Dog Days of Summer

Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious

A/N:

Chapter 4 (Keep Hope Alive)

The next morning, the trio made their way to the horse's pen. They'd been discussing the fact that Trina was taking summer classes, which was surprising because of how fast paced summer courses were.

When they arrived, Trina was already at the pen, brushing the mane of one of the Clydesdales. She was wearing a white t-shirt and a slightly dirty knee length, purple skirt. Rather than wearing heels, she was wearing a pair of tennis shoes. Tori understood this was likely due to having to work outside. She also had her hair up in a ponytail and was wearing a red headband.

"I guess those are her work clothes?" The horse Trina was brushing looked over with a snort and shook his head.

"Usually she works in pants, but those got put in the wash." The horse lifted his front left leg and curled it inwards while stretching his head up into the air. "Ah, I feel good and ready for the day. Are you three here to assist?"

"We're just going to watch," Beck replied, "I don't really think there's anything we can assist with." There truly wasn't, when considering the fact that the three dogs could do nothing for horse riding. "This is pretty routine for you guys?"

"Yep. Curious, why are you pups not Master Clarence's kennel? The ranch has a kennel for rescue animals such as yourself. Have they just opted not to put you in there?"

"I guess." Tori didn't realize there was a kennel on site, but what did it matter if they weren't going to be there? "How many dogs do they shelter?"

"It can get high, they're always trying to take care of stray and lost animals if they can, then they try to adopt the ones that are adoptable. The ones that aren't just remain on the ranch. Surprised you haven't seen some of them, they're usually wandering about-but this is a big farm, nonetheless."

"We did just arrive yesterday, so if we're bound to run into any others, I'm sure we will." She honestly wanted to, but at the same time, she wasn't sure about it.

"Well, I hope you'll enjoy your time on the ranch."

"Thanks." Behind them Clarence was stomping towards the group, muttering curses under his breath. Tori glanced over and furrowed her brow as Trina asked the man what was wrong.

"I cannot get those blasted agents off my case," Clarence spouted while pushing his cell phone into his pocket. Trina folded her arms and frowned as the man swept his hand over his bald head. "What part of 'I'm not selling my land' do they not get?"

"Well, why don't you just show them your grandpa's deed? You have it don't you?"

"I don't know where it's at. My grandfather hid it away. I'll be looking through his records, see if there's no mention of it." Tori's nose twitched and she looked to the gates of the farm with a heavy heart. She didn't realize there was potential risk of losing the farm, but surely that wasn't going to be a problem. "Anyhow, forget about that now my dear. So long as I'm alive, they can't touch this land." He ran his hand down his face and looked at the horses with a subtle smile. "Are the horses ready?"

"Yes, Grandpa."

"What do you think he means by having to sell the land?" Tori asked with a semi nervous twitch crawling up her spine. "This farm's been in our family for generation, he can't sell the farm."

"I don't think it'll come to that," Jade whispered. The girl sat down and looked towards the sky. "Let's just focus on one thing here, I don't want to be a dog forever. We don't even know if there's a deadline to breaking this stupid curse, and that crappy gypsy woman can't hear us, so what good would asking her do?"

"No good at all, I'm sure." Tori looked to the gates and watched a small red car drive up. She barked once to alert Clarence and Trina. Trina stepped out of the pen and moved to the gate, opening it to let the people in.

"Looks like our regulars are here," Clarence leaned his arm against the fence and set his cap back onto his head. Trina followed the car in and moved towards the driver's side.

Tori jumped up onto all fours and wagged her tail to show her intrigue and excitement. In the process, she had to fight the urge to make a mad dash at the car.

Her eyes were fixated on the driver, but she was too low to see who it was. What surprised her most was when Cat, of all people, stepped out of the passenger side. Her stomach tightened and her muscles tensed. She moved her ears back when Jade commented her own shock.

Moving from the back seat was Cat's roommate, Sam, then Robbie emerged from the driver's side. "What in the hell are they all doing here?" Beck cocked his head to the right and slanted his eyes. "How long has this been going on, I wonder?"

Tori ran up to Cat and jumped up, putting her paws on the girl's leg. Cat moved her hand to her hair and looked down in awe. "Oh Trina, you got a poodle!" Trina walked over and laughed.

"Well I wouldn't say I adopted it, the dogs kind of came to us. Usually we're seeking the strays, not the other way around." Cat picked Tori up and cradled her close to her chest. Tori temped herself to bite the girl for concealing this acquaintance with Trina, but she resisted the impulse. It was like a slap to the face that both Cat and Robbie were cavorting with Trina and never said anything about it. "Be careful, Cat, we don't know if they've had their vaccinations or not."

"Yes that's right," Clarence pushed himself from the fence and cleared his throat. "We're going to have to take them to the vet." Tori froze and her eyes widened tremendously. She began moving her legs in the air trying to escape. The thought of going to a veterinarian frightened her for more reasons than one.

She didn't even know if their anatomy had changed or not, but then she was always terrified of needles while as a human. Dogs were sensitive, which meant she would be more sensitive than she would normally, and therefore wanted absolutely nothing to do with needles.

Robbie reached down and pet Beck's head. "How'd you find them?" He looked up with a smile. Trina pulled her hand from her chin and shrugged.

"I don't know how, but they got in the back of our truck while we were shopping yesterday. Someone might have put them there, because unless the German Shepherd pulled them up, there's no way for Cleo or Artemis to jump into the bed."

"That's what you named them?" Robbie stood up and raised an eyebrow at Trina. "Not surprised, you guys always seem to name them after some Roman or Greek thing."

"True. Grandpa named the other one 'Rover'. Oddly enough."

"Speaking of." Robbie crossed his arms and looked from side to side. "Where is Ares? He's usually always around when we show up." Tori cocked her head to the side and Cat set her down, then pat her hands together.

"You know what? I haven't seen him since we got back. He must be sleeping in the barn."

Tori walked over to Beck and Jade, peering over her shoulder. "Who do you guys think is 'Ares'?" Jade chuckled once and closed her eyes.

"Ares, the Greek god of War." She wasn't going to question how Jade knew so much about Roman and Greek mythology, but it didn't surprise her that there was another dog on the ranch with that name.

"I'm a little concerned he might try to eat little Cleo," Trina went on to say. Tori jumped and spun around with a whimper holding in her throat. "He's a rather patient, but very protective Doberman. Cleo's fairly rambunctious, so he might not be very receptive of that. Not surprising, since he's Jason's dog."

"Makes sense." Sam leaned against the car and looked at the three dogs. "So, when does he come back? Jason?"

"Any day now, but he'll have to go back overseas I think. I don't really want to think about that right now, though." Trina took a deep breath and started to smile. Tori looked up and didn't see any lines around Trina's eyes or lips, indicating that it was simply a painted smile.

"Whoever this Jason person is, she must really miss him, but she looks like she's trying to be strong about it." Tori pawed the ground once, then moved over to rub against Trina's leg. She wasn't sure why, but a part of her heart went out to the girl. "Maybe I don't get along with her and I don't really claim to like her a lot, but if she's sad-"

"No offence but you've never displayed empathy for her before," Jade remarked. A strain of guilt shook her for a second and she turned her head away. "Why do you want to deny it all of a sudden? You've never shown that you cared that much about whether she was happy or sad. I mean you kind of let us walk all over her."

"Who are you to preach to me, Jade?" Jade recoiled and rose her voice in with a frightful temper.

"I'm not saying it's right or wrong, I'm just calling you out on your own bullshit! Don't start acting like you give a shit when you never did before unless it is genuine. Hell, do you even know if it's genuine?" Tori hesitated, unsure how to respond. Of course she cared that Trina might be upset that some guy was overseas, and it would be inhuman to completely ignore it.

Maybe Jade was right, and maybe this strange feeling she had was just a sense of loyalty that dogs had in general. It was hard to believe that if she were human she would just ignore Trina's clear sorrow, but it was even harder to believe that she wouldn't make some snide remark without thinking about it only to regret it when it was too late.

Beck's head dipped and he sighed heavily, "Relax you two." Tori looked up to Trina and gently placed a paw on her leg. The girl swept her fingers through her hair and looked down, curling her eyebrows inwards.

"Aw look," Cat began, "It seems like she feels for you, Trina. The pup hasn't even met Jason, has she?"

"Not yet." Trina reached down and picked Tori up. She held her left arm under Tori for support and cradled her with her right hand. "It's pretty known that animals have a good judge of character and human emotion, though. I believe that."

"It's sweet."

"Yeah." Trina scratched Tori behind the ear and rocked her from side to side. The pleasing sensation swept through Tori, causing her to sigh out contentedly. "I may have to keep this one around. I get better love from animals than I did Tori or your friends, it's funny really. I expect Tori wouldn't give a rat's ass about my boyfriend being overseas." Tori's heart stopped and she pulled her head away with a frown.

"Yeah, I wouldn't count on it." Tori's eyes darted to Cat. She couldn't take much more of this insult, but yet, she couldn't argue. If this was how they really felt, then could something truly be wrong? "I know she's your sister, and I'm sorry to say especially with someone that was a friend…"

Sam walked up and pat Cat on the back. "It's alright Cat, you can speak your mind if you want to."

"Right. Most of them are just selfish, Trina. There's nothing you can do about it, to be honest. I've been friends with them for a few years-and yeah you've known your sister for longer, but-"

"Honestly, I don't even think I know her anymore." Tori whimpered and Trina looked down at the pup with a frown. "Used to know my sister, but that was a very long time ago. Time changes everyone, even though they say you never grow apart from your siblings-I guess sometimes you do."

"You're not supposed to." Sam brushed her thumb against her nose and looked off to the side. "Even Melanie and I are still close, and we argue all the time."

Robbie waved his hands in the air while clearing his throat, "I don't want to say anything bad, but I have to agree with Cat." Beck and Jade turned their heads and their eyes slanted at Robbie. "I can't even trust them to help me with a project."

"Yesterday wasn't our fault," Jade growled.

"Always ripping on me for Rex. Yeah I get he's a puppet, but now I'm just trying to focus on ventriloquist acts, and is that so bad?" He ripped out an abrupt laugh that startled Tori and sank her heart further. "Apparently since it's not acting, not singing, not dancing or playing music it's stupid! I just wish we could talk to them without having them look at us like we're a couple of retards."

"With friends like those, who needs enemies?" Cat muttered to herself. Tori shrugged and looked off to the horses.

"I don't know. Tori's still my sister regardless, I don't want to say anything negative about her if I can avoid it. You shouldn't either." Tori's jaw dropped as Trina set her back down to the ground.

Trina's words wrapped around her, cutting off her oxygen and forcing her into a breathless state as her blood slowly turned to ice. Of all the opportunities for Trina to indulge and really cut into her, this was that moment. Tori was expecting Trina to cut her like a knife with harsh resentments bitter hatred, and she preferred those than what Trina had just spoken.

"I see what Sam's saying, and I'll always love my sister. Of course. I don't know if we'll ever be close or not, she doesn't seem to want that and I got tired of acting out for attention. That's why I moved out here with Grandpa, I don't have to act out to try and get out from under Tori's shadow, I can finally be me."

Tears welled up in Tori's eyes and she slowly lay on the grass, whimpering under her breath so as to not attract attention. Who was Trina, then? If she acted out before for attention, who was she when she didn't act out?

Finding an end to this curse was gravely important, but all Tori could do in this minute was think about who or what her sister was and why she didn't feel as though she knew the answers.

"You haven't told her about Jason yet, have you?" Tori lifted her head and watched her sister guide the group to the horses. Trina's fingers hugged the wooden fence and slowly slid inwards.

"I'd like to. You told me not to, and I guess you know her better than I do these days." Trina's shoulders fell and she looked over her shoulders. "She hardly knows me, hardly knows you guys. Beck and Jade don't seem to take any more of an interest in anyone else's lives than she does-according to you."

"Right…It's just that, we think you should wait until the time is right."

"He said he had something very important to talk to me about when he gets back, so you know, the more he's involved in my life the more Tori's going to have to know who he is anyway. I met him at camp a long time ago, you guys met him at your teacher's thing, what difference does it make?"

Tori was hurting far too much to care about the revelation of Jason. It surprised her to hear it was the same guy, especially since she hadn't expected that, or even expected that he'd gone into the military. She wasn't mad, not while hearing that Trina met him at a camp a long time ago. It was obvious what camp, since Trina had only gone to one when she was sixteen or seventeen.

Cat crossed her arms and chuckled lightly, but with an air of scorn. "She has a very…selfish streak to her-I would think you'd know that by now." Trina rolled her eyes and Tori sank her nose further into the grass, staring at a single blade in the gentle breeze. Her heart was breaking to the point she wanted to run as far from the ranch as possible, but she couldn't. "You remember Danny?"

"That was a mistake Cat." Tori felt relief at her sister's defending words. As mild as it was, it still was a good feeling that Trina could provide this.

"Maybe selfish isn't the right term? Vindictive?" Cat extended her hand and counted off on her fingers. "She kissed Beck in front of everyone to get back at Jade on the first few days…" Tori winced and Jade cringed at the memory. "She claims she acted on impulse and couldn't control herself when she kissed Danny-honestly how do you believe it's a 'mistake' when you kiss a friend's boyfriend just because they're your ex? She got mad at me after the whole thing with Sikowitz when I dragged Jason off. She wanted him for herself, of course." Cat lowered her arms and shrugged. "There's a whole slew of things."

"You didn't come here to talk about my sister, Cat. You came here to ride, so let's ride."

"Right. I'm sorry, Trina. I didn't mean any-"

"It's fine." Trina grabbed a pair of gloves from Clarence and looked off as he handed her a dark purple cowboy hat. "I understand your cynicism, it's hard to keep believing in someone when they've only let you down a bunch of times."

Cat smiled softly and bowed her head. "Yes, that's true, but the people that keep hoping are either admirable or foolish."

"All things considered, when it comes to people like Tori, I'd rather be a foolish optimist than a cynic." Tori raised an eyebrow as Trina propped open the gate and motioned the horses out. They followed her signal and the others moved to their horses as she climbed onto the Arabian horse. "Somebody has to believe my sister has a chance. If nobody else, it may as well be me, else all is lost."

Tori's heart lifted up and a tear played at her eyes. She perked her ears and tilted her head, trying to decide if she'd heard correctly. If Trina had not truly given up on her, then maybe there was hope somewhere. She certainly didn't feel deserving of it, not when she heard how bad her own friends thought she treated them.

For Trina, of all people, to say she still had a single shred of hope for her after all of the shit, it truly was something of a miracle.

So a number of things discussed here. We see for the first real time some issue regarding the farm, the way the others are feeling, and a little more insight on what Trina's dealing with in regards to the boyfriend of hers-first time I get to really show a character whose dealing with having someone overseas. Though I may have shed light on the subject at some point of time. Growing up in a military family, you understand what it's like to have to wonder if someone you care about is ever coming back. Kind of why Trina's an optimist in this, she has to be.