Her eyes slowly opened, blinking as she tried to get them into focus before she dazedly looked into the smiling face of… Amelia?

"Lia?"

The blonde's smile widened. "Hi."

"You're back," Jade stated softly, astonished at the sight of her fiancée lying next to her.

"I never left you," she softly replied and lifted her hand to stroke Jade's cheek. She must be dreaming, Jade thought, or hallucinating or just turn completely nuts now, but when she felt the hand of her (dead?) lover move into her hair, everything felt so freakishly real. But this couldn't be real, it wasn't real. A wave of panic rushed through Jade's body. What the hell was going on?!

"You," she started slowly and watched Lia's eyebrows rise, "are not real."

"No?"

"No…" Inhaling deeply, Jade held the breath for as long as she could, hoping that that might help her to make this strange… copy of Amelia disappear, but when the need to breathe became overpowering and the air she was holding rushed out of her mouth, the blonde woman still wasn't gone. Carefully – and she really didn't know why she was so careful. This wasn't real. Nothing could happen – Jade slipped her head out from under the woman's hand and sat up without removing her gaze from her. "Whoa, am I going crazy now? Is it finally happening?" When Amelia's face just showed amusement, Jade narrowed her eyes. "The pills. This is because of the meds I'm taking, right? I'm hallucinating."

"If that makes you feel better. Then sure, yes. Definitely the meds."

"Oh my God," she mumbled, tearing her gaze away from Lia and getting off the bed, where she started pacing the floor, hands in her hair. "I can't believe this. This isn't happening. What the fuck is going on?"

"Tori was way more cooperative when I met her. And she didn't even know me before."

"Shut up Lia, I-" Tori? Jade froze, hands gradually falling out of her hair as her eyes, wide in shock, moved to the figure sitting up on the bed. "You met… what? Tori… You… I don't understand."

The smile on Lia's face was soft. "You don't know how easy it is to get into people's minds when they're sick or injured. The things doctors give people is some heavy stuff."

Jade scoffed. "Yeah, no kidding." Wow, did stuff like this happen to people who take drugs? If so, how could they like that? This was the freakiest, most confusing and scariest thing Jade had ever experienced in her life and she wanted it to stop. Now. But… what if this really was real? What if this person on the bed really was Amelia? She definitely looked like her. She talked like Amelia. Everything about her was just exactly like Amelia. The room had been silent for way too long now, but Jade really wanted some answers.

If she was crazy then why not embrace it, right?

Carefully eyeing the other woman, Jade slowly sat down on the bed. For a moment she stared at her and didn't do anything else before she nodded her head. "So when Tori had that accident…"

Amelia nodded. "Yep."

"But Tori never said anything about…"

"She probably forgot it as soon as she woke up."

"Uhuh. Okay. So then… Why didn't you appear when I was nearly dying? That would have been nice but, you know, I'm sure Tori needed that more than me."

When I was nearly dying? What am I talking about? Amelia seemed to think the same thing, judging by the look she sent Jade. "Okay, first of all: You didn't nearly die. You have bronchitis, but you didn't die and you won't die. And Tori didn't almost die either, plus, she doesn't even remember it anymore. Just to get the facts straight."

Just like when she was still alive, Amelia managed to make Jade feel completely ridiculous about her jealousy. Ducking her head, Jade mumbled, "Well… you… You still could have come sooner."

"You're not seriously mad at me for that, are you?" Jade didn't react. Amelia sighed quietly and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Well, I'm here now."

It made Jade look up, meeting hazel eyes again. She looked so beautiful, so, so… real and beautiful. They looked at each other for a long time before the soft smile dropped from the blonde's face and her hand retracted from Jade's."By the way: that stunt you pulled sitting by my grave all night? That was seriously the worst idea you've ever had. Do you know how hard it was for me to not being able to yell at you to go home?" She raised her eyebrows in an aggravated fashion and blew out a breath. "You and Tori sure are a handful to look after."

"To look after?"

"Well yeah. Someone has to do it, you two are obviously too careless to look after yourselves." Jade chuckled at the wink she received and reached out to brush over Amelia's hand but frowned when she couldn't feel anything. "Why can't I touch you?"

"Because I'm dead, Jade."

"But you can-"

"I don't know how that works," she quietly admitted and looked at her hand, moving it to lightly brush against Jade's. This time, Jade felt something. "I'm not really an expert at this whole thing."

Jade wondered if anyone actually was an expert at… being dead. "So… is there… a reason why you came now? And not sooner? Or not at all?"

"Tori."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh." A loud sigh rushed out of her mouth. "Why do you do that to her? She's so perfect and patient with you."

"I know she is. Don't you think I appreciate that?"

"I know you do. But appreciate is not enough. Not anymore." Amelia shuffled a little closer to Jade and urged her to lift her head so that their eyes could meet. "I know you love her. And that's okay, that's… more than okay, actually. But you have to let her know."

"But-"

"God Jade, you're so… stubborn." She let out a sigh and shook her head. Her weight rested on her hand as she tilted her head to look at Jade. "Tori is good for you. Just let her in. Completely. It's not that hard." She smiled and shrugged her shoulder. "You've done it with me."

"That was different."

"No, it wasn't. You love Tori just as much as you love me. The only difference is… that I'm not here anymore. But Tori is. Don't fight it. Just let it happen. It's supposed to."

She was right. She was so right. But still, it really wasn't as easy as she pictured it to be. There was still that one little hole, and while Jade knew that Tori would do anything to tend and heal it, she didn't know if she could really expect that from her. What if it would eventually be too much for her? She'd leave Jade, and every wound would be freshly ripped open. Jade didn't know if she could live through such a pain again. "I know what you're thinking," Amelia said softly, interrupting her train of thoughts. Jade timidly looked up at her. "She won't leave you. Stop thinking like that. It just makes you feel scared."

"I am scared."

"You don't have to be."

"I love you though," she pleaded feebly, but she knew Amelia was right, everyone was right. She should have listened to Cat, to Aiden… to Tori.

"I know. God, and I love you too, Jade." She paused, took a deep breath and cracked a sad smile, helplessly lifting one shoulder in a shrug. "And as long as I still have a small part of your heart… as selfish as that might be of me… I'm happy. But I'm setting you free. It's what I need to do. It's what you need."

A sob fought its way through Jade's throat and tears began to spill. She wanted to wake up so badly from this. This was hurting her so much, she just wanted… she wanted… Tori. "You can't leave me, Amelia. You can't, you promised me not to leave."

"I'm not going to, love." The blonde smiled teasingly, hazel eyes sparkling. "Who else is going to make sure you won't do anything stupid? But it's time now."

"Time for what?"

"Time to let go."

"But-"

Jade's word got stuck in the middle of her throat when Amelia's smile turned sad. "Our time is up, Jade."

There was no space left to argue. It was true, there was no way around it anymore. So Jade stayed quiet and didn't put up a fight when Amelia made her lean back and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. "Now sleep tight."

And sleep she did.

Blue eyes slowly fluttered open, meeting the clear white ceiling. Jade's head was still spinning from the unbelievingly weird night she had, yet, she turned to her right, only to see the bed next to her was empty. Sighing shakily, she lifted her hands to run them across her tired face, trying her best to rub out the sleep she actually hadn't gotten at all. This dream… this dream was just the weirdest thing. Why did it feel so… real?

But she reminded herself that it hadn't been real, as much as she wanted it to be. But that was the thing. Did she really want it to be real? The fact that she even questioned that made her feel completely horrible but she couldn't help it. Amelia was dead. She had been for a long time. And it took an awful long time for Jade to get over her, which actually she still wasn't, not really. But… was Tori right?

"I know that if Lia would magically come back from the dead you would forget about me in an instant."

The small fight they had after coming back from Cat and Robbie two weeks ago had really put a strain on their relationship and hovered above them like a black, fat rain cloud. Spoken and unspoken words – mostly the unspoken ones – rested heavily on both of their shoulders and seemed to push and push until it would ultimately force both of them to their knees. There hadn't really been time for Jade to smooth the situation out either, with her cough getting worse and fevers spiking higher. Eventually she had gone to a doctor, who had diagnosed her with an acute bronchitis and a protracted flu, putting her on antibiotics. She hadn't really managed to really think about Tori's words but now… now she wondered if she was right.

She wasn't. Even if it was possible for Lia to come back, forgetting Tori… was just impossible. She loved Tori, not any less than she had loved Amelia, just like the blonde had said. No stop, Jade! It was a dream, nothing more. She wouldn't believe in this weird, spiritual crap. It wasn't real. Death wasn't something anyone could just come back from. It was simply a trick of her brain to tell her that it was okay to love Tori. That's all. That was all it was.

It was okay.

Talking to Tori, that was what she had to do now. It was way overdue. Kicking the covers off of her body, Jade swung her legs out of bed and jumped to her feet. Her ears took in a faint clattering from the other side of the door, and excitement and nervousness began to pull at her when she realized that Tori must be bustling around in the kitchen. Even though their relationship had been shaped with tension, Tori had taken it upon herself to take care of a sick Jade, trying to nurse her back to health as best as she could. How could anyone not love this woman?

Taking one last deep breath to brace herself for what was to come, Jade pushed open her bedroom door and slowly walked down the small hall to the living room. When she got a glimpse of the kitchen however, her hand flew to her chest when she realized the person there wasn't Tori.

"Holy f- Jesus!"

Aiden whirled around, his face taking on a look of amusement when he saw his shocked sister in the doorway. "Not quite, no."

Jade rolled her eyes, let her arms fall to her side and walked into the room. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Checking up on you. Making my lovely and appreciative sister breakfast."

Jade ignored his sarcastic tone and took a seat at the counter. "Where's Tori?"

"At work." Of course, duh. Just because she was off sick didn't mean that Tori was too. She let out a sigh and stayed quiet while Aiden bustled around in the small kitchen. After a couple of minutes, a plate full of pancakes was shoved in front of her. Looking up at her brother, Jade saw him eagerly dig into his own breakfast. They ate in silence before Jade sighed again and spoke up.

"Aiden?"

"Yep," he said absentmindedly, most of his attention being held by his pancake.

"Do you believe in, like… spiritual stuff?"

"Spiritual stuff? What do you mean by that?"

"I mean," she sighed and picked at the edge of her pancake, "Do you think there are people who… are like guardian angels or who just generally look out for you? People you can't see?"

By now Aiden had put his fork and knife down and was looking at his sister with raw attention. "I… I never put much thought into it." He paused, then leaned forward a bit. "You mean dead people?"

"Yeah," she admitted hesitantly, gauging her brother's reaction. But his expression didn't change. "I mean… Have you ever had a feeling that maybe mom was guiding you in the right direction?"

"No," he said after a silence but then his face crumpled in confusion, "Or I don't know… Have you?"

"I… I guess so. I think I saw Amelia. No, I didn't see her, I… dreamt of her. But it just didn't feel like a dream, you know? It was as if she was really there next to me."

"Hm. What did she say?"

This was one thing she absolutely loved about her brother. No matter how farfetched or absurd whatever Jade told him was, he'd always listen and take her serious. "She said that… I should let go."

"Of her?"

"Yes."

She tightly bit down on her lip when Amelia's words repeated themselves in her mind. "Our time is up, Jade." Aiden leaned his head to the side. "And do you want that?"

The answer was suddenly as clear as a blinking billboard.

…

She couldn't wait anymore.

So Jade found herself standing in front of big glassy double doors, ready to walk through every single hall this school possessed in search for Tori. But first thing first, she would look in the most obvious place: the teacher's lounge. Pushing open the doors and walking into the artsy school, she walked through quiet halls with colorful walls and pretty lockers. Absentmindedly she wondered, how she herself would have decorated her locker when she was in high school and how Tori would decorate hers. Her ideas made her smirk.

When Jade reached the brown door with 'Teacher's lounge' written on it in small black letters, she lifted her hand and gave the wood three light knocks before pushing down the handle. The first person she saw was a strange man sitting at a table with a coconut in his hands and a straw sticking out of one of the coconut's holes. The straw was tightly captured between his lips and his eyes were locked on hers. When he lifted one hand to wave at her, Jade hesitantly smiled and gave him a curt nod in greeting. What a weird school.

She contemplated asking the coconut man for where she could find Tori, but when she looked to her left, her question was answered all by itself. Tori was standing with her back to her, a handsome man – the one Jade had met when she had visited Tori here the first time – standing next to her, both hovering over a piece of paper in Tori's hand.

"Tori…"

The brunette turned around at Jade's voice, eyebrows rising. "Jade? What are you-"

"I need to talk to you."

She looked at her for a moment before glancing at the guy next to her, then back at Jade. "Uh… Right now? Can't it wait until later?"

"No, no it can't."

The silence that followed was awkward and really, really uncomfortable as Tori and Jade simply stared at each other. When it got too much, the man next to Tori cleared his throat and carefully pulled the piece of paper out of the brunette's hands. "It's fine. You two can talk," he said, then quickly walked away and left the two women alone in the back of the room.

"I had a dream," Jade started quietly. She slowly walked closer until everything she'd say would only be heard by Tori. "It made everything… kind of… clear."

"Is… that why you came here?" She looked at Jade as if she had lost her mind. "Because you wanted to tell me about your dream?"

"No, no I…" Pausing, Jade pushed out a sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. Easy steps. Just start easy. "I hate the way we are right now. I mean, we're both not happy and… And I… I absolutely hate it that I make you so sad lately. It shouldn't be like that, I should make you smile and laugh and blush not… frown and cry."

Her words seemed to make Tori slightly uncomfortable as she bit her lip and took a look around the room, shifting her weight from side to side. "Jade… maybe we should talk about this some other time."

But Jade didn't even think about stopping now. It had to come out now, there was simply no way around it. "You wanna know how I feel around you? I feel alive. I feel worthy of life. When I wake up and you're not there I get scared that everything was just a dream, that you were just a figment of my mind. But when I see you or hear your voice or touch you… I know that you're real and I'm so relieved because I can't see myself going on without you."

"Jade-"

"I love that you love me, Tori. I love that you never gave up. I love it when you wear your glasses. I love it when you don't wear your glasses. I love your name. It makes me feel warm all over. I love that I live for you, that I live for us. God Tori… I love you."