Imprisoned Love

Worth It?

Jade's POV:

There! I said it! I told her the f*****g truth coz the guilt was eating up on me.. but she won't even f*****g say a word! She's just standing still, with her eyes widened and her jaw dropped..

"I know you're probably gonna leave me now and I don't blame you. You.. deserve someone so much better than me, Tori. You're beautiful.. inside and out, and I'm sorry.. I never meant to fall for you.. but it's pretty hard not to when you're you.." I say in a defeated tone, leaning against the wall, avoiding her eyes.

She's probably repulsed by me..

We stay in silence for a couple of minutes, until she finally gets out of shock and speaks in a soft tone.

"Jade.." she says, and I still don't look up at her as I stop her from continuing.

I know she's gonna reject me. But I just couldn't continue hiding my feelings anymore.. I had to tell her..

"It's okay Vega. You don't have to say anything back. I just.. needed to tell you.." I sigh, standing up straight and taking out my phone from my back pocket.

I scan through it for a few seconds until I finally see what I'm searching for, before handing the phone to her. She raises a questioning eyebrow at me as she accepts the phone from my hands, and an instant look of surprise reaches her face when she sees what it is..

I'm assuming you can guess what it is..

The screenshot.

Half of my brain is screaming at me to take it back, since it's the only way I can still keep her.. but the other half is.. well proud of me for doing this.

As much as I want to keep blackmailing her to stay with me.. I know I can't force her to love me..

And that's why I'm letting her go.. I can't keep her imprisoned like this for the rest of her life.. she isn't some slave.. or some prisoner..  she's a perfect and beautiful girl who never deserved any of this.. and it sickens me that she had to encounter someone like me in her life.

So that's why I'm giving away the one thing that could prevent her from leaving me.. coz I realised.. that sometimes when you love someone, you have to let them go..

Her eyebrows shoot up, and she looks at me with a completely shocked look on her face, silently asking if this is all real, and I give her a little nod, while looking down.

"Go ahead. Delete it." I tell her, and I close my eyes as I know this is the final time I'm ever gonna be this close to Vega. I guess it was fun while it lasted.. but I never wanted it to last in the first place.

Suddenly, a pair of arms wrap around my shoulder as Tori lunges into me with full force, giving me a tight hug. I try not to let the tears fall, as I hug her back, knowing that this is probably the last hug I'll ever receive from her.

"Thank you Jade.." she mumbles into my neck, and I hold onto her waist for dear life, wishing this moment will never end.

I sure will miss this..

I pull back and look into my favourite sparkling brown eyes as I give her a tiny smile.

"I-I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry for doing this to you Vega. I hurt you so bad and I'll never forgive myself for it.. and I hope that one day, we can hopefully be frien-" I try saying, but she cuts me off.

"I don't wanna be friends with you Jade." She finishes my sentence, and I deflate instantly.

Of course she wouldn't.. she probably doesn't even wanna be near me. She probably wants me to go die in a hole, or get hit by a f*****g bus or-

"I wanna be your girlfriend." She says, and I blink at her, as I come back to reality.

There's no way she said that..

I must've imagined it..

Yup, I'm starting to go insane..

"Will you, Jade West, be my real life girlfriend?" She asks with a huge grin planted on her face and my eyes widen.

OH

MY

CHIZZIN'

GOD!!!!!

IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING!?

I better not be f*****g dreaming right now..

Vega then reattaches her arms around my shoulder, and kisses me hard and passionately.

Yup.. definitely not a dream.

I can't believe this is happening right now!!

It doesn't take me long to snap outta my shock and kiss her back, equalling the same level of lust in the kiss..

My hands find her soft brown locks as she pushes me back against the door with much force, making me smirk a little.

Guess Vega isn't as soft as I thought..

We continue making out, until I realise that as much as I like this new and aggressive Vega.. I much prefer to be the one in control, so I smoothly swap positions so that she's pressed up against the door instead, never parting from her lips the whole time..

Vega lifts her leg so that I can clutch onto it with my hand, and I step closer so that I'm in-between her legs, as we continue kissing, until we finally pull away because of the need for air..

I look into her eyes, which are currently filled with lust and pure happiness, and I'm sure mines reflect the exact same emotions.

"Wow." is all I say, as we both pant, gasping for air after that intense make out session.

I'm still in shock..

Vega likes me too!!!

Aggghhhh! I'm so f*****g happy right now!!!

"I know right." She giggles, and I'm pretty sure it's impossible to restrain my gigantic smile on my face..

"This is real, right?" I ask, as I link my fingers into her hand.

She looks down at our entwined hands with a shy smile, before squeezing it gently and looking back up at me..

"Yup" she nods.

"So just to be clear.. you totally weren't really upset when you spotted Beck and I talking?" I tease, and she rolls her eyes playfully.

"Obviously I was. I thought my crush was flirting with her ex!" She defends, while lightly punching me on my arm, making me chuckle at her.

"Well look on the bright side. Your crush is now your girlfriend.." I say with a smirk, leaning in again to place a small, soft kiss to her lips.

"And I couldn't ask for better.." she says, after pulling back, as she looks lovingly into my eyes.

What did I ever do to deserve someone this amazing..

"How could you like someone like me.. I've done so much s**t to you.. blackmail you, threaten you, hurt you.." I say sadly, as I lift her arm and stare at the faded bruise on her arm, thinking about how painful it must've been..

"Why would you still wanna stay with me?" I ask, and she cups both my cheeks, giving me an incredibly genuine look..

"Jade, when I look at you, none of that ever crosses my mind.." she starts, and I raise a pierced eyebrow at her so she continues.

"When I see you, I see a sweet and genuine girl who brought me rocky road just coz I was upset.. I see a protective and caring girl who beat the crap outta a guy who laid his hands on me.. I see the real you, Jade. And that's more than enough reasons for me to be with you.." she says, and I melt at her words.

"Thank you Tori.. for everything" I say with tears in my eyes, and she gives me a small nod.

I really wanna tell her that I love her in this moment.. but I don't wanna rush her into anything. Besides, it might be a little too soon..

"We should probably get back to the others, before they start wondering where we are" I say, squeezing her hand a little, and she sighs as she nods.

"Oh here's your phone back." She says, taking my phone out of her back pocket, and I thank her as I open it.

However, my eyebrows furrow when I see that she never deleted the screenshot. She must've noticed my confusion, so she spoke up before I could even question her.

"Take it as a sign that I trust you.." she says before pecking my cheek, when she notices my confused face, and I raise my eyebrows at her.

Wow.

"C'mon let's go." She says, dragging me out the door, and I smile when I look at our joined hands.

Things are finally not complicated anymore.. and boy does it feel great to not feel so f*****g confused all the f*****g time..

Lunch goes by smoothly and the whole time I can't hide the huge smile on my face. And every time I look over at Vega, I can see that she feels the same way too..

There's only a few minutes of lunch left since I spent most of the time in the janitor's closet with Tori, so we quickly finish up our lunches and get up once we're finished.

I'm about to walk to my class but I'm quickly spun around by my waist until I'm merely inches away from my girlfriend.

Ah it feels so great to actually mean it when I say it..

"See ya later babe." She says, as she pecks my lips, and I smile widely.

And it feels soooo much better for her to peck me goodbye when we're really dating..

I whisper a small 'bye' and she simply smirks before walking away, leaving me to stand here like a love struck teenager..

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Once school's finished, I smirk as I sneak up behind my girlfriend who is currently taking her books out of her locker.

I wrap my arms around her stomach, and press my front up against her back, placing a soft kiss to her neck, causing her to shiver a little.

"Hey" I mumble into the side of her neck, and she giggles as she leans into the embrace.

"You know, I still can't believe that this is all real.." she says, closing her eyes as I trail her neck with soft kisses.

"Tell me about it.." I say, nipping her pulse point slightly, and her breath hitches..

"Jade.. we're in school.." she says, supressing a moan, and I smirk.

"So?"

"So.. we should stop before I get all hot and bothered.." she finishes, jerking her head back a little, and biting her bottom lip..

I roll my eyes, but stop anyways and let go of her, to stand next her.

Although, I'd love to see how a hot and bothered Vega would look like..

"Hey, Tyler misses you by the way." I say, and she grins.

"Aw I miss him too. We should all go out to the park or something one day." She says as she shuts her locker and puts a final book in her bag.

"I'd much rather spend some alone time with you Vega, not with the little pre-turd tagging along" I groan, and she gives me one of her disappointed looks.

Great. The look that makes me feel like a piece of absolute shit..

"Ugghhh, fineeee. One day, the three of us can do something nice. Happy?" I ask in an exasperated tone, and she smirks as she nods her head.

I roll my eyes, and she takes my hand in hers, before we walk out of the school together.

When we get to our cars, I stop and face her.

"Bye Tori." I whisper, before cupping her cheek and planting a firm kiss to her beautiful high cheekbones.

"Bye babe. See ya tomorrow." She says, and we get into our cars, giving a small wave before driving off.

Today sure was one heck of a day.. but I wouldn't change any of it.. coz for the first time ever.. I feel like it was all worth it..

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Jade's POV:

(Fast forward a week)

The past week has been pretty hectic to say the least. Teachers just don't seem to give us a f*****g break with all the projects and assignments and s**t. And I've barely had time to do anything else but homework when I get home from school lately..

At least it's Friday and I can have some relaxation time when I get home. I'm not gonna pick up a single text book all weekend, and I'm just hoping for some peace and quiet.

I sigh as I shut my locker, and go straight to my car. Usually, I'd walk out with Vega, but she's sick and she didn't come in today..

She texted me to tell me of course. Or else I would've bombarded her phone with messages as to why she wasn't in..

Things between Tori and I are going.. well okay I guess. I mean, don't get me wrong, she's amazing and I'm so glad that we're together.. but.. I dunno, I guess I just wish we could spend a bit more time together. As I said, the week's been so busy that we barely got to see each other. And to make matters worse, Vega got the lead role for some play that she auditioned for, and that means she usually has to skip lunch for rehearsal, meaning I can't even talk to her then..

But trust me, I'm incredibly proud of her for getting the role, and I'm so excited to see the play on opening night.. but I just wish we could hang out more ever since we became actual girlfriends..

Crystal told me this morning that I have to pick up the pre-turd, so I go straight to his school after getting in the car.

Surprisingly enough, things between Tyler and I have actually gotten better too. It's like Vega's the glue that's keeping us together, and I honestly don't mind the little nub anymore..

"Jade" he stiffly greets, as he enters my car, and I simply nod in return.

Hey, it's a hell of a lot better than our relationship before..

"How was.. school" I forcefully say through gritted teeth, trying to act somewhat nice to him. Vega was telling me about how she would love it if the three of us could go out somewhere, without Tyler and I constantly bickering, so I might as well start being civil towards him now.. for her sake.

"Eh same old." He says uninterestedly, looking down at his phone.

I continue driving in silence, until I decide I should probably attempt to start a conversation again.. and as of right now I can only think of one thing that Tyler and I share an interest in..

"How would you like to hang out with Tori and I one day?" I propose, and his head instantly shoots up to look at me as he gets excited all of a sudden. I smirk, and focus on the road.

"Really? When?" He asks with a grin, and I simply shrug my shoulders, coz truth is I don't even know when.. but all I know is that it would make Vega really happy to see the both of us being nice to each other.

The rest of the car ride is in silence, and I pull up into our driveway, opening the front door to let the squirt and myself, in.

I go straight to my room ane kick off mu combat boots as I plop onto my bed with a loud sigh.

It feels great to finally not worry about school for a while..

I wonder how Tori's doing actually. She didn't say much this morning except for a simple "Morning babe. Am sick so won't be coming in today. Have a nice day x"

There's a lotta unusual things about that text. Like for instance, she never sends texts that short in the first place, and she usual sends at least 5 "x's" after every message. And I even tried to call her afterwards, but after many rings, she still wouldn't pick up, so I assumed she fell asleep. What's even weirder is that she didn't call back or even reply with a short text afterwards..

I decide to try and reach her again, hoping she's online, so I grab my phone.

Me: Hey babe. Hope you're feeling better xoxo

I wait for a reply but I still don't get one. I decide I should just give her some time to see the message, so I take a quick shower to kill some time.

By the time I return from my shower, I hear laughter and cheering coming from the background, so I'm assuming Crystal's back and she's playing football with Tyler.

I quickly go to check my phone, and frown when I see that Vega still hasn't even opened the text.

I wait it out for a couple more minutes, and I sigh when I realise that she isn't going to respond any time now, so I head downstairs, hoping to distract my mind.

Exactly at that moment, Tyler and Crystal walk, in out of breath from playing outside.

"Hi sweetie" Crystal greets me as she goes to grab a bottle of water from the fridge.

I don't bother saying anything back, and go straight to the couch, plopping myself down as I grab the TV remote.

I groan as I spend almost half an hour trying to search for something decent that's on, but nope. It's all just those way too predictable cheesy movies, and those agonizing soap operas. Things that Vega's really into..

Wow, I just can't seem to get her outta my mind nowadays.

Speaking of Tori.. I wonder if she's getting some rest. If there's one thing I know about my girlfriend, it's that she's extremely dedicated towards her schooling and she gets perfect grades all the time, no matter what.. and I just hope that she's not overdoing it. She is sick after all, and I hope she has at least one family member at home who'll care for her.

But at the same time, I also remember when Vega once told me that her family's barely ever home, ever since she turned 16, and she's used to staying in the house alone. But she shouldn't be all alone when she's sick. I mean, what if she needs something but shouldn't get outta bed? What if she needs an extra blanket because she's cold? What if she gets bored and needs someone to keep her company??

She's probably asleep Jade. Stop worrying so much.

I shrug and go back to searching for a decent channel on the TV guide, but my mind can't help but to keep replaying unrealistic situations that'll never happen in Vega's household.

Ughh. Just call her!

But what if she's asleep? I don't wanna wake her up..

How about a text? Then again, if she's asleep, she probably won't hear it since Vega can be a pretty deep sleeper at times..

You know what? I'mma just text her..

I grab my phone from the arm rest of the couch, and shoot Vega a simple yet concern-filled text.

Me: Hey, you okay? Xx

I make sure to take my phone off silent before placing it back on the arm rest, since I don't wanna miss her reply.

I wait about an hour, until I realise that she isn't online.. which is probably completely normal if she's asleep, but obviously the nagging side of my brain won't let me do anything, without worrying about her..

Okay f**k it! I'm gonna go check up on her..

But what if she's really asleep, and I'll be waking her up.. Besides, it's a little weird to just show up at somebody's house without a heads up or anything..

Whatever, she's my girlfriend. And girlfriends can visit each other whenever they want, right?

I continue having an internal battle in my own head, but I don't even realise that as I'm thinking it all through, I had mindlessly been putting on my boots and grabbing my keys..

Oh well, guess I might as well go..

The drive to Vega's doesn't take long, and before I know it, I'm standing on her porch, in front of her door.

Maybe I should just turn around. She certainly shouldn't be getting out of bed when she's sick..

Maybe she's not as sick as I originally thought, and is just tired. Maybe I'm just exaggerating the whole thing..

Okay f**k this shit.. I'mma just do it.

I lift a nervous hand to the door, and firmly knock a few times, before waiting.

If she doesn't answer the door, then it's proof that I'm overreacting and that she's asleep.

However, not even a few seconds later, the door opens, and I get ready to smile at my girlfriend, but instead I'm met with someone else.

"Jade?"

"Ryan?"

What the f**k is he doing here!?

And why is he here??

With MY girlfriend!!!

Calm down Jade. He probably just swung by to visit..

I take a deep breath and walk past him to the living room, ignoring him when he asks why I'm here.

Obviously I'm here to see my girlfriend. Why else would I f*****g be here?

"Jade.." he sighs, and I raise a pierced eyebrow at him. "Tori told me that she doesn't want to see anyone right now.." he explains quietly, and I'm trying really f*****g hard to keep my anger under control.

I know it's not Tori's fault that she's sick.. but inviting Ryan and not me!? I'm her f*****g girlfriend for f**k's sake!

"I don't care. I'm her girlfriend." I deadpan, and make to go upstairs, but he steps in front of me, blocking my path.

"Can't you just listen to her for once and give her some space?" He asks in an annoyed tone, and I have to resist the urge of punching him right now, for standing in the way, preventing me from checking to see if my f*****g girlfriend is okay!

"What part of 'she's my girlfriend' do you not get?" I ask, matching his tone.

"What part of 'she doesn't wanna see anyone' do you not get?" He snaps back, and I give him one hell of a glare to show just how pissed off I am.

"Get the f**k out of my way!" I yell, trying to push past him, but he continues blocking the stairs.

"Just go home!" He shouts back, and I swear I gotta keep mentally chanting to myself that he's my girlfriend's best friend, and that I can't hurt him unless I want an angry Vega.

"Don't tell me what to do!"

I continue shoving him, but he's pretty strong so he doesn't budge, and I swear I'm gonna literally scream for Vega to come down right now so that I can move past this wazzbag.

"Why the f**k are you even here if she doesn't 'wanna see anyone'?" I shoot at him, and he shrugs.

"Coz she's my best friend." He answers uninterestedly with a shrug, and I fume inside.

"Well I'm her f*****g girlfriend!!" I scream, and he rolls his eyes at me.

I swear to f*****g God, if he doesn't move soon..

"Jade?" We suddenly hear, and we turn our heads to see Tori standing at the top of the staircase, staring down at us with a sort of amused face.

Does she seriously find this f*****g amusing?

"Vega! Why won't you f*****g pick up your phone?" I shout up at her, and she frowns. I finally push past Ryan, and walk straight up to her, a tiny bit pissed that she doesn't want me around, but only wants Ryan..

"Uh, Jade, I was sleeping" she deadpans, and I only now realise how terrible she looks right now..

Not like unattractive terrible.. hell no.. more like, she looks exhausted and sleep-deprived. She has her hair tied up in a messy bun, with a few strands of hair sticking out, and her nose is really red. She's even a lot paler than usual, which outlines the dark circles under her eyes. But even after all that, I still can't help but to smile at how adorable and pretty she looks right now in her cute little onesie..

"I know. I look terrible and repulsive.." she says, looking down at her feet, and I lift her chin up, offering her a small smile which she doesn't return.

"Baby, you look absolutely beautiful." I tell her sincerely, but she scoffs and pushes away my hand, making me frown.

"No I don't. I look like crap, and my nose is runny and my eyes are bloodshot and-"

"You still look absolutely stunning Vega." I say, cupping her cheeks and I stare deeply into her eyes.

"Why are you here Jade?" She sighs, and I have to hide the hurt that I feel as soon as she says it..

She doesn't want me around?

"Why don't you want me to be with you? Why didn't you call me or text me? How come he's here?" I ask frustratedly, pointing down at Ryan without looking back at him, keeping my eyes fixed on hers..

She sighs, and rubs the back of her neck with her hand.

I cross my arms over my chest, and impatiently tap my foot, waiting for an answer.

"I didn't want you to see me like this. I look gross and ugly.. and I didn't want you to lose interest in me.." she mumbles sadly, and I immediately unfold my arms, as I hold both her shoulders, dropping my head a little so that she looks at me instead of the floor.

"Oh baby.." I say softly, and cup her cheeks. "I would never, in a million years, lose interest in you, especially over something like this, Tori. It's not your fault that your sick, and you still look amazing despite how ugly you think you look.." I say genuinely, and she gives me a small smile, to which I return.

"And besides, you're my girlfriend, and I'm not gonna like you any less just because of some flu.. it only makes me wanna take care of you more, and tuck you in at night with a kiss.." I say, and she nods her head a little.

"I'm sorry babe. I'm still new to the whole girlfriends things. I thought that ignoring you, would be better than letting you see me like this.." she admits.

"It's okay sweetheart. I am too, but you don't have to worried about that, kay? You can always just talk to me, and from now on, I'm gonna always come around to check up on you whenever you're sick. Got it?"

She nods her head, before pulling me into a small hug.

"Thanks Jade." She says, and I smile as I pat her back.

"Now c'mon. Let's go get you to bed." I say, and she nods as she walks towards her room, me following close behind.

I lay her down on her bed, and sit down next to her as I tuck her in..

"Jade?" She sleepily calls, and I smile at how adorable she is right now.

"Mhm?"

"Remind me that I have to tell you something once I wake up from my nap, coz I'm too *yawn* sleepy to say it now.." she says, and I raise an eyebrow but nod nonetheless.

"I'll be right here when you wake up, kay?" I say, and she nods as she closes her eyes and sleeps close beside me. I stroke her hair for a while, until I can finally hear some light snores, signalling that she's fast asleep..