When Victoria was 17 her dad got sick, he got throat cancer. The whole family was devasted and it rocked them to the core. Victoria decided that the Naval Academy could wait since she wanted to spend as much time as possible with her dad.
One day while her younger siblings were at kindergarten, pre-school and school and her parents in the hospital, there was a knock on the door. As Victoria looked through the spy hole she saw a woman standing in front of the door, she looked familiar but the young girl couldn't place her finger on it. Opening the door she looked at the woman, a little confused while the latter had a smile on her face.
"Can I help you?" Victoria didn't open the door all the way, still being a little cautious, just in case.
"Hi birdy, it's been a long time."
At that moment it was like the whole world crashed for Victoria. The woman standing at her front door was her biological mother, the woman that left her when she was only 2 years old.
"Please leave right away." she tried closing the door but the woman stopped her, "Wait birdy, please just listen to me." but Victoria wasn't having any of it.
"I asked you to leave, you can come back tommorow around noon when my parents are at home but now you need to leave."
With that she closed the door in the woman's face and locked it. She had many mixed emotions as she grabbed her phone and called the one person she knew would listen right away.
"Hello?" when the person picked up that was when Victoria came undone and started to cry.
"Bradley, I'm not okay."
With those 4 words she had his full attention, he calmed her down before asking what's wrong. She told him everything and he listened, never once interrupting her unless she asked him something. That was the day that Bradley Bradshaw swore to himself that he wouldn't let anyone hurt her ever again, she didn't deserve that, not his Victoria.
The next day Bradley came over around 11am to be there for Victoria and to keep her calm. Tom and Sarah watched the two teenagers from the kitchen, the way Bradley knew just the right thing to say or do to calm down their daughter was something not even they knew.
"Y'know Ice, I'm suprised those two haven't started dating yet. I mean they are perfect for eachother." Tom looked at his wife a bit shocked since he hasn't heard her call him by that nickname in a long time.
"Well honey, sometimes, people are blind when it comes to love. They're going at their own pace. I'm sure when the time is right, they'll see what was in front of them the whole time."
Soon enough, noon rolled around and there was a knock on the front door.
"Now remember Vic, just stay calm, we're all here for you and support you no matter what. I'll be right next to you, okay?"
Victoria nodded at Bradley's words as she grabbed his hand for support. She felt safer in a way, more strong. Her parents went to open the door and soon they came into the living room with the woman who gave birth to her.
"Thank you for allowing me to come into your lovely home. Gosh birdy, you've gotten so big." Victoria scoffed at the woman's words, "It's Victoria, not birdy." her biological mom apologized and corrected herself.
After the woman answered a few questions and talked with Tom and Sarah, she turned towards Victoria.
"I wasn't a good mother, I know that and I am truly sorry. I was young and scared and I realized I couldn't raise a child on my own, I barely had money to feed us at times. After I left you in front of the school, I went to rehab, I was addicted to alcohol. After that I finally finished college and got a good job-"
Victoria cut her off before she could finish what she wanted to say.
"Good for you! Great! I was the one that was left in an unknown place, alone and scared. Everyone was a stranger to me, I was lucky enough to be found by someone who knew dad and I was lucky enough that he wanted me! You left me, all alone at only 2 years old when I knew no one and nothing! Do you know how scared and confused I was? For years I tortured myself with what did I do wrong to be left like that. You can't just waltz back into my life like nothing ever happened! You are not my mother and you never will be!!"
With that Victoria stormed off into her room with Bradley right behinde her.
As soon as they entered her room, the blonde girl started to cry, Bradley hugged her instantly.
"Shhh it's okay. I've got you, you're okay."
He kissed the top of her head as he let her cry her eyes out, not caring that his shirt would be tear stained.
After a few minutes Victoria calmed down, that's when Bradley pulled away from their hug to look at her. He crunched down a little so he could be face to face with her as he wiped the tears from her face.
"Now, we can't have a pretty face like yours be all puffy and red from crying. How am I ever gonna get rid of you then?"
This made the blonde laugh, something only he ever manged to get out of her after crying her eyes out.
"Oh please, you could never get rid of me even if you wanted to. You're stuck with me for the rest of your life, I'll be even bugging you in the after life."
Now it was his turn to laugh at her words, which weren't that wrong.
"Well, I gotta give it to you. You ain't wrong...But I wouldn't have it any other way."
He smiled at her before kissing the top of her head. They decided to go downstairs again and if her biological mom was still here, she would listen to what she had to say.
Diana, her biological mother, explained that day that she didn't come to act like a mother to Victoria, she was well aware that the young girl could probably never see her as her mom but she came because she wanted to have some kind of relationship with her. Diana has a 2 year old son and a baby girl on the way, if Victoria felt comfortable with that, she would love for her to meet her son and when the baby is born, her too.
Victoria accepted Diana's apology but said she needed time to think about everything, which the woman understood. She left her number with Victoria's parents, so when she makes her desicion, she can call her.
Bradley slept over that night, both Sarah and Tom insisted on it, they knew how hard it was for him since he lost his mom 2 years ago and at the same time Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell pulled his papers from the academy for reasons only the man knew.
That night everyone already went to sleep except the two teenagers who were awake in Victoria's room, watching Dirty Dancing for the 100th time in their lives.
"Y'know I usually don't like a man with a mustache or a beard for that matter but Patrick Swayze with a mustache in Green Dragon, I could get behinde that." "Vic, don't worry your pretty little head about that, you'll probably scare away any guy that's intrested in you anyways."
Victoria gasped at Bradley's words as she wacked him with a pillow. Which didn't help her defense.
"See! Violent!" the blonde stuck her tongue out at the curly haired boy as he laughed. As the movie was slowly coming to an end, the two tried their hardest not to fall asleep.
"Brad, thank you for being there for me especially today. I really appreciate that." he put his arm around her and gave her a little squeeze.
"I'll always be there for you Tori, no matter what. You're always there for everyone else, you're like a dove, gentle, pure, always bringing peace and comfort into people's lives. You deserve so much and don't ever forget that."
He kissed her head, something that became a habit for him whenever he was comforting her or when they'd have deep talks.
A comfortable and peaceful silence fell as they focused on the movie but soon fell asleep. That night Victoria realized that she had feelings for her best friend but decided it was best to ignore them, not wanting to risk losing him.
In the morning when Tom went to wake his daughter up, he was met with two sleeping teenagers. Victoria's head was on Bradley's chest alongside her arm while Bradley's head was resting on top of Victoria's head and his arm wrapped around her. Their legs were probably intertwined under the blanket.
Tom smiled before quietly closing the door and going to tell his wife. Of course Sarah quickly grabbed her camera and went to take a quick picture of the two just like Carole did a long time ago when they fell asleep on the couch.
When the two woke up they both had light blushes on their faces when they realised in what position they woke up in. They both didn't say anything since it wasn't the first time they fell asleep together and woke up like that.
That morning Bradley realized that his late mom was right all along, he did have some kind of feelings for his blonde best friend.