Disclaimer: I do not own Victorious

Chapter 6: Courtesy Call

Tori P.O.V.

"Hey Jade, it's me. Umm just a heads up I'm on my way to your house to drop off some homework. So…ah yea I'm going to be there in like twenty minutes and you better open up the door, or not, whatever. Ahh so I guess I'll see you soon so bye." I hang up my pearphone and climb into my car. As the silence of envelopes me I finally take a breath. Finally the day is over and I'm able to just have a moment to myself. It's not that I don't love my friends or my school but it's just a lot to keep up with; all the talent in this school can be so overwhelming and everyone is so high maintence it just steals my energy.

I start up Ethel and place her into park. As I'm rolling towards the exit of the parking lot Beck dashes out in front of my car. I slam the brakes and roll down my window.

"What the hell Beck? I could have hit you!" I scream at him.

"But you didn't." He says with a cocky smile.

"Fucking asshole." I mutter.

"What was that?" He inquires striding over to my car. He leans on my window and flashes another smile. "So where ya going?"

"What does it matter to you?" I spit rather coldly at him. Ever since the whole incident at the RV, Beck has lost my respect. With our friends I act like nothing happened but I seriously have no issue treating him like the scum he is when we're alone. Just seeing his sleazy smile makes my skin quiver and my blood boil. He's just been so pompous and creepy lately.

"Well I wouldn't ask if I didn't care." He counters leaning down so he's at eye level with me. "Listen I know you're going to Jade's so cut the crap."

"I..a..I wouldn't….no." I sputter.

"Yea you are so just deliver a message for me. The her the party is tomorrow night and that I'll be there to pick her up around 9:30, 9:45 give or take ten minutes."

"I don't think she wants to go with you." I challenge glaring into his eyes. "Maybe she doesn't want to go at all."

"I highly doubt that but say she doesn't want to go with me, will you go with me?" He charms with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"What the fuck Beck!" I bellow, outraged. How dare he try and use me as a rebound and completely abandon Jade.

"Oh yea I completely forgot that you're Ryder's girl." He says watching me as my blood runs cold. I scowl at him and tighten my grip on the steering wheel. "What? You thought that none of us knew? Oh please nobody in this fucking school thinks you're an innocent little girl Vega. Actually from what I've heard you're quite the tease." He mocks. "Why don't you just fuck him?" He adds to my horror. Without a second glance the bronze-skinned devil walks away.

"Fucking dick." I mumble slamming on the gas pedal so I can get as far away from him as possible.

By the time I get to Jade's dark house I've had about eight mood swings. I'm angry, I'm sad, I'm disappointed, I'm broken, I'm happy and I'm scared. Everything Beck said is true and but that doesn't make it any less painful; in fact it only makes me feel worse. Honestly I'm not any better than the hussy Beck made me out to be. But rather than face my own inner demons I get my shit together and walk towards the large wooden door. I ring the doorbell and wait for Jade to answer, although I highly doubt that she will. I'm about to ring it again when a woman that looks like an older and shorter version of Jade without the make-up swings the door open.

"Umm hi." I greet awkwardly, taken back by the older woman's resemblance to Jade. "Are you Jade's sister or something?"

"Awe you're too sweet. I'm actually her mother." Her warm words and slightly southern accent cause me to frown. Seriously this woman is too nice to have any relation to Jade. "Gem didn't say that she was expecting any friends." She says, her bright smile faltering just a touch.

"Gem?"

"Jade is a gem sweetheart and my little Jadelyn is my very own gem." She says with a soft smile. Again how the fuck could Jade ever be the child of such a sweet woman. And her mom talks about her like she's the single greatest bundle of sunshine on the freaking Earth.

"Oh I understand now. Well Jade and I aren't exactly close friends so…" I trail off as my voice falter. "Umm anyway I'm just here to drop off some homework for her. Ah thanks for your time Mrs. West." I say placing a folder into her hands and turning to get the hell out of there.

"Wait!" Dammit. I turn around to face the woman who gave birth to the bane of my existence. "Have you noticed anything odd about my daughter lately?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary; Jade is as cold and sarcastic as ever." I state bitterly.

"Now wait a minute don't talk about my daughter like that you don't know what she's been through."

"I'm sorry but Jade has been nothing but negative towards me since my very first day, so it's really hard me to say something nice about her."

"You're that girl, aren't you? Umm…Vega or something?"

"Tori actually, Vega is my last name, but that's what Jade calls me no matter what." I reply in a dull voice.

"You know you're the only one that's ever given my baby girl a run for her money. As harsh as she is on you it's only because you intimidate her." She states with a knowing smile as she lazily leans against the door frame.

"Ha me, intimidate Jade?" I scoff unconvinced of anything this woman is saying. "No offense Mrs. West but your daughter doesn't get intimidated, in fact she does most of the intimidating at our school."

"I've known the girl for seventeen years no offense Tori but I think I know my own daughter." She counters making me want to regret my previous comment. "Jade is a difficult person to figure out but she does everything she does with a purpose. Tori, I know that I don't know you very well and neither does Jade but I need you to tell me what you know about my daughter. You can possibly believe that I think you're oblivious."

"I don't actually know mu-" I start only for Mrs. West cuts in.

"I don't care if it's something I really would hate to hear so save yourself the trouble, dear. How 'bout you just come inside, I'll make some tea, set out some sweets and we can talk." Her musical voice sounds so blunt and I finally regonize a little bit of Jade in her character. Mrs. West continues when I remain silent. "Glad that's settled. Please come in Tori." She ushers me inside, pushing me ever so slightly so I won't make a break for it. As I walk into the front room, she closes the front door and motions for me to sit in the living room.

"I'll be right back, dear." I nod and she quickly leaves the room.

"This place is so lifeless." I mutter looking around the home. Everything in this house just seems so impressive and brilliant yet it's so cold. It's so staged and so empty that it just makes me feel lonely.

"Feels empty, doesn't it?"

"Huh?" I whirl around to the source of the voice. Mrs. West stands at the opposite end of the room with a tray of sweets and tea.

"The house, it feels empty." She says crossing the room and setting down the tray on a small coffee table. Clearing her voice, Mrs. West falls back onto the couch behind her. She glances around the room as I lower myself onto the same couch. With a sigh she gives up her search and turns slightly so she can face me. "It's hasn't felt warm in here for years."

"I guess." I casually reply, grabbing my tea off the tray and taking a sip of the golden liquid.

"You know what I think. I think that Jade needs someone like you in her life." She says making me choke on my tea. "Geez girly, don't freak out." She chuckles as she rubs my back to soothe my coughing.

"I'm sorry…I…Just." I struggle to get out through my coughs. "That was just unexpected." I finish with a raw voice and sheepish grin.

"I didn't mean to freak you out or anything but realistically you would be perfect for my daughter. You're pretty, you're smart and you're stubborn. When Jade first told me about her sexuality I was slightly skeptical but girls like you make me think it's for the better."

"Wait, Jade is gay?" I question.

"Not entirely. Jade is bisexual but lately she seems to be more interested in girls." She calmly clarifies.

"Oh I didn't know that." I whisper not really sure what to think since I've never really thought about Jade being interested in anyone other than Beck.

"Well I guess you know now but you didn't hear it from me." She jokes bumping me her shoulder against mine. Her goofy behavior makes me laugh and I finally ease up a bit. "So now that you're in better spirits how 'bout you tell me about my gem?"

"Okay." And I tell her. I tell her everything I know, and I mean everything. From the way Jade has been distant for months, to the bathroom incident, to the recent break up. Mrs. West just sits in silence and seemingly takes everything I say in stride.

"I see. Well my daughter has quite the hole to dig herself out of." She sighs and shakes her head. "I should have known what was going on with her."

"Mrs. West I don't think you could have stopped her even if you wanted to. Jade does what she wants when she wants." I mildly argue. I can help but feel sympathy towards Mrs. West. Some people may argue that she's not a good parent because she didn't notice but no one around Jade did. Hell I wouldn't have known anything was wrong if I hadn't walked in on her shooting up.

"Okay maybe I couldn't stop her but I could have at least been there for her." She crooks out hanging her head with her hands covering her face.

"Honestly there's not-"

"What's going on here?" A dark voice demands, interrupting me. I look up to find Jade no more than a foot away from me.

"Jade!" I squeal when I notice our proximity. "Gosh you scared me." I grip my chest as if the will slow my heartbeat.

"Why are you in my house, Vega?" She asks, her face emotionless.

"I, uhh…I'm here ahh.." I stutter but thankfully Mrs. West comes to my rescue.

"I wanted to meet your girlfriend." Or not. Mortified, both Jade and I whip around to face her mother sporting matching blushes.

"Vega? My girlfriend? Oh please I would rather swallow a bucket of acid than go on a date with Miss Priss." Jade spits back, recovering quickly.

"Hey I'm right here you know." I chirp back.

"Yea Jade show your girl a little more respect." Her mom challenges causing Jade's blush to darken. Jade opens her mouth then closes it again. Rather than offer a retort Jade shoots her mother a glare. The air in the room stiffens as the dynamic duo lock aqua eyes with glares that could probably slice through anyone else. With a sigh and a small chuckle, Jade finally looks away breaking eye contact.

"Hey Tori, why don't you come up to my room for a little bit?" She strains out through a tight smile.

"Umm actually it's getting kinda late so I think I'm going to head home." I frown. It's not like Jade to offer anything to anyone let alone me.

"Nonsense Tori, it's not that late and I would like to spend some time with my….my girlfriend." She says, sending her mother a coy smirk. She beacons me forward and strangely enough I follow her. My mind is saying to get the fuck out of her to avoid any trouble but for some reason my gut is telling me to stay, or at least I think it's my gut.

"Okay." I follow the black clad girl up the stairs and into her bedroom even with images of her tearing me limb from limb flashing through my head. Once we're in her particularly dark and morbid room, the pale girl closes the door and looks at me with a dangerous spark in her unusually stormy eyes.

"What did you tell her?" She utters, her voice dangerously low. All the emotion has faded from her voice and her features. I can't help but be speechless. "I'm talking to you Vega!" She roars. "What did you tell her?" She asks again.

"I didn't…I-nothing!" I shout defensively. She closes the distance between us until we're standing toe to toe and she's looking into my eyes.

"You're a shitty liar, Vega." She whispers before the gap between us closes. I'm not exactly sure how it happened but somehow Jade's lips find mine and no matter how timid the kiss is the amount of emotion present makes it so much more. My stomach fills to the brim with butterflies and this kiss, no matter how chaste, causes a fire to kindle within me. Before anything can become of our moment Jade steps away breaking all contact between us.

"I think you should go home." She utters sounding strangely peaceful. I nod and taking her advice I leave without another word to her or her mother.

A/N: I had this chapter done so long ago but since life just likes to get in the way I wasn't able to update, so I'm sorry. Additionally, I did not reread this chapter for spelling and grammatical errors so I guess if it's really that bad just PM me and I'll fix it. Like always reviews of any sort are welcome so don't be afraid to share your thoughts. Until next time-

JKJOKER