"So everything went well?"

Jade sighed, narrowing her eyes at the computer screen. "Yeah. Her stuff is there now, fully arranged. With exception of her bed. It still has to be set up." She stopped talking for a moment, frowning. "Didn't Tori tell you that already?"

An annoyed and impatient breath, a rare sound out of Cat Valentine's mouth, sounded through the line. "But that's not what I meant. I meant did you two get along?"

"Uh… yeah? I guess."

"What do you mean, 'you guess'? What's that supposed to mean?"

Jade was slightly taken aback by Cat's weird reaction, especially hearing the pressing tone in her questions. Taking a moment, Jade let out a chuckle and asked her best friend "What's the matter with you?"

A silence stretched through the phone and if Jade wouldn't hear Cat's quiet breathing on the other end, she would think the woman had hung up on her. After she released a long sigh, Cat finally answered, her tone much softer and 'Cat-like' again. "Nothing, I'm sorry. It's just that… you know…" She paused and Jade patiently waited, getting slightly suspicious but pushing it to the back of her mind. "Tori and Robbie are very good friends and you are my best friend and you and Tori, you know… I just want you and Tori to get along and-"

"Okay, Cat. Slow down." Jade heard Cat take in a deep breath and shook her head. "Don't worry, Tori and I get along just fine. I promise."

"Really? She's nice, isn't she?"

"Yeah, I guess. Tori is," Jade paused and leaned back in her chair, a slight smirk playing on her lips, "…amusing." Yes, that was exactly the word Jade would use to describe Tori. Amusing. The brunette's clumsiness and stuttering – as embarrassing as it might be for Tori – was pretty entertaining to Jade. She never met a person quite like Tori. So unsure of what to do, of what to say at first and then, completely defrosting when she realizes that she doesn't have to fear anything. It's quite charming, at least to Jade.

"Amusing… I… That's a good thing, right?"

"Yeah, it's a good thing. In fact," she trailed off, her teeth nibbling at her bottom lip. She hesitated for a moment, heard Cat's questioning voice through the phone and made up her mind. "Is she at her apartment again today?"

A quiet shuffling could be heard before Cat's confused voice sounded. "Um… I think so. She wanted to go back today, yes. Why?"

Even though knowing that Cat couldn't see her, Jade shrugged her shoulders. "I was thinking of seeing if she needed any more help after work," she stated casually and caused Cat to fall into a short silence.

"Really?" The redhead asked obviously surprised, the smile that she must have on her lips clearly audible to Jade.

"Yes. Is that a problem?"

"No," Cat responded a little too eagerly, "It's not a problem at all for me! The opposite, really."

"Huh." Jade nodded, her eyebrows creasing as she grabbed a pen and began to play with it. It probably sounded really strange to Cat – Hell, it even sounded strange to Jade's own ears. – that Jade was willing to spend time with Tori without anyone asking her to. But there just was something about Tori that was… refreshing almost, and Jade felt comfortable just basking in that feeling. Plus, Tori was way less annoying than some other people Jade had come across in her life, which already was a big bonus in Jade's book. Slightly shaking her head, Jade again lifted her shoulders in a shrug. "Well, like you said, she's just settling in and what better way to help her than… to make sure she knows she's not alone, right?"

"Right," Cat agreed, a slight surprise still detectable in her voice.

"Okay then. Listen, I've got to get back to work."

"Yeah, sure. See you later, alligator!"

Jade chuckled and shook her head. "Yeah, whatever. Bye."

…

Tori puffed out a breath and stemmed her hands on her hips, her eyes running over the white wall in front of her before flicking down to the bucket that contained yellow paint. Her bedroom would be the only room she'd have to paint – Thank God for that. – the walls in the living room being light beige and a baby blue on the walls in her bathroom. The bedroom however lacked any color and Tori really hated having white walls. It made her think of hospitals and that was a thought she really didn't want to have swimming around in her head while she tried to fall asleep. With a sigh she picked up one of the paint rollers she bought and began dipping it into the paint. Lifting it back out of the bucket, Tori got ready to make the first brush against the naked wall, but the obnoxious buzzing sound of her doorbell stopped her.

Frowning, she put the roller back down and went into the living room, pushing the little button that would allow her visitor to get into the building. She opened the door and leaned against the doorframe as she waited for the person to come up, her eyebrows shooting up when a familiar person with dark hair walked up the stairs. "Jade," she exclaimed as a way of greeting and pushed herself off the doorframe. Jade's lips formed a light smile and Tori couldn't help but smile back.

"Yeah, it's me again." When she arrived at the top, she raised her eyebrows. "Want me to go again?"

"No," Tori smiled and stepped aside, holding the door open and motioning for Jade to come inside. "I was just surprised. Once again. I didn't expect you."

Jade nodded, crossed her arms and let her eyes roam Tori's attire – a grayish button up shirt with various missing buttons over a white tank top and gray sweatpants – before smirking at the brunette. "Oh, so that's why you didn't dress up."

Tori laughed and closed the door. "I was just getting ready to paint my bedroom."

"Oh. Need some help?"

"You… really don't have to," Tori hesitantly said, smiling and furrowing her eyebrows. Her eyes flicked down Jade's dark blue shirt and black jeans before looking back up. "I don't think you're really dressed for the occasion either."

Glancing down at herself, Jade frowned, then shrugged her shoulders. "I'll be careful."

Before Tori could object, the pale woman walked into the bedroom without a glance back. Releasing a sigh and shrugging her shoulders, Tori took a deep breath and smiled faintly as she followed Jade. When she stepped into the room, Jade was already bowed over the paint bucket, critically surveying the liquid color. "Yellow," she stated and flicked her eyes to Tori, raising an eyebrow, "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

Tori frowned, a little taken aback by Jade's words and not really knowing if she should feel offended or not. "What?"

Jade smirked and shook her head while she straightened up. "I was just teasing you. Don't worry." Tori slightly nodded her head and watched as Jade bent down to grab a paint brush. "So," she sighed and looked at Tori with her eyebrows raised, "How about I'll start with the edges."

Tori nodded and shot her a smile, Jade immediately getting to work. They were quiet for the most part but when Jade glanced up from brushing the wall and saw Tori messily guiding the paint roller across the wall, she stood up from her crouched position and walked over to the brunette. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "What are you doing?"

Tori turned her head, not stopping the up and down movement of her arm, and looked at Jade with a blank expression. "What do you mean? I'm painting."

"You use way too much paint. See? It's dripping all over you." She motioned with her hand to the yellow paint that steadily dripped all over Tori's clothes. Tori's hand stilled, her eyes looking down her body and her eyebrows furrowing. "Oh."

Jade sighed, walked closer and gently pried the paint roller out of Tori's hand. "Did you forget to buy a grid?"

"A what?"

Jade flicked her eyes to her, putting the roller down on the tarp that covered the floor. "A grid. It's that thing that you put into the paint bucket to roll off the excessive paint."

"Oh, that thing." Tori nodded slowly, her eyebrows furrowing. "Yeah, I didn't buy that," she admitted a little bashfully, a faint blush coloring her face. Jade smirked slightly and shook her head. "Well… it would have been pretty useful. It's not good to use so much paint for a wall," she explained while looking for something to use as an alternative to the grid, "It takes forever for it to dry and if you're unlucky, the walls will look really bad, with dark blotches where you used too much paint."

Jade's eyes traveled back to Tori when she heard the brunette let out an irritated breath. "Oh well, that's just great," she whined and threw her arms into the air, "That's so typical me."

Jade chuckled and got back to her feet. "It's not the end of the world, Vega. Let's just switch, I'll do your job and you'll do mine."

Tori let out a small sigh and looked at Jade with disappointed eyes. "Are you sure? I mean," her eyes flicked down to Jade's shirt, her hand motioning towards it, "Your clothes."

"Don't worry about that. Unlike you, I'm amazing at painting." She smirked and turned away, already getting back to work. Tori slowly nodded and grabbed the small paint brush Jade had used earlier before casually asking "And why are you such an amazing painter, if you don't mind me asking?"

"My brother used to work as a painter when I was in high school," Jade absentmindedly answered, "Whenever I wasn't busy with school or with my own job, I sometimes helped him." Tori watched as the paint roller touched the wall, Jade's hand guiding it up and down in gentle and steady motions. Slightly beginning to feel stupid, Tori tore her eyes away and began painting too. Frowning, she asked "You helped your brother? Wow, lucky him. I don't think my sister would have done that for me. She could have broken a nail."

Tori laughed lightly, Jade glancing over at her with a neutral expression on her face. "My brother was busy enough as it was; the least I could do was help him." There was a pause in which Tori wondered what Jade was talking about before the pale woman continued, never stopping to move the roller up and down. "Our mother passed away when I was fourteen. Luckily Aiden was already legal and became my guardian. He raised me all by himself."

There was a sad undertone in her voice but other than that Tori could not find any sign of change in Jade's behavior, her face keeping that neutral look as if she were talking about the weather. "I'm sorry," Tori said gravely, lacking of words she could say instead. She watched Jade nod and licked her lips. "What about your dad?"

A breath left Jade's nose (Tori assumed it was supposed to resemble a quiet laugh) and the corners of her mouth lifted slightly. "He's not worth talking about." The curt dismissal of her dad was another thing that Tori added to the list she mentally kept of Jade. It seemed that with every word Jade said, with every little information she added to the list, Tori's interest in the other woman grew and grew. She was still a mystery, even though Tori got a little bit of a glimpse of Jade's life. For a short moment Tori considered asking her about the thing that interested her the most – Amelia and her death. But looking at Jade work, this calm look on her face, Tori decided against it. This was really not the time to pry into Jade's personal life, as much as Tori wanted to.

"So did you and Rob ever date?"

The sudden sound of Jade's voice and the randomness of her question took Tori off guard, especially since she realized she'd been staring at Jade for far too long now. Jade looked at her with a single eyebrow raised. Tori breathed out a laugh, willing the blush she felt coming to go away. "No. No, no, no."

"That's a lot of no's," Jade teased while bending down to dip the roller into the paint, "I don't think Robbie's that much of a loser."

"No, it's not that," Tori quickly amended, shaking her head, "It's just… we were never really interested in each other. We were always just best friends. Just like you and Cat are."

Jade's tongue poked out and ran over her smirking lips. "Who says Cat and I were never more than best friends?"

Tori's eyes widened at Jade's words. The blush she was fighting so hard from breaking through was now impossible to stop and the laugh that left Jade's mouth only intensified her embarrassment. "Relax tomato head," Jade laughed, shaking her head. "It was just a joke."

Tori's lips twitched into a smile. "Yeah. Sure it was. But I mean…" Her mouth stood open as she looked at an amused Jade and wildly waved with the paint brush in front of her. At last, she pushed out a breath and closed her eyes as if she were in pain. "Oh man. Just forget it."

Jade laughed again. "Whatever. Just get back to work, dork."

A/N: Sorry I took so long. I'm a little unhappy with this chapter but I really hope you don't feel the same way..