Chapter Text
Take your time
I'm just playin' for your storyline
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The forecast called for a solid seven or eight inches of snow, though it's looking more and more like it's evolving into a blizzard. There's already snow covering the roads, making them nearly unbearable, and even if someone was to be interested in navigating the snowy wasteland in their front yard, they'd have to entirely unbury their car. And really, by the time that they did that the car would be buried again anyways, so there wouldn't be much of a point in the first place. It's vastly different from L.A, considering how L.A doesn't get snow period, and the "snow" that it does get only lasts for thirty seconds and melts as soon as it hits the ground. The last time that it "snowed" was from a snow machine that was shockingly broken after about thirty seconds of use.
Jade isn't used to it — it's been far too long since she's gone back to her hometown. It's been far too long since she's gone back to Michigan period, though she can't say that she missed it very much. She missed the state, the snow, the scenery. She's always thought that the landscape of Michigan was a hell of a lot more appealing than anything L.A had to offer, probably just due to the familiarity. She definitely hadn't missed her parents when they still lived here, but both unthankfully and thankfully the both of them moved to L.A relatively quickly after Jade decided that that's what she wanted to do. It's good for her right now, since she doesn't have to deal with them, bad for her when she'll eventually go back and have to deal with her mom all over again.
But for now, it's nice.
Her grandparents aren't that bad, and she wonders where the fuck they went wrong for her mom to turn out like that, or if she was always just a bitch. Either way, they're nice enough, although she isn't close to them and doesn't want to be. Jade is very content on not being close to anyone right now, even though she knows all of the people she reluctantly calls friends would disagree. They're still pretty fucking stuck on that, that they are very much so friends and very much so close, but Jade entirely disagrees, not like it matters in their eyes. They're all stubborn and have absolutely zero capacity to actually listen, but she's the same way, so logically she can't be upset. Jade is upset though, because fuck any sort of rules — she's allowed to feel how she wants even if she thinks other people shouldn't. It's very freeing, actually.
Somewhere in the back of her mind she can hear Tori, which is entirely unappreciated. Jade sighs, running a hand through her hair. Even when she literally goes to a different fucking state she can't avoid them, especially Tori Vega, who seems way too intent on following her to the ends of the earth, despite the car bombs and bear traps Jade lays out behind herself. Tori is different from the other people that Jade has been forced to spend her life with, almost in every possible way. Tori is loud, not louder than Cat, but she's loud in a different way. She's more. She's energetic, excitable, hopeful. She's, unfortunately, talented, but she doesn't even process it. Jade was there for Tori's audition, she sat next to André and watched in both horror and surprise as Tori was quite literally shoved directly onto the stage, wide-eyed and clearly fucking terrified.
And yet, somehow, Tori managed to wow over some of the most hard-to-impress people alive, and she didn't even know what the fuck she was doing. Jade thought that she felt nothing but murderous rage and hate for the woman who managed to do basically the impossible, but she knows now that she was jealous, as much as it pains her to admit. She'd never fucking admit it to Tori or any other living human being on the entire goddamn planet, but she was jealous. She doesn't think that she is anymore, Jade is pretty sure she managed to curbstomp that emotion out of her system, at least she hopes so. Tori has had so many opportunities just thrown at her that it's insane, and it's like she has some sort of fucking invisible barrier that keeps her safe from the important shit.
Tori's a lot. Jade also remembers feeling pissed off because she recognized that Tori was actually talented and skilled. Even though she's the luckiest fucking person in the entire world, she's also talented, which just makes it so much worse and way more annoying. It's irritating as fuck to be aware that Tori is talented, skilled, out there. She has a lot of personality and a lot to offer, and it really is no surprise that she has so many opportunities thrown her way and handed directly to her on a platter made out of gold and the hopes and dreams of everyone else at Hollywood Arts. As much as Tori is a complete idiot and somehow has literally zero social cues or ability to interpret them, she's a people person, and she's good at it. She's smart, to a degree. She's somehow insanely persistent and nice, which Jade finds especially fucking insane.
She has been so intent on befriending Jade, even though Jade has literally made it the hardest possible thing to do. Tori is persistent, and she apparently just completely ignores every bad thing that Jade has done to her, which should quite literally be impossible since she does something new on an hourly basis, but somehow she's managing. Tori is either desperate to get with her or fucking stupid, and Jade doesn't know which one of those options would be worse. Because she cannot stand stupid people, Cat is an exception and isn't really stupid, but the idea of dating Tori Vega is an entirely new emotion all on its own, and Jade has absolutely no idea what kind of emotion it is. It's not blatant disgust or hate or anger like she expected, it's something else all on its own, and she doesn't even know where to begin to understand it. So she decides not to, ignoring it just as quickly as she thought about it, though she can feel it nagging at the very, very furthest corner of her mind. She figures that the car bombs and bear traps she lays out in her mind will be enough to kill it, because she refuses to accept a reality where that thought is anywhere near as persistent as Tori fucking Vega.
Jade lets out a long, far too drawn out sigh when she feels her phone buzz in her lap. She already knows who it is — Tori, obviously. She specifically told them all as a group to not talk to her over their winter break, but Tori is either fucking deaf or just that stubborn, probably both considering how she has to live with Trina. Jade doesn't bother to unlock her phone or even pick it up, opting to ignore it and continue staring out the window. Her grandparents went over to her cousin's house, maybe her aunt's, she doesn't know, about an hour or so ago. She doubts that they're going to come back tonight due to the storm, which is fine with her. She likes being alone, she likes the quiet and the comfortability that it brings. Plus, it's been way too fucking long since she's gotten to properly be alone.
Her phone buzzes again.
Then again.
And again.
And it doesn't stop.
It takes a second for Jade to realize that Tori fucking Vega is fucking calling her, and she just sits there for a second, her mouth hanging open in pure and utter shock, despite her best efforts to shut it again. The audacity of this woman is insane, and if Jade didn't want to strangle her so badly, she'd be impressed. But she's not, so she furiously picks up her phone, swipes to the left, declining the call. That should be enough of a hint, even for Tori, oblivious as she may be.
Jade, however, is wrong.
Tori calls her again.
"You're fucking kidding me," Jade scoffs, entirely incredulous. There's no way. There's no fucking way, Tori has to be literally and clinically insane to be calling her again. Jade thinks that she was already all of that when she called her the first time, but twice? It's a fucking guarantee, it's confirmed, Jade was with her at the evaluation, Jesus Christ. She stares at her phone for a good while, clearly not enough to make the call decline on its own, staring down at the caller ID, the picture of Tori, deciding that she's going to absolutely make Tori wish she had never even been given Jade's number. She swipes to the right, watching as the background shifts, changing to a very visible ongoing call. "Vega," Jade sneers, lacing the name with as much venom as she possibly can. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"
"Uh," Tori's voice comes through the phone, distant, as if she's outside. "Calling you?"
Jade wants her dead. God, she wants her dead so bad.
"I'm aware," she groans, drawing out the words. "Why?"
"Well," Tori clears her throat, clearly shifting. Jade can hear the rubbing of fabric, sounding similar to one of those big winter coats that every four year old gets their very first winter. "Uh, you didn't read my texts, did you?" Jade sighs as loud as she can, hoping that that's enough of an answer. There's a pause of silence, and then Tori follows her with her own sigh, clearing her throat again. "Listen, um, I really don't want to say it out loud to you, so...could you please just read my texts?"
"Vega," Jade can feel herself becoming hopeless, almost desperate to get Tori away from her. "Just say it. You're already taking up way too much of my precious and valuable time for me to make fucking accomodations for you."
"But-" Tori cuts herself off with another sigh. "I- Jade," she practically whines, and Jade holds the phone away from her, grimacing. "Please? Please, I really, really don't want to tell you in, like, actual words. It's only like four texts, please. It's...important."
Jade rolls her eyes, sighing. "If I read your stupid texts will you leave me alone?"
"Sure!" Tori's voice pitches up, suspiciously high. Jade knows that that means no, Tori will absolutely not leave her alone. But at least then Jade can reliably ignore her, having done her good deed for the year.
"Fine," she mutters, swiping out of the calling screen, pulling up her messages with Tori. "You're fucking unbelievable, Vega."
Tori was right, there's only four texts, with the first one being a simple so without any punctuation after. Jade scrolls down a little to see the other three, which are significantly longer than their predecessor.
[2:28 PM] tori vega: so
[2:30 PM] tori vega: My parents paid for a flight for me to go to New York over the break to go and see some of my cousins and other family that I haven't really seen in a while and my flight went over Michigan because you know Michigan is like pretty close to New York and
[2:31 PM] tori vega: sorry my hands are cold
[2:34 PM] tori vega: Basicaaalllyyy don't be mad! But my flight got canceled and delayed until IDK when because of the huge blizzard that's hitting and so um I don't have anywhere to stay and please don't be mad but I'm kind of stuck here and I don't really know what to do so can I please come over to your house PLEASE DON'T BE MAD!!!!!
Jade stares down at her phone, blinking at the messages. She reads them again, then again, and then one more time, just to make sure she's actually reading everything right. Tori Vega is in Michigan, and she...
"Jade?"
Her name being said is enough to make Jade remember that Tori is still there, and she breathes out as slowly as she can.
"Absolutely not."
"Jade, come on," Tori immediately starts to plead. "I don't have anywhere to go! I don't have any friends or family out here other than you, and it's not like I can just hijack a plane or whatever! I'm sorry! I wouldn't have called you unless I had to, I really tried not to!" Tori whines. "I tried to sneak onto another plane and I got caught, and it isn't even like that would have worked," she heaves a heavy sigh, sounding miserable. "The blizzard is apparently like the storm of the century or something like that, the entire airport is basically closing, and I don't have a car, and I mean I can't drive anyways, but they have rentals here, but it's not like I can drive them, and I just..." she trails off. "I can't afford a hotel for however long this blizzard lasts, and I didn't book it beforehand so I can't just go to a hotel and demand a room, they're probably all packed, and..."
Tori's voice becomes more and more like white noise the longer she speaks, and Jade stares at her phone for a few seconds, looking out the window for another few seconds. Leaving Tori stranded at the airport sounds like a fucking great idea, because hopefully she'd freeze to death and then Jade would never have to deal with her again. She looks down at her phone, her fingers moving before she has a chance to register what she's doing, let alone stop herself. Jade looks down at the text she sent, blinking a couple of times.
"I sent you my address," she says, more surprised than she should be, considering the fact that she was the one who did it. "You can Uber here. I'm not driving out in this fucking weather. I'll unlock the door, so just come in. It'll be like, a thirty minute drive at the most."
"Oh my god," Tori breathes out, clearly relieved. "Thank you! Thank you, thank you so much."
"Uh huh," Jade shakes her head, entirely in disbelief. "Bye, Vega."
"Oh- okay," Tori also sounds like she's in disbelief. "Bye, Jade. See you soon."
Tori hangs up insanely quickly, and Jade just sits there, her phone in her hand.
After a few minutes, she closes her eyes, breathing in deeply.
What a fucking winter break.
Jade was wrong again, because it only takes Tori twenty-seven minutes to get to her grandparents' place, and she doesn't just let herself in like Jade specifically told her to. Tori knocks, and Jade has to actually get up from the comfortable chair she's settled in, watching the snow, to go and get her. Jade has to mentally prepare herself before she opens the door, taking a solid minute and a half to just stand there, forcing herself to actually go through with it. She could so easily take it all back and make Tori just sit out there, but she's already there, outside, waiting. Tori would never stop knocking, and at some point, she'd surely just open the fucking door like a normal person. Jade allows herself one stupid deep breath, reaching out and turning the handle. She moves back with the door, a little surprised at the sight in front of her.
Tori looks like shit.
Which Jade is currently absolutely reveling in because fuck Tori, but she is surprised nonetheless. "How do you look that bad?" Jade asks, flatly. She makes a vague motion to Tori's face, then down to the rest of her. Tori's face is redder than Jade has ever seen it in her entire life, though it's not all that noticeable. Her hair is fucked up, tangled in some places, covered in snowflakes. Her luggage is practically spilling out of her suitcase and backpack. Her nails are painted, but they're chipped so badly that Jade almost thought that they weren't. Tori's coat is at least still intact, though covered in snow and some mysterious stain that she doesn't plan on asking about.
"Thanks, Jade," Tori mutters, just standing there. "Well? Can I come in?" She asks, clearly exasperated. Jade raises an eyebrow, taking a step to the side.
"Be my guest," Jade pitches her voice up a little, moving her hand from the doorknob to the actual door, resting it there as she watches Tori stumble in, kicking her shoes on the ledge before the house levels off. At least she has manners, which is fucking shocking considering the monstrosity that is Trina Vega. Tori drops her suitcase instantly, and Jade notices her hands shaking. Of course she doesn't have gloves, Jade is not at all surprised by that information. Tori probably thought it was going to be all sunshine and warmth the whole time. The more that Jade looks at her, the more she realizes that Tori is fucking miserable and way too cold to have just been outside for a minute or so. "Vega. Did you not bring gloves?"
Tori looks at her, grimacing as she looks down at her hands, shaking them a few times before shaking her head. "Yeah, but they were in my luggage, and I couldn't get them out when I was in the Uber, so I just kept them off. It was warm in the airport," she heaves a sigh. "But then I went outside and it was a lot less warm, so my hands got cold, and..." she trails off, another long sigh piercing the air. "Yeah."
Jade rolls her eyes, shutting the door behind Tori when she finally stumbles forward another foot or so for her to do so. She glances over her shoulder at the fireplace in the living room, shocked that Tori somehow hasn't managed to see it yet, and debates on if she says anything or not. Actually saying something out loud would be way too nice, way too fucking nice for what Tori has done to her in only thirty minutes, but letting Tori die of frostbite is a little much for thirty minutes. Maybe if it had been thirty-one it would be reasonable, but Jade thinks that the punishment would only be slightly too much for the crime. Only slightly.
She decides to take the middle ground for once, crossing her arms firmly as she looks Tori up and down. "Take off your damn shoes, Vega. It's snowing outside, you're not going to get the whole house wet because you don't have manners," Jade watches Tori carefully, a feeling of smugness overcoming her when Tori immediately starts to take off her shoes. "I'll put your shit in one of the guest rooms," Jade says, watching the way that Tori shoots her head up, staring at her and if she's grown another head. "What? Unless you want me to throw it in the bathtub and turn the water on-"
"No!" Tori protests immediately, just like Jade thought she would. As incredibly unhappy Jade is about this situation, she can at least revel in the knowledge that she can still absolutely make Tori Vega's life as miserable as possible at any given moment. "No, no, no. That's definitely not necessary. Thank you for being so generous," Tori says, and although Jade knows damn well she's being miserably sarcastic, it's an oddly normal quip from her. "Are you just here by yourself?"
"I'm staying with my grandparents," Jade tells her. "They're not here, clearly. They probably won't be for a while, since the blizzard is apparently bad enough to bring you straight to my doorstep," she deadpans. "Yay, lucky me. Go sit on the couch, Vega. You look like you're about to collapse," Jade picks up the suitcase off of the ground, forcibly taking off Tori's backpack without much resistance from the other. "Lock the door before that, though. With my luck, everyone else just might come barging in through the door if you don't."
Tori nods, though Jade barely catches it since she's already moving to one of the spare rooms. She pauses halfway through the hallway, narrowing her eyes. Her grandparents have one room, she has the guest room. There's another room in the basement, unfurnished and freezing fucking cold, but she doubts that Tori could manage to spend even five seconds down there. Jade clenches her fists, willing herself to not turn around and beat Tori to death with her own backpack. It would be so easy, and she so wants to. But she resists, deciding that this is an easy enough choice to make. Maybe she's just in shock from everything that's happened, because Jade is entirely convinced if she was back in L.A she would have already been digging Tori's grave.
The snow and cold really do seem to make her more...relaxed. Her grandparents always used to say that about her when she was little, and then her dad used to, before he fucked off and started not being her dad. Jade always thought that it was fucking stupid, but everyone around her said that it was true, though it's not like she ever believed anything just because a lot of people agreed on it. She turns to her room, shouldering Tori's backpack, turning the handle. She doesn't bother turning on the light, since it's only three in the afternoon and she left the blinds open. She sets Tori's suitcase down, pushes it to the closet with her foot. She sets Tori's backpack down next to it, crossing her arms for a few seconds and she wonders on what she should do next. Clearly she will not be sharing a room with Tori Vega, she would much rather die.
Jade thinks that she'll just take her grandparents' room for the time being, since they definitely aren't going to be back until the storm clears up, which could be sometime tomorrow or sometime next month. Or, if she goes in there and decides that she absolutely cannot take it, she'll just sleep on the couch. She's shocked she's giving up her room for Tori, but she's not that surprised. Her grandparents' room is bigger, anyways.
She doesn't bother shutting the door behind her when she leaves to go out into the living room, unsurprised to see Tori practically huddled in front of the fireplace. Jade wasn't going to tell her that it was there, but she wasn't purposefully going to make Tori avoid it, either. Telling her to go out into the living room seemed like a pretty good compromise for the both of them.
"Hey," Tori says, waving as she turns to look over her shoulder. "Your fireplace is really cool."
"I'm so glad that you think so," Jade tells her, wandering over to the kitchen. She's thankful for the fact that her grandparents' house isn't an open concept like they originally wanted it to be since it lets her go and hide behind a wall. She pushes herself onto a counter left of the fridge, staring at the ovens facing her now. She doesn't really know what the fuck to do. Tori is here, and there's not much that Jade thinks that she really can do. She's pretty sure she's still recovering and in shock, which absolutely makes sense given the trauma she's just been forced to endure. She sighs, tapping her fingers against the counter for a few seconds as she thinks. "Did you lock the door?"
"Yeah," Tori's response is basically immediate. "Are you okay?"
"Peachy, Vega."
"Jade..." Tori sighs, and Jade also sighs, because her voice is getting way too fucking close to the kitchen. And of fucking course, there's Tori, standing right by the ovens. "Listen, I know you're upset about me being here. But if it makes you feel any better, I'm not that happy either!" Tori crosses her arms, and Jade wonders if Tori is mocking her, because it sure fucking feels like it. "I'd much rather be in New York with my family! Or I'd have loved to crash landed in someone else's state! Like, I don't know, anyone else's? I would have rather spent my winter break with André or Cat, or, I don't know, Robbie. I know that you don't want me here, and I'm sorry, okay? But I didn't know who else to call. I only knew that you were here, and so..." Tori waves a hand. "I thought maybe it'd be okay."
Jade rolls her eyes, feeling more and more annoyed the longer Tori talks. Her smugness at making Tori squirm has been replaced by some different emotion, and she sighs as she looks at the woman in front of her, who looks miserable, and not even in the fun way. God, of course Tori managed to make something Jade enjoyed into something real. "God, Vega, stop looking like you're about to burst into tears," Jade sighs again, craning her neck to look at the ceiling, mostly just to avoid looking at Tori. "It's not like I'm going to kick you out."
"You're just going to make me wish that you would."
"Okay," Jade snorts, shaking her head. "Way to make assumptions. Judgy much, Vega?" She asks, quirking up an eyebrow. "Calm down, okay? It's barely even been five minutes since you got here," Jade doesn't think that she's been that awful to Tori. She thinks she's been normal levels of awful to her, which is barely anything. Tori shifts on her feet, looking more and more like she's actually going to cry, and Jade very quickly realizes that fuck, Tori is definitely going to start crying. "Woah," Jade doesn't move from her spot on the counter, not really sure what the hell she's supposed to do. "Vega-"
"Sorry," Tori sniffles, turning her head to the side, wiping at her tears with her wrist. "It's just that a lot has happened in an hour and I can't handle you being you, because you being you means that you're going to try and make me as miserable as possible, and I'm just stressed, and I don't..." Tori only gets that far before she starts crying more, and Jade wordlessly looks at her, having absolutely no fucking idea on what people do in these kinds of situations, especially when it comes to someone that they don't like.
But it's not like Jade actually hates Tori. Not anymore. They are not friends, but Jade doesn't hate her. Not enough to not do anything.
So Jade hops down from the counter, taking Tori by the wrist, and marches her out to the living room.
"Sit," Jade tells her, motioning to the floor in front of the fireplace. Tori relents, pulling her knees up to her chest immediately. Jade scans the living room for a few seconds, eyes settling on a blanket on the back of one of the couches. She grabs that, half-handing it to Tori, half-draping it across her shoulders and chest. She takes a couple of the throw pillows off of the couches and chairs, figuring that they're finally fucking good for something, and positions them behind Tori for the most part, handing her the last one, just in case Tori gets any ideas about needing some sort of hug. Jade sees her open her mouth, but immediately holds up a hand. "No. No talking. You're going to sit there and get warm and calm down, and then we can talk. Later."
Tori nods, and Jade reluctantly sits somewhat close to her a few seconds later. She didn't realize that Tori was that shaken up about the entire not going to New York thing, and almost feels bad for not have noticing. Jade doesn't know if she would have stopped teasing her, she heavily doubts it, but she'd at least have directed Tori to the fireplace to balance it out.
They sit there quietly for a while, though Jade notices that Tori hasn't stopped crying yet.
"I'm not that angry that you're here," Jade eventually says with a sigh. "I mean, I'm not stoked. I wasn't waiting at the door desperately hoping you'd call me twenty times in a row and ask to be let in. I didn't want my winter break to have anyone else in it. But I'm not..." Jade shrugs, looking at the fireplace. "I was just being over the top about it. I'm not that pissed off. I'm not happy about it, but it's not the end of the world. I could have had to deal with Robbie and his weird fucking puppet boyfriend, so you're at least an upgrade to that. Which thank god, really. I'd have killed Robbie immediately," Jade says, and Tori snorts. It's not crying, which Jade thinks is a good thing, fuck if she knows. "You're not the worst, so."
Tori actually smiles at that, which Jade absolutely does not understand, but if it gets her to stop crying, then it gets her to stop crying. If it works, so what? Fucking thank god, really.
"Thank you," Tori murmurs, her voice quieter, raspy. Jade didn't realize how much her voice changed after she cried, probably because she's never actually heard or seen Tori cry, not that she remembers. "Sorry for the cryfest."
"It was bound to happen at some point," Jade shrugs, trying to move on now that Tori is clearly not that upset anymore. "Let's keep up with the no talking rule. I doubt you're actually warm or calm enough to warrant you speaking."
"Right," Tori laughs, rolling her eyes. Her face is still clearly wet and Jade thinks that she might still be crying a little, but not nearly as much. "My bad."
Jade props her back against one of the reclining chairs, looking into the fire, listening to the wood crack and burn. She doesn't know how long it's been since she sat down, but by the time she gives Tori a second glance, the woman is passed out against the other recliner, looking strangely peaceful for how awful she normally looks when she sleeps. Jade sighs, just sitting there. Tori will eventually wake up, and then Jade will take her to her room and then she'll be able to go and hide in her grandparents' room for a few hours, and she's already looking forwards to those hours.
But for now, she sits and watches the fire, and thinks that at least it wasn't fucking Robbie.