temporary heroes

chapter 6

Emily's eyes landed on the sheet of paper in her hand, her face lighting up, "Ooh. What's that?"

She ran over to Tori, stumbling over the long hem of her bathrobe, and grabbed it out of Tori's hand. Her expression was unreadable until she placed the letter down next to her on Tori's bed.

"Well shit, Tori," she smirked, "Looks like we've still got it. A marriage proposal from a teenager."

"Oh, shut up. You were a teenager like three years ago."

She raised her hands in surrender, "And nobody wanted to marry me back then."

"Better get used to it. You're the most eligible bachelorette in Europe now."

Emily gave her a curious look, "Because..."

"You're a celebrity," Tori replied as if it were obvious and for a moment she could have sworn she saw a flicker of disappointment in Emily's eyes, gone as quickly as it had appeared.

"You know none of that means anything, Tori."

Summoning whatever bravery she had in store, Tori forced herself to smile through the tidal wave of emotions threatening to overtake her, "Yeah, but you do. Never change, okay? Even when I'm not around to keep you from going all lifestyles of the rich and famous."

"I won't if you don't," Emily replied, a challenge in her tone.

"Yeah? And who are we swearing on this time? The Spice Girls?"

Emily held out her pinkie and Tori took it with her own, linking them together.

"Broke bitches forever," Emily spoke in mock austerity.

Tori barked out a laugh and Emily narrowed her eyes.

"Fine," Tori acquiesced, "Broke bitches forever."

___

Ten minutes before they were scheduled to go on stage, Tori saw a familiar face out of the corner of her eye and felt her body tense with fury.

"Oh, fuck no," she hissed and Emily turned to her, her face a mask of shock and concern.

"What's going on?" Emily asked before following Tori's eyeline to see Scott standing in the corner.

She'd stupidly assumed that Scott and Ben would have gone straight to the green room after their performance, but there he was chatting up a storm with a stagehand who couldn't be older than nineteen.

Emily seemed to shrink in front of her, her shoulders falling forward, arms crossing in front of her.

"It's fine, Tori," she insisted weakly.

Tori placed a hand on her shoulder, "Could you go check us in backstage? I just have to talk to Maria for a second."

Emily gave her an apprehensive look, "I guess? But seriously, I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

When Emily was safely backstage, Tori marched over to Scott, her heels pounding violently on the linoleum floor. She grabbed him roughly by the arm and yanked him back to face her.

"Hey, fuckface," she crossed her arms over her chest, "Wanna tell me what the fuck happened at that party?"

Scott scoffed, pulling his arm away and straightening out his sleeve, "You stole my fucking cab is what happened. And this jacket cost more than six months of whatever you pay for rent in the projects, so be careful where you're putting your hands."

"Excuse me?" she turned to the girl at Scott's side, "Listen, honey. This guy's a piece of shit. Trust me, you can find like, ten dudes who look like him working retail at Abercrombie."