When Jade arrived at the address Cat had given her – which really wasn't that far from her own apartment – three bulky men were already loading a heavy looking sofa out of the large moving truck. With a sigh, Jade got out of her car, locked it and made her way to the entrance of the building, squeezing past the movers and trudging up the stairs. When she arrived at the top, Jade found herself having two doors on either side of her. Figuring that the door that stood ajar would lead her to Tori, she hesitantly stepped up and gave the wood a light knock.

"You don't have to knock," Tori said, standing in the middle of the still pretty empty living room, her back to the door as she tried to get one of her boxes open. Jade nodded, more to herself than to anybody else. "Hey," she hesitantly called out and waited for the brunette to turn around before she stepped over the threshold, "Need some help?"

Tori looked at her full of surprise, her mouth slightly open and her eyebrows pulled down. "Jade." Jade smiled tightly and raised her eyebrows, stepping further into the room. Tori didn't say anything else for a good couple of seconds, silence seeping out of every corner and Jade started to regret ever agreeing to come here. She knew it was a bad idea. "Is this… not a good time or…"

Tori shook her head, her eyes losing the surprised glimmer and a smile making its way onto her face. "No, it's… it's good. I just really didn't expect you here, that's all."

"Oh," Jade mumbled and frowned at the brunette, "So I take it you didn't know that Cat called me and asked me to help you a little bit."

Her eyes widened, her mouth fell open and Jade let out an amused breath through her nose at the sight. "No! I'm sorry, she really… shouldn't have, um… you don't have to stay," Tori offered, rapidly shaking her head, "I'm totally fine. You don't need to help me."

Jade pursed her lips, her eyes leaving Tori to look at the cardboard box behind her, which the brunette had been struggling to open mere minutes ago. Walking closer to Tori, Jade motioned her chin towards the box. "Can't get it open?" The prospect of spending time with Jade simultaneously sent a wave of excitement through Tori's body, as well as a huge moment of unease. She didn't want to say anything out of line but knowing her own klutzy nature, she probably would do just that.

"No. My coffee maker is in there," Tori watched Jade approach the box with the word 'kitchen' neatly written on it, "At least it should be. I think…" An amused smirk graced Jade's face at hearing Tori's words. She pulled her keys out of her pocket and quickly proceeded to cut the duct tape with her house key. "There you go."

Tori smiled gratefully. "Thank you." Tori reached for the box, but a loud rumble from the doorway caught her attention. "Miss Vega," one of the men holding the sofa up wheezed, "Where do you want this?"

"Oh, um just put it somewhere here in the middle. That's fine." Jade and Tori watched them carry the heavy piece of furniture into the living room, carefully putting it to the floor. They disappeared just as quickly as they came, probably needing an oxygen mask before they carried up anything else. Jade's brows furrowed as she turned back to Tori. "Why do you even need your coffee maker? Didn't you say you'd stay with Cat and Rob until your apartment is finished?"

A quiet breath left Tori's mouth and she shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, but… I don't know. I don't want to be… a burden to them or something. And my bed is here," she lifted her eyebrows and looked at Jade, "You know, at least the parts. I would have to build it together, but… you know."

Jade just smirked and shook her head. "I'm pretty sure you're not a burden to Robbie and Cat," she turned to the doorway when a loud groan and some cursing sounded from the hallway, "Wow, you must have some pretty heavy stuff, huh?" She turned back to Tori and smiled at the light chuckle that sounded from the brunette. "But anyways. Believe me. Robbie and Cat don't have anything against it that you're staying with them. So just take your time with moving in."

"Well, if you say so." Tori smiled and watched Jade nod. A big sigh left her mouth as she looked around her 'soon-to-be- home'. "You really don't have to stay, Jade. I'm fine." Tori's eyes met Jade's and she smiled a reassuring smile. Jade didn't expect it would be that easy to get out of here and Jade didn't expect either that she wouldn't want to go yet. At home, she would be all alone. Here, she had some company. And Tori really wasn't all that bad. The paler woman quickly made up her mind and smirked at the brunette.

"You couldn't even open a box," she teased, "I don't think I should leave you alone now. Who knows, maybe you'll need my help again."

Just then, the three men walked back inside, carrying something long, probably a part of Tori's bed. A loud groan sounded from one of them and Jade cringed. "Or maybe they will need some help."

…

"Looks good, if you ask me."

Tori's eyes traveled over the newly furnished room and nodded her head. "Yeah, it does." With a smile on her face, she turned to face Jade, the woman observing the room with her arms crossed. "Thanks for your help."

Jade's eyes snapped to Tori and a light smile broke out on her face. "No problem. It was kinda fun."

"It was."

"So, do you need a ride? Robbie drove you here, didn't he?" Tori bit her lip and nodded, contemplating Jade's offer. The woman was eerily relaxed, just like the last time, which Tori normally would have found pretty refreshing. But the knowledge of Jade's dead fiancée and Cat telling her that Jade still wasn't quite over her yet made Tori question how much of Jade's behavior was only a façade. "Tori." Jade raised her eyebrows at the brunette and Tori realized that she didn't answer her question yet.

"Um… I can take a cab, you don't have to drive me." She smiled reassuringly at Jade but the pale woman only furrowed her eyebrows and smiled at her, shaking her head. "Oh please. You really want to pay for a cab? No, come on," she swiftly turned around and walked to the door, then turned back around as she waited for Tori to follow her. "Besides, Cat will probably have my head if you don't get home safely."

"Oh. Okay, if you really don't mind." She slowly grabbed her purse, her bottom lip again captured between her teeth, and followed Jade out of the door, locking it behind her and walking down the steps until they've reached Jade's car. When they got in, Tori took a glance at Jade's hand, the ring sparkling in the setting evening sun. She wondered how Jade would react if she asked about Amelia. Would she get mad? Would she be okay with it? Or would she just refuse to answer? Better I don't risk it, Tori thought and looked away and out of the windshield as Jade began driving. They drove in silence, the radio playing and the sound of the wind rushing into the car through the little gap of Jade's open window.

"So, you still have the week off, don't you?"

Tori turned towards Jade when her voice reached her ears and smiled. "Yeah, I do." It surprised her a little bit that Jade remembered that little info she shared at dinner on Sunday, and Jade seemed to sense Tori's surprise, glancing over at her and smirking faintly. "Do you think I didn't listen to you? I'm very attentive."

Tori smiled, a little embarrassed, and turned to look to the front again, while Jade asked "What are your plans? Going to do a little sightseeing?"

"Oh… well, I think I'm just going to get my apartment ready so that I can move in. The heating should work now, at least that's what my landlord said. I forgot to check," she paused and frowned, making a mental note to check for the heating first thing tomorrow. "But maybe after that. Why, do you have any recommendations? Must sees?"

Jade chuckled, her eyes staying on the street. "No, not really. I was just curious. I don't go out that often."

Tori tilted her head and let her eyes wander to Jade again, hesitating for a second before asking "No? Why not?"

Jade's smile dampened a little but if Tori hadn't looked at her closely, she didn't think she would have noticed the little change. The pale woman shrugged her shoulders, her fingers tightening around the wheel the slightest bit. "I don't know. I wouldn't know what to do or where to go. I don't like big crowds of people. So I just stay in."

Tori nodded, deciding to prod Jade into telling her a little bit more. "There's nothing wrong with that. I'm not really the party animal either." Jade chuckled again and took a left turn. "So, what do you do then? In your spare time, I mean."

Jade sighed and stretched her neck from left to right before sitting up straight again. "Not so much. At the moment I have all hands full with Cat and Robbie's wedding." She rolled her eyes and took a quick glance at Tori. "I swear, that little woman can be so difficult sometimes. The cake for example. First she wanted strawberry because, you know, it would be pink and it would be so fitting with the entire color scheme!" Tori giggled at Jade's impression of the bubbly little redhead. "Then she said that she'd rather have something not everyone has at their wedding. She tried some kind of… carrot, vegetable cake." Jade wrinkled her nose at the memory of the odd taste and shook her head. "Let me tell you, that was disgusting."

"I can imagine," Tori said with a laugh and watched Jade nod. "Well anyways, now she's stuck between choosing either strawberry or lemon. I can already hear my phone ringing in the middle of the night when she wants to hear my opinion on it." Jade heard Tori laugh again and took the turn onto Cat and Robbie's street. She quickly maneuvered the car to the free parking spot directly in front of the house and turned to Tori. "See? I brought you home safely. Better than any cab driver could have done."

Tori smiled, unbuckling her seatbelt. "Yeah. Thank you." Her hand hovered over the door, not yet opening as she fixed her eyes on Jade. "And thanks again for helping me. I really appreciate it."

Jade nodded, raising her eyebrows. "Yeah, you should feel special. I don't do that for just anyone."

"I definitely owe you," Tori told her with a smile and opened her door, "Bye Jade. Have a good night."

"Yeah, you too. Bye."

Tori pushed the door shut and walked around Jade's car to get to the entrance, waving one last time. And only when Tori opened the door with the spare key Robbie and Cat had given her for the time being and she was safely inside, did Jade drove away.

…

01.05 am.

The red numbers her alarm clock was projecting to the ceiling were almost mocking her, just like they did every night. Sleep didn't want to come once again, what a surprise. It's been like this for the past three years and frankly, Jade resigned to the fact that her body would just get enough sleep so that she wouldn't fall asleep on her desk at work. She wasn't sleep deprived, not really, she just couldn't seem to fall asleep that easily.

Thoughts of her day with Tori began invading her mind. Not that she would ever admit it to Cat, but she was actually pretty thankful that she pushed her into helping Tori. The redhead was right, the company was good for her. She had fun and Tori seemed pretty damn okay in Jade's eyes, which really wasn't an easy accomplishment. Befriending Jade had always been a hard thing to do. She was pretty picky with people, not just anyone could make her talk to them openly. Aside from Cat, with whom Jade grew up with, a lot of people found it incredibly hard to make Jade let them in. Even Cat had to fight through all of her walls sometimes.

The only person who didn't have to do anything but merely look at her to make Jade want to get to know her… had been Amelia.

Her heart began to beat faster and her breath hitched when her eyes settled on hazel ones across the hall. The owner of those eyes was staring right back at her and Jade's fingers tightened around the door of her locker. As if never there in the first place, all her worries about the new school year and her part time job were blown away, pushed to the very back of her head and were replaced by rapid thoughts about the blonde girl with hazel eyes. A blur of people kept walking through and slightly disturbed their locked gaze, but neither one of them even thought about looking away.

"Hey Jade! Look at my new outfit!"

Not even Cat's overly cheerful voice was able to bring her to stop looking into the eyes of the stranger across the hall. Only when a bulky figure completely blocked her sight of the blonde, did Jade reluctantly turn away. Instead of looking into those captivating eyes, Jade now looked into Cat's happily sparkling ones. Quickly scanning over the blindingly colorful clothes her best friend was wearing today, Jade nodded and resisted the urge to turn around and look for the blonde girl. "Pretty."

"I know! It's the perfect outfit for our first day back to school!" Her sentence ended with a happy little squeak as she shot Jade one of her brightest smiles.

"If you say so," Jade chuckled and closed her locker just as the first warning bell rang.

"Let's go!"

Jade sighed and followed Cat to their first period, but not before shooting one last look at the stranger across the hall, only to see that she was already gone.

…

In quick steps Jade walked down the deserted hallway, only a few students lingering around at their lockers. Biting her lip and throwing a look behind her shoulder, she contemplated making a quick detour to the restrooms before she'd have to work at the café, but before she could finish her thought she heard a thud and a voice calling out.

"Wait, be careful!"

Jade's eyes snapped to the front but her shins already touched something hard, causing her to lose her balance and fall forward. At the last minute she managed to steady herself, placing her hands on the crouched body she almost fell over.

"Oh," she breathed out as she looked down at her hands, flatly placed on the person's back. The girl under her let out a laugh and Jade quickly straightened up. "Wow, did I hurt you?"

The girl gathered her papers and books together and got up, pushing blonde hair out of her face. When Jade's eyes met hazel ones for the second time that day, she recognized the girl as the stranger from this morning. "No, not at all." She smiled and took a deep breath, motioning to her open locker. "Sorry, I was having a little mishap with my locker. Everything fell out. Are you okay?"

Jade nodded but stayed quiet, her lips parted as her eyes stayed locked on the other girl's. Not knowing what to say, Jade simply held her hand out. "I'm Jade."

The blonde smiled again and placed her hand in Jade's, softly shaking it. "Amelia. Or Lia, if you want."

Wow Jade, stop staring at her like an idiot, would you? Jade cleared her throat and shot Amelia a smile, pulling her hand back and looking around. Her eyes caught a slip of paper that must have slid across the hallway, so she went to pick it up, handing it to Lia with a smile. "Probably yours, isn't it?"

Lia nodded her head, taking it out of Jade's hand and shooting her that… really pretty smile that made Jade's heart beat a lot faster. "So you… you just moved here?"

She knew she really should go now if she didn't want to be late for work, but the desire to get to know Amelia was overpowering every sense of responsibility. "Yeah, my dad got a job offer here so… we moved from Oregon."

"Oregon," Jade repeated, nodding her head. She opened her mouth but the ringing of her phone interrupted her. "Sorry," she shot Amelia an apologetic smile and fished her phone out of her bag, her eyes falling on her caller ID, only to see her boss's name flashing up at her. "Uh… I… I really have to go now," she looked back up at Lia and already began walking past her.

"That's okay," Amelia smiled reassuringly and Jade just can't help but smile back.

"I'll see you tomorrow though." She watched Lia nod and smile, then turned around to jog out of the school.

The new school year already kicked off at a good start.