Chapter Text
Tori figures the prospect of someone clambering up her house and tumbling into her window at three in the morning would be terrifying, but now it's really just a part of her life. She watches as Jade manages to swing her leg over the window, pushing herself up and over into Tori's room. The first time she did this, Jade apparently hadn't expected Tori to be there waiting for her, and nearly fell back out the window. Tori doesn't think she's ever moved so fast to catch her minor-felony-committing girlfriend. Jade's gotten significantly better at not falling ever since then.
"You know," Tori starts, not looking up from her political science assignment that she has to have done in about two more hours. She had asked for an extension, considering how she hadn't even been at school that week after getting injured in one of Sikowitz's stupid plays, but she had been declined, which sucks. She taps her pencil against the test, considering if she should bullshit through her essay or not, before she decides against it. "I do have a door." Tori does look up this time, craning her neck to the side to watch Jade, who leans against her wall with her arms crossed against her chest.
For someone who just climbed up a wall for the effect, she's surprisingly gorgeous. To be fair, she's always surprisingly gorgeous to the point where it's not even surprisingly anymore. Tori's pretty sure she could write a much longer and better essay about how unbelievably, unfairly, pretty her girlfriend is, but then she'd actually have to explain to her teaches that yes, she's dating Jade West. No, she wasn't coerced into it. Yes, she's okay. No, Jade is not threatening her.
"Yeah?" Jade quirks up an eyebrow, pushing herself off of the wall and over to hover behind Tori. "You also have a perfectly good window, and I don't feel like having to talk to your dad about why I'm going to be in his daughter's room at three in the morning. I feel like he wouldn't approve. Who knows what horrible things I might do to you?"
Tori rolls her eyes, grinning a little as she continues to write her essay. "My parents are asleep, and Trina's out of the house for another week and a half. I'd have waited downstairs for you, and you could have just texted me to let you in. Admit it," she pauses her writing, grinning up at Jade, who smiles back down at her. "You just love being dramatic."
"Wow," Jade blinks at her. "It's almost as if I'm taking a drama class. It's almost as if I'm an actor. It's almost as if-"
"I get it!" Tori laughs, holding up her hands in defeat. "I get it, I get it! Do you know anything about political science?" Tori asks, glaring down at her paper as she realizes that she's written the same thing twice. "I'm going insane. My brain is literally melting."
"Cool," Jade grins. "And yeah, I had it freshman year. Scoot."
"Freshman?" Tori frowns, but she does move over a little on her chair. It's awkward trying to get Jade onto it without pushing Tori fully off, but they manage, just like they always do. They're surprisingly good at that. They're surprisingly good at a lot of things that people thought they'd fail at. Maybe it's out of spite, or maybe it's because they're just genuinely good at being together, but either way, they make it work. "It needs, like, three prerequisites."
Jade dips her head in agreement, taking Tori's pencil from her. "Uh huh. I took them all. I was really interested in political science, and then I just got pissed off when I realized the teacher was a bitch. You've got Tanner, right?" Tori nods. "Yeah, he's a fucking bitch. I think I would literally rather stab myself in the eye with this dull as fuck pencil than go back to his class."
"You don't have to write my essay for me," Tori tells her, bumping Jade with her hip. "I can do it myself. I've got the basic idea of what I'm supposed to be doing, but I'm just...struggling to put it into words, you know? You're good at that. You're good at putting things into words."
"Vega, most of my relationships have ended because of my lack of putting things into words," Jade shoots back at her, but she's got that soft smile on her face, and Tori wants nothing more than to kiss her. She pauses, frowning a little to herself when she realizes that there is literally nothing stopping her, and leans forwards, pressing her lips against Jade's. She pulls back after a second, though she quickly plants another kiss on Jade's nose, grinning at way that Jade scrunches up her face at the action. "What was that for?"
Tori rolls her eyes, because leave it to Jade to expect that kisses have to be earned. "Because I love you?" Tori offers, resting her head on Jade's shoulder, closing her eyes for a few seconds. "Because I wanted to? There's nothing stopping me from kissing you. It isn't like I have to worry about if you feel the same or not, so..." she shrugs. "Why not? I wanted to kiss you, so I did. You're the one who's constantly telling me to take what I want."
That draws a soft laugh out of Jade, and it makes Tori's heart melt. She really is madly in love with the woman next to her. "Well, that's...yeah, that's fair enough. I'm gonna have to ask you to restrain from kissing me too much if you want me to actually write your essay. I remember writing this exact essay two years ago, and let me just say," Jade sighs. "It really does not get any more fun."
"Essays are never fun."
"Sometimes they are," Jade disagrees. "It depends on the class and the question, it depends on if you actually know what the fuck you're doing or not. But political science essays with Tanner? Yeah," Jade snorts. "No, those always suck. I liked writing essays in English, and I liked writing essays for journalism. Sometimes it's fun," Jade shrugs, and Tori briefly wonders what it would have been like to meet a younger Jade. "So, this could be worse. I got a pretty good grade on this essay."
Tori nods, refusing to move her head away from Jade's shoulder. She's exhausted - she's been writing all day, doing homework and making up assignments and working on projects for hours on end, and it feels nice to just be. To just exist. She's unbelievably warm pressed against Jade, and she feels Jade's fingers slip easily into her own, smiling a little as she listens to Jade breathe and write, listening to the pencil scratch against the paper.
She's not sure when she falls asleep, but she feels strong arms underneath of her, scooping her up off of the chair and into the air, and feels her bed dip underneath of her weight a second later. Tori blinks, eyes landing immediately on Jade, who gives her one of the softest smiles she's ever seen in her entire life. "Jade-"
"Shh," Jade reaches over her, turning off the lamp that sits on the desk by Tori's bed. "Go back to sleep, idiot. You've got nothing to worry about," Jade settles down into bed next to her, and it only takes Tori about three seconds before she wraps her arms around Jade, pulling her close. "I love you," Jade murmurs. "Even if you're a sleepy idiot."
"Love you too," Tori grins, feeling Jade's head slotting underneath of her chin. "Goodnight, Jade."
"Yeah," Jade hums, her breath warm against Tori's neck. "Goodnight, Tori."