Sam tiptoed down the hallway and- expertly balancing the plate of bacon in her left hand- pushed the door to Cat's room open, slowly. The door didn't make a sound; Sam Puckett had certain talents.

Cat and Jade were fast asleep on opposite sides of the bed, red hair swirling into black, and for a moment Sam's heart caught in her throat. It wasn't Cat and Jade she was thinking of, though.

It was July in Los Angeles, but she could almost smell the Seattle rain, could almost see her mother's eyes, soft for once, following Melanie out the door.

Sam swallowed. For so long, her home had been with Carly and Freddie- but now Carly was gone, and her chaotic relationship with Freddie, and her webshow (she'd lived for that stupid thing)- and Sam had been stranded again.

In L.A., she was happy, and she'd felt needed for the first time in her life. Until now.

She shut the door as she chewed on a piece of bacon. This was stupid. Cat had known Jade for years before she met Sam. Of course she had gone to her for help. And did Sam, always the stray, really expect to find a home here?

She rolled her eyes at herself and smiled. She might not have a real home, but she did have a motorcycle. And hey, there had to be something fun to do in L.A.

Andre Harris was going to conquer this bunny.

Eventually.

Once he got the courage to get on the stupid jank thing.

"Alright there, bro?" Beck sidled over, barely suppressing his smirk.

"Shut up."

"Just remember that it could be worse-"

"I know Cat did it!"

"I was going to say that at least Jade isn't around to yell 'Hammer Time!' at you."

"You didn't make fun of Tori when she had issues! And I got past the Balls of Pain."

"Eh, wouldn't have been as fun."

"Eh? Really? You're so Canadian."

"I try."

Andre rolled his eyes, just as he noticed a flash of blonde curls. Was that- it couldn't be- "Hey, Sam!" He was about to find out.

Sam turned, brow furrowed. "Andre?" She started to walk over.

"Cat's roommate," Andre nodded to Beck by way of explanation.

"Ah."

Sam punched Andre in the arm as a greeting. "Dude, what are you doing here? This place isn't for eight-year-olds!"

Andre winced, rubbing his arm and glaring at Beck, who was snickering softly. He turned back to Sam, trying to play it cool. "Yeah, we like to hang out here. Me and Beck."

"Oh! So you're Jade's boyfriend." Sam gave Beck a once-over. "No wonder she's so protective."

Andre gave a little cough as Beck ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "We're. Not. Dating."

Sam grinned. "Oh yeah, Cat told me."

She looked at Andre. "So, does he say 'eh' a lot?"

They all laughed, which earned them more than a few dirty looks from the Gorilla Club crowd, obviously irritated by the taint to their street cred.

Cat looked up from the picture she was coloring with Jackie, a quiet seven-year-old who had taken to her right away. "Thanks for understanding, Robbie."

"Hey it's totally fine! I don't have an issue with babysitting."

Rex interrupted, "Well I do! We were gonna go to the mall! Now the only girls around are little kids or Miss Crazy over here."

Cat gasped. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Cat, he didn't mean it-"

"Speak for yourself!" Rex snorted.

Jackie paused in her coloring. "Cat, why is the puppet talking?"

Cat glared at Rex. "Because he doesn't know how to shut up!"

"He really doesn't," Robbie shrugged apologetically.

Jackie accepted this as a reasonable explanation and she and Cat resumed their coloring until-"Cat, you can't color the tiger pink."

"Why not?"

Jackie sighed before continuing patiently. "Because, tigers are orange and black."

Cat laughed. "This is obviously pink, not orange and black! You are so cute." She ruffled Jackie's hair before walking over to Robbie, leaving the poor girl awfully confused.

Robbie, meanwhile, had turned on the television. Cat squealed at his choice of show. "Ohmygod, you're watching Celebrities Underwater! I love it!"

"It's a classic," Rex agreed. "The junk food of television."

Cat froze. "Hey... Maybe you should watch something else."

"Why?" Robbie asked. "This is great!"

"Just... Because!" Cat giggled nervously.

"Cat, come on!"

"Sam says I can't play shows like this while babysitting."

"Oh," Robbie said. There was a beat. "Maybe we should hang out when you actually have room in your schedule. You know, outside of babysitting and Sam."

"Robbie..."

"It's fine. Hey, maybe I can show Jackie how to hambone!"

Jackie eyed him warily from her table.

Sam sidled over to where Cat sat on the couch. "Doing homework? Loser," she joked.

"Don't be mean."

Sam rolled her eyes and smiled at Cat. "I didn't mean that."

Cat cheered up. "Why don't you do homework with me?"

"Yeah... How about no."

"Come on! I'm not good at school, either. Just art and math. Oh! I could get Tori to tutor both of us! Or... I mean... Maybe not." She looked down.

"Hey, Cat..."

"Yeah?"

"What's wrong? C'mon, you can tell Mama Puckett."

"It's nothing," Cat mumbled. "I'm not sad. Don't I look happy?" She buried her face in her hands.

"Cat, why don't you trust me?"

Cat looked up, eyes wide. "Of course I do! I just... I don't want you to think I'm a freak."

"What do you m-"

"I'm bipolar. And, there are other things wrong with me, too. The doctors always got tired of trying to figure out what, so they stopped."

Sam stared as Cat continued. "I'm just all wrong and I can't be fixed and my parents are so disappointed but they're busy with my brother, and, and..."

Sam grabbed Cat's hand, stroked her palm in a desperate attempt to calm her down. "Cat! There is nothing wrong with you. Okay? I don't care what some bonehead doctor says."

Cat smiled weakly. "You're the first person who's ever thought that."

"Not even Jade?"

Cat shook her head innocently. "Jade says that I'm screwed up... And she likes me that way." There was a moment of awkward silence before Cat's eyes lit up.

"Oh my gosh, I need to give you a pajelehoocho!"

"Cat... never change."

Author's Note:

Thank you so much to XxLoverOfLovexX, Cat Valentine and Mr. Purple, Jakarie, Sylkia Whacamolia, Tanya-Lee, glitterbows3, and DoIHaveTo for the reviews! They really mean a lot. I tried to incorporate all your suggestions and I hope you (and any new readers) are pleased with this chapter!

Headcanon: Cat's good at math. I had to put it in here.

By the way: I decided to be an evil fanfic writer this chapter and omit certain events. Don't worry, the next chapter will feature quite a bit of Jade!