Disclaimer: I do not own Victorious, it belongs to Dan and Nickelodeon. Also, this chapter's inspiration: 'Glad You Came' by The Wanted and 'Spectrum' by Zedd; might use the songs later on.

Warning: Jade-centric. Simply put: the show focuses on Tori, meaning the biggest freedom I have is playing with family from the other characters. Since this is Jade/Tori, there are certain aspects that I can exploit about the Goth as a character. The lack of background allowed me to dive in. In general: if you're not fan of Jade, leave; if you're not fan of Jori, leave; if you're bothered by random OCs, leave (note: OCs are not main focus, but appear frequently). Lastly, I hope you give it a try.

Updates: every month Wednesday/Thursday, depending on time zone; the more reviews, the sooner I'll update (say 15 and I update the next day). Since its Sunday, and this is a prologue, next week I'll update the first chapter.

Note: I'm working on interludes, Actorfic, that would work well if posted along with the story. These are short, but sadly, its against policy to publish them. So, I'll just signal when there should be an interlude, these don't affect the story directly so are more for my own amusement. If anyone is interested in the interludes, send me a PM or express on the review that you would like to see them along with an e-mail address so that I can send it. Also of note: Title subject to change.

Prologue: I will never let you go

"One more night, Tori," she whispered to herself, staring with some dread at the forlorn and desolate house, sighing at her own pep talk. "Just... One more night..."

Tori would be leaving tomorrow for home, sweet home, and she had never felt more thankful. She thought that Trina was demanding, but she had never felt more emotionally drained than last week. It had been less than kind on their already fragile relation, and so, in her search for some peace and quiet, with an effort of not grating on her housemate's nerves, the tanned teen had left early, incredibly early. Still so, Tori hated the fact that there wasn't much she could do in order to salvage the relation, since that was an effort from both parties involved. But, the Latina being how she was, she had to try. So she had left the house with a breakfast ready for her Goth friend and came back bearing gifts to at least mend something. Something had been bothering her, like a tingling in the back of her mind and she couldn't help the fact that she was forgetting something, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember.

She looked back at the house, and felt a pang of fear and dread when she noticed there was something on the window. Perhaps she was being banned from the place ahead of time, for leaving so early in the morning? But, it was an image, etched and engraved and done with plenty of care and devotion... How Jade had managed to even add color was beyond her, and it scared her deeply to consider the fact that, perhaps, it was her death proclamation. The Latina welcomed the distraction of her phone, as a previously set alarm went off with a notice. She froze, the notice left her paralyzed and rooted to the spot; it was July 26, the Goth's birthday (she had requested a late notice as to not aggravate the teen with an early message or call). Now feeling nauseous, weak, and completely out of her comfort zone, she really wanted the image to show her gruesome death. It would help her deal with the guilt; how could she possibly leave a friend alone on their birthday? Tori took a deep, shuddering breath, her mind going a mile a minute, trying to figure out what to do. At least her peace offering now had another meaning; she had thought luck was on her side when she went to buy a few cupcakes as an offering, and found one with a unique frosting of scissors. Now, it felt like it was meant to be; she might just make it through to the other girl, and through her guilt.

Her musings left her snapping at attention once she realized her own feet had led her to the door. Once there, with a dry throat, she risked a glance at the window, and she noticed it was the picture of a young man, probably around their age, couldn't be more than seventeen or eighteen. Tori found herself entranced by the image; he was pale, had green-blue eyes, had auburn hair, but it was spiked and the tips of it were black, and there was something unique about the way he had been carved on the window... the relief was pristine and clear, it was almost as if the boy was there. She noticed that several different images of him were carved in all the windows, which had been painstakingly done, and she could feel the pain expressed through them. The Latina knew, immediately, that this was what her friend spent her entire day doing.

Opening the door, her hazel eyes fell upon another image of the boy, holding a pair of scissors. Engraved, colored (how did Jade colored it?!), relief evident, making the young man feel real, as if he was there, the image etched on the wall. She was awed upon the amount of work done, and noticed that the entire place, although demolished, destroyed, and completely wreaked (she was embarrassed by the fact she had, in one way or another, helped with the destruction), was a shrine to the boy. Tori felt uncomfortable right then; was Jade in love with this boy? It certainly appeared that way, but then, why would she be with Beck? She began searching the place, looking for the Goth around the house. First stop, the kitchen, to leave the cupcakes and to be certain that, perhaps, that place had been left intact. There was no sign of life, the breakfast she had prepared had been left right where she had left it, as if her companion hadn't even bothered or felt hunger. As her search continued she decided to change into more comfortable clothes, but refused to consider taking a shower, as Jade was still M.I.A. She grew worried the more she dwelled into the belly of the beast; she had evaded at all costs entering the one room her friend had, without hesitation, threatened her with her favorite pair of scissors. In the end, it was the only room she hadn't searched; it was also the only one that still had its door intact. Heat filled her cheeks as she remembered how hard they had both been slamming doors around the place, and some were off their hinges already, but at least still functional, barely.

"Jade?" She asked softly as she entered the room, and was awed by the image that greeted her.

In the setting sun, she could see the room was dark; its wallpaper had scissors on columns in a black background, had candles everywhere, black candles, all of them lighted up with, somehow, blue-green flames. The bed was four-post with black drapes, and she could see scissors' carved delicately into each post. The room by itself was dark and somber without the setting sun's help, and was intact; the Goth had obviously carved the images within the walls and windows with some scissors that were besides her. The pale female lay in front of a picture that was obviously drawn with care: an angel with hair the color of honey, skin pale as snow, and beautiful blue-green eyes. Tori could tell it was Jade. She managed to register all this in a matter of seconds as she noticed her friend, tears stained, raising half of a scissor in her hand, and the Latina could tell things would go badly if her friend managed to touch her portrait.

All she could do was react; hesitating would mean a complete collapse of everything they had. She had no idea how she managed to cross the floor so quickly, or how she didn't doubt when she grabbed the other's girl wrist. It was just the way Jade initiated contact to either drag her somewhere, it was always the wrist; she had time to register the irony before it escaped her as hazel met blue, disturbingly deep blue. Where was Jade?

The Goth released the scissor she held and it fell with a clatter on the floor against its half, and another two, broken scissors. Tori saw the gleam of metal, but her heart was already beginning to tear as she saw her friend's lip wobbling. This wasn't at all how it was like when she had broken with Beck, it was almost as if she had lost all will to live and even try to continue on living. This, was why she didn't eat breakfast, the tanned female realized, she actually wants to die, as if that was the natural course... and her lifeline, Beck, wasn't there, no solid ground or figure to trust. As if she had made peace with the fact that she was meant to die and was just waiting to meet death.

"I'm here," the Latina whispered, embracing Jade softly, warmly, willing to be that lifeline, that steady ground, and she knew that despite their latest and out-of-scale tantrum, the pale female trusted her. "I'm here, and I... I won't let you go."

Her words made Jade give up and hold on to her as her sobs caused her body to shake and tremble, and her tears, the sheer force of them, didn't help matter, moving her delicate frame as though they were in the middle of an earthquake. For all Tori knew, the pale girl's earth was being shattered. After what felt like ages, the Goth finally calmed, and with a gentle tanned hand guiding her, she was tucked into the bed in that room. The Latina felt relief at the fact that her friend was still in her pjs, and although it would have been better to force her to take a shower, she didn't feel comfortable leaving the misunderstood writer alone at the moment. Said misunderstood human was much more composed, and with empty now-green eyes, she turned to give her back to her savior.

"You can go now," it was amazing how she sounded as though she hadn't been crying ten seconds ago; her throat was probably parched, but Tori feared that she would lock herself in the room if she left.

Since she was in sweat shorts already, and a comfortable shirt, she decided to send everything else to hell and joined the Goth on the bed. The Latina remembered the first time she had woken in the strange house and how Jade had, without hesitation, dragged her to her room and allowed her to sleep with her, if only to keep her calm. Right now, it was time to return the favor. Despite their current down, she was unable to allow her friend to dwell in misery. Tori felt fortunate that those broken scissors were far from them; she was afraid, all things said. Taking courage along with a breath, and she slipped beneath the covers.

"I said—"

"That I wouldn't let you go," the tanned teen interrupted, placing a hand on the others' hip; she could tell the Goth was scowling, "this is me, not letting go."

"Screw you, Vega," Jade whispered with pure malice, turning around, probably ready to hit her again, but once their eyes met, something changed, and she couldn't go through with it. "Ugh, I don't care, do what you like."

"I will," she whispered after a while, taking her hand back and turning to give her back to the disgruntled raven haired. Morning couldn't come soon enough. One more night... she sighed; that one last night hadn't gone at all how she had planned.

For her part, Jade took solace on the girl besides her, on the comforting heat of the other's body, and sneaking a peak at her own portrait, she felt as her heart's constriction were slowly being released. Had she actually gone through with it... Death would actually be the least of her worries. She felt the rhythmic stance that told her the Latina was asleep.

"I'm..." She swallowed a bit, then smiled; had the tanned teen left her, she would have locked the door, and she knew that she knew. "Glad you came."