"I want to build a house here."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure Robbie! Don't try to tell me what to do!"

"Okay, Okay."

Tori tried so hard to keep her attention on the game and the bickering of Robbie and Cat, but every other second she found herself glancing to her left, where Jade was sitting as stiff as a stone, the troubled frown not leaving her face ever since Robbie had interrupted them. Jade's question stayed unanswered, which obviously bothered Jade quite a lot. Tori on the other hand… what would she have said if Robbie hadn't saved her from answering? Of every person, did Jade really have to ask her that question? She was the last one who would be able to answer that because she was the one person who fell in love with Jade. Would it have been selfish if she had told Jade that, of course, she could fall in love again? But who was Tori to tell her that it wouldn't be possible again? On second thought, it really was for the better that she didn't answer. Who knew what would have escaped her big mouth...

"Tori, it's your turn."

Without really grasping the fact that Robbie talked to her, she reached over and grabbed the dices out of his hand, threw them onto the board and pushed her token five spaces forward, landing on one of Jade's properties. Tori took a deep breath and turned to Jade, her pale face still wearing that frown as she stared at Tori's silver little dog. "How much do I owe you?" she asked in a soft voice and watched with her teeth biting her tongue as Jade took a glance at the card, mumbling the amount of money Tori had to pay before she finally turned her gaze towards her, light intense eyes meeting her own. They were dark, the green pigments in her eyes almost shoving away everything blue, pupils dilated as she looked at her, almost painfully. The realization that they weren't alone here and that Robbie and Cat probably watched them suddenly popped into Tori's head, so reluctantly, she turned away to collect Jade's money. Her entire body tingled and for a moment, she really thought she could hear the sound of crackling high voltage as her fingers touched Jade's, and she swore she saw Jade swallow hard as she retracted her hand and sorted out the money.

Man, she would give anything right now if she could just. Go. Home.

…

Thursday,

January 9th, 2014

Jade absentmindedly bit down on her thumbnail and watched with empty eyes as Aiden flew around her kitchen, attempting to cook his special pasta. Every now and then, she had caught him shoot glances at her, his eyebrows creasing down when he saw her face still blank of anything. He found himself more than worried when he had called her a couple of days ago, only to hear that kind of tone in her voice. After a little bit of questioning her, he had found out that it had something to do with Tori, what exactly it was, Jade hadn't told him. But really, he knew his sister; he had been able to figure it out by himself.

"So," he spoke up after clearing his throat, "How's Tori doing?"

Her response was immediate. "Don't talk about her," she mumbled quietly and looked at the surface of the counter she was sitting at, "Just don't."

Aiden abandoned the wooden spoon in his hand and stepped closer, resting his elbows on the counter between him and his sister. "What's the matter, hm?" Jade rolled her eyes and shook her head, not that Aiden had expected anything else. "I don't know how she is. We haven't talked since Sunday. Why are you so interested in knowing how Tori is?"

"I… meant what's the matter with you. I know something is wrong with you, no need to pretend, Jade." A tense silence stretched between them, uncomfortable and awfully long, but Aiden's eyes stayed glued to his sister's face until she finally cracked. "I think I…" She broke off and sucked in a breath, her body beginning to shift on the bar stool. Aiden leaned forward. "Just say it, Jade. You know you can tell me anything."

"It's Tori."

"What's with her?" The question was highly unnecessary, unless Aiden had forgotten how to read his sister overnight, but he asked nevertheless. He wanted her to tell him. He wanted to hear her say it out loud. He wanted her to accept it. But stubborn as ever, Jade shook her head, her eyes filling with tears.

"I really like her." Aiden almost chuckled at the innocence of her statement but the way her lips began to quiver, tears ran down her cheeks and shaky puffs escaped her lips, told him that this was way more serious for Jade than he originally thought. But when a sob tore through her lips and she let her head fall into her hands, he couldn't stop his eyes from widening. "I don't want this, I don't want this!"

"Sweetheart, don't… don't cry." In an instant he was by her side and pulled her into a tight hug, her body trembling against him, sobs and tears and whimpers shaking through her like a tornado. Helplessly, even after all the times he was here to comfort his sister, he placed a hand on her head and gently stroked through her hair but Jade's sobs only seemed to grow louder. "It's nothing bad, Jade," he tried to reason with her and placed a kiss on the top of her head, "Quite the contrary, it's good. It's good, Jade."

"No, it's not," she murmured into his gray shirt when she finally managed to calm down a little, "It feels like I'm cheating on her."

"You're not cheating on her." He paused for a moment, trying to compose himself too, before he said, "Amelia probably looks down on you from up there now and… and wants to hug you herself, and comfort you and tell you to stop crying."

"But she can't," she whimpered into his chest and this time, Aiden couldn't stop a tear from falling.

"No, but… you know what else she would do?"

"What?"

He took a deep breath, wiped the tear that escaped from his cheek and smiled a little. "She would tell you to stop being such an idiot and make the same mistake all over again."

Her brother's words made Jade freeze and tense all over. "What are you talking about? What mistake?"

"Remember what you did after Amelia tried to kiss you at that bonfire?"

Jade sighed as she put in the combination of her locker, the lock clicking and the door opening with a quiet squeak. Taking a quick look across the hallway, she noted with great relief that Lia still wasn't there yet.

After Cat and her really poor timing on Friday night, Jade had done everything to avoid having any sort of contact with Amelia. Over the weekend Amelia's face flashed up on the screen of her phone more than once, the device vibrating multiple times with new text messages from the other girl. Jade had read them all but hadn't bothered to text anything back, nor did she answer any of Lia's calls. It was a cowardly and really stupid thing to do, ignoring her like that, but Jade didn't really know how she should handle this new situation. Cat had been an angel sent from heaven, at least in Jade's eyes, when she appeared in just the right moment to prevent Jade and Amelia from growing even closer. It's not like Jade didn't want the kiss to happen – because, oh man, did she want that – but she just thought it would be the best to keep their relationship on a platonic level. She was already way too attached to the girl as it was. A kiss would have just complicated Jade's life even more.

"Jade?"

The voice of the person Jade couldn't stop thinking about suddenly rang loud and clear in her ears. With much hesitation, Jade turned her head to the left, her eyes taking in Amelia standing right next to her. The frown on her face was enough to tell Jade that the blonde wouldn't want to pretend that Friday night didn't happen, but that didn't stop her from trying to avoid talking about it. "Hey. Good morning," Jade quietly said and shot the blonde a casual smile before turning towards her locker again and starting to gather the things she needed for her classes. There was only the sound of other people's chattering and slams of locker doors for a moment before Lia's perplexed voice registered in Jade's brain. "Good morning? That's all you're going to say? Good morning?"

"Yes. Why? Is it a bad morning?"

Glancing over at the other girl, Jade saw her narrow her eyes. "This is not funny, Jade."

Jade sighed and carefully put her notebook into her bag before turning her body fully to face Lia, her arms crossing over her chest. "What's not funny?"

"Why are you playing dumb with me? You've been ignoring me all weekend long and I…" She broke off, her eyes almost pleading with Jade as she shook her head. "I just want to know what's going on." With cold indifference swimming in her eyes and her body protected by the shield her arms gave, Jade stayed silent and nearly lost it when she saw genuine hurt appear all over Lia's face. "I felt… horrible whenever I called you and you didn't pick up. I thought I did something wrong. Did I? Did I do something wrong, Jade?"

Jade's eyes closed for a brief moment and she turned back towards her locker, shaking her head. "No. It's okay, Amelia, just forget about it. I'm not in a very good mood today."

"I didn't mean to freak you out," she abruptly said in a hushed tone so no one would overhear anything, "But it felt right and if Cat hadn't come along-"

"If Cat hadn't come along we would be in an even greater mess than we are right now," Jade interrupted and turned to her, her eyes intently locking with Amelia's. She saw the surprise etched on her face, mixed with the confusion she felt with Jade's words. "I don't unders-" But Jade wouldn't let her finish. "Listen. I wanted that kiss just as much as you did. But it wouldn't be right, Lia. It wouldn't be right for me. My life is already too much to handle for me sometimes, I don't need another complication."

The words rushed out of her mouth with a sharp edge, the hurt on Amelia's face doubling as they cut into her skin. "Oh, so… I'm a complication to you." Jade swallowed thickly when she saw tears well up but stayed silent. It had to be said. There was no way around it. Amelia took a deep breath, her lips pressing together as her eyes found a spot on the locker door beneath Jade's. "Well, um…" She shook her head and let out a strangled laugh, looking back up at Jade. "I really don't know what to say."

"It's not… it's not that I don't… care about you," Jade quietly mumbled, the pain in her heart almost too much, "It's… it's just me. I'm sorry."

Amelia only nodded, blinking away the tears in her eyes and praying that they wouldn't spill over. "Yeah. I'm sorry too." She swiftly walked away then, and Jade watched her until she disappeared around a corner.

"You pushed her away." Aiden's quiet voice interrupted Jade's memory and she blinked, pulling away from her brother. "You hurt yourself and you hurt Amelia-"

"Yeah, thanks," Jade mumbled with a sniff and wiped her face, "No need to rub it in."

"I just want to make clear to you that… you shouldn't stop yourself from being happy, again. And you're hurting Tori too, I mean she-" he stopped abruptly, his eyebrows creasing. His sudden silence made Jade look up at him. "Wait… is… is Tori in love with you too?"

"I didn't say I'm in love with her!" Jade barked with a glare, to which Aiden only bit his tongue and lowered his head in a slow nod. "Right. Well… does she like you… in that way, too?"

Jade rolled her eyes. "Who knows. It doesn't matter anyway. I don't want her to like me like that."

"Yes you do. And that's completely okay. It's not a shame to fall in love again."

"For me, it is," she hissed and turned to glower at her brother, making his eyebrows shoot up in surprise, "Don't tell me it's okay because it doesn't feel okay! And I'm going to push people away all I want! I don't need you to lecture me!" Then, she jumped off of the kitchen stool and stormed past Aiden, who stood still until he heard the bedroom door slam shut. With a breath rushing out of his mouth, he sank onto the stool Jade had occupied just a few seconds ago and thought back to the first time he had successfully made Jade realize what's good for her.

This time, he thought while biting his lip, wouldn't be so easy.

"What's going on with you, Jade?" Jade rolled her eyes and walked out of the kitchen, Aiden following her. "You've been feeling under the weather for weeks now. I mean, at first I thought 'hey, she doesn't want to talk about it, Aiden. Just let her be. If something's wrong, she'll come to you'." He paused, shaking his head when Jade sat down on the couch, her lips pursed and her gaze resting somewhere across the room. "Is it about Amelia?"

It had been a wild guess on Aiden's side, having not seen the blonde in quite a long time, but when Jade's eyes snapped over to him and her face got this alarmed expression, he knew he hit the nail right on the head. He nodded to himself and sank down next to his sister. "I see. What happened?"

But Jade stayed silent, avoiding his eyes and crossing her arms. "Did you have a fight?" No answer. "Did you… oh, I don't know what teenage girls fight about! Come on. Tell me what's wrong. Maybe I can help."

"You can't help," Jade pushed out sourly.

Aiden frowned, then leaned in close. "Is it something upsetting? Are you scared of telling me? You know you don't have to be afraid of anything. I won't be mad or-"

"I screwed up, Aiden!" His eyebrows shot up and he sat up straight again when the words loudly bubbled out of her mouth. He watched Jade sigh and close her eyes for a moment, her hand lifting to rub her forehead. "I completely… ruined everything."

"How? What happened?"

Jade took a deep breath, straightening up but not meeting Aiden's worried gaze. "I said some things to her. Not mean things, just… I know it hurt her and I didn't want that but… anyways, she's mad at me now. Or… not mad, more upset and I just don't know how to approach her now and I just," she pressed her lips together, shaking her head, "I miss her but I don't know what to do. It's driving me insane!"

She let her head fall into her hands and Aiden quickly shuffled closer, gathering his sister into his arms and leaning back with her. With her head coming to rest on Aiden's shoulder, Jade leaned into his side and closed her eyes, breathing in the calming scent of her brother. She felt his hand lightly stroking her arm and silence surrounded them for a while. Before she could stop it, it poured out of her. "I'm in love with her," she quietly stated after releasing a long sigh. She felt Aiden's hand stop its movements for a couple of seconds before his fingers picked their task back up.

"Then you shouldn't push her away," he calmly said, surprising Jade with his reaction to her words. She sat up, Aiden's hand falling away from her, and looked at him with creased eyebrows. She just admitted to him that she was in love with Amelia, a girl, if she wasn't mistaking. Sure, she didn't think her brother would mind but it still surprised her to some extent. Aiden innocently blinked up at her and when Jade didn't say anything, he sighed and sat up. "Jade, I don't know what happened but… you should fix it." He paused for a moment, his eyes flicking back and forth between Jade's. "Is she in love with you too?"

Jade found herself thinking back to the bonfire, Amelia's words about falling in love resounding in her head like she was sitting right next to her on the sofa. "Yes," Jade said, determined, nodding her head, "she is."

"Then I don't see the problem. Talk to her. Make it right again."

"I can't do that," Jade mumbled and shook her head, turning away from her brother. Aiden's eyebrows moved together. "Why can't you?"

Jade laughed, a sound that lacked any humor, and looked over at him. "I can't because… I can't be with her, Aiden."

Aiden snorted and shook his head. "Why? Are you afraid what the people at your school might think? I'm pretty sure you-"

"No," Jade interrupted him sharply, "I couldn't care less what they think of me. It's… I barely have time. When I'm not in school, I'm working at the café. When I'm not working at the café, I'm doing my homework or do some studying. I barely have time for myself, how could I find time for Amelia?"

A twinge went through Aiden's heart when he heard Jade's reasoning of why exactly she thought she couldn't be with Amelia. The bad coincidence that was nagging at him since Jade began working as a waitress only doubled when he realized that Jade couldn't live her life like she wanted to, just because she was helping him raise money for them. "Jade," he sighed, "that shouldn't… you shouldn't need to neglect your happiness because of a job. I told you, you don't have to work. I can handle it, we won't starve."

"You already have two jobs," Jade argued vehemently, "You raise me all by yourself. Of course I need to keep that job. It's the least I can do. We need the money and it's not a problem for me. I told you that more than once."

"But if that job keeps you from living your life the way you want it to," he said calmly, making sure to keep his eyes fixed on Jade's, "then it's not worth it."

Jade bit her teeth together and stared at Aiden for a couple of seconds before she looked away and shook her head. "I won't give it up," she said with definite finality, finishing the topic and ending the discussion with her brother. A long silence stretched over them before Aiden sighed and reached out to touch Jade's arm.

"Fine. If you want to keep the job, keep the job. But I want one thing from you." He waited for Jade to look back at him before he continued. "I want you to talk to Lia. Tell her how you feel. Be with her. She'll understand that you don't have so much time. I mean, she kept coming over and spent time with you by doing homework. I don't think she minds to keep doing that, Jade. She just wants to be close to you."

"But what if-"

"Don't think about what if's. You'll never know what will happen or if it will work out if you never even try it." The corner of his mouth lifted into a half smile, his eyes twinkling. "Lia is a really nice girl. She's worth it, don't you think?"

A/N: Surprise! Now was that fast or was that fast? This chapter just wrote it by itself so I figured I'd post it right away. But please don't get used to it.