Well my dear Jori readers/ writers since today is "World Blood Donor Day", I thought it would be fitting to post something to commemorate the occasion even though it's not technically a holiday but it could still be something I think Jade and Tori would take part in… Well at least Jade… You'll see why soon enough.
Anyway, in this chapter you'll see some throwbacks to some Victorious episodes such as "Tori Gets Stuck" and "Locked up" as theyre important to the plot.
And as anlways everyone, please do read and enjoy yet another unexpected instalment of this saga.
"Jade… Are you sure about this?" Andre asked uncertainty for the twentieth time. "I mean, you are aware of what happens afterwards, right?"
Jade narrowed her eye, giving her friend a stare that said "I'm not backing down."
That was all the answer he needed.
"Ok, but for the record, let it be known that if Tori asks, I tried to stop you." He said "And that I didn't know of this crazy plan of yours until last minute."
"Ok, fine, whatever!" Jade said annoyed. "I take full responsibility."
"You are aware that Tori's going to kill you when she finds out what you did." Andre said. "… She's not going to be happy… Not happy at all."
"Which is why, she's not going to find out." Jade said evenly. "This will be our little secret! We're taking it to our deathbeds if we have to!"
"Hey guys!" Cat cheerfully said behind the duo as her wrapped her arms around her friends. "What a coincidence to see you two here! Are you two gonna… You know…. Give Blood?"
The former redhead giggles at the last word as if it was something naughty… Which it technically was, given the fact that this little 'outing' was meant to remain a secret but of course, that went out the window the moment Cat unexpectedly came out of nowhere and derailed Jade's "secret plan", after all everyone knew Cat couldn't keep a secret, so the moment she saw them, both Jade and Andre knew it would only be a matter of time until Tori found out where her wife and best friend had been and for what reason.
"Oh for fuck's sake!" Jade thought annoyed. "Why am I not surprised? Go figure things wouldn't be so easy."
"I have a bad feeling about this." The musician thought in dismay, he then gave the former Goth a distraught look as if saying "What now?"
Ah but fortunately, Jade thought best when she was cornered.
"An eye for an eye, Harris." The thespian shrugs. "Now, stop giving me that face, I know, exactly what to do."
"What?… You do?"
"I just need your phone." She said "And for Cat to stay quiet for at least two hours."
"So in other words, we're doomed?" He asked.
"NEXT!" A nurse said, unintentionally interrupting the conversation the friends were having. "Don't just stand there! Come on in! Let's keep the line moving!"
"I find your lack of faith in me disturbing, Harris." Jade said with an eye roll. "Now stop whining, you heard the woman! It's our turn!"
"YAY!" Cat clapped. "Blood power!"
"Oh, I feel a migraine coming up." Jade muttered. "Which is fitting considering what's coming my way."
"Hey Jadey, this reminds me of the time I got you those twelve gallons of blood for that clown that didn't bounce." Cat giggled "It was sad his parachute didn't open."
Needless To say this caught everyone around the trio to hear the very dark, very loud comment, some medics even stared at the petite woman as if she was some kind of psychopath.
"Cat! Shut up!" Jade ordered darkly. "This is neither the time nor the place!"
"Oh I really have a bad feeling about today." Andre thought.
Meanwhile in an apartment far, far away, two sisters were watching a movie or actually, one was watching a film while the other was anxiously glancing at her phone with a certain amount of paranoia.
"Oy, this isn't how I expected to start my weekend." Trina thought with mild frustration. "Seriously, can this day go any slower?!"
Tori on her part was oblivious to her sister's train of thoughts and simply kept enjoying the film, letting out a nostalgic sigh at a particular scene, something that the older woman noticed as she stared at her sister with a raised eyebrow.
"What's with you, Tori?"
"Oh nothing." The younger Latina said with the same feeling of nostalgia. "I just thought back to the time when we were in prison in Yerba and I ended up saving Jade from getting more than just a bloody nose from that huge ass girl Sheema… Even when I didn't fully know why back then, I just had this protectiveness when it came to Jade."
"And this is relevant to the movie we're watching how?" Trina asked incredulously. "We're watching The Shawshank Redemption! Why are we watching this in the first place?"
"Well, I was wrongly imprisoned like Andy." Tori shrugged. "So I can relate, plus like him, I managed to beat the system and find freedom, not just for me but also for Jade and the rest of us."
"Ok, when you put it that way, I can see why you're going down memory lane." Trina replied. "Not going to lie, I didn't think you would like this type of movie, I mean all things considered I think the last thing you would want to be reminded of is your time in prison or Yerba for that matter."
"Don't get me wrong, our time in Yerba was without a doubt the worse but if I would have to say anything positive about our trip there is that it's around that time I started to discover how I felt about Jade." Tori said "So it's a bittersweet memory for me."
"You know, you could've still discovered your feelings for that psychopath you married without traveling across the world and into a danger zone." Trina pointed out. "I'm still unable to comprehend how your wife managed to fell asleep in the middle of a war!"
"That's Jade for you." Tori shrugged. "And speaking of her… I wonder where she is?"
This is when Trina started to panic inwardly.
"Oh nuts!"
"I think I'm gonna call her." The younger Latina said. "Just to make sure she's ok and that she didn't get into some trouble or crazy situation."
"Why would you think that?" Trina asked a bit too loudly. "I mean I'm sure she's fine! After all, Jade wouldn't want you worrying about her…. Right? Hasn't she said that you're such a worrywart?"
"Treen, have you seen who I married?" Tori asked with a raised eyebrow. "I love Jade, I really do but there are days that makes me wonder if she does things just to get under my skin and call it a sixth sense but I swear there are days I feel as if she's doing something she shouldn't, I call it my Jadey sense."
"Your Jadey sense?" Trina asked with a raised eyebrow. "You're kidding, right? What are you? Five? Sounds like something Cat would come up with."
"Well in my defense.. 'Jade sense' just doesn't sound so catchy." Tori explained. "And… Ohhh."
"What?" Trina asked confused. "What's the matter, Tori?"
"My Jadey sense is tingling." The Latina replied as she massaged her forehead. "Now I know, something is wrong!"
"Or you're just being paranoid." Her sister said. "I mean, what could she possibly have done for you to imagine she's in some sort of mess, I mean Jade can take care of herself, there's nothing she can't handle."
"That's the highest type of praise you ever given her." Tori said suspiciously. "Trina… What do you know?"
"What makes you think I know something?" Her sister asked with a very obvious fake smile. "I don't know anything about what Jade is doing or where she's at!"
"TRINA!"
"I swear!" The older woman lied pathetically. "She certainly didn't ask me to come here to distract you while she… Uh… I just said more than I should've, huh?"
"What do you think?!" Tori snapped with her arms crossed. "Seriously Treen, you're a horrible liar, now do us both a favor and stop making a further fool of yourself, it's just too cringe… So just tell me what's going on?"
"If I tell you, you promise you won't get mad at me?"
"Oh I'm definitely going to be mad at someone." Tori said evenly. "But I promise I'll be less angry with you if you tell me what's going on?"
"So in other words, I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't?"
"Pretty much." Tori said. "Now spill."
"Well um… Baby sister, you gotta believe me that I tried to convince Jade to NOT go ahead with this crazy plan of hers but she wouldn't listen and kept saying something about an eye for an eye and that if you knew what she was going to do, you would have tried to stop her and that you would chew her out for bring reckless and so much more, she knew what was doing was something you would have disapproved but still believed it was something she needed to do to clean her conscience."
"Trina… You're starting to scare me." Tori said worriedly. "What did Jade do?"
"Well uh… She was planning on giving blood today." Trina admitted reluctantly.
"Treen… When you said Jade was going to give blood, what exactly does that entail?" Tori asked, fearing the worst case scenario. "You mean she was going to donate blood or she was going to spill some blood?"
"The first one."
"Oh thank God." She sighs in relief. "For a moment there, I thought she was going to put someone in danger."
Her sister's awkward face did not change.
"Trina… Jade's not putting anyone in danger… Right?"
"Uh no?"
"TRINA!"
"She only's putting herself in a bit of danger?" The older woman said meekly. "And if it makes you feel better, she's not alone."
"That does NOT make feel better!" Tori snapped. "I can't believe this! What was she thinking?!"
"That she loves you." Trina replied. "And that she wanted to clear her conscience."
"What does that even mean?!"
All of the sudden the front door opened and in came a very dizzy Jade West being dragged inside by both Cat and Andre.
"Oh, this place looks familiar!" The Thespian said weakly. "Are we in my favorite haunted house?"
"Why am I not surprised you have a favorite haunted place?" Andre asked. "No Jade we're actually in…"
the musician stopped mid sentence once he saw a very angry Tori West giving the trio the evil eye.
"… The Lion's den."
"Hi Tori!" Cat waved cheerfully, unaware of the tension in the room.
Meanwhile even in her tired state, Jade had enough aware to think.
"Uh-Oh."
"An explanation…NOW!"
"My… You're pretty." Jade said with a tired smile. "Do I know you?"
"Seeing as we're married, you should!" Tori snapped at her wife before she directed her attention to her best friend "Andre… Why is Jade like this?!"
"Well uh, it's kind of a long story Chica." Andre said "But the short version is that Jade knew today was National Blood Donation Day and she thought it was the perfect opportunity to do and I quote 'something I should have done a long time.' Because she believed she owed it to you."
"What are you taking about Andre?!" Tori asked annoyed "Will all of you stop talking in circles and just give me a straight answer!"
"GAY!" Jade said out of the blue.
"What?" Tori questioned confused.
"We're not straight, we're gay!" Jade giggled "Meaning what you really want is a gay answer."
"Boy, she's really out of it." Trina commented as she saw how her sister in law was acting. "What the hell happened to her?"
"Oh she gave blood." Cat said. "Three times."
Tori's eyes widened in horror.
"She did… WHAT?!"
"Jade donated three pints of blood." Andre said tiredly. "No matter how many times I advised her against it, she wouldn't listen."
"And you didn't stop her?!" Tori bellowed angrily.
"I tried Tori!" Andre defended himself. "I tried everything I could think of to get Jade to change her mind, but she wouldn't budge! It's best if you hear this from her."
"Oh brilliant idea!" The Latina snapped sarcastically. "Let me talk to my wife while she's more dizzy than a Tasmanian Devil after a hangover!"
"Can a Tasmanian devil get hungover?" Cat asked curiously.
"Not the point Cat!" The Brunette said before giving Jade the evil eye "What do you have to say for yourself for doing something so reckless and stupid?!"
"You're pretty!" Jade said. "Marry me!"
"Actually Chica." Andre said trying to get his best friend to calm down. "Jade thought ahead and recorded a message for you to see for just the occasion."
The man got his phone out of his pocket and gave it to the Latina who grudgingly accepted it.
"You better have a good explanation for this, Jade!"
Hey Tori" Jade greeted from the recording. "Ok, if you're seeing this then either Cat blabbed or Trina ratted me out, honestly my money's on the second one."
"That's fair." Trina reluctantly admitted.
"Shh!" Tori said.
"Now, I know you're most likely mad at me and you're probably going to punish me by banishing me to the couch for the foreseeable future." Jade said.
"My wife knows me a little too well." The Latina nodded as she indeed had considered that punishment for her spouse, who felled asleep on her lap.
"But before you do anything of the sort, let me explain myself." Jade continued on the recorded message. "Vega, I know you already have forgiven me for what I did to you all those years ago when we both competed for that stupid role of Steamboat Suzy and let's not forget I also got you act in the play a few months ago and while it was my way of apologizing, I just felt it wasn't enough, Tori, let's not forget I put you through Hell that night in the hospital, I stole your blood, tried to trick you to skip the play and who knows what else and what's worse? I didn't feel sorry for my actions back then but I felt like shit for a long time after we started dating and no once did you ever tried to get even with me, even though we both know I deserved it and don't try to deny it!"
Tori said nothing to that but still continued to watch the video.
"So Tori… I know you're probably very, very mad at me right now for donating so much blood and putting myself at risk." Jade said. "But I felt it was something I needed to do as a way of making things right and if I didn't tell you, it was because I knewyou would have tried to stop me."
"She's not wrong." The tanned woman muttered.
"Vega, I remember that you gave three pints of blood that night many years ago and to Robbie no less, so fittingly I gave the same amount of blood and while the needles were by no means a pleasant experience, I don't regret it because now I'll know how what you went through… So… my dear wife, I may be woozy for a day or two and if you still want to chew me out, I'm fine with it, that's the least I deserve from you… And that's all I got to say… No wait… That's a lie… One final thing Vega… I have no idea what I'll be babbling to you while I'm blood deprived, so whatever stupidity I end up saying to you while I'm dizzy and shit, just know this… I love you."
The video ended.
And with that, the Latina silently returned the phone to Andre and gazed at her sleeping spouse who protectively held onto her waist.
"We're still going to have a very serious discussion about this, Jade." Tori said firmly, even though she knew her spouse most likely wouldn't be able to hear her. "But… I love you too."
Tori then glared at her friends and sister, who tried to not to discreetly escape the premises.
"And don't you three think that you're off the hook." She said coldly. "You're in so much trouble for keeping this from me!"
"Aw crud". They all thought in dismay.
I told you only Jade would technically take part in this and while it wasn't explicitly stated, our favorite former Goth also didn't want Tori to take part in donating blood because she feels guilty about the Hell Tori went through and she is terrified of the thought of something like that happening again to the woman she loves, hence another reason for her secrecy.
I bet some of you caught some of the references to movies and comics I put throughout the chapter, my favorite was the "Jadey Sense", I just thought it was funny, even more so because I ended up writing it after the story was supposedly completed, funny how that works out huh?
So anyway my dear readers, what are your thoughts on this chapter? Good? Bad? In between? Remember that constructive criticism is always appreciated.
Invader Johnny Signing Off.