Postgrad Partners

Interlude in Dreams

Not long after Nora took Tara back with her to the hotel, a quick knock on the front door shook Jade out of her daze while she was washing the dishes. After drying her hands, she quickly made for the door and opened it promptly; revealing Tara looking nervous as she smoothed her hair back.

"Hey!" Tara half-waved, looking past Jade for a moment, "I'm so sorry! I forgot my music player in the bathroom! Do you think I could...?"

"Oh, shoot! I can't believe I didn't check..." Jade bit her lip and looked back to the bathroom door, hearing the shower still running, "But Tori's in there taking a shower right now..."

"I-It's okay! I can wait..." Tara stepped inside, closing the door behind her, "I mean, your mom and I can wait! She's just in the car calling someone named Piper, I think."

"Yeah, that's her girlfriend," Jade chuckled, leading Tara to take a seat on the couch. "Maybe you're better off not being subject to hearing that."

"Well, would it be worse for me or you?" Tara plopped on the couch next to Jade, almost in the same positions they were in mere hours ago, "I mean, she's your mom!"

"Point taken," Jade made a vomiting gesture and shook her head, "Let's drop that, okay? You wanna play a quick round of Overwatch, or we can watch an episode of this musical show I think you might like?"

"Actually..." Tara looked down for a moment, then pulled down her oversized shirt to expose her shoulder to Jade, "I was thinking we could...pick up where we left off? Before we were so rudely interrupted?"

Jade's face flushed red in an instant, staring at Tara biting her lip and fluttering her eyes at her. "T-Tara, we talked about this! Tori's in the next room, for god's sake!"

"Don't worry," Tara shamelessly grinned and leaned forward, "I can work fast~" She didn't wait for Jade to argue as she crashed their lips together and pushed her down against the couch, hands pressed against her shoulders.

Jade gasped into their kiss, but didn't resist the advance. Instead, she reached for Tara's waist under her shirt, feeling how tight the short stack's abs felt as she squeezed.

The fear of Tori's shower finishing or Nora coming in to check on Tara didn't enter Jade's thoughts. All she could think about was how she was everything she needs that she never knew she wanted. The thought replayed again and again until she felt herself roll off the couch.

Jade hit the floor with a loud thud, throwing her out of sleep and back to reality, where her senses were bombarded with soreness in her elbows that took the brunt of the fall and the song "She Is" by The Fray playing from Tori's laptop.

"Jade!" Tori paused the music and dashed from the dining table to the couch, picking Jade up by her shoulders, "Are you okay?! Did you just roll in your sleep?!"

Groaning from the pain and shaking off the drowsiness, Jade replied, "I'm fine. Just had a weird dream, I think..."

"Was it the one where Cat switches bodies with you and does a music video for that magical fairy cartoon she likes?"

Jade almost totally sobered upon hearing that oddly-specific question, "You have that dream, too? But...no, it wasn't that—I mean, I don't remember! What time is it?"

"It's almost 9:00 PM," Tori glanced at the clock display on the TV, "You said you were tired after finishing your diner leftovers and just passed out on the couch for a few hours. Maybe that made you have a bad dream?"

"I didn't say it was...I mean..." Jade stuttered and sat back up on the floor, "Anyway! Were you still working on covers? I'm sorry I couldn't help like you wanted..."