Disclaimer: I do NOT own Victorious

Chapter Seven: One Day Too Late (By: Skillet)

Jade P.O.V

Buzz….buzz…buzz

"Who the fuck thinks it's okay to call me at…" I mutter rousting myself from unconsciousness. I gently pull my arm from underneath Tori and reach for my phone. Without looking at the caller ID I answer the call.

"Jade! Where the hell are you?!" Oh great it's my ever loving father.

"Oh well hello to you my dearest father." I reply with as much innocent sarcasm as possible.

"Cut the crap Jade, where are you?"

"I don't see what the big deal is I'm never home anymore, but you would never know that because you don't give a shit nor are ever there in the first place."

"Don't you dear speak to me like that." He states in a dangerously low voice which only fuels me.

"Whatever do you mean daddy dearest?" I say in an innocent voice similar to that of Cat's.

"Jade West!" He roars. "I'm tired of all your bullshit. You would be smart to come home an-"Click. Ha I bet the little turd wasn't expecting me to hang up.

"Mmm, Jade, baby who was that?" Tori mumbles as she rolls over. She may be sleepy but she looks absolutely beautiful; the small amount of sunlight that enters her room makes her skin glow even more and it reflect beautifully on her long brown locks. I had realized she was talking to me until she was snapping her fingers in front of my face.

"Huh…" I say incoherently. Tori just giggles and repeats her previous question. "Oh…that was my father."

"Jade I know you don't like the man but you can't ju-"She's interrupted by my phone vibrating once again. "Jade, you know it's him. Answer your phone." With a groan I comply with her wishes.

"Did you just hang up on me?" He bellows.

"Oh I don't know did it sound something like this." I press the end call button on my phone and smile in triumph.

"Jade you can't do that to your father." Tori exclaims.

"Why can't I?" I question. "He doesn't care about me Tori. All he does is what for me to slip up and do something stupid so he can punish me; that doesn't sound like a father to me." I explain with sad eyes. People just don't understand my family. Ever since my parents split things have been different in the West household. Were not a family anymore; my mother lives on the east coast, my father is hardly ever home, Vlad is dead, which just leaves Jason and I to fend for ourselves.

"Jade I may not completely understand your situation, but that man is still your father and you must respect that." She states while wrapping her slender arms around my frame. "Babe please…just try." I let out an exaggerated sigh and nod agreeing with her.

"I just want him to understand me…but I know he won't."

"Well have you tried to talk to him?" My silence answers her question. "Jade you have to put forth some effort too. Sure he won't change overnight but you have to create change not act like he's meaningless to you every time he does talk to you."

"Who knew you were so deep Vega." I answer with a slight smile.

"Well you would have known if you didn't act like you hated me for the past year." She retorts with a chuckle.

"Who said I was acting?" I ask with mock seriousness. Of course my question earns me a slap on the arm, but I also get to hear Tori laugh. Her laughter always makes me smile and that's what I'm in need of at this moment. "So how exactly do I take a step to rebuild a type of relationship with my father?" I inquire actually serious this time. Before Tori can respond her stomach rumbles.

"Well since I'm apparently hungry, how about we discuss plans over lunch?" She offers amidst my laughter.

"Sounds good, Vega."

"Jade do you think you could call me Tori from now on?" She asks in a timed voice, while I venture of the bed and across the room in search of my jeans.

"Not a chance Vega." I answer with my signature smirk.

"Jade, where are we going?"

"Were just heading a little north of the city. Don't worry Vega I'm not going to leave you out here; I just want to show you something."

Silence reclaims its place in the car but the silence is quite comfortable. It's strange…if you told me three weeks ago that I would be taking Vega to one of my favorite places in this world I would have laughed in your face and preceded to most likely punch you in the face. But here we are, heading out into the middle of nowhere so I can have lunch with Vega in a very special place. It's unexpected yet expected all at the same time. As I look back I realize I've had feelings for Vega for quite some time. Sure I hated her guts when I was dating Beck, but once we broke up I had no reason to dislike Vega. My hatred sort of diminished and was replaced by confusion. It took a series of interesting events for me to come to terms with what I was really feeling…love.

With that thought a genuine smile crosses my face, only to turn to a scowl when I realize what I was just thinking. Whoa, wait…I cannot love Vega; I mean we've only been together for like a few days. Sure I've known the girl for a while and she was certainly stunning from the moment I first saw her, but I cannot love her, could I?

"Jade, what are you thinking about?" Tori softly inquires.

"Ohh…huh nothing." I respond. I feel an overwhelming sense of heat rush to my face as an uncommon blush spreads.

"You sure you don't want to talk about it?"

"Umm no, not really."

"Okay"

There's no way I could tell Tori I love her or anything like that. We just got together and I don't think that I will actually mean it at this point. Not to be a bitch but I only love a few people, that being my brother, Garfield, and Beck. I can't love because I know at some point I will have to say goodbye. Its selfish but I can't tell Tori I love her anytime soon because I know she'll leave me at some point and I'll be damaged a little bit more.

"Vega we're here." My voice sounds empty as I put my car in park and turn off the engine.

"Where exactly is here? I mean all I can see is trees." Vega cautiously questions.

"Well we have to walk a little bit and then we will be there."

We get out the car and I grab our bag of food, proceeding to sling it over my shoulder. Without a word I begin towards the woods. Vega wordlessly follows me as traverse the dense woods, there's an obvious trail but it's a little overgrown so some amount of coordination is needed to follow it.

"Jade is this safe?" Tori squeals as she almost trips over her own two feet.

"Stop being such a baby. How can you be a dancer if you can't even walk on a path with a few twigs?"

"Don't be such a meanie! I just lack the necessary coord- ummph." As Tori falls to the ground she lashes out and gets a hold of my jacket, bring me down on top of her. Although I'm not particularly excited about being on the ground I can't help but laugh about the situation. Vega joins in on my laughter and we continue until our roars become quiet giggles; it's then that we notice our current positioning.

"Ohh, sorry Tori." I say scurrying off of her body and extending my hand to help her up. She takes my hand with a smile and pushes off the ground, her eyes never leaving my own. To her surprise, I smile at her and intertwine our still joined hands. "Come on Tori were almost there."

We walk had in had until the path disappears and leads to an opening. We step out into the opening an I hear Tori gasp.

"This place is beautiful." She exclaims. We're greeted with scenery that seems directly out of a story book. To our sides Rolling Meadows, filled with a beautiful array of flowers, seem to go on for miles, while a steep cliff face lies in from of us, giving a direct view of the valley below. "How did you find this place?"

"When my brother died I needed to find a place where I could just think without judgment. I had been running for hours when I finally stopped this was where I ended up. I've come here every week ever since." Tori looks up at me with astonishment. I offer her a light smile which she returns.

"Thank you for sharing that story and this place with me."

"I don't own it so it's not my place to share; it's open for anyone who's willing to seek it out." I'm not sure if I'm talking about this place or my love, but it doesn't matter because both are open to Tori. I look down at our hands and then back at her face. "How about we eat?" Tori nods in agreement and we walk further into the opening. We settle on a place close to the cliff so she can get a better look at the valley that lies below.

After eating in silence for about twenty minutes, Tori finally specks up. "So when are you going to call your dad?"

"I hadn't really thought about what to say so…I don't know."

"Perhaps now would be a good time. We could arrange to have dinner or something tonight."

"We?" I question.

"Yes we, as in you, him, and myself."

"Tori I'm not sure if that's the best of ideas." I see all remnants of joy slide from her face. "Tori it's not you, he isn't a very accepting man." I reach out for her hand and envelope it in my own. "You mean so much to me, you really do, but-"

"But what Jade? I introduced you to my parents now it's your turn. It doesn't matter if he doesn't approve, we're together Jade and I feel he should know."

"Fine but I'm not going to tell him over the phone we're going back to my house." I command lifting her from her sitting position.

"We're leaving now?" She asks, clear confused by my sudden action.

"Tori it's now or never. If I don't get this over with now I'm going to lose my drive, so let's go."

We trot back down the path, we'll basically I trot coherently while Vega holds onto one of my arms with a death grip while she struggles to keep up. Once we reach my car we get in and I speed down the highway. We remain quiet up until I pull into my drive way.

"I can never get over how big your house is." Tori mutters. She looks at me and offers a smile. "Everything is going to be fine, trust me." She adds, compassion and kindness present in her voice.

"Okay here we go." I punch in the access code and wait for the garage door to open. "Damn his car isn't here."

"Jade you have like eight cars."

"Yes, but he only drives the Cadillac. Also my father and I are the only ones that can drive."

"Huh." Tori mutters, but doesn't push the issue further. We get out of the car and head into the house.

"JJJADDDEEE!" Jason screams when we walk into the living room. He jumps up from his place on the couch and runs into my arms.

"What's up kiddo?" I ask as I pick him off the ground with a massive bear hug. I place him back on the ground and give him a smile. Oddly Jason doesn't return the gesture; instead he looks like he's going to cry. "Jason, what's wrong?"

"Miss West would you please sit down?" An unknown individual voices. I whirl around to find owner, and am greeted by two police officers. I recognize one of them as Master Sergeant Foxx. I've known him since I was five since he served alongside my father in the Gulf Wars. My father and him may have joined separate practices but they remained close over the years.

"What's up with the formalities Foxy? Don't you remember that you're like family?" I retort with a smirk.

"Jade…please just sit?" I can hear the seriousness in his voice, and I follow his instructions. "Are you one of her friends?" This time the question is for Tori.

"Yes I am." Tori says with confidence.

"Will you please sit next to Jade?" Tori wordlessly follows his instructions and sits next to me grabbing my hand with her own. Foxx looks at our entwined hands for only a second before he lets out a sigh. "Jade…this…this is hard for me. I've known you for so long, since you were little. I don't know how to tell you this."

"How about you just tell me what the hell is going on?" I snap, irritated.

"I…there was nothing we, we could have done. He…he was so far gone…we couldn't bring him back." Foxx softly states lowering his head.

"Foxx what are you talking about?" He raises his head and I see his tear filled eyes.

"There was nothing we could do…I'm so, so sorry Jade." He starts to sob. "Your fathers gone Jade. I'm so sorry for your loss"

A/N: Bit of a cliffhanger but it's needed for the rest of the plot. I'm so sorry for my sporadic updating I just can't juggle my work very well. I have no time anymore, but I am trying to update whenever possible. Until next time-

JKJOKER