Keiko Fujiwara: I wanted to write a Christmas special, so here it is! This will be a two-part one-shot. :) It will take place after the mid-season finale of Season 2 and will span over three weeks.
In this section, JT is not the friendliest drunk to be around. He is not happy that he almost lost Vincent, and severely takes his anger out on Catherine. I promise, JT will not be a jerk throughout the fanfiction; he will make amends and will have what's coming to him.
Also, for my other fanfiction one-shot Come What May, I will not be adding more. It was a one-shot and will remain a one-shot.
Title | Always
Fandom | Beauty and the Beast (CW)
Description | JT is pissed of what Catherine did to try to save Vincent from making the worst decision of his life, and he gives her a drunken piece of his mind. His words destroy her faith in her relationship with Vincent, and she's determined to forget him. Vincent finally wakes up and finds out what JT had said to Catherine, so he rushes over to make things right. She tells him she needs a break from the relationship. Can Vincent and Catherine's love for one another be salvaged before the Christmas holiday or is everything too late? Find out!
Rating| This fanfiction will be rated T for language, suggested themes and anything else T-rated I might throw in it. If anything, read at your own discretion.
POV | Third Person Omniscient
Disclaimer | While CW owns Beauty & the Beast, I am the owner of this Masterpiece.
Claimer | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something should be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!
Always
~Part One~
Written by: Keiko Fujiwara
~Beauty & the Beast~
Catherine Chandler paced back and forth inside the lounge of the Gentlemen's Guild as she waited for news of Vincent's injury. She hated herself for shooting him, but what else was there to do? She could have fired a warning shot, but would that have truly stopped him from killing Reynolds? Thousands of questions poured into her mind, and not one of them could be answered.
Just hours ago, she was embracing the love of her life because she had feared Reynolds succeeded in killing him. Now, she was walking in circles inside Vincent's old home and praying to God that he wouldn't die by her hand. She couldn't live with herself if she had killed him. She wouldn't want to.
The moment she heard Vincent's door open, her head snapped in its direction and watched as JT slowly made his way out of the bedroom. "How is he?" she asked as she ran up to the professor, hoping he had some good news. "Is he…okay?"
JT frowned and brushed her aside as he headed for the bar. "He will be…eventually." Without giving Catherine any eye contact, he walked around the bar counter and grabbed a beer. "But he's going to be bedridden for the next few weeks if his beasty side doesn't kick back in soon enough."
"Oh. Wait, I thought he couldn't self-heal?" Catherine replied as she walked towards JT and waited for his response. The air was thin and she knew he really didn't want to talk to her at the moment.
"He can't…at least, he can't self-heal as fast as he used to. However, due to his DNA, most of his injuries will heal at a faster rate than humans, but this one? I'm not so sure. It was more than just a deep wound, Cat." JT shook his head with disappointment and turned away from the female cop. He leaned against the counter and sighed before opening his beer bottle and drinking down one large gulp.
"I know." She replied solemnly.
"No! You don't know!" JT snapped as he whirred around and glared at Catherine. He slammed his bottle down onto the counter, causing the petite woman to jump, before yelling again. "Vincent, with or without his memory, loved you, Cat. Sure, V 2.0 might not have been as emotional as the old V, but it was clear that he still loved you all the same. He tried to do things your way, Catherine, but it wasn't his fault that Tori screwed the plans up by killing the bomb-maker. He wanted to exact justice and frankly, I don't blame him for wanting to kill the bastard!"
"That bastard is my father, JT!" Catherine fired back as she walked closer to him, "I don't like the man either, but that still doesn't mean Vincent should have killed him! Everything was happening too fast and I didn't know what else to do!"
"You could have fired a warning shot instead!" JT argued. "You could have done anything else, but you decided to put one in him!"
"There wasn't enough time to think of anything else, JT!" Catherine shouted as JT started drinking from his bottle again. "If I thought a warning shot would have been enough to stop him, I would have fired one! But I could have risked angering him even more, and that wouldn't have solved the problem, would it?! I did what I had to do in order to save our relationship!"
JT spat out his drink and turned back around out of anger. "You're really that selfish, aren't you?! You care more about trying to save your relationship with Vincent than his own life!"
"That's not what I meant and you know it!"
"Do I?" JT challenged. Catherine's nose started to burn from all of JT's harsh insults, but she wouldn't allow herself to break down in front of him. She needed to wait until she was home where no one would ever be able to see her cry from within her walls.
"How dare you." Catherine frowned as tears started threatening to fall. "If you think, after all of this time…after everything I have done to protect Vincent, that I only care about my relationship with him, and nothing else, then I don't know why I even call you my friend, JT." She paused as she felt her lip quiver before adding, "I love him, JT. Nothing will ever change that, but I have to draw the line somewhere." Catherine firmly believed her Vincent was somewhere inside of the new and non-improved Vincent Keller. She saw him when he hesitated to kill Reynolds; he was there, but something compelled him to kill her father. If Vincent could forgive her for shooting him, she could eventually forgive him for what he had tried to do. She saw hope in their relationship because she knew she was getting through to him—he had stopped; he was going to back away.
But the way he instantly reverted back to the beast was not like him, and she believed something had caused him to change. Perhaps her father said something to him—something she didn't hear. It was dark after all. She could barely see Vincent's outline from within the shadows.
"You may think you love him, but if you truly did, you wouldn't have shot him with your gun." JT replied with a disappointed tone before finishing his bottle and then starting to drink from another one. "I knew, from the moment you stepped into our lives, that something bad would come out of your relationship with him. I had warned Vincent not to bring you into our lives but, like always, he went against my warning and pursued your relationship. Eventually I gave up because I once thought you might be good for him, but I was still worried, for months, that Muirfield would come knocking on our door because of your inability to stay away from Vincent. But who would have thought it would be you who would try to kill him!"
Catherine flinched at every word, but she knew he was on the verge of being drunk and figured he probably didn't know what he was saying. "I did not try to kill him, JT! I tried to save him!"
"By shooting him?! Yeah, well look how well that's turned out! He would have bled to death had I not found him in his houseboat several hours ago!" JT yelled and pointed at Catherine. "Honestly? I don't even know why you bothered to come here, Cat!" Catherine pressed her lips together into a fine line and stood very still as the professor shouted at her in his drunken stupor. "V told me about your boy troubles growing up, and the more I think about it, the more I believe the problem isn't them; it's you. Bad things happen around you. People have died because you can't seem to take 'no' for an answer!
"You finally found a decent guy who had just as much baggage as you did and seemed to always blame himself whenever bad things would happen. And then…And then he fell in love with you and you seemed to have fallen for him. But, like all the rest of the men in your life, you drove him away by shooting him—the only guy who had the mentality to ever care for and love you."
"That's not fair." Catherine mumbled, but when the professor made no indication that he had heard her, she spoke louder. "That's not fair. How dare you bring up my past boyfriends and compare them to Vincent. You don't know anything about the hell I went through when dating them so don't you dare compare them to Vincent." She felt one teardrop slip from her right eye but she didn't care anymore. JT had gone too far this time—even if he was drunk. "Forget I even came here."
Without another word, she ran out of the Guild as fast as she could as she heard JT shout, "Good! Vincent doesn't deserve you anyway!" The instant she found her car, she pulled away from the old bar and drove home without the intention of ever returning. She was done with Vincent Keller and JT Forbes forever.
No matter how much she will always love him, JT was right; Vincent didn't deserve her. She could not seem to help but push the people she cares for away, and to prevent her heart from shattering into a million pieces as it did when she saw the look on Vincent's face when she had shot him, she was determined to never tear down her walls for anyone ever again.
The moment she arrived home, she ran into her apartment and didn't even bother locking her door. She was too broken to care about anything anymore. JT made sure of that. Catherine Chandler darted to her room and flew into her bed before letting out all of the tears she had been storing since Vincent and her father's betrayal.
~Beauty & the Beast~
Vincent finally woke up a few days later and felt like death. He was aching all over and knew he was still recovering from the loss of a lot of blood. It pained him to remember what Catherine had done—but, deep down, he knew why she had done it. He could also remember every memory he had ever lost, and it agonized even more to know that Catherine probably didn't want anything to do with him anymore.
He tried to sit up and suddenly groaned in pain. His wounds had still not started to heal yet due to the extensive blood loss. Knowing that he needed to walk around before his muscles start to atrophy, Vincent inhaled a sharp breath and slowly slid off of his old bed. He tried to take one step but realized he was still weakened from his loss of blood, and he didn't think he could walk on his own without falling down. He grabbed ahold of the side of the bed and tried walking towards the wall in front of him, but each step was as painful as the one before.
When he was about to muster his strength to pull himself back onto his bed, his door opened, causing him to watch as JT made his way into his room. "What are you doing?!" JT said as he rushed over to Vincent, "You should be in bed and resting!"
"I'm fine, JT." Vincent replied harshly. "I just miscalculated my recovery rate."
"Yeah right. You were once a doctor, Vincent. I think you would know if you were fully recovered." JT raised his eyebrow.
"Yeah, okay, you caught me. I just wanted to stretch my legs, all right?" Vincent replied as JT helped him back into the bed. "How long has it been anyway?"
"A few days. You were shot on Monday and it is currently Thursday night." JT answered but didn't look at Vincent. "How are you holding up?"
"I feel like hell, but I think I'll survive." Vincent replied through his teeth as he tried to sit up again. "It's not like I haven't been shot before." To JT's surprise, Vincent was actually smirking.
"Yeah, but you've never been shot by her before." JT muttered darkly and Vincent sensed his best friend's anger.
"Woah now," Vincent widened his eyes, surprised of JT's statement. "JT, you know she did that because she cared about me, right? Her intent was never to kill me—only to stop me from making the worst mistake of my life. You, of all people, should understand that, right?" Vincent may feel like crap, but he wanted JT to know that he didn't blame Catherine for making such a rash decision to shoot him.
"Are you sure of that?" JT raised his eyebrow and crossed his arms across his chest. "Because she almost killed you, man. Because of her, I almost lost you, V."
"If not for her, JT, you would have lost me forever." Vincent replied honestly. "She stopped me from killing Reynolds. I was so consumed with anger that it blinded me from who was more important—Catherine. If I had gone through with killing Reynolds, I don't think I would have ever come back from being a beast; I don't think…I would have gotten my memory back either." Vincent looked sternly into his best friend's eyes and frowned when JT's facial expression didn't soften.
"That may be so, but she didn't have to shoot you, Vincent. She could have figured out another way to prevent you from killing her father."
"Do you really think she would have shot me if she had time to think of an alternative way to stop me?" Vincent furrowed his brows, "JT, I was about to kill her father; she had to draw the line somewhere."
"What is it with you two and lines?" JT threw his hands up into the air, "She tried to kill you and you're not mad? I don't get it!"
"Correction, she tried to save me, not kill me." Vincent replied with a frown. "JT, I honestly don't understand why you're so upset!" The moment he raised his voice, he felt a sharp pain in his side which caused him to wince.
"Upset? You don't know why I'm so upset?! I told you once before that she would be destructive to what you and I had accomplished for the past ten years! I told you that she would be trouble, but you wouldn't listen! I have risked my ass off trying to protect you for more than a decade and you get shot by the very woman I tried to make you forget!"
"Okay, that's enough, JT." Vincent demanded as he leaned forward slightly even though any forward movement hurt like hell. "First of all, you eventually got your wish because I ended up forgetting her—forgetting all of you after what her father had done to me! And you know what? We still managed to find a way back to each other. Second, if I hadn't let my rage get the better of me, Catherine wouldn't have had to shoot her gun. So don't you dare blame this on her. She did what she thought was right, and I am grateful for what she did to save me from my insanity."
JT sighed and took off his glasses to rub his eyes as he tried to prevent an oncoming headache. "You both are insane."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"She's insane for thinking a bullet would be the one-way-ticket to save you and you are crazy because you don't mind the fact that she shot that bullet through your gut!" JT replied, bewildered. "Am I missing something here?!"
"Catherine's not insane; if anything, she's the sanest one of all of us." Vincent replied. "Speaking of which, where is she?"
"Don't know." JT shrugged stoically. "But I can assure you she'll never set foot in here again." As he started to leave Vincent's room, Vincent had grabbed him by the arm to stop him from walking any further.
"Where is she?"
"I don't know all right!" JT yelled as he ripped his arm away from his best friend's grip, "I was drinking the other night and said some things to her. She left after that."
"What things, JT? What did you say to her?" Vincent was angry and could feel his blood starting to boil.
"I can't remember everything, but I remember telling her that you deserved better—which is true." JT replied with a frown. "I know I said some things that I regret and that I took things way too far, but honestly? You're both better off without each other. A cop and a beast is not a good match."
"You don't make that call." Vincent's eyes started to glow. He could feel his blood cells multiplying rapidly as his beast started to reawaken. His wounds were suddenly beginning to close up and his body began to heal. Immediately, he shot out of bed and grabbed a T-shirt from his dresser. The pain was no longer an issue anymore.
"Apparently I have to, V! If I don't, you'll end up being shot again!" JT tried to defend himself. Vincent stuffed his feet into a pair of boots and slipped on his jacket. "Just where are you going?! You're in no condition to be walking about!"
"I'm fine." Vincent replied coldly. "And I'm going to fix your mistake. When I get back, you better bet your ass that you and I are going to have a very long talk, JT. I suggest you think very hard about whatever you've said to Catherine and start coming up with one major apology." Vincent could tell JT was lying when he asked him about what he could remember. However, he wanted JT to sweat everything out a little bit longer before confronting him for being an ass.
Before JT could say anything, Vincent was gone. JT turned around and saw himself in Vincent's cracked mirror and for the first time in the last few nights, he realized what an ass he had been to both Catherine and Vincent. "You're not the beast, V." He muttered, "I am."
~Beauty & the Beast~
Vincent crept through the shadows, and made sure no one could see him. He didn't know if Reynolds had any kind of failsafe plan to kill him so he had to be well on his guard while he was out and about. Instead of using the front door to Catherine's apartment, he thought it would be best if he checked in on her through the fire escape window. He didn't have to see her, but he needed to make sure she was okay—mentally and emotionally okay.
He climbed the stairs to her fire escape, and sat on the staircase next to her window. Her curtains were drawn open, and she was in her room, but she wasn't alone. She was curled up into a ball with her head resting on Tess's lap, and she was crying—painfully crying. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on her words; he wanted to know everything JT had said to her. He would deal with the biochemist later. He needed to set things right with Catherine. He couldn't guarantee that his visit would fix everything, but at least it would be a start.
"Cat, you need to get over this; it's not healthy wasting your tears away over some dickhead when you know you deserve so much better." Vincent flinched at that insult but he knew it was true. He knew Catherine deserved the universe—something he could never give to her—but that didn't deter from the fact that he loved her more than life itself. He would give anything to make her smile again—even if that meant eternal damnation.
"No, Tess! You don't get it!" Catherine sobbed, "Vincent didn't do anything wrong…"
"I thought you said you had to shoot him because he was about to kill your father…"
"I did, but…" Vincent pressed his ear against the wall as he listened to her confession, "somethingmade Vincent revert back to his beast—he was coming back to me! But, when he changed and aimed for my dad's throat, I didn't have a choice."
"Okay…" Tess paused, "Then I don't understand why you're crying. Are you upset that you had to shoot him or that he had beasted out after he almost came to his senses?"
Vincent saw Catherine shake her head out of the corner of her eye, "No. It's nothing like that."
"Then what's got you so upset?" Tess asked sympathetically. Vincent turned his head slightly to see Catherine, through her sheer curtains, cover her mouth to stifle a sob. "Cat, you're freakin' the heck out of me. This isn't like you. I know I normally don't butt into your business, but I'm really starting to worry for you."
Catherine lifted herself from Tess's lap and immediately hugged her knees. "All I wanted to do was see if he was all right—I wanted to make sure he was okay; that I hadn't killed him with my gun."
"And?" Tess questioned further. "Did you?"
Vincent watched the love of his life shake her head slowly. "No."
"Then what happened? Did Vincent say something to you? 'Cuz if he did, I'll punch the living lights out of hi—"
"No, Tess;" Catherine shook her head again; "Vincent didn't say anything. I didn't even get to go inside his room to see for myself that he would be okay. If I knew that my shot was going to cause so much damage to him, I would have never pulled the trigger. But I had to do something to stop him." Catherine's lip quivered as Tess wrapped her arm around her shoulder. Vincent suddenly noticed how poor Catherine had been taking care of herself. She had dark circles under her eyes and her eyes were extremely puffy from too many tears. He hated himself for causing so much agony. Her lips were dry and he could hear her stomach growling. Had she really cooped herself within her room for these past few days without getting anything to eat or drink?
"Why didn't you get to see him?" Tess asked as she rocked her best friend back and forth. "What stopped you?"
Catherine shook her head. "It doesn't matter anymore; I'm done living my life like this—I'm tired of constantly worrying over someone who may never remember me. I'm tired of wasting my life protecting someone who is safer without me around. Everyone is safer without me."
"Catherine Chandler!" Tess snapped, "Where in the hell is this coming from?! Who told you this crap?! If it was Vincent, I'm going to race over to that bar right now and jab my elbow into his wound!"
"It wasn't Vincent."
"Then who?"
Catherine wouldn't answer, but Vincent already knew. Tess would probably figure it out eventually, but now that Vincent had an idea of what JT had told Catherine, he can think of a way to make things right. "You should go." Catherine suddenly said to her best friend. "I'm tired, and I just can't think right now."
"There's no way in hell I'm leaving you here in this state, Cat. Besides, when was the last time you showered or even ate a decent meal?"
"I don't know."
"Fine. How about I go and fix you up a good bowl of soup while you go and take a relaxing bath. Tomorrow, you're going to be staying at my place; I won't take no for an answer." Tess said as she stood up and started walking to the door. "Can you promise me that you'll smell better when I fetch you for dinner?"
Catherine nodded slowly and wiped her eyes. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Tess."
"You'd probably drive yourself crazy." Tess laughed and smiled when she saw a small grin on her best friend's face. "Now there's that smile I've been waiting to see all night."
"You're the best, Tess." Catherine grinned a little more. "Just promise me something."
"Anything."
"Promise me that you'll try not to run if I ever attempt to drive you away. I don't think I could lose my best friend too." Vincent noticed a tear fall from Catherine's cheek and desperately wanted to jump inside her apartment and tell her that JT was wrong about everything.
He saw Tess try to hold in her own tears as she said, "Don't worry Cat; I'll always be around."
Before anymore words were shared between the best friends, Tess disappeared and left Catherine by herself. He watched her as she stared at the floor and made no indication that she was planning on heading to the bathroom at the moment. It was now or never, he thought. He had to speak to her and if Tess was planning on making the night an all-nighter—for which he was grateful for her loyalty to Catherine, then he needed to act quickly.
He backed away from the window, not sure how to handle the situation. He wanted to appear inside her apartment but he didn't want to startle her. She has dealt with enough and she didn't need a heart attack to add to her problems. As he started to think about how to approach her, he heard her stand up from her bed and slip her feet into her slippers. Could that mean she didn't plan on getting into the bathtub quite yet?
He could have sworn he heard her walk towards the window, but when her feet stopped, he didn't know what she was doing. Suddenly, he saw the window open. Perhaps she had opened it for him? Did she know he was there? He kept his eyes closed, and focused on the sounds of her room. He was trying to figure out if she was still standing in front of the window or if she had walked away from it.
"V-Vincent?" When he heard his name being softly uttered by the woman he had given his heart to long ago, his eyes fluttered open and he was staring directly into her own puffy eyes.
"Hey." He muttered quietly.
"What are you doing here?" she asked rather coldly. He deserved it.
"I won't be here long," he replied, "I just…I wanted to clarify some things." He clasped his hands together and stayed still, not wanting her to think he was imposing.
"You don't have to give me the third degree." Catherine stated as her lip began to quiver again. "JT said it all the other day."
"That's why I'm here." He still did not raise his voice. He wanted her to know he wasn't mad at her. "Before…before you walk away, we need to talk."
"What is there left to say?" she sound so broken; her voice was hoarse.
"JT…he was wrong." Vincent stated. "Everything he said…he was wrong. I'm not expecting anything after this conversation but please, hear me out."
Catherine pressed her lips together and sniffed rather loudly. A tear fell from her eye. "Please, Vincent; if you've come here to break my heart, I don't think I can take it. I've cried too much already and I don't know if I can handle any more heartache." Even when she was upset and broken, she was frank.
"Catherine," Vincent muttered as he bravely took her hand into his, "First thing's first: I remember everything—us, my life as a doctor, everything. I know I've screwed up big time and I don't expect to win your heart back, but I wanted you to know that I don't blame you for anything. I'm not mad at all; in fact, I'm grateful. If not for your courage to pull that trigger, I would have lost a lot more than blood that night. I don't know what all JT had told you, but please know that you're not the reason trouble keeps kicking my ass. That burden is mine to bear alone.
"And…don't ever think everyone is safer without you around. That's not true and you know it. You have saved more lives as a cop than you would if you had become a lawyer. People die, Catherine. Sometimes, it's out of our control; we can't save everybody. The important thing is that we try. And you did, with me. You tried to save me; save us when you fired that bullet. I was the one who screwed things up between us; not you."
"You almost died, Vincent…" Catherine replied as silent tears fell down her face. "And by my hand too."
"Hey," Vincent hushed her as he cupped her face, "I'm still here, aren't I? Catherine, I'm mostly healed now. I can barely feel the pain."
"That doesn't negate the fact that I had almost killed you." she shook her head. What could he do to make things right in the world?
"No. It doesn't." He replied honestly, but quickly added, "However, it proves to me what you're willing to do to salvage our relationship—or whatever's left of it." He had hoped Catherine would want to be in a relationship with him. But, after everything, he didn't know what she was thinking.
"Vincent, I have had a lot to think about these past couple of days while I was cooped up in my room while crying my eyes out. What JT had said—it hurt me a lot. He cut open old wounds—wounds that had taken me months, and some years, to forget. As I laid here crying, it made me realize just how much my life depended on you, Vincent. We…we had a toxic relationship after you came back to me, and yet, I still stayed by your side. I wanted to continue giving you chances because I just couldn't live my life without you." Vincent nodded but didn't say anything so she continued. "I don't…I don't want to live my life like that." She shook her head, "I cannot live my life where I am solely dependent on a guy in order to live. What if you had died, Vincent? I wouldn't know what to do with my own life if that had happened. If…If we are to find some way to come back together…I need time. I don't know how long, but I need to be able to define myself without you in my life.
"Because, if we ever got back together and someone had killed you—if not me—I don't know if I would be able to move on. That's why…that's why I think it's best to end things here…for now…until I can figure out who I am without you. I know it might be a lot to ask, but please, for both of our sakes, please give me some space."
Vincent nodded. "Of course." He could understand where she was coming from. He didn't like it, but he would respect her wishes; hell, he even knew she was lying partway but he chose to ignore it. "But, until then, I won't give up, Catherine. I will do whatever it takes to make things right after you consider seeing me again. I promise. Oh. And JT is definitely not off the hook for what he said to you. I'll be sure to that."
"It wouldn't matter," Catherine replied, "I'm not going back to the Guild again; not any time soon. I think it's best if I keep my distance in every way; I'm even going to take a sabbatical from work until I can figure things out. Who knows, I might even leave New York City for a while and visit my sister."
"Okay." Vincent muttered. He leaned his head against Catherine's and kissed her forehead softly. "Just know that if you need me, I'll be around." Without anything else to say, he turned away and jumped off of the fire escape and could feel his heart breaking as he heard her turn back to her bed and cry all over again.
~Beauty & the Beast~
Catherine didn't want to say goodbye or take a break from their relationship. She lied to him when she told him she had been thinking about all of those things while she was crying. The fact is, everything she said was spontaneous; she hadn't thought anything through at all. She would never tell Vincent the truth but the reason she asked for a break was more because of what JT said than anything. JT told her she was toxic to Vincent—and she knew, deep down, that he was right. She couldn't be the reason for Vincent's death; it would destroy her in more ways than if she ended everything at that moment. The pain of letting him go hurts worse than the pain of JT's words, but she knew it was what she had to do.
"Cat, your sou—what in the world?!" Tess walked in and saw Catherine face down on her bed and heard her sobbing into her pillow. She rushed over to her best friend and sat down on the bed and pulled her into her arms. "You're going to get through this, you hear me? Trust me on this; Vincent isn't worth your tears."
Catherine shook her head and rubbed her eyes to rid of her tears but more continued to fall. "I'm okay…I'll be fine."
"No you're not; you're heartbroken, Cat." Tess replied sympathetically. "I hate to be the one saying this but I think…I think you should start seeing a therapist again."
Catherine ripped herself away from Tess with shock, "You think I need to see a shrink?!"
"Cat, look at you! You've been crying for days and the fact that Vincent is never going to be a part of your life anymore is destroying you! You need professional help because, the way I see it, you're never going to be able to pull yourself together if you keep crying like this. I know I said it wasn't healthy keeping it all in, but it isn't healthy letting everything out either." Tess said as Catherine stood to her feet and walked away from her bed.
"I have had more therapy in my life to last a lifetime! I'm not going to go back and sit on a plastic-covered couch while I try to convince the world that I've fallen in love with a beast!" She grabbed a scrunchie and pulled her unkempt hair back. "First of all, no one would believe me and second, it's hard to spill my heart out when I can't even tell someone—a normal someone—about half the things that go on in my life!"
"Then talk to me, Cat! I may not be a shrink but I've been by your side through everything!" Tess snapped. "If you won't seek a shrink, at least talk to me—your best friend." Tess got off of the bed and walked over to Catherine. "Look, I know you might want to hold off on True ConTESSions, so I'll respect that but I'm here if you want to talk, okay?"
Catherine nodded. "I just…I need to be alone right now."
"Okay, I'll be in Heather's room for the night. There's no way I'm leaving you until I know you're emotionally and mentally okay. Just…go and take a nice bath like we originally planned and then eat the soup I had taken the time to make for you. Then tomorrow, you and I are going to take the day off and we are going to have a lot of anti-guy fun! I think a nice spa day is in order. How does that sound?"
Catherine wiped her eyes and gave her friend and empty smile. "Sounds…fun."
"Okay, I'm going to shut up now and you, Miss Smelly, are going to take a bath. Now!" Tess said as she dragged Catherine into the bathroom. "And if you're not out in ten minutes, naked or not, I'm going to check in on you."
Catherine nodded and watched as her best friend disappeared from her bedroom. She would do what Tess had ordered but she didn't know how any of it would ever heal her broken heart. She might be done with Vincent, but that won't ever change the fact that she still loved him.
~Beauty & the Beast~
Vincent stomped into the Gentlemen's Guild, and slammed his fists into the wall, making large dents into the bricks in the process. "JT, get your ass out here right now!"
It didn't take seconds for the professor to make an appearance. He hustled into the lounge and saw how angry and upset his best friend was. "I'm here, what is it?"
"Sit." Vincent commanded as he pointed to the couch. "Now."
"Okay! Okay!" JT threw his arms up in defense as he found his way to the couch. "I'm sorry, all right! I was drunk and pissed and I took everything out on Cat. I lied to you when I said I didn't remember the whole conversation; the fact is, I did, and I felt guilty for it. However, I still think it's best you two end things now."
"If it makes you any happier, we had a talk and we've decided to take a break. I don't know how long this break will be, but the moment she decides she's ready to let me back into her life, I'm not going to let you dictate my choices. Let's be clear on something: I know you want what's best for me and that you want to continue protecting me, and that's fine. But when it comes to Catherine, you don't make any calls for me. What happens between us is based on our own decisions—not yours and not anyone else's. Understand?"
JT nodded. "How is she?"
"Not well. Whatever you've said to her, JT, it really messed her up. She had been crying since you told her off; thankfully, Tess was there when I arrived so she's in good hands." Vincent replied angrily.
"D-does Tess know what I said to Cat?"
"No. Catherine wouldn't sell you out." Vincent said as he clasped his hands together and leaned forward on the couch. "Which begs the question: what did you say to her?"
JT sighed; he knew it was futile to try and lie to Vincent. "I might have said something along the lines of everything being her fault…and that everything always ended up being her fault."
"And?"
"And…" JT gulped, "I…I might have told her that she was the reason people abandon her in her life—and that she almost killed off the one guy who could have possibly ever loved her." JT winced when he saw Vincent stand up, pick up one of the lamps and smashed it against the wall. "Dude, I'm sorry all right! I was drunk and I wasn't thinking straight!"
Vincent was pissed. In seconds, he grabbed JT by the collar and the professor gulped audibly when he saw Vincent's eyes beginning to glow. "You are going to fix this, JT. I tried the best I could to tell Catherine that everything you had said to her was wrong, but you were right earlier—you went too far." He threw JT against the sofa and walked away to try and calm himself down. Then, he spun around and ran his fingers through his hair as he said, "How could you say those things!?"
"I don't know…I was mad all right! I was angry at her for shooting at you and making me almost lose my best friend! I was drinking and I let my anger get the best of me!" JT shouted as he stood up and grabbed his coat. "I'll go to her place and apologize all right?!"
"No." Vincent said suddenly, causing JT to stop moving.
"Come again?"
"I said no." he replied. "Catherine has cried too much for too long, and I don't want you to make her cry again. She needs time away from both of us and I promised her I would give her as much space as she needs. However, the moment she tells me she's ready to start over, you're going to give her one fat-assed apology, JT. You owe her that much." Before JT could say anything to apologize any further, Vincent ran off into his room and slammed the door.
Vincent was furious—he knew JT was trying to look after him but he didn't have to take things so far as to tell Catherine off in the way that he did. JT should have kept his mouth shut, and let Catherine be. She was already torn up about what had happened and he had made everything infinitely worse. Vincent slammed his fists into the wall beside his bed, and once again, he dented the wall. However, he didn't care.
As he took off his shirt, he groaned in pain. He removed his bandage and could see his almost-healed wound bleeding again. His body had gone through too much under a short period of time, and if he didn't find a way to calm himself down, he was going to regret it later. Vincent redressed his wound on both his front and his back, and then slid back into bed. He didn't think he would be able to ever sleep again, but for Catherine, he needed to try.
~Beauty & the Beast~
It had been three weeks since Vincent visited Catherine, and she was feeling a little bit better. Tess and Gabe forced her to take off work for the next few weeks and when Tess wasn't at work, she was with Catherine. "Hey, I know it's a bit sudden, but what do you say we take a vacation to Miami and see your sister? It's Christmas in a few weeks and you might not get another chance to see her until sometime next year. What do you say?" Tess said as she walked into Catherine's apartment. "Just say the word, and I can fetch us some tickets for the next flight to Miami."
"It's a nice gesture, Tess, but…" she looked towards her balcony, and then replied, "I don't know if it's such a good idea right now."
"Why not?"
Catherine shrugged. "I think…I think I should be here. My fath—I mean, former Agent Reynolds's trial is coming up soon, and I will need to prepare my statement." Catherine knew her father's trial wasn't for another month, but she just didn't want to go to Miami at the moment. Despite her efforts to forget about him, she couldn't and she wanted to stay as close as possible to him in case Muirfield…or some other group tries to hunt him down. "I'm planning on going back to work too. I can't afford another week of absence."
"Cat, your father's trial is in January and you get paid when you're on leave. Stop trying to make excuses." Tess replied as she opened up the fridge and pulled out a bottle of beer. "Come on! It'll be fun!"
"I'm just…I'm not in the mood for travel. And if I do go to Miami, I couldn't ask you to waste your time spending it with me when you have family coming in town for Christmas. It isn't fair to you, Tess." Catherine stated as she looked at her best friend from the couch. "Maybe another time."
"Okay…you're going to hate me, but I knew you were going to say no, so I kinda already booked a flight for the both of us. You can pay me back later, but the plane leaves tomorrow at ten in the morning." Tess pressed her lips together and walked over to Catherine.
"Tess! Why did you do that?!" Catherine jumped off of her couch and threw her hands outward.
"Because, you need to stop sulking around and take control of your life! The best way to do that is to get as far away from New York City and see what's out there in the world! Who knows, maybe while we're in Miami, you'll meet the one." Tess placed her hands on Catherine's shoulders and stuck out her bottom lip.
"I've already found the one, Tess. It's my fault that I pushed him away." Catherine said as she looked back over to the balcony.
"Okay, bad choice of words on my part, but pleeeeeease?! I desperately need a beastless vacation and what better way to do that than go to Miami with my best friend and visit her sister?! Besides, Heather already knows about it and she's thrilled that you're coming to see her." Tess smiled but Catherine didn't comply. "Pleeeeease?!"
Catherine sighed in defeat. "Fine." She frowned. "But I'm not going because I need a break from here; I'm going for my sister, and only my sister."
"I'll fly to that!" Tess smirked. "All right, I'm already packed and ready to go; now my mission is to help you pack and keep your mind off of Vincent."
"Not helping." Catherine replied instantly.
"Whatever." Tess rolled her eyes and pushed Catherine towards her bedroom. "Let's get you packed so we can get out of this Godforsaken city."
"Okay, fine, but before we go, I have some things to do." Catherine said but Tess paid no attention to her. She just started pulling out clothes so Catherine shook her head with disdain and went to fetch her luggage bag.
~Beauty & the Beast~
Catherine knew she had sworn to herself that she wouldn't go back to the Guild, but she had to see him again in case anything happened on her way to Miami. She never liked flying, and almost every time she did fly somewhere, she would say goodbye to her love ones just in case; Vincent was not an exception. Instead of walking inside, she placed a note inside their mailbox and addressed it to Vincent, hoping he would see it in time.
Tess had already gone back home and promised to pick her up at 8 AM in the morning so Catherine had the whole night to herself when she came back home from delivering her message. She had everything she needed packed and there was one thing left to do—say goodbye to Vincent. She finished dinner and took a shower by 7 PM, and decided to read one of her favorite books until Vincent would show up. She knew he would—he always did no matter what was going on between them.
When the clock struck 9 PM, she heard a knock on her window and knew instantly who it was. She opened up her fire escape window, and without asking permission, he immediately slipped inside and closed the window shut. "I got your message; is everything all right?"
"Yeah." She replied, frozen in her tracks. "Everything's fine."
"Oh. Okay." He said awkwardly. He bit his lip and then asked, "Did you need something?"
"Not really…"
"Oh."
"Yeah."
The two stood in silence for several awkward minutes before Vincent finally asked, "How are you?"
"I'm doing okay…. I'm not…great, but I'm getting there." Catherine faked a smile and took a small step backwards.
"That's good…"
"I guess."
"No, really Catherine. It is."
"If you say so." Catherine answered passively.
"Uh…if you didn't need anything and nothing seems wrong, why am I here?" Vincent questioned as he raised his eyebrow. Suddenly, he noticed her luggage piled next to her bed. "I see you're going somewhere..."
"Yeah, Miami. Last minute plans made by Tess…She thinks it would be good for me." Catherine laughed, but Vincent knew it was not filled with joy.
"She's right, you know. A break…from all of this…would be good for you. Miami will help you get your mind off of a lot of things. Plus, you'd get to see your sister so that's good." Vincent answered honestly.
"I guess you're right."
"Yeah." Vincent smiled lightly, but frowned when he saw a tear fall from Catherine's eye. "I know I'm not in any place to butt into your business, Catherine, but every feeling I have ever felt for you…I still have." He licked his lips, "What's wrong?"
She shook her head. "Nothing. I'm fine."
"You don't look fine."
"I'll be okay. It's just one week away from New York City…"
"Catherine, if you think you have to ask permission to go to Miam—"
"—No. That's not it." Catherine cut Vincent off. She paused and swallowed hard. "In truth? I'm not handling this—us—very well. I keep telling myself—and Tess—that I'm fine, but I'm not. I don't know if I will ever be all right. I keep trying to push you out of my mind, but I can't. And every time I look at the balcony or at the fire escape, it hurts because I'm surrounded by things that remind me of you."
"So…what? You want me to leave New York City? Will that make things easier?" Vincent wanted to do whatever he had to in order to see her smile again—even if that meant moving far away and never seeing her again.
"No, I couldn't ask that of you, Vincent. New York City is your home." She replied immediately as she unconsciously placed her hands on top of his forearms. "But I don't want to go to Miami…not any time soon."
"Why? Because of us?"
She nodded as more tears started to silently fall from her eyes, "I'm afraid that if I go to Miami, I may never want to come back to all of this pain that I am constantly feeling here." She paused and inhaled a deep breath, "As much as I keep telling myself I should move on," she shook her head, "I don't think I'm ready to let go of us yet."
"What are you saying?" he asked, confused. Is she trying to ask him back into her life? Or is she hinting something else.
She closed her eyes and tried to stop her tears from falling, "Vincent, if I go to Miami and find out that I love it there, I need…I need a good reason for me to come back here." She looked him in the eyes as her lip quivered. "I need to know if there can still be an us in the future."
Vincent finally understood what she was saying. "I want there to be." He bravely brushed his fingers through her hair and felt his heart leap when she closed her eyes to his touch. "The question is: do you?"
She slowly nodded and inhaled another deep breath as she tried to stifle her sobs. He suddenly pulled her into his arms, and for the first time in months, she cried against his chest. He held her tightly against him and waited until she had nothing left to cry; he didn't expect her to want to pick things back up right away, but if anything, this was a start.
After several minutes of crying, she finally calmed down but didn't move away from his strong arms. She missed every moment of his touch and wasn't ready to release him yet. She felt him kiss the top of her head a few times but she paid no mind. To her dismay, Vincent finally removed his arms around her and she instantly lost his warmth. "You should get some sleep; I assume you have to get up early?"
Catherine nodded and dabbed her fingers underneath her eyes as she inhaled deeply. "Yeah, I do."
He cupped her face and muttered, "I'll be here when you get back."
"I still need time, Vincent. But, when I get back, do you think we could at least become friends again?" Catherine desperately needed hope in order to restore her relationship with Vincent. She didn't want to start where they had left off, but if they could rekindle their friendship, maybe, in the future, they could build their relationship back up to where it used to be several months ago.
"Of course." Vincent nodded. He kissed her forehead like he did several weeks before and muttered goodbye. Before he left, however, he took her hand in his and unclenched her tensed fingers. Quietly, he placed a folded note into her palm and closed her fingers around it. "In case you need me or anything…"
"Thank you." she nodded and tightened her fingers around the tiny parchment of paper. She didn't have to ask what he had placed in her hand; she already knew.
"Always." He whispered before opening the fire escape window and jumping down to the streets. She watched as he disappeared into the night and wondered if she had made the right decision in seeing him again.
~Beauty & the Beast~
Keiko Fujiwara:
This intended to be a one-shot but because it is starting to become super long, I've decided to post this section now, and add to it tomorrow. It is a Christmas special so that's why I want to work on this one before I update For Her.
Please let me know what you think so far! :) I will try to get the ending done by tomorrow night, but if not, It will certainly be up by the 26th! :)