came and went and I was offered another role by the same director. Beck and I tried to smooth things over but the relationship was strained at best. But I always thought we would get over it, we would fix it. But four days ago, I had just come home from closing night. My cast wanted to go out and celebrate but I really missed him and I just wanted to go home to him you know? I thought I'd surprise him. I remember walking up to our door, smiling because I had just brought him his favorite desert from the café down the street where we used to have lunch every day. And I open the door and-"

Her breath is too shaky to continue. She's gasping in the middle of her sentences, clawing for air, clawing for the strength to keep going. In a slow movement, I reach across the table and gently put my hand on hers. The tears are filling up in her eyes now as she looks at the touch, her eyes flinching at the touch but not refusing it. I nod gently at her, willing her to continue. She takes in a breath, trying to regulate her breathing. After a pause, she quiets down, her eyes falling closed. The silence fills the room in a beat, me silently wondering if she is able to continue.

Her eyes remain closed, but her lips move, a soft trembling voice slipping out into the night, holding the secrets up to the sky and letting them fade away into stars.

"I put the bag down on the countertop and walked towards his study. The light was on and I figured he was working, a project or something. But instead I find him and some blonde slut splayed out on his table and he's- Ugh! Damn, why can't I finish?!"

She stands angrily, flipping a chair over. I flinch violently, retracting my hand in fear. His face flashes through my thoughts and I see his hands and his white hot anger, oh god, not that, don't hurt me, oh god-

She takes a deep breath, her hands curled into fists. Her eyes are closed and I try to slow my heartbeat. This is Jade. It's not him, it's Jade. Just Jade.

Slowly, she opens her eyes, the green piercing me through and pinning me to the wall behind me. She takes in my position, a curled ball on the wooden chair and her gaze softens. She can see the fear in my eyes and slowly the anger begins to melt away. Her voice becomes soft, quivering with pain.

"Sorry. I lost control for a second there."

I force a smile and uncurl myself, willing my heartbeat to slow down. She looks at me, continuing.

"He saw me in the doorway. Tried to explain. But nothing registered then. I was just looking at him, realizing that the man I loved was no longer there. And then I asked my only question. Why. He only looked at me and pleaded and begged and cried for forgiveness. I only asked him the same question again. He refused to answer, trying to make me understand. But finally he got irritated and he exploded, saying that I had no time for him and he had to satiate his cravings in another way. My only response was to throw the glass vase at him, throw my clothes into a bag, grab my car keys and drive. I needed some way to stop thinking, or maybe it was to think in the first place. I knew I needed to get away from there. I was suffocating, choked by the lies and betrayal. Somehow I ended up on the route to L.A. I barely ate, only slept maybe for 10 hours the entire time. I just needed to go. When I got here, the first thing I remembered was that you lived here. I tried calling your cell but I guess you changed your number because it said it was unavailable. Then I realized I still had your dad's number from that one time where we went to the aquarium and we needed all of the chaperone's numbers. I called him and told me where you were staying. I jumped in the car and here I am. I'm sorry to pin this on you Tori, I just need somewhere to go. I don't have money to pay for a hotel otherwise I wouldn't bother you. I know it's a lot to ask but if you say no, I will go, I promise. I'll do anything to stay. Just… please."

I look at the broken woman in front of me, echoing the current state of my heart. We are kin, connected by betrayal and despair. Our lives had been built up to a shining zenith of joy only to be razed to the ground by those we loved most. She could understand me, understand my life. And I, in turn, could do the same.

But to let her stay might lead to the one thing I fear most; letting her in. Our walls are constructed the same way, leaving her to know how to get past my own. Ah, but I argue to myself, she has one gaping hole in hers; she came to someone for help. That only proves that my walls are more powerful, an indestructible barrier between the outside world and my mind. But am I ready to let someone infringe on my comfort zone like that? Be a solid part of my life for a majority of the time to come?

But even the new Tori Vega couldn't let someone she knew live out on the street.

But the new Tori Vega is also making sure no one has a chance of breaking down her walls.

Swimming with conflict, I look at Jade. Her eyes beseech shelter, protection from the gale that has blown her life away. They also storm with confusion, insecurity, unsureness, and fear. Something I know my eyes looked like three months ago. Broken eyes, like shattered glass.

And with the last thought, I smile gently at the woman in front of me. This could go terribly wrong, or it could turn out fantastically. Maybe we'd leave each other alone. Jade was always the independent person. Either way, this is a roller coaster, a challenge. And no matter what Tori Vega exists now, she is always up for a challenge.