I'm sorry I didn't update yesterday! My laptop charger broke and my laptop died yesterday. I got a new power source, so here we go! I know there might have been some frustration with the last chapter but thanks for hanging in there with me :) It feels good to be back.

Pretending that I didn't know Tori was seeing someone new proved to be easier than I expected. After the initial shock faded, of course. I went through a few days in disbelief. I found myself laughing at the thought, laughing at the way that girl hung on Tori when I saw them at Cat's place, laughing at her stupid fucking blonde hair. After a little while, it stopped being funny and was just annoying.

But I was with Leila, and I was happy. For a few days, I was afraid that we would never be able to work through all of the shit we were caught up in. It took a few long nights alone for me to realize that the body I wished was lying next to me belonged to Leila and not Tori. It was in that moment that I realized I should be able to work through this. We both made some serious mistakes, and we both did some serious learning from those mistakes.

Stomaching being in Emma's presence proved to be far more difficult. Every time I would go over to Leila's apartment and see the two of them sitting on the couch together had my gut tied in knots. I wanted to slap her, but every time I really got the itch to do it, I'd remember the fact that she came to me after I found out. She sought me out and forced me to talk to her about what happened. High school Jade would have told her to fuck off, but this Jade, the Jade that Leila Fitzpatrick had successfully wrapped around her little finger, seemed to be far more forgiving. Or at least she pretended to be. Of course it was uncomfortable, but you just gotta deal with it sometimes.

So that's what we were doing; dealing with it.

One day, Cat and I were having lunch at the diner and the conversation shifted to something I would have rather not discussed.

"Tori wants to bring Charlie out tonight," Cat said after she sipped her coffee. As if that girl needed any more caffeine.

"Oh," I said plainly as I continued to eat my burger.

"You know, since it's Beck's birthday party at Roscoe's…" She trailed off, eyeing me warily.

"Okay," I replied. I couldn't tell if she was trying to get a rise out of me, or if she thought I had forgotten about the party that I helped plan. Well, technically, that Leila helped plan.

Cat groaned. "Just say it, Jade."

"Say what?" I asked, looking at her in confusion.

"Just say how much you hate her!"

"I've hardly even met her, Cat. I can't really say that I hate her."

Cat's eyes narrowed. "You have never had a problem declaring your hatred for people who breathed too loudly, and now you're finding it difficult to say you hate your ex-girlfriend's current girlfriend who is a total bitch?" Cat asked. I could tell she lost her initial train of thought and that the last bit of what she said was a projection of her own feelings.

I looked at her with a raised brow. "Sounds like you just need to say it."

Cat sighed. "I can't stand her, Jade. She's horrible."

"Explain?"

"She's controlling and needy and so, so obnoxious. If Tori isn't paying attention to her, she pouts. If any of us are paying attention to Tori, she has to do something to make Tori look at her. Not to mention she's just a bitch to Andre because she's convinced that he's in love with Tori."

I snored. "Good thing I haven't been around, then."

"Right," Cat said, avoiding making eye contact with me.

"Oh my God," I began as I stared at her, "that's why you want me to come out tonight. You want me to rip this girl apart, don't you? Cat Valentine, that is absolutely diabolical," I finished with a devilish grin. Cat blushed violently and gaped for a minute as her incoherent babbling attempted to defend her. When it failed completely, her shoulders slumped and she shrugged.

"Seriously, Jade. When you meet her, you'll understand."

"Okay, I'll do it," I said, ignoring any other form of persuasion she was planning.

"What? Seriously?" Cat asked, her eyes widened in surprise.

"Why not? If she's as horrible as you say she is, I'd like to see it in person. Plus, I haven't been able to torture anyone lately."

"What about Leila?"

"I think Leila will be okay. We've been really well lately and I think it would be good for us. Kind of proving the trust we've built back up is stable, you know?" Cat nodded her head. "Anyway, she's been making me hang out with Emma so it's only fair, really."

"Oh, Andre's bringing Emma tonight," Cat said as she swiped the screen of her phone a few times.

I shrugged. "Fine by me."

"Are you going to be okay seeing Tori?" Cat asked, looking worried.

"I should be. It's over, ya know? The way it happened was shitty, but it's over. It's time to lay it to rest and move on. I'm happy. I don't really care if she's happy. Everyone wins," I said with a shrug.

Cat laughed. "That's the Jade I know."

We finished our meals and said our goodbyes. I caught a cab and made my way to Leila's to hopefully convince her to go to Beck's birthday party tonight. It would have been easy, but I would have bet a good chunk of change that Emma had already talked to Leila about it, and without a doubt had mentioned that Tori would be there.

The cab pulled up in front of Leila's apartment and I paid my fare and got out. I bounded up the stairs and pushed the buzzer a couple times.

"I know that impatient buzz," Leila's voice came crackling through the speaker.

"You know me too well," I said into the speaker.

The door buzzed and I opened it quickly and ran up the stairs. I was nervous to tell Leila that Tori would be there that night. I stood in front of her door for a second, shaking my hands in an attempt to shake off the nerves. Finally, I took a deep breath and raised my hand to knock on the door. Before my knuckles touched the wood, the door swung open and I was face-to-face with Leila.

"Were you just pumping yourself up to knock on the door?" She asked me skeptically.

"What? No," I said with a scoff before leaning in to kiss her chastely. She looked at me humorously and ushered me into the apartment. I slipped my jacket off and tossed it on the jacket.

"Are we still going to Roscoe's for Beck's birthday?" Leila asked as she closed the door and locked it.

"About that…" I began tentatively.

"I know Tori's gonna be there," Leila said, cutting me off as she sat beside me on the couch.

"How? I just found out today," I said, mildly irritated.

Leila pointed in the direction of Emma's bedroom. "She hasn't talked about anything else since Andre invited her to go with him. She let it slip today that Tori was bringing her new girlfriend."

"We don't have to go if you don't want to," I said.

"Fuck it," Leila said with a shrug, "I honestly don't even care anymore. I think we've been through enough. Besides, I'm really not threatened by her anymore."

"What changed?" I asked cautiously.

"We did," she answered simply before leaning in and kissing me fully.

The rest of the afternoon was spent exchanging lazy kisses on her couch while day time TV played in the background. Eventually we managed to peel ourselves away from each other long enough to get ready. I emerged from the bathroom after finishing my hair and make up and walked into Leila's room to see her all decked out in a little black dress and heels.

I whistled. "Looking good."

Leila blushed. "Is it too much?"

I walked over to her with a smirk, wrapping my arms around her waist when I got close enough. "It will be when we get home."

"Down girl," Leila said, her smile matching mine as she leaned in and kissed me again, her fingers threading through my hair.

"Are you guys re—gross, are you serious?" Emma asked dramatically from the doorway. I looked over my shoulder to see her giving us a pointed look. "Can you keep your hands off of each other for one fucking night?"

"Probably not," I said with a shrug, releasing my hold on Leila. She snaked her fingers with mine as we followed Emma out of the room and out of the apartment. The three of us shared a cab to Roscoe's and I spent the entire ride subtly trailing my fingers down Leila's exposed thigh, enjoying myself a little too much every time I went too high and felt her legs twitch underneath my fingers.

Once we arrived at the bar, I saw Andre waiting outside for us. Well, he was probably waiting outside for Emma. Leila and I approached him with interlocked hands as I held the party bag with Beck's present in it: a bottle of special edition Jack Daniels.

"Well, looks like the gang's all here, then," Andre said as he leaned in and kissed Emma on the cheek. I watched as her cheeks turned a fiery crimson and chuckled. Looks like someone was melting the Ice Queen. Andre put his hand on her lower back and ushered us all inside.

We walked through the small crowd to our table in the back and I could see the rest of our friends. I saw empty glasses already filled the table and I wondered how late we were to the party.

"Jade!" Cat said is a singsong voice. Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes were a little glassy.

"Ask and ye shall receive," I said, playfully holding my arms out in front of me like I was a gift from the gods above.

"What is she doing here?" I heard a voice I wasn't familiar with ask. I looked to my right and saw Tori's new girlfriend sitting obnoxiously close to Tori and staring right at me.

"I'm sorry, she belongs here," I said snidely. Fuck, I hadn't even gotten a drink in me and this girl already wanted to start shit.

"Are you saying I don't?"

"Well, if no one else will," I said through a laugh.

"Jade," Tori and Leila both reprimanded me. They looked at each other with both irritation and embarrassment etched on their faces.

"We'll be right back. Time to get a drink," Leila said apologetically as she grabbed me by the arm and dragged me to the bar. "What the fuck was that?" She asked once we got far enough away.

"She started it!" I said childishly.

"And if you're not careful, I'm going to finish it," Leila said in a faux-threatening voice.

I sighed as I ordered our drinks, as well as four shots of tequila. Leila looked at me in surprise. "We have some catching up to do. Do you see how drunk Cat already is?"

"It's gonna be one of those nights," Leila said, rolling her eyes as we tipped back our first shot.

"Yeah, well it's your turn to hold her hair back when she pukes," I reminded her as we downed our second. Leila shrugged and sipped her drink while I grimaced at the taste of tequila. I pushed myself away from the bar with my drink in hand, heading back to our friends. Leila reached out and grabbed my arm. "Shouldn't we go back?" I asked in confusion.

"If I have to be around that bitch all night, we're gonna need a few more," Leila grumbled, looking at me with dread in her eyes. Despite that, I still laughed and waved the bartender over again, ordering two more shots of tequila. We kicked them back and put the glasses back on the bar before turning and heading back to our friends.

"I'm sorry, we got off on a bad start," Leila said to Charlie. I had to admire how sweet she always sounded, even though I knew deep down that Leila was only being nice to Charlie because she didn't want to have to deal with the catastrophic event that would happen if Charlie tried to butt heads with me again. "I'm Leila," she said, sticking her hand out.

Charlie looked at her hand with a raised brow. "I'm aware."

An awkward tension blanketed all of us as I stared at Charlie in disbelief. She could say whatever she wanted to me, but the second she tried getting rude with Leila, the gloves were off. Before I could interject, I felt Leila's hand on my thigh and I shut my mouth. Instead, I took a generous drink from my glass and focused on my breathing. I was gonna knock this girl out tonight. I could already tell.

"So how did you two meet?" I asked, leaning forward on the table with my drink in hand.

Tori looked at me with wide eyes, as if she was almost angry that I would ask a question like that. And because of it, now I had to know the answer.

"We knew each other from high school," Charlie said, staring at me coldly.

"You went to Hollywood Arts?" I asked in disbelief.

Charlie's lips turned into a flat line and her nostrils flared. "No, I went to Tori's old school. We were friends then."

"Charlie auditioned for Hollywood Arts after I got in," Tori said.

"But?" I asked, suddenly liking where this was going.

"She didn't get in," Cat finished for Tori. I had to bite back the laugh that was caught in my throat. Cat was drunk, and I could tell she didn't really give a shit about what came out of her mouth at this point. A thicker blanket of awkwardness covered us now as I chortled behind my drink as I thought about this girl trying to get into Hollywood Arts.

"Tori, how's Trina?" Andre asked, clearly trying to get the attention away from this mess of a conversation.

Tori opened her mouth, but Charlie scoffed before Tori had the chance to answer. "Talentless as ever."

That irritated even me. I was the only one allowed to talk shit about Trina. Tori's face flushed in embarrassment as she shook her head and focused on the drink in her hands.

"That's hilarious, because if I recall correctly, Trina actually got into Hollywood Arts?" I posed my statement as a question as I looked around the table at my friends. Beck was almost red in the face from trying not to laugh. Andre was looking at Emma, trying to hide his face. Tori kept her eyes down and Charlie looked at me like she was going to explode.

"Jesus, babe," Leila said softly so only I heard.

Charlie got up and stormed off to the bar dramatically. As soon as she was out of earshot, the entire table seemed to release all of its tension and I felt like I could finally breathe.

"She's…she's something else, Tor," I said sarcastically through a laugh as I shrugged my shoulders.

"Fuck off, Jade," Tori bit back at me. I looked at her in surprise.

"To Beck!" Leila said loudly, raising her glass in the air. We all seemed to remember what we were doing at Roscoe's in the first place and cheers-ed to our best friend's birthday. Beck laughed as we all started singing happy birthday to him. Cat kissed him on the cheek when we finished and I slid my hand between Leila's legs. She clamped them shut and looked at me with wide eyes.

"What?" I asked innocently.

"Trouble," was all she said in reply.

I looked at her, my eyes crinkling with my smile. It was at that moment when I saw the dance floor just behind Leila. My jaw fell to the floor as I watched Tori's new girlfriend grinding on some meathead.

"No fucking way," I said in a whisper.

"What?" Leila asked as she turned around to see what I was looking at. "Oh shit," she said, under her breath.

"What are you guys looking at?" Tori asked, her voice sounding brighter than it had when Charlie was seated with us.

"Nothing," I said quickly, looking back at her with wide eyes as I pushed Leila out of her chair. She stood, but nearly fell, as she tired to block Tori's view of the dance floor. I could tell that we had been too late when I watched the color drain out of Vega's eyes as her jaw fell slightly. Soon all of our friends were watching this spectacle, and we were all feeling the same feeling: pity for our friend. Soon her eyes were consumed with rage as she got out of her chair and stomped her way over to her girlfriend. I watched in shock and admiration as she grabbed Charlie away from the guy and dragged her to the hall where the bathrooms were.

That's gonna get ugly.

"Oh God. I think I'm gonna be sick," Cat said, her face turning a greenish color.

"Outside. Get her outside!" I shouted as we all shuffled out of the way so Cat could make a hasty exit.

Leila let out a sigh as she watched our friend run out the door. "I've got Cat. You go make sure Tori's okay."

I looked at her in shock. "Are you sure?"

"Positive. That's gonna get ugly real fast." Leila said. She kissed me once before rushing out after Cat.

I watched her leave, admiring her for how much she trusted me. Then I turned around and made my way to the bathrooms to make sure Charlie didn't end up through a window.

"Are you fucking joking me, Charlie? We're not in high school anymore. You can't fucking use guys to make me jealous," Tori yelled. I stayed out of sight, wanting to be nosy for a little bit before I intervened.

"Why not? You did," Charlie bit back.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Tori said in a clipped voice, but I could tell by her tone that she knew exactly what I was talking.

"Really? Did you forget about Danny already?" Charlie asked sarcastically.

"Stop it, Charlie," Tori said.

"No, this is exactly what you do. You use people when it's convenient for you. You used Danny to make me jealous, you used Ryder to try to make Jade jealous in high school and now you're using me to try to make her jealous again. Jesus Christ, Tori, you think you'd realize that it isn't gonna happen by now," Charlie was laughing now.

"I don't know why I thought you and I were ever gonna work," Tori said.

"That's the thing Tori; you never really thought we would," Charlie said.

"Leave," Tori's voice was strong and I felt like my heart was breaking in my chest.

I didn't hear Charlie say anything, so I figured it would be a safe time to make my appearance. Just as I was rounding the corner, I ran right into Charlie. She scoffed.

"Of fucking course you'd be here. Have fun," she said as she rolled her eyes and brushed by me, knocking into my shoulder. I said nothing to her, not bothering to grace her with a response. I decided against checking on Tori and instead I went back to our table. All that was left of our little party was the littering of empty pint and shot glasses.

I sat there, slightly dumbfounded at what I had just overheard. From the sound of it, Tori and Charlie had quite the history. It bothered me that I had never heard of her until that party at Cat and Beck's apartment. It also bothered me that apparently Tori had used Danny to make Charlie jealous. Although, when I thought about Tori's fling with Ryder, I suppose that made a little more sense to me.

What I found most confusing was that Tori was with Charlie now in an attempt to make me jealous again. It bothered me more than anything that it was fucking working. These thoughts buzzing in my head made me really wish I had another drink. So I got up from the table and made my way to the bar, surprise to see Tori seated, slumped over with her head in her hands.

"Fancy seeing you here," I said as I slid onto the stool next to her. She snorted drunkenly as she took another deep drink from her glass.

"Can I get another one?" She asked the bartender.

"Make that two," I added when the girl behind the bar started to make Tori's drink. In a moment, two glasses were placed in front of us and I began drinking deeply.

"Lay it on me," Tori said as she looked at me through bleary eyes.

"What?" I asked.

"Go on and tell me that you were just waiting for the moment where Charlie and I broke up because the only thing you like about me is when I'm sad."

It was my turn to scoff now. "Please, you know that's not true."

"It used to be," Tori mumbled.

"Well, things change."

Tori laughed sardonically. "One thing that never changes is that I'm utterly unloveable."

"That's not true," I argued, "Charlie sure had something for you."

"Charlie liked having sex in her parents' basement," Tori replied darkly. "The only reason I asked her out was because I knew it'd be easy."

"Why did you ask her out?" I asked with narrowed eyes.

Tori shrugged as she took another drink. "I didn't have you anymore. And then I realized that I never really did have you."

"What the fuck don't you understand, Tori? You have me. You have always had me. No matter what shit went down, I was always there. When you were in New York, I was here; missing you and feeling like I was going fucking nuts."

"Well, now you have Leila, so what does it matter?" Tori said snidely.

"Fuck off, Tori," I said, shaking my head.

I heard sniffling and realized that Tori had started crying.

"Oh Christ. Don't do that, Tori," I said as I tugged on her arm.

She took a deep breath and wiped at her nose. "I can't be just friends with you, Jade. I'm sorry, but that isn't something I can do."

"Come on, Tori. Let's get you out of here," I said softly as I tugged on her arm and got her to her feet. I kept an arm around her and walked her towards the door.

"I just want you to love me back," she said softly, her words slurring together. I let out a deep sigh and shook my head. If only you knew, Tori.

"So, who's in charge of taking Tori home?" I asked when I saw our group standing outside. Beck had a cigarette sticking out of his mouth as he looked at me.

"We saw Charlie storm out of here," he said, the cigarette flopping around with every word.

"I'll take her," Andre said, despite Emma's looks of displeasure. He untangled herself from his arm and walked over to me, wrapping Tori's other arm over his shoulder lazily.

"You got her?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know the drill," he said with a laugh as the two of us practically carried Tori to Andre's car. The rest of us dispersed to our own separate ways once I was properly convinced of Andre's sobriety. We said goodbye to him and Emma while Beck, Cat, Leila, and I waited for our taxis. Leila leaned into me and hummed.

"You good, babe?" I asked as I hugged her closer to me.

"I'm fine. Just feel bad for Tori, that's all," Leila said.

Our taxis arrived shortly after and we said our goodbyes. The drive was quiet, and I realized relatively quickly quickly that Leila had fallen asleep on my shoulder. When the taxi pulled up next to my apartment, I nudged her softly to wake her up.

"No, leave me alone," she mumbled.

"Sure, if you wanna sleep in the back of a cab," I said with a laugh before pushing her a little more forcefully out of the car. We made it up to my apartment with little trouble and Leila was passed out in my bed before I even got out of the bathroom. I laughed as I pulled the comforter from under her legs and up to her chin. I went to the kitchen to get a glass of water when I heard my phone buzzing on the counter.

1 New Text Message: Tori Vega

Ples comne back to me