Hello. :) This is another one I just posted on ao3 as well but why not share with more people? Thank you everyone in advance for commenting and liking if anyone does. Have fun reading. :)

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Jade is a heavy sleeper, so it has to ring quite a few times, before she finally picks up her phone.
"What?" Her voice sounds tired, but also hard in its usual way.
"Hi, Jade. It's me, Cat."
"I know."
Cat forgets for a minute what she actually is calling about. "How do you know?"
"I saw it on my phone before I picked it up," Jade answers, aggressively. "What do you want?"
"Oh, right," Cat says. "I am at your front door right know."
"I will kill you."
The line goes dead.
Cat still smiles because she knows that Jade doesn't mean it. And that, although she just said she would kill her and then hung up, she would come out.
And so she does. Cat sees the light turning on inside the house and then the front door opens.
Jade stands there in her pajamas, her hair a mess, without any make up on and a deadpan stare in her face.
"You can't keep doing this," she says in a dark tone but she still makes room and lets Cat in who goes right through to Jade's room.
Jade follows her, turns the lights off on their way and closes the doors.
Cat doesn't like Jade's room very much. It's much too dark for her taste but she has been here so often by now that she still feels a little like home.
She sits down on the bed and looks up to Jade innocently when she stops right in front of her and glares at her.
"Did you tell your parents you're coming over?" Jade asks.
Cat bites her lips. She knows that Jade won't like her answer but she of course has to give it. She tries a defensive tone: "How could I? They slept already!"
"I told you a thousand times," Jade says accusatory, "Leave at least a note."
Jade actually has told her that quite a few times.
Cat has done this kind of thing for a while now. Whenever she can't sleep, she shows up at Jade's doorstep. It started about a year ago when she watched that horror movie and was home alone and couldn't sleep. She was so sure the monster of that movie would come and eat her and she thought about who was actually able to protect her. And there was only Jade.
Jade could be very scary and Cat knew no monster or human would ever try to fight her. And even if... Jade would win because she was tough and took no shit.
Jade let her in that night, when she stood at her front door, shaking.
She always lets her in. Just like she always helps Cat with her clothes and make up and her look in general. The two of them really do groom each other like monkeys, although they have such different looks.
Jade also nearly always has a coloring book and crayons ready for Cat.
And she always listens if it's really, really important for Cat and noone else does listen.
She is also very honest which Cat likes even if she is sometimes scared of Jade as well (like every monster would be) or thinks of her as impolite. But she sometimes sees that her other friends aren't really listening as well or are annoyed by her and at least Jade always tells her. She considers that even as somewhat nice.
But where was she?
Jade picks up her phone right now and dials a number. Cat can hear her parent's answering machine after a few rings on the other end.
"Mr. and Mrs. Valentine, it's me, Jade. Cat is sleeping over at my house, so don't worry about her. We will come by in the morning to get her stuff before school. Bye."
She hangs up and throws her phone back on the bed next to Cat and then looks at her in that strict way that makes Cat feel kind of uncomfortable.
"You can't keep doing that," Jade says. "You can't keep coming over in the middle of the night on your bike in your pajamas."
Cat looks down on her hands. Jade has told her that quite a few times already as well. But...
"I couldn't sleep."
She feels Jade's glare for a while but then, the other girl picks up her phone again and puts it down on her nightstand. "Well... I won't stay awake with you. Get into bed."
Cat has to smile and hurries to push off her slippers, with which she rode her bike here, and to get under the blankets on one side of the bed.
Jade lies down next to her and turns off the light in her room.
"Don't you want to know why I couldn't sleep?" Cat asks.
Jade pushes in her pillow and turns her back to her while she answers: "I don't care. We have to get up in just a few hours. I can't go to school with big sleeping bags under my eyes, so go to sleep."
Cat has to giggle. "Isn't it weird that they are called sleeping bags? Like... They are not actually sleeping bags, right? Like those you use in tents and..."
"Cat!"
Cat bites her lip and falls silent. But she can't go to sleep. That was the whole point why she came here, right?
She looks around in the dark room. Her eyes are getting used to the darkness and she sees the dead butterflies Jade keeps in her room and... oh!
"You know... My brother once..."
She gets interrupted in a harsh tone: "One more word!"
She falls silent again and pulls Jade's blanket up to her nose. But she can't sleep. Or can she?
She suddenly realizes she doesn't even remember why she couldn't sleep tonight. What was she afraid of, not even an hour ago? Well... Whatever it has been... Noone can hurt her here. Jade will see to that.
Because she might act like she doesn't care but Cat knows she does. And if anyone wants to do anything bad to Cat, Jade will fight them off, fierce and tough as she is.
"Jade?"
"I'm not talking to you anymore."
"Thanks for keeping me safe."
Jade shifts slightly. The tone of her voice doesn't change but somehow it does: "Go to sleep, Cat."
Cat giggles and falls to sleep minutes later.