Thursday,

August, 29th, 2013

"So, he still isn't over you?"

"Of course he is." With great difficulty, Tori clamped the phone between her shoulder and ear while she tried to keep the water from over boiling. After turning the heat down a notch and making sure that the blubbering of the water calmed down, Tori grabbed the pack of uncooked noodles from the counter. "I don't know what he wants but I can't imagine him flying out here just because he misses me. I mean, we didn't see each other for two whole years and not once did he even send me as much as a text message. Not that I wanted him to, but still."

"But what else could he want if not get back together with you?"

"I don't know." She had thought about it a lot but just couldn't figure out a reasonable explanation for his sudden appearance. But what he said to her – and that he obviously wanted her to believe that he was still in love with her – seemed too ridiculous to Tori, even if it did end up being true.

"Maybe he really did realize how great you are and that he made a mistake by sleeping with that slut."

"Trina!"

"What? She is a slut. I may not know her but… still."

"Well," Tori sighed, ripping open the bag of spaghetti before letting them tumble into the pot of hot water, "Whatever he wants, I don't care. He kept calling me the past week, left voicemails, but I ignored everything. I'm definitely not going to start anything with him again."

"Yeah, I hope so," Trina warned in a sharp tone, "Because otherwise I would see myself forced to decapitate you. I've never liked that sleazy scumbag."

"I know. Sometimes I wonder what I even saw in him."

"Yeah, you and me both."

"You know, you of all people shouldn't be so judgmental. It's not like your boyfriends were all amazing."

An irritated sigh sounded from her sister and Tori smirked in satisfaction, her left hand grabbing the phone from between her shoulder and head to hold it against her ear and her right hand bracing on the edge of the kitchen counter. "If you're going to be like that. Fine. I mean, we don't have to worry about you getting a crappy boyfriend anymore, do we? How's your crush doing? Jade was her name, right?"

The smirk had abruptly left Tori's face; Tori imagined Trina carried one of her own right now. "She's not my crush," Tori amended sharply but Trina merely laughed. "What is she then? Your one true loooove?"

"She's my friend."

"A friend with really pretty eyes, wasn't that right Tori?"

"Okay, that's enough. I'm hanging up now."

Trina's laugh came through the telephone one last time before Tori disconnected the call with an angry grumble, then she got back to making her dinner.

…

Friday,

August 30th, 2013

When she got home from work the next day, someone was already waiting for her.

"You know, you're starting to get pathetic."

"I'm not pathetic. Just persistent." She wanted to slap him, slap him until that stupid grin disappeared from his face. It would give her an insane amount of satisfaction to hurt him in a way, even if it was physical and only a simple slap, to make up for the hurt he had put her through by cheating on her. Even though the skin of his cheek would probably just sting a bit, it would be definitely worth it.

"How do you even know… First my school, now my own home. How do you even know where I live?"

Ryder simply shrugged his shoulders. "I have my sources."

Tori narrowed her eyes at him. "Stop with 'your sources' then. I told you to leave me alone." She didn't wait for a reply and went past him, jiggling the key into the lock, only to realize that the door was already open, so she pulled her key out and pushed the door open before walking inside. Before the door behind her could fall shut however, Ryder managed to get inside with her. Tori did her best to ignore him but when he followed her up to her apartment she turned around and glared at him. "Go. Away!"

"I will, if you agree to go on a date with me."

"What happened to that slut you cheated on me with? Go on a date with her! Go on a date with the Queen of England for all I care but leave me alone!"

Tori was surprised when he sucked in a harsh breath through his thin lips and his nostrils flared angrily. "God, just stop bringing up old stories! I made a mistake, I'm over it, why aren't you?"

Instead of answering his question, Tori just rolled her eyes and turned around, taking the last steps towards her apartment door and muttering what an "utterly stupid and conceited asshole" he was. But then, she suddenly felt her stomach dropping when two large hands closed around each of her shoulders and turned her around. To her surprise, a feeling very close to fear swept over her body when she looked into his eyes, and when Ryder's hands fell away from her, a breath she didn't even know she was holding escaped her.

"Oh, come on!" His eyebrows creased together in aggravation. "One date! That's all I'm asking for."

The uncomfortable feeling inside her only got bigger and when Ryder took another small step closer to her, she was almost on the verge of panicking. Nonetheless, she tried not to let her fear show. "Well and I told you already that I don't want to go out with you," she said confidently and hoped that her voice didn't give anything away, "I'm not interested in you. We're over. Please accept that."

Ryder's face relaxed, a sort of wonderment taking over. Funny, Tori thought, that he really thought he was so irresistible. "So, if you'll excuse me now, I have plans." She hoped her lie was convincing enough for him but even if it wasn't, she didn't really care if she was honest. All she wanted was to get away from him. As fast as possible. She turned then, hands trying to make quick work of finding the right key while she was aware of Ryder still standing behind her, watching her. When she finally managed to fumble the key into the lock, a satisfied smile crept to her face. But her victory was short lived, because just as she wanted to turn the key, a large hand shot out and long fingers wrapped around her wrist. Her breath caught in her throat, her wide eyes trained on Ryder's strong grip.

"I can't accept that," he gruffly pushed out, his grip tightening.

The panic Tori was feeling earlier rose up again. She felt her blood pound underneath Ryder's hand and let out a shaky breath. "Let go of me."

But all he did was chuckle dryly and take a step closer, his chest lightly pressing against Tori's back. "We are not finished, Tori. Did you really think I would let you go that easily?"

In a small moment of courage, Tori jerked her hand out of his grasp and whirled around, doing her best to glower at her ex-boyfriend. "It's been two years, idiot."

"So? That doesn't mean anything, Tori. I love you. We could be so happy together if you wouldn't be so stubborn!" She yelped when he harshly grabbed her arms and yanked her forward.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Terrified brown eyes snapped towards the saving voice and saw Jade standing just a couple of feet away, her face contoured in a scowl. "Jade," Tori couldn't help but breathe out, watching as the other woman's harsh gaze flicked from Ryder to her for a short moment. The fear in Tori's eyes must have been enough motivation for her to stalk up to them, coming to stand right next to Ryder. "This is none of your business, miss." His eyes didn't leave Tori once, his grip not lessening.

"Let her go," Jade calmly said but Tori knew from the look in her eyes that it was just a matter of time before she would explode. When Ryder didn't do as she said, Jade stepped even closer, placed her hand on one of his arms still clutching Tori and dug her nails in. "Are you deaf? Let her go before I throw you down the stairs!"

The angry lines on his forehead didn't vanish as he shifted his attention from Tori to Jade, but his strong hold relaxed, his hands falling away from Tori's arms. Jade didn't waste any time in stepping in front of Tori to shield her from him. "Now go. And don't you dare lay a hand on her again or I swear I'm going to ram a pair of scissors into your most private area."

He seemed to contemplate, but Jade's glare that was casted on him seemed to do the trick. "Okay. No need to get violent, lady." With a smile he tried to hide his anger, his hands clasped together as he took a step closer. "I was just trying to talk to Tori."

"Yeah, I saw that. Now get lost."

His eyes darted behind Jade and tried to get a glimpse of Tori, meeting her frightened gaze. When his eyebrows tugged down again, Tori couldn't help but to grasp on to Jade's arm. "Tori," he murmured sullenly and lowered his chin in a nod before he turned and walked away without uttering anything else. Tori's heart still hammered in her chest but her grip on Jade's jacket fell away. Only when the door downstairs closed and Jade was sure Ryder was gone did she turn around, a frown of worry on her face. "Are you alright? Did he hurt you?"

"No," she answered almost dazedly, her eyebrows furrowing together as her eyes found the floor by Jade's feet much more interesting than the woman standing in front of her, "No, he didn't hurt me. I'm okay. Thank you."

She didn't look up, instead turned around and turned the key. "No problem," she heard Jade say behind her and walked inside, leaving the door open for Jade to follow. "Who was that guy anyways?"

Tori whirled around, a shaky sigh getting past her lips. "Um… That was Ryder, my ex-boyfriend."

Jade's frown only deepened. "Your ex-boyfriend? What did he want from you?"

"He… He um…" She didn't know why her brain didn't seem to be able to form proper sentences right now, so she just let out another sigh and ran a harsh hand through her hair. Her arms still felt like they were being gripped, so did her wrist, the feeling of Ryder's fingers curling around it still so fresh in her mind; she almost didn't want to admit it but Ryder managed to shake her up quite a bit. "He wanted to go on a date but I said no… and I… I thought when he turned up at my school a week ago, he understood that I don't want him back… But apparently he didn't."

"He showed up at your school?" Tori nodded, then looked at the keys in her hands. "Why didn't you tell me that?"

Her eyes snapped back up. "Why would I have? Since when do I have to give account to you?" Tori's snappy tone brought Jade's eyebrows to shoot up and even Tori herself was a little surprised by her own behavior. But instead of apologizing Tori just looked away again, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip. It wasn't like what she said wasn't true. She didn't have to give account to anyone.

"You don't have to give account to anyone," Jade pressed out, seemingly reading Tori's mind, "I just asked because you really shouldn't be alone with him. He seemed dangerous."

"He's not. He's harmless."

"Didn't seem like that to me," Jade quickly shot back. Tori shook her head and closed her eyes. Ryder was never someone who got violent, especially not towards women. Especially not towards Tori. People could say what they wanted; say he was a conceited ass, that he was a cheater. He was all those things. But he definitely wasn't a violent person. At least, he never had been.

"He's not someone who gets violent." She opened her eyes again and walked to her sofa, sinking down, "I don't know what got into him."

"How long haven't you seen him, Tori?" The sofa dipped when Jade sat down beside her. Tori turned to look at her. "Two years, right? That's the boyfriend you told me about?" A nod. "People can change," she simply said and Tori knew that, of course, Jade was right. But despite knowing that, Tori couldn't stand the idea of Ryder becoming such a person, even if she didn't care about him anymore. "I'm sorry that I snapped at you," she mumbled bashfully, "I was just a little… I don't know. I guess I'm just a little…"

"Shaken?"

"Yeah." Tori nodded her head and let her eyes lock on Jade's, when she realized that Jade probably came for a reason, other than save her from her crazy ex-boyfriend. "Why are you here, by the way?"

Jade shrugged nonchalantly. "I was bored."

A quiet laugh fought its way out of Tori's mouth. "So you thought 'oh, let Tori entertain me'?"

Jade suddenly straightened up, her shoulders tensing and lips pursing. "No, I-…" Her body tensed even more and Tori frowned at her growing defensiveness, gaze flicking down to her crossed arms and hands that were tightly gripping her elbows. "I just didn't have anything to do and… I don't want to bother you."

Brown eyes snapped up in surprise at the woman's words. "Oh, no. You're not bothering me at all. Never. Don't think that."

Carefully, Tori watched the tension pour out of her body but while she visibly relaxed, there was still some sort of hesitance in her blue eyes. She nodded, slowly, glanced down at her lap before looking at Tori again. "I just thought that maybe it's getting a little too much for you."

Thoughts about Ryder suddenly vanished from her brain all at once as her mouth almost fell open at what Jade had just said. "No! It's not too much. You are not too much," she told her pointedly, "I like spending time with you, you should know that."

A smile that made Tori's heart flutter was sent her way. "Well, I just wanted to make sure." Jade leaned back, her lips pressed in a thin line as she let her eyes run over Tori's face and upper body. Although she knew that Jade's looks didn't really mean anything – at least not in the way Tori wanted them to mean something – she couldn't stop her heart from pounding faster, louder, and just to be sure, she turned her face away from her as casually as possible, because there was a large chance that her face had turned a dark shade of red. "Are you really sure you're okay? I meant what I said. If you want me to, I'll make sure he won't be able to have any children."

"No," Tori laughed and looked at her hands, "I don't think that will be necessary."

She heard Jade release a quiet breath before hearing her say "Fine. If you say so."

They were both quiet then but Tori knew, even if she was still facing away from her, that Jade's attention was still on her. When a warm hand touched her arm, spreading a tingling over her skin, did Tori turn back towards Jade. She smirked faintly, her face partly illuminated by the setting sun streaming through the window. "Come on," she said and gave Tori's arm a squeeze before getting to her feet, smirk widening, "Movie night tonight. I think we can both use the entertainment. I'll even let you choose."