So, chapter updates are going to get slower since I have exams coming up. I also have a lot of papers do. While I love you all for reading and reviewing my stories, school comes first. But, feel free to leave reviews telling me about what you think of this chapter.

I've notice, in searching for chapter titles, I listen to weird music. Oh well!

So at the bottom of the chapter, I put Tori's date counter. Let me point this out: I hate Tori's character with a passion, but unfortunately, she's becoming a key part to this story. Therefore, I have to put her weeks in here, too. It also helps me manage the time frames.

Just a heads up: not a lot happens in this chapter. I had a great idea for this chapter, but in order to end it where I originally wanted to end it, I would have to do a major time jump, which I don't want to do. So instead, you get a glimpse at Jade's court date. The ending that I was going to write for this chapter will be put in the next Cat-centric chapter. In the next chapter, you'll see more about the court date and what really happened. I didn't want to put too much of it in this chapter because it would be wayyy longer than 8 pages and I don't want to do that to you guys. So, the court date will be the main focus of chapter 15.

At this point, it looks like there are going to be nineteen or twenty chapters in total, so get as many reviews in as you can!

Love,

Skye

"Chapter 14 – Disloyal Order of Water Buffalo"

"Fell outta bed, butterfly bandage, but don't worry, you'll never remember; your head is far too blurry. Put him in the back of a squad car; restrain that man. He needs his head put through a cat scan. Hey doctor, I'm certifiable. I'm a loose bolt of a complete machine. What a match, I'm half doomed and you're semi sweet." – Fall Out Boy

For the next three days, Beck and Cat made their home in Jade's house. He had moved all of Cat's things and even moved in some of his things. The night the girls were released from the hospital, Beck had gone to the local home improvement store and bought a new lock for Jade's door, installing it himself the same night. Finally, the three of them moved Liam's bed into Jade's room—most of the work done by Beck—and Jade helped Cat make up the bed. Cat was happy with the giant bed and quickly fell asleep on it, curling up against a large pregnancy pillow she'd gotten before she told her mom about what happened.

And for the next three days, the three of them lived happily together because Jade's father hadn't bother coming home and Liam was locked tightly away in jail. There was no way he was getting out and that helped everyone sleep better at night.

~*Doc, there's a hole where something was*~

Three days later.

Cat was reluctant about going back to school because of the scars on her wrist, and she was ultimately glad no one could see the scar on her stomach. But she knew people would talk about her, and the thought of people talking about her made her upset. She made sure she didn't let Jade see her cry, because she knew Jade would be talked about, too. Jade was stronger, and Cat knew that, but Cat also knew that words cut Jade, too, even if she didn't show it as often.

Cat worried about Jade more than she worried about herself. It wasn't easy to miss the scrapes on Jade's face… But lucky for Jade, they weren't deep enough to be permanent and makeup could cover them up for the most part. Cat could wear bracelets or ribbons on her wrist, but those things made her itchy and made too much noise; they would draw more attention than she wanted and people would know for sure what she'd done to her wrists.

Beck, Cat, and Jade walked side by side into Hollywood Arts, Beck's arm draped protectively around Jade's shoulders and Cat's hand desperately clinging to Jade's. Cat's fake smile that she had plastered on her face as she sat in Beck's truck on the way to school had now melted away into a frightened downturn. Her eyes darted back and forth as students began to look at the three of them. One girl turned to her friend and Cat could hear her whispers, even if she couldn't make out the words.

More whispers floated to Cat's ears and she heard a few people snickering as well. Her eyes began to water and she took in a deep breath. Her muscles tensed and her fingers tightened around Jade's. Her legs shook slightly, itching to run away. She wanted to run to the bathroom, but people could still go in there and she would have to come out at some point. Maybe she could run to Beck's truck and hide in there until school was over. Then he could take her back to Jade's house where she'd stay until she had her baby. And maybe when she had her baby, her mom would see how beautiful her granddaughter is and take both of them back. Then they could move far away from Hollywood, taking Beck and Jade with them, so Cat wouldn't have to be so scared anymore.

As Cat began to turn toward the front entrance, Jade spoke.

"What are you all looking at?" she sneered. People froze as fear overcame them. "Stop looking at us!" she screamed. A few girls shrieked at the venom in her voice and everyone turned away from the three peculiar students, trying to go back to what they were talking about before in case the scary girl was listening.

Jade nudged Beck slightly and she walked with him and Cat to their first classes. Cat's muscles had calmed down and she could feel she was able to breathe again. She wasn't scared anymore because she knew Jade would take care of her. She would make the mean people go away.

"Who do you think you are?" a girl's voice called out, making sure everyone in the hallway heard her.

Jade snapped around to see a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl grimacing at her with her arms crossed. She stood at 5'10", much taller than the average girl. She had a lean build, lean enough to be the captain of Hollywood Arts' girls' lacrosse team. Jade knew this girl, and she had hated this pitiful excuse for a human being since they were in middle school. This girl, Mackenzie Day, always had something to prove and always wanted to do it by showing Jade up.

"Excuse me?" Jade hissed, her eyes filling with angered disbelief.

"You heard me," Mackenzie spat. "Who do you think you are, telling an entire school what to do? Where do you get off trying to make other people terrified of you so you won't be ashamed of what you did?"

Jade tossed her head back with a sharp, mocking laugh and shrugged out of Beck's grasp, subsequently releasing Cat's hand. "And just what did I do that I have to be so ashamed about?" Jade inquired.

Mackenzie smirked and stood a bit straighter. "You slept with your brother and got pregnant," she accused. Collective gasps filled the hallway and everyone backed at least a step away from the scene, but circled around the girls and Beck.

"You have no idea what you're talking about," Jade stated, glaring daggers.

"Oh, I think I do," Mackenzie denied. "We all know you're messed up in the head, Jade, so it would make sense that you slept with him." Her eyes looked to Cat and her smirk grew wider before her eyes returned to Jade. "You just couldn't get enough incest and you got pregnant as a result. When your brother found out, he didn't want you anymore and started playing with Cat. You got so jealous that he was into your friend that you sent him to jail, pretending he beat you."

Without hesitation, Jade lunged for the foolish girl, her fist raised high. Luckily, Beck was there to hold her back this time. "Jade, no!" he pleaded.

"Let me go!" she screamed. "Let me go!" She thrashed in Beck's arms, but he held her tightly, careful of her stomach.

"Jade!" Principal Helen boomed. Jade stopped thrashing, but Beck still held her. She breathed heavily, the adrenaline of her anger still coursing through her veins. Principal Helen turned to Mackenzie, who was pretending to be terrified of Jade and relieved that the principal was here to save her.

"She was going to hit me, Principal Helen!" Mackenzie cried, forced tears spilling down her face.

"And I don't blame her," Helen announced. Mackenzie gasped and stepped back. "I heard everything you said to her," Helen continued. "You verbally attacked her, spreading false accusations of an issue you know nothing about. You wanted to get a rise out of Jade, and you wanted to hurt her." The principal crossed her arms. "I have a very strict policy about bullying at this school. In my office, now."

"But, Principal Helen—"

"Now!"

Mackenzie shrieked and scuttled down the hall into Principal Helen's office. Wordlessly, Helen followed her and the throng of students dispersed. And when Jade finally calmed down, Beck released her. She turned back to speak to Cat, but the redhead was nowhere in sight.

~*Doc, there's a hole where something was*~

When Mackenzie attacked her, Cat felt sick to her stomach. The thought of Jade's brother being inside her, being the father of her baby, was utterly revolting. She felt bad that Jade had to go through that, and she would probably kill herself it happened to her.

Mackenzie had no right to say those things. How could she be so mean and hurtful? Mackenzie and Jade had been enemies for years, so Cat understood Mackenzie's assault on Jade. But Cat had never done anything to her. Why did she have to say those awful things?

When Jade had lunged for Mackenzie, everyone had shifted their attention to Jade, many of them hoping she would break free of Beck's grasp and beat the crap out of that stupid girl. In the flurry of the almost fight, Cat was able to escape. As soon as she got the opportunity, Cat darted past the curious onlookers and ran to the girl's bathroom.

Once in the bathroom, Cat rushed to the toilet and the wonderful breakfast Beck made for her and Jade went down the drain. The sound of her retching brought tears to her eyes; she thought she was over her morning sickness. Why did creating such a beautiful life have to hurt so much?

When Cat had emptied her stomach and flushed the toilet, she noticed hints of blood lingering on the toilet seat. Frantically, she grabbed some toilet paper and wiped at her mouth. When she pulled it away, she saw tiny dabs of blood.

Everything's okay, Cat assured herself. I'm okay, we're okay, nothing's wrong…

She quickly flushed the toilet paper and went to the sinks. She quickly turned on the water and splashed her face, desperately trying to get rid of the blood that could have been around her mouth. And when she dried her face with a scratchy paper towel, she looked at herself in the mirror.

The girl looking back at her was a stranger to Cat. Her hair still had red tints, but the roots and a lot more places were browning; she read that pregnant women aren't supposed to dye their hair, so she told herself she wouldn't do it. She wore her hair in a ponytail, so the red and brown blended together. Overall, though, her hair was a little oily even though she'd washed it that very morning. She didn't wear any makeup, but that didn't make a big difference. There was a ghost of a smile on her face, but her lips just wouldn't curl up. Her skin was 'glowing' with sweat, and no matter what she did, she couldn't stop sweating. The girl in the mirror wasn't the happy Cat everyone knew, and Cat was terrified.

The bathroom door opened and Tori stepped inside. She had a very tiny baby bump, but no one would see it under the loose shirt she wore. She still looked like regular Tori, and Cat envied that. Then again, Tori was only twelve weeks pregnant.

"Cat?" Tori whispered, a worried look etched into her face. "Are you okay?"

Cat laughed softly as she turned back to the mirror. "I don't know what that word means anymore," she replied honestly. She grabbed a paper towel and wiped off her face. "Hopefully things will be better when I have my baby…"

Tori beamed brightly. "I'm glad you brought the baby up," she announced. "I was gonna wait until lunch, but you look like you could use some cheering up."

"I guess," Cat announced with a shrug. A small smile broke out. "I like cheering up."

"I know you do," Tori agreed as she bounced on her heels. She placed her hands on Cat's shoulders. "I talked to my parents, and they're gonna let me throw you and Jade a baby shower!"

Cat gasped in excitement. "Really?" she exclaimed.

"Really!" Tori assured her. "It was easy to assure my dad because of everything that's been happening. My mom's really excited, too."

Cat smiled brightly. "I can't wait!" She gasped loudly. "Maybe Robbie will be awake by then and he can come, too!"

Tori's grin fell. "Maybe…" she whispered, her eyes looking away.

~*Doc, there's a hole where something was*~

The thought of Robbie coming to her baby shower kept Cat feeling happy for the rest of the morning. Potentially, he could wake up at any minute and she would run into his arms. She would be happy with him and he would love her and her daughter. They wouldn't have to worry about anything and life would be blissful.

When she was sitting in her second period class, however, the bliss melted away.

Her phone, the one she'd had before she smashed hers against Tori's wall, vibrated in her pocket. It was uglier than her other one and was an awkward little rectangular shape. When she was in the hospital and close to being released, she called her phone company to switch back to her old phone; her mother taught her how to do it in case Cat messed up her phone like her brother did on a regular basis. She was tempted to break this one after her mother called her and, after looking at this text message, realized she should have.

Danny's name flashed slightly on her phone and Cat held her breath.

Cat, can we talk?

Her hand shot to her stomach and her breath came out in a staggering sob. After what he said to her, after what he did, he wanted to talk to her. And what would he say? He'd already told her he didn't want to be with her, that he didn't want to raise their baby together. Maybe he wanted to know what she was having. Maybe…he wanted to take the baby from her because his mom wanted it.

"Cat?" her teacher, Ms. Freeman, called. "Are you okay?" All the other students turned back to the little redhead and Cat shrank in her seat, clinging to her phone under her desk. Their eyes burned holes into her from all sides, waiting for her answer.

"Cat?" Ms. Freeman called again.

The pressure was too much. She wouldn't be able to lie to them. She felt like if she opened her mouth again, she would start sobbing uncontrollably. So she did the only thing she could think of: she ran.

She jumped from her seat and ran out the door, leaving all her belongings behind as Ms. Freeman called after her. No one followed her, so that's good. The bathroom was closer, but she didn't want to go back there. People would assume she was going there, and she didn't want them to find her. So she would run to the place she wanted to go earlier.

But before she could make it to Beck's truck, Cat ran to the nearest trash can and threw up. She found that the morning sickness was worse when she was upset. Lately, she'd been having terrible morning sickness. On top of that, her little bundle of joy wanted to kick and rumble around in her tummy, making the nausea worse.

When she regained her composure, Cat walked out to Beck's truck, clinging to herself tightly.

~*Doc, there's a hole where something was*~

Cat set up camp in the back of Beck's truck, lying across the backseat and playing music on her phone without the headphones. Now that her baby started kicking, she would flutter around like a butterfly; she would flutter so hard that Cat thought the little girl would fly right out of Cat's stomach. But when Cat played music, her little girl would settle down and she'd be able to sit peacefully. It was weird to her to have something moving around inside her, but she liked it a little; she could only handle it a little at a time, though.

Now, with her phone on her stomach playing a soft song from a Canadian band Beck introduced her to, her daughter moved slightly, as if reaching out to her mother's music player. Cat smiled slightly and closed her eyes, letting the music fill her ears.

For a moment, the music stopped playing and the phone vibrated slightly on Cat's stomach. She picked up her cell and saw Danny's name flashing on the screen.

Cat, please answer me. It's really important.

Cat sighed and opened the message so she could close it and turn her music back on. She wasn't going to talk to him again if her life depended on it. She didn't want to hear anything he had to say. She sighed again as the Canadian ballad filled her ears and closed her eyes again. Maybe he would take the hint and stop trying to talk to her if she didn't answer.

She must have fallen asleep, because she woke up some time later to her phone ringing on her belly. She looked at the phone and saw Jade's picture staring back at her. She giggled happily and answered the call. "Hi, Jade!"

"Cat, where are you?" she asked, her tone not as chipper.

"Why?" the redhead questioned. "What time is it?"

"It's lunch time," Jade answered. "And you're not here. Where are you?"

"I'll be there in a minute," Cat told her. "I'm in the bathroom."

Cat could practically hear Jade scowling on her end of the phone. "Why are you lying to me, Cat?" she questioned, raising her voice slightly. "You know I don't like it when you to me. We checked the bathrooms all over school and you weren't in any of them."

"Why are you acting funny, Jade?" Cat accused. "I'm in a bathroom like I said."

"Stop lying to me!" Jade screamed. Cat heard voices on the other end of the line and Jade—she assumed—took a deep breath. "Just…come to lunch," she ordered as she calmed down. "We want you here with us."

"I'll be there in a minute like I said," Cat reminded before hanging up the phone. With a long, drawn out sigh, she sat up and got out of Beck's truck. She moved quickly to the Asphalt Café after returning to her empty second period classroom to get her things.

"Where have you been?" Jade demanded as she looked up at Cat. Andre, Tori, and Beck looked up to her with slightly worried glances.

"I was in a teacher's bathroom," Cat lied. "My tummy got upset, but I didn't want you to get upset over me."

"I don't like you lying to me," Jade repeated, narrowing her eyes. Beck placed his hand on hers and she turned back to him.

Cat sat down across the table from Jade and Beck, sitting close to Tori. "I'm not lying to you," she breathed. "I had that sickness you talked about."

"Morning sickness?" Jade offered with a raised eyebrow.

Cat nodded. "Yeah, that," she said. She smiled brightly. "But I'm all better now!"

"So I have good news," Tori announced skeptically, trying to change the subject.

Jade narrowed her eyes. "The last time you said that," Jade pointed out, "You told us you were pregnant. You really have a skewed perception of 'good' news."

Tori grimaced. "This is actually good news," she claimed. She smiled widely. "I talked it over with my parents, and they're going to help me throw a double baby shower for you and Cat!"

Jade rolled her eyes. "I guess that's okay news," she allowed. She picked at her pizza with a grimace.

Much to her dismay, Cat's phone vibrates in her pocket again. She groans loudly, gaining looks from everyone at the table and ignores the nuisance in her pocket.

"Are you alright, Cat?" Beck asked.

Cat nodded with a bright grin. "Why wouldn't I be?"

~*Doc, there's a hole where something was*~

Over the next few weeks, Cat had been working at The Book Palace to bring in a little money. Obviously, there wasn't much a girl far along in her pregnancy could do, but it was better than nothing. Like he said, Beck switched Cat over to his phone plan and helped her pay the bill so it wouldn't get turned off. When Cat's mother saw that there was a little less money she had to pay on her bill, she thought about calling her daughter; she thought about checking up on her, to see if the little bastard that got her pregnant was being a man about what he'd done. But then she remembered that she had to stick by what she said; she was not going to be put through what she put her own mother through.

Danny continued to try and contact Cat, but she continued to ignore him. It started out with one-liner text messages and quickly progressed to paragraph messages. Soon he began sending her as many as twenty messages a day. He started calling her at night, too, but she never answered the calls. He left her long, heartfelt voice messages, professing his love for her. One day he left so many voice messages that he'd filled up her voicemail. Cat never listened to any of the messages, though, because she knew they would make her cry. Instead, she just deleted them as quickly as she could before Beck or Jade noticed she was upset.

Jade was starting to act weird, too.

She seemed a lot angrier than usual, but she chalked that up to the pregnancy hormones. Her own pregnancy hormones threw her emotions back and forth like a tennis match, but they also made her more observant of the things around her. Jade, however, definitely seemed angrier, but she also seemed a little paranoid. Every time Cat was out of her sight, Jade would call her or text her, demanding to know where her little redhead friend was. And just like that day at the Asphalt Café, Jade would claim Cat was lying, even if she was actually telling the truth. Jade was starting to scare Cat, mainly because she was beginning to act like that mean man that Jade said was her brother.

And exactly three weeks after the incident in the Asphalt Café, Cat found out about Jade's court date.

The morning started out normal, the three of them getting ready for school. Cat went about her normal morning routine and ate a breakfast consisting of cereal, eggs, and peanut butter grits. She heard noises coming from a different part of the house—somewhat like a man who had a really bad headache—but she tried not to think about it. After eating, she climbed in the backseat of Beck's truck and waited for her friends to join her.

When Beck and Jade got in, Jade was quieter than usual and Beck seemed to grip the steering wheel a little tighter. Then he missed the exit that would take them to Hollywood Arts.

"Where are we going?" Cat asked as she observed the passing trees and signs.

"The jail," Beck answered quietly.

"Why are we going there?"

"Because Jade has a court date."

At first it didn't register to Cat. "Why does Jade have a court date?" she inquired. At first, Beck didn't speak and Jade still hadn't said a word. Both of them were quiet like they were hiding something. Then, it hit her. Cat gasped loudly and started thrashing in the backseat.

"No!" she screeched. "I don't want to go! I don't want to see the scary man again! Don't make me go!"

"Cat!" Jade yelled, snapping around to the girl in the backseat. "Be quiet! I don't want to go any more than you do, but I have to. Then he's gonna be put away for a long time. You can sit in the back of the court room so he doesn't see you, but you're going to be there, got it?"

Cat turned away from Jade, tears rolling down her cheeks and arms crossed. She didn't want to have to look at that bastard, but there wasn't really a way that she could get away from it all. If she decided to leave the courthouse and sleep in the back of Beck's truck again, Jade would get really angry and Cat didn't want to hear that again.

The rest of the ride was deadly silent, and no one bothered to play any music. Jade sat with her arms crossed and her gaze locked on the road in front of her, even though she wasn't really looking at the road. Beck gripped the steering wheel tighter and tighter as they neared the courthouse and Cat saw that his knuckles were starting to turn white with strain. His jaw set into a tight grimace and Cat couldn't remember the last time she saw him getting this mad.

Cat had never been to a courthouse before, not that she had a real reason for going. Whenever her brother did something, it was her mother who went to bail him out, leaving little Cat at home. The place was huge, probably twice the size of Hollywood Arts. Photos of Lady Liberty and symbols of justice hung on all the walls. Two American flags framed each door inside the courthouse and Jade led her to a door that looked smaller than the other, large structures. When the door opened, Cat noticed how the room was bigger than she assumed it would be.

There were pews on her left and right, with a separation in the middle for people to walk through. The pews were separated by a small wooden fence that came up to Cat's waist, and two tables sat on the other side of the fence. The judge's post stood at the far end of the room with the witness stand glowing in the fluorescent light.

There were already people sitting in the pews and more were filing in. She'd never seen any of them before, and she wondered why they were all here for Jade's case. Beck gave Jade a quick kiss and told her he loved her before leading Cat to a spot in the middle of the set of pews on the right. She sat close to him, clenching his hand for support.

Other people had cases before Jade's did. Some of them were custody battles, and some involved men in orange jumpsuits coming out from a door by the judge's post to talk. Cat tried to focus on what was going on, but she couldn't shake the fear of seeing Liam again. What if he saw her? What would he do? Would he lash out at everyone? Would he hurt Beck if he tried to protect her? Would the big bailiff be able to hold Liam back?

When the judge called Jade's name, she took a seat at one of the front tables and a new set of men in neatly pressed suits entered the room. Two of them sat on either side of Jade while the other sat at the table on the left by himself. A few moments later, a prison guard brought out the pitiful excuse for a man. Cat clenched Beck's hand a little tighter when she saw him and, unfortunately, caught Liam's eye. With a sick grin, he winked at Cat. The people in front of her looked around to see who this prisoner was winking at.

Cat couldn't remember what happened during the case. She was too worried about Liam and what he was going to do. No matter what, she kept her eyes locked on him, watching and waiting for his every move. Then, something was said that really upset him. He jumped out of his seat beside the man in a gray suit and the bailiff ran over to him to restrain him. The judge barked something at him, but fear flooded Cat's ears as she shrank into Beck. She wanted to run as far away from the courthouse as possible, but her body was planted in that pew. Her legs shook and she pulled her hoodie tighter around herself.

She calmed down when the bailiff and the prison guard escorted Liam out of the room.

"…and a restraining order is being put out for Mr. West," the judge announced. "Should he come within two hundred feet of you, you have the authority to call the police and defend yourself if need be. Should he be released on probation, he is not allowed to be within the aforementioned radius. You will be notified of his probation hearing within the next two years, but you will not be required to attend or be a witness. Is that clear, Miss West?"

Jade nodded eagerly. "Yes, Your Honor," she breathed. Cat could feel the happiness radiating from Jade's voice. Maybe something good happened; maybe they were really putting him away for a long time!

Cat let go of Beck when the judge dismissed Jade's case and Jade stood up. Jade, when she was allowed to leave the two tables at the front of the courtroom, ran to Beck and hugged him tightly, kissing him deeply. She then proceeded to hug Cat a little less tightly and the three of them left the courthouse to head to school.

The ride there was pleasant, and it felt like the tension had finally been cut. Cat hoped that this meant good things were on the way.

Jade: 26 weeks

Cat: 20 weeks

Tori: 15 weeks