A/N: TIME JUMP!

This is the first of a multi-chapter arc that I was eager to start here.

Now we're a couple of years into Tori and Jade's relationship. They have since graduated from high school and are well into their college days.

SONG:

"People Need Love" was written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus

"No, Jade! We're not burning our textbooks!"

The goth crossed her arms at being denied by her girlfriend.

"But finals are over and I didn't think I was going to make it!" she complained.

Tori smiled softly at her love and kissed her on the forehead. It was one of the very cute things that she permitted but as long as it wasn't in view of everyone else.

"Besides," Tori said. "We could get some trade-in value for them."

"Oh, fiddle-dee-dee, a whole $4 for a book that cost $60!"

"Told you to by used," Andre said coming down the hallway. "It's great because everything's already highlighted."

Jade gave him a cold glare.

"First, I DID buy used. Stupid moron on eBay failed to mention he lived in Serbia so shipping killed the price. Second, you don't know if the last owner was a total doofus! Maybe he highlighted the wrong shit?"

Andre thought about it.

(She's crude, but she has a point.)

Tori took Jade by the hand and led her into their dorm room. Andre waved.

"Wish I could stay but I promised I'd meet with Beck. Later!"

"Bye!" said Tori as she shut the door.

The Latina stretched and yawned, glad that another week was done and over with. And they were even closer to summer break.

"OH SHIT!"

The cry from Jade made her run over to their room. Originally, they were written down as roommates. They kind of downplayed that they were together for fear of catching the ire of the Head of Student Housing and forcing them to live separately. They lived in a three bedroom dorm that they shared with Cat. But since Jade and Tori had...ahem...special sleeping arrangements, the third "bedroom" was used for storage mostly.

Tori caught Jade sitting on the bed, clutching her phone.

"Babe, what's wrong?" asked a frantic Tori.

Jade didn't answer.

She just rose to her knees, holding the phone like it was a priceless treasure. Her grin grew bigger by the second.

"Jade?"

"Uh, Tori?" she shakily said. "You might want to sit down."

She obliged, but was confused as hell as to what was going on.

Jade turned her phone around and it was an email from Ripped Cord Records.

Tori cautiously took the phone and read it.

"Greetings, Tori Vega. We are happy to inform you that we have received your demos and are impressed by what we heard. We request for you to make an appointment with us to come and record a single in our state-of-the-art facility. Distribution is guaranteed on platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music and Google Play. Please respond to this email with the number provided below."

Tori looked back up at Jade's gleeful face. She held her tan girlfriend who was losing all feeling in her legs.

"This is AMAZING!" Tori cried as she hugged and kissed Jade.

Then something hit her.

"Wait a second. How did you get an email about me?"

Jade rubbed the back of her neck, sheepishly.

"I might have submitted your recordings from a few months ago under the guise as your...manager."

Tori then understood what she meant. During winter break, mostly for fun, Tori had Jade record her singing some original songs she had written since she was in high school from a notebook that had been gathering dust. Feeling this was being wasted, Jade coaxed her to take out the old book and recorded Tori singing with Jade playing piano. When she played them back, she didn't think they were half bad. Jade felt her girlfriend was being way too modest and decided to take the initiative and send her demo to Ripped Cord Records.

They recently bought a song outright from Andre and he said he had a good experience with the company. The profits from that song helped pay for his tuition. One of the appealing things about this label was that they don't take as huge a chunk from the artist's earnings like some of the bigger ones do.

Tori shook her head and kissed her girlfriend deeply.

Jade smirked, "As your manager, I have to say this is most unprofessional! Well?"

"Well what?"

"Aren't you gonna call them?"

Tori's eyes bugged out and she fished out her cell and dialed as Jade read off the digits.

"Hello? Hi. My name is Tori Vega and...uh-huh...yes, I got the email..." she looked up at Jade. "When would I like to come down?"

Jade shrugged.

"Any openings for tomorrow?" Tori's face then fell. "Oh, I see. Next Saturday maybe?"

She then lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Great, awesome!" Tori grinned. "That's perfect. We'll be there!"

The tan girl pushed her lips together, trying to suppress a scream.

"We gotta celebrate!" Jade exclaimed.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Tori asked, looking sultry as all hell.

Jade bit her lip.

"Fucking your brains out and Chinese food for dinner it is!"

"Okay," Tori said, fluttering her eyelashes. "But let's order the food first. They always take like an hour to get here."

"That way food is ready when we're shagged and starving," Jade nodded. "That's brilliant!"

An hour later, Cat returns to the dorm and sees the delivery guy at her door.

"Oh, hi!" the man in the red had with the big brown bag said. "Order for Jade?"

The redhead rolled her eyes.

(The usual takeout order I see.)

"What do I owe..."

"It's already paid," he said, handing her the heavy bag. "Have a good evening!"

Cat struggled opening the door while holding onto the gargantuan order. She was relieved when she placed the bag onto the table by the couch. The petite girl took a gander at her roommates' bedroom door and it was shut with a bra on the knob.

"GUYS! FOOD'S HERE!"

"Thanks, Cat!" came Tori's voice from behind the door. "I ordered for you too! There's rangoons and a large won-won-won-won..."

"Wonton soup, got it!" she said, taking her food and sitting on the sofa.

She looks back at the door for a second and takes out her headphones and cranks up the music.

"I love you two but man these walls are thin."

The following Saturday, Tori and Jade went to Ripped Cord Records.

It was in north Hollywood so a bit of a drive from campus, but it didn't feel that way for Jade. Hearing her girlfriend's hyper excitement was so invigorating. Having someone she cares about so much just having her dreams come to fruition was like a drug.

(This must be what being happy for someone feels like. I can get used to this.)

Jade really was Tori's biggest cheerleader. Not just this scheme to get her out there in the industry but it went back in high school. She would be working hard on some tracks with Andre and would be such a perfectionist that she would discard perfectly good recordings. Jade would have to swoop in and convince Tori to never throw anything away. If she was working on a melody or there's a lyric looking for a song, save it somewhere. One day you'll find a use for it. But write it down, record it, do something.

Tori reciprocated that support for Jade as well. She had been getting into animation and was becoming acquainted with the software and the technical work involved. But it was her drawing that was lacking. How could she make animation if she was a terrible artist, she reasoned. Tori understood her perspective and encouraged her to take up an art class. It was a lot of work and patience but Jade was improving. Tori made a point to review every project she worked on for class and her independent work. Whenever Jade doubted herself, Tori would force her to look at the before and after to prove that the classes and her hard work are getting results.

And now, she had crafted an impressive portfolio. Jade was courting a few outlets for an idea for an adult animated series. Nobody wanted to back her. But Tori helped organize a GoFundMe page to generate revenue for a pilot. The budget was below expectations, but Tori and her friends helped out with the music and voice-over work for free to help keep the costs allocated to the animators and other crew members. There were many nights where Jade would jump in and do much of the work herself to help out her staff meet the deadlines she set. Tori had to remind her to eat and sleep; sometimes carrying her to bed when she fell asleep at her station.

After three years of work, they managed to make a 20-minute "proof of concept" to put on YouTube. After six months, the video generated 150,000 views and steadily climbing. Jade was now more confident than ever before that she will get noticed if she keeps at it. In the meantime, she posts her own indie projects regularly on her channel along with outtakes and behind-the-scenes stuff. Jade wanted to inspire the next animator to go out and do it by pulling the curtain back and showing the whole process.

Just when Tori couldn't be more proud for her girl, Jade wins the student prize for her short animation. This was voted by the heads of art and film curriculum at the college. Everyone clapped for Jade but nobody clapped harder than her girlfriend, standing in the front row.

And today was Tori's turn to make her dream a reality.

She had her fun at Hollywood Arts, but this was potentially getting signed on by a record label. Even though it was one of the more medium-sized labels, Tori still looked upon it as "the big time."

Tori was nervously holding her folder, which contained eight songs. She was racking her brain all week which one she wanted to record. Since Jade had sent ALL OF IT to the label, Tori wasn't sure which one they liked the most.

"I still think you should do this one," Jade suggested, pointing to the one at the top. She knew Tori had it there because that was her number one choice but damn this indecisiveness emboldened by anxiety.

"You really think so?" Tori asked.

"I know so, hon" Jade assured her with a kiss on the cheek. "They're all good buuuuut you're particularly proud of that one."

"Hello there!"

They turned to see a large fellow with a beard running up to meet them.

"Greetings! Greetings! I'm John, the engineer. Our hostess is a little per-occupied but she's dying to meet you. So I've been told to lead you to the recording booth so we can get started." He clasped his hands together. "I hope that's okay, girls."

Tori and Jade looked at each other and shrugged.

"No worries," Tori said, smiling.

"Lead us!" pointed Jade.

"Right this way," he waved.

The egg carton shaped walls looked like something out of some futuristic torture chamber.

Tori had become accustomed to the bizarre state of recording booths but this was obscenely cold and sterile. This felt more like an operating room than a recording booth. The engineer, John, sat behind a panel of glass where Jade sat in a chair far away from any of the controls.

It was tough for Jade to not give her the physical support from where she was. It was only a few feet but that sound-proof glass made it seem a wider distance.

Tori held up the lyrics to the song she picked.

"Um," she tapped the mic, eliciting loud feedback. "Oh, sorry."

"It's no biggie," John said over the PA. "Just relax and watch those hard consonants. Especially the letter P."

The Latina was a bit confused.

"What?"

"No hard P's!"

Jade snorted, making the engineer give her the "I heard that" eye before going back to his board.

"So which song, dear?"

"Oh, well" Tori said, dropping her folder. "Oh, fuck. I mean Fuck! Please don't record that!"

(Vega, you're gonna get a Parental Advisory sticker at the rate you're going.)

She fished out the correct paper, leaving the rest scattered beside her on the floor.

"Got it!"

Tori cleared her throat and held the paper firmly.

"It's called The Phantom Lover."

Then her face looked sickly.

"Oh no!" Tori said with a facepalm. "I forgot the music."

"No, I have it here!" John shouted. "It was already sent to me."

Tori looked to Jade who just put her hands together to make a heart.

(God help me, I love that woman!)

John clicked the button to talk one last time.

"Don't be nervous, Tori. We have it all under control. Just sing; you'll do great."

Jade gave the thumbs up as the music started to play over the speakers and Tori waited through the intro for her part to kick in.

The next four minutes Tori spun a tale of a girl who fell in love with another girl but died from tumbling off the edge of a cliff. Now as a ghost, the girl is still drawn to the object of her affection. The living girl is lost in the woods and the wind and sunshine helped guide her way home. The phantom lover of the song, still smitten with the girl, watches over her as a guardian angel and counts the days when they can truly be together.

As morbid as it sounded, there was a playfulness to the melody. It hearkened back to an Irish folk song, warning children of the banshees and things. It was beautiful but also haunting. Romantic but sad. Definitely had an edge to it. Tori was leaning toward the pop genre but these past few years (especially after dating Jade) she was getting more turned on with alternative rock and experimental indie stuff.

When it was all over, John gave the thumbs up that it was recorded. He asked if Tori wanted to do any more takes and now feeling less anxious, she nodded and would give it a go three more times. The second-to-last version, they all felt, Tori nailed it and would be fit for publication.

Jade hugged Tori when she exited the booth.

"I'm so proud of you!"

"Thanks," Tori said. "I couldn't have done it without you."

"Alright, ladies, follow me. Our intrepid boss is now waiting for us!"

The three walked back to the main foyer where they first entered and saw a tall woman with glasses holding a tablet. She looked up and smiled.

"Tori Vega!"

She extended her hand and Tori took it.

"How has John been treating you?" she asked.

"Oh, he's been great," Tori nodded. "I was nervous but he helped me out in the studio."

"That's why he's the best!"

The man nodded and began walking away.

"You only say that because its the truth, honey."

The lady cleared her throat and removed her glasses as she looked to the side of Tori.

"And who might this be?"

(Oh no! It's not possible!)

Tori turned to Jade and said proudly, "This is my awesome girlfriend!"

The girlfriend in question was stiff as a board. She looked like one of those white marble statues.

"Oh where are my manners!" grunted the woman. "I'm Ashley Hensleigh."

(WHAT ARE THE FREAKING ODDS!?)

The tan girl shook her girlfriend.

"Jade, are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Ashley chortled.

"I'm sure its nothing. She's probably tired. So anyway, Tori I loved the song. I mean the demo was good but today's recording, oh! I just finished listening to it before you came around. I'm shook!"

"You think it's that good?" asked Tori.

"You definitely have it!" Ashley said. "I was originally just going to buy the song and perhaps offer a tentative contract."

Tori felt like her eyes were gonna pop out of her skull. Jade felt like she was going to pass out right now.

"Anyhoo," Ashley continued. "This morning I was talking with the band Raven's Claw."

Tori shook her head. "Whoa, Raven's Claw?"

"Good, you're a fan! We can discuss the details at a later date. Sorry but I have been slammed today."

"Okay," Tori said. "But what about Raven's Claw?"

Ashley looked around and leaned in to Tori.

"I can't say officially yet, but there is a tour coming up for the band and they have been looking for an opening act."

"SHUT UP!" they both said.

"Oh good!" Ashley smiled. "She's awake! Dreadfully sorry to cut this meeting short but I basically wanted to tell you in person that we want you at Ripped Cord Records. What do you think?"

"Yes!" Tori blurted out. "Thank you-Thank You-Thank You!"

The Latina then bent her knees and leaned down, resting her hands on her legs. The blood was leaving her head.

"Sweetie, why don't you have a seat and maybe some water."

"Okay," Tori said as she went over to the nearby black leather couch.

Jade went over to check on Tori and goes to get her a bottled water from the courtesy mini fridge at the end of the room. Once she gets a hold of a bottle, Jade feels a nudge on her shoulder. She turns and practically freezes again at the sight of Ashley.

"Way to go, Jade. She's a total cutie."

With that she sauntered away.

Forgetting how her hands work, Jade drops the water.

(How does she do that?)

A/N: I wish I could do actual lyrics so I could give you the song Tori sang. To get a feel for the kind of song it was, listen to "It Can't Rain All the Time" by Jane Siberry and you'll see the vibe she was going for.