Imprisoned Love

The Truth Reveals

Jade's POV:

Ugh. I'm trying so f*****g hard to keep my anger and jealousy under control, but it's f*****g impossible to do so when I see my girlfriend cozy up to her 'best friend'. And the fact that he's drop dead gorgeous doesn't help make me feel any better. He even f*****g picked up Vega and spun her around as soon as he saw her. I really wanted to kick his balls then and there, but I know Vega would probably kill me. For once, I'm actually glad Tyler interrupted their moment, so that I don't have to watch Ryan eye-f**k my girlfriend in the parking lot anymore.

I'm about to grab Vega's hand, but instead, she runs up to Ryan's side and links arms with him! A bit of hurt flashes across my face, but I quickly fix it into a scowl. We walk for a while, and decide to settle down near a sign on the beach. There's not many people around us, but there's still a few people within our sight.

"So.. how was Cali? How's Anthony and Holly? Oh my God, how's Em? You two are still together, right?" Vega asks, in a rush, not giving the poor guy any time to answer her questions.

"Everything's good Tor. My parents really miss you, and so does Em. You should come by our house some time, so we can have dinner again. Just like old times" Ryan flashes her a big grin, and I scoff. Vega glares at me but then goes back to smiling at Ryan.

Why the f**k did I agree to this in the first place?

"So, when did you break up with Daniel? He was a pretty cool guy" Ryan asks.

"When I moved to Hollywood Arts. It's such a great school by the way. Everyone's so talented, and I made awesome friends.. and I met my awesome girlfriend there" she smiles at me, but I'm not in the mood to smile back at her.

"So.. Jade. How long have you and Tori been going out?" he asks me, trying to spark up a conversation with me, and I roll my eyes at him.

"About a week" I mutter, not looking at him.

"Ah.. so what'd you like most about Tori?" He asks, and I raise my eyebrows at him. He sounds almost suspicious, like he knows that we're faking.

How could he possibly know.. unless.. Vega!

"Jade?" he asks, and I snap outta my thoughts of killing Vega afterwards.

"Umm.."

Shoot. What do I like most about Tori? She's annoying as f**k and acts like a goody two-shoes all the time. I guess she's good at singing and acting. But that's not what I like most about her..

Ryan eyes me suspiciously so I quickly answer him. "Her smile" I blurt. It's not exactly a lie. I really do like Vega's smile. She even makes me smile most of the time, which is pretty hard to do.

"Hmm.. okay" Ryan says, and I start to get anxious. He sounds like he's some f*****g detective or something.

"Tyler! Don't go too deep!" Vega yells all of a sudden, and I see what she's referring to. The pre-turd's in the water, splashing around, having fun. Vega really did connect with that kid. I'm about to comment on it, but f*****g Ryan beat me to it.

"You were always so great with kids Tor" he softly says, making her blush.

Hell no! She shouldn't be blushing at him. I should be the only one that makes her feel like that!

I grunt at them, and they turn around to face me. Vega scoots over to sit beside me on my towel, and she puts her hand on my inner thigh, giving it a slight squeeze.

Fuck. Her hand feels good there.

Vega and Ryan talk some more, and laugh about their childhood memories.. but I can't be focused on that too much right now. All I can think about, is the fact that Vega still has her hand on my thigh, and she's mindlessly rubbing circles on it, getting dangerously close to my duey.

"You okay, babe?" Vega suddenly asks, as she looks into my flustered eyes.

"Y-yeah" I squeak, and she goes back to her conversation with Ryan. He honestly doesn't seem that bad. I mean, I feel like stabbing him with my scissors every time he tries to get close to Vega, but overall, he's a pretty chill guy.

"Hey, what's this?" Ryan suddenly asks, and points to Vega's shoulder. He lifts his hand, and removes her hair from her left shoulder, to reveal the faded scar. His fingers brush up against the scar, and Vega looks really anxious right now.

Chiz.

"Umm, I.. fell" she says, and I nearly laugh at her poor excuse.

This is your fault Jade. Help her get outta this one.

Ryan obviously doesn't buy it for a second, and he starts to get even more concerned.

"Tori.. Did you.. do this to yourself?" he asks, in disbelief. Vega just looks at him confused for a few moments, but then the realisation hits in.

"What? No" she quickly covers up, and tries to hide the scar from him and change the subject. I start to feel really guilty about it again, and I hate that she has this effect on me. Jade West does not feel guilty for hurting anyone.. especially Vega.

Then why does my gut hurt so bad right now?

Suddenly, Ryan's eyes fill with anger as he gets up, and glares me down.

"You! Did you f*****g do this!?" he growls at me, and Vega quickly tries to get to her feet and restrain Ryan from hurting me. I look down, ashamed.

There's that feeling of guilt again.

"Ry, stop! Calm down!" Vega panics, as she clutches onto his arm, pulling him back.

"Calm down!? That b***h f*****g hurt you!! And you didn't even tell me!?" he shouts, and I start to feel really anxious. This is all my fault. I f*****g hurt Vega, and now her best friend is probably gonna use me as his personal punching bag.

"I'm sorry Ryan.. just please.. don't hurt her.." Vega says, and then she breaks down. Tears roll down her face, and I know for a fact that they can't be fake. Yes, Vega's a good actress.. but those tears.. they're real. She's really concerned for my safety.

Ryan still looks mad but he doesn't look at me anymore as his attention is fully focused on a crying Vega right now. He pulls her in for a tight hug, and he wraps his big arms around my girlfriend. She clings onto him tight, and cries into his chest, as she mutters, "Please don't hurt her. I really like her Ryan."

Damn. That is some great acting right there.

I watch them hug each other for a while longer, and then Ryan finally pulls away when Vega stops crying. He then gives her a small smile and a reassuring nod, to which she reciprocates. He then starts walking towards me, and I gulp.

"Talk" is all he says, and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. He isn't calm, but he's not as mad as he was before.

"Look, I know you really hate my guts right now.." I start, and he scoffs. "But, I swear, I really do care about Ve-Tori.."

"Oh, so that's why you f*****g hurt her?" he interrupts, and I can't take it anymore.

"I'm messed up, okay!" I shout, and both Vega and Ryan jump a little, shocked at my sudden loud tone. "I'm so f****d up, that I hurt the people that care about me, instead of letting them get close to me.. Trust isn't something that comes easy to me.. I get jealous super easily, and seeing you two.. seeing someone like you be nice to Tori and care about her, and treat her right.. it frightens me, okay!" I yell, and they look surprised at my confession.

I can't believe I just said all of that.

Vega suddenly runs up to me and wraps her arms around my shoulders. I grab her waist by instinct, and pull her close.

"Aww Jade" she mutters into my neck. I pull back and look into her worry-filled eyes.

"It's just.. I'm scared that someday.. you'll find someone better than me. Someone who makes you feel happy and safe. Someone who would never hurt you.. Honestly Tori, you deserve someone like that" I tell her in a weak voice. She looks as if she's about to cry right now. Hopefully it's happy tears, or else I'm dead meat.

Vega slightly smiles, and cups my cheek. "Jade, you might not be perfect, but that's what I like most about you. I like how you're never afraid to speak your mind. You act all tough and dark, but as I get closer to you, I see your softer side. And I love that side of you Jade. I wouldn't leave you for anyone" she sincerely says, and I almost believe her words. I want to believe her words, but I can't afford to get my heart broken again.

Instead, I smile at her, and I'm about to lean in to kiss her, until we're interrupted by Ryan clearing his f*****g throat to grab our attention.

"Ryan, we promised each other when we were little that we'd never take away anything that makes either of us happy. Remember?" Vega asks, and he slowly nods, confused. "Well.. Jade makes me happy. And I really need you two to get along.. for my sake. I don't wanna have to ever choose between my best friend ad my girlfriend, so please.. will you two do this for me?" she asks us both, with those cute puppy-dog eyes of hers. I roll my eyes at first, but then I realise that it's the least I could do for her.

Damn those eyes.

I walk towards Ryan, and extend my hand for him to shake, and he does. No words are exchanged, but it's a silent agreement that we'd try to act civil around each other. Vega smiles brightly, and pulls us both into another hug, wrapping an arm around both of us. She kisses him on the cheek, and she kisses my lips.

"So.. wanna get in the water then?" Ryan proposes, and both Vega and I nod our heads. We both remove our t-shirts and shorts, to reveal our bikinis, and Ryan wolf whistles as he sees us. Vega playfully smacks his arm, before running towards me and jumps on my back. She's super light, which isn't that surprising honestly, and I give her a piggy back ride to the ocean. A smirk comes to my face and I drop her into the freezing cold water, and she screams. Ryan starts pissing himself ad he gives me a high-five, saying '"good one".

"I'm already starting to regret making you two promise to get along" Vega jokes, as she fakes being mad at me ,but she's terrible at it as I can spot her smile from a mile away. Ryan and I laugh at her, and soon we're all splashing around in the water. We even play with Tyler for a bit, until it starts to get dark, and we get tired.

"Surprisingly.. I had fun today Ryan" I tell him, as we're drying off at our bags. He smiles widely, and it reminds me a lot of Vega's smile.

"Me too" He says happily, and I smile back at him before throwing on my t-shirt. As I turn around, I see Vega flashing me a proud look and I roll my eyes at her, smile still in place. We grab our bags and walk towards the parking lot, and bid each other goodbye. Vega hugs him very quickly, and my smile disappears for a second, but then I remember that there's no need for me to be jealous in the first place.

Vega's not really my girlfriend. This is all just fake. She doesn't really care about me, she's just good at acting, that's all.

We hop in the car and drive off, the car ride being in a comfortable silence as we're all exhausted from today. And to be honest, today wasn't entirely that bad. It surely could've gone a hell of a lot worse, but.. I'm kinda glad with the way things turned out. But I can't help but to think about how much my feelings towards Vega have changed..

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Tori's POV:

I fall backwards onto Jade's bed, with a sigh of pure relief. Today was.. adventurous to say the least. I'm just glad that Ryan didn't hurt Jade, coz I know how he feels about people hurting me. I smile at the thought of my protective best friend, and my possessive girlfriend getting along with each other. Honestly, I felt so bad when Jade told me that she's scared I'd leave her. She looked so broken and upset, and all I wanted to do was comfort her until she smiled again. I've never really seen Jade like that before, so I was pretty surprised at first. I just really want her to believe me when I say I won't leave her.. until she breaks up with me. But, I do find it kinda odd that Jade feels all of those emotions towards me.. this is all fake, right?

"You look happy" Jade says, walking into the room, and she lies down beside me after kicking her boots off. I nod, and turn to face her, and she does the same.

"Thanks, for getting along with Ryan. It means a lot to me." I tell her, and she gives me a small smile.

"It's the least I could do for hurting you like that Tori. I really am sorry." she sadly says, not looking into my eyes anymore.

"You called me Tori" I smile at her, a bit shocked that she didn't call me by my last name. She dips her eyebrows with a humorous look.

"That's all you got out of my apology?" she says with a smirk, and I giggle. I nod my head, and bite my lip when I see her glance down at my lips, briefly. "We should go downstairs for dinner" Jade quickly says, getting nervous all of a sudden as she tries to scamper away from me.

"Okay" I mumble, and I get changed in the bathroom real quick, before following her down. I try to link my fingers with hers as we go down, but she doesn't do the same.

Was it something I said?

"Hey girls. Where'd you all go?" Crystal suddenly says from the kitchen, scaring me a little.

"The beach" Jade mutters, and I'm really starting to get worried if I did something wrong.

She was all cheery and happy at the beach. What happened all of a sudden?

"Kay, well take a seat. Dinner will be ready soon." Crystal says happily, and I give her a small smile, before sitting down. Jade doesn't sit beside me this time, instead she walks around the table, and sits far away from me. I furrow my eyebrows, and try to grab her attention, but she doesn't even look at me.

Tyler walks down after a while, and he runs up to sit beside me. He tells me a story about how he scored an incredible goal, that made his team win. I love his enthusiasm, and I politely thank Crystal when she hands me a plate full of spaghetti Bolognese.

This looks soooo good. I'm starved.

I dig into my food, chuckling every now and then whenever Crystal or Tyler say something funny, but I can't help but to notice how quiet Jade is. She's sitting beside Crystal, and she won't even look up from her plate. I need to get her to notice me.. to talk to me.

"Babe, can you pass me the water?" I ask her tentatively. Everyone goes quiet, waiting for her to just pass me the stupid jug. But she doesn't look up from her plate. That's when I realise that she's barely eaten anything. She's just pushing around her food with her fork. And that is really unusual of Jade to be doing.

"Jade?" Crystal softly places her hand on Jade's shoulder, and Jade quickly becomes alert. She must've been in deep thought if she wasn't eating, or listening to any of us. "Are you okay, sweetie?" Crystal asks, and Jade weakly nods her head. She turns her head, and her beautiful eyes briefly stare at mine, but before I can say anything to her, she practically runs out of the dining room, without even excusing herself.. She had that look on her face.. the same one she had at the beach when she told me that she was scared of me leaving her. The look that's filled with concern, hurt and heartbreak.

But I told her I wouldn't leave her?

"Umm, I should go check on her.." I politely say, and Crystal nods her head, looking a bit worried.

"Come back down if she starts yelling Tori. She could be in one of those moods, and Jade can't control her anger well.." Crystal says, and I nod with a small smile, before making my way upstairs to Jade's room.

I lightly knock on the door, but she doesn't respond so I hesitantly walk inside, feeling a bit anxious.

Please don't be mad. Please don't be mad..

"Jade? Baby?" I call for her, but she isn't in the room. I then spot her outside on her balcony, looking out at the houses and fields. I slowly walk up to her, scared at how she'll react. She still doesn't say anything or even turn around, so I stop when I'm right beside her. I look at her face as she blankly stares in front of her, refusing to meet my eyes. After a few moments of staring, I realise she's not gonna talk first so I decide to try again.

"What did I do, Jade? Why do you look so lost right now?" I whisper, and she takes a deep breath. She turns her head, and finally looks at me, and I study her face carefully. She looks.. confused. Her eyes portray a bunch of different emotions, and she looks as if she's having an emotional war inside her head.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Tori" she sighs, and I'm glad that she isn't mad at me, but I'm still really confused on what she's thinking about as she goes back to staring at the fields.

"Is it because of Ryan?" I ask her, and she shakes her head, still not looking at me.

"Is my acting not believable enough?" She shakes her head again, closing her eyes.

"Is it about Beck?" I sadly ask, and she doesn't respond this time. I completely forgot about Beck, and our whole plan. I guess I was just really enjoying spending time with Jade, so much so that I forgot that we were faking it, for a second. It just feels so real at times.

"Vega.. c-can I just have some space for a few minutes" she asks softly, and she turns around to look at me. Ugh, it's so hard to know what she's thinking about, but whatever it is, it's taking away her happiness.. and her rare beautiful smile. I wish I could just do something to help, but she probably doesn't want me around anymore. After all, it is Jade West. The girl that's hated me since I stepped my foot into Hollywood Arts.

"Please?" she whispers, and I know I need to let her think about this one on her own. Whatever it is.. I know it's making her super confused and so lost. I sadly nod my head, and lean in to peck her lips, but she turns around so that it lands on her cheek instead. I look down sadly, and walk out of the room.

Jade's never said no to a kiss. She must really hate me right now. She probably thinks I'm repulsive and annoying. She probably can't wait to break up with me, and go back to Beck. I was stupid to ever think that she actually liked me for a second. I'm still the same old annoying Tori Vega that she hates..

I quietly close the door, and walk downstairs. Crystal and Tyler are watching something on TV, and they turn their heads when they hear me come down. I've got a sort of sad look on my face and Crystal gives me a small apologetic smile, and I return it. Tyler makes room on the couch for me to sit, and I pat his head as I sit beside him. We watch TV for about an hour, but I barely pay any attention to it.

Since when did I care about Jade so much? It feels like only yesterday when she was blackmailing me to date her to make Beck jealous. She hurt me and she's just using me to get Beck back. And now that I think about it.. I feel awful about the fact that she'll leave me for him. Ugh whyyyy? I don't even like Jade like that.. right? I just wanted her to like me as a friend, and not torment me everyday in school anymore. But why do I feel so attached to her already? I've only been 'dating' her for about a week.

You're so weak Tori.

Ughh. I'm so confused. Jade's probably up there thinking about how much she hates me, and here I am thinking about how much I'll miss us when she goes back to Beck. How did things escalate so quickly?

I 'watch' TV for about an hour, but my thoughts are interrupted when I hear Jade slamming her door from upstairs, as she stomps her way downstairs. I only realise now how dark it's gotten outside. I sit up straight, and turn around to face her, but she doesn't look at me.

Obviously. I should've expected that.

"I'm going out." Jade simply says, and Crystal's about to protest but Jade shuts the front door before she can say a word. Crystal simply shrugs before turning the TV off and telling Tyler to go to bed. Tyler begrudgingly agrees and bids me goodnight before walking off.

"Don't mind her honey. She can be like that sometimes." Crystal sympathetically tells me, and goes to switch the living room lights back on. She sits down opposite me, so that we're facing each other on the couch.

I sense a heart-to-heart right now.

"I apologise if she yelled at you" Crystal says sadly, and I shake my head with a small smile.

"She didn't yell at me. She just told me that she needed some space." I calmly tell her, but I still feel really upset that she doesn't want me around her.

"She didn't shout at you?" Crystal raises her eyebrows, looking very shocked.

"No, she was quite calm actually. She was just staring out at the view from her balcony, and quietly asked for some time alone" I tell her, and her eyes literally start to lighten up.

"So.. she stormed out of the dining room, and when you went to ask her about it.. she didn't even shout at you?" Crystal asks disbelievingly.

I nod my head, and her smile grows wider.

"You really are incredible, you know?" she says, and I look at her confused.

Huh?

"I've never seen her be so calm and collected in my entire life.. and she usually screams at anyone who tries to get close with her. Jade's not exactly someone who let's people in so easily, and she's built strong walls around her heart. Anybody who tries to get to know her better.. she simply shuts them out or scares them away.. but, I've never seen her be like that with you Tori" Crystal confesses, and I start to feel a tiny bit happier.

Maybe Jade does like me. I hope.

"She's never acted so calm like that with anyone before Tori. Not Beck, not any of her friends.. not even me! So I owe you a huge thanks. My baby girl is learning to love and trust again because of you. It might be a slow process, but I know you'll stick by her side throughout the whole journey. I have faith in you Tori." Crystal says, with a smile, and I grin back at her. But it disappears when I think about how I won't be with her for that much longer. And then I start to feel pretty guilty. Jade's gonna leave me, and I won't be the one she trusts. It'll be Beck..

Chiz. I just had to get super close with Jade's family. Damn it.

I don't say anything back to her, mostly because I don't trust my voice right now. So instead, I smile and nod at her.

"It's getting late so I'll let you sleep. I'm sure Jade will be home soon. She usually goes out whenever she needs to do some deep thinking. Good night, sweetheart." Crystal says as she gets up to turn off the lights, and I nod and say good night. I walk upstairs and all I can think about is the talk I had with Jade's mom. I can't believe she's never acted so calm like that before. Does that mean anything? Does she care about my feelings enough not to hurt me again? Will she talk to me when she comes back from wherever she is right now? Where even is she? It's dark outside, and I hope she's okay.

Questions race through my mind, as I lie down on the bed. I stare up at the ceiling, and start to get a bit worried knowing that she's out all alone, at 11pm.

Maybe I should text her. I doubt she'll reply since she never does. But it's worth a shot I guess.

I get up and grab my phone from the desk, and shoot her a short text asking her if she's okay. I wait a few minutes, and sigh when I realise that she's not gonna answer, so I go back under the covers. I try to keep my eyes open so that I'm awake when she returns, but I find myself slowly drifting off as my body relaxes into Jade's very comfy bed. The last thing I remember before sleeping, is Crystal's words.

Jade's learning to love and trust again.. because of me. But when she does, she'll just go back to Beck.. and I don't want that to happen.. Holy chiz! I think I'm falling for Jade West!