Of Scissors And Scooby Doo

Chapter 8

"Jade, I have a question for you."

"Then ask your question."

"Will you marry me?"

The red pen in Jade's hand stilled and clear blue eyes lifted from the piece of paper. Her eyebrows tugged down as she questioningly tilted her head at an expectant Tori. "Why do you want to marry me?"

"Because you're my best friend and my daddy told me that you're supposed to marry someone you really, really love."

Jade shook her head. "We're too young to get married, Tori."

"Oh." Tori let her head sink in disappointment before her eyes lit up and she looked back up at Jade. "When we're old enough... will you marry me then?"

Jade looked at her for a short moment before she quickly shrugged her shoulders and looked back down at her drawing. "Sure. Why not."

I chuckled at the memory of my 'proposal' to Jade. Being about... nine or ten I really had meant it, believe it or not. I wanted to marry her. There was really no one other I could picture living in a big house with our Golden Retriever I had wanted us to most definitely have, named Sparky. I had my future mapped out the way I wanted, already at such a young age, even though I knew the "proper" thing was getting married to a guy because... well, because it seemed like everyone thought that was the right thing. But for me it had always been Jade. Jade was my right thing. She was the one I always wanted to get married to. And... she's still my right thing.

But I never knew if Jade saw the same future as me. She's so confusing, she always was, really. She could be so cryptic at times and... closed off while she was totally open the next second. But I like that. I love that she's not easy to figure out. It's intriguing and makes me want to fight to let her know that she doesn't need a shield with me, that she'll never have to hide anything from me. It was a hard task, most definitely, but the achievements I'd get at the end were definitely more than rewarding.

I sighed. Was today an achievement? For the first time she let others see that she felt comfortable around me, that she did like me. And then that thing she did! I didn't know that playing with my hair could bring me out of concept so much but Jade managed to do just that. I wish I could have properly seen her eyes, without those sunglasses, maybe then I would have seen what she was feeling, thinking, wanting. I knew what I had wanted. More than ever. And I almost threw everything overboard and connected our lips. She had been so close to me that I would have just had to lift my head and...

It was dangerous. So, so dangerous. I needed to get a hold of myself, no matter how much I wanted to let go. Jade was still hurting from her break up with Beck and as far as I knew, I was still only her friend, without her having romantic feelings for me whatsoever.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

I jumped, almost falling off of my bed, and fearfully looked over to my window where the sound came from. When I saw what, or better who had managed to almost scare the pee out of me, I lowered the blanket from my chin with a relieved sigh. Way to give me a heart attack. I got out of bed, smiling at the smirking face that looked back at me and opened the window to find Jade standing on a ladder I remembered her using a couple of years back.

"Well hello, Ms. Vega."

I laughed and took her outstretched hand to help her into my room. "Hi! What are you doing here?" Her boots made a soft thump against the floor as she jumped down the windowsill, brushing her hands down her leather jacket. "I couldn't sleep," she told me simply as I closed the window. "Also, I was just yearning for your company."

I chuckled, shook my head and turned around to face her. "And you couldn't have just texted me and told me to open the door for you? You almost gave me a heart attack."