That Friday after school
"so dad how'd the arrest go" asks Tori
"which one, the child grooming teacher or the principal who let it and more happen" says David
"either one, Robbie wants an update for his sister and her girlfriend because cheerleading is their passion and you basically made them stay home all week" says Tori
"both pled guilty to sexualizing the girls because they feared letting the kids be normal would lead to too many gay kids, they will face up to twenty years in prison and us officers get to reset the dress code, they'll be allowed back to school and games on Monday and they'll be allowed to openly date, as will the dozens of other students that had to hide their true feelings, now onto the serious question, why did Trina really move to London England" says David
"are you seriously suggesting I know something you don't" asks Tori confused
"all I know is her grades weren't good enough to go to a local university or college, let alone one abroad, Hollywood arts didn't even want her, she literally just barely graduated" says David
"all I know is she got an offer for a good deal for housing with an interview with Oxford, I swear I don't know anything else, do you really think my life is better with her over there" says Tori getting upset that her dad doesn't believe her
"I mean objectively it would seem so" says David
"DAD, she was the only person keeping Sinjin in line, without her he came within inches of getting Robbie to rape Cat, before Jade arrived there was nobody to protect me, not after she left, she was keeping Ryder AND Sinjin and everybody like them in line, do you really think I'd trade a quiet house for that kind of danger dad, because that's insane" says Tori as Jade comes running downstairs
"Tori calm down, remember my mom said you need to avoid any anger inducing situations for the next week, she can't deem you stable if you can't control your anger" says Jade soothing Tori's anger
"to be fair she had every right to be angry at me, I didn't believe Trina told her nothing about what the deal was with her going to England, Trina set up a bank account in England the moment she landed, this morning I received a bank transfer for fifteen thousand dollars from Trina's British bank account, Trina's reckless spending while she was at Hollywood arts put me hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, debt that the banks are insisting I pay back soon or they'll take the house" says David
"and you thought what exactly, that your eldest daughter was selling herself and that somehow Tori was involved, you had no right asking her the way you did, I warned you that while she's healing she's impressionable" says Jade
"her and Trina were mending their sibling bond before Trina left, I just thought that maybe Trina told her something in advance before Trina sent the money, my bank finds the deposit suspicious and they need a definitive answer as to where the money came from" says David
"I'll tell you what you need to know if you tell me why you have a security camera pointed at Tori's bed" says Jade
"I didn't install it, she did, Ryder slapped her last year and told her that she was his property, that he earned her after what she put him through, she was having nightmares that he'd rape her, she couldn't tell nightmares from reality, Robbie told her what model to buy and where to buy it, I told her it wasn't necessary, that the security cameras we had were enough, she insisted, Trina left a month later, once the nightmares subsided she thought about selling it but she had grown accustomed to the added security of her own security camera so she kept it" says David
"and you have no access to it whatsoever" asks Jade
"not unless a crime is committed and I'd only get access to the required videos, nothing before or after, besides she encrypts it, even if I did gain access to it I wouldn't be able to see anything or read any files, not without the password" says David
"then why didn't she tell me about it, I had to find it to even know it was there" asks Jade
"because she forgot the password she chose and Robbie knows his cyber security companies well, the company the camera is with won't let her reset the password without verifying her identity, voice and signature isn't enough, they require valid government ID" says David
"so the reason she didn't tell me is what, doesn't she have direct access to it" says Jade as she sits Tori down on the couch
"it's a secure system, better than anything us cops have access to, it's CIA level secure, without the password she can't access it or give access to people like you or even Cat if needed, without Government identification she can't reset the password, her government ID expired last week and if she can't even talk to me about Trina's situation in England then she won't be able to handle The DMV asking her questions to renew her driver's license, essentially it's a paper weight that only the company can access and only when the camera sends an alert about a possible crime having been committed and the file is sent directly to the police, I'm notified that an alarm has been raised, nobody has direct access to any videos except for Tori, now about Trina" says David as Jade lets Tori fall asleep
"Trina and Tori talked about the debt, apparently Trina thought your credit card was like a debit card, where you can only spend what you have in your bank, she didn't know you'd lose your house if it wasn't paid, she works at Oxford university outside London England, teaching English girls of all ages self defense, she gets paid pretty nice for it, definitely better than she would get paid for a similar job here, that fifteen grand is three months pay after everything else she needs to pay is paid and she did tell me that more money was coming next month, not as much, maybe five grand but hey its something, how much does that take off, by that I mean how much do you have left after the fifteen and five" says Jade
"about ninety thousand dollars, at least I can explain the money and they'll accept it as a possible payment meaning as long as I can pay it off like that they'll let me keep the house, now on an equally serious note, did Tori actually pass out, that's not like her" says David concerned about Tori
"she still has tons of sleep debt to recover from, she's on meds to help, at least two days worth of sleep debt left, we've been napping at lunch this week, while people don't fully trust me yet they think it's cute and they are seeing improvements to her mood which is giving me credit and proves that she really was in crisis after the split from Cat" says Jade
"so I assume you're officially her girlfriend then" asks David
"not officially no, she doesn't want people thinking I'm taking advantage of her 'moment of weakness' as they call it, unofficially yes she's officially asked me out, her and I will be living both here and at my house, she got a call from Stanley records this morning, they're interested in signing her, the offer was fifty percent profit for her and fifty percent for them, she told them she'd like to accept but won't be making any new music until she recovers, they agreed to her terms and she digitally signed the contract, she gave them access to her previously released music for the time being so stream and radio play could be tracked for monetary purposes as well as making it an official income stream for her, she's already received five hundred dollars just for today's plays" says Jade
"do you trust her around Andre, she was very touchy feely towards him when you had him, Beck, Cat and Robbie over for that movie, she woke up last night drenched in sweat and came to wake me up because she thought you'd think she was romantically interested in Andre" says David
"it's part of the healing process David, you have to understand that Tori believes that every person has a soulmate of each gender, just because she's not romantically interested in Andre doesn't mean she isn't interested in what he can do and want him in her life" says Jade
"that's right up to the edge of polyamory Jade, I have never tolerated it in this house" says David
"part of the deal with Stanley records was that they sign Andre too as part of a duo with Tori, besides she's not yet stable enough to be left on her own, that's why Andre was here last night and you kicked him out, I have financial plans to make so that Tori and I can live comfortably, part of that plan is to limit how much money she has direct access to on her debit card so she can't overspend, to do that I need time to be physically at her bank because they don't do that kind of thing over the phone, she told the bank that if I show up to do anything it's with her consent and that IF anything changed you or her would let them know, I had an appointment with her bank and I had to bail ten minutes before the appointment because you kicked Andre out, Andre has been filled in on what's going on with Tori, he's Tori's cuddle buddy, nobody else wants to date him since they believe his music career is a bust, he said he's okay with cuddling us, he agreed that he'd help keep Tori safe, there is no sexual component, he's willing to forgo a relationship with Tori if it means he can be in her life at all" says Jade
"and you're certain that she wants this kind of arrangement" asks David
"yes, she asked for it, my aunt officially handed me the ownership of her clothing business after my dad was convicted, now that my bank account is unfrozen I'm officially the CEO of Bella's allergy safe clothing company, meaning I can't always spend a lot of time with Tori if meetings are mandatory to be in person, I still don't know everything about how the company is structured, I don't yet know just how much say I have and if I can say that I shouldn't need to be at meetings, even if I have to be there by phone, it's a small company, only two stores, though the public wants us to open more, Tori wants someone by her side all the time" says Jade
"she has talked about polyamory before, last time it was about Cat and Robbie or Cat and Andre dating her, I told her legally that it's illegal" says David
"trust me it wouldn't be a true relationship, Ryder completely ruined dating guys for her, at most it will be cheek kissing, cuddles and making music, of which she would never consider it a true relationship and neither should you" says Jade nuzzling Tori
"you barely know her, are you certain of her position on this" says David
"her and I have talked about it actually, she admitted that the idea of being with two people has crossed her mind she said she'd never trust a guy not to be jealous and that IF she ever entered into a triad it would be with two girls not one guy and one girl" says Jade trying to prove that Tori isn't the deviant one
"the tone in your voice says that I still have something to worry about" says David
"Trina, Trina's the one you need to worry about" says Jade
"I've been worrying about her for over a decade Jade, she has yet to truly warrant panic like Tori is on the edge of" says David
"trust me she has secrets David, Trina's dating two guys, like actively dating two guys, do you really think her moving away was a coincidence, you're barely ever home, the motivation for Trina moving was the fact that neither her not Tori get paid diddly squat for work, like a regular job, Tori's making five dollars an hour and only working three days a week, Trina was making four dollars an hour and was only allowed to work three days a week, Tori being the hotter sister is how she got that extra dollar an hour, Trina since moving to London has met the God damn queen of England, she's met the prime minister of England, she's finally being treated with the respect she deserves and by the way the only reason Tori even had a chance to be signed was because Stanley records is a mainly British record label, they have very few artists located in America, Trina told them about how talented Tori is and sold them on a one year trial for Tori and Andre, if their music is popular they'll get a multi-million dollar contract" says Jade
"I had no idea either of them were paid so little Jade, they never said a word to me about it" says David
"because you raised them to believe in honor and respect, your ex wife tainted them, they didn't want you to know that they were being unfairly treated because they didn't want you to get the police involved, apparently people consider Tori and Trina to be illegal immigrants, at least on the local level, state and federal employers know they're Puerto-Rican Americans but neither qualify for those kinds of jobs, the kind of money Trina's making, she can't get that here except for in three professions, kick boxing, wrestling or as an escorts, over in England she's treated as an equal and she gets to teach British girls of all ages self defense, where else is she going to be able to do that for more than minimum wage, for Tori there are only two options that pay well, singing or acting and she's too nervous to act, Trina knows that and got her the best deal Tori will likely ever get, and she got Andre the same deal" says Jade
"so do I call Trina on the polyamory or not, because I don't think it's legal in England either" asks David
"polyamory is legal in California and England, polygamy isn't legal, you'd be good to learn the difference" says Jade
"you have experience do you" asks David genuinely curious
"not me personally in the romantic sense, I grew up with two moms, one was the maid, the other was my mom then there was my dad, honestly my dad never had time for me growing up, my mom either, both were working to make sure that I had a secure future, you don't know what it's like to have your family ripped away from you, three years ago my bonus mom died in a car crash and last year your greedy co-workers took my father from me, it was supposed to be his last investment so he'd finally let the businesses run themselves for a few years so he could actually spend time with me, now if he is found innocent he'll spend the next twenty years trying to prove he is a law abiding citizen, things don't ever go my way, don't go ruining your daughters lives like you're ruining mine, feel free to tell Tori that you don't trust her, me or Andre and that's why we aren't here this weekend, I'll be back on Monday if you let me in, now I have bank stuff to sort out" says Jade as she leaves, very upset that David doesn't trust them
"what have I done, I have to get Andre here, I have to make things right but he probably won't pick up…… maybe Cat will" says David realizing he poked the bear and has to fix things as he calls Cat
"what do you want Mr. Vega, I'm kind of in the middle of something" says an annoyed Cat
"I messed up, I made a mistake, I accidentally insulted Jade and she left, I misunderstood Tori's situation and had Andre leave last night, I have to work in an hour and Jade said Tori can't be left alone yet, do you think you could convince Andre to show up" says David clearly in a panic
"what'd you do insult her father or something" asks Cat as she pulls herself away from Robbie so she can sort this out
"my parents were polyamorous, they were treated poorly until they died as a result and they made me feel like polyamory was bad, I told Jade that I have never supported polyamory and she kind of blew up on me, apparently she grew up with two moms as well as her dad, she got mad at me for assuming Tori wanted an outright polyamorous relationship" says David
"if you agree to apologize to Andre he will show up" says Robbie
"I'm not perfect Robbie, I do make mistakes but unless Andre shows up in less than half an hour I won't have time to apologize, Jade's mother requested a police protection detail during Jade's father's retrial, the first day of the trial is tomorrow, it's expected to last three weeks, there are a lot of protests about him getting another trial, people don't like that he might be declared innocent and released, there is a lot of preparation to do, I don't have a lot of time before I'm expected to show up for work" says David
"I'll let him know" says Cat as she hangs up
20 minutes later as Andre arrives
"Robbie said you want me here, that's not the way it felt yesterday when you kicked me out" says Andre
"I made a mistake Andre, my parents were polyamorous and they were nearly killed three times and were seriously mistreated until they died as a result of being polyamorous, Tori wanting you and Jade by her side terrified me, I was afraid that Tori would be a target of those that believe polyamory should be a death sentence crime, I didn't understand the context of the agreement you three had come to, I was too afraid to ask" says David
"Tori would never enter into a polyamorous relationship or a relationship in general with a guy, not after Ryder, besides being bisexual, she does lean towards girls, honestly after making her extremely uncomfortable when I told her how I felt I'm shocked she wants me in her life in any capacity, I'll take what I can get, it's not like any other girl is offering anything close to this" says Andre
"really, are people that mean, like you haven't had any girl ask you out" asks David
"not recently and any that do, want to change the core of who I am to fit their needs and desires, Tori accepts me for me, would I like a romantic based relationship with her, absolutely but she compromised by allowing a certain amount of affectionate behavior from me directed at her, cuddles, cheek kisses and helping her with her depression but that's as far as she will let me go and I'm ok with it" says Andre
"you're a better man than I was at your age Andre" says David
"what do you mean" asks Andre
"I'd begged and begged my highschool crush to go on a date with me after she'd already made it clear she didn't want to, finally she agreed to a date just to shut me up, it was embarrassing, I bought new clothes for the date, not realizing I'd drained my bank account doing so, ironically the date actually went pretty well, better than she'd expected, that was until the bill came and I found out I had no money to pay the bill, she begrudgingly paid it and told me I disappointed her and that I had to get lost" says David
"that wasn't Tori's mom was it, because Tori doesn't like her mom one bit" says Andre
"no, that was one of my other mistakes, she had been diagnosed with cancer, she told me her chances of survival were basically zero and that she wanted her last wish to be granted, essentially she had a massive crush on me and wanted to marry me before she died, so I folded and we got married, I'd only agreed because she was dying, I wasn't thinking about a two decade commitment, she had two years worth of other issues after beating cancer that I'd agreed to be there for, by the time she was absolutely cancer and problem free she was pregnant with Trina and my parents shamed me into staying with Holly because 'the men in our family don't bail out on a family just because a commitment is over', shortly after Trina was born Holly was pregnant with Tori" says David
"but Holly cheated on you many times, Tori had to find out the hard way, it didn't do her any good, couldn't you have divorced Holly" says Andre
"sure I could have but then neither of us would have gotten custody of the Trina and Tori, my job is too risky and she has blatant disregard for their health, I agreed to tolerate it so long as Trina and Tori needed a normal family structure, honestly while I hate that Tori had to find out the way she did, it saved me a lot of legal bills because Tori told everyone at my work that Holly was a serial cheater and a terrible mother, Holly was shamed into signing the divorce papers taking nothing with her, not even the family car, what would have been Holly's money in a divorce was given to Trina for pain and suffering, Tori was given the car Holly had owned and only because it was purchased with my money, now you should go take Tori upstairs, I have work to prepare for that I was supposed to have off, I had a date today that I had to cancel on" says David as Andre sits beside Tori on the couch
"is there anything Jade should know, so that she can trust you, police in general kind of make her nervous" asks Andre
"had Tori not had the flu and a mild fever that day I'd have done Jade's father's interrogation and he'd have been cleared of all charges, it was my investigation but Tori suddenly falling ill took priority, she was still getting used to Hollywood Arts and hadn't felt she knew anyone well enough yet to have them over to study let alone take care of her being sick and she was still a few weeks away from that date with Cat so she didn't have Cat to take care of her, Trina left the moment Tori got sick and stayed at a friend's house until Tori wasn't sick anymore so she only had me to take care of her as Holly had just moved out and wouldn't have taken care of Tori anyway" says David
"wait, let me get this straight, because Tori was sick you couldn't oversee the interrogation of her father and he was therefore forced to admit to something he didn't do, wait when was she sick, Hollywood arts shut down for five days to scrub down every inch of the school after someone reported having flu symptoms, that was right around the time news of Jade's dad's trial broke" says Andre
"Tori was the one who reported flu symptoms, the last time Trina was sick like Tori was, Tori would wash every inch of uncovered skin with soap and wash her hands with bleach before making any food for herself but since Trina left she hasn't done that kind of thing and she only did it when Trina wasn't feeling well, anyway like I said she did not have anyone else to take care of her and things like the flu tend to hit her harder than other similar illnesses a d I had to prioritize her health and I put too much trust in the people I put in charge to ask him questions, it was never meant to be an interrogation, we were still way way too early in the investigation to narrow it down to one suspect but the district attorney wanted a villain, before I could have any say the district attorney went with the forced confession, anyway I should really get going" says David as he leaves