She had waited for this opportunity for months now. Here she was, sitting across from her older sister. She had to admit, it felt good to tell her mother how she felt without holding back one thought; without swallowing one word. It felt good to call out her father for his cowardice and impotence. The relief she felt was beyond what she expected it would be, even after she had imagined that very scenario so often until now. And now, it was Trina's turn. She ran off without a word, ignored all her responsibilities and not once was she there with Tori when she needed her the most. And after all that, she got herself knocked up.
And yet, she couldn't get herself to scorn her; to mock her; to point out her mistakes like Trina would have done to her had the situation been reversed.
"Who's the father?" Tori asked. Jade and Cat closed the kitchen door, giving the sisters some privacy. Tori would tell them everything later, but now, she had to do this on her own.
"I don't know." Trina said, looking down at her hands.
"You don't know?"
"I don't. I…There are multiple possible candidates." Trina explained.
"Multiple possible candidates?" Tori repeated in disbelief. "And how many multiple possible candidates are we talking about here?"
"Fourteen…Fifteen." Trina said, barely louder than a whisper.
"Oh my god…" Tori sighed, rubbing her temple.
"Look, if you want to yell at me, go ahead. Mom and dad already did. It's your turn." Trina said.
"I'm not going to yell. Honestly, I don't even know why I took you here with me." Tori said as she got off of the couch. "Your room is here, downstairs; second door to the left." Tori said as she walked to the kitchen door and opened it, only to find Jade and Cat quickly jumping away from it.
"Uhm, Tori… We… We weren't…"Jade began.
"We totally weren't listening to what you and Trina were discussing." Cat said and smiled.
"I can't deal with anything more today. I'm going upstairs." Tori said she turned around and walked into one of the quest rooms. She shut the door and lied down on the bed. Her body relaxed for the first time that day since waking up and the instant aches made her realize just how stressful this Monday was.
Just as she closed her eyes she heard a small buzz before she felt the vibration in her pocket. As she took it out of her pocket, she made a mental note of people she hoped she would not see on the screen right now. She was more than happy when she saw that it was none of them.
"Hey Andre." She answered.
"Hey there. How did the family reunion go?"
"As well as you can imagine. Long story short, Garry cheated on my mom, she wants to come back, I told her off, she slapped me, Trina and I are now at Cat's place and we have no idea what's next." Tori explained.
"What's next is we will graduate and keep moving forward. Get into the colleges we want, get the degrees we want and do our thing."
"Such a happy story doesn't seem realistic to me right now."
"So the girl who can read people's minds just by touching them is talking to me about how something doesn't sound realistic?"
"Okay, you got me there."
"Look, I don't want you to worry about the future or anything. You still have me and my support and I will not let you end up on the street. I will not allow you to fall apart completely. Not while we still are friends. And I can't talk for everyone else, but I'm sure they would all say the same."
"Thank you Andre." Tori said, a small smile forming on the edge of her lips.
"Get some sleep and I'll see you tomorrow at school."
"I will. Love you."
"Love you too, girl. See you tomorrow." Andre said and hung up. Tori put her phone on the nightstand next to the bed. She took of her jeans and covered herself with a blanket. She closed her eyes again, but instead of her phone, she heard the door of her room slowly open. She didn't open her eyes. She didn't care who it was. What she needed now was sleep; rest; just for the Monday to end. But it wasn't over yet. And she understood that when she felt someone lie down next to her. She felt two arms wrap around her waist and pull her closer.
"I'm sorry we listened in. It was my idea. You can be mad at me if you want to, but please don't be mad at Cat." Jade said. Tori put her hands on Jade's and gave them a light squeeze.
"I'm not mad at either of you. I would have told you anyway. I just need some rest, that's all. I'm tired." Tori said. She felt Jade's breath in the back of her neck. Jade's grip around her tightened lightly.
"If you want to talk about Trina and your parents, I'm here." Jade said.
"I just want to rest a bit. I just want a day to go by without something or a dozen things going on. Just one…" Tori said. "Instead, every day I wake up telling myself that things will get better, and then it goes downhill again."
"You think today was bad? I thought today was great." Jade said.
"How can you say that after everything that happened today?" Tori asked.
"You and I are together, and we told our friends who accepted us without a hint of resentment or anything, and even Beck gave us his blessing in the end of it all because of Andre. We made sure that Sinjin and Courtney have a roof over their heads in more ways than one today. You confronted your parents; finally told them all those things that must have been building up in you for so long now. And when you could have left Trina there with them, you didn't. You could have left her to deal with her problems like she left you, and yet you didn't. And that's what I love about you. After everything, you still have a heart. You still show compassion and empathy towards others. You could have hidden behind a bitchy façade like I did; you could have gotten drunk and careless like Trina did, but instead, you refused to budge. You went the most difficult route of them all. And here you are: still yourself, still strong, still not willing to give up. And don't get me started on you walking around, reading everyone's problems and helping everyone out despite your own problems. If our roles were reversed, I would not be able to do that." Jade admitted.
"It…It's not easy." Tori said in a voice on the verge of cracking.
"I know. But you are not alone. And I will never let you feel alone again." Jade said.
Tori turned around so she was facing her girlfriend. She felt one of Jade's arms let her go before Jade brought her hand up and wiped away a tear that had made it's way down Tori's cheek. She put her hand on the back of Tori's hand and pulled her in for a kiss. Tori wrapped arms around Jade, pulling away from the kiss and her girlfriend into a hug.
"Thank you." Tori said.
"You're everso welcome." Jade said in her southern accent, earning a chuckle from Tori.
"I hate that voice." Tori said, still smiling.
"I know."
"One question." Tori said.
"What is it?"
"Do you plan to tell your dad about us?" Tori asked. She felt Jade stiffen at the mention of her father.
"I…I didn't plan to, to be honest." Jade said.
"I didn't plan on telling mine either, but I did. It felt good." Tori admitted.
"Yeah, but you don't care about what they think." Jade said.
"I see." Tori said after a short pause.
"I'm going to tell him. But I need some time. I don't want to be disowned just yet." Jade said.
"I understand. Whenever you're ready, we can do this. I won't let you go through that on your own either."
"You are using my own words against me."
"Indeed."
"And you're enjoying it."
"Indeed." Tori chuckled.
"You know, after all the crap he already gives me, this might just be the final straw for him. He will throw me out, disown me, marry his cunt of a girlfriend and once they have the baby, he can finally have the child he always wanted." Jade said.
"If that's the case, don't tell him. I can't ask you to throw away your future and family because I did. I just thought…"
"I will tell him. I want to, and I won't let you even get the idea that you're responsible for how he is going to react, you got that?"
"It's your choice." Tori said.
"I know. We'll graduate, find a job; hell, I'll skip a year if necessary, go to college and be follow our dreams. Go to classes, work whenever we have time during the week. Fuck, maybe a small part in a movie or sing somewhere during the weekend. Whatever. But we will make it." Jade said.
"I wish I could share your confidence. That sounds just too perfect for me." Tori said.
"Better aim too high than too low. You never know." Jade said.
"I'll rather keep my expectations low. It makes the disappointments easier to handle." Tori said.
"Now you sound like me."
"Oh shut up." Tori laughed.
"And then there's Trina." Jade said. "How do you think her future looks in her head right now?"
Tori didn't answer. She realized why the anger towards her sister could not compare to the anger she felt towards her parents. Trina wasn't like them. She was a victim. David and Holly made the decisions. The only thing Trina did was react; cope with the situation however she could.
"I need to talk to her." Tori said, letting go of her girlfriend.
"I'll wait here. Oh, and Robbie is downstairs with Cat. You might catch them making out on the couch." Jade said with a smirk.
Tori rolled her eyes and walked out of her rooms and made her way downstairs. Fortunately for her, neither Cat nor Robbie were downstairs. Tori stopped in front of Trina's room and knocked, not waiting for an answer and opening the door. She saw Trina turn look up from where she was lying. Tori closed the door and sat down on the bed next to Trina. She took Trina's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"I'm sorry." Trina said, her voice small and full of regret.
"It's not your fault." Tori said.
"No. It is. I could have dealt with everything better. But now it's too late. I don't even know who the fucking father is." Trina said, her voice breaking at the end as she began to sob. Tori leaned down and sat her up before hugging her tightly.
"I know you are scared. I am too. But we're going to figure this out."
"H-how?"
"Somehow. We are going to find a way. Today, everyone made it more than clear to me that I'm not alone, no matter what. And now I want you to understand that you are not alone either. You will always have me, Trina." Tori said.
Trina didn't answer, instead hugging her sister for dear life. Tori kept calming Trina down, reassuring her that everything was going to be alright. She only wished she was sure of it herself.