3 years later.

Cat huffed and crossed her arms as her eyes fixed themselves on the black haired woman across from her. "You know, you really aren't making it any easier for me."

A quiet chuckle left Jade's lips and she slowly leaned back on the couch in the Valentine/Shapiro living room, her eyes sparkling in amusement as she let them roam over the various pictures of dresses and patterns strewn out on the coffee table in front of her. "I told you, Cat. I will wear any color you want. With the exception of pink."

"But look, Jade!" Her hand shot out to grab a soft pink pattern, almost shoving it into her best friend's face. "This isn't really pink! It's like, a really, really soft pink! Washed out almost. You can't even see the pink!" The redhead's eyes were wide as she looked at Jade. "And you would look so pretty in it, I'm sure of it."

Jade raised an eyebrow and lifted her hand to pry the pattern out of Cat's fingers. With her lips pursed, she let her fingers run over the soft material, slowly nodding her head as if she really considered wearing a dress in that color before flinging the material to the side. She looked up at Cat with a smirk on her lips, lifting her shoulders in a shrug. "Nah. I think you have to choose a different color for me."

Cat's lips formed a pout at Jade's words and she turned around, letting herself fall down on the couch next to Jade. "You're being really difficult."

"Ah well. You know me. That's my thing, being difficult." Jade smirked and turned her head towards Cat who stared straight ahead, her eyebrows drawn down. The pale woman's face quickly morphed into a frown. "Cat." Jade's elbow lightly nudged the little redhead's ribs. "You knew I wasn't going to agree wearing," she paused and moved her gaze to the pictures of dresses all in different shades of pink, wrinkling her nose, "that. It was a condition, remember? I wouldn't have agreed to be your maid of honor if you hadn't promised me not to stick me into anything pink. Or anything remotely close to that."

"I know." Cat sighed loudly, then turned to face Jade, a small smile starting to form on her lips. "I just thought I could convince you. But I promise I'm going to find you a good color."

Jade nodded and let out a laugh. "You know, you are the one getting married and still you do everything possible to make me feel comfortable."

"Well, at least now you see that I would do anything for my best friend," Cat shoved Jade's knee and giggled, "Even rearrange my wedding." Jade smiled and watched as Cat began to gather the pictures together, neatly stacking them on top of the table. The sudden feeling of heaviness on her left hand caught Jade's attention and her smile began to fall when her fingers touched the smooth surface of the silver ring on her ring finger. Numbness arouse inside of her, encaging her heart, just like it always did when she thought about her. There had been a time when she couldn't think about her at all, where everything her thoughts would result into were hour long crying sessions, where the pain would get too much for her to handle. More than once did Jade think about joining her dead fiancée. It would have been so easy. Slitting her wrists, taking an overdose of pills, letting herself fall from the roof of her apartment building… it all had crossed her mind but never had she truly considered it.

"Maybe you should take it off."

Jade's eyes blinked dazedly as she lifted her eyes from the ring on her finger and her gaze fell on Cat's face, complete with a sad smile and sympathy radiating from her eyes. Almost instinctively, Jade flexed her hand, making a fist as if she was afraid that Cat would rip it off all of sudden. "No. No, I… I'm not taking it off."

Without losing her smile, Cat moved closer to Jade and gently cradled her fist in her hands. Giving it a light squeeze, Jade's hand relaxed. "Lia surely would have been a big help to me. She would have gotten you to wear a pink dress."

Jade laughed and looked down at her and Cat's hands, shaking her head. "No, she wouldn't have. If anything, she was a horrible persuader."

"Yeah. That's true." Jade lifted her head to see Cat looking at a spot on the floor with a soft smile playing on her lips. As she looked at her redheaded best friend, a feeling of gratitude washed over her when she thought back to the time just after Lia's death.

"Jade."

Cat's voice echoed in her ears, her cold hand pushing the hair out of her face. She called again, a little louder this time but Jade refused to react. Silent tears threatened to escape, so she squeezed her eyes shut even tighter, her fingers almost numbing from her tight grip on the blanket thrown over her body. It still smelled like her and if she just closed her eyes tight enough, she could even feel the warmth of her body behind her. But it's not real, it's not real. She's dead. Jade's face relaxed, a few tears finally able to roll down her cheeks and Cat's voice sounded again.

"Jade, we… we just want to make sure you're okay. Please," she pleaded, her voice thick with her own tears, "Please open your eyes."

Jade hesitated for a few seconds but then decided to follow Cat's request. Her heavy eyelids fluttered open, more tears running down her face as she looked at Cat. Behind her, Robbie was standing in the doorway of her bedroom with his hands tightly clasped together and the corners of his mouth drawn down. Jade's mouth released a shaky breath as she closed her eyes again before reopening them shortly after when Cat shakily spoke again. "Aiden called. We… we were so worried, Jade." She stopped and bit her lip, trying to hold her tears in. "Are you okay?"

"What kind of stupid question is that, Cat?" The redhead flinched at the venom dripping from Jade's ice cold voice, the harshness of her tone and the glare of her eyes cutting through Cat's heart despite the lacking intensity Jade would normally have. She bit her lip again, her eyes rapidly blinking, causing a couple of stray tears to roll down her face and drip down her jaw.

"I'm-I'm sorry. I know that you're not okay. Of course you're not okay, I just didn't know… what to say and…" Her sentence ended with a deep breath and a shake of her head. Robbie came closer, his hand finding a comforting place on Cat's shoulder as he crouched down beside his girlfriend. Jade ignored Cat's sadness, asking in a quiet voice "What time is it?"

"It's seven," Robbie answered her just as quietly, "We cooked. It's been two days already. You really have to eat something."

Jade turned on her back, her eyes staring at the white ceiling above. "I don't want to eat anything."

Cat's eyebrows furrowed. "But Jade, you-"

"I don't want to eat anything!" Her voice cracked slightly but Jade's loud words caused Cat to shrink back anyways. Robbie frowned, shifting his eyes from his frightened girlfriend to Jade. Biting his teeth together, the curly haired man stood up, softly grabbing the edge of the blanket in both of his hands. "But you will eat, Jade." With one swift movement Robbie pulled the blanket out of Jade's hands and away from her body. Jade's eyes flew to Robbie in bewilderment. "I know you're hurting. I know you miss her. But Lia sure as hell wouldn't want you to act like a bratty child," he said firmly and then held his hand out. "Let's eat something. We will leave you alone after, we promise."

Jade's eyes suddenly softened and she thickly swallowed before hesitantly grabbing Robbie's hand, letting him pull her out of bed. As Robbie pulled her to her feet, she almost fell, but just in time Cat shot up from the floor, her arm tightly wrapping around her waist. Hesitant eyes moved towards Cat, seeing a slight smile shot her way and her chin flicking towards the doorway. With Robbie and Cat on either side of her, Jade slowly padded into the living room and immediately the delicious smell of food wafted up her nose. Her stomach growled loudly and without any resistance she let Cat lead her over to the kitchen area, sitting down on one of the bar stools, while Robbie started to fill a plate with food. Cat sat down next to her, her hand hesitantly reaching out to touch her arm. When her hand finally touched her, Jade turned towards her, receiving a small smile.

"We're here," she softly said, "We'll make you feel okay again."

And they did that. Robbie and Cat made her feel okay again. It wasn't even close to how she felt when Lia was still alive, but… it was something. She was okay. That's all she'd ever get and she accepted that for the most part.

"Jade?"

Jade quickly snapped out of her memory, feeling Cat shaking her arm. "What? What did you say?" She looked back at Cat who looked at her worriedly. When she realized that Jade was okay, she relaxed and let go of Jade's arm.

"I just wanted to know if you'll go with me and look for a better color. I wanted to go to the boutique on Saturday and I think it would be better if you'd come with me."

"Oh." Jade frowned at the idea of mingling with hundreds of other people, probably even running into people she knew. God, how she hated people. But at last, she nodded. "Yeah, sure."

"Great!" Cat smiled brightly, then her eyes widened and she opened her mouth in an 'O' form. "Hey, did I tell you that Robbie's friend is coming on Saturday?"

"No, what friend?"

…

"So… New Jersey, huh?"

Tori nodded and tightly smiled at her sister, who sat across from her with her eyes narrowed into thin slits and her glossed lips pursed. "That's like… really far away. About what? 3000 miles?"

The younger Vega pushed out a long breath, her eyes moving downwards to look at her fingers running over the rim of her cup. "Yeah, a little less but… yeah."

A loud sigh brought Tori to look back up at Trina. "Tor, I'm sure you'll find a job around here. I don't really think it's necessary to move to New Jersey." The decision to go to New Jersey hadn't been an easy one to make and the look Trina sent her at this moment surely didn't make it any easier on Tori. She had thought it through and sure, maybe she would get a job in Los Angeles if she'd just kept looking but… maybe it was time to stand on her own feet, not relying on her sister and parents. She was twenty five and she was able to look after herself. Not to mention she'd have to be stupid not to be thrilled about the fact that the Performing Arts School she applied at as a vocal coach hired her straight from the spot.

"I know, but this is a great opportunity for me. And it's not like we're not going to see each other ever again. It's really not that far away." Tori's words didn't seem to ease Trina's worry about her little sister, the frown on her face only deepening. "I'm just worried. You're my baby sister and you move into a completely new city. You'll be alone and I don't like that."

"Robbie and his fiancée Cat live in New Jersey. So I won't be alone." Tori shot her a reassuring smile. "Besides, I'm an adult, Treen. You don't need to look out for me." She reached over the table, taking Trina's hand in hers and giving it a tight squeeze. "I'll be fine."

With an overdramatic sigh, Trina's face loosened up a little. She rolled her eyes, then shot Tori a pointed look. "But you do know that New Jersey isn't always sunny, right? I mean it rains and snows and rains and snows…"

The sound of Tori laughing finally tickled a smile out of Trina. "I'm sure sometimes even New Jersey gets a little sunshine."

Trina just shrugged and shifted her eyes until they fell on the waiter a couple of tables away. Lifting her hand and snapping her fingers, she called for him to come to their table. "Well then I guess there's nothing more for me to say, is there?" Tori shook her head with a smile while Trina paid for their coffees. A big sigh left the older Vega's mouth as she got up from the table and looked at her sister with her head tilted to the side. "Okay. But," her eyes narrowed and finger pointed at Tori who was in the middle of putting her jacket on, "We are going shopping before you leave on Saturday. Can't let you go to a new state with your old wardrobe."

Tori frowned, pulling her hair out from under the collar of her jacket before following Trina out of the café. "What? Why, what's wrong with my wardrobe?"

"Nothing's wrong with it. But you gotta be prepared. New York isn't L.A., it's different." With a quick click of the little remote on her keychain, Trina's car beeped quietly and both sisters got in.

"New Jersey."

Trina froze for a second before shooting Tori a confused look. "What?"

"I'm moving to New Jersey, not New York."

"Pfft," Trina waved her hand dismissively before turning the key, the engine roaring to life, "Whatever. Same thing."