After The Kiss
by John O'Connor

Disclaimer: "Victorious" and its characters are the property of Schnieder's Bakery and
Nicklodeon.  This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged 
hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and
story are the property of the author.

Note: Takes place the day after my story, “After The Playdate”.


Tori Vega came in the door of Hollywood Arts.  She felt like throwing her arms out, spinning
around and yelling, "Here I am!"  She felt like dancing.  She felt like she could fly.  She wanted
to hug the world and declare her love of everything and everyone.

Then she saw the true source of her giddy happiness.  Jadelyn West was standing near the stairs
talking to Cat Valentine.   Tori started to skip over there when she saw the look in Jade’s eyes.
She froze, dread clutching at her heart.

Thoughts whirled around in her head.  Was last night a dream?  Was Jade playing another sick
game?  Had she done something to piss off Jade?  Was it just an experiment for the goth?
What happened?

Jade nodded to Cat who waved and yelled, “Hey Tori!”

“Hey Cat.  Jade?”

Jade looked impatiently at Cat.  “See ya Cat.”

Cat had a quick look of pain at the abrupt dismissal, then she smiled and, before she hopped up
the stairs, said, “Oh!  Kay-kay.  Bye!”

“With me,” Jade said, heading for the janitor’s closet.  Wordlessly, Tori followed the woman of
her dreams.

Jade shut the door behind them then pushed Tori up against it.  She grabbed the brunette’s head
and kissed Tori with a passion that confirmed to the confused girl that the night before wasn’t a
dream.  And Tori returned the kiss, her tongue dancing with Jade’s, her hands combing through
the raven-black hair

Finally breaking the kiss, Jade pulled back with a small smile on her face.  “Hi.”

“Uh, hi.”

“I missed you.”

“Yeah, I missed you too.  Jade, what was that with Cat?”

“I saw you come in all musical-romantic-comedy mode.  I knew you were about to blab about…”
Jade trailed off at the look on Tori’s face.

“But, I thought we were gonna…”

“We will.  But not yet.  I…I can’t yet.”

“Why not?”

Jade turned away and muttered, “I just can’t.”

“Is it me?” Tori asked in a small voice.

“No,” Jade declared, kissing her girl to prove the point.  “It’s…complicated.”

“Okay, Jade, we don’t have to.  It’s okay.  Just don’t shut me out.  Please.”  Tori put her hand on
Jade’s shoulder.

Jade shrugged off the other girl’s hand with a grimace.  “Not now.  No.”

“Jade, please?”

“NO!”

Jade threw the door open and stormed out into the corridor.  Tori slowly followed her out.

~~~

After the second period ended, Cat and Jade sat outside the school during their break.

“And then my brother grabbed the wire…”  Cat paused and giggled.  “He got quite a charge out
of it.”  This was followed by one of Cat’s high-pitched laughs.

Jade, staring off into space, said, “That’s nice.”

“Jade?”  Cat waved her hand in front of Jade’s face.

“WHAT?!?”

“You weren’t paying any attention to me.  I mean, you don’t do that a lot but…   I mean you do do
that a lot…  Uh…“

“Do you have a point, Cat?” Jade asked quickly.

“Jade, you’ve been different lately.”

“Huh?  Cat, what are you talking about?”

“Well…  How come you’ve been so nice lately?” Cat asked.

“Huh?  What?”  Jade hadn’t been paying attention to her friend.

“My brother got really nice once.  Then they changed his medication,” Cat said with a shrug.  “I
just wonder if…”

“I’m not under medication, if that’s what you’re asking.  I… Hey! What do you mean nice?’

“Well, you used to be really nice.  Remember when we were in grade school?  Then you got into
this Goth stuff and…  But you were still pretty nice.”

“Cat, is there a point to this?”

“Well, after Tori came to Hollywood Arts, you weren’t so nice.  You became…a gank.”

“A gank?!?  Look, Kitty-cat, I’ll take that from Sikowitz but not from you!”

“There! See?  You called me Kitty-cat.  You used to call me that when you were nice.  Then Tori
came to Hollywood Arts and…”

Cat missed the look in Jade’s eyes at the mention of Tori’s name as the Goth asked, “I became a
gank?”

The velvet-cake redhead nodded, “Yeah, you…  Well, we all thought it was ‘cuz you were
jealous of her.   And…”

“I’m not jealous of Tori.”

“But…”

“I’m not jealous of Tori,” Jade repeated.

“Hey!  You just called her Tori!” Cat exclaimed.  “It was always Vega before.”  The redhead
stared at her old friend for a long minute.

“Cat?  Earth to Cat?”

As air-headed as Cat seemed, she could often connect the dots when not all the dots were there
yet.  This was one of those times.  Her eyes widened and she beamed a grin that could be seen
from the international space station. “You like Tori!”

“What?  No!  I…don’t like…  Vega’s a pain in my side!” Jade protested.

“You do!  You like Tori!  Wow…  Tori and Jade sittin’ in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g…”

“NO!!!”

“Eep!”

They both sat in silence for a long time.  Finally Jade said, “You cannot talk about this.  To
anyone!”

“But, you do like Tori?  Right?”

“To Aneee Onnne!”

“Okay, but you still like her?”

Jade sighed loudly. “Yesss…  I like Tori.  Happy?”

“Yay!  You like Tori.  Wait, does Tori like you?”

Jade smirked, “Yes, she does.  We…”

“Are you girlfriends now?”

“Yes, I guess so.  Listen, Cat, you cannot tell anyone about this.  Do you get me?”

“Kay-kay.”

“Cat, I mean it.  No one.  Do. Not. Tell. Anyone.”

~~~

At almost the same time, Andre came up to Tori as she opened her locker.  She seemed
distracted in class and now it took her a minute to notice her best friend.

“Oh, hey Andre!”

“Hey Tori!  What’s up?”

Tori replied a little too quickly, “Nothing!  Nothing’s up!  Absolutely nothing!”

“Tori, are you okay?”

“Sure.  Of course.  Well, maybe…”

“Talk to me girl.  What’s the dealio?”

Tori couldn’t help but snort, “Dealio?”

“Heh, yeah.  Kinda getting’ into all that ‘90s stuff.”  Andre smiled, his teeth gleaming in his dark
face, flashing all his natural charisma at his friend.

‘No wonder he always has a girl on his arm,’ Tori thought.

“So, spill.”

“I can’t.  I promised.”

“Uh-huh.  Who’d you promise?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“C’mon Tor, I’d tell you.”

“Yeah, but I can keep a secret,” Tori replied.

“What?  I can’t?”

“Look, remember when you thought you were in love with Jade?”

“Yeah, that was…weird,” Andre responded, not noticing the momentary look on Tori’s face.

“You made me promise not to tell anyone.  Did I?”

“Uh, no.”

“But the time I told you about Trina and her...”

“Well, see, I can explain.  That was too good not to share.  And no one likes her anyway,” Andre
said.  “Anywhos, are you sayin’ you have a crush on someone?”

“No.” Tori said it too quickly and looked at her feet as she said, “Well…yes...”

“Who?”

“I can’t tell you.  I promised.”

“Who’d you promise?  Your, heh-heh, significant other?”

Tori didn’t reply.

“So, is it Beck?  Cuz I can totally see you and…”

“No.”

“Robbie?”

“God, no.”

“Me?” he asked hopefully.

“Did I promise you I wouldn’t talk about it?”

“Uh…no.  So…”   And odd look crossed his face, “Sinjin?”

“Are you nuts?”

“Wow, is it Cat?”

“No.”

“Cause that’d be kinda hot.”

“Andre!  Stop!’

“Well, I know it’s not Jade.”

“…no…”

“Huh?”  Andre stared at Tori.  “It’s Jade?  Jade West?”

“Andre-aay…”

“Wow, that’s really hot!”

Tori punched Andre on the arm, “Shut up!  It’s not like that.”

“So?  Give…  Spill, girl.”

“We just kinda got to be friends.  And then…”

“Yeah?” Andre asked eagerly.

“Those clowns from Nozu and the play?  Last night, they showed up at my house when we were
working on our project.  To get rid of them, we kinda…kissed.”

“Woo!”

“Shut!  Up!”

“Sorry but…that’s hot.  And I wasn’t even there.”

“We talked about it and…  Well, we did it some more and now…  We’re girlfriends, I guess.”

“Oh man…  I gotta…”  Andre pulled his PearPhone out.  Tori slapped it out of his hand.

“Hey! That’s my phone, man.”

“Andre, not a word.  You understand?  Not. A. Word.  To anyone!”

With a pained look one would normally see on someone stretched out on a torture rack, he
nodded, “Okay.  But…when you guys come out, I better be the first to know.”

“You will be. I promise,” Tori smiled and pecked Andre on the cheek.

~~~

After Tori got Andre to pinky-swear, she saw Jade.

“Hey,” Jade said, stopping in front of Tori.

“Are you mad at me?” Tori asked, worry noticeable in her voice.

“No.  But, just let me have time to get used to all this.”

“Yeah, it’s a big deal.  I hardly slept last night.”

“Me either,“ Jade confessed.

Tori took Jade’s hand quickly and said, “I want to help.  Whenever you’re ready.”

Jade looked at her hand in Tori’s and a small smile graced her face.  “Okay.  But no more hand-
holding.”

Tori let go of Jade’s hand like it was suddenly white-hot.

“At least in public,” Jade added, softening her tone.

Tori smiled, relieved after the earlier meeting.  “Okay.  See you in class.”

“Yeah.”  Jade walked smiled briefly then walked away.  Tori watched and was sure she saw an
extra wiggle to the dark girl’s hips.

~~~

At that same time, Andre and Beck were in one of the many music classes at the school.  It was
a lab day and they were working on a song.  Beck rarely got involved in the music end of the
curriculum but took a few classes just to round out what he hoped would be a successful career
in show business.

Andre, on the other hand, lived, ate and breathed music.  And he was getting noticed.

Now he was helping his buddy work on a song for their class.  But, his mind was definitely not on
music.

“Andre, are you okay, man?” Beck asked.

Andre jumped up from the keyboard, throwing his hands in the air. “No man, I am not alright.  I’m
freaking out man.  Okay?  Freaking out, I tell ya!”

:Dude, it’s okay.  Talk to me…”

“I can’t.  I just can’t, man.”

“Okay man.  But if you want to talk…”

“I can’t.  I just can’t!  Tori’d kill me.  Then Jade’d kill me even more.”  Andre hit the wall with his
hand, “Oh man!  Tori’s right!  I can’t keep a secret.”

“What secret?”  Andre shook his head and Beck went on, “Is it about Tori?  Jade?”  Andre’s eyes
widened.  Then Beck asked, “Tori and Jade?”

“Oh man…  I am so dead,” Andre moaned.

“Don’t sweat it, man.  It was only a matter of time,” Beck stated.

“Huh?”

“Oh c’mon…  You never saw it?  From the day Tori came to school here, she dominated Jade’s
conversations.  And no one can hate someone they never met before that much for that long
unless there was something else there.”

“So even when you and Jade were a couple, she was in love with Tori?”

“Well, I’m not sure it was love at first.  But I am surprised it took this long.  I actually thought they
were hooking up since that playdate at Nozu.”

Andre perked up, “Yeah, okay.  I’m off the hook!”

“Nope, you did blab…” Beck said with a small grin.

“Oh man, Tori’s gonna kill me.”

~~~

Later, most of the group gathered for lunch on the patio, as usual.  Everyone but Jade and
Robbie.   Robbie was in Las Vegas with Rex, his puppet, at a ventriloquist’s convention.  Jade
waited for Tori outside her class to drag the brunette to the janitor’s closet, unaware that Tori’s
class let out early.

Realizing she was on the far side of the school for no reason, Jade finally strolled out onto the
courtyard, grabbed some food from the lunch truck and headed for the gang’s table. Andre
moved over, creating a space between he and Tori.  “Hey Jade, here’s a spot.”

Jade, who was about to sit across the table next to Cat suddenly saw that space taken as Cat
leaned over towards Beck, blocking her.  “Yeah, Jade.  There’s a space over there by Tori.” The
redhead said with her characteristic giggle.

Jade slammed her tray down and glared at Tori.  “Oh my god!  You couldn’t keep your mouth
shut, could you?  Way to go Vega!  A new personal best!  Half a fucking day!”

Tori held her hands up defensively, “I never told anyone anything.  About anything.”

By this point, Jade had slammed her tray again and started to move away from the table.

Tori stood up and, in an unfamiliar, but powerful, tone, said, “Jade!  Stop!  Sit down!’

Staring at Tori in disbelief, Jade found herself doing just that.  The rest of the group was staring
at the other girl too.

In a more normal tone, Tori said, “It wasn’t me.  Are you sure you didn’t say anything…?”

Jade turned her angry eyes towards Cat who gave out an ‘eep’ and started to crawl under the
table.  Beck grabbed her arm and held the girl up.

Beck spoke up, “Jade, it’s okay.  We figured it out.  Tori didn’t tell us anything.”

“Yeah,” Andre said, not feeling that he was lying to protect his friend.  After all, Tori didn’t really
tell him.  He rationalized this by the fact that that he kinda figured it out himself.  Eventually.
“Just calm down, girl.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down,” Jade snarled as she glared at Andre.

“Please Jade, these are our friends,” Tori said.

With an exaggerated sigh, Jade sat and said, “Okay.”

Beck nodded at his ex and said, “Jade, it’s okay.  You and Tori?  Actually, I think it’s pretty great.
All of us do.  I’m actually kinda surprised you two weren’t involved already.”

“We’re not involved!”

Tori refuted her, saying “Uh, we kinda are…”

Jade glared at her girlfriend but then shrugged and shook her head.

“But, I don’t want everyone to know…” the girl said in a low voice.  Tori put her hand on Jade’s
back as Jade stared at her tray.

“Why not?” Andre asked.

“Yeah, Jade.  Why not?” Cat asked, ducking again when Jade looked at her.  But Jade’s eyes
were soft and a little moist, not angry.

“I have an aunt.  Aunt Michelle.  She’s Dad’s kid sister.  Michelle was only like ten years older
than I was.  After my grandparents died, she lived with us and was like a big…sis-sister to me.”
Jade paused and blinked rapidly several times.

“Oh yeah!  I forgot about her,” Cat said.  “How’s she doing?”

Jade looked down and in a quiet voice, said, “I don’t know.  I haven’t seen her in…years.”

Tori finally spoke up, “Why?”

“It’s complicated.  And something we don’t talk about.”

“Who doesn’t?” Beck asked.

“At home.  We don’t talk about her at home.  She and Dad were really close.  He was closer to
her than to my brother and me.  He took her in and, with Mom’s help, took care of her.  He even
paid for her to go to college.  He…doted on her.

“Now Dad refuses to even acknowledge her existence.  And Mom…well, since then, she’s in
denial - about a lot of things.  See, Aunt Michelle went to college when I was still in grade school.
She came home from college one weekend and told us she was in love with a girl she met in a
class.  That she liked girls.  And…”

The next words were practically spit out by jade, “My father went ballistic.  He refused to believe
that a sister of his could be ‘an immoral, disgusting dyke’.  Those were his exact words.  He
demanded she change – be straight.  Naturally, she couldn’t.  And she wouldn’t...”  Jade took a
deep, shuddering breath that Tori felt.  She began to rub her hand in circles across Jade’s back.
She could feel the tension her girlfriend was under.

“Jade, you don’t have to go on…”

Jade interrupted Tori, “Yes.  I do.  Now that you got me started, I have to finish.

“There was a huge argument.  My brother and I were sent to our rooms but I could hear the
yelling through the door.  Then I heard a slap and more yelling then the door slammed.  I never
saw my aunt again.  And, when I asked about it, Dad said, ‘I don’t have a sister.’  I protested but
he ordered me to my room and…”

“Since then, I’ve been in denial myself.  About myself.  I used boys to prove I wasn’t…that way.”
She turned to Beck, “I’m sorry I used you.”

Quietly, Beck replied, “It’s okay.”

Jade took a deep breath and sat up straight, her eyes still moist but her tone resolute.  “You
know what?  I don’t care what my parents think!  They haven’t been exactly supportive.
Especially dear old Dad.”

As if to prove her point, the raven-haired girl pulled Tori to her and kissed her.  In a low voice
only Tori could hear, she muttered, ‘Fuck you, Dad!’

“Wooo!” Andre whooped.  “That was hot!  Hotter than I…  OW!”  He rubbed his arm where Tori
reached around Jade to punch his bicep.

“Yay!” Cat yelled as she clapped her hands.

Beck sat with a goofy grin on his face.

Sinjin walked by, saying “That’s just the way the dream starts…”

“God, you guys…” Tori said.

“No, it’s okay, Tori,” Jade said, her voice unusually soft.  “Time to come out of the closet, I
guess.”

Cat giggled and everyone looked at her.  “One time, my brother came out of the closet.”

“I didn’t know your brother was gay,” Andre said.

“He’s not.  He’s actually kinda grumpy if he’s not on his meds.”

Tori looked confused, “But you said he came out of the closet…”

“Yeah, he likes hanging out in closets,” Cat said with a big smile.

Beck reached out and patted the faux redhead’s shoulder, “Oh Cat…”

“Hey!” Cat yelled.  “Wait ‘til Robbie and Rex get back.  Rex is gonna be mad that you guys aren’t
into guys,” she giggled.

Beck looked at his friend and said, “Cat, you do realize that Rex is just a puppet.”

“Ssh, Rex doesn’t like that word…” Cat replied in a low voice, looking around carefully.

~~~

Jade was sitting on one of the Vegas’ couches; her love, Tori, leaning back on her.  She had
never thought she’d be this happy or content.  Even if they had to watch “Zoey 101” on
TeenNick.

“I hate this show,” Jade said.

“Oh, it’s not so bad,” Tori countered.

Suddenly, Jade sat up, “Hey, that chick looks like you!”

“Who?”

“The blonde’s roommate.  The one with the long hair.”

“No she doesn’t,” Tori argued.

“Oh, she so does…” Jade responded in a deeper voice.

“She does not…”

The argument went on for several minutes before it petered out.

“That’s really weird…” Jade muttered.

Tori turned those big, beautiful brown eyes towards her, “Huh?”

“Oh.  Nothing.  I… I was just thinking this is weird.”

“What? Us?!? Tori asked, concerned.

“No.  Not us.  Me.”

“You?”

“I’ve been angry for a long time.  And my denial was a big part of that.  But now…  Tori, I never
thought it was possible to feel this.  My parents…  Well, I don’t think I ever knew what true
happiness was.  Beck tried and he was great, but…  I love you.”

“Aah, I love you too, Jade.”

“But don’t expect me to change overnight.  If ever.”

“I kinda like this, Jade.  You being the hard-ass, sarcastic person who has a soft gooey center.”

“I’m not gooey!”  Jade smacked Tori with a pillow.  Tori retaliated and soon they were rolling
back and forth on the couch, smacking each other with throw pillows and laughing.

Then the inevitable kissing started. And went on for a long time.

Finally, flushed and excited, Tori stood up, not too steady on her feet, and went to turn on some
lights.

Jade sat up, looking smug.  “I got to second base!”

“Yeah?  Well, I…  I beat the gorilla!”

“God, you’re weird.”  Jade laughed, “Y’know, we’re a weird group too.  Ever notice?”

“Yep.  Robbie and Rex – makes you wonder who’s hand is up who’s butt…”

“And Cat…” Jade responded.

“You ever notice she’s like Jim Nabors?”

“Huh?”

“You know.  Jim Nabors - Gomer Pyle on ‘The Andy Griffith Show’?  He had that southern
accent…”

“You mean like lil’ ol’ me?” Jade asked in a faux southern accent.

“I don’t talk like that!”  Poking her girlfriend several times, causing Jade to laugh. It was still rare
but the Goth was slowly learning to loosen up with Tori and found she could laugh a little more
easily than before.  And at the appropriate times too.

“Alright, alright,” Jade conceded. “Y’all don’t talk like that now, do ya?”

More pokes and more laughter led to more kisses.  The two lovers enjoyed each other for a long
time until…

“Tori!  Can you keep you lesbian-chic crap out of the living room please?”

Tori jumped, her hand on her chest, as she yelled, “God, Trina!  What the hell are you doing
here?”

“I live here?  Du-huh!?!”

“No, I mean at home.”

Trina shrugged and said, “I didn’t feel like going out with that guy.”

“He stood you up?”

“Nooo, I didn’t like him.”

Jade interjected, “No one likes you!”

“Tori, can you control your freakish girlfriend?”

Jade started to rise but Tori held her back.

“Trina, go!”

“Fine, I’m gone.”  The older Vega trounced up the stairs toward her room.

Jade shook her head, “How is she still alive?”

“Huh?”

‘’If that was my sister, she’d’ve been dead a long time ago…”

Tori smiled, she knew enough about Jade now to begin to know when the girl was overdoing it.
Although, if she was honest with herself, she had the occasional dark thoughts about her sibling.

“She’s just jealous,” Tori said.

“Yeah, cause no one likes her,” Jade said, the last loudly to carry upstairs.

Then, doing a complete one-eighty, Jade said, “So what were you saying about Cat and Jim
Nabors?”

“Well, when he talks he sounds like a hillbilly but when he sings, he sounds…normal.  Well, you
know, like an adult.”

“Okay, so?”

“You never noticed Cat’s singing voice?  She’s deeper and…more normal sounding.”

Jade thought a moment then said, “Hmmm…  Yeah, I guess you’re right.  That’s weird too.
Almost as weird as you looking like some chick on a kid’s cable sitcom.”

“Yeah, well, you’re weird,” Tori declared before she claimed Jade’s lips as her own.

Returning the kiss, Jade smiled, “Ain’t it great?”


END

  (c) John O'Conner

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