Estrangement

Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious

A/N: The difference that you won't see is that this part of the original oneshot will now be better written and more fleshed out. Not rushed and shrank together like oneshots tend to be.

Chapter 2 (Trouble on the Horizon)

Tori stormed into her house, furious and ready to punch a hole into whatever came her way. She didn't understand why some people just didn't understand how important her dreams were. She didn't want to think that Trina, or even her boss, had been correct in what she said, that singing was just simply a fantasy dream. She didn't want to accept Jade's words that she probably should give up. She didn't want to give up the dream!

On the living room couch was her elder mother. Holly had wrinkled, sagging cheeks and frown lines at the corners of her mouth Her forehead was creased and her body had become thinner over the years. Her hair was wispy and grey, and her eyes were dim and mournful. She had liver spots on her arms and forehead. She often had a blanket wrapped around her, and did even now. "You look upset, Tori." The woman's misty gaze lifted up to her as her scratchy voice tormented her daughter. "Are you all right?"

"No I'm not all right!" Tori put her hand to her forehead and tried in vain to calm her frayed nerves. "I lost my job because my manager is a dick." Holly frowned and bowed her head. The woman was trembling and staring down at her hands. She'd had so much happen to her in the last few years, and more recently she'd fallen and broken her hip, which required surgery. It was difficult to cover the bills to pay for her mom's medical concerns. She would often tell her mother that once she became a famous singer, she could take care of her forever, but that dream was truly unreachable and she needed to be thinking more realistically. She kept telling herself that, but then would tell herself to wait just one more day, one more month, one more year. "What's wrong, mom?"

"It's getting worse…" Tori put her hands to her hips and lifted her eyes up to the ceiling.

"What is?"-

As Holly lifted her quivering hand, Tori started to frown. "Look." It was no secret that her mother had been developing arthritis and Parkinson's, but it had only been mild. Senility was also beginning to set in, but it was nowhere near strong yet. Holly's misty eyes fell into tears as Tori started to move forward. "My hand won't stop shaking. I can't stop it…"

"Oh mom…" If only she could get a real job with actual health insurance, she could pay to take care of her mother. At this rate, she wouldn't even be able to help her mom live a full and happy life. "It'll be okay. We'll just get your medicine."

"I'm out of medicine, Tori." Tori's heart sank and her hand flew to her head. She let out a soft groan, trying to think of what could be done. They would have to make another doctor's appointment, get him to prescribe stronger medicine, but she'd already spent her last paycheck on bills and rent.

"Mom, I can't afford another appointment. We don't have the money, and I just lost my job…" Maybe if she could just find another talent scout, she'd be able to help her mother, but no, she'd been failing everywhere she looked. Her mother began sobbing. Brokenhearted, Tori flew to her mom's side and put an arm around her. "It'll be okay mom, we'll figure something out okay? We'll talk to Jade, maybe she can help." Sure Jade wasn't a financial counselor, but she had to have some ideas.

"It's not that. I…I was trying to clean, to dust off the end table in the kitchen. I broke the vase. I broke the flower vase." Tori's eyes widened and she quickly looked to the kitchen. There in the doorway were several broken fragments of the blue porcelain vase. Holly's hands moved to her face as her weeping increased. "Your father gave me that as an anniversary gift, Tori! And my stupid clumsy…"

"Don't talk like that, you're not stupid or clumsy." Tori hugged her mother, then got up from the couch. She wondered if there was a way to fix the vase at all, but as she studied the fragments, she had her doubts. "It'll be okay, Mom. Don't you worry."

"What? Are you going to magically start a singing career and get the money to buy a new vase?!" The woman snapped at her, startling her with her irrational anger. She knew her mom's agitation was only from the fear and the pain that the woman felt, but she couldn't help but to be affected. She ignored her mom's words and moved into the kitchen, grabbing the broom and dustpan from beside the refrigerator. "I-I'm sorry for snapping at you, Tori. I didn't mean anything by it, I'm just…" Tori sighed heavily and hurried to clean up the fragments.

"It's fine, Mom." Her eyes drifted to an old family portrait on the wall and her lips flattened as a crease moved along her forehead. The picture was taken back in her teenage years, a studio photo. Trina was laying back on a long red couch, with her elbow on the arm rest, her hand on the side of her head, and her legs crossed over. Her eyes held an exhausted look, but her lips were curved into a smile. Perhaps the fakest smile Tori had seen in a long time. Tori was sitting on the other end of the couch, grinning from ear to ear as she posed with her arms expanding above her head. David stood behind the couch, with his hands on the edge and his eyes gazing proudly at the camera while Holly clung with her arms around his neck and head on his shoulder. "Mom, when did we put this picture on the wall? I don't remember it being here before." She felt a knot in her stomach as she quickly dumped the remnants of the vase into the trashcan.

"I put it up this morning, sweetie. I found it stuffed away in the back of your closet."

"There was a reason it was there…" She put her hands to her hips and moved out into the living room. "I don't exactly like remembering Trina cut us out of the picture, Mom." Holly slumped in the couch and bowed her head.

"If we'd paid more attention to her maybe she would still be here, Tori?"

"Well she's not. It's just me and you."

"It doesn't have to be! We could find her. We could get her help…" She was aghast at what her mother was suggesting. She never needed help, and she wasn't about to go begging Trina for any assistance. Though, she didn't want to admit she could use it, and she did miss her elder sister. She was still hurting that Trina walked out of their lives, whether or not they pushed her to do so.

"I don't even know what Trina's up to, Mom. Don't know where she lives, don't know what job she's got or anything. She seems pretty happy with her family. Hell, we weren't even invited to her wedding with Sinjin!" In fact, it had been Trina's words that stuck with her the most: Since you don't have time for me, I don't have time for you. "What do you suggest I do? Find my sister and grovel for her to call me her sister again? Because I'm pretty sure, with how she acted the last time we were all together, that scenario will not be happening."

"It's worth a try isn't it? You have to admit, she was right about a few things sweetheart. You're still not a singer…and why did you lose your job today? I haven't asked yet." Her hands slid down from her hips.

"I uh-I got fired because I called in sick when I wasn't, and went to a bar thinking that a talent coach was going to be there. It was a setup by my boss." Holly winced as Tori spun around, brandishing a hand in the air. "Okay so I screwed up, that doesn't mean anything."

It was even harder in 2030 than it was in 2013 to get a job as a singer. Talent scouts did not go around often to discover someone, and almost every successful singer or actor had their job because they personally knew another singer or actor. There literally was no chance in hell she would ever become a singer, but she didn't want to see it that way. She wanted to be optimistic.

Not to mention, knowing her pride and knowing her sister's pride, there probably wasn't much chance of Trina helping them out without Tori saying that she'd been wrong. She didn't think she was wrong, she still thought she could make it.

"It means you need to find a real job, Tori." Holly took a deep breath and clenched her eyes shut. "You can't go around waiting tables so you can hope to get lucky. This is serious, I'm dying Tori! I need medicine, I need help, I am an old woman and I'm having difficulty getting from place to place…how do you expect me to just sit around being optimistic? There is nothing to be optimistic about!"

"S-Sure there is, Mom. We have a house, we have food, we have shelter. What more could we ask for?"

"Family?" Tori frowned as Holly slowly stood up and staggered forward. "I'm an old woman that has never once seen her grandchildren." Tori glanced to the side and started to speak, but withheld her words. "David got to see his grandchildren, he got to see his daughter, for at least a year before he passed away. Not once did we ever go to New York to see them, to see your sister. To be honest?" Holly's voice cracked into a whimper as her trembling hand clenched onto Tori's shoulder. "I miss my daughter. I don't want to die without once being able to see her."

"You're not going to die, Mom. Come on. You're fine. You'll be fine…" She tore herself away from Holly and began fidgeting through the papers on the end table beside the couch. She was looking for Dr. Hoffman's information. "I'll set an appointment. Maybe Jade will be able to help pay for some of it. We'll get your medication." Holly's arms fell to her side and she looked away slowly until Tori found a strange notice on the table. "What is this?"

"An eviction notice…the landlord says you were late with payment and didn't pay last month's rent…" Anger sparked inside her as she threw the paper down and ran for the phone.

"That's bullshit! They can't evict us!" They could, and she knew they could. The accusations were accurate, but only because she screwed up and her boss had been getting ticked off with her. She'd had so many missed days and sick calls that the paycheck had clearly been less than it should have been.

They had thirty days to get out of the house, or they would be forcibly removed from the premises.

"I have to call Jade. She'll know what to do."

Yes she may know what to do, but you may not like what the answer is Tori XD. Well what are your thoughts? I wanted to get this posted now since I'm fixing to go on my camping trip. It gives people a couple weeks to see it.