Stuck In Between Love and Generosity

Jade West

A/N - Jade shows more of her softer side and is kinder to Tori than usual.

"I have a great idea for what to do next!" Tori sang out. I knew that tone of voice, it meant trouble.

I warily glance across the table at Cat and her worried eyes showed she felt the same. But the moment was broken immediately as I couldn't help but chuckle at the streak of chocolate across her chin. When it came to eating s'mores, Cat had taken the method to eat like a pig to mud.

It was just the three of us for the sleepover. Much like that very first one over a year ago, right after Tori moved to Hollywood Arts and we were all getting to know one another. Since then we'd had plenty more, but usually with only the girls invited.

Tonight it was just me, Cat, and Tori. When Cat suggested it, she had dressed it up a lot of fancy, calling it a 'control group' for 'measuring gross sleepover efficiency improvement'. I told her I didn't know that 'gross' was any sort of thing to call a good time, but she just laughed nervously and went off into a whole ramble fulla the kind of long words I suspect she might be making up on the spot. Halfway through I caught that Tori was gonna be there too, and that was good enough for me.

That first sleepover was a real fond memory to me, even though in some ways it was the start of all the trouble. That was when I had really fallen for her - Tori. Not like anybody could blame me, cause that girl is anything but hard on the eyes. But something about that night... So much of the time, Tori comes off as fake. All proper and soft and... well, weak. But underneath that, she's got iron in her bones, and each time I pushed her on one thing, she came back spitting fire about another. It was such a surprise I kept right on! Ribbing her on this or that, secretly delighting on being on the receiving end her sharp tongue and sharper mind in response.

And then when push came to shove and it looked like the night was gonna be ruined, she came through all flying colors. That was when it hit me. I was head over heels, I realized... even though I knew it'd never work out, neither. So I dealt with it like I deal with everything. Kept my mouth shut, did my schoolwork, and moved on with my life, hoping it'd pass. Loving somebody will not stop me from living my own life.

Time passed, but the feelings didn't. I guess my heart could be as stubborn as the rest of me.

"What's your idea Tori?" I asked, miming across to Cat to wipe off her face. She stared at me blankly for a long moment until she got it, and then audibly squeaked as she dashed away in search of a napkin. I looked down at the pile of them on the table in front of us and smiled in amusement.

"We're girls, and it's a sleepover." Tori paused, a grin appearing on her face. "Let's talk about boys."

"Oh no," I said, my head shaking violently. "No no no." At my expression, Tori's smile grew even bigger. See? As much as I could tease her, she gave as good as she got. "Cat," I said desperately, "back me up here?"

She mumbled something into her napkin, across the room and not facing either of us.

"Come, Jade," Tori purred. "Let's talk juicy details. There's got to be someone out there that you've got your eye on."

My mouth clicked shut. I forced it open again. "A-absolutely not. I don't have a crush on anybody." I felt my traitorous nose scrunch up reflexively and cursed under my breath.

Tori hadn't missed it. Her eyes lit up in an infuriatingly cute way. "Double negatives aside, I think we both know that's not true."

"I- Uh-" I looked over as Cat walked back to the table, but all I could see were a pair of wide eyes over the napkin she still held to her mouth. My shoulders slumped. "Fine. There's a person I like. Doesn't matter at all though, cause nothing is gonna come of it."