Chapter Text
"Jade is having a lot of trouble getting back into dating," Beck muses. "Did you know that?"
Tori sighs, rolling her eyes as she watches the woman in question. Every single person in her friend group has decided to infest her house today, just like they usually do. This time, though, Jade has decided to come with them. She's been sitting them all out, and Tori assumes it's because Jade doesn't want them to know that she's friends with Beck and that she doesn't hate him. Jade did miss one critical part of convincing everyone that, though, and that's the fact that Beck has been over every single weekend, making it very clear that they're actually on fantastic terms for once.
But Tori isn't complaining — she's missed Jade pretty bad, and she's happy to have her back. She definitely would trade Beck for anyone else, though.
"And what does that have to do with me, Beck?" Tori asks, heaving another sigh, giving the man a very pointed look. "I can't do anything about that."
"I just thought you'd like to know," he shrugs, holding up his hands. "Since you like her."
"I don't like Jade."
"Since you have a crush on her," he corrects, and Tori sighs again, her shoulders deflating. "Listen, you guys are more than welcome to get together, you know that. It's not like I'm going to throw a fit," Beck very helpfully tells her, and while Tori is thankful for the fact that he's not going to freak out on them, she isn't particularly happy with his decided involvement between the two of them. "And, you know," he continues, waving a hand. "I'm kind of getting sick and tired of watching you guys flirt with each other and then act like it's not happening."
Tori scoffs, raising an eyebrow at the man. "Jade West is not flirting with me."
"Jade West definitely is flirting with you," Beck disagrees. "I think that I'd know."
"I don't think that your relationship really counts as a relationship. Maybe an angry, yelling-ship."
"Okay, mean," Beck teases, rolling his eyes. "But come on, Tori. You know how unapproachable that girl is," he sighs. "I've watched her scare boys off just by slamming her locker really loudly. She's not easy to get to know, and you've already done the hard part!" Beck tells her, squeezing her shoulder. "You know her! That's a start! You've already gotten over the biggest hurdle. You just have to, you know," he grins. "Get over fifty more. But they're smaller! They're a lot smaller."
"That's not exactly thrilling to hear," Tori laughs, shrugging his hand off, elbowing him. "Because the small hurdles? Those are still fifty feet tall, Beck."
Beck shrugs, looking entirely unbothered and very optimistic. "Okay? That's better than fifty-one feet, right? Here, I'll help," Beck beams at her, and Tori groans, running her hands down her face. "Okay, that was also mean. See? She likes that! She likes when you're mean!" He laughs, and Tori wonders just why they broke up, given how both of them are equally as evil and messed up. "It's fine, Tori. You just have to, you know," he shrugs. "Be romantic. Get her coffee sometime. Ask her to hang out one-on-one. It's not that hard. Just start doing typical dating stuff, and she'll eventually figure it out. It's not hard."
Tori glares at him. "Jade is hard, Beck. You guys never went out on dates!"
"Yeah, 'cause Jade and I didn't actually like each other like that," Beck tells her, as if it's obvious. "I mean, come on. You said it yourself. Our relationship wasn't actually a relationship," he grins at her, and that just makes Tori groan again, entirely miserable. "You're fine. It'd be good for her to get out more, anyways," Beck tries, and Tori's pissed about it, because now he's appealing to the part of her that's actually a good person and cares about Jade. And it's even more infuriating, because he totally realises it, grinning widely, his eyes shining. "See? See? You want to help, don't you?"
"Fine!" Tori plants her hand on his chest, shoving him back. It sends him tumbling down the back of the couch, and Tori is very happy about that. "Fine, I'll do your stupid little plan."
Beck laughs, even despite his spot on the ground. "Great! It'll be fine, I promise."
It's not fine.
Tori is realising now that Jade West is actually really, painfully, horribly, oblivious. She never realised that before. Jade never seemed oblivious to her. Oh, but she is.
And it's been bad.
Tori has bought her coffee every day of the week. They've hung out every single day. Tori has invited her over to literally sleep over, and Jade has done that. Tori has laughed at all of her jokes, though that's not even intentional, because Tori really is just into Jade, but dear lord. Beck has shared her misery, because Tori has refused to go through this alone. She's spilled absolutely everything — from how she's gotten Jade coffee, to how she gave Jade her jacket that one time because it was raining. Tori even made an entire playlist spelling out the words "GO OUT WITH ME", and Jade hasn't noticed at all, and it's been a week. They were all love songs, too! Or, at the very least, love song adjacent.
Tori is going insane.
And, to somehow further enunciate her point, Jade is with her right now. They're sat on the couch, watching The Scissoring, Jade's favourite movie that Tori hates. And somehow that's not enough of a cue. Tori has literally been awake for ten days straight because of all the stupid horror movies she's been watching with Jade. To make matters worse, they're sharing a blanket, and their legs are totally touching, and Jade's half-leaning on her shoulder, and Tori just is so entirely at a loss, because what the hell? It's not like she's being sneaky about anything! No! She's being obvious. She's being as obvious as she can be without just outright saying it.
And god, even then, Tori doesn't feel like Jade would get it. At this point, Tori genuinely believes that she could make out with her, and Jade would simply move on and ignore her. Tori's not even worried about Jade feeling uncomfortable or not liking her back, because Jade is very vocal about what she doesn't like. She's not uncomfortable — she just has no goddamn idea it's happening in the first place.
"You know," Tori starts, shifting a little away from Jade, grabbing the remote, pausing the movie. "You're really oblivious."
"What?" Jade scowls at her after a second of staring at the T.V. "No, I'm not. Where did that even come from, Vega?"
"It's just a general statement," Tori tells her. "You wouldn't be able to tell if anyone liked you even if it hit you directly on the head."
Jade stares at her. Tori can very clearly see that Jade is not getting her point. "What does that even—" Tori smacks the back of Jade's head, earning her a very sharp glare, as well as Jade's jaw dropping. "Vega! What the fuck was that for?"
Tori just gapes right back at her, because what the hell. What the hell.
There's no way she's serious.
There's simply no way.
Tori groans, pushing play again on the stupid movie, wondering just why it had to be her who had to fall in love with Jade West.
The world really is just cruel at heart, apparently.
"So you hit her?"
"Is that really the only thing you're getting from this?" Tori demands, waving her hands around frantically, because she's about to hit Beck. "Oh my god. Beck. I can't deal with this," she shakes her head, running a hand through her hair. "You didn't tell me that she— that she was apparently an expert at dodging hints!"
Tori's been pacing back and forth for the better half of an hour, slowly wearing her floors down. She's been absolutely going through it, but she's been absolutely going through it for a week and a half, maybe longer, now. Jade is so painfully oblivious, and it's enough to make Tori want to pull out her hair.
Beck laughs, because of course that evil, horrible man laughs, grinning widely. "Because she's not normally!" He protests, though Tori isn't inclined even a little to believe him. "She's just— Tori, she's just nervous, that's all. That's why she can't figure this out. She's trying to convince herself that you don't actually like her, and that it's all just a big coincidence. You have to go bigger. Your little prom thing is coming up, right?"
"It's called Prome," Tori sighs, "They wouldn't let me have a prom."
"Okay, well," Beck snorts, still looking hopeful. Tori honestly has absolutely no idea how he's managing to hold onto what seems to be pure false hope. "Prome is coming up. Ask her to go with you."
"And if she says no?"
Beck raises an eyebrow at her. "She's going to say yes, Tori. I promise. That girl likes you, I'm so sure of it. She just...you know how she is, Tori. She's pretty bad with all of this. But she does like you! You just gotta give her a push."
"I've been giving her pushes!" Tori mutters. "How many more is it gonna take for her to figure it out?"
"Maybe just one big one," Beck tells her, sympathetically. "She's just nervous, that's all. It's kind of like getting a stray cat to trust you."
Tori groans, forcing herself to stop pacing. "Beck, I'm going insane."
"She's also probably going insane," Beck assures her, standing up from his spot on Tori's couch. Tori has been making him come over way more than usual, because Jade is too much for her to handle all on her own, and she just needs an ally in it all. "It'll be fine. She'll say yes, I know that she will. And then you guys are gonna dance together! And maybe you can sing that song you've been working on," Beck grins at her. "Your little crush song."
"It's not— okay, whatever," Tori rolls her eyes. "There's one problem with that, Beck. That song? It's meant to be not obvious!" Tori huffs, wondering if this is what hell feels like. She's pretty sure it is.
"I bring you a red, red rose?" Beck questions.
"She does not like flowers."
"I will try everything to make you come closer to me?" He presses.
"Beck."
"How can I get it through that I'm the one you can't lose?"
"Beck!" Tori groans, running her hands down her face. "You heard the playlist I made for her! You figured out the secret stupid message right away! With the first song! She's not going to— she's just going to think that it's for someone else."
Beck laughs, though he does nod, and that doesn't make Tori hopeful at all. "Okay, well," he shrugs, raising an eyebrow. "Just tell her that it's meant for her before you go up there. I'll be watching," Beck assures her. "I can go up to her and go, wow, Tori must really like whoever this song is meant for! Wow! She must have the biggest crush ever on this girl! Whoops! Didn't mean to say girl! Bye!"
Tori can't help herself from laughing, though she really doesn't want to. "Okay, okay!" She sighs, shaking her head. "Fine, I'll do it! But if this backfires, I'm going to personally blame you and then kill you for it."
"That's a risk I am very willing to take," Beck flashes her a grin. "You'll totally be fine, I promise. You've got this in the bag, Tori!"
Tori definitely does not think that she does, but she nods anyways, hoping to god that Beck is finally right about something for the first time in his life.
She doesn't have high hopes, however.