Author's Note: This is my Valentine's present for you. I'm sorry it's rushed and not very good and rather sad, but Happy Valentine's Day! I love you all, and thank you so much for reading my fanfics and supporting me in my writing.
Disclaimer: I definitely don't own Victorious.
Between the screams and crashes, a small childlike voice calls out in desperation, a strand of bright red hair peeking out from underneath the bed.
"I'm under my bed, I'm under my bed, I'm under my bed!" she calls out, her wide brown eyes blinking shut and she searched within her mind for her happy place. "Mouse!" Moments later, her brother Mouse was in her room, hurrying to join her under the bed. He wraps his younger sister protectively in his arms, singing soft tunes and telling her she's beautiful, the sound of their parents' fighting echoing in the background as they both drift off into an uncomfortable sleep on the carpeting under Cat's bed.
x
She's not a little girl anymore, not really. She's almost seventeen and yet she refuses to grow up; she refuses to acknowledge the scary adult things about this world, because it is the scary adult things that made her family the way it is, it is the scary adult things that make her parents fight with each other. So at school she pretends that those things do not exist; she pretends to be bubbly and perfect.
Cat remembers vividly the fight that Beck and Jade had in the closet that day, and how it reminded her of her parents' fights back at home, and how she had tried to convince herself that she was under the bed, safe and sound with her brother's arms around her. But she wasn't, and that was why she had panicked, fainted.
Beck and Jade broke up later that same day, and Cat remembers how angry and emotionless Beck looked, and how sad and barren Jade looked the next day at school. This made Cat realize that even though they had been unhappy together, they didn't really seem to be any happier apart. She wondered then what would happen if her parents broke up, if they'd be just as unhappy apart as they were together. She wondered if her father would move away and take Mouse with him, while she stayed with her mother, or perhaps the other way around. She wondered if she'd never see her brother again if that happened, wondered if she'd be forced to face her mother's lonely silence alone for years to come. She doesn't think she'd be able to survive without Mouse, because she loves him more than anything else, loves the way he caresses her hair and sings to her and makes her feel like a little girl again, makes her feel safe. She doesn't think she can live without the sound of his voice. She doesn't think anyone else understands the connection she has with her brother. She doesn't think anyone else understands him the way she does.
x
A week passes, and Jade starts to go back to her old self, bitter and outspoken, no longer quite as barren and silent. She is quick to insult Robbie this morning, acknowledging Cat with a nod as she falls into the seat next to the little redhead. Cat squeals, delighted to see Jade back to normal, and leans over to give the goth girl a hug. She is surprised when Jade doesn't protest, but instead pulls her closer still, enveloping Cat in a hug that is soft and peaceful and reminds her of the safety she feels when wrapped in her brother's arms.
She puts her mouth to Jade's ear as they are about to pull away and whispers, "Jadey, I'm broken too," and doesn't dare make eye contact with her as she retreats back into her seat.