Waking up on Monday morning was the thing Tori dreaded the most in the last months. She loved the weekends because she was able to disappear: lock herself in her empty home and let her frustrations free. She didn't have to be careful if or when she would collapse and start crying. She didn't have to carry a fake smile around. She didn't have to act as if everything was alright. But Monday mornings meant that she had to go back to a place where she could not do any of that. Monday's meant that for the next five days, she had to put a smile on no matter how much she wanted to cry; she had to act happy no matter how emotionally broken she was; she had to communicate with people when she wanted to be alone.
But as soon as Tori opened her eyes she knew that this Monday was already different. She wasn't sure if it was because she had made any kind of progress with her family. Telling her mother and father how she felt and giving them a piece of her mind felt good after all this time. Trina's pregnancy would force her to stop with whatever she was doing and finally confront reality. The last few days might have been the first small steps towards a better future for the Vega family.
She wasn't sure if it was because she found out about Courtney and her situation. Finding her that night might have been the first step Courtney needed for her own better future. Tori made her promise to stop making money that way; gave her all spare clothes she had and more importantly and Andre was looking for a place where Courtney could support her family without sacrificing her own body, mind and sanity.
She wasn't sure if it was because Cat and Robbie have never seemed happier than in the last few days after they started dating. For two people who have known each other for so long and always were close, they seemed just that much happier after they took that one step further.
But when Tori looked down and saw a tattooed, scared arm hold her around the waist; when she felt someone leaning on her back; when she heard those small snores that escaped Jade every now and then; when she remembered the kiss Jade gave her before they both fell asleep… She understood why this Monday did not bother her at all.
Tori felt Jade move and a few moments later, she felt the arm around her waist tighten its grip, pulling Tori closer.
"Is it morning already?" Jade asked.
"Yeah. It's six AM." Tori said, closing her eyes and enjoying the comfortable. When Jade tried to get up, Tori grabbed Jade's arm and held it, not letting the Goth get up.
"Vega, I need to get coffee too before we go to school." Jade said.
"Mhm." Tori mumbled, not letting go anyway.
"Oh, you wanna play it like that?" Jade said.
Tori inhaled sharply when she felt Jade kiss the back of her neck, and slowly work her way towards her shoulder. Tori's grip slowly loosened and Tori spun around. Jade took the moment and jumped on Tori, holding the half Latina's arms over her head. Tori bit her bottom lip, excitement slowly overcoming her. She watched as Jade slowly moved towards her. Tori closed her eyes, waiting for the kiss. She could feel Jade's breath tickle her face.
"Not without my coffee." Jade said before she got off Tori. Tori's eyes snapped open as she leaned on her elbows and looked at Jade in disbelief, who only smirked back at her.
"You will pay for this." Tori said.
"Can't wait." Jade said as she walked into the bathroom.
Tori groaned as she got off the bed and picked up her clothes. She already wore them yesterday, but it would need to do for today.
The bathroom door opened and Jade was already dressed. Tori immediately shot her a glare, and got a snigger in return.
"Hey, take me seriously when I'm angry with you."
"Nope." Jade said as she walked past Tori and planted a quick kiss on her cheek.
Tori immediately rushed into the bathroom. A wide smile formed on her lips as she looked in the mirror. She knew that there was no use denying it. She was in love.
A few minutes later Tori got out of the bathroom and both girls walked out of the house and towards Jade's car.
"Tell me something." Jade said as she drove towards the Starbucks near Hollywood Arts.
"What?"
"What are we? You and I. What are we right now?" Jade asked, looking at the girl in the passenger seat.
"W-What do you want us to be?" Tori asked back.
"Are we dating now? Are we taking it slow? Are we telling anyone?" Jade asked, denying Tori the possibility of dodging her question again.
"I…I would love it if we gave it a try. I mean… you know how much I appreciate what you have done for me."
"Mhm."
"If you want to give us a try…"
"Tori, I'm asking you what you want." Jade said. "Because if it's my decision, you are in a relationship right now. But I also want to know how you feel."
"If it was my decision, I wouldn't have let you leave the bed today. It's all just… new to me. I'm not so good with relationships. My last…half dozen have been a complete disaster." Tori explained.
"Really? Are you just comparing me to cheater cheater Danny and small dick Ryder Daniels? I do believe that I'm a few dozen leagues above them." Jade said.
"You know I didn't mean it that way. I… I want nothing more than to be with you right now. I really do. But I'm afraid that I will somehow screw it up." Tori admitted.
"It wasn't you who screwed up your last relationships."
"But I'm the common denominator in all of them." Tori said.
"Well, how about this? I won't compare you to Beck, and you don't compare me to all those assholes you dated. Because we aren't like them in any way." Jade suggested.
"D-Do you really…believe that it could work?" Tori asked.
"If I didn't, I wouldn't be asking you." Jade said as she parked her car. "Look, take your time to think this through. I won't force you to make any quick decisions. Don't worry." Jade said.
"Thanks."
"No problem. Come on, coffee's on me." Jade said as she left the car. Tori followed.
Ten minutes later they entered their school. Both stopped when they saw all of their colleagues and teachers looking at something. Just as they got closer, the whole crowd dispersed.
"What's going on?" Jade asked. Tori looked around for anyone she could ask, when her eyes fell on a familiar face.
"Simon! " Tori called. He turned around and walked towards them.
"Hey, what is going on?" Tori asked.
"You didn't hear what happened last night?" Simon asked.
"If we did, we wouldn't be asking you now." Jade said.
"Well, did you notice the small storm we had last night?" Simon asked.
"No. We didn't." Tori said.
"Well, it wasn't anything big, but it was enough to rip the roof, well, the tiles off of Sinjin's house." Simon explained.
"What? Is anyone hurt?" Tori asked.
"One of the tiles hit his mother on the leg and broke it. She's in the hospital now."
"Oh no…" Tori said.
"What about Sinjin? Where is he?" Jade asked.
"Hey guys." Andre called as he, Beck, Robbie and Cat joined them. "Simon, did you tell them what happened?" Andre asked.
"I did." Simon said. "Sinjin is probably in the hospital with his mother."
"And Courtney?" Tori asked.
"She's there too, I guess." Andre said. "Look guys, we have to do something."
"I agree. But what can we do?" Robbie said.
"We could go there and help clean up the mess, at least." Simon suggested.
"Let's be smart about this." Robbie said. "We can't just show up there without a plan."
"Alright, we need something where we can put all that debris. The tiles and everything." Andre said.
"My truck would do. I just have to put some covers in the back and we can take all the mess to a junkyard." Beck said. "But why not take it a step further?"
"What do you mean?" Jade asked.
"Helen said that the wind took of the old tiles. If the wooden boards under it are still good, why not go and replace it all completely?" Beck suggested.
"You mean completely fix the roof?" Robbie asked.
"Exactly. And why not? There's enough of us. Not to mention that we could always ask for help from others, be it our colleagues here or even Sinjin's neighbors. They don't have such a big roof. It could be done in one day if it's only setting up the tiles." Beck explained.
"Guys, I have no idea how to do that. And the better question is, where can we get new tiles and everything?" Robbie asked.
"My dad's best friend runs a construction company. I'll give him a call right now and ask him if he has any materials to spare. But before I call him, what do you say? Are we gonna do this?" Beck asked.
"I'm in. I helped my grandpa build his own house from scratch back home; I know how to put some tiles up a roof." Simon said.
"I'm in." Andre said. "You just tell Robbie and me what to do." Andre said.
"Mhm." Robbie nodded.
"I worked a summer for my dad's friend there. I know we can do this." Beck said.
"We want to help too." Cat said, looking at Jade and Tori.
"Sure. There's enough work for everyone." Simon said.
"Alright. I'll go and make the phone call. You guys go and ask Helen to give us a day off to do this." Beck said.
Beck took out his phone and left while Andre, Robbie and Simon made their way towards Helen's office.
"I can't believe this happened to Sinjin and Courtney." Tori said.
"Don't worry. We'll help them. You heard Beck. We could fix their roof by today." Cat said.
"We need to pick up one of them first. We can't just go to someone's place and start working without their permission." Jade said.
"Could you drive me there?" Tori asked.
"Of course." Jade said, putting her arm around Tori.
"Hey, did your mom call yesterday for a reason or?" Cat asked.
"She wanted to know what happened with Trina. Dad told her about the pregnancy test." Tori said.
"Oh. What did you tell her?"
"I told her off. I told her that I'm done with all of them." Tori said.
"I understand. But what about Trina?" Cat asked.
"What do you mean?" Tori asked.
"She needs someone to help her now. I can't imagine how scared she must be." Cat said.
"She should have thought of that before she went sleeping around." Jade said.
"I know but after what happened…"
"It happened to Tori too." Jade said. Cat stayed silent.
"I understand what both of you mean. If she asks me for help, I won't hesitate for a second. But I also won't go and beg her to let me." Tori said.
"I can't say anything against that." Cat said.
"Hey." Beck said as he walked back to them. "I just talked to my dad's friend. He agreed to give us the materials. He'll send one of his guys there in an hour to see what we need and take some measures." He explained.
"That's great! " Cat said. A minute later, Andre, Robbie and Simon came back too.
"Helen agreed to give today and tomorrow off to anyone who goes there and helps. Did you get the tiles?" Robbie asked.
"Mhm. One of his guys will be at Sinjin's place in an hour to see what we need." Beck said.
"Awesome." Andre said.
"Should we go and ask the others if they want to help?" Tori suggested.
"No need. Helen will tell everyone during the next break." Simon explained. "We should all get home and change into some older clothes. This job could get dirty."
"I agree. Grab some gloves if you have them too." Beck said.
"Our stuff is at Cat's place. I'll drive us there and we can go pick up Sinjin and Courtney." Jade said.
"Guys, wait." Tori said.
"What is it?" Andre asked.
Tori looked at her friends as everyone looked at her, waiting to hear what she wanted to say. She was nervous; scared. She didn't know if she was the one rushing this now. But if Jade was so sure, then Tori would not be the one to keep her waiting.
"You all, well Simon you don't; but you know what my family situation is." Tori began.
"Look, I'll just meet you guys at Sinjin's place." Simon said.
"No, stay. This is not something I want or need to hide." Tori said as she looked back at Jade. "I want this to work. But for that I also have to do something." Tori said as she stepped closer to Jade. "So if you ask me, you are in a relationship right now."
A smile formed on Jade's lips as she immediately cupped Tori's cheeks with her hands and kissed her.
"Thank you." Jade said. Tori smiled before she looked back at their friends. To her surprise, Robbie put his arm around Cat, both of them smiling knowingly while Andre and Simon looked more amused than surprised. But her biggest fear was Beck, whose face was blank. He didn't react at all. Tori's mood dropped immediately, as did everyone's around them. Tori saw that everyone's attention was now on him.
"Congratulations." Beck said as he put his hands in his pocket and let out a sigh. "I'll see you guys at Sinjin's place." He said before he walked away.
"Beck, wait." Tori called, but he didn't stop, and before she could call his name again, he had already left.