Hi.

I'm really sorry about late updates, I've been overworked with projects & finals & tests & blah blah & I'm really stressed. But I worked on little snippets of this every night :)

Thanks to all who read/reviewed my last chapter :)

DarkAngel109 - No, you didn't tick me off at all. In fact, thanks for the constructive criticism. I know it was the most 'Bade'-ish episode Victorious has come out with, but I also know that a lot of people have already written stories about their present relationship in that episode. & I wanted to make it a little different, and I thought that line was cute/inspiring. But thanks anyways, I needed something to help me know if it was good.

So... just R&R!

"I still believe Tori bribed Lane," Jade persisted as they exited the class. "She must've gotten him lotion. Or something."

André shrugged, which was hard for him to do considering he was carrying his strap-on keyboard. "I dunno, Jade. Maybe you'll get the role of Patricia. She's the bad guy, and you have a bad-guy-sort-of-look... about you," he trailed off as Jade returned a hard glare at him.

They had just left first period, where Lane had interrupted class to announce who the lead role of Uptown, Downtown. The rest of the cast was yet to be determined, but Lane knew the main character's actress was greatly anticipated, as half the class (including Jade), had auditioned.

"I mean, it makes the most sense if I was Penny. I actually have a resumé and I've done big roles before. This is her first stupid play and she's already got the lead," Jade complained bitterly, a sour scowl on her face.

After an awkward conversation with Festus about burritos and squirt-able ingredients, they approached to the lunch table, where Tori, Robbie, Beck, and Cat were all sitting and chatting.

"Well, maybe Beck will get the rich guy, Zach. You know, he ends up with Patricia anyways," André muttered to Jade, whom he had noticed looked like her pizza had done her a serious wrong.

"No. I'm just worried he gets the poor bellhop role. I don't need him hanging around Tori anymore than he needs to."

André looked like he wanted to say something, but shut his mouth. She'd always give back a snappy reply, anyways.

Jade sat down next to Beck, ignoring the world, engrossed in her lunch; Tori sitting there just reminded her more of her loss. She had lost... to a newcomer. How disgraceful.

Joining in on the conversation occasionally (apparently Cat was failing her makeup class - seemingly impossible as it was), Jade made the most apathetic remarks.

When Robbie and André started up a conversation about their previous history with ballet class, everyone else was interested in what they had to say. So, Beck took the opportunity to poke his girlfriend's arm and nod at her.

"Why are you being so quiet?" he was honestly curious. Yeah, they had some drama some weeks ago, but he thought they were over that, and everything had fallen back into its perfect puzzle piece.

She shook her head. "No reason."

He knew it was something, but decided to question it later in private.

"The cast list is up!" Cat squealed and ran out the door and into the hallway, first thing, when the last bell of the day rang. Stuffed giraffe clutched tightly under her arm, she was a lightning fast streak of red that soared out of the classroom before anyone else grabbed their bag.

"Why is she so excited? She didn't audition!" Tori peered out the door Cat had just exited. "I thought she signed up for costume and makeup."

Beck shrugged. "Well, Cat's Cat."

Hand-in-hand with his girlfriend, they walked out the door as a pair, right behind Tori, André, and Robbie.

The list, bright orange, stood out against the wall. Cat, her vibrantly-colored head bobbing up in down in front of the sheet, was quivering with excitement.

"Guess who you got Robbie!" she's bursts out with a series of high-pitched giggles. "You got Zach!"

Jade's brow furrowed. Who cares? Even though she should've got the lead...as long as she was not Patricia, she was fine. Anything but Patricia.

She approached the list, eyes raking over it, trying to spot her name. "Cat... what'd I get?"

"And André!" Cat giggled. "You're part of the band!" she pointed to the bottom of the poster.

"Cat," Jade repeated. "What did I get?"

Cat laughed again. "And Jade... you got Patricia!"

...which caused a variety of reactions.

Beck frowned, and shook his head. There was no way Lane cast that role with any bit of sanity. Jade could not stand Robbie. She would rip Rex's limbs off at any opportunity.

Tori and André were failingly attempting to hide their smirks and laughs from Jade, but unfortunately did not miss her scathing, venomous glower.

Robbie just backed away slowly and cautiously, before he or Rex could get hurt. Before anyone could notice, he slipped out the entrance door and ran into the parking lot, while Rex chuckled mercilessly in his arms.

Jade stood there numb, for a moment. Then, her hand slipped away from Beck, and she grabbed the list and tore it into shredded pieces. Dropping her hands, the orange paper which was whole a few seconds ago littered the floor like confetti.

And Cat just looked on anxiously at the ruckus she created.

Beck groaned. "No! I wanted to find out what I got!" he picked up a few pieces, put them together, and read aloud.

"Beck Oliver... Bellhop Trevor."

Lane wasn't sure he made the right decision when the Principal Ikner offered him the job of the school counselor.

There he was, relaxing, and enjoying the fact that no one needed counseling today (not even Cat).

Then Jade burst through the door fuming angrily; he could almost see the steam puffing out of both of her ears. Immediate tension filled the room.

"Why the hell is my boyfriend the bellhop?" she demanded, standing directly in front of his hammock-chair.

Lane was sure that he had made the right choice. He personally thought Beck was fantastic for the role.

"Well... see... I don't know if you know this, but how it works here, is whoever has the best audition-"

"I had the best audition for the lead. And, you realize he's paired up with her?" she didn't have to say her name. After Jade's stage fighting plan didn't work, she was held back from the after-school freedom, and was to discuss with Lane the 'issues she has with her life.'

"Jade, it's just a play."

"No. It's. Not," she snarled. "I auditioned for Penny. I deserve that role more than she does. But you know what I got? I got Patricia. Who has one too many scenes with Robbie!"

Lane, though quite shaken on the inside, knew how to get to his student. "Jade. Is this more about you not getting the role, or Beck and Tori?"

Refusing to answer the question, Jade just plopped down on the couch, frustrated.

"Look, Jade. I know you and Beck broke up a couple week ago," Jade stared at the ground, cringing at one of her worst memories, "but part of the reason you broke up was because you two lacked trust."

Jade nodded slowly, indicating she was listening.

"And you need to trust Beck. And Tori. Didn't she get you two back together? Aren't you two frie-"

"We're not friends," Jade interrupted. She hated that word whenever it was applied to her relationship with Tori. "And she did it as a favor."

Lane rolled his eyes at his pupil's adamant manner. "Why don't you just go and talk to Beck?"

"Look, I don't know why you hate Robbie so much, he's not that bad... it's just Rex somet-"

"I'm not here about that," Jade cut him off.

"Oh."

"Would you mind switching roles with Robbie?" she cut to the point.

Beck frowned. "Why? He's great at the role! And I like mine."

Jade rolled her eyes at his obvious naiveness.

Beck was finally hit with a sudden realization. "This is about her, isn't it? Is this what was bothering you at lunch today?"

Jade clenched her teeth together. Was she that easy to read? 90% of the time, there was a scowl present on her face...

"Look. A few weeks ago, she really helped us out. We're not going to make her give up her role," Beck tried to make his girlfriend see sense.

"I don't care about that. I wanted the role, and she got it, and now you two get to play lovey-dovey!" she snapped.

Beck's eyebrows created a deep 'V', signaling his confusion.. "Are you upset about Tori, or you upset about not getting the role?"

"Both!" Jade was displeased at where the exchange was headed. "I deserve that role, I worked night and day on my audition!"

He sighed, frustrated, and still befuddled as to what exactly his girlfriend was so pissed at. "Jade. Do you not trust me? Is that it?"

This took Jade a million miles away, to flashbacks and past memories; from when the new girl was rubbing her boyfriend's stomach, to Alyssa Vaughn, all leading up to the conversation she had shared with Lane only a few hours ago.

He waved a hand in front of her face. "Heeeellllooo?"

Jade snapped out of her reverie. "I trust you," she confirmed, though her face said the opposite.

"Really? Is that why you still want to tag along with me to yoga class, and give up the role I really wanted in this play?" Beck had reached his breaking point. He was mad - he didn't do anything wrong, and yet his girlfriend was still losing her temper with him.

"No, I just don't trust other girls!"

Beck sighed again, and ran his hand through his naturally long, brunette hair.

"We'll just see how this week goes, shall we?" he proposed. He really didn't want to start this whole argument again.

"Fine."

"Fine."

They both walked away, fuming.

Was this how their newly patched-up was going to work out, now?

"I don't know," Tori shrugged and turned away from Robbie, script in her hand and a cleft in her forehead.

Beck looked up. "It's okay that you don't know."

"But you deserve an answer!"

"I can wait. For you, I would wait a thousand years."

"But that's so many!" Tori read aloud.

Jade clenched her teeth, and held in her irritation.

Sitting in her chair and watching the rehearsal, she was trying to ignore the scene in front of her by texting Cat. Unfortunately, Cat was telling her about something funny her (idiotic) giraffe said, and lost Jade's interest. As the scene went on, Jade pressed the buttons harder and harder, her messages becoming less readable.

Instead of getting up and punching Tori in the face, she let off steam with a simple, hidden rolling of the eyes - her trademark.

Tori walked away from Beck, reciting, "Because I'm beautiful?"

"I don't love you because you're beautiful," Beck strode forward some steps and gripped her shoulder gently, "you're beautiful because I love you."

Jade was forced to suppress her groan as Tori let out a shocked, unscripted, "Woah." Rolling her eyes again, she reverted her vision to the screen of her phone.

Suddenly, disco light flooded the floor and walls, and music sounded throughout the whole Black Box Theater.

Every head turned back to watch Sinjin frantically try to undo his mistake, to take back the disco music and lights.

"Dude!" Jade exploded, her fury all now directed at the school creep. "What up with the disco?"

"I'm sorry, I hit the wrong thing!" Sinjin defended himself.

"No, fifteen years ago, your mother gave birth to the wrong thing!" she corrected him.

She sat herself down, trying to calm herself. As much as she hated it, she had to continuously remind herself that losing it was the last thing she wanted to do. It caused problems - breakups, fights. Which meant less screaming at far-from-flawless people.

As the director complimented Tori and Beck on their acting skills, and (indirectly) dissed Robbie's, Sinjin managed to fix the lights problem. Seconds later, Jade's phone vibrated, signaling an e-mail.

"Guys, guys, I would shut up a second."

"What'cha got?" everyone's attention was directed at her.

"An e-mail from Principal Ikner," she read aloud.

"That says?" Tori urged her to go on, but Jade glanced up to glare at her. She was just going to say it, wasn't she? Could this girl get any more annoying?

Jade informed everyone of Sophia Michele's attendance of their play, which caused their director to have a slight panic attack and rush outside to relieve himself.

"Who's Sophia Michele?" Something snapped inside of Jade, but she kept it as bottled in as she could.

"Aw, no, no, nooo," Jade groaned out loud this time, grabbing Beck's hand and leading him to her seat. As if she needed another reason why Jade should honestly be the lead.

"What?" Of course, she was the innocently confused.

"She gets to be the lead and she doesn't even know who Sophia Michele is." Beck put his hands on her shoulders, cooling off her exasperation.

When Sinjin and Tori brought up the vibrating hairbrush, and Jade just focused on texting. Then Robbie pointed out the cover of the script.

"Oh! Sophia Michele wrote the play we're doing!" realization hit Tori as she read.

"Ohhhhhh," Jade imitated her. Was she that obtuse, that she never read the freaking cover? This just kept adding up logic as to why Jade deserved the bigger female part.

"She's like, the biggest playwright on Broadway," Robbie explained.

The director re-entered the theater, and announced that they had to be perfect. Which set Rex up for an insult at his keeper.

Immediately after the odd exchange, the same annoying music filled the room once more, and multi-colored lights floated across the walls.

"Will you kill the disco?" Was everyone purposely aggravating her today?

"No one can kill disco!" Out of nowhere, Sinjin pulled out a vibrating hairbrush and began dancing awkwardly one-handed.

The bell rang, and everyone exited the room, jabbering about their next classes.

Jade returned to her chair to reclaim her belongings, only to find her boyfriend waiting for her. The room was empty besides them.

"Sinjin is a gank. A male gank," were the first words out of Jade's mouth.

While dancing like a maniac, the hairbrush (still in vibrate-mode) flung out of Sinjin hand and hit Jade smack in the face.

Everyone in the room was forced to hold back a raging murderess from storming onto the catwalk and castrating Sinjin.

"Scratch that. I'm not sure if he's male or female."

Beck smiled slightly and shook his head at her fury.

"So... we're fine, right?" he had to check.

Jade shook her head. "Did you hear Tori sigh when you touched her? She'll probably pass out when you two sing."

"She was taken by my acting. Who wouldn't be?" he waggled his eyebrows teasingly.

Jade gave him a shut-up look. "You're not helping."

"C'mon, Jade. Just, leave it, for this one play. And then you can go back to the way you were."

Jade pursed her lips. Stubborn as she was, she had to admit, it was more tempting than just ripping her spine out onstage.

"Fine."

"Cool."

"But you owe me a neck massage."

"This. Is. Awesome," Beck didn't think it was possible for his girlfriend to grin so widely in public, but it was happening.

They were backstage, sitting together, prepping for the play, right after they had gone through the final dress rehearsal.

In which Tori looked hideous.

Watching Tori pace up and down in front of the light-up mirror for fifteen minutes, she was beginning to think that Trina and Cat wouldn't make it. Phone in her hand, she was texting furiously, trying to find out where the pair where.

While Jade could take the role.

"Thank you, Cat!" Jade waved her hands up in the air, giddy with excitement.

"Jade," Beck shushed her, although there was a miniscule smile playing his lips.

"C'mon. You think Trina and Cat, of all people, will make it? Not distracted, not deterred by anything?"

Beck sighed. "Well, who'd play your part?" he asked.

Damn. She forgot about that.

Getting up and leaving him in his chair, she went to go speak to the director. He stood up behind her, and went to join Robbie, who was sticking his head out from behind the curtain, gawking at the playwright herself.

As Jade approached the director, she caught part of his conversation with Tori.

"Tori!" he ran up to the starlet, sporting an atrocious outfit.

"I know! But they're still not back with the solvent!" she cried.

"But we're on in," he checked his watch, "two minutes, and you still look disgusting," he looked over her appearance again.

Jade strode up, taking the opportunity with pleasure.

She got to the point, trying to not sound too eager. "I can play the lead."

"No, we don't have anyone else to play your part."

So, maybe she didn't have a chance. Heart sinking (only as much as Jade would let it), she came back with a snappy, Jade-like retort.

"We're indoors, lose the scarf."

She walked back over to Beck, who was still watching the audience. Tapping him on the shoulder, she waited for him to turn around.

"So?" he asked, scanning her face. "You're still Patricia, aren't you?"

She kept her mouth shut.

"Jade, you're perfect for that role. I don't know why you hate it, it's the second biggest female part. Maybe, they made a mistake, and you deserve the lead, but it doesn't matter. You are an actress, and what happens onstage has nothing to do with our relationship. And you're beautiful. Much more than Tori is, with or without the ridiculous zombie mask. And when I'm singing with her, yeah, I'm going to be wishing it was you, but it's not. And if I'm fine with it, you should be too."

Jade opened and closed her mouth. For the first time ever, she was speechless. Sappy as it was, sincerity shone throughout his eyes, the way it did when he told her he never stopped loving her outside his RV.

Dammit. Words were incapable of existing. She felt helpless; how was she supposed to respond to something that sounded like it came from a romantic comedy with terrible reviews?

The Director ran back on, cringing at the sight of Tori's still hideous face.

"Places everyone!"

Jade looked at Beck, who was gathering himself and trying to review his lines in his head as he walked off stage right. She followed behind him, the words still ringing in her head.

Everyone ran off to the side; Tori, with her cell phone, went off to call Cat and Trina again.

Beck and Jade stood, holding hands, as Robbie and their other classmate took up the opening scene. Leaning slightly to the left, they could see Sophia Michele's face, analyzing the play as it folded out in front of her.

His miniature speech was still bouncing around in her mind. She just had one thing to say to him:

"Prove it to me," Jade whispered in his ear. Her voice sounded soft, more vulnerable than it had ever before. Did he hear her? He wasn't watching...

It was sad, and she tried to make her voice sound more steely, but the insecureness inside of her took over.

She loved to believe him. So much. But it was so cliché. Something that only happened in the dreams of unrealistic, unpractical idealists (like Cat and the drama queen herself, Tori).

A waver in trust, something that crossed her mind every time he looked at another girl; yet she always vocally expressed her opinions rather abrasively. As much as she was ashamed to admit it directly, she was afraid of losing him to a pretty, girly-type, the ones that made her sick. That would be the ultimate defeat.

He stared at her briefly, and opened his mouth, then snapped his head back towards the scene.

Before he got a chance to reply, he walked onstage, after Robbie spoke his own cue line.

Jade watched vigilantly as Beck walked out, in full acting-mode. Of course he loves me, she reassured the doubts she had. Why would we have gotten back together? He could have anyone at this school, she inspirited herself, trying to calm her nerves (which usually never appeared before a performance) before she could get onstage.

Behind Jade, Tori was muttering something about "ice cream" and "Freezy Queen," when Jade realized she was supposed to be on in only a few seconds. She nudged her, and nodded towards the scene in front of them.

"You're on," she whispered to her, and gave her the world's tiniest, slightly encouraging smile - because that's as far as it was going to go.

For a moment, Tori looked dazed. Jade was giving her a compliment?

Then she set her face, and walked out onstage, despite the horrible monster mask attached to her face. She looked nervous, and the audience seemed puzzled.

Waiting for her own cue, Jade watched, forcing herself to see all the boys fawn over her.

She had to admit, Tori was fairly good for an amateur.; one hundred times better than her experienced sister.

Being related to Trina, everyone expected this girl to be just another failure, but when she stepped out onto that stage in the sparkly dress, with smoke puffing out in every direction and a determined complexion, people took her seriously.

She had, for a few seconds, until she realized that he was staring at her like she was a goddess.

And that's what fueled the Jade-Tori rivalry. [Jori, if you may ;)]

As well as a deep mistrust with her own boyfriend. Of course, she still acted possessive and always made sure pretty, flirty girls backed off, but the brunette triple-threat seemed to be the most threatening, the one most likely to take him away (he was letting her rub his freaking stomach!).

And as much as she wanted to trust him, as close as she was to starting to stop acting too dominating (because that had worked so very well in the past), them both winning leading roles just made it a whole lot worse.

But his words seemed like a fairy tale, like all that suspicion could just be wiped away. Could it?

Jade gave a cold stare to the floor as she contemplated her feelings. It was hard, like actually trying to be sensitive for once.

She looked up, and, recognizing her cue, Jade walked onstage. Ready to 'make it shine.' Harder than Vega ever would.

Their leading star seemed to be used to the living death residing on her face by the final number. Yet, when Trina and Cat (finally) showed up, she seemed all-to-eager to get it off.

Dancing slightly behind the two leads, Jade watched Tori signal André, who was grooving to his instrument in the band, and then pull an awkward move to get off the stage. She pranced off to backstage frantically, desperate to rid of the unsightly concealment (almost permanently glued) on her face.

Melting away as the number of dancers decreased, Jade watched from the sidelines as Tori reappeared onstage, her gorgeous face present once more. With a great star presence, she closed the number along with Beck, and the audience graced them with a standing ovation.

And when Jade bowed, she received greater applause than she ever thought she would.

Curtains closed equal privacy.

Tori turned to Beck immediately, ready to spring out her compliments and comments, "Good jo-"

He gave her a half-smile in thanks halfway through her sentence, and immediately strode offstage to find his girlfriend.

She was still in a happy mood - or as happy as Jade could possibly get. The only thing bothering her was the fact that she sounded like a total wuss before the show started. His speech, sounding like it came from a movie; how was she supposed to return any kind of riposte to that?

She spotted Beck heading her way, and opened her mouth to say something.

"You! Did you hear me-"

But before she could redeem herself, sadistic and fathomless, he kissed her, hard.

The post-play backstage excitement calmed down into tranquility, and everyone realized what was going on; as they started intensely playing with each other's mouths.

There was a clearing of a throats, mainly by Robbie (who claims he "feels uncomfortable" watching people kiss) and they broke apart.

Before Beck let go of Jade though, he murmured, "I told you, you were fantastic. The star of the show. No one else," he glanced at Tori for emphasis.

Despite the cliché cheesiness of it all, Jade gave him a smile. But then, she had to add to it.

"Damn you. I've become the object of sappy love now, because of you," was the witty response he received.

"Eh. Doesn't matter. I love you anyways," Beck smiled, and Cat and Trina awwed in the background. Even though half the class was still watching, he shrugged.

He might get slugged afterwards by the dudes, but it was ten times better getting the Jade vs. Tori thing off his back.

A click of heels signaled someone's entrance, and they looked, only to find Sophia Michele herself entering. She made a beeline to Lane, and struck up a conversation that wavered between serious expressions and smiles.

He turned and went to go talk to André, leaving Jade to chat with Cat.

Sophia and Lane finished their chat, and Lane walked away, seemingly pleased with himself.

"Well. That was an interesting performance," the actors awkwardly gathered around her to receive their very anticipated feedback.

"When I wrote that play, I certainly never pictured Penny," she turned to Tori, "as a freakish zombie during most of it."

The director complained about his lack of pills, right before Tori opened her mouth, "Look, I can explain-"

"You don't need to explain," the playwright held up her hand. "I totally got it." She looked around knowingly at the befuddled cast.

"You did? You do? She got it!" Tori looked happy for only a few seconds, before, "What'd you get?"

Jade and Beck looked at each other, confused, from across the group. Both of them were lost.

Sophia Michele went on to describe the 'emotional depth,' and whatnot, while Jade just stared and nodded. Let her interpret it the way she wanted, it was a mistake; no matter what label you put on it.

Everyone nodded in false agreement.

"Well, we're really glad you liked it!"

"Yeah, and, did you enjoy my performance, Ms. Michele?" the question was killing Robbie, he had to ask.

"Wow, I am late for my plane," she now seemed in a hurry to get the hell out of the school.

Jade raised an eyebrow. That's not what it said in the email...

"We heard you were gonna be in LA all week?" she said it more as a question.

"Right. Well, bye," she strode off, leaving the gang to be showered with compliments from the director.

"Alright, congratulations, everyone! Now, before we go, just a couple of quick co-"

The now-familiar sound of disco music blasted throughout the theater once more, accompanied by color-changing lights flashing on every given surface.

Sinjin pranced onto the catwalk in a ridiculous '70s costume. "Don't fight it!" he began dancing in happy giddiness.

Normally, Jade would have climbed up their to scream at Sinjin, but, with high spirits, she figured to screw it.

She wouldn't have to worry about Tori, about her boyfriend, about cheating and distrust, for the rest of the night.

So she danced. They danced.

And that, is the end of the full-on Jori rivalry. At least, for now.

Ah! Finished! Cheesy ending, I had to :). This one was mainly repairing the trust that broke down between them from the last episode. And Jade (finally) getting over being jealous of Tori - for now. I'm fairly sure they're still going to deal with that later on in the show.

I'm really sorry this took forever, but I hope you enjoyed it!

&& the next one's coming soon, I have summer break after this week!

Eagerly waiting iPWV!