It was raining at the West residence on a Thursday night. Jade was home alone and didn't notice the rain for it was drowned out by the screams coming from her television. She was absorbed in her favorite movie, The Scissoring. Just as she was about to stuff another handful of popcorn in her mouth, the doorbell rang. She groaned and dragged herself to the front door. "Cat?"

"J-Jadey…" the soaking wet girl stuttered before fainting. Jade thought fast and caught her before she could hit the ground. She swept Cat up in her arms and carried her petite friend upstairs. In her dark room, Jade laid Cat down on her bed and stared at her. There were bruises on her body. Lots of them. Up and down her arms and legs. Jade knew why.

A few minutes later the redhead woke up and looked around in a confused manner. "Where am I?" she asked.

"You're in my room, Cat," Jade replied. Cat relaxed when she recognized her best friend.

"Oh…"

"Was it him again?" Jade inquired, knowing the answer already. Cat nodded sadly and looked up at Jade with fearful eyes. Jade recognized that look and immediately began to soothe her. "It's okay, Cat. I'm here. You're safe." Jade could only imagine what the bastard had done to her this time. The poor child was always showing up at school with obvious marks of abuse. She always made up excuses that everyone except Jade believed. Jade knew Cat's father was an alcoholic. She knew that hit her daily.

"Jadey?" the redhead's small voice broke the silence.

"Yeah?"

"I don't feel good at all…" Cat's voice barely made it to Jade's ear, and the Goth girl's tough heart broke.

"Want to go get a shower and get cleaned up?" Jade offered. The girl nodded and let Jade lead her to the bathroom, where the older teenager prepared some towels and a pair of cupcake pajamas that she kept at her house just for Cat. "Okay, you shower and I'll be right out here," She told Cat. Again, the child just nodded in response. Jade sighed and left the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later, Cat came out. Her hair was a tangled, wet, mess. "Here, let's comb that hair out," Jade suggested, prompting her friend to sit down on the bed in front of her. The older girl began to comb through Cat's hair carefully. "Ow!" Cat screamed as Jade tugged at a red strand. Jade was startled because Cat was not one to be tender headed.

"What's wrong?"

"That hurt," Cat whined. Jade looked under the mess of colored hair to find a huge bruise on the girl's scalp.

"Cat, did he hurt your head?" Jade slid her hand under Cat's chin and tilted her head towards her own.

"Uh huh…" she answered dejectedly.

"How?"

"He… he pushed me," Cat explained, wincing at the memory. "A-and my head h-hit the t-table…" Jade's eyes grew wide with anger and she had to hold back from punching a wall. Instead, she just continued combing Cat's hair, being mindful of the newly discovered injury.

When Cat's hair was finally straightened out with all the tangles gone, Jade pulled the small girl into her arms. "Cat, listen to me," she whispered. Cat acknowledged her friend. "Everything's gonna be alright. You don't have to be scared."

"But I am, Jadey," Cat whimpered. "I'm so scared…" Jade rested her chin atop Cat's head and her heart broke as the little girl started crying.

"Shh, it's okay," she soothed. "I'm here. I'll protect you." Cat rested her head against Jade's shoulder and fell asleep a little more satisfied than she was when she showed up.