Red Light Duex

Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious

A/N: This chapter is to be done in Cat's perspective, since for ethical reasons I cannot have Sam be here.

Chapter 21 (The Ace in the Hand)

"So your roommate has to move?" Beck asked from across the poker table. Cat put her cards face down on the table to fold. Her eyes turned up to him and her nose crinkled for a second.

"Yep." She didn't want Sam to move, but she was not going to say no when it involved her fiancé. "Her fiancé's coming back in a few months. I don't know how long it'll be before he has to be called over since he's active duty, but for now he's back and they need a place."

"You'll need a roommate then, won't you? Or will your grandma be moving back in?"

She let out a dry chuckle and shook her head. "Nona will never leave that retirement home." Sam did bring up a suggestion that she was now thinking about, but unsure if she could manage to do it. "I'll have to find a roommate. Maybe another girl who'll help with the babysitting. Sam's job as a counselor is becoming top priority these days, so she can't babysit."

"I can understand that," Tori replied. "It's good to have you over playing poker with us, Cat. I was afraid you wanted nothing more to do with us." A look of sorrow washed over Tori, causing a brief pang of guilt in her.

"It isn't like that at all." She spoke the truth when she told Sam she would be friends with both Vega sisters. She didn't know why Sam was adamant, but there were things that Cat could see which led her to believe both girls needed a genuine friend. "What kind of friend would I be if I avoided you?"

Tori's lips curved up and her eyebrows meshed together. "A bad one?" Cat laughed once and shrugged.

"I've always believed it's better to avoid nothing in life. Whatever it may be-friends, family, troubles…" Tori's jaw tightened and her eyes darted to her father's study. The girl's chest stopped moving and for a second her body seemed to tense.

Cat moved her hand over to Tori's wrist, hoping to comfort her. The girl's eyes meshed with hers and in an instant she flashed a smile. Though there was no joy in Tori's eyes, a sign of a fake expression.

"Looks like Robbie wins the hand," Tori remarked, "Who deals next?"

"I do," Jade said grabbing the cards. After Jade dealt, Cat picked her two up and marveled over the Ace in her hand.

"I'm the ace. I don't know what Sam means by that, but…" She glanced to the others and furrowed her brow. Believing what Sam so often said about not blaming the friends for the circumstances of either Vega, she couldn't help but to doubt they weren't at least somewhat influential.

Her own bitterness towards them was something she needed to get over. To her, they were nothing but liars and false friends. People who could lead one or both girls further down some dark and destructive path.

"Instead of focusing on your bitterness," Sam's voice came to mind, startling her. "Be friends with all of them. Be the ace in that group. They can be good friends for the girls as well, but need to be given the chance and opportunity to do that. They'll only do so by seeing what good friends do for one another. You can show them they don't have to lie to the parents, or insult their friends' relatives in order to be friends with someone. Be the ace that leads them out of the mindset that they need to be a certain way. Bear in mind they are human too, each with their own share of troubles that may affect how they act."

One should never blame somebody for being human. If indeed they had difficulties that affected their behavior, then her turning them away could still affect their overall esteem and sense of self-worth.

"No Vega," Jade smirked, "It's not you she hates. It's us." Cat winced as the words pierced her like that of a hot knife to the heart. "She's even hanging around that sister of yours now." Cat leaned back slowly, raising an eyebrow as she studied Jade.

"You know about that?"

"Beck and I saw you at that restaurant last night." Jade clicked her tongue and tapped her hand on the table. "I check." With that, Beck pushed two black chips forward. Jade rolled her eyes and Beck only grinned. "Well regardless, if you're hanging around that chick…"

Cat swept her hair over her shoulder and hummed gently. Normally she'd ignore this, but she didn't think there was a need to do so anymore. "What is meant by 'that chick'."

"You know," Andre laughed, "She's insane. Not to mention needy." Her eyes drifted to the right, where Tori was sinking down in her seat. The girl kept her eyes focused intensely on the cards in her hands, but her body was starting to shake. It was a barely noticeable tremble, but to Cat, it was an earthquake.

"You're holding something in," She whispered, "Let it out." Tori's head shot up and her eyes widened as her friends started to turn. "You've got something to say. Say it." For the first time, she felt truly empowered. "You're just going to let them put your sister down like that?"

In the corner of her eyes, she saw Trina on the stairs. The girl was watching on, her face tense and her eyes narrow. Where this sense of strength was coming from, she didn't know. Never had the thought crossed her mind that she should speak up, but that was before when she cared about the judgments that came from these people.

Now she didn't care what they thought of her. "I don't speak my mind, Tori, and look what happens. Don't hold something inside until it makes you bitter and regretful over something you wished you could have said."

"I just don't want conflict," Tori whispered back, "I don't want people…I don't want bad things to happen."

"Speak your mind, and bad things may not happen. Holding something inside will still cause pain. Worse than letting it out. Maybe holding something in causes more pain to other people than it would if you said something."

"What are you two mumbling about over there?" Jade spoke up with a sharper tone. "Tori, it's your move. Call, check, fold, whatever you're going to do-do it."

"I-" Tori caught her breath and looked to her friends with misty eyes. Her voice cracked and she slowly shook her head. "My sister is not insane. She's not a quack, or a nutjob. She's none of those things. You guys shouldn't talk about her like that. She's normal, we're normal…"

"Yeah whatever, picture perfect." Jade scoffed and Cat shot a glare at the girl. "You two get everything handed to you on a fucking platter. You were born with silver spoons in your mouth because daddy's the top notch police officer on the force."

"We were not!" Tori's voice rose and her skin began to turn red. "You don't know anything about us Jade. You don't know anything about our lives, about our father or our mother-"

"No? Thanks to you we know your dad's a drunk, your mom's a whore, and your sister is-I don't know, she's got some sort of problem too I'm sure. And you're perfect."

"I am not!"

A lump formed in Cat's throat and she looked away, suddenly wishing she hadn't said anything. However, that would have gone against what she wanted to encourage Tori to do.

"No? Then explain why it is you simply must have every lead part in every school play." Jade threw her cards down and Tori leaned back, letting out one silent whimper. "You fight to sing every song the school's choir people want to do. You have to have the spotlight, as if you feed off the audience that listens to you! You're obsessed with glory, what makes you so damn perfect and spotless? Tell me! I want that life!"

"You don't want my life." Tori's voice shifted suddenly. The low tone caused Cat to jump in surprise. She watched Tori's hands clench and her eyes closed. Her voice wavered and her nostrils spread out. "If you think for a minute that my sister and I had it easy, then you're a fool. Every one of you."

"Oh." Jade laughed wildly and moved her hand to her chest. "I'm the fool? Well excuse me little miss princess-"

"She's right." Cat didn't care who she interrupted, even Jade herself. The girl stopped and shot a wide-eyed look at her. Tori glanced at her with confusion while Trina, who had started to go back upstairs, stopped on the top step to peer down at the group. "And I think you know it, Jade."

"What are you talking about, Cat? Just keep quiet and let this work itself out."

"No, I've been silent around you long enough." Jade crossed her arms and rolled her head to the right. "You walk all over the Vegas, every one of you does. None of you are better than them, and they're not claiming to be better than you. They just want friends, just like you do."

"Haven't we been their friend?"

"You've been Tori's, but in a way you haven't been." The girl's jaw dropped and she pulled back with an astonished laugh.

"How have we not been?"

"By freely insulting her family, lying to them-and to her." She leaned forward and motioned to Beck. "How long did you go before you finally told Tori what you and the guys did to Trina? How long did you go before confiding in her that you lied to Mr. Vega that night and made Trina look like a fool in front of her own father?"

Beck grunted and shrugged. "If he was any bit of a father, he wouldn't have believed us over his daughter."

"So what? That doesn't excuse what you did. He could be the worst father on the face of the planet-" Cat paused when she heard a chortle from Tori. Suspicious, she wanted to inquire about it, but that would have to wait. "But you choosing to demean and belittle her sister, and then lie to her dad, which is about the worst thing a friend can do…what do you think that says about you? Should you be proud of yourself? Should I be proud to call you a friend? I wouldn't want to let you around my family!"

Beck sputtered while Andre and Robbie bowed their heads. A stern expression came over Jade, but she didn't say anything as Cat was not yet finished.

She inhaled slowly and kept her calm, knowing that if she spoke with anger in her voice, it would only cause them to get defensive. "I'm not saying any of you are bad friends to have, but some of your behavior is inexcusable. But Tori's right, like all of you, the Vegas have their own problems to deal with. You need friends to be there for support, and so do they. Maybe you should consider being more supportive and less hypocritical."

Jade huffed and spat out in defense. "What makes you think we have any issues?" To this, Cat deadpanned.

"Tori and I were both there when my roommate psychoanalyzed all of you." She looked at Tori with a hopeful smile as the girl made eye contact. "Sometimes, pretending there isn't a problem causes more pain than admitting it. We all need a friend, someone to talk to who will be supportive and let us open up without fear of being judged."

Tori wiped her eyes and glanced at the stairs. She took a deep breath and looked down to the cards now bent in her hands. Cat looked back to Jade and spoke with a slow, calm voice. "Sometimes if the friends you have are judgmental and pushy, you're afraid to talk to them. Afraid they won't be supportive, but rather judgmental. So you hide until you can't take it anymore, until you explode and resent those very people you called friends."

Robbie reached over, tapping Cat on the shoulder. She turned her eyes to him and studied the distressed look on his face. "Are you saying you resent us?" Shaking her head she looked away from him and towards Tori.

"No. I don't. I feel sorry for you." The friends followed her look and each of them sank a bit in their chairs. When her eyes flicked up to the stairs, they followed and froze on Trina's hardened expression. "I know you guys can be supportive, and I know you guys care, and I wish you would show that…You could be great friends, more than just the people that Tori hangs out with and plays poker with. You know, neither of them can say they have a 'best friend'."

"What?" Andre snapped his eyes over and looked at Tori in astonishment. "But we-"

"I never called any of you my best friend," Tori whispered. "You share things with a best friend. You can talk to them on the same level. I know that before we accuse you of always being judgmental, that I've also been stupid by always being critical about my relatives to you. Something that was wrong on my part." Tori's voice cracked once more and her eyes clenched. "I just…wanted someone to take notice…That was all. You never did."

Tori stood up and wiped her nose. She hurried to the stairs, ignoring their protests. They looked at Cat, each of them appearing to search for answers. She shrugged and set the cards down.

"Don't look at me. Every time she said something about her family, what did you guys do? You laughed and went on to say something demeaning about them. I guess it's not your fault, because you didn't know…"

"She never acted like she liked them or anything," Jade muttered.

"Tori loves her family, and she and Trina both told me that their sister is the one they're closest to. They feel like they have to be that way." Cat stood up from the table and shrugged. "I don't know what problems you guys have to deal with in your lives, and I'm not going to attempt demean whatever you've got going on, but if you let those issues get in the way of you being a good friend to somebody-then those problems won't be the only problems you have in the future."

"We never meant to make it seem that she couldn't talk to us."

"Jade, you're always pushy and aggressive. You act before you think. Insult before you care."

"It's not my fault!" Jade put her hand to her chest and stood up with a swift and rising tone in her voice. "I know I get defensive, okay? I know I have problems! My family made me this way."

"Did you stop to think maybe Tori's and Trina's family made them the way they were?" Jade froze and Cat walked around the table. She put her hand to Jade's shoulder and spoke quietly, but loud enough for the whole table to hear. "I know you've got issues with your family. Each of you say you have family trouble somewhere. Even I do, so don't you think that would make you that much better of a friend for someone else that has family problems? Instead you let the walls you put around yourself push someone else with the same walls away. In the end, does it help or hurt? Do you think the other person is going to let down their walls or build them higher?"

"You've been hanging with Sam too much…" She rolled her eyes and cleared her throat.

"Jade, I'm serious."

"I know." The girl threw her arms out and walked towards the couch, groaning softly as she looked to the now empty stairs. "You're right. God, you're right." Jade muttered something about Cat being the last person she'd expect to be right about something like this. Cat chuckled once and sat with her on the couch.

"Look, if you or any of the others need someone to talk to. I'm here." It was the hardest decision to make, but yet, she wanted to. She wanted them to know that she was capable of listening, of being a friend to them.

"What you're saying about walls," Andre stood from the table and moved over. His eyes were still fixated on the stairs. "You think the things we've done, or how we acted, might make them think they can't talk to us?"

"Whatever the case Andre, their family is troubled. If they think they can't turn to a friend for support, then they'll stop thinking that outside people can be supportive. So if they have trust issues, guess what gets hit the hardest?"

"Damn, we never…"

"You guys are not bad friends to have, but you can be great friends. You just have to be willing to try. That's all. It's not that hard to show someone you care."

"I think I might have fucked up badly," Robbie replied, "Probably to the point where I've screwed things up for everyone. I'm a lost cause." He bowed his head and Cat glanced over with concern.

"Why? What did you do?"

"I um, thought I was helping but-nevermind." He waved his hand in the air and looked away. "I think we should probably go up and talk to Tori. Apologize, let her know she can talk to us."

"Trina too."

"One thing at a time," Jade laughed.

"Okay, let me try this." Cat swept her hair over her shoulders and pressed her lips tight. Her eyebrows arched over her wide eyes and her voice grew stern. "Trina too." Jade flinched and the others nodded.

She felt proud of herself, she was never one to be assertive and pull it off. At the same time, she knew a chord must have been struck in the others because it shouldn't have worked. Or it could be what Sam told her, a little confidence could go a long way.

Things are...building up at this point. When Robbie says he thinks he messed things up, pay attention. The first step of recovery may happen for everyone, but nothing will happen until the family does separate. That time is coming and it's inevitable, though it should probably be. Cat's newfound assertiveness will be helpful in getting Jade, Andre and Beck to really try and take more of an interest in being there for Tori as well as Trina. They'll never know the true issue (Cat will, but it'll be through a display of panicked emotions that she really learns anything). She may also help Holly gain a bit of courage to make a move she wishes she could have made a long time ago-but things are going to get bad first. Within the next few chapters. As you read on, I advise you to read with an open as well as mature mindset. The counseling of all the relatives will be taking place within the next ten chapters-and I do mean all, but not all together. That can't realistically happen yet.