Sunday,

May 11th, 2014

Tori stared at her. Trina nervously pressed her hands together as she waited for a reaction but Tori felt not capable of doing anything but look at her older sister with her mouth hanging open. She actually had the urge to slap her but her behind seemed to be glued to the white comforter, her healthy hand tightly gripping the edge of the bed. This wasn't what she had expected at all. Tori had actually believed that Jade didn't want to see her, only to find out that her... stupidly protective sister had shooed her away. When the fog of surprise in her brain finally cleared, Tori found herself able to react to Trina's confession. "I can't believe you would do something like that," she quietly muttered and felt a fresh layer of tears coating her eyes.

"I'm so sorry. I just wanted to protect you from her."

Tori scoffed weakly. "Jade isn't some kind of monster. I don't need protection from her. She's not doing anything bad."

Trina shook her head and looked to the side, arms crossing. "She kind of is. She keeps hurting you to make herself feel better, Tori. Don't you see that?"

Trina's eyes pleaded with her but Tori shook her head and sniffled. "That's not true," she resolutely said, corners of her mouth pulled down and jaw moving from left to right as Tori tried to keep her tears at bay, "She may have hurt me but I know she doesn't meant to. She would never hurt me on purpose."

The hospital room fell quiet, the thick tension in the air heavily pressing down on both women. Finally, Trina sighed. "Okay. Maybe I'm wrong about that. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have forbidden her to see you. That was wrong of me, I'll admit that."

Tori nodded, hand running over the itchy comforter underneath her. "It was."

The sisters didn't speak another word after that. Trina grabbed Tori's bag she had packed for her yesterday and quietly walked out of the room with Tori in tow and down to Tori's car. The ride was quiet until Trina stopped the car in front of Tori's home, killed the engine and took a deep breath. When Tori finally managed to limp up the stairs and they were in her apartment, Trina broke the tense silence. "I'm sorry."

"No, you know… it doesn't even matter what you said to her. Fact is, she didn't come. That speaks volumes."

Trina sighed. "No, it doesn't, Tor. She didn't come because I told her not to. If you're going to blame anyone, then blame me." Tori heaved out a breath as she slowly let herself sink onto the sofa. Wincing, she lifted her legs up. "Why are you defending her? You don't even like her."

"I don't like what she did to you," Trina corrected and took a seat by Tori's legs, "There's a difference. Besides… you love her. And I think she loves you t-"

"Don't say that!" Trina's eyebrows shot up at her sister's harsh tone. "She's not in love with me. She told me so."

"Then she was lying."

Tori closed her eyes and lifted a hand to rub her forehead. "Just stop. My head hurts. Can you go to the pharmacy and get the pills the doctor prescribed?"

Trina stayed seated for a moment longer and watched her sister, before she sighed and got up. "Yeah, sure." Grabbing her bag, Trina opened her mouth but was interrupted by a loud, obnoxious buzz. Deciding to save what she was going to say for later, the older Vega walked to the door and pushed the button that would let the visitor in. Before opening the door, she turned back to Tori. "Do you need anything else? From the supermarket or something?"

Tori's response was immediate. "No, thanks."

"Alright."

Then, she opened the door.

…

Jade slowly walked up to the dark wooden door and took a deep breath before lifting her hand to ring the doorbell. She didn't really know what to say to Amelia but after her talk with Aiden, she knew she had to do something.

The door swung open and Jade was greeted with the sight of Lia's mother. The woman smiled brightly, her hand pulling the door open even wider. "Jade! That's a surprise, come in!"

Jade smiled in thanks and stepped into the house, the warmth she always felt whenever she was here instantly enveloping her body. "Lia! Come down here, you have a visitor!" Diane warmly smiled but Jade's attention strayed away from her when the sound of a door opening and closing sounded from upstairs and soft footsteps padded across the floor. Amelia appeared around the corner, slowly stopping at the top of the stairs when she found Jade standing next to her mother. With furrowed eyebrows and parted lips – her face overly suspicious – Lia walked down the stairs without letting her eyes leave Jade. The look she sent her made Jade feel like a little mouse being cornered by a hungry cat, the feeling only intensifying when Amelia's mother left the two alone and Lia came to stand right in front of her. She just stared at her suspiciously and Jade swallowed, her mouth suddenly becoming way too dry to speak.

"What are you doing here?"

Her voice was low and not so friendly, outlined with confusion and maybe even resentment. Jade swallowed again and licked her lips, taking a deep breath. "I really wanted to talk to you," she softly said and watched Lia shift her weight from her left foot to her right.

"About?" she pressed, still warily looking at Jade.

"Well… about… us." Jade mentally slapped herself for her stupid stuttering and let out a sigh, trying to let go of all these nerves. "I wanted to apologize to you."

"You don't have to," Lia's eyes found her feet as she shook her head, "You made yourself pretty clear. You told me the truth. I don't see anything for you to be sorry for."

Lia's voice was quiet; the hurt her words were laced with seeped directly into Jade's chest, making her heart contract just a little bit more. Feelings. How much Jade hated them sometimes. "Lia, you don't-" She abruptly broke off and glanced towards the living room where Diane disappeared into. "Can we talk somewhere? In private?"

With her bottom lip sucked in, Amelia took a look in the direction of the living room, contemplating, the door standing ajar. She sighed and turned around. Jade almost thought she was going back up to her room but she relaxed when she saw her slip on some shoes and take her jacket from the coat rack. "Wait here," she told Jade with a sharp look before she went into the living room, quietly telling her mom that she would be out for a while. Only a couple of seconds went by when Amelia stepped back into the foyer, barely even looking at Jade as she walked past her and out of the front door, leaving Jade no other choice than to follow her. The clouds got darker, Jade noted as she and Lia began walking side by side without uttering a single word. It probably wouldn't be long until it would start to rain.

"Well then," Amelia's voice cut through the silence, "You wanted to talk. So talk."

Jade was a taken aback by hearing such a cold tone out of Amelia's mouth, the girl that was usually so full of sunshine and happiness and everything that Jade was not. She cleared her throat, nodding as if to spur herself on and reached her hand out to wrap around Lia's arm. The blonde stopped short but kept her gaze on the ground. "I don't really know… how to start," Jade admitted a little sheepishly which caused Lia to glance up at her. Jade smiled a little but the blonde's face stayed blank. Frustration rapidly began to bubble up inside of her. Apologizing just wasn't Jade's thing and neither was admitting feelings to someone. She didn't know how to do this and the way Lia was treating her – although she had every reason to – was not helping at all. Letting out a harsh sigh, Jade just told her the first thing that came to her mind.

"I'm scared," she said and watched as Amelia's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Sighing, she said "That's the reason, Amelia. It has nothing to do with you or with what you did… or rather what you wanted to do…" She furrowed her eyebrows and looked away. "It's my fault. And I'm so sorry for… everything."

"What are you scared of?"

Jade bit her lip and looked back into Amelia's eyes, shining with curiosity. "Of you," she murmured, lightly shaking her head, "You make me feel… things… that I don't know how to deal with and I don't… I can't have them."

Amelia blinked and shook her head. "Because I'm a girl?"

"No. It's…" she trailed off and lifted her shoulders in a small shrug. Amelia patiently waited, frowning when Jade bit her lip and shook her head. "You won't be happy with me."

A short laugh left Lia's mouth. "How can you say that? Why wouldn't I be?" Jade watched as a raindrop fell onto Amelia's shoulder and stayed quiet as the blonde continued in a loud voice. "You can't just decide that I 'won't be happy' with you! How about you leave that to me?"

Anger quickly arose in her hazel eyes, something unusual when it came to Lia. "Don't you think it would have been a better idea if you had just told me that sooner? I mean, not that I would have understood it, just like I don't understand now, but we could have talked about it!"

Jade blinked at her, then swallowed and looked at her feet. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, I know that." She pressed her lips together and looked away from Jade, a tense silence once again settling over the two girls. Amelia sighed and shook her head before turning back towards Jade. "I don't understand what you want from me," she quietly admitted and Jade looked back up at her, "Did you want to apologize to me? Is that all?"

Jade hesitated, shifting from one foot to the other. "No… I have something else."

Her heart picked up speed as she watched Amelia nod. Should she just… come right out with it? Jade wished she would have practiced it beforehand, maybe then she wouldn't look like a complete idiot right now. She ran her tongue over her lips and she knew she had been silent for way too long now. Just say it, Jade. Do it. She won't kill you. It's not that bad, people say it all the time. Jade could see Amelia's patience was slowly slipping away and that was enough motivation for her.

"I'm so in love with you," she suddenly blurted out, her heart going from beating wildly in her chest to almost a complete standstill as she waited for Amelia's reaction. But the blonde just stared; her lips slightly parted and crossed arms slackening. In movies the other person would say they love you back now, Jade thought, but Amelia surprised her by saying something completely different.

"I thought I'm a complication to you."

"Of course you're not a complication. I mean, I did think that but I never meant to hurt you by saying that. And to be honest with you, I still think that maybe it will be really complicated from time to time with you and me. But… it just doesn't matter because… I'll be with you. You're worth it."

She still looked a little wary, Jade noted, but her resolve was slowly cracking, spider webs splintering her surface until everything fell away and a really small smile appeared on her lips. She tried to hide it by looking down but Jade could see that her smile was only widening. Gathering every ounce of courage in her body and pushing all of the what if's and maybe's to the side, Jade took a deep breath. "I want to be yours and I want you to be mine. I love you." Hazel eyes lifted but instead of sadness or anger they showed something completely different. Something that Jade was sure showed in her own eyes as well. "I think you are my right person. I want you to show me that, no matter what… love isn't futile. I want us to be limitless. I want to take the leap."

The moment of courage, of the adrenaline rushing through her bloodstream slowly crumbled down after the last word left her mouth. Jade considered running away for a split second when Lia didn't say anything, just merely looked at her with raw attention, but that thought quickly flew out of the window. She wasn't a coward. She wouldn't run. Instead, Jade took a deep breath. "So what do you say?"

Time seemed to stand still, a steady tick tock sound of a clock getting louder and louder in Jade's head with every second that passed in which Amelia didn't say anything. But then, corners of lips lifted into a smile and arms uncrossed. "I say," she began, pausing briefly, "that I love you too."

Jade exhaled deeply and stopped in front of Tori's closed door. She doubted Tori would be as easily convinced as Amelia had been. The brunette was stubborn, almost as stubborn as she herself. But she had to try, no matter what Trina said. It wasn't her decision to make, it was Tori's and if Tori didn't want to see her anymore, then she could tell her so herself. Lifting her hand to knock, Jade paused mid-air when the door swung open. But instead of who she hoped would stand in front of her, Jade's eyes fell on Trina. Great. Glancing past her, Jade got a small glimpse of the back of Tori's head before Trina stepped out into the hallway and pulled the door halfway shut, obstructing her sight of the younger brunette. "I'm not going away today," Jade quietly stated, "I need to see her."

When Trina simply stared at her for a long moment, Jade almost got ready to throw her body to the side and walk inside, but then, she pushed the door open again and motioned for her to go in. "I'll go now," she called out to Tori without taking her eyes off of Jade, "But you have company."

Tori turned her head, confused eyes meeting Jade's, before she turned back around without another word. Jade barely noticed Trina closing the door behind her as she hesitantly took a step further into the room.

"Knock Knock."

"I'm not home," Tori curtly dismissed, not looking up from whatever she was looking at.

"Really? Can I… leave a message then?"

Tori didn't react and stayed quiet. "Tori," Jade pleaded softly and walked closer, slowly approaching her. She kneeled down in front of her and tried to catch her eyes but Tori stubbornly kept her gaze down. Hesitantly, as if she was afraid Tori might slap her as soon as she touched her, Jade reached out and carefully placed her hand on Tori's knee. She felt her tense for a moment but when Jade gave a light squeeze, the muscle underneath Jade's thumb relaxed. "I wanted to say I'm sorry."

"I don't want to hear it."

Jade's shoulders tensed at the harsh rejection that bubbled out of Tori's mouth, something Jade really wasn't used to. Not from Tori. What was she supposed to do now? Just say what you wanted to say. "I know that… I've hurt you. And I'm so sorry for that."

"Just save it. Leave me-"

"I need you."

Just as she had hoped, brown eyes snapped down to her. Tori's knee was tensing up again and all the brunette did was stare. Jade took a deep breath. "I've been such a bitch to you and… I mean… I can't promise you that I'll be perfect, not right away, but... I'll at least try."

Tori's face crumpled in confusion. "What? I don't know what you're trying to say."

"Okay. That's okay." Jade nodded and closed her eyes for a moment. She desperately hoped she wouldn't chicken out half way through, she needed to spit it out, if not for hers, then for Tori's sake. "Before I met you… You know, before we became friends… I was living my life without Lia as best as I could and I actually managed. I was content. I didn't need to be happy. But then you came. And I had a tiny splinter of my happiness back."

"Jade, please stop."

"I'm done in a second, please just listen to me." When Tori stayed quiet and her gaze stayed locked on hers, Jade continued. "Not seeing you was so, so hard and I just couldn't… I couldn't stop thinking about you. And, God, I'm so sorry for not visiting you at the hospital. I was such a coward but… I'm here now and I want to tell you that… that…"

"That what?"

"That I… That I l-… That I-"

Tori's forehead creased. "Jade?"

You love her, idiot! Say it! It was on the tip of her tongue, ready to be spoken, but it wouldn't get over her lips. So Jade settled for the next best thing. "I like you."

"You like me."

"I kissed you because… I like you."

"Oh." Tori frowned and looked at the hand on her knee. One eyebrow lifted and Jade could picture all those wheels turning and clicking in the brunette's head when finally, a Ding! seemed to sound in her brain and Tori's head shot up, eyes wide and eyebrows almost touching her hairline. "Oh!"

Jade couldn't help but smile at the look on Tori's face. "So… Do you… Do you forgive me?"

She was going out on a limp, Jade knew that. If she were Tori she probably wouldn't forgive herself so easily either. When Tori just blinked at her with her mouth standing open, Jade knew she probably went too far too soon and should leave her alone so that she could think about everything. "You know what? Don't say anything. You already aren't, saying anything, I mean. So… that's perfect." She quickly got to her feet, nodded and rubbed her hands together. "I'll just leave you to think. Think about it. Or don't! Whatever you want. I'll just… go now."

She walked out and as soon as the door closed behind her, Jade dashed down the stairs. God, what an idiot she was! What was that? 'Do you forgive me?' That probably sounded like she expected her to say yes, which she really didn't, actually, she expected her to kick her out as soon as the words left her. Stepping out of the building, Jade took a deep inhale of the fresh air and swiftly tried to steer straight for her car, when a voice calling out to her stopped her.

"Wait!" Jade turned around and watched Tori limping towards her as fast as she could with her injured hip and come to a stand a couple of feet in front of her, face still wearing the most adorable mask of confusion. "You… You can't just go now."

"Why not?"

"Because you… Because…" She trailed off and tilted her head the slightest bit to the left. She shook her head, eyes dazed. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Jade stepped forward until not even an arm length separated them, without allowing her eyes to break contact. Again, Tori shook her head. "No. I don't."

Jade came closer and closer and closer until her nose brushed against Tori's and her breath hit Tori's mouth. "What are you doing?" Tori asked and simultaneously resisted the urge to step back, and the urge to lean forward and connect her lips with Jade's. "I'm trying to kiss you, if you don't mind."

A quiet breath left Tori's mouth. "Is your brain shut off again?"

Jade couldn't help but chuckle but instead of answering, she asked "So do you mind?"

"Do you know what you're doing?"

"I'm very aware of it, yes."

And those were the last words spoken between them, the words that peeled off Tori's hesitance and made a smile appear. This time, she didn't stop herself from leaning forward.