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It wasn’t unusual to find Jade West on Tori Vega’s bed on a Saturday morning. Actually, not finding her in it would be the unusual part.
Not that she was crashing here because she had nowhere to go—she definitely had a home—but she liked staying at the Vega household.
Most importantly, she liked waking up next to Tori.
If you had told them six months ago that they would develop a strange friendship which they would soon find out wasn’t a friendship because as it turns out, they can be anything except friends.
Let alone tell them that one night, when Jade stops appearing on Tori’s window at the middle of the night but instead knocks on the front door with a bouquet of flowers in her hand, professing her love for the girl and asking Tori to be her girlfriend right there and then in front of her parents, they would’ve ridiculed you.
They never thought of this becoming a possibility yet here they were, nearly four months and going surprisingly strong—with only one argument so far—as girlfriends.
Their friends had noticed a difference between them, how Jade’s tone was softer when she talks to Tori or how the brunette would always find azure eyes first in the crowd when she’s performing.
But they didn’t know why.
You see, Jade and Tori held their friends close and loved them dearly but sneaking behind them and them not having a single clue of what was going on between them was hilarious.
Sure, it kinda sucked that they had to pretend that they still hated each other’s guts and that they didn’t come home to each other but it was kinda fun.
And it’s funny how the group acts like they’re going to murder each other when Jade pulls Tori inside the janitor’s closet and locks it behind them.
(Yes, they do make out inside the janitor’s closet.)
“You know, I feel like you’re going to drill holes in my sister’s skull if you don’t wake her up.” A familiar voice chuckles from the doorframe, Jade snorts, remembering that she had left the door open when she went downstairs to get some water, she then turns to the older Vega, “Good morning, Trina.”
“Good morning to you too, I guess?” Trina says playfully, slightly smiling at the sight of Jade and Tori on her sister’s bed—fully clothed, thankfully— she’d never admit it, but she liked Jade. She was good for her.
And Jade’s been more tolerable since she and Tori became a thing.
“Listen, Tori had a headache last night. Have you restocked on Advil? Last time I was here you had two pills left.” She asks, stifling a yawn before sitting upright, removing the blanket over her legs, “I have an unopened box in the medicine cabinet, sweetie!”
“Thank you, Mrs. Vega!”
“No problem! Please wake Tori up.”
“I’ll try.”
The goth barely even notices that Trina had left, assuming that she headed downstairs instead of terrorizing them.
That’s when she hears a soft giggle, making her head snap towards the direction of her.
Her girl.
Tori.
“Hey.” She smiles, gently placing her palm against the brunette’s cheek as she removes the stray strands of hair away from her eyes, “You were so loud.” The shorter girl pouts, yet a hint of a smile lingers on her face, “I’m sorry. How’s your head?”
“Better than last night. I’d still take that Advil, though.” She yawns, sitting and leaning over the thespian, Jade sighs, “Not until you eat breakfast.”
“Can’t I eat here?”
“Remember the last time I ate on your bed?”
“So, last night?” Tori smirks, and hey, Jade still has at least a bit of innocence in her, so she doesn’t fully get it.
Well, that was until she realized what the girl had meant and she didn’t mean that.
“What—? No! Jesus, Vega, I mean when Cat was here. I spilled barbeque dust all over your sheets.” She mumbles, her face red as Tori pinches her cheek, “Sure.”
“You just woke up and you already have a filthy mouth.” She breathes out, shaking her head as she watches Tori stand up, her chest bubbling up with both pride and smugness at the sight of her in nothing but Jade’s shirt and her underwear.
It’s not like there was a major difference between their sizes but Jade’s oversized shirts are double on Tori.
“My mouth is not filthy!” She protests, grabbing a pair of shorts from her drawer before the goth shrugs, “Right, I’m just going to act like your breath doesn’t stink.”
“I hate you.”
“No you don’t.”
“No I don’t.”
It wasn’t long before Jade wrapped her arms around Tori’s waist, her head sitting snugly on the brunette’s shoulder, annoying her by breathing too loudly as she brushed her hair.
(Tori would never admit it but she loved it when Jade was annoying her. It showed the more playful side of her.
The side only Tori had the chance to see.)
“So, any plans for today?” She asks, angling her head so she wouldn’t hit Jade, the goth hums, “Beck texted the group last night when you fell asleep.”
“What did he say?” The girl asks curiously, not turning to brush Jade’s hair which earns her a glare, “He was wondering if we wanted to go to Karaoke Dokie.”
“What did you say?” Ignoring the girl’s look, she continues on brushing her hair, “I said yes.”
It takes her a few moments before she could remove that one hard tangle, the raven haired girl had to stop herself from just taking some scissors and snipping it off.
“You know, it’s kinda funny how they still have no clue that we’re dating.” Tori laughs as she finally steps away, now in search of her glasses before Jade takes her sheets, as if they’ve done this a million times and fixed it with Tori.
Okay, maybe they have done it a lot of times that it felt like second nature to them now.
“And it’s surprising that your sister hasn’t run her mouth yet.” Jade snickers, stepping out of the room, the scent of coffee already making her more awake, Tori shrugs, “You did get her that date with Beck.”
“I suppose I did.” She sighs, remembering how much she had to force her best friend to just go on one date with Trina. They weren’t dating, in fact, Trina now had a boyfriend, but Beck didn’t find it that bad.
It was kinda surprising, to be honest. She was convinced that once she and Beck break up, he and Cat would end up together. Or at least, he wouldn’t even admit that dating Trina wasn’t bad.
But I guess, life has a way of surprising you. I mean, she did end up with Tori.
“Maybe they know, they just don’t want to assume things.” Tori supplies, the paler girl had to laugh, “No, Tor, our friends are dense. They’re idiots. They have no clue.”
“You underestimate them way too much.”
Okay, ouch. Why is Tori taking their side?
“Wanna bet?” She asks out of spite, just as they stood on the landing of the stairs, Tori didn’t really like betting on Jade but hey, you get used to it.
And you get more confident as time passes by. What does she have to lose anyway? She’s already dating the girl. The worst thing that could happen was Jade getting a dog or something.
“What’s in it for me?” She asks, now interested as her girl stops, silently thinking before she smirks, “Let’s say we painfully make it obvious that we’re dating, since you’re so confident that they know, if they point it out in any way, shape or form, I’ll do whatever you tell me to do for a week.”
“And if they don’t?”
“You’ll finally let me get that dog I always wanted.”
Okay, yeah, this is the worst that could happen.
“You do know that I don’t want you to have a dog because last time you handled one, Beck’s dad nearly died. Oh! And you broke Elvis’ guitar.” She reminds, using the same excuse so the girl wouldn’t get a dog.
Not that she hated animals or anything, she absolutely adored them. But Jade? With a dog? No.
“I can be responsible if it’s my dog.” She mumbles in response, heading straight for the coffee maker and weaving her way between David and Holly, both pretending that they weren’t listening to the two’s conversation.
“Sure. Just be glad Beck took your apology and kept Wolfgang.”
“That’s still an ugly name.”
A pause. Jade takes a sip of her coffee and Tori takes the milk from the fridge.
“Is it a deal, Vega?”
With a confident smile, Tori nods her head, extending her hand, “Deal.”
Oh, you’re on, Vega.
And so it begins.
They laid out a couple of rules for the bet;
- They’re giving their friends until Friday to point it out.
- Physical touches are limited when they’re with their friends.
- It doesn’t count if the words “dating,” “girlfriends,” or “in a relationship,” aren’t said. If these words are said, but it doesn’t imply that they are together, it still doesn’t count.
- Trina’s not allowed to join in on this and if she ever lets it slip, it doesn’t count.
Jade thinks it’s stupid, Tori thinks it’s smart. They don’t know how they ended up dating but here they were.
First stop was Karaoke Dokie.
“Prepare to lose, Vega. I could kiss you right in front of them and all they’ll say is ‘Golly, Jade! You and Tori are such good friends!’” Jade laughs, turning the engine off and kissing the pout away from her girlfriend before stepping out, opening the door for the brunette.
And for the first time, Tori reaches out for Jade’s hand—not her wrist—her hand. Intertwining it with her own as they walked inside. Jade doesn’t question it, doesn’t even pretend to frown, simply smiles before finding their friends.
Beck Oliver leans by the bar, extending his neck as best as he could so he could see if Jade and Tori have arrived. Cat was on their table, already ordering their food with Andre, Robbie was with some Northridge girls, again and he was in charge of drinks.
He finds them, entering the establishment with smiles on their faces before he walks up to greet them, that is, until he stops, blinking with his mouth ajar as he stares at their hands.
Okay, what the fuck?
They were holding hands.
Holding hands.
And Jade doesn’t seem bothered by it in the slightest.
“Are you just going to stand there or am I not getting a hi from you?” The cold and taunting voice of Jade West rings through Beck’s ears, making him both gulp in fear and yet wave at the same time, “Hi?”
The word barely comes out as a squeak, making him sound like a teen that’s going through puberty, Jade laughs.
“Woah, what’s up with your voice?” She chuckles, punching his shoulder playfully before he shoots her a nervous smile, “Why are you and Tori holding hands?”
At the mention of her name, Tori turns, raising an eyebrow and looking down at their still intertwined hands, she smiles slightly.
“Her hand feels warm.”
“Warm?” Cat questions, looking up from the menu as Andre ignores them, not willingly, though. He was just too busy eating his fries and sitting in sadness as he remembered the events of the day before.
(He got another D in a class. Not that the class was important—it was French—but it still sucked.)
“Yeah, like a freshly cut heart that’s still beating.” She responds, wanting to play around with the redhead by scaring her, Tori groans, finally letting go and hitting the goth before she takes a seat by the youngest girl.
Andre groans, having the balls to glare at the raven haired girl, “Oh, man, do you have to say that while I eat?”
“You’re eating fries.”
“I’m dipping it in ketchup!”
“I don’t care!”
“Why were you two holding hands?” He grumbles, although he does feel a bit guilty when even Jade West of all people frowns at him, Tori saves him from feeling guilt, though, squeezing his hand, “Can’t we hold hands for no reason?”
“Unless you and Jade are dating then you can! But you’re not.” Beck laughs, taking a seat and still in shambles over his own joke, earning laughs from the other two as the pale girl squeezes Tori’s thigh under the table.
“I told you.” She whispers, smirking at her, the brunette growls, shoving the girl’s hand lightly in protest, “Fuck off.”
It took Jade all her willpower not to laugh at how ridiculous Tori was being but then again, it’s her and Tori. Competitiveness is like their thing. It always has been.
“So, are you guys going to sing?” Robbie, who they had no idea was even here, asks as he sits down beside Beck, the thespian shrugs, “No.”
“Yes, we are. Now pick a cute song.” Tori instructs, pushing her away when the girl groans, wanting to complain until she takes a look at Tori.
Tori and her smile. Her warm, inviting eyes. Her.
“I’m only doing it because I want to.” She sighs, walking away but not before she shoots a glare at Hayley and Tara who, of course, still had the nerve to show up here.
(I mean, one of them is the daughter of the owner so…)
Beck looks around for a second before turning to Tori, nudging her with a teasing smile, “Now that she won’t strangle me for my opinion, you and Jade seem to be very good friends.”
Okay, maybe Tori had expected him to switch and say that he supports them or whatever but maybe Jade was right.
Or maybe, they just weren’t convincing.
Maybe Jade needs to get jealous. Wait...
“Sure.” She mutters deviously, a small plan formulating in her head, “No, seriously. I never thought you two would be friends.” Andre supplies from his seat, but his best friend ignores him, simply waving her off before mumbling, “We’re not friends.”
Cat silently chuckles at that, being reminded of all the times Jade had said that in regards to the brunette.
“If you say so, Tor.”
The night was uneventful for the most part, save from Jade and Tori singing against two Northridge girls who were kinda decent compared to them—far better than Hayley and Tara, though—Rex going missing and Beck laughing so hard over a joke that soda comes out of his nose.
“Tori, do you need a ride home?” Andre asks, the keys of his grandma’s car in his hand, offering her a ride, Jade cuts her off, unlocking her own car, “I’m driving her home.”
“You are?” Beck asks from his parking space, the goth nods, “Yeah. Her house is on my way to mine anyway.”
They didn’t question it.
I mean, was it weird? Yeah. But it looked like they drove here together so might as well make them leave together...
“Aw, you two are like girlfriends!” Cat’s voice echoed around the lot, stopping Tori from opening her door and hiding her smile before turning around, thinking that she’s won this. Jade tenses, clenching her fists. She can’t lose to Tori. At least, not this early.
“What was that, Cat?” The singer asks innocently, raising an eyebrow as if she misheard the girl, the redhead giggles, leaning on Beck’s truck, “Girlfriends. You know, girl, space, friend. Gal pals? Like the three of us!”
Releasing a sigh of relief, Jade shakes her head with a fond smile, entering her car before Tori does the same, slamming her door shut with a pout.
West - 1
Vega - 0
The next time they had their little group over was when Tori had invited them to play some video games.
It was surprising, especially to Robbie because he never thought his friends were ever into video games. All they played at Tori’s house were cards and some board games. Never this.
And never did he think that she’d have anything sports related like the NBA games, but then again, she doesn’t. It was Jade’s.
The console was hers, though.
“I don’t see the point of this game.” Beck mumbles, staring at the screen as Jade and Robbie hold the controllers in their hands, passing the ball to each other as they compete against an AI, the latter stays silent, focused on the game while Jade grumbles, missing a shot.
“It’s the NBA. You pass the ball, shoot it around, win. What’s so hard to understand?” She deadpans as the boy sighs, staring at Robbie who resigns in defeat, pausing the game and dropping the controller as the buzzer sounded, Jade wasn’t fazed.
It was a good game, though. Never thought he had it in him.
“No, but what’s the point? Why am I playing it here instead of playing an actual game?”
“Because we don’t have a ball and the court in Andre's house is broken.” She replies, placing her own controller down when Andre joins in on the conversation, giving Cat a can of soda before he leans over the couch, “We should’ve played that Call of Duty.”
“Or Minecraft.” Tori quips, sending her friends a grin when everyone but Cat groans, the loudest one was Jade’s, glaring at her, “I’m not playing your dumb block game.”
“Aren’t you?” She challenges with a smirk, the goth grumbles.
Stupid Tori and her stupid love for the girl.
It wasn’t long before Jade was reaching for the disc, ejecting her own before placing the said stupid block game inside. Rex snickers from Robbie’s arms.
“Damn, Jade. The things you do for Tori.”
“She’s just being friendly.” Beck laughs, Jade smirks and Tori has to stop herself from rolling her eyes.
She might play her game but she’s still losing so whatever.
“Yeah. What are friends for, right? Besides, it’s Tori’s house after all.”
The brunette could only groan with her friends having no idea why.
The goth could only chuckle under her breath as she pats Tori’s head on her way to the kitchen.
Tori’s had enough.
She’s tired of losing.
So, she puts her plan in motion, with only just two hours to spare until Jade wins and she gets that stupid dog. And god did it take her literally everything not to puke.
Batting her eyelashes at boys, gentle touches on their arms while she asks them for a favor.
Yeah, that’s disgusting. Maybe a bit hilarious, though. She’d like to see their reaction if she told them she liked girls.
On second thought, that may be a bad idea.
These are still teenage boys, after all.
But, yeah. She hated it.
But Jade hated it more.
And, like, yeah, she knows why Tori was doing all this and she shouldn’t be mad at some petty ruse to get her jealous but she can’t help herself.
She can’t help herself from just, you know? She wanted to shove those boys away and just start kissing Tori for everyone to see. For everyone to know that Tori was hers.
A bit territorial? Yeah. But Jade doesn’t share.
Especially not Tori.
“Wow, glad for you to join us.” Jade deadpans, glaring at the brunette like many times before, Tori smirks, setting her bag down beside Cat, “Do I sense a bit of resentment in that tone?”
“No, I’m pretty sure it’s just Jade being Jade.” Andre mutters, raising his hands in surrender as Jade turns to look at him, “Stay out of this.”
“You’re being too mean.” The brunette pouts, tilting her head at her girl when the goth scoffs, “You want me to be nice?” She asks, earning a simple shrug from the girl, “Yeah. It wouldn’t hurt.”
“Right. Because you, Sweet Sally Peaches, is too nice that you had boys drooling over you all fucking day!”
“I was just being friendly.” That hit a nerve.
“Wow, batting your eyelashes and twirling your hair around them is friendly. Next time I talk to Beck, I’ll do that!”
And look, again, Jade knew this was some stupid ploy but she couldn’t help it. Even if it had meant nothing to Tori, it meant something to her.
“Please don’t.” The boy mumbles, only receiving a “Shut up.” from the girl.
Tori hates seeing Jade in pain or in whatever funk she is too, but they're way too deep. And knowing Jade, if she says something about it not meaning a thing, she’d be pissed because she exposed them.
Sometimes she thinks the goth is stupid but she’s actually really smart. Just competitive.
“What’s up with you?” She asks in disbelief, Andre, who decides to join in again in an attempt to defuse the situation, interrupts, “You know, Jade. She’s being defensive.”
“Yeah, she’s like that to all her friends.” Robbie agrees, ignoring the hiss from the girl when Cat speaks for the first time.
“She’s not being defensive, she’s jealous.”
West - 3
Vega - Winner
The two girls had gone silent, Tori smirking in victory as Jade attempted a scowl, although, even if she’s a bit mad at Tori for all that flirting, she couldn’t help but smile.
It’s out there. Finally.
“Jealous? Cat, what are you talking about?” Beck chuckles incredulously, looking at the two girls over and over again as the redhead shrugs, not even bothering to look up from her plate, “She’s jealous because she and Tori are dating.”
“No they’re not—oh my god.” Realization hits Andre’s features, his eyebrows furrowing to his mouth hanging ajar, Beck soon follows, and then Robbie.
Jade and Tori just sat there amused.
“Jade’s clothes in Tori’s house, her driving Tori every day…”
“Jade being nice to Trina.”
“When both of them get out of the janitor’s closet with wrinkled clothes,”
“The hand holding,”
“Jade tolerating Tori more,”
“Her being jealous.”
“Oh my god.” They all said together, listing various things they played off as the two being ‘friendly’ with each other when in reality… they were together.
Oh my god??
“I told you they were fucking stupid.” Jade chuckles, shaking her head, her anger seemingly had died down as Tori shot her an apologetic look while the guys were ranting, she smirks, “I don’t care, I still won!”
“Won what?” Robbie asks, exasperated.
“We made a bet if you’re all idiots or if you could figure out we’re dating.” The brunette explains, only for the goth to intervene, “And you’re all idiots. Except Cat.”
“Which reminds me, how did you find out?”
“It was obvious.” She answers, finally looking up to meet her friends’ shocked gaze, Tori hums, “Obvious how?”
“I saw you two making out in Jade’s car yesterday.” At that, the singer goes red, hiding her face behind her hands as Jade leans forward, keeping her emotions more in check, “And you didn’t say anything?”
“Well, it wasn’t my story to tell. But you two were arguing and I don’t want you to argue anymore so I said it to make you stop.”
It takes the guys a bit to recover. They fully accepted the idea but still needed some time to get used to it.
Jade was right when she guessed that Beck will be their number one supporter. And she was right when she said they were all stupid.
“Looks like you’ll be my assistant for a month, West.” Tori whispers as she leans on Jade inside Sikowitz’ class, finally enjoying her girlfriend even with everybody around, Jade rolls her eyes, “Yeah, we’ll see about that.”
So, yeah, after some negotiation and making out in every possible corner of the school, Tori decides to not go through with the assistant thing.
And somehow Jade convinced her to get a dog.
Yeah, that’s for another story.