Hi there. Long time no talk. I have to tell you guys something. Something important. So, READ THIS. SERIOUSLY.

The files for this story got lost in my computer. I don't know how, and I was going to update for you guys, but I the files were completelylost. If you guys read my story Dance With Me, you would know that I looked everywhere in my computer for these chapters and they're nowhere to be found. :s So I have to rewrite each and every chapter. I'm really sorry, there will be slow updates on this story. I'm so truly sorry. I hope you guys understand. In all of the minimal free time I have, I will be writing for you guys, just to show my gratitude and how much I love you guys so much.

Well enough of that bad news, I have some good news! My friend, whose dream is also to be an author, got a card from her grandma, who's a caterer. My friend's grandma went to go to this author's party, and she actually met a lot of authors and publishers. There was this publisher there that gave my friend's grandma her card, and my friend can e-mail this publisher to edit her book, and if the publishing company likes her story, they'll publish it and make it a real book. SO, my friend gave me the information to the publisher so I can send in my stories to be edited and hopefully published as well. If you guys are interested in getting your stories transformed into books just PM me and I'll send you the information. So there's the good and bad news.

And somebody requested that I do Random Facts about me, so I will post them at the end of each chapter. Enjoy this chapter and remember, you guys mean SO much to me; I'm so blessed and lucky to have you guys, seriously. A lot of you guys make my day with your positive reviews. I'm glad you guys enjoy my stories.


Shoutouts-

Coogle100- Yeah, I know! They have to go all the way across the country. ROOOAD TRIP! Lol, thanks for reviewing, I appreciate it.

AJ Kenobi- Haha, I wasn't really feeling the amazement in the last chapter. x) And thanks for your positive feedback Lol, I'm glad you're a fan of my stories

Monkey D. Lyna- Really? From Texas? I really want to go there someday! I heard it's really hot though! :o

MariaLuvsYew- Haha, the pictures are up on my profile! And no problem! I don't remember reviewing, but if you say I did, I probably did! Thanks for reviewing!

Digidestend Angel and Izzy- Haha, thank you so much! I'll try my best to update frequently! Thanks for reviewing!

Guest- Aw thank you so much! I love you guys too! You guys are the reason why I'm continuing to write in the first place! I will keep writing as long as you guys want me to, even if my author career skyrockets soon! I will still write on here even if I'm a future author just to show how much I love you guys. Thanks for your review!

Mossdawn- Cat doesn't call the police because she's oblivious, no matter if she's acting or whatnot, she's always going to be oblivious to me no matter what; I think she's so much more adorable when she's part-lacking if you understand?.. Lol. And Cat just leaves her brother because if you put the pieces together, Cat didn't care at all. She just didn't want to live anymore because of her and Beck being split. I've felt like that before to be honest. Hope I answered your questions! Thanks for reviewing.

CubeFistMan- I agree, it is going to be good. ;) Hehe, and my twitter for my personal is karinapaige. :)

M.D.G1986- Thank you, and I'm glad you enjoy the story. :)


Sorry for the long intro, it's been a while since I talked to you guys and there was news that had to be said. This chapter is going to be a pretty long, because there's two days crammed in this chapter. Enjoy :)

Xoxo

-iCraveBat


Day One

I woke up in the springy and dusty bed, tangled in the sheets again as I heard Beck mumble. "Urrhgheg," He grunted.

I rolled my eyes and smiled, hitting him. "Beck, get up."

"I want pancakes with my syrup," He slurred, half-asleep, yet half-awake as well.

"We can't have pancakes. Get your butt up." I smacked his arm as he turned face down on the bed. "Beck! Wake up already! You're such a lazy butt face," I stated, then crossed my arms.

"I want two pancakes with a lot of syrup please," He slurred into his pillow.

"You're useless." I said, then went to the bathroom to freshen myself up. I attempted to run back to Beck, "Hi."

"What are you doing up? It's like ten in the morning," He grumbled.

"What are you doing not up?" Cat smiled. "It's a beautiful day, let's go somewhere!"

"Okay." Beck trudged out of bed and walked to the bathroom.

"Turn that frown upside down mister!"

"I'm tiiiiirreedd!" Beck complained.

"Stop complaining! What time did you go to sleep last night?" I placed one hand on my hip.

"Like three," Beck said from the bathroom.

"Why? That's so late!" I screamed.

"Because I was just thinking about some stuff,"

"Like what?"

"How much I love you,"

I smiled, and then caught myself, "Oh shut up." I scoffed and rolled my eyes, "Seriously, what were you thinking about?"

"Nothing, I don't want to put so much weight on your shoulders. Let me handle this," Beck came out of the bathroom, walked over to me and kissed my forehead.

"Okay," I bit my lip almost to the point it started bleeding.

"So are you hungry?" He sat on the bed. I sat on his lap and sighed.

"No, let's just go somewhere,"

"Where do you want to go?"

"Let's go-" I was interrupted by my phone. It was my little brother. "Beck, its Frankie." I frowned and answered with a choked voice, "Hello?"

"Cat! Cat! Please come home! I'm scared! Where are you? Where's mom?"

"Frankie, I need you to calm down for me. Please. I'll be home soon, I promise. Eight more days, and I'll be home. I promise."

"Okay..." He sobbed. "I miss you and mom."

When he said that, I almost broke into tears. I've never seen him in this state before. "I'll be home soon. I promise, call mom. If she doesn't answer, don't call the police yet. Wait until I get home to call the police." I choked on my tears.

"W-why?"

"Because if you do, they're going to come to the house and ask where your temporary guardian is; they're going to find out where I am and they're going to take you away to another family. Do you want to be taken away?" I asked sternly.

"N-no,"

"Please don't worry; I'll be home in no time. In the meantime, if mom doesn't answer, call our older brother. Okay?"

"But I don't like Henry. He creeps me out a lot," He sounded nervous.

"Then call Uncle Blaze. You have to trust me on this. Call me every day."

"Okay…"

I hung up and lay down on Beck's lap. "I'm such a terrible sister,"

"No you're not," He stroked my hair. "It's my fault."

"How?" I sat up and wiped my tears with my free arm.

"The day you left your brother was the day you decided to fly out here, because of me."

I stared at the floor and sniffled, "I was so upset; I just wanted to get away from it all. I didn't care that I just left my brother behind, all I cared about was myself." I began to cry again. "It's my fault that my mom could possibly be dead right now. It's my fault that I left my brother at home. It's my fault that I practically forced all of our friends to drive across the country to come and get us. It's my entire fault." I cried in Beck's lap silently.

"Shhh, baby girl. It's okay. Nobody hates you for what you did. You felt like you were doing what seemed right in the moment. Your brother is going to be fine. He has food, water, shelter, and it's basically a kid's dream to be home alone, right?" He smiled. "I promise your mom is going to be fine. No matter where she is. All my prayers go out to her. And if our friends didn't love us like I know they love us, they wouldn't be driving all the way across the country for us. Don't blame this all on yourself, okay? I take equal part in this; I should've just listened to you when you were trying to explain the whole Robbie situation. If I just listened then this would've never happened. It's okay Kitten. Everything's going to be okay. I promise." Beck's promising words always made me have at least some faith.

"Pinky swear?" I never, ever, stopped believing in the pinky swear, because I don't know if this was coincidence or not, but the pinky swear always worked for me.

"Pinky swear." Beck shook my small pinky with his. His pinky was like the size of my middle finger.


We arrived at a local duck park as I sat on the grass. I was wearing my sunflower sundress with a floppy hat and my favorite pair of aviator sunglasses. "Come sit." I pat the patch of grass next to me and motioned Beck to sit down next to me.

He smiled and walked his way over; crossing his legs awkwardly on the grass. "Why are we here?" He started picking at the grass.

"Because," I lay my head down on his shoulder. "It's so beautiful here. It reminds me of Daniel Park back at home." I frowned, but hid it by looking down at the grass and picking at it. "I miss Hollywood so much,"

"Me too Cat, me too. But we're in New York! Broadway! The Brooklyn Bridge! The World Trade Center! The Empire State Building! The Statue of Liberty! There are so many things out in this state, and we're pretty much neglecting it. While we're here, we pretty much shouldn't take it for granted."

"You're right," I admitted. "But don't you have to pay to go to those places?"

"So? Hakuna matata," He winked.

"Why didn't you say YOLO?" I smiled.

"Because YOLO is overrated; hakuna matata will never be replaced,"

"Oh my gosh! That's so true!" I giggled as my phone started going on a vibrating rampage. "Hello?"
"Hey Cat?"

"Who is speaking?"

"It's Tori! Don't you have caller ID?"

"Yes,"

"Oookay. Well we're right on the border of Utah and Colorado. Robbie needed to puke so we're at a quick pit stop."

"You didn't need to tell me that Robbie had motion sickness…"

"Sorry."

"Wait, you guys are already like in Colorado?" I asked surprised.

"Yeah, we were driving all day and all night, we want to get to you guys ASAP! At this rate, well, if Robbie decides to stop puking… Then we'll be there in about two or three days!" I heard her smiling over the phone. "Robbie! Don't put your dirty shirt on my lap!" I heard something smash over the phone.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah- Jade! Will you wait for Robbie to get in the car before you start driving? Oh my God, Jade stop! You made Robbie fall!"

I gasped, "Are you sure everything's fine?"

"Yeah, definitely. Don't worry, we're fine."

"Okay then,"

"So what have you- Jade! How could you just leave him on the sidewalk? Where's Andre? In the bathroom? Why are you just leaving them here? Ugh, sorry Cat, I gotta go. There's a lot kind of going on, call you when we're at our next pit stop in Missouri. Robbie, will you stop cry-"And after that she was cut off. I think she hung up; I didn't even want to know what was happening.

Beck asked, "Who was that?"

"Oh, it was just Tori. Apparently they're in Colorado already and Robbie had motion sickness. She's going to call back once they're in Missouri."

"They're already in Colorado?"
"That's what I said! They were driving all night and all day. I guess they pulled an all nighter,"

"I guess so," He shrugged. "You hungry?"

"No, I want to save our money when we're like starving," I smiled.

"That's smart," He nodded.

"I'm not all stupid! Most of the time!" I punched his arm. "Are you hungry?"

"A little,"

"Oh I know!"

"What?"

"You know how those people perform out in like, public for money? What if we do that?" My eyes widened.

He chuckled, "Go for it! I think you'd do amazing."
"What about you?" I pointed with my purple cast.

"I don't sing, Kitten. Just act," He shrugged.

"You sang that one time with Tori! And you sounded fantastic," I gushed and bit my lip.

He smiled and shook his head, "I only sang because I was forced to for that role. I'm not a singer,"

"You could at least try," I smiled. "Please please please please? Pretty please? I really like hearing you sing,"

"And I like hearing your angelic voice every day when I wake up in the morning," He smiled and gave me a quick peck on the lips.

"Let's start doing it!"

"When?"
"Now!" I got up and walked to a busy sidewalk. I placed my hat neatly on the ground and winked at Beck. I saw him salute and I began to sing.

But I don't care what they say

I'm in love with you

They try to pull me away but they don't know the truth

My heart's crippled by the vein that they keep on closing

I saw a man with a suit on standing in front of me, crossing his arms. He had black hair, neatly styled, a few wrinkles on his face, and he looked like a professional. I suddenly got nervous, but I hid the expressions on my face and kept singing.

You cut me open and I

Keep bleeding, keep keep bleeding love

I keep bleeding, I keep keep bleeding love

Keep bleeding, keep keep bleeding love

You cut me open

The man dropped a 100-dollar-bill in my floppy hat as I gasped, "That's a lot of money,"

"I'm aware." He sighed and said, "You have talent kid. I'm Mr. Evans, owner of a recording company. What's your name?" He had a thick English accent.

"Really?" I gasped. "My name's Cat. Short for Caterina Valentine,"

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen, I'm a sophomore at a performing arts high school in Hollywood,"

"Hollywood Arts? I've heard of it, there's a lot of good publicity on that school. What are you doing here in New York?"

"It's a long story." I placed my arm on my hip.

"And uh, how'd you get those uh…" He looked at me up and down. "Injuries?"

"That's another long story. Well, I got beat up by this robber guy," I explained.

"Shame. Who are you here with?" He looked around.

"My boyfriend," I pointed over to him and motioned him to come over here.

"That's likely."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I burst out.

"Most teenagers like you run away from home with their boyfriend,"

I bit my lip and looked at the ground awkwardly. Beck came over and broke the awkward silence, "What's going on?"

I explained, "Beck, this is Mr. Evans. He's the owner of a recording company. Mr. Evans, this is Beck, my boyfriend."

"He's handsome."

Beck chuckled, "Thanks, I've heard." He shook his hand firmly.

"I would like to sign your girlfriend to my company,"

I gasped, "W-what? Does that mean I have to stay here?"

"Yup. You'll live in New York for a while, maybe close to a year or two to get your career started. Then you can go back to Hollywood." He explained.

"W-what?" I nearly fainted. "I don't want to stay here. I want to go back home. I have a brother to take care of and a mother to find,"

"Excuse me, I have to take this call." He pressed a button on his Bluetooth and walked a couple feet away.

Beck walked in front of me, "Take the deal,"

"What? No! I want to go back to Hollywood and go to Hollywood Arts!"

"Cat, listen to me. This is a once in a lifetime chance, you have to take this opportunity. Hollywood Arts is just a school for kids to practice what they aspire to be, you want to be a singer, and this guy can make it come true."

"What about us?"

"I'll go back to Hollywood, you stay here. Big things can happen for you,"

"What? No, I want to be with you! Please stay here with me,"

"I can't baby girl. I have my job to get to, finish high school, and help pay the rent at my parent's house, all of that stuff. It's only for a few months. I'll let Frankie stay with me or Uncle Blaze. I'll find your mom."

"Beck, no. I want to be with you,"

"We are going to be together Cat. I promise you I'll call every hour of every day. I can't stand being away from you,"

"Then why are you trying to convince me to say yes?"
"Because I want you to live your dream,"

"I'm not going to live my dream happily if you aren't here with me!" I shrieked.

"Cat, everything's falling into place. It's only for a few months. Then you can come back home,"

"But I don't want to stay here alone! I need you,"

"I need you more than you need me. It's going to be devastating without you here, but I promise you that everything will be okay." Beck took my hands.

Mr. Evans walked over to us, "It's clear that you need more time to think. That's very understandable." He reached in his pocket and pulled out a card, "Call me when you have your answer,"

I nodded, speechless. I grabbed my floppy hat off the ground and pulled out the $100 and gave it to Beck. "This is the money he gave me."

"So now we have $112," He smiled, but I still had a frown on my face. "Don't worry about it Kitten. You'll be fine,"

"Promise?" I asked him.

"Pinky swear," He held out his pinky.


Day Two

I reached for my PearPhone, I had a lot of numbers to dial. First, I called Frankie.

"Hello?"
"Hey, Frankie, it's Cat."

"Seven more days!"
"Actually, it'll be two more days!"
"What? You said it would be eight more days yesterday!"
"Yeah, it's complicated."

"O-kay. So why are you calling?"

"I wanted to ask you some random questions,"

"Why?"

"Why can't I?"

"Touche,"

"Okay, so do you know Beck? Beck Oliver?"

"Yes,"

"Do you think you could stay with you for a few months?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"He's too laid back… What if I die or something? He probably wouldn't care,"

"That's not true!"

"Yes it is!"

"No it's not!"

"Yes it is!"

"No it's-" I caught myself and grinned out of annoyance. "You won't; I mean, wouldn't die!"

"You seem tense. Are you saying that I'm going to stay with Beck for a few months?"

I gulped. "No,"

"Liar."

"Well maybe! But you have to listen, something really important came up!"

"Yeah, way more important than me, huh?"

I heard a dial tone and threw my phone on the wall. I placed my hands on my face and groaned. Beck rubbed his eyes and asked me, "Hey, what's wrong?"
"Frankie hates me."

"Why do you say that?"
"He doesn't understand the whole: 'him staying with you for a few months'."

"Well does he know why you're not going to be home?"

"No, he hung up before I could tell him." I sighed.

"Well maybe if he knew, he would be happy for you."

"You didn't hear his tone of voice he was using with me. He only uses that tone when he's really mad. Like super mad; like the time I accidentally embarrassed him in front of the girl he liked, he wouldn't talk to me for months! I'm so screwed,"

"Cat, you're overreacting."

"Yeah, you're probably right…"

He rolled over on the bed so his back was facing me while I was sitting on the lounger. "Well good night,"

He mumbled, "Good night,"

I rolled my eyes and smiled. I punched in a few buttons so I could call Tori.

"Hello?"

"Hey Tori!"

"Hey Cat,"
"So where are you guys?"

"Kansas."
"Oh,"

"Yup. And I'm driving and everyone is snoring. It's really annoying actually,"

"I thought you didn't get your license yet?"

"So?"

"O-kay. Why is everyone sleeping?"
"Because it's six A.M.?"

"Oh. It's seven over here,"

"Oh, one hour difference?"

"I'm guessing,"

"Ooh! Punch buggy blue!"

I heard over the line, "OW!" I'm guessing it was Jade.

"Oops, I gotta go Cat. I'll call you around 7 P.M. tonight, that's probably when we're in Illinois,"

"But your next pit stop is in Missouri,"

"We changed the pit stop,"

"Oh. Call you later,"

"See you soon! OW! Jade! Bye Cat."

"Bye!"

I hung up, and the final call was to Mr. Evans.

"Mr. Evans' secretary,"

"Can I get a hold of Mr. Evans please?"

"Please hold,"

"Okay."

There was a tune playing for at least ten minutes, until I finally heard his accent. "Mr. Evans,"

"Hi, it's Cat. The girl you met yesterday on the sidewalk, singing,"
"Oh, yes! Cat! Have you decided what you want to do yet?"

I gulped. "Actually, yes."

"Well?"

"I can't take it."

"What do you mean?"
"I have high school to finish, and my brother to take care of. I have too much on my plate already,"

"This is a once in a lifetime chance Miss Valentine,"

"I'm aware of that."

"Well okay then. Something about you makes me iffy about things. I'll keep your number on a bulletin board. I'll keep one spot open in my schedule of renting the recording booths if you change your mind. Call me if you change your mind,"

"Okay." I gulped. I couldn't believe I was turning down a record deal. I've always wanted to be asked to be signed to a company, and I couldn't believe I was actually turning it down.


Beck and I decided to go out and eat for the first time we were here, and we decided to go to this Italian place, which makes you really feel like you're in Italy.

"This place is nice,"

"Yeah, I'll miss it," Beck smiled.

I frowned, "I have to tell you something,"

"What is it?"
"I called Mr. Evans today,"

"And? You told him that you accepted?"

"No,"
"Cat!"
"Whaty?" I asked innocently.

"What'd you tell him?"

"I turned him down because I said I had school to finish and my brother to take care of." I gulped as I saw Beck's smile disappear from his face and an angry look in his eyes. "But he said that he would keep my spot open if I changed my mind!"
"That's not the point,"

"Then what is?" He seemed angry.

"Why would you tell him that you don't want to do it? I thought we agreed that you were going to stay here. I want things to be happy for you!"

"Well how can I be happy if I'm alone here? I just wanted to be with you! I don't care what I work as, pop star or not, I just want to be with you! It doesn't matter about the record deal! I could care less! I just wanted what's best for us!"

"You mean what's best for you."

I choked on my tears, "So you don't like me being with you?"

"Of course I do baby girl! I just wanted to make sure that you had a great job. I wanted you to have the career you've wanted to have for a long time now! I am going to miss you too! But that's the whole point here: you have to make sacrifices for the ones you love."

I shook my head, "Why are you arguing with me? I just wanted to make things go back to normal! You don't know what it's like being in my place! I miss my friends, I miss my family, and I miss Hollywood! You think I like living here? I love it in Hollywood! I didn't want to come here for a record deal!"

"Then why'd you come here in the first place?" Beck raised his voice at me, in front of the whole restaurant.

"That's not fair!"

"How is it not fair? You came here! If you hadn't have come here in the first place then we wouldn't be in this mess! This is your fault!"

I looked at him with tears in my eyes. His eyes widened, "Oh my God."

"That's the meanest thing you've ever said to me!"

He tried to hug me, "I'm so sorry,"

I pushed him away with my one good arm, "No, just stop. Don't even try and talk to me anymore. Don't even apologize, because I won't accept it." I stormed out the restaurant and trudged my way home, depressed. Every five seconds I had to wipe several tears off my face.

When I got home, I lay on the bed, looking out the window. It was raining pretty hard. I heard to door open as I turned around. Beck. I rolled my eyes and turned back to the window.

"Cat? Are you still mad at me?" He said softly. "I'm so, so, so sorry for saying those words to you Cat. I shouldn't have said that,"

"Whatever. It doesn't matter anymore."

"Yes it does, to me."

"Just, stay out of my life Beck. Sure, for the next two days we're going to be living together, but when we get back home, don't even think about talking to me."

"Cat-"

"Don't." My phone started to ring. It was Tori. I stood up and walked inside the bathroom and locked the door. "Hey Tori,"

"Hi Cat. We're in Illinois, right now, it's raining pretty hard. We're going to stop driving for a couple hours, okay? We're all really tired and we need rest. We'll be there in three days. Promise!"

I sighed, "Okay. Good luck you guys,"

"Thanks for understanding. God! Jade's foot is in my face!"

"Thank you so much Tori. For just coming out to New York, crammed in a car, to come and get me and Beck."

"What are friends for?"

"Okay, thanks for informing me."

"Kay, I'm going to sleep now. Bye,"

"Bye,"

I walked out the bathroom as Beck asked from the bed, "Who was that?"

"Nobody." I rolled my eyes.

"Let's just, go to sleep." He rolled over the twin size bed and pat my regular spot.

"No. I'm sleeping on the lounger tonight,"

"Come on, Cat... Please, forgive me!"

"I meant what I said." I sat on the lounger and turned my back on Beck. This was going to be a long three days.


Eeeek! You guys! This took me FOREVER to write! Hope you guys like it, don't get so mad at me for splitting them again! D: I'll update as soon as I can!


Random Fact About iCraveBat: It kind of annoys me when other authors on FanFiction act like they're eight years old or something. I mean, come on. Please be more mature! :p

But there's only a few, and I haven't seen any of those people writing for Victorious. Mostly for other shows/books/movies/etc. So glad I found a fan base who don't act like little kids :)

xoxo

iCraveBat :)