Disclaimer: Just no...

Blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda. The Victorious page is still full of shit. Lmao. Omg.

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Lost and Found

Chapter 4

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"Maybe you're imagining things," Andre told her the next day. They were in the diner, but Cat had called in sick again and Tori couldn't really say she was surprised. Everyone seemed to tip-toe around the subject of the small synthetic redhead and eagerly changed the topic whenever they could.

"But she knew my name; I never told her my name- I never even saw her before. Don't you think it's strange that-"

"It's a small town," Andre cut Tori off flatly, "everybody knows your dad is the DA of the police station. That's probably how she knew you." Andre brought his steaming mug of hot chocolate to his lips and watched Tori from the brim of the mug. She had dark circles under her eyes, her hair was sticking up at odd places and, one thing that Andre noticed the second she came into view, was that she wasn't wearing the blue ribbon. He was going to question her about it, but as soon as Tori saw him, she ran to his side and started blabbering about Cat.

Nobody really liked to talk about Cat, it wasn't because they didn't like her or anything but more because of her situation. Cat was unstable, to say the least, and she didn't need Tori snooping around and digging up her secrets. Andre let out a sigh and put his mug back down on the table. He considered both girls to be his dear friends and he refused to choose between the two.

"You didn't…" Tori pointed out and pushed the French toast around her plate with a fork. She hadn't even taken a bite out of her food. In a short month that they had been friends, Andre knew that Tori ate like a horse- she was always eating and even when full, never liked to waste food. Andre would crack a joke here or there about it, especially since she was so thin and never seemed to hang unto any of the fatty, sugary food she was eating. One time he saw her eyes darken and she rubbed her ribbon absent mindedly after one of his jokes. He knew it had something to do with the girl she was always dreaming about- Snow, as she liked to call her. After that, he never made another joke about her eating habits again.

"Come on, eat up." For that reason, he found it strange that she wasn't eating. He motioned to her plate and she reluctantly took a bite out of her French toast, faking a smile.

"I just can't help but think," she paused and swallowed, "that Cat's hiding something. Every time I ask about her, everyone freezes up and finds some excuse to leave." Andre sighed heavily, not wanting to continue the conversation any longer and eyes their surroundings wearily. Nobody was around to hear them speak; they were alone in the diner and Esperanza was in the back talking to the chefs about changing today's special from carrot soup to tomato soup.

"Listen Tori," Andre spoke somberly and his tone caused Tori took look up from her plate and narrow her eyes, Andre was usually never serious, "just leave it alone okay? You don't want to get Cat or anyone else in trouble."

"But-"

"Leave it."

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Tori rubbed her hands across her shoulders and mentally kicked herself for not remembering to bring a jacket. Remember how she said she wasn't a stalker? Well she certainly qualified as one now; Cat finally came back to work three days after Tori confronted her at the diner after her shift. Tori, with her wide charming smile, earnest eyes and sweet-pea cheekbones, had managed to sweet talk the old chef into telling her the hours Cat worked. The redhead had switched her hours from 6am- 2pm to 10pm-2am. Apparently the diner was one of those open 24 hours joints and Cat, even though she usually enjoyed tending to her regulars like Andre, had abruptly begged Esperanza to change her schedule and give her someone else's shift.

So now, it was 2:30am and Tori had been following Cat for more than fifteen minutes. Didn't Cat know it wasn't safe to walk around town at 2:30 in the morning? Apparently not, seeing as the girl skipped (not walked) and twirled a stand of her hair absentmindedly.

The streets were surprisingly empty. Tori never went out much, but her sister Trina went out every single night, so Tori assumed that there would be a massive crowd of drunkies and loud partyers loitering in the streets at this hour. Barren roads and dull streetlights greeted her instead. A chilly breeze tickled her skin and made her nose watery, making Tori sniffle softly. She was in a jeans and t-shirt and freezing her butt off, but Cat, in nothing more than a skirt and tank top, hopping happily down the street like a hyper five year old.

Tori didn't even know why she was trying so hard to be stealthy; it wasn't like Cat was going to turn around and catch her anyway. The redhead was so caught up in her own world that she paid no attention to her surroundings. Tori wondered how people could let Cat parade around the town streets like this; it wasn't safe. This was LA, nobody was safe here.

As a citizen, Tori believed it was her duty to follow Cat and make sure she arrived home safely. Someone could have been following her (well, someone other than Tori) and Tori was just trying to look out for the smaller girl. That was her excuse if anyone ever caught her.

Cat had stopped humming and pulled out a bunch of keys all joined together by a single keychain of a pink elephant. Tori hid behind Cat's neighbour's hedge and prayed Cat wouldn't turn around.

It was no wonder Cat and Andre made such good friends, they never stopped humming, did they?

When Cat closed her front door and Tori heard the lock go into place, Tori stepped out from behind the hedge and made her way up to the narrow front steps of Cat's house. They were still in the city, so all the houses were only a few feet away from each other, and while they were tall, they were often narrow. Cat's house was a simple red house- Tori snorted; she should have seen that one coming. There was nothing out of the ordinary, there were a few rose bushes around the side and a tall oak tree, but that was it.

The Latina raised her hand, ready to knock on the door when she heard voices. Instead, she pressed her ear against the door and hoped nobody would drive down the street and see what she was doing; it wasn't like she could hide or anything. She was in plain sight; bird's eye view and all that jazz.

"How was your day?" A voice asked. Everything was so muffled; Tori licked her lips and closed her eyes, trying to focus on the sound.

"It was fine." She heard Cat's high pitched voice squeak.

"Any accidents?"

"Nope."

"Interesting…" Normally, Tori wasn't one to judge, but there was something so harsh about the voice; so cold and indifferent that made her want to kick the door open, run inside, grab Cat up in her arms and give her the world's biggest hug she could. Something she kind of wished Trina would always do but never did. Something she knew Snow wished her mom would do and something someone needed to do for Cat. "Well I got a call from the diner today…"

"D-did you?" Tori didn't miss the way Cat stuttered.

"You're been talking about this Tori person again, haven't you?"

"No, I wasn't. She was real; I saw her-" A resounding slap echoed and Tori covered her mouth to prevent herself from crying out. That however, did nothing to stop the tears the sprung to her eyes.

"Liar," the voice hissed and Tori felt the tears rushing down her cheeks on hearing Cat's whimper. "What did I tell you about lying?"

I'm real.

I'm Tori and I'm real.

That was what Tori wanted to scream; she wanted to shout it just so she could prove to this woman, who Tori desperately hoped wasn't Cat's mother, that Cat wasn't lying. She couldn't imagine why Cat would be getting into trouble for mentioning her. Something stopped her though; Tori always had too much self-control. She wasn't Snow, she couldn't just knock on the door and confront the woman. Wouldn't it seem suspicious? How was she supposed to explain how she knew the woman had slapped Cat? How was she supposed to explain why she was at their doorstep? How was she supposed to explain why she was on the other side of town; more than 40 minutes away from her house?

She bit her bottom lip, letting the metallic substance flood into her mouth, wincing as she brought a hand to her bleeding lip. Her throat burned with accusation and she felt like she would burst any second. Andre's pleading eyes resurfaced in her mind and Tori stiffened. Her hand hovered over the knocker on the door and after hearing a loud thump; she dashed off Cat's front steps and ran as fast as her legs could take her, her silhouette disappearing from under the streetlights.

Her nose was running and she gulped deep breaths of the icy, early morning air. The sound of the slap resonated through her ears, followed by Cat's feeble whimper.

Sure, when she was younger she got a smack or two, but didn't everybody?

What happened to Cat was another story completely. Was this why nobody wanted to talk about her, because she was being hurt?

That didn't explain why Cat knew her name or why that woman insisted that Tori Vega was a lie; that she didn't exist. There was something Tori was missing; something important and if she wanted to help Cat, she would have to find out what it was.

It wasn't really a decision to help Cat or not, because Tori knew that she had to; there was no other option. There was no reason she couldn't help her.

She owed it to Cat.

Because she was Tori Vega, and she was real.

Tori stood under the streetlamp, rubbing her eyes and sniffling pitifully. A loud laugh made her snap her head at drunkie running down the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street, her dark hair flying behind her. Tori quickly glanced at her watched, fixed her hair and cleared her throat meekly before stalking off in the opposite direction of the drunken girl, down the street. She waved at a taxi she saw up ahead but frowned when the driver gave her an apologetic shake of his head and pointed to the drunkie, still running down the street.

Rolling her eyes, Tori took off in a run.

All she wanted to do was find Snow, to help her, to change her back into the little girl Tori saw in her dreams. And now, she not only had to find Snow, but she had to find the boy Andre was always dreaming about too. But before she could do either, she had to help Cat. God, she didn't even know Cat's last name.

Before, everything used to be black and white. Yes or no. Colouring inside the line or out.

Tori ignored the way her chest heaved up and down, the wind that stung her eyes, springing more tears and the thorns piercing her stomach.

Now, she felt like she had stepped into one of those mystery novels her mom left lying around the house.

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From the second storey of Cat's house, a curtain was drawn back, and a silhouette of a small girl could be seen. Cat had her hand to her cheek mournfully; fat tears were streaming down her wide eyes, and her synthetic, red hair was out of its usual pony tail. Her white shirt from her waitress uniform was out of her skirt and her lips quivered. She saw the figures running down the street and wished she could do just that; run.

Not like Tori, but like the unknown girl, running in the dark. The wind brought the girl's hearty laugh into Cat's bedroom and something like envy flashed through her. She winced as the taxi-driver slowed behind the girl and yelled something at the girl; her mother never liked when people yelled or raised their voice. The two people down her street would only anger her mother more, and Cat knew she would have to be on her toes for the next few days. She supposed she should have been angry with them, with her mother; but she wasn't. If anything, she bore a worn smile; if she couldn't experience happiness, at least other people could. She averted her gaze, turned her head, and squinted her eyes to get a last look at Tori's retreating figure.

She sighed heavily and removed her hand from her cheek to twirl her hair around her index finger, nervously. Cat fought back a bitter smile.

"They said you weren't real, Tori." Cat whispered before shutting her window and turning off her lamp. "They said you weren't real," Cat whispered into the darkness.

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Thanks for the reviews guys. One reviewer said s/he knows exactly what's going to happen, so if they could do me a favor and let me know, I'll be fine. I'm just short of starting chapter 7 and I'm like "blaaah". I appreciate all the reviews and I hope I don't have to keep on threatening to delete his chiz for them, because that's kind of...yeah. You guys know the drill, check out lowlaury and LeleD2010's fics.

Do point out any of my numerous typos. I don't beta any of these things because I'm a lazy mofo. Thank my GGG lowlaury for this because...yeah, you were going to get this next weekend.

If you have anything you want to see/any situation/interactions, just lemme know bbz, I'm all ears; fingers at ready.

Only one person sorta guessed Cat's situation. Lmao. Good eye that one.

REVIEW MEH. K. Bye.