Later in the day, after Vega had left and I had soaked in a hot bath, trying to sweat out my hangover, Robbie had courteously dropped off my car for me. Beck had followed him in his truck and when I went outside to get my keys, Beck got out of his truck and I got the impression they wanted to chat.

"How ya feeling?" Beck asked as he squinted at me through the sun.

"Fine? Why wouldn't I be?" I replied, irritated already with his inquiry.

"Robbie said he took you home last night because you got in a fight with your parents. I just wanted to make sure you were okay." Beck said, though the way he was looking at me made me nervous. When we were dating, I could never hide anything from him. I was hoping that now things would be different.

"Oh, yeah. They weren't even awake when I got home, so it was a waste. Go figure." I said nonchalantly as I ran a hand through my hair.

Beck let out a sigh and shoved his hands into his pockets, "Okay, what's going on, here?"

I glanced at Robbie who looked incredibly nervous, "What are you talking about?"

"If you got into a fight with your parents, why would you need Tori?" He asked, looking at me skeptically.

"Because if I brought Vega with me, they'd have to wait to yell at me. They'd hate for strangers to think poorly of them." I said snidely.

Beck shook his head, "Not buying it."

"Yeah, and why's that?" I asked as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"That hickey on your neck." Beck said, nodding in my directing. My eyes grew wide as I moved my hair to cover my neck. Beck chuckled as he shook his head.

I let out a defeated sigh, "Fine. Get inside. I'm not having a pow-wow in my driveway." I said as I ushered the two boys into my house. "You couldn't have said I was sick or something? Something that would have made sense for Vega's assistance." I said as I followed them inside.

"I'm sorry! It was the best I could come up with when I got back to Tori's last night!" Robbie squealed apologetically. I rolled my eyes, not really interested in continuing an argument that was quite pointless.

Beck flopped down onto the couch in my living room while Robbie sat in an armchair. They both watched as I paced the length of the living room for a few minutes, gathering my thoughts. I gave up trying to figure out the best way to tell them the story so I stopped my movements and looked at them.

"Well?" I asked, expectantly.

"What's going on with you?" Beck asked, sounding concerned.

"Yeah, and what's Tori's deal? When Trina brought her back this morning, she was pissed." Robbie added.

This piqued my interest. I looked at him questioningly, "She was upset?"

"She wouldn't talk to anyone. She went straight up to her room. Trina told us to just let it go." Robbie answered with a shrug.

"So, what happened?" Beck asked again.

I let out a disgruntled groan as I ran a hand through my hair, "Vega and I have been...Well, we sort of...We've been sleeping together." I finally managed to blurt out, ignoring the slight heat rising in my cheeks. Beck and Robbie looked at me with their mouths agape and eyes wide in disbelief.

"You...have been sleeping with Tori? The girl that you hate? The girl that you've tried to force into anaphylactic shock by shoving her face in bush daisies? The girl that you pushed off of a two story set? The girl that-"

"Okay, I get it! I haven't been the nicest to her. So maybe that's why she's doing this to me, then." I said as I slumped into the chair on the other side of the couch.

"Doing what?" Beck asked as he sat up.

"I don't even know." I said quietly as I rested my chin on my hands with my elbows on my knees.

"Wait, you don't...Do you like her?" Beck asked almost comically. I looked at him with hard eyes and he dropped the humorous smile and looked at me seriously, "Shit. You do."

"So, what's Tori's take in all of this?" Robbie asked, directing my death glare away from Beck.

I shook my head, "I couldn't tell you. One day it seems like she really likes me and the next it's like it's all about sex and she could care less about what I'm feeling." I said sullenly.

"What do you mean?" Beck asked hesitantly.

"A few days ago, she drunkenly told me that she loves me, but when I confronted her about it she denied it. It's just really complicated." I said as I looked down and shook my head.

"Why don't you just stop sleeping with her, then?" Beck asked, as if it were really so simple. I looked at him through narrowed eyes.

"You think I haven't tried that?"

Beck laughed at that, "It isn't like she's making you."

I chuckled, looking at my hands while I spoke, "No, but she doesn't have to. I tell myself, fuck, I even tell her, that I'm done and that I'm walking away. But I always end up going back to her."

"Maybe that's the problem. She thinks she can do whatever she wants because she knows you'll come crawling back. You gotta show her that you're irreplaceable. That if she doesn't wise up and cut the act, she's going to lose the best thing she'll ever get." Beck said, and what caught me off guard was how passionately he spoke about me. He blushed slightly when he realized what he had said, running a hand through his hair awkwardly and looking around the room.

"He's right." Robbie said, "She's gonna keep doing this to you if you don't do something sooner or later. You deserve better than that."

"Thanks guys. I don't know, though. It's just...a whole lot of shit I gotta deal with I guess." I said with a sad smile.

"You might be better off without her. Or you might be great with her once she figures her own shit out." Beck said with a shrug before standing, "I gotta get going. Rob, you want a ride?" He asked, stretching out his body and looking at Robbie.

"If that's okay." Robbie said, standing as well and looking at me, "You're gonna be okay, Jade."

I smiled as I stood as well, "I always am. That's one thing I can guarantee."

I saw them both out and once I was alone again, I went back up to my room, closing the door and blasting my music, hoping to sort out my thoughts. Laying on my bed, I reached over to my nightstand to grab my phone, realizing I had left it in my room the entire time I was with the guys.

I had a series of messages from Vega:

Can we talk?

Jade, seriously?

Look, I think we need to talk about this morning.

Please, stop ignoring me.

You know, for someone who has been begging for answers, you're not exactly welcoming.

I rolled my eyes. The last one was from only five minutes ago. I opened up a new message and punched in a quick reply.

I'm on my way.

Sweet and simple. So I got out of bed and dressed myself, put on a little make up and fixed my hair so it covered the rather large hickey I hadn't noticed this morning, and I was out the door and on my way to Vega's.

When I arrived, I knocked on her door. Three loud raps and then I waited. And waited. I almost turned around and gave up right as the door swung open and Vega was standing there, her hair in a messy bun on the top of her head and her glasses perched on her nose.

"Jade. You came." She said, a soft smile playing at her lips.

"I said I would." I said casually as I walked by her and into her house.

"Let's go upstairs." Vega said as she closed the door and lead the way to the second story of her house. I followed her, albeit slightly reluctantly. My heart was currently thundering in my chest as I thought about what I was walking into.

I closed her bedroom door behind me and watched as she walked slowly around her bed and took a seat.

"Well?" I asked as I crossed my arms and tapped my foot expectantly.

"Look, about what I said this morning..." She began softly.

I scoffed and rolled my eyes, "Of course that's what this is about. Another confession you were wanted to unload on me only to ignore it and pretend it never happened when I brought it up? Like I didn't see that coming."

"Jade, that is not fair." Vega said, her voice low.

"No, you know what isn't fair? The way you've been treating me." I said, pointing a finger in my chest.

"And you've been treating me any better? Making out with Robbie and Andre right in front of me! Do you think I wanted to see that?" Vega asked, her voice cracking slightly.

"Green isn't a very good color on you, Vega." I said snidely before pausing for a moment as I thought about what she had just said, "Do you...do you just want me to want you? Is that what this is? Do you just need to know that there is someone willing to fall on their sword for you? This isn't one of your shitty pop songs or some chick flick, Vega. I have feelings. Something you've been doing a damn good job and pretending don't exist lately. So I'm done. I'm over all this shit. I'm over breaking my own heart over you. I'm out." I practically snarled as I took a step back towards her door.

"Jade, wait." She said, standing up from her spot on the bed and walking over to me.

"For what? For you to finally accept the fact that you want to be with me? I've been waiting for you, Vega. Since the morning after that first fucking night when you thought it would be a good idea for you to kiss me. And all I've gotten in return is drunk sex and a broken heart."

She looked at me completely dejected as she dropped her hand from my arm. I shook my head, casting her one last look of disdain before turing to leave.

I paused as my hand clasped tightly to the doorknob. I turned my head slightly and asked her the question that had been burning inside me since all of this started, "Why did you kiss me that night, Vega?"

"Why did you kiss back?" She asked, her voice soft.

I turned completely to look at her, "Don't answer my question with another question." I said, trying to sound threatening.

She looked at me for a moment before her eyes glanced around her room, "I wanted to get you out of my head."

"What?" I asked in disbelief, taking a step closer to her.

"I haven't been able to stop thinking about you, Jade. It's been driving me crazy. So yeah, I kissed you. I thought it would help me get over this stupid fucking infatuation that I've had with you." She said sharply, and I had to suppress a chuckle with the way she whispered fucking.

"Did it work?" I asked as the distance between us began to slowly close.

"Not a chance." She muttered as her eyes passed from my own to my lips.

"What if I don't want to be out of your head?" I questioned, my voice hardly above a whisper.

Vega's eyes locked with mine and I watched as she thought over what I had just inquired. I truly believed that maybe we had made some kind of move in the right direction with this conversation. After all, I had just gotten her to admit that she knew there was something there between us.

Finally, she spoke, "You keep asking me all of these questions, and I just don't have the answers." She said, shaking her head slightly.

I let out a light scoff as I took a step back, "Of course you don't."

"What do you want from me, Jade? Seriously. I thought this was just supposed to be like Fight Club! You know, we don't talk about it. You seemed like you were perfectly okay with that. What changed?" She pleaded, looking at me through desperate eyes.

"I did. I want more." I found myself saying as I looked at her through cold eyes.

"Why?" She asked, desolately.

"Why not, Vega? What is so wrong with wanting to be with you?" I took a step closer to her and reached out for her wrists.

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into." Vega said, trying to pull away from me as she looked down.

"Only because you won't let me. What happened to you, Tori?"

"What are you talking about?" She asked, her voice icy.

"Something happened that made you think you don't deserve to be loved." My voice was soft as I tried to pull her closer to me.

She laughed cynically, "Don't be so dramatic, Jade. All that this was between us was sex."

"You say that now, but the girl in my bed two nights ago told me she loved me. And I believe her." I said, my voice soft.

"And what if I said she wasn't worth believing?"

"What about the girl this morning? Is she worth believing? Not even twenty-four hours ago were you telling me that you could fucking get used to waking up next to me. And now you're going back on it and I'm just supposed to act like it never happened. Just like we always do." I said through clenched teeth, growing incredibly irritated with how fickle she was being with me.

"I don't know, Jade." She said softly as she pried herself out of my hands.

"I want you to look at me and tell me you don't like me. That you don't feel anything for me. If you can do that, I'll do what you asked and leave you alone. I'll forget all about whatever we had. Or didn't have." I said, doing my very best to fight the tears that were threatening to spill out.

She scoffed as she looked at the ground, "You say that as if not liking you is an impossible feat."

Well that hurt.

"Who knew that Tori Vega had a heart of stone?" I asked icily as I looked at her with distaste.

I watched as she sat down on her bed and shook her head, "And who knew Jade West actually had a heart?"

Twice in under five minutes. Damn, this girl was cold.

I laughed darkly as I shook my head, "I'll take that as my answer. I'm out. I can't keep fooling myself into believing that you actually gave a damn about me. So, here it is: you got what you wanted. I'll leave you alone. For good." I said, with such finality in my voice I almost believed me.

Turning and storming out of her room was easier than I anticipated, especially considering the only thing I really wanted to do was hold her as close to me as I could and tell her the truth: that I would always be there for her, and that I believed I was falling in love with her. Obviously, something like that was completely out of the question so I continued my path out of the Vega household and to my car, driving back to my place and hiding in the solace of my bedroom, where I spent the remainder of the day.

And the entirety of the following Sunday.

I did my best to walk into school on Monday with as much confidence that I could muster. Digging through my locker for nothing in particular was the only way I could keep myself from glancing over to the group as they stood around Vega's locker and talked and laughed about the party that Vega missed most of. I wonder if she was thinking about the things she had been doing to me while they told their stories. I rolled my eyes when I heard her melodic laugh ring through the halls. I was more irritated with the fact that I still thought it was adorable, despite that I currently despised everything about her. Well, that I was acting like I did at least.

"So..." I heard a familiar voice drawl, breaking me from the trance the inside of my locker had on me. I turned to see Beck leaning next to my locker, looking at me with a small smile.

"What are you doing?" I asked as I looked past his shoulder to see Vega staring at us, wearing a rather intrigued expression on her face.

"Wondering what you're doing here alone." Beck offered as he nudged me slightly, "What are you doing over here?"

I let out a sigh as I closed my locker, "This is me learning to let go, Beck."

"I take it talking to her didn't go over well."

"Like a lead balloon." I grumbled.

"Look at it this way," Beck started in an optimistic voice, "she'll be going crazy without you in no time. I give her until the end of the week before she realizes how stupid she was for letting you walk away."

My eyes found their way back to hers once more and when I saw the pain resting on her face, it was almost enough to get me to crumble right there. But with Beck standing in front of me and giving me this weird kind of pep-talk, I knew I couldn't do that. For the sake of my own heart.

She said that I wasn't the only one hurting. Well, I'd like to see her prove that.