Disclaimer: I don't own Beauty and the Beast
A/N: This story is a bit OOC. When I got the idea for this story, I was in a very sad mood; I like writing strong female characters (and I usually do), but for this story to work out, I had to portray Cat as weaker than I think she is. Please bear and open mind in reading. Thanks!
Every Sad Song Gone Wrong
Cat's POV
The rain fell as I stood at Mom's headstone in the cemetery. It was dark, and so I wasn't surprised when I saw Vincent off to my right as he approached me. I could feel the unease roiling off of him, but at this point, I didn't care. I knew what he was going to say and at this point, I was too numb.
He was silent for a long time. I sure as hell wasn't going to start talking. If he was so very set on this, then he could start this dreaded conversation.
The rain continued to fall. It was soaking through my coat. I wonder if his super senses could tell which water was a raindrop and which was a tear. Not that I cared.
He shuffled a bit before he spoke. "Hey, Cat. There's, um, something I need to talk to you about…"
I said I wasn't going to start. Didn't mean I wasn't going to finish. "Don't. I heard what you and J.T. were talking about. Can't say I'm surprised, really…" I sighed and looked up at the sky, hoping that would help stop my crying. No luck. I looked back at mom's headstone.
"Cat, you don't understand –"
"I understand, quite perfectly," I snapped. "Obviously, I'm too much for you to handle: I get into too much trouble, practically getting you killed too many times to count…" I closed my eyes. "You want to go, go. Obviously I can't hold you here. I'm not going to stop you anymore."
"Cat, don't –"
"Just, go!" I snapped.
He walked away soon after that. I made sure he was long gone before I let my knees buckle.
CVCVC
I don't remember how I got back home. I do know that I was sopping wet. I walked into my apartment and took off my shoes.
"Cat! Where have you been?" Heather called as she walked out of her room. I turned towards to her walk into my room, eyes downcast. "Cat, are you alright?"
"I don't want to talk about it," I mumbled as I walked past her. I closed and locked my door. Taking a deep breath, I turned and walked towards the window. I didn't lean out of it, and I didn't look out of it. I focused on the floor as I walked towards the window. I didn't look as my hands reached up and pulled the window down. And as I clicked the lock on it, something inside of me broke just a little more. I drew the blinds and closed the drapes. When I finally looked up I drew a deep breath and a few tears fell. I knew that if he really wanted to, he could still get in, but I knew he wouldn't.
Heather knocked on the door. "Cat? Please, tell me what's wrong. What's going on?"
I walked over to the door and cracked it open a bit. "Heather, I really don't want to talk about it, alright? I know you're worried, but," I sighed, "I just… I just can't…" I couldn't stop the tears for cascading down. I fell to the floor.
"Oh, Cat…" Heather wrapped her arms around my shoulders and rocked me. She mumbled things that I didn't pay attention to; my heart hurt too much. I just cried as she rocked me.
At some point she turned on the shower and helped me get undressed.
"Take a nice hot shower, I'll bring you something to drink," she said as she closed the bathroom door.
I stood under the hot spray for a while to gain back the feeling in my body before I went through the motions of washing off the grime. After a few minutes, Heather knocked on the door.
"Cat? You still in there?"
"No, Heather, I flew to the moon," I replied somewhat sarcastically as I shut off the shower and proceeded to dry off. Good to know that my humor hadn't completely left me.
"Ha, ha, very funny. I'm going to leave this tea on your night stand, okay?"
After I put on my robe, I opened the door. "Thanks, Heather." I took the cup from her.
"No problem," she said. "I'm going to go to bed, alright? If you need anything, let me know, okay? Promise?"
I smiled. "I promise. Sleep well." I hugged her. "Love you, Heather."
She hugged me back. "Love you too, sis."
After we pulled apart, she walked into her bedroom and closed the door. I walked out and sat on the couch to finish my tea. Around 2:30, or so, I decided to go to bed.
Didn't sleep a wink.
CVCVC
I walked into the precinct and prayed for a busy day. As I approached my desk, Tess walked right up to me.
"Hey, you alright? Heather called me this morning. She sounded really worried," I looked at her, wondering where to start. "And you look like shit… Wait, don't tell me," She sat down and leaned close to whisper: "Does this have to do with Vincent? Did something happen to him? Did – "
"No, Muirfield did not get him," I sighed. "Essentially, he broke up with me… he's left town… I get into too much trouble…" My heart panged at the thought of never seeing him again. Oh great, I can't cry now.
"That little…" Tess looked like she was going to hit someone. "Alright, you and me, girl's night. My place. Crappy movies and crappier alcohol. No exceptions."
I smiled. "If you say so."
"Good."
Just then, Joe leaned out of his office door. "Chandler, Vargas! We have a case! Get moving!"
We both grumbled about bossy bosses as we readied to leave.
CVCVC
Tess's POV
I couldn't believe it. For all the talking he did, I couldn't believe Vincent would leave her.
But the bastard did. And if I ever find him, genetic experiment or no, he was so going to wish he never met me.
Cat stayed home today. I backed up her story that she caught the flu. She should probably be here to keep busy, but she needs at least one day to herself. Especially after last night.
She told me what happen. How she had gotten off early from work and was going to surprise Vincent by stopping by early. However, she managed to sneak up on them – somehow – and overheard him and J.T. talking about Vincent getting out of town and leaving Cat behind. For whatever reason, Vincent was adamant about leaving Cat.
And breaking her heart in the process.
I'm so going to kill him the next time I see him.
I looked at my watch and noticed it was time for my lunch break. I grabbed my coat and keys and walked out of the precinct. There was a nice little taco stand about a block from here and tacos sounded delicious.
I was about 20 feet from the stand when I heard someone calling my name.
"Tess! Tess, wait!" I turned around and groaned. That J.T. guy was heading my way. As far as I'm concerned, he was going to die, too.
I did stop and wait for him before I said: "Look. I know what happened and I'm not terribly happy with you or beast boy. In fact, I have half a mind to shoot you both until you resemble Swiss cheese."
He panted before he spoke. "Look, I understand where you're coming from. Believe it or not, I like Cat; I don't want to see either of them hurt. But Vincent has it in his mind, again, that he needs to stay away from all of us. I don't know what has him so spooked, I really don't. But," he took a deep breath, "I'm worried about Cat. She fell for him, and hard. It doesn't take a scientist to see that. I'm afraid that this… separation… that it's more than a broken heart."
I studied him skeptically. "Alright… so, what do you want to do about it?"
He fumbled in his coat pocket before he held out a small piece of paper. "Here are both of our new numbers. Vincent destroyed his old phone. Believe it or not, he still cares for her. If you have any reason to believe she's in danger, especially to herself, please call one of us."
I looked at the piece of paper and took it. "I still want to use you two for target practice."
He smiled, "I know. I don't blame you," he hesitated, and then said, "please keep an eye on her; she's the best thing that has ever happened to Vincent, even if he doesn't know it yet… See ya." And he walked off.
I hope he was wrong.
CVCVC
Narrator's POV
As time went on, Cat's spirit diminished. She threw herself more into her work than ever before. She slept less and ate less; for a while, her and Tess's partnership had the highest turnover rate.
Until they investigated a suicide where a woman OD'd on vicodin and sleeping pills.
Tess watched her closely. She noticed Cat pulling away. She noticed Cat's exhaustion.
And she noticed when Cat started coming in to work hung-over on a regular basis.
Then, one day, Cat didn't show up at all.
That's when she called.
CVCVC
Tess's POV
I had had enough. I've tried talking to her, Heather's tried talking to her, hell even J.T. tried, once (he ended up with a broken nose).
She was late and I had a bad feeling.
I grabbed my coat and keys and went to Joe's office.
"Joe, I'm leaving."
He looked up. "Wait, where are you going?"
"Cat's not in. I'm going to find her," I turned to leave.
"Wait, Vargas, you can't just leave!"
"Look," I said as I turned to face him again. "I don't know if you've noticed, but she's not exactly been herself lately and I'm not just worried, I'm scared. She has never been this far off the rail and I'm not losing my best friend; not like this. You want to stop me, you'll have to fire me." We stared each other down, before he looked down and went back to his work.
"Let her know that if she doesn't turn around, I'll put her on desk duty for a month."
I smiled as I turned and practically ran out of the precinct.
When I got to her apartment, I banged on her door before I fumbled with my spare. "Heather! It's Tess! Is Cat there?"
As soon as I opened the door, I saw Heather rush out from her bedroom in a robe.
"Tess! What is going on?"
I started moving through the apartment, looking for Cat. "Is Cat here? Did she leave? Where did she go?"
"What? Tess, Cat said she was going to work," she must have just woken up because the pieces started to fall in to place. "Wait, if you're here, then Cat isn't…"
I stopped in front of her. "Listen, did Cat come home last night?"
"Well, yeah, she did… I heard her get up this morning too. She said she was going in to work early… You don't think…" I knew what she was thinking and I didn't need two freaked out Chandlers running around.
I grabbed her shoulders and told her as confidently as I could: "I'm sure Cat's fine. I'm probably freaking out for nothing. What I need you to do is keep your phone on you and if you hear from her let me know. Okay?"
"Uh-huh, okay," She started sniffling.
"Heather, Heather look at me," she made eye-contact. "She's going to be fine, alright? She probably just went for a run. Don't freak out yet, okay?"
"Okay," She started to pull herself together.
"I'm going to go now. You go get ready for work." She nodded and wandered off to the bedroom as I bolted out of the apartment.
A few hours later…
Where the hell could she be?!
Okay, Vargas, calm down. She has to be somewhere…
I have been searching for Cat all over the city… It's my job to find people and I can't even find my own partner, what's wrong with that?!
I checked our usual bars and restaurants. I ran through all of her normal jogging trails. I stopped by her mom's grave in the cemetery. I even went to that old chemical plant… she was nowhere!
My phone rang.
"Vargas."
"Tess," Heather sniffed, "Tess, I think I found something."
"What is it Heather?"
"Well, remember when Cat got shot a while back? Well she had a bottle of vicodin, and you know how Cat hates to take pills… the bottle is gone… along with my bottle of sleep aids… I also found a receipt for a few large bottles of Jack…"
My heart fell. I heard Heather rambling incoherently; I had to calm her down.
"Heather! Listen to me: she's going to be fine," I took a deep breath and lied. "I know where she is; it's a ways from here, but I'm going to go get her. She knows I'm on my way."
"Oh, thank god! You'll let me know when you find her?"
"I will. But I'm going to hang up now so I can focus on driving, okay? Alright, bye, Heather."
I hung up and dialed the one number I hoped I wouldn't have to.
"Hello?"
"You lowlife, no good, son-of-a-bitch! Do you have any idea what you've done?!" I can't cry. I can't cry. I won't.
"Tess? Tess, how did you get this number?"
"You bastard! Because of you, I can't find Cat anywhere in this god-forsaken city!"
"Tess, what's going on? Where's Cat? Is she okay?"
"No, she's not okay! I have been searching for her all morning and Heather says there are bottles of sleep aids and vicodin missing along with a receipt for the purchase of a few rather large bottles of whiskey."
"… have you checked the cemetery?" I could hear the panic starting to creep in. Served the asshole right.
"Vincent, I have been all over this city twice over! She won't answer her phone and I can't find her anywhere!" I took a breath. "If she dies, I'm going to make you wish you'd died in those tunnels."
"Did you check that abandoned farm building? The one where she and Gabe were shot at?"
"I haven't, but I don't think I can get there in time. Traffic is really bad and she's already been missing for over three hours…" Not Cat. Please, God, don't let her do it.
He cussed before he replied. "I'll find her. Just, sit tight okay? I'm leaving now." Click.
"Goddamn asshole," I said as the tears fell. I dialed J.T.'s number; might as well let him know what's going on.
CVCVC
Vincent's POV
I kept replaying Tess's call in my head but I still couldn't believe it. Just thinking about finding Cat dead… Crap, can't think about that. I've got to focus on getting to her in time.
I ran as fast as I could towards her. I feared what I was going to find. I didn't think Cat would take it this far.
I thought about what J.T. had been telling me. Since I left her, J.T. had been keeping tabs on her through Tess. He said it was getting bad, but I never thought she would go this far…
If I wasn't so afraid of finding her dead, I'd have been pissed. Fortunately, making sure she was safe was more important.
I don't know how long it took me to get there – too long – but as soon as I reached the property, I stopped and yelled her name.
"Cat! Cat, where are you?! Catherine!" I picked up her scent and followed it. Sure enough, she was sitting in front of her mother's headstone. "Catherine!" I ran towards her.
I don't think I've ever seen her so… small. She was sitting on the ground, one leg curled under her, the other propped in front of her. One arm was wrapped around the propped leg and held a bottle of pills. The other was hold one bottle of Jack. I noticed an empty one sitting not too far away, but the third one was still unopened.
I was a couple of yards away when she turned to face me. I froze when I saw the emptiness in her eyes. Fuck.
CVCVC
Cat's POV
I don't know how long I sat there. Truth be told, I don't really remember how I got here. I do remember buying the whiskey. But, sure enough, I heard Vincent's voice about halfway into the second bottle. I never took myself for a lightweight.
My heart panged at the thought that I would never see him again, but the hurt was too much. After everything I've been through, I just couldn't take it. I may be strong, but I wasn't that strong.
I took a drink of whiskey and looked at the bottle of pills. I kept hearing Vincent's voice. Real or not, it didn't matter; whatever was left of me was gone. I was so tired… so sleepy… I just wanted to sleep.
I finally turned to see if Vincent really was there. Sure enough, I saw him. Wasn't really sure he was real, but I did see him.
He stopped when I looked at him. I was really confused. I could tell he was worried – he was always concerned with my being safe, healthy, and alive – but I didn't understand the fear in his eyes. Maybe he was worried about not fulfilling his self-proclaimed duty of protecting me.
Either way, I turned back to my mom's headstone and took another drink. Eventually, Vincent made his way towards me and wrapped me in a hug.
He held me close as he whispered into my hair. "I'm sorry, Cat. I'm so, so sorry." He was shaking. I wondered if he was crying too.
I let the tears fall. After a while I whispered. "I loved you, you know. It didn't matter to me how 'safe' I might have been. I never wanted to be without you; never."
He pulled away and faced me towards him. "Cat, this isn't the way." He reached for the bottle. "Give me the bottle, Cat. Give me the pills."
Anger welled inside of me. "How dare you?!" I pushed him away and stood up. "How dare you come here and tell me what to do?! After everything we've been through, you get scared and run! Like a coward!" I wiped my wet hair out of my eyes. I didn't know it had started raining. "You have no right to tell me what to do! No right! Do you hear me?! When you left, you took my heart with you, you son of a bitch! You took it, and you broke it and destroyed it into a billion little pieces!" I threw the whiskey bottle in his direction, though I'm not surprised it went off to his left. "You son of a bitch!" I yelled as he moved towards me and wrapped his arms around me. I yelled and tried to move out of his hold, but he just held tighter, so I swung at him. I hit him anywhere I could, but he never let go.
"You son of a bitch!" I yelled as the tears fell and the rain poured. "I loved you! I loved you more than anything on earth!" I kept hitting him. "I loved you so fucking much! And you threw it all away! Why?!" I hit him once more and looked up at him. "Tell me why, goddammit! Why did you break my heart like this?!" I didn't wait for his answer before I let my entire body fall into his and I just cried. Screw dignity, I was hurting.
CVCVC
Vincent's POV
All I could smell on her, besides her emotions, was alcohol as I held her and I thanked God that she hadn't taken any of the pills.
I was also glad she had stopped hitting me, though I deserved so much more. I just held her as she cried, so thankful that she was alive and in my arms again.
I missed her. Yes, I really did. I don't know why I put us through this. I didn't think she would hurt this much…
I really fucked up.
As her sobs subsided to sniffles I loosened my arms. She shivered and I realized just how soaked she was. Shit.
"Cat? Cat, where are your keys?"
"In my coat pocket," she sniffed. She tried to get them out of her coat, but said. "I can't get them; I can't feel my fingers."
Crap. "Okay," I said, running my hands down her arms. "I'm going to give you my coat, okay? And you're going to give me yours." She nodded and fumbled to get her jacket off as I shrugged mine off. She shivered as I wrapped mine around her and took her coat. Quickly, I found the keys. I held them and her jacket in one arm as I wrapped the other around her shoulders.
I walked us to the car and got her settled inside before I went to the driver's side and turned on the car. I turned the heat on full blast.
"Give me your hands, Cat." She held them up for me and I did my best to warm them.
When the car was warm enough and Cat and stopped shivering, I started driving us back to town. She was asleep in no time, so I called Tess.
"Tess? It's me. I've got her. I'm bringing her back to her apartment."
CVCVC
The drive took almost as long as the run – not really, but it felt that way. As soon as I parked her car, I picked her up and carried her to her room by fire escape. As I reached her window, I noticed Tess waiting for us, so I handed her to Tess before I stepped inside.
"She has to get out of those clothes and in to something warm."
Tess stayed silent. She undressed Cat as I pulled out some of the warmest clothes I knew she owned. Once cat was finally settled with a glass of water and aspirin on the nightstand, I turned towards Tess.
If looks could kill, I'd be 6 feet under.
"Tess, I know you're pissed –"
"The understatement of the century," she mumbled. Then she stomped up to me and poked me in the chest as she spoke. "Look, you jerk. I don't know what Cat sees in you. All I know is that I don't want to see anything like this ever again. So you better get it out of your head that you staying away from her is best, alright? Or, so help me god, I will hand cuff you to her."
To say the least, I was shocked. "Um… what?"
She sighed and backed off a bit. "Look, ever since she met you, I've never seen Cat so happy. And when you left her, well, obviously…" she motioned towards Cat's bed. "I know you love her. And I know she loves you. I don't know why you're being so stupid about this."
I was so confused. "So… you're not…"
"Pissed? Oh I'm beyond pissed. If I could, I'd make you Swiss cheese right this minute. Unfortunately, that would be signing Cat's death certificate. So this whole 'stay-away-from-Cat-to-protect-her-thing?' Yeah, it's got to stop, like, last year. You got it?"
I stared at her and nodded. "Yeah, I understand." I looked at Cat sleeping. "Do you think… she'll ever, I don't know… forgive me?" I looked at Tess.
She sighed and calmed down a bit more. "Honestly, not for a damn long time. But, Cat's not one to hold a grudge for forever… Cat truly loved you… I don't think that's ever going to change… but you'll definitely have to make up for it."
I relaxed at that. At least it wasn't hopeless…
"Okay," she said, "I'm going to go back to work. You are going to stay right here and give me an update every now and then."
"Wait, what about Heather?"
Tess crossed her arms. "She knows enough; enough to not be a complete bitch, but enough to keep her safe. For the record, she's not very happy with you either, though she trusts you a bit knowing that you saved Cat once or twice. Ciao." And she left.
I stood there for a while taking comfort in the simple sounds and smells: her regular, deep breathing, the steady beat of her heart, and the warm sugar-vanilla scent that was entirely Catherine. Once I had comforted myself that she was indeed still alive, I pulled a chair next to her bed.
At some point, I heard Heather come home. I did my best to stay calm, but I was nervous, seeing her again. I didn't want to get kicked out, not yet at least.
She came to stay in the doorway and leaned against it with her arms crossed in front of her. I tried to stay as unthreatening and apologetic as I could. Thankfully, she spoke first.
"Tess called me. She said that you found Cat in the middle of nowhere completely drunk… but," she sighed, "that you found her before she had taken any pills… I suppose I should thank you for the fact that the only think Cat will have to deal with is a massive hangover…" She glared at me. "However, if you hadn't been such an ass in the first place, she wouldn't even be in this mess. If Tess hadn't convinced me that you being here is better than not, for Cat's sake, I'd have called the police and had you arrested."
I just looked at her, not sure what to say.
"Tess also explained to me that you have issues, not necessarily illegal, but that you keep them secret because you have, like, major trust issues. Just for the record, I trust Tess, not you. But if you ever hurt my sister again, I'll make you wish you'd never been born."
"She's really lucky to have you as her sister." I looked over to Cat. "There is nothing I can say, nothing I want to say, to even try and excuse what I've just put your sister through… But both you and she deserve some sort of explanation… I got scared. Everything was so… perfect," I looked at Heather, "I haven't felt so good in so long, Heather… it was too good," I looked back at Cat.
"I was afraid I was going to lose her… not to a guy, but some… way that I couldn't control… something that would have been my fault and I… I got scared… I had had a nightmare about losing her," I closed my eyes, remembering that horrible dream, "I couldn't… I can't lose her… I just…" A tear rolled down my cheek.
I opened my eyes to watch Cat again and whispered: "I love her too much…" I looked back at Heather, suddenly needing her to understand, just a little bit. "She's the best thing to ever happen to me… I won't let anything like this happen ever again."
She brushed away a tear or two before she spoke next. "Well, Vincent… I think you have a lot of making up to do… but I've seen how my sister acts because of you being in her life, so… if you need anything, I'll do what I can." We held eye contact for a bit as I nodded once.
"Thanks, Heather. That's more than I deserve."
She cracked a smile. "You're damn right it is. I'm going to bed. Let me know if something happens."
"Will do."
She nodded, then turned and walked out, closing the door behind her.
Two down, one to go. God help me that I didn't just lose the best thing of my life.
CVCVC
I groaned as I came back to consciousness. God, did my head hurt. I opened my eyes, just a bit, but they soon opened of their own accord because I couldn't believe what I saw.
"Vincent…" he shifted in the chair he was sitting in and his eyes darted to mine before dropping, slightly. "Vincent, what… what are you doing here? Oh, my head." I placed my hand on my forehead as it was really starting to pound. "What the hell did I do?"
I heard him stand up and grab something from my nightstand. "You should probably take this; you went through a bottle and a half of Jack. Here," he handed me the two pills and glass of water which I gratefully took after I sat up in bed.
He sat back down in the chair as I finished my water. I set the cup on the nightstand and stared at my hands that were in my lap.
"Why are you here?" I said. I couldn't look at him and I sure as hell wasn't going to cry.
He fidgeted before he answered. "Well, Tess called and she sounded worried… she couldn't find you anywhere and she knew you took some pills and –"
"So you weren't watching me… you really did stay away…" I sighed. Deep breaths, Cat, don't cry.
He stilled. "No… I… no, I wasn't watching you. I couldn't handle it. I can watch you only for so long before I have to see you again and I couldn't… not after…"
"Not after what?!" I snapped as I finally looked at him. I was too pissed to care, but I did notice the hurt, worry, and the hope still in his eyes. "Muirfield hasn't been overtly active; you haven't had a particularly bad episode! Not after what, Vincent?!" I looked around, anywhere but him. "I loved you, so much! I'd have done anything for you! If you were so adamant about it, I would leave; if I really, truly had to choose between leaving and being with you, and staying and being without you, I'd leave. Goddammit, Vincent! Don't you know how much I love you?!" I fell against my headboard and covered my eyes as I cried.
He came over and sat on my bed before pulling me into his arms. I was too tired, too hurt, to care, and so I just cried on him. After I calmed down, he started talking.
"You know, these past few months I've spent with you have been the best in my entire life… and that's why I left you," he pulled away to cradle my face. His thumb wiped away the tear tracks as he spoke. "I god scared. God, Catherine, the time I've spent with you has been so amazing… I didn't think I'd have anything remotely close to what we've got… and I got scared. Yes, the big bad 'manimal' got scared. Cat it was so good… too good. And then I had a nightmare…"
"What? This is all because of some nightmare?" I looked at him in disbelief.
He looked away, "Yeah, it was… it was just a stupid nightmare where Muirfield caught you and did horrible things and I couldn't, I couldn't do anything Cat! God," he rubbed his hand over his face and looked at me. I ached at the desperation and pure fear I saw. He pulled me back towards him and held me really close.
"I couldn't lose you… I can't… when you overheard me and J.T., I was freaking out… believe it or not, he was trying to calm me down, trying to convince me to just talk to you," he placed his hand on my head and petted me. "But… whatever you heard really upset you and when you told me to go at the cemetery, I thought you just needed your space… that you would come back…" he sighed deeply. "But you never did… but I kept waiting… and I'd still be waiting if Tess hadn't called me this morning worried about you."
He pulled away again and held my face in his hands, forcing me to look him in the eye. "Don't ever do that again. Promise me, Cat."
"Vincent… I can't…"
"No! Promise me, Cat."
I pulled away, suddenly angry. "I can't."
"Why not?! Goddammit, Cat! Don't make me shadow your every move."
"And what, leave me in the dark?! You're not the only one who has felt these past months have been amazing! Vincent, I don't want to live without you. If I can't live with you, I don't want to live, at all."
He visibly shrank… or relaxed, I couldn't tell. "Fine… okay. I won't leave."
Um… what the hell?
I shook my head. "Look, Vincent, I don't want you to stay just to keep me alive. It's my life and if you don't want to be a part of it –"
He shook his head, a smile on his face, and looked at me; the hope in his eyes was stronger, but I didn't want to believe in the love or happiness shining through as well. "You don't get it, do you? This time we've been apart, it's been killing me just as much as it has been killing you." He sighed and held my hands. "I know I have a lot to make up for –"
"Understatement."
His lips twitched before he smiled and looked up at me and said: "But I don't want to be away from you any more than you want to be away from me. I love you, Cat, so very much. And I am so, so, sorry I didn't come see you sooner."
My heart lifted and a small smile crossed my face. "I love you, too."
We shared a kiss before I snuggled back into him. Then I said, "So… about making this up to me…"
"Yeah?" he looked down at me.
"My head really hurts… I mean really hurts… but coffee would make it better."
He smiled. "Yeah? Well, should I go make you some?"
I smiled deviously, "Hm… you know, I'm really in the mood for a Caramel Macchiato from this cute little coffee shop… down at the corner of 10th avenue and Mulberry…"
His smile dropped a bit as he thought about it. "That's all the way across town…"
"Yeah? So? You've got super-speed; you can get there by 4."
The smile fell as he looked at his watch. "… It's 3.45… they close at 4?"
"Yep, they close earlier on Tuesdays."
He sighed and then looked at me seriously. "If I go, you'll be right here, right? You won't leave, you won't go anywhere, you won't take any pills, do something stupid –"
I smiled softly. "I won't try to kill myself again. I will be right here, in this room, as healthy as when you left me. I promise."
He smiled, "good." And kissed me.
And it was a nice kiss, too, except… "Hey, Vincent?"
"Mm… Yeah?"
I pulled away. "Coffee."
"Oh… shit… right… I'll be right back!" and he was out the window (which he must have unlocked at some point).
Now where did I put that cute set from Victoria's Secret? I can at least tease him with it if he doesn't bring me my coffee…