My Forever After (Jori)

Chapter 1

Trigger warning: Chapter has mentions of child abuse 

Tori Vega is a 29-year-old social worker. Abandoned by her mother at 3 months old, she grew up in the foster system where she drew the short end of the stick often being used and abused. She became a social worker to try and protect children in the way she wishes she'd been protected. She is also in love with her best friend, Jade West, who she met in foster care at 6 years old. They have this on and off again friends with benefits/dating thing going on. To be honest she's not sure what they are because she always lets Jade decide. Always lets Jade initiate any intimacy.

Jade west is a 30-year-old detective working in the homicide department. Jade's mother was addicted to drugs, because of this Jade was exposed to horrific things at a young age. People were constantly in and out of their apartment. Some of those same people would abuse her when her mom was passed out from the drugs. When Jade was 7 years old her mom overdosed and that is when she ended up in foster care and met Tori.

Tori gets home after a long day at work and walks in to see 'her' on the couch. Stormy blue eyes, curly black hair hanging over her shoulders, already dressed in one of Tori's oversized T-shirts.

"I see you still have the key from last time."

"Yeah, can't get rid of me that easily."

The two sit on the couch in silence. Tori waiting for Jade to make the first move. Jade waiting to see if Tori will tell her to leave. Although she knows that will never happen. Tired of waiting, Jade moves across the couch to straddle Tori's lap and slowly and gently starts kissing her.

As soft, coffee flavored lips connect with hers, Tori smiles because for Tori, every kiss feels like their first. Makes her remember the moment when the depressed and abused teenager first felt wanted even without words being said. The first time it felt like someone cared about her and wouldn't abandon her like her mom did.

Over the years the two grew very close to one another. They had only known the love of each other throughout the years. Whenever one of them would have a bad day, they would fall asleep in separate beds and once everyone else was asleep they'd crawl into the others bed and cuddle throughout the night. Jade and Tori shared their first kiss at the age of 13. One night while cuddling, Tori turned around in Jade's arms and just stared into her eyes while Jade staired back. Tori glanced down at Jade's lips and back up to her eyes. Then she slowly moved her face closer to Jade's and let lips rest on hers. She sat still for a second in case Jade wanted to pull away, but she didn't. Instead, she started to slowly move her lips. After the kiss was over, they smiled at each other and then went to sleep holding each other. From then on, they'd cuddle while sharing light kisses and words of reassurance.

Tori is drawn away from this thought as Jade pulls away and starts undressing herself. Tori is always amazed with just how beautiful Jade is. Always wonders how she could be so lucky for such a beautiful person to want someone like her. Someone...damaged.

As Jade finishes undressing, she moves back over to Tori to start undressing her but before she can, Tori grabs her hand to stop her. Even though they've done this before, she's always afraid Jade will run away when she sees her. All her trauma that has littered her beautiful brown skin. Cigarette burns, cuts, and chemical burns, all a result of the foster system. The system that was supposed to help children when they had no one else.

Tori's first 5 years in the foster system were the worst of her life. The first 2 years in the system were fine she was placed with a married couple. But then the wife died, and the man became an alcoholic. So, whenever they were drink, they would get really mean and verbally abusive. 4 years old is the first time she was ever slapped across the face. Then, came the cigarette burns whenever they had a "hard" day. 2 months before her 5th birthday is the first time she was burned badly. Her guardian was drunk and angry because they lost their job, and decided it was Tori's fault. So, they took the remaining contents of a bottle of Vodka, pour it on Tori's shoulder, set it aflame with a cigarette and watched her scream in agony until they decided it was enough of a punishment. This happened two more time before she was removed from the home.