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Chapter Fifteen
Five More Minutes
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     FOR THE REST OF THE DAY, TORI WAS JUST TRYING TO MAKE IT TO THE END. When it was time for everyone to leave, the first person she looked for was Marissa. When she saw her standing by her locker, she walked up to her and tapped her shoulder. When Marissa looked at her, Tori tried to smile but it didn't feel genuine.

     "Hey," she said while fidgeting with her bag.

     "How are you feeling?" Marissa asked and Tori shrugged her shoulders.

     "I've been better. I'm sorry I've been avoiding you and the others lately," she said and the brunette shook her head as she wrapped her arms around Tori's frame.

     "Don't worry about it. You needed space and I totally get that," she said and Tori sighed as she pulled away.

     "I talked to Noah about it earlier. He's a great guy," she replied as they started walking to the exit.

     Talking to Noah really did help Tori feel better after what happened but she still wanted to talk to her friends and apologize for ignoring them. Fortunately, Marissa was understanding but she still had to talk to Toni and Fangs.

     "I just want you to know that if you still need space, that's perfectly okay," Marissa said and Tori nodded.

     "Thanks," she replied. "I should find Sweet Pea and the others."

     "I guess I'll see you around?"

     "Yeah."

     Tori looked around and saw Sweet Pea sitting on the bleachers with Fangs and Toni. When they saw her, Toni smiled as she jumped down and pulled Tori into another hug and she laughed awkwardly when they separated. "That's one way to say hello," she said.

     "How's your hand?" Fangs asked and Tori shrugged her shoulders.

     "Probably better than Eden's face," she replied.

     "She still managed to get a good hit in," Fangs chuckled as he pointed at the very noticeable bruise under her eye. "But I still think you did more damage to her than she did to you."

     "Look, I'm sorry if I worried you guys yesterday and earlier today," Tori said as she sat down beside Toni.

     "No worries," Toni said and Tori sighed quietly as she ran her teeth across the inside skin of her bottom lip.

     "We're just gonna chill out at Sunnyside. Wanna come with?" Fangs asked and Tori shrugged her shoulders as she stood up.

     "Sure, why not? I don't really wanna go home so soon anyway," she replied and the four of them started walking back to the Southside.

     Tori quickly texted her mother to let her know where she was going to be so she didn't end up with worried text messages and phone calls from her. They may not be getting along at the moment but she still didn't want to worry her, especially after her recent incident with Eden. While Toni and Fangs were walking up front, Tori looked at Sweet Pea who had his hands in the pockets of his black jeans.

     "Are you okay?" she asked as she nudged his elbow with hers.

     "I should be asking you that," he replied and Tori sighed through her nose.

     "I'm holding up," she said with a lighthearted smile. "My cheekbone isn't throbbing anymore so that's good."

     She could see a tic in his jaw and sighed as she looked at her feet. "So, where did you learn how to throw a good right hook?" he asked and Tori's shoulders dropped.

     "My dad," she sighed.

     "I'm sorry," Sweet Pea said but Tori shook her head as she looked at him.

     "It's okay. I'm okay," she replied.

     When they got to Sunnyside, Toni and Fangs sat down on a few chairs that were put outside. Since many of the trailers were destroyed because of the fight between the Serpents and the Ghoulies, many tents were put up as temporary shelter. It's been a while since she hung out with Toni and Fangs at once since they've either been playing G&G or off with Cheryl or Kevin. Sweet Pea was also playing the game but there were still times they could just hang out and talk and be together whenever he wasn't.

     A few hours went by and it was starting to get dark. The lack of sleep from the night before was starting to have its effect on her and she was getting tired but she didn't feel like going home yet. Next thing she knew, she was inside Sweet Pea's tent and lying on top of him with her head on his chest while he was running his fingers through her hair. She didn't know what was so soothing about it but she was slowly falling asleep with the peace and quiet and the rhythm of his heartbeat against her ear. Pretty soon, she did fall asleep.

     About an hour or two passed and when she woke up, she heard shouting and a bunch of commotion outside the tent but she didn't want to get up and see what it was. She was pretty sure it was something stupid anyway and not worth getting worked up over so she just stayed inside the tent. After a while, Sweet Pea walked in and gently shook her shoulder but she grabbed the pillow and covered her head with it even though it did very little to block out anything.

     "It's dark and it's getting late. You should probably go home right now," he said but Tori groaned as she batted his hand away.

     "Five more minutes," she said but Sweet Pea chuckled as he took the pillow away from her.

     "When you get home, you can go back to sleep but right now you need to get up so I can take you home," he said and Tori sighed loudly as she got up and rubbed her eyes.

     "Fine," she replied. She grabbed her stuff and said goodnight to Toni, Fangs and Jughead while she and Sweet Pea left Sunnyside. "You don't have to walk me back home."

     "You're in the Southside past ten o'clock at night. The day I let you walk home alone at this time in this part of town will be the day Hell freezes over," Sweet Pea said and Tori laughed.

     "Fair enough," she replied.

     She was still tired and wanted to sleep so when she got home and said goodnight to Sweet Pea, she saw her mother sitting on the couch. The interaction between them was brief and quick before Tori went upstairs to her room to put her stuff down and take her shoes off. She didn't even bother changing out of her clothes and just fell asleep after a few minutes of lying down.