Tori clutches at the back of Jade's jacket as they race down the freeway, cold wind leaving tiny handprints on their cheeks. The two women are both grinning like mad, even if Tori is flinching slightly.

Tori smiles into the night as Jade drives farther and farther away from the city, until they're in a semi-wooded area. "You aren't gonna kill me, are you?" Tori asks, uncertainty ringing through her voice.

Jade laughs and shakes her head before pulling up a rugged trail and onto a steep cliff. She parks the bike and steps off. Tori follows.

"Woah, you can see the entire city from here!" Tori shouts, giggling. Jade smiles at this momentary burst of old Tori, pre-baby Tori.

"Yeah, you can, can't you?" Jade responds, looking at the hundreds of twinkling lights that surround them.

"It's a bit cold." Tori smiles, her teeth chattering, "But it's still gorgeous."

"Just like you." Jade says before she can stop herself and Tori blushes deeply.

Jade smiles. "I know it is. I just wanted to show you. We're going on a tour, by the way, of my favorite places in the city."

Tori grins and Jade hops back on the bike, revving the engine. Tori wraps her arms around the other woman's waist and they're off.

The highway is treacherous again, especially in the cold, but they both manage to survive. They stop at a garage this time. It's next to a bridge.

Tori's mouth falls open and Jade walks to the underside of the concrete bridge. The sound of cars racing above their heads is deafening, but neither one cares.

Jade points at a beam that's hanging from the ceiling and she maneuvers herself onto it, staring at the river below.

"Jade…" Tori starts, looking into the water below them. "I just wanna tell you…thanks. For, you know, not flipping out about everything."

"You're welcome." Jade tells her, tracing a part of the low concrete ceiling with her hand. "I just wish we had known of each other sooner."

Tori smiles before turning Jade's face towards her. Jade arches an eyebrow.

"I just…without you…my life would be much more difficult." Tori finally says.

"Well, without you, my life would be much less interesting." Jade smirks.

They spend about five minutes looking around their surroundings before Tori breaks the silence.

"Remember that night after our date? What happened?" Tori says, and Jade nods.

"Yeah, of course I do."

"Wow, I'm surprised we got through that without trying to kill one another." Jade says, smirking.

Tori rolls her eyes and bites her lip. "Me too. Do you…do you wanna come inside, or…?"

"Vega, you know this isn't real, right?"

"Yeah, I just…do you wanna come inside?"

Jade finally nods and follows Tori up to her room, waiting for someone to say something, anything.

"Where's your mom?" Jade asks absently. The elder Vega's car hadn't been in the driveway, and it sounded like no one else was awake.

"Oh, um, she and dad are taking a break for a while." Tori said and Jade saw her jaw stiffen and her stomach tighten, even though Tori didn't even know that had happened.

"Hey." She says, brushing a piece of hair from Tori's eyes. "Look at me."

Tori finally makes eye contact with her.

"You can talk to me, you know. If you want. Or we can just lie down and I can give you a hug. Or I can pretend you didn't say anything. Or I could tell you a few secrets so we're even, or something." Jade says, sitting down on the bed.

"Lying down would be nice." Tori whispers, and Jade smiles, lying down and making room for the brunette.

"I think that was the first time you were actually, really nice to me." Tori says, and Jade bites her lip.

"And now look at us." Jade says after a beat, and Tori scrunches her eyes together, not quite closed, but in a thinking type way.

Her eyes open and her eyes flick down to Jade's lips and back up again to her eyes. Jade notices.

She holds Tori's gaze as she tilts her head. Tori closes the gap and as soon as their lips touch, Jade's eyes pop open.

She jumps back like she's been electrocuted, eyes wide, mouth in a little O, and stares at Tori.

"I'm…sorry." Tori whispers, biting her lip, "I just thought…I thought you wanted that and I'm really fucking sorry and oh my god I just fucked everything up didn't I?"

Jade swallows, and Tori continues to ramble. "Can we just pretend that didn't happen? I'm really sorry and I just screwed everything up and I get it if you hate me now-"

Jade cuts her off. "I don't hate you, Tori."

"Then…why did you…?" Tori asks, cocking her head and furrowing her brow.

"Because you and Lila broke up a little less than a week ago." Jade says matter-of-factly. "And I don't want to be a rebound."

"I…" Tori starts and Jade cuts her off again.

"Try again in a month or even a year or maybe five years. See if you still feel the same way, and then we'll talk. It's good for you to spend some time independently, Tori, and while it's pretty obvious we have feelings for each other, I think we need to spend some time figuring out what those feelings mean. Sorta like how André had a huge crush on me for a few days and then it all passed because he realized what a bitch I am."

"You knew about that?!"

"He wouldn't stop checking me out when I was singing that song, and then he started avoiding me like the plague. It doesn't take a genius to put two and two together, Tori."

"Oh my gosh." Tori laughs.

There's another pause and Tori pulls a serious face. "Sometimes I wish none of this had happened. I wish I was little again and my parents were still together and I didn't have a life that depended on me."

Jade looks at her, breath catching. "It is what it is. I think of it like this, life is smooth, and everything else is just roadwork."

"So am I just roadwork then?" Tori teases, a smirk behind her smile.

"No," Jade says, a gleam behind her eyes. "No, you're much more than that."

"What's it like?" Jade asks after a pause. "Being a mom."

"It's like…hm. When I first held him, I basically realized that I wasn't the only person in this world with thoughts, or feelings, or emotions. I realized that everyone else had independent lives, and beating hearts, and thoughts and minds and personalities. I became a whole lot less selfish, and I realized that what my mom said about valuing someone else's live above your own was true. I felt like I would murder the first person that tried to take him away from me."

Jade smiles and hops down, offering her hand to Tori. "Come on, we've got to get back to the apartment."